Netpbm format - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netpbm_format <comment><USER2> I remember running across the NetPBM format when I was looking at some of the images that are stored in jwz's folder on the CMU AI repository. There's something very nice about storing a bitmap in pure text. (AWK image processing comes to mind.)

[http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/ai- repository/ai/lang/l...](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/ai- repository/ai/lang/lisp/code/impdep/explorer/)

<comment><USER3> Of course you could use awk or anything else, but for most tasks there are already transforms in the netpbm tools that work well. In addition to being in text format, the meta info always comes first, which facilitates streaming. That in turn means that if you pipe together four transforms you'll use four cores without even trying.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've been using the PFM format ([http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/pfm.html](http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/pfm.html)) for a project recently.

It's the most obscure member of the Netpbm family. Almost no image viewer understands it, and _no_ image editor can read or write it. Luckily there's the incredible CImg ([http://www.cimg.eu/](http://www.cimg.eu/)) lib.

PFM is stored in left to right, _bottom to top_ order pixel. It has exactly one or three channels. One pixel is four bytes. There's an obscure "scale/endianness" parameter to tell you the byte order.

I love it, and I hate it.

<comment><USER5> Which makes it impossible for me not to ask...

Why are you using it for the project? Is it for interoperability with some other component? If so, what sort of thing is using such a format, I'm intrigued.

<comment><USER4> Good question :)

I needed a quick way to hack the output of 2D float data (pixel annotations to complement some image) into some legacy C without adding dependencies.

Thanks to CImg, I can read and display the PFM files in 10 lines of my own C++. I thought about just writing a width/height-annotated binary blob instead, but then realized that's really what PFM already is.

I have no idea if anything is really _using_ PFM. I certainly have not found any "big" compatible programs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I recently played around with this and came up with my own variant:

[http://cygx.github.io/js-rgba/](http://cygx.github.io/js-rgba/)

 _Only tested in Firefox, no idea if it works in other browsers..._

<comment><USER7> Works fine in Chrome 46.0 from what I can see.

My image downloader extension even recognizes the results as images and puts save buttons on them. :D

What would be really cool would be to open the source text into a <textarea> so people could play with it, with an "auto-update" checkbox and everything. :D

Also, atm to switch from the rendered result back to the source image, I have to reload the page. Maybe the button could toggle, or the result and source could be on the page simultaneously.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> featured in the 2008 underhanded C contest with some interesting tricks: [http://www.underhanded-c.org/_page_id_17.html](http://www.underhanded-c.org/_page_id_17.html)

</comment><comment><USER9> Ja! I used PBM format to create bitmap fonts for some retro-computing fun.

[https://github.com/trillek-team/trillek-vcomputer- module/blo...](https://github.com/trillek-team/trillek-vcomputer- module/blob/develop/tools/pbm2font.cpp)

</comment><comment><USER10> Why are they called _Net_ pbm format when they were invented by Poskanzer years before the NetPBM project was founded?

<comment><USER11> Stuff usually gets "net" slapped on the front after some attempt has been made to specify or regularize it, that way the documented/maintained version doesn't share the name with any classic implementation, which helps to avoid all kinds of ambiguity.

Not sure where this idiom came from, but seen it used a bunch of times

<comment><USER12> Nethack? NetBSD? Netatalk?

<comment><USER13> netatalk is likely just a dir name, like netinet or netns.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Yep, that sure is a primitive image format.

<comment><USER15> Yes, but very useful since its easy to parse and trivial to generate. You can always pipe input/output through conversion utilities to your format of choice (pgm, jpg, ...).

<comment><USER16> You know what's even more trivial to parse and generate? Arrays of uncompressed binary data.

<comment><USER17> No. Unstructured binary data in arbitrary formats if fundamentally impossible to parse successfully. Oh, your parser works you say? It won't next project after the format change again.

The pbm stuff is an attempt to specify the simplest possible format that can be used robustly in practice.

<comment><USER16> It seemed like the parent posters in this thread were talking about the plain text version of the format, which is IMO ridiculous for any non-toy use. My response was half-sarcastic; tone doesn't make it through the internet though I guess.

The binary version is fine, though in general I'd recommend just using PNG, TIF, JPEG, or whatever.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Google Appengine now supports HTTPS - <AUTHOR> http://googleappengine.blogspot.com/2008/10/announcing-https-support-for-appspotcom.html

<comment><USER2> Guido van Rossum will give a talk on Google App Engine on Nov 5 at Stanford. The talk can be viewed over the web.

<http://www.stanford.edu/class/ee380/>

</comment><comment><USER3> Yikes. At this time either use the appspot.com domain for your URLs or, perhaps in the future, use a technique implemented by only the most modern of browsers (but excluding Safari at the moment). I'm sure that'll work for some people out there. Others, like me, are out of luck. :-(

</comment><comment><USER4> I haven't been paying much attention to AppEngine, but it seems like kind of a major oversight that there was no SSL support until now. Is anyone using this thing for real work? I don't know how it could be considered much more than a neat toy to play with given its lack for such basic features for so long.

<comment><USER5> We use it for <http://www.muspy.com>, though we are thinking about moving away to plain Django. GAE has too many limitations.

<comment><USER6> > GAE has too many limitations

could you elaborate please?

We are looking to get _into_ GAE from plain Django, so I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.

<comment><USER5> The limitations are well known, just Google around. A relatively good overview can be found here: <http://aralbalkan.com/1504>

It was discussed in this thread: [http://groups.google.com/group/google- appengine/browse_threa...](http://groups.google.com/group/google- appengine/browse_thread/thread/83a692fecb6c5b12)

It definitely depends on the kind of app you are doing. From my experience GAE is great for websites with high ratio of reads to writes. If you have a lot of writes or any non-trivial background processing, it becomes harder to develop for appengine.

<comment><USER6> thank you.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Ruby on Rails please.

<comment><USER8> They already launched Rails hosting with liquid scaling. It's called <http://heroku.com>

<comment><USER3> I don't think it has liquid database scaling the way App Engine does. If you have to even spend a second thinking about sharding, partitioning, replication lag, etc. then you're not getting the same functionality.

<comment><USER9> My experience with App Engine is that you have to think pretty hard about sharding and partitioning - the hierarchy part of the App Engine data store controls which bits of your data live in the same place, and hence what can be modified in a single transaction.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Remote Spectre exploits demonstrated - <AUTHOR> https://lwn.net/Articles/761100/ <comment><USER2> This was discussed 3 days ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17621823](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17621823)

Posted link doesn't add anything new.

</comment><comment><USER3> But can somebody ELI5 how the remote spectre exploit works?

I understand the original spectre exploit. But have no idea how it can be done without code being involved.

<comment><USER4> > without code being involved

When you perform a network request you cause code to be executed. The code on the server is designed to respond to the request, in the same way as any local cross-process call responds to a request (including a kernel system call).

The key difference is not in the trigger, but in the measurement: measuring cache timing effects is more tricky when you can only interact with the target machine via a relatively high latency (and highly variable latency) channel such as the network. The new attack here shows how this can still be done probabilistically.

If you wonder how you can flush the cache over the network (without code involved) the answer is the same ad the answer to this question: why can't spectre be solved by just restricting the ability to issue a cache flush instruction? You can effectively flush the cache by performing more requests that cause other stuff to be loaded in the cache and evicting the parts you want to be evicted.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> 15 bits per hour... seems extremely low unless they are able to target the EXACT bits they need.

<comment><USER6> This kind of attack is catastrophic in cryptography.

<comment><USER7> yeah, like, shortening a secret key by 15 bits per hour would save a looot of brute force...

<comment><USER8> Extracting a key over only a few days pretty much is a killer, heck even a few months for a high value target is game over think what happens if you get the private key of a key internet service like Google or Facebook, not to mention .gov or .mil sites.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Do spectre mitigations already out there fix this?

<comment><USER10> In principle, yes. It's not a different exploit, it's just a different measurement technique for the timing (and one that most people wouldn't have expected to be possible).

<comment><USER11> Isn't the AVX warmup latency a novel mechanism not docuemnted in existing literature and therefore not mitigated? They also point out that lfence is not a total solution to preventing speculative access (and it isn't being adopted anyway since the performance cost is high).

<comment><USER12> AVX and esp. AVX2 warmup time is very well known. That's why they tried it over this path at first. But you could use normal instructions also, it's just slower to extract keys.

<comment><USER11> For ordinary execution, yes, but was it known that the processor warms up the AVX units based on speculated branches?</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


FastestFox: Browse Faster - <AUTHOR> http://smarterfox.com/share/ <comment><USER2> I had never heard of smarterfox before, and based on this page design, maybe I know way.

I have to scroll way down the page before I come across the '4.0 just released'. Everything up to that point is just ads or tells me to share smarterfox, but I don't even know what it is yet.</comment>


Improve your touch typing - <AUTHOR> http://www.keybr.com/#!game <comment><USER2> Biggest annoyance with this software - backspace is, apparently, something that I alone exercise. If you type an incorrect letter, it simply doesn't advance the cursor rather than advancing the cursor and marking the letter as incorrect. Since I am already a pretty good touch-typist, I routinely KNOW I have hit an incorrect key, hit backspace, and correct it and progress with the word.

However, very often I will do something like spelling "icnorrect" from feeling, then hitting backspace exactly eight times and re-type "ncorrect"... which is simply not supported by this software.

<comment><USER3> This reminds me of a problem I face. I write documents in LaTeX all the time, and my preferred text editor is vim. In vim, CTRL-W will remove the last word in insert mode. This has become second nature to me, since I frequently find it faster to retype a whole word than to perform the correct number of backspaces to correct a typo midway.

What this really means is that I close browser windows with great frequency whenever I'm typing something and make a typo, and hit CTRL-W.

