Ask HN: What would you love to pay for if it was available? - <AUTHOR> Ok, this may go nowhere, but I was inspired by this recent submission on what programming books HN wishes existed: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=551339
So in the same spirit, what product or service have you found yourself wishing existed?  It could be an info product, tangible product, service, subscription, etc.  It could be related to the web, programming, startups, or just life in general.  The only rule should be that you would actually take out your credit card right now and pay for it if someone offered it.
Please don't upvote people's comments unless you would also pay for it. <comment><USER2> Bachelor Chow (See: Futurama). It doesn't have to be particularly tasty, but a simple meal that has 1/3 of your daily nutrition (with 1/3 RDA of all your vitamins and minerals) would be great. Preferably without ridiculous quantities of preservatives and artificial flavours.

<comment><USER3> There's Clif bars. You can't live off of those full time, though.

Colcannon? If this is made with turnips, kale, and lots of buttermilk, then it covers a lot of macronutrients. Then take a multivitamin.

<comment><USER4> Speaking of which, I was really getting into those Clif Mojo bars at one point, then we got a box of Nature Valley fruit and nut bars at Costco, so I forgot about them for a few weeks.

When we ran out of the box, I went back for my Clif Mojos and found out they were recalled in the peanut salmonella thing. It looks like I missed eating potentially contaminated food by a few days.

      </adventures in eating>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> A dead simple, cheap 8.5x11 e-ink device with no wifi or touchscreen or anything like that. Just the ability to page through my already owned pdfs. Some of them are scanned images, not text so no text conversion. Even if the only way to get the docs on it was via some kind of virtual printer driver I'd be happy. I'd basically like a way to read stuff on e-ink as if it had been printed.

<comment><USER6> Seconded. Just today I looked at ebook reader devices again because I really want one - but the prices are ridiculous.

$359 for a kindle? Come on, that buys me about 35 physical books - close to 2 years of reading material. Give me the kindle _and_ 20 books included, then we might be talking.

<comment><USER7> Some flexibility would be nice here. I'm sure there'd be a few books I'd like to read in the future, so maybe 10 books with the reader and 10 free ones I can choose later would be nice.

Still, the XKCD on the Kindle made me really want to try one, if only because of sentimental reasons.

<comment><USER6> In fact, since the kindle is a closed platform, feel free to lock me into amazon until I have bought enough books to pay it off. I would immediately order a kindle for $0 that forces me to buy the first 100 books at amazon (as long as the pdf function is not crippled). $100 / 50 and other combinations would also work.

I do consider myself an early adopter. But the current asking price is too steep.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> A computer display with at least 200DPI, and about 19...21 inches diagonal. I'd consider only 1:1 and 4:3 sized ones.

Honestly, several times I've been searching for high resolution displays, and aside of old, expensive and slow T221 (or crazy-expensive medical and flight control ones), there are none.

Why such DPI? For starters, it makes anti-aliasing (think, `blurry' fonts, jagged or blurred widgets and 3D objects and so on) irrelevant. Also, with the current 85...100 DPI screens, I still see individual pixels, and that's quite disturbing to me.

<comment><USER9> Stare at the sun for a couple of hours; that might help with the whole "seeing pixels" issue.

<comment><USER9> Sorry.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I want a desktop computer with a docked netbook. The files, programs, and program configuration on the netbook should auto-sinc with the desktop. Large files should be easy to stream from the desktop to the netbook. The netbook needs to have an embedded, fast cell network data connection.

I might be able to build this myself with a MacPro, a router, a COTS netbook, hackintosh, dropbox, etc.

I'd probably have at least 2 30 inch displays for the desktop, making the total cost in parts ~$8K. Companies would be wise to pay $10K for this kind of setup.

<comment><USER11> I've thought about the same thing myself. (I'll make do with the 24 inch monitors, though. :) I'm surprised the Mac Pro doesn't have a way to dock the air yet, though.

There are a lot of usability pieces to think about. Do you really want program configuration to sync? I use programs differently on laptops and desktops.

<comment><USER10> I use a laptop for my "desktop", so I don't see the problem. I run firefox, terminal, textmate, tweetdeck, and iWork. No configuration changes needed. Maybe for VM software - which I just wouldn't run on a netbook.

<comment><USER11> I use different font sizes for my work on larger screens, for one example.

<comment><USER10> That's interesting. I routinely switch from a 17 inch laptop screen and a 30 inch monitor screen, and don't change the font.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> \- A laptop battery that lasted for as long as I can stay awake (say, 24 hours).

\- A cellphone that people could call anywhere in the world without paying for an international call, and that allowed me to call anyone or use my data plan at the same price regardless of where I'm located. International roaming charges are so absurdly high that they force me to have different sim cards and an unlocked phone (extremely inconvenient).

\- A nonstop flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) to a major city in California (SFO, LAX, SAN). I do this several times a year and the layover/recheck luggage after customs is a killer.

<comment><USER9> I assume the big problem with having two SIM cards would be having two different numbers and missing tons of calls. Wouldn't it help to have two different phones so that you wouldn't miss calls?

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Decent Mexican food in Europe:-) (BTW, "if it _were_ available")

Edit: if I ever 'made it big', and decided to stay in Italy, I'd invest a portion of my money in a _good_ Mexican restaurant here. It would probably lose money, but what the hell.

<comment><USER14> And New Zealand too.. there are zero quality Mexican restaurants there.

Its not Mexican, but the best Peruvian food I've had outside of Lima is in Amsterdam <http://www.casaperu.nl/html/casaperu.html> can't recommend it enough!

(My wife was born in Lima and we eat alot of Peruvian food)

<comment><USER15> _And New Zealand too.. there are zero quality Mexican restaurants there._

The Mexican food I had in Australia was a "shocker."

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Something like a Netflix for books and articles. I'd pay just to rent textbooks for general education classes. It would need to have a gigantic library though, big enough to guarantee that I would be able to find any book through there if it wasn't in a library.

PDF versions of the books would be nice to, so I could access the book anywhere immediately.

And it would need a good selection of scientific books. I have a scientific couple books that I want to read, but haven't because they aren't in any local library systems and used copies are going for over $40 on amazon.

<comment><USER17> This is an interesting thought. Does anything already exist as a service for college students to rent textbooks?

<comment><USER16> While access to textbooks would be nice, it wouldn't need to be a major selling point. If the book is for a class in my major, I want to own a copy so I can use it as a reference after the class is over. And used textbooks can be had for a decent price. I just paid $40 including expediated shipping for a circuits book. The book is in great condition, and I am happy with my purchase.

And renting textbooks is pretty expensive, especially for older books. I bought a different used textbook for around $15. The book is in great condition, and renting it would have cost $40.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Apartment with a pool in Tampere, Finland. Also I would be more likely to rent a place using a site that actually allowed me to search for apartments from a map.

Instant helpful per-minute advice from MySQL/Linux/etc. gurus 24/7 when I need it. Similarly graphic design where I could in a few moments get sketches of things and commission them to be turned into finished works. I don't enjoy hunting for talent on forums/elance and having to wait days for responses when I need something done now while I am still in the zone to work on that particular project.

Frappuccino in Finland, although I hope nobody actually does that as it would make me poor.

A mouse that makes no clicking sound. _It seems to exist:[http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/14/thanko-silent-mouse- kills...](http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/14/thanko-silent-mouse-kills-the- click/) I'll buy one when I go to Japan next time._

<comment><USER19> People often laugh at me when I tell them this, but "Awful Mart" on the Awful Forums is a GREAT place to get good graphic design quickly. Lot of REALLY talented people visit the awful forums. <http://forums.somethingawful.com>

edit: Just noticed you said you hate searching through forums. SA is rather large and if you have the patience for a usual 1-2 day turn around its worth it.

<comment><USER18> What I mean is being able to buy some credits, then going into a realtime environment where I can type "Paul graham eating a tuna sandwich", and after 15 minutes seeing several rough sketches. Then I choose the one I like and get a finished version in less than 24h.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> A device that could accurately measure caffeine intake, levels present in the body, and the strength of your bodies resistance. I know if I have another cup of coffee at 4PM, the quality of my code will be much better. What I never know is if it will wear off in time for me to get a normal nights sleep. :)

<comment><USER21> A cheap and noninvasive device that can monitor and record a bunch of metrics would be great!

I would love to be able to graph my cholesterol, BP, heart rate, etc. over time. It is a shame i can monitor my car more easily than I can my body.

<comment><USER20> Yeah, data on this stuff is great. The treadmills at our gym actually have a USB port that you can use to export your average pace and heart rate over a run. That's the closest I've been able to come.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> A proven cure for tinnitus. I'd clean out my bank account and cash in all my 401Ks, if need be, to pay for the treatment. For those who don't know what tinnitus is, just imagine having a high-pitched ringing sound in your head that never, ever, ever stops. Ever.

