Petition SoundCloud to keep sharing groups on their platform - <AUTHOR> https://www.change.org/p/soundcloud-tell-soundcloud-to-keep-groups-on-their-platform <comment><AUTHOR> Some context:

SoundCloud recently removed its groups feature, which a lot of bands and music producers used to share their music with new listeners.

The loss of this feature is especially painful for small producers and small bands, who don't already have a large established following, and so rely on this feature to get exposure for their music.

A lot of people are upset about this, and that's what this petition seeks to address.</comment>


Will the Six Great Stages of Evolution Be Followed by a Seventh? - <AUTHOR> http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2009/09/will-the-six-great-stages-of-evolution-be-followed-by-a-seventh-.html

<comment><AUTHOR> This is interesting, I had never heard an estimate that high:

 _A team led by University of Wisconsin-Madison anthropologist John Hawks estimates that positive selection just in the past 5,000 years alone -dating back to the Stone Age - has occurred at a rate roughly 100 times higher than any other period of human evolution. Many of the new genetic adjustments are occurring around changes in the human diet brought on by the advent of agriculture, and resistance to epidemic diseases that became major killers after the growth of human civilizations._

</comment><comment><USER2> So at this point, we are sort of like the fruit flies of large mammals.

</comment><comment><USER3> I would think colonization of other planets (or in the article's own terms, "invasion of outer space") would be a more likely and more comparable next step.

<comment><USER4> Hm, I know more about computer science than about physics. Sure, after reading countless science fiction stories, it is difficult to imagine that there won't be interstellar travel, teleportation and time travel one day, but aren't there physical limitations? OK teleportation seems doable (has been done I think), but what about the speed of light? Most sf stories seem to settle for some kind of handy worm holes, but what if we don't find them?

Not saying it is impossible, but the path to AI seems much clearer than the path to interstellar travel at this point, in my opinion. Like say in 100 years, do you think we'll be traveling to distant stars already? (Then again, with super intelligent AI, maybe we, or "they", will figure something out).

<comment><USER3> Still, there's the potential for terraforming Mars or some of the rocky moons in our own solar system.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you ask me, #3 should be "aerobic metabolisms". It seems like a pretty significant development.

</comment><comment><USER6> Evolution theory is an (old) theory. Here is some newer one:

[http://www.evolution-is- degeneration.com/index.asp?PaginaID=...](http://www.evolution-is- degeneration.com/index.asp?PaginaID=1104)

<comment><USER7> He doesn't have a wiki in my native tongue, so I had to chuck google translate at <http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Scheele> . The results seem to indicate he is a nobody, but I could be wrong. Also, could anyone provide a better translation of the book title "I am Jesus-fan: but how you become one?"? Without context from sources I've seen before, it's not clear that it's worth my time to read the page you linked to.

I ran into this same problem while trying to read a broad survey of Institutionalist economics papers--the amount of time I can spend reading is limited, and sometimes there's no way to tell if a heterodox work is worth the trouble. Sadly, my default is "no."

<comment><USER8> It seems google translate was right on with the translation. Doesn't make much sense in dutch either...

He seems a fairly dedicated god-botherer / evangelist, with a few TV programmes, so maybe a semi-celebrity (?)

(disclaimer: I was 11 when I left the Netherlands for New Zealand)

As for the parent comment, the evolution=degeneration theory does not pass my common sense filter: are we that much more degenerate than our 5-million- years-ago ancestors? Seems more likely to be a reactive criticism against Darwin, but (not having read the book, only the intro) provided it makes VALID points that need to be considered, it will (hopefully) aid our understanding as to how we got here, and where we may end up going...</comment></comment></comment>


GCHQ 'intervened' over Harry Potter leak - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36010426 <comment><USER2> "A spokesperson for GCHQ told the Sunday Times: "We don't comment on our defence against the dark arts."

I don't care about anything else, I'm just so glad that someone at GCHQ maintains their sense of humour whilst being a spook.

<comment><USER3> > I'm just so glad that someone at GCHQ maintains their sense of humour whilst > being a spook.

> I don't care about anything else

I suspect that's exactly the intention of this sort of PR.

<comment><USER4> That is indeed the purpose of this PR, and PR it absolutely is, as they did _not_ prevent the leak of the book - I for one read it as a PDF several days before it was published.

This is up there with the piece they ran a few days ago about how they saved us from shitty smart meters, which were instituted and approved by another department of government (ofgem). They're playing themselves off against themselves in order to make you think of them as GCHQ as better, when the whole is still just as rotten as it ever was.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It's telling that they forgot to mention that their 'interventions' ultimately failed and that the book was leaked online anyway.

</comment><comment><USER6> Book sales for Harry Potter are $7.7 billion dollars. They are just protecting domestic business.

To put things in perspective BAE systems revenue was $25 billion some years ago.

<comment><USER7> So spy agencies' purpose is to help domestic business now?

