Building a keyboard from an old typewriter - <AUTHOR> http://cowlark.com/2019-11-03-keyboard/ <comment><USER2> I was day dreaming today of doing the opposite: attaching a modern mechanical keyboard to some sort of printing device. I figure an electric typewriter like this would be ideal for this kind of project. A dot matrix printer might be more hackable...

<comment><USER3> ddevault did something like this pretty recently: [https://drewdevault.com/2019/10/30/Line-printer-shell- hack.h...](https://drewdevault.com/2019/10/30/Line-printer-shell-hack.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I was hoping for something that looks like the Brazil Movie computers... [http://www.tronola.com/assets/images/Brazil_movie_computer_2...](http://www.tronola.com/assets/images/Brazil_movie_computer_200.gif)

</comment><comment><USER5> why not put it in a different case</comment>


Instant Suggestions x15 (for Chrome) - <AUTHOR> http://chrome-ozone.appspot.com/

<comment><USER2> Interesting :) You should start tinkering with the omnibox API and let us know what you think:

[http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/experimental.omnibo...](http://code.google.com/chrome/extensions/experimental.omnibox.html)

</comment><comment><USER3> Impressive, and I like the speed. Not sure _suggestions_ are my cup-o-tea, though this seems it could be handy if I used them more heavily. And you should probably watch the tab order / arrow keys, sometimes it seems to get lost, and can "select" entries which are not visible. I'd probably capture the tab key in JS and control it manually, otherwise my settings let tab go to _every_ link + form item.

I'd probably get more use from something like this which searches my history + bookmarks + delicious + instapaper + etc, and does a _normal_ search on those. Otherwise, currently, I type in "xcode" and get 3 from my bookmarks (missing my "xcode plugin" bookmark, among others), and none from my history, despite having 19 xcode hits in my history.

<comment><USER4> I agree. Probably 50% or so of the time I'm looking for something I've looked at before... either in my history or my "archive" that is spread across multiple sites.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Too much clutter. There's so much stuff on the screen that I can't read any of it.

</comment><comment><USER6> It seems that I can type just a bit quicker than it expects. I typed 'ana' and came up with a lot of 'a' results. Erase and type slowly and I get the 'ana' results that I expected.

I reloaded and tried again and this time came up with 'an' results.

<comment><AUTHOR> Whoops! I hacked this together this weekend, there might be a few bugs. Thanks for letting me know though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Inaccurate title. It's like Google Suggest, not Google Instant.

<comment><USER8> "Instant" is the new "suggest".

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Nice try but I think this is a bandwagon you should only jump on if you're willing to put a lot of time into a streamlined UX.

</comment><comment><USER10> This is great fun to use but not very practical, ever heard the phrase "information overload"?

Good crack at it though.

</comment><comment><USER11> Interesting - but probably not designed to scale to millions of users like Google Instant.

</comment><comment><USER12> I don't like the usability of this. There's too many items, and I need to read both horizontally and vertically.

You should have only 1 list with larger font, but with everything merged into that 1 list.</comment>


China's Spies Are on the Offensive - <AUTHOR> https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/08/inside-us-china-espionage-war/595747/ <comment><USER2> I worked at a software company doing photo albums for telecoms. Work had a chinese company as a client, they stole our software and never paid. Lucky it was one of our first clients, so early version of the software. Work landed all the major telecoms over the years (and some overseas). This was almost 15+ years ago too.</comment>


Perfect doesn't exist. Get it out there(Products) - <AUTHOR> http://jacquesvh.com/2013/05/perfect-doesnt-exist-get-it-out-there/

<comment><USER2> After 2 years of development we launched Radfan at the start of March and had to replace the first 30 for a fault we just didn't see coming and that we would only have ever discovered post launched.

We had spent months trying to iron out the obvious issues but it is impossible to reach perfection as you just can't see all of the possible problems.

<comment><AUTHOR> Simon I agree.

However, imagine having launched Radfan March 2012 in a beta stage, inviting people to test the product at a reduced rate of purchase and report faults for you which only users would have picked up?

It would have enabled you to launch Radfan fully to the public without serious problems and would have made it possible for you to focus more resources on the marketing than to sit back for the first month and fix problems that arose.

Radfan looks like an awesome product for preventing hot air from escaping and actually going in the direction that you need it to. Good luck mate.</comment></comment>


Pebble GPL voilation - <AUTHOR> The Pebble Time application for Android uses GPL V2 licenced software, javamail-android, yet does not provide a method to obtain the sourcecode for the application.<p>https://pebble.com/legal/open_source#javamail <comment><USER2> JavaMail API itself has a linking exception and it's also dual licensed as the Common Development and Distribution License.

<comment><USER3> Also licensed under BSD, according to the github.</comment></comment>


Linux Distribution for Programmers and Web Developers - <AUTHOR> http://www.semicodeos.com <comment><USER2> Maybe this needs a separate thread but for a long time now, there have only really been 5 (or 6 depending on who you ask) upstream distros, Debian, Fedora/RH, Gentoo, Opensuse, Slackware, Ubuntu.

I get the reason for offshoot distros to exist but I can't help thinking that a lot of the time it would just make more sense to publish a script to add packages/modify the default configuration, rather than Just-Another-New-And- Soon-To-Be-Discontinued Distro, it would probably be easier to maintain in the long run.

<comment><USER3> This so much. The only time i see it making sense to release a full-blown distro is for marketing reasons or making a more unified aesthetic experience like for example Elementary (which certainly has its own issues, but that is another story) or for a very specific purpose like Kali or Tails. There are, however, a jungle of different software and solutions out there so sometimes I appreaciate a "curated" list of de facto software to test. Having to install a whole distro for that, virtually or otherwise, might be the definition of overkill.

As always the problem is in the possibilities: The different systems (both distros and user installs) are so differently configured, that a script most certainly will mess it all up.

The best solution I can see (at least for my use) is to expand the dotfile- approach to encompass applications and more advanced settings too. But I guess it has certain security a related issues?

<comment><USER2> Even a distro-specific script would do the job in many cases.

Elementary is a good example of where some kind of advanced script/package setup could possibly replicate what the developers have done.

What you mention regarding extending the idea of dotfiles to encompass applications/settings is exactly what I'm hoping will start happening rather than this saturation of distros that don't necessarily bring a lot to the table. As for security issues, yes that's always going to be a concern when you add new packages, but no reason why there couldn't be some improved process in place to let users know when they are straying off the path.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Can we please stop giving personal assistants female names/traits? It does not create a positive message for equality and diversity in tech. It's quite frustrating and uncomfortable to see the phrase "just command her to do tasks for you" on a promotion for a Linux distro.

SemiCode OS takes this way too far. Just look at this incoherent dump of objectification from the website: "Sarah is Your New Girl Friend She will take care of you , helps you in your work ,just open terminal from any where and call her . and she will be there for you"

Really? _It 's a tool. It doesn't need a gender and it certainly doesn't need to be personified as a submissive woman_

<comment><USER5> > In a 2011 paper, they reported that both women and men said female voices > came across as warmer. In practice, women even showed a subconscious > preference for responding to females; men remained subconsciously neutral. > "Men will say they prefer female speech, and women really do prefer it," > MacDorman says. [1]

Some of the wording for SemiCode may be overly sexist, but there are good reasons Alexa, Siri, Cortana use female voices by default in most cases, even if SemiCode's tool does not use text-to-speech itself. [2] I think your outrage is a bit over the top, to be honest.

