Police told to avoid looking at recent iPhones to avoid lockouts - <AUTHOR> https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/13/police-told-to-avoid-looking-at-iphone-x/ <comment><USER2> Discussion on a similar article here: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18208954](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18208954) (65 comments)

</comment><comment><USER3> A quick reminder: on iPhone X you can hold power button + one of the volume up/down buttons for 2 seconds to temporarily disable Face ID.

<comment><USER4> And if your movement is restricted, "Hey Siri, who am I?" will also trigger a lockout requiring a PIN.

Edit: for clarification - this will not lock your phone by itself. If your phone is locked (so on your lockscreen with the lock icon still there) it will trigger a lockout and won't allow biometric authentication until your PIN has been entered.

<comment><USER5> This does not work on an XS.

Neither do "lock my phone," "disable Face ID," or "require passcode."

Edit: I was wrong - it does work for me when the phone is locked.

<comment><USER4> Edit: see my parent comment or my response to joshstrange.

<comment><USER5> Ah, I got it to work. Thank you!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Probably best not to disable the "Require Attention" option for facial recognition - then if your eyes are closed or not focused on the phone, it won't unlock.

</comment><comment><USER7> Maybe a stupid question, but how comes they cannot just obstruct the front sensors for faceid to fail?

<comment><USER8> That's what I thought. Just like making sure the phone doesn't connect to the internet so it can't be remotely wiped. I don't own an iPhone so I might be wrong but can't the cop just tape over the camera/sensor?

<comment><USER9> Most likely they would place it in a shielding bag to cover both issues.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> A PSA on biometric security's weakness against coercion - including law enforcement, but likely more often abusive spouses or employers.

<comment><USER11> Unlike the courts, an abusive spouse or employer won't presume innocence. They will take your initial refusal to insert PIN/password as proof of guilt and coerce you into doing so.

<comment><USER12> With a spouse the 'threat' is that they can unlock your phone when you're sleeping. This isn't about giving in to coercion, but about covert access.

Not sure how this works with an employer though.

<comment><USER13> That's why iPhones have "Require Attention" option, that checks that your eyes are open and looking into the TrueDepth sensor.

<comment><USER14> How do they cope against a video of you, like if I pretend to take a selfie but video instead, oh whoops .. but then I have a video to use to unlock your phone?

Or police could use the mugshot process to get a video?

<comment><USER11> The iPhone camera makes a 3D "scan" by projecting infrared dots onto the face, so putting a screen or sheet in front won't work.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured- light_3D_scanner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structured-light_3D_scanner)

<comment><USER14> Cool, I missed that development; seems it needs a bit of work to crack - [https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-say-broke-face-id- securi...](https://www.wired.com/story/hackers-say-broke-face-id-security/).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Dupe [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18208954](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18208954)

</comment><comment><USER16> [european here] I can't read this article as there is no way to opt-out of the tracking - isn't this in breach of GDPR?

<comment><USER17> A fellow HN detailed how he did it here, seems extremely non-intuitive.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17235923](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17235923)

<comment><USER18> It's somewhat easier to just browse in Firefox's private mode all the time with trakingprotection enabled and no 3rd party cookies. Nothing is shared with the tracking networks and any cookie set by the site itself is deleted at the end of the session. As for the consent and GDPR annoyances themselves, they can be killed easily with uBlock (along with the ads etc.).

Welcome to the smooth, no-tracking surfing experience of circa 2003.

<comment><USER19> Hope you're also using garlic encryption and blocking other apps which might (probably are) sniping on you anyway.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Oath's gdpr wizard îs torture. I hope they will pay their share of fines for it, just to compensate for the time wasted ...

<comment><USER21> Me too but has anyone actually been fined for this sort of thing yet? I tried to report one site to the UK ICO and didn't even get an automated email reply.

Seems like the law exists but there's nobody to enforce it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Though the iPhone X series uses a special chip to store the face I never read it doesn't site the face of others. None of this really matters though as any "authority" looking at your phone has the power to force you to unlock it against your will.

New Zealand, for example, recently instituted a $5000 maximum fine for individuals at airports who are unwilling to unlock their phones even asked by "officials".

Both the US and NZ, along with several other countries, are part of the same surveilance ring. So if you think not looking at your phone matters in the slightest it doesn't. Not at all.

<comment><USER22> Seems like it would be best to totally wipe all of your devices before crossing a boarder and restore from backup over the internet when you are over it.

<comment><USER23> Curious what the border control response is to being handed a phone that has clearly been wiped immediately before the flight.

