Pluralsight acquires PeepCode - <AUTHOR> https://peepcode.com/blog/2013/leveling-up?utm_content=bufferfb58e&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Buffer

<comment><USER2> I feel bad, but I tweeted my complaints about the acquisition last night. I wish nothing but the best for Topfunky. He's done SUCH an amazing job. His screencasts are visually appealing, the audio is perfect, the presentation is amazing. I personally preferred the $12 ala carte model. Geoffrey would make these nice little preview videos for each of his broadcasts. Often I'd buy the video based on that alone (even if I wasn't sure I was interested in the content - Elixir is the most recent example)

While I DO think subscription based courseware has its place. I hate having to create an account (with a Captcha - can we PLEASE get past that?) AND enter a credit card. They say it's to protect them against piracy... but think... how does that work? Their videos appear on torrent trackers and they know it was you and charge your card? (I admit, I have no idea)

I have a degree in graphic design, so I've always appreciated just how much artistic flair Peepcode had. I find Pluralsight so much less appealing.

I feel it now leaves a void. Maybe Ryan Bates will start doing more than just Rails.

<comment><USER3> I think there's something to be said for both subscriptions and a la carte. Subscriptions make sense for content producers because it gives them recurring revenue. It also makes sense for consumers because they don't subscribe to learn how to do one thing. They subscribe for the guarantee of a consistent flow of knowledge -> long term learning. I think of a la carte video as the equivalent of a Stack Overflow Q&A. How likely are you to buy a $6, 15-minute video on how to do x with y the first time you see it? The real value comes when you have such a breadth of these 15-minute videos that the content library begins to form a comprehensive reference for various bite-sized pieces of knowledge that users will ultimately need.

This is what my co-founders and I trying to do with Bitcast([https://www.bitcast.io](https://www.bitcast.io)). We're finding that model works well, and it definitely offers both consumers and content producers a different business model to interact with.

Would love to hear what you think!

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Wow, this is a great deal. PeepCode's main growth pre-dates HN, I believe, but it was one of the earliest screencasting success stories and, I believe, entirely bootstrapped. While more people got involved with PeepCode over the years, this is a great solo founder success story from my POV :-)

<comment><USER5> Thanks, Peter!

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've purchased something like 20 or 30 credits on peepcode over the years and I really like the model of buying, downloading and "owning" the videos. I'm not a fan of web-only subscription models.

I've always loved PeepCode's focus on design and I hope that Geoffrey brings some of that influence to PluralSight. From the little bit of poking around on their website that I've done, I think they could really benefit from this. What they have feels very "clipart" influenced with little style.

<comment><USER7> I love the buy-to-own policy at PeepCode, too, and have had the annual unlimited subscription there for several years. I just looked up the individual plan at PluralSight and it's horrible. For 3 times what it costs at PeepCode you get much less access:

"Offline viewing allows you to cache up to 30 course modules on your mobile device. Simply choose the modules you want to watch offline and our app will cache them on your device. It's super simple. Each module will automatically be deleted after 30 days (or when you no longer have a Plus subscription) and you can always choose to delete them manually to make room for more."

They reach into your device to pull stuff off! Ugh.

No single purchases either, because they don't actually sell anything.

Here's hoping that the OSS, no-DRM, buy-to-own ideas from PeepCode take hold at PluralSight.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> This is probably good for the Peepcode folks (at least monetarily), but I'm shocked. In my experience, companies like Peepcode (and also O'Reilly) provide cheaper content in a "DRM-free, own it yourself" model without treating customers like cheats and crooks. It's the exact opposite of Pluralsight's model. Pluralsight thrives on expensive and stupid silverlight based streaming and "limited offline caching" for higher tier paying subscribers. It's all proprietary content delivery that cannot be reused on another device as easily as non-DRM stuff. As a long time annual subscriber of Peepcode, I'd just stop using it if it moves to the Pluralsight model after this acquisition. If that happens, well, it was good while it lasted (and a pity that good products and services eventually get taken over by paranoid companies that cannot adapt with the times). Pluralsight won't miss me as a Peepcode subscriber - this is just something I wanted to vent out.

</comment><comment><USER9> Am i the only one here concerned about this move?. While PeepCode is renowned for top quality content, this acquisition may deteriorate PeepCode with PluralSight's mediocre level of quality. This feels like stackoverflow being acquired by that hyphen separated site.

</comment><comment><USER10> I am subscriber to both PeepCode and PluralSight. The high quality of PeepCode's screencasts is something that PluralSight can make use of. Though PluralSight primarily catered to Microsoft developers they seem to be of late focused on creating quality content for open source developers as well. I believe this is a win-win for PluralSight and developers.

</comment><comment><USER11> I'm a pluralsight subscriber and an occasional peepcode purchaser. Both are well worth the cost. I'll be looking forward to possibly having access to all the peepcode productions that look interesting but I could never justify purchasing a la carte. Congrats to both parties.

</comment><comment><USER12> The only thing I'm worried about is whether or not I'll get to hear Geoffrey say "It's PeepCode!" again. That's kinda become a hypnotic trigger to my brain to start learning over this years.

Other than that, I've been a happy subscriber to PluralSight going on a year now probably and a credit addict at PeepCode for years. One thing I've always wished about PluralSight was that it covered open source topics as timely and nuanced as it does .NET topics, and one thing I've always wished about PeepCode was that it plowed through it's old 'Upcoming' list a lot faster. This move at least seems like a perfect match and so I'm very happy for both sides and to be a customer.

</comment><comment><USER13> I've been a Pluralsight customer for a while and find it money well spent. This is the first time I'm hearing of PeepCode and I hope that Pluralsight customers (and PeepCode customers) will benefit from this acquisition.

</comment><comment><USER14> I'm a pluralsight subscriber, and I'm both excited and a bit nervous about this. Excited because I get to finally get access to high quality training videos in the open source areas (I'm hoping for really good python and ruby stuff). I'm nervous because I'm yet to master all the microsoft stack already on Pluralsight, and now I've got even more things i need to learn to keep up in this industry!

</comment><comment><USER15> Congrats Geoffrey and Company!

PeepCode's screencasts and other materials are great. They are extremely focused high quality productions that merit more than a single watch to appreciate all the insights. Wishing you all the best with the acquisition and future work!

</comment><comment><USER16> Sweet! I'm a fan of both. I of course have been following PeepCode, but right now I'm doing Alan Dipert's Clojure course on PluralSight. It's nice to have my worlds come together.

</comment><comment><USER17> Congrats to Geoffrey and his team! PeepCode's screencast have been a huge time saver for us and I hope this acquisition will only allow them to do even more awesome things.

</comment><comment><USER18> Awesome news! Pluralsight is the bomb! They have wonderful content already. But, add PeepCode to the mix and they are unstoppable. Pluralsight+PeepCode=Awesome!

</comment><comment><USER19> This is great news, congrats! I'm looking forward to coverage of additional languages, especially Python.

</comment><comment><USER20> Pluralsight is mainly focusing on Microsoft, I wish peepcode will always maintain its quality.

</comment><comment><USER21> Congratulations Geoffrey and welcome to the Pluralsight team!

</comment><comment><USER22> Very excited to see Peepcode tuts coming to the Pluralsight library. Pluralsight is broadening their coverage, and it's great to see Open Source front and center!</comment>


Mollom: Service for Helping Stop Comment Spam and Trolls - <AUTHOR> http://mollom.com/

<comment><USER2> how is this any different than disqus or intensedebate,etc... ?</comment>


A Tour of the Plan9 Acme Editor - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP1xVpMPn8M <comment><USER2> this is the video that convinced me to give acme a shot. 6 months later and I can't imagine going back to anything else. this coming from a heavy vim user of 10+ years.

<comment><USER3> what OS do you run Acme on?

what browser do you usually use when you're using the OS you run Acme on?

(I ask because the text in Acme (under plan9port) looks so different than the other text on my OS (Macos) particular the text in my browser (Chrome) as to constitute a dealbreaker for me.)

<comment><USER4> You can change the font in plan9port, you know? The default font looks terrible indeed.

<comment><USER3> you can change the font, but when I tried that, the text still looked very different from the same font at the same text size in, e.g., Terminal.app.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Berlin VC invests in Italian startup. Is this the start of something? - <AUTHOR> http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/12/30/shock-horror-berlin-vc-invests-in-italian-startup-is-this-the-start-of-something/

<comment><USER2> ... and we find out about it thanks to the british correspondent of a californian blog.