[1] [https://www.wired.com/2015/10/why-siri-cortana-voice- interfa...](https://www.wired.com/2015/10/why-siri-cortana-voice-interfaces- sound-female-sexism/)

[2] [http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/tech/innovation/female- compute...](http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/tech/innovation/female-computer- voices/)

<comment><USER4> Both of these articles phrase very nicely the reasons for my dislike of female-gendered assistants.

"The late Stanford communications professor Clifford Nass, who coauthored the field's seminal book, Wired for Speech, wrote that people tend to perceive female voices as helping us solve our problems by ourselves, while they view male voices as authority figures who tell us the answers to our problems. We want our technology to help us, but we want to be the bosses of it, so we are more likely to opt for a female interface." [1]

"According to some sources, the use of female voices in navigation devices dates back to World War II, when women's voices were employed in airplane cockpits because they stood out among the male pilots. And telephone operators have traditionally been female, making people accustomed to getting assistance from a disembodied woman's voice." [2]

The predominance of female voices is based (at least partially, the biological argument is certainly interesting) on history and societal norms that place women beneath men in competence and authority. Thus my dislike comes from a desire to get rid of these _subtly ingrained_ social ideas of male/female authority/submissiveness. The tech world has a far-reaching influence, so I think it needs to be conscious of the implications of choices like the "gender" of an assistant.

My personal preference is for a completely gender neutral interface, because I want to treat my computer like the tool that it is and not like another human. I think the best course of action is to give the option and let the user choose which they prefer.

The reason I called out this instance is because it goes too far. Yes, I can rationalize that people have a preference for female personalities for a variety of reasons, but the author of "Sarah" has blatantly sexualized a programming tool. This makes no sense to me. Especially as a publicly available distro. (The quality is definitely wonky for other reasons, but that is not an excuse). This extreme case reflects on the less egregious things I dislike about gendered computers in general.

<comment><USER6> Well my preference is to be helped by helpful women. Go build your own distro if you want to be helped by a faceless robot. I'll take Sarah, Siri, and Cortana, thanks.

If you don't like it, build a better product that competes with these devices. No one likes a whiner, especially one who thinks they are the centre of the universe and their personal preferences should dictate the course of the "tech world", as you put it. Your ideas are absurd and do not match the biological reality of humans, sorry.

<comment><USER7> [https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building- jarv...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/mark-zuckerberg/building- jarvis/10154361492931634) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7RCJvoCMc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx7RCJvoCMc)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I feel like a distro with lots of extra things installed from the start is the opposite of a distro for programmers, as is baking in some off-brand voice tool. The perfect distro for me would be an OSX (not MacOS) clone running on a debian backend without the walled garden that is Apple.

<comment><USER9> Elementary OS

<comment><USER10> There are actually quite a few tutorials on youtube that show how you can get a OSX-y UX by installing a few packages and themes on Ubuntu and Debian.

I don't really understand the rationale, but hey whatever floats your boat

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> You might want to polish your presentation a little bit before making it public. And by a little bit I mean a lot. Spend a few bucks and hire a copywriter service.

<comment><USER12> The constant capitalizing is very distracting. (I Don't Know How Else One Would Describe This Style.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> I honestly can't see an appeal for this.

From the screenshots, it appears to be Ubuntu/Debian + Gnome 3 (most probably not the latest version too) + a LOT of preinstalled packages.

My bets are, there are very very very few developers out there, that would need all those packages installed.

So what was the rational behind this?

I mean, this could easily have been a script or a desktop app that let users choose the packages they wanted and installed it on a distribution of their choice.

Nothing against you or this particular project in general (I did like the terminal based assistant but I doubt if I'd ever use that in general), but I can't seem to see it's significance/use-case.

<comment><USER14> I'm not sure, but I think the target user is a "coding bootcamp graduate", or similar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> The landing page misses some very important points:

\- Is it a standalone distro?

\- What is the kernel version?

\- How about 3rd-party packages, drivers, etc?

And the most important

\- Why do I have to use it instead of another well-known distros like Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora?

</comment><comment><USER10> This must have been created by someone who has never used Linux:

 _> Includes Most of Popular Programming Languages Compilers, top Editors and best Integrated Development Environments._

so basically

        $ sudo apt install gcc npm python3 emacs24

but without the huge mindshare and all the support that comes with Debian/Ubuntu?

<comment><USER16> You forgot to include an editor. ;)

<comment><USER17> I don't get why he's installing an operating system within an operating system. (I use Emacs).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> In SemiCode OS You Can Run Plenty of Apps _Simulatansly_

<comment><USER19> Oh boy, multitasking! That's something that's going to amaze programmers and web developers.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> The only distribution I've really enjoyed using for development is Antergos (Arch derivative) because all my packages are up to date.

The only way another distribution would catch my eye is if it targeted a specific hardware platform. Like, if a group of developers built a Linux distribution around Dell's XPS laptop line so that hardware support was perfect.

</comment><comment><USER20> Yeah, I don't really get it. Then again, most distributions are pretty redundant at this point. I mean, how hard is it really to install Debian and type 'sudo apt-get install whatever'? Fancy distros, for the most part, are just repackaged Debian/Ubuntu/Arch, and should be desktop environment "flavors" that you install separately. There are some exceptions, but I find that the most derivitive distros purposely remove crap from even the most barebones Debian or they are very single-purpose. If I need a workstation OS, I am going to tailor it to my exact needs. Makes no sense to me to use a lesser-supported distro if I am just going to rip it apart anyway. I feel like more programmers than not will end up doing that. Am I wrong there?

</comment><comment><USER21> Why should I choose this instead of elementary os? For software only, I can install it on elementary also. Look? I can have better on elementry.

</comment><comment><USER22> As a time served (11 years commercial, 20+ years hobbyist) developer, I'm out.

I'd rather use my own choice of Linux distro running what I need rather than a baked together mix of stuff with a dodgy site that's been hacked together quickly without QA!

</comment><comment><USER23> Their digital assistant Sarah seems to be unique. I don't know any other OS which has it.

[http://www.semicodeos.com/sarah/](http://www.semicodeos.com/sarah/)

<comment><USER24> It looks like a wrapper around wolframalpha. It's not that fancy and it's not very useful.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Why does clicking blog take me to a "Hello World" application?

<comment><USER26> this made me distrust the whole thing. I mean if you can't get the blog page zero right, why on earth would I trust you with an operating system?

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Surely any of the mainstream distros are just as good or better for this purpose and the tools can be simply installed in minutes with apt, Synaptic, Yum, etc.

Is this some kind of high school project?

<comment><USER28> > Made With Love in Khartoum , Sudan

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> There's one link I could find to "Compilers" and the page doesn't exist. So much for being "for developers".

</comment><comment><USER30> Every distro has these features, they are even more advanced. But these are single-purpose-programms, not one blown thing which suggests to do everything.

I don't see any use for this distribution, as a programmer I want to be taken seriously and I know what tools i like to have installed. And I can do that by myself and don't need an "assistent" do that for me. An package manager is good enough.

Besides this sexist bullshit is going on my nerves.

</comment><comment><USER31> Damn no love for arch in the comments!!!!!

</comment><comment><USER28> > Made With Love in Khartoum , Sudan

No download links to be found on the Downloads page with places left blank for Dropbox and Mega links.</comment>


Stealing Downloads from Slack Users - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/tenable-techblog/stealing-downloads-from-slack-users-be6829a55f63 <comment><USER2> I've always found Slack's link handling to be weird and annoying. Show me the URL I'm going to be sent to, and stop clickjacking. Please. My company has an internal domain, so when we link to internal docs, it splats because Slack can't resolve the hostname. And we're paying for this inconvenience.

