Best Buy's Secrets for Thriving in the Amazon Age (2017) - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/18/business/best-buy-amazon.html <comment><USER3> In my experience, no other category is so heavily gamed by shady marketplace sellers on Amazon than electronics. Search for wireless headphones on both Amazon and Best Buy and it's night and day what you see returned. I'm bullish on Best Buy simply because it's not a free-for-all of cheap foreign knockoffs.

Retail of yesteryear might stand a chance because employing buyers who actually curate merchandise to be sold will become a value add again.

<comment><USER4> That's why I like B&H Photo now too. All genuine products, sold by them, with real reviews. Their shipping is a little slower and they close Friday/Saturday which is frustrating but overall a good experience.

They even do price guarantee if you contact CS which Amazon discontinued.

<comment><USER5> B&H is great, agreed. They are an extremely honest company, so taking a few days longer is worth it in my opinion - you are going to get exactly what you ordered in my experience. On Amazon, that's only guaranteed if Amazon is the seller (not to be confused with "fulfilled by Amazon", of course). B&H is also closed on all Jewish holidays.

<comment><USER6> But they are hella racists and discriminating.

[https://www-m.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/bh-photo- lawsuit/index.h...](https://www-m.cnn.com/2016/02/29/us/bh-photo- lawsuit/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fduckduckgo.com%2F)

<comment><USER7> Can anyone explain why this comment is being downvoted? Is it a matter of "yeah but Amazon does it too/is worse"?

<comment><USER8> Perhaps because it includes multiple breaches of this line in the HN guidelines:

> Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something > genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents.

There may be a case for introducing information like this when a company is recommended, but the comment would need to be worded with more civility than that one was.

<comment><USER6> Oh sorry, I just wanted to inform people. I will try better next time!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Not a fan.

Used to work there during college.

If we didn't sell enough PSPs (extended warranties), we were not allowed to leave at our scheduled time.

Also, we moved all the laptop inventory to the back of the store, so if a customer wanted to buy a laptop that was in stock, but did not want to purchase an extended warranty, we were instructed to lie to the customer and say it was out-of-stock.

Also, the whole incentivized FBI Geek Squad informant deal was a bit immoral, too, IMHO.

<comment><USER10> Was it actually better for Best Buy to lose a sale than to sell a laptop without an extended warranty, or was that just a case of bad incentives making the rank-and-file do things that hurt the company?

<comment><USER11> Bad incentives. Some items were low margin, but almost nothing was so low that it was actually worth losing the sale.

One of the things you were ranked on was PSP (extended warranty, but they beat it into your head never to call it that) attachment percentage. When a measure becomes a target...

Occasionally there was a loss leader sale item, and in those cases if someone wanted to by it without any attachments, it might have made short term financial sense to pretend we didn't have it, but I don't think the company could get away with that on a large scale.

Source: I also worked there during college. First in customer service, then as a Geek Squad supervisor at a new store, and I was sent to training at HQ up in Minnesota.

<comment><USER10> Measuring percentage would do it. I'm always amazed that companies can be so boneheaded. You'd think I'd stop being amazed at some point, but no.

<comment><USER11> My favorite was when we started focusing heavily on close rate. Close rate was just the number of transactions divided by the number of people who walked in the door, so someone proposed that we start breaking up people's purchases into multiple transactions.

I proposed a counter solution--we just move the laser sensor on the door a bit higher, so that short people wouldn't trigger it.

<comment><USER12> I worked in an electronics store (regional, not Best Buy, and out of business now) in the mid-2000s that had this exact measure.

In my store, on busy days, the manager would occasionally "greet" customers at the door for 10 minutes at a time. Coincidentally, the spot he would choose to stand would block the sensor, so instead of 20 customers coming in in 10 minutes, it looked like only 1 had come in.

<comment><USER10> The ingenuity of employees in gaming stupid rules also never ceases to amaze.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Lately I prefer to shop at Best Buy over amazon. I have a couple nearby, so picking something up at the store is more amenable to impulse and instant gratification. It's also fun to take a lap around a play with some stuff.

Besides that, the prices are competitive, not that it matters because they price match. Sometimes you can score a deal on open box items, which are conveniently listed on their site. Returning something to BB has been painless. I recently returned a monitor _without_ the box for a full refund. I'd at least have had to find a box, pack, and ship that at my own expense w/ amazon which is a huge hassle.

Prime's 2 day shipping on nearly anything is great but more than a few times I've had things lost in the mail. Amazon waits 3-5 days PAST the delivery date to consider it lost while you wait in limbo, and then you have to restart the order. It's really frustrating if you need the thing quickly and it ends up taking more than double what it should to arrive. IME Amazon is not generous in compensating for these inconveniences.

<comment><USER14> Monitors/TVs are something I've had so much bad experience with, I pretty much always buy at a physical store over mail order of any kind.

Also, Prime's 2 day shipping doesn't mean nearly as much when a lot of products don't ship for 2-3 days after you order a lot of times now. I'm not sure if it's just gaming the system, but seems to be the case a lot these days. Not to mention co-mingling inventory makes me feel less certain on whole classes of items.

<comment><USER15> They're definitely doing all sorts of nonsense to game the system.

My latest gripe is in how they'll change or merge listings after an item ships so when what you order isn't what you get, it makes it look like you ordered the wrong thing in the first place.

The order confirmation they email to you forces you to click through to the site instead of giving you a static copy of your invoice so you have no proof to contest it either.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Sometimes you want to actually check something out before you buy it and that's the value that a Best Buy can provide that Amazon can't.

Recently I am needing to replace my failing 15 year old color laser printer and I've been trying to find a local store that has them models I'm researching in stock (want to print Tabloid for woodworking drawings - so not a large number of stocked options).

Both Staples and Office Depot had the printers, but none of them had ink in them and the store managers refused to install ink. This was frustrating because I wasted easily 2 hours between both stores waiting for the manager to even be available.

Best Buy had only 1 printer model but it had ink cartridges installed at least, but had no paper. A store associate helped fix that, but apparently the printer wasn't printing with black despite showing it had black ink. The associate kept wanting to demonstrate the printer not by printing a nice mixed content page but by copying a sales tag.

Needless to say I haven't been able to get print samples from any local retail establishment and I'd pay (reasonably) more than Amazon prices to get an good idea of the output quality before buying plus the instant gratification of being able to take a new printer home immediately. Hell since it's an ink jet I'd probably even buy the PSP/Extended Warranty without a fight.

All of these retail business are blowing their primary advantage by not having well working demo units available.

I may still end up buying from Best Buy or Staples but only because I can return to the store instead of having to ship back and pay for that return shipping like with Amazon.

<comment><USER17> The printers are probably such low margin items that its worth losing your sale so they don't have to spend the time setting it up. Most people don't care what the quality is as long as its not terrible so they will still sell a lot.

If you were buying 100 business printers I bet they would be happy to give you a demo.

<comment><USER16> This is probably true, especially the newer models with ink tanks that come ready to print 700+ pages out of the box as those won't move as much ink for the stores. I know at least Staples uses ink attack rate as a metric for employees.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I worked retail for over 5 years before starting my tech career and I've been a big advocate for Best Buy over the last couple of years as I've watched their in-store experience improve. At my local store the service is always awesome, they accept returns without a hassle, and I can order stuff online and they usually have it ready in less than hour. Their staff once spent over two hours with me resolving an issue and not once were they jerks about it.

I've been considering dumping my Prime account and one of the reasons I'd feel confident doing so has been my good experiences with Best Buy as of late.

<comment><USER19> That's good to hear. I stopped going to best buy when every question I had for staff was answered by the staffer reading the card on the shelf. I go to a meat-space store when I don't know what I want and I need knowledgeable salesmen to help me. The BB in my neighborhood never ever had that, so I stopped shopping there.

<comment><USER20> People don't want to or are unable to pay for a knowledgeable salesperson, hence why they do not exist for simple things such as consumer electronics.

<comment><USER19> Depends on the product. Look at home Depot / Lowe's / Rona where it's absolutely expected that there will be staff with contracting experience who have advice on what products to buy and how to use them.

<comment><USER20> I do not expect to find experienced professionals working a $15/hour job at Lowe's or Home Depot. There might be some who are out of the game due to injury or age, but not as a norm.

<comment><USER15> It varies by region.

In Atlanta and thereabouts Home Depot is a minimum-wage job ($8/hr?) with no real benefits or employee discounts so you just get bodies to stock shelves. I've had much better luck in California ($15/hr?) where most of the employees seemed to be ex-contractors or otherwise experienced.

<comment><USER19> Yeah, here on Ontario most of the Home Depot staff are old guys who've got plenty of experience with the stuff they sell. At worst, their knowledge is out-of-date from current best practice.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> If Best Buy ever closes, I will be very sad. It's one of the last standing bastions where I can go see electronics in person, purchase them, and then return them for an immediate refund (if something is wrong). The fact that they price match Amazon is key. I will pretty much always buy at Best Buy if I can, because I can get the item on the same day, for the same price as Amazon, and still get all of the conveniences offered by a retail store.