<comment><USER8> To _protect_ domestic business, yes. As stated in the article, "GCHQ, based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, is a secret intelligence agency which monitors electronic communication to prevent terrorism and tackle serious and organised crime."

Spy agencies should not help domestic businesses by engaging in serious crime, i.e. industrial espionage, though some nations' intelligence agencies, including France's have done so.

<comment><USER9> Including the US, who misused ECHELON to help their aerospace industry.

<comment><USER8> If you're referring to the Airbus example, the NSA exposing Airbus's crimes which benefited a U.S. competitor, I'm okay with that. There's a big difference between exposing crimes, even if only selectively, and sharing non- criminal information. The claims about the CIA spying on Japanese government officials and car manufacturers to benefit the U.S. in trade deals is very different, and wrong.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#Concerns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#Concerns)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10>
        "There was [an instance] where a child was going to die
        of an awful childhood condition before the book came
        out," he said. "So we did the only thing we could do and
        referred it to the author to decide how to handle it
        because it's her story, not ours.

        "History doesn't tell the outcome of that sad story, but
        I'm sure it was a happy one."

Poor turn of phrase when talking about "a child about to die of an awful childhood condition". O.o

</comment><comment><USER11> "There was [an instance] where a child was going to die of an awful childhood condition before the book came out," he said. "So we did the only thing we could do and referred it to the author to decide how to handle it because it's her story, not ours. "History doesn't tell the outcome of that sad story, but I'm sure it was a happy one."

Ouch.

<comment><USER12> An interesting quote.

I know I wouldn't publicise it - it is rather vulgar to use the death of a child to improve ones public images; publicly granting such a request will also bring the problem of more being made in the future.

There is also the risk to the book to consider. I can completely understand if an author chose not to give anybody special consideration. It is an unfortunate fact that it is impossible to guarantee the security of such a reading.

Not an easy decision, and I think the publisher is speaking out of turn by mentioning that such events have been considered.

<comment><USER13> > Not an easy decision, and I think the publisher is speaking out of turn by > mentioning that such events have been considered.

Such events have already been publicly confirmed. Here's two:

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1417303/J.-K.-Rowling- read-unfinished-book-to-dying-girl.html)

[http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Natalie_McDonald](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Natalie_McDonald)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> As a Belgian, i can't wait until the British vote themselves out of the European Union. GCHQ is the prime reason. They and other organizations like them are the cancer of a modern democratic society.

<comment><USER15> Why do you think that whether the UK is in or out of the EU has any impact on who GCHQ and SIS/MI6 spies on?

<comment><USER16> If anything I would imagine they would be able to violate EU law even more without the accountability to Brussels.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> And how many times did they discover stolen credit cards, or evidence of identity theft, and helpfully notified the banks and account holders?

<comment><USER12> Banks have made many decisions about the acceptable level of credit card and identity theft. These essentially come down to - quite a bit is ok. For all you know GCHQ does report such evidence, but if they don't I would expect it to be because nothing will realistically be done about it.

When something unusual, or of a large magnitude, comes along these organisations will talk with each other to help mitigate the damage.

GCHQ does a lot of good work alongside invading our privacy.

<comment><USER18> I know anecdotal evidence and all that, but I've never received a genuine report from a bank saying that a card has been stolen, but I've gotten a lot of annoying false positives saying my card has been declined because I've traveled more than a 2 hour drive away from home and had the nerve to use it.

<comment><USER12> That is consistent with a good detector for a rare event - the false positives will outnumber the true positives. This is known as the false positive paradox [0].

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

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> > However, after a page was read to an editor, it was determined to be fake.

So someone at GCHQ finds a story someone has wrote pretending to be new Harry Potter, and that warrants them ringing them up ??

<comment><USER20> You make it sound like making one short phone call is a drastic, unwarranted step. Come on, it's just a phone call.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> > Bloomsbury's Nigel Newton said GCHQ contacted him in 2005 after it > apparently discovered an early copy of The Half Blood-Prince on the > internet.

> However, after a page was read to an editor, it was determined to be fake.

This is hilarious

There was a lot of crap being put online being named for an upcoming book, usually fanfic (especially at the time of Book 5 and 6)

But it was easy to tell

</comment><comment><USER22> Half-blood Prince Spoiler Alert. GCHQ notified. Of National Security Import.

</comment><comment><USER23> Almost sounds like an attempt by someone at GCHQ to get a copy of the book before it was released. Given how popular the book was, this would have been a great asset for "trading" with sources.

<comment><USER20> With logic like this you probably think the moon landings were faked too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> That's not a world I want to live in.

</comment><comment><USER7> So is this what the doubling of GCHQ's budget is going to be used for? Protecting against the piracy of various novels and movies?

I thought it was to stop terrorism or something like that. Silly me.

<comment><USER25> With the money that the series has generated, it's probably gone over some threshold to consider it a "national security" issue.

<comment><USER26> I think that's highly unlikely.

<comment><USER25> The NSA intervened during an Airbus tender worth $6 Billion:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON#Concerns

Harry Potter generated revenue: over $24 Billion:

        http://www.statisticbrain.com/total-harry-potter-franchise-revenue/

"National security" is money.