<comment><USER24> What are they going to do, demand a replacement with real data?

It is the phone you're traveling with. The point is supposed to be about bringing illegal stuff into the country. A blank phone contains none. If they want to explain that they need fed juicy private stuff for admission, well, I'd love to hear all the details about that.

<comment><USER14> I imagine they're going to view you with suspicion and so detain you for [further] interview; probably add you to a watch list?

A completely blank phone suggests you're naively hiding something: like carrying an empty box with an obvious fake bottom. Enticing stuff for a TLA agent I imagine.

<comment><USER24> > A completely blank phone suggests you're naively hiding something

I'd see that more as "proudly refusing to play along", but interpretations of course will differ. I'm willing to add little fuck-yous in the notes and pics, if that helps interpretation.

Push back, people. Meekly bending over because you don't want to be _inconvenienced_ is quite literally asking for more.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Thats just comically funny. "Hey cellmate, I need you to punch my face in." "You sure dude?" "Yeah, they are gonna make me unlock my phone today...gotta make it fail!"

<comment><USER26> Could you please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News?

<comment><USER25> What exactly is unsubstantive about the ridiculousness of forced face ID unlocks as referenced in the article?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> That is a good reason not to use face recognition.

<comment><USER28> On iPhone X, you can hold the power button and volume up for 5 seconds and it will lock the phone, disable Face ID, and force entering your passcode to unlock.

<comment><USER29> You can also tap the power button five times in a row, which brings up the emergency screen (Power Off, Medical ID, SOS call), but also disables face recognition until a pin unlock has happened.

<comment><USER30> Note this initiates an alarm and emergency call, with a three second window in which to cancel. Quite a surprise!!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Very strange. I submitted this story about a half day ago and was marked as a dupe.

<comment><USER26> Not so strange; it's just that moderators don't see everything.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Face id and finger print id, unless used in addition to, not instead of, a passcode, are convenience features, not security features. Removing the "something you know" part of digital security makes anything else just shy of useless. Apple should remove the options or start using honest terminology in the configuration steps if they actually care about security.</comment>


Innovation means respect for creators and consumers - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/basheerakhan/blog/2009/05/06/innovation_means_respect_for_creators_and_consumers

<comment><AUTHOR> The business world can be a shark pond. You can't really rely on other companies, unless you know exactly where their self-interest lies and that it aligns with yours (for now).

A friend of mine compared it with the Diplomacy board game. Whatever diplomatic agreements you make or do not make, you have to first and foremost understand what is in the other person's interest, and work on the basis that at some point their interests may change and become hostile to you - at which point, you cannot and should not expect them to live up to any previous agreements.

I'd be very careful about making any application that relies entirely on a service that belongs to another company with its own self-interests.

</comment><comment><USER2> Great pov article, what the NRE did sounds terrible (and self injuring).

Loved the link to Idea Bounty, looking forward to how it progresses. Also interesting to hear about Stanza getting picked up by Amazon, we'll see how that turns out.

Just posted about Innovation a few days ago myself (how it's measured). [http://messel.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/how-do-you- measu...](http://messel.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/how-do-you-measure- innovation.html)</comment>


Weighing the Evidence on Exercise - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/magazine/18exercise-t.html <comment><USER2> "Take in fewer calories than you burn, put yourself in negative energy balance, lose weight," says Braun, who has been studying exercise and weight loss for years."

Weight loss is not this simple - this kind of article enrages me. Everyone wants it to be an easy equation. Low carbohydrate/high fat diets are wildly successful despite not having to monitor calories. All calories are not created equal and simply eating less does not lead to long term weight loss, it leads to hunger.

I know many have talked about this idea on HN before, but in case you missed it, an excellent, eye-opening read is Gary Taubes' book, Good Calories Bad Calories - [http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial- Scienc...](http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial- Science/dp/1400033462)

<comment><USER3> Yes, burning fat really is that simple. A lot of this gets muddied from other factors, such as how various diets affect body composition, water retention, and appetite (supposedly much of the success of low carb diets comes from increased protein intake, which reduces hunger), and weight is hardly the only aspect of health, but the basic energy in minus energy out equation is true for humans.

See [http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/is-a-calorie-a- cal...](http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/is-a-calorie-a-calorie.html)

<comment><USER4> Yeah, the oversimplification sounds great, except it is a homeostatic mechanism, people extract and expend calories at different rates, and appetite responds differently to different foods. Energy in vs. energy out matters less if certain types of food aren't sating hunger effectively. First you say it "is that simple" then go on to say "except for..." and list exclusions.