<comment><USER3> <http://www.gruenderszene.de/news/point-nine-capital-cibando> also <http://www.deutsche-startups.de>

<comment><USER2> See that's a problem, writing in English guarantees a wider audience.

<comment><USER4> naja, Quantität ist nicht gleich Qualität

<comment><USER2> I don't speak german

<comment><USER5> Surely you can read that though. Look again.

<comment><USER2> i know, but i was making a point

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> [http://www.magno.me/startup-e-italia-qualcosa-si-inizia-a- mu...](http://www.magno.me/startup-e-italia-qualcosa-si-inizia-a-muovere) Here you can find a quite critical point of view from one of the best italian entrepreneurs and business angel. Is written in italian for the italians who always criticize the italian venture capitalists, accusing them that they miss some good startups. But venture capitalists in this country are moving and growing, although there are still many gaps about seed capital. Also, the new Italian government has introduced measures to promote venture capital. By the way, You're hacker enough to translate this post!

</comment><comment><USER7> If you're in Italy and want to fund your startup try contacting h-farm <http://www.h-farmventures.com/>

Disclaimer: I've worked with one of their startup but I know the place is great and they're more than willing to invest.

</comment><comment><USER8> Thanks all! I really hope the Italian scene grows a lot!!

<comment><USER9> Besides the deserved congratulations, there's a question I'd like to ask you. I noticed that the Cibando website is Copyright "Cibando Ltd.", but in the TOS the service is from "Mobatar S.r.l."

Does this mean that you have both a UK ltd company and an Italian S.r.L.? If that's so, why? Have you already explored what it means from a fiscal point of view having both?

I ask because right now I'm very undecided if I should incorporate in the UK with a ltd company for the paid service I'll launch very soon on pro.hashtagify.me - not to dodge Italian taxes (I live in Rome too), but because a S.r.L. costs too much and sounds much worse for an international audience - and I only found very confusing information on the Internet, so it would be very interesting to learn about your experience :)

<comment><AUTHOR> I had to face the decision too, for Iubenda, and ended up with an Srl. I went for the most hassle-free choice, since incorporating abroad can be time consuming and hide additional costs (loss of focus included). About the Srl, I wrote this article a while ago which can clarify some of the expenses: <http://thinkamination.com/migliorare-srl-italiana/> [ITA]

<comment><USER9> Where did you get your data about incorporating abroad? From my information, the incorporation itself, if done in the UK, couldn't be less hassle-free and cheap: You get it in one day, and for less than 100€. The whole fiscal management should be doable for ca. 70€/month with a service like www.crunch.co.uk

What worries me is the Italian side of the thing: I'd like to pay what I have to pay in taxes (to the State, not to the notary) but it isn't very clear how you do that; as for pension contributions I have a day job that and am already covered there.

Simply put, right now I don't want to look for external money (THAT would be a loss of focus ;) and couldn't pay the costs of a SrL. I want to be sure if the business model works before committing thousands of euros to this startup.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the suggestions!

PS: do you know about <http://srlfacile.org/> ? I like what they ask and I'm trying to help, but exactly today I was thinking about writing a more direct/polemic message referencing the "tasse occulte" our premier talked about recently. I'm sure that making much (MUCH) easier and less expensive to incorporate would be one of the few feasible measures that could bring about real economic growth. I would have incorporated at least a year ago with my other initiatives, hadn't it been for this...

<comment><AUTHOR> Also consider that we are a tech/legal startup, and the ability to cover in house some of the legal trickiness was a huge pro on the Srl side. Here some other thoughts I forgot to link on the previous post: <http://thinkamination.com/dove-incorporare/> [ITA] Here's a topic on Quora too: [http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-of-being- incorpor...](http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-benefits-of-being-incorporated- in-the-USA-for-an-Italian-foreign-startup)

Also consider that incorporating outside means you have to demonstrate that it's not for a taxation advantage, which would not be legal.

<comment><USER9> Well, of course having the legal counselling in house makes a difference, and the US is actually a more complicated alternative the the UK for us in the EU. So in your case I'm pretty sure that your choice was the best.

For me, your last point doesn't look very worrying, because from what I read if the company operations are in Italy then you are required to pay taxes here, but according to EU law you can rightfully incorporate in any EU country; so, if I do pay the taxes in Italy, there is nothing unlawful. Moreover, in my case, the website is (and will be) in English only and my market is 99% abroad.

More worrying is having to understand HOW I should pay my company's taxes here, and how to explain to the UK that I should't pay them there too... the worst scenario I can think of would be having to pay the corporate taxes twice until everything is clear, but if that becomes a problem it means that I already got traction, and at that point I could do everything I need to fix the situation.

What I really don't want is to spend a lot of money just to validate my product!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Interesting that things are actually happening outside of SV.

Speaking of that, is there a startup scene in Scandinavia? Anyone know?

<comment><USER11> Yes! There's even a whole site devoted to the startup scene in Nordic (and Baltic) countries: <http://www.arcticstartup.com/>

<comment><USER10> Cool! (heh)

I want to meet local entrepreneurs who are in tune with the HN ethos, but it's really hard sometimes in Jante country :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> HN, keep an eye on italian startup scene, a lot of potential waiting to be discovered...

<comment><USER12> agreed. I really wish the startup scene blossoms in Italy in the near future as there is great potential there - One of my favourite italian startups is <http://stereomood.com/>

<comment><USER13> How would you monetize that site?

<comment><USER14> Buy buttons on every track. Lots of music I've never heard about that I might like to download to my music player.

EDIT: There _are_ buy buttons on every track, but frankly they're almost too inobtrusive - I didn't notice them at first.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Finally !</comment>


Ask HN: How will non-fungible tokens change the gaming and financial industry? - <AUTHOR> Here's a minimum of info on non-fungible tokens: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-fungible_token
Some big players have started using them in gaming, secured by the Ethereum network. The most famous example here would be Gods Unchained -> https://godsunchained.com
Others are trying to use them to upgrade the financial system, and there are so many big players here in the security tokens space.
I'm hoping to see them used even in basic ownership of properties and houses.
What do you guys think? How drastic will be their effect be in the next 10 years? <comment><USER2> I think cryptoassets, in particular ones sharing a standard software interface on a Turing Complete platform, like ERC721 tokens, are a fundamental innovation in financial technology that will see massive growth in adoption in coming years.</comment>


Georgia Tech Offers Online Master of Science in Analytics Degree for Under $10K - <AUTHOR> https://pe.gatech.edu/news/press-release/01072017 <comment><USER2> As someone who completed a (on-campus) CS masters at GT, I really wish I didn't. The classes were of very poor quality - it was clear that they were a low priority for most faculty. Andrew Ng's Coursera class on Machine Learning was the pedagogical highlight of my time at GT, and I did it on my own initiative (and it's free).

I know people have many reasons to get a Masters. If your goal is to take some higher-level classes, you can do better than GT. If you are self-motivated enough to do an online degree, you can do it for free. Aside from free offerings from sites like Coursera, you can find whole courses up from many institutions - with syllabi, lecture slides, homework assignments, etc.

If you're planning to do it for the salary, in my experience the degree ended up being worth a $95K to $115K bump in starting salary. Compare this with the 2 years of industry salary that I would have received, and the 2 years of experience (and raises that come with that). I know I wasn't paid better than the folks who had been with the company for 2 years more than me.

If you're thinking about it for the sake of your resume, I do hiring screening / interviews now (for Data Science and Software Engineering positions) - and I really don't care if the applicant has an MS or not (or what classes they may have taken). Most folks I know that do hiring think similarly. My main signal from your resume is projects you've been on and how you contributed.

From my point of view, this program is a losing proposition for any potential student.

<comment><USER3> I did both my BSCS and MSCS at Georgia Tech. While I have many complaints about the school, the quality of the classes is not one of them, for either the undergrad or grad programs.

That said, with a couple of notable exceptions, the graduate classes are there for PhD students as first and second year background material so they have some starting points for their research. This naturally leads to a format where the semester can effectively be described as a long reading list of papers and lectures to spur discussion on the content of the paper. I was planning on pursuing a PhD when I started into my MS, so this format worked quite well for me at the time. In the years subsequent to that, the grounding from those classes has given me starting points for deep dives into problems I encountered at work[0].

It's interesting that you brought up machine learning. Charles Isbell's Intro ML class was a significant exception to the pattern I described above. In addition to high quality, pre-prepared lectures peppered with entertaining anecdotes, the had high quality projects that worked with pratcial tooling. It was also probably the highlight of my graduate career[1].

