Cure for cancer might accidentally have been found, and it could be malaria - <AUTHOR> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/cure-for-cancer-might-accidentally-have-been-found-and-it-could-be-malaria-a6693601.html?cmpid=facebook-post <comment><USER2> It's not a cure, a malaria protein could be used as a delivery method to deliver toxins to cancer sites. It's a step in the right direction, but a poor headline.

<comment><USER3> It's a big step though. Killing cancer cells is easy. The difficult bit is killing only cancer cells. This seems to be a promising way to do that.

<comment><USER2> Oh absolutely, I'm not trying to discredit the work, I think it could be a big step. I'm just tired of seeing headlines every month or so that say "cure for cancer discovered" when it's only a promising incremental step that's only in mouse trials.

Titles like these can be cruel for people fighting or with loved ones fighting because it's a false sense of hope for those who currently need it.

I am stoked about the research though, the ability to actually distinguish between cancer and noncancerous cells is a huge breakthrough if this translates into humans.</comment></comment></comment>


Kreisel Electric takes on Tesla - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-22/three-brothers-seek-to-overtake-tesla-with-souped-up-plug-in-car <comment><USER2> I am a european and getting pissed off by these cocky austrians and germans. They are so full of themselves and keep trash talking about Tesla for so long. Yet they cannot deliver.

Tesla does. Period. Also it's not only about technical superiority but experience as well. Tesla excels here.

<comment><USER3> Agree. I think an underestimated advantage Tesla has over the traditional car makers is their software process. Tesla just released version 8, and rolled it out to all their customers.

Traditional manufacturers must recall cars to fix a software problem, and charge customers for software upgrades. I guess it's hard for traditional car manufacturers to offer an integrated experience like that, you need to design a car from the ground up (including the software that's running in components from suppliers, like batteries) for that.

<comment><USER4> Yes. All the stories I ear about software developed by traditional car makers confirm your point. Traditional car makers produce very bad software and have very bad organisation for software development.

<comment><USER5> To a certain extent, this comes from historically creating safety-critical software which is an entirely different process compared to what is done for web apps etc. I don't think Tesla are as robust with their development processes, but they are able to make up for it with over-the-air updates.

<comment><USER4> I have worked for nuclear domain and for aeronautical domain. These are domains where safety critical software is understood. AFAIK, software is not understood in car industry. It looks like they compensate poor programming by more testing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> As someone who invested in and got burned by A123 Systems a few years ago, I'll believe these guys are a legitimate company to watch when their battery packs are actually in a large number of cars for a few years without defects. Making LiOn batteries reliable enough for vehicles is harder than most people think, especially when you need extensive QA at scale.

<comment><USER7> I'm sure you know how much harder it is than a bunch of electrical and mechanical engineers who've been working on it for years. No doubt you're qualified to make such a statement because your expertise and experience in electrical systems _and_ manufacturing trumps theirs. Probably you didn't read the whole article but their batteries have already been in at least one production vehicle for a couple years now (the porsche panamera plug-in). This is the kind of hn comment that I really hate. "Extensive QA at scale". What does that even mean?

*Update: Downvote away! I guess my comment is not HNy enough i.e using big impressive sounding terms like 'extensive QA at scale' to make knowing comments about things I really have no experience with.

<comment><USER8> I don't need to be a film maker to critique a film. OP makes no claims of his/her superior engineering skills, only provides typical concerns that people have.

<comment><USER7> That is a totally false equivalence. You need to be a film maker to make a statement like "shooting film on medium format is so much harder than people think". Especially when you're armchair critiquing a professional film maker who shoots with it every day.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> > The Austrian company says its patented laser-welding and thermal-cooling > techniques give them an edge over Tesla because the method preserves the > full power of the lithium-ion cells.

This is what they say their advantage is against tesla. So be it, but I doubt it is revolutionnary.

More importantly, Kreiser, as far as the article explains, doesn't build entire cars. They sell drivetrains and battery packages. This is completely different, Tesla has a way bigger scope.

<comment><USER10> They don't have to build entire cars, because there are plenty of good car builders in Europe (which already seem to be their customers)

Tesla now has an edge on the technology front, but once the traditional European brands pick up, with technology that is better than Tesla (as assumed in the article), the question is if Tesla can keep it's market position. (This is in my opinion the main idea of the article)

I agree that the European brands came way too late into the game, and Tesla was clever enough to recognize this weak spot. But once Tesla starts building cheaper cars, will those who spend $70.000 on a car buy the "average" Tesla or a Mercedes, BMW or Porsche?

Don't get me wrong, I really admire Tesla for how much market share they were able to get in such a short period of time. Definitely well deserved and visionary! But it's indeed a question how this market will evolve further. This Austrian company might have an impact on it.

<comment><USER11> The way auto industry has been going in recent decades, the most probable outcome is that Tesla merges with one of the main 10 vehicle manufacturing groups. Yes there are only 10 real players on the market.

Toyota already owns 10% of Tesla.

source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry#Top_vehicl...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry#Top_vehicle_manufacturing_groups_by_volume)

<comment><USER12> And yet in the article Kreisel Electric GmbH claims it's fielding 20 inquiries a day from automotive icons including BMW and Volkswagen. I guess their phones remain silent for the four remaining days in a week.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Elon Musk when asked what he things about a specific BMW concept car (hubrid or full electric I can't really remember), said that it was a step towards the right direction.

So I guess this too is a step closer to a cleaner earth. What bugs me though is the mentality of some big automakers or even nations, they seem to be making _steps_ to compete with tesla to put it in a polite way. They're missing the whole point of going electric; I'm not implying that Tesla does not, but they sure do look better in marketing terms - to my eyes.

<comment><USER14> What exactly is "the whole point of going electric" that even Tesla is missing?

<comment><USER15> He didn't say Tesla is missing the point, he said they are at least getting the point in marketing terms.

That is, that the switch away from fossil fuels is bigger than stories about petty details of industry competition, it's about the environment, and about orchestrating a radical shift in driving culture in general.

Musk markets Tesla as changing the world, while their competitors market themselves as... competitors. The scope is much less ambitious.

<comment><USER13> That's exactly what I was trying to say thank you. I'm not a native english speaker so I'm struggling with the right choice of words and overall sentence structure which often confuses others.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> > As orders grow, Kreisel anticipates a steep drop in battery prices, from > about $140 a kilowatt hour now to less than $100 a kilowatt-hour.

> "The sales price today for large volumes over 100,000 cars would already be > under $100," said Kreisel, who buys cells from vendors including Panasonic > Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. "Unfortunately, nobody's making 100,000 > cars today."

Is that true? Are batteries already approaching the $100/KWh mark? If so that's happening even faster than I expected, and I was one of the "optimists" for this.

</comment><comment><USER17> Article is indicative of the constant refrain in the business press for a $TSLA short narrative:

The 4 Horsemen Of A Teslapocalypse

[http://seekingalpha.com/article/4007849-4-horsemen- teslapoca...](http://seekingalpha.com/article/4007849-4-horsemen- teslapocalypse)

<comment><USER18> It's all about timing, though.

[http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/09/22/teslas-short- selle...](http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2016/09/22/teslas-short-sellers-are- paying-through-the-nose/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> > Working out of a three-door garage

Enough said.

Nothing against garage startups. I started all my businesses in my garage. But if you are going to go out there and claim to "take on" a market leader you need to exist at a different physical, organizational, technological and financial scale.

</comment><comment><USER20> Look, it takes some guts of this journalists to come up with titles like this and writing articles.

I wish all this electric cars best of success, but 'taking on Tesla', this is not some small irrelevant company, let's be real here.

Tesla is leaps and bounds ahead of everyone, not only with having electric car, but also this car is like from future.

<comment><USER21> TSLA produces 2,000 per week.

GM produces close to 10 million cars per year. Calculating that out, it's 192307 per week...almost 100x.

TSLA isn't irrelevant, but definitely small.