<comment><USER23> Definitely. My mother suffers from this and I can't even imagine what it must really be like. A solution would be absolutely wonderful.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> I'd certainly pay for an iTuneslike service for impulse buying old magazines in a digital format. I love magazines but they're rarely justifiably keepable as they accumulate and create a terrible clutter. Unfortunately for the majority of us that throw out magazines after a short time, eventually old magazines become incredibly interesting. If I come across ancient Wired, Next Generation or Nintendo Power magazines at a flea market for example, I almost always buy them, not really to keep, as I usually donate them after reading, but just to really page through and revel in the nostalgia.

I'd love to be able to go on the web and instantly download some obscure issue of the magazines I liked when I was a teenager, or looking back farther, old ancient National Geographics or Esquires or Playboys or whatever. There are rare magazines as well, such as the Beastie Boys' self published Grand Royal, that only had a handful of issues.

</comment><comment><USER25> Single serving cat food tins. i.e. Half the size of regular tins.

You might think I'm joking, but I'm not - I looked for this earlier today online.

Cheers

<comment><USER26> There's already 3 Oz. cans and vacuum packs. Or do you really want 1.5 Oz?

<comment><USER27> I use 3oz cans, feed my cat 1/2 can at a time, and still have quite a bit left over.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> A robotic pleasure unit like in the movie BladeRunner...

<comment><USER3> I wonder if there are nerd-oriented escort services?

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> A fuel efficient car / minivan with room for a family of 6 to take a road trip. There are no hybrid minivans :(

<comment><USER30> The current hybrid technology produces the most fuel-efficiency gains in stop and start driving. In other words, it works much better for taxi fleets than for family road trips.

<comment><USER29> Well, most of our driving is stop and go, in-town driving. However, it doesn't make much sense to buy a family car if it doesn't work for road trips as well. Especially since it is cost prohibitive to fly for a family of 6 when we can drive for 8-12 hours for a fraction of the cost.

<comment><USER31> Actually, it can make sense to buy a family car that doesn't work for road trips. Save money (fuel + price) by buying a smaller car, and rent a van for the few times a year that you need it.

<comment><USER29> I have not found that to be true for us (again, a family of 6).

Renting a van will cost $500-$1000 for a week. If you do that 3-4 times a year then you are talking about approx $200/mo in monthly payments that you would have to save.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> A combination proxy/script/something that'd pop up an interstitial task tracker/to-do list overview when I go to any of a list of "time-sink" sites. I can click "snooze" and go to the time sink, with the task tracker popping back up after 5,10,30 minutes, turn it off for a day or two, or click through to the detail/edit view for any task and get to work.

<comment><USER33> Leechblock + NowDoThis is my solution to this. I don't actually use NowDoThis, but it's default is to have it's own name in big letters, which is enough to remind me to stop slacking.

<comment><USER32> I know of those, but I'm absent-minded enough that I often forget there's many better things I could be doing. Seeing my long-range goals and my short-range deadlines in an easy-to-grok format has done wonders for me in the past; I just need a systematic way of delivering that when it's needed. Ideally, the software solution could also pop up when I start viewing a comic book archive, watching a video file, or preparing a snack just because I can't think of anything more pressing to do.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> More Firefly

<comment><USER35> And I was thinking you meant <http://is.gd/rtF6>

:D

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> 0) Stylish sunglasses that act like the spexware in Bruce Sterling's stories, or like the smart glasses in Charlie Stross's _Accelerando_. I'd love heads up displays showing me peoples' names, maps, appointments, and all the stuff for which I currently rely on my phone.

The hardware is there if you're willing to pay. I recently learned about research in this direction aimed at helping patients with Alzheimer's (they also use audio prompts, as well). I don't know of anyone who has packaged up everything and written software to make this seamless, easy, and fun.

1) A battery for my phone that "never" ran out.

</comment><comment><USER37> Teleportation device. Sign me up today!

</comment><comment><USER30> An intelligent agent that would hunt up best comment threads from lots of news aggregator and other discussion sites.

<comment><USER38> <http://www.backtype.com> perhaps?

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> I desperately wish i could find top level tropical and non-tropical fruit of many varieties here in Houston. I love fresh fruit but mangos from Mexico are not that great and the lack of variety gets old.

<comment><USER39> I'd say. I miss the rainbow hued cornucopia of Indian mango markets. Yes, even blue mangoes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> A device that sits on your car dash and takes high-def pictures of the road ahead (infrared for night-time), then runs some image matching software that will fire off warnings if deer or other objects are in your path, or are moving towards your path. An early-warning HUD, to prevent deer strikes.

</comment><comment><USER41> "The only rule should be that you would actually take out your credit card right now and pay for it if someone offered it."

ok here goes,

1\. _New_ replicas of old computers like the ZX Spectrum, Comodore 64, Amiga, the lisp machine, the Newton

2\. The above, but in a handheld form factor

3\. A kindle that reads programming books perfectly, has no drm and can handle pdf without conversion.

4\. A website that would pay me for learning (hey we are just thinking creatively! A man can hope!). SO say if I finish all the non research problems of each chapter of Concrete Mathematics, I'd get 20 $)

</comment><comment><USER42> I would pay for a good enough telepresence application for keeping in touch with my family and friends (they're in the UK, I'm in San Francisco).

Skype is better than nothing, but still not good enough.

<comment><USER13> Yeah, that's tough. It's even worse when you have a small baby and the grandparents are far away:-/

Here's an idea for someone: Virtual Grandpa - some sort of telepresence thing that's been made a bit robust so that a kid can drag it around and drop it without problems. Maybe like a robust cell phone with a decent size screen and camera? I actually wouldn't mind working on that too, but feel free to run with it. The big problem is probably finding hardware that will work: cheap, robust, and more or less customizable so that the parents can fiddle with it to 'tune in', and then lock it to some degree.

<comment><USER31> Great idea. A Chumby with a built-in video camera + gtalk/video support might fit the bill.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Chatterous.com

Rather than rehash why I would.. I explained it not long back here: [http://www.errant.me.uk/blog/2009/03/dont-ignore-the- donator...](http://www.errant.me.uk/blog/2009/03/dont-ignore-the-donators- model/)

How much? At the moment Chatterous is probably worth... $50 a month to me - and probably more to the company I work at.

EDIT: I realise that verges on linkspam but otherwise I would end up writing an essay on why chatterous should offer "pay for" - and I already did that :P

<comment><USER44> Yeah, I use this every single day for different circles of work, hobby, friends. I felt it very succinctly when Gtalk went haywire the other day and Chatterous was broken.

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> The ability to start up an Extra-Large EC2 instance running OSX and connect to it using NoMachine.

Combine it with a simple client that runs locally and rsyncs pictures/music/etc from a local HD with an EBS mounted to the EC2 instance.

(I want a MacPro so I can do photo processing and programming in the evenings, but I don't want to spend $3.5k for a machine that will sit idle 20hrs/day.)

(For this to be workable I'd also need a fiber connection - but I'd pay for that too, if it was available.)

<comment><USER46> To generalize, a service that SVN's powerful computers for a hourly fee, targetting general public on netbooks for video editing, graphic processing, gaming.

</comment></comment><comment><USER47> A service that matches you up with intellectual AND decent looking folks.

<comment><USER48> Actually I would settle for a site that matches you up with intellectual folks...

<comment><USER30> HN suffices to provide online conversation with intellectual folks, but I suppose that you and the person to whom you replied have a more specific meaning of "match up" in mind. The difficulty of face-meeting people for intellectual conversation is indeed what keeps a lot of online discussion groups going.

<comment><USER47> I actually mean for DATING. lol

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> A small business server appliance for non-IT based small businesses. I'm thinking: Network attached storage with a built in Samba NT compatible domain controller/windows file/print sharing capabilities. RAID-1 plus an automated backup mechanism ... maybe, attach an external USB drive and it automatically does Sunday fulls and daily differentials keeping as many as it can store. Bonus points if it can take extra SATA hard drives / external drives for expansion without adding a huge cost.

Why I'd buy it? My dad's company is running a (very nice in its day) server on Windows NT with "redundant everything" that is starting to fail something fierce. It's 13 years old but it meets the needs of him and his ten employees and at the time there wasn't much of a better choice. Since they don't do anything locally but file/print sharing it seems like such a waste to have a power hungry box with a monitor on it for such a simple set of requirements. Also, if something like this were available, I'd replace my existing home-brew NAS ... based on openSuSE with it in a second if it'd lower my electricity bill.

