Unlocking my Lenovo laptop [battery], part 3 - <AUTHOR> http://www.zmatt.net/unlocking-my-lenovo-laptop-part-3/ <comment><USER2> Can you tell me about battery life?</comment>


Launch HN: PlatoHQ (YC W16) – Mentorship for Engineers - <AUTHOR> Hi HN!
We are the cofounders of PlatoHQ (https://www.platohq.com) and we come from an Engineering Background.
After having graduated from college, with two of my engineers friends, we decided to build our own company (the name of our company was Birdly). We made a lot of mistakes along the way; and one of the biggest was to hire too soon a bunch of engineers. We were all three technical cofounders so we could have built the MVP ourselves. But instead of that, we decided that two cofounders over three would do the "Product management" and "Marketing", and that we should hire 3 engineers (including 2 interns) to code the product for us. That was before YC. YC could have prevented us from making that mistake. And this had been our worst mistake.
We transitioned from "Individual Contributor" to "Engineering Managers". We happened to spend more time doing "management" than building the product and optimizing for product-market fit. We were doing the rookie mistakes most first-time engineering managers do.
Among some rookie mistakes:
- We hired our engineers focusing only on their technical capabilities
- We didn't make one-on-ones, but rather two-on-ones, and we focused on performance and operational
- We micromanaged them, and even time-boxed them sometimes
- And many more mistakes…
But at the time, those mistakes were unknown unknowns. In other words, we didn't even know we were doing the bad things.
We don't all need to do all those mistakes, or at least, when we do, we should know it, figure it out and fix it.
That's why we're building Plato, a platform to find your perfect mentor to help you become a better Engineering Leader.
Mentors of the community come from top tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Lyft, Slack, Trello, Netflix, Spotify, Digital Ocean, Segment, Uber… They want to help you avoid the common pitfalls they learned the hard way. Among our mentors, we have the
- First Engineer at Box (Going from 10 to 1200 employees),
- the VP Engineering at Lyft (and founder of Google Street View),
- Cofounder of Pagerduty,
- VP Engineering at Segment,
- Director of Engineering at Box,
- CTO/Cofounder of Jive Software… - And more... It's real, you can really talk to them and receive advice.
Mentors are not paid that is why we can provide an affordable price of $199 per month for an access to all the mentors and an unlimited number of calls with them.  Mentors do this for other incentives, happy to discuss more if you're interested.
Also, I know many of you already have learned the hard way many lessons like us. I'm sure many of you would be amazing mentors. Feel free to let us know if you want to become a mentor. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to become a mentor.
Looking forward to having your feedback on our new product,
Thanks, HN community! <comment><USER3> _Mentors do this for other incentives_

Can you please elaborate on this? It seems like your list of mentors is rather vast, and I'm curious what you've offered them.

<comment><USER4> Perhaps it is simply access to a curated pipeline of motivated and introspective potential candidates.

Hiring (good people) is a dev manager's/director's biggest pain.

<comment><USER5> Though, if the mentors poach mentees, then the company of the mentee won't be happy paying for the service.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm curious to how this is priced. For less than $200 you could buy a coffee for yourself and someone else and meet with them in person _every day_.

I do see how a small start-up could benefit from this, though. However, unlike most things this probably would become worse as more people use it as there's a fixed amount of good mentors and a fixed amount of time with them. Unlimited time with them means waiting, which would eventually make the product itself unusable.

I don't see a solution to this problem. Education has the same problem, yet to be solved.

<comment><USER7> > I'm curious to how this is priced. For less than $200 you could buy a coffee > for yourself and someone else and meet with them in person every day.

Seems worth it as a perk for a company to offer to their employees - would be much more work for them to have to reach out and find mentors for their employees manually.

For an individual, probably doesn't make sense.

For a company as an employee perk, seems to make a lot of sense.

<comment><AUTHOR> Agreed! We have a bunch of CTOs/cofounders and small startups, but we have also Lyft, TuneIn, Betterment, Scality, Telmate as customers.

Some individual paying from their own pocket to invest in their career, but it's more rare ;)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I used Plato at a previous gig (now I'm back to a small startup). My (previous) company was happy to invest in training for managers. Given the unique challenges of managing sw engineers, getting such specific mentorship was very valuable.

<comment><AUTHOR> I think I know who you are, T. :)

Any feedback about the product? Did you have some actionable and good advice from the mentors?

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> The idea seems extremely useful for the mentees.

However, i'm curious how you convinced YC, as this seems to be against what YC normally wants:

\- Your market seems very small: only software engineers, and only at specific career stage.

\- Your mentor side doesn't seem scaleble: top mentors won't be willing to handle unlimited number of calls as the number of mentees grows, the number potential high caliber mentors is very limited, and if you get lower caliber mentors then the service won't be that valuable.

</comment><comment><USER9> quick nitpick - <USER2> [https://www.platohq.com/our_mentors.html](https://www.platohq.com/our_mentors.html) , you should make company name searchable. for example, ctrl-f and searching for "facebook" doesnt work, because you have used icons everywhere.

</comment><comment><USER10> > CTO/Cofounder of Jive Software

Matt's a great guy, and it's fitting that he'd be involved with Plato given that his next startup is a tool for managers ([https://koan.co/](https://koan.co/)).

<comment><AUTHOR> Indeed, Matt is great. He's one of our most appreciated mentor ;)

Everyone has their own incentives. Even though it can be linked to Koan, I guess that it's alwasy a combination of many factors. His words :"i've been lucky enough to have an exec coach for the past couple years and he's great. I aspire to be better at it over time"

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Good idea. Signed up for a call.</comment>


Ask HN: So what happens to RIM/BlackBerry now? - <AUTHOR>

The enterprise product that I work on requires compatibility with Black Berry Enterprise Server.
I'm sitting there for several minutes trying to activate my test BB unit and I started to wonder why we bother with it at all, other than the currently existing customers who use BB. I got up and talked to my VP of engineering and he shared similar doubts, namely when iPhone goes to Verizon.
With ActiveSync and the iPhone and possibly Android if they ever calendering to work, why does anyone bother?
What are your thoughts on RIM's options and future, HN? I'm just curious, as an exercise. :) <comment><USER2> I know a lot of BlackBerry users who have tried iPhones and the like but still swear by the BlackBerry for the physical keyboard.

Surprisingly (and anecdotally), a lot of university-aged people are buying BlackBerries as personal devices. That one baffles me.

Whether RIM can sustain either of these markets is beyond me, though.

<comment><USER3> I'm a business guy and a tech lover, in that order. Two years ago, I had a Blackberry Curve.

I was the first in line to buy the original iPhone. I loved it for about 2 weeks. I returned it, I returned to the Blackberry.

I was the first in line to buy the iPhone 3GS. I loved it for about 3 months. Then I moved to New York City. And almost every other called was dropped. I sold it on Gazelle for $450, and I returned to Verizon for a new Blackberry Tour.

I have not had a single dropped call since.

Apps are cool, but actually being able to make phone calls is cooler. I like my phone to do three extremely important things very well: make phone calls, get emails instantly, and actually be able to TYPE on it. Would I, will I, ever return to the iPhone? Maybe, but no time soon. I am very content.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah, those are important. Between my guesses, my VP, and other people in the office, an iPhone on verizon would be a big deal for 2 of the 3 reasons you mentioned.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Until there's an Android with a physical keyboard my wife loves as much as the one on her 9700, I will be the only one in my house who refuses to use a Blackberry.

</comment><comment><USER5> i wonder why n900 isn't catching up. it's a truly developer-friendly platform while also being a quite user-friendly smartphone (just avoid the xterm icon) and has a decent qwerty keyboard (much better than anything rim offers, imho) .

</comment><comment><USER6> May I bring your attention to this : [http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/4/comSc...](http://comscore.com/Press_Events/Press_Releases/2010/4/comScore_Reports_February_2010_U.S._Mobile_Subscriber_Market_Share)

        Top Smartphone Platforms
        3 Month Avg. Ending Feb. 2010 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Nov. 2009
        Total U.S. Age 13+
        Source: comScore MobiLens
        Share (%) of Smartphone Subscribers

                    Nov-09 Feb-10  Point Change
        RIM 	40.8% 	42.1% 	1.3
        Apple 	25.5% 	25.4% 	-0.1
        Microsoft 	19.1% 	15.1% 	-4.0
        Google 	3.8% 	9.0% 	5.2
        Palm 	7.2% 	5.4% 	-1.8

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, this is true, but should we bother with BB? ActiveSync makes it unnecessary to use BlackBerry Enterprise Server. So, there's no compelling reason to stick with BB. They have to have something else to make us want it, other than a physical keyboard.</comment></comment>


Piskel – A simple web-based tool for Spriting and Pixel art - <AUTHOR> http://www.piskelapp.com/ <comment><USER2> The palette tools feel very clunky and primitive. I'd expect there to be a very simple way to add the current color to a palette, but I can't figure out how. More importantly, I expect that modifying a color in the palette would also affect all the pixels that use said palette entry! Instead, they retain their old color. Also, it would really help if I could freely arrange palettes all in their own windows, like this:

[https://i.imgur.com/UHtBlbk.gif](https://i.imgur.com/UHtBlbk.gif)

[https://i.imgur.com/LYbZagv.gif](https://i.imgur.com/LYbZagv.gif)

[https://i.imgur.com/oOaR6x5.gif](https://i.imgur.com/oOaR6x5.gif)

Unfortunately a pixel graphics editor that has lackluster palette tools is a non-starter for me so I didn't even bother with looking at the rest of the features...

<comment><USER3> I love this. Amazing work with those gifs and the color palettes. I have been playing with colors and would like to try to implement something like this in my spare time.

Do you know about the dawnbringer palettes[0] ? They seem a good default for an initial approach to pixel art.

[0] [https://github.com/geoffb/dawnbringer- palettes](https://github.com/geoffb/dawnbringer-palettes)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I love this site! I used it to make the graphics for a virtual pet app last year.

