More art is being produced and sold than ever before, at ever higher prices - <AUTHOR> https://newrepublic.com/article/147192/modern-art-serves-rich <comment><USER3> The interesting metric in this relationship is the amount of money that actually goes to the artist.

A recognized artist at a mid-high level gallery is usually promised a show approx. every 18 months. Average earnings for such a show is commonly expected to be around $100.000, (10-15 works each selling for between $5.000 and $10.000).

That would be a decent amount of money for that time but here comes the crux; the gallery takes 50%.

This leaves the artist with an income of $50.000 before taxes. Say you live in Sweden, where you have to tax nearly 50% for sales in a private company that leaves you with $25.000 every 18 months in disposable income, hardly something you can get a flat in Stockholm for.

What's even worse is that if you are tied to a gallery you are most commonly prohibited to sell privately or show with other galleries.

<comment><USER4> Well of course the gallery will take 50%. They're the ones doing all the work. I don't know if you've ever met an artist, but most of them are quite unsocial and naive people. They don't know shit when it comes to selling, and I'm telling you this from the perspective of a computer geek, and they don't even care to learn. The gallery not only finds the people to buy the paintings but they also do constant PR work for the artists they represent, past well any exhibition, they talk with museums and collectors trying to promote the works, they provide legal and financial advice and so many other things.

<comment><USER5> Your comment is getting downvotes for your casual absolutist statements, but you have a point.

An interesting illustration is that one avenue for artists to get paid for making art that side steps their gallery arrangement is public art for municipalities or integrated into new building construction. Lots of artists end up doing more poorly than they expect with these projects, because they lack or are never taught good project management skills, and they suddenly have to manage a budget in the hundreds of thousands, and attend or lead meetings with engineers and architects. OTOH, artists who have more of these skills can end up doing really well once they have a few successful projects under their belts.

<comment><USER4> Whoever thinks that galleries take too much of a cut could very easily try and market their work themselves. Or better yet, try to disrupt the art world by building an online art gallery that takes let's say just a mere 10%. After all, online sales are on the rise.

But guess what. Even online platforms take a significant cut. Why's that? Because marketing to the rich and well-off has a significant cost that's much higher than running a targeted AdWords campaign. You have to be out there, talk to people, attend art fairs and galas, socialize, then socialize more, network with critics and journalists who are considered influential, negotiate with collectors who will try to rip you off and do it constantly. On top of that, if you're one of the renowned galleries and an artwork for an artist you represent goes on sale at an auction at a low price you pay from your pocket to keep the price high in order not to hurt the reputation of the artist.

So yes, I'm making generalizations but I've also happen to work in the art world and I've seen how things work. Owning and operating a commercial art gallery is all about personal connections and that costs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> A few years back I talked to someone involved in the business of international sales and procurement of luxury watches. Although there are a few genuine collectors, most of the business seems to be in aiding money laundry and dubious financial transactions (a $50k watch is easier to smuggle than a bag of $50k in cash, especially when the price is sufficiently stable).

EDIT: To be clear, what he was doing was perfectly legal but he had no illusions about who his customers actually were.

<comment><USER7> The other user who replied on this thread saiya-jin is [dead] and has been so for over a month. Their comments appear to be entirely reasonable to me, can we un-dead them?

EDIT: User is visible again, thanks.

<comment><USER8> Ever since I've turned on 'show dead' most of what I've seen as [dead] has been perfectly reasonable, go figure.

<comment><USER9> Sometimes people go on a rant and are shadowbanned, but are otherwise reasonable.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Tangentially related: if this article isn't written about you or your friends, a great place to find really nice art for relatively cheap is at a student art sale for your local art school. Money typically goes to the students directly to help them pay their tuition.

Some of them even have "VIP" opening nights, which end up being just kind of a nice date night. $125 gets you food, booze, and first crack at the art, most of which will be in the $100-$1000 range. An example, in Minneapolis: [https://mcad.edu/about-mcad/events/art-sale](https://mcad.edu/about- mcad/events/art-sale)

There will be a lot of stuff you'll probably not like, but there's some absolute gems. Bought a lacquered painting of Ai Weiwei for $300 that I wouldn't sell for $3000.

</comment><comment><USER11> One thing I've never understood - and if I ever become absurdly wealthy I will try these kinds of random absurdities - is how few of the rich use the power they have to create new definitions of art. For instance, sure you can commission paintings and trade them. But how trite and boring.. imagine commissioning your own RISC-V implementation, or a file system, or something similar that millions of people come to rely on. You could do these kinds of things for a few million dollars each. Without any commercial expectation you could do pretty audacious reaches that would occasionally deliver humanitarian value. Maybe I'm a weirdo..

<comment><USER12> You're not a weirdo. This is something I feel similarly about, but here's the thing about rich people:

1\. The path to becoming rich puts them in a social class that warps their view of what matters and leaves measuring themselves against arbitrary hierarchies of their own making.

2\. The path to becoming rich in modern society is such that the kind of people who would commission RISC-V implementations or security audits of popular open source software or cheap medical interventions simply cannot succeed. It may require too much of a compromise of those beliefs to actually win.

<comment><USER11> Don't get me wrong it would totally be about ego and about how excellent your own design tastes are. You'd name all the stuff after yourself. That's why it'd be considered art :D

Some of the robber barons did some interesting eccentricities like Carnegie libraries.

The Long Now clock is the most recent thing I can think of.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I was astonished when I met this 20-something art dealer here in Sao Paulo at an event.

He was talking about how, after graduating he developed a passion in dealing art, some 2 years later the guy has opened 4 or 5 galleries around the world.

Quite a star, right? Then I found out he's the son of one of the most notorious corrupt politicians in Brazil...

<comment><USER14> Art is huge in money laundering, e.g. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/arts/design/bernardo- paz-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/17/arts/design/bernardo-paz-inhotim- prison-brazil.html)

Casinos and jewelries as well, anything that might have a lot of non-tangible value and can be inflated without questions.

I am not too aware of markets outside of Brazil, but I'd assume sports teams and auctions are big too. I remember that in the last 15 years there were a lot of football team acquisitions by russians in europe.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Some time ago real Banksy prints were sold for $60 at a street stall in NY. They didn't sell much but people who bought one later discovered they are worth around $20,000.

A week later some guys (Dave Cicirelli and Lance Pilgrim) sold fake Banksy's with a certificate saying they were real fakes. They sold out in an hour.

This was a great way to show the real value of art.

Edit: found an article about it: [https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/22/4864592/fake-banksy- stal...](https://www.theverge.com/2013/10/22/4864592/fake-banksy-stall-new- york-sells-40-artworks-one-hour)

</comment><comment><USER16> In a funny way, I cannot but draw a parallel between the bitcoin folks and 'modern' art folks:

Very little intrinsic value; mass produced but still the producers and consumers feel like they are part of some niche (and somehow the rest of the world doesn't 'get them'). And dare I say, an easy way to launder dirty money out.

I just don't get why either of those two things deserve any attention other than it's just another way that money exchanges hands.

<comment><USER8> It even has a notion of proof of work:

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

The only thing that thing accomplishes is proving that a contractor had moved a rock from A to B, about as useful as figuring out how to get a certain number of zeroes in a hash.

<comment><USER17> Let me guess, you also don't like Yves Klein?

<comment><USER8> I really don't mind the goofballs, it's their enablers, the modern art dealers, critics and collectors, that I have a problem with.

I even like some of the things that came out of the movement from an aesthetic point of view, for example much of the stuff that came out of pre-PC IBM. But I don't consider it to have much artistic merit, if any at all.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> One angle on the modern art world I heard is that it is used as a bribe that is tax deductible. They briber buys the art from the person they are bribing and then they donate it to a museum at the paid value and deduct it on their taxes. The IRS can't set a fair price for a painting after all.

<comment><USER19> The IRS has been known to occasionally require independent art valuation estimates during income tax audits.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> For those who missed it there was a pretty good article/discussion here a few weeks ago about how the art market is systematically manipulated for profit, and nobody wants to fix it: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16200100](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16200100)

</comment><comment><USER21> Pretty good way to launder money and, via the Art in Embassies program, smuggle anything anywhere.

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was- cia-w...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia- weapon-1578808.html)

<comment><USER22> Sorry to embark on a conspiracy theory rabbit hole, but when i read something like that, I am left wondering who really conned whom? Who was the real mastermind? The CIA, in some far fetched scheme to control the world? Or did bohemian artists con the US Government and American people into bankrolling their lifestyle? There is a surface narrative, to cover up the 'real story,' but why should i be so naive to believe this telling of the story either? Without a doubt , for any interpretation, the American taxpayer certainly was on the losing team.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Hardly need to read the rest of an article with a headline that includes, "the Rich," as fairly clear what it's about.

An acquaintance recently (2011) wrote a book about the world of art theft. ([https://www.amazon.ca/Hot-Art-Chasing-Thieves- Detectives/dp/...](https://www.amazon.ca/Hot-Art-Chasing-Thieves- Detectives/dp/1771000694)) The point I remember him making was that the stolen art was often used as collateral for black market transactions, owing to the opacity of the market in general.

It's an asset class like any other. Depending on what it is, it will have different liquidity, volatility, and portability properties. The notional value can be used as collateral in other transactions, with no real transparency on rehypothecation. New appraisals can mark it in support of other calculations, and you can insure it. It can be a bit of a financial black box.

