As the 747 Begins Its Final Approach, a Pilot Takes a Flight Down Memory Lane - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/travel/747-airplane-jet-pilot.html <comment><USER2> My dad worked for the US diplomatic service when I was a kid. Our family started out traveling on ocean liners (on the North Atlantic route from Le Havre to New York in the winter: no glamour there). There was our journey from Lagos to NY in 1958: A DeHavilland Comet over the Sahara with four stops for fuel, and a diversion from Paris to Brussels for weather. Then a train to Le Havre on the English Channel, then five days of rough Atlantic weather with a steel plate bolted over the porthole in our cabin.

Then the 707 came along. That was then end of the stops for fuel and the multiday ship rides. Every trip took a day or too because of the 707.

Then came the 747. And that kind of travel got comfortable. Junior diplomats don't get to take their families in first class, but I did once see the piano in the upstairs lounge. Imagine: lifing a piano from sea level to flight level 370 and not caring about the weight! What an airplane!

A have a friend who was a flight attendant working the Teheran evacuation in 1979. They packed the 747 full. People were sitting on the floor in all the aisles. The holds were crammed full of peoples' stuff. And my friend said the plane just rolled and lifted off from Mehrabad Airport like it was full of marshmallows. (Of course, they were only going to Athens from Teheran, and they didn't refuel in Teheran ... the landing on arrival at Mehrabad might have been a bit heavy, eh?)

The 747 is a airplane for the ages, and definitely one of the good things of my life. I hope some people who made it possible are reading this. Thanks, you all.

<comment><USER3> > A have a friend who was a flight attendant working the Teheran evacuation in > 1979. They packed the 747 full. People were sitting on the floor in all the > aisles.

During _Operation Solomon_ , an El Al 747 carried 1,122 Ethiopian Jews from Ethiopia to Israel.

<comment><USER4> TIL. And yes, characteristics associated with Ethiopians apply:

 _Operation Solomon airlifted almost twice as many Ethiopian Jews to Israel as Operation Moses. The operation set a world record for single-flight passenger load on May 24, 1991, when an El Al 747 carried 1,122 passengers to Israel (1,087 passengers were registered, but dozens of children hid in their mothers ' robes). "Planners expected to fill the aircraft with 760 passengers. Because the passengers were so light, many more were squeezed in." Five babies were born aboard the planes._

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

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I used to fly these every two weeks, KL691 and KL692 the flights between Schiphol, Netherhands and Toronto, Canada.

Then at some point they moved to 777's, and even though it was a nice plane and far more modern the 747 almost never had a turbulent ride whereas the 777 trips were far less comfortable, especially the red-eye return flight rarely was smooth enough that I could get some sleep.

Retiring the 747 was one (small) factor in the decision to move to Canada. I flew that flight so often that I knew most of the flight crew by name after a year or so, and quite a few of them would recognize me.

It's a magnificent aircraft and the most impressive bit to me is that it was designed mostly with slide rules and other old-fashioned gear.

Also, this is the only time I've ever gone faster than 1,250 Km/h groundspeed in a regular jet (and that probably wasn't even close to the record). Trade winds really helped there but still, it was incredible to see how fast we moved over ground (or rather, sea).

<comment><USER6> I wonder if the increase in turbulence was due to climate change.

<comment><USER7> Why is this being downvoted? Turbulence is caused by atmospheric instability, which is driven by the atmospheric temperature gradient, and that has increased in the last few decades thanks to global warming.

[https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/new/wwosc/documents...](https://www.wmo.int/pages/prog/arep/wwrp/new/wwosc/documents/Williams_CAT.pdf)

<comment><USER8> Also I think it should be encouraged to ask questions even if the true answer is the opposite of what was implied.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> For anyone wondering why airlines are retiring the 747 this Wikipedia section summarizes it: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-400#Retirement_and_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-400#Retirement_and_economic_value)

Summary: Old, inefficient, less need for jumbo jets. Everyone's either buying smaller or migrating to the modern Airbus A380.

<comment><USER10> The A380 isn't that popular either. The A380 only makes sense for really popular routes with a guaranteed high passenger count, whereas the 787 is more flexible because it has a similar range and takes less passengers but is almost as efficient per passenger-mile.

And in 2016 there were fears Airbus might even cancel the A380 entirely: [https://qz.com/782361/airbus-a380-airlines-are-abandoning- th...](https://qz.com/782361/airbus-a380-airlines-are-abandoning-the-worlds- biggest-passenger-plane/)

<comment><USER11> The A380 was a bet on hub-and-spoke (Emirates is the biggest A380 operator, with all flights going to/from Dubai), while the B787 was a bet on point-to- point.

<comment><USER12> Yup, Wendover Productions (massive aeroplane nerd) did a fanatastic video about this, really recommend it if anyone's interested in the economics of airlines.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSxSgbNQi-g](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSxSgbNQi-g)

<comment><USER13> That whole YouTube channel is awesome, and there are a few related ones that are also fantastic.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> In an era when corporations are constantly accused of short term thinking, the 747 was a bet-the-company deal for Boeing. There was no government financing nor subsidy. It was in service for 10 years before it began to show a profit for Boeing.

And then, boy did it ever show a profit. And not just for the Boeing, but for the airlines who loved its ability to make money.

The 747 was a triumph any way you want to look at it - free market, safety, engineering, money making, pleased customers, etc.

<comment><USER15> My father worked for Boeing during (or shortly after) the time the 747 was designed. It was all done with pencil and paper. Thousands of draftsmen drawing every little component.

I can't imagine the scale of such a process.

My favorite bit about that. If you were take all the drawings produced during the design phase, and put them on a 747, it would't get off the ground. Not sure if apocryphal or not, but I buy it.

EDIT: I see in another comment you worked there as well. Maybe you can verify the "heavy documents" anecdote :)

<comment><USER14> There was a joke that the design was not done until the weight of the paperwork exceeded the weight of the airplane, but I doubt anyone added it all up.

The 757 was the last Boeing airliner to be designed on paper. They were experimenting with CAD software at the time, but it was pretty primitive.

Slide rules were long gone. Engineers used calculators, and I snuck into the computer room and used Fortran for my work that had traditionally been done graphically with drafting equipment (I had no idea how that worked).

<comment><USER16> My dad[1] worked on I think can't find the right term, but the fixtures that hold satellites while they're carried into space. Back in the late 60's they were using numerical analysis to design the things. But have a gut feeling before 1980-1985 likely wasn't anything that could hold, retrieve and display, edit all the cad drawings for something as complex as a 757.

Bonus I remember retraining our draftsman to use CAD back in the late 80's, twuz painful.

[1] Bonus my dad is as old as the DC3.

<comment><USER14> Computer numerical analysis was used in some areas. But not with anything I was involved in (other than the programs I wrote myself), and it was not connected with CAD software.

Bonus: my dad flew DC-3's :-) He had nothing but good things to say about them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I still remember my first time.

I was a freshman at Caltech in 1969, and my friends and I were looking for something to do.

We could go to downtown LA for a Chinese dinner, or to Tijuana to see if we could get into Mexico. Didn't work the last time: the border guard said "Hair too long. Go back!"

Or maybe we could visit Pomona College to try to meet some of the young ladies there.

That seemed unlikely, so a trip to LAX it was. We'd heard that the first 747 was there.

We dropped some fake psilocybin and made our way to the airport. No one minded that we were dressed like hippies and acting a bit odd, they were happy to give us a tour of the 747. It was the most awesome airplane in the world!

</comment><comment><USER18> Joe Sutter, lead engineer and PM for the 747, wrote a nice autobiography "747: Creating the World's First Jumbo Jet"

[https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060882425/](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0060882425/)

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1267151.747](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1267151.747)

The considerations for redundancy, safety, and testing for these huge passenger jets is quite striking compared to, say, the Skunkworks book.

Recommended.

</comment><comment><USER19> Boeing is still selling 747-8, but most are sold as freight variant. It hasn't sold a single 747-8 passenger variant to major carrier in 5 years.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-8#747-8_Intercontin...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747-8#747-8_Intercontinenta)

But the death of 4 engine plane trend continues even for A380. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airbus_A380_orders_and...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airbus_A380_orders_and_deliveries)

<comment><USER5> End of the line is predicted for Q3 2019 or slightly after that if they can get some more orders, manufacturing is now down to 6 per year.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> If you happen to be near Speyer in Germany you can visit the Technikmusem Speyer and see a 747 up close. [https://speyer.technik- museum.de/en/boeing-747](https://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/boeing-747)

If that's not reason enough to visit this museum: They've also got a Buran.

<comment><USER21> I was curious how the hell they ended up with a Buran, given that there were two, the one that flew was destroyed in a hangar collapse, and the other was never completed.

Turns out they have the atmospheric aerodynamic test vehicle (OK-GLI / Buran Analog BST-02).

As for how, it has quite the interesting history. Bought by an Australian in 2000, displayed for the Olympics, owner went bankrupt. No buyers appeared. It next shows up being exhibited in Bahrain, before the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum buys it (finally moved in 2008).

The remaining Buran vehicle is still in Russian custody.

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK-GLI](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK- GLI)

</comment></comment><comment> et-al I once got to go up to the cockpit as a child, and remember climbing up that spiral staircase, awing at business (or first?) class, and entering the mindboggling cockpit of switches.