[http://www.piskelapp.com/user/5024502723379200/public](http://www.piskelapp.com/user/5024502723379200/public)

<comment><USER5> Curious what green usernames mean? I see them periodically, your username to me is green colored.

<comment><USER6> Green usernames are new users. This allows people to provide gentle, polite, advice about community norms.

<comment><USER5> I didn't know that, thanks for the information.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Wow. The UI is pretty easy to learn and the whole thing feels really zippy.

I wish I was better at pixel art so I could make something cool. Right now I have a box that just kinda jiggles a bit.

</comment><comment><USER8> A friend of mine has been building a similar tool [1] for a year now.

When I have brainfog at work, I waste all my time on it [2]

[1] [http://www.eight-bits.com](http://www.eight-bits.com)

[2] [http://www.eight-bits.com/images/journey.png](http://www.eight- bits.com/images/journey.png)

<comment><USER9> Journey! Wonderful game.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Impressive web app! Runs fine in my not-recently-updated browser.

Really like the Save options, there's 'save offline to file'; 'save offline in browser' (I presume HTML5 storage); and save online.

Save offline to file is really nice, and I wasn't aware could be done. It got my Googling, and I found this:

[https://github.com/eligrey/FileSaver.js](https://github.com/eligrey/FileSaver.js)

Which I'm guessing is what people use these days when needing 'save as file' from the browser. I wanted this about 3 years ago and gave up, settling on saving the JSON to an Amazon bucket as the only option. I always wanted save as file though, just because I love local storage options in an age of cloud storage. I will now revist my old web app and try to implement this.

<comment><USER11> It was definitely there three years ago. The trick is to create an <a> with the "download" attribute and set the URL to a data URI (or, if supported, use a blob and URL.createObjectURL). That will get you a download prompt.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> This is hilarious - the clone icon is a picture of a sheep.

<comment><USER13> Maybe I'm a bit thick today, but what's the sheep refering to?

<comment><USER14> Dolly. [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_(sheep)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_\(sheep\))

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> if one wants a fully featured pixelart editor, there's always aseprite[1]. (You can build it from source for free)

[1] - [https://www.aseprite.org/](https://www.aseprite.org/)

</comment><comment><USER16> The purity of the interface reminds me of Deluxe Paint II ([https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/Snapshot_Delu...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/Snapshot_DeluxePaint_II_MSDOS.png)). Great work!

</comment><comment><USER17> This is a great project. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that you have a Linux offline build as well.

</comment><comment><USER18> I really like apps that nail one specific thing well.

Bookmarking this for later, good stuff.

</comment><comment><USER19> I don't need pixel editors a lot, but I've definitely used Piskel a few times in the past for making some simple icons. It's not perfect, but works well enough for me.

</comment><comment><USER20> So nice, when you just made a mistake and a simple ctrl+z just works right out of the box. And great UI. Gonna look more into it later.

</comment><comment><USER21> Did anyone see if there was a way to onion skin the previous frame... I like the interface.

<comment><USER19> There's an onion icon next to the FPS slider... Is that what you're looking for?

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Oh man, I like that UI

</comment><comment><USER22> Ah memories! Thanks you for this!</comment>


Non-profit CEO takes home a 700k+USD annual paycheck - <AUTHOR> http://domainnamewire.com/2016/05/16/icann-salaries/ <comment><AUTHOR> I always wondered why do we have to pay for domain names annually. Now I understand where that money actually goes. There are 340+ million registered domain names. [1] Annual ICANN subscription price of a domain name is about 10$. That is a guaranteed annual revenue of 3.4bn USD and consistently growing and no one can give ICANN a competition because effectively it's a monopoly. That is a lot of money for a "non-profit". We have reached a serverless computing era where paying for compute/storage for a small service is becoming cheaper than owning a domain name and the price for "buying" domains hasn't changed in years. People are so used to the standard domain pricing that they are willing to pay that subscription amount. All of this while executives of a non-profit get filthy rich. Me feeling unfair about it is not enough to change the market, but I sure do derive some business learning from this.

[1] [https://investor.verisign.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=98...](https://investor.verisign.com/releasedetail.cfm?releaseid=980215)

<comment><USER2> It's a ridiculous salary.

However, I don't think your figure of 3.4bn USD is correct.

[http://domainincite.com/20121-icann-ups-new-gtld-revenue- for...](http://domainincite.com/20121-icann-ups-new-gtld-revenue-forecast)

[https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/adopted- opplan-b...](https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/adopted-opplan- budget-fy16-25jun15-en.pdf)

So, I think it's the registrars (GoDaddy, etc.) that get this money, not ICANN. Blake Irvin (CEO, GoDaddy) made 1.9 million in 2015 (with a turnover beyond 1 billion).</comment></comment>


Tell HP: Still a long way to go to make up for breaking our printers - <AUTHOR> https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/09/hps-run-keep-pressure <comment><USER2> I go back to the HP LaserJet. As someone noted, quality has been on a constant downward spiral. This is particularly true when it comes to firmware/software.

HP printer software has ranged from annoying to down-right stupid. And their firmware, at least the visible portions of it, nonsensical.

For example, every single HP ink-jet I've owned refuses to print with black ink if any of the color cartridges are empty. My current HP is supposed to revert to black-and-white only if you run out of color ink but I'll be damned if I know how to make that work. And, of course, this always happens when someone is in a hurry to print. I ought to be able to print down to the last drop of ink, regardless of color. The user ought to have ultimate control of this, not the printer.

<comment><USER3> I spent time working in Inkjet Land at HP. If you dry fire a thermal inkjet print head you will damage it. Some of these built-in restrictions really are there to protect you and your product. It's hard to tell where protecting you and your product from actual damage ends and protecting HP's ink business begins, and that's unfortunate.

<comment><USER4> Don't HP cartidges have the print heads in them, i.e. the only thing you'll damage is the "empty" cartidge?

<comment><USER5> No, at least for the last Officejet I used. The cartridges are just ink tanks, the print heads are separate. I think that's fairly widespread now; e.g., it's also true on my Canon Pixma.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> For the past 15 years I've been an "HP only" printer buyer and user for home and my business.

They've changed. Quality (my original reason for sticking with them) has dropped noticably in the past 4 printers. This ink issue is the last straw. I'll never buy HP again.

<comment><USER7> Ditto. I switched years ago, largely because the last two HP printers I'd bought were crap, right out of the box.

<comment><USER8> Yes, this, so much. I've got a HP LaserJet Proffesional for riddiculous price and the only thing "proffesional" about is that the cartridge costs as much as another laser printer 100$+! (what the hell) and the aftermarket ones cost as much as original ones for different printers. Doesnt work with Linux apart from basic stuff, wireless interface is broken, have to powercycle repeatedly after any amount of idle time. Great machine!

<comment><USER9> Many, if not most, printers come with partially-full cartridges, so buying a new printer instead of a new cartridge may cost less, but will get you less than half as many printed pages. The only printers that I am sure come with full cartridges are costly industrial inkjets ($5000+).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I already "told HP" (as prompt to do by the article) when I bought a Brother laser instead of new cartridges for the HP we already had. What HP does in the future is no concern of mine.

The article tries to argue that it _is_ my concern (armies of printer bots), but HP won't care what I think because I'm no longer a customer nor stand a chance of becoming one again.

</comment><comment><USER11> So now that building a decent printer completely from scratch is possible, remind me again why we still need hp printers?</comment>


Show HN: Code pastes in local storage, shared via Web Sockets - <AUTHOR> I thought it would be great to share code snippets without saving them on a server, so I created http://mem.pe
It allows you to paste code and save it in your browser's local storage. When you share the URL of the pasted code, other people will connect to it via web sockets. For example, this http://mem.pe/#sge/5 you will be pulling from my browser. I'll keep it open for a while.
If you close the web app, your code paste will not be available for anyone to see, until you open the web app again.
This is obviously, not suitable for using at forums and other places where the paste will have to be available for a long time. However, it is great for IRC and chats where you want to send a quick disposable link to a code snippet.
Available on Github at https://github.com/naturalist/mempe
Any comments would be greatly appreciated. <comment><USER2> Very interesting. Quick tip: change this submission to one without text linking to the website and update your frontpage with some headline quickly indicating what your service does. This could become big.

<comment><AUTHOR> It doesn't seem that I can change the post to include a URL and no text, but I followed your advice and added a one line description of the service on the home page.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Last night in class, I needed to share some code with a classmate. Instead of using e-mail, we used this. It worked perfectly. Nice job.

</comment><comment><USER4> This looks great. My team of distributed developers could really benefit from something like this.</comment>


Stein's paradox in Statistics (1977) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://statweb.stanford.edu/~ckirby/brad/other/Article1977.pdf <comment><USER2> I've been looking into Stein's paradox last year more deeply as I could not wrap my head around it. The baseball example is easy. It is quite intuitive that some of those who scored well probably just did so by accident, and are actually somewhat less skilled (and vice versa for the lowest scorers). However, the Stein paradox is deeper than that. According to Wikipedia, it apparently also applies to unrelated variables, for example the population of Ulan Bator, the temperature on Mars, and the yearly chocolate consumption of Switzerland. This goes counter all my intuition and I found the following weakness in the theory behind Stein's paradox: the improved estimators all seem to depend on things like the mean or the variance among the included variables. For example, if you estimate Ulan Bator to have 1 million inhabitants and the temperature on Mars to be 200 Kelvin, you would adjust the former estimate a little downwards and the latter estimate a little upwards (towards the common mean). However, this implicitely assumes that the population and the temperature have been drawn from a distribution whose mean exists. My guess, that this is not the case. Obviously, you can always calculate a sample mean and a sample variance, but they might be meaningless if the sample stems from a distribution such as Cauchy.