BTW GM is selling a mass produced 100% electric vehicle. You can have one in your driveway before the end of the year. $30k after tax incentive, 255 miles per charge (more than Tesla Model 3)

[http://www.autoblog.com/2016/09/21/chevy-bolt- goes-255-miles...](http://www.autoblog.com/2016/09/21/chevy-bolt- goes-255-miles-in-the-city/)

[https://electrek.co/2016/06/13/tesla-production- rate-2000-ca...](https://electrek.co/2016/06/13/tesla-production- rate-2000-cars-week/)

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

<comment><USER20> I can have Tesla in my driveway tomorrow if I buy one. Tesla dominates luxury category, GM has a lot of catching up to do.

Also, it is not just that it is electric car, have you been in one, it is like from the future. No other car is like that.</comment></comment></comment>


Intentional Programming demo (did intentional programming inspire Eclipse?) - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSnnfUj1XCQ <comment><AUTHOR> Part 2 is here:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZDwB4-DPXE>

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Can we apply this idea to other domains such as web search?</comment>


Ask YC: Providing Incentives to Evangelists - <AUTHOR>

We are a seed stage startup (havent raised money) in the bootstrapping phase. So far, we have relied exclusively on writing to/contacting individual members of the target community to get them on board our website. Now we feel like we have enough content/activity to take our marketing efforts to the next level and are thinking in terms of recruiting a team of evangelists. These people will be well known members of the target community who will generate "buzz" by blogging about us, pro-actively help us acquire users and try to contribute towards greater levels of activity on our website.
A real world comparison would be the paid reviewers that Yelp used. The emphasis on evangelists draws from the fact that the target market is India where viral marketing has not been a factor in Web success stories so far.
What would be the way(s) to compensate these guys? Equity is the most obvious choice. If so how much? Are there other ways? <comment><USER2> It really depends on the niche that you're targeting.

For example, I know of an online store that sells wine but they sold wines that came from a fairly specific region - when they started marketing their site, they sent free bottles of wine to various wine blogs and reviewers, with a very simple "With Compliments" card.

They didn't ask to be reviewed, but ended up being reviewed favourably anyway, and garnered a decent amount of traffic.

Anyway, the point of the story is that if you are targeting people who are passionate about a specific area of interest, you can often get away with giving something that has more than a monetary value as long as you are being creative.

At least thats my opinion.</comment>


Why Twitch Needs A Competitor - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-twitch-needs-a-competitor-2013-5 <comment><USER3> While I agree with the sentiment, the current "competitors" that have shown up are either equally twitchy about TOS violations [1], have abysmally poor performance in many areas of the world (again I'm referring to ustream.tv), or are basically scams[2].

They've also been pretty good about talking to people about their TOS violations and reverting bans if necessary [3].

[1] [http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/04/tech/web/hugo-awards-gaiman- us...](http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/04/tech/web/hugo-awards-gaiman- ustream/index.html) [2] [http://www.destiny.gg/n/own3d-tv-a-beginners-guide- to-being-...](http://www.destiny.gg/n/own3d-tv-a-beginners-guide-to-being-an- asshole/) [3] [http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1bqum7/just...](http://www.reddit.com/r/leagueoflegends/comments/1bqum7/just_a_warning_twitchtv_appears_to_be_having_some/) *

* Random link I found by looking for twitch.tv restoring accounts. I know there have ones where it wasn't twitch.tv's fault including recently a DOTA 2/SC2 caster, I just can't remember where he posted his stuff.

<comment><USER4> > have abysmally poor performance in many areas of the world

Twitch in europe still sometimes have horrible performance too. I don't know if this is a peering issue to french ISP or something, but every major tournament I watch I have to use 240p at some point or another because it lags like hell. And everytime you mention it being in their chat or reddit, you get a swarm of users telling you "no it works for me", "it's probably your bandwidth", ...

I was sad when own3d closed because they always had great performance for me, some people said "but they suck in country X" but hey, that's exactly like twitch for me.

Worst part is, I would glady have suscribed to tons of "720p for paying users only" starcraft 2 content if it was working.

<comment><USER5> Yeah, this is rough for us. We want perfect global service and don't have it. There are issues in many locales, mostly because of last-mile delivery.

We're doubling EU capacity now, because every time we add capacity we grow until it's all used up. Which is no compensation to you, I realize, but that's what's going on.

(I'm the CEO of Twitch)

<comment><USER6> This is off topic, but do you think a competitor for Twitch TV would be good for the industry as a whole and grow the market in terms of professional video gamers and tournaments beyond what Twitch could do alone?

<comment><USER5> No business really wants a competitor. And I think we're working pretty hard to grow the industry regardless.

However, I recognize long term what's good for the world in general is competition, so all I have to say is: bring it on :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think we should take a step back for a second and remember that before Twitch it was largely impossible to turn video game skills into a paying career. Now many top players are able to finance their lives while still concentrating on their game. There are of course kinks that need to be worked out, but now you at least have one option, before you had zero.

<comment><USER8> There were other services before twitch. Before it was shut down, Own3d tv provided a decent income for a few streamers.

<comment><USER9> The thing with Own3d was that for the most part its streaming service simply did not match that of Twitch. The layout and mobile support was a bit better (streams that used Own3d were far more convenient to access since they played from the browser), but the quality was lacking. Twitch, on the other hand, has focused on what matters: the stream quality. Now that there layout has been updated, they would have smoked own3d even more IMO.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> SG- While competition is always good, this piece seems rather one sided, where's Twitch's comments? It sounds like someone got banned from Twitch for doing something wrong.

Some examples I've seen lately:

-twitch streamer pretending to be paralyzed asking for donations and getting his account banned when he was caught walking on his stream.

-twitch user asking his viewers to DDoS someone he thinks is trying to DDoS him.

-various twitch users showing porn on their streams.

All of these users have gotten banned while the one asking for a DDoS got a one month ban.

</comment><comment><USER10> Twitch is definitely doing something right. Non-mainstream sports should definitely see what Twitch has done with the gaming world and try to do the same with their perspective sports. ESPN does a great job covering the mainstream sports, and they have yet to capture the secondary sports market. Seems like an opportunity for someone to do.

</comment><comment><USER11> Are there any similar services with terms that _don't_ allow arbitrary termination?

<comment><USER12> check out gxstream

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Hi All, this is a conversation near and dear to my heart, as we've been working on building a Twitch competitor for nearly two years. We're very close to having a finished product, but as we've all seen with Own3d (and many other video platforms over the years); it's take a fair amount of capital to actually launch and sustain a viable business in this space.

We've thought long and hard about bootstrap launching, but we've decided that route simply doesn't allow us to offer the level of service we think you deserve.

To those who think that game streaming is a goldmine of cash, I can confidently say to you that it is not. It's a high-volume, low margin business at this point. There are a few who make some cash.

But most of that is a loss leader for another product. Like Riot Games - <USER2> their eSports division makes any net profit? Or do you think it's mostly an advertisement that drives players to LOL?

There IS opportunity here, and an opportunity that can be good for many, as opposed to the few, but it takes a lot more than just throwing up a pre-roll video ad in front of your livestream.

That's one reason we're working on some really innovative ways to help engage audiences and leverage expanded types of business models with your channels.

At any rate, happy to dive into the conversation further if anyone is interested.

We've also launched an online petition to help us get the attention of other venture cap and private equity investors; since this has been part of our battle for the last year.

If you really want to see another competitor in the space, help us prove the market to a generation of people (financiers) who do not understand game streaming at all.

[http://www.change.org/petitions/vc-s-private-equity-and- ange...](http://www.change.org/petitions/vc-s-private-equity-and-angel- investors-fund-gxstream)?

Thanks for your support!

</comment><comment><USER14> Now if only I could live stream myself watching movies... Or coding... :)

<comment><USER15> Notch does pretty well at attracting viewers when he codes live.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> own3d.tv was a good competitor and they failed to be profitable

<comment><USER17> Except for the part where own3d was a terrible entity to do business with as a streamer (routinely late on payouts, etc).

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Putting aside the fact that articles on Business Insider are extremely sensationalized, what about Youtube or Ustream? It really wouldn't take much for Youtube to implement the rest of the features Twitch has.

