Scientists Develop Nasal Spray That Improves Memory - <AUTHOR> http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091001091752.htm <comment><USER2> "If a nasal spray can improve memory, perhaps we're on our way to giving some folks a whiff of common sense, such as accepting the realities of evolution,"

I think the newsworthiness of the article may be overshadowed by this neutron- bomb of a statement. Maybe it was taken out of context? :-)

<comment><USER3> Seriously. I thought the whole article was interesting, but then I read that and I was like "Are you kidding me?". I love the theory of evolution and all... but why toss it in their randomly... it made no sense whatsoever. It definitely discredited the article and the scientists involved.

"Maybe it will help us achieve our end goal and people will realize that it's stupid to vote Democrat!" would have been comparable...

<comment><USER4> > It definitely discredited the article and the scientists involved.

How can a statement by the editor of a journal who didn't have anything to do with the study beyond publishing it discredit the scientists that did the research? Guilt by association is well established as a logical fallacy.

<comment><USER5> > Guilt by association is well established as a logical fallacy.

Yes but there is a significant portion of the population that doesn't understand this. They are indeed likely to give the both the article and the underlying research much less credit.

> Guilt by association is well established as a logical fallacy.

It depends on your context. The underlying proposition is unaffected by its supporters but your 'best guess' view of it based on limited information needs to take this into consideration. Apart from unreliable sources I'm sure there are some people who pass on information which is anti-correlated with the truth. A biblical creationist is likely to be strongly attracted to exactly research that an evolutionist would dismiss. Both of these two would be right in pre-judging any research put forward by the other as have a reduced probability of being valid according to their views of reality.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> In the article, they give the example of students using this the night before a test. On this subject, it's interesting to me how so many people have simply accepted the use of drugs for improving exam performance. I can't be the only one who thinks it's ludicrous that we are now drugging ourselves to satisfy some arbitrary, artificial tests and that this whole situation is supposed to be ok.

Also, I wonder what the side effects are.

</comment><comment><USER7> "...promises to give late night cram sessions a major boost, if a good night's sleep follows."

These are mutually exclusive, at least from my experience.

<comment><USER8> Ah well, here's an opportunity for someone to develop a solution that will combine both the memory spray and a time-delayed sleeping medication!

<comment><USER9> Red Bull gives you Wiings..(now with added memory boost so your grades follow you skyward)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> So, uh, time-to-market? I needed this yesterday. ;)

It seems that you can purchase interleukin-6 from Cayman in bulk, 96 wells for about $350.

Nootropics are an interesting legal and academic subject. The question is: will this be fully legal and open or prescribed and scheduled only to those with learning disorders? I can easily see this being banned from use on the SAT, GMAT and academia in general. Similar (and often abused) nootropics include Adderall (amphetamine salts) and Ritalin (methylphenidate) which are DEA/FDA Schedule II, both of which are prescribed for ADHD and severe narcolepsy, as is concentration drug Provigil (modafinil) under Schedule IV.

Either the government (and perhaps academia) will go its regular course and prevent individuals from gaining an unfair edge by scheduling it, or there may be a slim chance of it being OTC. I have a gut feeling it's going to get scheduled.

<comment><USER11> Scheduling has vastly more to do with abuse potential than with preventing individuals from "gaining an unfair edge".

<comment><USER12> Can someone in the know explain how scheduling works? And whether pharma incentives affect the process?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I thought we already had stuff we could snort to improve our memory, some of it even legal!

[http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=...](http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cognitive+enhancer+nasal)

<comment><USER2> Desmopressin is available over the Internet for about $25 a bottle. As a nasal spray it can stimulate the hypothalamus and improve memory retention. It's dangerous, though, because it interferes with normal water retention.

<comment><USER14> Yeah, when I saw the subject line I thought the article was going to be about vasopressin/desmopressin. Not only does it improve memory retention, you don't keep having to take bathroom breaks during lectures.

Seriously, though, it's probably not a good idea to throw diuretic hormones out of balance unless you really know what you're doing.

<comment><USER15> "Seriously, though, it's probably not a good idea to throw diuretic hormones out of balance unless you really know what you're doing."

And it really does something for you. I tried Vasopressin in the '80s, and the effects weren't worth the trouble to acquire and use it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Doing a chemical run-around of 4 billion years of brain filtering evolution might not be the best idea. There might be a reason you're having a hard time remembering that shit ... it might just be _shit_.

Food. Exercise. Sleep. Skip the gimmicks.

</comment><comment><USER17> there was not description of how test was conducted but sample of 17 for 2 nights does not make the results very confident to me. the half that took the spray might have randomly having better memory unless they switched them next night.

</comment><comment><USER18> Check the details of this reported result against these criteria for scientific studies:

<http://norvig.com/experiment-design.html>

<comment><USER19> Too bad you can't actually check against the full academic report unless you pay or happen to have a university that pays for access to the publications.

<http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/10/3629>

<comment><USER20> I am lucky to have such a university. From the "Results" section, for those who are curious:

Recall of emotional texts was clearly superior to that of neutral texts, both at learning (45.1+/-2.4% of the emotional texts vs. 26.4+/-1.7% of the neutral texts correctly recalled; P<0.001) and at retrieval testing (41.3+/-2.4 vs. 22.2+/-1.7%; P<0.001). With IL-6 intrana- sally administered before sleep, subjects recalled more content words from emotional texts at retrieval testing after sleep compared with placebo (P<0.03) (Fig. 2A), whereas the recall of content words from neutral texts was comparable with both treatment conditions (P>0.32; P<0.03 for the IL-6/placebo x emotional/ neutral interaction). Memory performance on the visuospatial 2-D object-location memory task measured in the number of correctly recalled matching card locations and procedural finger sequence-tapping task measured in the accuracy of the sequences were not affected by IL-6 (P>0.33 for all comparisons) (Table 1).

Plus more...email me if you're really interested.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> sciencedaily.com - no exactly HN material

</comment><comment><USER22> Try pepper spray.

You will _never_ forget. ;-)

<comment><USER22> Oh my... I was aiming for funny.

But I also bet it's accurate.

<comment><USER23> Yes, pain is strongly linked to memory, which is why makes such an effective teaching a disciplinary aid. However, it is contextual and sniffing pepper spray might make you remember the wrong thing. ;)</comment></comment></comment>


Twitter's Misguided Quest to Become a Forum for Everything - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/15/magazine/twitters-misguided-quest-to-become-a-forum-for-everything.html <comment><USER2> The establishment press is panicking because they can no longer effectively perform the role of narrative gatekeepers. Information will simply route around them via internet services. Hence their current hypocritical attacks on all alternative media outlets and failure to champion the cause of real journalism (eg. Assange). In 2003 they helped launch an illegal and murderous invasion of Iraq, but these days any narrative they try to push will be obliterated by the internet in days.

"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations."

<comment><USER3> There are many names for what Assange has done with Wikileaks, but "real journalism" is not one of them.

<comment><USER4> Why not? Like any journalist, he confirms and publishes stories given to him by sources while protecting their anonymity.

<comment><USER5> Journalist? The sort of information he publishes, his timing and the people he chooses to defend make him nothing more than a political activist.

It's not difficult to see why: he has broken laws and is now stuck in a cage and the only way to get out of it is to cosy up to the politician who is most likely to pardon him.

<comment><USER6> How do such tactics differ from the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, and MSNBC? Are those operations not journalists? Assange is in a cage because, after being cleared of any wrongdoing vis-a-vis the sexual assault complaints, a "special prosecutor" decided she had to speak to him in person, i.e. get him in a venue subject to U.S. extradition.

