Don't confuse it with Quickster, QuickStar, Quik-Star, Kwik Star, or Kwikster. - <AUTHOR> http://technologizer.com/2011/09/19/qwikster-not-to-be-confused-with-quixtar-quickstar-kwikster-quickster-kwik-star-quik-star-or-kickstar/

<comment><USER2> So they don't own @Quikster .... and they don't own quickster.com (the likely typo that their users are going to make). Even if you accept their premise that it's the right move from a business standpoint, they're dropping the ball on ensuring their customers don't get lost in the transition.

<comment><USER3> Even worse to me, they don't own @Qwikster and looking at the timeline of the person who has it now is just... scary.

This seems like an all around PR nightmare. Regardless of whether or not the name is terrible, why wouldn't they shore up their name on major social media players before making the announcement? Were they worried if they did this word may leak?

<comment><USER2> This is a perfect example of how much this will confuse customers. I'd meant to type @Qwikster in my post, but got their new name wrong.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I am tempted to think that maybe the DVD business should have been called Mailflix or Flix by Mail or Next-day Flix.

<comment><USER5> I have the feeling that they're trying to separate both companies completely in the long run. The DVD by mail business is ultimately doomed. Why use DVD by mail services when you can directly stream movies?

Granted, Qwikster will still stay around for a while, but I have no doubt that it will slowly die, just like Blockbuster right now.

<comment><USER6> Maybe not as soon as you think. Studios keep a tight control over which movies can get digitized, some will not release some of their old movies to streaming.

Blockbuster dies rather quickly mostly because of Netflix. So, in order to predict DVD by mail business dying you have to show the alternative. Streaming currently is by no means a match. One could see Redbox putting more advanced kiosks with more selections (there was talk about kiosks with thousands of titles that would burn the DVD while you shopped) which might be threat.

<comment><USER4> To start burning DVDs while the customer waits probably puts Redbox in the same difficult negotiating position with the content owners that streaming movies does.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> took me 3 tries to find their website. also funny that they chose that name... given that streaming is a hell of a lot qwicker than mail.

</comment><comment><USER8> snailflix.com is still free...

</comment><comment><USER9> Is this what extremely good organic SEO looks like?

Most of the other names are not really used on the Internet at all. Now, when anyone fails to spell qwikster, they're going to find this article. It seems like they rank for every misspelled query now.

(Google may start spell correcting to qwikster, though for the moment they seem to spell correct to quickstar when they do.)

Are there other variants of this technique?

</comment><comment><USER10> Don't forget Quixtar!

<comment><USER11> Must we remember them? :)

Any time I've heard about them(outside of friends who were suckered into their schemes try loop me in as well) it's all been through sites that have complained about how bad they suck. I'm surprised they're still around.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Netflix is well known for its amazing delivery system, and this new name emphasizes that - not what product is being delivered at all. I think Qwikster will be expanding into shipment of all sorts of non DVD movie type things. They are already going to be doing video games.

That said, yes Qwikster sounds stupid. But the same could be said for such words as Google, iPad, etc.

</comment><comment><USER13> Trickster?!?</comment>


Show HN: GoJava – Server/desktop Java bindings to Go packages - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/sridharv/gojava <comment><USER2> I'm looking forward to when this exists for every almost language. Go added "c-archive" build mode in 1.5. There is no reason gobind couldn't support any language which can work with c libraries (ruby, node, etc).

<comment><AUTHOR> This exists for Python [0]. The reverse is also interesting (Go -> Java/Python/Ruby) and once I get some spare time, I'll play around with using libjvm to load and call jar files from Go.

[0] [https://github.com/go-python/gopy](https://github.com/go-python/gopy)

<comment><USER3> Its awesome. The problem is that only specific types are supported by a bunch of these types of libraries. In the case of gopy you cannot do anything with a nested slices in structs which limits things a bit.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes this is definitely a little limiting. I'm also experimenting with a slightly different binding method, where passing pointers to structs is disallowed (gobind currently allows pointers to structs). All structs are only passed by value, which solves a lot of the underlying problems and allows for slices and nested structs. I'll have something tangible in a few weeks and might switch out the dependency on gobind.

EDIT: edited for clarity

<comment><USER3> Thats awesome news, Thanks for the explanation!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Since GoJava generates jar binding, does it mean other JVM languages can use the jar to call Go too?

Edit: Java has generic Go doesn't, how do the bindings work for generic?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes. The only constraint is that the jar will only work on the architecture it was built on.

<comment><USER5> Still pretty awesome and that's not really a big deal. I'm going to guess most Java these days is running on x86_64 or ARM.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Go would benefit immensely from the ability to bind to JDBC drivers for database access.

<comment><USER7> What makes you think so? Go has pretty solid native drivers for most SQL databases out there: [https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/SQLDrivers](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/SQLDrivers)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> In case the author sees this, more documentation would be great.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yup. I'll put together some more docs and usage examples this weekend.

Edit: [https://github.com/sridharv/gojava/issues/6](https://github.com/sridharv/gojava/issues/6)</comment></comment>


Itertools - Iterator functions for efficient looping - <AUTHOR> http://www.doughellmann.com/PyMOTW/itertools/ <comment><USER2> "A Python programmer discovering the magic of itertools is three months from looking for a new language that better supports the functional style."

      -Andrew Brehaut

<comment><USER3> See also <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1319092>.

<comment><USER4> Particularly poignant with Python, since Python has refused real lambdas for years now.

Result of that decision: in the name of simplicity, increasingly complex iteration tool chains spring into existence.

<comment><USER5> And sometimes you have to jump through hoops to avoid iterating over the same iterator twice.

<comment><USER6> If Guido made Python into Lisp, what would be the point of making it?

Different languages have different strengths. And weaknesses. Reminding myself I have learned to program on a Texas Instruments' TI-51 III shows me it's the programmer that makes the machine tick. Learning to program on something that can't make a conditional jump (or jump somewhere but program step 0) is educational.

<comment><USER4> This is sort of orthogonal to the complaint. Why have partial lambda support at all?

The argument is: keeping out real lambdas makes Python easier (both in terms of implementation and learning). But increasingly it seems like this decision has not really helped either of these goals.

So yeah, different language is different. That doesn't excuse the absurdity of the justification. If python had real lambdas, it'd still have a lot of unique syntax and libraries that would keep it distinct and relevant.

<comment><USER6> The ease of learning argument can be simply countered by not teaching lambdas in the first place.

For many use cases, a named function works well.

<comment><USER4> I don't agree, but that doesn't matter. What's most curious is why a halfway measure is supported at all.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Autistic Kid Who's More Intelligent Than Einstein - <AUTHOR> http://www.disinfo.com/2011/03/the-autistic-kid-whos-more-intelligent-than-einstein/ <comment><USER2> I've heard about him on the radio but I'm not sure as to what his full capability/capacity is. Everyone talking about how much he knows, and how he is attempting to expand Einstein's Theory of relativity, but I'd like to know what exactly he is trying to expand. We'll have to see if he is more intelligent than Einstein, he hasn't proven anything yet. Although, it is amazing what he has taught himself, even just in this video which most people learn only in college, if that.

</comment><comment><USER3> Same story:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2374578>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2379419>

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2382850>

Several comments.</comment>


Monads in Ruby - <AUTHOR> http://moonbase.rydia.net/mental/writings/programming/monads-in-ruby/00introduction.html

<comment><USER2> I don't know why, but I just dont "get" monads. Perhaps playing with Haskell more will help.

</comment><comment><USER3> Not sure what the point of implementing monads in Ruby is. It's like implementing 'pointers' so that you can talk about programming in C.

<comment><AUTHOR> It's nice to know what's possible.

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.</comment></comment>


Show HN: Get quick feedback on landing pages - <AUTHOR> https://www.pagecritiq.com

<comment><USER2> My first instinct was "Not another critique site", but I took a look and the ability to get started right away reeled me in.

I have no interest in getting credits to have my own work critiqued, but the fact that it's so quick and easy to provide feedback is a smart move. Before I knew it, I'd critiqued three pages. Loading another immediately after your previous one means it's easy to get on a roll a bit like Hot or Not back in the day.

You'll either need to become a regular tool espoused by HN types, or expand to target general marketers redesigning their websites and looking for broad feedback first.

</comment><comment><USER3> That's a fantastic tool. Getting a site critiqued by people who know what they're talking is always a wise move when you want to quickly optimize a site. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating so I'd still recommend split testing different variations. Sometimes the results will shock you.

</comment><comment><USER4> I know it's not quite the same thing, but [http://fivesecondtest.com](http://fivesecondtest.com) is awesome for this kind of testing. Been around a while, has a very active community (so tests are done quickly).

</comment><comment><USER5> Pretty neat.