Whenever I feel unsympathetic, I imagine trying to "breath less" for several years.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The article explains a basic tenet of metabolism: balancing caloric intake with exercise is the key to weight loss. However, it does not mention much about the health benefits of exercise nor the importance of eating healthy foods, which is unfortunate because one's health is more important than simply losing weight.

<comment><USER6> I agree. I think many people make the mistake of looking at exercise as simply a means to an end: losing weight. It has so many other benefits like helping to control blood pressure, improved mood, etc. To me these are more important than simply maintaining a pleasing number on a scale.

I'm overweight according to the BMI and other measures, but I strength train and do cardio regularly. My blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, testosterone, etc. are all perfect.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> ""In general, exercise by itself is pretty useless for weight loss," says Eric Ravussin, a professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., and an expert on weight loss. It's especially useless because people often end up consuming more calories when they exercise."

Study, have shown that if your energy expenditure and take-in is the same as dieting, exercise can produce the same results.

I have this hypothesis that it is psychologically easier to exercise off weight than to restrict your diet below maintenance.

Reason why: 1\. Less willpower for exercise. Once you are on the treadmill it's easy to continue, while for dieting you will need to control yourself for at least 8hrs. So, comparing 15mins of control for getting started to exercise to 8hrs of control to diet, exercise significantly better.

2.Exercise release endorphins, ie you will be happier after exercising. Dieting leaves you irritable and tired.

3\. Exercise builds metabolism, so you will burn at rest[not as much as they would have you believe in some books]. Dieting slow metabolism.

4\. At moderately high intensity exercise can reduce appetite.

Drawbacks to exercise: 1) Takes alot of time. Walking at 4mph for 60mins only burns 340 calories for a 150pound man[or something like that]. So, in essence 3hrs of exercise by walk a day will burn 2 pounds a week[provided that you follow a maintenance diet]

<comment><USER8> Re Will power: I've stopped buying crap food (with some rare allowances). If I do not have it in the house, I cannot eat it. The willpower issue comes up once a week while shopping, and I'm not in the mood for junk food while shopping, so it's easier to not buy it than it would be to not eat it were it in the house.

Exercise, though, requires much more deliberate action, and more than once a week. Once I'm out running it's OK, and keeping going is not a problem. It's the initial choice of go running or sit on my ass and drink coffee in the morning. Dicking around seems to have a a magical sway over me. :(

Despite having almost completely slagged off on exercise over the last few months I'm still just below 180lbs (down from 210 last summer), and I'm sure this is because of my diet. I still need to exercise least my body turn to complete goo, but for weight loss I find it much easier to just not have bad food in the house.

<comment><USER9> What about running in the evening? I find it requires much more will power to work out in the morning because I'm tired, and I have a bunch of things I feel like I should be doing. But after I'm done working for the day, it feels good to do something physical.

<comment><USER10> I also find it very difficult to run in the morning, not necessarily because I feel like I need to get to work but because I just feel very stiff and tired when I get out of bed. Maybe it's come with age, and maybe it wouldn't be such a problem if I was in better shape, but at my current half-ass shape it's quite a hurdle.

<comment><USER8> "Maybe it's come with age, and maybe it wouldn't be such a problem if I was in better shape, but at my current half-ass shape it's quite a hurdle."

FWIW: My 50+ sorry ass wasn't so keen on exercising either, but I started by just going walking in the morning,and not trying to be too ambitious. Found some good audio books to listen to. After a while I felt good about that, felt my energy improving, and moved to running. At first it was more walking than running, but I would just push myself a bit, making a game of it. Before long the walking/running ration switched.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Is there good, accessible _science_ (not the opinion of an "expert") about

\- What kind of exercise is good for what (e.g. short intense or long light)?

\- How quickly does performance increase? What causes better performance?

\- Why and how quickly does muscle tissue form?

\- Does lung volume increase?

\- What happens to your heart?

\- What happens to your veins?

\- How much exercise?

\- How does eating affect exercise? E.g. if you are losing weight, will your body still make roughly as much new muscle tissue?

\- Why is it that I get sore more quickly and run more slowly when I haven't eaten enough, even in the first few minutes of running when all the energy is still coming from stuff stored in muscles?

I think the answers to these questions would be very valuable to individuals as well as society as a whole.

</comment><comment><USER12> It seems like the article is making exercise more mysterious than it is. From what I've read, scientists seem to be more knowledgeable than the state of confusion this article is giving out.

The benefit of exercise in terms of weight loss is that it increases your resting metabolic rate (RMR). So the greatest caloric expenditure is often not during the exercise activity itself. I used to think that it's impossible to burn off the calories eaten from a burger. Now I know better.