Also, art is and always has been a path to social mobility. Hence the parties where young people go to meet older wealthy ones. The real business of art is brokering relationships and transactions, with the art as a pretext. If you have money and fewer relationships, you can go buy art in any major city as a short cut to local society. If you want access to partners and the kind of social networks that provide opportunities for your future family, it's surprisingly accessible. Gallery owners perform a kind of social gate keeping role without a lot of the insular baggage that comes from establishment networks. These relationships and transactions _are_ culture.

The idea that someone can just make money, participate in culture by buying art, then move easily between social classes seems offensive to some people, but that's really how it works.

It also provides a perfect straw man for people who go on about "the rich."

<comment><USER24> Well if you're an artist with an MFA over time its easy to be sitting on over 250k in debt. The key point is the artist is selling a piece for $750, the collector then can turn around and sell the same piece for $40k+. The art doesn't start gaining real value until the artist is no longer participating in the value chain of their work.

<comment><USER25> Honestly, as a collector with 16 years of collecting under my belt, I can tell you this does not happen very often. I do have a few things that I paid hundreds for that are now worth thousands, but I also have works that I paid hundreds (and sometimes thousands) for that are worth nothing (although I really treasure them).

If you happen to catch an artist at the beginning of their careers, and are willing to take a chance on them, then this might happen but more often than not it won't.

Also, as a collector you actually want artists to be successful so you want them to be growing and continuing to get more recognition and keep producing work. In order for them to do that you want them to get better and better value from their work.

The artists mentioned here might not have done so well in that auction but they certainly went on to very lucrative careers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> This is a fascinating article. But what I'd like to know about is the effect of this activity on the other side of the table: the modern artists who produce the works the rich purchase and auction.

How does one become a top modern artist? (I'm thinking primarily of painters and sculptors).

<comment><USER27> How to be top modern artist:

1) Move to NYC, get a job working for a near blue-chip artist. Look for one with the fewest assistants. Accept $20 an hour.

2) Go to art openings, sign your name in every gallery guest book and attend every after-party.

3) Have a studio, and get your friends, employer and his gallery contacts to visit

4) Start showing your work, or repeat steps 2 and 3 until someone shows your work.

5) The ball is now, rolling. To add some momentum do the following:

\- Curate a summer show at a gallery somewhere

\- Upgrade your studio to someplace people like to visit. (Dark wood floors, on the waterfront in Red Hook, Brooklyn perhaps) Throw good parties.

\- Grow a lumberjack beard. Or, only shop at comme des garcons. Or thrift- store jeans and a white T, for all occasions.

6) Make friends with writers and critics. (Their needs are human, just like yours)

7) Get shown, written about, and finally get collected.

8) Now...this is the part where most artists discover how life as a successful artist is actually appalling. You'll need to socialize with and be popular among some very wealthy, but ultimately superficial people who treat you and your art as a certificate of their cultural sophistication.

9) If you have made it this far, and still want to continue, you probably have what is takes to be a successful modern artist whose work will appear at auction in a few years. Just keep in mind -- you'll receive none of those auction proceeds, and there's no promise you'll every go to auction again.

<comment><USER28> Or, to translate all that to HN-speak -- learn an industry, network, do marketing, and cultivate a brand, until some day down the road, your product becomes big, and all your backers take the lion's share of the exit.

How is all that any different than what the rest of us do to grow our business? Seems to me like the process of building a business doesn't differ by industry as much as people might think.

Now, if we think that art SHOULD be different, that is a completely valid (and possibly more interesting) question.

<comment><USER29> Processes are similar. Likelihood of success, impact of your actions on outcome, and ownership of upside (both real and social capital) are very different!

Art is a black swan industry where compensation for effort is a lottery ticket. Only the fringe of "wantrepreneur" culture comes close to extracting as much effort for equally uncertain reward... And even then the efforts develop and demonstrate skills (tech and business) which can be transferred to low risk / well paid jobs. Artists who don't become famous can't recycle much of the investment.

<comment><USER30> This is very true. I was involved in the NYC art market for about a decade. The smart artists either became professors or started over in a new career. Most of my art world friends are now programmers, lawyers, etc. A very small number of the people I knew actually made it, most of whom had a social or financial advantage to aid them. I knew exactly one artist who briefly made it on talent alone, and he was the art making equivalent of Lebron James.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Can someone explain what the downside is? I'd much rather the rich spend their money on art than activities with huge negative externalities like flying around in private jets, buying land or employing servants.

<comment><USER32> The negative externalities here are (nonexhaustive)

* tax evasion (kindly fuck of with "it's legal so it's avoidance", it's evasion even if it's legal. Spirit of the law)

* money laundering for $CRIME_YOU_DESPISE/$DICTATOR_YOU_DESPISE

* shutting down/perverting the market for those that actually care about art (not me, but they

<comment><USER33> > * tax evasion (kindly fuck of with "it's legal so it's avoidance", it's > evasion even if it's legal. Spirit of the law)

At its heart, modern tax law separates people into classes and then allocating the burden of maintaining society unequally between those classes.

The spirit of the law that you are defending here is that people should shoulder unequal responsibilities to their society. Although that isn't controversial, it also doesn't automatically have a moral high ground; it could be a better outcome if everyone contributed equally. It just happens that everyone contributing equally flat-out won't work, because most people can't contribute enough.

The spirit of the law is unfair. That is an unfortunate reality of taxes - <USER2> a sense they can't reduce the total unfairness in the world, only shift it to people who can better deal with the burden. That people should ignore the detail of the law and voluntarily subject themselves to an unfair burden is not clear-cut. The clear cut part of this is that the law should be clear, pass through the usual channels and be enforced with due process - ie, as written or as commonly interpreted by the courts.

If you want to call it tax evasion, someone is going to have to change the law so it is actual tax evasion. Until then, it is legal so it is avoidance.

<comment><USER34> All of those usual channels and law-making are easily influenced by wealth and power. By avoiding taxes they have committed a crime against the state and the people and should be punished.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> The most expensive postage stamp was sold for more than 2 millions, and initially was worth a few cents. Antique items are also usually ridiculously expensive compared to the initial value. Even old legos are being sold for thousands of dollars. That's what collectors due, overpay for rare or otherwise "special" items, and of course, when there's money in the market there will be people turning it into a business. Art is just one (very lucrative) piece of that cake.

<comment><USER36> Yes, perhaps, but the difference with art is that artists are encouraged to pump out works to cater to the whims of these rich collectors in a way antiques dealers cannot.

<comment> purple-again Have you ever felt encouraged to pump out code to cater to the whims of rich overlords?

I can't tell you how many $50,000 (our fee) tax returns I filed with...questionable sections because I was being encouraged to pump out work to cater to the whim of partners that didn't even come into the office anymore.

Nothing unique to art here.

<comment><USER36> People still read The Odyssey but I'll be lucky if anyone cares about any code I ever worked on in fifty years.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> This has always been the case to an extent - see the Esterhazy's patronage of Haydn and the Prince of Salzburg's sponsorship of Mozart.

The exception is the 20th century when the Soviet system pushed art as something for the people [though the incentives on who was sponsored was again skewed at the top], and the various publicly funded arts programs in Western Europe - driven by social democratic ideals.

</comment><comment><USER38> > Yet the most troubling examples of the exploitation of art for financial > gain are perfectly legal. As Adam outlines, collectors and their agents have > continually found creative ways to use their art holdings to defer paying > taxes, including the establishment of private museums and foundations, > storing artworks in offshore freeports where they can be exchanged without > incurring customs duties or VAT, and loopholes in the tax code such as > "like-kind" exchanges. Originally set up in the 1920s to aid farmers by > enabling them to defer taxes on livestock trades, "like-kind exchanges" are > now regularly invoked by art collectors in order to avoid paying taxes on > the sale of artworks: So long as a collector uses the proceeds of the sale > of one work to purchase another within 180 days, the tax obligation can be > perpetually kicked down the road.

This may have been eliminated for art by the most recent US tax bill, or [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/your-money/taxes-real- est...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/your-money/taxes-real-estate.html) seems to say so ("property" was changed to "real property").

The previous administration also wanted to end like-kind treatment for art [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/arts/design/tax-break- use...](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/arts/design/tax-break-used-by- investors-in-flipping-art-faces-scrutiny.html) but without digging more, I assume changes proposed then didn't get enacted.

</comment><comment><USER39> To me it sounds like a good way for the ultra-rich to play their status games and burn off wealth without impacting the rest of the economy.

Maybe end the tax-deferral?

</comment><comment><USER40> If you want to see the richest art markets in terms of consumer participation and artists succeeding (and don't care about adult nature), look no further than the anime and furry communities. It is a THRIVING market for commissions and patrons - tens of thousands of artists running the gamut from $5 sketches to $10k oil paintings. Its the best example I've ever seen of a lower/middle class art market working well. What you're "buying" is a representation of your individual expression.

The high end "art world" and NYT/New Republic articles could not be further away from these artist communities, both in terms of accessibility and relevance outside the ultra-rich circles that traditional art galleries serve.

</comment><comment><USER41> Comments in this thread illustrate how even a tiny bit of linkbait like "the Rich" tends to dominate discussion, riling it up and dumbing it down.

We've edited the title to the subtitle. There's a lot more to this article than that.

</comment><comment><USER42> I am struck by a thought: isn't this just yet another kind of a pyramid scheme?

<comment><USER8> I don't see the similarity. I can't see any notion of recruitment rewards in modern art.

It's more like Pez dispensers and Beanie Babies and all that nonsense. Over- priced and over-hyped collectibles with no real-world (not even aesthetic) value.