<comment><USER7> Everything you just said is completely irrelevant to Assange's credibility as a journalist. Just because he's a martyr doesn't mean he's a good, ethical, or honest person.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Twitter has lots of problems, shadow banning and their rather annoying attempts to drive out all third party developers will be their eventual downfall. I wonder how many people genuinely use Twitter to be social and how many use it to stir up hate mobs, to drive people into suicide, to breed hatred and tribalism or to spam the "latest breaking news".

<comment><USER9> I used Twitter to be "social" around 2013. I noticed that the social aspect of it seems to have died out by 2014 or so, and so I left the platform (also due to their other changes).</comment></comment>


Dancer.js, a high level audio api to make visualizations - <AUTHOR> http://jsantell.github.com/dancer.js/ <comment><USER2> An interesting project, I almost spilled coffee on my lap due to being blasted by dubstep upon visiting the page.

<comment><USER3> Will incorporate volume and start/stop controls. However, a dubstep slider may not be an option

<comment><USER4> I also cringed with surprise after loading.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Audio Noob question: I understand 'beat detection' in music to be a really hard problem, are they successfully doing it here in javascript, or is this doing something else?

<comment><USER6> Beat detection usually work by taking the Fourier transform of the signal, and by observing the changes around 100Hz (the frequency where the kicks are, usually, may need tuning). By observing the changes in frequency, one can 'detect beats'.

The 'hard' part here is to compute the Fourier transform (which can be both a hard maths and performance problem for a person who knows nothing about signal processing), but quite a few implementations exist in javascript already (plus, if the author uses the new typed arrays, it brings a nice speed boost).

</comment></comment><comment><USER7>
      Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property '0' of null, dancer.js:319

All I see are floating particles. The code looks sleek, though, and I'd love to see it working. I had a hacked up WebGL visualizer for a computer graphics class long ago, but it was nowhere near as thoughtfully written.

<comment><USER8> same problem on Chrome 21.0.1165.0 canary.

I'll dig into the code for sure, i just started webgl and this kind of things is perfect to learn.

<comment><USER3> Awesome! Just made a ticket for this: <https://github.com/jsantell/dancer.js/issues/8>

And of note, while this is using Three.js, it's just using a CanvasRenderer, since FF has problems with loading particles (without a system) in WebGL. Made a ticket for it since this will improve performance as well <https://github.com/jsantell/dancer.js/issues/6>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I see this on my BlackBerry Dev Alpha. <http://imgur.com/lmInK>

The music loads, the particles move, but not really in sync with the music. It just spins...

<comment><USER3> Both Mozilla and Webkit implemented different audio (Audio Data/Web Audio) APIs -- wonder what BlackBerry Dev Alpha uses if any.. needs a better 'not supported' message

<comment><USER9> I'm not really up to speed on the differences between browsers, but the Dev Alpha does use Webkit. Unsure what build we have, and what audio APIs are actually supported. The fact that I hear the music and see the particles moving is a start at least.

<comment><USER3> I'll look into more webkit browsers -- I know on my Nexus S webkit browser, it has awful performance, but the audio plays. If the webkitAudioContext/AudioContext isn't found, it falls back to the Mozilla implementation, which is an extension of the non-fancy HTML5 audio, which means it will play audio, just be unable to read the frequency data from it -- and while the glowy balls move around independent of that data, there'll just be no boom and shaking due to absence of the frequency data :)

Now to build Chromium and try on vanilla Webkit..

<comment><USER9> That's exactly what I observe, so it likely is kicking back to the Mozilla implementation.

If you need me to test/debug, give me a shout. I'd be happy to help.

<comment><USER3> Great, will let you know :) although I need to do research on when/if/how the Web Audio API is hitting mobile Webkit browsers..

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> On my iPad and the idle visuals look great, but it doesn't get past "loading" (no audio) and I can't click the github link.

I'll have to check it out on my computer when I go back inside.

<comment><USER11> Mobile Safari has pretty weak HTML5 Audio support. Apple limited it to user generated events, so for example you need to trigger play() from a touch event. In this case it is triggered by a self executing function that runs after onLoad and will not be followed by Mobile Safari. The demo could be updated to offer a start button and then it could work on Mobile Safari. They would also need to not use ogg as that is not supported by Mobile Safari either.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Can this spit out a waveform of the entire track (i.e. similar to if I loaded something in Garageband/Audacity, I could scrub through the track)?

<comment><USER3> Out of the box, no, as this is frequency data rather than time-domain, but could possibly be configurable in Webkit browsers. For an easier solution, maybe something like: <https://github.com/katspaugh/wavesurfer.js>

</comment></comment><comment> jack-r-abbit The delay before the music started had me thinking it wasn't working... and then it was working very loudly. Did I miss the volume controls?

</comment><comment><USER13> RangeError: ArrayBufferView size is not a small enough positive integer (dancer.js:405) on Chrome. Idle visuals are nice though.

<comment><USER3> What version/OS of chrome?

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Working on chrome 19.0.1084.46 m (haven't updated in a while). Seems weird that so many people are having problems

</comment><comment><USER15> This is cool. I wish it could work on youtube videos. I would like to use it on tunesicles.com!

</comment><comment><USER16> Sadly, the music was playing, but nothing else was going on on my galaxy tab 10.1.

</comment><comment><USER17> This crashes chromium for me

<comment><USER3> Noted, thanks!</comment></comment>


Million Dollar Handcuffs - <AUTHOR> http://www.aminariana.com/essays/million-dollar-handcuffs <comment><USER2> Missing in this parable: All the Type 1 workers getting out their pitchforks because Type 2 worker put them out of work, leaving them with no safety net and no useful skills in the new trench-based economy.

Nor is the fact that because Type 2 worker demonstrated how to solve the problem other villages will now be competing for the same water source. Creating political tensions that could lead to war ("over water" :).

Then there's the problem of too much wealth being held by Type 2 resulting in a village tax base that can't afford a war ("over water"). Type 2 sees the writing on the wall and moves his wealth overseas where the village can't touch it and declares that, "everyone should be thankful!" for what he's done. They no longer have to carry buckets of water, after all.

<comment><USER3> I have a lot of sympathy for the OP's position, having worked as a Type 2 in Silicon Valley and having made enough money to retire and live off the investment interest at a relatively young age.

From the position of Type 2, the problem with Type 1 is that they are not Type 2. They just don't understand it.

But Type 1 can't understand it and isn't going to understand it. Type 1 (as a group) is increasing in number and getting angrier and louder, and it's clear that this trend is going to continue.

I fear what the endgame will look like....

<comment><USER2> I fear the endgame as well. Even if you take the position that Type 2 deserves enormous wealth for his accomplishments you still have a limited resource pool from which income can be drawn. It's not a zero sum game but it might as well be if economic change happens fast enough.

We cannot turn our backs on people because their economic value has diminished to almost nothing. Type 1s are not worthless even if they have no chance at making a decent income.

If we've reached the point where there's enough automation to care for everyone's basic needs (as a threshold of human labor; not "absolute automation") then we shouldn't be insisting that everyone work _for the sake of working._

I live with and care for an autistic adult with an IQ around 60. She's not family but if we didn't take care of her who the hell would? Her economic value is basically negative. If she gets a job it would only be to keep her busy. She can't even add up coins let alone keep track of a bank account.

It's easy to see how someone with an IQ of 60 has no economic value. However, as time goes on and more work gets automated the intelligence-to-economic- value ratio assimilates higher and higher levels of intelligence.