Of course, exercise is only effective if your diet complements it. It's not either or, it's both. Both contribute to a net caloric deficit or surplus, creating weight change.

They also don't go into enough detail about the types of exercises. HIIT and weightlifting are particularly effective towards increasing RMR.

<comment><USER13> I think a great deal of the confusion the article is conveying is not so much about the effect of exercise on metabolism and body composition, but rather its effect on appetite. One of the reasons that we're starting to hear obesity specialists back away from advocating the "moderate-vigorous exercise" as part of a weight-loss plan is because of the things this article brings up: in some people (mostly women), starting an exercise regime spikes appetite and makes it extremely difficult to stick to a calorie-controlled/restricted diet. Thus, even if the RMR increases, it seems the body is insisting calorie intake increase as well -- and I think that's where the confusion they are portraying is mostly stemming from: is it responsible to advocate moderate-vigorous exercise to the obese as part of a weight-loss plan, or is that setting them up to fail? (It seems clear that exercise as part of a weight-maintenance program tends to be beneficial.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Somewhat orthogonal but apropos:

[http://lesswrong.com/lw/am/how_a_pathological_procrastinor_c...](http://lesswrong.com/lw/am/how_a_pathological_procrastinor_can_lose_weight/)

</comment><comment><USER15> I think after reading all the comments, I still have one more bit to add. The submitted article refers to GENERAL effects of exercise that are observable in current population studies. It does seem to be well established that human beings are adapted to balance their eating with their activity, thus human beings who don't live in conditions of food scarcity may not be likely to lose weight if they increase their level of physical activity.

That said about the general tendency, my observation of the effect of exercise is that it makes me more cheerful, and allows me to substitute the pleasure of fresh air and sunshine and movement for the pleasure of eating. So at least on my part, I have been able to reduce weight (I didn't have a lot to lose at my heaviest) by being more consistent about exercise. These days, there are times when I feel a vague discomfort that I might formerly have treated by eating a snack that I now treat by talking a walk outside. More exercise AND less eating is sure to result in weight loss over time.

</comment><comment><USER16> "Take in fewer calories than you burn, put yourself in negative energy balance, lose weight"

Join a fitness/nutrition website to provide accountability (and to educate you that the presumably healthy food you're eating is actually highly caloric).

</comment><comment><USER17> Analyzing my own eating habits, I think that the light, constant exercise factor is representative of regulated behavior that causes people to maintain weight. That is, exercising regularly is a reflection of a person's lifestyle (not a stressed out entrepreneur) that coincides with maintaining a healthy weight, as well as helping a person regulate their behavior (the good feelings and satiation make it easier to not have events where you eat crap).

</comment><comment><USER18> Exercise a lot. It's easy to reach Marathon levels, and I guarantee you'll loose weight.

</comment><comment><USER19> I find it interesting how quickly the body appears to decondition when you stop exercising. I suspect the consensus is that this is intended to lower basal metabolism, which would make one better adapted to a food scarce environment. However, if you consume high quantities of food, the body still deconditions. It ignores this data.

So what is the true reason why the body prefers a state of lower conditioning? Even if I lazed around for months in my cave, I'd still want to be at maximum ready for when a neighboring tribe appeared or if I suddenly needed to increase exertion for food.

I find it plausible that exercise has costs that are being overlooked. I'm always impressed by the longevity of academic-types I find in wikipedia, who I presume don't run marathons often. NFL players have extremely low lifespans. Marathon runners tend to have higher rates of heart damage.

</comment><comment><USER7> As one of the article says "both sides of the argument can bring lots of data to thet table in support of their contentions."

I think scientist should be leading the charge on this. Everybody seem to have their own book or point of view to peddle.

</comment><comment><USER20> see also <http://www.sethroberts.net/about/whatmakesfoodfattening.pdf></comment>


How do I sign into a Google app on my iPhone without signing in for ALL apps? - <AUTHOR> I like to use the Google Voice iOS app on my iPhone to make and receive calls. However, if I sign into my Google account in the Google Voice app, suddenly all the other Google apps (such as Google Maps) also know who I am. I don't like this, because Google Maps has no business of knowing which Google account is using Google Voice on the same phone. How can I avoid this? <comment><USER2> There is only one Google app, data collection. What we think of as apps are just multiple entry points for the one app to us.

Analogously, why would you log on to a system for each drop down menu?