<comment><USER42> Yes, I should have said bubble, like the original tulip bulbs. At least the tulips did have some aesthetic value. There is recruitment reward: buying early, hyping up modern "art" and making a profit.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> I always hated middlemen but as I got older and saw the difference between creators and capitalists. You don't see the 50% being spent to maintain the relationships that bring buyers in and interested in supporting the artist. Arts subjective, you can play the free game and use the internet but if you want a network of people that support galleries it's because they gained something from that gallery at some point. Also that gallery isn't free, some are cheap and some don't earn their keep but you get free choice and no known test to differentiate the honest from the dishonest but experience.

</comment><comment><USER44> This, on the market for high-end artworks, is one of the most interesting papers I have read: [http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/canice.prendergast/research/...](http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/canice.prendergast/research/MarketContemporaryArt.pdf)

tl;dr: Art markets are unusual or unique in several ways, including thin demand (few buyers are interested in a given artwork, and their reserve prices will be very different), contempt for "flippers" (including shunning by galleries), and refusal to reduce prices, which would cause an artist's personal bubble to pop.

</comment><comment><USER45> This is completely logical... The whole point of art business is a safe investment area where the rich won't lose money.

</comment><comment><USER46> If making the rich trade their money for something that will hurt them mentally is "serving" I don't know in which world I'm leaving anymore.</comment>


Social Distancing Is Not Enough - <AUTHOR> https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/05/how-will-we-ever-be-safe-inside/611953/ <comment><USER2> I wonder if the Korean office workers were already wearing masks? By March, when they picked up these infections, Korea had already been dealing with this for weeks. And masks were already a thing in Korea.

I assume most of them would have been, but maybe not in the office? Or maybe the masks are not that effective in an office environment?

</comment><comment><USER3> My wife and I are very careful shopping, wearing masks, etc.

One thing we have been doing for fun during these crazy times is arranging outdoor picnics with just another couple, and sitting a dozen feet from them (with cross wind so no couple is downwind of the other one).

This has always seemed "safe" and good to see some evidence for this sited in the article.</comment>


Airbnb and Investor Settle Differences; Employees will Get Liquidity - <AUTHOR> http://allthingsd.com/20111002/airbnb-investor-chamath-palihapitiya-settle-differences-with-employees-to-get-liquidity/?mod=tweet

<comment><USER2> Key phrase: "next financing round". So the current financing goes through with "no changes" (ie, no employee participation). There's no mention of the dividend or control which didn't strike me as much of an issue anyway.

</comment><comment><USER3> Interesting outcome.

I think this is the first time I have seen someone 'take a stand', take some huge heat for it in the court of public opinion, and then have the intended effect.

<comment><USER4> Funny, my first thought was that this is already the second time that AirBnB has taken heat publicly and than backtracked.</comment></comment>


Show HN: Client not paid? Add opacity to the body - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/andreapaiola/F-D- <comment><USER3> I know this is probably just made in good fun, but as a consultant who frequently works with startups[1], I recommend not doing something like this.

If you have delivered the final product to the client and they are not paying your invoice, your first step should be to try and cordially resolve the situation with a frank discussion about your expectations and mutual commitments, and nudged with references to the signed statement of work.

In my experience there are three types of clients. Clients who pay, clients who can't pay, and clients who won't pay. My recourse, and what I recommend to others, is as follows:

1\. For new clients, require a 1/3 deposit before you begin the work, payable towards the final invoice. If the client cannot pay the first invoice, you know they will struggle to pay all of them and you haven't wasted your time.

2\. Depending on how long the engagement is expected to run, require payments towards the final invoice every _n_ weeks. This limits your exposure in case the client suddenly cannot or will not pay.

3\. Ensure that your statements of work and other contracts are reviewed by a competent lawyer (as 'patio11 and 'tptacek would say, pretty much any lawyer as long as they are competent). This limits your liability and exposure in case you need to sue.

4\. If there is a disagreement over terms after both parties have signed, or the client cannot pay, be charitable and attempt to resolve it in ways that are not antagonistic. Try to work out payment plans, or change the scope such that it is still affordable for the client. Accept that for certain situations, you will not recoup invoices (e.g. the client literally has no money for you). Steps 1 and 2 are designed to limit the impact for this latter case.

5\. If the client _will not_ pay, start with civil discussion first, then escalate by involving lawyers and strongly worded letters. Specifically, do not do anything passive aggressive. I would recommend revoking their license to use the software before you alter their public deployment and potentially cause them brand, reputational or business continuity damage.

6\. Establish a high quality pipeline of qualified leads, especially from referrals, who you can consider more trustworthy with invoice payment. In my experience, I have never had a referral default on an invoice. Now, the vast majority of my business comes through referrals (there are many other benefits to a referral pipeline as well).

[1]: Read - clients who are statistically likely to default on their outstanding invoices.

EDIT: Typo...pipeline of leads from referrals, not lawyers :)

<comment><USER4> The classic Mike Monteiro video is always relevant: [https://creativemornings.com/talks/mike-monteiro-- 2/1](https://creativemornings.com/talks/mike-monteiro--2/1)

One of the things people often advocate for is that all copyright/IP be owned by the consultant until paid in full. That way if the client stops paying prior to the work being done or doesn't pay the final invoice, etc you can make a very strong case that it's not just a civil matter, but a criminal one. That can be very motivating.

EDIT: That way if the client stops paying but continues to use the existing works, rather. If they stop paying and don't use the works then you'll need different clauses to still get paid there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Anyone who would even think of doing this is:

1\. Extremely unprofessional.

2\. Is not taking on the right clients.

<comment><USER6> or... 3. lives in the real world where there are seas of gray

Being picky about clients and being able to afford to sue those who don't pay is one of my many privileges. Not everyone can afford to do this.

<comment><USER5> This has nothing to do with suing clients. Taking some kind of revenge, in a way that's almost certainly actionable, is not really in a gray area - I don't think there is _any_ situation in which it makes sense to do this.

As for "being picky about clients", my second point above is indeed aspirational, and I'm sure not everyone can afford to choose their clients. That's my point. You need to realize, as quickly as you can, that you're better off moving to the kinds of clients that _don 't_ have these issues.

I say this because many people honestly don't understand or believe that better clients exist, or at least don't internalize just how different it is to work for clients for whom these kinds of shenanigans are irrelevant. It really is a different world.

<comment><USER6> I think most people don't understand how dirty the business world is. Lots of customers and vendors will deny delay and defend out of force of habit alone. I've had to threaten lawsuits a number of time. It was obvious I'd win so they'd settle last minute, but it's just how many people do business. It's much easier to build in something that will atrophy and let them know it'll fall apart if you don't tell them where it is. Much easier restitution. No fuss. Good clients go bad all the time, just like good marriages go bad. You can't rely on a filter. Most of the time there is no option but to work with certain people if you want to be in a particular industry. They're the worst. Just today I have a monopoly supplier that won't fix a very simple but show stopping bug, despite our contract, unless I pay them a lot more money which significantly eats into my margins. It will basically mean I'll be working for them for free, which is exactly how they want it. I have to make out that I'll go out of business, walk away, and they won't make anything. I'm sure we'll end up somewhere in the middle and we will both make a lot of money. If not I will have to go borrow a lot of money from a bank to build the component in house which will upset their monopoly. Just another day it the life of a start-up.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Simply do factoring with your bills.

You get your money fast and if someone makes problems, the factoring company hsas them.

It'ss legal and doesn't need any code.

<comment><USER8> However, be aware that

1) factoring costs money - you won't get 100%; make sure you take care of that in your asking price,

2) make sure your contract does not prevent the transfer your receivables to third parties without the consent of the debtor. Yes, there are contracts like this, usually as a part of _take it or leave it, there are others waiting at the door_ contracts.

<comment><USER7> 1) yes, your literally selling your risk.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> When I was freelancing, all of my work resided on my own private servers. As soon as I received the final payment, it was transferered to the client.

I never had any issues.

</comment><comment><USER10> Sounds like a great way to improve your relationship with the client /s

<comment><USER11> There's no benefit to having a good relationship with a bad client.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> It costs money & time to take people to court, so jerks will under pay you like $2000 because it's not worth the time and effort to go to court over it.

Dev is not like other services in the US where we can easily put leans on property.

So yea, own the hosting, take down their site if they don't pay.

I promise you every business owner has to deal with people that don't pay their bills and will understand.

Have a low tolerance for assholes, and if you ever get a lead on a client bad mouthing their previous developers about holding their project hostage, just run.

<comment><USER13> You actually can - make it so that in the contract devs retain all copyrights until paid in full. Then you can use the DMCA, which is much cheaper and far easier than putting and enforcing a lean on a property.

That said, when you get that far in a sense you have already lost.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Is it legal to build self-destruct systems into contracted work? I'd be super wary of adding this...

<comment><USER15> Put a clause into the contract which says that you own all copyrights, IP, etc. until such time as payment has cleared.

It is perfectly legal for you to mangle your own web site. Even if it's a site you made at someone else's request.

If they haven't paid, they don't own it, and they have no right to complain.

<comment><USER16> Your copyright may give you rights to sue the client for infringement once it's clear they aren't going to remedy their breach, yes.

A judge may order the copy of your work taken offline or destroyed, yes.

But you can't take matters into your own hands and do that without going to court.

You do not own the (unlicensed or otherwise) copies of your work that have already been transferred to others, and going onto their server to destroy/modify the site is not only a civil wrong on your part, but a crime under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

<comment><USER17> How so? You contract to provide a specific service, not specific code. The contract should be for transfer of a license (of whatever kind) to use the IP and business benefit, _not_ for full transfer of all IP.