Soon--maybe even right now--the economic value of an able-bodied human of average intelligence will reach zero. When that happens the Type 2 people (and their friends, descendants, cronies, etc) will basically own everything. Civilization depends on that _not_ happening.

If we want to live in a civilized society we need to do everything we can to ensure that _doesn 't_ happen.</comment></comment></comment>


What 2017 beholds? - <AUTHOR> https://dribbble.com/shots/3186604--Hello-2017 <comment><USER2> I don't think that word means what you think it does.</comment>


Ask HN: Avoiding entrepreneurial development events ok? - <AUTHOR>

I have a few friends that go to all of the meetups and seminars with entrepreneurial development organizations and related groups and try to get me to go, but I'm just not interested. I've been to enough to know that I'm not into networking in-person just for the purpose of networking. I can be outgoing, but I just don't tend to be. Why go waste your time meeting with people before you even have a viable product or service to be trying to drum up interest about, or if you just aren't "ready"? I understand that there is a lot to be gained from having relationships with various important people in the industry, but isn't there a lot to be lost also if you get the reputation for going to these things and having nothing to say to anyone? Isn't it ok to not waste your time with people and events that you just aren't interested in? <comment><USER2> Obviously before these type of meetups entrepreneurs were successful in creating companies so it's not a requirement. But there is a lot of value in getting out there and interacting with people, it's only networking for networking sake if that's how you approach it. A great time to talk about what you're doing is exactly before you have an actual viable product. Personally if I would have waited until everything was 'ready' I would have missed some critical connections. The risks are zero (well the reputation thing could be real, so have something to say), the potential reward is actually high.

<comment><AUTHOR> What is "something to say"? It sounds like it doesn't make sense to go unless you have an idea or have something in the oven. Thanks for the input!</comment></comment>


Growing Up Sexually in Europe - <AUTHOR> http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HISTORYCHHS.HTM

<comment><USER2> For me, this redirects to: [http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HISTORYCHHS.HTM](http://www.sexarchive.info/GESUND/ARCHIV/GUS/HISTORYCHHS.HTM)

Which is blocked at my workplace. So, possible NSFW?

<comment><USER3> Same here. Anyone has any idea what this article is about?

<comment><USER4> Looks like some sort of encyclopedia-style article about the history of child and adolescent sexuality in Europe. I'm not sure why it's here.

The citation: Janssen, D. F. (Oct., 2002). Growing Up Sexually. Volume I: World Reference Atlas. Interim report. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

<comment><USER5> It's just one chapter/section of a larger work. Not at all sure why it's here.

<comment><AUTHOR> What I found interesting is how different it is from the idealized picture of a chaste moral past a lot of people would like to believe in, and how different societies can treat the process of sexualization.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


An Actual Mathematical Explanation of Silicon Valley's Epic Dick Joke - <AUTHOR> http://gizmodo.com/an-actual-mathematical-explanation-of-silicon-valleys-e-1589569331 <comment><AUTHOR> A pdf version of the paper in Archive.org : [https://ia802501.us.archive.org/7/items/pdfy- tG1MuMpwvrML6QD...](https://ia802501.us.archive.org/7/items/pdfy- tG1MuMpwvrML6QD0/228831637-Optimal-Tip-to-Tip-Efficiency.pdf)

Author is Vinith Misra: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinith_Misra](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinith_Misra) Homepage: [https://vinmisra.github.io/](https://vinmisra.github.io/)</comment>


Dissenter: The free speech web browser - <AUTHOR> https://dissenter.com <comment><USER2> I find the individuals behind Dissenter contemptible on a personal level but I also see a very great need for a truly hands-off communication platform, the internet equivalent of the post office. The public wants to pillory Facebook and YouTube when they host content they find objectionable but nobody blames the mailman for delivering porn or racist newsletters or pirated DVDs. The Dissenter user base is... Well, there's room for improvement, but I've found real value in having a comment box for every page on the internet that's not controlled by the website hosting the page.

<comment><USER3> It's like HN but as browser extension</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Do EU grocery stores track purchase histories subject to GPDR? - <AUTHOR> Do EU grocers have the same frequent shopper cards as in the USA?
If so, would the data collected by them, ie full purchase history at the product level, be made available to their customers to formally request?
Similarly can one ask for their history to be purged? <comment><USER2> Yes and yes.</comment>


Things Hackers don't tell you about Hackathons - <AUTHOR> https://blog.mindorks.com/things-hackers-dont-tell-you-about-hackathons-7bdeb165efa2 <comment><USER2> _We all love participating in Hackathons._

Erm... That's not true.

There are two sorts of developers who don't like hackathons. There are the go- to-work-and-write-code-and-then-do-other-stuff-in-the-evening sort of developers who are the overwhelming majority of the sort of devs you meet in business. For most developers writing code is nothing more than a job. Those people see a hackathon as work, and they don't like it. That's great for those people; they get code done and go home.

The second sort of developer who doesn't love a hackathon (and I'm in this group) is the sort of person who enjoys the process of writing a great piece software rather than just concentrating on the fun bits of solving a problem and getting something on a screen. I see a hackathon as _literally_ all the worst things about software development compressed in to a single event - practically no planning, very little testing, _zero_ documentation, no sleep, bad food, not seeing your non-dev friends, and not stepping away from the keyboard for any substantial time. I've worked on real world actual paid projects like that and it's _awful_. I definitely don't want to do it for fun when someone isn't even paying me for it.

I love seeing the result of other people's hackathons, and I'm glad that people who attend them enjoy them, but seriously, if you think all developers love a hackathon you _really_ need to expand the group of developers you hang out with.

<comment><USER3> Many hackatons are organized around the host company's business goals. They are either organized for recruiting purposes or to get cheap labor (sometimes both)

I love coding and do code a lot in my own time. But I'm not gonna work for free for some company or government (it's your solutions to their problems) just because they market an event as a hackaton.

There might be better events out there but this is my experience.

<comment><USER4> Is cheap labour really a consideration? Are companies seriously basing products off code written at hackathons?

<comment><USER5> They don't base products off them but it is useful as quick prototyping / hacking together some minimalistic MVPs. Outside of hackaton they would have to actually pay developers to do this sort of prototyping / hacking work but they can get it for free in hackatons.

It's obviously not a major thing but it still irks me, especially when hackatons are over the weekend when you would normally charge double of normal rate for overtime if it was a part of normal work and you agreed to do it for some reason (meeting deadline etc).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Hackathons are a professional embarrassment.

Developers get all excited about coding overnight, but in reality they're being taken advantage of - what other industry do we see this in? You don't ask a lawyer to stay up all night eating pizza and churn out a bunch of legal documents. Why? Because they'd tell you where to go.

"Non-technical" people see a neat demo coming out of a 24 hour hackathon and wonder why it takes their company's developers 6 months and 300k to build an app for them. The expectations this sets (that developers work for free, all night, without any quality or discipline) are not acceptable.

<comment><USER7> > You don't ask a lawyer to stay up all night eating pizza and churn out a > bunch of legal documents. Why? Because they'd tell you where to go.

That's precisely incorrect.

<comment><USER5> The lawyer will charge you a hefty hourly rate for overnight work (couple hundred per hour) while developers will get free pizza and beer / soda drinks. So it's exploitation in this way. I wonder how many companies would do hackatons if they have to pay their devs overtime rates for their participation.