I chucked mine up there and will be keen to see the feedback. Also thought the way it just keeps loading is fantastic. Easy to get on a roll as @prawn mentioned.

</comment><comment><USER6> The site looks very nice. One thing I would quickly update is your 2014 copyright date to 2015.

<comment><USER7> Yes, link it dynamically :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Someone should do this for ideas. Just poorly written ideas.

<comment><USER9> Nobody wants their idea stolen, no matter how badly written it is.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Just fyi, this is unusable on mobile (iPhone 6 plus).</comment>


Ask HN: What are best resources for a Java developer to learn web programming? - <AUTHOR>

I spent the first 7 years of my career as a Java developer, but I haven't seriously coded for almost a decade.  I have an idea for a web product that I'd like to develop, and I'd like to get a beta version put together to feedback from prospective customers before I think about quitting my job to pursue it.
To that end, I need to get a handle on the various technologies used in web development (i.e. I need to do more than just learn JavaScript).
What are some good resources for getting started? <comment><USER2> Depends on what stack you want to develop in. For an MVP you could try:

Ruby 1.9.2, Rails 3.1, HAML, SASS, jQuery, MySQL 5.5

It might not be the stack you end up with, but you'll learn enough building that to get started.

Start here with the free online book, it's as good of a place as any: <http://ruby.railstutorial.org/>

</comment><comment><USER3> In the LAMP or WAMP stack you would need to learn PHP, MySQL, JavaScript + JQuery and of course HTML and CSS.

</comment><comment><USER4> Http://grails.org</comment>


Herb Sutter's essay about the evolution of computing "Welcome to the Jungle" - <AUTHOR> http://herbsutter.com/2011/12/29/welcome-to-the-jungle/

<comment><AUTHOR> For those curious, this is a sort of spiritual successor to his previous essay "The Free Lunch is Over"§.

§ <http://www.gotw.ca/publications/concurrency-ddj.htm></comment>


Some important personal news - <AUTHOR> http://www.erfworld.com/blog/view/58899/important <comment><USER2> I've never read the comic, so I'm not particularly in-the-know of these people; just wondering, though, wouldn't a liver transplant work in cases like those?</comment>


Battle to wipe out debilitating Guinea worm parasite hits 10 year delay - <AUTHOR> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02921-w <comment><USER2> 15 or so years ago I was in a remote African town and a local business had a picture of Gerald Ford up. Perplexed I asked why. The United States, I presume while Ford was president, had sent aid to build a bridge, some irrigation canals, and eradicated what he described as a worm that you pull out of your skin by wrapping it around a pencil and turning, an inch an hour. I guess it would have been this worm or something similar.

Not a big deal for us, I'm sure hardly anyone outside the area heard of it. But for the locals it changed their lives, the food they could eat, the quality of life they could live. I'd say that I wish we did more stuff like this instead of the geopolitical games, but on another trip I found out that the majority of the Kenyan governments entire budget is foreign aid. Didn't _seem_ to be doing much. But I knew some people from the USA who existed on donations that ran a free school for children, with meals out of a slum. They were poor in the US, but doing so much good. While the official NGO staff drove around in $50,000 SUVs to do surveys.

Doing good is hard. Throwing money at something is not enough. It takes thoughtful, wise people and hard work. But there have been so many people pulled out of really bad conditions over the last few generations. Many many unsung heros.

<comment><USER3> We do. Bush and aids: [https://www.history.com/news/what-was-a-george-w-bushs- great...](https://www.history.com/news/what-was-a-george-w-bushs-greatest- achievement)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> _reduced the number of new infections from 3.5 million per year in 1986 to just 28 in 2018_

Jesus! They need to stop being so hard on themselves. That remarkable progress!

<comment><USER5> Yea, I sort of wonder how important it is to actually eradicate it. Like, how much would it cost to achieve eradication (given the new knowledge of dog transmission) vs. maintaining the current extraordinarily low infection rate indefinitely? Is the latter (on-going) cost cheaper than the interest on the former (one-time) cost? I'm sure this econ analysis has been done, but articles like these rarely mention it.

<comment><USER6> Eradication of Guinea Worm means no more Guinea Worm. Zero ongoing cost for all subsequent time.

This is actually more substantive than for Smallpox because Smallpox is deliberately stored in a lab in case it is interesting (supposedly for defensive research, in practice for weaponisation) and so invariably every decade or four it'll leak. Guinea Worm isn't suitable for that, when they eradicate it that's the end of the parasite forever.

This is an infinite benefit. So to model that without getting nonsense out you have to use a discounting model where you arbitrarily consider infinite future value to not be worth more than, say, 10 billion dollars, and there's your answer. But that's a paper exercise, why bother? You could choose values that say a trillion dollars or $9.99.

<comment><USER7> > This is an infinite benefit. So to model that without getting nonsense out > you have to use a discounting model where you arbitrarily consider infinite > future value to not be worth more than, say, 10 billion dollars, and there's > your answer. But that's a paper exercise, why bother? You could choose > values that say a trillion dollars or $9.99.

It's really not that arbitrary. There are many ways of valuing this, sure. Here's a fairly straightforward one:

Say it costs you A per year to maintain current levels, and the yearly cost of capital to eradicate is X amount of capital * y% yearly cost per year (e.g. if you borrow X at y% interest, or if you have X but sacrifice y% returns by spending the money instead of investing it), and the lowest viable cost to save at least as many lives as the infection currently claims is B, then it's a question of whether A+B or X*y% is lower. Whichever is lower will allow you to divert more funds to other targets, and so save more lives (or do something else). Of course there are risks here, in that any of the variables can change, so if they're close it may be worth it to eradicate simply to eliminate the risks that the alternatives get more expensive going forwards.

But this is not a very hard thing to model. The reason we don't do that more often is that often there are many other factors involved, such as politics and emotions and who fights hardest to get funded.

<comment><USER8> ... only it doesn't work.

Those models work very well on a short-term timescale. We have major upheavals every few hundred years. At that point, the fiat money in the bank account disappears. Once eradicated, the worm doesn't come back.

<comment><USER9> You seem distracted by the use of the word "dollars". No need to be so literal, they're just using them as an abstract unit of value. It can be replaced with milligrams of gold or Satoshis without loss of meaning.

<comment><USER8> It can. And that gold sits around until the Germanic tribes invade Rome and take it all. Major upheavals affect all systems.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> An interesting experience from this history is showing how parasites jump in zero seconds to a handful of other species when its main host is unavoidable.

We were repeatedly guaranteed for years than Guinea worms were exclusive from humans. Thus wiping it would not affect any other species, and could be protected only if some humans would agree to suffer the parasite in their bodies, that is a gross price. Now we know that this was incorrect. Plain false, and nobody see it.

The species is linked with other mammals, could be saved from extinction and is not different to a hundred thousand species of other parasites in the planet.

To decide to wipe an animal just because is ugly and unsentient is a deeply wrong path and a pandora box. Treating the drinking water would suffice to prevent most cases in human patients.

A similar problem could easily happen if we mess with mosquitoes without a full, extensive, complete, knowledge of what we are doing and asuming the consequences of it.

<comment><USER11> I find this incomprehensible. It's a disease. What does it matter if it is bacteria, eukaryote or virus? Medicine involves killing things that interfere with us and hopefully eradicating them completely.

The whole "mosquito extinction" fears are really overblown. Nobody is proposing to eradicate all species of mosquito - only the ones that carry malaria. And the normal system of eradication (removing standing water) is much _more_ invasive than the proposed method of genetic engineering.

<comment><USER10> Not, is not a disease, is an animal.

An animal that can cause a non lethal and treatable disease in part of its life cicle, and is linked with copepods, frogs and fishes, dogs, baboons and humans.

There is a simple solution in two steps to avoid being infected with guinea worms:

1) _don 't drink copepods_. Provide african people living in the same distribution area as this animal with a modern system of water purification; or teach them to boil the water before drink it, so they will not eat alive water fleas that carry the larvae. Simply filter the water trough a cloth before drinking would be enough to protect you from this parasite (but will not protect against other problems so boiled water technique is much more safe). If not, use chemicals to treat drinking water.

and 2) people _infected by the parasite should avoid to bath in drinking water or put their wounded feet in drinking water_.

Life cycle stopped and end of the problem in the same year with the magic of parasitology

Why we sould not run to extinct entire species?

We don't know where hides the next cure for cancer, the next cool matherial for engineery or the next modern generations of painkillers. Parasites had helped in the past with some of our problems and could hold the key to a treasure of solutions to our present and future problems.

Even if not, to randomly remove pieces of a machine could lead to unexpected consequences. This animal is the result of million years of evolution and when is gone, is gone forever. If we find in the future that some of those consequences are undesirable, the machine is beyond repair.