[0]: In particular, the material covered in my graduate systems classes has been invaluable for not reinventing the wheel for the thousandth time. The material from the couple compilers classes I took on a whim has been a huge boon when talking about software correctness. I work on the hypervisor underneath GCE. Correctness is near and dear to my heart, but performance is right there with it :)

[1]: For undergrad that dubious honor has to go to Olin Shivers, not only because of his eclectic teaching style, but also because his class completely altered the way I think about problems in computer science. In particular, my mindset shifted to one of models of computation and decomposition of problems into subproblems for which the simplest model could apply. I have an example I'd like to write up, but it's a bit long for a footnote.

<comment><USER4> Hi! I'm the director of Georgia Tech's MS in Analytics program (both on-campus and online).

GT's MS in Analytics degree is actually designed specifically for people who are going to go out and work in the analytics field -- it's not a pre-PhD degree, and our courses are targeted primarily at people who want to learn and apply analytics. We have an industry advisory board that helps us target course and program content, and we're constantly working to make sure our coursework is focused to the right cohort. We even have a required applied analytics practicum (both for on-campus and online students) where our students work on analytics projects for a wide range of companies and organizations.

Perhaps other degrees are different, but the MS Analytics is a very practice- focused degree.

<comment><USER5> I may be an educational purist, but to me I cringe when I hear universities boast about the "practicality" of their degrees they offer. You get a degree to prove you can learn. The courses should be heavy on theory and concepts. If you teach these well enough, ideally your students should be able to easily pick up whatever FOTM development stack or tool is out there and roll with it. I wish we could reverse this trend, but it just seems like it's too much good PR to say "hey everyone! come to our school and you are guaranteed to get a job!"

<comment><USER6> I disagree with this sentiment based on my own experience. I did great in my BS CS program from a highly ranked program, but was woefully underprepared for industry and quite frankly a bad software engineer. Graduates from traditional programs often leave with next to no experience with testing, version control, team structure/process, newer languages, frameworks/3rd party packages, etc, and my experience in industry is that it's a role of the dice if your company, team, etc are interested in teaching you or waiting for you to learn. The only people I know who graduated with those skills are people who either had amazing mentors or were natural hackers in their spare time. If I could re- design my education, it would be 2-3 years of theory and then 1-2 years of applied liberal arts education before starting an actual career.

<comment><USER7> _Graduates from traditional programs often leave with next to no experience with testing, version control, team structure /process, newer languages, frameworks/3rd party packages, etc, and my experience in industry is that it's a role of the dice if your company, team, etc are interested in teaching you or waiting for you to learn._

It's a waste of time to teach industry tools at a university. It's much more valuable to be taught fundamentals. Know your fundamentals well and any new tech will be much easier to learn. It's long-term thinking - put in the investment to make sure you can change skillsets in the future.

All the things you mentioned tend to be ephemeral and change a lot within a few years. Look at the git monoculture that's sprung up in the last 5 years for example - 10 years ago it might have been reasonable to teach SVN.

<comment><USER8> And if you learned SVN, you would have had a solid base for understanding GIT. Would you expect students to learn source code control in the abstract or not at all?

You have to do programming assignments anyway. Why wouldn't you require students to learn and use the latest source code control tools while they're doing their development?

Teach students to write tests, use source code control, utilize continuous integration, etc.

Although the specific tools, languages, and approaches will evolve in the coming years - none of the above are going away soon.

<comment><USER7> Git is a very complicated piece of software. it's not intuitive, it has a famously poor CLI, and it takes time to learn.

Time spent making undergraduates use git is time that could be spent teaching them long-term, fundamental skills.

<comment><USER8> vi isn't very intuitive either, but there's no better way to learn something difficult than to learn it when you're young. I've been using vi professionally for 30 years thanks to my early GT classes. It's probably the single-most valuable skill that I learned there that I still use today.

<comment><USER7> I'm a vi(m) user, but I have to say - it's not a fundamental part of computing at all. It's just a very popular tool. A lot of people don't know how to use it and manage to make amazing things.

 _there 's no better way to learn something difficult than to learn it when you're young_

Hmm, define 'young'. I'm in my late 20s and I find it easier to learn new things more than ever - including things I failed to learn in my teens and early 20s. Maybe I'm just a late bloomer, and it took me a while to "learn how to learn". But maybe I'm still young in the eyes of someone who has been using vi for 30 years (:

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> This is great news. However, anyone who's used Piazza (the main "classroom" tool for OMSCS) knows that it's hardly ideal. I think a better collaboration/discussion tool is imperative to making the experience better for the "average" student.

Sure the top students in the program are going to do well, by definition, but there are plenty of more "middling" people like myself that can only be brought up to the next level with proper discussion/interaction with classmates. From my experience even PHPbb would be a more effective tool than Piazza.

\---

Suggestions (if Piazza folks are reading):

1\. Allow one to delete follow-ups.

2\. Allow students to create private "study group"-like threads that aren't in the main feed.

3\. Make it easier to upload pictures and other content.

4\. Make things live. Normally this wouldn't be necessary, but anyone in the program knows many students post the same thing at the same time as a response to an event (like an email). By doing this you prevent redundant threads from being created.

5\. Use some sort of up/down voting system that way the community can self- regulate.

There are plenty more things I'd improve, but for the sake of brevity those are some I just came up with on the spot.

<comment><USER10> edX (the partner through which Georgia Tech will be offering this program) uses its own homebuilt forums/discussions software, which offers many of the features you list. It's also open source, so if you or others have more discussion features in mind and have Python, Ruby or Backbone experience, PRs are welcome!

Disclaimer: software engineer at edX, have worked on discussions features in the past. Happy to answer questions.

<comment><USER11> I have taken over 30 courses on edX in the past few years (many more on Coursera). Some of those courses used Piazza, most the edX forums, so I know both systems. I also was a Community TA so I know the (few) options a CTA gets on edX.

Overall, IMHO Piazza clearly has far more features.

That said, I still prefer edX forums simply because I hardly ever need any of the Piazza features - and the Piazza GUI IMHO is much worse than edX especially for the target group. After edX implemented the sort-option "by activity" and "show only unread" my major complaints were solved.

\--

By the way, since I hope you read this reply, the _worst_ by far on edX is that the darn page just won't stand still!

Please stop the "convenience scrolling (by Javascript)". Also, the height of the page changes when I select a comment that does/doesn't fit in the viewport (long threads vs. no-responses-yet comments, for example, and that too triggers automatic scrolling.

Next, the size of the text box changes! I use Chrome to make it much larger to see my entire long and carefully crafted and formatted comment, then I switch to another tab to do more research for my reply, but when I click back into the textbox it _shrinks_ back to its small default size. Could you please leave my manually-made-large textbox as it is?

No changes of scroll positions, no changes of sizes, no changes of anything, please. Not just in the forum, the course pages have the same annoying (anti-)"feature". I find it very inconvenient when the GUI changes under me, it's the GUI equivalent of walking on ice.

I would also enjoy a feature to "mark all as read", so that I can use "show only unread" at any point in time. Right now that feature forces me to have clicked on each and every comment before it is useful.

Life update would be "nice to have" too, especially for a TA (if it's too expensive for server-load, how about offering it just for the TA and STAFF user groups).

What is also missing is even the slightest hint (in the comment editor, or anywhere) that you support LaTeX style formulas! As well as some help for beginners how to use it.

I know Christmas was last month, but that's my wishlist :-)

What I _don 't_ miss are votes. That _always_ gets misused, and it is of very limited benefit. I see the value of votes in forums on something like reddit, I don't see benefit in edX forums with a focus on Q&A. Especially not down- votes. Even the "pin to top" doesn't really work: At least 70% of users don't ever notice pinned posts. If there have to be votes, do it like Disqus: You can see _who_ voted. Or instead of votes do what Github did in the issues comments.

By the way, why do you still have votes at all? They are only displayed if anyone specifically checks them in a given comment. They used to be shown in the comment overview on the left. Right now the "vote" feature can be removed and nobody would notice.

Some random ideas:

Feature: Allow Staff and TAs to post _without their status_. Just like on reddit. Not everything I had to say was "official", and one reason I turned down several invitations to be a CTA on edX was because I really _hated_ to have a green banner around every single one of my posts. Too much pressure, and just because I'm TA doesn't make all my answers "precious".

Feature: Allow admins (TAs, Staff) to merge threads. For example, the introductions at the beginning where 500 people post their own "glad to be here" thread instead of using the pinned(!) "Post your introduction _here_ " thread, or when there is an issue and 50 people each report it (even when the last 20 new threads are about that same subject, most people post immediately before looking at the forum).