If a client doesn't pay you respond by denying access to the service - <USER2> is exactly the same as a hosting company turning off a server for non-payment of hosting fees.

I wouldn't do the fade thing, because while it's entertaining it's rather juvenile. But I would be completely happy to delete all work from a client's server and restore it to its previous state if it's obvious they have no intention of ever paying.

This is _normal behaviour_ for a business. Generally if someone tries to default on payment, they can expect goods to be reclaimed and services to be terminated.

The fact they're running a business and you're a contractor doesn't change that. You're running a business too. If they don't understand that, save yourself the grief and don't work with them.

<comment><USER16> The hosting company turning off a server is merely acting on property they both own and possess.

You "deleting all work from a client's server" are accessing someone else's property, and doing it for destructive purposes. That's illegal, both civilly and criminally. They're not analogous situations.

Even in the physical world, repossession companies may not enter a private building without permission. "Goods are reclaimed" by a sheriff carrying out a court order, not by whoever is owed money breaking in and taking things on their own volition.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> [https://github.com/andreapaiola/F-D-/blob/master/fade.php](https://github.com/andreapaiola/F-D-/blob/master/fade.php)

What is the point of making this a class rather than just a simple function?

<comment><AUTHOR> It's more powerful, obviously :D No, it's a joke. Well... It's OOP vs procedural in reality, right? If you want it you can PR... a new file fade- procedural.php

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> I realise this might be somewhat tongue-in-cheek or just a way to vent on some real-life dealings with a client gone awry.

However, even just insinuating actually doing something like this in real life (or giving people ideas for that matter) is at least a tad dodgy if not downright unethical.

Someone having treated you badly in business (as in not having payed you for whatever reason) doesn't give you the moral (much less so the legal) right to treat them badly in return. That's what lawyers and courts are for (well, not treating others badly - though that might very well be part of the process - but to get recourse).

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I don't know: it's half fun and half serious... Really it's half-serious :D

</comment><comment><USER20> You mean, remove opacity from the body...

Such a great idea, though.

<comment><USER11> "Add opacity" -> opacity is an attribute, which is added to the body.

<comment><USER21> The body element already has an opacity attribute, defaulted to 1. This explicitly defines it, initially, and decreases it over time.

<comment><AUTHOR> fade.php or fade.js add the CSS opacity to the <body>

see the examples</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Creating an account vs. collecting emails as means of validation - <AUTHOR> Hi all,
How much better would it look to investors if I can get users to create an account through my landing page? I'm going to be dealing with high profile people (social media influencers), so i feel that getting them to put a password on my landing page (built through a popular landing page builder) would possibly shy them away and I'd lose potential registrants versus having just an e-mail form.
What are your thoughts? <comment><USER2> > How much better would it look to investors

If you're working with even moderately savvy investors, they're going to want you to do whatever is right for the business (here, for users) not what they might abstractly prefer.

If you think the choice that's right for the business is not obvious, explain why you made the choice you did. Design the product for users, not investors.</comment>


GitHub is Eating the World - <AUTHOR> http://erickerr.com/github-is-eating-the-world

<comment><USER2> I built a poc for something like this using github data, but it didn't really go anywhere. <http://getvouched.com> and <http://getvouched.com/visualizations>

</comment><comment><USER3> Isn't the "search for developers by GitHub profile" what GitHire.com was doing? And then they realized that it was "too hard" to find devs in the SF Bay Area, where they're in high demand?</comment>


Ant Design – A UI Design Language - <AUTHOR> https://ant.design/ <comment><USER2> Doesn't work on Safari/macOS due to autoplay restrictions. The unnecessary intro video is blocking the entire site from displaying.</comment>


This Cryptocurrency Miner Says It Solved Bitcoin's Power Problem - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-11-16/this-cryptocurrency-miner-says-it-solved-bitcoin-s-power-problem <comment><USER2> Except they didn't. Title is misleading if not a straight up lie. TLDR: We're using excess energy from renewable sources to generate an extra revenue stream by mining bitcoin just like everyone else.</comment>


Ask HN: My son wants to make side money programming - <AUTHOR> My son has had a little programming experience, and I used to (back when Perl was cool), but it's been a while. He's essentially a tabula rasa, but smart and sometimes motivated. He's 15, thus I think the ideal age to start.
What language(s)/platform(s) should he learn, and where should he look for freelance work? Ideally we're thinking of online venues; we're temporarily in Budapest and there are already plenty of hungry, vastly intelligent, obsessively motivated people here, so the local market is probably not ideal, although I'm not discounting it. (There's also the fact that we won't be here forever.)
To his benefit: I can teach him whatever he needs to know. Well, we can co-learn it, but it's still better than hacking in the dark.
What do people here suggest? <comment><USER2> Hey, I work at a startup in Budapest (allmyles.com), I'll ask the team if we could teach him a thing or two by passing off some work. We mainly work with Python, and having him around (office is next to Deák Ferenc tér) might prove fun for all of us. Remote works for us as well, of course.

Disclaimer: We're rather bootstrapped, so I can make no promises. (Jeez, we might not be able to afford a 15 year old programmer.) An even larger issue might be that I think it's illegal to give work to anyone under 16. I'll have to ask around and if you send me some contact info to email@example.com, I'll get back to you once we've got things figured out.

<comment><AUTHOR> He'll be 16 in March, and is a dual citizen. I think you're legal - and that would be absolutely fantastic. He's fully bilingual and has a bus pass. :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'll take a different tack.

In my world (data) there is a lack of developers - or just people of any kind - with sound understanding of the relational model and its (only relatively correct) implementation, SQL. SQL is a very declarative language, high level and intuitive and easy to write correctly. With a good RDBMS, it's also easy to optimize when you are resource constrained.

And literally EVERY company out there has a database that needs to be queried, reports that need to be put out, databases that need to be normalized, data warehouse schemas that need to be drawn up, data sources to be joined together, questions that need to be answered and relatively few people to do the work.

I would say start with bases in set theory and logic in parallel with C. J. Date's books (which are easier than Codd's original paper as a starting point). An additional benefit of starting there is he's less likely to shoot himself in the foot with ORMs later on.

Regarding where to look for work, talking only about Singapore and ASEAN companies, I get contacted several times a week by agents, headhunters, and executives from local companies who have these problems. I can't speak for Europe, but here, a cold approach or a well formed reply to a job ad with "data analyst" in the title offering cheap ("because 15") but high quality remote work might work.

<comment><USER4> SQL is a very practical skill for every developer to have, but I think it would take quite an exceptional 15 year old to be able to stay interested in it long enough for them to become useful. I would at least encourage them to learn another language alongside it.

<comment><USER5> I learned it alongside learning about how Rails' ORM worked and it made it much easier to stay interested (I still hate hand writing SQL though). It had the nice benefit of helping to really understand what was going on in the ORM and at the DB layer. At that point you can safely avoid abusing the ORM and creating terrible queries that might otherwise look readable and concise at the application layer.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Python. Fullstop.

Is he interested in games? Make him implement a roguelike, or study Panda3D, if that's where he leans.

Does he like to design UX? Use one of the wonderful web frameworks (my fav: Django, but also tornado, Flask, Pylons) and do some webdesign.

Useability applications for the Desktop? [https://wiki.python.org/moin/GuiProgramming](https://wiki.python.org/moin/GuiProgramming) more frameworks than you can shake a stick at.

Best calling card you get when looking for work is pointing to what you built. Rent a DO dyno and post the work there. Showcase cool stuff.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah, he's so interested in games his English homework is League-specific. (Ever written League of Legends poetry? It's actually surprisingly possible...)

We did some text dungeon stuff last year and that almost clicked. But the boy is mercenary. He washes dishes in Vermont in the summer - when I mentioned that money was to be had with programming, he sat up straight. I think he'd never thought about it seriously.

I'm trying to get a sense of "If I were just starting now..." from the community. And yeah, Python does seem to be ranking rather high, doesn't it?

<comment><USER7> Not long ago one of our customers asked us the same for his son (also 15). We pointed him to game programming with Unity3D. Unity has Python (Boo Script), JavaScript, and C# styles of scripting. With little work he'll see big advances, this will keep him interested. After learning the basics, he can jump to webdev or other fields...

There's plenty of resources for leaning Unity online, on youtube, udemy or elsewhere... [https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=unity3d](https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=unity3d)

PS: In 4 months the kid has already sent us 2 games fairly complex and funny.

<comment><USER6> I tried Unity while @uni. I liked Boo but I disliked the Unity API. It might have been a case of not understanding it properly. I was using Panda3D around the same time and managed to make a game with that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I started along the same path 12 years ago, so I can share my experience.

* I started with PHP. My suggestion today is to start with Django (Rails is fine too, but Django has less magic and so things are lot more explicit)

* Bootstrapping out of nowhere is difficult. He will have a lot to learn from the knowledge perspective. So, looking out for opportunities, negotiating payment etc. can be draining. This is where you can help so that he focuses on learning his craft first.

* It will be tempting to work for free. Advice him against that. He can work for a low fee, but getting paid puts the work in the right context.

* Stay away from portals like Elance and ODesk.

* Working as an intern at a company would really help him with the other meta aspects like planning, team collaboration etc. which are all important to pursue his long-term goals.

</comment><comment><USER9> It seems like almost everybody who replied is a web developer, and assumes your son wants to build websites. Let me suggest something different.

Figure out which part of programming he's interested in, why he likes it. Is he good in maths/physics, does he want to write games, websites, apps, etc.

