Google searches for "VPN" are spiking this week in the US - <AUTHOR> https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&date=today%203-m&cmpt=q

<comment><USER2> Could be related to the Yahoo! policy change, since part of the story is that Marissa Mayer ran analytics on how their VPN was being used and concluded that many remote workers weren't working much:

"Mayer explained the rationale at Yahoo's "Friday FYI," its equivalent of Google's TGIF. "We've checked and some people who work from home haven't even logged into the VPN…" she apparently said."

</comment><comment><USER3> This is probably related to the Copyright Alert System, or "Six Strikes" rule that many ISPs have adopted.

VPN is the best way around this and it costs next to nothing.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> OP here. Should have posted sooner before it looks like my post got flagged?

I think the shock[1] is being caused by the Copyright Alert System put into place on Monday by Comcast. Here's why:

Comcast is the largest ISP in the US, so a change of their piracy policy (the exogenous shock in my story/model) is likely provide a large enough segment of Internet users (definitely bigger than the set of Yahoo employees or SimCity fans) with the appropriate incentives to search for information about VPNs. The logic here is simple.

[1]There is clear weekly periodicity in the 90 day chart. If you were to detrend the data and remove the autocorrelation, the spike would look even sharper.

Based on the data and the normalizations on the data that Google does, 90 day data is much better than 12 month data because the latter is not daily data anymore -- it is data aggregated weekly. Since it is obviously clear that the data has weekly periodicity, aggregating the data at the weekly-level ignores the fact that how many searches there are for "VPN" on a given day depends on what day of the week it is.

Calling this wild speculation, incorrect, random noise, or comparing it to weekly or monthly data is just not very good statistics in my mind.

EDIT: Also, for clarification Google Trends data is search volume data normalized on an index from 0 to 100 where 100 is the relative maximum over the series. Tuesday's index value was 100, with Monday's being the second highest over the 90 day period. So technically, yes, search volumes for VPN are currently spiking this week. I'm really curious to see what happens when Wednesday's data is released.

</comment><comment><USER4> Yet drastically down compared over a larger timeline. [https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&c...](https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&cmpt=q)

<comment><USER5> My guess is that that gradual decline over time may be related to more people getting online. Put another way - when the internet's use was limited to more tech-savvy people, this term was searched a higher percentage of the time than today.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Much more drastic are searches for seedboxes [https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=seedbox&geo=US&#...
edit: for those that don't know, seedboxes are servers you rent that just run bittorrent. Makes it easy to skirt around these 6 strikes programs

</comment><comment><USER7> Great job on wild speculation HN!

[https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&d...](https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&date=1%2F2011%201m&cmpt=q)

<comment><USER8> That's 2011.

<comment><USER7> that's a 2 year timeline jan2011-jan2013 showing clearly that this latest "spike" isn't anything of the sort.

EDIT my apologies, I was supposed to link this

[https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&d...](https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&date=1%2F2011%2025m&cmpt=q)

<comment><USER9> There actually is a decided uptick in vpn activity if you expand the date selection correctly. It is a decided uptick; the highest weekly search volume in the past 2 years.

[https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&d...](https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=VPN&geo=US&date=1%2F2011%2027m&cmpt=q)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> No they aren't. Look at a longer graph. What you are seeing is just random noise.

Flagged as incorrect.

<comment><USER11> It's not 'incorrect' -- clearly the flat trend has existed long enough for this 'spike' to represent something other than random noise. Would you say that the dips on weekends are 'random noise'? No, they too represent a trend, though if we zoom out far enough they would get lost in the lack of precision.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> SimCity is being released soon, VPN for getting access 3 days early if you're in Europe may be the case.

<comment><USER6> I think it's more to do with the USA's new six strikes program.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> So what's with the Dakotas and Wyoming? No interwebs?

Edit: Missed Alaska and Vermont</comment>


Classmates.com, Grandaddy of Social Networks, Going IPO - <AUTHOR> http://mashable.com/2007/08/13/classmates/ <comment><USER2> I thought that you need a lot more revenue than $42.4 million to file for an IPO?</comment>


Windows Vista: Past Its Due Date Already (dBASE IV and Vista comparison) - <AUTHOR> http://garywiz.typepad.com/trial_by_fire/2006/03/windows_vista_p.html

<comment><USER2> I just built a new computer. I make Windows programs for consulting and sale. I didn't want to buy another copy of XP (already have 2 for other computers) and Vista is a bloated mess that offers nothing to the end user (even if the kernel and memory management are better, you can't _see_ that). I also didn't want to fork out the ~$180+ for Vista Ultimate.

I had just one day earlier spent an hour on the phone with a customer because a program I wrote actually uses the correct ProgramData location, but the program hadn't been added to the User Account Control (UAC) yet so Vista was preventing it from writing some files. Once added, it worked perfectly. Who wants to deal with that crap?

Long story short: Ubuntu costs me $0, it works with my dual monitors, it was easy to install, the second hard drive got mounted easily, and I'm switching to web programming. I'd also like to say I am in love with Ubuntu. It's like rekindling a flame with a previous lover (Linux).

</comment><comment><USER3> Excellent article. I think he hit the nail pretty much on the head with the Ashton Tate comparison. Interestingly the problem doesn't stem from one person, or group of people - rather it is a direct consequence of size, marketshare, and success. This means that noone is responsible for the current sad status quo at Microsoft, it just happened.

To get out of their quagmire they need someone that sees the problem for what it is, and responds vigilantly to drive the company out of the mud and back to innovation and great products. It is a really hard job, and I think the only one at Microsoft that could make it succeed is Ray Ozzie.

It isn't impossible, IBM suffered the exact same problems in the late 80's and they came back. It is just very very hard.

</comment><comment><USER4> > "When they talk about things that are new, the list is almost laughable, > consisting of "Tablet PC versions"

I think this author overlooks some of the newer features of vista. there actually have been a lot of kernel improvements, especially in memory management and scheduling, as well as lots of security and UI improvements.

> "They're adding, but they're not removing."

True for vista, but I believe Microsoft is trying to simplify the dependency structure of the next version with minwin.

</comment><comment><USER5> I actually like Vista. I'm a Mac user (so maybe it's the pretty interface I like...) and I probably wouldn't have paid for it, but I won it in a programming contest so I figured why not install it on my 3 year old mediocre PC with 512MB of RAM... bad idea. It was ridiculous slow, so I picked up another 2GB of RAM and it runs great now. When they say 1GB RAM minimum they mean it.

Of course I wouldn't switch from Mac OS X to Vista, but as far as Windows goes, Vista seems alright.

</comment><comment><USER6> That article is almost 2 years old.</comment>


How will Google make money from Android? - <AUTHOR> http://microreviews.org/how-will-google-make-money-from-android/ <comment><USER2> They won't; not directly. They don't need to either. Google is in the business of knowing their users. They make money by:

A) Knowing the make-up of your daily online life

B) Presenting ads that are relevant based on that profile

Android keeps you inside the Google ecosystem. Google search, Google mail, Google docs, Google RSS reader, Google shopping. Each of these utilities feed the core purpose of _knowing you_ , which is beneficial to Google's bottom line. The better they know their users, the better targeted the ads can be, and the better they can convert.

<comment><USER3> I really hope Google goes beyond just advertising. It's great that their services are free but I would still pay a premium for a polished, distraction- free environment. I'd rather pay a fee than to be surrounded by advertisement everywhere I go, especially on smaller screens.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I think the OP is making a good point but direct profits or revenues wasn't the lead motivation for Google to go full throttle with Android and then the $12.5B MMI deal... it was that this way:

With Android, Google accelerated/is accelerating the pace of smartphone adoption (more smartphone = more internets = more Google = more Ads) and at the same time putting their services in front of the smartphone vendors for a undisclosed, but possibly tiny, fee per device. Enabling Google Search as default but not requiring it (as it's been the case of many Android smartphones with Bing by default in the US).

Note1: Android is free. Google Core-Android-Apps are not: Gmail, Market, and so on

Note2: Maybe even the fee is not a monetary one. It could be the option of selling the smartphone as a 'Android' phone (with is trademarked), using the Android logo, etc.

<comment><USER5> Putting Android into more consumer electronics devices can be another option. TV might be the tip of the iceberg.

<comment><USER4> Google wants Internet in everything. That's the only thing i'm 100% confident about them.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Considering even Apple doesn't get any meaningful profit from its app store, I don't see Android Market being a profit center either. They need Android Market just to be competitive with the App Store.

<comment><USER5> Apple's app store revenue is around $2 billion. If Android market can generate a similar amount of revenue for Google, it should a good share of the total Android revenue.

<comment><USER6> What good is revenue with no profit? Apple has said that app store basically break even in terms of profit, so I'd venture to guess Android is similar. Although they don't need an army of approvers so maybe their costs are less. But they most likely don't make as much from paid apps or in app purchases as the app store either.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Well, _Search Is Google's Castle, Everything Else Is A Moat_ [1]

[1] <http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/25/search-googles-castle-moat/>

<comment><USER8> Agree partly to TC on this.Search is the real big one but Google can't depend on the one trick for too long. Their growth has sort of stalled in the last few years.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> They do charge the $25 sign-up fee, which they can increase and follow the AppStore Model. + they are stil lgenerating revenue from Google search results and AdMob, which most of the Apps are using.