Feature: Detect if you responded to this person in the past. It's nice and gives a feeling of familiarity to find out you talked to someone in the past.

Feature: Geolocation. Show where the other people (in the current thread) are located.

Feature: Combine Wiki and forum: From within the forum let people select comments and/or threads for the Wiki. Ask the for some additional information, like choosing a Wiki page/section. This can address the problem that good comments are quickly buried by all the new ones.

Bug report: It seems right now the "Section" or "Chapter" or whatever you call it is not displayed in comments.

<comment><USER10> Thanks for the feedback - we hear you and I myself have encountered a lot of the issues you mention. I've passed this along to our product team and I'll see if I can turn some of the easier stuff into tickets myself that we can groom next time we jump back into this code.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I'm currently in the Master of Science in Analytics program at gatech, so if anyone has any questions feel free to ask.

My experience so far has been excellent. I just started my second semester, and I can say that the curriculum covers exactly what I wanted to learn with the exception of one class. The program is extremely practical, it's only one year and is focused on getting the students jobs. The professors are great, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to get into the field.

<comment><USER13> How much statistics is involved? I'm asking because I have a friend who is interested in math and statistics but wants to go to grad school for something a bit more practical, while still having some challenge in terms of statistics.

<comment><USER12> I'd say it's very statistics heavy, but it depends on the individual. They offer three different tracks: computational, business, and analytical tools. If you pick the analytical tools track your classes will be more stats heavy.

Most of the core classes (like machine learning) are more math based. In machine learning, it's done from a mathematical/theoretical approach. Another example is regression analysis, where you learn the math before doing the practical work in R.

I have a weak math/stats background but a strong software background, which also aligns with my interests so I'm doing the computational track. As I mentioned before, most of the core curriculum is math heavy so I'm learning that aspect, but I'm also getting a ton of practical experience in machine learning and big data work.

<comment><USER14> I'm curious to learn more about the business track, do you know where I might be able to read more about what is covered? Thank you.

<comment><USER12> Yep! Check out this link: [http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/curriculum/business- analytic...](http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/curriculum/business-analytics- track)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Can anyone speak to the value of the general online CS Masters degree offered by Georgia Tech? I'd been considering it, as it allows you to keep working while you improve your resume. I'm curious if employers (1) can tell it was completed online and (2) distinguish between individuals getting the residential MA versus the online MA. Thanks in advance.

<comment><USER16> 1\. No distinction 2\. Not unless they ask you

And everyone who's been exposed to both says it's the same courses and rigor as the on-campus version.

(Source: 2 classes from finishing)

<comment><USER17> > And everyone who's been exposed to both says it's the same courses and rigor > as the on-campus version.

I am curious: who in the world would do both?

A more serious question, since you're going through it now: is there a thesis component to the online MS, or is it just coursework? If there's a thesis (either required or as an option for more research-oriented students), how does the thesis mentoring at a distance work?

<comment><USER16> > I am curious: who in the world would do both?

Nobody, they're TAs now. ;)

<comment><USER17> Ah, right, TAs!

Got any info for the lazy on the existence of a thesis track?

<comment><USER16> No thesis option.

<comment><USER17> Good to know. Thanks!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I'm waiting for the online, low-cost undergraduate degree of comparable quality to the "real thing". Maybe it's already here. I recently checked up on tuition at my alma mater and almost barfed. With a kid on the way Mr. Market has 18 years to figure this out for me.

<comment><USER19> The University of London external program has been around since 1858, so hopefully it will still be around 18 years from now :)

[http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/](http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/)

Three of my kids and I are are doing CS degrees from here right now, two of us while working full-time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> For comparison: Master of Computer Science - Data Science (Univ: Illinois, Coursera).

[https://www.coursera.org/university-programs/masters-in- comp...](https://www.coursera.org/university-programs/masters-in-computer- data-science)

<comment><USER21> UIUC has a great reputation especially for research. I haven't heard of their online MS yet, but their undergrad program is very well respected.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> I am skeptical that this program will be a good signal for hiring analysts. In my experience, there are two things you need to select for:

(1) Understanding statistics. Hopefully this program will take care of this requirement, but it's not hard to find these people anyway. There is an infinite supply of science PhDs fleeing the academic job market.

(2) Behavioural/personality. People who will do well at the actual job. Example: can you tell when a PM is asking you to answer the wrong question, and how do you handle it?

You can easily find (1) with screening questions, (2) is the hard part.

But, I guess if you think you have (2) as a future analyst, this program could be a good way of getting (1).

</comment><comment><USER23> Is there anything similar to the Online Masters but a Bachelor's degree? Most of the online universities like WGU seem like a get a bunch of certificates then you graduate.

<comment><USER24> FSU and Arizona State both have online "ordinary" CS bachelor's.

<comment><USER25> I thought ASU was software engineering, and not CS. However, they are very similar.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Sorry for getting off-topic but:

Is there any business in creating a better "classroom" experience that what ex. Piazza is doing?

It seems like an are which could be improved immensely design/ux wise but it also seems like it could be an area where that's not really going to make you successful because the distribution is already owned by someone else.

<comment><USER27> One place where Piazza really excels is in their Sales. They used their network to get the big schools, now getting the smaller schools is relatively easy. I can't imagine a startup/small business selling software to say for ex. Harvard, without knowing a few professors inside Harvard. You can definitely make a app that students use, but getting professors on the platform and getting the selling part right would be incredibly challenging.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> I'm currently enrolled in the OMSCS program, and so far I would call it so-so.

I joined the program because I come from a non-CS background - undergrad in math, work in an unrelated field: consulting. I'm trying to pivot into a ML Engineer career. If you want to learn ML, you're better off going through the Ng Coursera course and from there pursuing some personal projects. The primary value of the program is the ability to get past recruiting coordinators simply due to the fact I'm enrolled in CS program.

The two undergrad CS courses I took at Berkeley were more rigorous, and were superior from a skills development perspective. But at the price, the OMSCS program is definitely worth it for someone coming from a different background.

</comment><comment><USER29> Anyone have experience with this program without an academic CS background?

As someone with a BS in Materials Science & Engineering (at best a tangentially related field via sparse EE coursework) who does some level of programming at a tech job now, I'm curious what my prospects for admission would be. I'm confident I could handle the coursework, provided I could get my foot in the door.

As a related question, they mention taking courses to fill holes - are they receptive to Coursera offerings?

<comment><USER4> Yes, many of our students come in with either tangentially-related backgrounds or even unrelated backgrounds -- we look for students with outstanding analytics potential, regardless of background.

And yes, online learning and/or self-taught learning is definitely fine as hole-fillers; we just want you to have the necessary background to succeed, and however you get that background is up to you.

<comment><USER29> Appreciate the feedback!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I feel $10,000 for an online course is way too much. Just because it carries a label of university doesn't make it worth it. Almost all of the knowledge is available online for free. Although a university course gives a structure around a subject and provides learning resources & materials but universities have to realize that because of this many people will not take these MOOCs. Because education is a business, future generations will turn out to be illiterate.

<comment><USER31> >I feel $10,000 for an online course

It's not just a course it's a degree. When you graduate you have a Masters degree that is identical on paper to an on campus degree.

</comment></comment><comment><USER32> I'd definitely be wary of devoting 1+ year of my life full-time to "save" money on a program that costs "justs" $10K/year -- without looking at alternatives that might cost a bit more, but provide a much richer experience. (Yes, I have great deal of categorical skepticism about full-scale online degrees -- as opposed to occasional online _courses_ \-- in general).

Because even if you're unemployed, your most valuable resource is your _time_.

<comment><USER33> _> Because even if you're unemployed, your most valuable resource is your time._

*Assuming there's enough in your savings account to cover expenses

<comment><USER32> Believe me -- I've been there, and I get where you're coming from with that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> Anyone have experience with FT online college courses? Would it be possible to both work FT and complete the courses? Or would it best to work PT for a year?

<comment><USER35> I am in my final year of a BSc in Mathematics with the Open University in the UK. I have been working full time throughout. The first couple of years it was fairly easy to stay on top of it but as the complexity increased it has definitely been a hard balancing act.

However, if you have the motivation then it's certainly do-able. My work was fairly intense too so as long as you are comfortable with giving up your weekends and have supportive friends/partners then it works just fine in my opinion. You get used to studying as your "fun time" \- eg when I commute I spend it reading course notes, I play next to no PS4 games these days and I watch very little TV. I did think about taking a work break to totally focus on the course but in the end I've not needed to and find I prefer the brain ping-pong.