<comment><USER4> Or accidentally clearing a web form that you painstakingly filled out because of ESC muscle memory. :(

<comment><USER5> The Lazarus Form Recovery addon, recommended by a dead comment below, looks really good - compatible with both Firefox and Chrome.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> My complaint is that it will often give you words that are _nearly_ English words (but not actually). If you really want to type quickly, you will sort of type one word at a time rather than one letter at a time (time yourself typing an English phrase rather than words composed of random letters). I kept getting errors because I would type the words my fingers thought was coming, not the actual non-word I was supposed to type.

<comment><USER7> I type 142 WPM on average. I think the lack of real English words is a structural flaw of this application.

To get really fast typing speed, you need to develop muscle memory for words not just letters. For example, when I type the word "complete" I don't think "c", "o", "m", etc. I literally just bolt out the word complete without even thinking about it. I don't believe there is any other way to be able to type more than 2 words per second.

This might be useful to get you to a certain level of moderate proficiency but I believe it will hurt you at higher levels.

<comment><USER8> I thoroughly agree. I type 115WPM and one letter at a time knocked me down to 80WPM on my first go through. Bleck!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Using this tutor was an incredibly frustrating experience for me. I blazed through all the letters until Q. After five minutes of typing "squall" and "qual", my left hand hurt and I gave up.

Also, correcting doesn't seem to work like any typing tutor or text editor I know of. Every time I hit backspace and typed the correct letter, it said I typed the wrong letter. Apparently, backspace acts like some weird double- backspace. You have to retype the letter _before_ the mistyped one as well.

<comment><USER10> I had the same issue, regarding the Q section.

Part of the issue was that Z comes right before that and was filled with one- sided words like 'dazed'(5/5 left-handed strokes) and 'sized'(4/5 LHS's).

And then you qet to Q and you're now forcing yourself to go in the opposite direction with a fatigued hand.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Their finger diagram makes the same mistake that most do: outward slanting finger columns of Q-A-Z, W-S-X, E-D-C, R-F-V, T-G-B.

[http://i.imgur.com/9X0nFgv.png](http://i.imgur.com/9X0nFgv.png)

The Q-A-Z finger layout requires extremely un-ergonomic compromises: a bent left wrist and/or using side-to-side finger movements rather than "curls".

A simple switch to using the columns Q-A-Shift, W-S-Z, E-D-X, etc. puts your left hand and fingers into a far more comfortable position. Neutral inward- slanted wrists and naturally curling fingers. I suppose E-S-Z might be even better.

I'm very surprised that the "standard" Q-A-Z finger placement for the left hand is still taught. There is a far more comfortable alternative available on any hardware keyboard. I'm curious if there are any other W-S-Zers who type the same way I do.

<comment><USER12> Heh, I'm glad I read your comment. I'm in the same boat as yours, when I learned touchtyping I wound the outward slant extremely uncomfortable on regular keyboards (it works better on "matrix" keyboards though). I naturally ended up using the finger placement you describe.

<comment><USER11> Yeah, that's what I find so funny about "column" keyboards such as:

[http://www.typematrix.com/](http://www.typematrix.com/) [http://www.keyboard.io/](http://www.keyboard.io/)

Standard keyboards already _have_ pretty good columns when you use a neutral slanted hand position. The right side especially, and the left isn't bad as long as you use the W-S-Z offset bottom row.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> On this webpage, in order to correct an incorrectly typed letter, you have to press backspace, type the previous letter again, then type the correct letter you meant to type before pressing backspace. This completely breaks the normal flow of typing. In order to acclimate to this, you will need to learn how to type incorrectly...

<comment><USER14> Go to settings > miscellaneous > and uncheck 'Stop cursor on error' That'll fix the issue and let you type properly.

<comment><USER15> I have to agree with bballard, this is incredibly frustrating, and had I not have read your comments I would have abandoned the site. Please make this the default - many people are used to typing this way.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> This is looking nice, but I am frustrated because I have yet to see what I think is a properly designed set of introductory exercises. IMO there are two big issues for people learning to touch type: learning where the keys are and developing the motor coordination to move the fingers from the home row to the non-home-row keys and back again. Every typing program I've seen seems to focus on the former and not the later.

This site teaches the letters "eaint" first. I think it's better to introduce the home row first. Don't worry that you can't type much English with the home row (unless you're using another layout like dvorak). Just get them good with different combinations of "asdfjkl;". Then once you have that, you introduce new keys by having them practice the jump from the correct home row key typed with the same finger to the new key and back. Let's say we're introducing 'e' next. The exercise would be something like this:

ded ede dde eed eded dede deeded edded ...

This gets them familiar with precisely the right motor recruitment pattern. The point of this exercise isn't to achieve the absolute maximum speed. It is to exercise the movement pattern of moving a certain finger from the home row to the key and back. Obviously you need to make sure they're keeping their hands on the home row and not typing d and e with two different fingers to go faster on this particular exercise. But that shouldn't be hard to do in your instructions. You can start to dissuade this in your next exercises by bringing in the home row letters typed with the adjacent fingers.

fesd sefd sdfesd fdsefd ...

I think this kind of exercise pattern should be used to introduce _all_ the keys. Once the student has established these motor patterns in the process of learning where each key is, then you can go on to English text. Of course you can put English into these exercises when possible, but not to the detriment of the main point which is motor movement patterns.

If you already know how to touch-type and are learning a new keyboard layout, then obviously you already know the motor recruitment patterns and the approach used by this web app is great.

<comment><USER17> "Don't worry that you can't type much English with the home row (unless you're using another layout like dvorak)"

This is, in all seriousness, my recommendation for learning to touch type:

Step 1: Switch your layout to Dvorak (or any other sensible layout).

Step 2: Learn to use it.

There's no step 3. Touch typing is _only_ hard because QWERTY is a terrible and stupid layout that encourages you to wander from the home row because too many common keys aren't on the home row.

If you solve that problem directly, there's no "learn to 'actually' touch type" step. In any sensible layout (of which Dvorak is merely one of many, really), you don't have to _force_ yourself to touch type... it's just what your fingers will do on their own.

If your goal is to learn to type correctly, based on what I see of people fighting for years, I seriously think that "Learn Dvorak" is a faster, more effective way to get there than "Learn QWERTY + spend the rest of your life trying to force your brain to do something it quite rationally does not believe is optimal".

People can get emotional about this, so bear in mind whether or not QWERTY is the only "practical" layout to learn because it's the only pervasive one is separate from the question of whether it encourages your hands to wander from the home row. (Which is all-but-proved by the very fact we're having this discussion.)

I am also extremely aware of the expense of learning Dvorak or another layout, having done it myself. I _still_ say it's easier that trying to force QWERTY touch typing, _if_ you want to learn to touch type at all. If you're happy with wandering QWERTY syndrome... and I really have no great arguments about why that's bad... then carry on.

<comment><USER18> Step 3 is rebinding keys in nearly every program, especially those which are coordinated to be used with a left hand on the keyboard and right on the mouse.

<comment><USER19> This really shouldn't be downvoted, it's basically the only thing keeping folks from switching. Talking as someone with a super-custom Dvorak vim layout, here-- you'll run into software that just won't work without switching to US.

In practice, the combined strategy of Dvorak+QWERTY command keys, application- specific layout settings, and a rarely-used keybind to swap manually makes this manageable on a day-to-day basis, but it's definitely not ideal. Blame the dumb legacy technology driving keyboards, if you're mad.

<comment><USER20> I've been using Dvorak for over 10 years. The only 'shortcut' I have is a couple of shell aliases: alias h=ls alias hh=ls -l

I prefer Emacs to Vim though, perhaps that's less affected since shortcut keys are influenced by meaning rather than position? (e.g., Ctrl+N, P, F, B for moving nextline, previousline, forward, backward).

<comment><USER21> Vim's the worst for this, since it has a mix of the two. hjkl is positional, but then iasdftweruvnp are all memonics, and I'd want to move those. (Insert, After, Substitute, Delete, Forwards, unTill, Word, End, Replace, Undo, Visual, Next, Paste).

Actually, I guess most of the keystrokes are placed by meaning, not position.

<comment><USER16> If you're stuck no the cursor movement keys being on the home row, then it's tough. My solution was to do no remapping and just learn the new locations for hjkl. It actually ends up being not that bad. In dvorak j and k are right next to each other in the left hand and work very similarly to how they work in qwerty. Also, h and l are typed with the index and pinky of the right hand respectively giving a pretty nice left/right mental picture. So I don't think it's bad at all. I also don't use hjkl all that much, preferring bigger movements like w/b, f/F, H/L, {/}, C-d/C-u, C-f/C-b, etc.

Switching back to qwerty in vim is pretty rough for me though. Enough of the mnemonics that I use on a regular basis get translated to muscle memory in my head that it's tough. I used to be able to switch back and forth easily when I was at a job that had me on qwerty keyboards regularly. But now that I'm not I've lost a lot of it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Wish there was an option to pay to remove ads. I have adblock on and I get an nag ad saying "View ad. Be upset. Keep us running. You may not like this ad, but it supports the developer and keeps this site free." which is fine but please offer me the ability to pay to remove them.

Nothing is more distracting when trying to learn touch typing than ads flashing all around.

I initially learned on TypingWeb.com (I think that is right) and keybr.com beats it in many ways. The extra book marklet to turn any web page into a lesson is the 1st, the 2nd is the ability to upload your own text.

A 3rd I would like is to give the URL of a Github repo and select a tag then you would be able to type every single file of the repo. It would keep track of your progress for that tag. You could even compete with others for typing say the entire Drupal 7.32 release etc.

I had bought a domain of doing something like this a while ago but only becuase nobody else had done it. keybr.com seems like it has what it takes to do this and I am going to just see if I can get the owner/maintainer to do it instead!

