SHOW HN: Take a look at my startup; Show off your vocabulary prowess - <AUTHOR>

Hello HN,
Introducing VocabGenii.com, my online vocabulary game. It is the first product from my company, Genii, Inc., that brings innovative, engaging new learning experience to the market by leveraging web 2.0 and social networks.
Currently, we are running a 10K Challenge -- anyone scoring 10,000 points before the contest ends (March 24 04:00 GMT) will get 3-Month unlimited play. Exceptional performance would also be recognized in our 10K Hall of Fame with limited edition trophies!
We're hiring! If you have disruptive ideas on language learning and online education, and possess extraordinary skills in game design, RoR, UX, web design, bizdev experience in the education industry, come impress us! Contact info below:
Company sites: (1) http://vocabgenii.com; (2) http://geniicompany.com;
FB pages: (1) http://www.facebook.com/geniicompany; (2) http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=190671694293877;
Twitter: @vocabgenii
Email: email@example.com
Thanks!
James Mak CEO, Genii <comment><USER2> Clickable:

<http://vocabgenii.com>

Edit: Added:

Congratulations on the launch and all the best.

Perhaps, we could think about a strategic alliance:

<http://www.RapiDefs.com>

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Your UI is pretty awesome. Yeah we should talk. Tweet or shoot me an email!

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> This is quite well made. I enjoyed playing a few rounds. I did get the feeling that some of the word descriptions were written by non-native English speakers. There were some very small grammatical mistakes or strange combinations of words.

Regardless, quite a fun product. The hard part is going to be to stick in people's minds. Turning it into a Facebook game is one good way to achieve that, but you should probably keep thinking of more such things.

<comment><AUTHOR> Good point. Yes, more actions on Facebook are coming, stay tuned! =(G)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I built something VERY similar (but not as slick) in 2009. It was a vocab game with scrabble like point scoring you played with friends via Twitter.

It basically just aggregated your twitter messages, and assigned points for uses of unused words within a "game".

I believe it's still "live" but since been decommissioned. <http://www.playtwabble.com>

<comment><AUTHOR> interesting

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Neat. I played enough to get 10k. It is much too easy to do that because one earns so many points on the highest difficulty setting and the buttons can be mashed. I found myself having to do this several times because the obscured letter was correct or a spelling I was not familiar with. Have to say that I am not interested enough to pay...

<comment><AUTHOR> @michaeldhopkins Thanks for the feedback. The game does get easier for native English speakers. Believe it or not, we've seen many non English speaking users aren't even willing to mash the keyboard. It's an intentional no- punishment approach that we leave in the game, hoping that could at least be a ramp for English learners.

Regarding your opinion on paying, did you mean that the game being too easy is a key decision criteria?

<comment><USER5> It's not challenging enough for me, but more importantly I'm not convinced it's an effective way to increase vocabulary.

I should warn you I am probably not a normal customer: I enjoy reading the OED and I think the best way to improve in English is to learn Latin...so just take this as one data point.

<comment><AUTHOR> Outlier opinions are important! Thanks. Re Latin, the game today is a great tool to teach lexical structures, ie. prefix, suffix, word etymology in fact.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I was actually considering developing something like this myself. :-). Im a social entrepreneur with a focus on technology and like the education and game markets. Ill bookmark your site and try to follow the development.

</comment><comment><USER7> I tried to log in with facebook using the button on the front page and it popped up a blank white window that didn't do anything. Reloading the pop-up or the main window didn't change anything.

Opera 11.01, Windows Vista

<comment><AUTHOR> This might be a problem with Opera. Do you have another browser you could try? Sorry about that.

<comment><USER7> Yeah, I'll try in Firefox when I have a chance. Thought I'd give it a whirl at work while I'm not so busy since we have a scheduled blackout tonight.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Hi James,

Congratulations on the public launch

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks nithyad!</comment></comment>


DoD video captures high-speed flight of an unidentified aircraft at low altitude - <AUTHOR> https://thevault.tothestarsacademy.com/2015-go-fast-footage <comment><AUTHOR> "There are no obvious wings or tails or exhaust plume from the object."

How does this move so fast then?

<comment><USER2> If your sensors are telling you something that should be impossible, do you normally assume you're seeing the impossible or that your sensors are wrong?

The key here is that the movement of the ocean in the background makes it seem like that object _must_ be moving extremely fast, regardless of whether the sensors are correct or not. But what nobody ever explains in the context of those videos is that the aircraft is banking and the camera automatically panning to stay on the target. The apparent motion of the object is better explained by parallax. Neither the aircraft nor the UFO are going very fast, it's just that the orientation of the camera is changing in a way that causes the background to shift rapidly.

For a more in-depth analysis see [https://www.metabunk.org/go-fast-footage- from-tom-delonges-t...](https://www.metabunk.org/go-fast-footage-from-tom- delonges-to-the-stars-academy-bird-balloon.t9569/)

And here's a great, simple illustration of the effect (via the previous link): [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdIEY1Ska_U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdIEY1Ska_U)</comment></comment>


At what time of day does famous programmers work? - <AUTHOR> https://ivan.bessarabov.com/blog/famous-programmers-work-time <comment><USER2> Kind of a cool idea. The combined distribution would be even more interesting and maybe to include some more varied types of coding, most of the examples were OS, programming languages, dev tools. The author shared his script so it wouldn't be hard to adapt likely.

This would be a cool report for github or bitbucket etc to provide across public repositories. Especially when combined with any basic demographics. Of course, I don't think they collect a ton of demographics today so not sure how valuable it would be.

I bet you could build profiles on people and predict changes in their patterns based on life events and other changes (kids, marriage, aging, divorce etc). Of course, I bet many people would find that a little creepy, but the data side of it is pretty interesting, at least in my head it is.

</comment><comment><USER3> While they have a project, or even two or more, most programmers are always working, all the 24 hours of the day. And even while they are asleep.

Many times I have been stuck with a specific programming problem till late at night. The next morning, the code or the algorithm was in my head, all ready to be written down.</comment>


How to stop using Google – for search, email, video etc. - <AUTHOR> http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/may/02/how-stop-using-google-search-services <comment><USER2> Unfortunately most of alternatives are sub-par, particularly search. I tried using DuckDuckGo as my primary search for a month and I found what I was searching for easily [i.e. among the top results of my first query] only about half of the time. [This was about a year ago so maybe it's improved since then.]</comment>


Chad Rigetti at Startup School SV 2016 - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzMvG8UO6Eg <comment><USER2> He says he is from Saskatchewan, but he pronounces Regina wrong. What is going on here?</comment>


United Nations: Whistleblowers and sources must be protected by all governments - <AUTHOR> http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/united-nations-whistleblowers-sources-must-be-protected-by-all-governments-1525754 <comment><USER2> Yes if they whistle for freedom and human rights. Snowden acted as his consciousness dictated it was right to do.

Well done</comment>


A way to make water potable using carbon dioxide - <AUTHOR> http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21722159-lets-hear-it-diffusiophoresis-way-make-water-potable-using-carbon-dioxide <comment><USER2> Cited paper:

[https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15181](https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms15181)

</comment><comment><USER3> Sounds like a promising piece of technology. What I'm more impressed with, though, is the scientific journalism.

It's balanced, accurate, accessible, representative, and leaves out the hyperbole. I would pay for science journalism that read like this. Even better if it came with some biased, inflammatory, hyperbolic editorials on the side.

<comment><USER4> _What I 'm more impressed with, though, is the scientific journalism._

Actually I was disappointed with the article.

The image at top shows two output streams: waste, and filtered water. I was expecting an explanation of this while reading the article. But as I read the words, the build-up wasn't matching the image.

Finally we come to: _In a working system it would simply be a question of splitting the water stream into three as it left the processor, with the two outer branches being recycled and the inner one tapped and piped to consumers._

So, no, pretty sloppy.

<comment><USER5> The sentence before the one you mention explains it; the only problem with the top diagram in the header image is that it doesn't make it clear that opposite the CO₂ side of the stream, there is an air side. Seems like the diagram represents their experimental model (two exit streams), not the practical application (three exit streams).

> As the team hoped, this arrangement caused suspended particles with positive > surface charges to concentrate towards the CO₂ side of the water stream, and > those with negative surface charges to concentrate towards the air side, > leaving the centre of the stream more or less particle-free.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Is this a breakthrough? Sure. But it's probably not a panacea.

* Getting actual salt particles out of flows of water is not what their experiment accomplished. They got larger particulates out of the water. The latter is quite easy to do, and the former quite difficult.

* Ionic charge is a very powerful driving force when what you're trying to move has a directionality to it, like a magnet picking up iron filings. This would work great for largely insoluble things like bacteria and mineral particles.

* When salts are dissolved, their constituent parts form ionic dipoles that will work far harder to stay together in solution. A little bit of ionic charge bias presents no challenge to a sodium chloride pair.