<comment><USER50> I think Buffalo produced something like this called the "yellow box" or something.

It is getting easier and easier for a low-capital business to produce something like this. If you are interested in looking at this commercially send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.com, I have been researching various low power linux computers and etc.

</comment></comment><comment><USER51> Early users, build something where a person can come to your site, pay $1,000 and get 1,000 active users to stimulate the site activity.

<comment><USER52> You can use AdWords for that.

<comment><USER53> Has anyone used AdWords like this, and how did it work out?

<comment><USER54> The key is to spend all the ad money in a small period during the day, say 1hr. It is better to have a lot of people on your site 1hr a day then 1 person on your site all day, that is if you site relies on users to interact.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Something that allows me to search across all my old browser history (Content of the pages not the titles). So I can find all those blog posts and articles I forgot to bookmark for later reading at the time. (I guess I could start using stumbleupon or something but I want to be able to search in those pages as well.)

<comment><USER55> Opera has that. Once you have visited a page, you can use the address bar to search through the cache. It will not only search titles but also the content of the pages

<comment><USER14> Oh cool thanks for the heads up, I just installed 9.6 and it's right there in the "What's new in 9.6" copy.

"Quick Find

Have you ever forgotten the page where you found that great article or that perfect gift? When using Opera, the browser remembers not only the titles and addresses, but also the actual content of the Web pages you visit."

No need to pay for it either!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER56> I'd pay $10 a month for a service that finds podcasts and videos about specific subjects.

I don't have the time to scour TV listings or subscribe to busy podcasts/RSS feeds in the hope of finding something to listen to at work/when I'm out and about. What I'm doing now is going to the BBC iPlayer website every week, putting in my keywords and hoping something comes up.

I'd pay a monthly subscription to a reliable service that could bring me high quality content from universities, YouTube Edu, Authors@Google, iTunes store, the BBC iPlayer, NPR, PBS, Fora.tv, etc. about the subjects/keywords I enter. What I don't want is homemade slideshows from YouTube or micro-segments of news. I shouldn't have to sit in Google's search box and now be able to drill down to find this interesting stuff.

</comment><comment><USER57> I will pay for someone to market my skills on commission.

</comment><comment><USER58> "18. The WebOS. It probably won't be a literal translation of a client OS shifted to servers. But as applications migrate to servers, it seems possible there will be something that plays a central role like an OS does."

<http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html>

I'll know it when I see it, and when I see it, I'll happily pay for it.

It has something to do with CMS + federated, micro social networks. One should be able to easily migrate + back up one's "OS" to another provider, or even run the OS in parallel between two providers.

I know this is vague, but I feel the absence of something like it.

</comment><comment><USER59> A hoverboard as seen on Back to the Future.

<comment><USER60> I used to desperately want a hoverboard. Then, sometime in late middle school or early high school, when I was getting into physics, I realized that a hoverboard would have no way of stopping or turning. I was quite depressed.

</comment></comment><comment><USER61> Very durable writable DVDs that could keep the data even after multiple scratches, the passage of decades...etc

</comment><comment><USER62> This is motivated by the fact that I'm in Australia and our broadband sucks.

Netflix send a whole heap of DVDs through the mail, so they're trust you not to rip them and distribute copies. If there was a massive content distribution network with kiosks in shopping centres where I could put in a DVD-RW or usb storage device (or pay for a blank DVD) and pay for the latest movies and TV shows I'd make a good amount of use of it.

It's mostly about saving bandwidth, but also trying to provide an extremely fast and convinient alternative to piracy. If that existed, I'd probably use it. I already buy TV shows on DVD if someone I trust recommends them highly enough - a much better experience for me than watching them on TV, no adds, pause, rewind, etc...

We get some shows quite a bit later here, and a few of the good shows only come to pay tv. So the timing would be the key. As soon as the TV show is aired anywhere - bam - available from the kiosk. The premium for being ad free and not getting it on the studios timeline might more or less balance out with the savings in packaging and distribution.

Same with movies. Theaters wouldn't be happy, but we're rapidly approaching the days when people will go to the movies for the theater experience and otherwise just get hold of it online (one way or another).

As a bonus idea, if the kiosks kept records of what you'd bought then buying a whole series through the kiosk gets you a big discount on the DVDs if you want the physical media since you've already paid for the IP at the point.

<comment><USER50> <http://www.cineflashplayer.com/>

Click on the products part to see that they sell through kiosks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER63> I want cable TV service and this is how I want it:

\- A la carte pricing: $1 per channel per month (I'd go $1.50 for HD channels and more for premium channels of course)

\- I want an IP-based/wifi-enabled DVR that records shows in a non-proprietary video format. I can browse the files from any computer in my home or configure my router so I can access them from work. If it can browse web videos ala boxee, great. I don't care about it skipping commercial–heck, I don't even care if it appends pre-roll/ticker ads to the files.

</comment><comment><USER64> A computer I could hang on the wall in the bathroom or kitchen that just displays tasks/reminders for the day.

You know, a simple dashboard to start the day.

<comment><USER17> I'm not sure how far digital picture frames are advancing, but you could probably get a wi-fi one, and display an image from a remote server (your desktop), where you generate an image from text on the fly.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Regenerative disc therapy for my lower back injury.

</comment><comment><USER65> A secure, online back-up solution for all my computers that is dead-simple to use on all OSes.

And I mean dead-simple as in install a client that by default intelligently finds the stuff that I might want to back-up (iTunes library, folders with lots of pictures, My Documents, /etc & /home directories, etc.), with the ability to specify certain folders/directories as well. Or since we're dreaming, why not the whole computer? And of course it always runs in the background, never consumes 100% of my CPU or bandwidth when I'm using the computer, is always up to date, and pretty much never bothers me once I've set it up.

I don't want to think about back-ups. I don't want my family to have to think about back-ups. My dad is interested in getting an iPod and will definitely purchase songs on iTunes. I want a dead simple setup for him to keep those backed up.

</comment><comment><USER66> A pan-European plan for the iPhone so that I could actually use the phone while travelling.

</comment><comment><USER67> Luck.

</comment><comment><USER68> Teleportation --will pay double for the service.

<comment><USER69> you know all those random pixels you get in a fax or even a scan? Yeah. Do that to your brain. Or, more particularly, the wall of a high pressure artery, in your brain.

<comment><USER70> Excuse me while I put my sci-fi hat on...

I think teleportation will have to be an analog technology instead of a digital one.

By analog I mean manipulation of space/time fabric that you actually step through, as opposed to being scanned and reconstructed on the other side.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER71> I'd buy a CDMA iPhone. Forget ATT's slow and spotty GSM 3G. Bring on CDMA RevA.

<comment><USER72> Totally, its unacceptable that there are so many 3G dead spots in San Francisco of all places!

</comment></comment><comment><USER73> Ghost in the Shell Section 9-spec full robot body. Medical immortality. Nanotechnological bone strengthening, brain-damping mesh, damage repair, bloodstream oxygen cache system. Brain augmentation. Cancer-free cigarettes. Perfect, invisible contraception and STD prevention. Cyborg love doll, again see GitS. I could go on all day!

Maybe a little outside the implied timeframe of potential availability, but that's what I _really_ want, not some minor upgrade of 2009 tech! : )

</comment><comment><USER49> A REAL sequel to Star Control 2 (a.k.a. Ur-Quan Masters)

</comment><comment><USER74> Business: \- a way way better analytics system that integrates with our own logs and sql calls \- a better referral system for hiring, contacts, etc.

Personally: \- a system to clean up my contacts and make sure that all my living address books (linkedin facebook) work out. \- a front end for mechanical turk, so that I know I'm getting Turk rates without doing the outsourced assistant

</comment><comment><USER75> the pre-1992 version of usenet

<comment><USER50> Voted up, because I am actually planning to pay for a giganews feed, now that Time Warner killed there usenet servers.

<comment><USER76> Missing the point, dude. Its not about what you have access to group-wise, but rather what's posted on the groups. In this case, he's asking for intelligent discussion instead of warez.

<comment><USER50> I would pay for good access with long article expire times, to only to comp.* and sci.* and the other useful text-only groups. I have never downloaded any binary file from a newsgroup, and I have been using them since about 1994.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER77> A battery so good that I don't have to _worry_ about battery life again.

</comment><comment><USER78> A decent computing environment.

(Technically available now: <http://www.lispmachine.net/symbolics.txt> but I would like one that meets modern specs.)

</comment><comment><USER79> A silent XBMC box in a small form factor.

Think "Apple TV", but without having to worry about hacks, and with built in keyboard/mouse support.

</comment><comment><USER80> I would have told you an iPhone that is on a good network, has a keyboard, and doesn't suck to actually use as a phone, but it sounds like Palm is going to come through on that one for me.