</comment><comment><USER3> I'd be interested to hear how Slack patched this. Hopefully by removing the ability to apply settings from URLs altogether, rather than attempting any sort of sanitisation on the download settings.

</comment><comment><USER4> It intrigues me that (per the screenshot in the post) slack appears to bundle uncompiled TS source in their app. You'd think that they'd just have a single JS bundle so their code wasn't so easy to reverse engineer.

<comment><USER5> > so their code wasn't so easy to reverse engineer

As a bit of history, most of our team is made up by old-school desktop engineers with a background in native desktop development (and we still have a pretty decent amount of C++ and ObjC running in our app). Decompilers these days are pretty impressive – seeing the implementation of most desktop apps is fairly trivial.

This is just a personal statement, but I never had trouble with the files being there. They're currently present to support some outdated and soon-to- be-replaced module resolution, but I'd give this advice: If you're shipping logic to users, make your peace with the fact that it can be reverse- engineered. Sure, opening a source file is a bit easier than having DotPeek decompile your DLL, but it's pretty easy either way.

In other words: My stuff should be safe and secure whether or not an attacker knows how I implemented my logic.

<comment><USER6> Modern swift, c++ and java/.net/electron/old objc are a completely different ballgame.

Sure everything can be reverse engineered, but the last 4 are so much simpler to RE. This is like saying all normal doors can be easily keybumped, so let's just leave the doors away.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Seems like two separate issues mentioned here. The second part of having an attachment with title & title_link is tricky - it might not necessarily be considered an issue. In the browser you'd be able to hover over the link and see what the actual link is going to be. If the electron app also did the same, then perhaps you'd be okay.

Perhaps the whole title/tite_link attachment styling feature should be webpage only, and disabled for the electron app.

</comment><comment><USER8> I am having a same situation here but I am not sure whether it is the same issue or not. I have sended a file over slack but it is not downloading even I am having an error message that it is harmful. Hows that possible?

</comment><comment><USER9> I wonder what the bounty payout for this would have been.

<comment><USER10> Not sure what this one would pay, but one of my employees found and reported a security vulnerability with Slack APIs tokens a few years ago and got a $2,500 reward for disclosing it properly.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Most life changing things that you bought? - <AUTHOR> Just reading about air purifiers and wondering what other things like this I completely missed in my life.
Personal recommendations: kindle, rice cooker.
Edit: It's so obvious to me now (and to most people I guess) that I forgot about my washer dryer. To other young adults reading this, if you can afford it and have the space in your apartment, just get a washer dryer ASAP. Even if you live 5 minutes away from a self-service laundry. It'll actually change your life. <comment><USER2> Apple Watch - Allows me to view my blood glucose at any time.

Dexcom CGM - This is the best way to constantly measure your blood glucose, though it is a bit expensive.

Rileylink - This is an open source hardware device which intercepts BLE packets from my continuous glucose monitor and sends reverse engineered 433mhz communications to my insulin pump. This has a companion app (Loop) which tells me projected blood glucose on my Apple Watch and automatically administers insulin accordingly.

To a lesser extent, AirPods - it's pretty cool to be able to say "hey Siri, what's my blood sugar?" while I'm riding my bike.

When I first got the Apple Watch + plus rileylink setup it was like Xmas every morning ; I got to wake up and look at how my blood sugar had been successfully controlled by the system through the night. Taken together, this open source loop/rileylink system was probably the first legit artificial pancreas used by diabetics in real life. All the other data like insulin on board and active carbohydrates was so exciting to have directly modeled and displayed on my watch since I had spent years trying to estimate those variables in my head throughout the day.

<comment><USER3> That's so cool. I'd love to read a longer post about the Rileylink and how you use it if you're interested in writing one.

<comment><USER4> Not sure if you know of this already but FYI: [https://loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/build/step1/](https://loopkit.github.io/loopdocs/build/step1/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Tickets to cart racing for the second date with my wife (back then future wife). I did not know she does not drive, and she does not drive now, but she carried through this with such a poise and good attitude that I realized she just might be the one.

Books - some of them were free, some of them bought, about mathematics, physics, chemistry, programming that got me hooked on these subjects.

Computers. Sinclair ZX Spectrum clone when I was in secondary school and my own PC that I assembled myself in university.

Contact lenses. I am myopic and used glasses. Contact lenses required some time to get used to, but ultimately gave me the great feeling of freedom.

Anything to support shared experience with people I love. It could be a ticket to the movies or a museum, meals in restaurant or for a picnic etc. The exact expenditure is not really important and it may be a good movie or not, but what matters is time spent together.

<comment><AUTHOR> > Contact lenses. I am myopic and used glasses. Contact lenses required some > time to get used to, but ultimately gave me the great feeling of freedom.

Have you thought about LASIK? (I am myopic too but it's very recent, about 2-3 years)

Edit: there are 2 other comments about it here: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23669299](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23669299)

<comment><USER5> Thank you for the link! Yes I have, but my near sightedness is not strong so within the confines of home it is OK and there are days during this pandemic when I do not wear lenses at all, but for going outside and for sure physical activities and driving.

As for LASIK - I read that they essentially cut the top layer and just put it on top and that strong head impact may separate it from the eye. Not sure how true or relevant it is for modern methods - need to do my research.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I moved to the US from a developing nation. For the first 5 years I was not aware of the dishwasher in my apartment (was using it to store utensils). I was familiar with washer dryers though.

One day one of my friends told me what it actually does and taught me how to use it.

Mind. Blown.

<comment><USER7> I hear you. I knew it is a dishwasher, as I could clearly read it. But I didn't care 5 years to figure how to use it. It is also that they cannot clean after every type of cooking..

<comment><USER8> > every type of cooking..

That's a euphemism for bad cooking, isn't it?

Kidding. We have a dish washer, but actually use it as storage space for things that need to be kept cool. You're supposed to rinse things before putting them into the dish washer. We just figured, if you have to do that, you're already half-way to the drying rack. And it's always cooler than any cupboard space that we have. Even in the summer.

<comment><USER9> > You're supposed to rinse things before putting them into the dish washer.

I think this is a popular misconception from many people's experience with bad dishwasher soaps. With high quality detergent and rinse solution I never pre- wash dishes and they virtually always come out clean. I use the Cascade Complete brand which is definitely on the more expensive side, maybe the most expensive, but it's still very cheap accounting for the amount of time in your life it saves from never hand-washing dishes. I also use their rinse aid which makes a big difference too.

<comment><USER8> Actually, I agree. I did use some additional liquid once and was surprised at how amazingly clean everything was after. But the load took hours. So we just kept up the manual ritual.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Chair. Never understood why somebody would pay for a chair more than 50-60 bucks. Something you can get in staples/wallmart anywhere... My friend bought Herman Miller for ~$1000 and I called him a donkey. Then started a job where we had these chairs in the office. Noticed it. Even back when I was broke, rented a room and didn't want to buy anything that would be potentially a problem to move, I still decided to buy it. I use it 6-8 hours a day. Worth it.

2) Higher quality kitchenware. knifes and frying pans. I actually had to go over few iterations cause even though I got more expensive ones they still didn't work well. Now, though, it significantly improved the quality/cooking of my food

3) High quality headphones/ear buds. Something about great quality sound makes it so much better to work out. I can run longer with proper soundtrack.

4) Car that I really wanted. I get behind the wheel and literally enjoy holding it my hand. comfortable/fast/smooth. looks sexy. It is an esthetic pleasure.

5) Very good laptop and widescreen curved screen. using them for work everyday - makes total sense to go with top of the line.

      I think it would very cool to have washer/dryer in unit. I don't have that. carrying a bag of underwear to another building in 2020 seems unnecessary.