Something about that second floor, with a spiral staircase, is magical. Recently, I found out that 777's manage to fit a crew rest area on top of the overhead luggage compartments. I haven't been fortunate enough to check out one of those.

<comment><USER22> Just as an info drop, the 2nd floor is business class. First class is on the first floor, in front of the cockpit geometrically.

<comment><USER23> There are no hard and fast rules for the configuration. I've travelled on aircraft where the top deck was business class and others where it was premium economy.

<comment><USER24> Virgin Atlantic even has a few rows of regular economy in the rear half of the upper deck of (some of?) their 747s (front half is premium economy, business class is downstairs).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Wendover Productions has an interesting video which touches on this, and the need for a new middle-tier plane. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIdzF1_b5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlIdzF1_b5M)

</comment><comment><USER26> Would you just _look_ at the padding and space between those seats. I miss that far more than the plane model.

<comment><USER27> How much was the airfare (in inflation adjusted dollars) back then?

<comment><USER28> Previous HN discussion related to that: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15041403](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15041403)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> It's truly amazing how cheap flying has gotten. I flew SEA-LHR for $408 roundtrip on a BA 747 in the cheap fuel days of the early 2000s.

I had never flown anything other than coach before, but I was lucky enough to find a cheap-with-miles business class seat to Europe this summer when I had a break between jobs. I got to fly UA58 SFO-FRA, top deck, mere months before United retires the 747. It was truly an experience; it feels like a private plane up there with only a couple dozen passengers (and more than enough lavatories, no lines!)

</comment><comment><USER14> When I worked for Boeing, I worked for a time for Burt Berlin, who designed much of the flight controls for the 747. Talking about the design with him was always fun, and he was always happy to show me how to do things. He was quite an amazing engineer and a good man.

</comment><comment><USER30> Good interview of author in 'Layovers' podcast - [http://www.layovers.to/podcast/060-nbo](http://www.layovers.to/podcast/060-nbo)

<comment><USER31> I second this recommendation. Since listening I have heard all manner of things compared to the 747; yoga poses, describing something large, etc, as raised on the Podcast. It truly is an icon that translates across countries.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> The pilot from this article also wrote a great book called "Skyfaring". A must read for aviation fans. Even though it's more lyrical and less technical I still enjoyed it a lot.

</comment><comment><USER33> I've managed one flight on the upper deck of a 747, and I'll never forget it. To me, growing up, it was _the_ iconic passenger jet.

The 787 is a technical marvel, but it doesn't evoke the same feelings.

</comment><comment><USER34> This is an interesting book on the history of Pan Am and the role the 747 played: [SKYGODS: The Fall of Pan Am]([https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004J173SS/ref=dp-kindle- redirect?...](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004J173SS/ref=dp-kindle- redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1))

<comment><USER35> For an early history of Pan Am with another type of plane check "China Clipper: The Age of the Great Flying Boats" by Robert Gandt.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> Queen of the Skies.</comment>


Show HN: Hacker News dashboard with BigQuery - <AUTHOR> https://vida.io/dashboards/fqZHEph8S3gCZijLB <comment><USER2> Are you calling this information in real-time? Your website is slow to load on my end... Is there any way you can cache this somehow or use static data?</comment>


U.S. Senate considering to suspend habeas corpus - <AUTHOR> http://www.elliottwave.com/freeupdates/archives/2010/04/21/What-Police-State-Legislation-Looks-Like.aspx

<comment><USER2> " _The bill's sponsors are surely aware that much of the language is flagrantly unconstitutional._ "

Garbage, and it's even a power that is clearly given to the Congress in Article I Section 9: [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_Sta...](http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America#Section_9)

" _The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it._ "

<comment><USER3> That last clause is quite clear, isn't it? "...unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it."

\- It says "invasion." This doesn't mean just an attack, even if it is a successful terrorist attack by nineteen people. Wikipedia has a good definition: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion> Thus, except in cases of rebellion or invasion, Habeas Corpus may not be suspended. As far as I know this country has not suffered a rebellion since 1865 and has never been invaded.

\- The constitution also says "...the public Safety may require it." Thus even if there were an invasion or rebellion, it's not automatic.

<comment><USER2> It's certainly arguable that a _series_ of attacks by foreigners in an auto- conspiracy (a group of like minded people) that is explicit and public about its goal of destroying the United States (as a political entity) and enslaving its population (well, those who don't convert) constitutes an "invasion".

Heck, half of those 19 were reattacking a target that the auto-conspiracy had failed to destroy earlier (while it woudln't have worked, they were trying to topple one tower into the other; fortunately the bomb prematured on a ramp).

So I don't count this as "flagrantly unconstitutional".

One frequently mentioned example nowadays of this is the Nazi saboteurs who landed in the US from submarine and were dealt with as spies, not afforded the civil liberties of the period.

<comment><USER2> Feel free to down vote me, but I'd really like to hear the arguments that this doesn't constitute an "invasion" in any reasonable construction of the Constitution.

What if a good part of Manhattan Island and D.C. are reduced to radioactive slag sometime this decade? Will that count as an "invasion"? Will we _then_ regret treating this issue like a law enforcement problem instead of like a war?

(Do you think we'll forever be able to avoid the jihadist's being able to light off a nuke on or above an American city?)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Alright, first of all, not it isn't.

The senate has a ton of horrible, nonsensical bills that are introduced, but they never see the light of day.

This is just linkbait and a two paragraph explanation of some obscure McCain bill that nobody will care about.

<comment><USER2> I wouldn't say it's entirely nonsensical.

The Miranda-izing of the Christmas "Knicker Bomber" resulted in a loss of intelligence about what is going on in the rather hot area of Yemen, the same place where Anwar al-Awlaki is thought to be residing, who is an American citizen _whom the President of the United States has ordered the "targeted killing" of_ (!!! <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_al- Awlaki#Current_status>).

Nonsensical, perhaps, in that in practice the Congress can't force the Executive's hand like this, but perhaps adding a little clarity here might help in the long run.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Wealth creation as a result of reading HN - <AUTHOR> Curious any stories of wealth that was created as a result of engaging on HN or information/comments posted. I am sure there will be plenty who got into cryptocurrency because of HN (though the general sentiment I've seen on HN is pretty critical).<p>Any stores of buying a particular public stock that ended up being huge winners? Business opportunities as a result of reading or commenting? <comment><USER2> It's not a good idea for anyone to publicly attest to cryptocurrency wealth, since online exchanges are still very vulnerable to phone number porting attacks, defeating 2fa and worse.</comment>


Ike the CSS3 / HTML5 Robot - <AUTHOR> http://mykepryce.com/ike/type-a-1/ike.html

<comment><USER2> Ike is cool.

I am trying to think of what I will do with Ike.

Wish he would tell me, but then perhaps our humans minds do have a purpose after all...

</comment><comment><USER3> The panic button reminds me of Gary from Team America... "It's me! It's me!"

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Haha, yea it does remind me of that!</comment>


Ask HN: Custom search engine for website? - <AUTHOR> I was wondering what the current state of custom search is right now (creating search engines for specific websites and data sets). There's Google CSE, Solr, ElasticSearch, and what else?<p>If I wanted to create a search engine for a medium-sized website, what would my options be? <comment><USER2> There's Algolia [https://www.algolia.com/](https://www.algolia.com/)

This is what HN uses for search.

<comment><USER3> not sure it's official. [http://hn.algolia.com/](http://hn.algolia.com/)

<comment><USER4> It is official. Algolia was funded by YC and when I've contacted YC with requests for HN data I've been referred to Algolia.

<comment><USER3> There is also the firebase api for data.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm in the same boat. There does seem to be a gap in offerings. I'm looking for a solution for a static site, not cataloging of databases.

I was using searchpath.io, but developer announced he was winding it down. I was paying $75/yr. Loved it - simple, clean, pretty good results. I would pay more, but not as much as some of the major offerings. I am sure they are worth what they do, I just don't need that level of complexity.

<comment><USER6> What's your contact? I might have something you can test.

<comment><USER5> Added email to profile. Thanks.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Google CSE is not an option any longer:

 _On April 1st, 2017, Google will discontinue the sales of Google Site Search, the paid version of Custom Search Engine. All new purchases and renewals must take place before this date. This product will be completely shut down by April 1st, 2018. This note does not affect Custom Search Engine._</comment>


Why you shouldn't use the Lesser GPL for your next library - <AUTHOR> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/why-not-lgpl.html <comment><USER2> The problem with the readline library example is that there are BSD versions of the library. So you can do something like this:

[https://git.kernel.org/cgit/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/tree/lib/s...](https://git.kernel.org/cgit/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/tree/lib/ss/get_readline.c) [https://git.kernel.org/cgit/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/tree/lib/s...](https://git.kernel.org/cgit/fs/ext2/e2fsprogs.git/tree/lib/ss/listen.c)

So riddle me this. The ss library is under an MIT-style copyright license. Suppose you have a proprietary program (Say, the Solaris kerberos v5 administration daemon client, to take a not-so-hypothetical example). Now suppose it dynamic links against a version of libss that might dlopen readline, or might dlopen editline, and if neither is available, libss will fall back to fgets. Now suppose Solaris distributes their kadmin program independent of the version of libss distributed as part of e2fsprogs. Quick! Is there a copyright violation, and if so, who committed it?

