Prepare to Quit Smoking - <AUTHOR> http://blogaborty.blogspot.in/2013/04/prepare-to-quit-smoking.html <comment><USER2> For any smokers out there reading this and thinking, 'God I will never quit if I have to spend the rest of my life resisting the urge for a cigarette', like this article says, note that it doesn't have to be that way. I quit smoking six months ago and every day without cigarettes is a blessing. I _hated_ smoking, and I wanted to stop, and for years and years I couldn't stop. And then I did, and I am free, and it is wonderful. Why the hell would I want to go back to the thing that I hated and was killing me, like this person? If you see cigarettes for what they really are, as a non-smoker sees them, how could you ever want to smoke?

These arguments come from Allnn Carr's stop smoking methodology. You can read his book or do a seminar. And for those out there who say 'it doesn't work': I read that book the first time in 2003, and probably more than ten times since. I attended the seminar three times. It was finally the online seminar that made the ideas click for me. (The breakthrough was the realisation that the response that says 'I want a cigarette' is a broken thought process that was learned, i.e. is not natural, and can be unlearned.) Now that the ideas have clicked into place for me I am absolutely certain I will never smoke again. When I hear the 'I want a cigarette' thought, I don't have a melancholy response that I can't smoke. I hated smoking! I have a happy response that I have learned how to get back to very close to the state I was in before I ever smoked at all.

Anyway, I am sure this article is well-intentioned, but I would strongly strongly suggest that if you haven't tried Allan Carr's method you give it a shot, and if you have tried it, give it another try. Smoking is a nightmare from which we all can awake.

<comment><USER3> If you hate smoking then it makes sense that when you manage to shake the addiction you'll be glad about it. Many smokers, myself included, _enjoy_ cigarettes. I'm quitting currently, but if I could get rid of the health risks then I'd keep going forever even if I wasn't addicted.

<comment><USER2> Have a look at the book or seminar - the enjoyment of cigaretts is dealt with at length and forms a core pillar of the argument. If you don't want to quit though, then you don't want to quit and nothing is going to make you open the book with an open mind.

<comment><USER3> It's very possible to quit while still maintaining that you enjoy smoking.

<comment><USER2> I'm sure that it is, and many people seem to do it. However, it's a lot easier to see smoking as it really is and be happy to walk away from it.

<comment><USER3> What do you mean "see smoking as it really is"? Obviously we _do_ see the negatives, otherwise we wouldn't quit at all. That doesn't change anything about the fact that smoking can be an extremely enjoyable activity.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> After a dozen or so years of pack-a-day smoking I quit by just switching to nicotine gum. You can get a _big_ kick out of one of those whenever you need it, and I was very liberal with them and probably actually increased my nicotine intake heh. After a couple months of gum I moved over to patches and then after a month or so I started forgetting to put them on.

It's about a year and a half since then, I still get cravings occasionally but they can be beaten by going for a walk and sucking up some second hand smoke.

</comment><comment><USER5> I moved onto smoking e-cigs. That was quite easy really. If you haven't had luck with other ways to quit smoking, then getting your hands on some vaping gear might be something worth doing.

<comment><USER6> I'm curious. What e-cigs are you using?

<comment><USER5> Well, it's a sort of mix and match thing if you get into it. You stick the batteries and tanks (or there are are little things that you just stick a drop at a time into) together to get what you want. There are pre-made ones that they sell in petrol stations and the like which look kinda like cigs, but that can be a really expensive way to smoke.

I've got a eGo twist as a battery (you can alter how much power it gives you depending on how you like the vapour and you can screw a wide variety of attachments on) and a ViVi Nova for the tank part.

If you're looking to get into it I'd recommend ordering something like that online, with a couple of juices, buying a pack of cigs that you really hate and smoking them until it turns up. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I quit after 5 years of smoking regularly with an extra year in there failing to try to quit. The second time i quit was much more a mental thing than physical. Truly randomly, my friends suggested at dinner that we quit and never smoke again. I'd tried to quite before and tried to warn them how hard it is, but the idea of never touching it again seemed reasonable.

It worked for me, but none of my friends. Just randomly deciding to never touch i again. A book i read that reminded me of the struggle, oddly enough, is The End of Overeating. [http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Overeating- Insatiable-American...](http://www.amazon.com/The-End-Overeating-Insatiable- American/dp/1605294578)

Six years out, I'll say this. The "knowledge" of the smell never goes away, but the craving does, slowly. That is, I smell it, and I remember what it means, I know I want that sensation, but at the same time, I've had my peace with it and know it's not not for me anymore.

On very rare occasion, i'll end up inhaling tobacco (if it's combine with something else that i rarely smoke) without my knowledge. At this point the sensation is very very uncomfortable. While it is pleasurable, it's totally overwhelming, my heart races and everything is too intense for a couple minutes. Very odd feeling.

</comment><comment><USER8> I've been stopped for 3 years, I smoked 20 a day for 12 years prior to stopping.

Stopping was difficult to do but I'd been thinking about it for a while and my mother getting diagnosed with a heart problem (she's smoked since she was 16) was a good incentive so I picked my 30th birthday and just stopped.

I initially used gum to manage the cravings but after a month or so I kept forgetting to pick the gum up or simply ran out so I stopped buying it.

For the first year or so I used to get sporadic random cravings (but I just visualized my mother on a heart machine clearly in my mind each time, talk about negative re-enforcement) but they've gone now.

My GF continued to smoke throughout before and after I quit which in theory should have made it harder but in reality actually worked in my favour after a month of not smoking the smell was nauseating.

I put quite a bit of weight on while I was stopping which took a while to lose but other than that and not getting a chest infection the last 3 winters (where I'd usually had one or two a year in the previous decade) I've not noticed much difference in my health.

</comment><comment><USER9> I cheated and used Chantix to quit after a 20 year pack-a-day habit. After dozens of failed attempts it was super-easy to quit on this drug. I'm not sure why everyone doesn't use it, it's a miracle drug.

<comment><USER10> I tried Chantix and had horrible night terrors. This isn't a rare side effect.

<comment><USER11> Also the suicidal thoughts. My neighbor was on chantix and ended taking his life. Not proof that they are related, or wouldn't have happened if he had not been on the drug.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I found that only the first two days were hard. After that, it is easy to quit.

<comment><USER13> I think that depends on the person. I used Chantix and it was very easy to stop smoking. The hard part was not picking it back up again.

For weeks I had to fight habits: I needed something in my hand, I felt 'hungry' no matter how full I was (after eating smoke), I was watching a movie, etc.

After a couple of months the majority of the triggers are gone but occasionally I still find one. When that happens it isn't as hard because I broke so many of the other habits I know it will pass.

OTOH I enjoyed smoking, but I had to quit because I can't afford it and my other half is an ex-smoker.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I smoked cigarettes for around 15 years. I had a terrible habit of 2 packs a day. I would constantly chain smoke. When I decided to quit, it was honestly pretty easy. I gave up social drinking, which I used to go out on an almost daily basis. My blood pressure is a lot better now, and I used to have a really bad temperament. For all the people who are trying to quit, good luck to you!</comment>


NCCA Polygraph Countermeasure Course Files Leaked - <AUTHOR> https://antipolygraph.org/blog/2018/06/09/ncca-polygraph-countermeasure-course-files-leaked/ <comment><USER2> > We would counter that NCCA is compromising national security through its > embrace of the pseudoscience of polygraphy and its mulish resistance to > independent review of its "research" findings.

This is an insult to mules.

</comment><comment><USER3> I dislike "non scientist" as a disparagement - you don't need to a PhD or trained bench scientist to follow the scientific method. Many times throughout history trained "scientists" have deviated from proper scientific method, and plenty of exciting developments have been from non professionals.

That said in this case, and given the field involved, I suspect that there wasn't a whole lot of scientific method involved in the counter measures research :-/

</comment><comment><USER4> This isn't complicated.

The hateful and unjust lie of the polygraph test is useful. It allows you to persecute on false pretenses.

They do not want a lie detector. They want a magic button to push to allow them to detain anytime they want. Fail a polygraph? Go to jail. Pass a polygraph? You used terrorist methods to do so.

Friendly reminder that American soldiers in Abu Grahib used rape as a weapon of tourtue.

But don't worry Google isn't developing ai weapons that would be trouble.