</comment><comment><USER10> I wonder if Google even needs to profit from Android or "keep people in its ecosystem". Given Google's scope, it might be profitable to do any fairly low expense thing which increases Internet use.</comment>


Bitcoin Prediction 2020 – 2021 - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/Blackjincrypto/status/991395997589753856 <comment><AUTHOR> I just remind you all bitcoin holders, a little more time will take you to the moon</comment>


Making the Case Against Google AMP - <AUTHOR> https://www.macobserver.com/link/making-case-against-google-amp/ <comment><USER2> HN Guidelines (see link at bottom of the page) say: "Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter."

The original source is:

[https://www.polemicdigital.com/google-amp-go-to- hell](https://www.polemicdigital.com/google-amp-go-to-hell)

<comment><USER3> Thanks. Normally we'd switch the URL to that, but it is a dupe of [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17920720](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17920720).

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Nowhere does he discuss User Experience or the performance benefits of AMP. The mobile web is a crappy place... 80% of websites take 10 seconds on 3G to load. Google isn't forcing the 20% to create AMP, but they are trying to improve the Web in a scalable way for those that need the help.

<comment><USER5> I have a flagship phone and a 4G network. Still, I have to use Brave browser (bless them!) with its builtin ad blocking, and sometimes turn off all JavaScript altogether, just to be able to _read_ the damn article.

If this is the "diverse" mobile web they want, my clicks will vote for the AMP version.</comment></comment>


Why You Shouldn't Use Facebook - <AUTHOR> https://kevq.uk/why-you-shouldnt-use-facebook <comment><USER2> I stopped for other reasons.

Facebook doesn't respect the user.

I had a routine that every time I logged in I would go carefully through all of the privacy settings. I observed that: these were revised on a very regular basis; would always be default no privacy; every revision would reset everything to default.

Facebook would reset the feed to popular from chronological even in the middle of a session. When I read articles claiming facebook is spending billions on developers and highly sophisticated analytics, I'm certain they see that I'm manually resetting my feed to chronological several times during the same session. My experience is that my behavior is indicative of some subset of users.

Facebook would completely not show me posts from friends who rarely posted. Who are they to decide whose posts I want to see? It was often that these posts were more interesting than the food and puppy spam mindlessly upvoted.

I sandboxed facebook into IE because I'm not interested in having them track me everywhere and I never used IE for anything.

Facebook assumes people don't manage relationships independently or in some sort of grouping, e.g. college friends, motorcycle gang, co-workers from last employer, etc. Not everyone actually wants to see all of my posts, and I don't desire to see all of everyone's posts.

As soon as facebook started publicly embracing ideologies (of any sort), I knew it was time to leave completely and I log in maybe once every few years to grab a phone number, although I find LinkedIn is actually better for that, so it's really been a long time since I last logged in. An organization pretending to be a place for fostering relationships cannot also support ideologies.

</comment><comment><USER3> Couldn't agree more.

</comment><comment><USER4> You missed the most important reason of all.... "It's a huge waste of time and all the cool people stopped using it forever ago".

<comment><AUTHOR> Hahaha great reason! :)</comment></comment>


US and UK 'hacked into Israeli drones and planes' - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-35440523 <comment><AUTHOR> Some of the hacked images available here: [https://theintercept.com/2016/01/28/hacked-images-from- israe...](https://theintercept.com/2016/01/28/hacked-images-from-israels- drone-fleet/)

You would think that drone data links would be encrypted and key management would be taken seriously. Israel has no shortage of great software engineers either. So quite an impressive attack.</comment>


Ask HN: Learning photoshop for web design - <AUTHOR>

Hello HN,
I am a hacker who can't design. I can put together css/html but can't create a shiny button if my life depended on it.
I am lost when it comes to layers and other photoshop stuff. I would like to change that. I am not sure if self learning is going to be easy.
What are some resources for learning photoshop quickly. 1. preferably online classes with someone to mentor. 2. Dead simple screencasts ala railscasts.
thanks <comment><USER2> Before you put time in learning Photoshop maybe you can try Adobe Fireworks first, which is Adobes "web designer" product. It's much more intuitive than Photoshop, which I never managed to get around with, no layer stuff etc. Just draw, paint and put your objects on the canvas, it manages the layers automagically. Fireworks combines vector and bitmap graphics, you can open and save PSD files and for web design purposes I did not miss anything yet. Also it's much cheaper (around 300 USD?). I guess you can start playing with it with no tutorial, but of course there are resources like <http://www.fireworkszone.com/> or <http://www.entheosweb.com/fireworks/default.asp>. And they regularly post resources on their Facebook channel <https://www.facebook.com/AdobeFireworks>

<comment><USER3> If you are using Windows, an alternative cheaper option is Microsoft's Expression Design which is great for web and UI design and can often be picked up cheaply online (plus it has a rather generous 60-day trial).

[http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Design_Overview...](http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Design_Overview.aspx)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've tried to learn Photoshop from tutorials a few times and failed each time. Either the tutorials were for a newer/older version than I had, or they assumed basic Photoshop knowledge which I lacked, or they were flawed and missed an important step and never worked.

In the end I picked up a workable knowledge by watching a 2D designer work with it for a few afternoons and occasionally interjecting questions ("that's really useful! Which hotkey was that?").

</comment><comment><USER5> My main use of photoshop is for photography and not design... but disclaimer aside I beleive The Russel Brown Show should be useful for you: <http://www.russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html>

Also, for buttons and icons maybe you should be getting away from pixels and more into vectorial. Try searching for Illustrator tutorials on shiny or glossy buttons as a start.

</comment><comment><USER6> In case its a case of not 'getting' bitmap editing... You might consider a vector editor - like Illustrator or Inkscape. Works more like a programmer's mind; where you need to tweak elements and can always go back. Photoshop doesn't always give you that flexibility.

There are also tutorials on-line on doing buttons and such for inkscape/illustrator.

</comment><comment><USER7> I've never seen them myself, but I've heard good things about the videos on Lynda.com. This one looks a lot like what you're looking for....

[http://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-CS5-tutorials/for-the- web/657...](http://www.lynda.com/Photoshop-CS5-tutorials/for-the- web/65718-2.html)

</comment><comment><USER8> Learning Photoshop quickly is analogous to learning Visual Studio quickly. It's not the software that makes the difference, it's the wetware; and no tutorial is going to give you years of experience and a good eye for aesthetics.

So just fire that baby up and start drawing.

</comment><comment><USER9> <http://psd.tutsplus.com/> but don't over do it.

Just grab something off <http://themeforest.net/> , minor tweaks, and call it done.

<comment><AUTHOR> I've looked through and tried to follow some tips on psdtuts. Most of them are over my head too (unfortunately).

I started looking for courses in community colleges around my area but haven't found any that are geared towards web designers.

Yeah, themeforest is the route I usually take but to customize anything, I am still lost.</comment></comment>


AMP for email is here, pushed by GMail - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/ampproject/amphtml/pull/14532 <comment><AUTHOR> To add context:

The AMP team is doing utmost to not answer any question related to AMP 4 Email, or AMP in general:

\- [https://github.com/ampproject/amphtml/issues/13597](https://github.com/ampproject/amphtml/issues/13597)

\- [https://github.com/ampproject/amphtml/issues/13623](https://github.com/ampproject/amphtml/issues/13623)</comment>


Ask HN: How do you speed up new laptop setup? - <AUTHOR> I'm thinking of getting a new machine in the near future but don't want to spend a year setting it up. I've seen people using a repo for their dotfiles (https://github.com/justin8/dotfiles) but I'm thinking there are probably some good tips that people have for setting up a new machine.<p>I'm likely to get a Mac but curious about general tips as well. <comment><USER2> This seems like a commonly referenced article: [https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/dotfiles](https://www.atlassian.com/git/tutorials/dotfiles)

Another thing I do is use as many default apps as possible, with as few tweaks as possible. I do customize things as needed, but I'm always hesitant to customize beyond bare necessities.

</comment><comment><USER3> Disassembler is a collection of powershell snippets that lets you disable features of Win10 that you don't use. It also supports presets and snippets for enablement of said features. [https://github.com/Disassembler0](https://github.com/Disassembler0)

</comment><comment><USER4> Ninite[1] lets you pick and choose from a pretty large list of frequently used windows software and generates a single installer that sets them all up in one shot.

[https://ninite.com](https://ninite.com)</comment>


Cyber-Essential Tips for Increased Cyber Security (Techy&NonTechy) - <AUTHOR> https://gpetrium.com/2019/08/28/tips-for-increased-cyber-security/ <comment><USER2> With the challenges my parents have had working with new technology, I think I will borrow some of the information on the Non-Techy side to help my parents stay safe.</comment>


Ask HN: Fun and interesting Python things to do or learn? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Maybe learn pylab to play around with data visualizations. What's nice about python is pretty much anything you can think of doing, someone else already built a library for that and answered a stack overflow question.</comment>


Ask HN: What exactly does the equity % on a job offer mean? - <AUTHOR> I'm not asking for obvious answer of a % stake of ownership but looking for slightly more details.
If the offer says 0.5% - 1.0% is that upfront? Is that over time? Is it different for any company? What happens if you go through funding?
I'm trying to gather some knowledge solely for the purpose of not being nieve to how equity works in start-ups. Any additional read would be gladly appreciated. <comment><USER2> So, the percent isn't really enough to get answers; there's going to be a lot more information here.

But generally speaking, in American tech companies, the current norm is something like "a four year monthly vesting with a one year cliff."

If you have that, what that would mean was that you got no stock for your first year. If you got fired in month 11, you'd be out in the cold on equity completely. This is a safety measure for the company: you can't always be sure you're hiring the right person.

But if you get past the cliff, then you receive all the stock you would have gotten during that time.