<comment><USER3> As it happens, this exact argument was put forth by the "at least one application program" that converted to free software:

[http://clisp.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/clisp/clisp/doc/Why-...](http://clisp.cvs.sourceforge.net/viewvc/clisp/clisp/doc/Why- CLISP-is-under-GPL)

It was never actually resolved, because the CLISP author decided that making his program free software would be a good idea for other reasons anyway. In the past, I would have disagreed with RMS's insinuation that a GPL violation would occur, because, as stated:

> So the only reason why you may object is that my lisp.a has an INTERFACE > that allows it to be linked to libreadline.a . As far as I know, only the > readline CODE is copyrighted, not its INTERFACE. (Would you object because > my libnoreadline.a has a similar interface?)

Only... we just got a US court decision that APIs _are_ copyrightable. Although readline's API is much simpler than large parts of Java, it's substantial enough that I'd argue the decision nevertheless implies that libedit is a copyright violation. Which I find ironic, since most of the programs affected by the decision are free software clones of proprietary software, not the other way around.

<comment><USER4> The court opinion stressed pretty strongly that Google's usage of the Java API was never actually intended to build an interoperable implementation (stating that Google was unable to point to any specific examples of code that would even be interoperable ;P) but instead to build a non-interoperable platform that was heavily inspired by the work that was put into Java. I think Google could have made a better case for attempting to be interoperable in certain ways (such as with libraries as opposed to "apps"), but apparently they didn't, and in fact came off quite strongly as trying to build their own unrelated-to-Java platform for various technical and business reasons. It still seems to be the case that if you are building a system whose goal is truly to be interoperable (such as libedit is to libreadline) you would not run into problems. For much more detailed commentary and argument (as well as quotes from the opinion), I encourage you to read my comment from that thread:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7723853](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7723853)

<comment><USER5> I don't have a clue what Google's specific goals were, but couldn't an argument be made that compatibility with existing knowledge of developers is also a form of interoperability, and in particular one that needs to be protected from monopolization?

<comment><USER4> At that point copyright becomes meaningless (though if you are willing to go that far that's great: I don't see anything inherently incorrect about the position "copyright is meaningless"): "I needed my photograph to look like yours because everyone was familiar with yours and I wanted them to feel the same way as they did when they saw yours".

<comment><USER5> Well, yeah, I don't see much inherently meaningful in copyright either, in particular because drawing boundaries is ... difficult, to say the least.

But I think your example still doesn't quite capture what I mean ... even though, well, maybe it does, but let me explain ;-): What I had in mind is in particular that getting familiar with an API requires effort, so it's kindof an investment on the part of the developer. After all, an API is as much a human/machine interface as it is a machine/machine interface. As such, it is problematic to allow anyone to have a monopoly on that investment, essentially a monopoly on the use of those developers' knowledge. And protection of investments is one of the arguments (the argument?) for interoperability exceptions--so, why only for machine/machine interoperability and not also for human/machine interoperability?

I guess the "investment" aspect doesn't work that well for your example, but I still can see some value in the argument, in particular if you apply it to DRM (type) systems and culture in general.

<comment><USER4> For me, part of the difference is whether the interoperability is complete or fuzzy: I don't feel like you can be "only sort of interoperable", and that seems to be the big difference between the human/machine and machine/machine examples (it isn't that the interoperability is a different kind of interoperability, it is that it is a different level of precision in the kind of interoperability). A developer of will notice important differences in Java vs. Android.

To explain some more with my photograph comment: the photograph might have taken time and context and thought on behalf of an entire population of viewers to come to some "meaning"; maybe this is more obvious if we take a storyline from a popular television show: before the show people didn't care about the topic of the show, but after the investment, quality, and success of the show now people really like that topics and in particular the story progression that went along with it.

People are familiar with that story: to really allow those people to feel good about the new story, maybe it has to be similar to the old one? If you go down this path for a while, you start reading about idea/expression differences as they apply to literary and visual works: high-level plots and themes are not protected, but specific details and timelines are. The idea of organizing code into packages and classes is not, but the specific choice of what classes to put in what packages and what they are named are.

FWIW, I personally feel like a lot of the benefit of trying to be "interoperable" with someone's perception of how to program is sufficient to be at that higher "idea" level: when I use C# or Objective-C (which in many ways feel similar to Java and in the case of C# was pretty much designed as a direct replacement for Java) I am highly familiar with them despite not feeling like they are the same: I gain a lot of the benefit of C# and Java having similar ideas, despite the fact that they clearly have different expressions.

Now, that said? I continue to appreciate the idea that this is all a stupid distinction: but if you erase this distinction I am not certain where you still draw the line for claiming copyright on anything. Given the idea "investment in expression should be protected" (an admittedly-oversimplified version of "copyright"), I don't think you still have "investment by consumers in content should be inherently reusable by other creators". I could be wrong, however, and would love to hear more ideas.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I don't use GPL libraries because of the tyrannical copy-left clause. If I want to GPL mine, then I'll make that choice. But I won't use a single library that'll force me to choose GPL—I'll just write/find a replacement. So go ahead, make your library GPL instead of LGPL/MIT/BSD/MPL/APL/ETC and it'll sit unused and ignored (for the most part).

I also really appreciate what morbius wrote in this same thread: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7757677](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7757677)

<comment><USER7> Tyranny is a strong word for "please only use this free code in the ways that I have outlined".

<comment><USER8> It's Tyranny because the express goal of the GPL is to force all software to be free and open source. It's one thing to just say "my library has restrictions, please obey them", but the GPL is designed to try to infect as much of the software world as it possibly can, forcing via legal measures other software to catch its copyleft virus.

<comment><USER9> Because using coercion in the interest of "freedom" always works out so well.

<comment><USER5> What is your definition of "coercion" that you are using here?

<comment><USER9> The same sense that the FSF uses coercion when they describe participation in closed-source.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> enjoy-your-stay I thought one of the main reasons for the LGPL was to attract more people to use and contribute to your library, whether open source or proprietary; with the added advantage that developers efforts were not being wasted with needless duplication.

This approach seems to seek to create a much stronger 'us' and 'them' mindset which can only alienate a large number potential contributors.

<comment><USER5> One could also look at it as seeking to avoid needless duplication even more: By trying to give free software an advantage by being able to make use of GPLed libraries, or possibly to motivate people to release their new software under GPL because that allows them to make use of GPLed libraries, you might be able to avoid future work on the competing proprietary silos, instead focusing resources that are used for developing the particular kind of software on the one commonly developed free software solution, thus creating a much stronger 'us all together' instead of any kind of 'us' vs 'them'.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> The problem, I think, with the GPL community is that they refuse to accept that almost all software developers make a living by working for a company, and feel that it is unjust to refuse their libraries to others who do the same.

And, because their software is open source, someone will inevitably create a better competing library based on the ideas behind the GPL one. That new library? Apache license.

<comment><USER11> I'm having trouble parsing your first sentence. There's a _problem of refusing to be accepted that almost all, and unjust to refuse to others that do the same._ One or both of us are making a sign error.

Are you saying that the "GPL community" don't want software developers that work for a company to use their libraries?

<comment><USER10> More succinct point: I can't use GPL software libraries at work. I have no interest in developing under GPL because it would expose others to the same problem.

There are ways the GPL community could attempt to incorporate individuals like me, but to be honest, I much prefer a world where anyone can use any open source code however they wish.

<comment><USER12> Have you considered that the problem could be that your company is writing proprietary software?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> > Proprietary software developers have the advantage of money; free software > developers need to make advantages for each other.

This actually confuses 'libre' with 'gratis'.

<comment><USER14> I actually think it's a subtle admission that it's impossible to gain any significant amount of revenue by "selling" free software.

I love the open-source/libre philosophy but it's not viable for a business. I think the more pressing question is whether software even _should_ be a business. Many think that there's a certain rift between users and developers that still exists today, and I have to agree.

1\. Users push for increased ease-of-use 2\. Developers implement more simple systems 3\. Power users complain about the loss of features 4\. Developers add back in missing features 5\. All users complain about software being a convoluted mess

The programmer is now left at a disadvantage: he can either continue working with a codebase that's disorganized and inelegant, or he can start over from scratch. In a business environment, starting over from scratch would not be an economically viable situation, while continuing with the older codebase would be the wiser choice (even thought it may piss off users). Users are left disadvantaged; they can continue to use the older software versions but run the risk of poor security and an inferior interface.

With free/libre software this problem disappears, as a talented programmer with the user's interest can simply fork the older version and continue to implement a better interface and security updates while retaining a cleaner codebase. However, the endless stream of forks fragment software and hinder unified progress. Also, the original developer is more likely to abandon the software application due to lack of funds and interest.

It's a lose-lose situation. There is no one perfect development methodology. The open-source philosophy is more effective in the long run, but proprietary software is the only viable method to sustain a business. Open-source advocates will often point to Red Hat as a counter-example, but it's important to note Red Hat is the exception to the rule. It's also even more important to note that Red Hat isn't doing so hot these days, either.

Where the FSF falls down is in its inability to compromise. A number of companies have achieved success with a mixed closed/premium source model, such as JetBrains. While this again allows much more freedom than a standard proprietary setup, the FSF will always refuse to acknowledge any software with ANY proprietary bits in it.