</comment><comment><USER19> This is THE thing that governments should solve.

It should be illegal for companies to refuse service to anyone or offer them worse terms that someone they never did business with.

Even more generally, it should be illegal to ban users from any service, and censor public speech in any way, even on private forums.

<comment><USER20> Are you suggesting that using a company's hosted product should be a right?

<comment><USER19> Yes, if they are offering it to the general public.

<comment><USER20> Federal case law protects the rights of people to refuse service based on protecting business interests. LegalZoom has a nice blog post on it [0]. Unruh Civil Rights Law does prevent arbitrary discrimination though.

[0]: [http://www.legalzoom.com/us-law/equal-rights/right-refuse- se...](http://www.legalzoom.com/us-law/equal-rights/right-refuse-service)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Why Microsoft Courier Should Be A Huge Success, Maybe Bigger Than Apple's Tablet - <AUTHOR> http://tomuse.com/microsoft-courier-kindle-crunchpad-apple-tablet/ <comment><USER2> Arguing that a two hinged device will triumph because people crave the tactile experience of the book is like arguing that a mechanical horse will triumph over the car.

</comment><comment><USER3> How can you compare two products that haven't even been announced?

<comment><USER4> Especially since MS is particularly known for saying "Oh, don't buy that, this concept video we have is much much better! And it's coming soon.... real soon."

<comment><USER5> Speaking of concept videos, "Why Apple Doesn't Do Concept Products:"

<http://counternotions.com/2008/08/12/concept-products/>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I would be shocked if Microsoft could ship this thing in the next 5 years. To put things into perspective it has taken them (at least) 3 years to ship one significant Windows Mobile release. This could easily slip to 4+ based on current WM7 time-tables. We don't really know how long the Zune was in development however they basically just re-branded Toshiba players with new software so I would guess it was a pretty short pipeline. Took them about 3 years to develop the Zune HD which is the first Zune model that is unique compared to its competition. I just don't see how, given their track record, Microsoft could move fast enough to get this thing out the door anytime soon.

</comment><comment><USER7> I can't imagine this being cheap enough AND soon enough to properly compete with kindle.

</comment><comment><USER8> The problem with Microsoft and mobile devices is they always want to put their operating systems in them and their OS's are hogs which results in mobile devices that are not that mobile really.

So I we will see about this thing. If they can make it significantly small (i.e., much smaller than a netbook) it may be useful. But if it is around the size of a small laptop or netbook (which is the what it looks like), it will be utterly pointless, people will just use laptops instead. And if they are serious about putting windows 7 in it, then it will probably be the size of a laptop.

<comment><USER9> I can think of much better form factors than a laptop or netbook for reference material.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> _I can see students and business professionals incorporating this device into their busy daily lives to fill the gaps between their laptop and smartphone._

For this to happen the device will need to synchronize and interoperate effortlessly with their laptop, desktop, and other devices. This is where Windows has historically been weak. I admit I am ignorant of improvements that might be in Windows 7.

<comment><USER11> There's nothing native like this built into 7, but products like LiveMesh and DropBox could solve this.</comment></comment>


Building diversity in tech with Black Girls Code: interview with founder - <AUTHOR> https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/building-diversity-in-tech-with-black-girls-code-1905.html <comment><USER2> This is really cool. I really admire what she's doing.

Is there something similar for black males? Just asking because from what I've seen black males have a rough time as well.</comment>


Google's new iPhone app: "Nothing speaks louder than code" - (37signals) - <AUTHOR> http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/740-googles-new-iphone-app-nothing-speaks-louder-than-code <comment><USER2> "Mr. Brin was most intrigued by the "engineering tricks" employed."

I'd like to know what kind of "engineering tricks" they're talking about?</comment>


ShowHN: Automatically re-compose your pictures using computer vision - <AUTHOR> http://sight.io Though seemly a simple task, composing good photographs are often tedious and painful. Insight automatically composes the photographs you have already shot with a pre-defined aspect ratio using a set of computer vision algorithms.
The core of Insight is these algorithms. They try to find the most visually pleasing region inside photographs.<p>We will be releasing a public API very soon. In the mean while please do play around with demo. Your feedback is extremely important for me! Specifically I would like to know your thoughts on:<p>* Is there a need for such services.
* The performance of the algorithm The algorithm itself is undergoing active revisioning. Both positive and negative feedback about the suggestions give by the algorithm will be very much appreciated. * Please drop me a line in case you are interested to beta-test the API. <comment><USER2> This is awesome. I had to crop user generated photos for thumbnails in a photo gallery and a lot of times it would miss human faces. Does this guarantee it won't happen?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, in most cases the algorithm will ensure that the face is included. However, there are a few instances ( for example, if the face is blurred, or is in a weird pose ) when it will miss it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> It would be great if a user could mark some important points in the image. The algorithm could then ensure that these are included prominently in the resulting crop.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, this is a very good idea, and a very simple constraint to incorporate. I will include this.</comment></comment>


Ask hN: Most difficult positions to fill? - <AUTHOR>

Which is the most difficult positions for an IT company to fill? <comment><USER2> Head of IT? <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrQUWUfmR_I>

Seriously, I would say the Software Architects are hard to fill. Sure, you can find Senior Devs and Development Managers that claim to be Architects, but a true architect, someone who can really see and build the whole picture is hard to find.

<comment><AUTHOR> Is that true for startups as well?</comment></comment>


Why Millions of Men Lose Friends in Their Twenties (2015) - <AUTHOR> http://www.vice.com/read/why-men-lose-friends-in-their-20s <comment><USER2> This is so bizarre to me.

I'm 30 years old (also from Britain) and see my closest four or five friends on most weekends. These are friends I have had since the age of 12/13 years old.

I have a lot of 'mates' too that I don't consider as close as 'true friends', but frequently spend time with as well as a result of spending time with my close friends. Social circles overlapping with other circles.

I couldn't imagine not doing this. My life would be far less worth living without those few people I consider more or less my family.

Even if I'm not doing anything particularly special with them. It could just be a few hours in the afternoon of some old school co-op games on an emulator or something. Could be a few hours in the pub on Friday evening.

I am in a relationship but have no kids (never wanted any), so maybe that's the reason. Perhaps I just have the free time to maintain these relationships.

<comment><USER3> I'm 30 in the US. I haven't had any real friends, outside of my wife and family, since I was about 20. Even in high school I had friends but I never really saw them outside of school because I worked full time. I don't know how people have time for friends. I get up at 6am and go workout. Work until 6-7pm. If I'm traveling I go to my hotel and usually do some more work. Sometimes sit at the bar by myself so I have a reason to feel numb. If I'm home I take care of whatever house work I can, spend a few hours with my son, etc. Weekends are usually spent going grocery shopping, doing car maintenance, cutting grass, or other house repairs that I can't get to during the week. I had my own business on the side for awhile but I let that go.

I usually end up using my vacation from work to work done around the house because there just isn't enough freaking time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I would say that men are less prone to small talk and after leaving college, most of the shared topics that create bonds between us disappear, leaving us with just a few things to talk about (in my opinion one of the reasons why when we meet together we mostly talk about the old days).

</comment><comment><USER5> So, why? Seems like this article only proves that they do, not why they do.

<comment><USER6> What I've seen is that women typically make the social calendar. Once people are in a stable relationship, the woman's friends take priority because men abbrogate their responsibility to make plans because it's easier to let their wife or girlfriend make them. If this happens, mens friends drift away.

<comment><USER7> Yes, although fortunately for me my wife has become friendly with a lot of my mates' wives / girlfriends, so we still catch up when they organize things.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Related to this topic...

Does anyone know of a android app similar to Bond (only available for iOS) that will send push alerts or reminders to contact friends every 3 weeks or so? I enjoy my friends I just dont think about contacting them/making plans regularly and sometimes its months without contact.</comment>


Study: Headphones Not Damaging to Teens' Hearing - <AUTHOR> http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/12/study-headphones-not-damaging-to-teens-hearing/68581/ <comment><USER2> I'm not sure I get how this can be the case. The volume that some people listen to music in ear buds is pretty shocking.

