Yellow vests knock out 60% of all speed cameras in France - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46822472 <comment><USER2> I used to dislike speed cameras. I thought they were part of an encroaching surveillance state and took judgment away from officers.

Then (and sorry, I know it's a tired thing to say) I had a kid.

And my god, the people who will go FAR over the limit right down your street where people are pushing prams, kids are walking along, etc. is astounding. It's enough to make you hate all drivers, though a moment of reflection reveals that even if 1 out of 100 drives dangerously, you'll remember that 1.

We need car control every bit as much as gun control, and speed cameras are a big part of that. People die when drivers are left unchecked. Disproportionately, it's people not inside cars.

Of course, people also die from the emissions coming out of the tailpipe, which is what these protesters seem to want to do freely. "Oh, your grandma has emphysema and lives near the road? Tough shit, I want my cheap diesel."

<comment><USER3> > And my god, the people who will go FAR over the limit right down your street > where people are pushing prams, kids are walking along, etc. is astounding.

100%. However, the majority of cameras are placed on deserted countryside main roads and non-pedestrianised motorways/interstate type roads. More camera locations should be prioritised for protecting pedestrians.

<comment><USER4> Those cameras are not to protect pedestrians, they exist to enforce drivers to stick to the speed limit.

Look at these charts. Speeding rural areas kill! Also, take a guess at what time SUVs became popular in urban areas. [https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/roadway-and- environment/f...](https://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/roadway-and- environment/fatalityfacts/roadway-and-environment)

<comment><USER5> The point is, speed cameras are just a bad solution.

At best, they're a passive aggressive way of exerting government control over citizens. At worst, they're a revenue-increasing mafia-protection-like tool.

If you _actually_ want to protect pedestrians, you build physical "traffic calming" obstacles like speed bumps or chicanes [1]. Switzerland is full of these, and they're _very_ effective. There's really no good reason to have speed cameras (although red light cameras might be a better idea), especially on the motorway (Germany manages without motorway speed limits, so clearly they're not necessary to have a functioning society).

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicane#Traffic_calming](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicane#Traffic_calming)

<comment><USER6> Yes speed bumps are way more effective than cameras.

Australia is full of them in sneaky places. It makes the driving experience quite stressful. The speed limits are sometimes ridiculously low and it's like playing a game.

Speed bumps/breakers are way more effective at slowing cars down. If you don't slow, you get a big fat jolt and damage your shocks.

I like driving in US much better.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> It's worth noting that French speed cameras may work a bit differently to what Americans expect. They're a revenue generation mechanism over here, not a safety measure.

Imagine you're driving down a divided motorway at freeway speed, when for no evident reason there's a single 90kph speed sign visible for a couple seconds behind a bridge. That's the signal that 100 yards further on there will be a hidden speed camera. Then the speed limit will go back up to 130kph immediately afterwards.

So when you move to a new area you find out about these things when a series of fines arrive in the mail. Often for being recorded going 91kph in that 90 zone.

It's maddening as a safe driver, having to keep constantly alert and ready to slam on the brakes going down any unfamiliar piece of road.

I'm not overly saddened to hear there are fewer of those things around for a while.

<comment><USER8> > It's maddening as a safe driver, having to keep constantly alert and ready > to slam on the brakes going down any unfamiliar piece of road.

You've just described what being a safer driver is. You _have to_ be alert at all times, and you _have to_ be ready to brake if something suddenly happens.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Why the hate for speed cameras? I _love_ speed cameras because they make the roads safer for everyone. (And yes, once in a while I get a ticket as well, which is always a good reminder to drive safely.)

<comment><USER10> They would make the roads safer if they weren't used so often as money machines. Do they stand at schools? Nope. They stand at the bottom of the hill at the exit of a town.

<comment><USER11> They used to be positioned like this in the UK but all the ones I've seen like this have been removed or moved over the years to places where they could be regarded as more for safety than easy money making.

<comment><USER12> This was intentional, the chief of police wanted to stop them being used as revenue generation, and actually used as a safety device.

As such, they're now bright yellow.

<comment><USER13> They also have abundant signs pointing to where they are. I even saw one that had a blue flashing light on top, with a large speed limit sign next to it.

If you get caught by that, you really need to pay more attention.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> People hate them because it's yet another tax. 1 billion+ euros in 2018: [https://www.lerevenu.com/breves/les-radars-automatiques- devr...](https://www.lerevenu.com/breves/les-radars-automatiques-devraient- rapporter-plus-dun-milliard-deuros-en-2018)

If you drive around in France, you quickly realise most of them are installed in profitable areas, not in dangerous areas.

Looking forward to 100% of them being destroyed.

</comment><comment><USER15> I drove from Paris all the way to the Northern border and was amazed at not having seen a single working camera. Also every major road crossing had at least one guy in a yellow vest picketing. Must admit that I kinda supported the work they did on the cameras though.

</comment><comment><USER16> Yellow Vests movement _is not_ about speed cameras neither cheap oil: that's just the folklore part.

Yellow Vests movement is a reaction from the silent parts of middle class that are the pillar of democracy: private sector employees. This (traditionally) silent crowd feels plundered by the government to support policies and lifestyles that they don't agree with.

</comment><comment><USER17> Welcome to civil non-compliance 2.0: vandalism as a form of protest. So now taxes perceived as unjust warrant the destruction of state property in retaliation. The French government has already stepped back before. But it never seems enough for protesters.

It does look like a much bigger movement than the state had anticipated. If enough people stop paying taxes this will get serious.

<comment><USER18> > _Welcome to civil non-compliance 2.0: vandalism as a form of protest. So now > taxes perceived as unjust warrant the destruction of state property in > retaliation._

A proud history of civil non-compliance, from the French Revolution, 1848, and the Commune to May 68, is what made France what it is, and helped usher us into the modern freedoms and rights.