<comment><USER26> In that case, I stand corrected.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Very old, very sophisticated tools found in India - <AUTHOR> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/02/01/very-old-very-sophisticated-tools-found-in-india-the-question-is-who-made-them/?utm_term=.2a5d5e0f88de <comment><USER2> Ah, when I read "very sophisticated" I was hoping to see something more than images of few stones.

To clarify: for a few days in my pre-adolescent years in India, I had gotten into a quirky habit of picking chipped-stones lying around (which I imagined could be from pre-historic ages). Finding some really interesting shapes wasn't all that difficult.

I'm genuinely curious about how archeologists/anthropologists come up with such definitive conclusions.

<comment><USER3> There's something called a Conchoidal fracture, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture) ... the presence of which is technically diagnostic of material that's been artificially manipulated.

<comment><USER4> Link didn't work for me, this did: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conchoidal_fracture)

<comment><USER3> Thanks for the heads up, i fixed the formatting.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Hiking in the hills outside of Bangalore I found some absolutely ancient stone dwellings completely covered in thick shrub. The villagers down below told me that they "belonged to an ancient race of dwarves." And a few km away, I stumbled across an obviously very old cave painting in a style I've never seen before anywhere in the world. Not soul in sight and miles from the road. My guess is that there are huge archaeological discoveries waiting to be found in India for anyone who takes the trouble to look for them.

<comment><USER6> "Dwarves"? Is that just the closest word you have for the rendering, or is that really a thing in their local mythology? I thought they were strictly a Germanic/Norse staple. I've never seen them mentioned in Hinduism.

<comment><USER7> Looks like Hinduism has a precedent for dwarves, and it's not a trivial mention either: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vamana)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> A minor question/quibble with the article: it states "The first hominins to leave Africa — whoever they were — carried with them oval- and pear-shaped hand axes used to pound and scrape food — a technology called Acheulean"

I thought that Oldowan[1] technology was older than Acheulean, and had spread across both Africa and Eurasia before the appearance of Acheulean tech.

Regardless, the Levallois technique is considered to be much newer than Acheulean tech, so it's still an interesting find.

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

</comment><comment><USER9> Did that find seem awfully pat? A neat layering of all know tool types found in one site. Its what you'd find if somebody was constructing a myth.

Is this actually atypical? What other sites worldwide compare with this complete history in one plot?

<comment><USER10> I know that there are ancient sites with an incredible number of layers due to a very long history of habitation. I was just reading about Mount Megiddo which is a so-called mountain _because_ of the accumulated layers (something like 26) of ruins. Human history is long enough that it has happened more than once that a site was appealing for thousands of years, but then it was abandoned thousands of years before the present, perhaps due to climate or technological change.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I was expecting an article on make or ant.

<comment><USER12> Or how about Turbo C++? It seems there are still technical schools in India that are still teaching using very old (but not sophisticated) tools. It's frustrating too see modern C++ tutorials using 1980/1990s compilers.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Good

</comment><comment><USER14> The fourth verse of the Rigvedic hymn 1:50 (50th hymn in book 1 of rigveda) is as follows:

तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो जयोतिष्क्र्दसि सूर्य | विश्वमा भासिरोचनम |

taranirviśvadarśato jyotishkridasi sūrya | viśvamā bhāsirocanam ||

This means "Swift and all beautiful art thou, O Surya (Sun), maker of the light, illuminating all the radiant realm."

Exlpaining this verse in his Rig Veda commentary, Sayana, who was a minister in the court of Bukka of the great Vijayanagar Empire of Karnataka in South India (in early 14th century), says:

tatha ca smaryate yojananam. sahasre dve dve sate dve ca yojane ekena nimishardhena kramaman.

This means "It is remembered here that Sun (light) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha."

Note: Nimisharda = half of a nimisha In the vedas Yojana is a unit of distance and Nimisha is a unit of time.

Unit of Vedic Time: Nimisha

The Moksha Dharma Parva of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata describes Nimisha as follows: 15 Nimisha = 1 Kastha 30 Kashta = 1 Kala 30.3 Kala = 1 Muhurta 30 Muhurtas = 1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night) We know Day-Night is 24 hours So we get 24 hours = 30 x 30.3 x 30 x 15 nimisha in other words 409050 nimisha We know 1 hour = 60 x 60 = 3600 seconds So 24 hours = 24 x 3600 seconds = 409,050 nimisha 409,050 nimisha = 86,400 seconds 1 nimisha = 0.2112 seconds (This is a recursive decimal. The wink of an eye is equal to 0.2112 seconds.) 1/2 nimisha = 0.1056 seconds

Unit of Vedic Distance: Yojana

Yojana is defined in Chapter 6 of Book 1 of the ancient vedic text "Vishnu Purana" as follows:

