Show HN: Open Startup List - <AUTHOR> https://www.openstartuplist.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> Hi Hackers, founder here,

What's in common with nomadlist, Ghost CMS and baremetrics? They are all Open Startups! It's an interesting era to live in. An era where we are in the midst of a virus outbreak, political corruptions and... Open startups! What is an open startup? Well, there is no strict definition, but it basically means that the startup operates in full transparency, so all metrics like revenue and traffic is free for all to view. I came across one problem though, how do I find these startups? how do I find their "open" metrics pages? And that's why I built openstartuplist.com Some interesting insights come across when you go over the data in the list, like: \- nomadlist revenue for Feb was ~30k$, a slight decrease from Jan but not much considering the effects of the Corona virus, interesting. \- Ghost have seemed to just cross today the 2M$ mark for ARR!! that's incredible! \- And a lot more insights out there. I've taken the last week to curate a list of 12 open startups. But that's just the start, as I'm eagerly looking to add more to the list. I'm sure there are many more startups out there that operate in this transparent way. This is a trend in the making. All feedback is welcome and be safe and healthy :)

<comment><USER2> You are going to need some more meat on the bone for the "Why" section. Because "it's a growing trend."...? Seriously? So were Beanie Babies. At the very least you need a link to a separate, full write-up about why any business owner should care, much less make that plunge.

Don't get me wrong, I am intrigued and clearly you believe in something, but you need to do a better job framing this.

<comment><USER3> We wrote an article about this :)

[https://blog.leavemealone.app/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an- ope...](https://blog.leavemealone.app/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-open- startup/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I would like this movement more if they focused less on the investor pitch metrics and had more operational transparency. Opening up to a userbase about something like your product development cycle & the challenges experienced in real time would intensify the relationship x10+ for better and for worse. Like Kickstarter reward updates (are supposed to be). Real time Gantt charts and dashboards with explanatory blog posts about why this or that did or didn't happen. Its a big risk if you get off message, SHTF, and you poison your customer relations. But if you believe in what your doing and don't have anything to hide then I think making the connection is worth it. To me, that would be an Open Startup.

<comment><AUTHOR> I totally agree, and while we are not there yet, you see companies like baremetrics, ghost and nomadlist which started this movement. But if you take a closer look at smaller companies like placecard.me you will see more detailed blog posts covering their progress with almost complete view on how the founder develops his/her startup as well as metrics such as revenue and work hours (check [https://www.coryzue.com/open/](https://www.coryzue.com/open/) ). I hope this will grow to more startups as it does instills a stamp of trust.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Nice list! We are tinkering with an idea [1] to provide metrics (revenue, newsletter subscribers, tracked time …) , graphs for all of that, but also a little bit of background story too.

Why we think it's valuable to see all of this:

1\. It's a huge motivation for others to get something started. 2\. I alway try to learn from other numbers to see what works and what doesn't work. Though most things depend on the type of thing you build, I feel like I learned a ton from those open pages already. 3\. For indie developers trust is key. Funny enough some people trust big corporations more than single developers. That's one way to build trust. 4\. People want to see indie developer succeed and that's a great way to let them follow your journey.

Keep on going, great work!

[1] [https://floatie.app](https://floatie.app)

</comment><comment><USER6> Lately, there have been good number of startups releasing their revenue. But once they have grown some level they stopped sharing revenue (Buffer, Transistor). Maybe because of clones or competitors?

</comment><comment> Pete-Codes How can I submit?

[https://www.nocsdegree.com/open/](https://www.nocsdegree.com/open/)

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi Pete, cool startup you got! I will add your startup today :D

Mind sharing links to your HN/IH/PH posts/interviews? Also if you would like, I would be thrilled to interview you on your view of having an open startup, let me know what you think :)

Thanks!!

<comment> Pete-Codes Great :)

Where do you want me to share links to my interviews?

Yeah, happy to do an interview!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I was expecting startups developing open-source software or hardware. Sadly this isn't the case.

<comment><AUTHOR> Wouldn't you say that sharing these metrics like revenue and traffic to the world is not considered open sourcing your data? I find it incredible.

<comment><USER7> Interesting, yes.

Incredible, maybe.

Open-source, not really.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> 3 more open startups were added to the list! :D</comment>


Can Low Interest Rates Hold Off Recession? (With Richard Wolff) - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJCXnqR6wU8 <comment><USER2> This guy has never once published in a respectable journal in his entire career and would get laughed out of any room of economists.

By doing the podcast rounds and being vocal he's creating the impression for the uninformed that his views are respected within the field whereas in reality you could count on one hand all of the economists who take heavy influence from Marxism in all of US academia.

Marxism is an absolute joke in economics circles and has nothing interesting to say about modern economics.

I would be much gentler on Marx as a sociologist, I think he had some good insights, but he did not contribute anything to economics.

<comment><AUTHOR> Prof. Wolff may be a Marxist and outsider in "economics circles", but this does not discredit him. Just read on him here:

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

Macroeconomics is not exact science, all theories there are quite weak when compared to exact sciences. Given the increasing inequality and wage stagnation in the West and life quality increase in China in last four decades, I think listening to him is not a waste of time.

<comment><USER2> So your argument is that because the whole field is junk credibility doesn't matter anyway?

Economics may be far from a science but that doesn't mean all ideas are equal within it.

Marxist economics happen to be one of the few ideas that is so obviously ridiculous that it fails to meet basic tests for applicability to the real world that other theories meet even if they are all unprovable and subjective.

As an aside everytime it has been tried at scale millions have died awful deaths.

<comment><AUTHOR> My argument is that orthodox economics and its application in the West have shown their limits so other ideas cannot be easily dismissed.

Yes, failures of the Soviet Union are known. Totalitarian state murdering its own people, systemic corruption, weak exports and weak consumer goods, and of course, the arms race, made the quality of life in SU fall beyond that in the West significantly.

Not that it proves anything about marxist ideas. In the beginning, marxist ideas were incredibly successful in Soviet Union. Prof. Wolff account of the history of Soviet Union is more informed and more interesting than "millions awful deaths".

Also, in China we have an example of how big socialist state can work economically, those mistakes about consumer goods and exports were fixed.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Do we need a better domain registrar? - <AUTHOR> Hi HN,
Recently I've been researching a lot about the DNS infrastructure, and frankly I'm quite disappointed by the services provided by the average domain registrar. Most of them seem to treat DNS as a 'byproduct' in order to sell other services and they only seem to compete on price. As a result, they spend minimal effort on security, protocol compliance and advanced features that DNS has to offer.
I'm talking about features such as:

  - 2FA on the control panel

  - Full support of all record types (CAA, DS, CDS, etc.)

  - DNSSEC key material stored in a HSM

  - Ability to manage your own DNSSEC keys (DS record support)

  - Support for domain locking (EPP status codes)

  - Domain transfers while keeping DNSSEC activated

  - Audit logs

  - DANE support
 I want to change this by starting a domain registry and hosted authoritative DNS service for professionals, with a strong focus on security.
However, the domain name market is saturated and very competitive (in price, volume), so the service would not be able to compete on price.
My question is: Is it just me or is there actually an opportunity for a 'better' DNS service? <comment><USER2> There is a reason that almost none of the largest, best-funded security teams in the world bother DNSSEC-signing; it's because DNSSEC has, at best, marginal security value. It's a failing protocol. I don't know that building a business around it is a great plan.

<comment><AUTHOR> DNSSEC is a compromise because of backward compatibility, but the alternative is not signing at all.

> almost none of the largest, best-funded security teams in the world bother > DNSSEC-signing

Do you have any sources to back your claim about this? I'm having a hard time believing that the best-funded security teams prefer weak authentication over no authentication.

<comment><USER2> Sure. Go to the Verizon DNSSEC Analyzer site and type in the domains of giant banks, like BankOfAmerica.com and Chase.com. Those are companies with security teams consisting of hundreds of people, and "authentication" is something they spend fuckloads of money on. None of them are DNSSEC-signed.