They're now incredibly out of touch with Silicon Valley, and it isn't difficult to see why. They continue their militant and expressive attitude instead of expressing gratitude to those that push OSS forward.

Apart from GNU, the GPL and its many variants, the FSF is largely irrelevant.

It never had to be that way.

<comment><USER15> _Where the FSF falls down is in its inability to compromise_

They're an ideological foundation. There are already plenty of others who compromise in the name of pragmatism, and there's nothing wrong with that.

FSF represents a viewpoint that is constantly under threat from some of the world's richest corporations such as Apple. If they became the "Free And Also Not-So-Free (As Long As It's Useful) Software Foundation", they can just as well close shop.

 _They 're now incredibly out of touch with Silicon Valley_

Certainly this is a positive thing in the long run? There's much more to technology than just the Valley players' interests.

<comment><USER14> My frustration doesn't stem from the FSF's stubbornness; my frustration stems from the fact that they don't realize how it's holding free software back. The EFF has been very successful at accomplishing their goals because they, unlike the FSF, understand diplomacy and relationships.

<comment><USER15> I can't really see how non-GPL free software has been held back. If anything, it's been successful beyond most people's dreams.

Most servers are powered by software under Apache and MIT licenses; companies pick what they want and mostly don't give back. The dominant operating system on personal devices is Android, which is free but nevertheless deeply tied with a corporation's interests and developed in secrecy using the same principles as proprietary software.

What would FSF gain by supporting that kind of software freedom, other than a reputation as nice guys? That model of freedom has already won, and from FSF's point of view, it's not much better than traditional closed software.

<comment><USER8> Imagine what it would be like if the FSF had been helping instead of fighting this type of open source development?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> The title would be perfect for an article arguing for a non-copyleft license instead of the LGPL. Some who create projects mistakenly believe that if they use the LGPL or some other copyleft license that most of the problems with the GPL go away. I think Firefox has lost some developers to Chromium because of Chromium's simpler license. The EPL is also frustrating to some who would like to use Clojure (Scala is under a simpler license). I tried writing such an article: [https://gist.github.com/benatkin/98e28b329842f021e6d3](https://gist.github.com/benatkin/98e28b329842f021e6d3)

<comment><USER17> Good points in this article. Note as well that the LGPL requires you to permit reverse-engineering of your proprietary code. There are good reasons for this, but it's unrealistic in a lot of organizations.

A lot of developers (and a lot of lawyers!) rely on the rule of thumb that you're fine under the LGPL as you don't modify and don't statically link. That's a fine rule of thumb, but that's all it is.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Pragmatically, the FSF should be advocating for the LGPL over BSD or Apache, since GPL over LGPL is already a lost battle.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> What's the difference between Mozilla supporting EME to maintain market relevance among proprietary competitors and the FSF licensing glibc as "Lesser GPL" to do the same?

</comment><comment><USER19> I'm really happy there are people fighting for a world like this. It doesn't matter that they can't get 100% of the market, just by advocating for a better alternative makes the whole thing better.</comment>


Alternatives to Amazon.com (for electronics) - <AUTHOR>

I love Amazon. The shopping experience is great. Product description and reviews are very good resources. Prices are, to say the least, competitive. The customer service is very good, if you bought "ships from and sold by Amazon.com".
I do most of my shopping there. And fairly or unfairly, it worries me. I make it a point to use shopping alternatives when I find ones that are equally good. Let me share two of my favorite alternatives:
1. Frys: They match Amazon's prices. I wish more retailers did this.
2. Newegg.com: Every bit as good IMO. I find their product reviews more useful than Amazon's and I can't say this for any other retailer.
Please share in comments if you know of other alternatives.
This post is partly inspired by comments on recent HN posts, where people expressed similar concerns about Amazon becoming too powerful an entity.
EDIT: minor formatting <comment><USER2> NCIX - they have price matching so you can get pretty good deals.</comment>


Show HN: iOS SDK to live-stream app to any web browser (built at PennApps s2014) - <AUTHOR> http://fuckitstreamit.com/

<comment><USER2> For live demos, I use Airplay to mirror the display to an AppleTV. For online demos, I use an app like AirServer or Reflector that make my laptop an Airplay-receiver and then share my desktop/screen over G+ hangout.

I highly recommend adding the "Fingertips" Cocoapod to your project and it will highlight finger presses and taps when it detects you are using an external display. You just need to replace your UIWindow with MBFingerTipWindow.

<comment><AUTHOR> We created this to cover situations where the presenter doesn't have AppleTV. And using AirServer or Reflector in addition to G+ seems to add unnecessary middleware to a process that should be streamlined and easy.

iOStream takes about 60 seconds to add to any existing iOS project and it makes your application accessible through any web browser, without having to install additional desktop software. And yup, we do highlight finger presses and taps as well!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Looks cool. Fills a different need to app.io. However, not sure I'd want to ask a client to go to 'fuckitstreamit.com'.

<comment><AUTHOR> hey coob, 'iostream.io' also leads to the same site. We registered this second domain for this exact reason.

<comment><USER4> >>not sure I'd want to ask a client to go to 'fuckitstreamit.com'.

>We registered this second domain for this exact reason.

Why would you register a second domain to make people hesitant about showing your product to a client?

<comment><AUTHOR> We initially registered 'fuckitstreamit.com' as a joke parody of the phrase 'fuck it ship it'. During demos at PennApps, the Venmo judges suggested we replace the domain with something more appropriate, so we registered 'iostream.io'

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I have a very similar hook in our apps for both sales demos as well as customer support. It's so much easier for our support people to help our customers (SaaS app dealing with lots of data, lots of views, etc) if they can see what they are looking at.

<comment><AUTHOR> Very cool. We definitely wanted to create a useful platform for developers and clients to interact with each other. A cool feature we added was the ability for users to screenshot the stream and annotate it with drawings or text. The user could then save the screenshot or email it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Funny that it's a site for mobile streaming but the site isn't very responsive.</comment>


Crowd-sourcing the monitoring of the world economy - <AUTHOR>

It is fascinating for me to watch the governments of the world stumble around in the wake of the financial crisis not knowing what to do.
How did this crisis sneak up on everyone?  How can we prevent the next one from sneaking up?
I wonder if keeping an eye on banks and government monentary policy isn't something that can be crowd sourced.
What sort of metrics might be useful ones to keep an eye on? <comment><USER2> Intriguing idea. A mechanism could be put in place to allow people to measure and keep an eye out on world markets.

This does happen though. Internet has allowed for this. Websites and blogs were for years warning about this upcoming crisis. Both the people, and the governments chose to disregards those alarms, right until the Housing market busted.

Unfortunately, people probably would not know what to do more than what the governments are showing right now. I guess that's why Economy is called a 'social science'.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am guessing that a lot of data analysis talent that used to be uninterested in trying to understand the world economy will now be much more interested.

We've had cheap computers and cheap internet access for a while now, but we haven't had as many people burned by the mismanagement of the world economy.

As I hear people propose what went wrong, I keep thinking,"Can I turn that into a useful metric?"

For example, I have heard that banks make their money mostly on fees much more than they used to, because they have become so quick to grant loans and then sell them.

This leads to the question: at any given time, what are the various significant ways in which banks are making money, and what is the allocation of bank profits into each type?

Now watch those ratios for shifts (both sudden and gradual) and ask yourself what might be going on when you notice a shift.

Does the ability to draw graphs like that currently exist?

If not, why not?</comment></comment>


Looking for advice on Startup equity - <AUTHOR>

Hi, I am in the very very early stages of my web startup, we are 3 partners but we have not yet talked about equity and I was wondering if you guys had any tips on how to do it? -- Thanks!!
Idea - I came up with the idea Funding - I am putting most of the money (90%)
Thanks again! <comment><USER2> If you are putting in the money, put it into the company as a loan. I'm sure this isn't the only capital this company will need so it makes it silly to split equity based on short term thinking.

I think also everyone will have to think as this is their idea too. If you had the initial idea, the inital idea will change.

Don't get trapped by short term thinking. Split the company three ways, get vesting and a 1-year cliff and then get on with it. Only then will your equity actually be worth something worth worrying about.

Good luck.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks - I know that we would need more money, but would you do it the same way even if I am putting 90% of the money which would allow us to run the company for an entire year... Regards

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


Used Video Games Are Good For The Industry (It's Just GameStop That's Bad) - <AUTHOR> http://www.dawdle.com/used-games-are-good/

<comment><USER2> I fail to see how dwadle is radically different from the GameStop model. They only make 12% on a used game sale, so what? They are just cheaper than GameStop. They have the same incentive advertising the purchase of used games over new games as GameStop does. I don't think they are in a position to point fingers at their competitors as is done in the article. It is nice that you get real cash instead of store credit. On the other hand, as a seller you are competing with other sellers so you don't get instant credit like at GameStop. It's a choice everyone interested should be able to make for themselves. The remarks towards GameStop are uncalled for though. They should compete on a service/product level and not pull out some twisted ethical argument how they are better for the gaming industry.

<comment><USER3> Dawdle is a good thing for gaming _culture_ because it stocks classic games that are valuable to people who seek to broaden their horizons with a wider variety of titles. GameStop merely pushes the "hot" games. GameStop doesn't even sell games that don't get preordered at their stores. GameStop is utterly devoid of any real cultural value to gamers.