<comment><USER23> If you are using AdBlock you can use the element hider helper to hide the div for you.

[https://adblockplus.org/en/elemhidehelper#installation](https://adblockplus.org/en/elemhidehelper#installation)

<comment><USER22> Yeah, I could do that but I do want to help support the site. We have an open discussion about charging a subscription as an alternative.

[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/keybr/PsYcvOkJyWE](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/keybr/PsYcvOkJyWE)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I have been using keybr.com since I ordered my Ergodox and its been awesome, I have even made the top ten a few times. My typing speed have gone from 40wpm to 110wpm and you really notice it when programming or emailing or IM's with coworkers. The next step is to fire it up while having a conversation and try to maintain good typing form while talking to someone.

Doing that slows me down to a snail's pace, but its also something I find myself doing all the time as I work out code with others.

<comment><USER25> I literally can not speak while typing. :/ I'd be pretty happy even if I could do so slowly. Apparently it can be somewhat funny because it's so hard-coded I'm not always conscious of it.

<comment><USER16> Feynman noticed things similar to this. It's shows a really interesting picture of how different people think things differently. He discusses it here.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4y0EUlU-Y&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj4y0EUlU-Y&feature=youtu.be&t=143)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Best way to learn to touch type:

1) Buy a sliding under desk keyboard tray

2) Leave it under the desk while you type. Don't slide it out

3) a few weeks/months of pain

4) perfect touch typing

You will be shocked how often you were unconsciously looking down at the keyboard as you typed

<comment><USER27> Or a blank keyboard (e.g. Das Keyboard). That was why I bought it, and is what eventually helped me stop peeking at the keyboard.

<comment><USER28> If only das shipped a keyboard with an ergo layout. Gimme an MS Ergo 4000 or Sculpt with Cherry MX switches and I'll give you $300.

<comment><USER29> [http://keyboard.io](http://keyboard.io) are doing some interesting things. If you're in the US, they're doing a cross-country tour soon.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> This is a real throwback to many days spent "playing" Mavis Beacon in computer class. It's interesting to see the breakdown in speed on a per key basis: it really makes you conscious of the keys between your hands when you are in the home row. However, no matter what happens I still have brain farts when trying to type out nonsensical words, or words that are close to real words but still nonsense. I got really locked up on "ohioh" (not "onion") and the speed scores reflected that.

<comment><USER31> I agree, it took me a while to get somewhat used to fake words.

Conveniently, in the settings there is a way to set a source. Recently I have been using articles (via url) as the source ~2 times a week. This has helped me improve speed and accuracy (there were a handful of real words which I consistently mis-typed) without fake word headaches!

<comment><USER32> Would be nice if the site defaulted to a source that tended to provide real words rather than artificial ones (or real but obscure ones).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> For programming practice, I've used typing.io (it was announced on HN a few years ago [1]). I'm especially error-prone on the right-pinky keys, which are critical when coding (enter, semi-colon, forward- and back-slash). Typing.io tends to work more of these keys in the code keys.

[1] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4419030](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4419030)

<comment><USER24> I started with keybr.com just to learn touch typing, however I quickly found that you can upload your own words, I got my hands on some source code and I was off to the races.

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> I have used Keybr for only a few hours and have already seen a big improvement in my wpm (compared to other touch typing resources I have tried).

The key feature is that it targets your weak keys and key combinations and forces you to practice those repeatedly.

</comment><comment><USER34> Interesting, Twiddler uses this technology to teach you how to type on their chording keyboard: [http://twiddler.tekgear.com/tutor/twiddler.html](http://twiddler.tekgear.com/tutor/twiddler.html)

</comment><comment><USER35> I would love to see this support numbers and symbols, as well. I have a sneaking suspicion that would play very nicely with the developer crowd.

I wonder if they just don't fit as well into their pseudoword generation scheme. There's an option to enable punctuation, but nothing for symbols or numbers. Not going after the full keyboard seems like a missed opportunity.

<comment><USER36> Yes! I've been able to touch type normal text for years now, but symbols and numbers have always been an exception. Which can be especially painful with all the symbol-heavy languages. Braces, brackets, and parenthesis especially.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> Interesting thing that I've noticed--not all programmers are touch-typists, but almost all serious gamers _are_.

<comment><USER38> Yes!

And my method of touch typing shows that. My left pinky is ready for the special keys, unused for much of the typing, usually curled toward ctrl. My left hand resting position is on ASD, ready to press W at any time. My left thumb will always be resting on spacebar.

<comment><USER39> Actually this tutor made me realise that I use my index fingers for ~90% of the keys, middle finger for the rest of the alphabetic keys and don't use my ring fingers at all when I type "naturally".

I find the proscribed touch-typing method of using all the fingers I found painful after a few minutes.

<comment><USER40> I found the same.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Thanks for building this web application. I think these should be improved for a more effective teaching experience:

1) The app should offer guidance on which finger should be used to reach each key. Initially learners are more open to developing wrong habits and using particular fingers (they feel more comfortable with) to reach keys.

2) There should be a better flow for communicating progress. What is my overall progress? Am I assessed for all the keys? what are my strengths / weaknesses? what should I work on? etc.

3) I think there should be a language support. Typing words in a language become automatic as you do them more often, for example the stop words that come up very often in English are usually typed really fast by people, because they have memorized the sequence by having typed them thousands of times.

</comment><comment><USER42> I would like to see an option to type in languages other that read from right to left. My English typing is alright but when I have to deal with foreign characters, Arabic or Hebrew, it really slows me down.

Is that a possibility, or would the algorithms and systems in place not work with those languages?

</comment><comment><USER43> On the off-chance anyone wants to do this with Victorian erotic fiction, I made a similar game a couple of weeks ago:

[http://gentletouch.peterellisjones.com/](http://gentletouch.peterellisjones.com/)

</comment><comment><USER44> I know touch typing. My problem is correct fingering. I type fast but mainly use my index and middle fingers. How can I improve this?

<comment><USER45> Get a split keyboard. I had the same problem until I switched to a Microsoft split keyboard. It forced me real quick to learn to type with the right fingers, because the wrong fingers don't reach correctly.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Two things: for some reason when it first focused on the letter 'Q' it made my hand sore (my speed also fell a lot). Not sure if there's something ergonomically problematic with the early 'Q' words or it's just me or what.

The other thing I wonder is if that style of word display like speed readers use where each word shows up by itself in the middle might be more effective. There were definitely times that I felt like my line scanning was delaying somehow.

<comment><USER46> It uses a lot of words with 'q' and 's' it seems when it introduces it, and these are typed with your pinky and ring fingers, which are the weakest fingers on what is probably your non-dominant hand.

</comment></comment><comment><USER47> This might be of interest to people here: [https://addons.mozilla.org/en- us/firefox/addon/type-the-web/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en- us/firefox/addon/type-the-web/)

I built this addon for people who want to improve their typing while reading the websites they usually do.

It lets you select some text (like the inspect element selector) and do a typing test starting at that point on the page.

<comment><USER48> Awesome, thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> It's an interesting approach, and I feel like it's onto something with the algorithm. Bit like the flashcard programs in that regard.

It might be worth generating words in a natural language structure. I don't know about others but I tend to read a little ahead of what I'm typing. Pick up the words rather than the letters. When the words are fairly rare, (lots of these words are, at least for me,) and don't seem to follow a linguistic structure, this reduces to reading letter by letter fairly quickly and then searching the string for the next letter.

Like, normally my brain would be going 'This is a thing and my fingers are just filling in in the background. They're not suffering from my conscious attention.'

And at the moment it's going 'o-r-g-o-t' ... 'e-u-g-e' ... 'g-e-r'

</comment><comment><USER50> I learned to touch type using this website. Now I am learning Colemak there as well. There is also a setting for Dvorak and ability to enable punctuation and other characters.

I find it really good for practice. The not-quite-correctly-spelled words actually force me out of comfort zone and that is exactly what I need for practice.

Since English is not my native language I also use Type Racer but find that Keybr forces me to focus on typing _correctly_ and fast better than other websites by giving me a typing score along with the speed measurement.

The statistics and the dark theme are also really nice features since I use this for hours.

</comment><comment><USER51> Awesome service!

Pair with Das Keyboard for ultimate in masochistic fun:

[http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4C-ultimate/](http://www.daskeyboard.com/daskeyboard-4C-ultimate/)

<comment><USER52> This would work pretty well for learning an alternative/chorded keyboard especially. (Although the graphic would be wrong _shrug_ but that's true of almost all typing tutors)

[http://www.alphagrips.com/](http://www.alphagrips.com/)

<comment><USER37> dose action shots tho

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER53> Try [http://www.typingstudy.com](http://www.typingstudy.com) to improve your touch typing. it was very useful for me when I started using colemak and dvorak

</comment><comment><USER54> Why do all typing programs force you to type in line with the text you are copying? Either one mistake propagates and you can ruin an entire line by double typing some letter or the thing blocks until you hit the correct one.

Why is there not just a sample text and a simple text box that you type the entire sample into? Then your product can be diffed against the source and an accuracy rating calculated? This actually matches the normal typing experience.

</comment><comment><USER55> I keep getting:

"Cannot read records from database Because: A mutation operation was attempted on a database that did not allow mutations."

and nothing loads past that.

Firefox 38.0.1 on Windows 7

<comment><USER56> Same with Firefox 37.0.2 on Arch Linux

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Using this tool made me realize something; I don't move my fingers from the home row in a traditional way anymore. Depending on the words I'm typing in typical English text, I have a tendency to use different fingers (and even different hands) for letters towards the center of the keyboard; whatever is easiest/fastest for the words.

Did anyone else notice this going through the automated ramp up?