10 ParamAnus = 1 Parasúkshma 10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasarenu 10 Trasarenus = 1 Mahírajas (particle of dust) 10 Mahírajas= 1 Bálágra (hair's point) 10 Bálágra = 1 Likhsha 10 Likhsha= 1 Yuka 10 Yukas = 1 Yavodara (heart of barley) 10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava (barley grain of middle size) 10 Yava = 1 Angula (1.89 cm or approx 3/4 inch) 6 fingers = 1 Pada (the breadth of it) 2 Padas = 1 Vitasti (span) 2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta (cubit) 4 Hastas = a Dhanu, a Danda, or pauruSa (a man's height), or 2 Nárikás = 6 feet 2,000 Dhanus = 1 Gavyuti (distance to which a cow's call or lowing can be heard) = 12,000 feet 4 Gavyutis = 1 Yojana = 9.09 miles

Calculation of the Speed of Light from the Rig Veda:

So now we can calculate what is the value of the speed of light in modern units based on the value given as 2202 yojanas in 1/2 nimisha

= 2,202 x 9.09 miles per 0.1056 seconds = 20,016.18 miles per 0.1056 seconds = 189,547 miles per second

As per the Rig Veda the speed of light is 189,547 miles per second. As per modern science the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second!

from..

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:R%C3%B8mer%27s_determinat...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:R%C3%B8mer%27s_determination_of_the_speed_of_light)

<comment><USER15> Isn't it an irony, that the parent posts this long comment, supposedly to glorify the ancient texts of the East, attempting to assert an innate superiority of the scientific thought achieved in the past by their culture and yet s/he uses a device invented more or less in the West using science ( math, physics, chem) developed by western minds in no more than last 300-400 years.

I suppose it is in our nature to beam in the artificial yet comforting light of the (false) understanding that we once were at the foremost of scientific thought, thus helping us in ignoring or god forbid, forgetting, the follies of our past or pathetic state of our current affairs.

If even after the industrial revolution and the information age, both of which have made our (humans everywhere in general) lives far easier and comfortable and have thus given us an opportunity to carefully think about the state of the world and ascertain, without any bias, our position in it and to plan for our future, some of us still fall for the trap laid down by scheming politicians and (unholy) religious gurus, we truly should not be very proud, either of our past or of our present.

disclaimer: I am an Indian

<comment><USER16> FWIW, I found this after digging into the comments on the Quora link - [https://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/9804020v3.pdf](https://arxiv.org/pdf/physics/9804020v3.pdf). It explains the context of Puranic cosmology.

I, too, am an Indian, and a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted. However, it is admittedly enjoyable for me to read about Indian history and ancient science.

<comment><USER15> >> However, it is admittedly enjoyable for me to read about Indian history and ancient science.

I am with you on this one.

I have read Mahabharata, Ramayana and Bhagwad Gita ( one of my favorite works ) along with many foreign as well Indian vernacular works. I merely seek to use the teachings/lessons taught in our ancient scriptures so that I can live a wholesome life and find ways for the betterment of my family and my society. It hurts me that some of my well educated fellow countrymen quote these texts to spread pseudo science and sometimes even hatred for others.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> "spans 385,000 to 172,000 years ago (plus or minus about 50,000 years on either end)"

do journalists now get paid by word?

<comment><USER18> This sounds like a perfectly natural description of the estimated date range to me. Is there some significantly more efficient way of phrasing it that I'm overlooking? (Without resorting to scientific ± notation, at least?)

<comment><USER19> I'd be okay if we removed 'on either end'.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Old sophisticated tools in India? We talking about Xcode 6?

<comment><USER21> Maybe older: were the tools _Carbon_ dated?

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> This is in Tamil Nadu. As usual, Central Government will stop excavation like they did in Keeladi, because the site was from Sangam Era.

<comment><USER23> Why would the Central Government want to stop excavation because its from the Sangam Era?

<comment><USER24> They won't. Like USA, we have our own gaggle of extreme conspiracy theorists who are always paranoid that the Central Government is a dictator that wants to reduce states to powerless puppets.

<comment><USER25> But what's with the Sangam Era that (some people thinks) the gov is trying to cover?

<comment><USER26> If I had to guess the conspiracy is that Central government does not want to excavate sites that prove that Sangam culture was greater and earlier than the Northern Indian culture.

<comment><USER27> I have never heard of this, but knowing the mistrust for the Centre in the Southern states I can believe how it is accepted.

<comment><USER22> It's simple. Remains from Keezhadi tell that Tamil ancestors had no religion. If it is true, they need to start finding the origin of Sanskrit.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> A PS4 ad crashed my browser on this page. I wasn't able to figure out what exactly went wrong, just curious if anyone else had problems when trying to view it.

</comment><comment><USER29> Thanks for this! Almost dropped my phone in to the potty laughing out loud. Xcode 9 is that bad huh??</comment>


S. 1037: Being introduced tomorrow by Rand Paul - <AUTHOR> http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/s1037/text

<comment><USER2> It's Rand Paul.