If he's just interested in "programming" in general, get him a nice book on algorithms and suggest different languages he can use to implement them (something C-like, a scripting language, a functional one, a modern Lisp dialect).

Oh right, get him to use Linux or BSD, as that will give him access to a ton of free development tools. I also mention free because I don't think he should focus on making money at 15, but find something he enjoys learning. If necessary, you could provide incentives to learn this properly, instead of following possibly short-lived market trends.

</comment><comment><USER10> Generating money from programming is hard, really hard. I'm a professional developer (though a junior one) and I can't find ways to do it reliably.

If it's still interested in programming, here is my list of languages :

\- Desktop : Python obviously. You can make little graphical interfaces, easy scripts, manipulate data in Excel or Word, even some remote automation since there are network libraires.

\- Web : I would recommand against full-blown web frameworks like Django or Rails. Start small by using some simple static sites using HTML+CSS and then learn to build dynamic ones using PHP and Javascript.

I would also add that there are others ways to make money than programming : I know a 17 y.o. which rigged up a farm of Minecraft servers for his highschool and he's being paid by his classmates for the hosting.

</comment><comment><USER11> How much does your son want to do programming? Does he do it for fun already?

What other interests does he have? Are there parts within these interests that could have relevance for programming? For example he might like bird watching, so perhaps a mobile app for birding might be good, or he might love platformer video games, etc etc.

In short, he should do what he is interested in, don't worry about the choice of technology - by far the most important thing is that there is some interest, passion and enthusiasm. The choice of technology is less important than the choice of what to do.

</comment><comment><USER12> It depends on why he is trying to make money, and how quickly he wants it. But if this is the start of a long-term career plan, then I suggest doing some small projects for free to learn more skills and build a reputation.

If those projects go well, he will quickly get referrals to do more, and then he can charge. On the other hand, if they go badly, people don't feel like they lost money, and instead will feel that they gave a 15 year old a chance... and may even give him another one when he is 17.

It is amazing how quickly expectations rise alongside bill rates.

</comment><comment><USER13> If he wants to do freelance work, I suggest browsing job boards on university websites or on facebook. There are always lots of people looking for part time developers there.

But as an alternative to freelancing, I'd recommend making a little useful app and selling it on the web or on one of the app stores. I make Mac software, and there's a big market for useful utilities on the Mac App Store. The hardest part is probably coming up with ideas for apps; when you're 15, you just don't have a lot of experience with the kind of problems people have.

Here's an idea for a simple app, to illustrate what I'm thinking about: Make a CSV file converter that can convert between comma-separated-files and semicolon-separated files. If you add hungarian localisation, you even have a unique selling proposition.

As for what programming languages to start with, I'd probably pick Objective-C / Swift if your on the Mac, and C# or Java if you're on Windows, and C++ & Qt if you're on Linux. These languages are popular, in high demand, will probably still be very relevant in 10 years, and you can quickly get an internship in many companies if you have basic knowledge of those.

Why? Native development has a bit steeper learning curve than web development, but in general the tooling is better (IDE, documentation, etc) and there's less competition.

</comment><comment><USER14> I'd recommend this book and the bootstrapping community in general:

[http://www.amazon.com/Start-Small-Stay-Developers- Launching/...](http://www.amazon.com/Start-Small-Stay-Developers- Launching/dp/0615373968?tag=dedasys-20)

He could probably do ok with Ruby on Rails, Django, Node.js or something like that.

</comment><comment><USER15> 15 is late -- by mainstream reports, at that age you're either a billionaire already or you're never going to make it. </joking>

Back in my days, I'd have built websites for friends and some would turn into (badly) paid gigs. If he's got other interests (sports club etc) they could become engagements.

If really he wants to do websites, you'll have to start with JavaScript/jQuery, then graduate to server-side (node, PHP, Python/Django, Ruby/Rails, pick your poison).

Consider that the real dazzle these days is mobile, and it's not that much harder than making websites (or he can make mobile-optimized websites, which can be almost as cool). It might be easier to get engagements on that side at the moment, since most people/clubs/businesses already have a website but they likely don't have an app.

<comment><USER16> My goodness, I was 17 when I was first introduced to programming, punched card FORTRAN "IV" on an IBM 1130 ^_^ (academic year 1977-8). Which I found to be very neat, but sufficiently frustrating that I went straight to my local college's library (the machine was hosted at the college).

In general, I agree with those who say that at this age he should play around with stuff he find interesting, and FOSS and Moore's Law makes that inexpensive. In the next summer wandering around the file system of a UNIX(TM) V6 computer for undergraduates went hand in hand with playing the Colossal Cave Adventure game. I learned enough UNIX(TM) from that, e.g. that system had a DECtape which started me on backups, which for some reason I find to be fascinating, to be employable when I was "dumped on the streets" in 1980....

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> If he is interested in web development I think Khan Academy is a good place to start ([https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer- programming](https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming))

Great teaching lessons and lot of jobs around the world for the web

</comment><comment><USER18> There's contract work - like creating little websites or web apps for people. So, learn things like Wordpress, CSS, Javascript, image editing, to start.

If I were him, I would first ask around - family, local businesses, organizations, etc. to see if someone needs a website or internal database or something like that, and then learn what you need to learn to do it. Another option might be to find groups or small businesses or individuals that do coding and see if he can learn from them and help out.

What I wouldn't do is just try to learn programming for its own sake - such as taking a course or buying a book without any idea of how it might be useful. He'll just forget it and perhaps even decrease his interest in programming. Flip it around and find a project first, a reason to learn programming.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, I've tried the learning programming first route on him. Last time it _almost_ clicked. Finding a project first is exactly what I think will work this time.

<comment><USER19> Do your son show interest on programming? Or you as a father (and knowing more about the market) want him to become one to increase his probabilities of a stable life?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> My personal opinion is that JavaScript is the most fun and the most versatile. For example if he is into making games, creating HTML5 games with JavaScript works very well.

Not sure what is best for generating money.

But for learning, starting with a personal project (like a game) tends to work well.

</comment><comment><USER21> Love an entrepreneurial spirit!

Bust first, some comments/questions:

\- Programming is too broad. I would sit down and get him to think through what he means when he says "make money programming." This can go in a lot of directions (games, setting up wordpress sites), SEO, data scraping, etc.

\- Get to know the local ecosystem. Check [http://www.3cosystem.com/budapest](http://www.3cosystem.com/budapest) to see what meetups are coming this month. (Disclaimer - 3cosystem is a pet project of mine). Go to those events and ask the same questions here. See what is in demand. See who is making money locally and abroad.

\- I just checked, and there are quite a few events coming up this month. That is a good opportunity for both of you!

Good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> Holy schemoley, I really didn't expect so many events in Bp. Thanks!

<comment><USER21> You are welcome! Please bookmark it or add it to your home screen as I'm really hoping to get people using it day-to-day.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Yes experience is important. I'd say "software development experience = spending time hitting walls".

So find an interesting wall, and let him spend time on hit. For me the interesting things where thrill to see the computer do things, but for others that may be a paycheck.

Do not make cheat time by arranging or buying stuff, except for maybe a laptop. The time consuming obstacles motivated me a lot, i spent more time and effort in learning than i would have otherwise. I went through several programming books that way, just to satisfy my curiosity. Not deliver to some boss.

Later, ofcourse i descided to work for a boss, but by then i discovered what exactly i really found interesting.

</comment><comment><USER23> Learn programming fundamentals through TopCoder and HackerRank, which have programming puzzles and teach algorithm and data structure fundamentals

Then also get involved in an open-source project, just keep looking for interesting subjects and find one you like. Programming is more about managing projects, and it will give you something to put and talk about on your resume, and meet new people, and lead to jobs

Everything you need is online. "Pick a job and become the person that does it" \- Mad Men

</comment><comment><USER24> Python, specifically winpython 2.7.x You can see variables in the Variable Explorer and ipython is the default shell. Easy to install packages using the WinPython control panel.

Download it at [https://winpython.github.io](https://winpython.github.io) Windows packages at [http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs](http://www.lfd.uci.edu/~gohlke/pythonlibs)

</comment><comment><USER25> If it's solely for the purpose of making money (as opposed to learning for the challenge/curiosity) then do some research: freelancer.com, odesk etc etc. I'd check which technologies are in demand and go from there. It's also important to play to your strengths, for instance i find web development very finiky, i tend to excel in more meaty things like transaction processing. hth

</comment><comment><USER26> I started at 15 (15 years ago). Although today I am a Python guy and generally a little anti PHP. I think that the ease of PHP with web servers translates almost immediately with beginners. It will teach him to search for what else is out there. Plus if he is going to be doing little church/synagogue websites, he start to grasp HTML/CSS/Javascript at the same time. Same way I started.

</comment><comment><USER27> Maybe you guys should offer wordpress services for setting up websites. Then you would be:

1\. working within a large piece of software (learning)

2\. up and running fast and feeling good about making progress

3\. able to use google to resolve more of your issues since stackoverflow and many blogs talk about the common beginner mistakes

4\. have more customers up front (since money is the motivation) where many people are willing to pay for wordpress setup and management

<comment><AUTHOR> Isn't the market saturated for Wordpress? Where would you even market that? Like I say, locally is a weird situation for us; we're Americans in Hungary. (Well - he's got double citizenship; my point is that as perceptible foreigners I'm having troubles seeing a good selling strategy for that.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Honestly, if the lad's driven and 'wants to make side money programming', he should be curious enough to ask this question. I find it weird that people are suggesting SQL or Swift or Python, without even knowing what he's like. Maybe he likes microcontrollers. Who knows!