As someone who was in a relationship for 5½ years and is now single if you have a partner _do_ talk it through with them. Be as supportive as you can of _them_ on your journey. I'm pretty sure one of the reasons I lost her was the intensity of the last year or two. That was definitely exasperated by the workload and my general need to dedicate my weekends to exams/coursework/studying.

</comment></comment><comment><USER36> I'm not yet convinced that online learning is an equivalent replacement for a university degree. Exceptions do exist. For the most part, people graduate from these online universities without the skills needed for the jobs they want.

<comment> nommm-nommm From my experience people graduate from traditional universities without the skills needed for the jobs they want. For example, how on earth can you graduate with a degree in computer science but never used version control? But I've seen it from our new hires. Version control should be taught the first day of CS101, that's where I was first exposed to it.

<comment><USER37> Because that's not the point of academic degrees? They're not job training certifications - you don't need a B.S. to program. Programming and engineering skills are auxiliary to computer science.

<comment> nommm-nommm No matter if it's the point of them or not I was responding to "for the most part, people graduate from these online universities without the skills needed for the jobs they want." Pointing out that it's not unique to online universities.

(Either way, if you are going to teach programming at all version control is a big part of programming so it should be taught.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> Are both CS and Analytics degrees (from Georgia Tech) available to people outside U.S?

<comment><USER39> Yes, but you need to pass admission process (likely somewhat comparable education to US)

<comment><USER21> Anyone know if the GRE is still required for someone who's been enrolled in a traditional Master's in CS program before but with a GRE exemption?

<comment><USER40> GA Tech's CS program did not require the GRE, partly for the reason you state. There is still the usual admissions process with old GPAs and reference letters. Instead of GRE scores and very tough standards, students are conditionally accepted until passing 2 foundational courses within the first year. Hopefully the new program does the same, but it doesn't look like they've officially stated that yet.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> The fact that the Masters in CS and presumably this degree both require having a traditional bachelor degree as a prerequisite seriously limits their usefulness and their reach.

Are there any similar tracks that do not have this requirement?

</comment><comment><USER42> the price and convenience are hard to ignore, yes there are some unideal aspects of the program (like the software and collaboration/discussion tech) but all-in-all what a great opportunity.

</comment><comment><USER43> I'm not entirely sure how this is such big news. It costs the same as doing it on-campus here, including all hardware and books etc. you might need over a ~4-5 year span.

</comment><comment><USER44> Is taking the GRE a requirement for admissions? The program looks very interesting but I can't bear to take the GRE after nearly 20 years of work ex.

<comment><USER45> It is not required, per the linked FAQ admissions section:

[https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters- degrees/analytics/faqs#...](https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters- degrees/analytics/faqs#OMSA%20Admissions)

\--EDIT-- On the admissions criteria page, it states the following:

 _" 5\. Optional - Applicants may choose to submit standardized test scores, most commonly GRE or GMAT (but if appropriate, LSAT, MCAT, etc. scores may also be considered)."_

So that may help get you in.

[https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters- degrees/analytics/appli...](https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters- degrees/analytics/application-information/admission-criteria)

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Can anyone recommend a great and respectable ML online masters (assume cost not an issue)?

<comment><USER47> Stanford offers an online MS in CS using videos of the same courses that are offered on campus. So does Columbia, though their online course offerings seem to have decreased significantly in the past few years. Both programs cost about $5k/course.

I think both schools offer a track that emphasizes AI/ML, though I'm not sure more than a couple of their available courses are in those topics.

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> How is this different from the Udacity Georgia Tech Masters program?

<comment><USER49> It comes with the Georgia Tech brand name associated with it. College degrees are 20% content, 80% reputation and branding. For instance, if you want to earn $100k/yr, the way to do so with the least amount of effort is to attend a school with a great reputation. Reputation in academia has much more to do with faculty prestige and research, not actual academic rigor for students, but most companies find it far easier to trust the brand than build effective interview and recruiting processes. Ergo, brands matter.

<comment><USER50> Agreed. But if GT keeps offering more and more Master degrees this way, I can see them cheapening their reputation. It's a quick way for universities to make money, but at a cost of reputation.

<comment><USER49> Yes, to an extent, but as strange as it sounds, you can jeopardize your reputation with the companies that hire your graduates and still maintain your status as a prestigious research institution. I think the gamble GT is taking in this context is that this type of degree is terminal and largely self- directed, meaning the primary recipients will be self-educators who want it specifically for practical application. That means they are essentially just people who will learn and apply the material anyway, but they want the paper credentials to go with it. That reduces their risk.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER51> Does anyone know of an online mathematics masters degree?

<comment><USER52> University of Washington offers online MS in applied math. However, it's pricey.

Here's the link to it:

[https://www.appliedmathonline.uw.edu](https://www.appliedmathonline.uw.edu)

<comment><USER53> What a joke...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER54> or... you just read, observe, learn, build, think, communicate, publish, for free, at your own pace, 24x7, etc.

</comment><comment><USER55> Following the links on the program at the Georgia Tech Web site, the program looks like a fairly wide buffet from practical computing, current business applications, statistics, and operations research.

Georgia Tech is especially strong in operations research.

So, here _data science_ is a new bottle of wine blended from some now quite well known old bottles of wine. And it is not nearly the first such _blending_ since there have also been programs such as mathematical sciences and applied mathematics. Other _blendings_ have included mathematical finance, financial engineering, and bio-statistics.

Apparently the high current interest is because now the associated computing is much cheaper, more powerful, and easier to use. And there has been a lot of hype from some sources.

However, I question if US _mainline_ business is much interested: IMHO and my experience says that nearly any specialized technical material faces a serious obstacle since in the organization chart the highest ranking technical person (if not the CEO then necessarily a subordinate) has to report to a supervisor who knows from much less to nearly nothing about what that technical subordinate person is doing.

MD doctors, CPA accountants, licensed engineers, and licensed lawyers have some crucial, serious professional status, processes, support, etc. that is missing with applied mathematicians, statisticians, data scientists, etc.

For software developers, roughly, the solution is for the organization to have a CIO, all the developers are in the CIO's organization so report only to experienced developers, and only the CIO reports to, _interfaces_ with, non- experts in computing.

Computing is now so darned important that the rest of the C-suite has to swallow their pride and accept the CIO at the table.

Net, I fear that _data scientists_ will have too little professional or organizational protection from _rain_ falling down the organization chart from the C-suite.

Or, for the supervisor, most projects will be lose-lose: If the project fails, then the supervisor has a black mark from wasting money on a failed project. So, with a failed project, the supervisor loses.

If the project is successful, then the supervisor and, maybe, everyone in the C-suite, maybe even including the CEO, can be afraid of the project leader now regarded as a 900 pound tiger and, thus, a loss for the C-suite.

Here the organization chart from the project leader up to the CEO is engaging in classic _goal subordination_ , that is, pursuing what is best for themselves personally while sacrificing what is good for the company.

And for startups, what fraction of venture partners would be able to evaluate a proposal that makes heavy use of some of the more advanced applied math in that Georgia Tech program? Net, the venture partners don't know the technical material, either.

Or, as I suggested, nearly all wine in the blend is now quite old, and it didn't achieve much _traction_ in _mainline_ business.

My short summary view is that for such technical material, especially material more advanced than in the Georgia Tech program, and for a startup, the founder CEO needs to be both (A) the main expert in the technical material and (B) essentially a solo founder who can write the software, bring it to market, and get the coveted _traction_ significantly high and growing rapidly -- at which time the founder may not be willing to accept equity funding and report to a BoD that does not understand the work, that is, be back in the situation of a technical subordinate reporting to a supervisor who does not understand the technical work and, with the low expenses of a one person company, just grow _organically_ from revenue.

Or, IMHO, the most promising career future of an applied mathematician, etc., in business is to be a solo founder of a startup.

</comment><comment><USER56> This is not news in the U.K.

</comment><comment><USER57> I just wonder what the job prospects will be like for this. This is basically data science, a field being crowded rapidly by PhD's fleeing academia. With 3-month data science bootcamps, people are now saying expect 3-6 months to find employment, often as an entry-level data analyst. I expect the outcomes of the GT OMSA to be much better given the breadth and rigor of coursework, but who knows by how much? Also, while $10k tuition is low, the cost of lost income from pursuing this fulltime for 12 months makes it cost more than the 3-month bootcamps whose tuition usually runs $15k. If most OMSA grads find jobs right out of the program, versus 3-6 months of job hunting for bootcamp grads, the OMSA becomes a much better deal.