<comment><USER57> This is something I've noticed even before this tutor. Sometimes with the central letters and also with punctuation/digits. Probably has something to with coding before learning to type--higher use of symbols.

I've also noticed that I have varying shift key usage. Sometimes using the same hand as the shifted key. What I'd like to know is if I would be a better typist with more consistent patterns.

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> I like the way it builds up through the sequence of most common to least common (in English) letters ETAOIN... instead of focusing just on "home row" keys like Mavis Beacon used to, which I always found artificially hard because it meant lots of side-ways combinations.

Both of course have their limitations in terms of appropriate words or chunks however.

</comment><comment><USER58> When I was in high school, my sister was learning to type because of a secretarial course she was taking. And there is a lesson to type "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog". This string will cover the A to Z. Do this thousand of times and I assure you, your typing will greatly improve, don't need no software!

</comment><comment><USER40> Apparently I'm useless at touch typing.

I can barely break 15 words per minute on this thing without making mistakes after 30 minutes versus 86 wpm using my normal style, which involves me using my index and middle fingers and occasionally looking at the keyboard.

Shame, as I wouldn;t mind actually learning to touch type properly considering I'm a dev.

</comment><comment><USER59> Also try GNU Typist [http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/](http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/). I learned to touch type using this software around 2000. It was really good. Haven't had to look at the keyboard after that.

</comment><comment><USER60> This game was posted back to HN some time ago; I find it a lot more fun, if not as instructive.

[http://phoboslab.org/ztype/](http://phoboslab.org/ztype/)

<comment><USER61> Oh, that was fun. Thanks for the link.

</comment></comment><comment><USER62> Great analytics and interesting approach overall--what's the deal with that 9px font-size everywhere though?

I might learn how to touch-type but I'm afraid I'll lose my eyesight in the process.

</comment><comment><USER63> Is anyone having problems with their ö,ä,ü's, too? I cannot configure my keyboard in any fashion to recognize my german special characters. Is there a wy to fix this?

<comment><USER64> I have the same problem (keyboard layout: German/Germany):

ö is mapped to ü

ä is correct

ü is mapped to ß

ß is mapped to -

^ is mapped to ö

# is mapped to <

<comment><USER63> Different problem, actually. These letters are not even 'calibrated' in the application. I tried contacting the developer but got no response.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER65> Is anyone use Vim without touch typing? I learned touch typing with typing.com course and the main reason was that I wanted to use Vim more efficient.

<comment><USER18> I hate Vi because of touch typing. hjkl for the movement keys is one off from the home row jkl; for one. Second, if I've turned off the system bell and I'm touch typing but somehow I'm in command mode, I'll look back at a completely destroyed buffer.

Touch typing is as much about not looking at the output as it is not looking at the keyboard.

</comment></comment><comment><USER66> The graphs it can show you are good, but don't tell you about your accuracy, which is probably my biggest problem with my own typing.

</comment><comment><USER67> It would be phenomenal to be able to change the keyboard... This tool would make learning dvorak a whole lot easier.

<comment><USER53> You can learn dvorak by using [http://www.typingstudy.com](http://www.typingstudy.com) ;) helped me a lot

</comment></comment><comment><USER68> HOW DOES IT KNOW I'M USING COLEMAK!

</comment><comment><USER69> Pretty cool how I can emulate a different layout! Maybe I will finally convert to Dvorak one of these days.

</comment><comment><USER70> Very neat tool. I especially like the analytics, and the heatmap of my hit/miss ratio :)

</comment><comment><USER71> I would love it if the multiplayer would eventually pair you with faster typers.

</comment><comment><USER72> Used it for 20 minutes and bookmarked so I can use it more. Great tool!

</comment><comment><USER73> Does touch typing make a difference in terms of comfort / less stress on fingers / being better for you?

</comment><comment><USER74> It lost me when I saw those infinite number of bubbles for tutorial!

</comment><comment><USER75> I'll make do with physical keyboard, thanks.

<comment><USER76> You do know that the term "touch typing" predates the invention of the touchscreen by decades?

<comment><USER75> Whoops, my bad. Apologies.

In my defence, the site didn't load at first.

I'll be in the corner.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER77> typingclub.com is much better.

</comment><comment><USER78> I don't consider you a touch-typist unless you're doing modal typing...as a programmer.</comment>


Don't Go to College - <AUTHOR> https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/dont-go-to-college/ <comment><USER2> Don't go for a BA in English and Philosophy at the University of Sydney, at any rate.

<comment><USER3> Took me a little research to get this one, which is rather subtle.

The author of the above hit piece on higher education, according to his own web site spent time in Australia "studying full-time for his Bachelor's degree in English and philosophy at the University of Sydney. (He did rather well.)" Seems like the possibility of Rank Hypocrisy exists in the "Don't Go to College" essay, then.</comment></comment>


How London buses are numbered (2009) - <AUTHOR> http://markhadfield.typepad.com/that_gormandizer_man/2009/03/how-london-buses-are-numbered-tfl-come-up-trumps.html <comment><USER2> The Brits really do write well. What a wonderfully worded response from Tfl.

<comment><USER3> Well, that guy writes well, at least.

<comment><USER4> > Well, that guy writes well, at least.

There is at least one sheep in Scotland that appears black on one side ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_joke#Stereotypes_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_joke#Stereotypes_of_mathematicians)). :-)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Here's all of them, along with information on the mentioned numbering scheme:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bus_routes_in_London#C...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bus_routes_in_London#Classification_of_route_numbers)

</comment><comment><USER6> I visited the London Bus Museum (not the Transport Museum in Covent garden) [http://www.londonbusmuseum.com/](http://www.londonbusmuseum.com/) There Bus pre-first world war with the 164 (my local route) still with the exact same stops.

</comment><comment><USER7> Also relevant [http://footprintsoflondon.com/2016/01/so-why-do-green- line-c...](http://footprintsoflondon.com/2016/01/so-why-do-green-line-carry- route-numbers-in-the-700s/)</comment>


Show HN: Free Virtual Background Resources - <AUTHOR> https://www.virtual-background.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> I made this site to help me find the virtual backgrounds for Zoom and other video conferencing apps. Please tell me if you know any other good resource;)</comment>


Ask HN: Does a company have right to spam in India? - <AUTHOR>

I received promotional emails from Apple, without any unsubscribe link which states, "Since India has no anti-spamming law, we follow the US directive passed in Bill.1618 Title III by the 105th US Congress, which states that mail cannot be considered spam if it contains contact information, which this mail does."<p>Can a company like Apple can do this ? If not illegal, is not it morally bad ? Can gmail/yahoo mail mark it as SPAM ? What should I do to report it to them ? <comment><USER2> Are you sure you're receiving those emails from _Apple_? As opposed to someone perhaps hawking iPods or something? Because everything about that screams generic Indian spammer to me, not "cautious American multinational which is obsessive-compulsive about brand image".

<comment><USER3> Probably relevant: A quick Google search for "considered spam if it contains contact information, which this mail does" turns up a bunch of skeezy Indian online marketing firms and press releases. It looks like it's a sort of Indian equivalent to the "CAN-SPAM act compliant" disclaimer which you used to see on a lot of American spam.</comment></comment>


Raise from the right investors - <AUTHOR> https://www.investorintelligence.io/ <comment><USER2> Do you just add machine learning everywhere to get hype nowadays? There is nothing written about machine learning on the landing page, even if it is there. I don't think it does anything that a normal db look up can't do.</comment>


DeepMind: inside Google's super-brain - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2015/07/features/deepmind/viewall <comment><USER2> The breakout example reminds me about this thing that optimizes an "AI" for Super Mario: [http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/17/super-mario-world-self- le...](http://www.engadget.com/2015/06/17/super-mario-world-self-learning-ai/)

<comment><USER3> Actually what the article isn't super clear on is that the deepmind Atari 2600 learner knew nothing about aliens, balls, bats, bullets, left, right, up or down ... it was simply given the visual display (downsampled) as input, and was given a +ve or -ve reinforcement when something good or bad happened in the game.

Someone (not me) reconstructed the code [1] from the original publication [2].

[1] [https://github.com/kuz/DeepMind-Atari-Deep-Q- Learner](https://github.com/kuz/DeepMind-Atari-Deep-Q-Learner)

[2] [https://www.cs.toronto.edu/~vmnih/docs/dqn.pdf](https://www.cs.toronto.edu/~vmnih/docs/dqn.pdf)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> is 30! ≅ 10^25 ?

not in my book!?!

<comment><USER5> It appears to be close enough as an approximation that it didn't stop him getting into Cambridge at the tender age of 16.

At the end of the article:

> There's a long gap from here to having a system where you can sit and debate > philosophy.

My response to that is:

First you have to answer the question, "What is philosophy?" :)

<comment><USER6> They deliberately avoid answering that question. The point is you feed "the machine" with all the data you can, maybe from all the sensors in every Android phone around the world, and "the machine" will tell you what philosophy is (or should be).

<comment><USER7> Please don't, the larger the search scope the more unpredictable the result of your optimization will be...

A "plausible" explanation for the Matrix if it would be real would not be a war ignited by fear and hatred but rather the likes of Amazon asking a very vague question on how to optimize it's product delivery or customer satisfaction from a very capable calculator with near unlimited access to information and resources.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Coronavirus: Brazil overtakes Spain and Italy as new cases grow - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-52699165 <comment><USER2> I wish everyone would use per capita when referencing the number of infected and deaths for comparison. It makes no sense to compare total numbers.

<comment><USER3> Not just per capita, but what we need to look at is the ratio of number of test done to number of positives.

Otherwise a country that does close to no testing might have the illusion of doing very well, just like a country doing tons of tests might have the illusion of doing very poorly (like the US, whose ratio of positive has been declining for 1.5 months but number of cases is rather flat due to ever increasing testing)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> That's BS. We are way ahead of the US already. Real numbers are around 12x according to Fio Cruz institute.