It's 2018. You think maybe they're just late to the party? No: they've decided not to do it, the same way the browser teams decided not to support DNSSEC in their libraries or UX.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> DNS is a byproduct because 99,99% of the people don't want to pay for it. This is why domain registrars are not bothering that much about it, they don't earn money with it.

You can split it anyways, search for your favourite DNS provider and for your favourite domain registrar. There is no need to have both at your domain registrar.

<comment><AUTHOR> > You can split it anyways, search for your favourite DNS provider and for > your favourite domain registrar. There is no need to have both at your > domain registrar.

DNSSEC has complicated that a bit. Since you need to have your registrar send the value for the DS key to the tld registry. In theory you could set a CDS record and be done with it, but as always, most registrars don't bother in supporting it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> DNSSEC stuff is terribly boring.

Yeah, there's lots of room for a better domain registrar, but such a registrar should focus on doing a better job at registrar things instead of wasting time on DNS.

A big issue is that registrars will happily take down domains when a law firm reaches out to them, there's simply zero interest in standing by their customers.

<comment><AUTHOR> What would a registry need to do better when it comes to registering things? Any examples you can share?

EDIT: I was too soon, didn't see you updated your post.

> A big issue is that registrars will happily take down domains when a law > firm reaches out to them, there's simply zero interest in standing by their > customers.

That's what EPP status codes are for, if implemented correct, the registrar can't even change the domain ownership even if they want or are forced to.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Yeah, one that simply acts as a neutral registrar, and nothing else. In other words, doesn't try to take down domains that it thinks are offensive, and doesn't cave to public (mostly Twitter) pressure.

</comment><comment><USER6> This is why I moved my domains to NameSilo. All they do is domains, and they specifically focus on providing a better service, rather than just relying on hosting/email customers needing a .com.

</comment><comment><USER7> DNSimple for me is this "better" DNS service. As far as I know it does all the things on your list. It's expensive, but worth it for me. You may want to check it out!</comment>


New Wind and Solar Power Is Cheaper Than Existing Coal - <AUTHOR> https://insideclimatenews.org/news/25032019/coal-energy-costs-analysis-wind-solar-power-cheaper-ohio-valley-southeast-colorado <comment><USER2> It's instructive to compare this list comparing the carbon intensity of electricity generation by state: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon_Intensity_of_Eletr...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Carbon_Intensity_of_Eletricity_by_State.svg) to this list of the cost of electricity by state: [http://www.neo.ne.gov/programs/stats/inf/204.htm](http://www.neo.ne.gov/programs/stats/inf/204.htm) Objectively, electricity costs the most in states that have the lowest carbon intensity of generation, i.e. the highest share of wind and solar. The correlation is off the charts. Any analysis that says that wind and solar are cheaper than fossil fuels that doesn't address this simple, objective fact is a snow job. (The outliers are Washington and Oregon -- because those states use hydropower instead of solar or wind.)

<comment><USER3> The article was comparing coal costs vs Solar and Wind. Carbon output from fossil fuels suggests not only coal, but also oil and natural gas.

<comment><USER2> Coal is much cheaper than oil and comparable to natural gas. [https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/update/resource_use....](https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/update/resource_use.php)

<comment><USER4> Oil is a very small part of electric generation. Natural gas has gotten a lot cheaper than coal, which is why so many coal plants are being shut down.

More recently, renewable has started to get cheaper than natural gas.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Direct links to study data mentioned in the article:

[https://energyinnovation.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/03/Coal...](https://energyinnovation.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/03/Coal-Cost-Crossover_Energy-Innovation_VCE_FINAL.pdf)

[https://energyinnovation.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/03/Coal...](https://energyinnovation.org/wp- content/uploads/2019/03/Coal-Cost-Crossover-National-Dataset.xlsx)

<comment><USER5> Looks like cost calculations were done with "NREL ATB low"

[https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2019/changes.html](https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2019/changes.html)

Example for wind: "The Low cost case was updated to reflect recent bottom-up analysis regarding the potential of R&D to enable significant cost reductions."

So basically we made a model based on vaporware. I am not sure how much I trust the idea that we can mine enough rare earth elements for PV cells to make it cheaper than coal. Not to mention the cost of energy storage needed for renewable sources.

We all want green energy- but I really find it hard to believe the claims made in this report. At least right now.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> This is why Trump's plan to save coal is going to be a total failure.</comment>


Search and Rescue for Sale - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/2015/08/search-and-rescue-for-sale/

<comment><USER2> I'm some countries if you can be charged if you don't assist a victim. Especially medical practitioner who can lose their licence for failure to help.

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

While there is always going to be grey zones there should be rules these companies fall under 'Duty to rescue'. So at least in the more obvious cases they can have a chopper sitting there idle because someone doesn't have the funds. This can be considered a cost of doing private business in the disaster recovery business and would remove some ethical dilemma.

</comment><comment><USER3> > Then the avalanches started: one, two, three. They were aerosol > avalanches—wind-driven thin layers of snow.

TIL that there are aerosol avalanches. It seems to be a difficult topic to learn more about. The search hits I get are articles that assume you know about aerosol avalanches, while general articles on avalanches do not mention the aerosol kind. An "aerosol avalanches for complete morons" would be nice. Regardless, it's an interesting concept.</comment>


Drug dealers moving from street corners to social media - <AUTHOR> https://news.sky.com/story/one-in-four-youngsters-exposed-to-illegal-drug-ads-on-social-media-11804202 <comment><USER2> Genuine question: was it ever really the case that a large number of drug users got their drugs from a sketchy hooded person on a street corner?

<comment><USER3> Are you asking about "large number" or "large percentage"? Because you'll find street sellers in every reasonably large city if you know how to look even though most people don't buy that way.

</comment></comment><comment> xkcd-sucks >and what we found surprising is how unconcerned young people are by them. For them, it's a normal part of day to day life."

Well yes, the bad druggies aren't going to reach through the screen and force you to buy crack at gunpoint or whatever it is people fear

</comment><comment><USER4> Thats ok when the way things are headed with how data is handed to law enforcement via no one reading t.o.s. it will just lead to more open and closed cases. Digital footprints will become evidence.</comment>


Auth0 Extend: A new way to extend SaaS applications beyond Webhooks - <AUTHOR> https://auth0.com/blog/introducing-auth0-extend-the-new-way-to-extend-your-saas/ <comment><USER2> Pricing says 'call us'. That is a huge bummer. Basically means I won't invest the time to use this. Keep in mind I'm already an auth0 customer.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> You might have seen Graphcool's launch yesterday where they announced 'inline functions'. Graphcool is running its users' code on their behalf right in the hot code path of their mutation pipeline. This means they're able to run untrusted code in an isolated and low-latency manner and at scale.

You may have seen something similar before in Auth0 Rules [1]. That the two share similarities is no coincidence! Auth0 Rules and Graphcool's 'inline functions' use the same Webtask technology behind the scenes.

We packaged up this technology to provide the first and only 'Extensibility as a Service' offering called Auth0 Extend [2]. Auth0 Extend builds on the familiar webhook model but removes the friction webhooks impose on user; no more standing up and managing servers just to handle webhook invocations. Auth0 Extend makes it trivial to transform a platform's webhook integration into an in-platform custom code editing experience.

1: [https://auth0.com/docs/rules](https://auth0.com/docs/rules) 2: [https://auth0.com/extend](https://auth0.com/extend)

<comment><USER3> Is webtask open source or closed source?

<comment><AUTHOR> The Webtask technology is closed-source. Much of the tooling, however is open- source.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Can someone explain to me in simple term. What kind of thing is this Auth0 extend, and why would i need this compared to service like heroku, zeit now, or something else?

</comment><comment><USER5> So... a business model around signed mobile code..? Neat, but I have many questions regarding safety: confinement, isolation, termination, resource management, etc. Shunting code around is the easy part... it's preventing code from doing bad/dangerous things that's hard. Need more info.

<comment><AUTHOR> @mmalone: Auth0 Extend uses the Webtask technology stack we created at Auth0 that has run our Rules pipeline for over 3 years.