</comment><comment><USER3> When I selected the profile picture menu in the top right of Google Maps there was an option to "use without an account". After selecting it I am still signed in to other Google apps. Google Maps still lists the account in the menu but claims that it is not signed in. Note that before you sign out you should clear and pause your "Location History".

</comment><comment><USER4> I doubt it's possible. I think Google uses the device browser (SFSafariViewController) to do OAuth, so users aren't asked to sign in in every application. No doubt they think this is a feature. Why not simply use Google Maps in an private browser window if you're looking to improve privacy? Or even better, check out OpenStreetMap.

</comment><comment><USER5> Welcome to Google. We are on your phone and in your life for total surveilance and control, not for providing particular service. Please toe the line.</comment>


The manuscripts of Edsger W. Dijkstra (2014) - <AUTHOR> https://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/ <comment><USER2> I had the good fortune of listening to Dijstra speak a few times.

The first time I attended one of his talks, I thought it would be a brilliant though highly theoretical presentation. What amazed me the most was just how funny he was - and given how soft spoken he was. When you read about Dijkstra in the third person, that entire part of his personality is lost.

His talks tended to drift and meander, though at the end of his talks, he gave a small sermon which is very applicable to just about any programming endeavour:

"If you find yourself doing something and thinking Dijkstra would not have liked this, that would be immortality enough for me."

He's been quoted for saying that multiple times, though that was the first time I heard it, and by virtue of listening to it first hand, it's burnt into my head.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for sharing the quote. I haven't heard of that before.

"I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time." — Banksy

May the Dijkstra's in us leave forever.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Don't be afraid to dive into any of these papers. He's one of the most accessible of the computing greats.</comment>


Lifehacks from 100 Years Ago - <AUTHOR> http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51702/10-lifehacks-100-years-ago <comment><USER2> Starbucks UK have taken the advice from #6 ("How to keep your plants watered") and accurately applied it to their teabags:

"Loosely plait two or three strands of wool together, immerse completely in water, and place one end in the pail, weighted, and touching the bottom."

Thanks to their kindness in this matter, I no longer need to worry so much about watering my own hands.

<comment><USER3> Heh, yep - and actually the strings of MightyLeaf tea bags are the best water wicks known to man.

For this reason, I cut/rip/tear off the strings from all my tea bags. I have been a voracious tea drinker for years.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I love how the instructions for "how to make a chair to cross a stream" are: 1\. swim across the stream 2\. make a chair to cross the stream

<comment><USER3> You forgot the most important ingredient: A small boy.

Tools for crossing a stream:

1\. Boy (with swim skill)

2\. Rope

3\. Pully

4\. Chair

EASY!!!

<comment><USER5> I loved the "send a boy across the river" step.

I'm collecting a list of "things we did that you probably think are weird" to give to my son when he's older.

This kind of thing is going on the list. As are "party lines"[1] for telephones and me having to chop wood all year to have enough to get us through winter.

[1] ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_(telephony)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_line_\(telephony\)))

<comment><USER3> Some things to add to your list:

Setting dip switches on modems to be able to dial into a BBS.

Calling 411

Renting/Rewinding VHS tapes

Getting grounded for running up the long distance phone bill (by calling BBSs)

De-soldering bad memory chips on your Apple ][ boards.

<comment><USER6> Cleaning the dust off your record

Getting up to change between one of 4 channels on the television.

Wrapping left overs in foil and baking in an oven set to 275 degrees for 30 minutes to re-heat.

Needing two or three friends to move your television

using your hand to move your player's position on the game board.

reading books you checked out from a library

figuring out where you are by un-folding a 48" square out of date printout of what streets existed about 5 years ago.

The list goes on and on.

<comment><USER3> Heh, channel changing and library checkouts also popped into my head!

Life evolves!

<comment><USER7> I just checked 3 books out of the library less than 3 hours ago.

<comment><USER3> Troglodyte! Stop living in the past!

       /I have a $30 late fee I owe to the milbrea library :(

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I really wish police would use #5 to deal with dogs instead of shooting them. I've seen too many videos of this recently.

<comment><USER9> Shouldn't dogs that attack humans be put down in any case? I thought that would be standard consequence if a dog bites a person.

<comment><USER10> Oddly, we don't deal the same with people who abuse animals.

<comment><USER11> Animals aren't people.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> If you're wondering why all the fuss over eggs it's because chickens don't lay eggs in the winter due fewer hours of light. Once electric lights were put in barns eggs were available year round.

I doubt in the early 1900s if many or any farmers could afford new fangled electric lights.

</comment><comment><USER13> Isn't it highly dangerous to pull down the tree? Seems like you would have to run away in the exact moment it falls, so you are not in its path.