<comment><USER19> I don't think many french are proud of the commune, outside of the far left.

Even the 1789 French revolution was a bloodshed that resulted into a even tougher dictatorship (the First Empire)...

<comment><USER20> Most people might not have an especially good view of the Commune (though it's more widespread than just the far left) but virtually nobody sees the First Empire as "a tough dictatorship".

The bloodshed of the revolution and the Empire are seen as necessary evils at worst.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I guess that's lovely news if you're into anarchy, idk, not seeing the romance everyone else seems to see in this movement. France does need to reform hard though, they are right about that.

</comment><comment><USER22> Next they will complain about how road accidents have increased and how the government is incompetent

</comment><comment><USER20> In some areas (more rural places, Vendée for example) it was 100% of them around Christmas.

Their positions are all well known, so it's rather easy to get them all, and you are basically guaranteed impunity outside the largest cities since there will be no cameras to know who did it.

</comment><comment><USER23> Would you rather start an outdoors civil protest in the Winter or the Summer?

Its been proposed that Thatcher allowed the miners strike to occur but only during the Summer when the effects of lack of coal (power cuts) would be less.

There's some speculation that Occupy Wall Street collapsed in the bitter cold. Many UK riots seem to happen on warm summer nights.

Has anyone done an research or written about this? Can we expect the Yellow Vests to be less successful in this winter than in the summer?

</comment><comment><USER24> "Some protesters feel speed cameras are solely a revenue-generating measure which takes money from the poor."

This is also the case in Central and Eastern Europe.

EDIT: Please read what I cited properly. The citation includes the _" Some protesters feel ..."_ part, which is what I meant - that many people in central and eastern Europe feel the same, not that _I feel_ they're right (what I think is irrelevant).

<comment><USER25> the poor simply can respect the rules like the rich, right?

<comment><USER26> Sweden and Finland have fines based on the annual income.[0]

[0]: [https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from- elsewhere-31709454](https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from- elsewhere-31709454)

<comment><USER27> Imagine if they caught Jeff Bezos. They could probably fund their entire police force for several years.

[https://www.businessinsider.com/what-amazon-ceo-jeff- bezos-m...](https://www.businessinsider.com/what-amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-makes- every-day-hour-minute-2018-10?r=US&IR=T)

<comment><USER28> The nokia boss had to pay 116 000 EUR in 2002 [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1759791.stm)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Not the heroes we deserve but the heroes need.

</comment><comment><USER30> Yellow vests were chosen as a symbol because, since 2008, a law had required all French motorists to have high-visibility vests in their vehicles when driving. As a result, reflective vests had become widely available, inexpensive, and recognisable. [1]

Obligatory referenced video of the boxer vs police: [https://youtu.be/iUw37-eNSxg](https://youtu.be/iUw37-eNSxg)

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

<comment><USER31> From the video above, his statements are simply false.

<comment><USER30> It doesn't look like he was tear gassed - is that the statement you are referring to?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Maybe there is hope for humanity after all.</comment>


Would You Slap Your Father? If So, You're a Liberal - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/opinion/28kristof.html?_r=1 Yes, I realize the title is very politically-charged, but it's an actual interesting article about dealing with ideas and people you don't agree with. <comment><USER2> My current favorite political thinker, George Lakoff, has a whole body of work related to this subject. Conservations are focused on authority, while liberals are focused on empathy, and his theories conclude that the difference is based on different mental metaphors for the how families and family figures correspond to roles in government. His Wikipedia page has a decent enough introduction to his ideas: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lakoff>

<comment><USER3> It's a good thing we can all be easily classified into two groups.

<comment><USER4> Exactly. Words like "liberal" and "conservative" have become incredibly loaded terms, and the notion that they describe everyone is absurd oversimplification.

At a very basic level, the combination of social and economic issues is silly. The politicalcompass.org site/method is not without bias, but at least they break it into a two dimensional problem.

I've found that a great number of hackers/engineers skew towards more libertarian beliefs, where they may be "liberal" on one issue and then "conservative" on the next, but overall maintain a perfectly rational & consistent basis for their beliefs. These types of people don't fit well on a simplified 1-dimensional line between left & right.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> _For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm._

How very neutral! I often forget how pro-unfairness, and pro-harm conservatives are! I think a better way to understand it is that conservatives are political Darwinists, who believe in gradual adaptation to circumstances, undertaken at different rates by different groups. Liberals are political creationists, who hope to dissolve traditions and create a better society. It's a question of means, not ends: conservatives would probably argue that expropriating wealth someone has earned in order to give it to a third party is both unfair and an infliction of harm, whereas letting people keep what they make, and protecting them from criminals, is both fair and anti-harm.

<comment><USER6> Actually, the current definitions of liberal and conservative:

Liberals: think it's OK to spend your money on government programs they hope will be useful.

Conservatives: think it's OK to give your money to rich bankers so long as there are no strings attached.

Entrepreneurs: think it's OK if you spend your money with them.

<comment><USER7> The fact that you threw the word "entrepreneurs" in there makes this an HN- worthy comment.

<comment><USER6> I was actually trying to make a point about how the one-dimensional nature of most political discourse (Us!, Them!!) ignores most of the complexity that actually matters. And also acknowledge the reality that our political structures are corrupt, counterproductive and irrational. This may be one of those things you just can't say in polite society.

<comment><USER8> Generally, it's better to phrase that point something like this:

"The one dimensional nature of most political discourse (Us!, Them!!) ignores most of the complexity that actually matters. And our political structures are corrupt, counterproductive and irrational."

Expecting us to extract that meaning out of some vague witticism was probably your mistake.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Jonathan Haidt (quoted in the article) gave an interesting TEDTalk along similar lines:

[http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_mor...](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html)

</comment><comment><USER10> For the specialized research in this area, <http://neuropolitics.org/> is a good reference. The site took a bit of time to load for me, but they've done a lot of work in the area of behavior, preference, biology, and political beliefs.