* CO2 use in this experiment may be close to zero. After CO2 is injected, it can be recovered and reused (at least in part). Finding a use for the petagrams of CO2 we're dumping in the air is a worthwhile goal but no matter how successful this technology may end up, it won't make a dent.

<comment><USER7> > When salts are dissolved, their constituent parts form ionic dipoles that > will work far harder to stay together in solution. A little bit of ionic > charge bias presents no challenge to a sodium chloride pair.

An electric field of a few volts over a small channel seems to split this dipole just fine, [1].

[1] [https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/30/desalination-with- small...](https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/30/desalination-with-small- electrical-fields-simple-new-method-may-revolutionize-seawater-desalination/)

<comment><USER8> _As of now, the best that the researchers have achieved is 25% desalination_

25% is quite far from "just fine". Has there been any progress on the method in last 4 years?

<comment><USER7> Repeat the process 10 times, and you're at 95% desalination.

<comment><USER8> It may or may not work, depending on the details of the process. For instance, the process might only be able to separate the ions if the concentration is high enough. If it's the case, repeating the process on the result will not make any difference.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Maybe this could be combined with electric field desalination to make seawater potable:

[https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/30/desalination-with- small...](https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/30/desalination-with-small- electrical-fields-simple-new-method-may-revolutionize-seawater-desalination/)

[http://news.mit.edu/2015/shockwave-process-desalination- wate...](http://news.mit.edu/2015/shockwave-process-desalination-water-1112)

</comment><comment><USER10> Nice, other than the necessity of dumping CO2 into the air. I wonder if he tried creating an electric field across the water as some folks have done for desalination[1]. Any pollutant with a net positive or negative charge would be suitably diverted in that way.

[1] [https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/30/desalination-with- small...](https://cleantechnica.com/2013/06/30/desalination-with-small- electrical-fields-simple-new-method-may-revolutionize-seawater-desalination/)

<comment><USER11> _As to the necessary CO2, he imagines this would come from power stations and other industrial processes, such as cement-making, that produce the gas in large quantities as exhaust. This would restrict diffusiophoretic water plants to industrial cities—but, since such cities are huge sources of demand, that is hardly a problem._

<comment><USER10> I read that, but noted it suffers from 'scientist' blindness. These industrial processes, that are producing CO2 in large quantities, don't have an economical way to capture and cleanse that CO2 to allow for then shipping and selling it (or giving it) to this guy to clean water with it.

If they could capture the CO2 they could already resell it economically as there are lots of uses for it. There was some work in 2012 in Canada on that [1] but it hasn't gone well (here we are 5 years later and there aren't any products yet). There has been work on recapturing the CO2 in _new_ plants, but that doesn't help our 'industrial cities' that are sitting on a bunch of existing infrastructure they cannot afford to refresh given they haven't fully depreciated the existing infrastructure.

[1] [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-co2-be- captur...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/can-co2-be-captured-and- sold/)

<comment><USER12> What is the current process for producing "pure" CO2 gas for sale e.g. as dry ice, or for use in food/beverage or for other industrial purposes? Unlike e.g. nitrogen or oxygen, concentrating it out of the atmosphere would seem to be inefficient as it's only roughly 0.04%.

<comment><USER13> It's typically captured either from processes that make ammonia or hydrogen from methane (with CO2 being the only major byproduct), or by capturing the output from large-scale fermentation.

Source: [http://www.uigi.com/carbondioxide.html](http://www.uigi.com/carbondioxide.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> > he imagines [the necessary CO2] would come from power stations and other > industrial processes, such as cement-making, that produce the gas in large > quantities as exhaust.

IANAC, but it seems like that just exchanges one problem for another. I imagine that most, if not all, of the industrial processes that produce CO2 exhaust gases also result in other gases and particles getting into the exhaust stream, meaning that you'd have to refine/filter the exhaust from those processes to get just the CO2.

<comment><USER15> I doubt they're suggesting they use the untreated flue gases as the gas in the apparatus. I think they're just pointing out that there are industrial sources of co2, n and that finding a use for the co2 helps with another pollution/waste issue

<comment><USER16> I don't think that this helps really with the pollution issue, since the CO2 is in effect being used as a catalyst and will be emitted afterwards just as it was before. What the article is saying though, is that a large consumer of cement (a high CO2 producing process) is also likely to be a large consumer of clean water.. so that leaves the process of cleaning the water CO2 neutral except for the small amount of power consumed

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Sunlight (specifically, UV radiation) does a pretty good job of killing pathogens: [http://www.sodis.ch/methode/index_EN](http://www.sodis.ch/methode/index_EN) . Though it doesn't remove any non-biological contaminants; this one might be better at that.

But if it needs an industrial process to do this anyway, is this one significantly cheaper/easier than what's used in the developed world?

</comment><comment><USER18> This is cool, particularly in the simplicity of the approach. Reminds me of how a septic tank works but at a much finer scale with the CO2 augmenting gravity.

</comment><comment><USER19> Seems like a highly elegant solution .. one wonders if this could be used to make better air-breathing rockets ..

</comment><comment><USER20> This is really cool in its simplicity and sustainability. People get obsessed with complex tech (e.g. high energy fusion). Sometimes I think that the ultimate limits of high tech look low tech to the unappreciative.

</comment><comment><USER21> _Potent_ potables?

</comment><comment><USER22> You can make virtually any water source potable by boiling it. It so happens hot water has other useful purposes as well so why are we not showing those 1.8B people how to efficiently boil water? What am I not getting?

<comment><USER23> I did not know you could boil lead out of water.

<comment><USER22> 1.8B people drink untreated water with feces in it.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How to author a RSS feed for broadcatching educational videos? - <AUTHOR> At our university we are going to be forced by the current Covid-19 situation to produce and distribute at least a part of the lessons in video/webinar form.
University IT has been planning to implement a video server before Covid-19, but these processes require careful planning and it is as of now unclear whether a solution will be implemented and usable when the upcoming semester starts.
As an intermediate solution I thought we might offer our content as bittorrent RSS feeds. This way the students would receive fresh lessons all at the same time, reducing storage and bandwidth strain on our side.
Searching for a usable solution yielded that a lot of bittorrent clients are capable of subscribing to a torrent RSS feed (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitTorrent#RSS_feeds), but I have not found an explanation on how to generate this kind of RSS feed. Documentation is completely about the client side.
Could someone explain how to generate/author such a feed or give me a pointer into the right direction?
Any help would be reatly appreciated! Thanks! <comment><USER2> Create a web page w/ your links and then use one of these services to convert it into an RSS feed:

* [http://fetchrss.com/](http://fetchrss.com/) * [https://rss.app/rss-feed/webpage-to-rss](https://rss.app/rss-feed/webpage-to-rss) * [https://feed43.com/](https://feed43.com/)

Or, create it manually:

* [https://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-RSS-Feed](https://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-RSS-Feed)

</comment><comment><USER3> if you write js, you can generate RSS file by using packages like [https://www.npmjs.com/package/feed](https://www.npmjs.com/package/feed)</comment>


Two Federal Agents in Silk Road Case Face Fraud Charges - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/31/nyregion/silk-road-case-federal-agents-charges.html <comment><USER2> I encourage everyone with interest in the overall story to actually read the complaint. It's astonishing.

It appears that these two Federal agents were doing far, far more than just grabbing some excess bitcoins that were lying around and they figured nobody would miss. It reads more like a purposeful organized crime effort, involving setting up dummy shell companies, forging letters from the government, being involved in pitching investments in shady offshore bitcoin startups, etc.

They also allege that these agents were turning around and selling insider info on the investigation to DPR in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bitcoin. They allege an agent just basically strong armed some random guy ("RP") who was a customer of CoinMKT and stole $297,000 or so from him, using the Federal Government search and seizure docs to do so but then just transferring the money into his personal checking account.

The agent was doing shady transactions via Venmo and got flagged and had his account suspended, so he contacted them as a DEA agent to get the account reinstated. When they got suspicious (because he had been using his personal email address before going "official") and contacted his supervisors he tried to start a criminal investigation of Venmo as "a suspicious money remitter" through his office.

They allege that the other agent was responsible for the wholesale theft of bitcoin from Silk Road and its various vendors, after they managed to apprehend someone ("CG") who was an administrator at Silk Road. This agent signed Federal warrants seizing the assets of Mt Gox, meanwhile transferring millions of dollars in bitcoin into his own account.

Reading this is thoroughly jaw-dropping: [http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press- release...](http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press- releases/attachments/2015/03/30/criminal_complaint_force.pdf)

<comment><USER3> > there is some implication that these agents may have been responsible for > theft of bitcoin not only from Silk Road, but from Mt Gox as well

I don't think this is true. Unless I'm missing something the allegation here is not that they stole from Mt. Gox but that they used Mt. Gox to cash out bitcoins stolen from Silk Road.

They did actually then steal from Mt. Gox, but it was "legal". They accused Mt. Gox of operating illegally and seized their US bank accounts. That happened a long time before Mt. Gox actually collapsed and is separate from the bitcoin theft that brought them down.