</comment><comment><USER22> I recently wanted a very specific model of TV, and after 15 minutes of price checking I found the it was noticeably cheaper (about 10%) at best buy than anywhere else. Picking it up was a breeze. I'd suggest price checking at best buy.

A few months later I bought a second TV and it was best priced at frys. It's funny how these things go.

<comment><USER23> BestBuy used to price match physical stores originally. I was surprised when I had bought my Surface Book 2 from BestBuy and without saying anything they offered to price match it with Amazon.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> The article says Best Buy didn't have to layoff employees. But why would they ever? Retail has a high turnover rate already. All they had to do was not hire replacements when people left on their own. Or hire a part-time worker when a full-timer quits.

Is there any national retailer other than Walmart that has not been forced to reduce their labor budget as a response to Amazon? None that I've looked into.

<comment><USER25> Maybe Costco, I hear they've been doing well.

<comment><USER26> Any Costco in my area is packed to the brim Fri-Sun to the point that you have to drive around looking for spots.

It isn't empty Mon-Thurs either.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> BestBuy is a step down from frys, which is itself a depressing experience.

Poor inventory, mislabeled items, disinterested staff.

I happily shop with New Egg simply because of they stood up to patent trolls: [https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/newegg-fought- it...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/newegg-fought-its-way- through-two-appeals-to-win-fees-from-this-patent-holder/)

<comment><USER28> Indeed, I'd like an Amazon competitor focusing on high quality and great service as much as anyone, but going into a Best Buy is _depressing_.

The staff act like robots. Their responses and behaviour both when you ask for help and when you go to checkout seem scripted, while at the same time they give off a tired air of mildly annoyed indifference.

A lot of US chains are like this, really. Everyone just seems so downtrodden, even surly or hostile. I'm sure the staff is paid little and not treated that great, but still, I've never encountered this in Europe, where I'm from, and I can't imagine that conditions are much better there, so it might be a cultural thing.

<comment><USER27> If you're looking for A/V and Car Audio, I _highly_ recommend Crutchfield.

They're amazing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> The secret to Best Buy is that you can play with things. Unfortunately I think they have kind of dropped the ball on this one. When I visit Best Buy, I often see empty product spaces, demo products that do not work, wires just dangling from a hole. This is not the Best Buy of my childhood where you went and could get your hands on things, really get to play around and know what you're buying. I would never buy a 52 inch LED TV off of Amazon, but I would definitely buy it at Best Buy because I can actually see it. The secret to Best Buy is that you can play with things. When I visit Best Buy, I often see empty product spaces, demo products that do not work, wires just dangling from a hole. This is not the best spy of my childhood where you went and could get your hands on things, really get to play around and know what you're buying. I would never buy a 52 inch LED TV off of Amazon, but I would definitely buy it at Best Buy because I can actually see it. They will even put your favorite DVD or Blu-ray if you bring it

<comment><USER14> It could be more of an issue with your location(s) manager... though I only really go to BB a couple times a year. Usually monitor or TV, or because I want something that day.

<comment><USER29> I go all the time, all over Northern Virginia. It's not just one store or one city. Frustrating to say the least because I know Best Buy can be a great store.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> BestBuy's shipping was far better than Amazon's in my experience. BestBuy always used to offer 2 day shipping for me and sometimes even deliver in a day for the same price as Amazon. In the case of Amazon, from 2012 to 2014, they used to ship fast. I place an order, it get shipped within 24 hours and I would get it in 2-3 days. But something changed in 2014. I noticed that my order would stay in 'preparing for shipment' for upto 5 days before they actually ship it. I assumed either that was Amazon's way of pressuring me to get Prime or their algorithms labelled me a low value customer. After 2 bad customer experiences and loss of trust due to the risk of getting fake products, I moved onto other retailers.

I once bought a laptop from BestBuy. It was over $2k. I came home, unpacked it and to my horror, there was a scratch. I immediately went back and BestBuy gave me a new one. In the case of Amazon, I ordered a furniture. They shipped the wrong color. Since I didn't want to deal with the hazzle of returning, I asked Amazon to give me the price difference (the color I got was cheaper than what I ordered). No. The only option Amazon gave me was return it and order again. Had to wait for another 10 days to get my color.

I came back to India and ordered a surge protector from Amazon. The item I got was not only poorly packaged, it looked like Amazon just shipped me something that someone else returned. It still had a previous shipping label (though I couldn't read it), was very badly packed with cello tape, and the plastic body had somehow got the green color from the Belkins packing. Thankfully, Amazon refunded me and I found it cheaper in a local store.

</comment><comment><USER31> I've always preferred Best Buy to Amazon for electronics (and I definitely do my fair share of Amazon purchasing).

Recently, I bought my MacBook there. I also purchased a gaming headset from there.

I think the main thing is - what if I get my headset out of the box and one ear has no sound - easy fix with Best Buy. Same with the MacBook. In fact - <USER2> actually ended up returning my original MacBook to Best Buy within 14 days of purchasing it to get a slightly upgraded model - no questions asked, nothing lost but about an hour of time.

As other posters have mentioned, there's also the 'knock-off' chance on Amazon as well (or at least me, the general, uninformed consumer thinks that there is). I can't be certain that even Apple-branded products from Amazon are actually Apple products. But at Best Buy, my assumption is they are legit Apple products.

</comment><comment><USER32> They price match Amazon which is really no secret, it's just hard to do since they have more overhead.

<comment><USER23> My best guess is they hope to make up lost with items Amazon doesn't even list. I know there's some products that are owned by BestBuy, I forgot the company name for it, but some random electronics they sell.

<comment><USER33> you are thinking of insignia products

<comment><USER34> Looks like it's not just Insignia but Rocketfish, Platinum, Modal and Dynex as well.

[https://corporate.bestbuy.com/best-buys-private-label- busine...](https://corporate.bestbuy.com/best-buys-private-label-business- turns-15/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> We buy all our appliances from Best Buy so I'd hate to lose them like we lost Circuit City. CC's decision to ditch appliances was their downfall, IMO. As for buying electronics from BB, it's a checkered history for me. I've bought a MacBook Air cheaply there and our current LCD TV was 300$ there. When I last bought a PC laptop there 12 years ago trying to get out of the shop without extended warranty was a nightmare. I eventually 'won' by saying it was a gift and the new owner will run Linux (to escape the Geek Squad tax). Altogether, BB is not a happy place to buy a Windows laptop although things may have changed but I doubt it.

<comment><USER36> I've never had any issue at my local Best Buy just saying "no thanks" to the extended warranty stuff. Though I really only shop there about once every year or two.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> I'm on my third year of owning two Tiles: One pre-2018 Mate and one Slim. As usual, it came time to replace them, and Tile's reTile program doesn't offer a one-mate-plus-one-slim option (the closest is a two-plus-two). So, I got one through reTile, and the other by heading over to Best Buy. I didn't even consider buying it on Amazon.

Another time, I needed a 3.5mm headphone to Bluetooth transmitter for my Nintendo Switch. I checked Fry's, Central Computer, and Best Buy; Best Buy had it, so I got it from there.

In both cases, the choice was partially convenience, and partially not wanting another box (or padded envelope) being used up.

<comment><USER38> > partially not wanting another box (or padded envelope) being used up

So, did you drive there? That's also an environmental impact. Just saying.

<comment><USER4> Because Amazon don't drive the package..? Or fly it in a lot of cases? In fact Amazon has recently been moving away from USPS to "Amazon Logistics" which means even less package co-mingling/less environmental efficiency.

<comment><USER39> They send many packages on the same vehicle, and do a shortest-path route. So the marginal impact of each package is minimal compared to making a dedicated trip to Best Buy.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> I've had no success with Best Buy recently. They never have quite what I want. Here are some recent examples:

An HD capable portable radio. (ended up buying Sangean HDR-16 from Amazon)

A keyboard synthesizer (I know they carried these in the past).

I upgraded three car stereos and they didn't have anything I wanted in stock. (Ended up buying one from Amazon and two from Crutchfield).

An unlocked Samsung cell phone. They did not have the lower cost "J" ones (this was a year ago- even now on their website I see that only a few stores display them). I think we ended up buying from Microcenter- we are very lucky to live near one.

<comment><USER41> I love Microcenter! I'm about a 2 and a half hour drive from one and make my way up there probably 2-3 times a year carpooling with some colleagues and friends. I don't know if all locations are the same, but the inventory at the one I go to is more akin to a trade show than a Best Buy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> I actually started going back to Best Buy for the first time in 10 years probably. I was pleasantly surprised at the prices. What is even better was I was allowed to test the mouse, TV, and headphones I wanted to buy!