So instead I'll go with a tech-focused social news site where I don't have to hear 3 times a day how everyone not in the tech industry is stupid and doesn't get it, and is, by trying to make a profit and protect valid IP, tilting at windmills.

</comment><comment><USER81> streaming NFL games.

<comment><USER24> streaming NHL games for me but same concept :).

I feel bad for all the brits at my work that are probably dying to see good soccer on the TV and can't find any. They'd probably love a streaming sports site as well.

<comment><USER82> Streaming formula 1 races.

<comment><USER83> justin.tv!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER84> FreeBSD AMI's

</comment><comment><USER85> Camtasia Studio for Linux.

</comment><comment><USER48> A proper webbased project management tool.

</comment><comment><USER86> a way to record streaming audio on a mac _and_ auto splitting with auto tagging. Would pay up to $100

</comment><comment><USER87> A bluetooth track-wheel mouse.

</comment><comment><USER88> starcraft 2. I hope its not ridiculously expensive when it comes out(im sort of used to not paying for stuff).

</comment><comment><USER89> An online memorial for a dead relative.

<comment><USER90> check out <http://mem.com>. They made something for a friend's relative recently (unfortunately) and it looked quite nice.

<comment><USER17> I don't mean to be rude, but how is a service like this actually used? I mean, in your experience, what's different about it versus, say, a blog, or even a simple cms like jottit?

<comment><USER90> Here's how it was done: <http://jeffreyfalstrom.com/>

When someone close to you passes away, you are distraught and have a lot of things to take care of. Maybe you don't want to register a domain and do design and stuff (most people aren't designers afterall). So they set you up with a nice memorial and take care of the details in a tasteful way. Think of it as a specialized CMS.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Music, Art, and Cognitive Benefit: Separating Fact from Fallacy - <AUTHOR> http://dana.org/Briefing_Papers/Music__Art__and_Cognitive_Benefit__Separating_Fact_from_Fallacy/ <comment><USER2> Interesting little look at how people will take a vague suggestion and run with it. I liked her summary:

"Human cognition is multifaceted: it covers many domains and gives rise to many skills. Educational systems should embrace this richness and diversity. I think that's a better argument for arts instruction than any promised benefit in particular domains like mathematics."

</comment><comment><USER3> I was a pretty poor student growing up, except for my main interest, music. I played violin and spent almost all of my time studying it. I was a solid player, never going to be a concert soloist, but reliable and skilled enough to saw my way through any piece we ever played.

In my school system, starting around middle-school, there was a very serious effort to use the orchestral sections to teach leadership and teamwork. Section leaders were given extra responsibilities to assemble their sections after school and rehearse, a study group of sorts. In a formal orchestra, the second person in charge of the orchestra is called the "concertmaster" ("leader" in the UK I think). This person is traditionally also the section leader of the first violins. Responsibilities can be fairly limited, tuning the orchestra before rehearsals or concerts, or extensive: leading rehearsals, selecting music, organizing smaller ensembles, etc. Because of this, the second chair of the first violins often assumes the role of section leader for that section.

As anybody who ever played in band or orchestra knows, your position in your section is also competitive. You have to audition for your seat.

I made concertmaster for the first time in 7th grade. There wasn't much to it at that age, mostly just tuning everybody. But considering I wasn't much of a student outside of music, having a prestige position was pretty motivating.

I kept that position through the 9th grade. In 10th, I moved up to the "symphonic orchestra", a full affair with about 100 members, strings, winds, brass, percussion, the works - it was usually reserved for 11th and 12th graders. I started in the last chair of the second violins (the lowest possible position). It was beyond humbling. To go from a position where I opened concerts by walking on stage to applause, to literally the back of the class was rather frustrating even if I had skipped ahead to get there.

I decided to join a local youth symphony. But things were more intense there. Once again I was stuck near the back of the 2nd violins.

Over the course of the year, I worked my tail off and took every audition opportunity. In both orchestras, I worked up to section leader by the end of the year. Along the way, I learned how to run rehearsals, tutor instrumentalists who were behind learning the music and filled in on a couple quartets who needed a second violinist to complete the ensemble. I learned to play a mediocre Viola and Cello that year as well (I've long since forgotten, but I could work around basic pieces). Various other skills started to click into place.

That summer, I went to an all summer band camp, where all the _very_ serious instrumentalists, choir kids and ballet dancers in the state came. Once again I made it to near the back of the second violins. I was frustrated. But I used my new skills to organize a small ensemble of "back of the section" kids and put myself as concertmaster and conductor. We played a short piece of music written by one of the kids with some serious writing talent at an all camp show. The conductor of the symphony grabbed the composer after the show and offered to set him up with a music scholarship at the university he taught at. I learned how to promote others.

Returning back to school in the 11th grade, I made middle of the first violins, stayed in the youth orchestra (where I was the 2nd violin section leader), joined a baroque chamber orchestra as the assistant 1st violin section leader and played and played until my neck was raw and calloused. I worked my way up, adding skills and even taking on my first few professional gigs, playing in small ensembles at weddings and high society functions.

In the summer I was selected to represent my school in the first ever exchange program to Russia (sponsored by the State Department). This was not long after the Iron Curtain fell and we were to exchange with a musical school in Siberia. That's another story, but I made concertmaster for that exchange and played all over the Southern Urals.

When I returned, I auditioned and made about middle of the pack in the first violins of my youth symphony. We had qualified for a national competition in Quebec, Canada. We were one of two U.S. orchestras who had been invited to compete. We won.

In 12th grade, I made concert master in my school symphonic, concert master of my baroque chamber, and 2nd seat of the 1st violins of my youth symphony.

My point is that Music didn't make me good at math or literature or science. It made me good at leading, at learning humility, and promoting other people's good work. It made me good at hard work and not to expect things to be given. It made me learn that there's always somebody better than you, but also there's value in doing the best you can for yourself.

I also learned public speaking, leadership, presentation, how to dress well, selecting work, how the professional music world works, I traveled to two countries where I didn't speak the language, how to break a complex problem down into atomic pieces, patience, and far more.

Every one of these lessons and skills have proven far more valuable to me in my career than all the rest of my schooling combined (well through my grad program) and I apply them every single day. Many of my fellow orchestra members have also gone onto happy, productive, successful lives -- some in music, most not. They run companies, became chefs, teach, raise successful children, and otherwise contribute to the world. I can't say that for most of the kids I knew outside of the music program.

During this entire time, every single year, the school board would threaten to cut all funding for the arts. A program where the students brought their own supplies, paid for their own "uniforms" (Tuxedos), and other than 2 or 3 teachers and a space to practice, cost the school system almost nothing. We even sent all the students around town before a concert to get sponsorship to pay to rent the auditorium we gave performances in because the school wouldn't let us use the facility. Every year, dozens of concerned parents and many of my fellow students, came to the board meetings and gave testimonials like mine. I heard these same kinds of life transforming stories from kids from all over the county. Every year the budget would be cut by a few percent with a footnote that next year would probably be the last year.

Each year the sports teams got new uniforms, new equipment, the sports fields were immaculately maintained and up-to-date. There was never a light out in the gym, or the acres of lighting on the football/track stadium. All of their bus trips to matches were paid for by the school system and when our basketball team made it along in the game got free plan rides to their game. The Gymnasium and Track was reserved so only kids on teams could use it after school, even if there wasn't a practice going on -- it sat idle most of the time with all of the lights blazing away. We had maybe a dozen different sports teams who had all this lavished upon them.

Of course they learned similar life-skills, and many have gone onto happy, productive and contributing lives and I don't begrudge any of the players for pursuing their interests and using their talents. But it seems in terms of proportionality, the arts programs may have been a better investment in society than bi-weekly personal trainers for the football players, who at best, if they were _really_ great, might get a 5 year professional career.

Yet I continue to hear about arts program being cut.</comment>


Republic Wireless, You Have a Strange Definition of 'Unlimited' - <AUTHOR> http://www.pcworld.com/article/243471/republic_wireless_you_have_a_strange_definition_of_unlimited.html <comment><USER2> I don't see anything misleading in Republic's marketing. I think they've made it pretty clear. This isn't a cellular company, it's a VoIP company that relies on wifi and happens to fall back on Sprint's CDMA network when there isn't wifi available. Their service is unlimited but the fallback cellular network isn't.

</comment><comment><USER3> This reminds me of the old days of "unlimited" dial-up connections.

I worked for an ISP that offered such a plan. You were never charged any overage fees, and there were no hard caps on your monthly hours, but we reserved the right to limit access on a per-case basis for heavy users, and to prioritize usage (back when we had user-to-line ratios) to limit heavy users during peak hours to ensure all customers could use the service. We were very clear about this in our signup sheet too (it wasn't buried in the T&C).