Your questions are spot on: isolation is really the selling point of Auth0 Extend. When running your customers' code on their behalf, a platform needs to be absolutely sure that each customer's runtime environment is isolated from all others. We provide the concept of 'named containers'. These containers represent isolation boundaries. On a PaaS, each tenant of that platform might be assigned a container or each project may be assigned a container. The level at which isolation guarantees are delivered is really up to the platform implementing Auth0 Extend.

Another feature that distinguishes Extend from other 'Serverless' offerings is the absence of material cold latency. Because we use Extend at Auth0 to provide extensibility for the user authentication pipeline, minimal latency is and has always has been a requirement.

It is a very hard (if not impossible in a generic language like Javascript) to _prevent_ code from doing dangerous things. This is not something we pretend to do. Instead, we provide isolation so that the only tenant affected by bad code is that tenant. To minimize the impact of bad code, we have great tooling like real-time streaming logs to facilitate debugging.

Hope this answers some of your questions. If not, join us on Slack: [https://auth0-extend.run.webtask.io/slack- signup](https://auth0-extend.run.webtask.io/slack-signup)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Why do I see callbacks for completion instead of Promises in 2017? Promises are included in ES6 spec [0].

[0]: [https://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/6.0/#sec- promise...](https://www.ecma-international.org/ecma-262/6.0/#sec-promise- constructor)

<comment><AUTHOR> The programming model exposed by a SaaS implementing Auth0 Extend is totally customizable by middleware. If you feel that your users would be more familiar with a Promise-based model, this can easily be provided.

See: [https://github.com/auth0/extend/wiki/Auth0-Extend- User's-Gui...](https://github.com/auth0/extend/wiki/Auth0-Extend- User's-Guide#middleware)

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> 18 points by "producthunt.com employee"

</comment><comment><USER8> Why a PH link?

<comment><AUTHOR> You might also find the following blog post provides a useful introduction: [https://auth0.com/blog/introducing-auth0-extend-the-new- way-...](https://auth0.com/blog/introducing-auth0-extend-the-new-way-to- extend-your-saas/)

<comment><USER9> This is helpful too: [https://github.com/auth0/extend/wiki/Auth0-Extend- User%27s-G...](https://github.com/auth0/extend/wiki/Auth0-Extend- User%27s-Guide#what-is-auth0-extend)</comment></comment></comment>


What's Wrong With Blocking Ads? - <AUTHOR> http://blog.mises.org/?p=007149

<comment><USER2> > There is nothing ethically or morally wrong with an ad-blocker.

Haha, that is a huge, unbacked assertion in this article.

Maybe under some ethical systems it's not wrong. However, some of us recognize the concept of a social contract where there is an implicit agreement that if you want to use someone else's resources and they ask payment for it, you are obligated to either

1\. Pay them the way they ask (including by viewing the ads they ask you to).

or

2\. Not use their resources.

Option three, which is to circumvent paying them by some means, does not become ethical merely because it's easy.

You could also look at this through the lens of the categorical imperative. We haven't yet devised a means through which people can pay for things efficiently over the internet. Ads are the only current viable way to conduct business in situations that call for many small payments for small pieces of content. If everyone blocks ads, this business model becomes impossible, creating a detrimental reality. Thus, according to the categorical imperative, ad blocking is immoral.

> It is no different than using any other technology to filter language or > explicit content.

This is incorrect. On typical webpages the author of the content is not being compensated for your hearing curse words or the possibility of your hearing them.

> No one is being harmed.

Not in a direct sense, but in a statistical and economic sense they are.

Basically, this entire article-let is a big instance of begging the question. It reduces to "nothing is wrong with blocking ads because there's nothing unethical about blocking ads," with no correct support. Or, to put it even more ridiculously (but, I think, still being fair to the actual logical content of the article): "nothing is wrong with blocking ads because nothing is wrong with blocking ads."

<comment><USER3> It's the internet, though. Am I not free to maybe even switch off JavaScript as a whole, or use a browser that can only display text? I thought the general understanding is that you may watch internet sites with whatever browser you like. Unless the site specifically implements restrictions (IE only, for example).

But in general, sorry, but it can't be unethical to switch off JavaScript. And the ethics of pushing ads into people's faces are also debatable.

<comment><USER2> If your browser lacks a certain capability for reasons other than avoiding paying content providers for their content you consume, it's their responsibility to work around that weakness, or else forbid you from using the site. If they do neither, then it's a tacit agreement that in your special case they are willing to provide the content for free.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> An ironic point is that blocking ads actually raises the probability that I will buy the advertisers' product. Example: whenever I see the word "Netflix" now I am conditioned to want to punch a hole through the nearest computer screen. Had I blocked all their ads I may have eventually considered using them. Now I just think of them as the giant annoying red box that inserts itself between me and content I'm interested in.

<comment><USER5> It's not ironic. It's statistics. Advertising works on a percentage basis across a population. Over all, it sells more products. If it didn't, people would stop doing it.

You may happen to fit within a percentage of the population that will not buy the product after seeing an ad, but that segment is far, far smaller than the percentage of the population that will go out and buy a product after seeing an ad.

<comment><USER6> Then assuming the people that block ads are the same that have adverse reactions to them advertisers should like ad blockers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Here's a simple detect function if you want to show adblock users a big paywall, which could be good if you have enough of them.

      function detect(cb) {
        var tt = document.createElement("div");
        tt.style.display = "none";
        document.body.appendChild(tt);
        var i = document.createElement("iframe");
        i.src = "http://adv.foo.com/ads/-adspace?ad_id=&affiliate=&advert=678";
        var foo = i.style.cssText;
        tt.appendChild(i);
        window.setTimeout(function() {
            cb(foo!=i.style.cssText);
        }, 200);
      }

the callback 'cb' will be called with true if adblock is installed.

<comment><USER8> Sounds like a very small phase in a cat-and-mouse chase. The people who use AdBlock are pretty technically savvy, they'll jump on another plug-in that bypasses the hack you've just mentioned in no time. And the hack doesn't work anyway for some existing popular adblock extensions.

Perhaps it would be more worthwhile to move to a different model altogether.

<comment><USER9> Many technical minded people tend to think that if something will eventually fail, it's not worth doing.

There's an old joke about a horse trainer who was ordered by his king, under penalty of death, to teach his horse to speak. So he very methodically starts to do just that. When asked why he's trying to do the impossible, he answers: "Teaching takes a long time. Maybe the king dies. Maybe the horse dies. Or maybe the horse learns to talk."

<comment><USER10> Maybe Adblock is updated the next day, and you basically wasted your afternoon. Time you will never get back, all for nothing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I at least somewhat believe that ad-blocking is a symptom rather than a problem. Some advertising legitimately alerts me to things I find interesting, and I avoid blocking ads in general for this reason. Most, however, are repulsive and inconveniencing - I rarely watch enough of an advertisement to see what it actually sells. I generally like ad-supported content models, however, and usually am willing to let the banners ads have their place if it keeps a valuable site in business.

What offends me is the new class of ad that comes with built-in audio. I may add your site to my blocklist/spamlist for doing this. This kind of ad causes awkward social situations and trouble in the office - someone's computer randomly starts blaring out noise in what should be a quiet and focused environment. This is not a social contract - this is a trap.

I think this debate exists for stupid reasons. Advertisers and webmasters have apparently forgotten that ads are supposed to sell something to a customer. If potential customers run away from your ad, then it's time to fire the ad agency and question product-market fit.

</comment><comment><USER12> Frankly I think what all sites should do is offer ad-free option.

And I'm not talking about the greedy...let's charge $4.99 a month for ad-free service. No, I mean charge users what you are likely to see from them over a year $1-2 one-time micropayment.

This way you still get to make money off ads, you show the passers by...but your core users, can opt out for a small fee. You win, by earning the $$$ you'd ever see from them in a single period. And they win, by not having ads on a site they use all the time.

</comment><comment><USER13> I take it this is somehow related to the other post about blocking ads.

This post is from 2007, and this quote...

>>And in short, due to the fact that tools like this exist, several webmasters are now refusing to allow netizens to access their respective websites via a Firefox browser.

... seems incredibly off base.