<comment><USER5> All the 'case' numbers have no basis in reality.

For starters, every country has their own definitions and testing strategies. Then an overwhelming majority of cases are asymptomatic and almost never show up in official numbers.</comment></comment>


ISIS use Bitcoin and Zcash, Europol said in a report - <AUTHOR> https://www.eyerys.com/articles/timeline/europols-research-cryptocurrency-preferred-criminals-and-isis <comment><USER2> Then Zcash has failed.</comment>


All you have ever wanted to know about Linux on the mainframe - <AUTHOR> http://www.zdnet.com/news/all-you-have-ever-wanted-to-know-about-linux-on-the-mainframe/6200400

<comment><USER2> I would really enjoy getting the chance to hack on a mainframe. I have the idea that 40 (50?) years of continuously developed OS from OS/360->today must be something really amazing to use and to work with. But, last time I looked it was nearly impossible to get a login to one.

<comment><USER3> I forgot to mention that there are emulators out there. I have never used one but here's one from a quick google search: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_(emulator)>

When I was in school, IBM occasionally had z/OS programming contests and would provide an environment for student competitors.

<comment><USER4> Hercules is cool -- I last goofed around with it almost 10 years ago, but it was complete enough then to run VM/370 and MVS/370. If you're interested, start here: <http://www.cbttape.org/vm6.htm> and <http://www.bsp- gmbh.com/turnkey/>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Why isn't Linux on the mainframe taking off? Mostly because it costs $75,000 per processor I'm guessing.

Not including the rest of the mainframe. Plus support. and you can't scale it in realtime.

Mainframes are absolutely fabulous creatures capable of amazing feats. But the culture/pricing around them has not kept up with the times. I wish it would have because a small mainframe would be a good choice for many purposes.

<comment><USER6> > and you can't scale it in realtime.

What do you mean by this?

You can't resize the images? Sure you can.

You can't add more virtual servers quickly? Of course you can. I'm told by a mainframe-operator acquaintance that Linux on z/VM can spin up hundreds of instances per minute.

You can't get the mainframe to run faster? Tosh. IBM generally oversupply you with CPU capacity; if you need more you can ring up and they will reconfigure them remotely to add CPU power.

Other advantages: a zSeries mainframe is extremely reliable, IBM's service is expensive but extremely thorough and unlike other virtual server environments it enforces partitioning at a hardware level, and much more completely. No more mysterious performance variation due to bursty neighbours.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> > virtualizing servers by factors in the hundreds

Yeesh. The way I've heard it, this is due to a peculiar approach in mainframe development. Programs tend to assume isolated use of dedicated hardware, so they have to resort to creating ludicrous numbers of virtual mainframes rather than letting the programs coexist and interact within a single kernel.

<comment><USER8> "Programs tend to assume isolated use of dedicated hardware, so they have to resort to creating ludicrous numbers of virtual mainframes rather than letting the programs coexist" ----> Sounds like Windows VMWare/HyperV deployment justifications. :)

There is a supposed higher security in zOS partitioning -- but I have no idea what EAL Levels really mean: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evaluation_Assurance_Level>

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> If one had too much cash sitting around and wanted to play with a low-end mainframe, what would be the ballpark cost to get one? Half a million?

Yes, I'm aware that IBM wants you to lease mainframe hardware rather than actually buy it.

<comment><USER4> If you had a truck and a bunch of free time, say, $499?

[http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-S-390-G5-Parallel-Enterprise- Server-...](http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-S-390-G5-Parallel-Enterprise- Server-/300533094844?pt=COMP_EN_Workstations&hash=item45f92b19bc#ht_662wt_907)

The interesting thing about mainframe hardware is that it's designed to last forever, so the "old" stuff (which really means "brand new" stuff in mainframe terms) is still interesting.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: New parent or CTO at startup? Can I do both? - <AUTHOR>

I've been running engineering at a startup for the last year and a half or so. We're getting some traction and things are going in a positive direction. My wife and I are expecting our first child very soon and the pregnancy has been anything but smooth. I've been a wreck the past month or so and my productivity at work has suffered significantly. I've been able to keep the cracks from showing for the time being, but it's now apparent to me that when the baby comes, I will not be able to work at anywhere near the same capacity I was able to initially. I want to be there for my wife and for my new son. The startup will be far from the front of my mind.
In other words, since I don't think I'll be able to give what is necessary for the business to thrive, I see stepping down as a necessary step for the good of the company. On the other hand, there's a small voice in the back of my head telling me to suck it up and just go for it.
I also have a buddy who has promised me a job if I ever decided to go the more corporate route, which given my current situation is looking more and more attractive.
So, HNers who have been a co-founder at a startup during the birth of their first child--what would you do in my situation? <comment><USER2> My first child arrived around the time the original founder of boxcar.io invited me on to be CTO. In my case my wife also had to go back to work (surgery resident at the time) less than three weeks after the kid was born. We made it work, but it was tough on everyone involved. In general it _very_ much depends on your individual situation and how much outside help you can expect/afford, and also how understanding your wife is and what her situation is. We moved my mother in law into our two bedroom apartment and made that work, not sure I would recommend that, but it was pretty much the only reason I was able to do the work I was doing. Even then I was forced to change my work habits greatly - I needed to become much much more productive with the time I had, whether it was at work or with my family. Feel free to contact me directly if you want, contact info in my profile.

<comment><AUTHOR> We won't have that kind of outside help available, but we are planning on having my wife stay home with the baby.

When you were home from work having family time, did you interrupt it to answer emails or address work emergencies? I'm pretty much always on call, which I think is something I'll have to change.

<comment><USER2> Will she be able to get any help (a babysitter even for a few hours every few days to start with), or do you have family close by that can help that way? In my experience those sorts of breaks are very important to keeping your sanity.

There would be emergencies, although not often, and yes I would always answer them if I had to. Getting on a call is sometimes not possible when you have the kid so I used chat/IM more. My wife was very understanding this, mostly because she was not around much of the time as she was working _very_ long hours! Jonathan the founder was also very understanding (really good guy) and if I really could not be available I would make sure the others knew. I also became very good at multi-tasking - feeding the baby while debugging server issues? No problem! ;)

Would I do it this way again? I'm not sure, it was tough, but the company was a very good experience, and I don't think that I missed out on anything with my child, or that I was a terrible parent.

<comment><AUTHOR> so are you no longer at the company? sounds like you had a fantastic support network.

<comment><USER2> Yes, I'm no longer at the company, this was 3.5 years ago and the company has since sold. I have my own little consulting company now (and a second child :).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I started a job at a startup a few months before my daughter was born, and it was not easy. One thing to consider is the goodwill you've built up at the current company. They are more likely to understand you being less plugged in for the first month or so after the baby is born.

One thing: When you are at home, don't expect to accomplish ANYTHING for a while. Your job is to make sure your wife has everything she needs, because she will be on the strictest schedule imaginable feeding the baby. It is tough for the first two months, and then you start to get pockets of time back to focus.

</comment><comment><USER4> As others have said already, switching jobs (even to a more cozy/corporate position) is demanding in itself. So it may well be harder on you than just staying in your current role. You also have to consider that if you step down, the company will have to replace you, and that may not be that easy. Maybe the company is actually better off keeping you at low intensity (for a while), rather than replacing you.

That all said, yes of course it's doable - But it takes compromises on all sides. I had my first child three years ago and I accepted a position as CTO in a VC-backed startup at the same time (I started 14 days after he was born). That was pretty tough, but it worked out. I could not have done it without family support, my wife in particular who stayed at home for a while, and with a good understanding from the investors (I knew some of them from previous work, so I assume they were confident that I was right for the job). Whatever you do, make sure you align expectations with your co-founders and with your wife.

Good luck with it all.

</comment><comment><USER5> You're legally entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave through the FMLA. I'd take some. Maybe you can work out an arrangement where you spend an hour or two a day (or night) staying on top of issues and email.

The first month is insane, but you'll eventually nail down a routine. You'll make it work, whatever you choose. Just know that it's going to be nuts no matter how carefully you plan.

</comment><comment><USER6> My advice is to really take a look at your priorities. Priorities for yourself, your family and the company.

It's entirely possible to have a period of time where you've got other responsibilities taking you away from work. Yes, even as a co-founder. Can your team handle that? Can your relationships with your co-founders handle that?

I'm a family guy. I'm home by 5:15pm every day to help my wife who stays at home with our 2 kids and spend a few precious hours with the kiddos before they go to bed.

It hasn't been a terrible blow to my start-up.

</comment><comment><USER7> I had a rough experience as a one-man-show founder of a failed startup. At the time I had two young ones aged 2 and 5.

It's not just a matter of finding the hours to put into the two roles. Fatherhood is spiritually and emotionally demanding. It doesn't come naturally to all of us. I don't think Superman could work full-throttle at a challenging startup and then have much left to give when he gets home.

</comment><comment><USER8> So, what do your co-founders think? Are they trying to create a culture of workaholics only? If your planning on hiring people over 30 or women your company is going to have to deal with it sooner or later.

<comment><AUTHOR> I haven't started this discussion with them yet. I'm trying to figure out what my position is before I bring it to the CEO. We have employees with children, so that's not the issue. It's more about me essentially turning it into a 9 to 5 instead of an "eat, sleep, and breathe" situation. I guess since this is my first rodeo, I want to make sure I can give as much as possible to my new family.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Rather than stepping down, is it possible to hire help to take over some of your duties? If you've invested time and effort in your startup you should probably not just quit.