It works well for the 90% of the people who have "regular" usage patterns ("regular" being defined by the provider) and just don't want to have to keep an eye on their usage.

It doesn't work for the 10% of heavy usage customers, or the folks who think the provider should be held to their own personal definition of "unlimited" (i.e. "unlimited means I should be able to stay connected 24/7 all month long!!").

All that said, I think Republic Wireless should be a little clearer about what unlimited means. They're trying, but I think it's still a bit vague at the moment.

<comment><USER4> (i.e. "unlimited means I should be able to stay connected 24/7 all month long!!").

Yes, that sounds like unlimited to me.

A buffet is unlimited. A small 90lb old lady will eat maybe half a plate. Then come some big 400lb fellas who clean off 8 or 9 plates full. Either one should be accommodated when it's called "unlimited". Otherwise, call it what it is: service with a high limit.

<comment><USER3> Nope that's what YOU think it means. See my answer above. We never charged anyone for extra hours, but we did not _guarantee_ that you could get online and stay online as much as you want.

Take your buffet example: You can eat all you want from what is on the tables, no matter how much that is, but there's no guarantee of an infinite supply of food. If you eat all the pancakes, they are not _obligated_ to supply you with more.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I didn't upvote this article, because Unlimited is truly Unlimited -- as long as you're using wifi.

That's the point: you have a cell network available, seamlessly. The old incumbent carriers with their caps and rates and bag of tricks.

But if you can find a wifi connection, you're home free.

<comment><USER6> The one advertisement is very misleading, but other than that... This is actually quite a tempting plan.

Well, it would be, if I could use my current Android phone.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Correction: they have an _industry standard_ definition of unlimited.

(Doesn't make it any better though.)

</comment><comment><USER8> Their limitations make sense, you just have to look at your own usage and decide if it will work for you. I don't feel like they are hiding anything, I read through their entire site yesterday and it was all there in black and white.

The only concern I do have is how well will actually work? Does it switch seamlessly when I leave the range of my wifi like the site claims. A co-worker signed up and has one on the way, so we will find out soon.

At least they are more upfront about the "unlimited" rules than other carriers like say AT&T. Even Sprint is close to killing off their unlimited plans.

<comment><USER9> I thought AT&T didn't have "unlimited" plans anymore. At least with my iPhone, the data limit is right there in the plan name, with overages being charged a reasonable amount extra.

Here's a crazy idea for the carriers: if there are limits, don't call your plan "unlimited".

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Now lets see some of these mainstream tech media outlets comb through the terms of use for the major service providers looking for "gotchas". I'll bet there are quite a few there.

Republic isn't the be-all solution to our shitty carrier woes, but it's progress. A rag like PC World should be on board promoting this sort of advancement, rather than spreading FUD.

</comment><comment><USER11> Airplanes were an amazing invention, but turns out its hard to run a profitable airline!

</comment><comment><USER12> Sounds like it's comparable to "unlimited" cheap web hosting resellers. For most people who get suckered in by "unlimited", it's probably fine. For the people that might actually need many resources, it will run into a wall quickly.

<comment><USER13> That's actually an incredibly poor analogy: Republic is upfront about their limitations, cheap web hosts by default are not.

Republic is saying "We're a wifi company that uses Sprint 3G as an unfortunate but necessary safety net, so you always have access".

For users that require a cell network 24/7 and have little to no access to wifi -- Republic isn't for them. They admit that up front and say that they'd love to help you find a traditional 3G/4G network.

Hosting companies are openly deceiving you by making promises that they knowingly won't keep for certain users.

Republic isn't deceiving anyone -- they say right up front that they're a wifi network looking for wifi customers.

It's not deception if it's literally your business model.

<comment><USER12> It's comment thread on an article all about the double-speak occuring with relation to the word "unlimited", when it's anything but. I don't think it's wrong to call that deceptive.

Besides, it's not that "unlimited" providers don;'t provide unlimited services... it's just that they are not reliable or consistent.</comment></comment></comment>


Scrapino – Self-sustainable robot from e-scrap using renewable energy [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405896318328593/pdf?md5=ac7fae174710da0a5035026f88e0559b&pid=1-s2.0-S2405896318328593-main.pdf <comment><USER2> How is this a paper?

TL;DR:

\- Industrial robots are important and also expensive.

\- Wouldn't it be cool if they were made from e-scrap? We suggest attaching a solar panel for extra joy!

\- <Bunch of buzzwords around learning and community and end-of-life management.>

\- Look at those toy robots made from scrap! (And look, there's also a Dalek that can poop!)

\- Let's do what every hobbyist in every hackerspace has been doing daily for near a decade now: take an Arduino, a bunch of random leftover components, and make a "robot" with servos and ultrasound range finders.

\- Conclusion: (industrial) robots are important and expensive, but our (Arduino kitbashing) robot shows the way for building them in a more responsible fashion. It also shows how a bottom-up approach to e-scrap could work.

Add spelling & formatting errors to the mix. Flagged for extremely low SNR.

<comment><USER3> Agreed. This method of sustainable robots is generally not very good en mass. It's good for a hackaday post, but try making 100 of these. Before this is a possibility, we need robots that are able to self-model and hence understand the relationship between sensors and actuators correctly.

Even 3D printing a robot on the same 3D printer, with the same calibrated parts from manufacturers, with the same software - _still_ requires calibration. The more complicated the robot, the more the errors accumulate.

As for the quality of the paper - I completely blame the journal (who are ultimately responsible for the actions of the reviewers) as this should have been caught earlier. I can understand authors rushing to produce a paper not in their own language, but the profit machine journals need to take more responsibility for what they publish.</comment></comment>


SpotON Radio brings a full Spotify experience on your iPhone - <AUTHOR> http://matteodallombra.net/2012/02/12/spoton-radio-brings-a-full-spotify-experience-on-your-iphone/ <comment><USER2> Matteo, big thanks for the write up! Glad you like our service, as you so accurately write we've put a lot of time into making it friggin awesome instead of just nice. We are convinced that people care for great design, and the amazing response we've received seems to prove us right. If anyone has any questions or comments, just AMAA! /Peter Blom, co-founder SpotON Radio

<comment><AUTHOR> I really love your app. Is all I ever wanted from Spotify when I'm on the go, so you guys have filled a great hole. Great job!

<comment><USER2> Glad to hear! Thank you. Stay tuned for updates with some really nice new functions, and if you're at SXSW, keep an eye on our Twitter feed (@spoton_radio) for info on fan meet-ups!</comment></comment></comment>


26 Second Duvet Cover Invention - <AUTHOR> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/madebykoa/the-koa-cover-the-better-way-to-make-a-bed <comment><AUTHOR> How you get a comforter inside a duvet cover I don't know. This is one of those beautifully simple ideas that seems obvious.

<comment><USER2> If you have a standard duvet cover, which has an opening at the bottom, or foot end... grab the two corners at the top (pillow end) of the duvet with your right hand, pull the top middle center to your right hand, which is holding the corners, so that it now holds the center and two top corners, then reach your right hand inside the duvet cover to the top center of the duvet cover.

With your left hand grab the left-hand top corner of the cover and with your right hand, pass the left-hand top corner of the duvet to your left hand so that it holds both the cover and duvet at the corner. Move your right hand to the top right corner of the cover and then pass the right corner to your left hand so that it now holds both corners. Move the right hand out of the cover so that it can grab the right corner from the outside.

Spread your arms apart so that the top of the duvet rises up inside the top edge of the cover. Shake and wave, toss onto the bed and then pull the corners of the cover down over the duvet, button or tie off as needed.</comment></comment>


Adioso (YC W09) Finds the Best Deals for Travelers with Flexible Travel Plans - <AUTHOR> http://lifehacker.com/5627420/adioso-finds-the-best-deals-for-travelers-with-flexible-travel-plans

<comment><USER2> Judging from the comments on the OP, people are having trouble picking two airports that work - bit of a shame, to get lifehacker exposure and then having people shrug and go away. The problem is that I suspect adioso uses cookies and/or browsing history to figure out an itinerary to suggest (I received a default search suggestion that was so wacky for anybody except me, who had indeed done such a search elsewhere), but that suggested itinerary is practically guaranteed to fail given the small coverage at this point.

It really would be better in this case if there was a bit less cleverness and the suggested search was one that the engine can actually fulfill.