<comment><USER12> It's as easy as those two steps, but in most of Africa those two steps are not easy. Read the article: for the people in Africa affected by the worm the disease is so debilitating they are unable to grow food or continue their education. This parasite ruins lives.

>Why we sould not run to extinct entire species? We don't know where hides the next cure for cancer,

This is like trying to argue against abortion because any given baby could be the next Einstein. Sure, but any given baby could also be the next Hitler... and both statements aren't even wrong ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_even_wrong)).

Whatever ill effects of the guinea worm's extinction can be overcome. If they can't, we were all probably going to die anyway.

<comment><USER10> I'm reasonably sure that we will not find a tiny hitler inside the packets of 6 guinea worms, but if is really there, we could choose just not follow it

The "not even wrong" argument is incorrectly applied here. We are not talking of filosophy, this is biology so the idea that parasites can be useful is perfectly falsifiable. We can just do more research and find if something in this animal is useful (nothing prevent us to do this because, well... is not extinct).

We have many examples of parasites doing useful things before and the "99%" of species are still really poorly known, so that wouldn't be an impossible scenery.

Here is another humble and useless roundworm that fortunately nobody decided to extinct before 1960's:

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

From living in mudville streets to became a space survivor and genetic rockstar. Not bad

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2992123.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2992123.stm)

<comment><USER12> Look: Your ideas are misguided and dangerous. Read the article to see the effects of the guinea worm. The parasite ruins lives.

The "not even wrong" was applied appropriately as the statement "there is some good to be had from keeping the guinea worm" is potentially true but _practically_ unverifiable and is part of an argument whose goalposts can be moved easily and indefinitely, and are already so far away as to be unassailable.

There is some value to biodiversity and its study and there are likely parasites that are beneath our radar but that this _specific one_ can be isolated and studied and has recorded negative effects on humanity is enough to destroy it.

>I'm reasonably sure that we will not find a tiny hitler inside the packets of 6 guinea worms, but if is really there, we could choose just not follow it

Maybe studying the DNA of the guinea worm leads researchers to a breakthrough in targeting retroviruses at vulnerable human subpopulations and genocide is committed because we didn't exterminate it!

See? You don't know that won't happen!

<comment><USER10> > Your ideas are misguided and dangerous.

Torches and pitchforks at this hour of the nigth? ok I'll start running.

Well... Or maybe yours are wrong. At least you grant that biodiversity has "some" value. If we start wipping species just by caprice, there will be easier to extinguish the next. Is a slippery slope, and we will shoot ourselves in the face at some point with some serious and totally unexpected cascade of consequences. It has happened before. It happens _all the time_.

> the parasite ruins lives

For a year or less. Is a nuissance, for sure, but people can fully recover from it to enjoy the rest of their lives. Can be easily avoided with just a bucket and a piece of cloth and there is not any reason to let the people with the parasite walk for the water when a bucket is enough to alleviate their feet.

Poliomyelitis ruin lifes, this... hem, not normally.

<comment><USER12> Alright, we've gone full circle. You're just repeating how super simple it is to avoid infection (it's not, otherwise no one would have guinea worm and it'd already be extinct!) and minimizing the impact this has on people's lives without actually addressing anything I've brought up.

<comment><USER10> Wouldn't be my intention to minimize the impact it has currently over the lifes of 30 people each year in the entire planet, but you must admit that among 7700000000 humans (0.0000000039 % of humanity affected by Guinea worm) is not a high number.

With zero people dead by this animal in the last years, does not feel like its extinction would be an urgent problem to adress.

If we wipe it, what would prevent somebody tomorrow to ask for the extinction of the much more dangerous sharks?, or tigers, polar bears, scary spiders, and dogs of course (dogs kill lots of people each year, maybe we should wipe them), or pretty much anything alive that could cause allergies to some people, or that could be seen by somebody as disgusting or ugly.

Economic resources are limited and we have worse problems that are not being adressed.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> As a counterpoint, it must be said that more than half of the life beings in the planet are parasites of other species. Wiping all of them would be a disaster for biodiversity conservation and a direct danger for humans.

First, would make the populations of all agricultural plagues explode, populations of rats would increase also even more (but rodents would be much safer for humans). That would lead to choose between famine or free buffet of pesticides for all of us: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Second would have a profound impact on the development of our inmune system leading to people suffering a cascade of nasty autoinmune diseases.

Parasites can have other benefits. Some clean the body of the host storing its heavy metals; other enter in open wounds and then feed on bacteria, releasing painkillers and substances that arre known to accelerate the healing of wounds. This avoid innecessary mutilations. The fine microsurgery made by some flies has been still not achieved by modern medicine and has saved lots of human lifes in the past wars.

The reason for the disparition of many cases of guinea worm is wiping entire freshwater ecosystems

<comment> dawg- I thought the official definition of a parasite was an organism that benefits itself at the expense of the host? If the host gains from the relationship it would be called something else entirely. In that case, I think your statement that half of life on the planet are parasites is not really accurate...

<comment><USER10> The real number is unknown, because parasites are shared often among different hosts, but could be much higher in fact.

Each species of free living animal known have at least one parasite, hosting 20 different species is not uncommon. Humans have several thousands just in the Platyhelminths group. Each plant known have at least two or three parasitic fungus. All known viruses except virulent bacteriophages are parasites, and is expected that most unknown viruses will be parasites also (we only had studied a small percentage of the extant viruses and there are serious estimates that calculate over 100 millions). Many bacterias also are parasites. Lots of fungus are parasites of animals also. And parasites have its own parasites.</comment></comment></comment>


Digg labs: Arc - <AUTHOR> http://labs.digg.com/arc/

<comment><USER2> Rats. I was hoping someone found out some of the details about PG's pet language!</comment>


Show HN: Forked – fork a repo on GitHub in your command line - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/eanplatter/forked <comment><USER2> This should be a daemon, going by the name</comment>


Researcher: 4K passwords leaked from porn site, including US Govt credentials - <AUTHOR> http://www.scmagazine.com/researcher-4k-passwords-leaked-from-porn-site-including-us-military-and-state-department-credentials/article/513314/ <comment><AUTHOR> AKA: This is why you shouldn't reuse passwords, and why you should really encourage everyone you know to not reuse passwords.

Its 2016, even the crappiest password manager is better than not using one at all, even though I'm sure there are some really terrible ones out there that will make me regret ever saying this :)

</comment><comment><USER2> I've for a while said that a _unique_ password is better than an _awesome_ password.

_Bad_ passwords are still bad, however.

(And for $DIETY's sake, don't use your work email address for non-work sites!)</comment>


The Sickness That Is Depression - <AUTHOR> http://www.andreykurenkov.com/writing/life/conveying-depression/ <comment><USER2> > You know how it feels when you are at a social event, and just can't seem to > get along with anyone - alienated ? Depression makes you feel like that, > even among friends.

To me, this is the worst part about depression. At the time I most need other people around me, it drives me further into isolation. I am lucky to have some people in my life that care enough to not give up on me and drag me out of it. That always seems to be the first step towards healing, getting back in contact with other human beings.

(Don't get me wrong, I am in a good place right now. This just stirred some unpleasant memories.)

<comment><USER3> Support is key...I've been in some pretty dark places myself, and I worry to think what would have happened if I didn't have a brother who dropped everything to come hang out with me, several years ago.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> "Depression" is used to describe any number of barely-related syndromes. The only way anybody seems to know to distinguish them, or to diagnose them, is by which medication turns out to help after it's been tried. That makes drug trials iffy propositions; if a drug helps only one per six patients, maybe they were the only ones with the kind of depression it's good for. (And of course some patients have more than one kind.)

Medically, it rivals unconsciousness for making the patient unable to seek help, with the wrinkle that others tend to blame the patient for failing to try hard enough.</comment>


Nintendo Just Osborned Itself - <AUTHOR> http://www.conceivablytech.com/7965/products/nintendo-just-osborned-itself

<comment><USER2> This is one of many reasons why Apple don't preannounce by much, if at all. I bought my ipod touch on the first day it was available, the day it was announced.</comment>


Testimony of Ms. Soon Ok Lee (2002) - <AUTHOR> http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=4f1e0899533f7680e78d03281fe18baf&wit_id=4f1e0899533f7680e78d03281fe18baf-2-1 <comment><USER2> For anyone who is interested on reading more about North Korean prison camps, Blaine Harden's 'Escape from camp 14' is an incredible read.

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11797365-escape-from- cam...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11797365-escape-from- camp-14?from_search=true)

<comment><USER3> Indeed, although it's not an easy read, and it takes time for the horror of spending one's entire life, birth to death, in a concentration camp, starving and being tortured to really sink in.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> For a detailed analysis of where North Korean prison camps are thought to be located see [http://freekorea.us/camps/](http://freekorea.us/camps/)

Some of the camps are massive, for example Camp 22 is estimated to be 225 sq. km and holding 50,000 people [1].