I'm hoping there's something I'm missing that made this post interesting.

<comment><USER14> Back in 2007 a blogger named Danny Carlton blocked Firefox due to the use of adblock. some back story can be found here <http://adblockplus.org/blog/ads- dont-generate-money>.

For myself, i user adblock and it is very hard for me to imagine my internet experience without it, i eagerly await Fennec on the android platform so i can block ads on my cell browser, it is especially painful there

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I was thinking about this recently. My idea was to integrate advertisers as regular users into my web app.

Advantages: Ads are ordinary pictures hosted from my site\domain without javascript so not blockable. No annoying animations for my visitors. Manually targetted ads with a much higher click through rate. No middle man. Could maybe come up with some sort of market algorithm to change price to advertise based on demand rather than negotiating every deal.

Disadvantage: Would probably have to roll my own tracking system? Wouldn't be able to implement as many statistics for advertisers. Increased liability. Harder for small sites.

Does anyone know what the state of "off-the-shelf" advertising systems is for big sites that want to sell ads directly rather than rely on adsense/3rd parties? If anyone wants to hash out some ideas\code for a plug-n-play ad system that sites can drop on there server, gives advertisers dynamic quotes, handles payments/uploads hit me up at dhllndr at gmail, or aim redfoxbeatbox. Could be a good seperate product to monetize.

</comment><comment><USER16> I think dubbing ad-blockers as stealing is, clearly, idiotic.

But I think it's a fair assertion that your depriving the displaying site of revenue for their content. If everyone used ad blockers would big news agencies offer free services like they currently do?

But then adverts can be a big annoyance.

Both sides have a clear point here. The problem is that the ad blockers hold all the cards - if sites put up a paywall for ad blockers they lose custom. If they circumvent the blockers they just draw fire. If they denounce the blockers they get berated.

Lets at least be a bit ethical: ad blockers are cool. But if you like a site and it's contents and your a regular visitor consider unblocking their ads :) this is what I do and I dont begrudge them it (I will still block some of the more "in your face" ads on a case by case basis)

</comment><comment><USER17> There's nothing intrinsically wrong with blocking ads, especially if you find them offensive. Some of the worst examples feature rapidly flashing animations. To someone like me they're just an irritant to be eliminated as quickly as possible. To someone with epilepsy the situation could be more serious. This sort of disrespectful advertising is what we don't want to see on the web. I'm not against advertising online, but I think there need to be changes in the way ads are served/approved/regulated - perhaps with an industry-wide code of conduct being adopted. Ads are subject to regulation when they're shown on television, and maybe there needs to be some similar process for the internet.

</comment><comment><USER10> _And in short, due to the fact that tools like this exist, several webmasters are now refusing to allow netizens to access their respective websites via a Firefox browser._

LOL, using user-supplied data as an access control method? Sure, keep doing that, it works great!

I also recommend replacing the locks on your house with a sign that says, "Authorized personnel only."</comment>


Breakthrough Starshot successfully launch world's smallest spacecraft - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jul/28/breakthrough-starshot-successfully-launch-worlds-smallest-spacecraft <comment><USER2> I hope I live long enough to see the results of this. Proxima Centauri indeed!</comment>


Publishing online? What is the most important part for you? - <AUTHOR>

Do you write blogs, forum posts or edit a magazine? Do you share your photos and videos? What are your requirements? What are you missing in the existing services? <comment><AUTHOR> We have started a survey, please complete it here: <http://www.scrollum.com/>

Otherwise, please share your thoughts and experience here.</comment>


MySpace Is In Far Worse Shape Than Its New Executives Thought - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessinsider.com/myspace-is-in-far-worse-shape-than-its-new-executives-thought-2009-6

<comment><USER2> Lets be honest. This is the spin that many new execs give especially after the previous executives were fired.

If things are worse than they appeared, then the new execs look that much better when things improve and don't look so bad if they fail. If they fail, they just argue that it couldn't be salvaged

</comment><comment><USER3> _"If you can't run that site with 750 people, you don't know how to run a business,"_

No offense, but what the hell do they need even 750 people for?

<comment><USER4> It's almost certain that only a small fraction are actually technical people, because you don't need many tech people to keep such a site actually running.

But you _do_ need people doing:

* Marketing/sales/advertising

* Finance/accounting

* Customer service

* Public relations

* Compliance

* etc., etc.

You also need at least some management to keep things running. And, at that size, human resources. And probably facilities/B&G people. And... well, let's just say I'm not surprised that there'd be 750 people.

<comment><USER5> There is 1500 employees now, they are thinking of cutting it down to 750.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It would be interesting to know how many of that workforce actually work in engineering type roles.

MySpace, being part of news corp, also probably has a large amount of people in traditional media content type roles. I think they have managed that side of the business well, they are certainly better at monetrization than facebook. It's just the state of there platform that lets them down.

</comment><comment><USER7> Note: The NWS is News Corp's stock symbol, not the acronym for "not work- safe."

</comment><comment><USER8> The article talks about New sales leadership. What exactly is there to sell?

<comment><USER9> Advertising

<comment><USER10> And lots of user data.</comment></comment></comment>


Common Lisp Tips - <AUTHOR> http://lisptips.com
A collection of short, dense bits of code with a brief explanation of what the code does and why it's cool. The site's creator, Zach Beane is the man behind Quicklisp, the default package manager for any Common Lisper.
If you try to ask anyone what you should read to learn Common Lisp, the universal recommendation is "Practical Common Lisp". However, the book is a lot more text than code and as such, I still haven't got past chapter 10 (of about 30).
For other people like myself, that enjoy learning from chunks of code and looking stuff up in the official documentation, I highly recommend you give lisptips.com a shot. I've been thoroughly enjoying learning all of these cool things that I probably wouldn't find by reading books or watching videos.
Here are some tips that I found cool:
1) http://lisptips.com/post/30978863226/a-simple-repl
How to make a repl in a few lines of code. when you think about it, all a repl requires is 4 functions, READ, EVALUATE, PRINT, LOOP lol so I guess that may not seem very cool. But in the tip, it's shown how to define functionality to use asterisks (*) to access previous forms.
2) http://lisptips.com/post/31516446212/using-an-adjustable-displaced-array-as-a-cursor-on
Lisp has something called a  displaced-array which is basically an array of pointers that acts as a subset of a larger array. Since the displaced-array doesn't actually have any values of its own, changing this subset (displaced-array) changes the larger array (called the target). The snippet shows how to use a displaced-array to act as a cursor to a stream. This snippet forced me to look up a lot of things in the official docs and play around a lot with the code to fully understand what was going on.
3) http://lisptips.com/post/31253190116/binding-keyword-arguments
Create aliases for parameters. <comment><USER2> Also, I can highly recommend the book Common Lisp Recipes by Edi Weitz. I literally laughed out loud in Section 9.7 "Recursive Processing of FORMAT controls". The idea of combining FORMATTER, user-defined FORMAT controls, and recursive formats makes me want to create a new language with only the FORMAT command. It could rival APL for being write-only.</comment>


Sec Carter at Stanford: Pentagon to Open Silicon Valley Outpost - <AUTHOR> http://www.defenseone.com/technology/2015/04/pentagon-sets-silicon-valley-outpost/110845/

<comment><AUTHOR> I'd be curious if those of you in the Valley think this is a useful venture -- i.e. what are the hurdles DoD will face -- and is the bureaucracy too much to overcome?</comment>


Google's Schmidt blasts NSA over fiber-optic snooping - <AUTHOR> http://gigaom.com/2013/11/04/googles-schmidt-blasts-nsa-over-fiber-optic-snooping/

<comment><USER2> Article title reads ES "blasts NSA," yet "This is clearly an overstep," hardly seems blast-like. How on earth can ES make cozy at the White House (with La Hillary) and not think he's compromising himself/Google? How can we stretch our waning imaginations and believe anything ES says? How can we believe Obama, about--anything? My gosh, after he went for Snowden like a torpedo. Impeding the Bolivian president's plane. I just don't believe ES. I don't believe Obama, either. And I voted for him. (censor me HN if you need to)</comment>


A quick crit of HEY email - <AUTHOR> https://adamsilver.io/notes/hey-review/ <comment><USER2> Nice writeup.

