Mathew Ingram: My verdict on Disqus: Two thumbs up - <AUTHOR> http://www.mathewingram.com/work/2008/05/10/my-verdict-on-disqus-two-thumbs-up/

<comment><USER2> I use Disqus in my poetry web app and realized that it doesn't address auto- discovery for the comments on a poem (which is a blog post for all intents and purposes). The Disqus component on the page does include an RSS link, but it's not picked up by the browsers.

I ended up writing some DOM javascript to append the link element to the head tag after the page renders. It works in Safari and Firefox (haven't tested IE or Opera yet). It's a little bit grisly and I'd like to see a more integrated solution down the road but it does the job.

<http://pastie.caboo.se/204707></comment>


Platform infrastructure for embedded Erlang/OTP, Elixir and LFE projects - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/nerves-project/nerves_system_br <comment><AUTHOR> Raspberry Pi 1-3 image building toolchain (amongst other repos) on the project page:

[https://github.com/nerves-project](https://github.com/nerves-project)

[https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves_system_rpi](https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves_system_rpi)

[https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves_system_rpi2](https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves_system_rpi2)

[https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves_system_rpi3](https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves_system_rpi3)

Check out examples here:

[https://github.com/nerves-project/nerves-examples](https://github.com/nerves- project/nerves-examples)

</comment><comment><USER2> Actors seems like an interesting model to increase reuse in embedded systems by sharing concurrent components between users, So i wonder why there isn't a collaborative community doing exactly this ?

<comment><USER3> In my experience the embedded community is extremely traditional, and most projects are built using C with static memory allocation. There is a lot of excitement around Nerves in the Elixir community though, so be on the look out. I think outside of the traditional community effects, having a garbage collector (even one that's designed for soft-realtime like Erlang) really kills the deal.

<comment><USER2> There are actor frameworks in c++ like caf and theron, not sure how simple to use though.

As for garbage collection - that's a problem, but maybe with the right dual core mcu with 400Kram(a $2 esp32) and some fancy concurrent garbage collection this will work well ?

Also at first i'm not sure this should be aimed at the embedded community, more towards the maker community.

<comment><USER4> Erlang provides soft realtime guarantees. GC is extremely light (it's per actor) and often this is sufficient.

<comment><USER5> Erlang isn't the problem - it's the ubiquity of pi0 like platform that can make it a reality in the MC space. You can't run Erlang on the 8 and 16 bit MC's that are currently used in embedded products. This won't change till you can run Erlang on arduino.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> This looks awesome, but I'd like to see a demo that makes a good 'bang for buck/reliability' case. eg make a simple web service with distributed database and really abuse it - kill nodes and DDOS it and see if it bounces back.</comment>


The Vanual – Guide to Living in a Van - <AUTHOR> http://thevanual.com <comment><USER2> As someone who is going through the process of building a van to live in... this is a terrible resource. Better ones are:

\- Almost anything on [https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/](https://www.reddit.com/r/vandwellers/)

\- [http://www.alwaystheroad.com/conversion- ebook/](http://www.alwaystheroad.com/conversion-ebook/)

\- [http://www.sprinter-rv.com/sprinter-rv-conversion- sourcebook...](http://www.sprinter-rv.com/sprinter-rv-conversion-sourcebook/)

\- [http://vandwellers.org/](http://vandwellers.org/)

\- [https://www.campervanlife.com/](https://www.campervanlife.com/)

<comment><USER3> Thanks for the links!

I don't yet know enough to evaluate the quality of the instruction here. Why do you think this is a terrible resource?

<comment><USER4> I don't know that it's a terrible resource, I actually think it has a nice layout and has the right type of information, it could just use more breadth.

It offers one specific method for each area which you can see on alot of blogs, etc. The approach in paricular (At least for electrical) is also pretty basic and rough.

For example - the electrical buildout basically just drills a hole in and epoxied into your roof. As opposed to something like a cable box w/ waterproof connectors.