<comment><USER5> You have to define "they". One of the most useful aspects of polygraphs is their ability to spur spontaneous confessions. Most people who leak/serve as foreign agents are not Snowdens, they're largely weak people who's weakness is being exploited by a geopolitical adversary. Put a weak, vulnerable person under the microscope, present even a hint of extra scrutiny and all the consequences that might entail, and they often crack out of semi-irrational fear. I say semi-irrational because while ploygraphs don't often hold up in court, they can be useful in targeting potential suspects for further investigation/monitoring.

It's not all jail cells and Guantanamo bay.</comment></comment>


Show HN: The Most Talked about Books on Hacker News, Stack Overflow and Reddit - <AUTHOR> http://toptalkedbooks.com <comment><USER2> I've seen a couple of 'most mentioned' pass by in recent years, all seem to have a different algorithm & outcome of all the most mentioned books. If I compare yours to i.e. [http://hackernewsbooks.com/](http://hackernewsbooks.com/) the top mentioned book is vastly different than the one on your site. I mean this is not a problem at all, just found this interesting.

<comment><AUTHOR> yes, we did the same comparison before launching, according to our source, our data is up to date, we are updating our data monthly. As you said it could be because we are using different algorithm therefore we get different result.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Interesting. how does it work ?

<comment><AUTHOR> we pull data from public archives and run our own algorithm then return the top talked scores to users.</comment></comment>


Photo of $211,223.04 in cash The Oatmeal raised for charity - <AUTHOR> http://theoatmeal.com/blog/charity_money <comment><USER2> I commented on HN when this first came about:

> The entire modern TV media industry has learned how much money/fame can be > earned from exploiting overblown controversy. It's the substance of about > 90% of non-fiction TV shows these days.

Considering this case was largely dead-out-of-water and how easy the villainization was - the legal arguments was easily discredited and obviously flawed.

There's very little substance to be found here... or many lessons to be learned that aren't obvious to experienced internet denizens.

But what is on display is social media marketing at its finest and a perfect example of what modern entertainment has become.

</comment><comment><USER3> I can't imagine the terror he must have felt lugging $200k in cash around in a duffle bag, with the whole world waiting to see.

<comment><USER4> Every time I see lots of cash I can't help but think "That's not money, that's just pieces of paper!"

<comment><USER5> Shhh! - if everyone knows, then our global economy will collapse.

<comment><USER6> but the world's economy works like cartoon physics! so just don't look down!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Pretty ballsy even with a bodyguard, all it takes is one bad bank teller to hand off your name and/or address. Within a day every criminal in town knows your name and where you live and that you have $211k cash.

<comment><USER8> I actually felt pretty safe walking around with a significantly larger amount than that in chips at the WSOP circuit events over the weekend in Vegas.

<comment><USER9> Are you talking about tournament chips? It's completely invalid to compare them to poker chips that can be used in cash games or to actual cash.

<comment><USER8> No; cash chips. I wouldn't even consider the equity your share of chips in a tournament represents as 'cash' in any real sense (until you cash in the tournament at least)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Just to note that this was Inmans own money he used since at the time Carreon had tied up the money from indiegogo with red tape. Its nice to see him determined to go ahead with this regardless of Carreons actions.

<comment><USER11> That's not mentioned on the page. Can you point me to where you found that info?

<comment><USER10> [http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/the-oatmeal- fight...](http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/07/the-oatmeal-fights-backs- snaps-photo-of-cash-sends-money-to-charity/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> The coins are a nice finishing touch.

<comment><USER13> Yeah, they really put the FU in FU.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Side question: I posted this link earlier, and it went straight to [dead]. I figured, OK, maybe this is something of tedious topic by now and it was auto- killed. Yet here it is. Any ideas why?

</comment><comment><USER15> I'm not quite sure what Carreon hopes to gain from all this. Even if he wins, his life's not getting any better.

<comment><USER16> If I donated $200,000 to worthy causes, I'd feel like my life had gotten better.

<comment><USER17> Carreon didn't donate to worthy causes, he tried to prevent somebody else from doing it.

<comment><USER16> Okay, that's my reading comprehension going astray right there, that is. Good catch.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How profitable is windows app development? - <AUTHOR>

I am sick of trying to develop for android due to the the unnecessary complexity and verbosity of the Java language. However, how profitable is app development for the windows store? <comment><USER2> Not mobile, so I'm not sure if it's the comparison you're looking for, but I sell an app that has a nearly identical version for Windows and Mac. My conversion rate for Mac users is nearly 10x that of Windows users.

</comment><comment><USER3> Java is not the only language in which you can program for Android.

</comment><comment><USER4> WP or Windows store? Both?</comment>


The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories (1898) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://archive.org/download/modernbicycleits00schw/modernbicycleits00schw.pdf <comment><USER3> The chapter "Some Examples of Useless Contriving" is pretty neat:

> In 1893 a Hartford man patented a bicycle fitted with a large cylinder, > borne on either side below the wheel centre, for compressed air. Having > previously filled these, either by a foot pump, which takes the place of the > usual pedals, or by a curious rotary hand pump carried under the upper tube, > the rider climbed to his place, opened a convenient throttle valve and sped > along gayly. On a down grade he could use the momentum to repump air, > getting brake effect by so doing, or he could use the air pressure to work a > brake direct; as the gas tanks carried two little wheels on spiral springs > underneath them, the rider could step off and leave the whole construction > upright, leaning down on one of these stop-wheels.

> Mr. Hansel, of Zeitz, in Germany, only recently rediscovered and patented > the idea of driving by the rider's weight. There are two saddles, each on > its post, arranged to slide up and down see-saw fashion, and geared, no > matter precisely how, to a very big pulley belted to a very small one on the > rear wheel, the gear ratio being evidently enormous. The rider gets up on > the seat which is at the top, slides down with it, thus starting the wheel; > then he is to hop off that to the other seat (which has meanwhile gone up) > and so on. Expressive silence may be left to "muse the praise" of this > invention

<comment><USER4> Am I reading the second one correctly as patenting _twerking_ as a means of driving the bike?

That first one sounds pretty amazing though, especially for its time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> A much better book [0] IMHO is "Bicycle and Tricycles: A Classic Treatise on Their Design and Construction" published in 1896 and republished by Dover in 2011. This book goes into great detail about the science of bicycling. It assumes only a basic math knowledge, and covers topics such as vector mechanics, stress, strain, mechanics of motion, dynamics, etc, all applied to bicycles. I found it quite readable and a great way to learn engineering mechanics. I highly recommend it.

[0] - [https://www.amazon.com/Bicycles-Tricycles-Treatise- Construct...](https://www.amazon.com/Bicycles-Tricycles-Treatise-Construction- Transportation/dp/0486429873)

<comment><USER6> I have that book, and it's quite the classic! A lot of it is available on Google books [0].

The more modern take is, of course, Bicycling Science[1].

[0][https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=leq7AQAAQBAJ](https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=leq7AQAAQBAJ)

[1] [https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/bicycling-science-third- editi...](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/bicycling-science-third-edition)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Amusingly, the bike I ride today would not have seemed out of place in this book. Single speed coaster brake. The main improvements seem to be in the materials used, including aluminum and modern rubber.

<comment><USER8> I think it's funny that some of the crazy new features we're seeing in bikes, like bamboo/wood hardware and direct gear drives, are already covered in this book.

<comment><USER9> It is pretty hilarious. Just watch out for hipsters with gas lamps next!

<comment><USER7> Thinking about it, LED's and lithium ion batteries have been a pretty big deal for my riding, compared to the horrid incandescent bike lights of the past.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> There is so much emphasis on designs coming full circle, reverting back to the tried and tested from the novelty.

I think that is part of what makes this book so invaluable, the lessons on this including the 'folly of the patent' (where inventors forget about the '... and useful' part) is instructive no matter what business you are in.

I found the seat designs particularly telling on this front. The modern seat supports the bones on each side with a central channel that does not put pressure on the nether reasons.

This design was 'new'. Bicycle seats of the latter half of the last century did not have this, the highest point of the saddle (viewed straight on) was in the middle, there was no channel between each half. Yet in 1898 they had arrived at what is considered today to be the correct design. So this has gone full circle.

I also found the early pneumatic tyres to be an interesting read. The way of fixing a puncture has not changed, you have the same processes involved, a puncture repair kit from 1898 would be compatible with tyres on today's bikes. Although the glue would have run out, the process is the same and the instructions for doing it properly are the same.

Wheel rims have come a long way, in wood with the original pneumatic tyres it would take all day to peel off the tyre to get to the inner tube in order to fix it. Yet the benefits of the pneumatic tyre were such that this was considered worthwhile. This is also telling in that Dunlop's invention needed decades of refinement to be the tyre we know today.