<comment><USER4> Which is sad because it didn't always feel this way. GameStop still employs gamers, so it is easy to miss this. The racks they keep for the previous generation consoles isn't as prominant anymore.

Funcoland had a great feel to it. They always had several TV's with games on them. I think I played Super Mario RPG first there. It was weird compared to what I expected, but that was a great game.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Sorry, but this is ridiculous. Somebody bought a used game for 40$ on Dawdle (or Dawlde bought it for 40$ and resold it for > 40$), and that is not showing up in the second chart. If that was included in the second chart, it would look exactly like the first chart.

Edit: to clarify, the second chart only shows purchases of new games, whereas in reality some used games must have been purchased to provide the new 40$ in purchasing power.

<comment><USER6> But not necessarily by the person doing the purchasing. That's part of his point that isn't being made clearly. In Gamestop's model, they issue you a store credit so you have to go back to Gamestop. Once there, they pressure you into "saving $5" by purchasing a used copy of another game (through low buyback amounts, Edge cards, etc.).

In Dawdle's model, you get a higher buyback amount and aren't forced to shop at Dawdle. This user can then go buy the next latest title and repeat the cycle. Dawdle is trying to show how their model is better for both consumers and producers.

<comment><USER5> Why wouldn't you be able to sell your Gamestop Game somewhere else? I suspect what is happening is that Gamestop guarantees to buy your game for a certain price, which would be great (as in being a real plus compared to ebay). For another beneficial thing about used games is this: maybe 60$ is too much for me for a game, but I know I can sell it for 20$, so it really costs me only 40$. Therefore used games are good for the industry - without used games I might not buy any games at all. With the guaranteed buyback price of GameStop, I know in advance how much a game costs me. Some people might prefer that to putting in the work to sell on ebay/Dawdle for an uncertain price.

As for the original case, it makes no difference who buys the used game, what people seem to care about is the amount of money spent for buying new games. And that is the same for GameStop and for Dawdle.

<comment><USER7> Right - you're making our point. When GS buys a used game for $20, they re- sell it for $40 (49% margins). That means the value of the used product is $40. If you can sell it for $40 on Dawdle, a new game only really costs you $20.

That means your $100 in purchasing power gets you five _new_ games: the publishers, developers, and retailers only benefit when you buy _new_ product. We're trying to show them how used games can work in their favor if you cut out the GameStop middleman.

Edit: as for the uncertain price, we're working on it. With our StandingOffers, we might be able to find people willing to guarantee you $30 or $35 up front.

As an example of how that works, right now, I'll pay $25 for a platinum Wavebird ([http://www.dawdle.com/product.php/wavebird-wireless- controll...](http://www.dawdle.com/product.php/wavebird-wireless-controller- platinum-045496950538-dc58e)).

<comment><USER5> You should think about the magic net gain. You can not just buy games for 40$, there must be buyers of used games. These don't show up in your equations. There is only so much money people will spend for games, you can not create more.

I am not saying that Dawdle might not be a better deal for the end consumer. Certainly lower margins means cheaper games means more games sold. But I don't think GameStop are crooks, they simply have an alternative business model. They might be more expensive, but in exchange they offer a different service (guaranteed prices, no hassle with online selling of your game). I don't know GameStop or Dawdle, btw.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It looks like you all are partnered with Best Buy. Other than that a good article.

Have you considered selling new games directly? I know from another post you plan on expanding to other markets so I can see a future where you advertise more expensive products to be drop shipped from the manufacturer's warehouse straight to the consumer.

...wait, maybe I should build a business on that idea.

<comment><USER7> If you want to build a business on that idea, we'll be happy to help you out. We know a couple of the distribution companies that drop ship and we'll give you a fee discount to get more new games on the site. :)

[BTW, we're not partnered with Best Buy at all. It's just that blue is a default color in PowerPoint. :) ]

<comment><USER4> Actually it was the choice of Best Buy, the choice of blue, and the use of Best Buy (and Amazon) as alternative places to purchase games when I was checking out your site.

Regarding you post, I would like to look into this. Would you email me the names of those distribution companies and how can I contact you? (I glanced at your site, but didn't see your email.)

benjamin . serrato (at g mail com) Sometimes I wonder how good I should expect the webcrawlers are.

<comment><USER8> Using "Best Buy" as shorthand for "big retail chain which sells games, but, no no, I'm not talking about GameStop here, no, ugh, I'm talking about everyone EXCEPT gamestop in this bit -- you know, the stores like Best Buy and that sort of thing," works just fine.

<comment><USER4> Yes, I just like the local Fry's more than Best Buy. Bias, that's really all it is.

[edited with new magic editing powers]

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I love Dawdle and wish you guys the best of luck! I came out of a failed video game startup last year, I know how difficult it can be being a new guy on the streets of a massive industry. It's definitely one heck of a challenge but I'm confident you guys will succeed.

I wish I was going to GDC this year, went in '08 and it was a blast.

</comment><comment><USER10> I think the biggest difference between Dawdle and Gamestop is that people do more buying at Gamestop. I can't really see a functional difference. Even the quick math doesn't add up given the two charts. 1:1 New:Used, vs 3:2 New:Used. Maybe I'm missing something important.

Whether or not the company selling used games makes money off of it or pushes it is very small I would think. If someone wants a used game, they'll get a used game. In fact, at Dawdle, since the example shows games as selling for cheaper, I can see that maybe it would allow people to save a little more money for new games... or it would allow people to just buy more games.

What am I missing that makes this different?

</comment><comment><USER7> Well, this is targeted at GDC attendees (we're flyering out there: <http://twitter.com/Christopurr/status/1395013503>), but would love the thoughts of the HN crew now that it's front paged.

<comment><AUTHOR> Other than Gamestop and you guys, what competition is there?

<comment><USER7> eBay, Amazon Marketplace, and Half. [Fee comparison: <http://www.dawdle.com/selling/index.php/fees/> The Google Spreadsheet isn't locked, so please don't abuse it. :) ]

What's interesting is that we're trying to get all the small independent stores to sell on Dawdle. They're a different beast - many of them don't even sell new games. They're typically in a strip mall next to a Wal-Mart that does. So people go into the indie store, sell their games, and walk to the Wal-Mart to buy new games. Only the people who can't afford new games anyway or are looking for older stuff that Wal-Mart doesn't stock end up buying at the used game store, so the publishers/developers/retailers actually don't "lose sales", which is their main concern.

<comment><USER11> If people are going to go to the Walmart to buy new games anyway, why wouldn't the indie store them as well? Even if the prices are a little higher, wouldn't the convenience of not having to go somewhere else make up for it?

<comment><USER7> They've told us it doesn't make up for it. The stores just walk down to the Wal-Mart themselves to pick up a couple copies of Halo 3 or whatever rather than actually working with a games distributor like Jack of All Games or whoever. They just can't compete on new games; that's why they do used, retro, and host tournaments and so forth.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> So in the original image, a gamer would buy a used game from GameStop instead of a new game from Best Buy.

If a used game will suffice, why would the same gamer not just buy a $40 game from Dawdle instead of the $60 game from Best Buy?

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm sorry, as far as I'm aware, developers see no money from the sale of a second hand game.

If you are not going to reward a developer for their hard work, or contribute to their next game, why would you pay anything at all?</comment>


Visual Studio method history for SVN - <AUTHOR> http://www.plasticscm.com/labs/method-history-for-subversion.aspx

<comment><AUTHOR> Click on a method on Visual Studio and find how it has been modified through the SVN history.

<comment><USER2> It's `svn blame` integrated into Visual Studio?

<comment><AUTHOR> No, no, no... I see I'm bad with titles!! :(

No, it parses the code, finds your method across history and then diffs it. Nothing to do with blame.

If you heavily refactor a method, it is still able to find it, nothing to do with blame.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Would you guys find it useful for Git?</comment>


Show HN: I made a privacy-focused online journal - <AUTHOR> https://gekri.com <comment><USER2> First of all, beautiful site. I'm happy to see nuxt projects in the wild, and especially happy when they're this beautiful. I really like the iconography and illustration styles and how nicely it blends with the content. Your UI is stellar.

On the technology side, the page explaining what Blockstack is reads poorly. You use the same subheads a few times to ask that question, but don't really answer it. It feels like an afterthought, which is unfortunate as it was my first stop on the site.

It seems like the "how" of this tool is a big deal to you. Why is the data being stored the way it is? How can you better tell that story? Can you use the same level of awesome you use on the features page?

And finally, if you can't add a working demo to the site due to the blockstack platform, you can still record video demos that highlight different features. Keep that sweet animation style in your video work and you've got some really enjoyable content.

I hope your project takes off. Cheers.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you so much for your awesome feedback!

I am very proud to get spotted using nuxt. I am very grateful to the Chopin brothers (and the whole team of Vue) to make this possible. I can't wait to have Vue 3 on production!

I made the logo using Figma [1] with my very beginner skill with this kind of software. The illustrations come from [2].

I am really sorry to made a poorly reading experience. I guess I am not that fluent with English nor with copywriting. Thank to your feedback, I will spend some time to rewrite the copy ;)

I think I will spend some time to implement a demo to the site because I am not comfortable with video editing.

[1] [https://www.figma.com](https://www.figma.com) [2] [https://undraw.co](https://undraw.co)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Very cool UI! As someone who runs something like a journal from time to time, I might use some of this for inspiration.