The most relevant stuff is in the archives: circa 2006 +/- a year.

</comment><comment><USER8> So people choose their political beliefs based upon their personality. That's old news to me, but a more interesting question might be how many people buck these trends, because that might indicate how many people think critically about politics rather than embracing and trying to rationalize their first intuition.

</comment><comment><USER11> _For liberals, morality derives mostly from fairness and prevention of harm. For conservatives, morality also involves upholding authority and loyalty_

Interesting how liberal morality is vague and needs defined (i.e. how do we define what is "fair" and what is "harmful"), while the conservative morality is rooted in unchanging, definitive principles that are intuitively identifiable.

Authority and loyalty aren't something that needs defined, you know them when you see them and instantly recognize it when there's a lack of them. On the other hand, what is "fair" or "least harmful" among a given set of decisions is always up for huge debate.

<comment><USER12> No, it's a spectrum. There are no conservatives who believe that authority is always right, and no liberals (at least, very few liberals) who believe that it is never right.

> Authority and loyalty aren't something that needs defined, you know them > when you see them and instantly recognize it when there's a lack of them. On > the other hand, what is "fair" or "least harmful" among a given set of > decisions is always up for huge debate.

It is impossible to base your decisions on authority and loyalty alone, because you might end up being loyal to an authority who enjoys genocide. As noted above, conservatives also take fairness into account. Think about abortion, for instance...

<comment><USER8> "There are no conservatives who believe that authority is always right, and no liberals (at least, very few liberals) who believe that it is never right."

If only because believing that authority is always right is a decent characterization of fascism, while believing that authority is never right is a descent characterization of anarchism, which are respectively more right- wing/left-wing than conservatism and liberalism. This just maintains the spectrum while showing that conservatism and liberalism are not at the extremes.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Yes, I realize the title is very politically-charged, but it's an interesting article on dealing with ideas and people you don't agree with and open- mindedness.

<comment><USER13> I wouldn't say it's politically-charged as much as it's linkbait and a bit of an overgeneralization.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Hey, I have a great idea... why don't we most more polarising, political fluff pieces to HN? That way, we might turn it into Reddit.

<comment><USER15> It's actually an interesting (and scientific!) article saddled with a terrible title.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'd slap dad and also avoid having to touch faucets in public restrooms. Guess I'm a registered independent for a reason.</comment>


Update on STM - <AUTHOR> http://morepypy.blogspot.com/2013/08/update-on-stm.html

<comment><USER2> Obligatory anti STM hype links:

[http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1454466](http://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=1454466) [http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HhZcU_j...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:HhZcU_jucksJ:www.bluebytesoftware.com/blog/2010/01/03/ABriefRetrospectiveOnTransactionalMemory.aspx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

Pretty much all the generalized (not functional) memory TM schemes with adequate performance rely on hardware acceleration. If your design doesn't support that your design is wrong.

</comment><comment><USER3> Is there any plans to work hardware transactional memory into the mix?

<comment><USER4> Current HTM implementations limit the size of a transaction to the L1 cache, so for the time being, no.

<comment><USER5> Even new Intel Haswell's STM?

<comment><USER6> Yes, Intel TSX too has a limited transaction size.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Sex workers returned to SF streets after Backpage.com shut down - <AUTHOR> https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/The-Scanner-Sex-workers-returned-to-SF-streets-13304257.php <comment><USER2> Sex work should be legalized.

Making it illegal has only done wonders for pimps and traffickers. Nor has it deterred any persistent customers.

<comment><USER3> I'm for _decriminalization_ , which is a more strongly pro worker's rights position. Beyond that, I agree with you.

(Though the word gets used in a contradictory fashion, so if you google it, you might find my remark confusing.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> There's a good 'Reply All' episode about this problem: [https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/119-no-more-safe- harbo...](https://www.gimletmedia.com/reply-all/119-no-more-safe-harbor).</comment>


PayPal accidentally credits man $92 quadrillion - <AUTHOR> http://edition.cnn.com/2013/07/17/tech/paypal-error/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 <comment><USER2> Is it me or do I see a hyphen in front of the amount, making him not the richest guy in the world, but poorer than all nations of the world?

<comment><USER3> It appears so. I'm struggling to understand how the account holder and the person who wrote this article missed it.

<comment><USER4> don't know what kind of statement it is, but if it is a statement as in a bill, an amount of $140 means 'you owe us $140'. A negative amount would in turn mean 'we owe you'.

<comment><USER5> It says "Account Statement", so that cannot be the case. Also, if you look at the activity: the refund is positive and the express checkout is negative.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> > So what would the newly minted quadrillionaire have done with the cash? "I > probably would have paid down the national debt," he said.

Good citizen, thinks about his country first. As a matter of fact, he would own 11000 times more money than there are US dollars in existence [1].

I also wonder where this specific number came from. It doesn't look like anything familiar (like INT_MAX).

[1] [http://money.howstuffworks.com/how-much-money-is-in-the- worl...](http://money.howstuffworks.com/how-much-money-is-in-the-world.htm)

<comment><USER7> The number comes from a singed long long integer ( 64 bits )

2^63 = 9223372036854775808

bill === 9223372036854780000

difference is 4192, last two digits are used for cents.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I wonder when the error was detected? It's hard to tell, but it sounds like the man notified PayPal himself. But I wonder if he hadn't, how long would it take to trigger some mechanism in PayPal...I mean, aside from him trying to transfer an amount in the quadrillions)? Would some kind of flag go off, triggering a human doublecheck, if he started transferring quantities in the millions every other week?