<comment><AUTHOR> unfortunately, hiring more engineers isn't possible.

quitting isn't the option that's best for me--i'm more wondering if it's best for the company. i'm more concerned about occupying an important slot on the roster, but not appropriately pulling my weight.</comment></comment>


WeWork is Desperately Squeezing Cash Out of Meetup.com - <AUTHOR> https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/the-wework-meetup-debacle-and-a-new-chapter/ <comment><USER2> This is absolutely heinous. I have two new meetups I was looking forward to attending later this month. I will be reaching out to the hosts to let them know I still want to attend but I'm canceling the RSVP for their wallets' sake.

<comment><USER3> What if we moved the "reservations" off platform since that's what they're squeezing. I see lots of conversations on Meetup alternatives but one of the most valuable functions of Meetup for me is the recommendations for new groups. And that requires network effects to build out. I'm all for ditching a platform that is sinking, but for the transition, maybe something like dropping a Google form link maksed by a url shortener would help organizers get a rough idea without requiring ppl to RSVP directly on the platform. And you can submit any contact info you want to the form, and receive a summery email blast after the Meetup with a sheet that has everyones contact info for networking purposes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> It does say _select groups_ , so I imagine they're targeting groups that are really just companies trying to drive business using Meetup. But I don't think I'll hang around to find out. The group I run mostly switched to Facebook a couple of years ago. We still post events on Meetup, but all of the discussion takes place on FB. In fact the Meetup group has about 3000 members, and the FB group about 4000. So I don't think we'll lose much by ditching Meetup.

</comment><comment><USER5> The pricing page still lists the usual plans [https://help.meetup.com/hc/en- us/articles/360001620472-Organ...](https://help.meetup.com/hc/en- us/articles/360001620472-Organizer-subscription-pricing)

Is this effective October and applies to the next months?

Edit: I found [https://www.meetup.com/lp/paymentchanges](https://www.meetup.com/lp/paymentchanges)

</comment><comment><USER6> > ... Meetup is also adding a new $2 fee every time a person RSVPs for a > meetup. Every. Single. Time.

I'm generally in favour of paid products but $2 per RSVP is just... insane.

</comment><comment><USER7> I wish I'd never had anything to do with meetup. We had lots of people join our Makerspace meetup page, but very few ever actually showed up in person. Then, they basically blackmail you by threatening to send an "organizer has stepped down" message to everyone if you don't want to keep paying.

</comment><comment><USER8> Related: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21257661](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21257661)

</comment><comment><USER9> And now I know why $2 is showing up everywhere.</comment>


How Bloggers and Journalists Are Lying to You About Meditation - <AUTHOR> http://karol.gajda.com/mindfulness/

<comment><USER2> Hey there! I'm the author of this. Thanks for sharing.</comment>


Ask HN: AI research project, need material - <AUTHOR>

For my capstone, I've decided to dive deeper into AI techniques.  My main aim is to poke into neural network training techniques and emergent intelligence, especially where it can be applied in an iterative / non-deterministic manner so results can be improved with longer runs, or cut short to get decisions early.
The problem I'm having is that I know a bit about the field, but have very little idea where to go to get good materials to study from.  I'm especially interested in newer books, as the field has changed pretty dramatically in the past 15-20 years, but most of the books I can find nearby were written in the early 1980s or older.
I'd be happy to pull from just about any source, be it books, magazines, research papers, blogs, etc.  Can anyone point me in a good direction (or 20)? <comment><AUTHOR> Right now, I've got:

      The Handbook of Artificial Intelligence, volumes 1 and 3 (1981)
      Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning (by Christopher M. Bishop) (2006)
      Artificial Intelligence - Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving (George F. Luger and William A. Stubblefield) (1998)
      Artificial Intelligence - A Modern Approach (Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig) (1995)

I'm about 1/4 of the way through the last one, and would love to find more in its vein; it's _very_ readable, and has less of a focus on the math than on the logic behind the math. I'm a bit behind most AI-level math, so I'd prefer to minimize it where possible.

</comment><comment><USER2> I did something similar for my capstone, and my recommendation is that you start a project. I also started by reading lots of papers from the ACM DL, reading books from my school library, etc. If I could do it over again, I'd start programming earlier.

It sounds like you're trying to learn about AI before you work on applying anytime classifiers in an application. My suggestion is that you interleave the studying with working, so that you can do _directed_ study rather than breadth-first traversal through a huge subfield in CS.

Start with a very modest goal for classification and work on building a neural network for that. Guess about which particular algorithm and feature vector structure to use. Work to improve your results for a while, then go back to reading in order to pick up a new technique to plug in. Consider setting a more challenging goal. Iterate on that.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have a large part of a project finished already, actually. I built a graph- based hexagonal tile system + Settlers of Cataan rules, with the explicit goal of writing computer opponents for it.

I've had a neural networks course, and have written a couple for small tasks, as well as a couple genetic algorithms. What I'm interested in now is learning more of the theories underpinning things.

A longer-term goal is to learn NLP + bayesian filters, and to start fiddling around with email / content classification. It seems the sort of thing I shouldn't _have_ to do 90% of the time, so it'd be nice to automate it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Here are some free books for machine learning/AI

[http://metaoptimize.com/qa/questions/186/good-freely- availab...](http://metaoptimize.com/qa/questions/186/good-freely-available- textbooks-on-machine-learning)</comment>


Bill Millin, piper at the D-Day landings, died on August 17th, aged 88 - <AUTHOR> http://www.economist.com/node/16885894?story_id=16885894

<comment><USER2> Thank you, that was truly worth the read.</comment>


The state of Clojure on Android - <AUTHOR> http://blog.ndk.io/2015/04/23/state-of-coa.html <comment><USER2> This is a nice, complete and well-documented review of why Clojure is not made for Android.

I disagree with the conclusion though: yeah, the classic JVM-clojure seems doomed on Android. Why ? It's not made for that, it's made for servers, it's not even used for desktop GUI programming that much. Even if we beat the startup time, it's not likely that we'll get nice UI-bindings for Android before a long time (I like the Java-interop but writing serious Android apps with the interop alone seems awful to me) and yes, there are some libraries abstracting this a little bit such as neko [1] but it's still too close to the Java-development paradigms (it's not as clojure-ish as I wish, but that's my opinon!).

So, the conclusion: no we don't need a swift for Android, and clojure is not swift anyway.

iOS already has clojure support, it's not really stable but it has decent startup times and a nice API. It's not the JVM-clojure, it's clojurescript. The UI is managed by React Native and om. It works and you get a nice REPL running too. [2] No it's not finished and has lots of bugs and it's not even publishable on the AppStore for now but it's just a matter of weeks here before addressing those problems (you can follow the work of David Nolen & Mark Fikes on this particularly, they often communicate on what they're doing but there are other awesome people working on this too!)

So for Android ? ReactNative is coming too [3]. When it's there, the community will try the same thing as what they did on iOS, and it's likely to succeed too. The community behind cljs is growing and it's becoming the main clojure implementation for ui-related stuff. You can thank React and om for that but I think that core.async has a lot to do with it too.

Anyway, I don't want to stop believing in Clojure for mobile development.

[1]: [https://github.com/clojure-android/neko](https://github.com/clojure- android/neko) [2]: [https://github.com/omcljs/ambly/wiki/Driving-React-Native- wi...](https://github.com/omcljs/ambly/wiki/Driving-React-Native-with-Om) [3]: [https://facebook.github.io/react/blog/#when-is-react- native-...](https://facebook.github.io/react/blog/#when-is-react-native- android-coming)

<comment><USER3> > So, the conclusion: no we don't need a swift for Android,

I think we do, and to me, that language is Kotlin:

Analysis: [http://goo.gl/wNjXoU](http://goo.gl/wNjXoU)

The language: [http://kotlinlang.org](http://kotlinlang.org)

<comment><USER4> Kotlin also looks like the most serious contender to me. Sure, something like Rust might be more interesting for various reasons, but the engineering effort needed to port the Android framework to another language would be huge (and the official word from the Android framework team is that it is not worth the effort). Not to mention that third party developers would have to relearn the framework from scratch and that we either have a windows mobile 6 / WP7 rift or the framework team has another nightmarish problem to solve. Kotlin looks like it could both guarantee retro-compatibility with Dalvik and brings a better language to the platform.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> From a user perspective, I find the statement that "Lean Clojure" works based off these charts a bit daring. Why?

a) Without having access to the numbers, (Skummet) startup is ~5 times as slow as the Java version. That is a noticeable difference. Plus, even Java apps sometimes tend to take a second or more to start up if they're reasonably complex.

b) The "Lean Clojure works" statement is derived from comparing _only_ the startup times. The fact that the task time is around two times Java's for Skummet is a big thing. Ignoring startup time, and without further data/tests, one could argue that Clojure Android apps run twice as slow as Java ones... that's a big no-go given the high amount of sparkly UI features of most modern apps. Or at least a no-go for having a Clojure-only stack?

(Skummet's probably in its early stages and I'd expect improvements but ... from those graph I'd argue 'Lean Clojure' does not work (yet?))

<comment><USER6> To clarify my statement: the idea of lean Clojure for making Clojure viable for Android development basically works. More static compilation of vars dramatically reduced startup times; I think further "lean Clojure" changes like dependency shaking would bring equally dramatic improvements. I'm handwaving a bit here at the challenges involved in making further changes, but the direction seems quite promising, at least for reducing startup times.

General performance is more difficult to speak for. If it is within a factor of two of Java that seems pretty similar to Clojure vs Java on the desktop and is a tradeoff many are willing to make. It's also true that Clojure relies heavily on Java libraries and Android app performance is highly dependent on underlying library and native performance. So basically for run time performance I don't think the performance of Clojure itself is the most significant factor.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> At clojure/west Zachary Kim had a talk about the state of mobile app dev in clojure [0].