P.S coffee maker. ~$700... I feel like it payed for itself in first month. I love coffee - it makes it itself. no standing around holding a cup of milk.

<comment><AUTHOR> > Herman Miller

I always see that brand mentioned in the comments but they have a lot of different models. Which one do you recommend?

<comment><USER9> It's worth going to a Herman Miller dealer to try the range of models. Some of them fit different body sizes, especially varying heights and widths much better. I didn't like the way the Aeron felt on my shoulder blades, it's very wide, so I got the Embody which is also quite popular, and much more narrow. The Embody is more expensive but worth it in my opinion. Also remember that both come with an incredible warranty.

The only models I wouldn't spend much time looking at are their conference room chairs -- the ones not designed to be sat in comfortably for a full day.

More info on Aeron vs Embody - [https://www.btod.com/blog/herman-miller-aeron- vs-embody/](https://www.btod.com/blog/herman-miller-aeron-vs-embody/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> A cheap aluminium road bike (since replaced with a full carbon Felt).

At the time (10 years ago) I was 240lbs (been working stupid hours for nearly 2 years and pizza was easier on the way home) and the doc had just found I had stage 2 hypertension which he wanted to medicate, I asked him to give me a couple of months and if no improvement I'd take his advice, stopped in Halford's (bike chain in the UK) and bought their cheapest road bike for 400 quid, I resolved to go out every other day and fix my diet which I did gradually increasing distance/pace, at the end of the two months I was down over 10lbs and blood pressure was heading the right way and I'd got addicted to cycling, I signed up for a 200km overnight charity ride at the end of the summer (this was late spring time) and set about training for it _properly_ working up to 80 then 100 then 120 mile rides until I was confident I could do it.

By the charity ride came around I was 190lbs and decided to treat myself to a nicer bike (I was too fat for the nice bike at the start, I mean literally too fat, it had a 100kg max weight limit recommended...).

In terms of return on investment that 400 quid bike was the based deal I ever made.

</comment><comment><USER12> Extremely bright, high-CRI lighting for my home office.

I have extra lights I can turn on in the early morning to simulate daylight. This is far and away the most powerful tool for manipulating my sleep/wake cycles.

Even without seasonal affective disorder, an early morning dose of extremely bright light improves my energy and mood throughout the day. It also makes it easier to fall asleep at night because my circadian rhythms are further entrained.

> Just reading about air purifiers

I also bought multiple, large HEPA air purifiers for the house. I can't say I noticed any real differences. I keep them for peace of mind, though. I had better results with those adhesive strips that you put on your nose to open your breathing passages at night.

</comment><comment><USER13> Lasik eye surgery. It cost about $4k per eye USD due to how bad my eyes were. I went to a super reputable place and now have perfect vision. I can barely remember what it was like before.

Even better, I paid for them using money I made from my first indie game release. Was a huge emotional win for me.

<comment><USER14> I second this. The cliche you hear when looking into LASIK ("my only regret is I didn't do it sooner") is 100% correct. I can't believe I didn't do it 10 years earlier. I am 2 years post-op and I still find myself breathlessly looking at a vista shocked at the clarity. I think the price has come way down since you paid, and no longer varies based on amount of correction. It should be around $4k flat for both eyes.

<comment><USER15> Isn't there a risk of botched procedures though?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Therapy. Best use of money in my life.

You don't need to have a "big problem" (like depression) to visit a therpist.

<comment><USER14> I can't wrap my head around the cost without an obvious "big problem" to deal with.

<comment><USER17> The "trick", if you'd call it that, is to get it covered either by your insurance or your employer, whichever is possible where you're from. It's fairly easy to make the case that you'll be a lot more productive if you get professional help to deal with the stress your work causes you.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Possibly my Patagonia down jacket. I didn't grow up in a family that could afford nice winter jackets and always had a used ski-style winter jacket, which is really hard to move around in and not very warm. I didn't know it was possible to be comfortable in cold weather until this past winter.

<comment><USER18> Love the down stuff. Comforter (from Costco, on a deal), Jacket (from our local used gear store on a deal). Amazing warmth. My wife grew up in a similar situation as you. Could never get warm (skinny, and due to early arthritis the cold 'hurts'). Can't believe the weather she has been willing to go out in this past winter.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Vitamin D. Totally changed my life. Haven't had a real bout of depression since I started taking it.

<comment><USER14> How much do you take per day?

<comment><USER19> 5000 in the winter 3000 in the summer.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> \- Audible/Overdrive/LibriVox (I get through a lot more books per year listening to audio books as I do the dishes, etc.)

\- Trash poker (Neighborhood/hiking trails are so much cleaner now, since I bring it with me wherever I hike and pickup trash)

<comment><USER21> Never heard the term trash poker. Is it more than carring a trash bag and collecting trash? Sounds very promising, I'll give it a try.

<comment><USER22> Think of fireplace pokers. These are used to pick up trash. Some have prehensile ends some just a sharp end.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> A pressure cooker. I originally bought it because I wanted to grow mushrooms and needed to sterilize the substrate, but ended up using it mostly for cooking. Lots of meals that usually take too much time are suddenly very reasonable to cook. I especially use beans and other legumes a lot more than I did before.

<comment><USER24> I adore my instant pot. Also, strongly recommend this recipe to anyone reading: [https://www.wellplated.com/instant-pot-lentil- curry/](https://www.wellplated.com/instant-pot-lentil-curry/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> At least for perspective alteration: Plane tickets.

The gut answer, though, is a pair of snowshoes. Much of the best of my life can be traced to that decision.

</comment><comment><USER26> Sleep:

\- blackout curtains, blackout rod, and white noise machine.

\- latex hybrid mattress. I settled on Luma's version of this.

Exercise: Mini home gym settup

\- Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells with stand. Power blocks would be equally good, these were just on sale at the time.

\- Cheapo belt-drive indoor bike

\- Pull-up bar

\- Bench if you have extra space.

Work:

\- Ergo mouse and keyboard (I use Freestyle 2 for keys and Evoluent vertical mouse).

Liesure:

\- Kindle with buttons. Used the old keyboard one until it died, then switched to the Voyage.

Car:

\- Honda Fit. Incredible value in this car. Parks anywhere.

\- Roof rack w/cargo box. Turn your subcompact car into a station wagon.

Cooking:

\- Instant-read thermometer

\- Vintage cast iron pan. They cost about the same and have a much nicer surface. Best I've found is Griswold.

\- Forged knives with decent steel. Best value here is probably something Japanese (e.g. Tojiro Gyuto)

\- Japanese water stone for sharpening. It's a fun skill and doesn't take long to learn - or just pay for it regularly. Sharp knives are life changing.

\- Tri-ply pots/pans. I went for All-Clad, but Cuisinart seems to do fine for much less $$.

\- Panasonic IR toaster (FlashXpress). Compact, super-fast , bulletproof. (I'm on year 10 of consistent operation).

\- Moccamaster or knockoff version - I use the "Motif Essential" which sporadically shows up for $50. 85% of the flavor of pour-over, 20% of the work.

House:

\- Battery-op electric lawnmower/blower/trimmer. No more gas fumes, low maintenance, quiet.

\- Cordless drill

\- Basement dehumidifier. No more funky smell.

\- Color tunable light-bulbs. Bright blue in the morning, orange-y in the evening. It's flux for your house.

Health:

\- allergies: sublingual immuno therapy. Same benefits as allergy shots, no shots.

\- IR thermometer. Especially if you have kids.

</comment><comment><USER27> A document scanner.