Of course, this leads to the obvious question: whatever error-detecting mechanism would be triggered...why isn't it in place at the point which the $92 quadrillion transaction is credited? A simple _" customer.balance < TOTAL_KNOWN_SUM_OF_WORLDS_CURRENCY"_ would seem to suffice

<comment><USER9> _> Would some kind of flag go off, triggering a human doublecheck, if he started transferring quantities in the millions every other week?_

People have got their account suspended for transferring and/or receiving a few thousands. Pretty sure he wouldn't be able to transfer anything close to a million before lock down, unless he had clearance.

In any case, it should be noted that the error only occurred in his email statement. At no point in time could he have touched the money, since "So he logged online -- and reality bit back. His account balance read $0."

 _> Of course, this leads to the obvious question: whatever error-detecting mechanism would be triggered...why isn't it in place at the point which the $92 quadrillion transaction is credited? A simple "customer.balance < TOTAL_KNOWN_SUM_OF_WORLDS_CURRENCY" would seem to suffice_

Since it was only in the statement, it was probably an error in the reporting engine, and not in his actual account ledger.

<comment><USER10> _Since it was only in the statement, it was probably an error in the reporting engine, and not in his actual account ledger._

Oh summer interns

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Being PayPal, I'm surprised they didn't lock his account, or charge him abosrbant fees for the _mistake_. /end snark

<comment><USER12> 'exorbitant' is the word you're looking for.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Some discussion already: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6053421](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6053421)

There are also several other submissions of the same story.

</comment><comment><USER14> Not true. His account never got credited. Crediting assumes that his account balance actually changed, only the report that was created provided misinformation.

Data != information.

</comment><comment><USER15> It was clearly a display error, its not like the guy could have paid off the national debt considering the real money in that amount never existed in the first place.

</comment><comment><USER5> If, instead of being such a large amount, say it were twenty thousand dollars. Thinking that he had a generous benefactor, the recipient went on a shopping spree for ten thousand. Paypal, later determines that it was an error and wants the money back. What is the law with regard to this situation?

Aside: is it just me or does there appear to be a minus in from of the sum in the image?

</comment><comment><USER16> Probably only a display problem.

</comment><comment><USER17> I was going to say "looks like they don't use double-entry bookkeeping!" ... but if it's just a display bug, then nevermind.

</comment><comment><USER18> No sure about everyone else, but after this past year, I am wary about anything CNN claims happened.

</comment><comment><USER19> "I would have paid down the national debt" \- This is a real hero!

<comment><USER20> It would have caused devaluation though.</comment></comment>


BootMetro: Metro style web framework - <AUTHOR> http://aozora.github.com/bootmetro/ <comment><USER2> I'm a fan of the metro look in general, clean and simple. It _can_ work as a web framework, and this one does a pretty good job of it.

A few things of note:

1) The hover effect over the colored blocks feels odd, almost like the default blue border around image links.

2) ListViews seem under-styled with poor spacing. Perhaps this is intended

3) The ApplicationBar is pretty sharp

4) The text-color on all the button styles looks odd as black, with the exception of btn-primary

5) The Carousel in Chrome is way too thin. thinner than the arrow buttons, making the text unreadable.

<comment><USER3> This is so much better than the top comment "This is an abomination." and a much better critique.

I think pg should create a filter to weed out all comments which have stuff like "I'm not trying to be a hater/douchebag/downvote me/rude/etc but".

<comment><USER4> I don't know if it is because this is a design-based project and not a development project, but I don't understand why people are complaining about the complainers. Just as many people ask why someone did something a certain way - or why they'd do something at all - in threads based on programming projects and I think it is just as valid here.

In my experience on HN, there aren't enough quality posts on design. In fact, a lot of the most upvoted ones promote poor practices. I've stopped basing whether or not I go into a design threads on the upvotes, because some of the most beautiful projects I've seen have collected dust here, while others thrive despite their rampant shortcomings.

This is basic UI design in the form of basic CSS. You would be seriously hardpressed to find a more generic branding standard than one that relies on simple solid blocks and white text, something that can be pulled off in decades-old browsers, and here we have a website that a) illustrates a lack of understanding of the UI itself and b) a lack of understanding CSS, which makes up the framework.

Honestly if I worked in a studio that was doing work for Microsoft and asked a designer to create these web assets, I would send them back to the drawing board if this is what they presented to me. I think that's why you're seeing a lot of these "negative" comments. It looks and works like a last-minute homework assignment, especially for something where everything is already defined for you in public branding documentation and on Microsoft's own websites.

How am I supposed to say that without coming off as a jerk?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> From a designers standpoint:

1\. Take the hover border off and instead add a little CSS3 background transition animation and set the hover background color to something a tad lighter. I think this would be a cool effect.

2\. Use Segoe UI or something close instead of the font you're using now, especially on the blocks

3\. One of the cool things about the "metro" style is how they effectively use a ton of padding and space around things. Yours is very cramped in parts. Definitely be liberal with the padding and space stuff out.

I think those three things would make a big difference.

<comment><USER6> I don't think there is Segoe UI webfonts that I can embed? I tried to look for it in some point and could not find it. Do you know any font that is close to?

<comment><USER5> I _think_ this might work well. It's an Adobe open source font, it was popular on HN a little bit ago.

[http://blogs.adobe.com/typblography/2012/08/source-sans- pro....](http://blogs.adobe.com/typblography/2012/08/source-sans-pro.html)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Just poking through the source; is there a reason for selectors like this?

        .metro .metro-sections .metro-section.tile-span-1

        #charms .charms-header a.win-command span.win-commandimage.win-commandring

</comment><comment><USER8> You should really take the time to polish this first. That incorrectly scaled screenshot on the first page was enough for me to dismiss this.

<comment><USER9> He says on the landing page that it is

> Latest version: 0.5

which implies that there are quite a few things left for him to do before he considers the first version complete.

He probably felt that the marketing page was good enough for a 0.5 product. I personally think it is good enough.

<comment><USER10> He still hasn't fixed the squished screenshot's obviously wrong aspect ratio, at least as of the time I am writing this.