Anyway, LGW to ATH will work for those who want to try it.</comment>


5 Signs You're A Bad Programmer - <AUTHOR> https://sites.google.com/site/yacoset/Home/signs-that-you-re-a-bad-programmer

<comment><USER3> According to "3. Deficient research skills / Chronically poor knowledge of the platform's features", "Re-inventing or laboring without basic mechanisms" is a bad thing. I don't think so. I routinely work on a carefully chosen subset of a (big) language/platform, having benefits of such an approach - <USER2> immediate (stable compilers, proven patterns) and long-term (better maintainability by somebody who's not an expert in all facets of the language/platform).

</comment><comment><USER4> 1\. You use Google sites.

<comment><AUTHOR> haha</comment></comment>


Show HN: Reamaze – Helpdesk for sites and apps simplified - <AUTHOR> http://www.reamaze.com

<comment><USER2> Thought the name Reamaze looked familiar. I think I've used your support widget on codeschool. Great stuff. I wish small support guys like you are used more but I guess that doesn't come by easily by being small.

<comment><USER3> wow lots of codeschoolers here :) didnt realize the support was by reamaze.

<comment><USER4> Newbie Codeschooler here! Let's hijack this thread :)

<comment><USER5> Roll call!! Another codeschooler here!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Damn, <3 ur landing page. clean and short. Btw just took a look at your developer docs.. Do you guys have web hooks into support messages? Would really help my current project

<comment><USER6> I'm not a huge fan of this style, feels like I don't get a good view of all the necessities. They probably need to do some rearranging of assets. Just my $.2.

<comment><USER5> I agree with you. Home page feels a bit too spaced out. Then again, with BART currently running massively delayed, I can afford the time to look through the home page in a leisurely pace.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It looks interesting. Do you have live chat and can it feed into the "shoutbox"? The market is pretty crowded to be honest but it looks clean enough. Good luck with it.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes livechat is optional but included in Reamaze

<comment><USER6> Can you save chat transcripts as tickets? Or is it just a chat history?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Just watched the animated tour on the home page. Really enjoyed how it conveyed a solution to customer service pain points so concisely.

</comment><comment><USER7> So what makes Reamaze better than, say, Zendesk or Helpscout? Looks like they have the same features that you do

</comment><comment><USER8> Looking forward to the first GPL'ed reimplementation of this app.

</comment><comment><USER9> signed up for the trial just to play around with it.. it's pretty. Does Reamaze have a way to do mobile app support? It says 'Helpdesk for apps' but I don't see where i can get it in my ios app.

<comment><AUTHOR> Check out [http://www.reamaze.com/developer/mobile](http://www.reamaze.com/developer/mobile)</comment></comment>


Double Your Money - <AUTHOR> https://thereformedbroker.com/2019/01/22/double-your-money/ <comment><USER2> All these articles seem to assume a 5-7% return yoy. Has anyone been able to manage this? My investments have consistently shown -3..+2% over the last 5 years but granted they are spread over world equities and bonds.</comment>


Ask HN: How do you write documentation for your public APIs? - <AUTHOR>

Do you know of any good programs? Do you simply use a Markdown or RST document? Or do you know of something even better?<p>Thanks! <comment><USER2> Wordnik's swagger comes to mind

<https://developers.helloreverb.com/swagger/>

We just launched our own api ( handwritten with bootstrap,css )

check it out at <http://appetite.io/docs>

~B

<comment><USER3> +1 for Swagger.

I'm predominantly .Net, and Swagger support for the ServiceStack[1] libraries has been very handy!

[1] [http://servicestack.net/](http://servicestack.net/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I really like using Restdown <https://github.com/trentm/restdown>

It's markdown with a few more conventions. Really handy.

</comment><comment><USER5> Python has Sphinx, used by almost every big package.</comment>


Testing Ads in Facebook Messenger - <AUTHOR> https://messengerblog.com/general-messenger/testing-ads-in-messenger/ <comment><USER2> This is why it's annoying to me that so many people use Messenger.

You know what I can use text anyone, anytime without having to worry about ads? My phone.

I feel like there's a downward trend of companies using free stuff to "hook" people and then just feed them an inferior product over and over and over again (more ads, etc). It's not just creating worse products, but it's creating worse customers (who don't understand actual costs when they see other products that are "free").

What happened to just "paying for x, get x." As a customer, I miss those business models and as a business, I miss those customers.

<comment><USER3> You may not have to worry about ads, but some people have to worry about costs - $12 for me last month sending international texts to one person.

<comment><USER2> iMessage - or even whatsapp / line or anything else - ironically enough.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I really don't like ads just like most everyone else, but I can't help but feel there is a missed opportunity here. Facebook just put classic mobile letterbox ads in a side scrolling container.

In such a unique platform such as Messenger you could get a bit more creative. One such example: Suggested pages to message. This would get companies leads and keep people on the Messenger platform. This might not be the best use, but with this product, Facebook can do better than just a re-skin of mobile banners.

<comment><USER5> I think these ads are supposed to start a chat with the sponsoring company.

<comment><USER4> Ahh I see that now, it still does take up a lot of real estate, and looks like a regular website ad link.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Time to start using other apps more. I already have other chat app contacts for most everyone I use Facebook Messenger with, and there is no friction to switch.

</comment><comment><USER7> If anyone's ever clicked on an ad on Facebook not-by-accident, I would love to know.

Invariably Facebook's ads are either a) highly non-relevant [the vast majority of ads], or b) I already know about what they're advertising. I even try to help, to make the ads relevant: every so often, I go through Facebook's list of my interests to weed out the many ridiculous inferences Facebook has made about me. I bet that's more than 99% of the Facebook population does!

<comment><USER8> I find interesting stuff through Facebook ads all the time. It's on a level that I often miss that it's actually sponsored content and not from a page I like.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Eww. Any replacement suggestion? Paid/subscription app is welcome, too.

<comment><USER10> What's wrong with email? (Honest question. Based on this discussion it is not considered an option worth mentioning.)

<comment><USER11> At least in my case:

\- I get too much spam, so I tend to check email less. \- It's not as "real time" as I sometimes need it to be. Sill feels more like mail than like conversation. \- I like to know when people read my messages (I know there's apps that allow this, but it's not ubiquitous) \- I like to know when people are typing (aka, are currently in the conversation) \- Different email programs send/format emails differently. Some seem to keep all the replies attached to the bottom of the latest message in a way my email program can't figure out and collapse.

I'm a fan of email tbh, and I wish more resources were invested in making it better, but I just don't think it lies in the same "space" as instant messaging.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I understand the complaint, but what is the alternative? As a social network - you cannot charge to be on the site; otherwise you will never be more than just a niche.

Yes, people hate ads. But, if you were Facebook, what would you do differently?

</comment><comment><USER13> It's no surprise that Facebook is valued so much. Although, HN would loath this move but these ads don't feel intrusive at all. They are already making ~$2.5B in profit in a quarter and who knows, that could possibly be just scratching the surface. Facebook is smart enough to gradually up the amount of inventory without vexing its users.

Zuckerberg's genius was to realise that their primary objective is to create an engagement platform and gradually move towards monetisation; grand vision, or plain luck, it's working marvellously.

</comment><comment><USER14> > similar to how we surface birthday notifications or where we let you know if > a friend is currently active on Messenger

Guess it doesn't matter then. I'm rarely in the messenger homescreen, but when I am, those are just as annoying as ads anyway, with no way to remove them permanently (which they gleefully tell you when you hide them).

</comment><comment><USER15> First Facebook Messenger and then WhatsApp. Ads are inevitable, it's just the matter of "when". We will live in ads. Google ads might decrease and such ads targeting personal apps are on the rise. This needs to stop.

</comment><comment><USER16> Maybe this will be the tipping point that gets everyone to switch to Allo

<comment><USER17> Allo needs to do more marketing first. What is an Allo?

<comment><USER18> Last week, someone on a Android podcast referred to it as "Alto"! No one remembers / knows what it is.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> This is why I've refused to install this crap on my phone, and have since uninstalled Facebook itself.

I just use the web version and set it to desktop so it doesn't try and nerf the site.

</comment><comment><USER20> Hopefully they won't show ads in Messenger Lite.

</comment><comment><USER21> Facebook has started giving preference to sponsored posts instead of my friends'. This is annoying.

</comment><comment><USER22> Facebook has a few moves here. By doing a limited test in both Thailand, a high ad engagement, growing market [1][2], and Australia, a lower-engagement but high-spend market [3], they can gauge how advertisers respond in two very different markets, while keeping the more numerous [4] North American, Indian, and Brazilian users out of the fray -- and most reputational fallout -- for now.