A four year monthly vesting means that you break your stock up into 48 monthly groups, and receive it in those pieces one at a time. So, assuming the one year cliff, you'd get one quarter of your promise the day that cliff ticked over, then 1/48 of your promise every month thereafter until, after four years, it was fulfilled.

Meaning if you got a 1% offer (which is large,) and you got fired at exactly year 2 of a four year vesting, you would walk away with one half of one percent of the company.

There is a book that I read which I found very, very helpful in understanding the arcana. It's called "Venture Hacks," and despite that the title pretty obviously panders to software nerds, it is chock full of very valuable information, and is presented in a way that I found very, very readable.

It is quite uncommon for a company to give you a percentage up front. Hiring is difficult; sometimes a complete clown looks really sophisticated, and two months in, when you realize they basically just lied their way through the interview, you don't want to send them away owning a piece of your thing after having done nothing.

But, the amount of information you gave us is incomplete, so we cannot actually give you a solid answer.

<comment><AUTHOR> It was a general question and your answer along with everyone else's summed up exactly what I was wondering. I'm definitely going to check out the book.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> >> If the offer says 0.5% - 1.0% is that upfront? Is that over time? Is it different for any company? What happens if you go through funding?

It all depends on the legal details of your contract. If the it stipulates that equity will be a certain amount even after other's go through dilution, then that's what it is (this is a rare promise to receive in my experience). If nothing is promised, then your percentage is at the mercy of the of the board.

In situations like this I always have a lawyer review my legal agreements so I can get solid answers to my questions BEFORE I sign anything.

</comment><comment><USER4> Probably equity vested over 3-5 years. Could be SARs, stock options, profit interest only stocks or other methods of equity bonuses.

Equity is great but since 90% of startups fail, choose wisely if you are taking a pay cut.

</comment><comment><USER5> It's always over time and then called vested or vesting. Usually it's 4 years, if you negotiated well 3 years. Often you get a 1 year cliff too which means you get nothing if you leave in the first 12 months. And finally you get in general virtual shares restricted to sell them in case of an exit. 5 years vesting is very very unusual. Depending on the stage on the importance of the role you can ask for more or less. The some good articles in the net explaining how much one should get. The higher the risk the more equity.

</comment><comment><USER6> Most likely for a startup:

The equity vests monthly over 4 years with a 1 year cliff. This means that you don't vest anything for the first year (if you leave, you don't get anything). At 1 year, you get 1/4 of the equity vested. Every month thereafter, you get 1/48 vested.

The above is the most normal. You will have to check the terms for your offer.

Funding: If the company raises funding, everyone typically gets diluted by a certain %. On the positive side, the company's total value will hopefully more than increase by more than your dilution :)

</comment><comment><USER7> Fred Wilson wrote a nine part blog series on employee equity which you should read:

<http://mba-mondays.pandamian.com/employee-equity/>

From the startup view point rather than employee viewpoint, but it should give you most of the stuff you want to know. One additional point you should consider is what the tax implications of the equity will be.

</comment><comment><USER8> Check out David Weekly's short guide on this: [http://www.scribd.com/doc/55945011/An-Introduction-to- Stock-...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/55945011/An-Introduction-to-Stock- Options-for-the-Tech-Entrepreneur-or-Startup-Employee)</comment>


An exoplanet has been found in the 'Neptunian Desert' - <AUTHOR> https://phys.org/news/2019-05-forbidden-planet-neptunian.html <comment><USER2> It's posited that this planet kept its atmosphere despite intense solar radiation pressure because it either moved into this orbit recently from a safer place, or it had much more atmosphere to begin with. I wonder if maybe it just has a very powerful magnetic field that protects it, just like Earth's does.

That's the reason Earth has kept its atmosphere while Mars did not, despite the fact that Mars is twice as far from the sun.

<comment><USER3> > I wonder if maybe it just has a very powerful magnetic field that protects > it, just like Earth's does.

With an orbit of 1.3 days, I would guess that it is tidally locked, which I think would make it unlikely to have a strong magnetic field.

<comment><USER4> Why? Is it because the sun batters the same side of the field with radiation as opposed to distributing it evenly?

<comment><USER5> Because its far less likely that it has a rotating core due to being tidally locked. You need something like that to generate a planetary magnetic field.

<comment><USER6> Delayed edit: Yes, apparently tidally-locked planets can have a surprisingly large magnetic field. Evidently the major reason for planetary fields is convection, not rotation. ([0] cites [1]) However, I believe there are also homopolar [2] generation effects due to the star and the planet's (tidally locked) rotation. [3] looked at fields caused by convection due to tidal flexing. [4] talks about magnetic interactions between stars and close planets.

[0] [https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-magnetic-field-of-a- star-...](https://www.quora.com/How-does-the-magnetic-field-of-a-star-..).

[1] "Energy flux determines magnetic field strength of planets and stars", U. R. Christensen et al, Nature vol 457, pages 167–169

[2] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_generator#Astrophysi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homopolar_generator#Astrophysi..).

[3] [https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/217/earth-like- exoplanets-m...](https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/news/217/earth-like- exoplanets-m..).

[4] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjfOdjpNZHo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjfOdjpNZHo) (Talk by Evgenya Shkolnik, part of Short Course on Magnetic Fields: A Window to a Planet's Interior and Habitability at the Keck Institute for Space Studies at Caltech on August 12, 2013)

<comment><USER4> I learned so much today...

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> (Orbiting a distant K-dwarf star)

Original paper, I believe: [https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.00678](https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.00678)

<comment><USER8> Thank you, this was unclear to me after reading the article. This planet is not in our own solar system.

<comment><USER9> That's the definition of exoplanet :)

<comment><USER7> IIRC the original link didn't include "exo". The whole article seemed intentionally vague in that regard.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> The HN headline is incomplete and therefore confusing. I realize it is an attempt to avoid the sadly clickbaity phys.org headline, but the fact the planet is smaller than Neptune and has its own atmosphere is not the interesting thing. The interesting thing is that the planet is smaller than Neptune with its own atmosphere _in the region close to stars where Neptune- sized planets have not previously been found_.

<comment><USER11> OK, we've updated it from "An exoplanet smaller than Neptune with its own atmosphere has been discovered". In either case I think users will be able to decide whether or not their Neptune-related exoplanet curiosity is aroused enough to click through to the article.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> What the hell is the Neptunian Desert? All I can find on google is articles about this, none of which actually explain what it is. Is it an actual location in space or just a space in the distribution of planets?

<comment><USER13> From the article:

 _The Neptunian Desert is the region close to stars where no Neptune-sized planets are found. This area receives strong irradiation from the star, meaning the planets do not retain their gaseous atmosphere as they evaporate leaving just a rocky core. However NGTS-4b still has its atmosphere of gas._

<comment><USER14> Not sure why GP's downvoted, the definition sucks. What's "close to stars"? 1AU? Here to Pluto? Here to the Oort cloud? 1LY? In the orbital plane? Localized to an arc or surround ing the Sun?

Then the link to desert goes to nothing but Earth deserts and the wikipedia article was literally made today. It's like the author has no clue what the Neptunian Desert is.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Imagine what the weather is like.

<comment><USER15> lol. Say what? I get downvoted for wondering what a large planet with an atmosphere that's close to it's star has for weather?

<comment><USER15> I decided to declare a jihad on downvotes. In some ways, this site is as bad as reddit with the children and their 'vote' concept. Every downvoted comment gets an upvote from me, it doesn't matter what they say.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Wheatley became an Astronomy professor.</comment>


Neil deGrasse Tyson: Atheist or Agnostic? - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzSMC5rWvos

<comment><USER2> Smart scientist know all to well to be very very careful in this country (US) when using one of the "A" words. You may find yourself having difficulty in finding a job or funding if you ever admit to it in an out right way. But let's face it, 99% of scientist understand that an invisible man in the sky did not create the universe.</comment>


Wikipedia, other websites go dark in anti-piracy bill protest - <AUTHOR> http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/18/tech/sopa-blackouts/index.html?hpt=hp_c1 I looked at CNN's frontpage take on the SOPA blackouts.  Here is their definition of SOPA:
If SOPA passes, copyright holders would be able to complain to law enforcement officials and get websites shut down. Search engines and other providers would have to block rogue sites when ordered to do so by a judge. Sites could be punished for hosting pirated content -- and Internet companies are worried they could be held liable for users' actions.
I placed the emphasis around the offending line.  This wordplay makes SOPA sound more palatable.  Under DMCA, copyright holders already have the right to demand that websites take down offending material.  Under SOPA, a judge can order the search engine itself to be shutdown.  Search engines, news aggregation sites, and online community providers must be proactive in removing links before a judge is even involved.  Under SOPA, the definition of a "rogue site" is anything that happens to have a link or piece of information representing a violation of copyright.
See "No Duty to Monitor" at http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html <comment><USER2> How so? Can you point out passages?

That seemed like pretty standard reporting to me. They explain what's happening and bring out the position of each side, with an emphasis on presenting the views of those who take part in today's protest.

There is also a disclaimer, though you might argue it's a bit far down.

<comment><USER3> Take the title "Wikipedia, other websites go dark in anti-piracy bill protest". I immediately read that as "wikipedia is supporting piracy". YMMV

<comment><USER4> CBS radio pretty much said the same thing. "..went black to protest anti- piracy measures". We're all so busy blacking things out we forgot that the media needs guidance in framing the issues.

<comment><USER5> A press release calling this "the internet censorship bill" could have gone a long way. Possibly along with more comparisons with China and Iran; appealing to xenophobia and American exceptionalism seems a usually-winning strategy.