I think it's a great start and would love to see more depth and also a few options like: "Want to power alot of stuff? 400w of panels and 2 deep cycle batteries" vs. "Just need to power a cell phone?" etc.

Here's a great guide for the electrical side that I have been working off of for our van: [https://gnomadhome.com/van-build-solar-electrical- wiring/](https://gnomadhome.com/van-build-solar-electrical-wiring/)

And here's a nice overview which would be good to have for n00bs: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k9qlZM1ars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k9qlZM1ars)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Imagine what will happen if you get the flu. You're suddenly stuck in a tiny living space, on a street where you know no one, and can't leave the van for fear of discovery, at 3 in the morning. You're going to spend the night vomiting with only a tiny cassette toilet and what ever plastic bags you can scrounge up to hold it in, and if it's strong enough, you might be too weak to even drive.

Now go and read that site's health and hygiene, realize the owner never even considers this a possibility, and that his own van doesn't even include a cassette toilet. That he can only defecate during a store's business hours, and he uses a laundry bottle filled with bleach to pee into if he needs to urinate in the middle of the night.

You really want to listen to this guy?

<comment><USER6> Just because it's not for you doesn't mean it's not for everyone.

My brother has been living in a van for years and he loves it. Yes, there are tradeoffs, but when you are saving the cost of renting, and gaining a lot of freedom WRT your location, some people are willing to give up a lot of comforts.

It's not for me, but I think it's great for people who can tolerate it.

<comment><USER5> My point was the moment something relatively minor that happens to us all, happens to a van dweller, it becomes a major crisis. The things we take for granted, like being able to go to the bathroom when we want, or live without fear of police knocking on the door and demanding we suddenly up and relocate because we've broken laws, don't exist for this guy. If he gets into an accident on the road, he just imperiled his entire house.

And he's doing it for what? The great experience of having to sleep every night in a wal-mart parking lot or a side street? Not being able to live in one place, invite his friends over to his house, have a long-term girlfriend, and more?

Living in a van is hard. It doesn't become less hard because a yuppie does it as a voyage of self-discovery, or makes a pretty web site about it.

editing my language some. I'm sorry, I get really strident about things like this.

<comment><USER7> Am I missing something that's exceedingly lethal to van dwellers but not traditionally-homed humans?

Worse case, you drive to the nearest ER. Worst case, call 911 or stumble out onto the street and ask someone to do so. No different than if I had a heart attack in my house.

Reacting to this so negatively is ignoring the billions of humans around the globe who live in much more rustic conditions and (largely) manage not to die.

<comment><USER8> I have no experience in this but it occurs to me that the van won't be inspected to the same standard as a building permit inspector or some such.

Imagine you screw up the ventilation and have a carbon monoxide problem, or, you screw up something electrical and put yourself at risk of fire. I suppose there are a lot of spotty contractors out there that still manage to do their thing on more traditional dwellings too, but DIY in the tight space of a van seems like some of the things described are not without risk.

<comment><USER7> Granted. But these things aren't rocket science.

There was a time when everyone managed to get by without building codes. Sure we had a few fires and collapses, but statistically speaking they were still outliers.

Don't let the 1% risk of bad hold you back from trying good, is my only point.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Living in San Francisco, I've always fantasized about living in a Van and saving 40 to 50K on rent annually. Have a cat.

Serious question: I couldn't find a section for the 3 Essential Ss for every man - Sh*t, Shave, Shampoo.

What do these guys who live in Vans do for that? I know that the Google dude who lives on Campus in Parking lot can use the Company showers and Toilets, but what about the average everyday man in the City who wants to try this?

<comment><USER10> Shit: rest areas, walmarts, starbucks, cathole in the bush, or a porta-potty in the van.

Shave: Grow a beard, truck stop restrooms in the morning, you'll blend right in with the truckers doing the same.