This whole thing reads like a conspiracy theory dreamed up by radical libertarians. If they really are out to get you, does that mean you're not paranoid?

<comment><USER4> > I don't think this is true. Unless I'm missing something the allegation here > is not that they stole from Mt. Gox but that they used Mt. Gox to cash out > bitcoins stolen from Silk Road.

The complaint does not accuse them of stealing from Mtgox. However, there is still the curious matter of how Ulbricht's Mtgox account was drained several months later: [https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2tgymg/silk...](https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkNetMarkets/comments/2tgymg/silk_goxed_how_dpr_used_mtgox_for_hedging_lost_big/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I have often thought that Aaron Greenspan's attitude towards California money transmission law was a little aggressive, [http://www.aarongreenspan.com/writing/20141022/the-common- se...](http://www.aarongreenspan.com/writing/20141022/the-common-sense- approach-to-offsetting-money-transmission-risk/) , like, this guy is ranting about obscure laws and there is no way that the government would _really_ abuse this legislation to shut down reasonable businesses.

Then, in this complaint, I read

""On March 4, 2014, FORCE asked one of his co-case agents on the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force to run a query in a law enforcement database for Venmo, saying that he wanted to collaborate 'on a suspicious money remitter, Venmo Inc. Venmo has since registered with FinCEN, but I want to know if they have state money license remitting licenses in California and New York. Can you check? If not, I want to seize their bank accounts (need to identify them) a la BRIDGES and [M.M.'s] seizure warrants for Mt. Gox.""

Wow. Nope. Aaron Greenspan is exactly right about the effects of this legislative mess.

<comment><USER6> Thanks. Glad someone noticed, though aggressive overuse of 18 U.S.C. § 1960 at the federal level is hardly the biggest problem... See page 15:

[http://www.aarongreenspan.com/writing/20131118.hsgacstatemen...](http://www.aarongreenspan.com/writing/20131118.hsgacstatement.pdf)

The real issues are at the state level, but as you can see, it's all intertwined.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I wonder if the government buried this until after the Ulbricht trial was over. The fact that two of the investigators were corrupt and stealing funds could have derailed the case.

<comment><USER8> The Ulbricht case that went to trial was a different investigative team. [e.g. These agents were not involved]

> The charges stem from the agents' role in one of the federal investigations > into Silk Road; a separate Manhattan-based investigation ultimately led to > the filing of charges against the website's founder, Ross W. Ulbricht, who > was convicted last month on numerous counts. The website was also shut down > by the authorities.

> The Baltimore investigation resulted in an indictment of Mr. Ulbricht on a > charge of murder for hire, but that case has remained pending and the > evidence in support of it was kept out of the New York trial, apparently > because of the investigation into the agents.

However, I'm pretty sure the "murder for hire" trial is going to die quietly because of these agents.

<comment><USER9> Yes, it's unheard of for agents in a "different investigative team" (that, BTW, happens to be involved in shaking down suspects) to, say, provide illegally obtained evidence to their coworkers. The government is very strict about tracking the source of evidence so it can be turned over to the defense; otherwise it'd be a clear Brady violation. They could face as much as a light chastizement from a federal judge!

[http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/epidemic_of_brady_vio...](http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/epidemic_of_brady_violations_decried_in_kozinski_opinion)

<comment><USER10> Is there some link you can point us to suggesting that that's happened in this case? There are 113,000 employees at DOJ, so, statistically, every case is always going to be one or two hops away from some kind of malfeasance somewhere, right?

<comment><USER9> If the complaint is "the DOJ routinely hides evidence and engages in corrupt behavior", it isn't exactly a counterargument to say "but you're always near some corruption at the DOJ, and besides, the DOJ hasn't released any evidence that they're not to be trusted".

It is entirely likely, a priori, that there will be abuses in a system where violations of the law are, to a close approximation, unpunished, it is to their great professional benefit to violate the law, and it is to their great professional benefit to ignore violations of the law by their coworkers. Nothing in this indictment makes me revise that opinion downwards.

Besides which, these agents in particular have a pattern (according to the indictment) of initiating investigations against targets who had become obstacles to their corruption.

<comment><USER10> There are over 100,000 employees at DOJ, and it would be an extraordinary claim to suggest that enough of them are corrupt to make this kind of corruption routine. It might be true, but extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Note that because of selection bias, links to Brady stories probably don't constitute "extraordinary" evidence.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Bitcoin seems to make everyone crazy. I guess if you're prone to theft and dishonesty, it must be tough to look at a folder on some confiscated PC with files worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars and not take them. Seems like everyday police corruption, like how drug dealers busted with thousands of dollars suddenly have a evidence locker inventory with zero cash.

I'm glad the system is working, at least to the point of catching these guys. You can't stop human nature, but at least you can punish the guilty.

<comment><USER12> I think it's a look into what he world looks like without social norms. The folks stealing bitcoins probably would never take $200 out of grandma's purse when she wasn't looking. Society has acculturated people to understand that's bad. But butcoin is novel, and doesn't have social norms surrounding it. It doesn't feel the same as taking money out of a purse.

<comment><USER13> _The folks stealing bitcoins probably would never take $200 out of grandma 's purse..._

You're probably right, and that would be great if agents primarily came into contact with grandmas and their purses. However, these individuals were employed to investigate successful criminal enterprises. It is very doubtful that this is the first time they've had an opportunity to steal from the wealthy target of a criminal investigation.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> [http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press- release...](http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press- releases/attachments/2015/03/30/criminal_complaint_force.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER15> What a terrific example of how Bitcoin's transparency is one of its greatest assets.

</comment><comment><USER16> It will be interesting to see _how_ they allegedly got the bitcoins, since I expect that will come out in the indictment and trial.

<comment><USER4> The complaint already says how: after busting Chronicpain in a CD, he turned over his SR1 moderator/admin account, and then Force used the mod/admin ability to reset passwords & PINs to log into big vendors' accounts and transfer their balance out of SR1 to his own Bitcoin account.

<comment><USER16> Thanks, I had missed any links to the indictment in the original story, but it's definitely a worthwhile read.

After knowing the background, I don't actually mind the redaction of those details from the evidence in Ulbricht's trial.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> This is an excellent demonstration of the value and transparency the blockchain provides.

</comment><comment><USER18> Now that blockchain analysis tools are getting better, I wonder if we'll be seeing more and more criminal activity exposed.

For example, someone linked to this wallet/transaction in a reddit thread, which appears to show one of the $100k payoffs: [http://www.walletexplorer.com/wallet/08363b86122e340c](http://www.walletexplorer.com/wallet/08363b86122e340c)

Even just six months ago it would have been hard piece that information together, but Wallet Explorer makes it clear as day.

</comment><comment><USER9> Basically the same MO as in drug cases - part of the briefcase-o'-cash (or drugs, or what have you) goes into evidence, part goes into the agents' pockets.

<comment><USER2> Read the complaint, it's so much worse than that: [http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press- release...](http://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press- releases/attachments/2015/03/30/criminal_complaint_force.pdf)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> So we're just going to ignore the rather awesome fact that there was "Special Agent Force" who was reckless and didn't abide by the rules, but got the criminals in the end? It sounds like a graphic novel or something.

<comment><USER20> He is a criminal himself, the worst kind: an official abusing their civil authority to enrich themselves and commit their crimes against many innocent people (Ulbricht not being one of those).

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> So much for bitcoin being anonymous... (Yes I know it can be anonymous if one is careful but as it is commonly used it is not and this needs to be remembered).

</comment><comment><USER22> How many bad apples until people declare the whole batch spoiled?

<comment><USER23> Well,it sounds like you've already made up your mind, so at what number did you reach the breaking point and made the decision that the entirety of our law enforcement system was spoiled?

<comment><USER22> When the Senate declared we torture people and the president decided not to prosecute.

<comment><USER23> Well, there's your answer.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Giving equity away as referral to raise a seed round?  - <AUTHOR>

so right now, we are currently bootstrapping our startup and we'd like to raise a seed around to help us focus soley on the startup.
Raising money is a pain in the ass, that I get. Some friends have been asking how they can help us raise that seed round. While I would love their help with connecting me to people that are willing to seed us, is it right for us to give our friends equity (small amount) to help us raise a seed round?
The core team is focused on building the product and have been passing up consulting projects to focus 100% time/effort on this project. While I dont mind our friends wanting to connect us to people that have the cash to fund us, I dont know what the best way or best practice is to reward them (if their connection does indeed fund us in some way).
Part of me believes that my friends should be helping me regardless of what I give them while my co-founders think we should be compensating our friends for connecting us with potentially our seed investors.
Thoughts? <comment><USER2> It's worth running this by a securities lawyer. A variety of federal and state laws may be at issue. If someone is being paid for making referrals you need to be sure that you (and the referring party) have crossed every t and dotted every i. Sorry for being less than specific -- it is an issue that jumps off the page for me, but I don't know the answer and don't want to lead you astray. A good securities lawyer can tell quickly if this is/isn't an issue that needs to be dealt with in greater detail. My guess is yes, and dealing with the SEC or equivalent state regulator will be even less fun. I am sure someone on HN can give you the name of a trusted legal advisor who will give you a quick gut check if you don't have someone already.