Screenshots with incorrect aspect ratios are a huge pet peeve for me and while this may not be entirely rational, it is one of the big things I find myself judging someone's overall competency on when they screw it up and they are doing design-focused work. I'd rather have the whole page be written in Comic Sans but have the screenshot in the right aspect ratio because at least that's a _choice_ rather than just shoddy work.

Of course, YMMV.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> This is an abomination. Do we honestly need a "framework" to use the background-color and float properties? Not to mention that the design here is very poorly executed, and as someone else mentioned the responsiveness doesn't even work.

I'm not trying to be a hater or a downer, I just can't believe that this is the state of web design right now. As Gob would say, "COME ON!"

<comment><USER12> > This is an abomination

That's pretty rude.

> Do we honestly need a "framework" to use the background-color and float > properties?

This story is on the front page, so there are obviously some folk who would. I quite like it, and if it improves as a result of positive feedback, that'll be great. Your feedback has not been positive.

> I'm not trying to be a hater or a downer

Yes, yes you are. Or perhaps you meant "I am being a hater and a downer but I'm hardly having to put any effort into it".

> I just can't believe that this is the state of web design right now.

I can't believe this is the state of commenting right now. Ah, wait, no, this is just your comment and is not 'the state of commenting'.

As I would say, "COME ON!".

<comment><USER13> He might be blunt, but is correct. You only need look at the terrible fidelity of the back arrow being used to see that it's not had much care and attention.

On top of that almost every component skin has issues that make it feel not right, like the drop down menu having gaps in the horizontal rule margins.

And in general, I dislike the approach to online discussion that everything has to be positively spun. This isn't very good, maybe it will be soon or maybe never, why should we not be able to air a valid negative opinion?

<comment><USER12> On reflection, I could have worded that part of my comment better. I completely agree that constructive criticism is useful. I just think that we can be civil about it.

<comment><USER11> Perhaps suggestions of how this could be made more civil while retaining the criticism would have been a better way to word the comment - want to take another shot?

Stuff like "one good thing, one bad thing" or any type of sugar coating is not relevant. We are (I hope) adults here and should be able to accept criticism without needing an ego boost along with it.

There are in addition a number of inaccuracies in your comment:

\- _"Your feedback has not been positive."_ \- It wasn't supposed to be positive. I thought that much was fairly clear.

\- _"Yes, yes you are" (reply to i'm not trying to be a hater)_ \- No, I wasn't. I was making a critical comment, but I wasn't trying to be a hater. You cannot tell me what I was trying to do.

<comment><USER14> > \- "Yes, yes you are" (reply to i'm not trying to be a hater) - No, I > wasn't. I was making a critical comment, but I wasn't trying to be a hater. > You cannot tell me what I was trying to do.

You weren't trying to be a hater. But you can try to not be a hater, and still end up as one.

> Perhaps suggestions of how this could be made more civil while retaining the > criticism would have been a better way to word the comment - want to take > another shot?

More commentary like this:

> the responsiveness doesn't even work.

This was the only part of your comment that was worth while, or worded in a civil way. Rather than spew insults, be specific. As they say in writing, show, don't tell. It's poor to say it's an abomination. Rather, simply explain why.

> Stuff like "one good thing, one bad thing" or any type of sugar coating is > not relevant.

It's not. And that method doesn't make civil criticism, regardless. After all: "Your font choice makes it easy to read, but what I'm reading is still an abomination" is rude and unhelpful.

The best criticism is specific then. Everything else is just opinion, and generally worthless. Opinions that merely insult are just hateful.

Hopefully this helps.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Sorry, but a frontend framework that claims to be responsive, but then has a demo that breaks down completely when resizing the browser is not really convincing to me.

<http://allidoiswin.se/_images/broken.png>

Idea is good, but implementation feels...unfinished to say the least.

<comment><USER16> So all projects on Github must be finished. Got it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Changing the font to "Segoe UI Light" goes a long way.

</comment><comment><USER18> It's not a new framework, but you could achieve similar results using Twitter Bootstrap and the Microsoft Modern Buttons Project - [http://ace- subido.github.com/css3-microsoft-metro-buttons/in...](http://ace- subido.github.com/css3-microsoft-metro-buttons/index.html)

</comment><comment><USER19> I wish Microsoft devs would go the Twitter route and release a Metro equivalent of Twitter Bootstrap. They must certainly be using some internal framework.

<comment><USER20> Indeed. I asked Scott Guthrie if they had any plans for this, but they don't according to him (as he probably knows). Too bad, because that would be a great move.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> The edges are rough but this is great.

I've really warmed to the whole metro look when it's done right and I look forward to where this goes. White text/icons on block color squares works beautifully and looks "cool". This could be bigger than Twitter Bootstrap if done right.

<comment><USER22> Looks "cool" is not the same as well-designed or usable.

The Metro UI is awesome for touch devices, but mostly just flat out bad and wrong for anything else.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> One of the better "Metro" frameworks is Metro Bootstrap, simply a Metro skin over Bootstrap rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.

<http://talkslab.github.com/metro-bootstrap/index.html>

</comment><comment><USER24> I love the concept of this... but it still looks buggy and in an early stage. (Which seems reasonable, only version 0.5.)

Some things I noticed: On the demo, scrolling horizontally is shaky and broken on Mac OS X Mountain Lion. Although I guess this is my fault due to my browser size, but the set of tiles that needed to scroll to be seen were completely hidden. I didn't realize you had to scroll at first. In addition, trying to scroll back to the original position doesn't work since instead, my Mac thinks I want to go back a page in browser history. (Mac has two finger swipe to go back in a browser if you're not familiar.)

Anywho, I love where this is going and hope to see more. It'd be awesome to be able to create actual Metro-styled web apps. It appears right now that the framework is only set up to re-create the home tile screen in Win8.