<comment><USER6> Even if you released that press release, what are the chances of the media reporting it that way. The article itself states it, CNN's parent supports SOPA... so don't you think the headline is written to grab attention and frame it as "Wikipedia and co don't support SOPA therefore they must support piracy". No way would they make the movement seem like a good thing!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Eh, give CNN some credit. They could've done a whole lot worse, that article did a decent job of presenting both sides.

<comment><USER8> I very much agree. I honestly think that the article was fair. CNN didn't try to hide that it's parent company was supporting SOPA (which is maybe obvious for american folks, but for a foreigner like me, it was worth mentioning), and detailled the arguments of both sides.

<comment><USER9> The corporate parent alliances are not always obvious to Americans either; it's very much needed in an article like this.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> A lot better than the asses at Fox. Just look at the malice dripping from this fox article: [http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/18/wikipedia-goes- dar...](http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/18/wikipedia-goes-dark- for-24-hours-to-protest-us-web-piracy-bills/)

<comment><USER11> The worst part of the article is actually a quote form a Wikipedia editor. It's dismissive and inaccurate, but you always know that when you see the phrase "before we know it..":

"My main concern is that it puts the organization in the role of advocacy, and that's a slippery slope," said editor Robert Lawton, a Michigan computer consultant who would prefer that the encyclopedia stick to being a neutral repository of knowledge. "Before we know it, we're blacked out because we want to save the whales."

<comment><USER12> I don't get people with this line of thought. This is about survival, not about fighting worthy causes, even though saving whales is a noble cause and I wouldn't mind if Wikipedia fought for it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> From the guidelines: "You can make up a new title if you want, but if you put gratuitous editorial spin on it, the editors may rewrite it."

</comment><comment><USER14> I'd say it I pretty neutral on the representation front. They do mention: "SOPA's supporters -- including CNN parent company Time Warner"

</comment><comment><USER15> "Media companies have united in favor of it, while tech's power players are throwing their might into opposing it."

<comment><USER16> Also implying that the "tech power players" are not media companies is silly.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> quite ironic given the poster's highly-editorialized title

</comment><comment><USER5> This is typical of modern "opinions differ on the shape of the earth" reporting. Newspapers don't care what the truth is and won't ever pass judgment, no matter how fantastical someone's claims. All they can do is report what Democrats say, what Republicans say and what the Tea Party says. Reporting anything else, including reality, would be considered biased.

</comment><comment><USER18> If MPAA wanted a workable sinister solution to the SOPA/PIPA problem, it would offer immunity to youtube, twitter, myspace, facebook, reddit, digg, etc. Which would allow for the abuse to continue unabated without all of the "common folk" getting excited about it.

</comment><comment><USER19> Am I the only one who has had no problem viewing wikipedia today? Main page fine looks normal except for the SOPA statement near the top. I've read several articles that I've gotten from google searches.

Yes English language, yes I'm in the USA.

<comment><USER19> Never mind. I read the FAQs and you can read it just fine if javascript is disabled, which I do by default.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> check out anything from pcmag.com on SOPA if you want to see spin that makes you dizzy, I could link to a lot of articles, but I invite you to read the pieces on the site itself.

</comment><comment><USER21> I find the article is one of the best and most informed I've read. And by CNN of all people.</comment>


Evidence-based advice we've found on how to be successful in a job - <AUTHOR> https://80000hours.org/career-guide/how-to-be-successful/ <comment><USER2> Berthold Brecht once said:"The opposite of good is not evil, it's good intention". Unfortunately, this article is filled to the brim with good intentions.

If I could talk to my 20 year old self I would recommend this: Stay away from the Internet as much as possible and don't look for general advice.

Most information is of little use no matter whether it's right, wrong, deep, entertaining, scientific, religious, whatever... Many may realize that but they continue to consume. The common trap is that most of us think there is no downside to consuming information and this, in my humble opinion is a huge mistake! It seems to me that the more stuff we shovel into our heads, the less able we are to get active. There is constantly such a long queue of inputs our brain wants to process that we have little energy left to actually develop intentions. When intention crystallize, motivation follows and so does action. I'd argue that people of average intelligence are not lacking success because they miss precious advice. It's because they don't actually have intentions! They can't allow themselves (mainly for financial oder societal reason, I assume) to relax and wait for curiosity to kick in. Instead they have it backwards: They hear about people who are having a career, they hear about others forming families, they hear the news telling them how the IOT is the future, they read up on cool stuff on wikipedia, read the biographies of celebreties, random stuff on reddit, they read career advice .... And then, from all that garbage, they try to deduce what to do. In most cases, that doesn't truly work because the result is not in line with their natural appetites and abilities.

<comment><USER3> My 16-year-old self had to catch a bus and a train to get to a reference library in order to answer any but the most trivial questions.

My 20-year-old self got 90%+ of the information I needed to succeed from the internet. I taught myself coding, 3D graphics, game development, rendering, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

My present-day self still relies on the internet for a huge percentage of my information, and you know what? Having done it both ways, it's far more efficient and far more effective than catching a bus to the library.

Maybe you meant 'stay off Facebook'?

<comment><USER4> IMHO it is not the Internet that's the problem. The constant connectivity is killing productivity.

Every morning I used to start my day with reading HN, on the bus to school I surfed the web. At uni, on every break I used to take out my phone and browse some more. After school I binge-watched TV shows and surfed more. My attention span got so divided that I couldn't concentrate watching a single episode, I constantly switched to a browser to surf more.

I learned a lot about programming, but my personal life suffered.

I couldn't meet deadlines, couldn't study for uni (studying law).

In the end I concluded that I had developed something like an internet addiction.

Furthermore, it wasn't just limited to internet. I stopped changing clothes, stopped keeping my already cluttered room in a somewhat liveable standard, stopped caring for my health, ate a lot of junk food, got hooked to TV-Shows.

Now, instead of constant short bursts of divided internet surfing, I am trying to set out a time for surfing. And outside those hours, I go offline.

It has been a though switch, but I slowly feel that I'm getting my impulse control back.

I recently started reading Deep Work by Cal Newport, I can recommend it to anyone trying to get off the vicious cycle.

<comment><USER5> Wow, good post!

I've also started to disconnect. I also find my productivity far higher without the Internet. Sometimes just a notebook and a pen are more than sufficient, and I can get some serious work done, manipulating equations, drawing diagrams, documenting ideas, even coding!

Although here I find myself, on Hacker News....

EDIT: This might be what I find troubling about Elon Musk's Neuralink project... I already find it very useful to disconnect from my "digital neocortex" (i.e. social media, Google, Youtube, Wikipedia, etc) to get work done... With a higher bandwidth connection that goes even directly to my limbic system and produces a more compelling experience than reality itself can... Would I just be stuck in a high tech opium den with no will to leave?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> "Much other advice is just one person's opinion, or useless clichés."

This article is similar to just that: useless clichés. I clicked to read more about the evidence backing up each item, but it's only in the footnotes? In other words, the footnotes are MUCH more interesting than the article.

<comment><USER7> If the evidence is in the footnotes (and further reading) then doesn't that mean it's _not_ useless cliches?

<comment><USER8> You concede yourself that some of the evidence is weak. To me, this does reduce at least _some_ of the advice to useless clichés, and waters down the overall claim to being "evidence-based" as a whole.

<comment><USER9> When the only evidence that's available is weak, it's still better to have that than no evidence at all.

<comment><USER10> As much as I like science, weak evidence can point only to further research avenues.

Also, it's good to understand the limitations of the scientific process.

<comment><USER9> I have a feeling people think that evidence is a binary thing. It's not. Evidence is a floating point value.

That is, you can formulate some hypothesis, and the job of evidence is to move probability mass around. I.e. when you have hypotheses A, B and C, each piece of evidence towards A makes you more sure of A, and less sure of B and C.

Weak evidence towards A makes you _weakly_ more sure of A, and _weakly_ less sure of B and C. But it's still better than choosing based on a coin flip.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> > The world's ten largest urban economic regions hold only 6.5% of the world's > population, but account for 57% of patented innovations, 53% of the most > cited scientists and 43% of economic output. That means the people in these > regions are about eight times more productive than the average person.

Wow, they probably have no idea where their bananas come from. More productive than the average person if you look at scientific output only, but science is what improves our lives in the long run. The rest of the population does the work that needs doing to stay alive.

<comment><USER12> Agree, and I'd like to add that I know at least two companies in the Netherlands where the 'actual work' in innovation is done at big chemical plants in the south-east of the country, but patenting and other administrative stuff however is done at the company HQ in Amsterdam, the capital.

This will probably be counted in their "Amsterdam-Brussels-Antwerp" statistic, but no real-life innovation has taken place there.

The other side to this story is that non-Europeans would probably still consider this place part of the "Amsterdam-Brussels-Antwerp" axis since it is only 100km outside of it, while for Dutch people this is 'the other side of the country' and thus, considered far away.

<comment><USER13> The "patent capital" area in NL is centered around the area where ASML and NXP is located too. These two giants bring around the whole semiconductor market up and make them famous for the innovation/patents

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> The amount of low-quality, negative comments here is surprising. I read the whole article carefully and it seems quite reasonable.

<comment><USER15> I agree. It's remarkable - and rather depressing - that a well-meaning article aiming to help people improve their lives, and mostly offering decent advice, is attracting such intense dislike.

<comment><USER8> I believe that any work that describes itself as being "evidence-based" has to open itself, and the evidence it bases on, up to rigorous criticism.