<comment><AUTHOR> fixed</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How do I quit? - <AUTHOR>

I have been working for a small but funded company (6 people) for the past 3 and a half months and have come to the decision that the role/team and me are not a good fit.  I have approximately 2 and a half weeks unpaid work. We work remotely so there isn't a chance that I see my boss soon, so over email would be the best, can anyone share best practices and how I should do it. (I am totally willing to give 2 weeks notice) Thank you! <comment><USER2> You have your boss's phone number, right? As a matter of decorum you should at least do it over the phone. If they're hard to get hold of, then email something like, "Is there a good time to call you today?" or (only slightly deceptive) "Could I call you to talk about the next things I'll be working on?"

</comment><comment><USER3> It is deemed unprofessional to give your notice over email. As Uhhrrr said, do it over the phone (since meeting your boss is not possible) as a matter of courtesy.

Also, you seem pretty sure about wanting to quit. In case you are not sure, a simple discussion/negotiation with your boss might be better than to just give your notice.

<comment><AUTHOR> That makes sense, I really enjoy my team, but the leadership is really what I have question with, mostly just scared to follow a company too far in the wrong direction.</comment></comment>


First Time vs Serial Entrepreneurs - <AUTHOR> http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2011/05/first-time-vs-serial-entrepreneurs.html

<comment><USER2> The point he makes is a very good (though not original) one. This makes me wonder how well will a program that connects the two types will work - Take a first timer with a great idea, pair him with a serial entrepreneur who has no ideas and great stuff may happen.

Unfortunately it's hard to find as good an analogy for this in the music world, maybe new artist and experienced producer?

<comment><USER3> If you're talking about an incubator like YCombinator where they'd co-found a company, it'd be very difficult as the more important question is whether they can work together.

<comment><USER4> This is also what you see VCs insist on in many cases- So called "Adult Supervision", wherein you might adopt an experienced CEO who knows how to run a company, even if he doesn't have the same drive for this particular idea.

<comment><USER5> Sometimes the VC brings in "adult supervision" in the form of an experienced serial entrepreneur, which can be great. Sometimes the VC brings in "adult supervision" in the form of an MBA with many years of experience as a consultant or investment banker and zero experience founding or even managing a company, which can be not so great.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm just glad he believes in the existence of great ideas. This is a further extension of the evolution from idea + market fit > product > business.

It's easy for a person with expertise in one area to feel his/her ability is the most important.</comment>


Powder metallurgy - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powder_metallurgy <comment><USER2> A related method not mentioned in this article (or, in fact, many places at all) is iro3d[1]'s "selective powder deposition": a 3D printer effectively creates a mold out of sand, with empty spaces filled with a metal powder. After the "print", done in a crucible, is finished, an ingot of metal with a lower melting point is set on top & the whole thing baked in a kiln. The metal from top fills the space between the granules of powder and solidifies with nearly no shrinkage (as the object is mostly made of the powder, which never melts).

[1] [http://iro3d.com/](http://iro3d.com/)

<comment><USER3> 3d printing is mentioned, under the additive processes.

It's most likely not emphasized since the resulting product may have the size tolerances, but not the strength of the powdered metal. It's still quite strong, but the strength is based off the "filler" material (similar to brazed parts), not the powdered metals (which acts more like rebar inside concrete).

I imagine this lack of strength (or lack of integration) of the original powdered material is what holds it (and other similar additive processes) back from being a well recognized PM process.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Over the years I've seen a couple of fascinating applications with powdered additive manufacturing. Living metal - powdered metal parts with bacteria 'in the gaps'. Activated with heat their byproduct was lubricant. Great for bearing faces in mechanical equipment doing long distances in space.

The other was calcium powdered 3D printed parts that had a chemical forced through their porous mass, changing its chemical composition.

<comment><USER5> The specialist applications of powder metallurgy are awesome, not to mention the fact that lots of refractory metals can _only_ be used with sintered powder (eg tungsten). It should also be pointed out that powder metallurgy parts have long been an important part of engineering (mostly sintered bronze bushings impregnated with grease), and have recently become hugely common as powder gears.

Manufacturing standard spur gears in particular has benefited HUGELY from powder metallurgy. You can use it to make exceptionally accurate and cheap extrudable shapes, and gears have traditionally been hugely expensive and wasteful because you have to cut out the teeth, harden, and final-cut. Powder metallurgy has created an important middle ground- exceptionally cheap medium- quality gears. Now instead of unhardened gears you will always get powder gears, which are better. In places where final-ground gears were overkill, powder gears have come in at acceptable quality and greatly reduced prices. Powder metallurgy is awesome!

<comment><USER6> > Now instead of unhardened gears you will always get powder gears, which are > better.

Nope, now instead of unhardened gears you get powder gears which are even worse (but much cheaper than those good powder gears), but minimally better than plastic. My father is power tools' serviceman and since sintered gears became more common, there are MUCH more broken transmissions (but yeah, they are a little cheaper).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Turns out I already knew roughly how this process works from playing Factorio with Bob's/Angel's mods. It's relatively 'realistic', requiring crushing ores and sorting to get different breakdowns of products (And byproducts), further processing those products to get powders, recombining, sintering and pressing into pellets.