There is still a small possibility that they'll renege on this plan. Google, whose rivalry with Facebook in the area of messaging is longstanding [5], has largely squandered their potential in this space with a confusing product strategy, but have remained a dominant force in advertising thanks to Search, Youtube, Maps, and Android. Google has recently shuffled up its messaging lineup again by rebooting Google Voice, still having Hangouts, and pushing Duo and Allo, but Facebook provides a unified experience by having all of this in one app. Facebook is no doubt gambling on the fact that any user fallout about ads in Messenger won't be severe enough to cause an exodus of users to a competitor who poses a threat -- and right now, it's unclear if Google poses a threat or just continues to flail ineptly.

Meanwhile, Snapchat doesn't pose a serious risk to _Messenger_ , because Instagram has suitably cloned all of its features while also retaining the core product around curated photos; WhatsApp is a serious player in Brazil and India, is of course now run by Facebook in a brilliant example of market positioning; Skype has hemorrhaged marketshare due to Microsoft's (mis-)management; a few other smaller players target niche audiences (e.g. pseudonymous harder-to-monetize users, gamers, privacy-conscious users).

This leaves their biggest threats European and Asian-operated platforms like WeChat, LINE, Viber, and Telegram. WeChat dominates the Chinese market due to various home turf advantages, while Telegram is popular in the Cyrillic world and MENA, Viber in Europe and Israel, and LINE in Japan. So far, none of them have challenged Facebook in its core markets.

[1] [http://www.tnsglobal.com/thailand-digital-ad-spend- report](http://www.tnsglobal.com/thailand-digital-ad-spend-report) [2] [https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebook-Ad-Spending- Domin...](https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebook-Ad-Spending-Dominates- Digital-Thailand/1014562) [3] [http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing- around-the-wo...](http://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-around-the- world/digital-marketing-in-australia/state-australian-digital-ad-spending- matters/) [4] [https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries-...](https://www.statista.com/statistics/268136/top-15-countries- based-on-number-of-facebook-users/) [5] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13465483)

</comment><comment><USER23> I don't understand why this is getting so many upvotes. Do people enjoy being flooded with ads wherever they go?

<comment><USER24> Because it's something that HN users want to see on the site. Upvoting has nothing to do with endorsing what it says.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> I'm sure messenger will be so much better with "smart" ads. Let's say you are chatting with your friend and say: oh you know that delivery company with black minibuses and all of the sudden you get ads for UPS so you don't even have to google it. Off course FB and the Zuck will eventually take over the World. If not that, then he will definitely take over the World Wide Web.</comment>


Google's Keith Enright dodges China questions at Senate privacy hearing - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/26/google-keith-enright-dodges-china-questions-senate-privacy-hearing.html <comment><USER2> How on Earth can US Senators question Google when the NSA does things 100x worse than this?</comment>


We Are All Equal T-Shirt - <AUTHOR> https://teespring.com/equalrights

<comment><USER2> I'd much rather buy one of these than just change my facebook profile picture.

</comment><comment><USER3> This is awesome! Good to know someone is doing more than just changing a profile pic.

</comment><comment><USER4> I guess this is slightly less "slacktivism" than the facebook profile pic changes.

</comment><comment><USER5> Too bad these weren't out for people to wear today.

</comment><comment><USER6> Really cool! A viral tee?

</comment><comment><USER7> I just ordered one.

</comment><comment><USER8> Ordered!</comment>


What "under the radar" city today will blow everyone's mind in 2100? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Lagos</comment>


The End of Employees - <AUTHOR> https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-end-of-employees-1486050443 <comment><USER2> Another sign the world is moving towards a cyberpunk future, with extremely unevenly distributed outcomes.

Work in tech as a full time employee at a megacorp or well funded start up and in many ways your value has never been higher. On the other hand some companies are outsourcing entire IT departments.

The same thing has happened in law: attorneys salaries are bimodal, where top law grads moving to corporate white shoe firms start with strong 6 figure salaries and the rest at much lower levels of remuneration.

This bifurcation of society is certainly due to very real economic forces (outsized success for firms addressing a global market), but it absolutely cannot be socially stable in the long term.

<comment><USER3> Socially stable? Didn't a government just get elected that promises to pull out of, well, _most_ international trade deals?

<comment><USER4> What does that have to do with the post above?

<comment><USER3> I don't see how you can have global-facing firms without international laws to facilitate things.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I personally have no issues with this. Now, if you are in the family raising- house purchasing lifestyle, I do understand the need for permanent work and stability, and wish you the best in finding that field of work!

As for a subcontractor, however, I enjoy high mobility. The client sucks? Stick to it until the next release cycle and work for another one the next week. You like working remotely? Look for a full-time client that offers that, or work for multiple who enjoys not having to pay rent for your ass in their offices.

The trick is to find a company, or consortium, which actively seeks clients and offer them services. This means they are constantly "recruiting" and moving people in-between projects. You don't have to be an employee within said company, you just have to be able to bill your hours to said company/consortium. Having my own company allows me to seek clients within the EU as well as overseas, if I wish to work those hours. It also allows me to drive prices higher than average, since I provide the advantage of "disposable workforce". That later part would be an issue, if I wasn't in connection with such company groups I mentioned earlier.

Your mileage may vary. I have to put it forth that I have no desire for kids, or owning my own house, so that removes a lot of stress and monetary obligations. I understand this is not the norm, though I do not understand why. We have it way better with my partner than couples with kids, and our observations over the years enforced our hunch that people generally start families because they have no idea where they want to go in life. So they try new things, which is nice, but maybe they should start with raising vegetables in their gardens, which is a daily, year-around responsibility. You gotta water and check for weeds, invaders every day, no matter how tired you might feel. If you give up two months in because the kale died due to overwatering and you never checking resources online, or the brussel sprouts never started budding because you never checked that in needs sulfur in the ground, well, maybe raising kids ain't for you either.

<comment><USER6> A society that does not produce enough offspring will go extinct and be replaced by one that does.

<comment><USER5> Don't worry, you'll long dead by then.

<comment><USER7> We will, but the government won't. And because the government needs to keep tax income flowing, it will promote native procreation.

<comment><USER8> > We will, but the government won't. And because the government needs to keep > tax income flowing, it will promote native procreation.

I disagree with this, and I cite reality as proof: what western governments are actually successfully promoting native procreation? Governments might give some lip-service to native procreation, but they sure don't do much, and as a result, people aren't procreating. Look at Japan for instance: they're in NPG now, so whatever half-hearted attempts the government is making aren't having much of an effect. Even here in the US we'd be NPG if it weren't for immigrants.

What exactly does the government do to promote native procreation anyway? Here again in the US, I sure don't see much. I see 1) a child tax credit that doesn't amount to much if you're not poor, and certainly doesn't come close to making up for the cost of having a kid; 2) different tax treatment for married couples, but while this gives you a small benefit if one partner doesn't work, it ends up being a big penalty if both work. On the other hand, I see: 1) government-run public schools which are an utter disaster, where you can expect your kids to be tormented to the point of suicide; 2) government enforcers arresting parents who let their kids play outside for "child neglect"; 3) astronomical college tuition costs and a student-loan trap; 4) fewer and fewer jobs, meaning you're more and more likely to have your kids living with you well into adulthood and beyond and unable to take care of themselves; 5) astronomical day-care costs so that one partner's entire income is used just so they can leave the kid in day-care while they work; 6) companies which penalize workers and their long-term careers for taking time off for raising kids (which is why people work just to pay for day-care in #5); 7) a horrible and expensive healthcare system where you'll get socked with thousands or tens of thousands in medical bills just for having a single kid, even with insurance; 8) a high possibility of divorce (probably contributed to greatly by all these societal stressors I mentioned above), which would leave one parent struggling to raise the kid(s) by themselves with a single income.

All in all, having kids is a gigantic risk, an enormous expense, and the government isn't helping much with it, and instead is making it much more expensive and risky with its actions (e.g., by giving us a terrible and expensive healthcare system).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> In theory the aircraft maintenance contractor can be better than in house because they have a larger 'n' of aircraft to work on. I'm sure there are innumerable business school papers on this subject.

In reality of course you have a dedicated group who have a different company's name on the paycheck. And less interest on either company's success.

It's like the open plan office idea. Great in the academic literature, but terrible in practice.

<comment><USER10> >...It's like the open plan office idea. Great in the academic literature, but terrible in practice.

The open floor plans are terrible in practice, but is there actually any academic literature that says otherwise?

For example:

>...In 2011, the organizational psychologist Matthew Davis reviewed more than a hundred studies about office environments. He found that, though open offices often fostered a symbolic sense of organizational mission, making employees feel like part of a more laid-back, innovative enterprise, they were damaging to the workers' attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction.

[http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open- office-t...](http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Interesting the article is almost all about the advantages for corporations, and only a little about how it makes things worse for employees.

<comment><USER12> Well, it isn't called the Main Street Journal!