[1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_North_Korea#Int...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_North_Korea#Internment_camps_for_political_prisoners)

</comment><comment><USER5> George Clooney has a satellite he uses to keep track of a warlord. Individuals have capabilities which were previously accessible only to nations. I wonder if it is possible that an individual might intervene in North Korea, instead of a nation... but the parallels of a individual intervening in another nation's affairs sound a lot like terrorism. Some more thinking to do here...

<comment><USER6> That's actually an interesting project. Here's a link for the lazy: [http://www.satsentinel.org/our-story/george- clooney](http://www.satsentinel.org/our-story/george-clooney)

He doesn't have his own satellite, obviously, but buys satellite imagery to document war crimes and to warn against incursions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> That's from 2002. See also [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/10...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/10413950/UN- inquiry-chief-reduced-to-tears-by-North-Korea-brutality.html)

from 2013.

EDIT: Corrected year typo, thank you kohanz!

<comment><USER8> _June 21, 2002_

I'm guessing "2012" was a typo for "2002".

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> To those trying to somehow link Guantanamo to labor camps in NK, please, stop. You are only making yourself look foolish. Such comparisons don't help your cause at all.

500 or so prisoners in Guantanamo versus 200,000+ in NKorean camps. The NKorean prisoners don't get medical help, freedom to worship religion of choice.

The 500 are NOT there along with their wife, kids, grandkids, on both sides of the family. In NK, once a person is taken to one of the camps, it usually means 3 generations of his family is taken there. Think about it, 10+ or more people (including little kids) are dragged away to labor camps because of actions (or perceived actions) of 1 person in the family.

Please, stop comparing Guantanamo with NKorean labor camps.

<comment><USER10> What about comparing Corrections Corporation of America and it's privatized prisons to DPRK labor camps?

Perhaps a bit of a stretch given how clean and sanitary private prisons are known to be. But since American prisoners are forced to labor at wages that are a fraction of the market rate for the same work and are charged for their incarceration at a rate higher than it is possible for them to earn in prison... perhaps it is not so different.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> What about never again? Are Jewish orgs doing anything to help this situation, given the human rights violations similar to the Holocaust?

edit: Note, I'm genuinely asking here, not implying anything should/isnot being done

<comment><USER12> > Are Jewish orgs doing anything to help this situation

They're too busy recreating the Holocaust with the Palestinians as the victim. Every couple of months we hear about the Israelis expanding their lebensraum by building some new settlements on Palestinian land.

<comment><USER13> Israel != the international Jewry. Assuming as such is thinly-veiled anti- Semitism.

<comment><USER12> > thinly-veiled anti-Semitism

Oh please. Make one negative comment about Jews and you get called an anti- Semite. It's even worse than with blacks.

<comment><USER14> What an embarrassment that this comment got voted up.

<comment><USER12> Oh please. All I did was say something that is true, but politically incorrect. Just because it offended your sensibilities doesn't mean it's false.

<comment><USER15> Congratulations, you just won the moocowduckquack memorial sickbag for Bigot of the Week.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Does North Korea have a future? Is it possible that someday that the current rule is overthrown and the rights and lives of people are restored? Can anyone with knowledge about this comment?

<comment><USER17> Would it be a bad thing for China to covertly take over North Korea? One less headache for them, one less for us. I say we look the other way.

<comment><USER18> China doesn't exactly have a successful track record of bringing neighboring Communist states under control.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Hopefully someday we'll see hearings on Americans massacring South Korean civilians some day ( [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Gun_Ri_Massacre](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Gun_Ri_Massacre) ). We even have written orders and memoes showing it was U.S. policy to fire upon civilians.

Or maybe supporting the dictatorship in South Korea, and it's massacre against members of the democratization movement in 1980 ( [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Democratization_Movemen...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwangju_Democratization_Movement) ). General Wickham sent troops from the DMZ so that the South Korean army could commit the massacre actually.

We could go on about Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib torture, the NSA spying on all e-mails, phone calls and web site browsing and saving it forever etc.

But no, let's hear more about a US Senate hearing on human rights in North Korea - from 11 years ago...what a farce.

<comment><USER20> It's quite offensive by itself that you're even suggesting the things you are listing are within 2 or 3 orders of magnitude within what is happening in North Korea.

<comment><USER21> What exactly makes you believe that this testimony is accurate, and not just manufactured by the US government.

It wouldn't be the first time they did that.

<comment><USER9> You think the Senate testimony is fabricated?

How about this story? [http://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/149061951/escape-from- camp-14-...](http://www.npr.org/2012/03/29/149061951/escape-from- camp-14-inside-north-koreas-gulag)

If you think camp 14 is fabricated, how about detaining 85 year old American veteran with no due process?

But i know, you will keep saying it's all fabricated...

<comment><USER21> I am not defending the north korean regime, since there is enough data that proves that it is oppressive and violates human rights on a large scale. (just like the US government did with all their wars since 1950 that killed millions, or extrajudical executions of US citizens in the war on terror, or torture and indefinite detention without trial)

And no, I am not strictly believing that the Senate testimony is fabricated, it's just a possibility for me, since there are documented cases where testimony was fabricated in front of the Senate to legitimate a war.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Recommended follow-up reading -

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp)

I know most of you _heard_ of it, but, seriously, take a moment and look a bit closer.

<comment><USER23> Really. You're trying to compare Gitmo to North Korean prison camps?

Certainly, Gitmo is no picnic, but I have to question if you actually RTFA.

<comment><USER24> The trend is what is disturbing. As time moved over the last 10 years they got closer rather than farther apart.

<comment><USER25> How so? All but 164 detainees have been released from Guantanamo. They were never close, and Guanatanamo is slowly being shut down.

<comment><USER26> While true, one reason the U.S. doesn't _need_ Gitmo so much anymore is we're still going after and finding the same people, but now they are executed with drones, rather than captured.

<comment><USER27> If one of the parties had allowed it, we could have dissolved Gitmo years ago

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Also interesting is this interview with prison guards who have defected. Camp 14 - Total Control Zone [Abridged]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1iwo4txE4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rb1iwo4txE4)

</comment><comment><USER29> heartbroken, I wish we could do something over there.

<comment><USER30> Seoul is within artillery range of North Korea. It would destroy that city and the global economy to "do something over there".

<comment><USER31> I am uncertain that it would "destroy the global economy." That sounds like hyperbole. Convince me.

It would be any unhappy event, assuredly, but if "the global economy" wasn't destroyed by the Iraq debacle, I'm pretty sure that a similar conflict in Korea would carry comparable consequences.

All the same, I do not advocate any sort of war. Not out of squeamishness, but mostly because even the victors are handed empty promises by war. War isn't as productive as people would like to romanticize.

<comment><USER30> [https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&...](https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:KOR:IRQ&ifdim=region&hl=en&dl=en&ind=false)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> The lack of formatting on that page is driving me insane. It's so hard to visually parse.

<comment><USER32> God damn, this is so hard to read. Not because of the formatting, but because the stories told are so terrible.</comment></comment>


The Market for Lemons - Wikipedia - <AUTHOR> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons <comment><AUTHOR> I love this Wikipedia article because it explains what is happening at oDesk/Elance, see this discussion: [http://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-not-a- premium-equivalent-o...](http://www.quora.com/Why-is-there-not-a-premium- equivalent-of-Elance-oDesk)</comment>


BBC's obituary for Steve Jobs - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12215485

<comment><USER2> "Unlike his contemporary, Microsoft's Bill Gates, Steve Jobs showed little inclination to use his personal wealth for philanthropic purposes."

I think this is completely unfair.

From what I have heard he did a great deal of philanthropy anonymously. This would fit with his character and his buddhism.

<comment><USER3> Add the writing about him not caring about the environment (even though every damn product has an environmental scorecard) tells me this article is a crock.

I guess Greenpeace is the ultimate decider of environmental caring, and everyone needs to stand on the roof and announce their charitable works. The private life well lived is not good enough for the BBC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Steve's life in pictures that they are also running is worth looking at too.

<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14659843></comment>


Ask HN: What hours in the day are you most productive? - <AUTHOR> I am most productive from 9pm - 1am... Just wondering when people get the most work done. <comment><USER3> 6am-10am...this means that when I work a 9-5 office job, my most productive hours are spent preparing for work and commuting.

<comment><USER4> Same here! I actually just started showing up at 6 AM, shorter commute, better work, and no guilt if I leave before 5.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> 10am-1pm, then again from 7pm-10pm

Obviously right now it is neither of those times, since I am oh-so- productively posting to HN. ;)

</comment><comment><USER6> 11am - 3pm, and a push 3pm - 4pm. Relief at 5pm and a slow cool-down.