[0]: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgjRo54ImUMa](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgjRo54ImUMa)

</comment><comment><USER8> So, I've been involved on Clojure/Android for a long time. I really like what Alexander has done with Skummet, and I think there is still room for improvement. However, I have to wonder to what extent is it good enough?

I use a lot of applications which have terrible load times. Some of these may be native, others are probably using some sort of cross-platform development framework. While I would prefer better performance, I am coming to the conclusion that startup time really isn't an absolute deal-breaker for a lot of people.</comment>


John Wharton, Microprocessor Architect, Has Died - <AUTHOR> <comment><AUTHOR> John Wharton is known as the architect of the Intel 8051. For many years he was a principal contributor to Microprocessor Report offering insightful and sometimes humorous views on computers and computer architecture. He was a primary organizer for the annual iconic Asilomar Microprocessor Workshop, an influential invitational conference which brought designers and architects from companies and academia together for informal technical discussions. He also spent several years as co-host and co-organizer of the Stanford EE380 Computer Systems Colloquium. He was a friend.</comment>


In San Francisco, Making a Living from Your Billionaire Neighbor's Trash - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/07/us/trash-pickers-san-francisco-zuckerberg.html <comment><USER2> About 10 years ago on Christmas morning, my wife was out for her morning jog and came across a full sized Yamaha keyboard stuffed in a trash bin placed at the curb... looking to be in excellent condition. Presumably the homeowners purchased a new piano or upgraded keyboard and simply threw this one away.

She called me and I drove down in a BMW (LOL!) and we barely were able to stuff it in the trunk. 5 minutes later, and after digging out a 12v wall-wart from the closet, I was pleasantly surprised that it powered up and worked _perfectly_

My young son ended up loving it, and taking up piano as a hobby, and now regularly competes in ragtime (of all genres!) piano competitions. If that had never happened I'm not sure he would have ever taken up music like he did. Crazy.

</comment><comment><USER3> "Trash picking is illegal in California — once a bin is rolled out onto the sidewalk the contents are considered the possession of the trash collection company...But the law is rarely enforced."

Good thing it's now been featured in the New York Times. /s

<comment><USER4> Realistically, I think this law only exists for two reasons:

1\. To discourage dumping of the whole bin's contents on to the sidewalk - happens often enough that it's an issue in some neighborhoods.

2\. To punish picking out private info from trash. Things like credit card statements, utility bills, etc. that may contain sensitive information.

I really could not care less what people do with my trash as long as they refrain from the above two points.

<comment><USER5> I would actually assume that the reason the law exists is because rummaging through dumpsters sounds like something a homeless person would do, and we know how California likes to try and make it illegal for homeless people to exist.

<comment><USER6> Perhaps that's true in some parts of California. The parts I'm acquainted with seem to be overflowing with homeless.

<comment><USER7> Making something illegal doesn't make it go away.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Not just from a billionaire's trash. Not many people can afford to buy real estate in the Bay Area, but there are many people with excess cash who can buy a lot of goods. And so many people (read tech workers) who are not from the Bay Area--or even if you are--change residences quite often. What this means is that they often discard perfectly good items in the trash.

My wife and I, when we lived in Sunnyvale, would find perfectly good items (a TV stand, chairs, tables) in the trash in our apartment complex from people who, I'm assuming, moved.

<comment><USER9> I ran into this a lot during in university at the end of terms. Lots of people moving out without a lot of time to get rid of their items - in particular international students that couldn't bring items home with them for the summer. Though I never took advantage of the situation, being a student that was also moving myself, I'm certain I lost count of the number of mini fridges, tables, lamps, etc. that were simply being tossed.

<comment><USER10> I don't understand that mentality. Couldn't they just _leave the things_ in the apartment? Last time I changed the apartment, I essentially left it with more appliances than there were when I moved in, since they were perfectly fine, but I didn't have any use for them anymore.

<comment><USER8> I like your suggestion in theory, but what if the new tenants don't need the appliances you had left? Then they would have to take care of removing it.

If there were some app that could connect moving-out and moving-in tenants and both sides could agree on what the moving-out tenants would leave behind.

<comment><USER11> I'm not sure you need another app for that. Both people would need to sign up just for this one-off task. Usually if you take over a flat the previous owner will just ask you if you want to take over x or y in my experience. Also from my experience there's a pretty good market in Facebook groups or classifieds for these things in university cities as it happens all the time. When I wanted to get rid of some item I just snapped a picture, out it on eBay classifieds and 1h later someone would come and take some table, chair, sofa...and leave. That seems like a solved problem already.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> When I was broke and living in Paris I would fine neatly laid out valuables all the time. The most memorable was a pile of classic Chanel in a cardboard box that I got close to a thousand euros for. It's pretty easy for people to just do that instead of mixing items which still have value with household waste

</comment><comment><USER13> For those like me getting a "you are browsing in Private Mode" window: [http://archive.is/SIz0z](http://archive.is/SIz0z)

<comment><USER14> Man, it's so annoying that Archive.xx has decided to screw with 22.214.171.124 users by redirecting their DNS requests to a non-working IP... :/

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> "Mr. Orta's favorite item retrieved from the trash is one that he will not sell: a collection of newspapers from around the world documenting the course of World War II. He wonders why anyone would have thrown that away."

Clearly someone died and their family didn't know what they were.

<comment><USER16> Or they didn't care. Or they had to liquidate their relatives stuff and get back to their lives out many other reasons.

Hell I can barely keep on top of organizing my own stuff, have you ever tried to culled through say a garage? Weeks of done right

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> That trickle-down economy is really working for everybody.

</comment><comment><USER18> "There's a child's pink bicycle helmet that Mr. Orta dug out from the garbage bin across the street from Mr. Zuckerberg's house. And a vacuum cleaner, a hair dryer, a coffee machine — all in working condition — and a pile of clothes that he carried home in a Whole Foods paper bag retrieved from Mr. Zuckerberg's bin..."It just amazes me what people throw away," he said one night, as he found a pair of gently used designer jeans, a new black cotton jacket, gray Nike running sneakers and a bicycle pump. "You never know what you will find."...In the blue recycling bin marked with Mr. Zuckerberg's address, there were A&W diet root beer cans, cardboard boxes and a junk mail credit card offer. In the black landfill bin were remnants of a chicken dinner, a stale baguette and Chinese takeout containers."

Zuckerberg and his fellow millionaires/billionaires sure are living it up there.

<comment><USER19> There's an amazing documentary titled "queen of Versailles" about a nouveau- riche family in Florida. The family goes to Walmart all the time and they have like 20 games of Monopoly, each kid has 10 bicycles they never ride, it's surprising but rich people also just buy a bunch of crap.

<comment><USER20> I don't think it would be a fair assumption that rich people buy a bunch of crap just because you saw one rich family doing it in a documentary.

<comment><USER21> Indeed, the wealthiest people you don't know are the ones who don't do stupid things like conspicuously consume.

There are more millionaires among your neighbors than they tend to let on.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Almost exactly a year ago, someone unsuccessfully tried to steal Zuckerberg's trash: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16745057](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16745057) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723595](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16723595)

<comment><USER23> You can't _legally_ steal someone's trash. The courts have ruled that once you've put it in public it's abandoned and fair game.

The police do this all the time to suspected criminals. They just pick up their trash and if there's evidence there it's admissible in court.

<comment><USER18> > You can't legally steal someone's trash. The courts have ruled that once > you've put it in public it's abandoned and fair game.

This article specifically disagrees:

"Trash picking is illegal in California — once a bin is rolled out onto the sidewalk the contents are considered the possession of the trash collection company, according to Robert Reed, a spokesman for Recology, the company contracted to collect San Francisco's garbage. But the law is rarely enforced."

<comment><USER24> And SCOTUS disagrees with the article.

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

<comment><USER25> No it doesn't. The case wasn't about ownership of the trash. The case was about whether the search was unreasonable. Did the person that disposed of the trash have an expectation of privacy. In that specific case, the police asked the waste company to set aside the trash allowing it to be examined and they did this without a warrant.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> I got a really fancy bed frame that was left on the side of the road. We sterilized it, reattached one ornamental piece on the headboard and built or own cross-beams to support the mattress. It works like a charm and looks fantastic.

Conversely, a relative got bed bugs once and threw their whole mattress out on the sidewalk and went inside. Later, she heard a truck driving up and looked out the window and saw people loading the mattress into the truck. She ran outside to warn them, but they seemed to have gotten spooked by this and drove off quickly with the mattress.

<comment><USER10> Someone I know once went to take out the trash and found a perfectly good set of cooking pots left next to the trash container. She picked them up and tried to discretely take them home, only to be spotted by a neighbour... who ran down the stairs, shouting "wait, wait, I also have covers for these!". Now she has a set of perfectly good kitchen pots and a mildly embarrassing story to tell :).

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> My parents live near a liberal arts university, and every year, they haul thousands of dollars worth of gear thrown away by well-off graduating college students (grateful dead tee -> trash on the way to wall street). For a while they were returning gear to LL Bean to get money (I consider this a bad idea and I believe the policies were changed to address this). They also collect enough money a year from can redemption to go on a europe trip.

</comment><comment><USER28> How about a separate bin for reuseables, with a once-a-month pickup?

It should be clear, so scavengers could easily see if anything of interest was inside.

</comment><comment><USER29> Does no one donate to Goodwill anymore?

<comment><USER3> Goodwill is actually incredibly shady, and I refuse to donate there any more: [https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/10/25/goodwill- industrie...](https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2016/10/25/goodwill-industries- omaha-ugly-wage-ratios-define-nonprofit-business/)

That said, there are plenty of other charities and local donation spots in many cities for reuse of even items that you wouldn't think would be valued.

<comment><USER30> How about the other large donation centers, particularly the salvation army?