That you can mentor him is great but programming needs an innate interest. You can't really do his homework.

<comment><AUTHOR> Honestly, I see him in management pretty soon. He's amazingly good with people. He's _not_ yet good with people he doesn't know - it costs me nothing to ask for good platform recommendations on a site I've frequented for years, whereas for him, posting this question here would be a real hurdle. He'll grow out of that pretty soon; the trendline is pretty obvious at this point. In the meantime, I've got some interesting things to get him started on.

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> He could also try building something... I'm always trying new ideas like my latest : GlitterAndPoop.com -- a clone of the ShipYourEnemiesGlitter.com site, don't know if it'll make money, but took 3 days to build--and everything on your portfolio makes you look better and better.

</comment><comment><USER30> I suggest he start with creating his profile at odesk.com and freelancer.com . Initially, he needs to apply for smaller projects and at significantly lower prices than the other bidders. He can build a good portfolio and start moving to bigger and paying clients.

He could start with web development initially. It's the fastest way to get going. Then move to other subjects like algorithms, machine learning, Big data.

Ask him to build some stuff which can solve some real world problems that he faces in every day life. If other people also face such problems, they will pay to use his tools.

Good Luck

</comment><comment><USER31> It does not matter what language. Focus on value creation.

</comment><comment><USER32> Programming is very competitive market. Python is probably good choice for first language. Together with programming language I would recommend to learn some database, perhaps Cassandra, RethinkDB or SQLite.

</comment><comment><USER33> A lot of kids start with Wordpress customization or selling themes on ThemeForest.

</comment><comment><USER34> KISS: Python, Ruby or PHP, Django, Rails or Yii.

If any of those take the world will be his oyster.

<comment><USER29> Don't forget Laravel, one of the largest PHP MVC frameworks and communities around, definitely a good choice to get started, tons of great packages too (checkout Packalyst.com)

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Don't count out C# and SQL via SQL Server because C# runs everywhere and has got the proper tools to support it running everywhere (mobile, web, desktop) and SQL Server because it's the easiest to start using with C# if and when you get to that part...

Other languages like Python, PHP, Javascript etc. need to be shoe-horned into their mobile, web or desktop environment and don't have really good tools for one environment or the other. Furthermore, those languages come from the open- source world, the "Bazaar" if you will and they're simply not engineered as well as an industrial language like C# or Java.

</comment><comment><USER36> Swift.

The money is in mobile right now, and for the foreseeable future. Try Java for android too. In a couple of years he'll be making good money without leaving home.

Or anywhere in the world for that matter.

<comment><USER37> There is money in mobile games, but not for the independent developer. And it would not be easy for a 15 year old to get hired into a large mobile game development house.

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> A $450 Seiki 50" 4k display makes an excellent teaching tool. It's so large you can see code from a higher elevation so to speak. Visualizing and "seeing" how a script flows become much easier. You can stand by the display and point to how a function call executes the code where the function is defined and things like that.

This is the stack I would set up with, optimized for ease of use, elegance, and market demand:

Debian sid or Ubuntu

Tiling window manager

Vim

Python flask on the backend

Bootstrap on the front end.

A hacker that is comfortable with Linux and the command line, python, html, css and js can find work anywhere.

<comment><USER39> > .. ease of use, elegance ..

I wouldn't put Vim or ubuntu on either of those for a somewhat beginner.

How about, sublime and some web server like AMPP. That's way easier to get started with. Literally no friction.

<comment><USER40> You've got to start somewhere. More often than not you start with the easiest option and find that you're knee-deep in crap a ways down the line. If all you care about is ease-of-use over learning opportunity you might as well default to Windows with whatever flavor of Visual Studio you can get.</comment></comment></comment>


Mobile Visual Search - <AUTHOR> http://omoby.com/

<comment><USER2> I gave this a try too with some borrowed items around the office; here are my results:

      Blackberry - "Blackberry Cell Phone"

      Flat Screen TV - No match (but there were tons of reflections)

      Motorola Cell phone - "Cell Phone"

      Ikea French Press - "Glass Coffee Press"

Extra impressive since it was transparent!

      Klean Kanteen metal water bottle, non logo side - "Silver Metal Water Bottle"

      Klean Kanteen metal water bottle, logo side - "Kleen Kanteen"

      Black Stapler, odd angle - "Black Stapler"

      Roll Call Newspaper - "Roll Call Capitol Hill Newspaper"

      Vanity Fair cover - "Vanity Fair"

      Economist, Feb 13 - "Economist New Dangers for World Economy" (The title)

      Microsoft Natural Keyboard 3000 - "Ergonomic Keyboard"

(I was a bit disappointed in this one, it's a very distinct product)

      Front of the book "Ambient Findability" - "Ambient Findability"

      Back(!) of the book "Ambient Findability" - "O'reilly Ambient Findability"

      Trader Joes store brand Apple Juice - "Apple Juice Trader Joes"

      Urban Outfitters sunglasses - "Sunglasses"

      Ken Cole messenger bag - "Black leather pouch"

Overall I'm VERY impressed, although it looks like it's mostly just reading any available text, and that they're not canonicalizing their entries (So 'ambient findability' and 'oreilly ambient findability' aren't really records pointing to the book, just strings of text).

Still, identifying an upside down stapler from the side, and a book from the back cover is pretty darn impressive.

I also noticed experienced a noticeable battery drain and warm iphone from using this thing for 10 minutes or so, but definitely nothing show stopping.

</comment><comment><USER3> I'm pretty positive that they have a bunch of people typing these things up as they come in.

I took roughly the same picture of the same book twice, and it returned two distinct results:

"Godel Escher Bach An Eternal Golden Braid" vs. "Godel Escher Back Book"

Then I tried a WarCraft III CD case:

"Warcraft Dvd" vs. "Warcraft Video Game"

Some noodles:

"Neoguri Snack" vs. "Neoguri Spicy Seafood Udon Noodles"

JBL Creature Speakers:

"Jbl Speakers" vs. "Computer Speaker" vs. "Jbl Computer Speaker"

<comment><USER4> I just did an experiment: I took a picture of a box of "Nueva Cocina" brand red beans and rice, once with the logo obscured, and once with the logo visible.

Neither image returned a brand name ("Red Beans and Rice" & "Red Beans and Rice Box"), even though most of my other attempts have. Most puzzling though - I took a third picture, a close up of the logo with only the letters "VA CO" visible in the image. The response: "Viva Cocina".

What does this mean? If it was truly an algorithm, it should have been able to associate the logo with "Nueva Cocina" correctly, which it did not. But the fact that the response was remarkably close to correct leads me to think that not only is this crowdsourced, the same person must have gotten two of my images in a row, and just forgot the exact brand name. WTF? A bit creepy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> They use crowdsourcing:

We're a collaboration of scientists at UC Berkeley and UC Davis and our image labeling engine can take any photo and accurately label it. We use computer vision and an innovative crowdsourcing network to recognize images, and the architecture learns over time, so it gets smarter with each search.

<comment><USER3> I figured that this was too good to be true. They seem to be exploiting people with a fairly decent command of English, though.

<comment><AUTHOR> No, they don't use live crowd sourcing. They mean that they learn from the "crowd" of users. What they wrote is misleading.

<comment><USER3> I think they do. I am getting different labels for the same thing quite frequently.

<comment><AUTHOR> I stand corrected. Jesus they do in part.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Desk objects are fine but the people that would really use this, to me, are fashionistas trying to figure out whose shoes that girl over there at the bar is wearing...if they can make this work in 'real world' social environments, they've got something pretty interesting.

</comment><comment><USER7> I couldn't resist to download this app, so I did, and tested it. Took a picture of a red logitech wireless mouse and it was able to recognized in a few seconds. It knew it was a red logitech brand mouse, though it didn't' get the model right, but nonetheless it was able to classify it pretty well. I also took a picture of my toshiba laptop, this time it only knew it was a laptop.

Overall it's pretty awesome! They're doing a fine job with this thus far. I applaud them.

</comment><comment><USER8> This is very cool, if the tool works as shown for most queries.

One thing I noticed: The battery meter on the iPhone went from nearly full to nearly empty in the course of the demo. I was wondering whether that type of app could draw that much juice, or if there was another explanation -- lots of outtakes, failed search examples that didn't make it into the demo, etc.

</comment><comment><USER9> Has anyone used their API? I can see a lot of potentially interesting applications, but my gut feeling is that this is still a problem in the academic realm -- though it might work in some textbook cases, it would probably fail/tag incorrectly in a lot of real world cases.

</comment><comment><USER10> Can someone point the foundation paper for their technology? I've Googled some of their scientists, and most of them are working on neural related area (some work on sparse coding, I guess that is remotely related to this).

</comment><comment><USER11> Check the IQEngines link on the bottom and their demo on <http://www.iqengines.com/demo.php> . Pretty impressive (iff it's legit).

</comment><comment><USER12> I see Amazon, eBay, etc.. it would be cool if they added something like Milo for local search. Might be a better use case (save money by finding a lower price for something locally)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Video w/ fingers over book is uber-cool. Need to touch up their website & make video more like the original dropbox vid. (I.e. entertaining)

</comment><comment><USER13> Also try Google Goggles, I suppose.</comment>


Ongoing Google Cloud Incident – Sep 24 2019 - <AUTHOR> https://status.cloud.google.com/incident/google-stackdriver/19007 <comment><USER2> Was unable to redeploy one of our cloud functions for quite awhile there.</comment>


Zerg Rush Google Easter Egg - <AUTHOR> https://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=zerg+rush

<comment><USER2> This easter egg is referring to the game StarCraft 2 by Blizzard. There are three fractions in StarCraft 2: Protoss, Terran and Zerg. Imagine the Zerg like aliens. Zergs have a unit called "the Zergling" which is a small creature that usually attacks buildings and enemy units in groups. If you have a lot of Zerglings and run to your opponents fast this can be called "a Zergling rush". There are also custom maps that you can play that are called Zerg Rush: You are in the middle of the map and Zerlings are streaming to your bade from all sides. You have to defend it like in the easter egg.