<comment><USER6> > I wonder how many companies would do hackatons if they have to pay their > devs overtime rates for their participation

0

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> > They are amazing fun events where tech geeks come together to create > _something useful_.

No. (Emphasis mine)

<comment><USER9> The one hackathon I've been to, the emphasis was way too heavily on not only making something "useful" but something that could be turned into a business. It wasn't advertised this way, and my group went in just wanting to have a bit of fun, making something quirky in a hurry.

We ended up scrambling for ideas, then when we finally found an idea or two that we kind of liked, we were talked out of it by the industry-rep mentors that were supposed to be helping us. One even took our idea, and twisted it into a really weird financial solution for a totally different problem to what we were thinking about. After spending about 5 hrs trying to make it work, and struggling with the basics of the concept, we just gave up and walked away.

Best part of the whole thing was the free RasPi 3 that I got because one of my group went to one of the talks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I've won every hackathon i've ever entered (around 10 now).

I enter them to win money or prizes, and as such take a cynical view of them which helped to find a formula to present at them. Being confident wins over technical talent in most of the ones that offer prizes.

Simply you need to show or tell the audience an example of you using X piece of software, pretend to be frustrated and then dramatically pause, and then start selling your version of it. Make them be sure they've had this problem before, even if they haven't.

</comment><comment><USER11> Where are you guys going for all these hackathons where real devs show up and can code? The ones I attended in Sydney are 90% marketing/sales/designers desperate for a dev and they spend all the time faffing about.

<comment><USER12> Hey mate, I'd love to know what languages you deal with?

<comment><USER11> Mostly Python and learning React which strangely gave me a taste for functional programming so might try something like Scala next. You?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> If you actually want to build something meaniful it's probably better to do so from the comfort of your home with proper rest and breaks.

</comment><comment><USER14> Weird. Every hackathon I've been to has tried to inform first time hackers of these things.

HackMIT FAQ (every year): [https://hackmit.org/#faq](https://hackmit.org/#faq)

Numerous HackBeanpot posts:

[http://blog.hackbeanpot.com/simple-advice-for-first-time- hac...](http://blog.hackbeanpot.com/simple-advice-for-first-time-hackers/)

[http://blog.hackbeanpot.com/check-yourself-before-you- wreck-...](http://blog.hackbeanpot.com/check-yourself-before-you-wreck- yourself/)

(Disclosure: I helped organize HackBeanpot 2017)

<comment><USER15> There is nothing weird in catchy title in a blogspam article. Not even sure how this got to the frontpage.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I hate those business oriented hackathons where 90% is about the pitch. I tend to prefer ones where actual coding gets done.

<comment><USER17> Seriously. A solid powerpoint presentation is all you need to win in those ones.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I've been to a few demos at the end of hackathons (absolutely refuse to take part in one myself) and have only ever seen one somewhat useful project come through. And it was quite obvious that the team had done a fair bit of pre- hackathon prep...

Last company I worked started pushing these in a big way. Free pizza and goodies so I code all night, unpaid, at our work offices... who on Earth does this kind of thing appeal to?!

<comment><USER19> It would appeal to me...or to be exact, it would have appealed to a two decades younger revision of me. No more.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> The hackathon in this context seems to be an extension of the good old "lan party", but with programming instead of games.

</comment><comment><USER21> I build developer tools, and so hackathons are a useful way to evaluate various assumptions about the toolchain: [http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/msgflo- noflo-in-hackathons/](http://bergie.iki.fi/blog/msgflo-noflo-in-hackathons/)

That said, I hate the "build a fake startup during a weekend" concept that pretty much all hackathons here in Berlin follow. And since the judges are typically 100% non-technical, the best powerpoints win, without consideration of what actually got done.

</comment><comment><USER22> Also, in Sydney, quite a few of these make you sign away the rights to the end result in exchange for the prize. (Free publicity and you can work on it further for funding as a contractor). Imagine if you actually had a good idea and you came to one to colaborate and ended up losing your rights to your own idea.

</comment><comment><USER23> Been decades since I've been to one. I came up with an elegant solution. But the stress was enormous. Not the work, but doing the work in the face of a very noisy and distracting environment.

So, no, not for me. On the other hand, the equivalent work when I can go off and think on my own, and come back and collaborate when I have an idea to vet? And collaborate in the true group activities involved? Sure.

</comment><comment><USER24> I think Hackathons, however small, provide useful feedback for estimating your "fluency" in a specific technology. Self-assessment gets a reality check.

</comment><comment><USER25> The comments are more useful than the article (which doesn't really address the topic)

</comment><comment><USER26> replace hack with work and you're closer to representing what a workathon is.</comment>


Why aren't we all using Japanese toilets? - <AUTHOR> http://priceonomics.com/toilets/#japanese <comment><USER2> Toto's primary sales channel is "If you build a house or office in Japan and don't specifically talk to your architect/contractor about your post-bowel movement preferences we will take the liberty of using the most current model Toto has available and then invoice you cost plus labor plus 50%."

Toto does not have that relationship with the person responsible for picking your toilet.

Why does Toto have that relationship with the guy who picked my toilet? They've got a sales rep in Ogaki. His most important job is making sure they know of every business start for a construction company and that every time it happens the company gets a wreath (that's considered auspicious and is socially mandatory to buy when someone close to you starts a shop) and the principals get invited out drinking. Toto is, naturally, buying. The sales guy will not be so gauche as to mention "Say, apropos of nothing, do you do cost- plus projects? We have a proposition for you which will put $100 extra in your pocket for every bathroom you build."

<comment><USER3> People don't pick the toilets in their houses? I find that hard to imagine.

People not picking the pipes or bricks that are used I can see, but the toilet? No way. Before I buy a toilet I want to at least sit on it and I cannot imagine anyone feeling any other way about that.

<comment><USER4> Even in most custom built homes you only pick the fit and finish and not the actual product. This is mainly done for cost reasons since specific products means you need someone to take the time to review existing plans to make sure everything fits and is spec'ed out properly.

<comment><USER3> See, my perspective is completely skewed. I don't even know what a custom built home is. I don't have a house nor any plans to get one but my dad (a civil engineer, usually planning water supply systems) drew up all the plans for my parents' house and my parents (including the extended family plus friends) really did nearly everything by themselves, and that includes picking out all the interior. Everything is custom about that house. In that context someone telling you which toilet to get is nonsense.

<comment><USER4> What i'm saying is the customer usually asks for a white toilet that looks like X. The builder says, "Manufacturer Y has something like that. Does this look good?" knowing that manufacturer Y works with his suppliers who will have the exact product at the exact time that they need it.

Sure you can go to a builder and say I want this, this, this, and this, but be ready to pay out the nose for someone to do all the work to make sure they show up correctly and at the appropriate time.

<comment><USER3> See, my parents are the kind of people who would micromanage that kind of stuff. I mean, I know they would, because they did when they recently renovated their bathroom. This time they paid people to do the actual work (everyone's getting older), but they made sure to get the right kinds of tiles and drew a plan for the tilers on how to arrange the tiles. Which tiles to cut in which way, and where to, for example, put the patterned tiles.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Every one of these articles gets the pitch of these toilets completely wrong - for every person, and in every scenario, these are not universally better.

Consider the following experiment:

Smear some mud on your arm. Now, using a jet stream the power of a squirt gun and very low precision, wash it all off in 10 seconds. Not so easy. Then - imagine if you put mud on a place with hair! Not only will it not be clean without some actual washing, we haven't even gotten to the drying part yet.