<comment><USER14> You wrap the rope around another tree/pulley to change direction, then stand off to the side.

But yes - taking down trees is dangerous, no matter how you do it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Excellent advice for the water plants! Plants always die when I am away for more than a week and I was seriously thinking about an Arduino hack to automate water dispensing but that trick would be great if it worked !!

<comment><USER16> Depending on your taste, you might get away with buying indestructible plants. Aloe doesn't mind if you forget about for a while and is (maybe) a little more interesting to look at than yet another cactus. And there are lots of other succulents.

<comment><USER17> Interestingly, swamp plants also deal well with longer absences, because one can just drown them completely when leaving. After a few weeks the water is gone, but the plant is also fine with that for a while.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> These are cool, but isn't the water filter backwards?

<comment><USER19> By going in this order, the sand does not go into the output.

<comment><USER20> This, if you had a big enough filter you would both start and end with the large rocks and have the fine sand in the middle.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I like the way you need a "boy" to cross a stream...

Tough luck if you're an all-daughter or childless family I suppose. Get used to your side of the stream.

<comment><USER22> The card is specifically from a Boy Scouts cigarette card series:

[http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult...](http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?num=80&r=02fBoy%20Scouts%4002fCigarette%20cards&word=&rOper=2&stype=Rel&rSource=&rDiv=George%20Arents%20Collection&rCol=Cigarette%2520Cards%253A%2520ABCs&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&imgs=20&pNum=)

<comment><USER23> That's the best bit--these were cigs for boy scouts. Always be prepared, I suppose.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I wonder if it is a coincidence that the person touching the live wire looks like Nikola Tesla..

<comment><USER25> I love how it says "stand on glass". All I can think about is how it would make the Safety Police of 2013 cringe so hard. _Back in my day, we stood on glass and rescued people who were being electrocuted_

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Isn't the water filter backward? Don't you want the finest layer on the bottom if you're using gravity to filter the water?

It seems to me that as shown, the sand is just going to fall down through the stones and you'll end up with a sand and stone layer.

<comment><USER27> Could be organized that way to prevent the sand and small stones from clogging the spigot.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> On #3 "How to stop a mad dog" I can offer this:

As a runner I have had success with running toward a charging dog and acting crazy. Several times that I have done that the dog has run the other way. The key is to make all sorts of hand motion and noise.

<comment><USER29> Also a stick. I'm pretty sure it's legal to carry a stick wherever. Do not attempt against packs of more than 3-4 dogs, a large pack of strays is dangerous. Also, do not hit the dog too hard if it belongs to somebody - it's not polite to break other people's property, no matter how much you want to kill it.

It's trickier if you're on a bike, but then I usually opt to kick them as they chase me. So far, I've outrun the ones that weren't deterred after being kicked.

If you live in a normal country that actually has animal care centres where they humanely kill stray dogs, you probably don't have problems to which the above advice applies.

<comment><USER30> Less aggressive dogs are usually deterred by a squirt from a water bottle (if it's clearly someone's pet rather than a stray). I've heard that heavy bike chains are also effective and it might be easier to swing one than to kick at high speeds.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Surprised they didn't include plain baking soda

<comment><USER31> or baking soda related hacks, I mean. it can be used for a ridiculous number of things and common problems

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> Nice. Still useful today .. some of them. Does anyone else also think the water filter in a pail is kindof reversed ? I think we should start with the coarse and end with the fine, unless we are drawing off from the top ..

</comment><comment><USER33> does the plat watering tip actually work in hot climate (~40C/104F)?

<comment><USER34> If you have gravity in said hot climate and an atmosphere then it will work.</comment></comment>


Show HN: Most Advanced HackerNews API - <AUTHOR> https://metamate.io/blog/most-advanced-hackernews-api/ <comment><USER2> I tried some of the explorer stuff, and it looks great. I didn't spend too much time looking, but is it free? Or what's the pricing? It's not clear how much it is to use..

<comment><AUTHOR> cheers for the feedback, it's open-source and completely free. You can either spin up your own instance, by following the instructions at github.com/metamatex/metamate or use our public instance at [https://metamate.one](https://metamate.one)

Let me know if you have any more questions :)</comment></comment>


The Paradox of Building America's Green Lifestyle Grid - <AUTHOR> https://mountainjournal.org/renewable-energy-solves-one-problem-but-creates-another <comment><USER2> Very important article.