Although some brand names are still in the game there seemed to be a lot of diversity with stuff actually made in a 'Trump approved' way, in American cities, all competing.

</comment><comment><USER11> Non-PDF versions:

[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58444](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/58444)

<comment><USER12> Gutenberg is the original source of the article PDF, which is generated from a modern text-based source, and is not a scan of the original.

I find original typography (and sometimes incidental notes and markings) interesting. Archive.org does have a source scan from the Library of Congress:

[https://archive.org/details/modernbicycleits00schw/page/n7](https://archive.org/details/modernbicycleits00schw/page/n7)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks!

Archive.org does have a source scan in PDF too.[0]

It would be good then change main link from Gutenberg/GITenberg pages to direct link on Archive.org's PDF.

[0] [https://archive.org/download/modernbicycleits00schw/modernbi...](https://archive.org/download/modernbicycleits00schw/modernbicycleits00schw.pdf)

<comment><USER13> A few notes on the different versions. The Archive version is a scan of the printed version. The scans are OCR'd to make it somewhat searchable, but the large filesize reflects the fact that it contains text scans. The Project Gutenberg and GITenberg versions derive from proofread and corrected text produced by Distributed Proofreaders. ( [https://pgdp.org/](https://pgdp.org/) ) The GITenberg PDF is a conversion from EPUB by xvfb.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> There's a section on page 25 of the PDF called "THE TENDENCY TO FIXITY". I got excited thinking that 1898 had it own share of hipsters who insisted on riding fixed-gear bikes.

Actually, the author refers to the tendency of chasing after the latest fad. In the next section the opposite phenomenon is explained:

THE TENDENCY TO REVERSION. Reversion to type — a well-known phrase of the scientific evolutionist — means here a return to earlier and once-discarded forms of construction. Very few notice the process, yet it constantly goes on. The inquirer for novelties often has the old presented to him and is satisfied...

So - what's old is new... HN community take heed! Your old tools and web frameworks are fine.

</comment><comment><USER15> I can't imagine gas powered bike lamps were great to ride around with but the ones they replaced (soot!, smoke!, danger!) must've been even more exciting.

<comment><USER16> You might be surprised - acetylene is very bright, and very white - <USER2> better brightness than the electric that replaced it. Wouldn't surprise me if it took until LED arrived, or 12v halogen for motorbikes and cars, to beat it. Obviously electric wins for no fire! and not needing regular maintenance.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> The most interesting is page 233:

> _CHAPTER XVII. MOTOR VEHICLES._

> _..._

> _ELECTRICITY AS POWER._

> _Electricity comes next in the list, and is now limited for production of > current to three forms — the power station, supplying current by a trolley > and motor; the primary battery, carried on the vehicle; the storage battery, > also carried on the vehicle. The first may be impossible commercially, but > it is not at all so mechanically. Given the lines and some workable device > for insuring that the carriage shall not be too often "off its trolley," > together with provision for some minor difficulties which need not be > pronounced impossible (since in an inventive and pushing Republic the > impossible is the thing which becomes possible), and the thing is done. > Leave this method to the future, meanwhile noting that a trolley automobile > is already reported from Nevada as having been built. The primary battery, > to be taken along, seems out of the practicable list in the present state of > electrical development._

Especially this note:

> _The primary battery, to be taken along, seems out of the practicable list > in the present state of electrical development._

It mostly solved only after 110 years since _«The Modern Bicycle and Its Accessories»_ book published, when _Elon Musk_ produced _Tesla Roadster (2008)_ [0]

[0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster_(2018)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Roadster_\(2018\))

<comment><USER3> > It mostly solved only after 110 years since «The Modern Bicycle and Its > Accessories» book published, when Elon Musk produced Tesla Roadster (2008)

An electric bike powered by a battery was actually patented the year before the book was published, in 1897:

[https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/75/e7/86/9406fa2...](https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/75/e7/86/9406fa2dc49e98/US596272.pdf)

Here is another one (built by Siemens) from 1932: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Ebike193...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/Ebike1932.jpg)

<comment><AUTHOR> Think, as on 1897-1932 and until 2010s electric bikes powered by a battery still was _out of the practicable list_.

But since 2010s electric bikes turn on the practicable list, and latest ebikes really cool.

In 2017 Ukrainian _Delfast model Prime_ e-bike set Guinness world record breaking 367 km (228 mi) distance on single charge.[0]

I hope, latest _Delfast model Top 2.0_ would beat _Prime 's_ record this year ;-)[1]

[0] [https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world- records/115107-gr...](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world- records/115107-greatest-distance-by-electric-bicycle-single-charge)

[1] [https://newatlas.com/delfast- top-2-ebike/60005](https://newatlas.com/delfast-top-2-ebike/60005)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> We definitely need a 2020 version for electric bike design! I see the Jetson Bolt everywhere. And can't help thinking some brave nomadic explorer could travel the world on something similar.

<comment><AUTHOR> > _We definitely need a 2020 version for electric bike design!_

Here it is: _Deltfast Top 2.0_ [0]

> _Do the pedals make it a bicycle? Yes, technically speaking._

> _But is it really a bicycle?_

> _Theoretically, you could pedal this thing, which might actually come in > handy if you run out of battery while still tearing up forest trails. But > the Top 2.0 definitely falls into the almost-a-motorcycle category of > electric bikes._

[0] [https://electrek.co/2019/06/05/50-mph-delfast- top-2-0-electr...](https://electrek.co/2019/06/05/50-mph-delfast- top-2-0-electric-bicycle/)

<comment><USER18> This is somewhere between an electric bicycle and an electric motorcycle and I it doesn't look very good at playing to the strengths of either.

There are much better electric bicycle designs out there already.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do you find time to read Twitter, articles on HN, and more... - <AUTHOR>

How do you find time daily to: — read all the HN articles and comments that you WANT to read, — comment on HN and other sites, — read your Twitter stream, — use Facebook (if you do use Facebook) — read articles on other blogs and sites you follow daily, — AND still get stuff done?<p>I come to HN every day to catch the latest news and tech trends, but I simply cannot read most of the articles I want to read. I save quite a few aritcles to read later, which I never get to since I am adding new ones every day. <comment><USER2> I don't. I just have to accept the fact that I can't be up to date on everything.

I actively cut out stuff that's essentially worthless like TV, Facebook, TechCrunch, etc. I greatly limit the number of people I follow on Twitter.

I am well aware that there are tons of things I am 'missing out on' that I could read about on HN. But this is equally true of books I'd like to read.

</comment><comment><USER3> Same here, I also save a lot articles to be read later but going to go through them and delete most of them and read the ones still seems to be interesting in this weekend. We should be more picky and dont hesitate to delelete most of them, other than that if we are still OK without reading them till now, most probably we are still going to be.

</comment><comment><USER4> Aggregate to an offline reader on my phone so I can read it while commuting in what would otherwise be "downtime".

</comment><comment><USER5> I read HN and reddit when it's all calm at work. Otherway I don't. Also, I don't watch any TV.</comment>


Ask HN: What measures can I take to reduce fraud when taking online payments? - <AUTHOR>

I'm currently integrating with Stripe [1] to handle subscriptions to a SaaS product.
I would like to create a minimal form for collecting credit/debit card details.
With respect only to charging a user for a subscription, the details I need are that of the card: card number, expiry date and card verification code. The collection of these fields alone is sufficient for charging a card.
I am concerned that the fewer details collected in the payment form, the greater the chance of a given transaction being fraudulent.
Instead of collecting cardholder details (name on card, billing address) what measures, preferably technological, can I take to reduce and/or minimise fraud?
In other words, what behind-the-scenes, automated measures can I put in place to reduce fraud without having to ask the user for anything other than the credit card number, expiry date and cvc?
[1] http://stripe.com/ <comment><USER2> Credit a small amount to your new customer's account. Then contact them and ask them to tell you the amount. If they stole the credit card they will likely not be able to check account balance and answer your question.

Usually fraud is a problem for physical goods or one-off digitals, not recurring services.

(PS - Paypal fraud detection is horrible)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, that's a great idea that somehow escaped me.

I agree that using stolen card details to subscribe to a recurring service is unlikely for the purpose of using the service. My concern is that through being able to take out a subscription a fraudulent user could verify that a given set of credit card details are valid.