> 2\. There's no way to sort different emails by the same email address

I joined Hey and this was my main gripe.</comment>


Airbnb host ordered to pay £100k of unlawful profits after letting council flat - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-49149983 <comment><USER2> I live in a building in Central London (Soho) that has 12 flats. We pay market rate for ours, that is supposed to help the housing association offset the cost of some of the other flats that are designated as social housing.

Most of these flats are just constantly churning Airbnb guests in and out, some of the others have lodgers (also illegal, friend of mine lived in one of them, hence why I know).

I don't know what to do with this information, but its such a shame that people are so comfortably scamming the government, when it's literally funded by all of us.

EDIT: per the responses, I have called the council and they were very keen/interested. Thanks for your input.

<comment><USER3> Westminster council has a form to report potentially unauthorised short term letting:

[https://www.westminster.gov.uk/nightly-letting-complaints- fo...](https://www.westminster.gov.uk/nightly-letting-complaints-form)

(It's not specific to council housing; if it's specifically council housing as opposed to the developer just agreeing to let it at a reduced rate, then they'll take an even dimmer view on it; if it's the developer or some management company then it's worth contacting them _as well_ as it may impact their insurance etc.)

<comment><USER2> Right, I "know" what to do; but I don't know if it's "right" for me to get involved. Appreciate the link; I'll report it tonight.

<comment><USER4> Yes, it is right. Nobody should privately profit like this from socially funded housing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I love AirBnB on paper, but in practice, its just too ripe with issues. So many similarities to Uber too. Socialize the costs, privatize the revenue. Use litigation to fight to keep the loopholes open. At least Uber isn't screwing with the housing market, that I know of.

<comment><USER6> I think ultimately it is up to regulators to determine how to deal with these companies / platforms. They are legal entities and can be targeted, unlike open source software projects and protocols.

I can add a lot of opinions as to if these companies are a net positive or negative, but overall the regulators have a disproportionate amount of firepower compared to these companies. Airbnb first time offense for Miami Beach is $20,000 and doubles after that. All of these companies know that, and it is why they so aggressively fight the regulatory side.

Uber certainly got a lot of tailwinds due to regulatory capture backlash from local cab companies. Airbnb, to some extent because of dislike or outright unavailability of hotels. Some markets were much healthier and well regulated than others pre-Uber/ Airbnb. Some hotel/transport markets were a disaster.

In summary, if the regulatory frameworks are crafted in the right way, for whatever the given market is, everyone is better off save for previously well entrenched business. I'm not sure there is actually enough talent, globally, to accomplish that on a individual local market level.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think there is a strong temptation for this when there is a large gap between the value of the social housing to the occupant and the value of the social housing on the market.

This flat is in Victoria which is quite central in London. I would expect you could provide more social housing at the same cost in some of the outer zones. There is obviously a trade off where the increased amount of housing from going further out is not worth the inconvenience to the occupants. However, I would expect this trade off kicks in well outside of zone 1.

For the sake of argument let's assume you could double the zone 1 social housing by moving it to zone 2/3\. That seems like a pretty big failure in policy.

<comment><AUTHOR> Some of the most expensive places in London are outside Zone 1 (Hampstead, Richmond, Kensington, West Brompton, Wimbledon, etc.). Also creating a high density of social housing aka ghettos is not desirable for any city in the world and those who have it have big problems because of it. London has huge inequality problems, but the fact that you can have a millionaires road only 5 minutes away from a council estate has the advantage that social issues are not just being ignored and brushed under the carpet by forcing people as far away as possible, it creates more diverse and accepting communities, it ensures that people from all different fortunes have access to nice parks, good transport links (which are even more important for people who are on low income), etc.

<comment><USER8> I don't think it is very nice to make the assumption that a high density of social housing will result in a ghetto. Do you have sources that people in social housing are more prone to violence and crime?

<comment><USER9> It's neither an assumption nor about being nice. As mentioned isolated dense social housing has been observed to create conditions that alternate plans can counter. It also doesn't have to be about violence or crime--mere the neglect of neighbourhoods that are not 'in mind' of decision makers for simple things like maintenance of roads, lights, etc all contribute to this.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> For those who aren't from the UK, a council flat is an apartment owned by the local government, with subsidized or free rent for people who can't afford to rent in the area. Residents are means tested (i.e. availability is based on income / special situations). People at considerable risk on the streets tend to be prioritised in the waiting list (families, single women).

This man was eligible, lived in the apartment at some point, but took £110 a night from airbnb guests and lived elsewhere when guests stayed.

Sub-letting council flats is illegal, but pretty common as it's basically impossible to stop on a cash in hand basis. However, a platform like AirBnB could easily block this activity from happening on their platform, if they wanted to.

</comment><comment><USER11> > "We regularly remind hosts to check and follow local rules - including on > subsidised housing - and we take action on issues brought to our attention," > said a spokeswoman.

Bull fucking shit.

</comment><comment><USER12> need this in my city, there are whole neighborhoods being built that are hotels in everything but name driving rent and flat prices sky high and making the whole local housing market inaffordable for normal people.

</comment><comment><USER10> Shouldn't Airbnb also pay back all of the fees they charged for this?

</comment><comment><USER13> What does "letting council flat" mean in US english?

<comment><USER2> Council flats are like "government subsidized living". Letting it out (aka renting it out), is taking money from the government, intended to help you shelter your family, and using it to turn a profit.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Build more housing capacity. An increased supply of housing could support both long term housing and legal Airbnb rentals.

Because of static supply, the two use cases are competing in a zero sum way, but that needn't be the case.

<comment><USER3> In this case the issue was outright fraud: They got a council flat that is meant to provide subsidized housing for people who generally can not afford private housing, and profited from it against the terms of his rental agreement.

But in the general case, I keep arguing the same. In the UK there's a very strong trend to focus on landlords and foreign buyers leaving housing empty, or cases like in this article, but when you dig into it, it makes up a tiny proportion of properties.

The government has contributed to pushing the focus to these types of things, even though e.g. _all_ empty properties in the UK being filled would maybe cover ~6 months of demand (and you can't fill all of them - most are empty for things like refurbishments or during a sale; very few are left intentionally empty for long periods of time). I doubt AirBnB demand would add up to more than a rounding error either. But it's a convenient excuse, and much cheaper than to drive higher growth in construction.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Or less interestingly, Airbnb host who made £100K letting council flat fined £100K for letting council flat, an amount determined by how much profit the host made.

<comment><AUTHOR> > "Anti-fraud software had found Harman's first name in reviews and connected > the listing to him."

Pretty interesting to me...

> "It's illegal for council tenants to sublet their homes and we carry out > tenancy checks, as well as monitoring short-term letting websites for any > potential illegal sublets."

Also pretty interesting to me... it's nice to see that the councils in London are using their own technological advances to fight illegal activity like this!

<comment><USER16> And it's lucky that they've now paid off a tenth of the cost of developing the software.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I've never quite understood why subletting is illigal in places like this.

Person A needs money because rent is high, person B needs housing because housing is scarce, A rents B their couch and everyone is happy.

Obviously that's a little different than just sticking the whole thing on Airbnb, but it looks to me like it's legally considered the same when it really shouldn't be.

<comment><USER18> If A is getting subsidized housing they're earning taking others' taxes and profiting from it. I'd say they're not entitled to the subsidy in that case.

<comment><USER17> I get what you're saying but I'm still not convinced it totally makes sense.

The goal of subsidized housing is to make housing more affordable for some group of people, subletting likely has the same effect so the money subsidizing the building is still going to the same thing.

<comment><USER19> You're running a business with somebodies charity - that's a no go. If I give you $50 to buy food and you run a lemonade stand with $25 of it, then you've abused my charity.