</comment><comment><USER25> Out of curiosity, how does Metro look to color blind people?

<comment><USER26> You can use e.g. this link and then select different types of color blindness via the popover on the right:

[http://colorfilter.wickline.org/?a=1;r=;l=9;j=1;u=aozora.git...](http://colorfilter.wickline.org/?a=1;r=;l=9;j=1;u=aozora.github.com/bootmetro/hub.html;t=n)

In short: Metro looks different because it uses different colors. I guess this shouldn't impact readability or accessibility _in most cases_ due to the use of simple, sharp icons and white text. But I guess the white text could result in problems when the color blind perceive a given color as a light gray, resulting in little contrast.

<comment><USER27> Thanks for the information and the link, that is a really cool site! I'll make sure to use it on future projects just to make sure I'm not completely screwing over color blind people.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> For an excellent reference implementation of how a Metro style application should look, check out Microsoft's Azure site: <http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/>

Borrowing some of the css transitions, color scheme and typography from there would go a long way toward really delivering the "Metro experience" with your framework.

</comment><comment><USER29> I don't understand the "concept" of The Windows 8 UI (not Metro) Maybe it's just because I'm used to the skeuomorphism of icons and folders. The tiles Windows 8 UI (I just like typing that long unwieldy phrase) to me are in the awkward position of taking up MUCH more screen real estate than a simple icon, while not being able to convey much more information.

Am I missing something?

</comment><comment><USER30> why is there a back button right below my browser's back button?

</comment><comment><USER31> License? I don't see it listed in the readme or site and there's no license file in the repo.

</comment><comment><USER32> I like the concept but can't tell if the bugs on iPad is a bug or a feature...

</comment><comment><USER33> It's interesting to see that the syntax of the html/css is identical to Twitter's Bootstrap. It really goes to show you that the syntax and nomenclature that Twitter developed won and NOT the design.

</comment><comment><USER34> Interesting. Just curious, can this can ignite the patent trolls? Say I use a more polished version this to build the next viral site - what are the chances to be dragged to court?

</comment><comment><USER20> Awesome! I've been waiting for this for so long; I even wanted to make it myself. Does this work with default bootstrap HTML?

Keep up the good work, I'm definitely going to use this.

</comment><comment><USER35> Great idea, this can be a very useful project. Needs some polishing, though. For instance, the icons need anti-aliasing and some are clipped at the borders.

</comment><comment><USER36> I'm not a designer but that font look a bit to sharp.

</comment><comment><USER37> Is it a framework for making a site that looks like it was designed by a pre- schooler? Then, yes, good job.

Otherwise ...

</comment><comment><USER38> Looks good on my computer, but unfortunately it's rather broken on both my Android phone and tablet

</comment><comment><USER39> That's great, thanks! I wonder if someone knows a googl+ish theme built on bootstrap?

<comment><USER40> You mean this? [http://blog.timodonnell.com/css3-google- buttons/components.h...](http://blog.timodonnell.com/css3-google- buttons/components.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> A very good work, but a lot to do remains as far as I can see.

</comment><comment><USER42> Really cool, but will it over take all those Bootstrap sites?

</comment><comment><USER43> Horizontal scrolling seems to be broken in Safari on OS X.

</comment><comment><USER44> mouse scroll feels backwards, on normal pages one scrolls down to advance, but here one needs to scroll up instead

</comment><comment><USER45> Looks very cool, thanks for sharing.

</comment><comment><USER46> Doesn't look good on mobile?

</comment><comment><USER47> looks promising, although it is still far from metro's elegance.

<comment><USER48> I think a lot of that is due to the typeface. Right now the type is fighting the elements vs working with them. /2c

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> Great work!

</comment><comment><USER50> It's not metro without Segoe UI.</comment>


Ask HN: Your "Keeper" articles. - <AUTHOR>

This being Hacker News there are many articles here that are "of the moment," items absolutely worth reading, and interesting to see, but not ones that you would refer back to.
There are articles, however, that are worth filing away and coming back to read later, and I'd be interested in seeing the ones that others have kept hold of in this manner.
Recently we've had "Who Can Name the Bigger Number?" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1539538 ) as an example, an article that repays rereading, and I personally enjoyed Zed Shaw's "Ragel state charts" and PG's "The Top Idea in Your Mind" ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1536356 )
I've filed those away with some tags to help me find them again.  What articles are your keepers*? <comment><USER2> How to Write Great Microcopy - <http://huffduffer.com/thinkvitamin/22025>

Basecamp landing page breakdown - <http://www.unmatchedstyle.com/gallery/basecamphqcom.php>

Using your Sign-Up Form as your Qualifier - [http://bokardo.com/archives/using-your-sign-up-form-as-a- qua...](http://bokardo.com/archives/using-your-sign-up-form-as-a-qualifier/)

Mike McDermott talks Web App Marketing Metrics - [http://carsonified.com/blog/business/mike-mcderment-of- fresh...](http://carsonified.com/blog/business/mike-mcderment-of-freshbooks- on-web-app-marketing-metrics/)

Seven Steps to Remarkable Customer Service - <http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/customerservice.html>

Obviously there are alot more but these are the ones I've saved in Evernote to go back to.