Edit: There is placement data for the on-campus program: [http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/placement](http://www.analytics.gatech.edu/placement). 95% within 3 months of graduation, cohort size 21 students, with the majority (40%) taking an "analyst" title, average salary $100,000 (61% going to Atlanta, so this could be a little depressed compared to west coast tech salaries).

<comment><USER58> I would also be a bit hesitant about job prospects. My last job was at a large nonprofit in SF on their data team, and both my boss and my only non- contractor coworker were PhDs who fled academia. Salaries for the tech teams in general were 25-50% below market and overtime was high, and there were still PhDs taking these jobs.

</comment></comment><comment><USER59> EDIT: The awarded degree _is_ the same (M.S. Analytics) as the "residential" program. The below assertions are false, but I have left the original comment intact for posterity.

\-----

I laud continuing, online, and affordable education options, but this degree is still very much a second-class citizen. It is _not_ the same degree that's awarded to "residential" students (that would be M.S. Analytics).

It's unclear whether the granting institution is Georgia Tech itself, one of the "collaborating" colleges (i.e., Scheller College of Business, the College of Computing, or the College of Engineering), Georgia Tech Professional Education, or even EdX.

All this affects the "value" of the credential.

<comment><USER9> >> It is not the same degree that's awarded...

False.

"How will this degree appear on my diploma and/or transcript? The name "Online Master of Science (OMS)" is an informal designation to help both Georgia Tech and prospective students distinguish the delivery method of the online program from our on-campus degree. The degree name in both cases is Master of Science in Analytics. The track designation does not appear on the diploma or transcript." [1]

[1] [https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters- degrees/analytics/faqs](https://pe.gatech.edu/online-masters- degrees/analytics/faqs)

<comment><USER59> Thanks for the correction, and I've updated my original comment to note the same.

Interestingly, I _went looking_ for this information, including skimming that FAQ section. This disparity between online and traditional degrees awarded is common, so I'm surprised (or maybe biased is a better term) that GT uses this "informal designation" _everywhere_ , including phrases like: "... Online Master of Science in Analytics (OMS Analytics) degree will be available..."</comment></comment></comment>


An NES emulator written in Go - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/nwidger/nintengo <comment><USER3> The author blogged some of the experience too. \- [http://nwidger.github.io/blog/post/writing-an-nes- emulator-i...](http://nwidger.github.io/blog/post/writing-an-nes-emulator-in- go-part-1/) \- [http://nwidger.github.io/blog/post/writing-an-nes- emulator-i...](http://nwidger.github.io/blog/post/writing-an-nes-emulator-in- go-part-2/) \- [http://nwidger.github.io/blog/post/writing-an-nes- emulator-i...](http://nwidger.github.io/blog/post/writing-an-nes-emulator-in- go-part-3/)

<comment><USER4> This is so cool; what a great read. I'm working on a Gameboy emulator in Rust at the moment and I'm in the same boat as the author: I know it has been done before; _but I've never done it before!_

It's awesome how the Gameboy kept me entertained for hundreds and hundreds of hours as a kid. -- Here I am over a decade later, and debugging my Gameboy [emulator] has kept me up into the wee hours of the night. (On more than one occasion, I might add.)

\---

Funny thing is I was actually going to write a NES emulator. On new-years day I decided I really wanted to write an emulator that could play the original MOTHER.

After a little bit of cursory research: the Gameboy hardware seemed a tad more approachable. To be honest that's not terribly surprising: obviously to fit a game console in such a small package (for the time) you had to make a lot of sacrifices.

<comment><USER5> @drbawb and @bpowell , if you guys can blog (or take notes) about your experiences building these emu's it would be a great.. It is a topic I would definitely read/follow, I grew up on Nintendo/Gameboy and now reading how you chaps are recreating my childhood addictions via emulation is just wonderful.

<comment><USER4> I have been keeping notes as I learn new things. Though they are more of a personal journal than anything.

I'll think about cleaning them up and publishing them once I get the source up. I just get uneasy about publishing stuff like this. It just never feels like my prose [or my code] is "good enough" for the world to see.

I want to keep it all tucked away: so no one will make fun of my primitive debugger, or how I use hardtabs for indentation![1]

[1]: The Rust style guide dictates the opposite. They can pry the tab key from my cold dead pinky!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I like to imagine the creator came up with the name first (nintenGO) and said, well damn, now I need to write it.

</comment><comment><USER7> I wrote a mostly complete NES emulator in Go this past December.

[https://github.com/hkhalsa/helloworld](https://github.com/hkhalsa/helloworld)

I haven't added audio support yet, and it isn't very go-gettable (yet). But! the code is reasonably well commented, and I have played through much of Super Mario with it.

[http://web.textfiles.com/games/nestech.txt](http://web.textfiles.com/games/nestech.txt) is probably the best overview about what's going on in the NES, though it's inaccurate in some places.

[http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Nesdev_Wiki](http://wiki.nesdev.com/w/index.php/Nesdev_Wiki) is a great site with far more information about the NES than you'll need to write an emulator.

</comment><comment><USER8> Impressive! How did they manage to build something some complex without generics?

<comment><USER9> You do realize that significantly more complex software has been written for decades without the use of generics, right?

<comment><USER10> I think you missed the irony.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Out of curiosity: can anyone w/ the relevant experience explain why older consoles like the NES and the GB have "mirrors" in their memory map? I haven't programmed embedded systems so I really don't understand what the advantage might be.

I thought the Gameboy was odd enough with it's 'echo' of WRAM. (Which isn't even a complete mirror; it stops partway through WRAM#1.)

Reading the NES memory map though it gets quite silly! There's a mirror ($2008-$3FFF) that repeats a set of 8 registers ($2000-2007) _every 8 bytes._

Was this simply a matter of having more address space than physical memory? Or were these mirrors actually useful when programming these consoles?

\---

I thought it might have to do w/ different addressing modes; perhaps you could save some bytes by just storing offsets or something. But that makes no sense in the context of the Gameboy. Many of the z80's extended instructions are gone; the only "interesting" addressing mode is a handful of instructions which treat an 8-bit address as an offset from $FF00.

<comment><USER11> Usually it's just a side-effect of how the system is wired.

Consider that GB WRAM mirror, where C000 = E000 all the way up to DDFF = FDFF. Let's look at these numbers in binary:

      C000 = 1100 0000 0000 0000
      E000 = 1110 0000 0000 0000

      DDFF = 1101 1101 1111 1111
      FDFF = 1111 1101 1111 1111

If you notice, that third most significant bit is the only difference - <USER2> this is true the entire way through the mirror. Because that address line wasn't needed to access WRAM, it was probably never even wired to it - so on access the value of it is simply ignored.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> There is also [https://github.com/scottferg/Fergulator](https://github.com/scottferg/Fergulator)

<comment><USER13> Came in here to make the same comment. I used to do some work with the author around the time he was writing it. There was much talk about playing Battle Toads in their break room.

<comment><USER14> Oh hey there ;)

3-player Bomberman 2 was also a big hit

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Niels Widger, the author of this emulator, was the hardest working guy in the emulation community, and single-handedly kept Zophar's Domain alive for years. It's awesome that his love of emulation hasn't died more than a decade later.

Source: I've known the guy since he was thirteen.

</comment><comment><USER16> If you liked this you might also enjoy these videos about writing a NES emulator in C++11

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y71lli8MS8s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y71lli8MS8s)

</comment><comment><USER17> cool project, better name! What advantages does Go add over other languages?

<comment><USER18> Coolness? I doubt "NES emulator in Java" would get any upvotes with the nowadays userbase of HN... :)

<comment><USER19> Yep, thats one of the main reasons of basing my startup on Go. For that eventual HN post!

<comment><USER20> Is the language really that important to the end product? I know we like to write in our favourite languages or the language we think in, but when you use software daily, do you only use software written in C, for example? Do you refuse to use anything written in C++?

<comment><USER21> Not directly, but very possibly indirectly because of the people a new language attracts: PG already touched on it: [http://www.paulgraham.com/pypar.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/pypar.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> On cursory glance I haven´t found a single comment, still I think the code is pretty readable, good job.

</comment><comment><USER23> I keep getting

      Failed to feed audio to OpenAL fast enough; resynching...

</comment><comment><USER24> Reminds me of NESticles

</comment><comment><USER25> What use is this?