<comment><USER3> Well, I would say that it refers to the Starcraft series. I'm so old that I remember the first Starcraft game – and I'm quite sure it had Zerg. ;)

<comment><USER4> "I'm so old that I remember the first Starcraft game"

I remember when Dune 2 came out - the father of all RTS games.

<comment><USER5> That I remembered - the major upgrade and concept it was over the previous dune 1.

Then the warcraft series, followed by Command and conquer and then Starcraft, which set the gold standard. AoE came next - after that it just becomes a blur of different RTS types which were competing for top billing.

<comment><USER6> Cryo's Dune was a completely different type of game (adventure), and was more or less developed and released in parallel to Westwood's Dune. Westwood's Dune is not a sequel at all, it was intended to replace Cryo's about-to-be-canceled game that never ended up being canceled, forcing them to name it Dune II: Battle for Arrakis to distinguish itself from Cryo's game.

<comment><USER5> You learn something new every day! Thanks - when I played them I was too far out of range for me to get info on game development at the time, iirc I even played them out of order.

Dune really was a brilliant game, and really its balance was pretty good, especially considering it was a time when the word balance itself hadn't been coined.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> It is a nice touch how originally there are 6 zerglings coming out and others came in pair.

For anyone who never played Starcraft: zerglings are created in pair, two per egg and the maximum number of eggs are 3. A player who attempts to do a zergling rush wait for the first 3 eggs to be available, hatch them and subsequently make a new pair of zerglings as soon as a new egg is available.

<comment><USER8> I would have liked Google's implementation more if instead of clicking the little O's to kill them, you get to instead make buildings that produce G's or something to defend. Clicking the O's isn't really starcrafty.

<comment><USER9> I guess you've never tried to focus fire/snipe banelings that are part of a zerg army moving towards your marine bio force. Accurate clicking is very Starcrafty.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Opera logos attacking page elements? Is there a backstory for this or is it just a coincidence?

<comment><USER11> It's the O:s in the google-logo

<comment><USER10> Ah, that makes more sense. Opera doesn't exactly represent the Zerg of browsers ;)

<comment><USER12> It doesn't, but that didn't refrain from me laughing about the search results getting trounced by what really looks like Opera logos.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I wonder how Google deal with all these little easter eggs from a code perspective. It's pretty impressive that they can add so much extra to a particular search term without it affecting the overall code quality.

<comment><USER14> I would imagine each search term being something like a key in a database, and each key has an associated field which can link to anything they want. That linker probably then gets attached to a "hook" on their site.

It's just a matter of adding in the hooked code into the associated field in the DB.

I know I over simplified this, but I would assume that's the gist.

<comment><USER15> Also, the infrastructure already exists for serious reasons, eg Googling for "suicide" will give you a hotline number to call.

So it's not like they added the extra complexity for a laugh!

<comment><USER16> That's a great idea but I tried and it gave me nothing.

Oh well, time to leave.

<comment><USER17> It looks like <http://i.minus.com/ibbwHvK38EiDQB.PNG> for me. Are you in the US?

<comment><USER18> Breaking News:

"Google's Zerg Rush drives thousands to contemplate suicide"

<comment><USER19> That's why proper root cause analysis is hard.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I figured this would be easy to hack, and I was right:

1) Insert jQuery into the search results page by using this bookmarklet: javascript:void(function(){if(!document.getElementById('jQscript')){var%20jQscript=document.createElement('script');jQscript.id='jQscript';jQscript.src='[https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.0/jquery.mi...](https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.0/jquery.min.js;document.documentElement.appendChild\(jQscript\);}}\(\)));

2) use the console to execute the following, moving all zerglings to 250x250: setInterval(function() { $('.zr_zergling_container').css('left', '250px').css('top', '250px'); }, 50);

3) click away. #winning

<comment><USER21> When we were code-reviewing it, we had a bunch of fun trying to hack it programmatically and sharing ridiculously high scores (things like 12,000 zerglings killed). It's not even as hard as you mention: you can simulate a mouseclick on all zergling divs programmatically, and instantly clear the screen of every wave.

Then I went and just entered the code to pop up a ShareBox programmatically on the JS console, letting me edit the share message to whatever I wanted it to be. "I took down 1,853,642.93 zerglings with 3.14 * 10^42 APM." And I didn't even need to play the game!

<comment><USER20> Yeah, you had the fortunate ability to view the non-minified version. ;)

My first approach was the mouseclick (using $('.zr_zergling_container').click()) but for whatever reason that wouldn't work. I got fed up and just decided to try moving the zerglings to a clickable location. Ha!

<comment><USER22> Ha, I spent a bit trying the same method, and it didn't work for me either. Didn't have the insight to move them though.

<comment><USER23> I was able to rack up a score of 1032 actual zerg kills ([https://plus.google.com/u/0/105804947146425070365/posts/LKju...](https://plus.google.com/u/0/105804947146425070365/posts/LKju7M6d7kg)) using simulated mouse clicks on the zerglings. It's not that hard: <https://gist.github.com/2514407> . There are relatively simple guards one could engineer into the zerg rush program to prevent simple hacks like this though, if one cared to. Fun stuff!

<comment><USER20> I showed my good friend my approach, he came up with this: <https://gist.github.com/2513841>

<comment><USER23> Nice :D

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> The GG at the end was a very nice touch.

<comment><USER25> gg'ing when you win is so bad manner

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> APM counter is a nice touch as well :).

(APM stands for Actions Per Minute, where Actions in StarCraft are input events that do something, like selecting an unit or ordering it to attack. Professional players tend to have >200 APM).

<comment><USER27> 200 is on the low side? I'm amateur and hit that commonly during games. I think JulyZerg was on record to hit 800 at one point. Lord only knows how that was physically possible. I would credit the source to TeamLiquid's Wiki (I believe) but I cannot search it while at work.

<comment><USER28> To avoid confusion, blizzard recently added something called EPM (effective actions per minute). Those are the one who counts. APM can be spammed or increased a lot by, for example, selecting all the larva in all your hatcheries and making units pressing one key. Pro players have a constant ~200 APM, not only for those moments.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> I was searching for information about Zerg Rushes, you insensitive clod!

<comment><USER30> I realise you're joking, but for anyone looking for advice regarding how to play SC or SC2, I recommend <http://wiki.teamliquid.net/>

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> I need <https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/multitask.html> now!

<comment><USER32> For some reason my brain read the last part of that url as "Mutalisk" ;p

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> Well, if this was an attempt to get me to share stuff on Google+, it succeeded.

<comment><USER34> If someone shares a link to a public Facebook post, do you consider it an attempt to get you to share stuff on Facebook? I find it odd that you assume someone sharing something on Google+ is an attempt to get you to use Google+ rather than an attempt to share the content with you.

<comment><USER35> I believe he's talking about the fact that, at the end of the Zerg Rush game, Google prompts you to share your score on Google+.

<comment><USER34> Thanks for pointing that out, I didn't play until the end of the game.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER36> It even comes in waves of 6-es, brilliant :)

<comment><USER37> 6 'ling rush FTW!

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> Is it Opera Browser logos you're supposed to shoot?

<comment><USER39> Half of them looks like that. It's actually the two "o"s from Google logo. But funny coincidence nevertheless, Opera even tweeted it: <https://twitter.com/#!/opera/status/195796939709743105>

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Works on iPad too! High score of 74 :) <http://imgur.com/Q52P9>

</comment><comment><USER40> Interestingly, I saw this comment on reddit yesterday that was a "leak" about this new easter egg. ([http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/stek5/what_little...](http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/stek5/what_little_easter_eggs_on_websites_do_you_love/c4gwdwd) )

</comment><comment><USER41> Nice share! This is the first time that my clicking skills were needed to 'defend' a search result page. :)

</comment><comment><USER42> Unimpressed Flash: "I just killed all the little O's, were they supposed to do something?"

</comment><comment><USER43> It's coincidental this post is popular because less than a week ago I decided to relive the past and install StarCraft: Brood War to play over LAN. It's still just as fun, but I forgot how easily the game consumes your time.

</comment><comment><USER44> You click on them to kill them? That's not how Starcraft works...

<comment><USER40> Actually, in Starcraft: Brood Wars you could explode a critter with a "nuke" animation by clicking repeatedly on it. :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> gg!

</comment><comment><USER46> It almost seems like some Freudian reaction to the recent accusations that Goggle search is broken.

</comment><comment><USER47> Well, shit.

This is all I'm going to be doing today...

</comment><comment><USER48> Why today? Do they know something about, say, the HOTS release that I don't?

</comment><comment><USER49> No speedlings? what is it, bronze league?

</comment><comment><USER50> I can't get it to work. What gives?

<comment><USER51> I had the same problem on my Chrome browser, odd right? I searched in IE and it worked.

<comment><USER50> I tried in Opera, Firefox, IE. Nothing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> Having a nice big monitor helps.

</comment><comment><USER6> Spawn more Overlords!

</comment><comment><USER53> kekekek

</comment><comment><USER54> Googlers have too much time on their hands.