A regular hour office job, but largely '50% time' which I'm ridiculously lucky to have, long may it be that way.

Evenings are a time for inspiration, and mornings for licking-off stuff mainly related to admin and documentation.

Time to work with and interact with colleagues is very important. It is a magnifier. What I've learnt the most regarding my own productivity is I do too much, and it is probably easier to have others do it. That's done by sharing and influencing, and helping out when colleagues are in need.

</comment><comment><USER7> "After lunch"

This was true when I worked the nightshift and began working at 3pm and ate something around 5pm and was true when I moved to dayshift and started work around 8:30 or 9am and is true now when I typically start working between 9am and 10am. In all three cases, the first two hours of my day are/were spent doing relatively easy things and then more serious work happens/happened after eating lunch.

</comment><comment><USER8> 8 a.m. til 10 a.m. Or to put it another way, until other people come into the office :)

I used to come in late (midday) but commuting changes forced me to become an early riser. Now I honestly couldn't go back.

</comment><comment><USER9> I'm most productive early in the morning. I work remote so sometimes I get started as early as 4 or 5 AM. So I have a full workday in by noon or 1pm. I usually turn in around 10pm most nights.

</comment><comment><USER10> I'm most productive 2:00 am to 5:00 pm after of that hours must sleep 2 hours more 5:00am to 7:00 am and at the 8:00 am I'ḿ ready for go to work

</comment><comment><USER11> 3 - 8 PM. I tend to stay late at work as a result.

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you usually get to work later?

<comment><USER11> Yes, I usually go into work at 10 or so. I wake up at 6:15, get my kids ready, do exercise, eat breakfast, and head in to work.

<comment><USER3> So you don't get to eat dinner with the kids?

<comment><USER11> I'm most productive from 3 - 8, but I usually don't work past 7:30. I cook dinner most nights and eat with the kids, but I am usually washing up while they eat. They're young, so it's not a `sit around the table` experience just yet. I clean them up/change them and they go to bed by 9:30. It's not a bad existence. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> 5am - 3pm. After that - it's a downhill slide.

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you usually leave around 3pm or stay at work?

<comment><USER12> I am a workaholic independent consultant - so I tend to work until 6.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> 10pm-6am. I am exactly a night person.

</comment><comment><USER14> 7-11am and then again 8pm-12am.

<comment><USER15> I'm almost exactly the same (8am-12pm and 8pm-12am). When I'm working for myself I spend my afternoons reading or playing video games and go back to work in the evening.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> 1am - <USER2>

</comment><comment><USER17> 5am - 9am</comment>


Economics of a POW Camp (classic paper) - <AUTHOR> http://www.albany.edu/~mirer/eco110/pow.html

<comment><AUTHOR> I've always been a bit of a student of economics (spent 3 years of studying it in school plus it's a hobby).

And this paper has got to be the most concise explanation of elementary economics I've ever seen. It covers most of the material from the first two semesters of macroeconomics and first two of microeconomics - but with far more clarity and insight.

<comment><USER2> I particularly found the explanation of Gresham's law to be the best I've seen...

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> nice deviation from the community norm. well played sir.</comment>


Computer Science Professor Gives Failing Grade to Newly Leaked NSA Hacking Tool - <AUTHOR> http://news.softpedia.com/news/computer-science-professor-gives-failing-grade-to-newly-leaked-nsa-hacking-tool-507482.shtml <comment><USER2> People working in a place like the NSA can't talk to anyone outside their organization about their work. They can't talk to most of the people inside their organization either about their work. All the projects would be silos, often with single individuals in them.

So it seems likely that bad code would come out of that sort of environment. That's one of the costs of doing paranoia for a living.

<comment><USER3> I don't know about this; one of the professor's big complaints was that the code he saw was sloppy and buggy. You don't need to be able to talk to people outside your organization to produce clean, bug-free code, you just need to be conscientious, have knowledge of good coding practices, have a good background/education in it, etc. You can learn this stuff just from self- study: there's plenty of books about it, plus you can read all about it on the internet. You're not going to learn good coding practices by going to security conferences or whatever. Bad professional code usually comes from either piss- poor management setting unrealistic deadlines so developers throw together something that mostly works as fast as possible, and/or from lousy developers who aren't very competent or motivated. This can and does happen all over industry.

Now if you're talking about the crypto parts, that sounds like organizational incompetence; if there's anything the NSA should be really competent at as an organization, it's cryptography, so if they can't get that right, that's indicative of serious problems. But it's also possible the tool was designed by some crypto PhD who handed off most of the coding to a low-level lackey who wasn't very competent.

If you want to know the more likely reason these leaked tools seem to suck, just go look at the article again, and look at the comments. The one comment there hit the nail mostly on the head: it's the federal government, and their pay scale sucks, and the security clearance process hinders them even further in getting good engineers. How can they possibly expect to compete with private industry with those roadblocks?

<comment><USER4> Having good coding standards is something you expect from a good programmer. Not necessarily needed from a good hacker. There is a big difference in being able to break something versus building something.

<comment><USER3> If this tool is something that is deployed by the organization to be used by different people, then it should be developed by a programmer, not a hacker. The hacker can find the weakness and come up with the proof-of-concept exploit, but that's it. An organization as large as the NSA should be able to understand this, and manage people well enough to accomplish this.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Texas Instruments CEO Brian Crutcher resigns for violating code of conduct - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/13/texas-instruments-ceo-brian-crutcher-resigns-for-violating-code-of-conduct.html <comment><USER2> There is very little information given, to save a click through:

The CEO was (presumably forced to) resign for violation of the company's personal code of conduct policies but it's not being released what the violation was.

>Texas Instruments said Tuesday that CEO Brian Crutcher resigned for violating the company's code of conduct related to personal behavior... TI did not specify exactly what Crutcher did that violated company policies. He had been at the company for more than two decades before assuming the role of CEO.

<comment><USER3> Given that the press release does not contain any "We thank Mr. Crutcher for ...", it seems plausible to assume that the resignation was not his idea.

<comment><USER4> I don't remember where I first heard it, but I've always remembered the adage that if someone personally announces their resignation, it was likely their idea. If the company announces their resignation, they were likely forced out.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> TI Code of Conduct: [http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/ti-code-of- conduct.pdf](http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/ti-code-of-conduct.pdf)

\- Signed in 2015 by then-CEO, president, and chairman, Rich Templeton. Rich had named Brian Crutcher as his CEO successor on June 1st, and today has permanently resumed CEO responsibilities.

Their CEO isn't exempt from the ethics policy: _Violations of the code may be punishable by reprimand or termination, and in some cases, are criminal offenses. No provision of this code may be waived for any director, officer or employee._

Not seeing fraternization listed, only lawbreaking, bribery, export controls, conflict of interest, etc.

From another article[0], Brian has only been CEO for 47 days, since June 1st.

 _TI said that Crutcher resigned because of violations of the company's code of conduct related to personal behavior "that are not consisent with our ethics and core values, but not related to company strategy, operations, and financial reporting."_ [0]

[0] [https://dallasinnovates.com/rich-templeton-takes-command- aga...](https://dallasinnovates.com/rich-templeton-takes-command-again-at- texas-instruments/)

<comment><USER6> I'm probably imagining things, but this sounds mostly like internal politics. Why would a CEO hand over the reins and then less than 2 months later return indefinitely? The succession was announced in January and was apparently part of a "well planned" transition to move Brian Crutcher to the CEO position. I couldn't find a quote from Rich Templeton on the move, which seems strange for a "well planned" transition.

My guess: The two have been exercising "pointy elbows" for a while now and this is the fallout. But like, I said, it's pure speculation...

<comment><USER7> I mean, strictly speaking, you are clearly just imagining things; no information has been released about the nature of the violation.

<comment><USER8> Except that it was a violation of their code of conduct. They could have left that part out and just said "he resigned"

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> This coming not even one month after the CEO of Intel, Brian Krzanich, resigned after violating that company's code of conduct by having an undisclosed relationship with an employee. Similar to Brian Crutcher at TI, he too had been at the company for more than 20 years and worked his way up to CEO.

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/technology/intel-ceo- resi...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/21/technology/intel-ceo-resigns- consensual-relationship.html)

<comment><USER10> CEO of Intel, Brian Krzanich sold $24M of his Intel shares when he heard about Spectre, but before Intel made it public to stockholders.

The Intel "inside" was Insider Trading.

<comment><USER11> I was under the impression this was a "regular" scheduled sale and had been planed months before anyone knew anything about Spectre.

<comment><USER12> When execs sell stock it's done according to a schedule done in advance. In this case, after learning of these vulnerabilities he changed his plan to be that he would sell a huge chunk of shares in a month (but still well before the public knew). So technically complied and very hard to prove insider trading, but come on. As CEO he's required to hold a certain number of shares and he sold everything except what he was required to maintain.