 _They contend that hearing loss might be cumulative and delayed, and therefore surface as the participants age._

Better turn down my headphones anyway.</comment>


CRISPR is Going to be Replaced - <AUTHOR> http://theantisense.com/2018/10/26/crispr-is-going-to-be-replaced/ <comment><USER2> You have to bear in mind that CRISPR was a molecular monkey wrench that bacteria throw into the works of a phage (bacterial virus) - a relatively small and accessible single string genome, with the purpose to quickly wreck it to save their tiny existence, whereas higher organisms have their genes organised in densely packed assemblies that are convoluted and hard to access with the needed precision. See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromosome)

</comment><comment><USER3> Here is a link to the study (Open access at PNAS): [http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/31/E7379.full.pdf?casa_...](http://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/115/31/E7379.full.pdf?casa_token=UUnTkoOcuXkAAAAA:V6TllVTjL5wz5bGeX- iH6Vz_iaPzKd40mixi5ro3n6Nhp6RZpqJI8UUCURehhL-K2CiHg7CiDrEZ)

</comment><comment><USER4> This reads like a pump-and-dump article.

<comment><USER5> I have large doubts about zayners scientific judgement, but I would be surprised if zayner were pumping and dumping anything.

<comment><USER6> It certainly seems fishy to be talking about a somewhat-overlooked groundbreaking scientific discovery and then pivot to talking about the stock price of the owning company.

Not a biologist so I can't speak to the veracity of the content of the article but from an outsider's perspective it certainly does check a lot of pump-and- dump boxes.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> CRISPR is most likely more versatile in that in can be used for gene knockouts directly (introduction of frameshifts by microhomology-mediated end joining) and in in other models (e.g. in plants not only in eukaryotic cells as adenoviruses).

</comment><comment><USER8> Given that one of the other articles in the same category of that blog is a futuristic science fiction fantasy excerpt about gene doping, not sure this really belongs on HN.

</comment><comment><USER9> It seems to me that in general culture, people just mean "virus-based gene editing" when talking about CRISPR.

The precise virus used typically is only interesting when you're actually doing it, and I suspect that in the next years, we'll see more uses of other viruses for comparable purposes.

</comment><comment><USER10> "Stem cell-derived clade F AAVs mediate high-efficiency homologous recombination-based genome editing"

SCDFAAVMHEHRBGE doesn't have quite the same ring as "CRISPR", they need some marketing people stat!

</comment><comment><USER11> Very interested in what the future holds for this!! Ways to explain the falling stock price is manipulation to drop it further to rebuy then cheap, lowering the price for a coming company sale and lowering the value to force the company to consider a sale. Possibility one could be appended with the intent to rebuy so much that you will have influence on the further way of this and in the worst case blocking further science of that department. Maybe check who is responsible for that stock value drop. Just ideas everything else is also possible.

</comment><comment><USER12> The CRISPR replacement's patent holder's stock has FALLEN. BETTER BUY FAST GUISE!!11

</comment><comment><USER13> Sorry, is this verifiable elsewhere? I'm automatically skeptical of anybody with a free WP theme with no About section who is pushing a stock, and right now this is #1 on Hacker News.

<comment><USER14> Some backstory on the author: [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Zayner](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Zayner)

And evidence of a tie to the site this is posted on: [https://mobile.twitter.com/4LOVofScience/status/105956739233...](https://mobile.twitter.com/4LOVofScience/status/1059567392337014784)

Edit: But, yeah, site needs an "about us" page.

<comment><USER15> Josiah knows a bit about CRISPR, having injected it into himself - [https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/24/josiah- zayne...](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/dec/24/josiah-zayner-diy- gene-editing-therapy-crispr-interview)

But yeah this antisense site seems to be linked to him (antisense links to the-odin which is Josiah's site selling bio-hacking kits)

So: a) He might know what he's talking about but b) he's using his own platform to give this opinion

Make of that what you will.</comment></comment></comment>


Vanish launch page with parallaxed NYC skyline - <AUTHOR> http://www.vanish.fm/?a=1

<comment><USER2> Looks neat. I have no idea what Vanish is though.</comment>


The FBI Says It Can't Find Hackers to Hire Because They All Smoke Pot (2014) - <AUTHOR> https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d737mx/the-fbi-cant-find-hackers-that-dont-smoke-pot <comment><USER2> When I was in college, I interviewed for an internship with the CIA. The 2012 interview was for a 2014 summer internship, and they told me I couldn't smoke pot between now and then. Given how many talented coders I knew at Stanford who had smoked pot at least once in a year, that seemed insane to me.

Instead, I went to work at Apple where people practically smoked in the office.

<comment><USER3> Given everything that we know the CIA does and has done, why did this seem like a respectable job to you? I assume you wouldn't work for organized crime.

EDIT> There's a darker part of me that would enjoy working for an intelligence agency, but I acknowledge that it's not a better part of my nature. Even if you aren't doing the torturing, or assassination, you're directly aiding the organization that is.

<comment><USER4> You are funding that organization with your taxes. Don't tell me you have no choice. You always have a choice.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The reason they can't hire is because it is illegal and opens you up to be compromised. It's that simple. Drug dealers can put you, your family, and work in a shitty situation because they need more money because of something happening to them.

The risk is too high for law enforcement. Once Congress changes the law they won't give a shit.

</comment><comment><USER6> FBI is shooting itself in the foot with these sort of policies. I can understand not wanting to hire someone smoking weed on the way to an interview, but in your spare time? What about all the law enforcement staff who abuse alcohol? Alcohol's been proven to be a more dangerous substance but Congress and the scheduling system are still opposite of the data.

They act like hiring those who occasionally partake in cannabis is somehow the equivalent of the army laxing physical requirements to enlist.

<comment><USER7> Well it's against the (Federal) law, right? And it's your job to enforce the law. Pot bans may not make sense, but it's tricky if you start openly ignoring a law. I mean it's not like they get people's personal data without a warrant or anything. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Weed kills motivation, hopes and dreams, and limits potential. This is true, but not universally for everyone. Some people truly do function better stoned, even perpetually as many hackers apparently are.

Numerous studies suggest clearly that long-term marijuana use reduces IQ.

Perhaps in the future we'll have customized DNA-derived profiles that accurately tell whether someone is better doing no weed, lots of weed, some weed, and so on and so forth for all chemicals. We all have unique chemical makeups, after all.

Some background: My father was an extensively published pharmaceutical (toxicology, pharmacology, brain expert) academic researcher. Drugs are entirely about dosage. The logic applies here.

FBI policy may be antiquated but does exist for a good reason. Perhaps that reason needs refinement at a societal level, through technological progress.

I do expect this comment to get downvoted. HN'ed.

<comment><USER9> Anything that provides happiness can kill motivation, hopes, and dreams.

Whether it's weed, alcohol, harder drugs, gambling, or even video games like DoTA and WoW.

Obviously if someone is high at work, that's a problem. Same as someone being drunk, or playing games at work. But what we do in our own time is our own business.

<comment><USER10> Why is it obvious that someone being high at work is a problem? We're not all airline pilots, neurosurgeons, and bomb techs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Almost as stupid as trying to hire hackers that will agree to never consume caffeine.

</comment><comment><USER12> > I don't want young people to use marijuana. It's against the law. We have a > three-year ban on marijuana. I did not say that I'm going to change that > ban. I said I have to grapple with the change in my workforce.

Do I think pot should be illegal because it _already is_ illegal, and I'm appealing to an existing authority, or do I have a concrete argument as to why it should be illegal? Why should the opinion of any one man carry such weight for any reason other than the content of that man's opinion?

Making pot legal is the simplest way to solve the problem, because it turns an issue that needs to be solved into a non-issue. What are the consequences of pot legalization that are unbearable for this man?

<comment><USER13> "this man" is a cog in the machine, not the person who gets to decide what policy is. Because there is no such single person, it's a matter of laws passed by Congress.