</comment><comment><USER43> Bloomberg covered this phenomenon back in 2018. The article generated 446 comments on HN.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17566164](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17566164)

</comment><comment><USER44> I wonder who buys dvd/bluray anymore... after netflix.

<comment><USER45> Me. For example, I'm currently legally rewatching Game of Thrones before the new season comes out even though I don't currently have an HBO subscription. It is a durable copy that doesn't buffer, is high quality, isn't modified after the fact (such as when they removed the George W. Bush prop head-on- spike). For a one time price, I own it for life. I can and have lent it out to others. When I watch it, my analytics aren't tracked, and there are no promos for other shows at the beginning.

<comment><USER46> > When I watch it, my analytics aren't tracked

Unless you watch it on a smart TV. It's a shame you can't get the features of a modern TV without content tracking.

<comment><USER47> I mean, just turn off the internet on your TV. Most TVs have terrible built-in software anyway. My TV isn't connected to the internet, so it can't track what I'm watching.

<comment><USER45> I forgot to mention that my Blu-Ray player also has an Ethernet port and a bunch of "apps" available, and probably has the ability to report back on Blu- Rays viewed, but I don't use it for that reason (and I have better devices for apps, such as Roku.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER48> I used to be concerned about Best Buy, until I realized they price match amazon, now I just go there if I need (want) something same day.</comment>


The Facebook Phone: It's Finally Real and Its Name is Buffy - <AUTHOR> http://allthingsd.com/20111121/the-facebook-phone-its-finally-real-and-its-name-is-buffy/

<comment><USER2> My Windows Phone uses Facebook contacts to augment my contact list and integrates their Twitter and Facebook updates, shows my Facebook photo albums, and allows me to check in or post updates to Facebook and Twitter. I'm sure Android/iOS offer similar functionality.

What more could a Facebook phone launched this late in the game really offer other than lock-in?

</comment><comment><USER3> Whilst I can see why a Facebook Phone looks really promising from FB's perspective, to me, buying a Facebook phone because I like using FB is akin to buying a Coca Cola branded and manufactured car because I like drinking soda/soft drink.

<comment><USER4> A phone is a computer used to access Facebook. I don't see how the car/Coke comparison is the same. They have nothing to do with each other.

<comment><USER5> Make it a refrigerator instead of a car.

<comment><USER6> You know that Coca-Cola does make millions of refrigerators for its distributors right?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Buffy: The Privacy Slayer.

</comment><comment><USER8> Does Facebook have the ability to produce software with the required level of quality necessary to ship in consumer hardware devices?

I've worked with their API's, which are core to their business, and they tend to be inconsistently implemented, changed at will and have high rates of failure.

The existing culture of 'whatever, just ship it' would never produce a phone that is bug free enough to ship.

<comment><USER9> First phone with a php, mysql, and memcache based operating system?

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Two questions upon which this phone's fate will hinge:

1\. Will it offer at least as cohesively a sharing-centered user experience as Microsoft's ill-fated Kin? Microsoft may have shot Kin down shortly after takeoff, but it set the yet-unmet benchmark for a "social phone."

2\. Will it launch with low-priced, youth-targeted data plans from carrier partners, Kin's fatal omission?

<comment><USER11> On your second point, how could Facebook make this happen? Every device maker would like for their device to have low cost data plans... the problem is the networks realize that is the road to being a dumb pipe, something they're desperate to avoid.

<comment><USER12> Either by becoming an MVNO or doing something like Amazon's Whispernet.

<comment><USER13> I could imagine a Facebook MVNO where they sell the data plan below cost and try to make it up with ads.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> It's not "finally real" until it's released. According to this article, it's at least a year away.

</comment><comment><USER15> I don't really understand this because:

1\. The HTC Status already exists 2\. Every single modern smartphone is trying to integrate multiple social networks more tightly (which includes competing non-FB networks)

I had previously thought that the Status made sense as something cheap for kids- like the Kin, and as a test device prior to a game-changer- like the ROKR. My previously assumption is that FB will either come up with its own OS (doubtful) or even buy WebOS. To release yet another branded Android phone seems a bit unrevolutionary from a rising star.

</comment><comment><USER16> And so the Internet gets a little more fragmented...

</comment><comment><USER17> I just wrote about this a few days ago: [http://colinsidoti.com/2011/11/dear- mark-zuckerberg-re-faceb...](http://colinsidoti.com/2011/11/dear-mark- zuckerberg-re-facebook-phone/)

Very excited to see the features they plan to build out. Specifically, giving developers direct access to handsets seems like it would open some cool possibilities.

</comment><comment><USER11> I think it really is a mistake for Facebook, and in fact, Google, and allegedly Amazon, to be making mobile phones.

Apple and Microsoft are different in a lot of ways, but their core business is making operating systems for personal computers. Apple makes the whole widget, but Microsoft focuses on the OS and licenses it out. Different business models, but much the same business.

It's not surprising that Apple and Microsoft, as a result, have the two best Phone Operating Systems as well as the two most popular Desktop operating systems.

What is google's core business? Advertising. What is Facebooks? Advertising What is Amazon's? Retailing

All of these, of course, have some overlap with Apple and Microsoft. Amazon is increasingly selling digital goods, Microsoft got into the search business (a failure that is illustrative of my point, btw.)

What is the key value add that Facebook can add to a phone that nobody else can? Deeper integration with Facebook. Is that compelling? For a phone? Certainly useful... but why make the tradeoffs?

The same thing is true with Google. The original iPhone shipped with google in every place it wanted to be-- providing maps, providing youtube video app, built in, as the only option for search, and consequently, also, the primary mobile advertising opportunity.

Apple didn't try to keep google out, Apple partnered with google, at a very high level, and gave google unique access to its device. I cannot think of any other company whose key products Apple ships as default on the iPhone. Apple's still shipping google maps (or actually Apple Maps app, backed by google) But, notice, despite the deep integration of Twitter in iOS 5, Apple doesn't ship the twitter client.

Even before there was a third party Apps business, Apple gave Google premium positioning for its services in the OS.

What does google have, fundamentally, to offer to the phone industry that nobody else can offer? Better search? A better maps app?

As I've pointed out, Apple let google have prime real estate to get that distribution. It is only after Google decided to compete with Apple that Apple bought an advertising company, and started buying mapping companies, and started offering Bing and Yahoo as alternate search engines in Mobile Safari (or maybe I'm wrong and they're not even doing that, can't remember.)

Success comes form being focused.

Facebook is increasingly becoming very distracting and kinda pointless. The things my friends share that I care about are buried, and Facebook arbitrarily decides not to show me many status updates from some of my friends.... meanwhile BS is at the top of the feed all the time.

Google's search results are in a marked decline. The advertising business is going like gangbusters, but Google is getting less and less useful as a search platform.

And now they're going to start making their own hardware?

Further, what's the business model? Apple and Microsoft have been very successful selling operating systems (though Apple packages them with the hardware.) Nobody has been nearly close to as successful giving away software for free. Google and Facebook have to plow most of their R&D budget into their core businesses, so they can't compete (and in googles case, so far haven't' been able to compete) with Apple (and to a lesser extent, Microsoft) in adding key features to their phone operating systems.

I think the folly of Apple, trying to make its own desktop CPUs is another good example. Even when partnered with Motorola and IBM-- two heavyweights-- and a superior technology base-- they were unable to remain competitive with Intel simply because Intel is able to plow so much money into their CPU business.

The CPU Business is core for Intel. The OS business is core for Apple and Microsoft. The devices business is core for Apple and Microsoft's partners. IT isn't for Google, Amazon or Facebook.

They might be successful making phones, to some extent, but they will be taking their eyes off the ball when it comes to their core businesses.

<comment><USER18> "Success comes form being focused."

You yourself would find success in transmitting organized thought if you were focused on what you write. What the hell is that jumble of words? And why is it the top voted comment? Is it because of the quantity of characters therein?

The reason why any of these companies are getting into different markets is because of one thing: _Money._ The fact is, these organizations have a lot of money already and want to put it work --- the most obvious place to put it work would be a laterally related market segment.

<comment><USER19> I don't think Google enters the smartphone market simply because there is money to be made. I have always thought that their motivation for Android was, at least partially, defensive, as they fight to keep clear any impediments to consuming their services (ads).

<comment><USER18> Is the motivation still not money?

<comment><USER19> Of course. Just about everything a corporation does is driven by the pursuit of profit. However, the rather verbose post you replied to had a point obfuscated in the jungle of words. Core competency (a company's ethos) is an important factor. You won't see McDonalds getting into the smartphone business simply because of money.

<comment><USER18> "laterally related market segment."