<comment><USER15> Oh, absolutely - I'm not talking about the comments debating the level of evidence in the article. Those seem like absolutely fair comments, and the author of the article is responding to them well.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> How is this voted to second place on front page? Feels like Reddit where people obviously vote on the headline before reading the article.

A side point form this, it would be interesting if HN/Reddit or other platforms brought in a quality score to peoples upvotes to negate people who do tend to upvote catchy headlines.

That or 287 people other than me found this article interesting and useful...

<comment><USER17> It _does_ seem a little weird how many negative comments there are. It's as if most who read the article didn't like it, but somehow it has been upvoted like crazy. Is a voting ring of this magnitude possible though? Maybe I just need to believe that tons of people really like it and nothing fishy is going on.

If you loved this article and upvoted it, please tell us why.

<comment><USER18> That would be me. I liked it because it gave easy to understand and evidence- backed steps to improve your life.

I see a bunch of posts and comments on HN where the poster postulates (without any research or backing) some hypothesis about how to improve your life. These inevitably get hundreds of upvotes and never get questioned, even though n=1 is practically meaningless.

This is the complete opposite. Every step on here is discrete, concrete and backed by study. What more do you want, exactly? And how come no one ever calls out the n=1 case, but everyone is calling out this? What exactly is the difference?

<comment><USER19> > And how come no one ever calls out the n=1 case, but everyone is calling out > this? What exactly is the difference?

The difference is in making a claim and recounting a personal experience. The two have entirely different bars for acceptance.

<comment><USER18> I would argue that in the amount of credence people place on each account, there is very little difference.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Hey, I'm the author of the post. Happy to take questions, and keen to hear ideas about what else we might add.

<comment><USER20> Given that the title contains "evidence-based" I was surprised how little evidence you offer. In many chapters only self-help books and alike are quoted and no scientific studies.

Also... given the current state of psychology research even the points where you refer to research are probably quite weak. E.g. the whole field of positive psychology is... not exactly a prime example of robust evidence-based practice.

<comment><USER7> Hi hannob, we agree lots of the evidence is weak, and try to point that out during the post.

We're trying to give an all-considered view of what makes sense to try, taking into account (i) strength of evidence (ii) upside (iii) cost of trying (iv) whether it makes sense to us, and so on.

Note that most of the self-help books we recommend are written by academic experts in that area. We think it's usually more reasonable to go with their overall judgment calls rather than delving into individual studies ourselves, which are usually flawed (replication crisis etc.)

<comment><USER7> I added a paragraph to the introduction to clarify.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> This is a pretty disappointing list.

First, the items do not tend to be mutually exclusive - there's a lot of overlap with each other. I interpret that as a sign of poor organization. It makes the whole thing hard to follow.

Second, most of this stuff isn't remotely evidence based! Plus, there's no way to understand the effect size even when some technique does have evidence supporting it.

Overall, this is too much of a data dump to be helpful. The author should have ranked ordered these items based on the cumulative evidence supporting each one - that would have been extremely useful.

<comment><USER7> Hey, I clarified the situation in the intro:

> In many cases, the evidence isn't as strong as we'd like. Rather, it's the > best we're aware of. We've tried to come to an all-considered view of what > makes sense to try, given (i) the strength of the empirical evidence, (ii) > whether it seems reasonable to us, (iii) the size of the potential upside, > (iv) how widely applicable the advice is, and (v) the costs of trying. The > details are given in the further reading we link to and the footnotes.

> We've put the advice roughly in order. The first items are easier and more > widely applicable, so start with them, then move on to the more difficult > areas later. The order is also partly based on an upcoming analysis of which > skills are most valuable.

I agree some of the advice overlaps, but it's a little hard to avoid. Most of the areas _are_ inter-related. I'd be interested in ideas on how to reorg.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> One of the most important determiners of whether you're happy and satisfied in your job is your commute time. Happiness, job satisfaction and longevity at your job decrease significantly as your commute time extends more than 20 minutes.

<comment><USER23> We software engineers do not need to operate heavy machinery, perform surgery, or do anything physical at all, and we even have this fine invention called "Skype". Why anybody in the profession has commute time greater than zero -- I can't understand.

<comment><USER24> Not all software engineering positions, or software engineers for that matter, would achieve their highest productivity working from home. Some might, but certainly not all. I think of it as more of a spectrum where the more you know what you need to get done and how to do it on your own, the better you are spending the day at home. And this can vary from day to day.

There are many benefits to working from home, as well as working in an office environment, but my point is that commutes will still exist for many software engineers for a long time.

<comment><USER25> If you're at all extroverted you're probably happier in an office. I'm not even that extroverted but I imagine I would have left my job (my last day is Friday) much earlier if it were entirely work-from-home: those days tend to be more productive, and I get to smoke inside, but otherwise it's just lonely.

<comment><USER23> I enjoy being lonely and being able to initiate communication when I want it (and sparsely) without being interrupted.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> BenjaminTood, thank you for this guide. It definitively paints a picture where society is heading.

        Naturally comes the question: Where does the guide
        guide you to? To what person does it guide you?

Everything about this reminded me of the movie The Ticket, where the previously truly blind main character becomes _blinded by the superficial in his pursuit of "The Successful Life"_.

What world is this, in which every human interaction happens in background of some kind of utility function?

In the end we all want to be happy, right? Numerous studies find, that 'the most salient characteristics shared by students who were very happy and showed the fewest signs of depression were "their strong ties to friends and family and commitment to spending time with them." ("The New Science of Happiness," Claudia Wallis, Time Magazine, Jan. 09, 2005).' [1]

I'm very sorry to say this: sadly enough, it's not how good you perform, but where you are born, what has the biggest impact on your career. [2]

From the About page of 80000hours:

        Our aim is to help as many people as possible lead
        high-impact careers.

        We do this by providing career advice for talented
        young people who want to have a social impact.

        Over a third of young graduates want to make a
        difference with their careers,1 but they have
        little idea what to do

Maybe that's the main problem here? "[Having] little idea what to do". Being raised as sheep doesn't really teach you, how to stand for your own ideals.

And that's why I'm proud of HN. Because we are!

Sources:

[1]: [http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of- happiness/com...](http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/science-of- happiness/communicating/)

[2]: In Germany 85% of all chairmen are emerging from the upper 3.5% (income- wise) families [3]. This is especially remarkable as it's only a very thin slice, which makes up basically everybody in these positions. These upper 3.5% want you to become as high-performing as possible. Guess, why?

[3]: [https://www.amazon.de/Gestatten-Elite- Spuren-M%C3%A4chtigen-...](https://www.amazon.de/Gestatten-Elite- Spuren-M%C3%A4chtigen-morgen/dp/345550051X)

<comment><USER27> You nailed it. The article contains a lot of good advice but unfortunately seems to be based on the incorrect assumption that you are either successful in your job or unsuccessful in your job (a false dichotomy), or that you always need to strife to be more and more successful.

Maybe they should read Heinrich Böll's _Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral_ \- _Anecdote Concerning the Lowering of Productivity_.

<comment><USER9> This criticism misses the context of the article - 80000hours doesn't publish "how to be happy" guides, but "how to have most positive social impact on the world with your career" guides.

The fisherman from the story may be living a happy life, but he's not exactly helping anyone either. Which is fine as a life choice, but this guide is aimed at people who make a different choice.

<comment><USER26>
        The fisherman [is] not exactly helping anyone either.

In fact, he does: By leading through example.

And now, let's get back to work. I'm procrastinating on HN already long enough. :-)

Thanks for your comments!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> "Your location is important in many other ways. One survey of 20,000 people in the US found that satisfaction with location was a major component of life satisfaction.10

This is because where you live determines many important aspects of your life. It determines the types of people you'll spend time with. It determines your day-to-day environment and commute."

So much this. I moved to a town with much higher quality people and my happiness has taken a big positive bump.

</comment><comment><USER29> I like this a lot - a nice balance of strongly evidence-based ways of being happier and more productive, and a summary of more anecdotal (but likely still useful) self-help techniques. To those kvetching about the latter, I think they're still valuable - particularly as it saves me wading through hundreds of self-help books for the occasional gem.

</comment><comment><USER30> While probably not wrong, such lists about how to optimize my lifestyle make me anxious if anything. It kinda suggests if I don't start my fitness diary, self-improvement plan and life goal milestone list right now, I'm wasting my time.

</comment><comment><USER31> Bah. Another listicle... although, #5 (social skills) and #6 (great people) are good enough for me. If you surround yourself with great people, your motivation to do great work is high. If you develop good social skills, you're more effective working in teams. Great people + great collaboration = great career in the long run.

</comment><comment><USER32> Honestly, if psychology studies were presented as opinion pieces I would take them much more seriously.

</comment><comment><USER33> The article does not answer the ultimate question : Why should one ever care to be successful in a job?

<comment><USER34> So mega capitalists can maximize their profits.

<comment><USER33> Yeah, sounds like one of those user-stories : As a gig economy individual I want to be successful in my job so that "mega capitalists can maximize their profits."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> Good article. I am unsure about point 7 "Consider changing where you live" I accept that for some careers this might be inevitable but in a truly connected world it's also nice to follow the opposite advise and spot opportunities where you are

<comment><USER36> The article actually seems pretty balanced in that respect. It acknowledges that there are centers of gravity for some industries but, in some cases, you can work from almost anywhere.

What I think people here sometimes don't recognize is that there are costs and tradeoffs to location choices. Those tradeoffs aren't constant for people over time. And there isn't a single right answer however much one needs to justify their own decision.

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> 6\. Build your social network.

7\. Abandon your current social network and move to a city where you can make better friends.