<comment><USER26> What's the use of anything? Seriously, you're on HackerNews where all sorts of one-off projects with no purpose except to exist get displayed and you're asking what the use of an NES emulator is? Maybe the author wanted to learn about emulation, or found it a challenge to do in Go. Does it matter? If you don't enjoy it, move on.</comment></comment>


An Egyptian relic has mysteriously started MOVING in a museum - <AUTHOR> http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4980146/I-sphinx-I-saw-it-moving.html

<comment><USER2> Other than someone actually turning the statue, how else could this be happening?

<comment><USER3> After watching the time elapse video it is only turning when the museum is open and people are moving about. At night it doesn't move at all. So most likely it is some form of vibration.

The reasoning that "it has been there for decades and hasn't turned before" doesn't really hold water for me. Anyone who has owned a home know buildings shift and settle all the time as well as mounts, shelves, and everything else losing a bit of structural integrity over time. It only takes a screw or two to get a wee bit loose. At least that is my simpleton view of it.

<comment><USER4> (I still don't discard the joke hypothesis.)

It's a stone statue over a glass shelf, so the friction coefficient is probably low and it's possible that the vibrations make it turn around.

Perhaps before the shelf was inclined a few millimeters to the other side, so it didn't turn.

Perhaps it was formerly in a wood shelf, with more irregularities and a bigger friction coefficient.

Perhaps there was no camera, so when someone found that it was looking to the other side, they just assumed than someone else had moved it.</comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: New iOS App - Watch your videos from Anywhere - <AUTHOR> http://www.tonido.com/ios/

<comment><USER2> Hey, cool app! It's nice to solve the local storage problem like this.

I am the founder of <https://appstorerankings.net> , a startup focused on ASO (App Store Optimization), so I'd looked up your app's keywords -- you're using "personal,live,movie,cloud,stream,air,share,remote" . That's only 49 characters out of 100 you could be using (or you've got duplicates with the title).

You should add some new keywords to your app, here are some suggestions - "server,vlc,player,audio,airplay,wmv,mkv,avi,nmp4" in order to get more downloads (These were automatically generated based on your current keywords). A lot of your competitors use file formats as keywords, so it's probably a good idea!

<comment><USER3> I'm curious how you get an app's keywords? I didn't think that information was public. For example I tried your lookup for my app and it was incorrect.

<comment><USER2> matt, getting the keywords is our secret sauce -- as you'd said, the info is not public so we're not 100% accurate, but we're pretty close. Is your app J23? What keywords did we get wrong, considering that the words in the app title for all intents count as keywords.

<comment><USER3> yeah my app is J23. i will send you an email about the keywords.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've really enjoyed using live transcoding client apps on iOS, but have always wondered if there are any web-based live transcoding solutions. The only things I found were high end broadcasting solutions that are for live stream transcoding, not for prerecorded libraries. Perhaps a better term is on-demand transcoding or just-in-time transcoding?

Wouldn't it be cool if you could load up a URL and get transcoded audio and video of your media library for whatever browser you happen to be using?

<comment><AUTHOR> Tonido server embeds a light weight web server and we support Http Live Streaming (HLS). The issue is with the browsers. All browsers dont support HLS yet. We can use something like flowplayer or JWPlayer. That is one option.

<comment><USER4> According to <https://developer.apple.com/resources/http-streaming/> it looks like HTTP Live Streaming would work on Mac Safari as well.

I'll take a look and see if the web server in Tonido works there.

 _Edit:_ Looks like there's no actual transcoding option on the web interface. When I attempt to play one of my MKV files, I just get an error.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes. currently we don't have it for browser. But if you have vlc plugin you should be able to stream any format in the browser using Tonido.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> When searching for "tonnido" in the app store, there are three results of the same app with different titles. What's that all about?

There's:

Tonido

Tonido for AppliedMicro

Tonido for Freecom

<comment><AUTHOR> We provide oem version of our mobile app to Consumer Electronic companies and other chip vendors. If you want live Transcoding then you need this one: Tonido - File Access, Music and Video Streaming from Anywhere

<comment><USER5> Thanks. Does it support subtitles?

<comment><AUTHOR> No. It doesn't.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> The iPad app is pretty functional. It has some rough edges to polish but not many apps I have found that seems to handle range of files as this app.

</comment><comment><USER7> When will we see support for Mac/Linux for video transcoding, it appears only Windows is supported at this moment.

<comment><AUTHOR> Very soon. It is under development.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> When in files view, can I sort it by date or or size ?

</comment><comment><USER9> Does it support live transcoding of mkv video formats like Airvideo?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes it supports live transcoding of mkv video formats. Also if you have LTE connection you can see the Hi-def videos from anywhere without hitch.

We recommend quad core cpu if you want to see 1080p movies for Tonido server.

<comment><USER10> I used to watch lots of MKV and AVI vids, but in the last 5 years it's been mostly low quality Flash streaming and I don't hoard media any more. I prefer immediate viewing to waiting for a high def download.

On the other hand, I still hoard lots of Gb of mp3 files. No change there, but I can't use Spotify in my country.

<comment><AUTHOR> It doesn't download media. Tonido streams it. Tonido can also stream Flac music format.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I like the file preview UI design in your app. Quite unique and very useful. Hopefully other apps copies that design pattern as well.

<comment><AUTHOR> Glad you noticed :). It took couple of months of our designer and iOS developer time.</comment></comment>


Why are Americans' lives getting shorter? - <AUTHOR> https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/11/27/why-are-americans-lives-getting-shorter <comment><USER2> Well not an expert on this but one obvious factor I've seen, crazier and more exhausting work hours and boat-loads of work stress. Even for super-skilled professional types, it grinds you down. I work in one of those supposed dream jobs in a tech firm in Colorado, and every year it's worse and worse. We're forced to put up with impossible tasks, not just coding related but now like 20 hours a week of administrative so we're pushing above 70 hours a week even though salary hasn't gone up anywhere near to cover the additional hours. If you call in sick or go on vacation, you may not have a job waiting for you when you can get back because HR will just hire cheap labor from abroad.

Result? Everyone's burning out and getting sicker and sicker every year but we can't go off the treadmill or we wind up "redundant" and lose our health insurance. Just last month one of the ladies who'd been with us for a decade died of a heart attack- in her late 30's! She hadn't taken a vacation day in 5 years. Another guy died when his car ran into a guard-rail. A kid working here, super-skilled and promising, died apparently of a meth overdose after working 3 days straight no sleep.

Meanwhile our two partner companies in Europe, people work around 35 hours a week or 40 tops, get 6 weeks' vacation, everyone healthier and happier. But here's the crazy thing, they get just as much done as we or even more. Probably because they're a lot healthier and can think on their toes better not being worn out all the time. They make about as much money as we do, sometimes more. They don't even pay more taxes than we do in Colorado, that's some dumb misconception. Americans are basically modern slaves and we only have even worse working conditions to look forward to every year. And no, it's not just working class, it's horrible for professionals and skilled too. I think they're saying now lawyers, doctors and engineers have the highest alcoholism, suicide and meth overdose rate of anyone, at least in this part of Colorado. So it's only gonna get worse from here.

<comment><USER3> > I think they're saying now lawyers, doctors and engineers have the highest > [...] suicide [...] rate of anyone, at least in this part of Colorado

I don't know about alcoholism or meth overdose rates, but I do know about suicide and doctors or lawyers do not have the highest rate of suicide in Colorado. I don't know what you mean by "engineer".

[https://cohealthviz.dphe.state.co.us/t/HSEBPublic/views/CoVD...](https://cohealthviz.dphe.state.co.us/t/HSEBPublic/views/CoVDRS_12_1_17/Story1?:embed=y&:showAppBanner=false&:showShareOptions=true&:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no#8)</comment></comment>


Teach Yourself C in 24 Hours (1997) - <AUTHOR> http://aelinik.free.fr/c/index.html <comment><USER5> I think there is a fundamental problem that isn't addressed in teaching people how to code. The problem is that _every_ single course/book talks about the tools of the trade but not the art. Most books start with:

      - <USER2>
      - <USER3>
      - <USER4>

... etc.

In doing so, it is simply overloading the student with syntax memorization and conceptual overload. It bothers me so much that very few books (Kernighan) talk about WHY. WHY. WHY is a variable needed? WHY is a function needed? WHY do we use OOP? Every single book out there jumps straight into explaining objects, how to create them, constructors, blah blah blah. No one fricking talks about what's the point of all this?