One question though. If it's just a personal journal, and I don't care to share any of it, why do I need blockchain? I think I'd rather just generate a symmetric key and store this encrypted data on any storage I choose. Are you planning social features?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you :)

Please read my answer here [1] to avoid duplicate content ^^

Beside, I may add social features in the future indeed. There is so much that can be done (many ideas), but for now, I focus to build the journal with polished basic features.

[1] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20652803](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20652803)

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> I build this app with privacy in mind. I ended by using Blockstack ecosystem to achieve user's data ownership, data encryption and data decentralization. Also, Blockstack allow you to create an identity using a Blockchain. I work full time on this product to make the one I always wished. I started to write every day for more than 1 year and I notice many benefits with this keystone habit. I really want to promote writing activity through Gekri. Beside, I am on my way to implement many features, starting of a mood tracker ;) Ask me anything.

<comment><USER4> Thanks, this looks really cool!

Would I be able to write in it offline too?

<comment><AUTHOR> I have to work on the offline mode, this is in the roadmap :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm interested in the idea but can't say I'm very much into Blockstack after looking into it. The fact that they're tied heavily in the blockchain and pay large sums to apps in the name of "app mining" is.. concerning. Even after a fair bit of research, the origin of the money is extremely unclear.

<comment><USER6> Muneeb from Blockstack here. The Stacks blockchain is needed to anchor user identities in a system that is not controlled by any single company.

The App Mining rewards are incentives for developers to improve their app quality. I'd recommend this research paper to dig deeper in to the game theory behind App Mining: [https://blog.blockstack.org/app-mining-game-theory- algorithm...](https://blog.blockstack.org/app-mining-game-theory-algorithm- design/)

The source of money is newly minted tokens, just like in Bitcoin the miners operating the nodes and processing transactions get the newly minted tokens.

<comment><USER7> On your website, it seems that the overview and documentation is targeted at developers. As a user, I would love an easy-to-understand overview of what Blockstack is, how it works, and why I should care.

Edit: And here's a question maybe you can answer for me directly: If the user data is stored in a location of my choice, and the code runs on the client, what's the point of an app being powered by Blockstack rather than just being a local offline app that saves data to iCloud/Dropbox/whatever?

Thanks!

<comment><USER6> The point is global coordination without going through a big company like Facebook.

Take the Dmails app for example, you can email me there on muneeb.id -- this will not be possible with an offline app.

I hear you on the developer focus for Blockstack. We might start a different brand that is consumer-focused. Right now the best page for consumer info is: [https://blockstack.org/try-blockstack](https://blockstack.org/try-blockstack)

<comment><USER7> Great, thanks. I'll explore it and try to understand it better! Looking forward to seeing where this goes.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> KevinNTH could you give us a showcase of how you use it? When I look at your demo GIFs I'm noticing that I'm journalling in a seemingly very different way.

I journal once in the morning or twice (morning and evening). My journal is mostly a list of likert-scale type questions on which I want data.

It also has a qualitative section on the lower end if I feel the need to be qualitative, but I don't feel the need to do that every day.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for your feedback :)

I have to say that my journaling is very basic as I am only a beginner (1 year). I just write down my thoughts, tell things about my day or comment about my mood of the moment.

I read great content [1] about journaling so I will try to improve the way I write in my journal.

I've never thought about implementing likert-scale type questions in the journal but it's a great idea. I put this in the roadmap [2] so I'm going to have some thinking about it.

I have planed a feature to have gratitude journaling which can be similar to likert-scale type questions but without the likert-scale. So I definitely can implement this kind of feature too :)

[1] [http://benjaminhardy.com/journal/](http://benjaminhardy.com/journal/)

[2] [https://trello.com/b/sHBLZTeQ/gekri-product- roadmap](https://trello.com/b/sHBLZTeQ/gekri-product-roadmap)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> I like the concept but share some of the blockchain concerns here. In particular, I'm interested in how the Gaia "driver model" [1] is actually architected, and how this compares to local storage:

> Gaia enables applications to access [it] via a uniform API.

[1] [https://gekri.com/privacy](https://gekri.com/privacy)

<comment><AUTHOR> I have been told that the privacy page [1] is reads poorly. I will rewrite the copy ^^'

You can learn more about Gaia storage here: [2]

[1] [https://gekri.com/privacy](https://gekri.com/privacy)

[2] [https://github.com/blockstack/gaia](https://github.com/blockstack/gaia)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I really like UI/UX. It takes very little to get use to. The only thing is that I wish I know how blockchain technology is actually tied into this?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you :D

I use Blockstack to allow users to create an identity which is handled on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Essentially when Blockstack IDs are created for users during registration, they are saved to the Bitcoin blockchain immutably so that the user him or herself is the only one who can control their ID using their private key. This is the way in which user independence is secured so that neither app developers or Blockstack controls their identities.

Take a look to the whitepaper [1] to go deeply in the details.

I use Gaia storage [2] to store data.

[1] [https://blockstack.org/papers](https://blockstack.org/papers)

[2] [https://github.com/blockstack/gaia](https://github.com/blockstack/gaia)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> A feature idea, I think it could be great to track the moods of a whole organization. HR could see the results and could see or not, each individual mood.

<comment><AUTHOR> I keep this feature idea for a second product (or maybe for Gekri, but later). There is something I wish to develop something since 2016 targeting people in an organization.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I think there's been a few of these privacy-focused journals:

[https://penzu.com/](https://penzu.com/) [https://280daily.com/](https://280daily.com/) [https://standardnotes.org/](https://standardnotes.org/)

<comment><AUTHOR> I think these products are different from each other so Gekri is too :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> I like the presentation a lot, but after looking at the features tab I'm left wishing there were some sort of interactive demo.

This looks like a really cool project! I like the idea of a journaling tool that also helps you reflect at a meta-level after you've entered in your momentary feelings.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you!

I will take the time to implement a demo. It will help to visualize the actual product before hitting the sign in button I guess :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Does the name come from the french "j'écris" (I write) phonetic ? That would be cool :D

<comment><AUTHOR> You nailed it perfectly!!!! Jekri.com was taken, so Gekri.com was born xD

But most of the time Gekri is pronounced "Guékri" ^^'

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Private and distributed? .... Why?

<comment><AUTHOR> Because the journal is online. Data should be stored somewhere so I choose Gaia Storage. [1]

I have explained more about this in this tweet: [2]

[1] [https://github.com/blockstack/gaia](https://github.com/blockstack/gaia)

[2] [https://twitter.com/pixelwerk/status/1159532787843706881](https://twitter.com/pixelwerk/status/1159532787843706881)

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Great job man, everything about this page is super appealing to me.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you :)

I try my best to bring this appeal!

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Is it just me or does everyone need to enable JS and allow cookies to see anything at all?

Not very privacy-focused.

<comment><AUTHOR> I made a web app so I need Javascript to do so :)

I want to share with you something I've used back in 2013-2014. [1]

You won't need Javascript to use this ;)

[1] [https://jrnl.sh/](https://jrnl.sh/)</comment></comment>


Show HN: A souped-up HTML-based table - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/mmurph211/Grid <comment><USER2> Why the special grid/row/cell tags and special data inpits? Why not just use a vanilla HTML table, then you would at least have graceful degradation?

<comment><AUTHOR> For the XML format? Good point that would be better.

<comment><USER2> Yeah. What I'm thinking is, instead of loading external XML, you could just have something like:

Column 1	Column 2	Column 3

Item 1	Item 2	Item 3

(This way, if JS is unsupported/the JS code breaks/JS is disabled/slow connection/etc., you'll still see the data)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Grids are the holy grail of corporate web programming. As a person that had to work with a few grid components, I can tell you that it is lacking lots of features to be considered mature. For example: editable cells, tree grid mode, r-click menu, grouping, nested rows and columns, etc. I do like the looks though. Have you tried to compare your grid's performance against a standard table-based grid (cross-browser of course) for large number of cells? For a list of functionalities expected from a grid, have a look of Telerik [http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet- ajax/grid/examples/overview/...](http://demos.telerik.com/aspnet- ajax/grid/examples/overview/defaultcs.aspx) or Devexpress. Don't follow their ugly implementation though!

</comment><comment><USER4> Nice, but is it responsive?

Trolling aside, I have to echo Taze's point: why not vanila HTML table? I'm asking since this is actually relevant to my interests and my latest project uses tables a lot. I don't think I'd use this yet because of the whole graceful degradation/progressive enhancement thing

<comment><USER5> The Zurb responsive tables solution is the best I've found for souping up basic HTML tables to work across devices. I've got it integrated with Bootstrap too.

<http://www.zurb.com/playground/responsive-tables> <https://github.com/zurb/responsive-tables/>

<comment><USER4> Yup, I'm implementing a variant of this + FilamentGroup's nice show column javascript thing[0]

[0] - [http://filamentgroup.com/lab/responsive_design_approach_for_...](http://filamentgroup.com/lab/responsive_design_approach_for_complex_multicolumn_data_tables/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Another great grid with these properties and more is the MIT licensed Slickgrid[1] with many example grids[2]

[1]<https://github.com/mleibman/SlickGrid/>

[2]<https://github.com/mleibman/SlickGrid/wiki/Examples>

</comment><comment><USER7> This doesn't seem better than jQuery datatables.