Facebook's core competency is social networking. Mobile devices are one mode of social networking - it is a logical choice of theirs to create their own mobile device, strengthened by their brand it would be adopted on novelty alone; to a global user-base they can reach at little cost seeing as how they own their own advertising platform.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> It would be cool to see whether they use all that design talent they've been snapping up on this project.

</comment><comment><USER21> So Zuckerburg et al have reiterated again and again that they are a platform, that their strategy is horizontal, that they want to be tethered to no specific device or service.

At least we can sleep soundly knowing the company managing everyone's personal data is an honest one...?</comment>


Summer hacker housing in Silicon Valley? - <AUTHOR>

I'm a summer intern and I'm looking for a room in Silicon Valley for the summer, including San Francisco.  There are many rooms on craiglist, including with "IT Professionals", but I would rather room with other hackers.  I had a chance to visit some news.yc readers and YC founders over spring break, and I would love to have a similarly enjoyable experience over the entire summer.  If anybody is looking for a housemate, please let me know.  Thanks! - Vladislav (username @ yazhbin.com). <comment><USER2> <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=593551></comment>


VC firms can be liable if startups wrongly claim stimulus funds - <AUTHOR> https://venturebeat.com/2020/05/03/vc-firms-can-be-liable-if-startups-wrongly-claim-stimulus-funds/ <comment><USER2> (1) this is reaching, a lot of gates have to trip before that becomes even a remote possibility and (2) that liability as a director was there anyway.

In short, if you're a VC _and_ you know about the company you are investing in applying in bad faith for stimulus money _and_ you don't do anything about it then you are _possibly_ liable.

Directors and officers of the company can be liable under certain circumstances anyway, whether the _fund_ or the VC (management) firm is liable is another matter entirely and the article does not address this, at a guess this is only the case if the firm is mentioned as such a director.

In short: don't commit fraud, and if you are in an oversight role: act the part.

<comment><USER3> And there appears to be some sort of safe harbor provision where if you were granted funds you can return them by a certain date. One group I advise projected things crashing, applied, the projected crash didn't occur, got money (low 6 figures), and returned it within a few days.

They didn't do it in bad faith, they just had a bad model.. not like they'd worked this one out before.

Regardless, it did force them to work out some information and answer some questions they hadn't considered so it was a learning experience, just a time consuming/stressful one.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Cool, but the whistleblower claiming 30% seems like a strange incentive.

<comment><USER2> More often than not that's a meager payout for what tends to be a career destroying move.

Very rarely do whistleblowers pick up real money, it has happened a couple of times though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Managing the stimulus money (in the US and everywhere else) is likely to follow the same path everywhere - give it out as widely as possible, find that one high profile dodgy case and prosecute loudly, and have an amnesty period for companies to return money if they find they did not mean it.

This will work fine(ish) for the larger employers, but the majority of smaller businesses are going to be hurting in ways that paying 80% of employees wages won't help. Imagine a city bar / restaurant- in a few months they can reopen, their landlord will now demand back rent, all their customers will only be seated at tables 2 metres apart and they still won't cover costs.

The post covid landscape is going to look weird till we reach herd immunity / vaccine. And a lot of businesses that will be viable post-immunity are simply going to need to hibernate for much longer than a few months.</comment>


Pirate Bay founder Gottfrid Warg faces lengthy jail term - <AUTHOR> http://bbc.com/news/technology-29832318 <comment><USER2> The courtcase has been followed closely by the Danish media, especially the tech-savvy version2.dk that has had a reporter in the courtroom every day of the trial. It has caused quite a stir as all sorts of problems with CSC, the prosecutor and police investigation came to light during the hearings. Some highlights:

\- CSC, that handles a large part of Danish infrastructure including social security numbers, police backend, etc. has dismal security. They don't even update their software as security patches become available. Warg had access to their mainframe for 9 months without them having a clue about it. The only reason they found out was because the Swedish police called them and told them.

\- username/password pairs for CSC's server were readily available on one of their subsites(!)

\- Warg turned off the logs on the CSC mainframe, and they didn't notice. It appears that logs were turned off for months. As a result CSC doesn't know whether data has been altered. We're talking about all police systems, social security systems, and more.

\- The police have not had their own investigative team at CSC, and haven't looked at the technical evidence. This has been done by CSC, which is an obvious problem.

\- The Danish police was contacted by Swedish police three times during 2012 because the evidence from a Swedish case turned up files from CSC, and the Danish police didn't respond as they apparently didn't find the information important. During the courtcase the Danish police's chief IT investigator was caught lying about this.

\- The prosecutor and judge were clueless, bordering on the hilarious, about technical issues. For instance the prosecutor refused to acknowledge that other user accounts except Wargs existed on the computer (there were 5 accounts), tried to paint putty as a hacking tool that only criminals would use, tried to establish Jacob Applebaum and Warg as friends because Applebaum retweeted one of Wargs tweets (only friends do that!), etc. etc.

These are just the highlights...

<comment><USER3> > tried to establish Jacob Applebaum and Warg as friends because Applebaum > retweeted one of Wargs tweets (only friends do that!)

I understand the ignorance displayed by the judge here, but did the judge also see being Applebaum's friend as a bad thing?

<comment><USER2> Applebaum was an expert witness called in to testify on how a computer could be remote controlled, and the prosecutor tried to have him dismissed based on the retweet. He ended up testifying, so I guess the attempt wasn't successful.

<comment><USER4> I don't think that's a technically ignorant argument for a prosecutor to make. There's certainly a factual inference that could (but does not necessarily have to be drawn) between retweeting and being friends. Especially in the context of getting someone disqualified based on conflict of interest.

<comment><USER3> There are many people I retweet whom I have no connection to whatsoever. I like what they wrote and I think it's relevant to or interesting for my followers.

<comment><USER5> There may also be people you had a drink with to whom I have no connection to whatsoever. It's not disqualifying but it is a piece of information.

<comment><USER6> Generally, information that has absolutely no merit in a court case isn't allowed in the courtroom because (I presume) it can subconsciously alter a person's judgement of the proceedings.

Assuming a retweet is the full extent of their "friendship", this is the real- world equivalent of dismissing an expert witness because the defendant quoted them in a paper once.

<comment><USER5> This is actually kind of interesting.

Something like a tweet is context dependent. Some people tweet mostly to their friends and a lot of retweets _are_ in fact indicative of a personal relationship. It will often be easy to estimate for a twitter user, but very hard to make objective enough to work as evidence in court.

Do they have just 12 or 12000 followers? Are they tweeting personal tidbits or politics & jokes? etc. These things can add up to an very informed guess.

<comment><USER4> In the U.S. The admissibility of evidence is based on relevance.[1] The modern formulation asks: does consideration of a piece of evidence increase or decrease the probability of some material fact being true?

A retweet is certainly relevant. The evidence makes it more likely that two people are friends than the baseline where there is no retweet.

[1] [http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_under_Bayes_theorem](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_under_Bayes_theorem)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Random guesses from a Dane about tomorrow where the length of the sentence is to be determined. You can come back in 24 hours and vote based on the real outcome of a couple of these points, hehe:

\- Anakata will get a sentence somewhere in the upper middle. My guess is 4-5 years of which he has already served some.

\- JT will get a somewhat mild sentence of nothing higher than 1 year. The case against him is pretty weak, compared to Anakata.

\- The case will almost instantly be appealed by Anakata.

\- JT may not want to appeal if the sentence is somewhere in the middle of the 2 years window. The reason is the extra jail time he has served will be compensated by the state and the state might be seeking a sentence in the middle to "encourage" him not to appeal. Appealing might increase the sentence and you would be paid less.

The case might go all the way to højestreret, which is the highest court in Denmark. There is also a chance the case could end up in ECHR (European Court of Human Rights), though I feel that chance is slighter. It would depend on the sentence of JT. If it ends up being a conditional sentence, then the jail time he has served is definitely going to have been unfair. As for Anakata, it is a bit more bleak I feel, since the argument of flight from the country applies, like it did in Sweden.

What is _really_ likely to push this to ECHR however, is the inhumane isolation jail treatment and harsh conditions they've both received. It is not at all clear in any way to me why they satisfied the criterion for that at all.

<comment><USER8> In case anyone's interested: You've got it mostly right. Warg was sentenced to 3.5 years. The sentence was appealed on the spot, but they're not going to release him as they think it's likely he's going to flee the country.

JT was sentenced to 6 months, so he's entitled to compensation.

Source: [http://www.version2.dk/artikel/tre-et-halvt-aars-faengsel- ti...](http://www.version2.dk/artikel/tre-et-halvt-aars-faengsel-til- hackerdoemt-svensker-anker-paa-stedet-70386)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Although the details of this story are interesting and compelling, my initial read of this story left me thinking, "Six years is lengthy, eh? I don't think that's considered 'lengthy' in the USA."

Our prison system terrifies me.