<comment><USER12> While true, I think it is also too easy for any one cog to "forget" to oil itself at the start of the day.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> This seems to highlight the ever present disparity between culture/society and laws that are on the books, and this is just another expression of it.

Hopefully the FBI has relaxed such standards since this piece was published in 2014, but I doubt it.

<comment><USER15> It's not up to the FBI, it's up to the DEA and FDA. The FBI has to follow federal law and as long as that law says cannabis is a schedule I controlled substance there's nothing they can do about it.

<comment><USER16> Well, obviously the FBI can't encourage its employees to smoke pot, but unless there's a federal regulation on drug testing, the FBI isn't forced to drug test it's employees.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> The so-called "cybersecurity experts" main task in the FBI is probably running forensics on narcotics traffickers' devices and data. Using illegal drugs would be a conflict of interest.

<comment><USER18> I'm not sure that I totally agree, but this is the first new interesting point I've heard on this subject since this article originally came out, well done.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Is it really just pot? Theirs the dress code, the location, the secrecy, the bureaucracy, etc. The entire culture of the FBI is the polar opposite of typical hacker culture.

<comment><USER20> Hacker culture in the mainstream workforce doesn't exist, it's SV and VC culture. Free food and casual dress doesn't change that. The word hacker is thrown around a lot, as in the title of this site, but like this site it's just a name.

<comment><USER21> It's not just sv, I would include most tech driven companies. Microsoft and Amazon come to mind.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> (2014)

</comment><comment><USER23> [[ "I am absolutely dead set against using marijuana," he said at the hearing, "I don't want young people to use marijuana. It's against the law. We have a three-year ban on marijuana. I did not say that I'm going to change that ban. I said I have to grapple with the change in my workforce." ]]

How can you be American and be "against" someone else's lifestyle? You're missing the entire point of Liberty and freedom and why we have that statue in New York.

Even if it were harmful, and it isn't, their life is not yours to live. Their happiness is not yours to dictate.. all real Americans understand this don't we? The fight is insanity.

</comment><comment><USER24> Put em all to Death, am i right!</comment>


Lip Reading in the Wild - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aogzAUPilE <comment><USER2> This is actually really cool!

I would be very interested in seeing how this would translate to other languages using the equivalent data sets. Which language would be easiest to lip read?

<comment><USER3> Probably English (so much more training data), but my guess is that German would be well suited.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Pretty impressive. Looks like they used looooooots of training data (100,000 sentences from TV).</comment>


Why Johnny can't build a decent user interface - <AUTHOR> http://jeffreyellis.org/blog/?p=8897

<comment><USER3> I completely disagree with the assertion that interface design is an "inborn" trait. Most people suck at it because they have not spent the time learning how to design a good interface (the whole 10,000 hours thing), usually because it isn't a priority or interest for them.

<comment><USER4> I agree, but I have found that many people here hold the complimentary view: that programming ability is an inborn trait.

<comment><USER5> > _hold the view... that programming ability is an inborn trait_

I recently wrote someone a recommendation where I argued that programming languages and patterns are readily teachable, but holding a complex model in the mind and communicating it effectively to peers, laymen, or computers (the computer is the ultimate simpleton) is less easily taught.

<comment><USER4> I agree, but what you're saying is that teaching _teaching_ is hard. And I think it is, for reasons I brought up here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2360570>

<comment><USER5> Heh, I suppose I was being too polite. I'm not sure holding that mental model in the head _can_ be taught. I think it's a key driver of excellence in innovation and insight across a variety of industries, not just software development, and whether nature or nurture, seems to be formed very early-- through avid reading or story telling, perhaps?

I agree with your linked comment about teaching. One university teacher told me that to lead someone to your point of view, you must first put your arm around them making you start the discussion from where you can see theirs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I think the original intention of "Why Johnny Can't ___" provide some items the environment around him is doing wrong and some action items on what those in a position the change the environment and action items for Johnny. This article, OTOH, offers only criticisms of Johnny with no real action items for how we (all of us are Johnny in something) can correct some of this abhorrent behavior. I for one would like more advice from the designers (UI / UX)at HN covering how I, as a low level software dev, can start improving my design abilities. I don't want to replace a designer but I want to get better at explaining my needs to a designer and maybe be able to help come up with the look and feel of my 'vision'.

<comment><USER7> Sorry, I thought I did provide some advice, not just criticism - <USER2> the last 6 paragraphs of my post.

<comment><USER8> I dunno.. your article only has 2 links - 1) 'Websites that suck', 2) your own article about how 'incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their abilities'.

The last 6 paragraphs are fairly obvious points where you do not go into detail or give examples. How is the reader supposed to know what you mean in a way that is useful? Some links to examples or how to implement would be useful advice.

Also, I'm curious, why the snarkiness? Do you consider being critical of others to be part of your online persona? Is it for entertainment value? Is it an effort to improve something? I don't mean to pick on you - I'm actually curious.

<comment><USER7> I was honestly not trying to be snarky. Can you point out where I was? Seriously, I'm not trying to get defensive here - it would help me if you could point it out.

<comment><USER8> Perhaps snarky was not the right word - the article contains little/no sarcasm. I think myself and others are reacting to the general feeling of a largely negative criticism without any focus on good design done by engineers (or anyone).

Words like 'mad skillz' imply condescension towards some hypothetical group of developers. Words like 'self-serving', 'lack of', 'incompetence', etc are just negative - again targeting a straw-man group of developers.

Within your article there seems to be a paradigm of a) stuff that 'sucks', and b) the 'right' way (your way).

So, it leaves me thinking that you are targeting a negative generalization towards a group of developers. Effectively, you created an ad hominem argument against a straw-man. This comes off as negative, but more so it tells me as a reader that you spent energy evaluating the scenario from the standpoint of 'this is wrong', without fully understanding the point of view of your straw- man or pointing to examples of good design.

Instead of conveying 'these guys over here suck, they should do it my way' you could have conveyed 'these guys over here can suck, but when I have observed them doing x, y, z they definitely suck less' - same message without the ad hominem. Or, even better 'these guys over here are good at design vs average engineers because they do x, y, z' - same message with an emphasis on positive examples, not negative examples. That would convey that you have taken the energy to evaluate both the negative and the positive about the straw-man developer group you appear to be attacking.

As a general aside, I have been trying to understand why many smart / skilled people bias towards viewing others in a negative light - ie, does it have a benefit? I am generally interested to understand where this negatively comes from when skilled people evaluate their peers.

<comment><USER7> Thanks for the feedback. Negative criticism, I was certainly engaging in. I'm not sure that I'm attacking a "straw-man group of developers," though -- I certainly never meant to convey, for example, that all developers are bad at user interface design -- but I did say "most" so perhaps I was painting with too broad a brush. And agreed that I could have provided concrete examples -- perhaps a future post.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> He forgot two reasons interfaces go wrong:

1\. Giving users what they ask for; and

2\. Designing to sell.

<comment><USER10> Number two is an insight i hadn't considered, so thanks for sharing.

Isn't one of the things that generally makes Apple's products arguably great is that the hardware is designed to be true to its purpose, and the marketing campaign is an entirely separate and often equally brilliant thing, also true to its purpose...

<comment><USER11> Designing to sell - that reminds me of the last laptop I purchased. It had every gizmo turned on, endless vendor crap installed, booted up like a dog and ran worse.

There was definitely zero interest in making my experience a good one. Somebody marketing committee had gotten ahold of the product and this was the result.

1st thing I did: wipe it and reload the OS. With OS media I had to buy separately.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> As a designer and sometime front-end developer, I find that writing code can be at odds with taking a user-centric point of view. I've often been tempted to re-use a view simply because I didn't want to maintain two different versions that were almost the same... surely the user wouldn't notice a difference. I also am less likely to start over when I have a better UI idea if I've already committed the first approach to git.

<comment><USER13> Programming isn't a code-production activity. It's a knowledge-acquisition activity. It was worth writing that code to learn about the approach you were thinking of. It's also worth throwing it out once you see that there's a better UI idea.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I also disagree with his "inherent ability" argument. I think that interface design is a learnable skill and can be improved through practice. Which of us is right? We'll never know, as it's not really a testable assertion.