Now, it might be that I shouldn't have given you the $50, or that we should have discussed giving you a business loan instead - those things are fine. There's nothing fundamentally bad about running a lemonade stand. You simply can't run a lemonade stand with charity earmarked for not-lemonade-stands.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Len Sassaman has passed away - <AUTHOR>

I'm hearing rumors/reports that Len Sassaman has passed away.  If anyone has news then I'd appreciate more concrete details.<p>Thanks. <comment><USER2> I'm his wife. Sadly, the reports are true; I've been visiting family in the States and I got the call from the Leuven police department a couple of hours ago.

He was the most brilliant man I ever met, and I still can't believe this is happening.

<comment><USER3> A brilliant mind has been lost today. However, his brilliant ideals shall live on. My sincerest condolences.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> <https://www.facebook.com/notes.php?id=500467612>

I met Len in 1999, he was a kid. A cocky kid who thought he knew everything and I wasn't impressed. I think we were arguing about K of N keysplitting. Rodney Thayer said "Yeah, he's like we were at that age." Rodney was gracious and patient, accepting and loving towards Len and I felt obliged to follow his lead. This is a highly improbable description of Rodney, but it was the truth. I became friends with Len and we were coconspirator cypherpunks at a time when that was a wild frontier. We were reimagining our world, riddled with cryptosystems that would mathematically enforce the freedoms that we treasured. Anonymous remailers to preserve speech without fear of retribution; onion routers to ensure nobody could censor the internet; digital cash to enable a radically free economy. We have schemes to decentralize & distribute everything. We imagine complex and esoteric threats to problems we might someday have - we architect futuristic protocols to insulate against those threats. All this is a highly academic geek utopia exercise. I tend to keep it that way, but Len wanted to get his hands dirty. There were times when Len got visits from various Federal agencies over remailer abuse. At first Len would get scared and I'd get him out of the house which he assumed was bugged, and drive around for a while. Especially in those early years, Len was trying to impress us. We invited him to join The Shmoo Group, where I'm a fringe radical, and Len became the lunatic fringe. I'm sure we helped temper his apocalyptic tendencies and at times he even bordered on diplomatic. But it isn't in our nature to acknowledge prowess directly. You only know a hacker respects you if he's willing to waste his time shooting holes in your ideas. I have thousands of messages to and from Len spanning the last decade, and I doubt a single one of them offers any direct praise.

Len got his hands dirty. He committed himself to building the stuff we imagined. I play it safe and remain blameless, but I get to stay balanced because courageous guys like Len fulfill the extremes.

Len, you are, in fact, an inspiration to those of us who inspired you. You made something great of your life. You left a lot behind for us. Thanks for letting me be a part of it all.

Cypherpunks write code.

<comment><USER5> Thank you for posting this. Puts into words what I and I expect others are feeling. Sad to think he is gone.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I met Len at PET in Toronto. Despite the fact that I was unable to add anything but stupid questions to the conversations Len let me tag along with him for a while. He would take the time to explain things to me that were patently obvious to everyone else taking part in the discussions. I was clearly out of my league but for some reason Len let me listen and occasionally take part in conversations that I only dreamed about.

My thoughts go out to his friends and family. It is a testament to Len's character that the loss of a person who I spent no more than eight hours could have such a profound impact on me.

<comment><USER7> Never met him, but was on the cp list and recognized his name and that he had contributed greatly. I've lost a friend to depression and I have it too; meds can help clamp the extreme lows.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> His home page is here: <https://securehomes.esat.kuleuven.be/~lsassama/>

WikiPedia page: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Len_Sassaman>

Reported by Rob Bird (@conduit242) and Bram Cohen (@bramcohen)

* <https://twitter.com/conduit242>

* <https://twitter.com/bramcohen>

</comment><comment><USER8> It was a suicide. :(

<https://twitter.com/#!/maradydd/status/87586809818775552>

Len was brilliant, the inventor of mixmaster, cocreator of CodeCon, and a wonderful human being. The world just lost a great mind and a great man.

</comment><comment><USER9> When I met Len at Open Science Summit 2010, I was struck by how friendly Len was. He was the genuine article. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that, had I asked him for a kidney or his liver, he would have said yes. That's just who he was.

While most of us know of Len because of his security work, I first met him through the do-it-yourself biohacking community. He gave a great talk at Open Science Summit on this topic. I was in the audience at the time, and figured I'd type a transcript. I apologize for typos, but QWERTY can only be pushed so hard. He was talking about the involvement of the FBI with DIYbio, conveying his unfortunate experiences in the past with law enforcement and what he hopes will become of these trends.

[http://diyhpl.us/wiki/transcripts/open-science- summit-2010/l...](http://diyhpl.us/wiki/transcripts/open-science- summit-2010/len/)

 _We're going to run into similar problems here where your local sheriff, your backwoods outpost for FBI agents who are not qualified to be doing their jobs, to the nosy neighbor who files a report that has the men in biohazard suits coming through your windows and raiding your art projects with glowing bacteria. Education and outreach to the legislature and the law enforcenment is critical if we want to be viewed not as advisories, the bad guys, and not be viewed as a threat. If you've ever had to be on the wrong side of the table, an unfortunate situation, say, the FBI, as I have, you'll realize that at that point, it's too late to try to convince a law enforcement officer that you're the good guy- you're the suspect._

...

 _This is our heritage, this research, these ideas that we have, that is leading to knowledge that no human in history has had the opportunity to have before. This is what we're going to be handing down to future generations. We need to make sure we are not backed into a corner where we are not able to distribute this research to others, and that this isn't locked up in IP vaults with lawyers standing guard. And finally, there will be accidents and problems. We need to mitigate these risks._

</comment><comment><USER10> His wife's Twitter account (@maradydd) appears to corroborate this. A tragic loss, especially considering his age (I don't know, but I'd estimate ~35). At that age, it would almost have to be an accident or suicide, and I'm fervently hoping that it was an accident.

<comment><USER2> Unfortunately no; it was unambiguously suicide.

Depression is a horrible, horrible thing, both for those who experience it and the people who love them. Len was a brilliant, sensitive, loving man with the rotten luck to be too tormented by his own brain chemistry to realise how much he was valued by so many people, no matter how often we told him.

He was 31.

<comment><USER11> I am so saddened by your loss. Depression has taken so many people from all of us and shows no sign of being solved. My hope is that he's at peace and that you are able to find the inner strength to continue living, as difficult as that will be. Please know that you're in our thoughts and hearts as you go through this awful time.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Len, you will be missed.

CP's may write code, but you were among the true believers who would run that code as well. I hope that you are somewhere at peace, writing happy code, and in charge of turning away hopeful former fedz arriving at the Pearly Gates. Your legacy will live on in polynomial time.

//Nonaht Leyte

</comment><comment><USER13> I had the pleasure of meeting Len in the early 2000's through my involvement with the cyberpunk and privacy community. I always respected his advice and saw him as trusted collegue.

My sincere thoughts and prayers are with you in this time of loss. Please do let me know if you both had a charity and/or organization you supported.

Hugs from Washington

Robert Guerra Managing director, Privaterra

</comment><comment><USER14> @maradydd - Deepest condolences.

It is extremely sad to lose a brilliant young guy to depression. Oh the vagaries of life.

</comment><comment><USER15> Len is such a wonderful person, it's really hard to put into words how much he meant in my life.

He was so incredibly encouraging of taking big leaps and always striving to do courageous things, even if it meant taking on risk. You could always count on him for a _totally_ unvarnished opinion of your code or project, which is both rare and incredibly cherished.

It was amazing to work on a project for two weeks and have him tell you in two minutes what was wrong with it, why, and a better way to do it. For a plebe like me, it meant the world for him to actually take the time and explain things to me.

On top of everything else, he really made a difference at a time when I was struggling with depression.

It just seems like there are not enough words to truly talk about the impact his life had on the world. His legacy is just tremendous.

</comment><comment><USER16> My jaw dropped when I read this. I always looked forward to Len's surprise appearances. He was, without a doubt, one of my favorite people.

I will really miss him.

My thoughts are with you, Meredith.

\-- Bill Pollock

</comment><comment><USER17> My most heartfelt condolences to Meredith et. al. I crossed paths with Len only briefly during his days at Netaxs; he was without a doubt one of the most brilliant people I've ever encountered and one of those I most enjoyed conversing with.