Both of those things may help generate career success individually, but probably not both of them together, _in that order_.

<comment><USER38> Obviously items are not ordered in the way you perform them.

And there's not much conflicting about these two pieces of advices (whether they're good or bad).

To build the right social network for your career you might have to abandon your current social network and go to a city where you'll meet more like minded people, VCs, etc. This is about going where the action is, and meeting and expanding your network of players there. Not about whether you'll keep contact with your high school pals.

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> For the objective of the OP, my single most important piece of advice is: And may I have the envelope please? And the nominees are, work harder, improve your knowledge and skills relevant to the job, get noticed by the C-level people, come in early and leave late, and play politics. And the winner is [drum roll, please] by a wide margin

         Play politics.

For more, usually assume that your direct supervisor does not want you to do more or better because that might get you promoted over him. Instead, he wants you to do not very well. Then he can have an excuse to fire you. Then he can argue that he has to pay your better replacement more, and then, since the supervisor gets paid at least 15% more than his highest paid subordinate, the supervisor gets paid more. And he is sure to hire someone, really, less good than the one he fired. Really, what the supervisor wants as subordinates is a lot of people who can't challenge him and, from their large number and relatively high salaries, get him paid more.

For more, there may be some cliques; join them and appear to be loyal to them.

A lot of the advice in the OP will scare your supervisor and cause him to try to get rid of you.

Net, play politics.

For one step more, the _politics_ you are playing is well known in the literature of public administration, organizational behavior, and sociology and is called _goal subordination_ where the workers _subordinate_ the goals of the organization to their own goals.

Goal subordination is common in middle management in an organization big enough to have several levels of management. There commonly a middle manager wants to arrange that his position is relatively well paid and stable. To this end he wants to build an empire of subordinates who will not challenge him. The middle manager gets paid more because of his relatively large number of subordinates.

In a lot of medium to large organizations, an employee who is a _star_ gets attacked. E.g., an employee A who sells more makes the other employees look bad, and they can retaliate by sabotaging employee A.

E.g., in a research university, never tell the others how your research is going. Instead, say nothing until the corresponding papers are PUBLISHED -- then it is too late for the others to sabotage the research, e.g., cause you to waste time by constantly dropping by your office to talk, putting you on silly committees, assigning you new courses to teach where you have to do new preparations, etc.

Net, instead of working to make the organization more successful, it is super common to replace reality with easier to do/defend processes and to fight with others in the company, especially just down the hall.

<comment><USER40> The problem is, this advice isn't actionable.

You're not able to control if your direct supervisor secretly wants to limit your career advancement by doing anything except quitting.

If you're in a sales environment with public figures, if you're a star, you can't hide that you are; it will be common knowledge and in your example, this will mean sabotage.

While you can control for working hard, arriving early, and knowing more, you can't really control things like your manager's goal subordination: no amount of clique loyalty would get you past that.

In short, how does one play politics, if every example of playing politics secretly is just "Quit your job?"

<comment><USER39> Sure it's "actionable": Don't play politics, try to do your job the best you can, likely piss off your supervisor, and get fired. Otherwise, play along and don't get fired.

Want to advance based on the commercial value of your own work? Sure: Be a founder of a startup.

<comment><USER40> But saying playing politics is a good idea so that you "don't get fired" seems to directly contradict why you said politics playing was a good idea in the first place:

>"...[Y]our direct supervisor does not want you to do more or better because that might get you promoted over him. Instead, he wants you to do not very well. Then he can have an excuse to fire you..."

Which means that it's not really play along and don't get fired, it's play along and get fired at an indeterminate time that under such a manager probably is much sooner than later.

It seems that if your boss really fears you being promoted over him, that implies it must be a serious possibility. Since in either case, focusing or not focusing on politics gets you get fired (i.e, it's not actionable, or at best futilely so), why sit and wait on the feedlot to get slaughtered and instead focus on what you do control, getting a promotion and building the skills/doing the things that get you closer to that?

<comment><USER39> Do well, really piss off your manager, and get fired right away. Of course, if what you do is so good you get a lot of visibility from higher ups, then your manager may slow your work for a year or so and then fire you. Without the visibility, really good work can get you fired right away.

But if you play along, you have a good chance of lasting for some years before the manager fires you to hire someone else he wants so he can have an excuse to pay more so that he can get paid more.

So, right, can get fired either way.

Maybe a big lesson is, do things that are good AND very visible to the higher ups. That also is _politics_.

And then the other lesson, start your own business.

In a lot of organizations, the worker bees are encouraged to believe that their job is secure, secure enough they can get their kids through school, pay off the house mortgage, etc. For this, the worker bees are willing to accept less pay. But in such a company, firing people starts to convince people that their their job is not secure and want to leave to get just the extra money, what they are really worth.

Generally, a job in a large business organization is one heck of a poor source of family financial security; a lot of people get lucky, but many get badly hurt.

Generally young people should aim at owning their own business.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> I don't think the Charisma Myth is worth reading, but the first 3 tips she gives are great.

1) Don't end your sentences on a rising inflection. Makes you sound unsure. 2) Don't nod you heard more than once during a sentence when someone else is speaking. Makes you look to eager. 3) Take a breath before you speak. Doing so makes you come across as confident, prepared, thoughtful, and composed.

</comment><comment><USER42> I dislike the popular phrase "evidence-based" to describe practices/advice. All reasoning should be evidence-based. Experience can be a source of evidence. The results of double-blind studies require interpretation, about which reasonable people will disagree. Many "evidence-based" findings could correctly be viewed as "one person's opinion".

</comment><comment><USER43> You know what blows in the US? If you are unemployed, its damn expensive to get treatment for any mental health issues. If you can even get medicare, you can get covered for basically a community counselor - the time that most people could most benefit from the help of a psychologist or licensed therapist is the time they can least afford it.

</comment><comment><USER44> my rule number one to be successful in a job is not to be obsessed about it

</comment><comment><USER45> > To avoid colds and flus it's important to vacuum yourself daily. We > recommend Dyson.

That dog looks so happy. If only human happiness were so easy.

</comment><comment><USER46> I like this article, yet, there is this obsession with evidence that I can't quite pinpoint and it bugs me.

</comment><comment><USER47> _> Go to Silicon Valley for technology, LA for entertainment, New York for advertising / fashion / finance, Boston or Cambridge (UK) for science, London for finance, and so on._

That kind of remains a cliché, but it's less relevant today.

</comment><comment><USER17> This article is ostensibly about "how to be successful in a job". One of the pieces of advice is "Figure out how to perform better in your job." Nice.

I have some advice about how to succeed in life: "Figure out how to perform better in your life."

<comment><USER48> I agree, I think that a lot of the points seem to serve only to pad the article length and are not actionable for most people.

\- Surround yourself with great people

\- Consider changing where you live

\- Save money

\- Look for ways to become more productive

\- Figure out how to perform better in your job

\- Think better

The authors could consider cutting out points that sound like platitudes that can be found in a standard self-help guide or magazine.

<comment><USER37> And maybe also avoid putting down the endemic "think positive" advice before proceeding to point 4, "apply positive psychology".

That tripped my hypocrisy alarm, hard.

<comment><USER7> Yeah, the difference is that "positive psychology" is scientific field, and they haven't discovered that "thinking positive" helps with being more successful. I changed the title of the sub-section.

<comment><USER48> This is a good point, and why I didn't include the positive psychology point in my list – because it is a genuinely different thing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> "To avoid colds and flus it's important to vacuum yourself daily. We recommend Dyson."

This is a joke right?

</comment><comment><USER34> I believe understanding how the world really works is a must.

</comment><comment><USER50> Stopped reading after seven seconds - giant animated pop-up.

Dear websites: please please stop doing this.

<comment><USER7> We use optinmonster, which we wanted to turn off, but their service just went down. Really need to migrate off these guys...

<comment><USER51> Also: If you're asking me to subscribe in the middle of me reading the article, I still happily will enter my e-mail address and click subscribe, but please, please, please do not send me to a new page then to enter more details. I'll instantly navigate back since I actually want to read the text.

<comment><USER24> I sincerely hope your feedback as well as the other feedback in this thread makes it to the people that are in charge of these decisions. It's in their best interest.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Right. Take care of yourself, deal with your mental issues, start every morning with cheap motivational yadda-yadda, improve your social skills -- and you can live long and stay healthy, while generating more profit for your employers and being less of a nuisance to your insurance company.

What a time to be alive!

<comment><USER52> How does one go about improving one's social skills.

<comment><USER53> Unless you suffer from social anxiety, you improve your social skills just like anything else - with intentional practice.

If you want to be better at small talk, make small talk any opportunity you can (or become an Uber/Lyft driver, tour guide, or some other job that requires you to use these skills). If you want to be better at flirting, flirt. Make note of when you're practicing, try and look for social/body language cues and make adjustments. Replay the conversation later in your head and figure out places you can do better next time. Then try again.

<comment><USER54> >Unless you suffer from social anxiety

You do it the same way if you suffer from social anxiety. You are just forced to practice coping with anxiety at the same time.

<comment><USER53> I don't have any experience with social anxiety or treatment personally, so I wanted to escape that portion of the discussion with what is essentially a disclaimer. I assumed the advice would apply but wasn't sure, so thanks for confirming that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER55> Upvotes on an anti-capitalist comment on HN?!? Why I never....

To all the 'gracious employers': we are sick of working for pennies while you peddle psychobabble to get us to work harder. The problem is our exploitation. The end.