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Interesting that the article doesn't cover the biggest driver. Government regulations and legal rulings have piled a huge amount of employee obligations on employers over the last 50 years.

Contractors aren't necessarily cheaper, but the "more predictable costs" come from fewer regs to follow.

</comment><comment><USER14> Anyone have the full text of the article? Paywalled.

<comment><USER15> Ditto. Even with the google trick.

<comment><USER16> Even incognito?</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Facebook Group for company - <AUTHOR>

Facebook Groups could be cool for our company. A bit like Yammer but I'm not sure if it's the right environment. Any thoughts? <comment><AUTHOR> "right" in the sense that within facebook there might be too much distraction and posting "secret" stuff into Facebook is also not ideal.</comment>


Peddling Luck - video of Zed Shaw's presentation at BubbleConf 2012 - <AUTHOR> https://vimeo.com/53494258

<comment><USER2> If you watch the talk beyond the nerdy comedy intro you'll find he gives a very nice down to earth view on how big entrepreneurs fail in actually teaching you how to run a startup or develop a succesful product.

I think this is a must watch if you've been hooked on too many entrepreneur books and blogs lately :)

<comment><USER3> fuck you, tinco.

(you are the same tinco, right?)

<comment><USER2> yes :P</comment></comment></comment>


When you lose weight, where does it go? The answer may surprise you - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/team-transparentcareer/when-you-lose-weight-where-does-it-go-the-answer-may-surprise-you-adf440568ced#.92n5hb8s9 <comment><USER2> Is this really true? And does is explain weight-loss due to calorie restriction (based on the explanation it seems like the weight loss should take a lot of time without exercise -- need to breath out all that CO2).

<comment><AUTHOR> The effect of reducing calorie intake is so much greater than exercising more. If you could reduce your calories by 500/day that would be like working out vigorously for 1 hour every day. Its all just inputs and outputs. If your baseline calorie burn assuming no exercise is 1500/day and you reduce from 1750 to 1250, then over time you will lose weight.

In either case, the mechanism is the same, you convert organic carbon compounds to CO2 and water and excreting those through breathing and urination is how the weight goes from your body back to the environment.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> It's the reverse mechanism of how potted plants grow without the soil being depleted, the mass of the growing plant comes from the H2O and CO2 in the atmosphere to perform photosynthesis, among other reactions.</comment>


International Space Station Tour: Discover What Life Is Like In Space [video] - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doN4t5NKW-k?hn

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi HN, please excuse the repost -- I submitted this late last night (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5065124>), reposting now since more people are surfing HN at this time and I think many of you will find this video fascinating.</comment>


How To Use Perks and Rewards in Startups to Get The Best Talent - <AUTHOR> http://www.instigatorblog.com/startup-perks-rewards-for-hiring/2008/03/21/ <comment><USER2> The best motivation is making the worker feel that what he's doing is very important and expressing a sincere interest by letting him discuss with you the details of the project that interest him.

<comment><USER3> I agreed.

As it turns out, I just finished a new chapter today on "Team Building" which talks about how to screen potential candidates and to discourage them from joining unless they actually demonstrate that they have "a fire under the belly". There is no need to give these people perks. They don't join startups for perks.

<http://www.lovemytool.com/blog/2008/03/team-building.html></comment></comment>


Don't commit when you're drunk - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/noidontdig/gitdown <comment><USER2> This is wrong, this goes against DVCS philosophy.

You should be able to commit all you want all night long, but should not be able to _push_.

<comment><USER3> Precisely! And that's why we have two (logical) levels of commit.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've written and committed my best bugs when drunk. Undoing them was a valuable learning exercie. The finest being, in C:

       if (nr = 0x56) ...

That took and entire day to find and made me religiously avoid lvalue assigments in expressions by doing:

       if (0x56 == nr) ...

<comment><USER5> That should generate a compiler warning. And if you're not a criminal you have warnings set as errors.

<comment><USER6> There is nothing incorrect or dubious in C about an expression like if (foo = bar), so it wasn't considered a reason to warn the user about for a long time, despite being a rather common culprit for bugs. Compilers popping up warnings about that is a fairly recent event.

<comment><USER7> Pretty sure that's been a warning for a long long time in most compilers. They require you to wrap the assignment to suppress it, that is: if ( (foo=bar) )

Anyho, it really depends on what your -W level is set to. It's good practice to use "-Wall"

<comment><USER8> -Wall doesn't give all errors though, you probably want -Wall -Wextra.

<comment><USER9> What a misleading name for a compiler flag.

<comment><USER4> Yes this is why people worship LLVM...

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Slightly drunk is fine, for me it helps for not overengineering things and i just write code that works.

When completely sober, i think to much and i overengineer (overthink) stuff... Programming is just slower...

(Think DDD-like programming)

1 beer is enough to get very concentrated... Just don't overdue it (and don't make a habbit of it).

I only do it when i need to get things done, when time is limited... Never had serious bugs (Windows ME like) though :-P

It happens once in the 2 months and mostly it's for 2-3 days in the weekend (non-stop), with some light kind of music (Enya or concentration like mp3's) and headphones.

Yeah, i'm a nerd then :P

</comment><comment><USER11> Why is this stupid frat house bullshit on the front page of Hacker News? We can do better than this.

<comment><USER12> It boggles my mind that this needs to be said, even if in jest. Just looking at the subject, I think, "What kind of idiot needs to be told not to commit when drunk? Do they need to be told not to drive when drunk too?" And the article is worse than the subject.

<comment><USER13> Have you considered the possibility that you have encountered something called a "joke"?

They can be a little tricky, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of them if you try.

<comment><USER12> Especially tricky before my first cup of coffee in the morning. Just ask my wife! :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Obligatory xkcd ("Ballmer Peak"): [http://xkcd.com/323/](http://xkcd.com/323/)

<comment><USER15> Don't worry, it is already a supported mode, which only lets you commit between 0.13% and 0.15% BAC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Yes, I realize (hope) this is a joke, but this is the most "programmer" response to a drinking problem I've ever seen.

        I know, I'll externalize and automate my impulse control!

</comment><comment><USER17>
        > Don't commit when you're drunk

That's a valid premise for whatever you do in life, not only Git.

</comment><comment><USER13> It might be neat to replace the arduino/breathalyzer part with some sort of typos/minute metric, collected from the number of miss-typed commands you have had recently.

Trying to run `git psuh` too many times in an hour could get you a cooldown period so you can either sober up or wake up.

</comment><comment><USER18> It should be fine to commit when drunk, that's what VCS is for. Make it tag the last sober commit and disable "git push -f" instead.

<comment><USER19> And it goes beyond being drunk: sometimes I code when I'm tired but can't sleep. I have a vcs to ensure I don't trash something irretrievably; also tests and ideally a decent type system to increase the chances my code does what it should.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Also, don't edit your bash profile when drunk! In my youth I did this and it took 3 weeks to return to normality - I didn't know about source code control in those days.

</comment><comment><USER21> What about a check for _prescription_ pain killers or amphetamines? Oh wait, those are culturally acceptable mind altering things. I'm half joking but this is a neat hack, although I know many functioning alcoholics that would laugh at the concept of this.

</comment><comment><USER22> One of my old colleagues had the bright idea to log onto one of our production systems to "re-index some of the database tables" after coming home one Easter eve.

And yes, he wasn't directly sober at the time.

I was moderately amused when I got woken up about 3 AM and got to spend a few hours trying to revert the "re-indexing" ...

I think integration with ssh-key management to prevent people logging onto production systems when drunk would be a good idea for this project, don't be surprised if there is a pull request from me in the future ...

</comment><comment> T-zex If you do, you better call Saul.

</comment><comment><USER23> I'd think the best use of this interface would be to only allow you to commit while in the Ballmer Peak.

</comment><comment><USER7> Gotta love the names..Krunk mode and Balmer mode. Who woulda thunk of that..oh no one except a drunkard. :-)

</comment><comment><USER24> Kids and drunks always commit the truth.

</comment><comment><USER25> I didn't even read this. Is it as dumb as I immediately assumed?

</comment><comment><USER26> Is committing tired more dangerous than committing tipsy?

</comment><comment><USER27> Don't get into any commitment when you are drunk.

Period.

</comment><comment><USER28> definitely shouldn't commit with a decreased libido

</comment><comment><USER29> Should be used in cars.

<comment><USER30> I've read about it being in some car(s) maybe a decade ago. Haven't heard about it since. Probably not something users want.

<comment><USER31> I'm pretty sure it's common to install a breathalyzer in cars nowadays if you've been caught with driving under the influence (probably repeatedly or over a certain percentage) in various countries / states.</comment></comment></comment>