<comment><USER13> I'm not usually that guy asking for sources - but I was under the impression that was a lower level executive who did that, not the CEO. As far as I know the CEO has been cleared by the SEC?

I spent 2 whole minutes googling, but all the articles for "Intel CEO insider trading" come up from January and are simple speculation. Since the Raj Rajaratnam verdict already came down[0], I'd assume by now the CEO would have been at least indicted.

[0] [https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/09/24/former-intel-exec- avo...](https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/09/24/former-intel-exec-avoids- prison-in-insider-trading-scandal-after-testifying-against-friend/)

<comment><USER14> Here are the Form 4s - the 12/1/17 sale must be the one in question. It looks like he exercised a bunch of options at that time. Regardless, it doesn't look like he benefitted from it.

[https://www.secform4.com/insider- trading/1538580.htm](https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1538580.htm)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Why don't companies just say what the code of conduct violation is? Just leaving it nebulous like that means that of course people will speculate and pry, and the truth always eventually comes out.

Is there some legal reason they aren't giving more details?

<comment><USER16> Why in your opinion should they release it?

<comment><USER17> I'll give you one instead of grand parent: to protect the company.

If you fire your CEO over an inappropriate relationship with an employee, the company may come out looking strong and principled.

If you fire your CEO over fraud, your company will look dubious at best and you can see your stock tumble.

An example of specifics provided for this EXACT reason: Priceline Group (more Bookings Holdings) being fired over a relationship in 2016. The stock didn't budge.

<comment><USER17> NB: To be clear, Booking Holdings actually IS really principled about holding execs accountable to the code of conduct. It's something that I always appreciated a great deal when I worked there.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about this; Templeton resided over the golden era of TI, and now he's back in the role of CEO.

<comment><USER19> Interesting that they don't intend his tenure to be temporary.

<comment><USER20> Presumably the board hopes he identifies/designates the successor to pursue a new golden age for TI.

<comment><USER21> Can we at least acknowledge that charging $150 for a calculator is no longer in line with "golden age" and more with "because we can"? In terms of their chips, TI is fantastic. But the part of them that every kid and student sees can do with a fixin' uppin'

<comment><USER22> You can get equivalent and superior calculating software for free. What do you want TI to fix up?

The $150 you pay for a College Board certified calculator goes entirely towards the ability to use it on a College Board test without being considered a cheater.

If you want to lower that cost, there's always the self-service approach -- produce $50 Android phones with calculator software preinstalled and the phone and wifi connectivity ripped out. Then get the College Board to certify your calculator. You can have TI's market share, if you can get the certification.

<comment><USER23> Sounds like NumWorks [0]

[0] [https://www.numworks.com/](https://www.numworks.com/)

<comment><USER24> Except NumWorks is $100.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Game of Thrones, Texas Instruments Edition.

It's getting ridiculous lately...

</comment><comment><USER26> Attempting to regulate human behavior has gotten morbidly beyond ridiculous as we see companies shoot themselves in the foot based on these so-called codes of conduct.

Based on all this, and the quote at the end of the article, I fully expect Warren Buffet to submit his resignation due to his support.

In the grown up world, we would take someone aside and say, "Hey, don't do that."

<comment><USER27> We have no idea what he did, of course, but generally these firings aren't for minor issues. If anything, companies tend to be a bit too willing to overlook the rules for C-level employees.

A company can reasonably expect their CEO to behave themselves; if not, firing them is reasonable.</comment></comment>


As Riots Follow Freddie Gray's Death in Baltimore, Calls for Calm Ring Hollow - <AUTHOR> http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/nonviolence-as-compliance/391640/?single_page=true <comment><USER2> The population density of the area around Baltimore means this is emphatically NOT Ferguson. Given its proximity to DC, Philly, and NY I can only ask, "When do the buses leave?"</comment>


The Five Biggest Myths About Saving Money, According to a Millennial - <AUTHOR> http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-11/the-five-biggest-myths-about-saving-money-according-to-a-millennial <comment><USER2> Puff piece by a guy trying to get people to use his startup. I think it's actually way worse to use his technology to automatically move money around your accounts. I like to be on top of where my money is.

And "emergencies" happen several times a year. In a few month span I had to replace a water heater, then a dishwasher, then tires on my car. Several thousand bucks of expenses in a couple months. Having to withdraw from a 401k for life's unexpected issues is insanity.

<comment><USER3> If you followed his advice and not bought a house you would have had 2 less emergencies. Also, renting in the city you would have had no need for a car and thus 0 emergencies.

<comment><USER4> "The City" being Manhattan or perhaps Chicago, the only place sin America where we have usable public transportation.

<comment><USER5> Boston/Cambridge/Brookline, Atlanta, Seattle...

<comment><USER6> Portland.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Here are the 5 "myths" and his advice to save you a click through:

1\. It's important to get a job and start saving for retirement the minute you're out of college. >It's more important to spend time thinking about what you want to do (surfing in South America?) than to start working and paying off students loans immediately.

2\. Getting a credit card right out of school is dangerous. >Get a credit card with a small limit ($500) and set it on autopay.

3\. The American dream involves buying a house. >Rent rather than buy and don't get attached to anything while you're young.

4\. Once you graduate, immediately try to build up a cash emergency fund. >Use 401k as an emergency fund, even if you have to take the tax hit. Long-term benefits outweigh short term risks of doing this when you're young.

5\. Investing is difficult, and stocks are sexy. >Avoid managers/fees and just put money into an index fund.

Nothing too radical.

<comment><USER8> Rent Vs. buy is the most "radical."

I think it really boils down to what the relative costs are. There are many renters who pay as much or more as someone with a mortgage, and the person with the mortgage is obviously building up capital within that property (value Vs. current mortgage).

<comment><USER9> Most sage advice about buying vs. renting boils down to "run the numbers but there are a lot of tradeoffs, many of them non-financial." The "Don't buy" sentence is deliberately provocative I think. The rest of what he says boils down to don't buy a house because you think you're supposed to. Which sounds like very sensible advice to me.

I certainly held off buying for a fairly long time because I didn't want to be locked down in that way. In retrospect I might have done things differently but hindsight is 20-20 and all that.

<comment><USER10> _I certainly held off buying for a fairly long time because I didn 't want to be locked down in that way. In retrospect I might have done things differently but hindsight is 20-20 and all that._

In my case foresight was 20-20 since I bought in 2012 and I knew that when interest rates on a 30 year fixed were the lowest they had been in 30 years that this was the time to lock in a mortgage. At the same time, housing prices in my city were the lowest they had been in 15 years so it made sense to buy. I knew if we didn't make a move then that we'd regret it once interest rates and prices started to rise.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> +1 to index funds for saving, but you are already into a better off market when you look at optimizing savings.

Debt is where most people fall down, and most folks in the US don't manage debt well. For example, there is a phenomena where people will take additional expensive debt (e.g. credit card) to keep their savings/401k contributions high. Irrational from an ROI standpoint, but very common.

I like all of these startups that try to optimize your spending/savings (e.g. Even, Acorn, Betterment), but I haven't seen anyone doing this well on the debt side.

<comment><USER12> It's not completely irrational to take on additional debt to maintain 401k contributions, especially if you're in lower income brackets. You can't lose your 401k to bankruptcy, which in some ways makes it a more stable investment than not taking on the emergency debt. There are tax benefits as well.

There's also the budgeting and discipline aspect- if you make yourself work inside of a budget (one that's comprised of your money after your retirement savings) you're much more likely to stick with it in the long term. Once you start allowing emergencies to alter your retirement plans you may end up doing it again in the future. It's much better in that case to take on the additional debt and take paying that down out of another part of your budget.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> This guy's advice applies to people who have a higher risk tolerance. The advice is given in an off-the-cuff manner that really only applies to a small sub-set of the population.

TLDR; "You don't need to save money, just fund your 401k. If crap hits the fan, just pull money out of 401k. Just wait until your start-up is successful, then you will have cash and an emergency fund!"

<comment><USER9> Yeah. One can debate the specifics of how big an emergency fund a given person should have but he seems awfully cavalier about tapping the 401k for unexpected expenses. I suspect, given that he doesn't offer dollar amounts, that he assumes that having $5K or so around to cover an emergency car repair doesn't rise to the level of emergency fund.

The bit at the beginning about the latte is also pretty silly. Sure if you can afford it and get great pleasure out of your Starbucks, go for it. But this is exactly the sort of money leak that causes a lot of people to wonder where their money all went at the end of the month.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> This kind of generic financial advice is dangerous, and pretty irresponsible for someone in his position (and supposed expertise).