Fact of the matter is, these do not replace toilet paper. I thought they were OK (Google) until I decided to use toilet paper after - and I was shocked and disappointed. My routine simply got longer and more complex, with a small value add of washing with water instead of dry paper.

Sorry about the grim detail - I think the 'squeamish about bathroom routine' point of the article is right - just in the wrong way!

<comment><USER6> I read a version of this argument in some US newspaper a while back. It completely misses the point.

These ass-jet toilets are not intended to replace toilet paper. They are for getting your asshole (and ladyparts, but I can't testify on that topic) much cleaner in much less time than with conventional American toilets and dry paper alone.

You use the ass-jet, then paper. That's how they work. (For a heinous bowel- movement situation, you might do paper, ass-jet, paper again.) You aren't supposed to skip the paper!

Using your mud example, if you got mud all over your head, would you rather just keep scraping your head with dry paper towels, and use up a couple rolls worth and still have some mud left over, or use some water too? Same principle.

If you take a perfect shit (love when that happens), then sure, it just slides out and leaves behind minimal debris. Great. But let's say you ate a plate of Uncle Jim's nachos the night before, along with a twelve pack of PBR, and you definitely didn't achieve shitting perfection this time. _That_ is when these toilets really shine.

The number of times you have to wipe your ass to achieve that comforting pure- white-no-residue final wipe, that tells you your asshole is clean, is _astronomically_ higher with paper only than it is with an ass-jet plus paper. I mean, have you ever had one of those wipe-it-ten-time-and-dammit-it-still- isn't-clean kind of shits? You just never have that happen with the ass-jet. The water helps wash your doody-hole AND that moistens the toilet paper (for the first post-jet wipe). That makes it work better, just like a wet dishrag is more effective at cleaning a dish than a dry one.

I personally would be surprised if populations that lack ass-jet toilets didn't have a higher incidence of hemmhorrhoids from all that wiping, over a lifetime. I don't think we have that long-term data yet.

But from personal experience, they have saved me thousdands and thousands of asshole-wipes over the years, and I could never go back to a the barbaric American toilets of my youth.

(When I moved back to America several years ago, I brought a Toto washlet toilet seat with me. And the new apartment that I just bought in Tokyo had many options to specify, but the toilet wasn't one of them--just as patio11 suggests above, the place came with a brand new whiz-bang model featuring the latest in shitter technology from Toto, complete with not only heated seat, ass-jet, and wall-mounted control panel, but also sensors that allow it to raise the seat automatically as I approach, and flush for me when I am done.)

<comment><USER7> I'm laughing my ass off... Great and insightful post!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Americans, by and large, are quite bizarre when it comes to discussing anything that takes place below the belt.

When I mentioned working at Google, I have had multiple people say to me, "I heard the founders at Google are OBSESSED with toilets and import special models from Japan." As if one has to be stark raving mad to use a modern toilet from Japan, instead of the old fashioned toilet which was probably imported from China anyway.

<comment><USER9> From what I read on the internet 25-40% of people out there seem to stand up to wipe.. and I have to believe that's largely due to people never discussing how they use the restroom.

<comment><USER8> No, they stand because that part of the world is used to squatting when they go to the bathroom. The "toilet as throne" model is from the west. Over there, historically, toilets are built into the floor. The toilet bowl is a rounded- rectangle depression in the floor rather than something that sticks out of it. You stand with one foot on either side of the bowl and squat while you do your business.

I prefer Western toilets (I'm American), but think the squat-strategy has a lot of sense to it: you never touch anything, and the squat position angles your body "just right" if you know what I mean. It's just a bit awkward for us (Westerners) when you're not used to holding that body position, though.

There, now I can cross off "get into public internet discussion of pooping strategy" from my life goals list. :)

<comment><USER10> When I first started using toilets on my own I stood to wipe. Eventually I figured out that I could remain seated.

This was on a western toilet.

<comment><USER11> I've transitioned into a bit of a hybrid strategy. Sit for the broad strokes, stand for the detail work.

<comment><USER12> HN is truly insightful today ;).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> $15 in parts from your local hardware store gets you the basic tools you need to build a water-powered hygiene system.

All you need is the "spray head" with flexible hose [0], plus the adaptor to make a kitchen part fit the bathroom piping (for some reason, kitchen and bathroom have non-interchangeable parts).

You hang it on a hook next to the toilet, and you use it to clean yourself. I cannot live without these, and I intensely regret any overnight trips to a hotel or other place that does not have such an amenity. I regularly recommend and sometimes even buy and install these for friends and family.

The USA is still living in the dark ages when it comes to some parts of self- hygiene.

0: [http://ecx.images- amazon.com/images/I/21PJ48yqYmL._SL500_AA3...](http://ecx.images- amazon.com/images/I/21PJ48yqYmL._SL500_AA300_.jpg)

<comment><USER14> This is how they do it in Thailand, at least. Basically, imagine the sprayer in your kitchen sink attached to your toilet.

In areas without (edit: running) water, they'll have a bucket of clean water nearby with some sort of cup to use. I've heard this is pretty common in SE Asia.

<comment><USER15> Yup!

And people eat with their hands a lot too. This is why its considered disgusting to eat with the left hand in many places. Right hand for eating, left hand for washing your ass.

One of the benefits of having travelled a lot in Asia is you will never again be phased by running out of toilet paper.

<comment><USER14> People in SE Asia don't eat with their hands, you must be thinking about Central/South Asia. Spray cleaning really isn't that bad, you should be washing your hands after anyways.

<comment><USER16> No, we (Thai, Laos, and Cambodian) do eat with our hands. Chopsticks were a cultural import from the Chinese.

<comment><USER14> Really? I never saw anyone eating with their hands in SE Asia, well, anything but street food. Its hard to eat a rice or noodle dish with your hands, especially without bread!

Genuinely curious.

<comment><USER17> Rice based dishes are remarkably easy to eat by hand (it is extremely common in South India, see [http://migrationology.com/2012/01/how-to-eat-with-your- hands...](http://migrationology.com/2012/01/how-to-eat-with-your-hands-rice- and-curry/) for a video), but your point holds true for noodles.

<comment><USER14> I know people eat with their hands in south/central Asia (including Burma), as well as in Muslim areas (Malaysia/Indonesia), I just never saw that in Tai areas of SE Asia. Well, you learn something everyday I guess.

<comment><USER18> We usually eat using our right hand when it involves rice. Otherwise we use spoon & fork.

<comment><USER14> Nice to know! Too bad I'm left handed :(

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> How does one go about cleaning these? It always seemed to me that, if the nozzle got dirty, then they could cause more problems than they solve. Especially (to quote the article) if it's spraying the "female genital area." If there's any bacteria on that nozzle, and since it's been in a toilet for any number of years I'd guess there might be, surely there'd be a risk of it causing UTIs and the like?

<comment><USER20> A friend of mine has one of these toilets, and the first thing I did before sitting down was look at the nozzle. It was covered in tiny bits of feces. I stuck with the toilet paper.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> The US is a notoriously price-sensitive market. For a lot of folks, they wouldn't consider paying $1000+ for a toilet when the most basic American Standard can be found for about $125. A lot of people would find it hard to justify an order of magnitude price increase.

I know Boston has a Toto showroom in its North End, but I really cant consider it due to the rules of my apartment building.

<comment><USER22> How long does a toilet last? Ten years?

Then we are talking less than the cost of your internet connection (and we won't mention the cost of food, which is way more than that).

<comment><USER23> Well I don't think people spend enough time on the toilet to justify an extra cost (save maybe IBS and toilet readers/surfers).