<comment><USER55> Yeah, good to see they are spending their 20% time solving real problems.

<comment><USER44> Curing boredom and bringing joy to the user are solutions to real problems!

<comment><USER55> More like helping to perpetuate the image that the corporation where I work is a "fun" place to be, helping to improve our image and attract the right recruits. Big G are masters at this, just look at how much positive press they receive around their logo doodles.

<comment><USER56> That's rather cynical. The project was actually just implemented by a couple of employees who are Starcraft fans, not a mandate from management. The reality is Google actually really is a "fun" place to be.

<comment><USER55> Hence my original point that it was probably done on 20% time (not mandated by management). I disagree that I am being cynical for pointing out the self- evident facts that:

1\. Google spends a _lot_ of quality dev hours programming "fun" easter eggs/doodles/April fools sections into their products.

2\. These efforts gain a lot of positive spin in the media.

3\. This positive spin helps to improve the image of the corporation as a fun place to work/do business with etc.

Now given how many hours that go into some of these efforts, I find it difficult to believe that at least some of them must be mandated by management, but to me that's irrelevant: I'd much rather see all of this dev time being spent on:

1\. Making Google's products better.

2\. Contributing to an OSS project.

<comment><USER57> Humans are not robots. Squishy human elements like motivation, attitude, camaraderie, and "fun" have material productivity consequences, especially in cognition-driven fields like software.

"Quality dev hours" are not a fungible resource. In fact, they're so un- fungible that we commonly accept that beyond a certain point the value of a dev hour is negative. Maybe time spent on these projects invigorates engineers to do better work in the rest of their work hours? Maybe not. But the issue is more subtle than you're giving it credit for.

Plus... well... THIS particular simple throwaway Easter egg is what bothers you? You know there are several multi-billion-dollar industries that employ smart people in creating "fun" ways for people to unproductively spend their time, right?

<comment><USER55> > Plus... well... THIS particular simple throwaway Easter egg is what bothers > you? You know there are several multi-billion-dollar industries that employ > smart people in creating "fun" ways for people to unproductively spend their > time, right?

Yes, and they are called games companies, and I love their products and they really are fun. Is Google a games/entertainment company, or a company that sells advertising?

And no, it is not this particular Google Easter egg that bothers me, all of them do. I made that clear in my last comment. The fact that almost every one of them ends up on a thread on HN like this one is distracting (for the record this is the first one I have commented negatively on, but they're all as bad).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER58> Google keeps repeating the same trick over and over again. I don't find it funny/interesting any more. How about something new Google?

<comment><USER59> They've done this before?

<comment><USER58> Search: "tilt" for example. I have seen this about 2 years ago and it was really cool. This effect is just iteration on the same idea ...

<comment><USER60> Yes, Google should be ashamed for implementing more than one easter egg. It being something completely different is no excuse!</comment></comment></comment></comment>


The signals workers send by living in a city - <AUTHOR> http://www.ryanavent.com/blog/?p=2276

<comment><USER2> tl;dr Summary: High cost workers should force employers to seek less expensive cities. The explanation for this not happening is that workers signal their quality by being in high cost areas since living there implies they are high enough quality to get a job that can allow them to afford living there.

Since high quality workers congregate there, employers stay despite the cost, to gain the benefit of a high quality workforce.

<comment><USER3> My preferred argument is that high labor costs increases supply which _reduces_ the total cost of labor.

For example, in a city I need one DBA which costs me $100k. In the country I need _two_ DBAs at $60k each, because if one leaves I'm not confident I can get another of sufficient skill before the business falls apart.

This applies less to larger businesses, which have internal economies of scale and so don't need to rely on the outside market as much. It also doesn't apply to those reliant on lower skilled labor which has a higher supply by default.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> "skill-biased technological change causes a core-periphery bifurcation where the agglomeration of high-skill workers eventually constitutes a unique stable equilibrium."

Is this even in English?

<comment><USER5> It's more math than English, but yes.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifurcation_theory>

In case you've never studied bifurcation theory.</comment></comment>


Crytek crunchtime dinners during Ryse's development. - <AUTHOR> http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1ojg59/crytek_shares_the_amount_of_crunchtime_dinners/

<comment><USER2> I started studying computer science and media, because I wanted to get into game development.

But it's probably the shittiest business to work in the whole IT area...

<comment><USER3> You should probably say AAA titles are the shittiest business to work.

I have people both worked at AAA titles and smaller games and the stories they tell are completely different.

But still this is terrible. A project should not have crunch. The main reason is - it does not work.

The only times I have experienced crunch working is when I was in creativity trap and after 16/18 hours of work I was so tired and almost drugged from caffeine that I started thinking outside the box and tried throwing crazy ideas at the code to see if it will work.

<comment><USER2> Yeah, some indie studies wrote a counter-tweet, where they told everyone how their employees can dine at home.</comment></comment></comment>


Australia's National Broadband Network proposes streaming video tax - <AUTHOR> https://www.itnews.com.au/news/nbn-co-floats-its-own-netflix-tax-527507 <comment><USER2> It's worth nothing that Australia has never had the net neutrality debate that occurred in the US. This might well be the spark, if anyone in this country cares.

This move would be NBN way overstepping its remit as a last-mile layer-2-only service, as it is described in legislation. The ACCC has already taken them to task over mission creep regarding backhaul (and remade the model from 14 POIs to 121) - deep packet inspection would surely grab their attention.

<comment><USER3> Also worth noting that the NBN is a government mandated monopoly. There are no other options for a wired Internet connection. If the NBN abandons net neutrality then the entire Internet is broken in Australia.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> National Broadband Network - modern high speed fiber optic transit backbone network with monthly data caps!</comment>


Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating ClimateTragedy [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf <comment><USER2> From the paper: "The purpose of this conceptual paper is to provide readers with an opportunity to reassess their work and life in the face of an inevitable near-term social collapse due to climate change."

</comment><comment><USER3> I feel like this would have more upvotes. This is incredibly relevant, correct?</comment>


Bank of America says cuts off WikiLeaks  - <AUTHOR> http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BH0HF20101218 <comment><USER2> "This decision is based upon our reasonable belief that WikiLeaks may be engaged in activities that are, among other things, inconsistent with our internal policies for processing payments," the Bank of America statement added.

Really? Or does it have something to do with the reports that WikiLeaks will be releasing some internal BoA documents soon? <http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=97371>

<comment><USER3> It would be interesting to know exactly which policies BoA is referring to, and why it thinks Wikileaks is in violation of those policies.

Without specifics, it's impossible to know whether Wikileaks is in violation at all.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's my thought, too. "Internal policies"? Might as well just call them secret policies if they're not going to show what specific policies were violated, and how any client or customer can know in advance if any of these policies might be violated.

How can one reliably do business with a company that will deny service to customers based on secret policies?

I have a business account with BoA, but I'm moving it because I can't see doing business with a bank that thinks they're entitled to decide how I spend my money.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It says other financial institutions have done the same, does anyone know if other big banks are doing this too, or is BoA the first one? I know Visa, MasterCard etc are ... but they're not banks.</comment>


Clojurists Together Foundation - <AUTHOR> https://www.clojuriststogether.org/news/announcing-the-clojurists-together-foundation/ <comment><AUTHOR> TL;DR: Clojurists Together outgrew its previous digs (at the Software Freedom Conservancy) and we're our own legal entity now.

I'm the president of the new foundation; happy to answer questions here.</comment>


The Doctor Is Out For Good - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/opinion/the-doctor-is-out-for-good.html <comment><USER2> My GP did the same but at least he sold his practice to a group so I didn't have to find a new one immediately. I ended up sticking with the group because my new doctor is the best!

We spend hours and days finding the right library or framework to best fit our project. We spend weeks looking for the right laptop. But most people just go to the nearest doctor their whole lives without even wondering if they are getting the best medical care.

My wife is a surgical PA who has worked closely with probably 50+ surgeons and other doctors in our area. She told me to memorize the names of the best 3-4 surgeons she's worked with. She said in an emergency I would be ok with about 10-15 of the average surgeons but the rest of them, over half of the surgeons she has worked with, don't know what they're doing after they cut you open. Some of the bad surgeons take 4+ hours to do what the good ones can do in 30 mins or under. Of course some of the good ones are in a rush and don't care about the scars they leave behind. The best ones operate quickly and cleanly but unless you have actually been in the room with them during surgeries, you can't tell. So best is to get 2nd/3rd opinions before you get a major procedure.

<comment><USER3> If you live near me, can I have a chat with your wife about her rankings of these surgeons?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> If the writer knew how bad the current practice environment is for many GPs, he might weave a little more sympathy into his article.

</comment><comment><USER5> Why did this doctor head for Texas? Why did he leave at all? Is there some new law that incentivized him to move, or did he do so because of business trouble or malpractice?</comment>


Wikileaks Secret Dreams - <AUTHOR> http://cryptome.org/0003/wikileaks-dreams.htm

<comment><USER2> Cryptome and Wikileaks fell out a while back over a pretty big disagreement. You should take anything that either of them say about each other with a pinch of salt. That said, Cryptome do have a very good point here.</comment>


Why do I need to build an investor page? - <AUTHOR> http://rileyjames.co/investor-pages-saas-startup/

<comment><USER2> Interesting idea, and while almost every company does seem to have an Investor page, I would imagine each company's Investor page is very different from the next, making a single solution for all difficult. Everybody has different goals from their Investor page.

<comment><AUTHOR> Agreed, but there are many common features. Team is a good example. When there is so much emphasis on DRY I don't see why other elements of a startup should be any different.</comment></comment>