</comment><comment><USER8> Agree with some other comments on here that this should probably be implemented with standard HTML tables as a fallback. Looks pretty good, though.

</comment><comment><USER9> The sort is not stable. When I sort by W, I end up with Colts and then Rams. When I sort by L, at the bottom, I end up with Rams and then Colts.

When I sort by T, since they're all 0, I'd expect nothing to change, but the whole list inverts...

In general, it's very nice. I agree with TazeTSchnitzel's comment that it'd be awesome to have it pull data from a table, so that there's a fallback.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for checking it out. The sort used in the code is Javascript's native sort method which is not guaranteed to be stable and varies by browser (Chrome vs Firefox for example sort differently in the W/L/T columns - try clicking W then T in each browser.) Kind of annoying really.

For sure, the invert part is not great though.

Edit: Found more info: [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3026281/array-sort- sortin...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3026281/array-sort-sorting- stability-in-different-browsers)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Demo in editable form: <http://plnkr.co/edit/8uJcHy?p=preview>

</comment><comment><USER11> nice, though like all the others I've seen, it doesn't work when trying it with RTL direction.

</comment><comment><USER12> Everyone hates ExtJS, many for good reasons, but their grid is better than any other.

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm wondering what the checkboxes are for in the demo.

<comment><USER14> Also, why are they checkboxes if I can only select one row? They should be radio buttons. (Cool demo though!)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! The checkboxes are there for show, no hooks on them in the demo. You can select multiple rows using the checkboxes or the control or shift keys. If the option allowMultipleSelections is false then the checkboxes become radio buttons.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> HTML? <http://goo.gl/uavVx>

<comment><USER16> Sorry, but what does this have to do with Galaxy Note II sales?</comment></comment>


Twitter: Who is worth to un/follow? - <AUTHOR> http://followcheck.com

<comment><AUTHOR> This is my new simple tool. I know, there are many similar services but I want to do that better. Check it out, it is fully free so far.

<comment><USER2> Nice, but it would be great if it was in native mobile form. Then it would be actionable data at the time I want to make the action. kinda like a bufferapp.com

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for your suggestion! I will consider it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Nice interface. Very clean.</comment>


Study: Diet Success Depends on Your Genes - <AUTHOR> http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/diet-success-genes-05519.html <comment><USER2> Mice evolved to eat almost completely different food than humans so I'm skeptical about the value of this study.</comment>


What Closing a Government Radio Station Would Mean for Clocks - <AUTHOR> https://www.voanews.com/a/time-may-be-running-out-for-millions-of-clocks/4554376.html <comment><USER2> WWV, WWVH, and WWVB are more than charity for timekeepers. They distribute time and frequency, traceable to a national standard, for one leg of "positioning, navigation, and timing."

Before GPS and the internet, numerous services depended on those signals. I would argue that now, we have positioning, navigation, and timing from multiple satellite systems (and a phone network providing excellent time & freq references derived from satellites). We have internet time synced to atomic standards and satnav. All of the modern references are more precise, accurate, and stable than WWV, WWVH, and WWVB.

As to devices which sync from WWVB, there are gadgets which can get GPS time and transmit an LF signal for syncing those devices. No problems, ladies and gents, you've still got time.

<comment><USER3> I made one of these GPS -> WWVB simulators a couple years ago. There's a short write-up here, in case anyone is interested in reading about it: [https://www.anishathalye.com/2016/12/26/micro- wwvb/](https://www.anishathalye.com/2016/12/26/micro-wwvb/)

There are also some neat iPhone apps that use the audio circuitry to produce a low-power signal that can be picked up by radio-controlled clocks that are close by: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clock- wave/id1073576068?mt=8](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/clock- wave/id1073576068?mt=8)

A couple people mentioned the FCC and licensing issues in the comments below. As far as I know, as long as you're transmitting at a very low power (40 µV/m as measured at 300m), it's okay. This should be fine for personal use, but won't work on a municipal level.

<comment><USER4> Not bad! While reading the article the thought occurred that if WWV were eliminated then this would be a good opportunity for a smart phone app to pipe a GPS derived time standard emulating WWV format into a < 100mw (Part 15) 5, 10, or 15 MHz attached transmitter. And the idea was already objectified.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > WWV is the oldest continuously operating radio station in the United States. > It's been on the air since 1920. It's signal provides a frequency standard > for receivers. The time stamp is regulated by an atomic clock. But a 2019 > budget proposal for NIST would close WWV, WWVH in Hawaii and WWVB, which > syncs up the time for about 50 million radio-controlled clocks, wristwatches > and appliances.

Classic example of the government providing a pure utility, a utility with no profit motive, which private enterprise could never justify.

<comment><USER6> Don't we have satellites broadcasting super accurate time, now?

<comment><USER7> I have a wall clock that syncs from WWVB. It was pretty cheap and uses a single AA battery (which seems to last forever). I never have to update the time.

Can satellite time provide an equivalent or better solution here?

<comment><USER8> Anyone who has ever installed a GPS backed NTP appliance in a data center can quickly answer that.

For those who haven't: it involves drilling holes in the roof of your data center for a satellite antenna.

<comment><USER9> doesn't the wall work just as well?

<comment><USER10> GPS requires line of sight to the satellites.

<comment><USER11> And walls have two sides...

<comment><USER12> So all your clocks need to be on outside walls?

<comment><USER11> No, but all your satellites would.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I set my analog watch to WWV every couple of days.

I'm in California, so I can actually hear both signals at the same time (one from Colorado, one from Hawaii). You can tell which signal is which by the gender of the announcer. Pretty cool stuff.

It will be a very sad day for radio if it is discontinued.

<comment><USER14> In the current solar minimum, sometimes it's the only station I can pull in on my shortwave receiver :-/ It will be sad to see another SW station go off-air. There's still plenty of fun to be had in other modes and bands though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> >WWV, the oldest continuously operating radio station in the United States, first went on the air from Washington in 1919.... >The station subsequently was moved to Maryland and then to Colorado in 1966....

So, for it to be continuously operating, at some point, there would have been two transmitters operating. I wonder what the logistics of that would be like. Have both operating until it is validated that the 2nd/new one is working, and then shut down the first/old one? Do you just flip the switch on the old one, or do you start to lower the power output of the first one so that equipment picks up the second/new signal before ultimately turning it off. Essentially, it would be similar to running multiple APs on a wi-fi network I'd imagine.

That's the stuff that makes me interested. There's no "maintenance" mode. It's all done live while hot type of stuff.

<comment><USER16> I didn't read "continuously operating" as zero down time, more that there have been continued efforts and interest in operating it. No real idea though.

<comment><USER17> This. Continuously operating means a very different thing to a hacker than to the general populace. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> When the Japanese JJY station shut down because of the tsunami, some people made signal generators using audio signals eg [http://jjy.831337.xyz/](http://jjy.831337.xyz/) Would something similar be possible for WWVB?

</comment><comment><USER19> Although I consider this a crisis, I assume NIST put WWV on the chopping block for the same reasons your local town puts the libraries and parks on the chopping block first, followed by one fire station: visibility and, though I don't like the word, "pain".

There's plenty of important but not sexy work going on (research into the kg, cryptography research, etc) that congress and the taxpayer might happily throw overboard (local equivalent to, say, fixing that bridge or surveying all gas lines for leaks -- "haven't found any yet so why not skip a year?").

This is a canary of a far more fundamental problem.

And yes: the existence of stratum 0 sources like GPS does nothing to alleviate the need for RF sources like WWV, any more than GPS removed the need for LORAN-C, the decommissioning of which is now recognized as a serious mistake.

</comment><comment><USER20> How expensive could it possibly be to keep this running?

US gov isn't exactly poornad debating this probably cost more than just continuing

<comment><USER21> $26 million a year. It's in the article.

<comment><USER22> That's the total cut. Cost of the stations isn't in the article. Reading around it appears to be ~6.3 million.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Turning off stuff like this is beyond stupid. Satellites are pretty freaking fragile. China has tested destroying them and has done so with their own pretty easily. A high altitude nuke would be pretty devastating too, and you don't need the nuke to survive re-entry to be effective (hello North Korea, Iran and others or government probably doesn't want to acknowledge as easily capable of such an attack).

We pile all our eggs into single, fragile technological baskets at our peril. Dumbasses.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNbs7uLUPZ8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNbs7uLUPZ8)

<comment><USER24> Are moving satellites in space easier to take out than a stationary antenna in Colorado?

<comment><USER25> Probably. Colorado has defenses. A large-scale ICBM attack would get through, but bombers or a small ICBM attack wouldn't.

<comment><USER15> Huh? I just did the first step of any intelligence gathering, and looked it up on Google maps. It's an unguarded dirt road off of an FM country-style 2 lane road. It's not even blurred out, for you know, security reasons. You could practically drive right up to the transmitter/antenna, and take it out with what ever crude/rudimentary method you chose including just driving your truck into it. You could probably buy a couple of local yocals enough beer/whiskey to convince them it would be a fun thing to use the building for target practice. It's a super soft target. By the time anyone could figure out that the transmitter was offline, and then decide to actually send a crew out to investigate, the attackers could already be on a plane to wherever. ICBM attacks are something that is closely watched with early-warning satellites, and have automatic response procedures.