<comment><USER10> I would not wish a prison sentence on my (personal) worst enemies. Locking someone up for years should be an absolute last resort. I can't really imagine a worse thing than essentially becoming a slave to some prison for years. No freedom.

This is the main issue I have with "jail the bankers!" narratives: Just take away their money, putting them in jail doesn't accomplish anything.

This seems to be a big issue with American mentality in particular though. Such a big thirst for vengeance.

<comment><USER11> If there was no jail time, then everyone would try to do that (What could be the worst scenario - just losing all your stolen money). That wouldn't work.

<comment><USER12> > If there was no jail time, then everyone would try to do that

Really? Have you any studies to back that up or did you just extract it from your arse?

<comment><USER13> Do you have studies to back up the fact that you just questioned what he said?

Seriously, this "do you have studies" BS is getting out of hand. He made an argument (which btw includes more context than what you quoted), and stated his opinion of what would happen in a hypothetical situation. And it's also obvious to everyone who has ever casually conversed that "everyone" in this context means "many people", not literally everyone.

You can disagree and say "That's not what's going to happen because ...", or even "Study such and such shows that this not necessarily happens...".

Asking for studies to back up his thinking is BS. This is not some peer reviewed journal, nor is he writing a thesis. This is a simple conversation. And even if he gave 4-5 studies there would be absolutely no guarantees that those studies aren't crap, aren't invalidated by subsequent studies, aren't only describing what works in some specific cultural context, etc.

This is sociology and human behavior, not physics or math to have some be all end all studies answering specific questions.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I find it hard to believe that a guy as smart as Gottfrid would "hack" a government computer in 2012 when he's obviously extremely aware of the magnifying glass that's on him from governments and companies all over the world.

> _the pair downloaded police and social security files._

What exactly are those? and what would he even want them for?

> _In a separate trial in 2013, Mr Warg and accomplice were found guilty of > breaking into the computer systems of computer services firm Logica, which > was doing work for Sweden 's tax office and a bank._

Again, why would he hack into a bank knowing so many eyes are on him?

<comment><USER15> That's a reasonable concern to have, but it's worth being aware that it's the exact same concern people had about Hans Reiser. Intelligence and judgement are orthogonal, and sometimes even in slight opposition.

If you want to consider a different perspective: I'm an example of someone who does not have a hard time understand how someone who has enjoyed the rush of getting over on the entire media industry from behind a computer screen might find it harmless or at least personally safe to hack into some dumb server on the Internet and read documents off it.

I've been a pentester for the last 10 years and in my experience, taking advantage of the knowledge of how to break into an application is an urge that takes some energy to suppress.

<comment><USER16> The local police force here has a test to see if you 'have what it takes' to be a part of their cyber security squad or whatever they call it. On a lark I took part in it (the test was pretty simple, at least, that's what I thought). After taking the test (and knowing full well I had no intention to follow through on applying for a job with them, I just can't look at puzzles without getting this itch to solve them) I realized I may have just given out some information that I had better keep to myself, which is to advertise a capability.

Having a capability and advertising it is already stupid in my book, and more the fool I am I slipped up there. But having such a capability, subsequently approaching machines that you have no permission for, repeatedly attempting to gain access, succeeding at that and then to actually retrieve data that you have no right to when you're already in a position of extreme suspicion with the authorities to me borders on the insane. I really can't understand even for one second why someone as gifted as this would act in this way, it is something I've been wondering about with a lot of these so called hackers. What drives them to do this, obviously the downsides of successfully showing off their skill end up in a head-on collision with forces they can't possibly hope to defeat.

It's all fun and games until the SWAT team arrives.

Have there been any studies on the psychology of people that are pathologically drawn to breaking in to other people's computer systems?

<comment><USER15> Easy: breaking into computers is very, very fun, and when something feels like a game, it's easy to treat it that way.

If you have a hard time believing anyone would do something like this, look at the 1990s: we got a book practically every year about one hacking group or another breaking into phone switches, credit reporting agencies, government and military networks, and financial institutions. If you can do it, and you're unlikely to get caught --- and _you are very unlikely to ever get caught_ \--- why not? Plenty of smart people did stuff like this. Plenty of them.

The most interesting stories from that era did not get written up. Kevin Mitnick didn't write the TCP sequencer. Kevin Mitnick couldn't sequence an ordered array of integers if it was #defined for him in advance.

<comment><USER16> > Plenty of smart people did stuff like this.

I know, I know a couple of them. I just don't understand them. Why cross that line? Why risk jail, your career, a whole pile of hardship? The real life consequences is what I'm wondering about, it's as if there is some kind of disconnect there between action and subsequent consequences.

If it is only because it is 'unlikely that you're ever going to get caught' then that's a gamblers argument. (I don't understand gamblers either, so that might be an explanation right there.)

<comment><USER17> > Why cross that line? Why risk jail, your career, a whole pile of hardship?

I think part of it is age, maybe. Or rather life-experience, if you will.

I remember back in my early 20s what always stopped me was basic paranoia about getting caught. But that's just how I'm wired personally (and I was probably slightly irrational about the odds). I love breaking, bending and toying with the rules, but too chicken to pull through if it involved anything more serious than a silly prank on friends.

Nowadays (mid-30s), the first thing that stops me is a much more solid sense of what's right and wrong. I prefer it that way, because unlike fear of getting caught, it's a much more solid foundation to depend on.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Wow.. so in Sweden he first got 2 years, reduced to one. Imagine that being in the united states. What, 25 to life? Just saying, it's interesting how this concept of "justice" is treated so subjectively depending on where on this planet you are located. Nothing new under the sun, but still.

<comment><USER19> Yeah, it's pretty scary to live in countries that have higher incarceration rates than China, Russia, or North Korea.

They hand out 25 year sentences like candy.

<comment><AUTHOR> "North Korea"

Citation please.

<comment><USER20> 31 sources on this article: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_North_Korea](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisons_in_North_Korea)

Though I don't see anything definite on prison rates. Hard to get precise info out of N Korea. This absolute dismal circumstances the prisoners suffer is clear though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I think the long isolation by the Danish and Swedish state of Svartholm has been inhumane.

[http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/18/social- animal...](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/18/social-animals-life- expectancy)

</comment><comment><USER22> This is the part where I make a long statement urging apolitical youth to give a shit. Facts first.

CSC is a core part of the military industrial complex. They make mass surveillance databases and military systems and are active globally.

Gottfrid pissed off the both the MPAA and the US military/government. Look what they did to kimdotcom in total violation of law ... the NZ PM had to apologise personally. Gottfrid was illegally extradited from Cambodia. We're yet to see any evidence to the contrary, despite claims his visa was up apparently it wasn't, and this sort of put-on-plane-back-home treatment is not normal.. also, a fat Swedish aid package to Cambodia went through just after his extradition.

Gottfrid's mother is an academic and has documented the strange behaviour of her own (Swedish) government around his arrest and treatment.

Denmark is a place where it's almost impossible to use cash, where the ex-king kept a harem (it's now a bakery/hotel: I stayed in it), and where the authorities don't need a warrant to track your phone's location over the last year.

The accusation is that, sitting in Cambodia, Gottfrid broke in to some computers for no apparent reason causing zero harm. The reality is that he was mistreated against any notion of personal rights, dragged halfway around the world and locked up in solitary confinement which is generally considered torture under UN definitions. He has been passed from state to state being mistreated. There is still no proof he did anything wrong or harmed anyone. However, there seems to be evidence he helped Assange decrypt the embarassing US military video 'collateral damage'.

The only thing I conclude from this ruling is that the west in general is only a downward spiral in to totalitarianism, and that there is now an inter-state, overt attempt to suppress resistance (Assange, Dotcom, Anakata, etc.) with extreme media coverage to try to influence the rest of us.

Where are we to go? How are we to resist? There is the west and its fall-in- line economic treadmill, or the hinterlands and their available extra-judicial means of extradition (ala Anakata) or oppression. Assange's warning about a transnational dystopia seems ever-more pertinent. You know what I think after having met him? Anakata was trying to understand what's going on in Europe and the world at large, and his heart was in the right place. It fits with his character. After all, his mother is an academic, he was raised to ask questions.

Those who question are unjustly treated... the system is the problem. We can use the internet to create change. Don't let cryptocurrency abort as a foetus: it's being regulator-challenged to death. Don't let nominal democracy convince you to be placid. Ask your own questions, force some coverage for your discoveries, and change the world. Do it for Gottfrid.

<comment><USER23> >ex-king kept a harem (it's now a bakery/hotel: I stayed in it)

what ex-king are you talking about?

>and where the authorities don't need a warrant to track your phone's location over the last year.

not anymore the EU court said in April that it was illegal[0]

[0][http://www.b.dk/tech/kaempe-overvaagning-af-danskerne- kendt-...](http://www.b.dk/tech/kaempe-overvaagning-af-danskerne-kendt- ugyldig#)! (in danish)

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> nitpick: headline slightly misleading as the crime isn't related to Pirate Bay other than its the same guy.