I had many years of old paper tax returns, and I wanted them in PDF format. Paid $400 for an Fujitsu ScanSnap iX1500 and absolutely love it. Put a stack of documents in the top, hit "scan", and a PDF appears on my computer. Zero hassle.

Anything that I get in paper form gets immediately scanned, backed up, and shredded.

<comment><USER28> I actually plan on getting a paper scanner too (aside from the slow, crappy multifunction printer thingamajig i got), however, the pricetag has scared me away until now - do you have any other recommendations for maybe cheaper options?

That being said, scanning stuff is only part of my plan - i also plan on putting things into Mayan EDMS or paperless, OCR'd up and searchable...

[https://www.mayan-edms.com](https://www.mayan-edms.com) / [https://github.com/the-paperless-project/paperless](https://github.com/the- paperless-project/paperless)

<comment><USER29> I just brought a standard scanner from a big box store.

It is manual per page, but that isn't too bad unless you need to scan 400 pages at once and it can put paper together for a multipage pdf if so desired. I also scanned some of my old handwritten diaries but because those where in notebooks it was a pain to scan the pages and required me to hold both the notebook and the scanner and they still came out wobbly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Noice cancelling headphones with low latency Bluetooth

<comment><USER31> May i ask which one you use?

<comment><USER32> I use the sony WH-1000XM3 and love them. Game changer for noisy work environments.

<comment><USER33> I have the same, and they're brilliant. Put them on and it feels like I'm instantly transported to different (quiet) place.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> For me, it was the VR game Beat Saber. I built my first desktop and got a VR headset just to be able to play it. I took 3 weeks off work December last year and lost ~10lbs (155lbs -> 145lbs) playing 2-3 hours every day. It's been great for me since I've been sitting in front of my computer all day for years and never really enjoyed exercising.

</comment><comment><USER35> The Dash Pros

[RIP Bragi. You could probably substitute any other good wireless earbuds, though.]

This means I can learn and discover during activities where this was previously not possible.

Podcasts and audiobooks are available during commutes, flights, runs, bike rides, misc chores and errands etc.

The fact that they're entirely wireless, have very good noise cancellation (in-ear seal), a powerful touch interface, and are sweat/water proof, makes them especially useful. (e.g. skip song with double-tap while biking)

(Of course, use your discretion; shutting out the world and being always on the receiving end of information without time to process your own thoughts and letting them wander I think comes with a cost.)

Edit:

I'll echo what others have said as well: bikes!

Probably tied for first place is my bike which I bought off CraigsList in queens back in 2014. The decision to bike somewhere rather than driving/taking the train/walking means: new forms of exercise, new ways to discover a city, and it's fun :)

</comment><comment><USER36> For smokers, the easy way to stop smoking by Allen Carr. Read it, quit smoking two days later, and I have been enjoying fresh air, greater taste and an overall feeling of "hell yeah I did it" for almost a year now. My wife also quit one month later thanks to the book. First time an author actually delivers on its premise.

</comment><comment><USER37> * Nintendo Wii with Wii Fit Plus game and balance board: usage has been on and off, but I still enjoy the combination of exercise with games. Using it for yoga and strength training, even with its limited variety and how it measures things, has meant that it's a lot better than doing nothing. It's no home gym though. The Wii Sports Resort game can also make one pant and have a good enough cardio workout.

* Apple Watch: yes, it's quite easy to cheat and close the activity rings for standing, exercise and calories burned, but it still helps. Not having the phone around to see what a notification is about (and acting on it) is another plus. I can't wait for sleep monitoring that's coming in watchOS 7 (to be released in a few months).

Additional mentions: washing machine (for clothes), a powerful blender (like Vitamix), pressure cooker, and a stovetop with four burners.

</comment><comment><USER38> AirPods Pro

The original ones were awesome, but these ones are even better. Absolute game changer.

<comment><USER3> I'm really interested in getting a pair. If you don't mind, I have a few questions:

1 - If you put regular non-Apple earbuds in your ears and talk, does your voice sound different and off-putting?

2 - Do the Airpods Pro do this, and how are they for phone calls in general?

I'd really like to have them for phone calls and Zoom meetings, but regular earbuds make it hard for me to talk without being super conscious of how it sounds. Regular Apple earbuds don't have this effect, but they hurt my ears so I don't think regular Airpods would work for me. I don't think everyone has this problem though.

<comment><USER38> Initially, I was self conscious when I walked around with them and talked to people, but now I have no problems wearing AirPods Pro all day and talking to people with them on (Via Transparency Mode)

They work great for phone calls, music listening, noise cancellation is great, too.

Maybe not as good as Sony, but as an overall product, I love them and would buy them again in a heartbeat.

<comment><USER3> Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I'm sure they're a great product, but could you directly answer the following 2 questions?

1) Are you familiar with the effect where having your ears sealed off makes your voice sound weird to yourself?

2) Do the Airpods Pro have this effect?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER39> \- Cast Iron pan (one pan to do it all)

\- Crockpot (cook while you work)

\- Good mattress (you spend 30%+ of your time there)

\- Roomba (clean while you work)

\- Ninja blender/food processor

\- Noise Canceling air pods

\- toaster oven (cheap and you can cook everything)

</comment><comment><USER40> A Garmin watch. Having your health data easily available makes healthy decisions (take the stairs, or walk a bit more, or hit the gym...) a lot easier.

<comment><USER41> Frankly those should be defaults, not decisions you take based on data.

I see this quite often with people using smartwatches. "Oh I've hit my calorie burn target for the week, I can skip workout today". It's not just about calories but also about toning and stamina and establishing daily routine.

<comment><USER40> They should be default, but we always underestimate how much we eat and over estimate how active we're.

Having hard data in my wrist and setting up reminders and gamification helps me to remain on track.

I have daily goals that reset at midnight, so when I walk twice as much yesterday, I still have to walk my daily quota today.

It was very effective for me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER42> I love stuff like this so here are my contributions:

1 - the economist audio edition. I always found it incredibly exhausting and impossible to keep up on current events in a moderately objective way (nothing is perfect). The economist audio edition ate up all my podcast time but allowed me to feel well informed across various topics. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys following geo-politics, economics and other topics. They allow download to mp3 and stream via an app (I use musicolet on Android).

2 - RM Williams Chelsea boots. These are perfect chelsea boots for those who are in the market. I will buy many more pairs in my lifetime. Comfortable from day 1.

3 - a reusable water bottle that brings you Joy for the office or work setting. Drink water!!

</comment><comment><USER43> \- Sleeponlatex mattress and Ecosa pillow

\- Magnesium L Threonate, Vitamin D, B12, Zinc and Krill Oil

\- Headspace

\- Electric toothbrush

\- Deep Work by Cal Newport

\- Minimalist home work area: MPB, airpod pro, magic keyboard touchpad and monitor

\- Leetcode premium, educative.io and free guides on engineerseekingfire landed me 2 FAANG offers

<comment><USER44> Wow! Great feeling to know that my interview prep guides were somebody's answer to this question about life changing things!

Good luck with your FAANG job!

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> Sublime Text license

</comment><comment><USER46> Apple Watch Series 5 - I am exercising more than ever.

Intelligent Investor - I read this book around 15 years back and I am at a better place financially, partly due to it.

Road Bike - Bought one around 5 years ago. Best way for me to exercise and feel-the-wind-in-my-face. Finally, wife agreed to get one as well. Now we are riding together. Best feeling.

A Home - It's a double edged sword. Spending tons of time working on lawn and garden. Great way to connect to the roots. On the flip side, it's easy to get sucked into projects and not have time to pursue side projects.