<comment><USER25> That sort of attack would result in minor damage and it would be quickly fixed. To permanently destroy the transmitter would require blowing it up, and NORAD will make that difficult.

<comment><USER15> I think you have too much faith in NORAD. Shoot, do it on Christmas, they're too busy tracking Santa.

NORAD isn't going to notice a truck loaded with explosives doing the speed limit on a road that is perfectly legal for it to be on. You're over complicating the level of attack required. Think guerilla style. I've been to TV/Radio antenna farms. They are not reinforced anything. There's a pad lock on a chain securing a chain link fence gate. They are sheet metal structures around the equipment for the sole purpose of keeping the equipment out of the elements. Even if you don't take out the transmitter, taking out the antenna would also suffice. The antenna structures are super vulnerable. If a 1500' tower collapses, it takes a bit of time to get it back up once the parts&pieces have been gathered and assembled at the site. Here's a list of how non-intended accidents involving antenna structures[0], so imagine someone that intends to do harm. At this point, I'm concerned what my Google search history might lead one to suspect. [0][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_catastrophic_collapses...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_catastrophic_collapses_of_broadcast_masts_and_towers)

<comment><USER26> If there were local agents with a truck of explosives, there would be way, way more valuable targets to attack though.

<comment><USER15> That depends entirely on the plot of the movie. If it's a terrorist thing, then yeah it's probably going to be a shopping mall, sporting event or similar. If it's an opening salvo to take out "key" infrastructure clearing the way for a larger something later, then it's perfect.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> I've not been able to find out why this is being cut.

<comment><USER24> I'm guessing it's a similar reason that church bells aren't carefully budgeted for to keep the town running. Do you use WWV?

<comment><USER28> I run a casio waveceptor watch. It is accurate to within half a second of what the local tv uses for broadcast time and seeing as I am involved in a live broadcast then yes i do need that accuracy weekly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> I wonder if a university could take over the entire thing and continue to provide the service.

</comment><comment><USER30> NIST provides a standard way to introduce leap seconds, I believe. What alternatives are there for this? (One proposal eliminates leap seconds.)

</comment><comment><USER31> $26m does seem a little steep with today's technology. That probably includes the price of being nuke proof... I'm guessing if we're merely worried about sprinklers watches and clocks we could let that level of hardening go

<comment><USER32> The stations are 6m. 26m is the total proposed cut, which also cuts atmospheric monitoring and more. This is a terrible idea. NIST is really, really useful.

<comment><USER31> Thanks for the correction, I guess I didn't read closely enough.

I still think this could be replaced an ran somewhat reliably for less than $1m/year. Considering you can get a 27mhz cb radio for $10, making something with one or two nines of uptime shouldn't be very expensive.

<comment><USER32> It has to be able to reach the coasts from Colorado. The current one is a 70 kW transmitter. That's higher than the majority of commercial AM/FM radio broadcast stations. You do have to know your way around that stuff to not get cooked.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> Its a budget cutback but it reads as if those in charge at NIST are threatening to shut off WWV and their clocks rather than cut research funding.

They should simply reduce research and keep the clocks running.

</comment><comment><USER34> I remember when we used to have the POP-CORN number to check the time.

</comment><comment><USER35> We changed the URL from [https://www.npr.org/2018/08/25/641835302/what- closing-a-gove...](https://www.npr.org/2018/08/25/641835302/what-closing-a- government-radio-station-would-mean-for-your-clocks) to the one that was submitted here: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18755285](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18755285). It seems to be the more substantial article.

</comment><comment><USER36> Analog AM/FM should be the next to go.

<comment><USER37> what?

<comment><USER15> Seconded. Just watch any movie of a World War/Doomsday/Zombie Apocalypse level event occurs. The people get information via radio. They don't plug into the internet. The internet may no longer be there. This might be hard to imagine for the younger generations, as they've not known to not have the internet. Radios are very effective for broadcasting "pirate" signals, and are pretty easy to receive as well. It would not be that hard to MacGyvre a crystal radio together. It used to be everybody's first "learn electronics" project. You can even do it from non-digital equipment. Analog signals are "cool" in their low- tech abilities. Here's an example video of how low-tech you can go: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdcU9ULAlA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdcU9ULAlA)

<comment><USER2> Digital is robust too - you can run mesh networks of phones and wifi equipment.

Hams have a rep for mostly holding on to ancient technology, but they have demonstrated wideband microwave mesh networking with off the shelf hardware and lower bandwidth HF networking. Those goodies are more effective than the CW and SSB depictions in movies.

<comment><USER15> Digital requires being able to decode the transmission once received. That takes a bit of work on the receiving side that an analog signal would not. Digital has a lot of advantages, but in my opinion the single greatest advantage to analog is its simplicity. Just like an analog vinyl record. Put a pencil in the center hole to spin it, a sewing needle taped perpendicular to a piece of paper rolled into a cone and you have a decoder/player. This is the reason the Library of Congress archives audio to vinyl over any other format.

There are times when "best" isn't the best option.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Seems like these stations are a novelty for just about everyone. Kind of like candle-lit dinners. You can turn the LED lights to low, but real candles are cool. Or LPs... pretty cool indeed. But those novelties don't rely on the government to make sure candles are made and LPs of popular albums are available.

<comment><USER38> Novelties? Plenty of building time clocks use this as it penetrates walls better than GPS (not to mention it's cheaper to both operate and use)

<comment><USER24> You can use the stars to set time too: [https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/ESA_sets_clock...](https://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Navigation/ESA_sets_clock_by_distant_spinning_stars)

To claim that the two radio stations in Colorado and Hawaii are our last grasp on time is a bit of a stretch.

There are legacy systems in existence that rely on those stations, but none really seem particularly critical or that can't be easily moved over to something more modern than church bells.

<comment><USER38> Not many stars in the middle of a building. Radio time isn't our last grasp on time but it is an efficient grasp that has been proven to work damn near everywhere for cheap.

Old != obsolescent and you don't automatically save money by turning something currently in use off you have to look at the cost to remove or replace it in all use cases.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER39> I can think of a number of viable business models. It has a strong following without any marketing, and surrounding industries rely on tech for radio controlled clocks etc.

Private industry could easily profitably operate it, however the core technology - the atomic cloc - is nuclear weapon grade technology, which is simply unavailable to anyone but the government.

<comment><USER40> Not true. You can buy a rubidium atomic clock module for a little under $2K: [https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14830](https://www.sparkfun.com/products/14830). I believe cheaper options are also available.

<comment><USER40> Cheapest I was able to find quickly is $1107.23: [https://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=rubidium](https://www.mouser.com/Search/Refine.aspx?Keyword=rubidium)</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Why am I getting all these GDPR emails? - <AUTHOR> My inbox is full with emails from various companies and individuals. In one form or another they are all stating this:<p>"You once gave us your email so we can send you newsletters. If you don't want that anymore, please tell us. Otherwise we assume that we still have the right to send you our newsletters."<p>How does that make sense? If I once gave consent to get newsletters why would the GDPR invalidate it? And if so, how would this mail and me doing nothing create a new type of consent? <comment><USER2> They're panicking. Their precious lists will be useless soon (already are, but that's besides the point).

For one the companies probably have not saved you giving consent, for another plenty of them bought lists and mixed those with the lists for which they did have consent.

You doing nothing does not create any consent, the consent has to be active, so the default is that you did not give your consent and only a positive confirmation can change that.

Finally, they probably don't have the right to send these emails in many cases.

<comment><AUTHOR>
        have not saved you giving consent

What do you mean? That they had a form like this:

        Enter your email: ______
        Check to receive newsletters: [_]

But did not save if the checkbox was ticked?

Since them sending this mail and me doing nothing does not create consent, why do they send it? How did they get the idea to do so? The emails all look pretty similar.

<comment><USER3> Under gdpr (and also old privacy eu directive) you have to link a explicit privacy policy with the "check the inbox" to confirm consent, if there was no privacy policy linked the consent is not valid (not before, nor now, nor anymore)

So even those companies who had your email for newsletter at the time cannot use it anymore after the 25 may if you don't give a new full informed consent

<comment><AUTHOR>
        if there was no privacy policy
        linked the consent is not valid

Which article of the GDPR states that? I cannot find a single occurance of the term "privacy policy" in the GDPR.

<comment><USER3> Privacy policies were already mandatory in the previous eu privacy directive over which the GDPR directly extends.

[1][https://termsfeed.com/blog/gdpr-privacy- policy/#Have_a_Priva...](https://termsfeed.com/blog/gdpr-privacy- policy/#Have_a_Privacy_Policy)

[2] [https://termsfeed.com/blog/privacy-policy-mandatory- law/#In_...](https://termsfeed.com/blog/privacy-policy-mandatory- law/#In_the_European_Union_EU)

<comment><AUTHOR> These type of sites often write nonsense. I prefer to look at the actual text of the regulations.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/21/gdpr- emai...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/21/gdpr-emails- mostly-unnecessary-and-in-some-cases-illegal-say-experts)

</comment><comment><USER5> Where do you live?? If you are within the EU you must have been living under a rock for the past 6 months.

GDPR is new legislation that evolves most data protection laws to make it better for consumers to be in control of their digital information.

This includes your name and email address for marketing purposes as well as so much more. If the organisation didn't follow best practice and full gain consent to be able to contact you to establish this beyond a point of doubt.</comment>