</comment><comment><USER3> I guess it depends really on what they're doing. If they or you are leaning towards on equity being given I would write up a very specific contract that states all of what will be done, and under what circumstances they are awarded equity - how much, etc.. and also probably setup a sliding scale of amount depending on how much they get you. You'll have to decide how much you need and what dictates what amount of equity. It won't only really be a referral - you'll have to provide other information to potential seed investors - so I'd just say put a profile up on AngelList (angel.co) and keep whatever equity - your friend can point people he/she knows to your AngelList profile then.</comment>


All dislikes on YouTube just became likes - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

<comment><AUTHOR> All dislikes on YouTube have disappeared. The link is Gangnam Style showing 8,251,688 likes and 0 dislikes.</comment>


High Frequency Trading Tech For Non-Financial Problems. - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/03/11/high-frequency-trading-tech-finds-other-uses/

<comment><USER3> The area is also called stream computing. I work on a project in this area, which made HN a bit ago: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2442977>

Note that the above article erroneously ties the Streams project with the Watson project - aside from coming from the same research lab, we have nothing to do with each other. My comment on Streams from that thread:

Why I find working on Streams exciting: we're designing a language and runtime system for a new programming model. Not just a new language (which we do have), but a new programming model. The way you write programs changes when you have essentially infinite streams of data coming through your system - <USER2> have to think in terms of operators that transform or filter individual pieces, and you have to keep in mind its inherent distributed nature. That is, you may write a chain of operators to process your data, but each operator can run in parallel with the others, even though you will probably design your application thinking of one particular piece of data marching through the system. The runtime system itself is, of course, distributed and fast. To get an overview of this programming model, take a look at this paper: "SPADE: The System S Declarative Stream Processing Engine": [http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.160...](http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.160..). Just keep in mind two things: the newest iteration of the language is called Streams Processing Language (SPL), and that it is a complete rewrite of Spade.

If you're interested in getting a feel for the programming model, here is a public getting started guide: [http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/streams/v2r0/index....](http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/streams/v2r0/index.jsp?nav=/3_1_3)

And the language spec: [http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/streams/v2r0/index....](http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/streams/v2r0/index.jsp?nav=/3_1_5)

I suppose I should put in the disclaimer that these are my views, and I do not represent IBM.

</comment><comment><USER4> I'm all for burning less fuel and making shipping more efficient, but I think it is a bit of a stretch to say this particular use case is not related to finance. Ports becoming more efficient ultimately saves oil, natural gas, and other commodities companies money. Commodities traders are very tuned into port congestion and global movement of ships and make lots of money trading upon the flow of commodities (mostly oil/gas).

If this particular case is not related to finance, then how come the Bloomberg terminal tells me there are exactly 401 ships in Rotterdam port as of this morning, the 5 day moving average is creeping up, and 8 of the top 10 ships by tonnage are crude oil tankers?

<comment><USER3> In a global economy, everything is a finite number of steps away from finance. That does not make everything in service of finance.

<comment><USER5> Finance is just a way of doing resource allocation in a quantifiable way. The ideal scenario is that the cheapest option is also the most efficient (or vice versa, depending on how you think about it). The finance industry is a highly abstract way of finding the methods for creating the most wealth (for any given definition) while consuming the fewest resources. That's called "return on investment".

<comment><USER3> I don't disagree with what you said. My comment was in response to what I saw as the claim that just because something impacts the financial industry, it's related to the financial industry in a meaningful way. That reasoning could be applied to just about everything, which means it's a meaningless distinction.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Idly I've wondered if there was a way to turn the efficient markets model on it's head. Rather than gathering a ton of predictive information to try and get another 2% efficiency, instead use the already efficient market activity to predict other things. For instance if oil prices drop GM should start ordering more V8 engine parts instead of I4. I'm sure this already happens at some level.

<comment><USER7> Yes. The Economist often quotes the prices of insuring against default of a creditor (like Greece) as an indicator of how likely they are to go bust.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Nice to see all the resources invested by the market makers in savage zero-sum competition having some actual use.

<comment><USER9> Please don't spout vitriol when you don't understand what you're talking about. Trading is obviously zero-sum in wealth, but the important thing is that it is _not_ zero-sum in utility. That is the fundamental reason that people trade: to transfer risk. American Airlines does this every time they want to hedge against the price of oil. The fact that there are competitive market makers makes this cheaper for the airlines to do, and that savings in cost is transferred to _you_ every time you sit on an airplane, go to the gas pump, buy orange juice or wheat products, buy a car, or almost anything else.

The fact that market makers don't service _you_ directly by selling you an apple does _not_ mean that what they do is useless.

<comment><USER8> I absolutely agree that trading is socially useful, and markets would be much less liquid if we didn't have big companies ready to stand as counter-party to whatever buying and selling smaller market players want to do. It just makes me a bit sad that the profits that rightfully accrue to the sector are then seemingly wasted on HFT infrastructure, a competition that doesn't seem to provide anything useful above the standard market-making role.

<comment><USER9> * It just makes me a bit sad that the profits that rightfully accrue to the sector are then seemingly wasted on HFT infrastructure, a competition that doesn't seem to provide anything useful above the standard market-making role.

I think that's the point though: the immediate execution that liquidity offers you is the price you pay to hedge risk. The other option is for these companies to set up their own trading desks. For instance, suppose an airline wanted to buy oil at a price it wanted. If the market is very illiquid, they're less willing to cross the bid/ask spread to hit whatever wide offer someone else is posting. The longer they have to wait, the more risk they're at. The "standard market-making role" solves this problem exactly. It allows them to hedge their risk at lesser cost. That is a valuable service, and that is why market makeres exist.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Chinese, Taiwanese Restaurants Drop 'Golden' and 'Dragon'-Take on Mandarin Names - <AUTHOR> https://www.npr.org/2019/01/27/568413720/dropping-wok-and-panda-chinese-restaurants-take-on-mandarin-names <comment><USER2> I can see the thinking behind the move -- embracing their identity -- but the thing with pinyin is that's not always intuitive for English speakers who've not learned it explicitly.

For instance, take the common New Year greeting 恭喜發財, romanized in pinyin as "Gong Xi Fa Cai". "Xi" in pinyin is pronounced somewhat like "she" in English, but someone who doesn't know will intuitively try to say "eks-ee" or "eks-eye" which is incomprehensible to a native Chinese. Likewise, "Cai" is like "tz" \+ "eye", but someone might try to say "Kai" as in the pronunciation of "Cairo".

<comment><USER3> Taiwan used to have an official Romanization system called MPSII. I wish they pushed it harder because it's a lot easier for non-Mandarin-speakers to get right.

• "Gong Xi Fa Cai" becomes "Gung Shi Fa Tsai"

• "Xiaomi" becomes "Shiau-mi"

• "Jiu" (pronounced like "Joe") becomes "Jiou"

• "Qu" (pronounced like "chew") becomes "Chu"

<comment><USER4> I always wondered why Romanization was done the way it was. Someone had the unprecedented opportunity to build a system from whole cloth where everything was pronounced just like it sounded, and _completely_ fucked it up.

<comment><USER3> The goal of Pinyin was to be a pronunciation guide for Chinese people who have no preconceived ideas about what letters make what sounds. It works great for that. The problem is when foreigners try to pronounce Pinyin using their existing knowledge of the Latin alphabet. Inevitably they end up pronouncing "Xiaomi" as "Jow-me", etc!

<comment><USER5> I think this isn't giving Pinyin enough credit.

The biggest problem with English pronunciation, and the biggest reason everyone says English spelling is a mess, is the Great Vowel Shift: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift)

So when you're writing a sound in the Latin alphabet, you have two choices:

\- spell it like English (the only language with spelling so confusing, spelling bees are a thing)

\- or spell it like every other language (relatively consistent)

Pinyin... chose to be consistent, like every other language.

A lot of the other weirdness is based on other languages, too: for instance, "x" is pronounced "sh" is Portuguese as well.

<comment><USER3> I'm not saying saying use English vowels or anything like that, I just mean they could have used the letters in more standard ways like MPSII does.

<comment><USER6> By what "standard". Many pinyin pronunciations are close to standard for many European languages expect English. On top of that Mandarin has multiple similar sounds (in pinyin presented as "x", "sh", "j" and "q") that would force you to get a little more creative.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Most of the ideas listed in the article seem quite unlikely to me. I very much doubt that the 53k people studying Mandarin have anything to do with it, for instance, or that it makes us "ready to engage mainland China" (lol, what?).

It may be more interesting to compare with other ethnic cuisines. Foreign language names for restaurants have been very common for years, including for other Asian cuisines (e.g. Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Korean). When you look at it that way, the Chinese restaurant scene actually seems to be a late arrival to this trend.