</comment><comment><USER3> I can't say for certain these came from HN, but they most likely did, so here goes:

Gojko Adzic's "TDD as if you meant it" article: [http://gojko.net/2009/02/27/thought-provoking-tdd- exercise-a...](http://gojko.net/2009/02/27/thought-provoking-tdd-exercise-at- the-software-craftsmanship-conference/)

William Zinsser's "Writing English as a Second Language": [http://www.theamericanscholar.org/writing-english-as-a- secon...](http://www.theamericanscholar.org/writing-english-as-a-second- language/)

Steve Yegge's "Execution in the Kingdom of Nouns": [http://steve- yegge.blogspot.com/2006/03/execution-in-kingdom...](http://steve- yegge.blogspot.com/2006/03/execution-in-kingdom-of-nouns.html)

Mencius Moldbug's "Wolfram Alpha and hubristic user interfaces": [http://unqualified- reservations.blogspot.com/2009/07/wolfram...](http://unqualified- reservations.blogspot.com/2009/07/wolfram-alpha-and-hubristic-user.html)

</comment><comment><USER4> Read before setting a price:

[http://chrisashworth.org/blog/2010/06/09/my-2-bucks-on- prici...](http://chrisashworth.org/blog/2010/06/09/my-2-bucks-on-pricing/)

</comment><comment><USER5> I keep going back to Venkatesh Rao's "Gervais Principle" essays. The other stuff he's written is really good too.

[http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais- principle-o...](http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or- the-office-according-to-the-office/)

</comment><comment><USER6> I've found myself referring back to Evan Williams "Ten Rules for Web Startups" (2005!) on many occasions.

<http://evhead.com/2005/11/ten-rules-for-web-startups.asp>

</comment><comment><USER7> PG's "The Power of the Marginal" (<http://www.paulgraham.com/marginal.html>).

<comment><AUTHOR> Cool - thanks.

I also found these gems in your previous comments/submissions:

<http://norvig.com/sudoku.html>

<http://norvig.com/spell-correct.html>

Would you be willing to have a chat with me by email? Address is in my profile.

<comment><USER7> I would. I've sent you an email.</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Perf Track – Analyze performance of sites that use frameworks - <AUTHOR> https://perf-track.web.app/angular <comment><AUTHOR> I've been doing research into how well sites that use popular JavaScript frameworks and libraries perform and built this to make it easier for anyone to see.

This probably goes without saying, but perf.track isn't an exercise to compare the performance of frameworks against each other. There are way too many variables that need to be considered before that can be done, and I built this to instead provide trends and insight to both framework authors and developers.</comment>


The International Space Station will soon become the coldest place in the known - <AUTHOR> https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/175932-the-international-space-station-will-soon-become-the-coldest-place-in-the-known-universe-for-science <comment><USER2> Just to clarify the title, they will put a "superfridge" in he ISS to do some experiments, they will not cool all the ISS to a very low temperature.</comment>


Problems with Mars - <AUTHOR> https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/55hipy/problems_with_mars/ <comment><USER2> I think Kim Stanley Robinson's R/G/B Mars series covered a workable Mars calendar in detail, FWIW.

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

It's interesting that the recent SpaceX announcement of a Mars colonization plan included 100 colonists. (OK, it was "at least" \- perhaps it will be 101)

</comment><comment><USER3> Except this time around we'll keep it simple, no time zones and expressed as YYYY solofyear.decimalofsol.

0010 372.5000 represents midsol of the 373rd sol of the 11th year since humans landed on Mars.

<comment><USER4> See this essay on why living without time zones is probably a bad idea: [https://qntm.org/abolish](https://qntm.org/abolish)

Having no time zones would probably work if you were geographically restricted to one area (as will probably be true on Mars for some time), but when you get to the point where you're covering a large enough part of the planet, you're going to need them, even on Mars.

I also think you'll find that no matter what you do you it won't be long until people start being fuzzy with how thye express dates and times.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Didn't Java already cover this when they introduced the abstract Calendar class, of which GregorianCalendar would be one of many subclasses?

<comment><USER6> Actually Java has a proper well-designed api for dates and times since Java 8.

<comment><USER7> It's lovely. I've given talks internally at my company to show everyone how great it is, and why using it prevents bugs.</comment></comment></comment>


The West Is Choked by Fear - <AUTHOR> http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,669888,00.html

<comment><USER2> In the UK at least, we deal with difficult subjects through satire. But where do you draw the line? I am one for open - although much material on the web is offensive (as seen from me). I'd have rather the images were reprinted, and have the whole thing forgotten about. But there was some gesture of respect and sensitivity shown by the west deriding the work. The debate has also come up with the turn around of the BBC to allow the BNP on question time. So I think it is important to provide the material and the appropriate fora, and freedoms of speech. The herd and mob mentality is usually a result of ignorance. But it takes a long time for attitudes to change. In Britain in the eighties, people were still afraid to speak their minds or challenge the establishment. My father's attitudes have changed incredibly over the last 10 years. And I guess so have mine.

My personal belief is that people can practice what they like, but with the following caveats: no harm to others, animals or the planet. I don't belong to any faith, but see myself as more 'Christian' then many practising Christians. People get lost in doctrine or the mob, and forget to question for themselves. Natural law is far simpler.

The web provides an outlet for many voices, who's authority do you trust? Moderation requires some form of censorship. I'd rather it all open. I can't stand pruned forums, they feel like rigged referendums. It's just incredibly difficult wading through it all. As usually the average Joe, hasn't really anything much interesting to say.

So is it fear or learned sensitivity?

<comment><USER3> _But where do you draw the line?_

In a free society there should be _no_ line. A person should be free to say absolutely anything. There is certainly a possibility of causing harm by way of your speech, but this should be handled _post hoc_ , with a court determining damages.

America partially observes this with a watered-down doctrine of prior restraint, but it's got enough exceptions that it's not worth so much.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've heard the reasoning in this article before, and it's deeply flawed.

It's true that we in the West have the right to offend, but _being a troll doesn't make you a righteous defender of freedom._. Those cartoons weren't some type of brilliant artwork, they were simple trolling.

While I'll stand up for someone's right to be a troll, they certainly shouldn't expect my support and respect. Instead, that is reserved for the millions who fought and died to establish and protect our freedoms in the first place.

<comment><USER5> If we aren't willing to stand up for unpleasant and offensive things then we aren't willing to stand up for freedom of speech at all.

And frankly, having seen the cartoons, anyone who thinks the cartoonists deserve to either die or face attempts on their lives is a nutcase who we should be willing to stand up to.