</comment><comment><USER8> Or in a slightly more exciting format: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7H0YFFV_oE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7H0YFFV_oE)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_laser_sintering](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_laser_sintering)

</comment><comment><USER9> The single limiting factor against high production and good dimension advantage is Raw material production.</comment>


Evan Williams tells How Odeo Screwed Up - <AUTHOR> http://gigaom.com/2006/09/14/evan-williams-how-odeo-screwed-up <comment><USER2> _"Be Narrow," he said, "Be Tiny." Today, he flat-out admitted "I was working on Odeo at the time I wrote that, and I was ignoring most of those rules."_

The difference between knowing something intellectually and actually living it. It's so easy to convince yourself you're following your own rules, even when you're not.</comment>


Mark Zuckerberg: The Future of Facebook Is Sharing Thoughts - <AUTHOR> http://www.fastcompany.com/3048091/fast-feed/mark-zuckerberg-the-future-of-facebook-is-sharing-thoughts

<comment><AUTHOR> Related to interconnected human minds: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9610525](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9610525) ([http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/do-we-really-want-to- fuse...](http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/do-we-really-want-to-fuse-our- minds-together/))</comment>


James May Reviews His Own Cars – Tesla Model S vs. Toyota Mirai - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIW5CQQ3Zo <comment><USER2> Should we trust him to be honest about his Tesla reviews now?</comment>


Show HN: Mightbuy - faster search than Google? - <AUTHOR> http://www.mightbuy.it/search Search that is faster than Google. By being slower, that is.
For example: Got to http://www.mightbuy.it/search - search for a unique product, like "Khunu Chimera" (a yak wool sweater). You should get images and a price.  Slowly, but it gives you price and image.
Then, search Khunu Chimera on Google. You get a links fast, but then have to go to the page, find a image and price. All together, slower.  If you try http://www.google.com/shopping - you get nothing.
Uses node.js server (and rails). <comment><AUTHOR> Sorry, I had a big comment/explanation when I submitted this, but looks like it was lost.

That is - mightbuy search is faster than google by being slower. For example, search for "Khunu Chimera" (a yak wool sweater) on mightbuy.it/search. It should return picture and prices (much more slowly than google).

But you don't have to navigate to the sub links. And google.com/shopping doesn't have the Khunu chimera at all.

</comment><comment><USER2> i tested it..its slower than Google actually..when i made search for Apple IPhone 4, google did it in 3 secs while mightbuy took 6 secs that too might buy provided only 5 results while google gave a lot many...

<comment><AUTHOR> I meant to have a lot of qualifications in the submission: Faster than google by being slower! \- you need to find a price \- you need to find a image \- you if google front page doesn't show you that, you have to count browsing to the link, opening it up, finding price.

When I googled Apple Iphone 4, google still wins, as one of their ads shows me a iphone 4 with a price.

But for some more unique brands, something more interesting, often it takes a browse into the site to get an image and price. Google will always get initial results faster.

<comment><USER2> ok...the points u mentioned are not there in Google..you should say that it is more featured than google in terms of searching a product....</comment></comment></comment>


Selling my Android game: week 1 - <AUTHOR> http://www.bendmorris.com/2011/08/selling-my-android-game-week-1.html

<comment><USER2> Great stuff, thanks for sharing. If you've done zero advertising, those are completely decent results. 130+ people trying your game in a week is pretty cool.

"The full version has had some very modest success, but I've realized that I need to add more value to convince regular players of the Lite version to convert to paying customers."

Yeah. As far as I can tell, the only major difference between the two versions is that more human players can participate. I haven't done any market research, but I imagine the vast majority of people playing a game on a phone are playing alone.

Building up the full version with a campaign is a good idea, but I'd seriously consider stripping down the lite version as well. Ideally, it should be a demo that teaches players the game and gives them just enough to get them wanting more. Maybe limit the number of creatures available.

</comment><comment><USER3> One good point in there: The data collection can be quite worthwhile. It's not something I would have put in, and I'm glad this post mentioned it.

</comment><comment><USER4> thanks for sharing the numbers!! always interesting</comment>


The TCK Trap - <AUTHOR> http://skife.org/java/jcp/2010/12/07/the-tck-trap.html

<comment><USER2> I made similar comments in previous posts about the TCK and why it's actually much worse than it seems.

The end result is that the only open source Java will be the 'Open' JDK - anything else gets any traction and it's open to being shut down without notice.

This is why we all need to get behind the ASF and support Harmony.

</comment><comment><USER3> "The requested URL /java/jcp/2010/12/07/the-tck- trap.html<http://skife.org/java/jcp/2010/12/07/the-tck-trap.html> was not found on this server."

<comment><USER4> Also posted on <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1979526>

No comments there though...