<comment><USER3> The "correct" way to understand this phenomenon is via regression, in which case it boils down to the simple fact that the regression lines E(θ|X) and E(X|θ) are different. (This "Galtonian perspective" is the subject of one of my favorite papers of all time, [http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ss/euclid.ss/1177012274](http://projecteuclid.org/euclid.ss/euclid.ss/1177012274)). This is also the only intuitive explanation I am aware of which explains why Stein's phenomenon only occurs in dimensions three and higher.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The "paradox" is that if player's batting averages, when high, get worse predictions and low averages are predicted to get higher, then these predictions work better than just guessing they will stay the same.

This doesn't seem like a paradox to me. Rather it seems kind of obvious. If the statistics are anything like a random walk then random walk theory (usually revisiting the starting point) would predict this.

<comment><USER5> I think the article by Richard Samworth lays out the paradox better. The whole article is worth a read, but here's the paradox part " To give an unusual example to emphasise the point, suppose that we were interested in estimating the proportion of the US electorate who will vote for Barack Obama, the proportion of babies born in China that are girls and the proportion of Britons with light-coloured eyes. Then our James–Stein estimate of the proportion of democratic voters depends on our hospital and eye colour data! " <[http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~rjs57/SteinParadox.pdf>](http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~rjs57/SteinParadox.pdf>) Surely that's paradoxical!

The OP's post is an outstanding exposition of James-Stein estimators though, so thanks for the post. There seems to be lots of connection between these and doing linear regressions with regularisation in machine learning.

<comment><USER6> Yep, there's a link with regularization and also with informative priors – James-Stein works so well because across an incredibly wide range of scenarios, a parameter estimate of infinity is not nearly as likely as a parameter estimate of 0, yet that's what ordinary least squares linear regression assumes.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> In the case of the baseball example, at least, isn't the increased accuracy of the Stein estimator a result of incorporating a good Bayesian prior into the "observed average" result of the individual players -- that prior being the batting average of a "typical" player (ie, the average of the averages)?

<comment><USER8> That doesn't explain adding in a spurious statistic (in the case of the OP, % imported cars in Chicago)

<comment><USER7> It does if that statistic offers a better prior as well. stdbrouw's answer explains why that will often be the case.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I have seen several mentions of James-Stein estimator being almost an empirical Bayesian estimator, but this article made it more clearer. Thanks for sharing.

</comment><comment><USER10> Regression to the mean</comment>


Show HN: Command line tool for half-hourly energy tariff savings calculation - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/jpsingleton/octoyosu <comment><AUTHOR> Related blgog post: [https://unop.uk/octoyosu-agile-tariff-comparison- tool/](https://unop.uk/octoyosu-agile-tariff-comparison-tool/)

Sample output:

      Wed 11 Mar 2020 to Tue 09 Jun 2020 (91 days)
      Period total 770.37 kWh (approx)
      Daily average 8.47 kWh (approx)
      Yearly average 3092 kWh (approx)
      Monthly average 258 kWh (approx)

      Super Green:
      Period total 137.44 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Daily average 1.51 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Yearly average 552 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Monthly average 46 GBP inc. VAT (approx)

      Loading agile pricing and calculating...

      Agile:
      Period total 84.24 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Daily average 0.93 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Yearly average 338 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Monthly average 28 GBP inc. VAT (approx)

      Savings:
      Period total 53.20 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Daily average 0.59 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Yearly average 214 GBP inc. VAT (approx)
      Monthly average 18 GBP inc. VAT (approx)

      Super Green 100%:
            Agile  61%:

      Done in 502ms

N.B.: HN doesn't support emojis so you can't see the full output here.</comment>


Ask HN: What to consider when deciding whether to go back to school? - <AUTHOR>

I've never been a great student and I'm not sure that I want to go back to school in the Fall. I've done two years at a university and I just don't think it's for me.
On Monday I will start a new full time job that could allow me to make a living while simultaneously bettering myself as a programmer. Assuming everything works out, I will have to decide in 3 months whether I want to go back to school. Because of the situation I'm in, I would have to work full time while taking a full course load, leaving virtually no time for programming.
This is obviously a big decision and I was hoping the lovely folks here at HN could shed some light on what I should consider before choosing. <comment><USER2> How is your life different now than it was during your 2 years at university? How long ago were those 2 years - a couple years ago, or more than a decade?

Most universities like to talk about the rule-of-thumb of 2 hours study per hour of instruction. Full course loads are 12-18 hours of instruction per week in this part of the world, so the university would like you to spend 24-36 hours per week studying. In reality, study time may be 30-90 minutes usually, and 2-3 hours once or twice per quarter; this means 6-18 hours of study most weeks, and 24-54 hours during finals.

To break it down:

Sleeping - 56 hours

Working - 40 hours

Instruction - 15 hours

Study - 15 hours

Transportation - 20 hours (1 hour to work and 1 hour to return home, 1 hour to and 1 hour from university, including buffer for leaving late or being stuck in traffic * 5 days a week)

\</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>-----

Total - 146 hours

1 week - 168 hours

Surplus - 22 hours

During finals, you would have no time. Even people who really enjoy college find a schedule like this almost impossible to keep.

<comment><AUTHOR> I went to university in Canada as an international student. I've moved back to the states because I couldn't afford to live in Canada anymore. I just got out of school a month or so ago.

I could work and study if I wanted to. My biggest issue with doing both is that neither moves me any closer to my goal of becoming a software engineer. My courses would all be basic studies (english, math, physics, chem, history, etc). I wouldn't take a computer science course for another two years.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> It certainly is possible to work full time and school full time, although I have not meet many people who are able to do both well. It requires a great deal of commitment and drive to be an excellent employee while being an excellent student -- particularly for two entire years, minimum, while finishing your degree. It is exhausting and puts a strain on you in other ways, not just having to give up on your free time to program.

If your options are "work full time with the freedom to do what you want to do" and "work full time, take a full course load, and have have no free time", it seems a pretty easy decision to me. Particularly because you actually seem excited abut the job and not at all excited about the prospect of more schooling.

Good luck choosing.

</comment><comment><USER4> Then you should probably ask them :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry :) Typed it up for r/cscareerquestions first and forget that was there. Edited!

<comment><USER4> No worries. It is a big decision, so you definitely want multiple perspectives. Are you in a position where you can't take a year or two off from school, or perhaps longer, to see where things with this job take you? I know scholarships and financial aid can sometimes leave you with your hands tied, but if this is not the case you might want to consider a leave of absence.

Plenty of people leave school and finish their degrees later on (sometimes much later), so you shouldn't feel bad about leaving it on hold for now, especially since you've got a job lined up.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, taking a year off is an option, but it would mean paying the interest on my student loans. Not a huge problem as I will have to pay them off eventually anyways.

If I do end up taking time off it would only be temporary at first. I would likely give myself one year to make significant progress as a programmer. If, after that year, I'm comfortable with where I am, I will continue to defer school. On the other hand, if I can't see any definitive improvements, I will go back to school and look for another major. If I can't teach myself to program then I see no reason to get a CS degree.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Genetic programming-evolved technical trading rules can outperform buy-and-hold (PDF) - <AUTHOR> http://www.cs.ucl.ac.uk/staff/W.Yan/gp-evolved-technical-trading.pdf

<comment><USER2> As a college undergrad (yes, I profess my status as a CS underling) doing a senior thesis in GA, I have read some papers on this GA's applied to trading. The dirty secret that these papers do not tell you is that: genetic algorithms are quite stochastic, meaning that they can evolve quite varying quality of technical trading rules, depending on the mood of the CS God during any particular evolution trials.

And these papers' results, in the interest of the authors who wrote them, will only tell you _the best_ trial run that they have gotten - but the trouble is: out in the real world, judging your trading agent's performance is not by running hundreds of GA trials on _historical_ stock data and publishing the best results; but you have gotta put your money where your GA technical rules tell you, whether the rules evolved are sub-optimal or not.

<comment><AUTHOR> I spent a few months trying to go from "wow!" numbers in papers to something that I thought could be used for risking my own hard-earned money, and I failed. I think it's tilting at windmills unless you have the resources of Goldman Sachs or someone like that behind you.

I know for a fact that some investment banks use these techniques; they just aren't using them to make a mechanical "trade/no-trade" decision.

What Joe Schmoe on the street reading these papers is interested in is the possibility of lucrative personal trading. The papers ostensibly claim to instead be examining market efficiency. Consequently reading these papers is kind of disappointing. But, the reason I submitted the paper was its unorthodox approach which differs from most of the other literature on applying evolutionary computation to mechanical trading.

<comment><USER3> What you mean as "failed"? Even if you're bringing in stable (in sense of Sharpe ratio) returns above the standard interest rates, you've already succeed.

I don't think it makes sense to play with your money unless you're very rich. Returns like 50% per year are quite unlikely in the longer run, yet very risky. Instead, consider starting a fund.

<comment><AUTHOR> The profit-loss patterns weren't good enough to be ready for real-life trading.

I'd be much more willing to tinker with it if I could do it with someone else's money. The hedge fund motto is "other people's lives, other people's money."

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The problem here is that evolution optimizes for the conditions in which the organism evolved.

<comment><AUTHOR> Correct. There can be permanent changes in market structure that make historical data irrelevant. The term for this is regime change. That and model risk.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Interesting, it is reasonable to suspect that many brokerage houses (with billions invested in R&D and very intelligent individuals) are using the same approaches to the problems with the added benefit of a human driver behind the wheel. It seems to me that purely using automated approaches to investing (in this case, GP market timing) will always be inferior to the insights of intelligent investors coupled with intelligent computing, but that alone would be a major shift from most investors current practices.

<comment><USER6> Actually, there was a link about this a little while back: [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ayjI...](http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ayjImYcoCiH8).

I am fascinated no end that a group of nerds is able to game the system to such an astounding degree. In this century, it isn't by gaming the casino that loads of cash can be made.