</comment><comment><USER25> > Defence lawyers said although the hack attacks were carried out using a > computer owned by Mr Warg, he was not the person that used it to steal the > files. Instead, they said, an unnamed hacker took over this machine and used > it to carry out the attacks.

Given the circumstances, this claim seems obviously true. People who break into computers usually use broken-into computers as proxies.

<comment><USER15> Are you familiar with the evidence the court considered? Is it instead the case that you'd have a hard time convicting anyone of hacking-related crimes under any circumstances because of the possibility that someone else might have been pulling the strings?

Often when cases like this are reported, the evidentiary details don't make it into the story. It's easy to understand why someone would have a problem with a conviction when all the information they have is the BBC's 10,000ft summary.

What's worse is, that 10,000ft summary can bias you by framing the whole story in your mind. You're skeptical right off the bat. That's probably always healthy! But it's good to know how your mind is being primed to digest new information, too.

Obviously, sometimes you get the details and the case doesn't get less murky. The Aurenheimer case is an example; I don't have a clue what to think about it, and would like to think that whatever my prejudices are, I'd have been a not-guilty vote in a jury based on that doubt.

<comment><USER26> Is it enough to be skeptical about the trial to know that prosecutors installed software on the piece of evidence without informing anyone?

<comment><USER15> You don't need an excuse to be skeptical. Skepticism is healthy.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Attach a volume to a container while it is running - <AUTHOR> https://jpetazzo.github.io/2015/01/13/docker-mount-dynamic-volumes/ <comment><AUTHOR> Has anyone gotten this script to work? In my case, the device name happened to be /dev/mapper/vg-home, so I had to manually create /dev/mapper for the mknod to work. I also had to specify the fstype, but now I am seeing the below error:

mount: /dev/mapper/vg-home is not a valid block device

<comment><AUTHOR> Got it working. The problem was that /dev/mapper/vg-home was a symbolic link so stat wasn't giving the right major and minor numbers, so once I fixed that it worked well.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What to do about an under-performing founder - <AUTHOR>

We're a 1.5 yearold startup with 3 founders. I started the company, and then brought in the second founder two months in, and finally brought in the third founder about 7 months in.
When we brought in the third founder we were pretty desperate. We didn't have funding, we barely had a proof of concept product, and minimal market traction. So just having another warm body to help with the work was very valuable. Pretty much since the very beginning she produced really mediocre work. Better than nothing, but far below the level of work produced by myself and the second founder.
Since then we've moved lightyears ahead of where we were then. We got a beta out, we got a decent round of angel funding, we got customers, and now we're about a month away from being cash flow positive with 11 people full time (not ramen profitable, but actually making enough to pay everyone a decent wage.)
As for the third founder, she has now moved into a low level employee role. Quite frankly if she were just an employee I would have let her go by now, simply because we could easily find someone better.
Here's my dilemma: I feel like it would be a really evil thing to do to fire her. I would be taking away all her equity (since all three founders have 3 year vesting.) Not only that but to be fair, she was there at the very beginning, and did work for minimum wage for 3 months before we finally got funding. But at the same time, it's just not good for the company to keep an under-performing employee around.
I've thought about just giving her 1/3 of her equity (which would be 4%), some severance pay, and letting her go. I feel this would be fair, but still it doesn't sit well with me.
I'm sure there are people that have had to deal with this kind of thing before. I would really appreciate any advice you guys have. <comment><USER2> Think hard about what this will do or not do to your 10 performing full time people. As you note, " _it's just not good for the company to keep an under- performing employee around_ " and it can become quite toxic.

Being able to fire people is a big and critical thing. I'm not saying "fire her to prove that you can do it", but if you can't do it in general, your chance of failing goes up by quite a bit.

Your proposed solution sounds fair. Can you elaborate on what's not sitting well with you?

</comment><comment><USER3> Congrats on your success hitting these milestones. And v. good that you have proper contracting in place to deal with this.

My advice is since there is a contract in place, you should follow the letter of it. You shouldn't try to re-write it in "moralistic terms." Its' a slippery slope once you start going down that, who "deserves" what. Did she "screw" you by under-performing more than you "screw" her by firing her for under- performance? There are no answers.

So: Didn't work out, we had language in the contract that specifies what happens when it doesn't work out and there it is.

After three weeks, you'll be glad that you don't have 4% of "legacy equity" on your ownership table. And in 2 years, when your new, brilliant, terribly hard working engineer gets options for 0.5% you'll really be glad!

</comment><comment><USER4> Fred Wilson just posted a great article about dealing admirably with separation from a founding team member: [http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/06/parting-ways-with-a- founding...](http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/06/parting-ways-with-a-founding- team-member.html)</comment>


24 hours in a diner in New York - <AUTHOR> https://www.1843magazine.com/dispatches/what-24-hours-in-a-diner-taught-me-about-new-york <comment><USER2> Diners are wonderful, and very very much a metro-NY thing in this incarnation. (There are other diner types, excellent in their own ways, but they're sufficiently different as to be out of scope.) They build communities, too, and "Diner regulars" are a pretty ecumenical bunch.

Nearly everything I miss about NY has to do with food, and nearly all the food I miss is diner food: mystery meat gyros, the diner hamburger that's slightly too wet for the bun so you can't put it down once you pick it up, the right kind of natural-casing link sausages that snap when you bite into them, and above all, the matzoh ball soup: cure for everything. For dessert, rainbow cookies or a slice of pie from the glass rotating case -- and don't forget the weird chocolate mints on your way out.

A half-decent bagel, good pizza, and any bodgea's sausage egg and cheese on a roll round out my list of foods I atavistically seek out every time I'm within 40 miles of central park.

<comment><USER3> TIL "ecumenical"

I assume you mean this in a sense of people from disparate backgrounds coming together on a common ground?

Is this even used in the context you meant it? Can you cite a text using it in a non-christian context? Just curious how the hell you ended up using this word lol.

<comment><USER4> In Ursula Le Guin's Hainish Cycle, the confederation of planets is called the Ekumen.

It's a good ol' Greek word with no inherent religious meaning, so it's nice to see it getting reclaimed in a secular context. I think the fact that it tends to have a religious connotation imparts a sense of solemnity to it that is quite appropriate in the current context.

"Ecumenical" also avoids the grandiosity and detechedness of "universal" or "global". Perhaps because its meaning derives from "home", it feels a lot more down to Earth and closer to heart than either of those common alternatives.

<comment><USER5> Similar trajectory for "catholic," meaning broadly inclusive. (e.g., She has catholic taste in music.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> If you like this, you might also like This American Life's 24 Hours at the Golden Apple (2000):

[https://www.thisamericanlife.org/172/24-hours-at-the- golden-...](https://www.thisamericanlife.org/172/24-hours-at-the-golden-apple)

<comment><USER7> I came here to post this link! This is my favourite episode of This American Life, and perhaps my favourite podcast episode of any sort ever.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> OK so just out of curiosity I looked at the newspaper date that Lynn is reading. "Chris Hardwick, King of the Nerds, Is Expanding His Empire" It is from April 7, 2016. Does that mean this thing took 2 years to come out or is she just reading an old newspaper? EducationLife which is on the table near her, folded in 2017

[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/arts/television/chris- har...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/arts/television/chris-hardwick- king-of-the-nerds-is-expanding-his-empire.html)

[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/education/edlife/saying-f...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/03/education/edlife/saying- farewell-to-education-life.html)

<comment><USER9> It took a long time. I was there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> One time I had jet lag and went to the neighborhood diner (in NYC) a bit on the earlier side, like 5 AM or so. For a random Tuesday morning it was interesting to see all sorts of people walk in after a night out (on a Tuesday morning no less!). Reminded me of how crazy the city is.

</comment><comment><USER11> > perhaps the most famous diner scene after the orgasmic pastrami sandwich in > "When Harry Met Sally"

Small and basically meaningless point, but Katz's is not a diner.

</comment><comment><USER12> Shout out to Clark's in BK

</comment><comment><USER13> I wish people would stop romanticizing New York. The entire East Coast is terrible, but New York is extraordinarily stupid.

<comment><USER14> Maybe so, but please don't post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News. It doesn't help.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> SORRY, YOU NEED TO ENABLE JAVASCRIPT TO VISIT THIS WEBSITE.

I was expecting something more than text and images?</comment>


"will establish secure connection from … cloud to the site … on your behalf" - <AUTHOR> http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html//ref=amb_link_357584342_3?ie=UTF8&nodeId=200775440&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

<comment><AUTHOR> Full text from bottom of that page:

      What about handling secure (https) connections?

      We will establish a secure connection from the cloud to
      the site owner on your behalf for page requests of sites
      using SSL (e.g. https://siteaddress.com).