<comment><USER3> Flagging this one, then.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Link in title is broken, is missing the <http://>

Use

<http://skife.org/java/jcp/2010/12/07/the-tck-trap.html>

-Brian</comment>


Why would any SANE programmer put business logic into the model layer? - <AUTHOR> https://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=11072737&cid=55140673 <comment><USER2> It boils down to how many of us are able to code logic in stored procedures vs how many of us are able to do it in backend language X.

The tools to edit, version control, run tests and deploy are also important but are a consequence of the number of developers that will use them.

If every single backend developer would be a DBA and a SQL master we'd write applications in SQL and we'd have great tools to do it. But we're lucky if in a given project there is one single developer that understands SQL well enough, not at DBA levels.

That said, is it architecturally better to write application logic in stored procedures inside the database or in a different language outside the database? An interesting question. I see good points for both choices but given the world we're in the pragmatical one is the latter.

<comment><USER3> Leaving it too generic brings your backend application to give up on performance, by refusing to optimize the data layer.

Working towards a better Database optimization leads to huge speedups in the application itself.

A well done store procedure beats easily any ORM construct (especially JPA in Java).

And what about dealing with error handling? Tighting the error handling to model makes it easier to unit test it extensively and enables DRY on your codebase, since you don't have to repeat the error checking in all the places your model is used.

<comment><USER2> Which tools do you use to deploy stored procedures and to run tests?

I mean, plain SQL files and any languages that can interface the FB would do, but is there anything purposely made for that?

<comment><USER3> I usually deploy them as SQL files.

I keep my SQL statements as close to standard as possible, so a change in Database Engine (say MySQL-->Postgres) results in a simple step.

The unit tests can be performed as a bunch of SQL statements passed as input to the database client and verify that it works as expected. This level (the unit test) can also be done with any programming language of choice, to make the task easier.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Number of squares on a chess board - <AUTHOR> http://www.billthelizard.com/

<comment><USER2> I remember we had the square problem as homework in 5th grade.

The triangle problem is more difficult, since parity matters (I think.) But I did come up with a solution which seems correct.

<comment><USER3> Re: The triangle problem. If you've figured out that parity matters then you probably have it. That seems to be the stumbling block for most people trying that problem for the first time.</comment></comment>


Some Emerging Possibilities For Space Propulsion - <AUTHOR> http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/technology/warp/possible.html <comment><USER2> Speaking as a professional physicist, this page feels awfully light on actual information. And as far as I can tell, that's merited: there's not a lot of solid science discussed on this page, or even especially tantalizing ideas for what might come next.

They spend a lot of time discussing quantum vacuum energy, but the one short note about its "propulsion implications" includes the comment that "Those particular gravity theories are still up for debate." That's perhaps generous: quantum gravity isn't far from my field, and I've never heard of this take on the origin of gravity and inertia.

I'm also rather puzzled by the quote "Although gravity's effects on electromagnetism and spacetime have been observed, the reverse possibility, of using electromagnetism to affect gravity, inertia, or spacetime is unknown." That's really not at all true. Our models of gravity all include very well- defined effects of electromagnetism on spacetime: the energy density in those fields causes space to curve, just like any other form of mass or energy. Hypothesizing anything else would require fundamental changes to the theory. That's entirely possible! But it's misleading to characterize the current state of affairs as having an unfilled _gap_ like this.

So yeah. I'd love a good spacedrive as much as the next guy. But this article doesn't do much to make me optimistic about it.

<comment><USER3> How do these "legitimate" ideas for FTL deal with causality? I've always wondered that.

People always use causality to argue against FTL, but then readily acknowledge that wormholes or Albicurie might allow it. I'm not getting that disconnect?

<comment><USER2> Here's a link to a good discussion of some related issues by cosmologist Sean Carroll:

[http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2011/09/24/can- neut...](http://www.preposterousuniverse.com/blog/2011/09/24/can-neutrinos- kill-their-own-grandfathers/)

(It's in the context of that mistaken "neutrinos move faster than light" claim from a few years back, but the arguments are general. Bob Geroch's article mentioned near the end is pretty much the gold standard for dealing with these issues as far as I know.)

I really need to sit down at some point and figure out how Alcubierre "warp" spacetimes would relate to causality. It may be a moot point: I've heard people claim that one feature of Alcubierre's solutions in General Relativity is that they are "eternal", in the sense that there's no obvious way to "turn on" a warp bubble around some given region or to "turn off" the warp once you reach some destination. If that's true, it wouldn't be useful for sending information, which might be all that's needed to preserve causality.

As for wormholes or similarly strange spacetime topologies, those really do open a can of worms for causality. There's some interesting physics/philosophy involved, and I'm not sure that we've got any solid answers. (I have my own strong suspicions about what the answer looks like, but I won't try to explain them here.) But that may also be moot: every known wormhole solution in relativity requires matter with properties entirely different than anything ever observed in the universe, so we won't be testing it out any time soon.

<comment><USER3> Thanks! Could you explain a bit more about how Alcubierre can't be used to send information?