In my opinion, that makes it a pretty weak argument that detracts from the rest of his article. Besides that, it could have the effect of discouraging people from trying, as they'll just think "Oh well I can never do that because I don't have the genes, or whatever."

My opinion is that programmers in particular have a hard time with design because they're not presented with a systematic way of thinking about it. That's what I've started to try to do with my site <http://www.visualmess.com> . It tries to instill the "user-centric" mentality and provide a framework for thinking about design based on the brain's visual information processing capabilities.

</comment><comment><USER15> The central problem is lack of incentives, or misaligned incentives. It has relatively little to do with the character of the developers. Developers are generally not stupid. Many of them could learn to be better designers, and they could certainly learn to _consult_ with better designers. But why should they?

If software is sold based on a checklist of features then it is more important to build ten ugly features than one beautiful one. If software is sold based on beautiful demos then it pays to make the demo awesome but skimp on the corner cases. If software is sold based on gorgeous screenshots and icons then the median icon or screenshot will be gorgeous, even if the app itself is missing or broken. (Even the broken iOS apps have beautiful, beautiful icons.)

If your company has so many layers of management that the feedback from end users never makes it back to your desk, you'll generate designs that please your management.

If you're at a bootstrapped startup, searching for product-market fit, it pays to design incrementally. Even if incremental design is the wrong approach for the problem, it still pays to design incrementally, because a better-designed app with no market is a disaster. That means that there are many theoretically possible designs that are difficult or impossible to achieve in practice.

The trick to improving the design of software is to figure out how to make it pay. A major enemy is the rate at which the landscape changes. Computing still changes so quickly that there's a premium on disposablility. The jury-rigged contraption built of metaphorical duct tape may be barely usable, but it's cheap and quick to build, and in a year nobody will care: They'll have traded it in for the next model, or the platform will be obsolete and everyone will have to move, or _you_ will switch jobs (perhaps by selling the product to Cisco) and you won't care anymore.

</comment><comment><USER16> This is a great post to get people thinking about the amount of time and effort that's required to build a great user interface and work flow scenarios.

It took me a long time to appreciate the difference a great interface makes for an application. For me the problem comes from the original team that start building out product. They are working on sweat equity, don't have a $1 to spare and are rushing to market. If they don't have a designer among them, the design and usability gets moved to 'When get some traction, we'll redo this' and it never gets re-done and more items are piled on top of the quickly made UI. By the time the product ships the UI is almost unusable.

</comment><comment><USER17> Back in the days of text mode applications, we do not complain about user interface design. Either it is seen as a lesser problem, or text mode itself is better for presenting user interfaces.

I'd argue that the latter is true.

Firstly, in text mode, screen estate is limited. One has to be careful in what one chooses to display on the main menus.

Secondly, we already program in text mode. Creating text mode menus poses less cognitive dissonance for the programmer than dragging and dropping radio buttons and menu bars.

The bad user interfaces that I've seen usually present all available options within the main screen, and it ends up being a crapfest of controls with no obvious guidance to the poor user as to what is a sensible next step.

Text menus also present a very structured way for users to explore a program. If you made a mistake, you have a better chance of retracing your steps. In contrast, WIMP systems may present multiple entry points for a single functionality, with little information on how to undo one's changes. Toolbars are the worst in this respect. The button that one clicks to "perform" the action is not the same button one might use to "undo" the action.

</comment><comment><USER18> How about iterating based on what the users are actually doing on the UI (or website?). PG said in one of his articles _if you don't know how to design, keep it really simple_. That's probably a starting point. As a developer learning to design I find myself thinking in terms of data rather than user experience.

</comment><comment><USER19> Well, if Johnny is very good at algorithms, then the stereotype says Johnny is not very good at interacting with people and, in general, not good at figuring out what's going on in other people's heads.

I might be biased, but I always held this as axiomatic truth.

</comment><comment><USER20> The link to the worse web sites includes:

> <http://art.yale.edu/>

Oh how very, very ironic.

The Yale school of Art.

Looks more like the toddlers school of scribbling.

</comment><comment><USER21> I don't think some people are aware an entire discipline exists within Software Engineering called HCI [1]. Is the distinction made between graphic design and ui design? I'm not so sure. But this article stinks of ignorance as to what UI design really is.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human-computer_interaction>

<comment><USER7> Did my sentence "...and most software engineers don't understand the value of true human factors engineering — in particular the cognitive psychology and human-computer interaction expertise that human factors engineers bring to user interface design" not show that I am aware of HCI?

<comment><USER21> Most software engineers do not need a deep understanding of Human Factors as a working tool, it is a broad term covering multiple disciplines and mediums - particularly focused on physical forms. HCI is focused on computer interaction; you are discussing user interface design.</comment></comment></comment>


Handy webapp to make CSS inline (for HTML emails etc) - <AUTHOR> http://inlinestyler.torchboxapps.com/

<comment><USER2> This is very nice. I am interested in whether or not an open source library was used for much of the processing, or if it was written from scratch entirely.

If there is no open source library available to convert stylesheets+HTML to inline CSS, it would be a good idea to consider open sourcing some of the code behind this app.

Either way, very nice app - great job!

<comment><USER3> Rails library for inlining css:

<http://github.com/milk1000cc/docomo_css/>

<comment><USER4> Actually this is a python project using CSSUtils and lXML

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> This is going to be a huge help in the day job - thanks.

Here is a related article I've found useful recently: <http://www.campaignmonitor.com/css/>

</comment><comment><USER6> I always use this one: <http://code.dunae.ca/premailer.web/>

"Premailer is written in Ruby, with a lot of help from Hpricot"

</comment><comment><USER7> Cool, but might I ask, why would I need this? If an email client can deal with html, can't it deal with CSS as well?

<comment><USER8> You can support CSS and not the <style> tag. This tool converts a stylesheet to inline styles for you. One great example for usage is in an eBay auction.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> It seems to do what it advertises well, but it's still not very useful in real life: it doesn't warn when you use poorly supported styles, e.g. background- image isn't supported in Outlook 2007.

</comment><comment><USER10> This is awesome. I occasionally do email mailouts for an old friend and its normally pretty manual. I was thinking about getting around to building something like this, but this works perfectly!</comment>


Why cheating is good for human computation games  - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> I don't seem to understand what you're getting at. Strategy still exists in games where no cheating occurs. Are you saying that with cheating, harder strategies have to be formed by the players?

Games usually have a measure of accomplishment. Cheating is usually considered a way of increasing the measure of accomplishment (leveling up) without being subject to the cost of regular rules of the game (fighting monsters to gain exp)--either by finding a combination of rules that negate the intended cost (some type of exploit in game, like selling things for higher than you brought them in an RPG), or by neglect of the rules (cheats)

I'm not sure I see how that adds a new dimension to game playing. Nor do I see how that adds to human computation of problems. Since by cheating, players obtain their reward without having to solve the problem.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> After reading about Luis' new game for identifying beautiful images, it occurred to me that cheating would enhance human computation games.

The reason being is that cheating adds a new dimension to these games, namely strategy.

So in the game for identifying beautiful images, you can try to get into your partner's head based on the results of previous image pairs. This adds a new dimension to the game that is missing in the ESP Game.

So instead of combating cheating, why not encourage it explicitly by providing features to help players cheat? For example, in this beautiful image game, one can show the results of past image pairs while the game is in progress.

Even in the presence of such cheating, one may still get lots of useful data for subjective problems. In fact, one may get more as the games would have a new dimension to them.</comment>


105,631 Unread Emails - <AUTHOR> http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2011/04/105633-unread-emails/

<comment><USER2> The four exercises he suggests is a nice way to decrease your unread emails count. Especially if you do it once per week.

However, one of my favorite things to do is have lots of unread emails and check them every, say, second week. And I doubt I am the only one!

</comment><comment><USER3> I see someone in need of Inbox Zero.