Teaching syntax is like muscle memory for learning Guitar. It is trivial and simply takes time. Syntax - everyone can learn and it is only one part of learning how to code. Concepts are explained on their own without building upon it. The famous book for Python (Learn Python the Hard Way) explains Loops in its own chapter and provides examples. But, they never build up on the idea. There should never be a separate chapter for variables, loops, functions, etc. Chapters should be:

      Chapter 1. Setting up the problem (Goals)
      Chapter 2. Defining Inputs/Ouputs (API)
      Chapter 3. Automating something (Variables, loops)
      Chapter 4. Abstraction of something (Functions)
      Chapter 5. More automation! (Combing all)
      Chapter 6. Splitting code into multiple modules (Growing the project)
      Chapter 7. Objects (New type of abstraction, OOP)
      Chapter 8. Reusability of Classes (Inheritance)
      Chapter 9. Safety/Security (Encapsulation, tie it back to Chapter 2.)
      etc...

Best coding resource I've found is things like:

      NAND to Tetris [1]
      Handmade Hero [2]
      The Nature of Code [3]
      Harvard CS50 [4]
      How to Design Programs [5] (thx minikomi)

This is learning how to produce music. Not learning the F chord. Teaching how to code is fundamentally broken and very few books/courses do it well.

References:

[1] [http://nand2tetris.org/](http://nand2tetris.org/) [2] [https://handmadehero.org/](https://handmadehero.org/) [3] [http://natureofcode.com/](http://natureofcode.com/) [4] [https://cs50.harvard.edu/](https://cs50.harvard.edu/) [5] [http://www.htdp.org/](http://www.htdp.org/)

<comment><USER6> I think SICP also pretty good in this regard. Thankfully it's available online for free

<comment><USER7> (I haven't gone through both) but I think HtDP and SICP are interchangeable- ish.

From the wikipedia page: HtDP was designed as a textbook to address certain issues that some students and teachers had with SICP.

<comment><USER8> Excuse my ignorance, what is HtDP?

<comment><USER9> "How to Design Programs"

[http://www.htdp.org](http://www.htdp.org)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> The "in 24 hours" part is of course just book title clickbait. I read Sams' C++ book and the 24 hours figure is making lots of assumptions such as general familiarity with programming, spending >10 times more time doing exercises and understanding the material and so on. And after all this, you will still just be a beginner since you will have no actual experience. It naturally also leaves out lots of material that isn't judged necessary to fit into the 24 hour time frame (though this may not be the case for the C book since the language is so much smaller).

As for this particular link, all image links in the text seem to be broken, and a pdf of the book can be found elsewhere.

<comment><USER11> I checked out Sam's Learn C++ in One Hour a Day from my local library and the librarian just frowned and said, "oh this looks miserable."

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I totally recommend Sam's Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days by Jesse Liberty (I found it here [http://101.lv/learn/C++/](http://101.lv/learn/C++/)). It's a great book to learn not only the basics of C++ (which, since it is a rather old book may be not very good for this and you should probably learn C++ by using a more recent book) but, more importantly, the basics of OOP, i.e encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism/late binding. The animal examples are excellent and I actually use them even today when I want to explain to somebody these concepts.

</comment><comment><USER13> Wow this brings back memories. This is the book I first learned C with. Bought it at a video game store and it came with a install disk for the Borland C compiler taped to the back page.

</comment><comment><USER14> This was one of the first books I read on C and programming I general! I remember I wasn't happy at all with it, so I gave up on it a bit after the middle. It must be pretty old.

<comment><USER15> I've never understood why anyone (in the day) would read anything other than K&R (or ANSI 89). Were those not good enough to learn C?

<comment><USER16> When I was a kid you had maybe 2-3 books on C at the local bookstore, and they were all terrible. But sometimes they came with a (crippled or obsolete) compiler, so that was a huge plus.

The book I learned from was _C in 12 lessons_ by Greg Perry, which I found is still on the shelves to this day, 25 years later. Terrible book.

The bad part is you don't learn how to do anything other than little bit of simple input and output and loops, and the worst explanation of pointers you can think of.

You can't do anything in the base language, but that's just the way C works, you need a platform specific book to learn to do anything worthwhile. This is why the 80's assembler books were so useful and inspiring.

For what you end up learning in the book you could have actually spent the 24 hours (or less) using something like Python, where you'd be way more productive and hundred times less confused. Actually doing work instead of messing with pointers and fscanf().

<comment><USER15> Hmmm.

Thank you for your response. At this point, I think that I must say that your brain and my brain must operate very differently. To me, messing with pointers is the beauty of all that - and it so easily translates to the assembler-lang- brain.

EDIT: Did you not find the K&R explanation of pointers sufficient?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I've been coding JavaScript and PHP for 6 years. I know the advanced topics of both languages. I'm in the office on a Saturday right now asking the question I'm always asking, "Where does this go?" I wish I knew the answer so I can go home -- the really important part of coding can't be learned in a day, a month, 12 weeks at a bootcamp, or after 6 years.

</comment><comment><USER18> Looks to be a useful resource, but I hate the title. Why? [http://www.norvig.com/21-days.html](http://www.norvig.com/21-days.html)

<comment><USER19> Thank you, I was thinking the same thing. ;-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Many here will rush to trot out the usual "but, we should all be using { fashionable language of the day | Rust } instead of C". Maybe. Maybe not. But there is something of a sweet spot with C and after all these years it persists due to that sweet spot despite some of the potential downsides.

<comment><USER21> > "we should all be using"

Anyone capable of thinking that thought (about any programming language) is so divorced from the vast range of pragmatic contexts within which programming happens, they might as well be shipped off to a monastery to live out their days.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> I only opened the first chapter, but I certainly won't recommend a book where things such as "There are two types of programming languages: compiled language and interpreted language." are written.

<comment><USER23> It stings but you can't get pedantic into these sorts of tutorials. Maybe he could [*] warning: crude classifaction, more to learn in these books

<comment><USER22> Yes that would ne better.

My point wasn't to get pedantic nor to criticize this particular sentence alone. I'm essentially saying that beginners' material could often be as easily comprehensible without the sort of "simplification" that actually says something wrong.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Unfortunately I only have 20 hours to learn C.

<comment><USER25> Why would anyone vote this down?

<comment><USER26> From the HN guidelines:

 _Please don 't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading._

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> I leaned C from the Borland book that came with Turbo-C. A masterpiece of clarity and conciseness. I found K&R too low-level. I don't really want to know how they implemented strcpy().

<comment><USER28> Borland manuals were great!

</comment></comment><comment> cup-of-tea I would prefer that someone learnt it in a few weeks using K&R followed by study of the comp.lang.c FAQ for more useful and some obscure parts of the language.

</comment><comment><USER29> Better yet, teach yourself how to write clickbait headlines by submitting to Hacker News every web page you can find during a 24-hour period!

</comment><comment><USER30> I can yeah you C in 24 seconds, but how much you learn would be limited to 24 seconds of material</comment>


IE6-compatible SPA example in TypeScript - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/boiyama/ie6-compatible-spa-ts <comment><AUTHOR> Accompanying presentation and article in Japanese: [https://qiita.com/boiyama/items/88162dcab283ade9e28e](https://qiita.com/boiyama/items/88162dcab283ade9e28e) (Google Translate: [https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https...](https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fqiita.com%2Fboiyama%2Fitems%2F88162dcab283ade9e28e))

Having survived the era of Internet Explorer 6, I chuckled a lot.</comment>


Doom Bots in TensorFlow - <AUTHOR> http://tech.marksblogg.com/tensorflow-vizdoom-bots.html <comment><USER2> Git hub link:

[https://github.com/mwydmuch/ViZDoom](https://github.com/mwydmuch/ViZDoom)

I preferred to install this with python3 on Ubuntu16.04, the make process from the repo is messy. Once you have cloned the sources and have vizdoom installed with pip3, you can dive right in to installing tensorflow with pip3 (and cuda if you have the hardware)

For now I believe tensorflow-1.0.1 and cuDNN-2 with cuda 6.5 support vizdoom for compute level cards 2.0 and higher, at least thats what a search suggests.

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

[https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-legacy- gpus](https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-legacy-gpus)

[https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda- toolkit-65](https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-toolkit-65)

[https://developer.nvidia.com/rdp/cudnn- archive](https://developer.nvidia.com/rdp/cudnn-archive)

Does anyone know the lower limits of hardware, libraries and SDKs for tensor flow 1.0.1?</comment>


Show HN: A Year Progress Chrome Extension - <AUTHOR> https://time-progress.francesco.space/ <comment><USER2> Cool idea, and great animations and design.

I'm not sure why it needs permission to read browsing history though...

Also it would be great to have the recently viewed sites thumbnails at the bottom too (like the default new tab page)</comment>