And right now toilets are fully functional for most people, mine aren't uncomfortable to me and are easy to clean and most repairs can be done quite easily yourself. Adding technology to that sounds like trouble and would likely require calling out a plumber to fix things.

<comment><USER24> Ten minutes a day on the toilet is 60 hours each year. Over 80 years, that's 200 days of your life.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> I might in the paranoid minority on this, but here are some concerns I have:

* How does the toilet know that everything is clean? With toilet paper, you can just wipe with new toilet paper until there is no more residue.

* What is the algorithm for the toilet's spraying? Does it end up spreading diluted feces around, or is it careful to spray outward-in?

* What happens if feces end up on the nozzle? Is there some kind of auto-cleaning mechanism? Otherwise it might end up spraying old feces back to me.

<comment><USER26> \- It's like washing your hands vs. wiping them off with a paper towel. You should wipe clean first, then you water clean.

\- The sprayer is manually controlled: when you're done using and flushing, then you wash & dry. It doesn't just stick out the whole time.

<comment><USER27> Regarding the sprayer, the question is not necessarily what happens to it when it's not spraying water... when the nozzle is in the process of spraying you, it's unavoidable that some of the contaminated splatter goes back into the nozzle.

Anyone who uses that toilet will inevitably share the germ cultures from one another's feces. That doesn't strike me as very sanitary.

<comment><USER28> Unless you can poop at a higher pressure than the stream of water exiting the nozzle, the poop isn't going to work back in there.

<comment><USER27> You ever spray a hose away from you and get hit with the splatter? Imagine spraying the hose up to clean the underside of a gutter. Can you imagine getting hit with splatter? Can you imagine the hose getting hit with splatter? Can you imagine the rim of the nozzle getting hit with splatter?

<comment><USER28> Sure, the _outside_ of the nozzle/arm will get by splatter, just like the rest of the toilet bowl. But the nozzle rim and interior will remain splatter free because of the jet of water. Any surface where particles can touch the stream will be washed clean by the stream.

This is no different to the splashback that can occur when poop hits the bowl water (water that's been touching the splattered sides of the bowl).

It's no grosser than a regular toilet, and your butt will be cleaner.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> The odd thing is, in Turkey we universally have a nozzle on the back of the toilet that just is a stream of water that falls in an arc forwards. You control it from a tap on the side, on the wall. You turn on the stream and then angle yourself onto it, or wet your toilet paper a bit when wiping.

Way less toilet paper (just to wipe&dry at the end), cleans way faster, your bum is not itchy, and it costs nothing. The toilet bowls come with this.

I hate American toilets. This can't just be a Turkish quirk, right?

<comment><USER30> Nope. Reading the comments, anywhere BUT the United States you can get some form of water cleaning \- Southern Europeans and South Americans have Bidets \- Northern Europeans have Bidet Showers (well, Germans have the shelf thing) \- Asians have these toilets (saw posts claiming about Korea, India and Japan)

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower>

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> The US population seems rather stubborn regarding toilet habits. This is anecdotal, but I knew a guy who interned about a decade ago with a company that produces a lot of toilet paper here in the US. He told me that they had internally developed forms of "wet" toilet paper that were pretty much superior to the dry kind in every way (think of the difference in trying to clean off your hands with a dry paper towel and a wet wipe of some kind), and IIRC they thought they could produce them in a way that wouldn't cause a substantial price hike, but whenever they did tests consumers almost universally _hated_ the feeling, and regardless of how much better/easier they cleaned, they basically refused to consider them. Which is a shame, since dry paper really isn't the best cleaning tool...

<comment><USER32> One obvious problem: room temperature wet things are kind of cold when you put them down there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> I recently started using a squat toilet. Never has number two gone so well. Apparently it's the position we're best designed for. Provides a great hip flexor stretch too.

I use a lillipad: <http://www.lillipad.co.nz/>

It converts any normal toilet into an optional squat toilet. I don't think it would work with these warm-water jet toilets though.

If you have _any_ issues with your bowel movements (constipation, diarrhea, both), you owe it to yourself to try a squat toilet.

<comment><USER34> Here's another similar product <http://www.naturesplatform.com/>

<comment><USER33> They sent me a 'sorry, we have to much business to sell you anything' message.

I suggested they raise prices to a level that would let them sell more. Never heard anything back.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> While I find bidet toilets incredibly useful, I don't understand why this is such a sudden revelation. The French invented these toilets in the 18th century: they were/are in wide use in Europe, middle east, and I've even encountered a few in Canadian hotels (<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet>). Is there something fundamentally different about Japanese bidets (other than integration into the toilet itself)?

<comment><USER36> I think the main difference is that the Japanese toilet is paperless. From the wikipedia page:

> In 1980 the first "paperless toilet" was launched in Japan, a combination > toilet and bidet which also dries the user after washing.

The bidet often required something separate to dry after cleaning, so the difference seems to be integration with the toilet plus the dryer (heated seat optional).

On another note, on a recent trip to Korea, I noticed that many homes had these toilets (mentioned on wikipedia article). The article seems to imply that they are unique to Japan, when they're actually popular almost everywhere outside of the US.

<comment><USER37> Eh, they're not popular in Europe either.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> Try using a toilet in Germany. Without being too crass, you deposit your excrement onto a dry shelf, whereupon it may be inspected, or not, and then a rush of water slides it off the shelf to its destination.

<comment><USER39> 1\. Uses less water 2\. No splash back

<comment><USER32> 3\. Smells worse.

<comment><USER40> This cannot be understated. They smell really bad. Have a friend who lived in Prague and his bathroom wasn't ventilated and he had a german shelf-toilet. Day after a big drinking session, it was unusable since the room smelt so bad.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> What I really miss from Japan are the toilets with a sink on top of the water container on the back (something like this: <http://f00.inventorspot.com/images/profile-toilet.jpg>). You flush the toilet and the water refilling the container comes out of a faucet for you to wash your hands real quick and the water going down the drain fills the container up for the next flush. It seems so simple and helps save a tiny bit of water every trip to the bathroom. Now if only Japanese bathrooms started providing their own soap so I wouldn't have to bring my own everywhere...

<comment><USER30> Japanese sure are efficient with their use of space :) .

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> I imagine it's to do with price, at least for public toilets.

Here in the UK , we can't have nice things because someone will just take the liberty of smashing it to pieces for you.

For what I have heard about places like Tokyo; you have vending machines for just about all of your needs, fancy toilets and video game arcades have actual chairs to sit on while you play the machines.

None of these things would last 5 minutes in the UK.

</comment><comment><USER43> Flushable wet wipes changed my bathroom life. I now don't even consider doing my business without them. Way cheaper than installing a bidet, and I would argue it's more effective, too.

<comment><USER44> BTW There is no such thing as a flushable wet wipe. They claim you can flush them, but they actually clog pipes frequently, and don't disintegrate like they should.

[http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/video-hub/home-- garden/be...](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/video-hub/home--garden/bed-- bath/flushable-wipes/16935265001/22783507001/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> I mean, seriously. Forget about hyper-tech stuff and get a normal bidet and learn how to wash your ass properly. That's pretty much all you need to improve your life and it will cost way less than 500$.

</comment><comment><USER46> I'm sure it's because Americans have funny attitudes. Programmers, who spend lots of time sitting, should see this as a way of increasing comfort during work time. For the same reason and others (prevalence of pizza at meet ups) programmers should consider modest amounts of fiber supplements like Metamucil. (Not like a conventional laxative at all, and it enables your GI tract to handle just about anything you throw at it gracefully, so long as you get enough water.)