Articles: <http://www.43folders.com/izero>

Video: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9UjeTMb3Yk>

</comment><comment><USER4> I really enjoyed the writing style of this post.</comment>


'Good' is not good enough - <AUTHOR> http://blog.jenius.me/post/14677180176/good-is-not-good-enough

<comment><USER2> "In America, we don't like to be rude." Ummm here in NYC being rude is pretty much the most popular sport!

<comment><AUTHOR> haha fair enough. what I really meant was that we don't like to be rude to friends of acquaintances, who most of the time are the people you would ask to review your work. good catch</comment></comment>


Gmail: Send mail from another address without "on behalf of" - <AUTHOR> http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/send-mail-from-another-address-without.html <comment><USER3> Finally. I've been asking for this for years.

Allowing you to authenticate against another SMTP server always seemed like such an easy win for them and I couldn't understand why they didn't just do it. But I guess I'm not the one supporting millions of people on my platform. :)

This makes GMail an even stronger candidate now to replace a desktop mail client in my book. Thanks, Google.

<comment><USER4> Why is this feature so important to you? Perhaps I can learn something useful.

<comment><AUTHOR> It's useful because if you're using Gmail to manage email from your own domain(s), and have a non-Gmail primary email address, now people receiving your email won't have to know that you're using Gmail. Often I would get people start using my Gmail account even though I was sending mail from my own domain's email address.

[http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/30/gmail-kisses-on- behalf-...](http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/30/gmail-kisses-on-behalf-of- goodbye-enables-support-for-third-party-outbound-servers/)

<comment><USER5> Google Apps for your domain can help you out--use Gmail and your domain all at once.

<comment><USER6> I wish I could migrate my normal Gmail account (all received email to date, current labels and rules) to my Google Apps for your domain account.

<comment><USER7> It would be time consuming especially if you have a lot of email, but it is possible. Set up your current account in an IMAP client like Thunderbird, download all the messages to local folders, set up the Apps account, move messages into that account.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> _We heard your request for another option that wouldn't show the "on behalf of" text loud and clear,_

right. loud and clear. The imperative word there is probably "heard" - <USER2> thread about this on their support forum was started around at the time when gmail began adding support for 3rd party addresses and all the customers got was a mixture between silence and "working as intended".

Don't get me wrong: I'm incredibly happy that this is fixed now, but talking about how well they were listening to their users and how quickly they reacted is borderline cynical.

Sorry. I just had to vent.

</comment><comment><USER9> This is the feature that I have been waiting for! I can finally manage all of my mail in one place and respond to professors in a professional manner through the school email server and keep my gmail totally behind the scenes. Awesome

</comment><comment><USER10> I'm also elated for this. Countless times at work, I send an email from gmail using my work/school .edu email and when that mail gets replied and forwarded around back to me with my gmail user name exposed. Not a lot of people know me by my username (which is my gmail) and sometimes I want to keep it that way.

<comment><USER11> So you don't want your username exposed. On the other hand, some people do not like to reply to Gmail addresses because they don't want their mail to be scanned by an advertising company.

<comment><USER12> Forwarding email from a random address to a gmail address has been possible as long as gmail has existed. It's not a feature that depends upon Google support.

<comment><USER11> I did not claim that forwarding email is a novelty. I'm against people using it in this very specific case.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Now just for PGP support.

<comment><USER14> <http://getfiregpg.org/>

You don't want server side PGP support - you'd have to give your private key to Google. As much as I trust Google, I still don't trust them that much.

Much more secure to handle the crypto client side. Ideally, Google should work with the firegpg guy so that he has notice before they change the interface (FireGPG tends to break for a day or two whenever there is any change to the GMail UI).

<comment><USER15> Perhaps they could employ the HTML5 LocalStorage API to store keys.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> This change does not seem to affect secondary gmail accounts: does anyone know of a way to get them to work too? Or is there a technical reason why Google cannot do it?

In case someone does not understand the problem: I have a few gmail addresses that I use in contexts where I don't want to disclose my real name. For convenience, all mail sent to these addresses gets forwarded to my primary account, which does use my real name. But because of the sender field, I can't use my primary account to reply to these mails, which makes the situation quite messy.

</comment><comment><USER16> Great! Now gmail needs to make the "conversations" view optional and give me the ability to view my mail just like any other e-mail client (that is, without automatically combining unrelated e-mails into the same "conversation" just because they share a subject line).

</comment><comment><USER17> Anybody know if this will work w/ 3rd party email clients?

For example, if I use smtp.gmail.com, but I construct the from address appropriately, will it relay to smtp.mydomain.com and put a copy of the message in my sent items folder on my Gmail account?

<comment><USER18> Why would you want to use smtp.gmail.com, rather than the SMTP server that matches your From address?

<comment><USER17> My main concern is having the outgoing email archived by Gmail, preferably in Gmail's Sent Messages folder.

Right now I have Emacs/Gnus configured to get mail via POP3 on Gmail, and upload a copy of outgoing messages to an IMAP folder on Gmail. I'd prefer a cleaner/quicker option.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> This is great news. Now, if only the iPhone web app of Gmail supported sending from different accounts this would be perfect.

</comment><comment><USER20> Sadly, not for the free version of Google Apps for Your Domain.

<comment><USER21> It works! The trick here is that you need to specify your own smtp server but specify "smtp.gmail.com" anyway and for the user name, use the full address: email@example.com - also, make sure to use SSL. Just tested, works like a charm.</comment></comment>


3 months of bootstrapping - Spinto is in public beta - <AUTHOR> http://madhatted.com/2012/4/10/spinto-beta-launch

<comment><USER2> nice, how much time did you spend on this site on a weekly basis?

<comment><AUTHOR> Probably 50-60 hours a week. When I moved to NYC 5 years ago it was to work on my own projects, but it took until last December for me to get up the gumption to go full time on them.

Check it out!</comment></comment>


NASA concerned about culture of "inappropriateness" at SpaceX - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/11/nasa-plans-invasive-review-of-spacex-after-musk-smoked-weed/ <comment><USER2> Even if they are all stoned I don't recall anyone at SpaceX mixing up metric / english units...</comment>


Printrbot: Your Very Own 3D Printer - <AUTHOR> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/printrbot/printrbot-your-first-3d-printer

<comment><USER2> There have been a lot of crowd-funded and startup attempts to commercialize RepRap designs lately - here's a sample of a few:

eMaker Huxley: <http://www.indiegogo.com/eMAKER-Huxley-3D-printer-kits>

SeeMeCNC - uses software to drive stepper drivers via a parallel port rather than onboard control hardware running GCode or the like, saving hardware cost: <http://www.indiegogo.com/SeeMeCNC-H-1>

SUMPOD - <http://sumpod.com/> \- more appliance-y.

<comment><USER3> Good list - I think there's a definite hype bubble in cheap 3D printers. All the copy sounds very naive in relation with the reality of what these printers can actually do. Ex: "printer in every home" - that's like saying a CAD designer in every home - not going to happen. Even d/ling from Thingiverse isn't going to be that popular as most of the parts aren't super useful / attractive.

<comment><USER4> Would you have imagined that one of these would be in every home?

<http://www.ttsw.com/SuesClasses/OldComputers/ENIAC.gif>

<comment><USER5> To be fair, there never were nor should have been ENIACs in homes. I don't think he's saying a future 3d printer shouldn't be a real consumer model.

<comment><USER4> He said it was a hype bubble. Were computers a hype bubble when they were the size of entire buildings? Or later when you had to assemble them yourself and program them with toggle switches? Fortunately, a few people had the vision and patience to keep pushing the technology forward.

<comment><USER3> Hype means excessive claims - 3D printing guys right now are claiming the RepRap can do useful things for average people, and that's just not the case. Even the commercial machines, like on Shapeways, only produce tchotchkes.

DEC wasn't wrong about the "cloud" - just way too early and in the wrong environment. RepRap clones are at this point now.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Does anyone happen to know where one gets the plastic for the printing? The price of $500 for this right now looks a lot more affordable than it used to be to me. Being able to source the printing material is the only thing stopping me at the moment.