<comment><USER56> I really don't understand how anyone that is sound of mind can be anti- capitalist. Maybe critical of capitalism I can understand but being "anti- capitalist" after looking at history probably indicates that you have some developmental issues.

<comment><USER57> No one is wholly anything. To express an anti-capitalist sentiment does not make one _an_ anti-capitalist, merely critical of capitalism.

To jump from parts to wholes exclusively in the case of capitalism/history — from "critical of capitalism" to "developmental issues" — probably indicates that you have some developmental issues.

Nah, no it doesn't. It implies that you're circumspect of introspection into the very reasonable path from being "critical of capitalism" to more being concerned about the negative externalities in free markets than, for example, armchair rocket-science or whatever hobby you engage with in the ample free time afforded to you as a member of the coddled petit bourgeois while still managing to ride a high horse around the subject of anti-capitalism.

You do not, of course, see why anyone would be critical of a system that has given YOU so much, but of course to dismiss the active cynic of capitalism is to exclude yourself from your own liberation.

Had YOU been there, you would not have been redeemed.

<comment><USER56> I'm not going to lie to you, I didn't read your comment because it became apparent it was mostly rambling 4 sentences in. I'm also not interested in arguing semantics.

<comment><USER57> If you do not grok my text, the fault lies with me. Thank you for trying.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER58> Piece of crap article. There's a difference between "thinking positively" and fantasising about how good your future life is going to be.

</comment><comment><USER59> Well written post and a smart idea to generate affiliate revs. With that amount of Amazon links you in that article you should have a click-through of more than 70% and a conversion on Amazon around 10%.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think we actually have affiliate links! :) Maybe we should...</comment></comment>


Apple Quality and Customer Service Fail - <AUTHOR>

I recently cracked the screen of my iPad 3.   Made a genius bar reservation, showed up at an Apple Store, waited 30 minutes, then was told it'd be $300 for a replacement iPad of the same type.  A few internet discussions said I might be able to get a replacement iPad for free, but the only free replacements seemed to be reported by women.  So I took the deal and paid $50 extra for better support.
The replacement iPad was flaky right off the bat -- flickering screen even with auto-brightness off.  I returned it to a local Apple Store and waited while the 2nd replacement was being charged.  After 45 minutes of waiting, the genius helping me finally agreed that something was wrong.
Unfortunately, there were no other iPad 3's in the store.  I asked if I could just get any iPad they had in the store. The genius told me the Apple system didn't even allow them to change the replacement iPad model.  Think about that.  Apple built a system that makes it impossible for the people on the ground to do right by a customer.
I waited another 15 minutes for the manager, and then she came and explained my options.  I could drive to other Apple stores and pickup an iPad.  Or I could wait until that store got a new shipment and come back in.  She agreed with the genius that I couldn't get another iPad in the store.  Basically, all my options, even with a valid Apple care replacement service contract, was to spend more of my time and effort due to two bad replacement iPads.  I told her I'd agree to have the iPad shipped to me.
I'm pretty sure if I went to an Apple store a few years ago (and certainly 5 years ago), I'd be walking out with an iPad even if the manager had to "upgrade" me to whatever they were selling at the time.  Now, it's about rules, not about making the customer happy.  Welcome to the new Apple as they try to wring the last dollar from your hand. While I wait for my replacement iPad, I'll be playing with my new Kindle Fire HD. <comment><USER2> I dropped my iPad last night, totally shattering the glass, but had bought AppleCare+ for it, so I went immediately to the nearest Apple store. It was 30 minutes from closing time, I had no appointment scheduled, but they managed to fit me in anyway and after 10 minutes of waiting and 3 to 5 minutes of interaction plus $49, I had a new iPad and was out the door.

They don't give newer models because that would let people upgrade to the newest by throwing their current one on the ground and handing over $50 (with AppleCare+) or $300 (without).

<comment><AUTHOR> Sure, I understand why they don't automatically give newer models away. I think it's bad service (and very unlike the Apple of old), though, when they don't have a replacement available to withhold the newer (and equivalently priced) iPad and make you wait or run around town.

I also think the newer iPads are more vulnerable than the first generation iPads. I still have that one and it seems pretty sturdy. The iPad 3 cracked after a 3 ft fall.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I am sorry to say this, but I don't see any "fail" here my friend. The only "fail" thing is that you cracked the screen of your iPad. You can't do that and expect any good out of it..

<comment><AUTHOR> Right, there's no fail in two replacement iPads being faulty or not replacing a product with something on hand of equivalent price. I've bought lots of Apple products but even I'm not that much of a fan boy to think that's business as usual for Apple.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Sorry but this is the same old Apple they have always been. It's also the same treatment you will get with most multinational corporations.</comment>


Ask HN: Can I automate document gathering for research? - <AUTHOR>

I conduct  research into companies and individuals – due diligence, litigation support, public records checks, and media scans.
I find that I often need to repeat searches on the same individuals at different websites and news archives, only to repeat the entire process again with a new name.
I haven't a programming background, so forgive me if I'm not using the right terms. I speculate that the process can be accomplished automatically by a webcrawler... though I'm not certain if that is the right solution, and I don't have a clear picture of what the risks in attempting to automate this process might be.
At the risk of being long-winded, here's a typical case. I'm given the name of the firm, it's principal management, and maybe a few articles from the company website. My task is to find out if anyone at the company has been accused of a crime, or whether the company has been sued or engaged in fraud. I open tabs in a browser for each of the main websites/databases I will search (chambers of commerce, trade registries, government websites, etc.). Then, one by one, I put each name into each tab and look for results, all the while saving copies of any relevant documents I find. At the end of it all, I  piece together the story of the company or person, using the documents as support. This is the mundane part of the job – gathering the documents.
Is there a way to automate that process? Since I'm learning to code anyway, I'd like to try exploring a solution myself, but I'm not certain what language or process would be best for that. I'd love to hear the advice of the HN community.
Cheers, -Sean <comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the advice. I'm taking a look at Selenium now.

I appreciate the plug for Feedity as well. Unfortunately, I don't think it's the right tool for my needs. A lot of the resources I'm looking for are not current, and once I've done the research, I don't generally have to research a company or person again.

In the end, I decided that (for my purposes), Google's custom search engine would suffice. It's not a perfect solution, but it seems like it will do the trick for now.

Thanks again for the comments.

Cheers, -Sean

</comment><comment><USER2> If most of your searches are happening on a browser, I would recommend something like Selenium <http://docs.seleniumhq.org/> . Its a browser testing tool, but it can automate some of the things that you are looking to do. Selenium can also be extended if you want to.

</comment><comment><USER3> _(shameless plug)_ Checkout our service, Feedity - <http://feedity.com> to create and subscribe to feeds for public webpages and use it for media monitoring and market intelligence.</comment>


Ask HN: Concept for consultants to combat late payments - <AUTHOR>

I wanted to prefix the title with "Ask HN", but the post was far longer than the 2000 limit.  I figured I should follow the convention of using the 'text' instead of the 'url' field for 'Ask HN' posts.  Due to the size of the post however, I am including a URL here to Google Docs where the content of the post is:
http://goo.gl/L6RrJF
Sorry for the confusion. <comment><USER2> I find that the best way to avoid these sorts of problems is to not allow unpaid work to stack up. Get into the shortest loops that your client can agree to, collect money regularly, and be prepared to stop work if not paid.

I think there's a joelonsoftware thing about inventory being bad, whether it's user stories, bugs, pull requests or anything else. Financial debt is no different.

(Sorry, I know I'm not answering the idea about a BBB-style registry.)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback. I am not always good about getting bills out on time, only because I've been treated well by clients. Fool me once, shame on you...

This was a very unique situation in the sense that my client's client apparently dropped the project before any payments were over due. At least that's how the information was disclosed to me. My hope is they were honest about this when explaining themselves.

<comment><USER2> Yeah. That situation might not be as unique as you think, though. Projects get cancelled all the time, but that's orthogonal to getting paid for things you've done.

With any new client, I'm not totally relaxed until I've been paid that first time. To mitigate that stress, I take a deep breath and negotiate for smaller checks, earlier and more frequently. This way even the clients who flake out don't do as much damage.

<comment><AUTHOR> Good point. I luckily didn't come away completely empty handed. So far I've received probably a little more than 50% billed. Even still, a company's inability to pay that amount owed is pretty "bottom of the barrel" if you ask me.

My hunch is they'll be out of business before they're able to finish paying. Which may be a good thing.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


LA seeks quick halt to 'Speed Weed' marijuana delivery by Cosmic Mind - <AUTHOR> http://mynewsla.com/government/2016/02/19/la-seeks-quick-halt-to-speed-weed-marijuana-delivery-by-cosmic-mind/?google_editors_picks=true <comment><USER2> We have more pot shops in Los Angeles than we do Starbccks and McDonalds combined. On Van Nuys Blvd I counted four of them between Victory Blvd and Sherman Way. (1 mile block) Most of the shops are in poorer neighborhood, opened without the proper permits and then get shut down after making god knows how much money.

They are not non-profits either and you would think that drug dealers could afford better signage.</comment>


Ask HN: How do you make money as a one-person data science business? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> John D Cook's business is doing well, providing services on what is essentially data science, or most aptly put, "very applied mathematics" [https://www.johndcook.com/blog/services-2/](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/services-2/)

But he also has a reputation that has been built up over years through insightful blog posts. Many people in the applied math community know his writings, and there is a general recognition of his expertise. [https://www.johndcook.com/blog/](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/)

Data science is too general and faddish (I say this as someone whose job title contains that phrase). The market is saturated with too many people who claim they do data science. If someone were to give me their business card and tell me they did general data science work, I probably wouldn't even give them a second look.