A point that failed to be mentioned is this one : as the mining demand goes up, more and more "low-concentration" mines will be opened, requiring more energy to extract the same amount of raw materials. And, unfortunately, the mining industry is also entirely reliant on fossil fuels. Mining dump trucks carry up to 700t of material, it's hard to imagine the size of the battery that would move such a thing.

Another reason why major changes in lifestyle are inevitable, and solar panels, wind turbines and carbon capture plants won't cut it.</comment>


Booking.com to be blocked in Turkey - <AUTHOR> The Association of Turkish Travel Agencies(TURSAB) just announced that they won in court against Booking.com for its unfair business practices and Booking.com will be prevented from selling Turkish properties(the govt body that handles the internet censorship will be notified, usually means the offending URLs will be blocked and if that's not possible the entire domain name will be blocked until the offending material is removed) and Booking.com is ordered to pay  2.543.992,85 TL(~1.4M USD) in damages.<p>The announcement is in Turkish and is available on the TURSAB website:
http://www.tursab.org.tr/tr/tursabdan-haberler/genel-duyurular/tursabdan-onemli-aciklama-tursab-tarafindan-acilan-davada-bookingcomun-haksiz-rekabet-olusturan-faaliyetlerini-durdurma-karari-verildi_15974.html <comment><USER2> For some additional information: [http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey- tourism-booking-idU...](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-tourism- booking-idUSKBN1701XC). The block seems to be to put in place to protect Turkish travel agents against an effective, Internet-based, booking agency.</comment>


Ask News YC: What market is your startup in? - <AUTHOR>

Hello, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm an applicant for this YC funding cycle, and would love to get to know some of you guys+girls.
I'm curious as to what market your startup/idea is in? If you feel like sharing.
Mine is about on-demand software/SaaS.
I expect all of us will be sharing more soon. I am missing community feeling on this board, hence this post to generate some introductions.
Really look forward to meeting you, these are exciting times. <comment><USER2> We want to change the world of politics- web-based CRM. App was for a simple communications tool that would allow you to easily complain to government.

Our first product was Fantasy Congress <www.fantasycongress.com>, we made that as a hobby first and then received amazing press coverage on it and should have applied to YC last summer. We made the choice to ditch our post-grad plans and are bootstrapping out of Washington DC (but man do we want to get back to where the tech is). Our second product is an election game which we're working on with a media partner, but the YC application we've submitted is going to be the core of how we're going to help make political communication more effective.

<comment><AUTHOR> now that's interesting. I had a similar idea, not one I submitted, but an idea for an app. Basically it would be for lobbyists, or groups working for a common goal, that try to talk to politicians and convince them about issues. So you'd have all these politicians in your tracking system, see who you already talked to and who not, and where these people stand on the issue. That way you can more effectively deal with their concerns.

Is that kind of what fantasy congress is?

<comment><USER2> Rob, sorry haven't checked my threads in a while. Fantasy Congress is fantasy sports for a political junkie. Instead of drafting football players, you draft members of Congress. Instead of touchdowns and interceptions, it's votes, legislation, and news. What happened was we created this cool tracking system when we created Fantasy Congress and we didn't really know of its other uses until after.

The CRM idea is cool because it would use the same tracking system.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> We are making a collaborative business webapp that integrates project and task management using constraint enabled workflows that you can template and interconnect. In a sense, our system establishes workflow as the spine of business networking, allowing businesses internally (staff) and externally (with their customers and vendors) to collaborate on any project. We have been coding since January and are finally launching our private beta next week. (Email us if your're interested in a peek) <http://StreamFocus.com>

<comment><AUTHOR> That's awesome - I'd love to, just sent you an email.

<comment><USER3> Hi robmnl, thanks for the encouraging comments. Unless your real name is Louis, we haven't received an email from you yet to add to our private beta test list.

<comment><AUTHOR> That's strange, I sent an email to email@example.com - can you send me an invite to my email? It's in my profile. Would appreciate that very much.

<comment><USER3> Ahhh, I just found it - google marked your email as spam for whatever reason. Thanks! (and you sent it from a gmail account too - hmm - could be a problem) I marked is as "not spam" so hopefully that will help for the future.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Hi Rob,

     We are building a natural language interface to databases tool. I figure that forms, key-word and hyper-link interfaces have their limitations. Our orientation is mostly scientific/technical, but we figure that if we can deliver a solid, usable solution, there will be many, many uses.

     But of course there are significant challenges. :-)

     take a gander at our demo clip for VLDB.

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWio8bHq4wQ

<comment><USER3> That was our first startup idea with Organon Technologies. We realized that it was going to take us a couple years to build it out, so we switched to streamfocus.com instead. Good luck!