<comment><USER6> Yes, precisely. If you have the freedom to do only things that absolutely no one else could take offense from then you do not have freedom.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> HN is not the right place for such a debate.

<comment><USER8> I think a lot of hackers are interested in free speech issues. Myself included

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Hmm. Important stuff. But not really hackers news material. Or do I misunderstand the intention of this post?

<comment><USER10> It's one of those borderline posts - on the one hand it isn't really hacker news, but on the other hand it's important and about basic freedom. Which is dear to hackers. I think it has merit,so I upvoted it.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How to design for developers? Process and resources - <AUTHOR> How to design for your sideprojects. Is there any resources out there for color palette etc.<p>What is the process to design (Minimal MVP). <comment><USER2> [https://hackdesign.org/lessons](https://hackdesign.org/lessons) this may help you..

</comment><comment><USER3> www.refactoringui.com/book is a great book/course that I used for designing my apps.</comment>


Nord: An arctic, north-bluish color palette - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/arcticicestudio/nord <comment><USER2> I definitely love this but it sucks that the hex colors aren't properly given anywhere... I end up using colorpicker. :|</comment>


ASCII art diagrams - <AUTHOR> http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2016/06/14/ascii-art-diagrams/ <comment><USER2> This is really cool, makes me want to make some sort of spin off that takes emoji art and makes story boards out of it.

Also, here is a cool tool for generating ASCII art diagrams: [http://asciiflow.com/](http://asciiflow.com/)</comment>


There Are Sensible Ways to Reopen. Then There's the US's Way - <AUTHOR> https://time.com/5836607/reopening-risks-coronavirus/ <comment><USER2> "84,000 Americans have died of COVID-19"

This article acts as if only the US has death due to Covid. Nearly the entire world is affected by this virus and the US actually has a pretty low death rate compared to the rest of the world.

Without mentioning per-capita statistics, any article mentioning only the total death rate is intentionally being disingenuous.

Johns Hopkins has some good stats:

[https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality](https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/mortality)

"In the early days of their fight against COVID-19, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland tested their populations at nearly 40 times the U.S. rate, per capita, and now have one-fifth the death rate"

All of the countries listed are the size of a US state. It's very easy to test an entire country when it's this small. When you scale anything up, you will have to deal with a different set of issues.

I'm also curious how they actually tested beyond a simple spot check of symptoms. Most tests were not even close to being accurate until recently and we didn't even know that much about the virus early on.

"included a revised forecast for the virus's toll, estimating some 3,000 Americans could be dying per day by June 1—a 9/11 every day"

Every prediction so far by experts has been an order of magnitude off about deaths or completely wrong. Why is this new one going to be more accurate?

"South Korea built an innovative digital infrastructure to identify and track every new coronavirus case within its borders"

South Korea also removes the infected from their families, including children, by force. The government is also violating citizens' privacy with this tracking. I seriously doubt anyone in the US would see this as an acceptable solution.

" U.S. is now conducting some 390,000 tests a day—a major jump after a sluggish start."

There was a 'sluggish' start because none of the tests were accurate and the US government would rather have accurate tests than a 60-70% test failure rate. Many politicians in other countries pushed out these inaccurate tests because they didn't want to lose support by looking like they didn't do enough during a crises.

" in May that the U.S. should be conducting 40 million to 50 million tests every month to provide basic surveillance on the spread of the disease in this country"

There really is no point in this much testing. Since there is no vaccine, and the fact that it spreads so quickly, you would need to test everyone every day. This just isn't a good use of our resources or practical.

Until a vaccine is invented, we need to slowly open up and require social distancing while protecting the vulnerable (people older than 60, have health issues, etc).</comment>


Algorithm to enhance low-res muscle mesh with high-res muscle mesh in real-time - <AUTHOR> http://www.visualacuity.nl/2016/02/a-scalable-geometrical-model-for-muscle.html <comment><USER2> Very interesting. What are the ramifications for improving the understanding of biomechanics? Does this allow for better investigation into the effects of deformations such as compression, or muscles that are bent over pivot points? Are cross-sectional areas easily available, and can these be used to determine if muscle power is affected in certain situations eg the deformations mentioned?

<comment><AUTHOR> Any improvement in biomechanics would have a lot of positive consequences as the field has a lot of subfields. One example is soft body dynamics. Research in this area is very active as computational power increases more accurate and complex finite element simulations of soft tissues are possible. While the classical model used in the paper, from Delp et al., already contains pivot points, it lacks other important info. For instance, the tendon slack length parameter currently includes both the length of the free tendon and the length of the aponeurotic tendon. In reality most musculotendons consist of at least one tendon on each side. AFAIK, no functional representation is available that divides the tendon length into separate lengths for the origin and insertion of each unit, and also into its two constituents, free and aponeurotic. And as has been shown, deformation effects for muscles and tendon are indeed different as they they have different material properties. Regarding the cross-sectional areas, these are available, just not within the classical models. If there is a need to incorporate cross-sectional area into a model than the main issue is measure. Most models in biomechanics are created by taking external measurements of subjects in vivo, but I guess it won't take long before models go beyond piecewise line segments. Or soft body simulation get cheap enough to reach the same level of accuracy present in these trial- and-tested models.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> What are the applications for this?

<comment><AUTHOR> For this specific project/paper it's any application that would include real- time computer animation with an underlying musculoskeletal framework. Biomechanics scientists, clinicians can use it to improve the "visual" realism of their bio-simulation tools, or video game developers and artists can use it to increase the realism of game characters. The benefit here is that you can let the model takes care of the biomechanics and it's output is used to deform the muscle and tendon geometry in real-time. The number of vertices (or resolution) of each muscle can also be adjusted to keep the minimum required frame rate, in case you want dynamic skinning and everything else that needs to be added into a complex scene.</comment></comment>