</comment><comment><USER47> A Herman Miller desk chair.

I spend at least 10 hours everyday in front of my computer and the investment was well worth it.

<comment><USER48> Ditto. My back has been massively better since I shelled out for a Mirra 2.

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> Can you explain what the air purifier does and how it has made such a big impact? Most of the ones I have seen seem to make claims that sound more like snake oil, or placebo effect at best.

</comment><comment><USER50> Kindle Paperwhite

<comment><USER51> The one benefit I did not expect from an ereader was the freedom to flip between any and all of my books at any time.

My usual routine is to fall asleep while reading my Paperwhite at night. It is small enough to carry in my pocket when traveling or doing anything outside the home.

Yes, I could do all those things with my phone, but the e-ink makes reading all so, so much more pleasant.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> A motorcycle. Gave/gives me tons of fun, quality "alone" time, new friends.

</comment><comment><USER53> Linux.

*acquired - not purchased.

I've been through many game changing OSes (I'll skip pre-Windows) NT, OS/2 and Windows 3.11, then Win95 and finally - arguably the last decent OS from MS - Windows 7.

Then I discovered Linux (debian and ubuntu flavours mainly) and it's been a game changer! I haven't had an anti-virus clogging up my system nor required running registry cleaners. I feel like I've regained control over my computer vs. it controlling me!

</comment><comment><USER54> Hydro Flask pint glasses. They look great. They're insulated, so they keep your drink cool longer and, even better, you don't have to deal with condensation. They're pleasantly textured for a better grip, and if you _do_ drop them, they don't shatter into dangerous fragments. Much more expensive than glass, but way, way worth it. If price is an issue, I believe there are similar designs from others.

</comment><comment><USER55> Eyeglasses. It's actually very useful and relaxing to not see the life in blur.

</comment><comment><USER56> If you live in a cold climate, a heated mattress pad is a game changer. It lets you sleep more comfortably and also reduce energy use by turning your central heating further down at night. They are pretty ubiquitous in Korea (probably from a legacy of under floor heating and sleeping on mats), but not commonly used in the US. They should be!

<comment><USER57> I want the reverse of this. I live in the South in the states, so the summers are miserable, and my roommates like it warm (like 75+), but I want to sleep cold and I just sleep so much better that way. I wish there was a way to get the opposite effect efficiently somehow.

Sadly, fans just don't do it for me as the noise bothers me; I don't like much white noise when I'm sleeping.

</comment></comment><comment><USER58> A used bicycle for commuting, riding around the city and traveling. It's a racing bike of the 90s, fast, light and reliable.

</comment><comment><USER59> A small (~4qt) water boiler for the kitchen. Having on-demand hot water makes tea as available as a glass of water.

First benefit: tea is a beverage hobby with some stunning depth (think wine, beer, scotch, etc).

Second benefit: Lots of flavor diversity means you won't have to reach for sugary or alcoholic drinks as often to fight off boredom.

</comment><comment><USER60> Arduino — Makes me happy whenever I look at it and feels like I can build anything with it. iPad — I read all my books there. Without books I don't know if I exist. Car — A car that I love and makes me feel happy and confident every time I turn the key. It's patrol safari.

</comment><comment><USER61> \- Fitbit tracker with heart rate monitor (the model I have is the Fitbit Charge).

\- Cordless drill/screwdriver.

</comment><comment><USER62> I think most people's lives would be greatly improved by renting a dumpster for a weekend.

</comment><comment><USER63> It has always been various forms of recreational exercise equipment. When you fall in love with cycling, rowing, weight lifting, etc, you can see a dramatic improvement in general lifestyle health and mood.

</comment><comment><USER64> Amazfit Bip watches for the whole family. These are of the dying breed that can be used by open source software Gadgetbridge. Your HR, sleep patterns and tracks never leave your phone.

</comment><comment><USER65> Most pleasure per dollar: My 2008 Jamis Aurora touring bike. I don't get to take it on tours very often, but my local rides are instant euphoria. At the moment I'm sidelined because a new tire is on order...

Most useful small ticket item: a 12" x 18" erasable whiteboard lap desk. I like to do writing in an armchair and this is just perfect. Years ago I went into an educational supply store with my wife. While she was looking for something for the kids, I found the lap board.

</comment><comment><USER66> Sous Vide immersion circulator & vacuum bagger. Extremely versatile, makes cooking things that are hard to get perfect much easier (eg pork), not excessively expensive.

Instant Pot. Similar to above, but for a different set of foods.

Hot air rework station. SO MANY electronics repairs become possible with one of these.

Pet birds. I love them. Definitely not for everyone.

Engagement ring. The ring itself is just a symbol, of course, and the relationship can't be purchased. But it symbolizes a significant moment.

</comment><comment><USER50> WinRar (Just kidding)

<comment><USER67> I know that's a Reddit meme, but not buying software that you use shouldn't be a joke. Especially if you're a developer.

<comment><USER68> On the other hand, when it comes to WinRAR, the majority of people use it not because of its unique features (like the RAR format) but because it's considered the mainstream archiving software and they don't know any better.

WinRAR isn't losing much sales because it's easy to use without paying; if it was harder to use without a license, people would simply use alternatives such as 7-Zip and it would become the mainstream archiving software and WinRAR wouldn't have the brand awareness they have now. I'm assuming RarLab knows this because otherwise they would've patched the loophole long ago.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER69> Atari 400 computer in 1980.

More recently 3 pairs of $1 reading glasses from a dollar store. More expensive ones start at 1.25 strength and 1.00 suits me better for computer distance. Will be updating with blue-blocking ones--they feel so relaxing.

LG G6 (and later G8) phone + JVC HA-FXD80 earphones. I had lost interest in music until I got good enough quality to 'feel the vocals'.

</comment><comment><USER70> Reverse Osmosis water filter. It's turned me into a water snob and I never want to go back. It improves the quality of a lot of things that I cook including like coffee and pasta and it automatically/effortlessly improved my hydration because water just tastes good now. I've used Brita filters and the like and they just do not compare.

<comment><USER71> Is there a recommended model? Do you add minerals to the filtered water?

</comment></comment><comment><USER72> All around my 40's, almost at the same time

Fitbit tracker Books, audiobooks services Cast iron pan

So... Exercise, mind and eating get a boost

</comment><comment><USER73> Zalto wine glasses. $60 per, and well worth it if you enjoy wine.

A honyaki chef's knife and a vinyl cutting board to go with it.

</comment><comment><USER74> Herman miller chair Matress Macbook/iMac

Good pair of shoes (reliable) HQ clothes HQ breathable underwears Weight scale

</comment><comment><USER75> A decent carpet cleaner. My wife and I have had dogs for almost a decade and having a carpet cleaner available to us has made things a lot easier, especially when training a new puppy. We have avoided so many carpet stains over the years.

</comment><comment><USER76> ReMarkable tablet

<comment><USER14> Please elaborate on your experience. I have been looking at this for a while but have yet to see one in the wild or know anyone with one.

</comment></comment><comment><USER77> A house. I do basically all the maintenance on it, and it's been a great learning experience and opportunity for growth. The largest single project being the kitchen remodel, down to the drywall and subfloor.

</comment><comment><USER78> I don't know if it's life changing or not, but seeing as you listed a rice cooker...

We have a Zojirushi water pot/boiler that I pretty much can't live without today. Also, a portable (battery powered) bidet.