<comment><USER2> Something you may see if you have an exposed API for transactions is small random purchases. What this is about is stolen cards are being tested to see if they are maxed out or not.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Anytime you collect less info, it makes your fraud screen less intelligent. But it is all a balancing act and much more an art than science to keep consumer inconvenience to a minimum while not having more chargebacks than you or your merchant account provider can live with.</comment>


Ask HN: Why do the Big names of the Internet dont have a valid HTML Markup - <AUTHOR>

I have been coding for a while (as a Web Developer). And I m really concerned about following the rules/ best practices for coding. I always check my HTML markup with the W3C Markup validator, and try to minimize the errors as much possible as I can. Almost try to make them zero (for my satisfaction). But I just checked up for the Big names of the Internet for their markup (including Google & Facebook). And I was shocked to see the number of errors and warnings their markup has. I've learned (has been taught) as one of the major rules in Front End Development that your Markup has to valid as per the W3 Validator. So is that so that the Big Internet companies just don't tend to care about any of the HTML Standards or so ?? <comment><USER2> They do care about markup, but they care more about reaching the most audiences with the best experience. To do that they have to sacrifice valid W3C markup for markup that will display best in most browsers (and sometimes with browser-specific conditions). Another problem is the lack of markup dedicated to layout which sometimes breaks validity.</comment>


Why Learning Prolog Can Make You a Better Programmer - <AUTHOR> http://coliveira.net/software/why-learning-prolog-can-make-you-a-better-programmer/ <comment><USER2> Prolog's ideas are alive and kicking in numerous interesting forms:

      * Constraint Handling Rules, http://dtai.cs.kuleuven.be/CHR/
      * Gecode http://www.gecode.org/
      * Monadic Constraint Programming Framework (Haskell)
        http://people.cs.kuleuven.be/~tom.schrijvers/MCP/
      * Google Operations Research http://code.google.com/p/or-tools/
      * Mozart/Oz http://www.mozart-oz.org/
      * Datalog 2.0 http://datalog20.org/

</comment><comment><USER3> Interesting timing for me -- I've been working through "The Art of Prolog" (MIT Press, 1994) recently -- I'd done some Prolog in school, but never beyond the ``here are a few weeks in a programming languages course'', and the logic programming discussion in both SICP and ``The Reasoned Schemer'' had made me want to go back to the source.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through the book, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking to learn the language in a more or less rigorous way. It won't make you a production Prolog programmer (any more than SICP will make you a production Schemer), but it starts with a firm grounding in the theory of logic programming, and works that up to a good grounding in Prolog step by step, before spending the latter half of the book working through idiomatic Prolog solutions to a bunch of standard (once-standard?) problems (a shell, an interpreter, a compiler), as well as problems more in line with Prolog's traditional uses (ELIZA, an expert system).

The book is here:

        http://www.amazon.com/Art-Prolog-Second-Programming-Techniques/dp/0262193388

``The Craft of Prolog'', which this post mentions is in the same series, and provides somewhat of a more pragmatic view of the language. I may get to that next. Meanwhile, ``The Reasoned Schemer'' provides the entry of ``the Little Schemer'' series into the field of logic programming, using the MiniKanren logic programming system for Scheme.

<comment><USER4> _The Craft of Prolog_ has a lot of good bits, but is written in response to something less readily available, so its organization seems a bit weird.

I also recommend the hell out of _The Art of Prolog_. Have done so here, many times. Also: Prolog systems with constraint extensions are MUCH more powerful. SWI Prolog (<http://www.swi-prolog.org/>) and GNU Prolog (<http://www.gprolog.org/>) are both good.

<comment><USER5> Art of prolog makes an excellent first book, and the Craft complements it well with seasoned advice on elegant and efficient prolog.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Unimpressed with article. For example, it says prolog only returns true and false. Prolog only returns "i proved it is true" and "I couldn't prove true", which they mislabel as false - so false is not "not true". If you want to focus on features that expand your understanding of what a programming language is, that is surely a big one - false isn't !true? Wrap your brain around that and try to program anything that is still correct, it breaks everything you know about what you can do with a computer.

I disagree with seeing prolog classified as functional - my experience with functional programming in lisp had a very very different view of side effects than my experience with declarative programming in prolog.

Sure, learn prolog and you'll learn more about programming, but that's true of any programming language. I'm not convinced the benefits of learning prolog exceed the benefits of spending the same amount of time on something else. The main thing I learned in a prolog class was the huge danger of relying heavily on facts without also considering confidence in those facts. I can learn the exact same lesson if the declarative language I choose is SQL, with the added benefit that I might get to use the SQL someday.

</comment><comment><USER7> I've always liked prolog, and seeing prolog love on HN makes ?- happy(cydonian_monk) return true. My first exposure to the language, as I'm sure was the case for many of you, was in an Intro to AI course. Though I've never found the opportunity to use the language professionally, I do on occasion drop it into personal projects.

That said, I've always considered prolog to be the language that most threatens our sanity. Perhaps it's because the Graduate Assistant that taught my Intro to AI course was a bit cracked (he tied his shoelaces around his legs once in class because they "offended him"). Or maybe because I haven't been entirely sane since that class....

</comment><comment><USER8> "Prolog is a pure functional language ... so there are no variables to update?—?only method calls."

It's been a while (some decades) since I wrote my last prolog program but this seems to be rather wrong to me. First of all, there is also the paradigm of logic programming and prolog is it's best known child. I don't think you can equate logic programming to functional programming. Secondly, there are no method calls as such. IIRC a prolog interpreter basically does a depth-first search on a graph made up of assertions. The very point of prolog is though that you don't tell the interpreter "call this method with these arguments and then do that" but rather you tell it "show me valid solutions that fit this template assertion, do however you think is best". At least that's what simple interpreters did. I don't know what more sophisticated compilers like gnu prolog made out of it. Please somebody correct me if I'm wrong. It's possible that my memory fails me.

<comment><USER9> There is a subset called "pure Prolog", which is restricted to Horn clauses. But regular Prolog (with extralogical features) is not functional, and definitely not pure. For instance, the proof_me predicate in the following program will be true, only once:

      :- dynamic bla/0.

      proof_me :-
        \+ bla,
        assert(bla).

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Agreed. Back in the 1980s I did my Masters' project in Prolog (transistor sizing, part of a "silicon compiler") and it gave me a lot of new tools for thinking about programming in general.

The same's true for other langauges that offer different ways of thinking of about world: the LISP family, Haskell, Eiffel, Forth, awk, ...

</comment><comment><USER11> Learning Prolog sounds worthwhile, but time spent learning Prolog is time not learning something else. Why not Erlang or something obscure I've never heard of like Fril?

Also, I'm getting fatigued by authoritative talk about computer science curricula in the same "kids these days" manner as someone convinced the world is falling apart while actual violent crime or teen pregnancy statistics drop. I'd expect claims like Oliveira's to be supported by some kind of data we can be privy to instead of vague anecdotal impressions.

"Schools are more interested in teaching marketable languages." Ok. All schools, most schools, state schools? Where's justification for "It seems like that they are looking for ways of getting people through the program as quick as possible"? Why does it seem that way?

<comment><USER5> prolog is an interesting take on programming and by comparison, the style in which you write code is still significantly different to approaches in other languages.

sadly, most people when taught barely get past the 'parents and grandfathers' stage of programming.

why not something else? sure! erlang is actually pretty neat (otp is golden) and was originally implemented in prolog. why not learn a term re-writing language? what about snobol?

why prolog? well,

prolog for me has just been one of the most fun and interesting experiences I have had while programming. good prolog code is elegant in a way i've never seen in other languages and it's a big rush when you crack the puzzle of expressing your problem.

prolog was also used in ibm's watson and shipped as part of nt too :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I've always wished someone would do a JVM-version of Prolog, like Clojure (Jalog?) where the prolog databases can, on demand, be linked directly to MySQL databases and/or a networked in-memory cache of some sort. Do that and don't charge an obscene amount and I can promise you that you'll have at least one paying customer. :-)

<comment><USER13> I wrote a library for Clojure called Cascalog. It's a variant of Datalog that executes using Hadoop. It's not Prolog, but you may find it interesting.

<https://github.com/nathanmarz/cascalog>

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> As much as I agree with the title I find the contents of the article misleading.

It is almost as if prolog didn't make him a better programmer, given the idea that prolog 'returns values' or uses 'method calls' is 'not even wrong'.

</comment><comment><USER14> Agreed. Though i'd like to have someone name me a language, adding which to one's skillset would make one a worse programmer.