Shampoo: In the city swimming pools are a decent bet, sometimes you can just ask if you can just shower and they'll let you. Gym memberships like Planet Fitness can be reasonably priced for just the shower. In more remote areas, campgrounds are a good source of showers, sometimes free, sometimes a modest fee. Plenty of van dwellers will even setup a cleaning area in their van, usually some sort of bucket they can stand in a pour heated water over them selves, or at least a sponge bath.

I'm not a fulltime van dweller, I started off just skipping out on hotels during 2-3week long road trips, eventually moved into my car (Pontiac G6) for 6months in the Boston area. Now its more sporadic, a month or two here and there while doing some long distance hiking.

<comment><USER11> > eventually moved into my car (Pontiac G6) for 6months in the Boston area.

That's crazy! May I ask where you parked in the evenings?

<comment><USER10> I wasn't right in downtown Boston but a bit north, I often parked between a few different Walmarts in the area or at the office park the company I worked for had their office in.

Though I guess I phrased that a bit poorly, I spent Dec-Mar in the Boston area and fled south after some significant snowfall in January and February (record breaking snow in 2015). While moving it was almost always in rest areas or trail heads (backpacking on the weekends).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Hmm. What I'm dreaming about is doing the same but with a proper bus or an old flatbed truck instead of a van. That allows for stuff like a proper shower and toilet (given you have a place where to dump the sewage, and I don't mean dumping it in the next available river), in addition that you can actually stand up in a bus.

<comment><USER13> Why not buy an RV? More space or just the fun of customizing the thing from the ground up?

<comment><USER12> 1) more space (especially as I'm a 1.87m guy)

2) _proper_ toilet and shower instead of chemo toilet and something that's more a droplet distributor than a shower; in addition you can physically separate the toilet and its gases from your living room.

3) trucks and buses are designed for maintenance by the fleet owners and have space to actually work on the components, in contrast to loads of car based RV models

4) RVs at truck/bus scale are either expensive or so worn-out that a rebuild is the same cost

5) customizing - I like building stuff, for one, and normal RVs don't come with adequate 230V outlets or other IT infrastructure.

<comment><USER13> Good to know! I figured there was a good reason.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Love it. Every few years, a site like this gets posted, detailing somebody's transition from rooted to nomadic. If you work remotely, this can be an exciting idea.

</comment><comment><USER15> [https://twitter.com/existentialcoms/status/63874822336076595...](https://twitter.com/existentialcoms/status/638748223360765953?lang=en)

</comment><comment><USER16> It doesn't really talk about where to park your van. I feel like the hardest part would be understanding where you can sleep and make camp for a time period.

<comment><USER17> Walmart parking lots welcome van campers

<comment><USER18> I thought this was on the front page, but it's not true at all of them. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/us/walmart-parking- rv.htm...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/us/walmart-parking-rv.html)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I'm sorry, but is living in the Bay Area really worth all this?

I remember reading old dystopian sci fi about middle-class people sleeping on the stairs, is that a reality now?

</comment><comment><USER20> Also doubles as a guide for how to live in an affordable Vancouver, Canada apartment.

</comment><comment><USER21> ... down by the river. Matt Foley will tell you what his life is all about.

<comment><USER22> Vintage SNL - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8)

> _Well, la-de-frickin-da, we got ourselves a coder here_

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Hi! I wonder about anyones experience doing full- or part-time van-life, with an electric van (idea sparked by seeing the Tesla car on YouTube) in Europe?

<comment><USER24> Been researching it for a while now. It isn't feasible yet. The best output I've seen is a thousand pounds of hauling on an electric truck. Which is about 200 pounds less than the most efficient truck camper I can find. Thats enough data to extrapolate to most forms of living such as this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> On a vaguely related note, Nomadland ([https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34068480-nomadland](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34068480-nomadland)) is a really good book that describes both living in a van and why a lot of people are considering (aka being forced into) the (van/RV)-dwelling lifestyle.