These guys run a hedge fund that is so successful it no longer accepts money from the public, and only manages the assets of its own employees. Using different secret strategies and to an extent human-supervised automatic trading. Its annualized return since its birth in the eighties has been on the order of 37%.</comment></comment>


The Girl Who Conned The Ivy League - <AUTHOR> http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/31770765/the_girl_who_conned_the_ivy_league/print

<comment><USER2> That was depressing. Or rather the end was depressing. Her sentence is way more than she deserved.

</comment><comment><USER3> This story is a precursor to the book and movie deal. Pity about the sentencing.</comment>


Samsung Exynos 7420 Deep Dive – Inside a Modern 14nm SoC - <AUTHOR> http://anandtech.com/show/9330/exynos-7420-deep-dive

<comment><USER2> Phenomenally detailed article, as expected from Anandtech. I had the misfortune of getting caught reading comments but found, as a comparison, this comment from the articles author particularly interesting:

"It strikes me as bizarre how little we know about Apple CPUs even after two years. The basic numbers (logical registers, window, ROB size) seem to about match Intel these days, and the architecture seems to be 6-wide with two functional clusters. There appears to be a loop buffer (but how large?) But that's about it. How well does the branch prediction work and where does it fail? What prefetchers are provided? (at I1, D1, L2. L3) Do the caches do anything smart (like dead block prediction) for either performance or power? Does the memory manager do anything smart (like virtual write queue in the L3)? etc etc etc"

<comment><USER3> What impresses me about Apple is how little seems to leak from them, given the size of the company now.

<comment><USER4> Well these are embedded processors and Apple can be more tight about who they disclose information. Intel on the contrary has to work with so many other third parties which need this information.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I wish that Samsung would either give up on software, or put significantly more effort into it. They've had two self-inflicted security catastrophes in the past month.

[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/24/samsung- di...](http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/24/samsung-disables- windows-update-laptops-hackers)

[http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/06/new-exploit-turns- sa...](http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/06/new-exploit-turns-samsung- galaxy-phones-into-remote-bugging-devices/)

Why do hardware manufacturers suck so badly at decent software?

<comment><USER6> bureaucracy, 200K employees, they establish R&D centres with thousands of programmers, no wonder left hand doesnt know what the right one is doing.</comment></comment>


Drone Shield: A different take on gun defense - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@rob_lh/drone-shield-concept-fc1acd9cb8f6 <comment><AUTHOR> This is a concept I have been stewing on for a while and hadn't seen it discussed much as a potential solution or application for drone technology. It's very light on engineering, as I wanted to go for breadth and put as many options on the table before doing heavy analysis of the tech required and system constraints.

I welcome the feedback of this community - I'm new to avionics and much of the image recognition technologies I was extrapolating from existing applications.</comment>


Ask HN: How can I help others? - <AUTHOR> Hey,
I want to help others to achieve their goals. It can be a startup, a lonely developer, a young kid who just started playing around with various technologies..it doesn't matter. The only condition is that these goals must be something that add real value to our lives (so not fart apps).
Because I'm not a rich person and I cannot jump in and invest, I'm looking for other ways to help. For example I was thinking on building a hosting server based on multiple raspberry pi platforms or offering a room in my house for free. Or buying and renting books, online courses or even computers.
I'm not interesting in any benefits, I just love science and technology and I want to help the community.
So dear HN, do you have any ideas? What would you do? Or what would you need? <comment><USER2> What about helping FSF [0] or EFF [1]?

[0] [https://www.fsf.org/resources/jobs;](https://www.fsf.org/resources/jobs;) [https://www.fsf.org/volunteer](https://www.fsf.org/volunteer)

[1] [https://www.eff.org/about/opportunities](https://www.eff.org/about/opportunities)

<comment><AUTHOR> That was my first intention but I want to do something were I'm involved more rather than just a name written somewhere.

<comment><USER2> Not sure what you mean by that, but these organizations to my mind are really helping the world. Each member of them.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Hey, I know you said no fart apps, but do you know how to build one? If yes I have a little idea (a small weekend project) we can work on together. There might not be any money in it but I'm sure it will be fun.

<comment><AUTHOR> I have a basic knowledge of iOS development using Swift so let me know.</comment></comment>


Ask YC: Cheap alternatives to Aeron chairs? - <AUTHOR> Graduating from college soon, so I won't be able to make use of the chairs/desks at the library for long coding sessions. That said, I don't want to pay $400 for a used Aeron. What other alternatives are there? <comment><USER2> Here we go about the chairs again....now I know you said you wanted a cheap chair, but I am asking you to reconsider. I've done a lot of tech work, I've started a few companies, they did well (in case your curious), I've done everything from living off of lintel soup and working out of university libraries and crashing where I can to having decked out offices.....I will not surrender my chair. It took me a while to get a good chair of my own, and I'm a very frugal person, and I've bought things and realized later they weren't the premium...but the chair is wroth it.

Occasionally I get up and move to another part of the country, sell of all my furniture, most of my clothes, so that my move is many boxes, mostly filled with journals and research notebooks, sometimes a few systems, and sometimes just hard drives. I even give away most of my clothes. My friends find this amusing. After this last move, I had no bed for many months, perhaps half a year, and I didn't find it to be all that important until I ran into a cute girl I liked, got distracted from work, and bought one. However, I got a good chair and a desk right off the bat, as the first furniture I got.

I have an Aeron and a Freedom chair, depending where I'm at - at home it's the Freedom chair, and I love it. Last night I saw a ted talk, low and behold, they are talking about the chair, [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/niels_diffrient_rethinks_...](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/niels_diffrient_rethinks_the_way_we_sit_at_work.html) I went upstairs and sat in the chair again after the talk, to appreciate how much I like it. I don't think about it much when I'm sitting in it, and that's the incredible thing -- I frequently got irritated with my chair years back. Product link: <http://www.humanscale.com/products/freedom_index.cfm>

a grand on a chair isn't bad...my laptop cost me more, and it gets less use.

</comment><comment><USER3> Spend the money and get your Aeron, or something of equal quality. I use the Steelcase Think. Your chair is one of the biggest factors in how many hours you are able to work, how well or poorly your back is aligned, and how comfortable you feel. Do -not- skimp on your chair; trim down spending on building your computer or on that second display if you need to.

If you're serious about your work, spending as much on a good chair as you do on your computer (usually less; a quarter as much for me) isn't begging too much. you can make the money back with the longer hours it lets you sit comfortably for and in the hospital bills you'll avoid from having a properly aligned back. It's also important to lift weights daily if you're going to be sitting in a chair all day working. It'll fix any adverse effects sitting from extended periods has and give you energy.

If you have trouble finding the money to afford the necessities for your work, I am always asked by clients to refer them to coders, and there are many freelance gigs floating around out there if you look.

<comment><AUTHOR> i think you're ultimately right. investing in a good chair is worth it. i just wanted to make sure i would not be spending money without need (i might end up getting a used one, if i find a good deal). fortunately im not totally broke, just cheap =).

<comment><USER4> it's like buying a mattress. you can go cheap but you probably won't sleep as well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I've had my Aeron for a couple of years now (bought it new for quite a bit more than $400) and I really don't get all the fuss.

It's not that adjustable: control the armrest height, how far you can recline, and the tension of the spring that holds you there. Mine has the newer style lumbar support, which is undeniably a hack. I keep it away from my back; it does nothing but push me further to the front of the chair. My biggest gripe, however, is the comfort of the seat. That damn plastic bar running across the front creates a horrible pressure point and probably increases the likelihood of DVT.

While I'm no advocate of the Aeron, I'm also unaware of any good alternatives. Looking forward to seeing what others suggest.

<comment><USER6> "I really don't get all the fuss."

Let Joel Spolsky speak ([http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDeveloper...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/FieldGuidetoDevelopers.html)):

"Let me, for a moment, talk about the famous Aeron chair, made by Herman Miller. They cost about $900. This is about $800 more than a cheap office chair from OfficeDepot or Staples.

They are much more comfortable than cheap chairs. If you get the right size and adjust it properly, most people can sit in them all day long without feeling uncomfortable. The back and seat are made out of a kind of mesh that lets air flow so you don't get sweaty. The ergonomics, especially of the newer models with lumbar support, are excellent.

They last longer than cheap chairs. We've been in business for six years and every Aeron is literally in mint condition: I challenge anyone to see the difference between the chairs we bought in 2000 and the chairs we bought three months ago. They easily last for ten years. The cheap chairs literally start falling apart after a matter of months. You'll need at least four $100 chairs to last as long as an Aeron."

Re your comment: "That damn plastic bar running across the front creates a horrible pressure point and probably increases the likelihood of DVT."

The plastic bar on mine seems to create a natural pressure release because it curves downward. It seems that such a feel should occur if you've got the right height.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> After sitting in a $800 Steelcase chair for over a year, I switched to a medicine ball and I'm never going back. It's impossible to slouch, and the constant subtle movements keep the blood in my legs and feet flowing. It's unbelievably fantastic.

Here's the one I bought from Amazon. It's absurdly durable (gym quality) and comes with a small pump to inflate it. For less than $20, it completely changed my desk posture. Even IKEA can't beat that.

<http://bit.ly/n3hQb>

It also fits easily in my backpack when deflated, which is good when one decides abruptly to move across the country.

<comment><USER8> I tried one of these, and I'm tenacious as heck, but I just couldn't adjust to it. I'm curious about long-term experiences with them, but most of what I've read online has been from people still caught up in the novelty. (FWIW, I use a Haworth Zody chair now. I got a great deal on it.)

FWIW, I'm 6'3", and while I got the largest ball size, that may have been a factor.

<comment><USER9> Exercise balls don't work very well as chairs if you have long legs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Just 2 days ago i watched a TED Talk by Niels Diffrient: Rethinking the way we sit down. "Design legend Niels Diffrient talks about his life in industrial design (and the reason he became a designer instead of a jet pilot). He details his quest to completely rethink the office chair starting from one fundamental data set: the human body."

Its the Freedom Task Chair by Humanscale. <http://www.humanscale.com/products/freedom_index.cfm>

I think they are better than Aerons; not sure about the price though.