<comment><USER15> _It is practically impossible to teach good programming to students that have had a prior exposure to BASIC: as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.

The use of COBOL cripples the mind; its teaching should, therefore, be regarded as a criminal offence._

\-- Dijkstra

[http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD04xx/EW...](http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/transcriptions/EWD04xx/EWD498.html)

<comment><USER16> _I guess I would recommend perhaps LISP, FORTRAN and APL if you wanted to pick old time languages. More recently you might want to take a look at Ruby and Haskell, to pick a functional language, and COBOL, which has some interesting ideas in it you won't find in some of the other languages._

\-- Guy Steele

Notice that he lists COBOL as a language to learn. I've always found Dijkstra to be a little over the top (often the only way to get people to listen), and Steele more pragmatic.

[http://www.infoq.com/interviews/Programming-Languages-Guy- St...](http://www.infoq.com/interviews/Programming-Languages-Guy-Steele)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> From the article.

"In Computer Science programs, there is a tradition of having a course of two that represent the watershed between people that can grok CS concepts and the ones that can't. "

Would those HNers who've been through a masters or PhD in CS help an uneducated brother hacker and list any such "watershed" courses they know of? Thanks in advance.

EDIT: links to course home pages would be highly appreciated, plus any reminiscences of how tough these courses were/felt like.

<comment><USER18> In my undergrad CS program, it was Operating Systems. The course required us to move from writing programs to solve well constrained problems to addressing issues of memory management, file systems, command line interfaces, etc.

<comment><USER19> This was the same in my curriculum, and I'd throw in Compilers and CPU Architecture & Design as well.

There's nothing like building a simple OS, compiler, and pipelined CPU to transform "the computer" from a magical black box into a supremely powerful, interesting tool.</comment></comment></comment>


The Little Coder's Predicament - <AUTHOR> http://viewsourcecode.org/why/hacking/theLittleCodersPredicament.html

<comment><USER2> The sentiment in this article is right on. Of course, we've probably all read this a long time ago.

I loved computers when I had GW-BASIC on a 286. When I was in middle school and I got a computer with Windows 95 I quickly lost the wonder that kept me up all night writing BASIC on sheets of looseleaf.

I read somewhere that Google App Engine is like today's BASIC. This is a fair comparison. GAE makes it easy to start working in a nice programming environment. I stick to Linux because I've never been comfortable programming in Windows, but GAE lets coders get started easily and for free, without having to learn about Linux or Windows.</comment>


Ask HN: How should one format plain-text documents? - <AUTHOR> I would like to store short plain-text documents that are readable as text (without being converted to anything else).
I am familiar with LaTeX and Markdown, but I consider the former to be too unreadable for my purposes (since I don't plan to convert the document to any other format), and the latter to be fairly good, but not quite there. I have heard about org-mode, but I would like a format that works as a stand-alone file, regardless of the editor used.
I am looking at the way that RFC documents are formatted, and I have to say that they are fairly readable, though I couldn't find a specification on their format.
My current solution is something that resembles Markdown, without header markings (because even though they make sense in plain-text, they don't really give a sense of hierarchy structurally), with single blank lines under paragraph headers and double blank lines after the end of a paragraph. Text in a paragraph is limited to 80 characters, and words are not broken.
What are some good ways to denote header hierarchy? Should I indent paragraphs? Should I indent lower levels under a header, so that it's clear when a section ends?
I understand that I have mentioned several subjective preferences, so feel free to add your own subjective opinions. <comment><USER2> Asciidoc looks "natural"

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm a fan of ReStructuredText. It's not unlike Markdown, but among other things its heading markup is better at conveying hierarchy.</comment>


Become a 10x Programmer by Managing Your Time Better - <AUTHOR> http://nickjanetakis.com/blog/schedules-arent-a-constraint-on-life-they-let-you-live-it <comment><USER2> _Lately I find it difficult to enjoy playing games but I don't think it's because I grew up. I'm pretty sure that no one really grows up. In my case, whenever I try to crack open a game and play it, I feel guilty.

This guilt stems from thinking "damn it Nick, you should be working on xyz instead of slaying monsters in Path of Exile – you didn't do enough today!"._

I was not enjoying gaming as much as I used to and had basically quit playing them entirely. The "I don't have time" excuse was present for me as well.

I generally agree with him. Schedules are great for managing your time. But I think he missed another important aspect, especially when it comes to whether you "deserve" to play video games or whatever other way you reward yourself: _A schedule can help you see just how much you accomplished._

When I started writing down what I was going to do and checking off that I had done it, it helped me realize just how much I was actually getting done. It was more than my brain was crediting me with. Seeing it written down made the "guilt" of playing video games (in my case, severely reduced enjoyment) go away.

<comment><USER3> Biggest difference I found was having a fast Dev loop while programming. Using watchers to auto-build and run.

Having a good ide with intellisense made a big difference. My brain could be engaged for hours on a problem.

I still end up slacking if something takes more than 5 seconds. The brains on a whole level of train thought.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> > It's easy to fall into habits like slacking off with Youtube, HackerNews and > other social platforms – but have you ever stepped back to think how > destructive it is?

> I call it the "social loop of death" where you make your rounds on various > sites and before you know it, 3.5 hours have past and you haven't gotten > anything done.

> You end up getting 60 minutes worth of actual work done in an 8 hour day.

I feel like someone installed cameras in my home. This is exactly me. What's even worse, I know that I have this problem and nothing seems to help. Scheduling, website blocking, working out of home all failed after some brief time. Any other suggestions?

<comment><USER5> If you have difficulty concentrating, are easily distracted, impulsive (i.e. checks Hacker News a lot), are irritable, etc, you might look into whether you have ADD/ADHD.

I had all of those symptoms, but never considered I might have ADD until a few months ago. My doctor had me try Adderall, and the difference has been like night and day.

I'm not saying you have ADD or ADHD. I'm not a doctor. But just based off of what you said, I wanted to mention it, because I wish someone had mentioned it to me like 10 years ago.

<comment><USER6> This is literally me. I might need to go to the doctor. It's especially telling that I miss appointments frequently and have had work issues with completing people's sentences or not allowing someone to finish talking before I say something. A lot of people also tell me I'm not listening to them talk.

<comment><USER5> >completing people's sentences or not allowing someone to finish talking before I say something

That used to be me too. After I started taking medication, I was a little surprised to notice I became a lot more patient with people. Specifically, I didn't feel the need to hurry social interactions along, etc.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I recently started using a website blocker for Mac called self control app [https://selfcontrolapp.com](https://selfcontrolapp.com) to great success. I've increased my productivity 10x.

</comment><comment><USER8> I liked the general idea of this post, but for it to feel a little bit more impactful to me - it would have been great to expand on what you mean by 'schedule your days.' Maybe an example of how you are currently scheduling your life or even just a picture of a schedule that you have followed.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi (author here),

I have a separate post on the "how to" aspect of it scheduled to be released later this week.

<comment><AUTHOR> On second thought, I've added a PDF to the bottom of the post which contains a detailed guide on how to create a schedule.

Kind of wish I added this initially, but live and learn!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I have a standing desk. So my monitor is visible to everyone in the area. Discourages me from doing anything other than work when I'm at work.

It's not like someone is going to comment that I've been looking at Facebook at work, but it helps trick me into not doing anything unproductive.

<comment><USER10> How do you stand people walking behind you all day? That would drive me nuts. Also, I work remotely, but I have been thinking about live streaming my desktop as a similar discouragement from slacking during work hours.

<comment><USER9> You get used to working in a dense workspace after a while. I think companies mainly like dense workspaces because it costs less, while justifying it as increasing collaboration. I don't need much collaboration at my job.

Working remotely takes a lot of discipline that I don't think I have. I do work from home once in a while, but it's a lot tougher to motivate yourself everyday.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I see others asking for advice. I am skeptical and embarassed to ask here, but I feel like many like-minded lurkers are here. So I think this follow-up on M4v3R's inquiry is worth a shot.

I have multiple study interests. Many of them are beyond my comfort zone, by design and with intent, and I have no way of knowing when or if I can absorb them with a timetable. How do you schedule?

I am currently enrolled in a few Coursera courses:

Algorithms Crypto I Scala

They all have deadlines. I am 1-3 weeks behind in each, respectively. I have been an off and on again convert to programming and open source. I desire to really get back to computing, after a kind of numbing support career. I love the machines, but I cannot force their theory to love me.