</comment><comment><USER79> KVM Switch - i used to pull all my cables out and swap monitors and have 2 mouse and keyboards on the desk now i just flick a switch. Actually started to get infuriation switching between my mac and pc for work

</comment><comment><USER80> Probably this book: [https://twitter.com/b11c/status/685018869656875008](https://twitter.com/b11c/status/685018869656875008)

</comment><comment><USER81> We just had our first child, and at multiple friends' recommendations acquired a Snoo bassinet.

It's such a revelation that I can't imagine raising a newborn without one.

<comment><USER82> Googled it, Genius product.

They should probably make an adult version of this

<comment><USER69> Yes, I want sound absorbing, light diffusing walls for my bed now.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> AirPods. Eliminating the cord changed my exercise and my life.

</comment><comment><USER83> Mobility scooter. I have heart problems and arthritis, and it has made all the difference to my ability to get to shops, chemist. doctors etc.

</comment><comment><USER84> Electric toothbrush

</comment><comment><USER85> In no particular order...

Motorcycle

Good kitchen knives

Engagement ring

</comment><comment><USER86> A dog.

</comment><comment><USER87> chromecast or in general any device that lets you use your phone as a remote for streaming services.

</comment><comment><USER88> A pair of dumbbells, a chin-up bar (the kind that you attach inside a doorframe) and a yoga mat.

</comment><comment><USER89> Dish washer, Bluetooth headphones

</comment><comment><USER90> contact lense implants. Changed my life. Can't wait for more bio upgrades

</comment><comment><USER91> Alcohol.

Not for the better.

<comment><USER65> It's never too late to change, man.

<comment><USER91> Never too soon either. Then it was mostly the twentieth century. And now mostly ripples. Of which this is one.

<comment><USER65> I love a happy ending.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER92> Roomba. Saved my marriage.

</comment><comment><USER93> Android TV and Air Fryer.

<comment><USER94> Yes to Air Fryer. I got the Cuisinart toaster over/air fryer. Calling it a "fryer" is a misnomer because it's really just a high-speed convection oven, but it makes french fries crispy with minimal oil, so I love it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Surprised (not surprised?) to see Peloton not make the list.

</comment><comment><USER95> A very good quality bed (mattress, toper, pillows, duvet).

</comment><comment><USER96> Melatonin. Completely fixed my workday insomnia.

</comment><comment><USER97> A Commodore 64

</comment><comment><USER98> Computer

Smartphone

Smart watch for step tracking

QC35 noise cancelling headphones

Kindle paper white

</comment><comment><USER99> vacuum robot (not a roomba a 150€ cheap but great one)

</comment><comment><USER100> 1\. Ring Video Doorbell 2 ($170)

2\. Netgear Nighthawk router ($150, always works)

</comment><comment><USER101> Fitbit

Toto Washlet

House

</comment><comment><USER102> bitcoin

</comment><comment><USER103> Treadmill

</comment><comment><USER104> Yes to the air purifier. People living without them are insane. Also, buying and running an air purifier destroyed my marriage! My wife said she didn't like the sound of it. So I bough a new, super quite one. Then she said she didn't like the "frequency" not the volume of the machine. One day I came home and she had unplugged it and we got into an argument. I told her to please just "shut up" and that was when she attacked and literally tried to kill me. I got away but later she went to the police and told them she had been "assaulted". Nothing happened but she filed for divorce.

I still love the air purifier though!

<comment><USER84> What brand of air purifier was this?</comment></comment>


MIT World : Videos from talks at MIT - <AUTHOR> http://mitworld.mit.edu/index.php <comment><AUTHOR> Requires real player unfortunately. A lot of the talks look like they're worth it though :)</comment>


How to easily defeat Linux Encoder ransomware - <AUTHOR> http://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-fix-linux-encoder-ransomware/ <comment><USER2> Previously: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10524791](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10524791)

tl;dr: if you run nearly-a-year-unpatched software (Magento) you will be hacked by script kiddies.

This is a fairly competent article, other than the obviously click-bait title. Although the Bitdefender post linked as a source contains much more technical detail and less copy-paste tutorial: [http://labs.bitdefender.com/2015/11/linux-ransomware- debut-f...](http://labs.bitdefender.com/2015/11/linux-ransomware-debut-fails- on-predictable-encryption-key/)

</comment><comment><USER3> I cleaned up the README and hosted the decrypter on Github: [https://github.com/eugenekolo/linux-ransomware- decrypter](https://github.com/eugenekolo/linux-ransomware-decrypter)</comment>


Crockford on JavaScript - <AUTHOR> http://yuiblog.com/crockford/

<comment><USER2> I don't always agree with all of Crockfords opinions (I don't believe the ++ operator to be harmful for example) but I do think that his lectures are brilliant.

In fact, his previous lectures at yahoo somewhere around 2007ish have fundamentally changed how I think about JavaScript: what was bad spaghetti once, became real architecture. What I felt was an ugly language became a cool language with some warts.

Crockfords lectures began a long process to convert me from "who needs functional programming" to "why does this method here have side effects?" (a route many programmers are probably taking, but for me was the beginning of the journey)

And finally, even if you think that you know all about JS, these lectures are still very entertaining to watch, because, IMHO, Crockford is a brilliant speaker.

<comment><USER3> Agreed - I think he has improved people's perception about JavaScript, but people who blindly follow what Crockford says are worse than the copy-paste javascript developers of the late 90s.

I too disagree with him about several things - these two off the top of my head:

* White space - real tabs are much easier to work with than spaces

* new Operator - a) we can automagically return a new instance if the constructor is called normally and b) even if we couldn't, that's no reason to stop using a major part of OOP.

<comment><USER4> The anti-tab movement is not specific to Javascript. Most languages have adopted this position, and most IDEs expand tabs to spaces by default now.

<comment><USER5> But why that pro-space bias? I've always preferred tabs.

<comment><USER6> Because different editors handle them wildly differently but spaces are totally unambiguous.

With spaces there's no sudden, 'woah, what happened there'.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I loved the way he explained closures and IE 6 memory leak problems in event handling.

</comment><comment><USER8> More talks by Crockford, including this series: <http://yuilibrary.com/theater/douglas-crockford/>

For something completely different, check out Project Future, Crockford's lecture on Walt Disney's dreams.

Scene 6 from the JS series also has slides and Flash video available: [http://yuilibrary.com/theater/douglas-crockford/crockford- lo...](http://yuilibrary.com/theater/douglas-crockford/crockford-loopage/)

<comment><USER9> To piggy-back off what reid contributed, here is Crockford's website containing a lot of his essays on JavaScript and a calendar of his past & upcoming speaking events:

<http://www.crockford.com/>

He's also been active on Google+

<https://plus.google.com/118095276221607585885/posts>

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> JavaScript is one language where opinions are built not purely based on technological consideration but also a lot of politics. Best part is no matter what who think about the language, you don't really have a choice.

Most of the javascript programmers today are merely copy-paste JS programmers who basically just copy paste some iQuery code and modify to suite their own project.

A lot of credit goes to Cockford for popularizing Javascript as a core languages and sensitzinf programmers about the differences it shares with other programming languages.

</comment><comment><USER11> > world's most popular programming language

I don't even ...

<comment><USER12> In this case popular does not specifically mean well liked, simply widely used. Consider the mass of people cut and pasting together web sites who touch javascript, and virtually every modern, internet connected device is capable of parsing and executing javascript.

Edit: For the record, I personally really like javascript, since exposing myself to crockfords evangelism and picking up node.js.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Great series, but he 'ummms' way too much and I couldn't help but notice it.

(Edit: it gets better later on)</comment>


OpenBSD Ports - Integrating Third Party Applications [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://jggimi.homeip.net/semibug.pdf <comment><USER2> This is a nice overview. I've had mixed success in ports contributions. If the app you're packaging is "normal" then the whole thing is pretty reasonable. If the thing you're doing involves 7 bajillion CPAN packages and cross dependencies with something large and complex, you're going to have a bad time.