<comment><USER11> Looks like they retail for around $800 based on a quick Google search (<http://www.google.com/products?q=humanscale+freedom+chair>)

<comment><USER12> i heard about the humanscale liberty from this slate comparison of office chairs:

<http://www.slate.com/id/2131646/>

i liked it better than the humanscale freedom, but ymmv. the liberty is beautifully designed - it uses your own bodyweight to ensure good posture.

drove 1h both ways across LA to sit it in before i bought one online for 1/2 the price that it was selling in the showroom ($700 vs $1400).

it was an awesome purchase - i could sit in it all day. i sold it to go digital nomad for a while, but when i pick a place to live, it'll be one of the first things i buy. jason calacanis' "cheap tables, expensive chairs" advice is bang-on imho: <http://tr.im/k490>

looks like the liberty has come down in price too: <http://tr.im/k48A>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Raynor chairs (quality) are sold under an Office Depot brand.

I own this chair. I believe it is the rebranded version of the Raynor Enjoy (once sold in Europe):

[http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/277968/Realspace- PRO-M...](http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/277968/Realspace-PRO-Maverick- Multifunction-High-Back/)

I looked hard at this chair. It is a rebranded Raynor Ergohuman:

[http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/690690/Realspace- PRO-9...](http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/690690/Realspace- PRO-9000-Series-Recycled-Mid/)

</comment><comment><USER14> IKEA has the Markus at USD 199

They work fairly well.

<http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00103102>

<comment><USER15> I've been very happy with my Markus chair so far. I would also recommend the Mikael desk (<http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40079218>) and drawer unit if you're looking for something cheap, simple, and functional.

<comment><USER16> That's the desk I use. It's works fine, but it's very lightweight and therefore not exceptionally sturdy. But for $80, it's not bad.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Equa XR: Quality of Herman Miller. Bargain prices of Costco.

[http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductGroup.aspx?Prodid=113004...](http://www.costco.com/Browse/ProductGroup.aspx?Prodid=11300477&whse=BC&topnav=)

</comment><comment><USER18> Herman Miller's Mirra chair is more affordable than the Aeron. I have been sitting on one every day for almost four years and I am very happy with it.

<comment><USER19> Same. I like my Mirra at home much better than the Aeron at work FWIW.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> In addition to this question it would be good to know where to go to try out all of these chairs that are mentioned. Most places I've been only have the cheap ones out for trial.

<comment><USER21> Local high-end furniture stores and commercial furniture dealers often have Aerons, Leap chairs, Freedom chairs, etc in their showrooms.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> As a somewhat heavy guy (230 lbs), I've found that some of the knockoff office chairs you can get cheaply ($100 or less) from Staples/Office Max/etc can fail in the pneumatic lift system. In fact many chairs at the above retailers have a tag suggesting a maximum weight limit of 200 lbs.

I bought this one a few years ago and it's still holding up perfectly. It has plenty of adjustments to it:

<http://www.ergonomichome.com/zmeofch.html>

<comment><USER23> They do have suggested weight limits, but as someone who's been over 300 lbs for years, I've found that these chairs are quite serviceable for about a year, on average. I've had my current $49 chair (from Office Depot) for about 10 months now, and it's doing fine so far.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> My take on high-end vs. cheaper Staples office chair:

I used to think you need the absolute best office chair out there: I had some German high-end chair and then a Swiss Giroflex 33 (Model 33-7777... below on that page <http://www.giroflex.com/content/produkte/giroflex_33.php>), both around a thousand bucks.

Now I'm sitting comfortably in some decent Staples office chair (adjustable armrests, mesh back, leather seat), that I picked up for 150 bucks.

Not much difference.

The MAIN thing is that your posture is good, and that once in a while you stretch and exercise!

Advice for founders and small business: buy a decent but cheap Staples office chair at first (not the comfy big one, but the lean adjustable kind with good armrests, so you can relax your arms while you're typing). The high-end market doesn't really improve your experience that much.

OTOH, if you have the spare cash to blow... a high-end office chair IS marginally better.

</comment><comment><USER6> "What other alternatives are there?"

Unfortunately, I'm not sure there is one.

The problem is, as far as I can tell, there aren't any, or at least there weren't three years ago when I last looked. None of the knockoffs have the combination of support and breathability that makes the Aeron unusual.

One thing I'll say: if you're looking for Aerons, make sure you get one with lumbar support, which makes a tremendous difference. I've heard good things about Steelcase chairs -- see <http://www.steelcase.com> \-- but they're not cheap either. We talk about them briefly here: [http://blog.seliger.com/2008/06/15/tools-of-the- trade—what-a...](http://blog.seliger.com/2008/06/15/tools-of-the-trade—what-a- grant-writer-should-have) .

<comment><USER25> We had Steelcase Think (<http://www.steelcase.com/na/think_products.aspx?f=11845>) where I used to work. They look fantastic with their mesh back and adjustable armrests, but they're really not that good. The seat cushion isn't adjustable and lots of them broke, they were quite flimsy.

The Leap chair does look a lot more adjustable and maybe more solid too.

<comment><USER26> Just ordered a leap. I went into a showroom with a ergonomic pro and got the 30 min lesson on all it's features. With the right adjustments you should be able to code all day without issue.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> I started using an Ergohuman about 3 months ago and am quite pleased. IIRC (and correct me if I'm wrong), the adjustable lumbar support and/or headrest on the Aeron are extra. They come standard on the Ergohuman.

<http://ergohuman.com/ergohuman-me7erg.htm>

(PS: drewcrawford already linked an Office Depot rebranded version for cheaper, so please up-mod him too if you found this helpful :) [http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/690690/Realspace- PRO-9...](http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/690690/Realspace- PRO-9000-Series-Recycled-Mid/))

</comment><comment><USER28> I've had my $400 used Aeron for 10 years at home and it is as good as new. All that time I have seen at least 5 lesser chairs crumble underneath me from normal daily use. Do the math.

</comment><comment><USER29> Used Aeron chair... I love mine, but got it new a few years back, totally worth the $.

I tried all kinds of chairs before and the Aeron is the best. Exercise balls popped, cheap ones broke, and standing got old quickly.

You could also try standing up or using a treadmill but the treadmill I have doesn't have a good enough motor for long sessions at slow speed.

</comment><comment><USER30> A lot of offices are moving / closing often these days, you'll probably have a pretty good chance of finding something on craigslist.

Another alternative just to throw it in there:

The EQ3 Twist chair is interesting. Made out of bungy chords, it flexes but is extremely supportive. I got mine because I've never felt like sitting straight up automatically when getting into a chair, other than this one. It's not in the same realm as the Aeron, in fact it probably leaves funny rope patterns on your butt after awhile, but ergonomically, it's probably better to stand and move around once in awhile for circulation.

At the office I sit on one of those super geek inflatable balls =( $25 and you get used to it after awhile.

I also don't have a horrible back or anything, so take the above two options with a grain of salt!

goodluck!

</comment><comment><USER31> On a related note, has anyone had problems with cats and mesh chairs? It just seems like something they'd have fun poking their claws into and that worries me a bit about the investment.

</comment><comment><USER32> Just coming out of college in this economy, I don't think an Aeron chair is a good choice. I will advice to just get something comfortable; I kea will be a good place to look.

</comment><comment><USER33> I would wait until you meet two requirements: 1. Have income where spending $400 isn't a big deal and 2. have projects that take up so much of your time where you need a chair to ease the burden of sitting that long

Just getting out of college doesn't fulfill those 2 requirements. Wait until the amount of work you do demands that you get a chair that costs that much. It seems you would have a lot bigger things to worry about and focus your time on than evaluating chairs.

</comment><comment><USER34> I'm not sure what I'm missing, but what's so special about an Aeron chair? It sounds like it's real comfortable, but what does it have that other chairs don't?

<comment><USER18> The main advantage of the Aeron is that it is much more adjustable than most chairs. You can really adjust it to fit your body.

Of course, it's not for everyone, but it's flexible enough to fit most people very well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Ebay is a decent source if you live somewhere without an active enough Craigslist like I do. You're unlikely to get one below $400 there due to shipping though.

On the other hand, I've used one for 4 years now, and I highly recommend it. It really is that damn good, and if there are two things in life you shouldn't cheap out on, it's a bed and your primary work chair, in that order.

</comment><comment><USER36> The EPRI heavy-duty exercise ball <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016L8Q3A> works pretty well, and is only $40 or so. It keeps you moving slightly (bouncing, rolling), which is good for us autistic types who'd otherwise be jiggling a knee, etc.

<comment><USER37> Dude, I _dare_ you to get your sitzfleisch on for 12 hours at a time with an exercise ball. Get real.

<comment><USER38> I've used it for maybe six hour intervals with no noticeable problems.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER39> I purchased this chair from www.coolchairz.com for only $219.99 w/Free Shipping. Very strong and sturdy chair and I give it about an 8 on the comfort scale

[http://www.coolchairz.com/solid-metal-mesh-chair-- metallic-t...](http://www.coolchairz.com/solid-metal-mesh-chair--metallic- trim-amp-frame.html)

</comment><comment><USER40> I like the herman miller caper, same mesh, low cost, very comfortable and attractive. well, i like the looks.

</comment><comment><USER41> Go to staples and sit down on a few see which one feels comfortable. Make sure it has lumbar support.

</comment><comment><USER42> ha ha, I am sitting on an Aeron chair while I am reading this. Eat your heart out! (sorry)

(edit) Wow! You guys can be very sensitive sometimes. Can't we mix a little humour with out tech talk?

How about a "used" Aeron chair at a low price? They are guaranteed for an insane time, ... something like 12 years. Seriously, find someone who is upgrading to the latest generation of Aeron and pick up a classic that is only 5 yrs old and still great!</comment>


PostgreSQL WASM Extension - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/wasmer/announcing-the-first-postgres-extension-to-run-webassembly-561af2cfcb1 <comment><USER2> Neat. Though I don't think the real thing to compare it against here is pl/pgsql, which was never designed for speed - it's pl/v8.