I can watch lectures over and over and take notes. This takes time. But when it comes to assignments, I cannot connect the dots.

Solutions:

\- Review the material AGAIN

\- Switch up assignments to reduce load; all of them are equally rigorous, so this backfires, it still takes time

\- I try reading supporting material (the Crypto101 book for Crytpo I for example, and it might be helping as of this week), but this takes time, and my choices can be invested wisely or unsound

This is not to mention wanting to study for more infosec certs, building a lab to strengthen that effort, and move to working on personal projects in a more focused way by building VM and containers using all the cool kid tools, boosting career prospects and increasing discipline.

I lost a lot of weight, and maintain with exercise (sometimes twice a day now) to stave off depression. I have lot of very dramatic personal drama with a relationship that consumes my spare cycles.

Someone, give me advice! I burn out frequently, watching TV streaming when I can, and reading sites like this.

This would not bother me so bad if NOT for HN. I procrastinate with you all, for sure, but this website exposes me to a very unique subset of computing culture and counterpoints I need as I live abroad with limited community engagement. You all fill me with rage and jealousy, as there are so many brilliant programmers exposing me to great people pushing the bounds of their curiosity.

What if HN backfires? It pushes on me, but without that push, where the hell does the inspiration come from?

<comment><USER12> Don't schedule 100% of your time, schedule more like 60%. Much easier and more motivating to keep up with that, and you will have time for detox from the web dead loop - time for sports, reading a real book, meeting people etc.

<comment><USER11> I have time for that: I exercise, I read.

The problem is I cannot schedule in the stuff that is hard where I need progress.

Let's say I must understand Shannon's perfect secrecy, which I do abstractly, but these 3 quiz questions I do not get.

10 minutes passes, I have no answers.

20 minutes passes, I am not closer.

Two days later, do I need to go back and review the notes from the whole lecture to steer this ship back on course?

My point is context switching to topics I need to advance in, not the ones I know I can advance within parameters, consume time but with variable estimates of duration AND worse any success at all.

What are people in this spot doing? Just chugging along? I am going to not take these courses for credit, but I do not spend some time daily for the last week dropping one or all and admit I will never be the programmer I said I would be like 5-10 years ago! Haha.

UPDATE: To be clear, after those 20, I procstinate a little, and maybe come back. Or I move to a different class, or something else. Point being I have no way of knowing if it will click, and when. So scheduling these things adds another level of failure, where I miss deadlines I impose, and I start cussing myself out for not reaching my own desired accomplishment for the day.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Replace "programmer" with any other job title, advice still applies. Managing your time better is simply a key factor to success in any area.

</comment><comment><USER14> Stop. Fucking. Talking. About. 10x. Programmers.

Seriously.

Just stop. Fucking stop.

<comment><USER15> a.k.a. rockstar developers.

It's not doing anyone any favours, I agree.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I recently started scheduling my days using a paper and pen but this time with the 'bullet journal' system. I've tried many todo lists online that never stick and I've got stacks of notepads that I scribble notes in but never read again.

With my bullet journal I now have a system for reviewing tasks that, so far, actually seems to work for me.

<comment><USER17> Thanks for the recommendation - I'm trying out bullet journalling in the workplace as a result. Feels like it's a good system thus far, although I'll have to wait until the honeymoon period dies off to really know.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> tldr; a schedule helps you better manage your time.

</comment><comment><USER19> fantastic.

helped my girlfriend and I to really understand where the systemic problems of productivity stem from. So simple. Thanks Nick.</comment>


Remain professional even after your death (for freelancers) - <AUTHOR> http://www.rubyfleebie.com/remain-professional-even-after-your-death/ <comment><USER2> When I used to work in teaching, we were continually being hassled by our managers to make ridiculous amounts of copious notes, handouts and lesson plans of everything we did so that "If something happens to any of you, someone else can step in and pick up the pieces".

My response to that was the same as to this article: I know it's a bit selfish and all that, but I'd like to think there would be at least a w-e-e-e-e bit of a hiccup in the smooth running of the world around me, when I shuffle of this mortal coil and join the choir invisible.

Kinda sad to think it might be such a seamless transition, no-one even noticed I was gone.

[Another good way of getting people to miss you when you're gone is to owe them money!]</comment>


Show HN: Chromium Updater - <AUTHOR> http://www.benbristow.co.uk/2014/05/chromium-updater/ <comment><USER2> With a proper linux box things get updated as if by magic. There is no need to manually update your software unless it is one of those rare things that does not deal with the repo manager.

Seriously, in 2014, Windows machines don't have this core functionality?

<comment><USER3> >There is no need to manually update your software unless it is one of those rare things that does not deal with the repo manager.

That's not quite true. Ubuntu, for example, is _notorious_ for shipping old and broken versions of software in its package manager, and then never actually updating them. I've personally run into issues with leiningen, rvm, pip, and a few other packages where the version in the apt repository is known to be buggy and is never updated.

<comment><USER4> It's not that bad. Linux distro with point-release will always be become outdated over time because they don't upgrade there package to new major version. If you want always up-to-date software, use a rolling-release distro.

In my opinion, the packages shipped with Ubuntu-server are pretty solid. No comment about the desktop version though, since I don't use it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Cool project, OP (I couldn't actually get things up and running but filed a bug with details).

If you want to do a v2 (or somebody else is looking for a project), try extending Google's autoupdater (Omaha): [https://code.google.com/p/omaha/](https://code.google.com/p/omaha/). The client is open source, the client-server protocol is documented ([https://code.google.com/p/omaha/wiki/ServerProtocol](https://code.google.com/p/omaha/wiki/ServerProtocol)), but an open-source server implementation is missing.

</comment><comment><USER6> I highly recommend Chromatic if you are a Mac user.

[https://mrgeckosmedia.com/applications/info/Chromatic](https://mrgeckosmedia.com/applications/info/Chromatic)

</comment><comment> Lx1oG-AWb6h_ZG0 Why is Pepper Flash dismissed so handily in tech circles? It is ridiculously better than Adobe's version, in every aspect. Even with click-to-play enabled, lots of sites still continue to use flash, so how can anyone justify using Adobe's sleazy bug ridden updater?

</comment><comment><USER7> I have a ninite executable in my startup filder, so about all my software gets updated automatically. [https://ninite.com](https://ninite.com)</comment>


If Microsoft doesn't invest in its own mobile operating system why should you? - <AUTHOR> http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/microsoft-updates-bing-app-for-android-and-ios-not-windows-phone-7/1601

<comment><USER2> Snarky answer: Because the market for WP7 doesn't justify prioritizing a limited resource—developer attention—on a WP7 product for the Bing team.

I feel for Microsoft. If their VPs order the Bing team to support another product, they get criticized for political tampering. If they leave the teams to act independently, they get criticized for not supporting their own products.

Perhaps instead of asking why the Bing team isn't targeting WP7, we should be asking the WP7 team (both technologists and marketing staff) why their platform isn't attractive enough (in features and market share) to win the Bing team over.</comment>


'Creep Shots' is a worrying new trend targeting women in public - <AUTHOR> https://blog.cryptoaustralia.org.au/2017/09/19/cheap-shots-are-taking-creep-shots-of-women/ <comment><USER2> Are creepshots news? These threads on 4chan have been going on for as long as this oldf*g can remember.

Are we really willing to allow this to be considered "sexual cyber violence"?

Taking a photograph of someone in public is a legal act (in the USA anyway)? Being in public necessarily puts you into the public domain with no expectation of privacy.

Can we agree that taking photographs of people without their consent is nothing more than extremely creepy? This isn't violence at all. That word is very dangerous. When misapplied, it leads the uninformed to make bad decisions, expecting that they can respond to "sexual cyber violence" with actual physical violence.

<comment><USER3> I agree, the scope creep of "violence" is suspicious, and likely to dilute the meaning of the word. Now, when someone complains of violence, have to clarify "you mean physical violence?" to make sure I'm not being misled..

<comment><USER2> Same here. In this case, the misapplication of "sexual violence" is even more shocking. The idea that taking a picture of a girl on the beach is in the same realm of offense as sexual assault is asinine. The same misapplication of terms lets monsters like the antifa protestors, Dylan Roof, and others claim they are responding to violence, and thus initiate force against media, police, and others.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> We have GCHQ taking over people's webcams[1] using taxpayer money but of course that's not a problem at all because we have much more "important" problems. I know Europe[2] has different standards of privacy but with Theresa May as the prime minister in London and a similarly evil person in charge in Australia, we really need to focus on what is important.