It's been years; when I got work from a colleague from the Netaxs days, I was an am still stunned.

</comment><comment><USER18> Meredith, I am so sorry. A gentle man. I was there for the wonderful on-stage proposal at CodeCon. I didn't realize he was so young. He will be missed for many years by many people. \--Nana

</comment><comment><USER19> I am so sorry. Yes, Len was brilliant, but he was also a truly good human being. I don't think he had a mean bone in his body and he was always pleasant and of good humor. What a loss.

</comment><comment><USER20> I remember Len barking at a squirrel on a tree during one of Cypherpunk gatherings at Stanford campus in early 2000s.

It was one of more coherent threads at those meetings.

<comment><USER21> That's also one of my first memories of Len - mostly he chased it around the tree and then it got really fed up and started yelling at him.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Oh man. That's a sad, sad, loss if true.

</comment><comment><USER23> that's horrible news, really really sad - our deepest and sincere condolences

corelanc0d3r</comment>


ItsTrending.com - How they use Facebook Like and Embedly - <AUTHOR> http://blog.embed.ly/itstrendingcom-how-they-use-embedly

<comment><USER2> Let me know if you have general comments on ItsTrending.com

</comment><comment><USER3> Great idea. I just wasted a good 30 minutes on the site. I wish you guys all the best.

</comment><comment><USER4> Just for completeness' sake, there is also <http://likebutton.me>

I'm not sure which has more traffic, but likebutton.me has been shared on FB about 20x more.</comment>


Facebook Just Censored Lawyers Fighting for Election Justice - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/JordanChariton/status/723276843596582915 <comment><AUTHOR> Here is the interview mentioned: [https://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks/videos/10153587923954...](https://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks/videos/10153587923954205/)</comment>


Google gets sued over Android and Java yet again, this time by Gemalto - <AUTHOR> http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/10/25/google-gets-sued-over-android-and-java-yet-again-this-time-by-gemalto/

<comment><USER2> I'm in no way an expert, but from what I could gather, here's a link to the (probable?) patent: <http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=tpqzAAAAEBAJ></comment>


European MEPs want to ban states from backdooring encryption - <AUTHOR> https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/20/european-meps-want-to-ban-states-from-backdooring-encryption <comment><USER2> Earlier discussion:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14592745](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14592745)

</comment><comment><USER3> Yet another reason to be sad about having my EU citizenship forcibly removed. The UK government want the exact opposite of this.

<comment><USER4> I can relate but complain all you want, it wasn't "forcibly" removed, it was democratically so.

<comment><USER5> _democratically_

For a value of 'democratically' where billionaire media tycoons controlled the narrative.

<comment><USER6> Virtually-unknown tech companies too:

[https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the- great...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/may/07/the-great- british-brexit-robbery-hijacked-democracy)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> What will the EU do about operating systems developed outside the EU, such as MS Windows, iOS, or Android? If these contain a backdoor for the NSA, it is unlikely that the manufactureres will tell the EU that they do.

Therefore if the EU is serious about this (and it should be), it should develop its own operating systems, and mandate them for all enterprises that store personal or sensitive data (which means all enterprises).

Doing this, while necessary, is not sufficient to stop backdoors, because they could be implemented at the hardware level. Many chips are manufactured in the far east, and China is a state that may be hostile to the EU in future. So the EU needs all chips to be designed and manufactured on its own soil, if it wants digital independence.

<comment><USER8> Well, Linux does originate from Scandinavia (Linus Torvalds is Finland Swedish), and it's open source, so nothing stops us from building operating systems on top of Linux. But there are however a lot of good Linux-based operating systems out there already (open source, too), and the problem would rather be what comes pre-installed with the machine you buy. If Microsoft for example can't ensure the EU that Windows doesn't contain backdoors for the NSA for example, the EU could regulate the PC market to favor, say, Ubuntu over Windows pre-installed. But I really don't think it would be a good idea to do that.

I do however think that our government agencies and militaries should be forced to run Linux. They already have a problem of being too reliant on Windows for pretty much everything.

<comment><USER7> > If Microsoft for example can't ensure the EU that Windows doesn't contain > backdoors for the NSA for example

What counts as ensurance? Simply MS saying "no backdoors" clearly isn't good enough. Open sourcing the whole OS, to make it harder to find backdoors, would help.

<comment><USER8> Yeah that's the tricky part. I don't think the EU could make Microsoft open source their Windows, but I guess something along the lines of Microsoft having to give access to their source code to a team of EU security researchers that audits and looks for backdoors would be a start. But even that isn't foolproof.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> While this is probably a step in a good direction, I would like to see EU enforcing companies to be responsible for the security of the products they are offering if they want to conduct business in EU states.</comment>


Ask HN: Urban Tech - Ideas to improve our cities - <AUTHOR>

I inspired by the article (linked at the end) talking about how technology is, and can change the way citizens interact with their cities. It really interested me, seemingly a lot of ideas should not be that hard to implement.
Public Safety: When I hear this term I think of mainly construction sites, traffic jams, etc. I was thinking, how can we integrate tech to alert users to changing conditions?
You know those alert signs? That display closings etc.? What if they were modified with a piece of hardware broadcasting its location to an API, and a correlating phone app using a push notification or voice alert to let the user know they are approaching. This could be applied to many things such as bike lanes, etc.
Thoughts? What are your ideas?
Article: http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/24/cities-take-lead-on-app-development/#tmhmdj:QzLJ <comment><USER2> Very interesting article, especially for a technology enthusiast with a formal background in urban development. I think there is tremendous opportunity in this market, as cities start sharing data and aim to build "smart cities".

As for your idea, I'm not sure I understand / or see the need. Hardware sounds less scalable, but couldn't you crowdsource that data in real-time, like Waze does? Data in cities can be used in so many ways, it's unbelievable.. example: in university we look at correlation with graffiti and vacancy.. other students did studies on linkages between health issues arising from school yard proximity to traffic... the point being is geo-locational data is has high value.

In relation to your idea, I definitely see opportunity for tracking and collecting data... especially if it can be sold to Urban Planning Departments for research (rather than just another advertising budget). Here is a Montreal based project: [http://www.datamobileapp.ca..](http://www.datamobileapp.ca..). challenge is finding an engaging way to get people to use it (obviously ).

Any idea on a better way engaging people? There has to be a better way to vote on local issues than attending public meetings.. Right?

<comment><AUTHOR> That is a great idea, but by crowdsourcing I assume you mean the end-users reporting the accident, the work zone, etc. correct?

I love that idea and it is a old/tested one, but from a safety perspective do we want people touching their phones while driving to report the location? If they wait till they reach their destination to report, the accident may be cleaned up or the exact location data of the work zone may become inaccurate. Also, who would be in charge of removing that data, checking if an accident is gone, etc?

Just some random questions I am throwing out there. I was going more for a very cheap 3G/4G-enabled device to broadcast live to a "City API". Thoughts?

<comment><USER2> Sorry I didn't answer more quickly.

Yes, that's what I mean by crowdsourced data. I agree on the safety concerns while driving. However, even if you could collect data on emotions of people throughout the day in a city... that would be insanely useful for planners... aka knowing when people are angry sitting in traffic, scared in sketchy areas of the city, or where they go for walks often because it's a beautiful park. They can analyze all that data to plan smarter cities. The issue here is: how do you engage the "crowd" enough for them to share this data?

Yes the city API idea is definitely cool. With all the data opening up it's good timing for sure... Only thing is, I heard the API aren't exactly perfect. Depends on what you are working on. I met with a Founder of a Parking App that was building on data like you are talking about.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> >What if they were modified with a piece of hardware broadcasting its location to an API, and a correlating phone app using a push notification or voice alert to let the user know they are approaching.

You could use a beacon attached to a telephone pole, this is just some random idea, that will broadcast the location and push notifications. Or something in that nature, because I know retailers do this when you walk by a certain section and you have their app you will get a notification. So for public safety you could just have a app and if there is a crime that was reported, like a shooting, if you are within a certain block radius you get a notification.