I think this represents a deliberate break in branding with the previous Chinese restaurant tradition. Maybe it's to signify a difference in cuisine (authentic Chinese vs. American Chinese?). Or an ethnic difference (like the article mentions, more Northern Chinese who speak Mandarin, vs. the old immigrants who spoke Cantonese or Taishanese).

Or perhaps younger restaurateurs actually have a more "American" ear, and now feel that names like "Golden Dragon" sound kind of goofy. In the article, Mr. Huang actually says that he looked at names like "Sauce" or "Hearth" first, which are typical trendy names of the moment for an American restaurant. So, paradoxically, the use of Chinese names may actually be due to the owners being more Americanized.

</comment><comment><USER8> I'd like to see more Chinese restaurants offering more authentic dishes. Sure most strip mall Chinese places need to have the American Chinese food staples because people expect it, but I think they might also have some success putting a few of the off-menu authentic Chinese dishes on the menu.

<comment><USER9> Not sure where you are. But in Bay area, American Chinese cuisine and authentic Chinese cuisine are different genres. As a Chinese I never go to the former unless I have to.

Better to ask your Chinese colleagues for suggestion.

<comment> mark-r Dim Sum in Chinatown is a revelation. Have the property values in SF destroyed Chinatown yet?

<comment><USER9> Go to the South Bay or the east Bay, that's where the new generation of Chinese work and live.

SF's China Town doesn't matter much now. Similar to LA's, where most good Chinese restaurants are outside Chinatown.

<comment> mark-r Thanks for the hints, I'll definitely check that out next time I visit.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> There was a Taiwanese-owned restaurant here in Minneapolis for many years called Evergreen, which is a _very_ Taiwanese name, just translated into English.

</comment><comment> mark-r I have some friends who many years ago threatened to make a Chinese restaurant name generator. Take about 20 words and just pick a pair at random. Jade Dragon, Peking Pagoda, Dragon Palace, etc. It was funny because it would have worked.

</comment><comment><USER11> Next up, drop "Best", "Gourmet", "Jade" snd "Garden". Funny enough even in China and Taiwan you see "Golden" (Ex. Golden Bowl Soup) in restaurant names, though perhaps not the same frequency.

<comment><USER9> In China, some restaurant named after these words but those are really because the owners like the good meanings behind these words.

Actually these days people tend to not use these because they look pretty silly and antique.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I wonder if the common trend for Vietnamese restaursnts to have Vietnamese words in their names is as much about cultural pride as it is that there are so many possibilities for puns, e.g Pho Real, Pho King, Pho Keene Great, Un Pho Gettable, Bun Me.

</comment><comment> rough-sea If you're interested in these sorts of topics - feast meets west is a great nerdy podcast about the Asian food scene in nyc [http://feastmeetswest.com](http://feastmeetswest.com)

</comment><comment><USER13> I think the main reason is that foreign word went from being foreign to being fashionable. People love to use foreign word when talking about food because it makes them sound knowledgeable and well travelled.

</comment><comment><USER14> [https://instagram.com/mrchow](https://instagram.com/mrchow) is a good exanple of a restaurant without the dated golden dragon phoenix motif

<comment><USER15> I had the misfortune of eating here last week, with some colleagues visiting from mainland China at that, and unfortunately the food is Panda Express level crud. It's still very much American Chinese food for white people, just in flashy surroundings.</comment></comment>


Help us save a student life. Please donate as much as you can #FightCancer - <AUTHOR> https://milaap.org/fundraisers/save-mangilal <comment><USER2> Did you guys approach a NGO or a hospital which does these operations at lower costs?

</comment><comment><USER3> Good luck to you man</comment>


Ask HN: MVP - How to handle the emotional roller-coaster ride? - <AUTHOR>

Hi HN, A few months ago I asked around 2,000 potential customers (B2C) if they would pay for this one product. Turned out that they hated the product in every way possible. I was really having problems with how harsh people declined. Now fast forward to today. I have offered a new product to five potential customers (B2B)  and even without me talking about money they offered to pay right away. Those five have been the first five I ever talked to about this product. Now I am being realisitc, the market for my product isn't large. At the same time I am so excited that this thing will turn into a product with paying  customers! Right now I can't eat, sleep or do anything that is not related to the product. How do you handle such situations? Does it get less emotional after a few rides? <comment><USER2> Set up a landing page and way to preorder your product. You could also use something like [https://gumroad.com/](https://gumroad.com/)

Then, go back to the people you talked to and ask them to preorder. "Yes I would probably pay" doesn't count. Make them pay. If they pay, great, talk to a few more people and repeat the process. Maybe aim for about 10 people or so?

If they don't prepay... start listening closely. You should get some good feedback on the idea.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's a cliche, but I find a quote from William Wallace really helps in this sort of situation. (I work in filmmaking and internet marketing, two industries with fairly significant peaks and troughs.)

The quote in question: "This too shall pass.". Equally useful in good or bad situations.

</comment><comment><USER4> Don't you want to tell us about your product?

<comment><AUTHOR> Does it matter? With the first product users could win money, travels, cosmetics and other prizes for solving knowledge based puzzles. The B2B product saves time by automating specific QA work flows when testing mobile apps/ xbox/playstation/wii games.</comment></comment>


US, UK and Canada allege Russian cyberattacks on Covid-19 research centers - <AUTHOR> https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/07/16/us-uk-and-canada-allege-russian-cyberattacks-on-covid-19-research-centers/ <comment><AUTHOR> Here's the full advisory [https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Advisory- APT29-targets-COVID-1...](https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/files/Advisory- APT29-targets-COVID-19-vaccine-development.pdf)</comment>


How to Understand Typography Like a Professional Designer - <AUTHOR> http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/30065/how-to-understand-typography-like-a-professional-designer/

<comment><USER2> The graphic opening the "Typographic Terms You Should Know" section is seriously broken. Arrows point to all sorts of wrong things. With a graphic like that, on a topic so graphically important, my rule of thumb is to disregard the article rather than spend the time to discern what is true and what is false in the text.

But if you're interested in typography, by all means buy "The Elements of Typographic Style" which is a sound and beautiful work on the subject.

<comment><USER3> Another great book, introductory and small but still really great info is <http://www.papress.com/thinkingwithtype/>.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Title is a bit misleading. It's actually just a brief introduction to typefaces and contains almost nothing about how professional designers work with typography.

<comment><USER5> I don't see anything in the title about working with typography. It suggests you will understand typography (like a professional designer does).

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> The most important thing I've learned is that every (good) typeface is designed for a specific reason, otherwise they would have used an existing one. That reason may be overcoming a technical limitation of the time, or there is a quality in the content that needs additional emphasis.

All of the great typefaces have some kind of history. An original use case (the brief), influences, designer biography, etc. - which can be looked up on wikipedia or elsewhere. As a general rule, if your project meets the original requirements of the typeface, it should be appropriate. Sometimes a face will pick up additional cultural connotations along the way, depending where it's used. And great graphic designers know when they can mix-and-match history for style.

<comment><USER7> >The most important thing I've learned is that every (good) typeface is designed for a specific reason

Making money is probably the specific reason in an awful lot of cases.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How much Java do you need to know to write Android apps? - <AUTHOR>

My goal is to develop mobile apps, starting with Android.
My background is only perl/bash/SQL - just scripting.
I know you need to know Java to do Android, but my question is... how much? I'm going through a Deitel "Java - How to Program, 9th ed." book. I'm wondering how much of this is relevant to Android.
Should I be starting from the Android tutorials and working backwards first? In other words, learn things from the Android side, and when something explicitly Java-related is required... go back and fill in the holes?
I'm trying to figure out the most efficient way to get proficient... but do it right. I'd like to establish good programming habits, from the start.
Thank you for your time! <comment><USER2> For an overview of Java, the book resource you cited (Deitel Java - How to Program), is an excellent source. I would suggest that you use it to familiarize yourself with the very basics of Java.

You don't have to go through the entire book cover to cover, but enough of it that you are at least familiar with basic java concepts and syntax. With that, proceed immediately to Android specific programming.

I had suggested some resources for starting out with Android development which you may want to look at: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7016067](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7016067)

</comment><comment><USER3> In summary I would recommend you don't worry about being right from the start. Spend a little time (like you are with this HN post) to find out enough to pick at least two very different quick routes for developing at least two very different simple apps. Then come back to HN to discuss your experience and at that point you have a decent chance of picking a right path.

Some further food for thought:

> I know you need to know Java to do Android

There are several languages and tools that codegen to the JVM, and more specifically, Dalvik, the special version of the JVM used for Android, so you don't _have_ to learn Java per se.

For example, there's Clojure, a flavor of lisp that targets the JVM and supports Android/Dalvik.

> My goal is to develop mobile apps, starting with Android.

There's already at least one non-Java language/tool I know of that not only codegens to Android but also iOS and other platforms. So you can write code once and just push a button to have it run on Android, push another and it runs on iOS. I'm not going to mention the language/tool because it's controversial (eg it's not open source), but I'd be surprised if there aren't open source equivalents either already in existence or set to arrive soonish.