</comment><comment><USER26> How does this work out for individuals or couples with one or more children?

<comment><USER27> It doesn't. You can put yourself through misery and mooching off of the society, but you shouldn't subject children to it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> This is the most drop-dead gorgeous, well thought-out and smoothest website that i have ever seen. Opened the site and was just stunned at how sensible the structure, transitions are. Brilliant.

</comment><comment><USER29> More vital information can be found here:

[http://suspiciousvan.com](http://suspiciousvan.com)

</comment><comment><USER30> I've read those reflective insulation doesn't do much with keeping out cold.

<comment><USER31> The Reflectix would reflect back in your body or cooking heat. It's not going to have a role "keeping out cold". Van converters often use a mixture of foam board insulation, Reflectix, spray on foam, etc to either keep out heat (in Summer) or keep in heat (in Winter).

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> i don't know if this is the best resource for modding a van, but on the other hand it is the best implementation of a resource for modding a van, by far.

</comment><comment><USER33> just what is going on with housing in america?

</comment><comment><USER34> The instagram links are broken.

</comment><comment><USER35> affiliate spam under the cover of 1 paragraph "tutorials"

</comment><comment><USER36> I'm dreaming of living in a Tesla Semi

<comment><USER37> That's actually a very cool idea. Truckers sleep in their trucks all the time. You'd have a huge living space. Solar panels, power wall. I wonder how far you could get on that for driving.

<comment><USER36> you could also have a small cargo area to deliver a few things.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> This is an amazing site! Great work.</comment>


Facebook lets U.S. users pay to boost visibility of postings - <AUTHOR> http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-facebook-featurebre89219w-20121003,0,6490336.story

<comment><AUTHOR> I genuinely think this will damage the user experience in ways that FB clearly hasn't considered.

This will make it absolutely clear that users are neither in control of what they see or what of theirs is really seen by others. Up until now, for most people, it's at least been the illusion that what one posts is widely seen. What happens when it becomes clear that FB is flexing its muscle as a middle- man for profit and not solely for better user experiences?</comment>


Show HN: MathML using custom-elements – works across all browsers - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/pshihn/math-ml <comment><AUTHOR> Here's demo using some complex equations: [https://pshihn.github.io/math- ml/examples/torture.html](https://pshihn.github.io/math- ml/examples/torture.html)</comment>


Ross Perot Jr and Google's Founders Launching a New Asteroid Mining Operation? - <AUTHOR> http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27776/

<comment><USER2> Interesting but how does "Space Tourist" give one additional credibility other than as one who's written a large check?</comment>


Ask HN: Do you have a printer you'd recommend? - <AUTHOR> Printers frustrate me to no end. Either the ink is too expensive, they don't connect to all my devices, or they break down. Does anyone recommend a make or model they are happy with? <comment><USER2> You get better recommendations when you add what your requirements are.</comment>


Latest data shows steep rises in CO2 for seventh year - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/04/latest-data-shows-steep-rises-in-co2-for-seventh-year <comment><USER2> It may be worth correlating CO2 levels to the Milankovitch cycles relative to our current orbit. NASA track this, though I don't have a graph link handy. Depending on our current phase, the oceans may be about to release a lot of CO2.

<comment><USER3> Cheers for sending me down this reading rabbit hope, very interesting [https://skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature- intermedia...](https://skepticalscience.com/co2-lags-temperature- intermediate.htm)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Looking at that CO2 graph the attempts to stop it rising and limit climate change are not working very well so far.</comment>


Ask HN: How to drill math problems? - <AUTHOR> There are great tools like leetcode, topcoder, etc. for keeping our algorithm skills sharp. Are there any similar tools/forums for math problems at the level of calculus,  probability, linear algebra, etc.? <comment><USER2> Here is it: [https://brilliant.org/](https://brilliant.org/) You can have also Project Euler which is a mix of programming and mathematics.</comment>