Sure, I don't like invasion of privacy either. That being said, can I count on OP's support for a campaign to get the governments to stop taking over our cameras and microphones?

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_Nerve_%28GCHQ%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optic_Nerve_%28GCHQ%29) [2] I know Australia is not in European continent but it might as well be for all I care [3] And yes, of course I know Australia gained independence from the UK but it doesn't matter for this conversation

</comment><comment><USER5> Hopefully this doesn't lead to some overblown moral panic for an issue that is almost non-existent.

Photographers already have to be incredibly careful when shooting anywhere children (even fully clothed, rather than at a swimming pool) are present for fear of paranoid parents and overzealous police officers.

It'd be nice if I could phrase this in a way that doesn't sound like a slippery-slope argument, although I suppose that could be indicative of something...

<comment><USER6> Soon those people will ask than men are segregated away and that we build "safe spaces" on campuses and gender-split schools, a bit like in 1850.

<comment><USER7> And Saudi Arabia

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> The article jumps around the issue so much, that I have no idea what the actual problem is (pictures of clothed women in public? The horror!).

Rater than flag it, here's the link to the Urban Dictionary entry, (bluntly) explaining what they are actually talking about:

[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=creepshot](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=creepshot)

<comment><USER2> I should note that it isn't usually a close up. It's often just pictures of unsuspecting individuals (almost always female.)

The "problem" is that some pervs like to use these types of non-nude images as visual stimuli for auto erotic activities.

The only legal issue I see is when the photographs are of underage girls in sexually provocative poses.

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

In the UK, the COPINE scale applies to such images and may classify them depending on the individual images.

In the USA, the law is more nebulas. Interpretation of the poses and the context of distribution would probably come into play. IANAL

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> On the other side of the same scale there was Bill Cunningham.

<comment><USER10> And Miroslav Tichý on the very other end.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> IIRC we had the whole moral outrage over this a year or two ago.

Reddit ended up banning these folks. And of course, surprise, surprise, they rebranded into "Fashion Advice" and are still - hard - at it.</comment>


7 most crowded spaces for your new web startup - <AUTHOR> http://franticindustries.com/blog/2007/03/28/7-most-crowded-spaces-for-your-new-web-startup/ <comment><USER2> Look at them so easily and distinctly categorize all the different spaces of the web.

I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty of successful startups that significantly overlap several of these categories. Don't look to strictly find a set that your company falls into; just solve a problem no one has adequately solved before.

</comment><comment><USER3> That's a great post. We all know that some places are overloaded, but it's nice to have a concise list like that.

Quality and differentiation usually win out though. Hopefully somebody here is working in one of these areas and we can see it. I guess heySan! and Zenter come to mind, now that I think of it.

</comment><comment><USER4> Good point about photo sharing. But what's really surprising is that people are still making text-sharing sites. Do you realize how many text-sharing sites are already out there? It's pretty much hopeless today to do anything with text that hasn't already been done.

</comment><comment><USER5> There are a lot of time trackers/project management/todo list things, too... I've been finding that out with my Stuff To Do application:-/

</comment><comment><USER6> Yeah, theres a ton of startups in all these areas. One must find a totally different approach or do something different.

</comment><comment><USER7> this must be the most pessimistic article I've ever read in my life by the most pessimistic writer out there!

If Paul Buchheit thought like this, we would never have GMail.</comment>


This Is Your Brain on Gluten - <AUTHOR> http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/12/this-is-your-brain-on-gluten/282550/

<comment><USER2> When I started reading this article I was so very afraid that it was some sort of ant-gluten garbage, attempting to link gluten to everything bad that happens.

I'm glad I kept reading and got to the science part.

</comment><comment><USER3> One fundamental thing has had millions (billions?) of years and countless organisms to refine and that is the remarkable ability of life to turn what it gets into what it needs and the ability to discard the rest.

Countless books have been written and people deceived, including the book's authors, trying to contradict that simple reality. As always, follow the money.

</comment><comment><USER4> Other doctors did a widespread popular study that claim protein and fat are the root of all evils [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_China_Study)

Clinton lost 20lbs after reading this book.

Which one is right?

<comment><USER5> I honestly think about are both flawed.

That said, they can both be right. The China Study is specifically about animal protein and fat, not protein and fat in general. You can successfully attempt to combine the two by going near full out vegan.

Furthermore, the "two sides" typically point out that their causal agent typically drives disease development that focus in different areas. Obviously, there's some overlap (diabetes being a big one), but overall, they claim different effects.

There's absolutely no reason to believe that there is a diet that will minimize risk across all possible health complications. In fact, I think that it's incredibly unlikely that there is one given how complex the human body is.

So long story short? Probably neither are right. And I'm going to invoke one of the nastiest, meanest, dirtiest heuristic that I have. If it's in an idea first spearheaded by a best-selling book, it's more likely than not seriously flawed.

<comment><USER6> The China Study also involves a large population of people who have historically had a calorically restricted diet.

There are simply too many broad variables in culture, history and genetics for the China study's claims to be valid. You can't compare two types of diets when one group is heterogenous and the other group is homogenous, and if both were homogenous or both were heterogenous, you'd have to draw subjects from the same population.</comment></comment></comment>


Calling All Data Scientists: Let's Crush this 1 Billion Challenge - <AUTHOR> http://www.cnbc.com/id/101351399

<comment><AUTHOR> I propose we form a group and apply some stochastic techniques to robustly analyze and create some brackets. The $500 million lump sum could be split among all participants. Any takers?</comment>


YouTube's Ad Problems - <AUTHOR> https://www.wired.com/2017/03/youtubes-ad-problems-finally-blow-googles-face/ <comment><USER2> It is not surprising that companies do not want to advertise their products in conjunction with videos about sexual abuse. The author seems to be think that the youtube advertising is some kind of charitable support scheme for video makers.</comment>


Building and scaling a service for developers – The bootstrapped way - <AUTHOR> http://cloudinary.com/blog/building_and_scaling_a_service_for_developers_the_bootstrapped_way

<comment><AUTHOR> Last month I was invited to speak at Daho.am, Munich's developers conference. At this conference I talked about building and scaling a B2D service (Business to Developers). Specifically, how to build and scale such a service for developers in the bootstrapped way with zero external funding, which is the Cloudinary story. I thought you might find this interesting and would appreciate your feedback :-)</comment>


Nic Gambia Hacked - <AUTHOR> http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/524555/nic.gm/ Famous Turkish DeviLzSec the operation of the Group Leader Nic Gambia's website hacked hacker RootDeviLz. Mirror : http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/524555/nic.gm/ Logo : http://k1309.hizliresim.com/1f/h/sr60n.jpg Given this, many of the hacked website Hyundai Bolivia  : http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/516462/hyundai.com.bo Kia Hong Kong : http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/522811/kia.com.hk/sys/images/sup.. Suzuki Malaysia : http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/522835/suzuki.com.my/v3/images/ İsuzu Taiwan : http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/522838/isuzu.com.tw/ Casio Taiwan : http://www.turk-h.org/defacement/view/527007/casio.com.tw/webimages/ <comment><USER2> la olm yuruyun gidin amk</comment>


Functional Data Structures in C++: Lists (2013) - <AUTHOR> https://bartoszmilewski.com/2013/11/13/functional-data-structures-in-c-lists/ <comment><USER2> Slow special case data structures in C++. While a useful exercise, it has to be recognized as such.

</comment><comment><USER3> Unrelated to this post, the author also has a GREAT series of lectures on Category Theory which are on YouTube [1]. I've seen them recommended several times for anybody interested in Category Theory coming from a programming background.

[1]: [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbgaMIhjbmEnaH_LTkxLI...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbgaMIhjbmEnaH_LTkxLI7FMa2HsnawM_)

</comment><comment><USER4> This needs a 2013 mentioned in the title. Not that there have been huge improvements in this research since then, but there is other stuff to read on the topic that's more recent.

Also, if you're interested in his work on the subject, read through the issues on github for his code, it clarifies where the problems are in this implementation. Still, it is quite interesting.

<comment><USER5> Adding links (to both paragraphs) would be nice.</comment></comment>


Baidu throws their hat into the ring - <AUTHOR> http://www.engadget.com/2015/09/10/baidu-unveils-a-voice-activated-ai-based-smartphone-assistant/ <comment><USER2> Please don't editorialize the titles of stories you submit to HN.</comment>


What Mark Zuckerberg's resume looked like before Facebook? - <AUTHOR> https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6489059831813677057/ <comment><USER2> I think he'll never need a resume anymore..