<comment><USER31> The Salvation Army is incredibly anti-LGBT.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> "I'm digging, I'm digging, I'm searching right through that luggage One man's trash, that's another man's come up" — Thrift Shop by Macklemore

</comment><comment> daniel-cussen So unfortunately your trash is also not private--you can expect that anything you throw away can be surveilled and used against you in US.

Next hot item for the luxury home--an old-school incinerator, for privacy.

<comment><USER33> Varies by state. State of Washington has laws protecting garbage. There is an expectation of privacy even once the trash is picked up, and can't be searched without a warrant. Interestingly there are city laws regarding what you can throw away in your trash with regards to recycling/compost and my wife is eagerly waiting for these laws to be challenged in higher courts.

<comment><USER24> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_v._Greenwood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_v._Greenwood)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> > In the black landfill bin [at Zuckerberg's address] were remnants of a > chicken dinner, a stale baguette and Chinese takeout containers.

He should have put all those items in the green bin.

</comment><comment><USER35> People who claim trickle down economics don't work aren't willing to fold up their sleeves and work for it.

</comment><comment><USER36> > _" Mr. Orta is a full-time trash picker ... Mr. Orta says his goal is to > earn around $30 to $40 a day from his discoveries"_

That doesn't sound like a good use of his time at all. He's clearly a hard- working and reasonably smart/capable man if he can support himself by thrash- picking. Why does he not get a minimum-wage job? Even $11 an hour sounds like a improvement over his current situation. Are minimum wage jobs hard to come by in SFBA?

<comment><USER20> SF minimum wage is $15/hr.</comment></comment>


Insomnia: To Pursue Sleep So Hard You Become Invigorated by the Chase - <AUTHOR> https://longreads.com/2018/11/15/insomnia-to-pursue-sleep-so-hard-you-become-invigorated-by-the-chase/ <comment><USER3> I had signs of insomnia in the last couple of years. Tried all the usual techniques, and I realized those just do not work for one simple reason - <USER2> the moment i do not fall asleep, i become frustrated. And that frustration in turn makes sleeping much harder.

So, I tried doing the exact opposite, and my sleep has been tremendously better since.

Essentially, i force myself to keep my eyes open. When I catch myself falling asleep, I actually force myself to keep them often again. Before i know it, it is morning.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but all my insomnia problems are over, including on a plane. Would love to know if it works for others, or if it is just a silly thing that works for only me.

<comment><USER4> This is how some people overcome a creative block, they get frustrated when they don't get good ideas and that stops them from getting good ideas.

<comment><USER5> Regarding sleep, I also learned to "take it easy", so to speak. Instead of thinking "I have to get up soon, _fall asleep already!!_ ", I simply think "oh well, I might not sleep but at least I can rest my body a bit and think about stuff". I find that inventing things, be their stories, or imaginary programs, helps with drifting over from that into sleep.

As for creativity, I don't know if it's good for overall output volume, but I love to have a lot of things in the oven, on the backburner, and in the pantry, and switching occasionally. Sometimes I find that something I was burned out on excites me again, and other times I realize that something I was totally obsessed with for a short while after coming up with it isn't really that good, which is just as important.

<comment><USER6> Interestingly enough, I've recently found a couple of similar triggers. (Lifelong sleep issues, getting and staying asleep.)

\- Thinking about a conversation (real or otherwise) between two OTHER people (I can't be involved), or \- counting down backward and visualizing the numbers, but I have to visualize them floating above and behind my head (i.e. not floating in space, or looking directly at them (figuratively speaking)

Both scenarios, when they engage, seem like they trigger an almost physical sensation of the brain shifting modes. I'm sure someone has a reasoned explanation for this, but, crazy as it sounds, when I notice the thoughts seem to be "behind my head" I know it's working and I'll drop off to sleep shortly after. (This is imperfect, and I still don't have restful sleep, but anything that aids is still helpful.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think I saw this approach for the first time on Viktor Frankl books which formed the basis for logotherapy:

"Don't aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run—in the long-run, I say!—success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it"

</comment><comment><USER8> _> When I am up at night the world takes on a different hue. It is quieter and closer and there are textures of the dark I have begun paying attention to. I register the thickening, sense-dulling darkness that hangs velvety as a pall over deep night, and the green-black tincture you get when moisture charges the atmosphere with static._

It's all too rare that I get to read text that activates the same neurotransmitters as does listening to a piece of music.

</comment><comment><USER9> Semi related note: reading the book "The Sleep Book" which details an insomnia solution that basically involves a method to stop needing to pursue/chase/long for sleep, was the thing that cured my insomnia.

<comment><USER10> Could you tell us more about that solution?

<comment><USER11> I haven't read the book, but have heard of such solutions.

Basically: given that anxiety about sleeping prevents sleeping, the solution is necessarily to remove anxiety about sleeping. How? By realizing that peaceful rest, while awake, is also restful, and will suffice. So spend the time in bed peacefully resting and if that happens all night, it'll do.

Anecdotally, I have had extreme insomnia, not sleeping for days in a row, at the times in my life when I had the most extreme anxiety, and when the anxiety was removed it went away instantly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Note that this is just one type of insomnia; it is not the case that all insomnia necessarily involves the persuit of sleep.

</comment><comment><USER13> A simple 15 to 20 minute Viniyoga practice customized for the individual will often correct sleep issues.

<comment><USER13> Yikes, a downvote for something very positive. Some people just have closed minds. Do you downvote everything that is positive?

<comment><USER14> FWIW I didn't downvote. People aren't not downvoting it because it's positive, but (1) because it is just a random claim that contains no argumentation or useful details, and (2) because it sounds like implausible pseudoscience.

People on this site are quite skeptical of anything that sounds like "alternative medicine" (probably for good reason).

<comment><USER13> Thanks for a more thoughtful reply. It's personal experience, not random and certainly not pseudoscience. I purposely made it short to see if anyone would be curious. A yoga practice from a qualified teacher is a powerful thing.

Try going to this page and doing a search for sleep: [https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/krishnamacharya-s- legac...](https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/krishnamacharya-s-legacy)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


LIL: The Little Interpreted Language - <AUTHOR> http://runtimelegend.com/rep/lil/index <comment><USER2> We wrote an interpreter in the sophomore level CS class at USC called SIMP. It was great fun and you realize that once you figure out how to write a function interpreter you're pretty much done. (everything else is pretty straightforward). I strongly recommend anyone looking for a deeper understanding of computers write an interpreter of their own design.

</comment><comment><USER3> I like the language and we actually have been using it in production a couple of years ago. It was really easy to write extensions (like plain old C functions). Later we've moved to Lua because of the performance and because the code in LIL quickly became unreadable.

But the language is really nice, very similar to TCL. I wish it got more attention.

</comment><comment><USER4> Obligatory reference to Jim Tcl ([http://jim.tcl.tk/](http://jim.tcl.tk/)), which is a small footprint Tcl interpreter. Probably still bigger than LIL.

</comment><comment><USER5> From these short examples I don't really get how its different from TCL.</comment>


Dr. Fill computer solver at 2014 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament [video] - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ZlFr18dck

<comment><AUTHOR> Here is the paper about Dr. Fill that was published in the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research, if anyone is interested in a far more technical explanation:

[https://www.jair.org/media/3437/live-3437-6039-jair.pdf](https://www.jair.org/media/3437/live-3437-6039-jair.pdf)</comment>


Show HN: BuddyGuard Mobile Personal Security - <AUTHOR> http://www.buddyguard.org

<comment><AUTHOR> I've been a member here for awhile. I guess you can't use "Tell HN:" tags anymore. Here's our story of a product built by a 3 man team:

Our previous product, Plerts, was released almost a year ago. [http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/13/plerts-blends-check-ins- wit...](http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/13/plerts-blends-check-ins-with-medical- and-personal-safety-alerts/)

Plerts was over-designed, it did a few things but not a few things really well. BuddyGuard is the new product we developed after our company was acquired by MPOWER Labs, a financial services company that developers products for underserved and underbanked in countries like Mexico, Kosovo, Romania, etc. They have an interest in making financial transactions more secure.

BuddyGuard is free to use with friends and family. As a premium upgrade, your emergency alerts can be routed to a 24/7 ER response centre that can coordinate search & rescue efforts virtually anywhere in the world -- private helicopters/jets/boats, embassies relations, etc. In the past 12 months they've rescued over 450 people.

In short, it's like 'Global OnStar' but for your mobile phone. Love to hear HN feedback or suggestions.

<comment><USER2> Am I right in thinking that a use case for this could be: I'm about to leave a friend's house to walk back to my place, so I launch the app and it tracks me until I get home, so my friends can know I've made it back safely or, if anything happens they have a log of my activity?

Sounds like an innovative idea!</comment></comment>


US stealth jets arrive in South Korea - <AUTHOR> http://www.globaltimes.tk/2017/12/us-stealth-jets-arrive-in-south-korea.html <comment><USER2> The F-35s, however over-priced and impractical, are cool as shit. I'll never forget my time working on them, and I love seeing pictures of them in the wild (finally).</comment>


What the UK VC community giveth, Internet Explorer taketh away - <AUTHOR> http://not100percentaccurate.com/what-is-tech-city

<comment><USER2> I'm British, currently working for a startup in NYC- while I'm here I can't start my own company without significant difficulties, and I'm even having trouble transferring between jobs (my degree is not in computing, immigration appear to not like this).

So I'm seriously considering making the move back to the UK. I'm hesitant, because it seems like the startup ecosystem here is just so much more developed. Has anyone spent a decent amount of time in both areas that could give an opinion on whether it's worth doing?

<comment><USER3> > Has anyone spent a decent amount of time in both areas that could give an > opinion on whether it's worth doing?

Might be worth a separate "Ask HN" post.

<comment><USER2> Good idea- I did exactly that:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3030902>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> "Programming is hard, let's go lobbying."</comment>