My suggestion is to establish yourself in a few problem domains (e.g. data science for agriculture, data science for transportation, etc.) and show tangible results. I think that would improve your marketability.

I grew up around consultants, and as with any kind of consulting business, the advice that was given to me was to work for at least 3 different established companies in your domain of interest for 3 years at a time before setting up an independent consulting shop. Without that, you won't have a sufficient street cred to sustain a stream of business to keep you afloat. (that said, this advice is 15 years old -- the part about 3 years + 3 companies might not be applicable anymore, but I believe the part about building a reputation continues to be true).

</comment><comment><USER3> Write a book→ assert you are an expert due to existence of book→ hope people believe you→ charge to tell people things they already know but wanted to hear from an expert.

</comment><comment><USER4> Find something you want to do, then find some big government or enterprise who wants to move away from Cognos or Crystal Reports to something sexy and pay for it by doing that.

</comment><comment><USER5> Make money by finding clients or customers to pay you a higher rate than it costs you to produce something.

Conceptually it isn't that hard.

Putting it in practice is not always easy.

I imagine a data science business would be a services business that you can sell to C-level executives.

</comment><comment><USER6> SaaS, consulting, niche product, recruitment, report generation, user onboarding optimization, marketing optimization, APIs... off hand

</comment><comment><USER7> Free startup idea that can be a legitimately huge biz: risk scoring cryptocurrency addresses i.e. a sift science for blockchain

</comment><comment><USER8> Stock market trading robots... everything automated and running from the cloud...

<comment><USER9> one huge prob w/ running it from the cloud is that you will always be picked off by the Virtus of the world with their own hardware, saddled up in the same rack as the OMS running the exchange.

<comment><USER8> Yeh, right... I am not day trading, so HFT are not my problem...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I'm founder of [https://bitbank.nz](https://bitbank.nz) cryptocurrency ai price prediction stats dashboard, API and bulk data service you can get to work lots with open source devs if you work lots on a specific niche and provide a good api</comment>


Why do we need threads? - <AUTHOR> http://ritch.calepin.co/why-do-we-need-threads.html

<comment><USER2> Wish I could write from the future ...</comment>


How the Tech Press Forces a Narrative on Companies it Covers - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/backchannel/how-the-tech-press-forces-a-narrative-on-companies-it-covers-5f89fdb7793e <comment><USER2> This is actually a really good analogy, even if it doesn't work perfectly, and I think is a really good expectation setter for companies just getting into the game.

Easy to understand and simple and I think fits the psychology of how market saturation and education about a product grows to bring out different aspects of a company.

The "ignore the press and keep focused on customers and product" is the best takeaway from this I think.

</comment><comment><USER3> Great article. It reminds me of the Apple hype cycle: [http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/15/chart-of- the...](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/08/15/chart-of-the-week-the- hype-cycle-of-emerging-technologies/) .

The more one knows about a subject the less one trusts the press: [http://jakeseliger.com/2015/07/03/why-you-really-cant- trust-...](http://jakeseliger.com/2015/07/03/why-you-really-cant-trust-the- media-claire-cain-miller-and-farhad-manjoo-get-things-wrong-in-the-new-york- times/) , but the editorial standards in the field a person knows are probably no higher than a field a person doesn't.

</comment><comment><USER4> Also, "How the Press Forces a Narrative on Everything it Covers"

</comment><comment><USER5> Good article. 'Horse race narratives' work just as well outside tech news as well. It is good for readers to pick up on this pattern and be skeptical of articles before they get sucked in.

</comment><comment><USER6> Nice analogy! Would love see a drill in to 12:01 to 2am for startups. :)</comment>


iOS Code Samples - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/rememberlenny/ios-code-samples

<comment><AUTHOR> Two weeks ago, @thatusertwo posted [http://ioscodesamples.com/](http://ioscodesamples.com/). The site contained a link to a zip file they had made, which contained a number of sample iOS projects. The samples were collected from a number of sources, mostly found here: [https://github.com/vsouza/awesome- ios](https://github.com/vsouza/awesome-ios) and [http://cocoapods.org](http://cocoapods.org). @thatusertwo took down his site, most likely due to HN traffic, so I reuploaded the file to github.

The repository is useful for new iOS devs. Its a solid code reference.

Feel free to submit PR's or reorganize the readme.</comment>


O'Reilly "Geek Culture" ebooks 50 percent off - <AUTHOR> http://oreilly.com/store/dd-geekculture.html

<comment><AUTHOR> Several good titles in today's list, including "Being Geek", "Hacking: The Art of Exploitation" and, of course "Hackers & Painters". I am trying to decide whether to buy "Land of Lisp," which I've heard good things about.

</comment><comment><USER2> +1 for "Being Geek" - great read.

Anyone read either "Mind Hacks" or "Performance Mind Hacks?" Wondering if they're interesting/useful.</comment>


CEO Undergoes Gene Therapy to Reverse Aging - <AUTHOR> http://bionicly.com/liz-parrish-gene-therapy/ <comment><AUTHOR> She did a Reddit AMA [1] a couple of weeks ago

[1] [https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/3ocsbi/ama_my_n...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/3ocsbi/ama_my_name_is_liz_parrish_ceo_of_bioviva_the/#)</comment>


Did you see the bubble in 3d printing implode? - <AUTHOR> http://wolfstreet.com/2015/04/30/did-you-see-the-bubble-in-3d-printing-stocks-implode/

<comment><USER2> MakerBot is Stratasys's flagship product? The $3k Makerbot, not the $30,000+ Dimension or the $50,000+ Fortus? Really, the Makerbot? Someone seems a bit out of touch.

</comment><comment><USER3> Betteridge's law of headlines is indeed in full force here :)</comment>


The Russian Vaccine - <AUTHOR> https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/08/11/the-russian-vaccine <comment><USER2> CNN is reporting that this will be made available to other nations in November. I suspect Putin will offer the vaccine to the US and Trump will seize the opportunity to attempt to win re-election because the "radical Democrats" are balking at accepting a vaccine that's been in human trials for a mere two months.

Ugh.

<comment><USER3> Or Putin is Goading trump into making some stupid announcement or irrational decision, and Putin doesn't really care who wins so long as the US is in disarray. Don't a bunch of Trump supporters now beleive this is all a plandemic? I would be a quandry wouldn't it, if trump tells them to take a vaccine for a hoax? But it's not bill gates offering it, so maybe a russian one will be alright?</comment></comment>


Fundraising with a PPT, in Italy - <AUTHOR> http://www.slideshare.net/Facens/startups-fundraising-italy

<comment><USER2> You are one of the youngest entrepreneur in Italy and your slides are concise, clear and well focused. I think we will have news from you soon!</comment>


The Fitbit Public API has arrived - <AUTHOR> http://blog.fitbit.com/?p=325

<comment><USER2> This just resolved my biggest complaint about their nifty little device. Glad to see another useful API out in the field.

</comment><comment><USER3> And that seals the deal. No wakemate for me. Time to order a FitBit!</comment>


Ask HN: Do you use Polymer? - <AUTHOR> When the HN community is talking about frameworks/libraries for building web apps, I rarely see Polymer mentioned between the big two, Angular and React. So: do you use Polymer (http://polymer-project.org) and if you do, what do you think of it in terms of speed and ease of development?<p>I personally use Polymer on a daily basis, but the lack of conversation around this library keeps me questioning its (wide-spread) adaption... <comment><USER2> We use Polymer extensively throughout our front-end, the speed/ease of development is decent - you can avoid reinventing the wheel using the polymer catalog and 3rd party components. With WebComponents support improving with each browser release (Shadow DOM now in Safari 10) and 2.0 release of Polymer coming up soon things seem to be going well in the ecosystem - would have to admit React is definitely in fashion right now though.

</comment><comment><USER3> There are tons of enterprises using polymer already in production. One of the biggest companies in the world in their industry: ING, SalesForce, Electronic Arts, Google (including Youtube). Polymer community slack is growing greatly - there are a lot of components that people share, browser vendors finally agreed on shadow dom v1 API, things are looking really great.

</comment><comment><USER4> I don't use Polymer. It's a non-starter at work, and I wouldn't even consider it for a personal project.

Like it or not, React won, and there is zero chance of this changing. Everyone on my team knows React, and they've never heard of Polymer. Unless Polymer is 10X better (and it is not), we're not switching.

In addition to being the de facto standard, another huge advantage of React is the ecosystem that has developed around it. React Native is amazing, and is the obvious way to go if you want to make a great mobile app (i.e., one that uses truly native UI controls and is not built on top of a slow web browser.) In addition, Redux is awesome and Polymer has nothing specific to offer there (and even if you did manage to wire Polymer up to Redux, why bother?) Finally, React is going places: React is being extended to do layout (taking over from the browser), which will finally make the browser a decent application development platform.

I'm sorry to be so blunt, but this is the way I think things really are. I am aware that (a few) others may see it differently...

<comment><USER3> De facto standards are web browser standards - and react is not one. Web Components are. If your friends at work never heard about polymer than maybe its about time to read about standards and browser API's that are being implemented - it is part of the job to learn. Good engineers do this.

And lets remember like VueJS, Angular 2.x, Aurelia that use some parts of standards that polymer builds on are also popular.

React is very popular today, like jquery was in the past. It is already visible that things are in the flux. You just project a bubble around you.

Next 5 years we will be discussing the next cool thing, the trick is - most of polymer is being implemented inside browsers already. I've seen this pattern so many times over last 20 years...</comment></comment>