      Amazon Silk will facilitate a direct connection between
      your device and that site.  Any security provided by
      these particular sites to their users would still exist.

Seems similar to what Opera do.

</comment><comment><USER2> This is already being discussed extensively in other threads.</comment>


The Non-Programmer's Dilemma - <AUTHOR> http://blog.findthetechguy.com/the-non-programmers-dilemma/

<comment><USER2> Yawn.. yet another marketer trying to make a sales page look like a blog.</comment>


Is data-driven decision making the nail in Google's coffin? - <AUTHOR> http://blog.pikimal.com/blog/2011/05/18/data-driven-decision-making-the-google-breaker/

<comment><AUTHOR> From the article:

"Content Farms like Demand Media are worth more than the New York Times, producing over a million low-quality articles for popular searches. Other sites quickly copy published content, flooding search results with just a few extremely similar pages. When I Google: "How much is spent on SEO every year?", 8 of the top 10 results are a conversation with someone named Jack – and no answers. As Paul Kedrosky puts it, "Google has become a snake that too readily consumes its own keyword tail. …Content creators are simply using Google against itself, feeding its hungry crawlers the sort of thing that Google loves to consume, to the detriment of search results and utility."

Most of what we do online to make decisions – searching for data, seeking to understand what it means, and then understanding what's important to us – has already been done by someone else who'd like to share their research. And, if it was available to you, you wouldn't mind making that research a bit better. We just need the tools."</comment>


Diluting blood plasma rejuvenates tissue, reverses aging in mice - <AUTHOR> https://news.berkeley.edu/2020/06/15/diluting-blood-plasma-rejuvenates-tissue-reverses-aging-in-mice/ <comment><USER2> Maybe "old blood" has a lot of immune signalling volume going on? Elevated cytokine/chemokine production, elevated counts of immune cells that recognize more of the environment than a naive, under-exposed body? Inflammation.

Maybe part of aging is an auto-immune dysfunction?

Granted, this is a very dynamical system. The immune system clears cancers that are constantly popping up and prevents infections from taking hold.

(This is all unscientific pontificating. I had an undergrad in biochem, but I don't follow the relevant research.)

Edit: I'm getting downvoted for stating that this is just a theory based on my undergrad understanding. Does that add too much noise to the conversation? I wanted to foster discussion. I'm also willing to longbets this one. We're starting to see the immune system implicated for roles in diseases such as Alzheimer's, for instance. It's complicated machinery.

Aging has many causes. Oxidative stress is one. Over-stimulation of the immune system could play a direct role and seems like it's worth exploring, and I'd bet real money on it.

</comment><comment><USER3> _Meanwhile, this paper has also just come out, which looks at whether such effects are due to factors coming in from the young animals or things being removed from the old ones. The authors, from UC-Berkeley and the California Pacific Medical Center, are looking at what they call a "neutral blood exchange". They replace half the blood volume in mice (both young and old) with isotonic saline plus added albumin protein. The effect of this on the older animals was also significant, with noticeable improvements in wound- healing ability, neurogenesis, and fibrosis /fatty deposits in the liver. The younger mice were not really changed by the treatment. The authors tried several control experiments to make sure that this wasn't an effect being driven by added albumin protein, and it apparently isn't. They conclude that removal and substitution of old plasma "is sufficient for most if not all observed positive effects on muscle, brain and liver" in parabiosis-type experiments. It doesn't exclude the idea of there being beneficial factors in young plasma, but suggests that this is not the driver of many of the results seen. (It would be very interesting to check the DNA methylation status of various tissues before and after this treatment!)

The paper wastes no time in noting that therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is already an FDA-approved process (as witness convalescent plasma treatment in the current coronavirus epidemic), and it says that Phase II and III human trials are being planned on the basis of these results. That will be quite interesting to watch, says the 58-year-old dude writing this blog. Overall, I still find such results hard to believe, but at the same time they seem to be showing up from multiple experiments. This second paper especially seems to be a very testable hypothesis indeed. That's a good thing, because in the end, it's going to be reproducible human clinical data that decide whether this is real or not – so I'm glad that feasible experiments will allow such data to be collected. Something to watch. . ._

[https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/06/12/yo...](https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/06/12/young- blood-and-old-blood)

</comment><comment><USER4> Post-hoc "evolutionary just-so story" of the day: animals evolved under conditions of predation, where they'd tend to lose blood regularly, either in the process of fighting off/getting away from predators, or in the process of attacking prey with violent defenses. A species that goes years without losing _any_ blood, is effectively operating its body in an evolutionary out-of-spec configuration. It might _work_ , for a while; but it wasn't heavily optimized for.

A testable hypothesis for this: if you count only the animals that survive long-enough to die by degenerative disease, then animals that get regularly bloodied by their predators or prey species should have longer average lifespans; while animals who don't (e.g. because they have no natural predators; because they're herbivores; because they prey only upon species with no violent defenses) should have shorter average lifespans. This shouldn't be purely a per-species effect, but should also be seen in a lifespan difference between e.g. wild and zoo animals, if the wild animals engage in bloody conflict that the zoo animals don't.

Does anyone know if that hypothesis holds up at all? (Maybe/especially if the question is phrased in terms of heartbeats† rather than years?)

† [http://robdunnlab.com/projects/beats-per- life/](http://robdunnlab.com/projects/beats-per-life/)

<comment><USER5> A testable hypothesis for your idea: do women age slower than men.

<comment><USER6> They certainly live longer

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Interview with the authors about the results:

[https://www.lifespan.io/news/diluting-blood-plasma- rejuvenat...](https://www.lifespan.io/news/diluting-blood-plasma-rejuvenates- old-mice/)

An interesting blog post about the same paper:

[https://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2020/06/08/out- with-t...](https://joshmitteldorf.scienceblog.com/2020/06/08/out-with-the-old- blood/)

<comment><USER8> Thank you for sharing Josh Mitteldorf's blog on this paper. I think that he has some useful ideas on how to interpret this in light of Harold Katcher's work.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> The implication is not that young blood has specific positive properties, but that old blood has specific negative properties. Simply removing some of the "bad old blood" is already enough to measurably improve biomarkers. Identifying the bad stuff may go a long way to counteracting it in a more targeted way.

<comment><USER10> > Simply removing some of the "bad old blood" is already enough to measurably > improve biomarkers.

God damn it, those blood letters were onto something!

<comment><USER11> Haha, yes. Probably not a great idea to start blood-letting while fighting an infection, but as a prophylactic, it looks promising.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> There's a Spanish pharma company (Grifols) that has been experimenting for years with plasma replacement to slow down or stop Alzheimer's disease progression. The first results of the therapy called AMBAR (Alzheimer's disease Management by Albumin Replacement) seem to be a slow down of the progression of the disease by 71% in moderate cases:

"The CDR-Sb scale – which assesses memory, orientation, judgment, community affairs, home and hobbies, and personal care – showed a 71% reduction in clinical decline with respect to placebo in patients treated as a whole and in all three clinical trial treatment arms analyzed separately."

[https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=251270](https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=251270)

Which is interesting because it seems they might have stumbled on a side effect of something bigger... And it could be possible to check the participants to the trial for other effects as well.

</comment><comment><USER13> Seems like the conspiracy theories that the rich and global elite harvest the blood of the young and innocent to rejuvenate them isn't as false as we once thought... /s

Sometimes I wish we had a medical system where whoever wanted to be a test patient for whatever reason could sign on the dotted line once advised of the potential downsides (up to and including death assumedly) so we could advance medical science faster. Maybe we'd find out things a lot faster than we currently do.

<comment><USER14> Some conspiracy theory, they have a price list. [https://www.ambrosiaplasma.com/](https://www.ambrosiaplasma.com/)

<comment><USER15> this is amazing. how did you find this, and do you know of any other health/longevity tips?

<comment><USER14> Nope, I just heard about it in the news a while back.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> What no one has yet discussed is being a plasma donor to keep the bad proteins down that have accumulated over time. You can donate 1 pint plasma up to twice a week, they replace it with saline and return the red cells to you. If someone went weekly, say, they would sooner or later have removed all the old plasma by dilution with the new plasma that replaces it - I dont have any data on how many donations it would take to remove 95% of the old plasma. No albumin is needed since you are only removing 1 unit and the body can replace it quickly, not like removing half the blood volume at once. Plus, they pay you to donate. - Jay Caplan

<comment><USER17> O- donors have the opposite option: The machine is configured to remove red cells and return plasma diluted with saline.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I just gave blood today. I have been trying to give blood as often as possible (once every eight weeks) to help keep cholesterol and iron low. Now, of course, I'm getting a free COVID-19 antibody test out of the deal. I'm wondering if this frequency of blood donations has a similar effect.

<comment><USER19> > "They replace half the blood volume in mice"

I'd speculate the difference in volume is too great, having half your blood replaced with saline solution must feel awful.