I bought my first house while I was still in college. I patiently waded through the 8 month process of buying a short-sale property. I invested maybe $5k over 2 years (and a lot of elbow grease) in making improvements and netted $40k when I sold it.

Home ownership carries risk and responsibility, but leasing is restrictive and will never provide any kind of returns. In my case I was basically paid to live in my house, vs the $28k in rent it would have cost me

</comment><comment><USER15> The housing piece is so much more complicated than his bumper sticker finance approach. Forgetting you heard his name is probably a good first step into smarter personal finance.

</comment><comment><USER16> Did he say you can pay off college loans in three years?

<comment><USER17> No, he said that you shouldn't worry about paying them for the first three years - presumably because this is the period of time for which all student loans can be deferred due to unemployment in the United States.

[https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/deferment- forbearan...](https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/deferment-forbearance)

<comment><USER18> What kind of interest do you pay in the US for student loans, anyways?

Completely forgetting about your credit card debt, or even your mortgage, for any extended period of time sounds like an amazingly stupid decision. Ignore compound interest at your own peril.

<comment><USER17> Typical rates are between 4 and 7 percent.

Agreed about the issue of compound interest, but everyone's case is different. I think that's all he's saying: "Take the time to be unemployed and figure out what you want to do. Three years of CI is less important than knowing what you want to spend your life making money at."

Now one might argue that this decision should be made prior to going to university in the first place...</comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Unknown Start-up That Built Google's First Self-Driving Car - <AUTHOR> http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/artificial-intelligence/the-unknown-startup-that-built-googles-first-selfdriving-car

<comment><USER2> [https://hn.algolia.com/?q=The+Unknown+Start- up+That+Built+Go...](https://hn.algolia.com/?q=The+Unknown+Start- up+That+Built+Google%E2%80%99s+First+Self- Driving+Car#!/story/forever/0/The%20Unknown%20Start- up%20That%20Built%20Google%E2%80%99s%20First%20Self-Driving%20Car)</comment>


How Hong Kong Protesters Are Connecting, Without Cell or Wi-Fi Networks - <AUTHOR> http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/09/29/352476454/how-hong-kong-protesters-are-connecting-without-cell-or-wi-fi-networks <comment><USER2> An aside: Some group was pretending to be Code for Hong Kong and was spreading a fake messaging app. [http://www.scmp.com/news/hong- kong/article/1594667/fake-occu...](http://www.scmp.com/news/hong- kong/article/1594667/fake-occupy-central-app-targets-activists-smartphones)

You can read about a tear down of the fake app at [https://code4hk.hackpad.com/Fake-Code4HK-Mobile-App- HQXXrylI...](https://code4hk.hackpad.com/Fake-Code4HK-Mobile-App-HQXXrylI6Wi)

</comment><comment><USER3> I wanted to like FireChat, as it was previously possible to use it entirely offline, in a purely P2P fashion.

While this is still possible, you are now forced to first create an account online, and subscribe to a bunch of internet-based channels, before the app will let you use the P2P portion.

This is frustrating. The market is wide open for someone to make a pure P2P communications app that doesn't require internet access at all, even initially.

<comment><USER4> servalproject.org is free (and open source)

P2P voice, chat and online status.

Uses Ad Hoc networking, which iirc FireChat uses bluetooth so servalproject should get better range.

I'm not affiliated with the project in any way (I'm not in Australia) but I've happily used it for some tests.

<comment><USER5> this is interesting what is ad hoc networking and how does it work offline? Firechat uses bluetooth but doesn't work with iphone to android communication?

<comment><USER6> They somehow managed to do that: allow communication between two platforms. No one is quite sure how though. It's their secret source that they aren't open sourcing.

<comment><USER7> You could conceivably do this with Bluetooth Low Energy, which has pretty diverse support nowadays. Mesh networking is one of its touted capabilities.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Used firechat in the area yesterday, I think there are two issues:

1\. information overload, hard to catch up the messages from all the people

2\. some people are spreading rumors and fake information.

It would be great if we still can use the underlying network but have a way to filter out information (e.g. mgs from friends or friends or friends only)

<comment><USER9> 2\. some people are spreading rumors and fake information.

Yeah that would be government purposefully trying to sabotage the protests.

<comment><USER10> Or trolls being trolls.

<comment><USER11> More like good people unwittingly spreading information which they do not know are fake. Memes in the proper sense of the word - idea viruses.

Every circular warning email you got in your email 10 years ago with the words "This happened to a friend of my fathers and is true" and "Share this around! Everyone must know about this!"

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I find it interesting that here in Berlin (and other cities in Europe, mostly in Germany), we have this for many years - not just for protesters, but for anyone. However, it's not a smartphone app (the network predates smartphones), but a mesh network of WLAN access points. The name of this project is Freifunk: [http://freifunk.net/en/](http://freifunk.net/en/)

<comment><USER13> IIRC a number of the contributors to the downstream projects of Serval were some of the early contributors to freifunk.net.

My understanding is that freifunk was a pretty major testbed for peer-to-peer mesh network protocols in Linux, and it's that heritage that's made it into things like Serval and the Mesh Potato.

Whilst Serval has moved on to its own OSLR variant, its roots are firmly embedded in the B.A.T.M.A.N. protocol.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> By the way, check out the sheer size of the protests via drone:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ7r8qi3NIY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ7r8qi3NIY)

Near the middle they fly higher and zoom out and what you thought was large before turns out to be massive.

<comment><USER15> And then you watch the news reports daytime and realize what you thought was massive during night was pretty small after all.

<comment><USER16> Your statement seems to be incorrect:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q919bQOThvM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q919bQOThvM)

<comment><USER17> I don't how it's incorrect. It's a matter of context and point of view. I's one big avenue blocked over 3-4 blocks.

Last 11 of September, at very least 600000 Catalans over 11km protested in favor of a referendum for their independence. That was a huge manifestation.

The Hong-Kong manifestation isn't that big in size. But it's important and in a more repressive context.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Serval Project seems more secure and it's open source: [http://www.servalproject.org/](http://www.servalproject.org/)

</comment><comment><USER14> Given how China is able to completely hide the protests inside the mainland, I fear for how this is going to end, because they can hide that too.

I mean who really is going to come to their defense, look how everyone immediately abandoned Ukraine.

<comment><USER19> Wait who abandoned Ukraine?

<comment><USER20> Sanctions don't count. When people are dying sanctions don't count.

<comment><USER19> There are nuclear treaties that prevent stationing and mobility of NATO troops and armaments in the Baltic, Ukraine isn't even a member of NATO, and they are getting far more than mere sanctions - intelligence, equipment, financial aid, strategic advice, political and global media support to name a few.

NATO can't just abandon nuclear treaties. And trust that, as it controls 90% of the pipeline of oil between Russia and Europe and that because the conflict arose during highly contented offers for Ukraine to join the EU, that NATO is doing everything it can.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> If the authorities sought to disrupt these networks, would it not be possible to jam Bluetooth (and Wi-Fi) signals within a certain area?

<comment><USER22> The next step would be exchanging messages via NFC.

E.g. say for a p2p-twitter app, users A and B go into the exchange with their own versions of the global p2p-twitter feed, and exit the exchange with a merged version.

You could do federated, store-and-forward direct messaging, too. We already have a protocol for a very similar use-case: SMTP. :) Of course, with a sometimes-offline P2P mesh you usually don't know if any given hop decreases the distance to the destination.

You'd probably end up just merging all existing messages, so that everyone has everyone elses "email", and filter out the messages belonging to you via asymmetric encryption. So it's just an application of the above p2p-twitter thing. Public messages could be unencrypted.

I think some blockchain-based messaging systems work in a similar way, since there everybody has everybody elses messages per definition. Maybe a blockchain-based protocol is a good fit anyway, probably not though since I'm not sure how it would do the merge(A,B) function.

<comment><USER23> There were also systems designed for the BBS days that expected to have zero connectivity most of the time. They would dial other computers periodically and exchange data. e.g. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FidoNet)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Was anyone else wondering what actual _protocol_ FireChat uses (answer: bluetooth), and found it strange that the article only mentioned it once, and not at the beginning?

<comment><USER25> Correct. They didn't mention alternative points of views either, like "Is it secure", "Is it encrypted", "Is it centralized", "Are there competitors". It's a bit one-sided towards FireChat.

<comment><USER26> Reading up on FireChat, it appears to have no encryption or security whatsoever. The owners are like "we don't want you to do illegal things with it anyway" (or so I read). Doesn't sound like the greatest app...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> It's good that the weather is really gentle now in Hong Kong.

Here in Ukraine this past winter the "designed in California" didn't last too long during -13C..-18C nights, even with an external battery, so walkie- talkies were helpful at times. However, the cellular networks did work in the downtown, perhaps with just minor outages, even during the most violent crackdowns.