> My background is only perl/bash/SQL - just scripting.

The "Are We There Yet?" Perl 6 codegens to multiple platforms including the JVM. Unfortunately a key piece of their current codegen strategy doesn't work with Dalvik so I'd say Android's probably out for Perl 6 for at least a year or ten.

</comment><comment><USER4> The answer: as much as you can learn. But actually, to start, a basic skillset is enough. I would say that you should start with Java first then you can learn the Android stuff. Thinking in Java is the book I always recommend (by Bruce Eckel); Android has a good tutorial on Google's Android site, I think that is good for beginners. I have not read any books on Android but I am sure there are some good books on advanced topics if you are familiar with the basics. Start with some easy, small thing then you will learn the pieces with time.

</comment><comment><USER5> I would try to program first something in Java like a small project (without gui) that uses some libraries and has an OOP design. Just experiment with classes, structures and maybe access a database. Then when you know what interfaces, subclasses etc are , migrate and take a course on android development from a MOOC such as udacity or coursera.

Then build an awesome app :)

</comment><comment><USER6> I'd suggest learning Android straight up. Java Android is a crippled version of Java IMO. If you want to learn Java specifically learn up to generics. That's all you really need. You can make things quickly using base Android without knowing much about Java.

</comment><comment><USER7> You don't need to know much Java is you are starting out. If you are familiar with OOP, that's really all you need.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't know much OOP... as everything I've done up to this point, is very procedural. (bash, perl)</comment></comment>


Boost Version 1.66.0 - <AUTHOR> http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_66_0.html <comment><USER2> The Beast library is now officially a part of Boost. Beast makes REST and WebSocket programming easier in modern C++. Congrats Vinnie Falco for a job well done!!</comment>


Malaysia Digital Free Trade Zone - <AUTHOR> https://mydftz.com/ <comment><USER2> You only need to google "Malaysia internet sharia law" to understand why it would be a very poor idea to invest in datacenter/telecom infrastructure in Malaysia, domestically. The government is going the same direction as Turkey recently.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=malaysia+internet+sharia+law...](https://www.google.com/search?q=malaysia+internet+sharia+law&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8)

In my opinion it's ethically the same as deciding to operate a datacenter in mainland China and sign up for all the government laws, regulations and oversight that goes with it: You can do it from a technical perspective, but many US based companies have explicitly chosen not to do so based on their own ethical standards.

<comment><USER3> It's not even just the government.

I wouldn't store any confidential/secure data in a country that you can bribe cops for relatively trivial sums in. That does end up writing off most of the world for storage, admittedly.

<comment><USER4> Most startups in Malaysia use services like S3 storage and host their databases elsewhere, which are not based in Malaysia (usually Singapore, Japan, US, etc.) At my first startup job my boss insisted to never store any data in Malaysia because he was kinda paranoid. If a Malaysian startup does that is it still a concern for international users?

I'm Malaysian and I'm wondering what the perception is for an international user if a SaaS business is known to be from Malaysia.

For the record, bigwig companies like Grab had its roots in Malaysia. Only when they started getting big they moved to Singapore, perhaps due to such perception issues, and also talent.

Anyway, I've lived and grown up in Malaysia, and all I can say is that while the system ain't perfect, but daily life goes on with normalcy and I'm not so sure about the FUD portayed in comments.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> As an alternative I want to mention the very convenient Dubai Internet City, which is a free zone next to the Dubai Marina district. I was there, left a good impression on me, and the also have no big problem when you trade with other non-freezone companies in the UAE. Microsoft, Oracle and IBM all have a place there.

<comment><USER6> Ditto, relocated there from Doha. It is conveniently close to a large cluster of AirBnBs, which helps out big time while waiting for a resident's permit.

<comment><USER5> How long did it take you to get a resident's permit? Seemed to me like this process would be quite fast.

<comment><USER6> It probably could be fast, if you have all your ducks lined up. UAE immigration wanted me to go back to Canada to pick up a fresh notarized copy of my educational and criminal records.

I really don't understand why this kind of thing can't be done over a video conference, and then printed, stamped, scanned, emailed, printed locally. But, I got a nice little trip to my hometown out of it, so whatever.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Is this just a normal free trade zone with "digital" tacked onto the name?

<comment><USER8> Cynically: No, it's "Cyber" prepended to "jaya" (used to mean "city" in Malaysia, but apparently derived from Sanskrit for 'victory', ie. a place where a battle was won) - ie. a rebranding of "The city at the place of the victory of the battle of Cyber" to "digital free trade zone".

Realistically: Maybe in part. It looks like in part they are trying to challenge Singapore for air freight logistics. Unfortunately KLIA is miles from KL and nobody really lives out there, so even though you get "express freight handling" the only major nearby markets accessible by road are Singapore and KL (plus some second-tier peninsular Malaysian cities) and in the former case you have to pay to cross another border.

Amusingly: On their promotional video they tout the future as being "borderless" \- quite funny as KL is known to be a global center for forged, modified and stolen passports and other identity documentation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Sounds like a branding refresh for the Multimedia Super Corridor: [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSC_Malaysia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSC_Malaysia)

<comment><USER10> It is.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> re: first video on page: I like Jack Ma and often agree with him, but his view on globalization is I think incorrect. Sure globalization has helped lift many people in the world out of poverty (good thing!) but I can't buy into giving up countrys' rights to have their own laws and I think preserving local culture is important.

So, globalization is a 'mixed bag.'

</comment><comment><USER12> Oh, when I read the title, I wrongly thought it's Digital-Free Trade Zone, a trade zone without any digital methods. :D</comment>


OwnStaGram: a self hosting instagram-clone to prevent privacy concerns - <AUTHOR>

a few weeks ago I started a project to imitate instagram on my own server. I wanted to share photos, but keep full control over them. Due to the actual press around instagram and their changes in terms of use, I decided to publish my project even if its in early beta.
I like to hear if you need such a solution and what ideas do you have.
Try it if you like: http://www.mad5.de/ownstagram/
Until now there is a first android-app to manipulate pictures and upload them to your stream. You can share single photos with a unique URL and let others comment on photos. <comment><AUTHOR> Things still in development: \- email-notify if someone comments on my pictures. \- user-management on my server \- buddylist \- keep a list of pictures from my friends I already saw \- see gallery-pictures in app \- add geoposition to pictures

</comment><comment><USER2> I've been running my own for a while on an old version of Twitter-Image-Host that is now pretty hacked-up. The API endpoint is critical so things like Tweetbot and other social media apps (that are decent) can post back quickly.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> You find the android-app here: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.apache.cor...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.apache.cordova.ownstagram)</comment>


Show HN: SeeMeSpeak, a crowd-sourced dictionary for sign languages - <AUTHOR> http://kaeff.net/posts/seemespeak-sign-language-dictionary-railsrumble-2013.html

<comment><USER2> I am one of the authors: Ask me anything!

<comment><USER3> [In the far future] any plans to hook people up with e.g. a Kinect so you can capture point clouds and allow people to rotate the signs / see them from different perspectives? Or is this completely unnecessary?

As someone who hasn't learnt sign language myself, I'm not sure, but I think I'd find it easier to mirror a sign by seeing it from the person's point of view (i.e. "over the shoulder") rather than looking from a camera's point-of- view in front.

Also, what's the current state of the art like for detecting sign language? Could you use similar tech to test people and make sure they're performing signs correctly?

<comment><USER2> Kinect was thrown around. I am not sure how helpful it is for learners. Our first attempt would be to implement a "mirror" view next to a given video were you can see yourself doing what the person on screen does. The biggest problem is that this would mean that everyone recording needed a Kinect. I'll touch that subject at the end.

Over the shoulder is problematic, as the face is very important. What the inside of your hands show to you is neglectible anyways. Also, we assume that this problem will go away when you see yourself side-by-side with a given person. If you hit refresh some times, you will find some videos that have the same person from the side and from the front. I think that is very good, but has a huge production overhead.

Detecting sign language: there is a problem there, and that is documented corpus. Be aware that sign languages are just as much subject to dialects as other languages. Some signs are completely different from nothern germany to southern germany.

Which brings me to the problem of corpora: we only included DGS here, because that was the only language we spoke that we found a well-tagged corpus under a permissive license for (by scraping a wiki...). Even that corpus is only 800 videos. There are some corpora which basically amount to a bunch of videos which not necessarily depict a single phrase and are not transcribed. Others are owned by the universities that created them - they could give us a license, but that misses the scope of our project: we make this corpus freely available.

We attribute the lack of user-generated corpora to the fact that producing very short videos (3-5 seconds) is still a huge hassle. You need a camera or a capture tool, encode the resulting videos, upload them to a wiki, transcribe them properly there... In a time where browsers are gaining recording capabilities and every laptop comes with a cam, we wanted to make this easier for users. Our recording workflow is certainly not finished yet, but this is a POC that is already much quicker.