<comment><USER3> I just looked at your demo - nice job! If you're interested, our application streamfocus.com might be a great platform for you - perhaps we could collaborate?

<comment><USER4> Absolutely! I just looked at your website and I think there is an area of possible collaboration. Let me study it a bit more. But a quick question, to what extent are you using relational databases to represent base level facts in your system?

<comment><USER3> Great! We're using Mysql for our database, so I think it would be the perfect platform for seeing what you can do with real world company data and hopefully adding excellent value to our service - a win win. (I've just emailed you to get on the beta)

Business model idea: We could let people use your search free for the first month, and then let them decide if they want to keep using it for an additional amount of money on top of our base subscription per month.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> mine is productivity combined with issue tracking [i.e. issue tracking combined with effective planning methology] (issuesdone.com)

<comment><USER6> Your site seems to require Open ID and Firefox or Safari. Why ostracize a large number of people this way?

<comment><USER5> The reason behind Open ID is to limit early users number by a kind of simple barrier. We are not yet able to handle all users at this early stage. Early adopters are usually advanced enough to sign up for OpenID (especially given we have an affiliate program with myopenid)

The reason behind requiring Firefox or Safari is simple enough too. We have not enough time yet to support every (even popular) browser. We'd like to spend time doing essential things, not tweaking HTML and CSS these days. Again, early adopters are those who are relly interested in using our app at the early stages and they seems to have no problem using FF or Safari to access our application.

<comment><USER7> I am the affiliate coordinator over at Vidoop and just wanted to mention that we have an affiliate program as well. It is a simple sign up process and is basically the same as myopenid.com's affiliate sign up. Another point to make is that offering users a few recommendations to a few "good" OIP's is good practice and let's them know you are helping them select a reputable OIP. The sign up is at affiliates.vidoop.com

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> our idea stemmed from a recent trip to tahoe. we were bummed because we wanted to rent a sailboat, but we couldn't because they were all too expensive.

however, when we got there, we noticed that there were about, oh 2000 boats sitting unused in the water.

i was an only child for 15 years, so my mom made it a point to emphasize sharing :)

<comment><AUTHOR> I like that, I wish there was a system that allowed us to share resources wisely. The thing is, the burden to put your unused resources into a web database is too high. This should be a system that would work automatically, that connects you with the people that have a surplus of something you need.

<comment><USER8> i dont think so at all, look how much time people invest in facebook, and they dont even get anything tangible or useful out of it.

now think about how much _more_ time people would invest if they got cheap access to, say, a sailboat out of it, or conversely if they got a tidy return on an otherwise dead investment.

<comment><AUTHOR> true point. the thing is, are the people that own the sailboats going to use it? and all the other people who might have useful stuff? the thing is to reach a critical mass, I haven't done that before, but is possible for sure, just takes some time. best of luck with you project, sign me up for beta invites if you are going to work on it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm not a YC applicant; but I'm doing online backups, with an emphasis on security.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the post. So you're already in the market and launched?

<comment><USER9> No, I'm still writing code. I'm not applying to YC because (a) I'm a sole founder, (b) I can't move to the bay area (unless someone wants to pay my medical bills, I need to stay in Canada where things are mostly free), and (c) I'm busy leading an opera orchestra on the November 3rd/4th weekend.

<comment><USER10> I submitted my startup which is in private beta now, as well as detailed three other concepts.

Im a sole founder, but didn't let that stop me from submitting!

I think I have an interesting story, as my startup has been created over many months with the help from others all over the world(Washington D.C.,Sydney, Mumbai, Helsinki & Prague).

We will see though.... Good Luck to everyone!

<comment><AUTHOR> Any chance to get private beta invite?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Hi Rob, my cofounder and I are doing genetic testing.

<comment><USER12> That field is so interesting, however, I am not sure why people would want to test for the "HIV-gene"? So that they can "screw around" with an easier mind afterwards? But it doesn't seem to indicate 100% resistance, so what good is it?

<comment><USER11> It provides peace of mind to certain individuals, it does not allow anyone to have unprotected sex. It is more explicitly useful to those that have HIV because the mutation indicates the disease's rate of progression.

I think this field is incredibly interesting and am looking forward to watching this amazing technology improve over the next five years.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> voip startup, nothing social about it

<comment><AUTHOR> why not? make it special</comment></comment>


The Internet of (unmaintained, insecure, and dangerously hackable) Things - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/01/smart-tvs-smart-fridges-smart-washing-machines-disaster-waiting-to-happen

<comment><USER2> So don't do that.</comment>