Of course, a postgres extension language really lives and dies by the amount of postgres functionality it actually exposes. pl/v8 scores particularly well here, exposing even more than pl/pgsql (allowing e.g. advanced window functions to be built). It would be amazing to be able to do this sort of thing without being restricted to JS.

It will also be interesting to see what happens when JITted extension languages like this start to meet in the middle with postgres' own nascent JITted query plan support as it grows...

<comment><USER3> > It will also be interesting to see what happens when JITted extension > languages like this start to meet in the middle with postgres' own nascent > JITted query plan support as it grows...

Does Postgres actively measure the performance of stored procedures and use that for future cost estimates? I thought most of these timing stats are off by default.</comment></comment>


Life, Love, Loss, and Time: A Cautionary Tale - <AUTHOR> http://pathdependent.com/articles/life_love_loss_and_time

<comment><AUTHOR> This is my response to the blog post that I wrote, Mortality and Dating (<http://pathdependent.com/articles/mortality-and-dating>). It was oddly popular on HN, so I'm submitting the follow up. Although the situation is not very common, I think a lot of people on here make the same mistakes for different reasons.

</comment><comment><USER2> My experience with a life-threatening medical condition and "love" was very different from yours. I went through a period where I allowed men into my life that I normally wouldn't have given the time of day to because I had no idea how long I would live. I lowered my standards and it caused me to get to know people I wouldn't have otherwise known. Those relationships eventually fell by the wayside but not without first opening my eyes, my mind and my heart. I'm currently alone and I do plan on getting myself adequately healthy first before I will pursue physical intimacy (for me, it is the only sane thing as my medical situation is different from yours) but I am not rejecting of love. I suppose I won't quite know what to do when the time comes, for quite a lot of reasons, but I'm not terribly worried about it. I'm also okay with being alone if that is the only way to stay healthy but I'm not convinced that will always be true.

Peace and best wishes.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yea. I don't see anything wrong with being alone when the right person is not there. Settling is not better than being alone. What I did was worse than that. I had something great and turned my back on it.

<comment><USER2> I'm sorry for your pain about what you have done. I am not inclined to judge such things in terms of "good" or "bad". I'm sorry you seem to have so much difficulty accepting love. Given your history prior to your diagnosis -- of not dating in high school and then screwing around casually in college -- I am inclined to think that your medical condition is just another excuse for your inability to accept love and not the real reason. Inability to accept love seems to have preceded your diagnosis, not followed it.

I have a form of cystic fibrosis. On CF forums, people sometimes discuss being alone, feeling like no one would love them, feeling like they would be wrong to get involved because they could die on someone and so on. I got married at age 19 and wasn't diagnosed until I was 35. So I had no such excuses. My reasons for feeling unlovable when I was younger were rooted in sexual abuse. But an awful lot of people seem to have some reason or other for feeling unlovable -- even people who marry and may appear to the outside world like they have their act together. I was married for about 22 years. It was never a happy marriage and would have ended much sooner had I not turned up unexpectedly pregnant at age 21. We loved each other (ie were "in love" at one time and continued to sincerely care) but had terrible communication problems and other issues. We divorced as a final kindness, as the only nice thing we could still do for each other.

Something I always told my sons: No one can "deserve" unconditional love. If you could deserve it, it wouldn't be unconditional. We can only try to accept it should it come into our lives.

Nearly dying taught me to live. And getting a diagnosis empowered me to get myself healthier and finally start getting my life together after a lifetime of frustration and bafflement. For me, being celibate is a practical matter while I heal from decades of infection and inadequate care. Because that is my main reason for being alone, it has been experienced from very differently than what I expected/feared for most of my life. For me, it has been freeing, healing and empowering. If I could wave a magic wand and give you piece of that, I would.

Peace.</comment></comment></comment>


Branching histories of the 2016 UK referendum and 'the frogs before the storm' - <AUTHOR> https://dominiccummings.wordpress.com/2017/01/09/on-the-referendum-21-branching-histories-of-the-2016-referendum-and-the-frogs-before-the-storm-2/ <comment><USER2> While unfortunately I don't have time to finish reading it at the moment, this is a very interesting post, even for someone with no interest in brexit. It feels more like a discussion of effectiveness/efficiency, organizational structure, motivations and their effects, with the leave org being an example of how these can benefit/harm your efforts. I found the occasional paragraph on advertising/media strategy especially interesting.

That said, 20k words is lengthy to the point that I suspect this will fall off the front page before any reasonable discussion can happen.

</comment><comment><USER3> Whatever you feel the Brexit result should have been, read this article to understand deeply how politics plays out.

Dominic spends much of the article showing how it was the errors of IN that gave the opportunity for Leave to have a chance.

In the US, the progressive movement is learning from the Tea Party how to fight Trump. Pro-EU Brits should learn from the euroskeptics.

As Dominic says, the easiest person to lie to is yourself.

</comment><comment><USER4> Oh wow, I never say this, but this post definitely needs a TL;DR

<comment><USER5> Summary of topics covered, although I highly recommend reading the whole thing. The author appears to be a relative insider to politics however approached the entire campaign in a very different manner than is expected from political types.

1\. Game theory

2\. Probability

3\. Issues with managing a large number of people, some with diverging motivations and how that effects succeeding in the group's aim

4\. Enormity of establishment backing of Remain and how that helped/hindered

5\. 3 conditions that left the Leave vote possible. Maybe the best section, parallels to recent US election obvious here.

6\. Making persuasive arguments to a wide demographic, including their timing.

7\. Warranted distrust of establishment post 2008 and its effects.

8\. IYI (intellectual yet idiot) class.

9\. Incredibly strong post establishment media backlash and its motivation,"Fake news", "Idiots couldn't understand", "Racists".

10\. Importance of error-correction in large systems.

11\. Some very innovative solutions to the above.

Overall a fantastic summary of why we have seen some political "shocks" in the West.

<comment><USER6> Sounds like a typical "Lessons Learned from My Year as a Startup CEO" post on Medium!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Ooh, I'm going to like this article. I had to stop to post this comment when I came across this statement:

 _Much political analysis revolves around competing simple stories based on one big factor such that, in retrospect, 'it was always clear that immigration would trump economic interest / Cameron's negotiation was never going to be enough / there is an unstoppable populist tide', and so on. Alternatives are quickly thought to have been impossible (even if X argued the exact opposite repeatedly). The big event must have had an equally big single cause. Confirmation bias kicks in and evidence seeming to suggest that what actually happened would happen looms larger. People who are quite wrong quickly persuade themselves they were 'mostly right' and 'had a strong feeling' unlike, of course, the blind fools around them. Soon our actual history seems like the only way things could have played out. Brexit had to happen. Trump had to win._

It really reminds me of this[0] wonderful blog post "Tuesday shouldn't change the narrative" which predicted very well how the narrative changed after the election of Trump.

This Brexit blog post also has this wonderful epistemic statement:

> _Also, it is clear that almost nobody agrees with me about some of my > general ideas. It is more likely that I am wrong than 99% of people who work > in this field professionally. Still, cognitive diversity is inherently good > for political analysis so I'll say what I think and others will judge if > there's anything to learn._

Both of these quotes really resonate with me. I fear that many people will downvote this because the author is a Leaver, but I think that would be a mistake. The author clearly isn't dumb and is telling a firsthand story of their involvement in this important event. People should read and watch primary sources more often, I think.

[0] [http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/07/tuesday-shouldnt- change...](http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/07/tuesday-shouldnt-change-the- narrative/)</comment>


Venture Pimp: kittehroulette made my day - <AUTHOR> http://venturepimp.com/post/641203958/kittehroulette

<comment><USER2> whats up with cats, i prefer dogs.</comment>


UDork – Google Hacking Tool - <AUTHOR> https://hakin9.org/udork-google-hacking-tool/ <comment><USER2> Why do I need a Facebook cookie for this?</comment>


Ask HN: Anyone else doing a non-software startup? - <AUTHOR>

My wife and I recently kicked off http://wickhamhousebrand.com to sell men's accessories.  Throughout the setup, business development, and so on I've used tons of stuff I've learned from HN in one way or another: culled marketing and business tips from the popular blogs here, developed software for running it using stuff I found out about from HN users, etc.
I'm always interested in people's software startup stories, but I can't help but wonder: is anyone else doing something similar?
Have other resources to share?  Interested in some sort of "Getting Real in Other Markets" group or something?  I know there have to be others who aren't necessarily doing "The Next Big Social Network 4.0™" but still hang around here for advice and ideas. :) <comment><USER2> I got out of computer programming a few years ago hoping to do something more tangible. From my interest in food, I ended up starting a sorbet business: <http://screamsorbet.com>. After two years, we're up to about a dozen employees, running about break even, and we're starting to get some good press: [http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/we-made-it- our...](http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/we-made-it-ourselves- scream-sorbet).

Our strength is definitely product quality, stemming from our attention to detail, knowledge of theory, and direct ingredient sourcing. Our weaknesses are primarily lack of sufficient initial funding, launching a gourmet product into a weak economy, and our general lack of business savvy. Did I mention that the product is good?

While there are definitely overlaps between the thought process of programming and that of business development, every time I have to deal with a regulatory agency I definitely long for the orderliness of a xterm. Many days I hope that "spend time working on your weaknesses" turns out to be a good long-term personal strategy.

If you're in the Bay Area and like good food, do check us out. We're opening a store in Oakland in the next few weeks, and are at Farmers' Markets from Santa Cruz to Marin. Or if you're a frozen dessert fanatic somewhere else, we ship overnight on dry ice, although the shipping costs can be rather steep.

<comment><USER3> your product kicks ass. was in the sf for business and pleasure (from the east coast) and randomly stopped to have some (I am a sorbet fanatic). it was a real treat and probably the most memorable thing my wife and i had the whole time.