Thats also the reason why we won't have a look at the Kinect soon: it's by far not as widespread as cameras.

<comment><USER4> In regards to handling video upload and encoding, have you checked out Transloadit[1]?

[1] [https://transloadit.com/](https://transloadit.com/)

<comment><USER5> We thought of this, but using this service would have been against the rails rumble rules

<comment><USER4> Oh sorry, I missed that part. What about now? Improvement after using 3rd parties is acceptable?

<comment><USER5> I don't think this is needed anymore. We have a avconv pipeline already working right now :) .</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Anopa – An init system and service manager built around s6 - vezzy-fnord http://jjacky.com/anopa/

<comment><AUTHOR> This is derivative of daemontools from DJB, one of the more elegant pieces of unix'isms I've ever used and a key piece of many large infrastructures in many startups.

Anyways, it's a neat idea... Other derivative tools like runit and s6 are all slightly more modern pieces of software built on top of, or replacing parts of ucspi-tcp and daemontools. This is yet another... and assuming it's well written, probably pretty good.

Daemontools: [http://cr.yp.to/daemontools.html](http://cr.yp.to/daemontools.html)

<comment><USER2> > This is derivative of daemontools from DJB

I am not sure I understand your statement. Anopa is built on top of S6.

<comment><AUTHOR> S6 is derivative of daemontools. Without daemontools, S6 wouldn't exist. Daemontools created the svscan /service run/down log/run dichotomy.

That's all. These are all from a lineage, direct or indirect, of an incredible piece of software engineering (daemontools).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Does any distro use it?

<comment><USER4> you mean as its default init system? I don't think so (unless you consider LFS a distribution), but it's available for many distributions plus it seems like a good init system for containers, etc.</comment></comment>


Goal: become developer this year from scratch. Feedback? - <AUTHOR> Interested in meeting fellow travelers who are doing the same, have done the same, or are just interested. My email is thegrokaholic [AT SYMBOL] gmail [DOT] com.
BACKGROUND:
28 years old, San Francisco. Programming experience consists of a Python tutorial, making a simple text game for friends. Want to build stuff on computers all day for work, initially freelancing or working a job for experience, and later building products and a company.
MAIN GOAL:
Current temp job ends in May. Taking this chance to leap into professional web development. Saved enough to cover living expenses thru Sept. By May, will have enough to cover living expenses thru Dec. By Dec, goal is to get first client and make $2k from web dev. After taxes, that $2k will cover Jan expenses, buying another month to find the next client, then the next. If I fail, I'll go back to temping and save until I can try this again.
SPRING GOAL: Build my personal site while learning HTML/CSS/Javascript/jQuery as I go. Lots of overtime at the current job, so I'm just doing as much dev as I can when I can on the side. Using internet tutorials while attending classes at the Noisebridge hackerspace for Frontend Web Dev (HTML/CSS/JS), Python, and Web Apps (learning Git, Python frameworks e.g. Django).
Focusing most of my time on HTML/CSS/JS, but really enjoy learning more Python/Django/Git/Unix/SQL material. Not only is Python/Django what I want to ultimately do at this point, studying this and associated topics (Git version control/command line/SQL) gives me this sense of wider perspective on frontend topics.
That said, reached out to someone who has done what I'm trying to do, and they advised me to only focus on either HTML/CSS/JS or Python/Django for now. What do you think? Is it realistic to attempt them all while achieving my $2k goal by Dec, or am I definitely better of sticking to just HTML/CS/JS this year?
SUMMER GOAL: In June, once my current job ends, going into 24/7 build mode, building sites for my portfolio while continuing to grok what I need as I go. These will be sites for friends or charities.
FALL/WINTER GOAL:
Then around Sept, switch out of bootcamp mode and start devoting half my time to getting my portfolio out there, and trying to get that first customer, even if it's just subcontracting menial tasks from another dev. Other half of my time will stay devoted to building and grokking new things.
What do you think? Perspective, advice welcome. Thanks for reading.
PS If you're trying to do the same thing, and are interested in an example of someone who has succeeded in becoming a dev from scratch within a similar timeframe, check out the site of proudn00b (http://www.proudn00b.com/). If you know sites of other people who have done the same, drop me a link. The inspiration helps. Thanks! <comment><USER2> Have you considered learning PHP with a framework? Code Igniter isn't too hardto learn, and the bonus of this strategy is that you'll learn using a framework. Once you get that switching to RoR or Django isn't too big of a step. In fact, you can use codeigniter for making your own custom CMS, killing two birds with one stone! This is the link to the tut: [http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/codeigniter-from- scrat...](http://net.tutsplus.com/articles/news/codeigniter-from-scratch- day-1/)

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm considering. My passion is for Python and Django, though some people say I should go with PHP and Wordpress because it's easier to learn, and to get paid. CodeIgniter comes up too. I've already invested some time with Python/Django, enjoy it, and wonder if it would still save time to learn PHP which I have no prior exp in? Perhaps the bigger issue is that there's more noob-friendly PHP work out there. Thanks for the link, checking it out right now.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> > _"By Dec, goal is to get first client and make $2k from web dev. After > taxes, that $2k will cover Jan expenses, buying another month to find the > next client, then the next."_

That's not a very workable strategy.

Work for your December client will interfere with finding your January client - or your January client will show up in October promising to be your December client.

Then your March client shows up, only he wants it done January, too.

Or you start looking for clients in December and you land three in April and three in May.

And your December client holds your invoice for 90 days and your March client doesn't pay you so in May you have to decide if it's worth taking them to small claims court for $2500 - hopefully you've learned enough to write a contract by that point.

Then, May changes the scope of the work and refuses to pay until you do it all over again.

In other words, finding clients is hard work. Getting paid is hard work. Doing what you know how to do is the easy part.

Good Luck.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the constructive criticism! To clarify, my goal is not to find a client in Dec, but by Dec. Start focusing on client hunting around Sept, giving me about 4 months to find a gig.

Still unrealistic? Currently don't see a better option than to try, and if I fail, go back to temping/saving until I can try again. Is there a smarter way I'm overlooking? Thanks for again for your input.

<comment><USER3> How realistic it is depends on how many people you know who will pay you several thousand dollars to do what you do. Finding clients isn't like finding a job - a new website is a change to business operations.

Client development can take years - relatively few people pull the trigger on $3000 expenditures each day.

And when they do, why should they hire you?

<comment><AUTHOR> Will have a clearer idea around Sept. Then I'll know where my skills/portfolio will be, and can test out what price the market will bear for my skills. Could be more or less than I expect. Rather than wait till I have total certainty, will just go for it, find out if things work, and if not, learn and adjust. Unless there's some smarter way to do this with more guarantees that I'm overlooking, then will do that. I'm willing to try and a fail for years if needed. Reason for the 1 year goal is not because I'm impatient and will quit if things don't work right away. It's to make sure that I'm not overly patient --waiting years until absolutely sure that everything is guaranteed and understood in advance before leaping in.

Agree with your point that not everybody drops $2k on one project. So if that happens I'll just have to meet the $2k goal by getting more customers paying less per project. A lazy way to introduce myself to lots of clients right away is to sign up with a temp agency like RHI's Creative Group that will match my skills to clients for a cut of my hourly wage. Having temped before, I know this is a way to make lots of connections in a short period of time. Would need to validate my worth to the agency first, but that's still easier than doing the same to several clients. Along the same lines: subcontracting. Really, will try everything, see what works.

How did you snag your first clients? Were you already established as a dev through work at a company before you started freelancing? Or did you freelance before having dev jobs on your resume?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> That's awesome you set this out for yourself. Almost every bright person and genius I know are all self taught, kudos for jumping in the pool and the best of luck. Keep us updated.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the encouragement! "We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities but its own talents." ― Eric Hoffer

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> First off, you need to make a small tweak to your mind-set. You aren't initially doing freelance work and then starting a company, rather you are starting a company as soon as you start doing client work. The mind-set is important because you will be more successful from the start.

You absolutely need to know JS well, and be proficient in HTML / CSS, so I'm not sure a focus on either front-end or back-end is good advice. However, with limited time you need to choose your battles well, so don't worry about mastering HTML / CSS at the start (ie, you can duplicate any site but you won't be as fast at it as someone who does this part as a regular gig.) Become proficient with Linux, but don't spend too much time there. Just learn the basics, the rest can quickly become a sand trap and your time is best spent elsewhere.

To make this work, you need six months living expenses at the start of doing client work. Three months is an absolute minimum and once you hit that point you are in critical territory. This is extremely important because this determines how you are able to plan and pick your jobs. Drop below the three month point and you are taking a hit in your job selection and rates because you are forced to take whatever comes along as opposed to having a buffer period where you can work out better gigs. This then places you in a vicious circle because not being able to select the right gigs might make getting your savings back up to six months difficult. Freelancing can be very lucrative to those who are well established in development circles, but at the beginning you will be hard pressed to even be able to pay your basic expenses.