<comment><AUTHOR> The Facebook directors' board will say that, but yeah probably.</comment></comment>


Another Fired Google Employee Claims They Were Targeted for Labor Organizing - <AUTHOR> https://onezero.medium.com/another-fired-google-employee-claims-they-were-targeted-for-labor-organizing-def8ddb415a9 <comment><USER2> If you go to her original post linked in the article, there is an interesting and fairly detailed account of what happened from the other side's view in the comments. That view is much more focused on the fact that she broke protocol for installing the notification just because she wanted to, and if everyone did the same thing, there would be some chaos.

<comment><USER3> It's hard for me to believe that anyone doesn't understand that, though. Of course there would be chaos if people were allowed to create popup windows to communicate whatever they want. That ought to be clear as soon as you read that she created the popup and Google didn't want her to.

<comment><USER4> Agreed. Imagine if everyone was allowed to abuse their positions. After years of working in enterprises, I know many that would create popups about the silliest things. The Security VP quoted in the article stated that she abused a security tool, and I agree.

<comment><USER5> >Imagine if everyone was allowed to abuse their positions.

So it's okay if some people are allowed to abuse their positions by firing someone who essentially added a little footnote on one website in particular with a reminder as to what Federal law actually dictates?

That's my issue with that logic. We are all citizens first. Corporate shenanigans should never undermine civil rights. The right to organize and to do so at work, is protected, just as the right of a corporation to spew as much anti-unionization propaganda is protected. Period.

The employer will find any other excuse besides the blatantly illegal thing on which to pin the rationale for the firing. They just want to reap the benefit of the outcome (one less active organizer) without the hassle of being called to the carpet for a clear violation of labor law. That's how it works. It's all about how to get what you want while having an out to fall back on when someone calls you out. This is why legal departments exist. To ensure a jury in the event of getting called out will have to slog through every conceivable distraction before the company can be held accountable for their actions.

<comment><USER3> She has the legal right to do union organizing at work, but she doesn't have the right to subvert the company's tools to do it. The idea that misbehavior becomes okay once you say "well I was organizing a union" seems incredibly toxic to me, and fundamentally incompatible with the kinds of freedoms software developers generally enjoy. If Spiers gets her way, and Google is legally barred from expecting line staff to use their powers responsibly, that just means Google will start requiring manager approval for everything potentially disruptive.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Mandatory pop ups are mandatory pop ups; no matter how useful or relevant the message is, it doesn't mask the fact that it's annoying and disrespects the user of the browser. No one would be happy to receive a pop up window _every time_ they visit a site.

<comment><USER7> That was literally her job. [https://twitter.com/mjg59/status/1207003914718998528](https://twitter.com/mjg59/status/1207003914718998528)

<comment><USER3> I don't think that really makes sense. If someone edited build tooling to print a labor notice after every compilation, "no it's my job to manage that build tool" would be a really dumb defense.

<comment><USER7> kccqzy was complaining about the mandatory popup.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> A direct post from the fired worker. [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/17/google...](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/17/google- workers-rights-coding-chrome-unions)

Also, her on Twitter, includes screenshots of the "pop up" [https://twitter.com/eiais/status/1206937188409044993](https://twitter.com/eiais/status/1206937188409044993)

</comment><comment><USER8> It's somewhat curious to me that neither she not Google are spelling out exactly what was changed in the code.

The "policy notifier" existed already as an internal use Chrome plugin. It apparently had a list of sites that would merit it popping a policy reminder.

So, she clearly mapped a policy reminder for that website. But, elsewhere in this thread ([https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21961447](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21961447)) it's suggested that she also made a special rule to show it every time for that site, where other sites would only show it on first visit.

<comment><USER7> Google claims that she was fired for violating security policies, not for being annoying. So neither side is claiming that was the reason.

<comment><USER8> They claimed change management policy as a reason, so I was curious if any code actually changed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> This is another article about Kathryn Spiers, the fifth person recently to claim that Google fired them for organizing. Earlier _ahem_ spirited discussion: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21813619](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21813619)

</comment><comment><USER9> too soon to start putting 2019 on titles?</comment>


Biz Dev for Startups: 25 years of learning in 25 slides - <AUTHOR> http://nothingtosay.firstround.com/2009/07/25-years-of-biz-dev-experience-in-25-slides.html?awesm=frc.vc_3G&utm_campaign=firstroundcapital&utm_content=bookmarklet-twitter&utm_medium=frc.vc-twitter&utm_source=direct-frc.vc <comment><USER2> Can anyone recommend other good resources about Biz Dev? Like books, blogs or people?

</comment><comment><USER3> Repeating myself: I think most startups underestimate the value of sales, marketing, biz dev.

Most startupreneurs secretly believe if they build it they will come, all you need is to email bloggers and ASK HN: Critic my web app. Even if you get that spike in the short term, it does not mean the traffic will sustain. Doubt it? Check the startups that presented at Techcrunch40 or 50 for that matter, and check their compete numbers against their business model, this will give you a good idea of their revenue.

Two, to three tech guys is ideal, but having a CEO ("chief everything else officer") to do everything from copy writing, to cold calling customers and the press, to setting up affiliate programs etc, testing landing pages, blogging, fund raising etc.... is necessary. This one person needs to sell, create distribution deals and sales channels for tomorrow, get customer feedback to drive product development etc...

Too many startups with a great product fail. And in several cases it was due to customer acquisition. What is your customer acquisition strategy and cost per acquisition? Most products are not viral. ( By viral I do not mean something that can be fwdd to your 300 facebook friends, but something that users will want to show their friends, coworkers, family. For example HN does not have SHARE, EMBED buttons, yet I consider it viral because I just can't seem to find enough smart people to tell about it.)</comment>


Apple, Google Set Disney Video Deal - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/articles/apple-google-set-disney-video-deal-1415077262

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry for the paywalled WSJ link – if you search for the URL on Google you'll be able to skip the paywall.

What's currently missing from tech blogs' coverage of this is context on how the deal affects the overall digital movie industry dynamics, as far as the Ultraviolet consortium goes.</comment>


Show HN: Aave, program IBAN accounts and virtual debit cards - <AUTHOR> https://aave.com <comment><USER2> Link doesn't work, says the IP cannot be reached. Maybe your DNS is misconfigured?

<comment><USER3> [https://aave.com](https://aave.com) did it propagate?

<comment><USER2> Works now for me!

<comment><USER3> awesome, what do you think about the programmable features?

<comment><USER2> I think it's a nice idea, but I think I am unsure as to what exactly your product does.

It seems you issue IBANs on-demand and manage the accounts behind them, so you're essentially an API-driven bank?

And with events you allow people to for example tie certain programmatic functionality to things like when money is deposited, correct?

I think there's a lot of potential for an idea like this but I am just wondering about some of these details.

<comment><USER3> Aave Pocket basically allows to add IBAN accounts and virtual debit cards to applications. In other words, the platform can have own IBAN account, the application might have another IBAN account or even there might be use-case or even transaction specific IBAN accounts.

For example, micropayments platform might have their own IBAN account for fee collection and create for each task a task-specific IBAN account and even allow end-users to create their own personal IBAN accounts (which can be managed within the application on within any application that is part of the Aave Pocket network).

In the above example, end-user might create own IBAN account and after creating a task, an account is issued to the end-user's project and upon finishing the task, the task specific account deducts the platform fee and send the rest of the payments to the freelancer.

Due to the reason that all these participants are in the same settlement network, credit/ debit card fees are avoided, which is suitable for the above example.

Actually, what Aave Pocket is concretising is that when funds are transferred from one e-money account to another, it is simply a change in the database. By capturing online merchants/platforms and their end-users in to the same payments systems, lot of fees are avoided.

For the end-user it also means a leapfrog in the user experience, since currently challenger banks are focusing on providing mobile experience, whereas Aave Pocket is taking banking where users are spending or earning. I.e. I can manage my IBAN account in platforms, Online Stores or any where where the Aave Pocket is integrated. It is interesting to see how consumers would feel about paying bills from Netflix-like services or even Hackernews (for example).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Awesome news!</comment>


Support for native Go versioning is now in tip - <AUTHOR> https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!topic/golang-dev/a5PqQuBljF4 <comment><USER2> I found versioning Go is very easy to use and I think versioning Go will help Go accelerate the tendency to become more popularly.</comment>