Overall, I'd say the process of making ports is slightly easier than packaging on some other platforms, except when you encounter exceptions--which can happen with software written with an expectation of Linux.

<comment><USER3> _If the thing you 're doing involves 7 bajillion CPAN packages and cross dependencies with something large and complex, you're going to have a bad time._

You might find portgen(1) somewhat useful. For example, try something like this:

      doas portgen p5 Net::Hadoop::YARN

<comment><USER2> Ah crap--yes, that would have been very useful. Thank you, and I will definitely use this in the future.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> There's also the expectation that ports have all been vetted for security issues and the like. That's the tradeoff that ordinary users see -- not as many packages have been ported, but they're safer. I don't always think that this is true, but trying to abide by it makes porting a bit more difficult.</comment>


What books for learning Java? - <AUTHOR>

Hi all,
I'm currently learning Java with a hope to build simple CRM systems and perform tasks like database interrogation, reading/writing to excel, reading/writing to CSV/XML and web automation with Selenium web driver.
The books i'm currently thinking of ordering are:
Learning Java by Patrick Niemeyer and Java How to Program: International Version by Harvey Deitel
Any others that are required reading or indeed any useful learning resources are welcome! <comment><USER2> Introduction to Java Programming (Ninth Edition) Y. Daniel Liang. Is quite a good book to learn Java programming.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks!</comment></comment>


Show HN: Create high resolution GIFs from YouTube - <AUTHOR> https://gifrun.com <comment><USER2> It takes an optimized video file from YouTube and bloats it into a GIF that is 20 times larger.

Why not just mute the video, trim it, and reduce its resolution? GIF needs to die.

<comment><AUTHOR> GIFs should not be compared to videos, for one GIF is 30 year old technology with obvious limitations, however, there is still demand due to its portability. It also creates better effect if its very short clip, which most GIFs are. I appreciate you checking it out.

<comment><USER3> What platform doesn't have the ability to play an mp4 file? GNU Icecat on a FSF approved distro maybe, but beyond that? The portability advantage of gifs are _greatly_ overstated.

The way I see it, gifs are strictly obsolete. They're big, load slow, and have limited color support (what's the point of a high-resolution gif if you're going to trash all the color data anyway?)

<comment><AUTHOR> You made all the right points about GIF, it is an outdated technology for sure, but nothing has truly replaced it yet, there is apng as well as other technologies, but that's not universally supported as GIFs are.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Wow that was incredibly easy to use (I made this as a test: [https://i.imgur.com/7qAVhzn.gif](https://i.imgur.com/7qAVhzn.gif))

1 feature request if possible, can you add another scrubber to the video so that I can set a beginning and end region and be able to preview my loop before creating the gif? Not sure how much of your gif making is done on the front or back-end but if it's back-end it would save you some bandwidth and CPU.

this is really good! awesome work

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm adding features all the time, I'm thinking of providing a quick preview as well. I appreciate you checking it out and glad you like it!

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> It looks like the tool creates 8 bit .gif files rather than h264 encoded webm videos. Is there any demand for actual .gif files these days?

<comment><USER6> What part of this project led you to believe it would produce "h264 encoded webm videos"?

<comment><USER3> Probably the part where it's 2020, not 1995.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is a GIF maker, so it creates GIFs from videos and nothing more. Due to the fact that GIFs are over 30 years old, it should not be compared to today's technology, specially video encoding which is very different from a soundless looping image. Having said that, I'm all for something new that will replace a GIF with more modern approach and millions of colors.

<comment><USER3> > _it should not be compared to today 's technology, specially video encoding > which is very different from a soundless looping image_

Considering most sites that let users upload gifs convert them into looping soundless videos, I'd say they're "very different" insofar as they're _very inferior_.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I would highly suggest to add some simple backend validation! Without even opening Postman, you can just edit the HTML and request an 8K gif! That's for sure quite expensive in terms of bandwidth and CPU!

</comment><comment><USER8> You can do this with youtube-dl and FFmpeg.

If you create high-resolution GIFs, you will end with huge files, that's surprising. This is because the compression, after reduction to a 256 color table, is lossless.

<comment><USER9> Offhand do you recall the one-liner for that?

I remember seeing it a couple years back.

<comment><USER10> I often refer to this article, it does a good job of building a one-liner up from scratch: [https://engineering.giphy.com/how-to-make-gifs-with- ffmpeg/](https://engineering.giphy.com/how-to-make-gifs-with-ffmpeg/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Not going to lie, this is pretty neat. Before I commit to bookmarking this, are you going to keep it free? And what exactly are your plans?

<comment><USER12> The plan is to keep it free supported by ads.

<comment><USER11> Thanks!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> This is awesome. Any way you can make an API out of this?

<comment><USER4> This is not a replacement for someone else conveniently creating an API for you but if you're interested in running your own version of this you can probably recreate this with a combination of youtube-dl[1] (Python) and ffmpeg[2] and build an API around that. Youtube-dl handles A LOT more sites than just Youtube[3]

1\. [http://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html](http://ytdl- org.github.io/youtube-dl/download.html)

2\. [https://engineering.giphy.com/how-to-make-gifs-with- ffmpeg/](https://engineering.giphy.com/how-to-make-gifs-with-ffmpeg/)

3\. [http://ytdl-org.github.io/youtube-dl/supportedsites.html](http://ytdl- org.github.io/youtube-dl/supportedsites.html)

I wouldn't be surprised if this site was doing exactly this.

<comment><USER13> Yes unfortunately creating a prototype is one thing but maintenance, monitoring and long term commitment is another.

Thanks a lot though. youtube-dl and ffmpeg are very handy tools.

<comment><AUTHOR> I use both YouTube-DL and FFMPEG to accomplish this task. I will say this, creating high quality GIF is by far the easiest part of the whole thing. Bypassing too many request as well as throttling which youtube is very good at was the trickiest part and still is. Making something work for a single user is one thing, scaling so everyone else can use it is a whole different beast. The name of the game is proxy and everything revolves around that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Exactly what I needed, thanks!

<comment><USER12> Glad you like it!

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I hate to be that guy but is this allowed by YouTube's ToS?

<comment><USER12> GIFs ate fair use, it's not a copyright issues, also not using YouTube api.

<comment><USER16> > not using YouTube api

Which means, like youtube-dl, it will break every week or two

<comment><AUTHOR> More like every three weeks, but who's counting :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Also I like to add, I've build number of applications using an API only to regret the time I spent on it later. When you rely on external API, its really not your product and you don't own it, API owns you and every move you make. Instead, I would rather rely on a strong community for support such as YouTube-DL, even though there are issues and its not perfect, still much better than API route, just my two cents.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Cocos2d: past, present and future - <AUTHOR> https://www.scribd.com/doc/88493987/Cocos2d-past-present-and-future <comment><USER2> I think where they are going is completely amazing. I have dealt with cocos2d in the early days and it was kind of hard for a beginner to pickup and there weren't as many tools out there to work on sound, sprites and tile maps. But its nice that they are focusing on different platforms :) makes porting things a whole lot easier.

</comment><comment><USER3> I've been wondering for a long time where the name came from.. Los Cocos, Córdoba, Argentina!

</comment><comment><USER4> The javascript common API path is very interesting. This presentation explains a lot better why the guys who built cocos2D were picked up by Zynga. Using this JS API they will be able to design an app once and deploy it across the web, iOS, and Android all at once.</comment>