You mentioned you are a traveler. Get out of San Francisco and move somewhere cheaper while you are just getting started. San Francisco is probably great for looking for start-ups to work for as a full timer, but you can do freelancing from anywhere. You can move back at a later time.

You might consider PHP because there are more things that you can do in the market with it due to easier hosting options and the large number of PHP content management systems available. If you were to learn a CMS such as Wordpress, Drupal or ExpressionEngine well then you could easily be landing your first clients within 3 - 6 months. CMS work is mostly configuration and converting static HTML / CSS into dynamic templates. You could focus on learning the CMS (pick just one to start) well for 2 - 3 months while also learning JS / CSS / HTML. After that, you can start looking for clients and move into PHP so that you can extend the platform.

CMS work in PHP may not sound as good as building custom applications in Python and it probably doesn't pay as well on average, but you are on a limited time frame. If you were already an A level developer in Python, then I would have different advice. You can always learn Python down the road a bit and eventually make a switch. One caveat on pay is that marketing / sales skills are ultimately more important for your rates than your programming language selection. I have seen great developers do horrible on the business side and I have seen developers with little skill raking in the cash. The business side is a totally different can of worms and will make you or break you.

Spending time learning is important but spending time building a portfolio isn't so important. A portfolio is necessary for designers, but developers just need to know their stuff. Building for friends and charities is good for learning, but it's not very helpful for your bottom line. Instead, you might focus on building small niche ideas of your own which you might be able to monetize. If nothing else, you could try selling the sites you build on Flippa. Another option (especially if you go the PHP route) is to build add- ons for content management systems and sell them on your site. Working for free should be limited to contributions to open source projects.

Always keep an open mind for alternative business models and plans. If you are a skilled marketer, you could even get started right away by bringing in work and then outsourcing that work to other developers. You could do some world travel and live very cheap by moving abroad to a place like S.E. Asia while you are getting started (that's what I did.)

Lastly, you might consider attempting to get started with a web development shop after your learning period. This will give you a chance to see how a good shop should be run while you continue to build your development chops.

I have been thinking about building out a service to help people get started in freelance web development. I will send you an email.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for taking the time to share your advice. Let me see if I can summarize your main points, and reply to them under my summaries.

1) Think of yourself as a startup, not a freelancer preparing for a startup.

Agreed! I think on hacker news people get touchy if you call yourself a startup when you're really just starting consulting. However, in my mind, I see my company's product as myself, and I'm trying to create a minimum viable product this year.

2) Don't grok HTML/CSS or Linux, but do learn enough to get by. Do learn JS really well.

Point taken.

3) Move somewhere cheaper.

I might be wrong on this, but I'm determined to make it while living in SF. Others have done it, I will too. If I am wrong, I will go back to temping, save again, and maybe consider moving to Tahiti the second time around.

I'm curious to know your story of starting up in SE Asia, what you did, what it was like, how things worked out.

4) Consider ditching Python web apps, learn PHP and how to configure CMSes like Wordpress, Drupal, etc. It's faster route to getting paid.

Half the people I've talked to say "PHP + CMS!". Half say "Python and Framework!". I suppose I have some time to think about this more, while I get focus on building the fundamentals of my site.

6) Hustle, not programming language, influences pay most. So hustle.

Definitely.

7) Consider skipping portfolio-building, start making and selling small products to turn immediate profit instead.

Definitely keeping that in mind. My ultimate goal is to build products anyways, but I don't yet have the confidence to trust that I can build my ideas, let alone than anyone will want them. However, I do feel like I can build little websites for people, and sell those. So that feels like a safer option. But I am keeping myself open to other approaches, my plan is merely an outline and a starting point. I'm sure as I become more proficient, I'll start seeing product ideas within my means to execute that might be worth risking a little time to build.

8) Be flexible and creative with business models e.g. consider outsourcing.

I understand what risks I'm comfortable taking, and which I'm not. I'll only feel comfortable outsourcing work that I can do myself. That way I can take responsibility in case the work isn't done correctly, by fixing it myself, esp when there isn't money to hire someone to fix the mistake for me. But that is a quibble. There would be situations where such an arrangement could work out, and I agree with the spirit of what you're saying.

9) Consider joining a web dev shop

That's an interesting suggestion. Would a web dev shop would take someone without a portfolio? Honest question, I've never tried to join one.

There are temp agencies in SF that specialize in placing web developers. I've considered going to my current temp agency later this year, and asking them to place me in whatever work they can find, on the basis of my fledgling portfolio. Not the same as joining a web dev shop, but similar idea of joining an agency that finds clients and matches my skills to projects in exchange for a cut.

Thanks again for all your advice, I really appreciate you taking the time.</comment></comment>


Are we Python yet? - <AUTHOR> https://rfk.id.au/blog/entry/are-we-python-yet/

<comment><USER2> What is this ungodly mess of compiler voodoo and software witchcraft. Reading through this post is going make me lose sleep knowing people have done the unbelievably unthinkable things to a the lovable reference language.

You guys are not Python, you guys are my heroes.</comment>


Project Noah: A tool to explore, document wildlife. - <AUTHOR> http://www.projectnoah.org/

<comment><USER2> Nice UI touch there, Project Noah.

Here's another interesting app: <http://leafsnap.com/> Leaf snap, click a photo of a leaf and you get ID suggestions. Both apps are very cool!

<comment><USER3> Thanks Vanchi! Leafsnap is great and I enjoy using the app. When we launched the Project Noah app last year, this space was empty, but lots of new and cool apps/websites are out there now. Also check out iNaturalist and Scispy (by the discovery channel).

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Big upvote on this one. I'll be using it. Instead of immediately freaking out when we see an insect (and calling an exterminator) perhaps this app will help us appreciate and respect them more?

I'm allowed to dream.

</comment><comment><USER5> This highly interesting,smart and convincing app shows thousands of examples on nature's living beings. Great app!!</comment>


Apple's HyperCard was inspired by an acid trip - <AUTHOR> https://boingboing.net/2018/06/18/apples-hypercard-was-inspire.html <comment><AUTHOR> Here's the original source that the article cites (should have linked it instead) [http://www.mondo2000.com/2018/06/18/the-inspiration-for- hype...](http://www.mondo2000.com/2018/06/18/the-inspiration-for-hypercard/)</comment>


Why the Last Words of Anne Boleyn Remain a Mystery (2016) - <AUTHOR> https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-the-last-words-of-anne-boleyn-remain-a-mystery <comment><USER2> On a tangential note: The actual execution probably did not look the one depicted in the engraving, just for the simple reason that the priests and other onlookers would be splashed with gore. I know this is an artistic engraving from the 19th century but if you search google for art on the execution it's usually shown like this, probably to show Boleyn in a more dignified, praying pose. Compare with portrayals of Queen Mary's execution.

You may be surprised (or not) that there are resources on the Internet that _really_ examine the details of Anne Boleyn's execution, e.g. [https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/resources/q-a/why-was- cat...](https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/resources/q-a/why-was-catherine- howard-not-beheaded-with-a-sword-like-anne-boleyn/)

</comment><comment><USER3> "A historian with an eyewitness account knows what happened. A historian with two is never sure."</comment>


Where can tiny startup ($0rev) outsource accounting/bookkeeping/companycreation? - <AUTHOR>

I haaaaate doing that stuff. One of my achilles' heels. Is there a good company to hire that's tech savvy, that can integrate with our systems, that will do all of that? Thanks! <comment><USER2> Try Plendi.com - snapshot receipts with your iPhone, it goes up and is entered by an actual person. Then you _throw out the reciept_ \- it's fabulous. You or your accountant just downloads them to do expenses at the end of the year. It integrates with other accounting packages too.

</comment><comment><USER3> Why don't you try using quickbooks? Check it out at <http://www.quickbooks.com>

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the suggestion. I'd love some solution like xpensr or texthog that lets me just email in receipts, like less everything's accounting system to reconcile everything with a book-keeper quarterly, etc etc... maybe just all these different accounting-ish systems hacked together!

<comment><USER4> Ironically, I'm working on a bookkeeping project (still very early) designed around emailing in receipts from a camera phone. I have a beta signup page at getrunrate.com, and would love to talk more if you have time (my email is in my profile).

<comment><AUTHOR> This sounds like it might just be what I'm looking for!!!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> <http://lessaccounting.com> \- you can get bookkeeping and accounting software

</comment><comment><USER6> We provide free web-based accounting software to FaceCash merchants. <http://www.facecash.com></comment>


I'm writing a series about Android Wear development, feedbacks are welcome - <AUTHOR> http://www.devabee.com/tag/android-wear/ <comment><USER2> Putting the affiliate links in the main body of the blog posts rather than in the sidebar suggests that the technical content is less important than accumulating clicks.

It does not make for a good reader experience and may optimize against return visitors. Sure readers who come to your site _might_ buy a watch from Amazon, but they did not come to your content _to_ buy a watch from Amazon. People who place I high priority on buying watches from Amazon go to Amazon.com.

Good luck.</comment>