<comment><USER7> You haven't said where you are based, but for starters look for either PLA or ABS on this list: <http://reprap.org/wiki/Printing_Material_Suppliers> (The Reprap wiki also has pages explaining the pros & cons of each.)

I don't know what filament diameter(s) the Printrbot will support.

<comment><USER6> I apologize for not saying where I'm based, (US by the way). But that link is absolutely perfect.

According to the comments on the kickstarter page it'll support 3mm to start with and they plan on having a 1.75mm hotend available for $59+shipping by the time that all the kits are shipping.

EDIT: corrected price of hotend

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> A home-made 3D laser scanner would complement this nicely.

<comment><USER9> what I'm longing for is a good G-code generator that is affordable, runs on my Linux or OSX, can generate toolpaths for milling as well as 3D printing and can work with files from Sketchup.

(Most makers I know don't use Windows and I think there is a huge opportunity for a polished product that will run on either Linux or OSX)

<comment><USER10> FYI: sketchup doesn't support linux yet.

<comment><USER9> I know, but since I will be using either EMC2 on Linux or Grbl on an Arduino to run the G-code, I can live with CAM software that runs on Linux.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> > _78 backers for $499 or more_

Wow! A true kick-start.

</comment><comment><USER12> Is moving the print head in 3 axis the best approach? I'd imagine moving the print head in x and y and leaving z to the build surface easier.

<comment><USER13> You don't want to be moving the warm plastic..

<comment><USER7> I'm confused by this Q&A - I can't think of a hobbyist 3d printer design that doesn't move the build platform:

In the Printrbot it appears the print head moves in X & Z, and the build platform moves in Y. Same as the RepRap Mendel.

In the MakerBot the print head moves in Z, and the build platform in X&Y. In the Up! 3d printer the print head moves in X, build platform Y&Z. In the Ultimaker, print head X&Y, build platform Z (this is the combination that rbanffy describes.)

So that's a good bunch of possible permutations, but the build platform always moves...

<comment><USER14> The original RepRap design (Darwin) moved the print head in X and Y, and moved the build surface in Z only (downward as the print progresses).

The Ultimaker machine is based off the Darwin design, and works similarly. Ultimaker has a very lightweight printhead, so they can print incredibly fast.

I haven't seen a moving-head deposition robot that moves _only_ the head. I think this is because the simplest way to make a 3-axis robot involves two tools/surfaces, each moving in at least 1 axis. A tool/surface that moves in all 3 axes needs to be very stiff to avoid juddering around as the machine starts and stops line segments. It's much simpler to make a 2-axis robot and a 1-axis robot, than a 3-axis robot. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Can the 3D printer, print other RepRap 3D printers?

<comment><USER16> No, and unfortunately it's very very very very highly unlikely [functionally impossible] that this will ever be a reality.

Imagine printing a stepper motor, something you need several of for a 3D printer.

Now imagine printing an extruder head...or a PCB for driving the steppers.

Just being able to print PCBs would make tons of hackers glow. The closest thing we have to that right now is putting adhesive copper sheets into a vinyl cutter. That is to say, it is a very very long way off.

(After you print blank PCBs, then what...is the rep rap also a pick and place machine? Can it "print" the components to populate the board?)

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Looks promising. Is it open hardware (i.e. anyone can make one without having to buy from the vendor) like the MakerBot?

<comment><USER6> He is promising to release the designs after they're finalized so it should be possible. The part that caught my eye is that it should be incredibly easy to expand the size of the device compared to many of the other reprap like printers out there. For height alone you just need to get some longer rods from a hardware store, doing the length and width looks like it would be slightly more difficult as you have to make a larger bed but it doesn't look that difficult.

<comment><USER17> Good point!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> What are some uses cases for something like this? For what reasons would schools care?

<comment><USER19> Why do some schools have Computer Aided Design and Drafting classes? Or Wood Shop? Or an Auto Shop? Or Art?

To get kids excited about learning how to do things they haven't done before.</comment></comment>


Wikitribune from Wikipedia - <AUTHOR> https://vimeo.com/214586867 <comment><USER2> Covered at [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14189688](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14189688)

</comment><comment><USER3> Wikitribune is not connected formally in any way with Wikipedia. However it is a project of Wikipedia's founder, Jimmy Wales.

<comment><USER2> This is not the headline on the hyperlinked article, either.</comment></comment>


Show HN: Zendesk for apps: add an FAQ to your app + sync with Desk/Zendesk - <AUTHOR> http://hipmob.com/helpdesk/hn

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey HN - we (Hipmob.com) are launching a way to add your FAQ/Knowledgebase/Help Center into your iOS or Android app. (Basically Zendesk for apps) Benefits are:

1\. works for iOS/Android/Phonegap

2\. syncs with your Zendesk/Desk knowledgebase (if you don't use these, we'll port whatever you use manually)

3\. helps reduce your support emails

If you're a mobile dev/team getting a ton of support emails, this will help you cut it, and give you diagnostics on what kind of help your users need.

Hit me with questions (ayo at Hipmob dot com)</comment>


Latency to Syria and Tor direct users in Greece - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/marshray/status/373598599742910464 <comment><AUTHOR> Directly connecting users from Greece - The Tor Project

[https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=direct- users...](https://metrics.torproject.org/users.html?graph=direct- users&start=2013-08-1&end=2013-08-31&country=gr&events=off#direct-users)

"What's Next For Syria's Internet" \- Renesys

[http://www.renesys.com/2013/08/whats-next-for-syrias- interne...](http://www.renesys.com/2013/08/whats-next-for-syrias-internet/)</comment>


Build fast, fix later: speed hurts quality at Tesla, some workers say - <AUTHOR> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-quality-insight/build-fast-fix-later-speed-hurts-quality-at-tesla-some-workers-say-idUSKBN1DT0N3 <comment><USER2> This unfortunately seems true, and is my biggest worry about Tesla. As a Model S owner, member of local tesla forums etc. its very easy to see that the fit and finish of the cars, are no way near german luxury cars.</comment>


O'Reilly Discounts Every EBook by 50% - <AUTHOR> https://news.slashdot.org/story/16/11/26/0240226/oreilly-discounts-every-ebook-by-50 <comment><USER2> There is also the Unix Humble bundle available at [https://www.humblebundle.com/books/unix-book- bundle](https://www.humblebundle.com/books/unix-book-bundle)

Does anyone have recommendations for any O'Reilly books that are especially good?

<comment><USER3> Unix Power Tools. The Unix is large.

Effective Computation in Physics. Has a surprisingly good coverage of the python development cycle.

Python for Data Analysis. Pandas.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> You have to love the first comment is 'it's so easy to pirate so why is anyone buying?'

O'Reilly is the perfect example of make it easy to get and people will buy over pirate.

<comment><USER5> I think it was slashdot where years ago there was a comment lamenting the DRM- free digital downloads from purchased O'Reilly products.

The user was complaining this wasn't good enough. He actually wanted O'Reilly to publish MD5 hashes of all their works, so he could very his download had no traceable watermarks.

To me it was ridiculous he expected a company to do this, especially one of the most DRM-friendly companies to boot.</comment></comment>


Strike two for Seattle tiny houses - <AUTHOR> https://world.wng.org/content/strike_two_for_seattle_tiny_houses <comment><USER2> We don't need tiny houses in seattle, we need functioning 24 hour shelters so people can get cleaned up and get work or help, and we so we can scale the services. Groups of 30 isn't gonna cut it.

</comment><comment><USER3> I fully admit I'm no expert on this topic, but it seems to me tiny houses are an awful use of space in a city for low-income housing. Why not just have apartments?

<comment><USER4> Isn't cost and concentration also a factor?

How do you avoid creating a slum with dense low-income housing?

Seems like highly distributed low-cost, low-unit housing might work decently.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> [https://www.usnews.com/news/best- states/washington/articles/...](https://www.usnews.com/news/best- states/washington/articles/2019-11-02/seattle-plans-to-cut-funding-to-tiny- house-village)</comment>