And to address some of the either Russian trolls or just misinformed minds elsewhere in the comments. I won't go into much details, just address some points.

\- The whole situation in Ukraine was, and is, largely provoked and inflamed by Russia. Empires being what empires are, even fading ones, try to concur and/or influence as much neighbours as possible, especially if a neighbour is posing an indirect threat to the empire's regime rulers. No need to take my word on it, just study recent conflicts around Russian borders since the 90s.

\- All sorts of people, from all kinds of backgrounds, education, income, etc, took part in the protests. From poor farmers and peasants, through students and professors, to entrepreneurs, CEOs of big companies/multinational branches, and other well-off people.

\- To call all these people "fascists", "junta", is something a Gebbels would do. Especially when coming from a state that has extreme press and internet censorship, where all the power lies in the hands of the state security service, and where sexual/national minorities live under real threat and danger of persecution. Especially ridiculously it sounds given the number of Jews, and well-off ones, taking parts in the protests, alongside the so-called "radicals".

\- Somebody mentioned "Svoboda" and "Pravyj Sektor" as boogeymen. "Svoboda" has like 1% support now; it lost the support greatly during the protests themselves, when people found out that their "radicalism" is only in words, but not in action. The leadership is very money-oriented, and it shows. Regular members are more or less OK, as members political parties go; most are just regular patriots, like you have in the US and elsewhere. "Pravyj Sektor" is really just a bunch of kids; we've bought them socks and some underwear during the winter. Aren't any more radical than most kids their age anywhere in the world.

\- Russian propaganda was working very hard all these years against the Ukrainian state, but as we can see, it took root only in some parts of the 2, out of 25, regions. The reasons are simple - these are very "depressed", poor regions; people live there in constant poverty, without decent jobs, repressed by local feudal lords, without proper education and perspective on life. This is not an excuse for what they've started, but at least it explains the causes. In other, considered "pro-Russian" but wealthy, regions the propaganda didn't take as much root, and after the events of this year, there's little left of the "pro-Russian" part in them, even as they continue to speak Russian in everyday life.

\- As for the West, we've seen who's who now, and what they are worth. That was a hard yet an important lesson. We are learning to rely only on ourselves, and we'll manage. Also, given that Ukraine has given up the world's 3rd largest nuclear arsenal in 1994, in exchange for security guarantees, it will be a good lesson for other countries for the future. One which will probably not help improve the global demilitarisation, however.

Thank you for reading, and please excuse the long post.

P.S. Didn't find my old "Startup News" account credentials, not really much of a poster, but decided not skip this one thread.

<comment><USER27> As we joke here, if the CIA gave the world the internet, the KGB gave it the internet trolls. Try harder, @teekert, link-spamming buddy.

<comment><USER28> In the internet age as in any other time in history, whoever controls the communication channels win.

For now IMO the winners are: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Apple(on the top but sliding down?), Amazon, US Gov, NSA, CIA, FBI, KGB, Russian Gov, Chinese Gov (win by block out others), Badu, Alibaba, WeChat, Line, SnapChat,

For now, the losers or losing players are : Yahoo, Nokia, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Liberian Gov, Ukraine, Egypt(almost?), Most of Japanese Electronic firms.

<comment><USER29> you forgot that behind all those are financial firms like Goldman Sachs.

without their fake money schemes Facebook for example would only have it's revenue money, which is pretty lower than all the investment money they have.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Oh, with a mesh wifi network. I have to stop taking headlines at their word.

<comment><USER31> Does it use Wifi? Someone else posted saying it was Bluetooth.

<comment><USER32> i think its wifi else the reach of network would be far less

<comment><USER17> It's probably not just Wi-Fi but mix of Wi-Fi, 4G/3G and Bluetooth : [http://opengarden.com/apps](http://opengarden.com/apps)

Given the density of the protest, Bluetooth could work.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> One question, does it just use Bluetooth? Or is there something else?

</comment><comment><USER34> What's to keep the government from broadcasting 2.4ghz noise and disrupting all communication on that frequency (or 5ghz in the case of some versions of wifi)? Are cell towers capable of such a thing?

</comment><comment><USER35> The only thing that bothers me about the article is I can't find anything posted on RTHK's site stating that they will shut down the network.

[http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/index_news.htm](http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/index_news.htm) [http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/clocal/index_news.htm?clocal&201409...](http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/clocal/index_news.htm?clocal&20140930)

And I know people who work at central, and live on the Island.

</comment><comment><USER36> So, Open Garden has an eco-system of mesh-networking that is a Walled Garden?

</comment><comment><USER37> I've wanted that tech for years since wifi was being used.

serval use long range wifi to do it, but what's the range ?

</comment><comment><USER38> Bitmessage would work beautifully over mesh network, because it's store and replicate solution.

</comment><comment><USER39> Does the general population in HK still has access to FB/Twitter etc?

</comment><comment><USER37> how does it work ? ad-hoc wifi ?

</comment><comment><USER5> how does firechat establish mesh networking with just blue tooth? how do you make iphone chat with android?

also, could it be possible to deploy some electromagnetic pulse to destroy all phones?

</comment><comment><USER40> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbows_End)

<comment><USER9> [https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/01/power_and_the...](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/01/power_and_the_i.html)

[https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/10/the_battle_fo...](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2013/10/the_battle_for_1.html)

[https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/03/privacy_and_p...](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/03/privacy_and_pow.html)</comment></comment>


Five billion iTunes songs sold. One looming problem: AmazonMP3 is better - <AUTHOR> http://venturebeat.com/2008/06/19/five-billion-itunes-songs-sold-one-looming-problem-amazonmp3-is-better/

<comment><USER2> Amazon MP3 is worse than the iTunes store in every way except price. Amazon is competing almost solely on price, and they're losing.

I think one of the reasons is that when something is that cheap already (99 cents), saving 10 or 20 cents doesn't look so attractive (even though, percentage wise, its actually pretty significant).

But it should be really clear to anyone who pays attention to iTunes that Apple is selling _way_ more tracks than albums, so the fact that Amazon has cheap album deals means even less to most people.

The thing is, Amazon certainly had the capabilities to build a better (or nearly better, since they'll never be able to integrate as well on a website) store, but they didn't. AmazonMP3's search feature, for example, works _much worse_ than Amazon.com's. They could have also done really great integration with Amazon.com, but instead they do next to nothing.

Apple definitely can't rest on its laurels (nobody can), but the fact remains that nobody has come close to building a better music store.</comment>


Elon Musk Mahalo Mentor Interview on PayPal, SpaceX, and Tesla - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K8NkJpUei4

<comment><AUTHOR> Personal observation:

I cannot get over how far this "super entrepreneur"'s personality is from the glib, fast-talking "operator" personality type fetishized by most venture capitalists, business gurus, and MBA programs. I mean... he hesitates, down- plays his role on occasion, and does not come across as an off-the-charts narcissist.

Steve Jobs, another businessman to show phenomenal performance, also does not match the stereotypical "operator." He's slightly closer, but far, far too artsy, opinionated, and individualistic.

I've seen a lot of startups started by the stereotypical "operator" in my tenure on this planet -- some I've seen from a distance and some I've been involved in -- and I can't say they look to be all that successful compared with the average.

I call bullshit on the whole cult of the glib, narcissistic fast-talker.</comment>


Ask HN: How do we buy US health insurance for a remote team? - <AUTHOR>

Everybody on our four-person team is a US citizen working from home; each of us resides in a different state. (CA, MI, MA, NY)
We're trying to buy group health insurance for our team, but we can't find any way to do it. All of the health insurance companies we've tried to contact require that we have at least 51% of our employees in that state. They literally won't take our money.
Does anybody know anybody who has solved a problem like this? What do we do? Whom can we call? <comment><USER2> Have your employees purchase their own insurance and reimburse them. The federal (healthcare.gov) and state marketplaces have made comparison shopping and enrolling little harder than buying something on Amazon.

<comment><AUTHOR> Then we can't reimburse on a pre-tax basis. :-( [http://www.irs.gov/Affordable-Care-Act/Employer-Health- Care-...](http://www.irs.gov/Affordable-Care-Act/Employer-Health-Care- Arrangements)

(Plus the premiums are higher.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'm currently researching this as well. The healthcare marketplace has a small selection of multi-state plans.

[https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop- cov...](https://www.healthcare.gov/small-businesses/provide-shop- coverage/business-in-more-than-one-state/)

</comment><comment><USER4> Not sure what the minimum number of required employees is or how much extra this costs per employee, but there's payroll services like Oasis and Trinet that offer insurance in addition to their payroll.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah, we called Zenefits (one such service) and they weren't able to help us.

<comment><USER5> Trinet can definitely do this. (It's a PEO, not just a benefits provider/agency.)</comment></comment></comment>