<comment><USER47> Metamucil is definitely my favorite lifehack. Not to be crude, but having no- wipe number 2s is amazing.

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> "These exquisite toilets are everywhere in Japan"

Really? I was there for 5 days last spring and never encountered one of these toilets. I did, however, encounter a hole in the ground, you gotta squat to do a number two public toilet stall.

<comment><USER19> I've been to both Sapporo and Tokyo, and I can assure you there're everywhere. Certainly everywhere I went. I did see squat toilets too though; some places had both.

</comment></comment><comment><USER49> As a cheaper alternative, you can try these two things:

\- A foot-stool to place your feet on so you are in a more natural position which seems to help with the flow of things and could reduce the amount of cleanup required. See "Going to the Bathroom 2.0" - <http://youtu.be/0WQaqeC_wME>

\- And flushable baby wipes.

Simple but very effective.

</comment><comment><USER50> I live in Canada and if that water isn't heated before coming in contact with my hiney I can assure you that it'll be too cold for comfort at least in the winter.

<comment><USER51> I'm just back from holiday in Japan. All the toilets I used had heated (tepid) water. To me that's what made the difference between pleasant and what could have been awful.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> In a humid/muggy environment I didn't know how I lived without Japanese toilets. I secretly wished we'd lost WW2 after I visited Tokyo the first time :)

</comment><comment><USER53> It's too expensive. $1000 vs a typical $100 toilet. Cleaning this thing is an extra hassle. The psychological aversion of having some liquid spraying FROM the toilet adds to the lack of interest.

</comment><comment><USER54> I don't use those because I prefer the 3 shells.

Although I've never used one the Japanese toilets, I would be a huge fan of the heated seat portion. If I had the money, that would be a feature I'd enjoy.

</comment><comment><USER55> You don't need high tech. You just needs some pipes and a water hose; AKA: "shattaf". It's quite common in the middle east.

Unfortunately these are not easy to install in houses built in a North American style, because there are no floor drains in the toilet, so if you install a "shattaf" the floor will eventually soak in water; keeping it clean and dry is very annoying and difficult.

I don't understand why people in the West use toilet papers instead of washing.

When I have to use toilet papers, I will also use flushable wet wipes.

</comment><comment><USER56> Another place in San Francisco that has Japanese toilets? Our company, GREE International. And we're hiring :)

<http://gree-corp.com/jobs>

<comment><USER22> Now to get a visa.

</comment></comment><comment><USER57> About a year ago I installed a bidet in my bathroom. It's the one pictured towards the bottom of this article, and I bought it on amazon. I use it and "cloth toilet paper" for my butt-cleaning. It's great.

The water washes me clean. Often 100% and always most of the way. It took a bit to get the hang of it: to get a good wash I find it helps to clench my butt muscles and wiggle on the seat. After 5-10 seconds, I wipe with the cloth: old t-shirts cut into ~4x8" rectangles. The water does a much better job of cleaning than toilet paper.

When I first had the bidet I used toilet paper after the spray to dry off. It was only slightly less miserable than having a waterlogged ass. I needed twice as much paper to dry myself off as I would have used to wipe.

For a while I hung an old microfiber towel next to the toilet and used that, but "oh, that's just my butt-towel…" is an interesting conversation to have. So I cut up some old shirts. They go into a bucket after use and I wash them regularly. The cloth is what makes it work.

I can only imagine what it would be like to have a blowdryer down there.

</comment><comment><USER58> A funny related article: _Odor-eliminating pants are hot seller in Japan; Undergarments disguise smell of flatulence, body odor_ : [http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/odor- eliminatin...](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/odor-eliminating- pants-hot-seller-japan-article-1.1201110)

</comment><comment><USER59> After being in multiple countries, I can safely conclude that if you think the daily 'paper' routine can clean it properly, it can't. If you think only a water jet can clean it properly, it can't. You have to use both. My schedule is something like : Paper->Water jet->Paper and I feel perfect after this! :)

</comment><comment><USER60> I have a TOTO (cambridge ma), but it has none of the fancy features. It did come with a sticker on the seat for www.cleanishappy.com/ which sells the super toilet seat ad ons. The toliet works well and uses very little water. It doesn't spin flush but instead uses a wave of water when flushing.

<comment><USER61> We got one of these for each bathroom because they are virtually uncloggable. They may not render toilet paper obsolete, but they do very nearly render the plunger obsolete.

</comment></comment><comment><USER62> It sounds like way too hi-tech. I guess people around the world are pretty much happy to get the job done one way or another. I know that there are people who wipe and people who wash. Then some others who do things I probably don't know how to imagine.

If you're not keen on using a piece of paper to smudge your shit into your anus more permanently than necessary, then there are always bidet showers (without the bidet sink, it's just an extra shower with a smaller outlet). Wikipedia says "Its [bidet shower] use is very common in Finland, romance speaking countries, arab countries and other countries of muslim background."

So, the dry and wet options are already covered to most countries' likings and the spraying toilet seat doesn't effectively offer any groundbreaking improvements in the appropriate department.

<comment><USER63> indeed the 'showers' separate handle beside the toilet, or the cheaper seat based options are very popular among Muslims in general as using water for cleaning after bathroom is seen as a religious requirement.

ex from amazon: [http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=muslim+shower&...](http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=muslim+shower&tag=googhydr-20)

</comment></comment><comment><USER64> Don't all new bathrooms have bidet showers?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet_shower>

Huh, guess not. Those have been around in Finland at least since the late 80s, and don't have the "what's the deal with the computerized toilet seat" image problem.

</comment><comment><USER65> I'm sure I want a plastic nozzle, mounted inside a toilet, spraying water up into my ass.

I poop in the morning, wipe off the worst with toilet paper, then hop in the shower. Works great, and my shower head has the advantage of never having been splashed by someone else's pee.

</comment><comment><USER66> I do have one of these. I rent, so I didn't get a super expensive one that would require running electricity etc, but it is wonderful. Soooooo much cleaner than paper.

Think about it, if you were to get shit on your hands you wouldn't just wipe it off with dry paper would you? Why do you wash your butt that way? It is completely illogical and very unsanitary.

I bought one of these: [http://www.amazon.com/LUXE-Bidet-Vi-110-Non-Electric- Mechani...](http://www.amazon.com/LUXE-Bidet-Vi-110-Non-Electric- Mechanical/dp/B005IT4C6G/ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1353003347&sr=1-1&keywords=bidet+toilet+seat)

$42 installed in 10 minutes with a screwdriver and wrench.

I love it! I wish other bathrooms had them.

</comment><comment><USER67> Also, economics. These toilets currently cost ~$500 more than a "normal" toilet.

Of course, you do use significantly more toilet paper with the latter, but a pack is ~$5 and lasts ~ 1 month, so you'd still be looking at, what 8-10 year return on investment.

<comment><USER27> _but a pack is ~$5 and lasts ~ 1 month_

Ah, I remember my bachelor days too.

<comment><USER67> Multibuy is your friend! I sat down and worked out _our_ real toilet roll cost and it is lower than $5/mo

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER68> At first I thought this article would be about squat toilets (which I did also encounter in Greece). While it's true that a squat toilet means that you don't have to sit on something that other people have sat on, it also leaves a lot of room for, how shall I put it... error? I encountered some pretty bad public restrooms in Japan...

When I lived in Japan for a few months, I think I only ever came across one or two bidet toilets. Frankly, I was too afraid to try it. I kept wondering what would happen if the mechanism malfunctioned or missed or something. Typical geek worries, I guess!