<comment><USER20> Not really the same thing but I'm blood type O- and do the "Power Red" donation at Red Cross events. I have two units of blood taken out and the red cells and plasma are separated so the plasma can be returned along with saline to make up the difference in volume. I don't notice much of a difference besides feeling a little cold since the saline is at room temperature. However in that case I believe I'd only have ~10% of my blood volume replaced with saline.

<comment><USER21> « I don't notice much of a difference besides feeling a little cold since the saline is at room temperature. »

I've always wondered: Why don't they warm it up?!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> So, blood-letting[1] works?

[1] [https://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of- bloodletting](https://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bloodletting)

<comment><USER23> Lovely anecdote:

A relative of mine has seasonal headaches that they experience, and they have told me that the way they relieve them is to go and donate blood.

Works every time, without a hitch.

I wouldn't be surprised if there is at least one study out there (or maybe even a wikipedia page) that attests to this phenomenon.

<comment><USER8> The article mentions plasmapheresis, therapeutic plasma exchange, so the posted article itself attests to this phenomenon.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> How is this different than donating plasma?

</comment><comment><USER25> This may go part of the way to explaining why women have a longer life span then men, they're constantly having to manufacture new blood. Men only have to create new blood if they donate or suffer some injury, but women's bodies are generating new blood all the time.

<comment><USER26> There's some research (which I won't dig up at the moment; google "iron longevity" for a start) indicating that it's actually iron/heme which is bad. Women can get rid of it, at least while their fertility lasts. Men can't.

<comment><USER27> Except that increased female longevity is a trend that carries through many different mammal species. [0] Not all mammals menstruate in the same manner as humans. They all have a menstrual _cycle_ , but many have a thin menstrual lining that's simple reabsorbed by the body rather than being shed in the form of menses.

\---

[0]: [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/females-live- longe...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/females-live-longer- malesamong-humans-and-other-mammals- too-180974504/#:~:text=A%20sweeping%20new%20study%20of,longer%20than%20their%20male%20counterparts&text=Women%20live%20longer%20than%20men,to%20the%20World%20Health%20Organization).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> I think popular press of animal studies is mostly clickbait, especially aging studies.

The lifetimes of mice are so small compared to humans that you have to apply large scaling factors. An old mouse would be a very young human. How valid the scaling factors are is a different story.

<comment><USER8> In this study they didn't look at the lifespans of the mice, they looked at markers of the health of different types of tissues. A lot of the time when something is about "reversing aging" it's about improving health so that organs of the old work more like those of the young or curing diseases of old age and not necessarily about increasing lifespan.

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> Maybe I should get some pet leeches.

I don't know if Google's search results are accurate but I watched The African Queen recently and when Bogart gets leeches I googled if they are harmful and the first results said "No"

<comment><USER30> There are various blood removal method, one of method that I've seen and commonly used is Hijamaz/Bekam. A small incision is made on the skin (usually the back); then a suction cup is used to draw the blood out. It is widely popular in Asia, I usually see it done by Moslem as they are recommended by their prophet to do so. Make sure the method is correct and that the equipment is sterile though.

<comment><USER31> Is this technically unani tibb

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> Scientifically interesting. A lot of people that have acquired the wisdom of experience would probably shudder at the thought of living 500 years, though.

<comment><USER33> But to no small extent because of people who have not yet acquired the wisdom of experience. It would be interesting to see the societal effects of a larger fraction of the population having grown up.

And one could always opt out...

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> > making conjoined twins out of young and old mice — such that they share > blood and organs

That sent chills down my spine.

<comment><USER4> Now realize that the young mouse would have to be a clone of the old mouse, to prevent rejection.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Donate blood, live forever, anti-vampire!

(Sorry, I've been on twitter recently and it's rotting my brain.)

</comment><comment><USER36> This seems like a simple thing to test. It is just you need some time to see if it works.

</comment><comment><USER37> Would we see the same effects from donating blood?

<comment><USER7> Seems there may be some effect at least

[https://sciencenordic.com/body-death-denmark/frequent- blood-...](https://sciencenordic.com/body-death-denmark/frequent-blood-donors- live-longer/1425568)

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> Implications for recruiting plasma donors?

<comment><USER39> No plasma donors. Old plasma is replaced with saline and albumin.

<comment><USER40> In this study, 50% of a body's old plasma is replaced with saline & albumin.

In plasma donation – which can be done in return for cash compensation in the USA! – 20% of a body's plasma is replaced with saline solution (no albumin).

Plasma donation might plausibly approximate this study's effects, at a lesser level.

Generally plasma donation is allowed every 28 days, though in some cases 3 donations over 8 weeks (or about once every 12 days) is allowed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> are there any actions we can take to make use of this new information?

</comment><comment><USER41> Basically, stay hydrated? :)

<comment><USER32> This is getting flagged down as a dumb joke, but for those in the cheap seats, it's not entirely clear exactly how this differs. Presumably adding "adding albumin and water" is different than just "adding water". But why, exactly? And so on.

<comment><USER10> It differs because everything except saline and albumin is filtered out. The point is to show that some markers of aging are harmful byproducts in your blood, and filtering them out can have positive effects.

<comment><USER42> It seems kind of unsurprising to me, given dialysis is a thing.

Actually, now I'm wondering, could this be a simpler substitute for dialysis in some cases?

<comment><USER10> It's surprising in the sense that even people with fully functioning kidneys could benefit from it.

<comment><USER4> I would say that it's unsurprising that our organs are less than perfect at doing their jobs, given that they operate under various constraints (e.g. running under an ATP power budget, one tuned for an ancestral environment where dying of hunger was a real concern; being only able to eliminate metabolic waste at the rate blood flow can take it away; having to avoid strategies that lead to DNA damage, like running anaerobically for long periods; etc.)

Therefore, it's also unsurprising that external devices can do some of an organ's jobs "better" than the organ itself can. They devices don't have the same constraints our organs do.

This effect is already very clear for pacemakers: hearts are very bad at keeping _themselves_ going in oxygen-poor conditions (as they effectively have a circular dependency—a heart can't beat without flowing oxygenated blood); but electronic pacemakers don't need oxygen, and so keep the heart going under such conditions, until oxygen-rich blood can return.

Once we perfect stem-cell organ synthesis, it'd be intriguing to know whether "untethered" human longevity could be increased just by sticking "moar kidney" and "moar liver" into the body, than the human body-plan calls for by default.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Reminds me of the joke:

What do you tell a mouse that has cancer or diabetes?

"You need a new agent!"</comment>


Backblaze B2, Cloud Storage on a Budget: One Year Later - <AUTHOR> https://www.backblaze.com/blog/backblaze-b2-cloud-storage-on-a-budget-one-year-later/ <comment><USER2> Happy to see that there's Linux support for B2. [0]

Backblaze support Linux-based NAS devices (Synology is mentioned specifically), so my next question is does anyone know of a Linux backup tool which supports B2?

I could roll my own using their python library, but I assume someone else has already gone to the trouble of this.

It would be great to have a daemon running which encrypts and then uploads files to B2 while running on bog standard Linux (e.g. Fedora, Debian)

Anyone written such a tool, or already know of one?

[0] [https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en- us/articles/217989128-Can-I...](https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en- us/articles/217989128-Can-I-use-Backblaze-B2-Cloud-Storage-with-Linux-)

<comment><USER3> Duplicity supports B2: [http://duplicity.nongnu.org/](http://duplicity.nongnu.org/)

<comment><USER4> I use duplicity+B2 for all my personal backups and it works just great. Large VM images? Hundreds of thousands of small files? It can handle it all and do so while maxing out my 100 Mbps connection.

Awesome product!</comment></comment></comment>


How To Calculate A Return On Investment - <AUTHOR> http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2010/01/how-to-calculate-a-return-on-investment.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AVc+%28A+VC%29&utm_content=Google+Reader <comment><USER2> It's a little head-in-the-sand to suggest that restauranteurs and club owners and whoever else are going to be doing these sorts of things "a few times". These people are chefs and bartenders. They aren't Danny Meyer or something. They get one - maybe two - bites at the apple before they're done.

</comment><comment><USER3> Who can forecast more than 1 year out with any degree of certainty?

<comment><USER4> That's why it's useful to consider best case, worst case, best guess scenarios. It's also why different investors can come up with a wide range of valuations when they get down to considering an investment. In my personal experience, few financiers place significant reliance on projected financials - it's the underlying assumptions / notes that matter.

Just because it's difficult to forecast a year out also doesn't mean that it shouldn't or can't be done especially since investors themselves have to assume that they won't be able to exit within a year. Coming up with better projections for ROI just adds more datapoints from the very people/entrepreneurs who should know their space/market best (especially in more stable industries - I note that Wilson emphasizes that this is how he thinks of non-tech businesses).</comment></comment>