<comment><USER2> Considering what else SF has to offer, that's a wonderful compliment. Thanks!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I was about to buy your scarf until I got to the 'paypal' point :/

Could you add some more payment options? (It may also be worth tracking the number of people who get to the checkout page and then leave)

Please also make the 'more pictures' larger (or have thumbnails of all the photos), as it wasnt too clear at first that there were more. I like how BR does it:

[http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=35356...](http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=35356&vid=0&pid=789134&scid=789134022)

(thumbnails with mouseover)

Other than that, bravo!

<comment><AUTHOR> Yup as my sibling reply noted, you can just use a CC with no PayPal account. Otherwise, feel free to send me an Amazon Gift Card for the amount of the purchase (I think that'd end up being like $28 with shipping) to my e-mail (and a follow-up message with your address) and I'll get that going right out to you!

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I run a small auto-brokerage / used car dealership called Autolicious, Inc ( <http://autolicio.us> ). This is my night/weekend gig and is very slightly profitable, although nowhere close to a successful business.

Here are some of my thoughts I'd like to share, especially applicable to a non-software startup:

1\. Focus on selling. I know you can just tweet it, or FB update it, but selling something is difficult. Giving something away for free is easy. So don't focus on getting 100,000 page views. Get only 10 visitors, BUT, convert ALL those into paying customers.

2\. Most of my customers come from word-of-mouth. So the website is only a gateway for the random customer to come in. The whole-and-soul of my business is taking care of the customer, so that he or she recommends me to someone else. I focus on that, instead of adding a slick new feature to the website. The website, as such, is a MVP... something to keep me floating, till I make some money.

3\. There are some big (YC backed) players in my field now. They have a huge lead (and huge money), so I clearly cannot take them on at their game. The only way I can survive, is by differentiating myself and that's what I'm primarily doing.

</comment><comment><USER6> Yup, I sell firearms, accessories, and ammunition - <http://www.dallasshootingsupplies.com> (I'm also doing software based startups since they're equally as fun).

It's awesome, I've learned a ton, and the firearm industry is met with it's own difficulties.

<comment><USER7> Worlds collide! I bought some Magpul magazines from you a year or so ago. Your outfit was great to deal with; highly recommend it to anyone else on here.

And in case you are tracking your marketing effectiveness, I first heard about you on the SA forums.

<comment><USER6> Awesome! It's cool hearing stuff like that. I've learned a ton about marketing here on HN and going to make 2011 a great year.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I know trading isn't a popular topic, but I consider quantitative finance my one man startup.

I have to wear a lot of hats, am constantly learning new things, get frequent feedback that I have to use to refine my product, can't do everything so I have to choose what things I'm going to spend effort on and what things can be suboptimal. Release early and release often and I'm playing against better funded often slower moving incumbents.

<comment><USER9> Do you mean you have your own funds and trading algos? What kind of strategies do you follow? I assume 'traditional' HFT is out of reach for a one-man show, no? I've thought for a while now that there must be opportunities in niche markets that aren't profitable enough for big players to get into, but that someone with knowledge of the industry can exploit. I'd love to hear some details on what you do, and what kind of money you make!

<comment><USER8> I have my own trading algos, but I do not trade my own funds.

I have a single investor, so you could imagine that he's the web startup equivalent of an angel or venture capitalist. He's extremely knowledgeable about markets, and we keep open lines of communication about what I'm doing. He trusts that I'm a good founder and that I'm doing my best to capitalize on market opportunities, but he never tells me what to do. However, if I want his advice or access to his resources, he's happy to share.

It isn't HFT in the traditional sense (or maybe not any sense), but I do tend to prefer opportunities that are quantitative in nature and spend a lot of time programming.

Right now I'm making laughably small amounts of money (non-negative, but insufficient to support me), but I'm hoping that that will change soon. Again, very much like a startup -- I take a hit on the salary and stability because I want increased exposure to the success upside. And like a startup, my investor(s) win if I win.

However, I've recently seen an opportunity to join another such "startup" (currently 2 guys) and I'm considering that, which might be the death of my own little trading startup.

<comment><USER9> Thanks. I have a few more questions if you don't mind :)

"Right now I'm making laughably small amounts of money (non-negative, but insufficient to support me)"

Is this because of lack of volume (i.e., fund too small), or because of algo quality issues? Do you try to compete with the big boys heads-on (in generic stock trading) or do you specialize, trying to add market knowledge to your model?

I guess my question is, do you have purely statistical models or do you try to model process-based, with information from outside the exchange feed?

How do you handle this technically? Do you have direct access to a broker API? Don't the fees kill you on that?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I created a nutritional supplement to help me code longer and be more productive:

<http://www.getinstantfocus.com>

It's been an incredible learning experience in terms of building an ecommerce business from the ground up and putting all of the pieces together.

Plus I got to code a custom CRM for the backend because I couldn't find anything to fit my needs.

But I'm running into the serious limitations of having a physical product business-inventory, shipping, returns, phone support, etc. For example, due to various regulatory and logistical issues I can only sell to the United States, which severely limits my market size...I've had to turn away more than a few Canadians...so I'll be jumping into the SaaS startup world soon.

ECommerce is a LOT of work- for anyone choosing between selling a physical product or software, unless you have an awesome idea I would recommend software- a lot of the issues traditional stores face are automatically taken care of in a webapp.

<comment><USER11> I used to deal with products like this quite a bit. There's a huge segment of the industry that is involved in rebill scams and are almost impossible to cancel. Is your product like that as well? It looks exactly like the type of landing page that does scammy rebills for "free" trial offers.

<comment><USER10> It's a simple sale, no rebill or free trial just one charge of the purchase price.

I use that landing page style because it converts better than anything else I have tested :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> We run a portable hookah pipe business: <http://HoboHookah.com>. Its pretty boutique, been around for 3 years. Its still a profit loser, but we've been featured on Thrillist, Swagapalooza (YC), WNBC (NY NBC affiliate) and Le Grande Fooding.

Whats been tough? Our first product was over priced by the manufacturer (although high quality) which did not make the first run profitable in any way. The other thing is lack of understanding of retail and manufacturing. We had no idea how the whole retail / wholesale / distributor / manufacturer business worked.

We've learned a lot (as they say: Starting a business is the cheapest MBA money can buy) and I think we'll be able to get profitable in 6-months and probably be able to exit in 2-3 years (there are some ideal buyers for the business).

</comment><comment><USER13> My dad is trying to set up woodworking business selling hand-sculpted rocking chairs. He's great at the woodworking, but doesn't have the slightest clue how to start, run, or market a business. I'm leaving my job at the end of the month so I'll be able to help him organize finances and set up a proper website, but it's really out of my expertise as well. All I've had a chance to do so far is set up a wordpress blog for him to play around with: <http://morrellwoodworks.com/>

The chairs he builds are _really_ nice though. He does everything by hand. Ex: [http://morrellwoodworks.com/wp-content/gallery/double- rocker...](http://morrellwoodworks.com/wp-content/gallery/double- rocker/dsc04024_resized.jpg)

<comment><AUTHOR> Wow, you rarely see that amount of craftsmanship these days. It's really great to see more businesses like that spring up simply because it's easy to get started and get your message out there thanks to the Internet.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> I run gas stations. My underhanded motive for buying it earlier this year was to learn how the processes work and then develop products for this particular niche.

It's profitable and, on most days, pretty fun. :)

<comment><USER15> This sounds like a good thing to get into. Any tips for someone looking to get into it?

<comment><USER14> Yeah, it's not too bad -- just need to be _really_ careful before you bite the bullet. I wrote about the steps I took here: [http://www.resultsjunkies.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-small- busine...](http://www.resultsjunkies.com/blog/how-to-buy-a-small-business/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I am runing small winery. (4500 bottles of wine/year)

It is fun and if business go wrong you can always drink your end product. Ask anything if you like.

<comment><USER17> Can you give some super introductory pointers on how to start a "physical" business like this? My girlfriend and I have been batting around some coffee related ideas, but this domain is completely foreign to us.

<comment><USER16> It was very simple in my case. Few generations of my family are making wine, so we own vineyards, wine cellar, equipment and such. Now it is just plain work, experimentations and more work.

It is actually very similar to software business: start small, create some product, learn from your mistakes and iterate.

You don't need tons of fancy equipment and huge infrastructure from the beginning.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Non-software startup entrepreneurs:

What are your Hacker News alternatives? What forums do you use?

</comment><comment><USER19> The OP should take a look at Bonobos. They're a startup in the same space, and they could offer a good partnership opportunity. They sell a lot of other companies' products.

<comment><USER20> Sorry, I accidentally down-voted you. To the contrary, your comment is thoughtful and helpful.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Running a Somali restaurant that the family bought. It's very tough, and with lots of gotchas. Would not recommend for the common person, but if you're dedicated, fast, sharp-eyed, have cash, and find a good location, go for it.

</comment><comment><USER22> We at <http://CastingWords.com> are an interesting hybrid. We sell human transcription - everything we do is done by hand, and our costs are per item sold, much like a physical product.

Of course we also do it via CrowdSourcing so we're nicely techy, and buzzwordy. But boy is it not a software gig in the traditional sense.

<comment><USER3> nice site design.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> We're doing hardware... a toy for kids that connects to your iPod/iPhone: <http://xachipet.com>

<comment><USER24> Very neat product. This further reinforces the idea that an iPod Touch is probably the right gift idea for my son this Christmas... and maybe this product next Christmas.

<comment><USER23> Thanks, Barry! Hardware can be a challenge as a startup, but we're almost there.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> My startup is the employment industry, but it's more of a media property than a job board.

My sites are:

<http://www.onedayonejob.com/> <http://www.onedayoneinternship.com/> <http://www.foundyourcareer.com/>

The beautiful think about a content business is that it's much easier to build traffic—especially through SEO. I've seen a ton of employment industry startups fail because they built software that they couldn't market (I'm not sure that the software was very good either).