Wouldn't a spaceship traveling FTL be able to carry information?

<comment><USER2> You know what? I take that back. At some point, I'd had the impression that Alcubierre's solution required a fixed velocity (so you couldn't start or stop the spaceship), but evidently that's not the case. It gets to be problematic after all! :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> For something a bit more realistic, we are still studying nuclear propulsion in fits and starts since we halted its development in the 60s:

[http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/ntrees.html#....](http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/ntrees.html#.U5cQ6i8ikUs)

</comment><comment><USER5> Here's an interesting Wired interview with Podkletnov on his anti-gravity work from '97 : [http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/6.03/antigravity.html...](http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/6.03/antigravity.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=)

</comment><comment><USER6> I honestly can't imagine why NASA even acknowledges the idea of FTL travel - Is there some kind of propeller beanie PAC forcing their hand?

They should just have a page that says: "FTL is impossible, but that's fine, once you get used to the way things are."

<comment><USER7> >They should just have a page that says: "FTL is impossible, but that's fine, once you get used to the way things are."

No offense intended to you, but I feel this is a disastrously negative attitude to have. Except where morals dictate otherwise (which are outside the scope of science anyway) nothing is banned from exploration. Suggesting otherwise implies that we know all there is to know about a subject; to me, this is analogous to willful ignorance. Science is dedicated to removing ignorance, not enforcing it.

<comment><USER8> _nothing is banned from exploration_

Nothing is banned, per se... but there's just too much search space to sift through to not be smart about where you look.

<comment><USER9> I don't know about you, but for me, some of the best things I've ever found were in places I shouldn't have been looking.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> NASA used to have a small program to evaluate concepts for breakthrough propulsion, which ended around 2002.

[http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/](http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/bpp/)

<comment><USER11> Why not a fission fragment rocket? We could send a probe to the centauri system with current technology.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fission- fragment_rocket](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fission-fragment_rocket)

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I would be much more excited if NASA resumed the research on NERVA ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA)). 50 years later a nuclear propulsion drive still seems like the most promising and cost-efficient way to explore our solar system.

</comment><comment><USER13> _" Theory for a faster-than-light "warp drive" consistent with general relativity."_

For real?

<comment><USER5> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive)

<comment><USER8> The only bright spot in that article is that the math doesn't contradict general relativity. Everything else points to its being a curiosity that would disappear if GR were more integral with Quantum Mechanics.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> A real-life warp drive can be practically possible by employing phased standing waves. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zh9abFF3ZE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zh9abFF3ZE)

</comment><comment><USER15> The submitter should have tacked on (2007).</comment>


Ask HN: What's the Opinion of Remote Teams on Hiring from India? - <AUTHOR> Please share any apprehensions or limitations that you might have.
In the case of time-zone differences being the biggest hurdle, what if the developers are available to work in hours overlapping your timezone. <comment><USER2> Hello Harish,

I am an engineering working remotely for a US startup from India. This is my second remote job with a US startup. There is a issue with timezone, but the team eventually figure out how to work together.

For example my team is aware of my availability and usually plans things with that in mind. We try to have meeting in overlapping working times. Sometimes we take exceptions where it might be quite early/late during the day for one team member, but these are very rare.

As long as you have good working relationship & good team , it should not be a big problem.

<comment><AUTHOR> Can you share some details on how did you find it? I want to know about your experience? I am trying to build a portal for Indians interested in remote work. Can you share your email id or any other preferred mode of communication?

<comment><USER2> Hey Harish,

How can I reach you ?

rahuldotaugdot1986atgmail

the dot is . here

<comment><AUTHOR> I have mailed you with my contact number. Let's speak soon.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Node.js / Io.js State of the Build: ARM - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@rvagg/node-js-io-js-state-of-the-build-arm-2f24c18e1ab4

<comment><USER2> Do any solutions for the automatic management/setup of a large cluster of node + arm already exist? Managing a few, yet powerful servers is already tricky - it can only get worse when dealing with loads of low-power servers when you don't completely automate the management.

Furthermore, I doubt the Pi is an ideal candidate for a server - the CPU performance might be adequate for node.js microservices, the IO performance and data persistency metrics of an SD card are horrible. At least for databases (in which single machine performance still trumps a cluster for reasonable loads and if you want some data integrity guarantees, ie. ACID), I still cannot forsee the move towards a lot of Pis.

<comment><AUTHOR> I know the OP was looking at ARM for servers, but I've used node.js on a Raspberry Pi to do IoT sort of things - there are a few libraries that make controlling GPIO pins pretty easy, so combine that with node.js and you've got a pretty enjoyable hardware development experience.

At the time, though, getting node working on the Pi was a major PITA. There weren't any official built binaries available, and a number of bugs kept me from successfully compiling it. I eventually found a binary that someone else had built, and from then on it was smooth sailing. But I'm glad to hear that it's become a first-class platform now.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Anyone who'd like to donate a Raspberry Pi (or money to buy one) should let Rod know - details at the end of the post.</comment>