This is something that I have thought about especially living in Philadelphia, constant crime is going on. I don't know what I am walking into or riding my bike into. It would be awesome to have updated information like this.

<comment><AUTHOR> I really like the idea of a beacon, but I wonder how far out that beacon could be picked up by a user driving down the highway towards it?

Or maybe relating to my last comment above, use a 3G/4G device to broadcast information to a "City API" that a app on the user's phone can utilize for notifications, etc?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Here in the US, Google Maps with traffic data provides _situational awareness_ as I drive, albeit without voice alerts [but at far longer ranges than make sense for alert based notification]. This suggests that over the long haul, the technology stack from my pocket to the map server may ultimately become public service infrastructure along the same logical path that propelled fire fighting from a private to a public sector service.

<comment><AUTHOR> Wow, I never thought about it like that, becoming public infrastructure. If that were to happen, what would keep the Department of Transportation in each state from adopting beacons and installing them on mile-markers, etc?

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I just love all the ideas on LifeEdited for improving urban living.

[http://www.lifeedited.com/](http://www.lifeedited.com/)</comment>


Screencasting: How To Start, Tools and Guidelines  - <AUTHOR> http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/08/19/screencasting-how-to-start/ <comment><USER2> I've used Camstudio and really liked it. Works brilliantly on a dual monitor setup. Have your script and outline on one monitor, and drive the screencasts on the other.

</comment><comment><USER3> I've used about 5 different tools and Camtasia works best on Windows for me.</comment>


Crytek staff not getting paid, leave en masse - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/07/report-crytek-uk-staff-not-getting-paid-leave-studio-en-masse/

<comment><USER2> That's surprising. I would have thought they were rolling in cash and building a solid franchise, considering I had actually heard of Crytek/Crysis and don't follow the game industry at all. How does a company just keep chugging along like nothing is wrong until one day they can't make payroll?

</comment><comment><USER3> That's pretty fucking serious. Any other confirmations? What happens next?</comment>


Project Galileo: five years of protecting the vulnerable online - <AUTHOR> https://blog.cloudflare.com/project-galileo-fifth-anniversary/?a <comment><USER2> I think the most impressive part is that they partnered with organizations for determining who to add to the project from the beginning instead of trying to do it in-house. That's kind of a pleasant surprise compared to typical attempts for projects like this where it feels like NIH syndrome applied to social sciences or philosophy.

</comment><comment><USER3> I've been really impressed with Cloudflare lately between this, 184.108.40.206, and warp. It's nice to see a large company find ways build up their business by supporting the public good.

</comment><comment><USER4> Reading this post just concerns me more than anything.

DDoS protection is pretty much vital infrastructure for any web site, and Cloudflare is one of the first and largest organisations that provides this service. Infrastructure of this scale and this importance should be impartial, but this is more evidence that CloudFlare isn't.

For example, Cloudflare at the whim of Mathew Prince pulled service for white supremacist site "Daily Stormer" [1] - because they made claims of support and their content "made him angry".

The message is clear, if your content makes a CEO angry your site may be DDoS'd off the internet (eg. Daily Stormer), if your content getting DDoS'd off the internet makes a CEO "sick", then you'll get special treatment (eg. Ukranian Newspaper).

Would this blog post be as warming to people, if Cloudflare didn't help the newspaper because it supported Russian claims over Crimea?

Regardless of your content, if your content is legal, the political whims of tech CEOs shouldn't be what ensures you have consumer rights.

[1] [https://blog.cloudflare.com/why-we-terminated-daily- stormer/](https://blog.cloudflare.com/why-we-terminated-daily-stormer/)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> This Wired article has some good quotes from organizations using Project Galileo: [https://www.wired.com/story/cloudflare-project-galileo- prote...](https://www.wired.com/story/cloudflare-project-galileo-protect- nonprofits/)

</comment><comment><USER5> > He followed our run book and triggered a FINT — which stands for "Fail > Internal" — directing traffic from the site directly back to its origin > rather than passing through Cloudflare's protective edge. Instantly the site > was overwhelmed by the attack and, effectively, fell off the Internet.

So if I'm understanding this correctly, free users have their backend servers and hosting provider information exposed to an attacker _right when that information needs to be kept secret the most?_ This is nuts. Can someone clarify whether CloudFlare still do this? I can think of 100 scenarios where it would be better to just pull the zone (or similar) and let the site go down instead

<comment><USER6> This stopped being the norm as Cloudflare's footprint grew, and formally stopped with this blog post [https://blog.cloudflare.com/unmetered- mitigation/](https://blog.cloudflare.com/unmetered-mitigation/).

<comment><USER7> After reading that, I'm not sure what Galileo provides considering that don't FINT anyone.

<comment><USER8> There are a lot more controls and features for our higher tier security services that Galileo participants get for free. And there are a lot of security threats we help protect them from that go beyond DDoS. But, you're correct, the experience of dealing with the nation state-level attacks that Galileo participants face on a regular basis was a big part of what encouraged us that we could make Unmetered DDoS Mitigation free to all Cloudflare users approximately 18 months ago.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Serious question - Are they serious about being evenhanded? Or did they just handpick a list of organizations with the same politics as them to serve as cover?

I guess this should be easy to tell. Are any of their partner organizations doing work to protect 2nd amendment rights, or supporting pro-life causes? I couldn't tell.

From my priors my first guess would be that this is a left-activist effort masquerading as a universal protection. But I'd be pleasantly surprised to discover that they're serious.

<comment><USER8> We worked hard to try and get conservative and libertarian organizations as partners including the CATO Institute and the Heritage Foundation. They originally objected because they couldn't understand what was in it for us (Cloudflare). I think over time we've proved that we're serious about the Project and the idea of having global, diverse partners with different perspectives.

If there are potential partner organizations that you think represent a point of view, whether politically or geographically, that the current parters do not, I would encourage you to have them apply: [https://www.cloudflare.com/galileo](https://www.cloudflare.com/galileo)

<comment><USER10> > They originally objected because they couldn't understand what was in it for > us (Cloudflare).

This is hilariously libertarian.

<comment><USER3> If nothing else it's advertising. "We have the capability to regularly defend against attacks from state-level actors."</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Audrey – A smart personal assistant app that helps you to get things done - <AUTHOR> https://www.getaudrey.com <comment><USER2> ...did you really make a sockpuppet account to impersonate Ryan Hoover?

Voting manipulation does not work on Hacker News, unlike Product Hunt.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm so sorry, will remove as soon as possible. I tried my luck and found that the username was not taken.

<comment><USER3> Also, you submitted it a few days ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14180615](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14180615) (120 points, 3 days ago, 80 comments)

It's ok to resubmit when the post didn't get too much attention, but 120 points and 80 comments is more than enough. If you continue to resubmit and use sockpupets, the mods will notice and will ban all the sockpupets, your account and your site.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Nice that you polished the site

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, been gathering feedback from y'all!</comment></comment>


Jakob Nielsen is wrong on mobile - <AUTHOR> http://www.netmagazine.com/opinions/nielsen-wrong-mobile <comment><USER2> Interesting discussion. I love that he replied in the comments. They both make great points. If you have the budget you should re-code your front end to be mobile friendly, for example switching hover effects and sliders to different controls. In real life, no one can afford to do this, so they might make a responsive design that re-uses most of the original design and may replace web-only elements with mobile-friendly versions.</comment>


Show HN: Personal time tracking to aid in becoming more productive - <AUTHOR> http://www.attainr.com

<comment><USER2> It's a bit unsettling that, from the pursuit screen, clicking on the logo sends me back to the landing page (I would want it to stay logged in), and logging back in from there asks for my details again (doesn't remember the login data?). Also, no favicon?

Other than that, very well done, looks solid and well designed.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, and yeah I agree with everything you said. I will correct these things soon. Great feedback.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Is there no way to check out pricing before signing up?

<comment><AUTHOR> Attainr is a free app and it will always be free to use. I might however add a premium plan at a later stage, but it will be a while before I focus on that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> This looks very well built. Would love to chat with you.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! I sent you an email to the adress you provided on the Intercom chat.</comment></comment>