<comment><USER25> funny that HN wouldn't link httP://example.com :D

<comment><USER19> That is really odd. I just fixed my link, but I figured that I'd respond so you that your comment still makes sense.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> I started <http://www.littleheroes.com> a little over a year ago. It's personalized books for kids. Running a company that involves "real" stuff definitely has its challenges (sourcing suppliers, shipping, customs etc.) but on the plus side, I enjoy the fact that we create something real and that our business model is simple and doesn't rely on AdSense or premium subscriptions.

With that said, we are making an iPad app because our customers want our books to read on-the-go for their kids.

<comment><USER27> Very nice. I write children's books as a hobby and was wondering how you select books for your service.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I'm involved in a non software startup called WickWerks. We make high performing bicycle parts. <http://www.wickwerks.com>

</comment><comment><USER29> I run a small publishing company that mostly sells physical books. We're not really consumer facing for the most part so we have no site yet, but we'll shortly open to manuscript submissions from outside authors, so our public site is very nearly ready.

</comment><comment><USER30> 'needmoney' runs a bakery - even thanked us after HN helped him get his 'startup- stable.

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1772205>

</comment><comment><USER31> I'm trying to get a couple (not video) games made and onto store shelves. I'm past the playtesting stage for one game and I'm looking to hire art from some locals artists, because I need a good-looking demo to show to publishers or distributors. I'm not so much a startup as a messy desk and closet for now, but I'm making slow progress because I'm pretty much feeling around in the dark and making my own mistakes.

</comment><comment><USER32> I was about to pipe up that I've been working on a non-software product, not yet a startup, but it's not quite as "out there"[1] as yours, since it's still primarily based in computer technology.

Still, I expect to face some similar challenges due to the fact that my initial capital outlay won't be epsilon, unlike with pure software.

[1] That is, divergent from the typical HN startup.

</comment><comment><USER33> I bought a bar

<comment><USER34> How's it working out for you? Any experiences you can share?

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> I am taking an existing business on-line that specializes in the marketing data of team sports (football, baseball, basketball, hockey, etc). I am looking for a partner to help out so If any one has an interest in team sports, marketing and technology send me an email.

</comment><comment><USER36> It would be interesting to know from where you are purchasing the goods (if they are not self-made).

Do you get them directly from the manufacturer or do some of you have experience with importing stuff from China/etc.?

</comment><comment><USER37> My friends and I run a franchised food stall. After few months, we learned that manpower management is very critical as the turnover rate is very high in this business. Also stock management, to save operation cost.

</comment><comment><USER38> I'm working on a scheduled shuttle service from San Francisco to Oakland Airport. Was a huge pain point for myself personally to get to the airport. We're hoping to launch it in time for the holiday travel season!

</comment><comment><USER39> <http://www.difrwear.com>

Also selling men's accessories (5+ years now) - send me some emails if you want war stories =)

</comment><comment><USER40> I run www.freshsight.org a third sector organisation related to the Berkley Group in California. I also run www.mylash.org which has launched recently

</comment><comment><USER41> www.kegstool.com

<comment><USER42> WOW - What a great idea!!! I love it!!! Not sure how you are marketing this, but you could do great in anything related to "man-caves" -- super popular in the midwest and I'm sure other places as well.

</comment></comment><comment><USER43> Pretty cool site - best of luck!

I can join in with www.recojeans.com, sustainable, stylish jeans.

Not an equity founder, but as one of the first employees I have a lot of free reign in planning. HN has been quite useful.

<comment><USER26> Just checked out your site, I like some of those t-shirts. Might get one.

May I suggest you change the color of the top menu text. Thin blue Arial on a gray background is hard to read.</comment></comment>


Show HN: PJON v11.1 an independent, decentralized, open-source protocol - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/gioblu/PJON/releases/tag/11.1 <comment><USER2> I used this once to have an Arduino and an ESP8266 communicate and I love it. I'm not great with C++, and I found the super simple implementation extremely helpful, as I could focus on what I wanted to do rather than have to wrestle with the protocol. The one-wire connection is similarly a boon to speed, since I don't need to connect a bunch of stuff up, I just connect one wire and that's it. The author was also very responsive, helping me immediately with a bug I found.

I definitely recommend it for most use cases, if you don't need a very high speed bus.

</comment><comment><USER3> The wiki is a better overview – [https://github.com/gioblu/PJON/wiki](https://github.com/gioblu/PJON/wiki)

This is an abstract network stack for raspberry pi- type devices so they can talk to each other while sheltered from the underlying network interface (wifi, radio, wire, light impulses, etc) and sits on top of whatever transport protocol (UDP, TCP, Serial). By "multi-media" he means the physical layer, "media like electricity, radio and light"

<comment><AUTHOR> ciao dustin, more than "abstract" I would say "software defined" or "software emulated". Yes, data-links are abstracted and treated by PJON "agnostically". PJON can also use higher level protocols like UDP TCP as "data-links". I think this, although could be considered by many as a layering violation, may be extremely useful for building a decentralized network infrastructure while still having the chance to hop through the internet if required

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Also check out the related ModuleInterface library ([https://github.com/fredilarsen/ModuleInterface](https://github.com/fredilarsen/ModuleInterface)) that lets devices declare their contracts for settings, outputs and inputs and a master that synchronizes these between modules and to and from a web server / database.

It does data logging and storage to a database for trending and/or analysis, as well as configuration in a web page.

It uses PJON as transport, so it can run on one or multiple of the supported media, for example a SoftwareBitBang bus between worker devices, with a router that connects them via UDP to a master process on Linux. Or any other combination.

</comment><comment><USER5> PJON is a very interesting project and I've used it in the past between a RPi and an Arduino to communicate.

Atm I'm developing my own bus protocol since PJON was having some problems with the optocouplers I have (the line I need has almost a millisecond of lag and doesn't allow for a frequency beyond a couple kilohertz as it needs to get to several devices at different logic levels and has some longer lines with higher voltages that limit response times). Surprisingly there isn't a good bus protocol that can deal with symbolrates below 1000 per second, multi master and really bad line conditions and long timeouts.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ciao Zaarn, that is cool compliments, which sort of encoding you chose?

<comment><USER5> Simple NRZ for both clock and data. Data integrity is provided by parity bits in various fields and CRC32 for the payload.

I use token bus for media access control since it's fairly simple to implement and I don't need jam detection in any components.

Token passing enables a far more simpler software for simply being a passive client (ie, a sensor doesn't need to be able to control the bus, it only needs to respond while someone else is controlling the bus) and the active masters (which can cleanly pass control of the bus).

I don't mean any of this as offense to PJON either, it's an amazing protocol, the problems I have aren't solved by any product on the market.

It's also a good engineering challenge.

<comment><AUTHOR> Why not RTZ?

<comment><USER5> NRZ is easier to do on most devices since you simply put a high on the bus to send a one and a low on the bus to send zero, esp. if you use something like an Attiny. Also means I can basically plug-and-play it into the i2c connections I have setup.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm about to start a project where four Arduinos will be talking to each other every other minute and also to a central server ~100 times a second and haven't really found a satisfactory way to handle the communication. Had been hoping to use ZeroMQ as I have some experience with that but it looks like there are no Arduino compatible libraries available.

However, this looks just like the thing I've been looking for. Serial communication and TCP and CRC checking!

<comment><USER7> You could also use ROS Arduino serial library -

[http://wiki.ros.org/rosserial_arduino/Tutorials](http://wiki.ros.org/rosserial_arduino/Tutorials)

<comment><USER6> Thanks for the suggestion! I'll check it out.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> _Protocol_ cannot be _open source_. It can have a full specification published. A protocol does not have a source code, it's something that its _implementation_ can have.

Also, what the heck does it do? Neither README nor title says anything about that. The closest thing to such description is mentioning that it "supports multimedia", whatever that means.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ciao dozzie, I have omitted "implementation" from the title because I thought that was obvious enough. It seems not.

The project proposes both an independent research in defining a specification, and also an open-source implementation based on that specification.

If you want to know what it does, read the specifications or at least the first sentences of the README :)

"PJON® (Padded Jittering Operative Network) is an Arduino compatible, multi- master, multi-media network protocol. It proposes a Standard, it is designed as a framework and implements a totally software emulated network protocol stack that can be easily cross-compiled on many architectures like ATtiny, ATmega, ESP8266, ESP32, STM32, Teensy, Raspberry Pi, Linux, Windows x86 and Apple machines. It is a valid tool to quickly and comprehensibly build a network of devices. Visit wiki and documentation to know more about the PJON Standard."

<comment><USER8> > Ciao dozzie, I have omitted "implementation" from the title because I > thought that was obvious enough. It seems not.

Keep the proper terminology. If you omit words left and right, it becomes incomprehensible garbage.

> If you want to know what it does, read the specifications

The whole point of README is to say what it does so I don't need to read specification that will be useless to me.

> or at least the first sentences of the README :)

I read it. The wall of words you cited says _nothing_ about what it does and what purpose it serves.

<comment><AUTHOR> "... is an Arduino compatible, multi-master, multi-media network protocol. It proposes a Standard, it is designed as a framework and implements a totally software emulated network protocol stack that can be easily cross-compiled on many architectures like ATtiny, ATmega, ESP8266, ESP32, STM32, Teensy, Raspberry Pi, Linux. It is a valid tool to quickly and comprehensibly build a network of devices". If this is a wall of words that says nothing about what the project is for, we are not from the same universe. And also, I don't think an omitted word in a title that must be short will make all the project an incomprehensible garbage, considering the amount of time and effort has been invested in docs and specs.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


One Policy to Control Them All: Shared Modular Policies Agent-Agnostic Control - <AUTHOR> https://wenlong.page/modular-rl/ <comment><USER2> Tweet-print (summary of the paper): [https://twitter.com/pathak2206/status/1281656944718053378](https://twitter.com/pathak2206/status/1281656944718053378)</comment>