</comment><comment><USER69> I suppose with all this discussion of efficiency of cleansing it might be indelicate to point out that some people enjoy having warm water shot up their ass, and women enjoy the "front wash" feature also.

</comment><comment><USER70> The only reason I do not have one is that I don't have a power plug near my toilet. It has been my experience that women, once they try them, especially love bidets with built in dryers.

The marketing could be better. Education comes first. If non-bidet toilets were contrasted as crude, unhygienic and downright barbaric, I think we'd see a lot more demand for them and bidet makers should be offering them free to restaurants and clothing stores to place in women's bathrooms.

But for me, the problem still comes back to power.

</comment><comment><USER26> I've been planning to install one but:

1) I rent

2) have two bathrooms: downstairs everyone uses, upstairs is mostly me.

So:

1) do I take care of everyone or just myself first (i.e. upstairs or downstairs)?

2) costs are probably not as low as they claim. I'll need to have an electrician run power near to the toilet which also means ripping out part of the wall, replacing, and repainting.

3) I feel funny doing this as a tenant and I've wondered how well property company would respond to covering the installation costs. I figure it's like installing a new appliance...

</comment><comment><USER71> I thought this would be about the benefits of the squat toilet.

<comment><USER72> Yep, me too. Given how much time it saves, I'm surprised more life hackers don't get into it.

[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/201...](http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2010/08/dont_just_sit_there.single.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER73> And once we get passsed the bidet stage then we can go on to the urine diverting toilet. Check out the latest toilet design competition run by the Gates foundation...

<comment><USER30> Nice. I have a sketch of an urine recycling toilet - my point was to use recycled urine for the first flush cycle of feces, but I never had time nor money to make a prototype. I hope someone makes one, it should save quite a lot of water.

I respect Bill Gates for working on those projects - it would be easier just to manage traditionally all that money.

</comment></comment><comment><USER74> They have one of these in the Google Venture Startup Lab and I can personally testify that they are every bit as good as this article describes. Thanks GV!

</comment><comment><USER75> You know, sometimes there just needs to be a match to light the fire. Supposedly (but indeterminately) Clark Gable wearing no undershirt drove undershirt sales down 75%[0]

I reckon an episode Modern Family or Community where this type of toilet/bidet is a positive driver of the comedy would bring in a lot of sales for bidets.

[0] <http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/gable1.asp>

</comment><comment><USER76> These toilets are a pleasure to use. But I think the main reason many people don't consider them is that you need a nearby electrical socket or have a big dumb cable on your bathroom floor. The article quotes $500 to have a GFCI socket installed but that in unrealistically low in some parts of the country. > $1000 is a decent investment, especially if you consider your bunghole reasonably clean today.

</comment><comment><USER77> So not trolling here- serious question. My concern with these things is that the spray nozzle would get "dirty" and end up spraying fecal or urine tainted water at my bum. When you raise the seat does the spray nozzle raise with it? How easy is it to clean? I have 2-10 year old kids that would be using this thing so I am more concerned because they have not yet mastered good aim or toilet hygiene...

</comment><comment><USER78> I cant believe how overenthusiastic this article is. From one of the reviews it quotes: "Going to the bathroom has become an enjoyable experience."

Other than they might as well be good, they are certainly a novelty unless you have very specific reasons to get one. Also another thing to fear is cameras and wifi, it's japanese after all!

Somebody is pushin some high-tech loos! I'd rather know how to use the three seashell system...

<comment><USER28> Try one before passing judgement. Seriously, try one. It's a quasi-religious experience.

</comment></comment><comment><USER79> 1\. They're much more expensive

2\. You need to retrain your cleaning staff to know how to handle these. It's like entrusting them with dusting off your server rack.

</comment><comment><USER80> Going to the toilet is very culturally determined. Take a poo in Germany and when you stand up your poo will be waiting for you on a shelf, in case you wish to examine it (historically to identify health issues). Will that ever translate to the US? No, because it's a different culture not interested in examining their own poo. Same goes for Japan/Korea and the bum washing toilet.

</comment><comment><USER81> The best part of these toilets is not the washing function, which in Asia frankly not a lot of people use (I lived in Hong Kong, Beijing and traveled extensively across main cities in Asia) but the _heated seats_. Once in a ski lodge in Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan, after a long day of snowboarding, these heated seats really save the day - Japanese perfectionism at its best.

</comment><comment><USER82> Do these improve upon the ergonomics of the common toilet? I'm thinking of the comparison between sitting and squatting positions.

<comment><USER83> Heated seats.

Finding a plumber I trust seems like a problem some startup has solved. There's never enough time to follow this up, I've been intending to upgrade for over a year.

<comment><USER14> Heated toilet seats are essential in Japan where many houses lack very good indoor heating.

The best for me was heated train seats, but we've ventured away from toilets.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Hotel Kabuki in Japantown has them of course...

<comment><USER84> Oh, the one in Japantown on Geary St. in SF, I need to stay there sometime

</comment></comment><comment><USER85> Touch-free and heated are the main advantages of Japanese toilets. The seat raises as you approach, lowers automatically, and the toilet flushes when you stand up. I returned yesterday from a two-month trip to Japan, and now the toilets here seem primitive, unclean, and cold. Why touch a toilet seat or handle with your hand?

</comment><comment><USER86> Because I don't want to fly that far just to use the bathroom!

... joking aside, I think it's the notion of using water that might freak people out. I'm not opposed to the concept, but I would worry about its effectiveness. I mean, I feel like I'd always want toilet paper there, even if it's just a placebo for making me feel truly clean.

</comment><comment><USER87> Toilet habits form early and then are hard to change I'm thinking one idea for creating a market would be to pick a city and then subsidize the toilets to be installed in child care centers and primary schools. Get kids used to the experience and benefit from the 'yeah I remember we had them at school' affect later.

</comment><comment><USER88> I recall an old Dave Barry article about laws around water usage in toilets... Turns out it is super-regulated.

What I found fascinating was this site claiming that,"it takes 635 gallons of water to make a hamburger, but only one to flush it." <http://www.map- testing.com/>

</comment><comment><USER89> How do you know when you are clean and it's safe to pull up your pants? Does it have a mirror or something?

</comment><comment><USER90> A thousand bucks to buy and install is kinda steep for minor comfort. If the company / apartment complex already does it, then its something cool, but otherwise its coming out of your paycheck and that money can buy other cool things that you might care about more.

</comment><comment><USER91> Washlets do not substitute for toilet paper.

a)The toilet spray isn't sufficient to eradicate your fecal remains, unless it is adjusted to garden-hose spray levels. Painful.

b)Drying your sprayed behind with a heated fan is uncomfortable.

</comment><comment><USER92> What happens when the controls on these toilets wear out? Are they replaceable? The thing about toilets I am used to in the US is that the moving parts are completely replaceable.

</comment><comment><USER93> These toilets are pretty common in Korea as well, but it's not recommended to use bidets in public toilets, because it can easily become contaminated with excrement, germs, etc.

</comment><comment><USER94> If you live in SF check out the bathrooms in the Viz/New People Cinema on Post St -- they have these fancy contraptions. Maybe catch a movie while you're there, too :)

</comment><comment><USER95> How the wonderful Japanese gardens, their sensibility for design, beauty, simplicity, and this awful toilets can convive in the same culture, is a mystery to me.

</comment><comment><USER96> How about this swedish self cleaning toilet: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5ul7prwoiM>

</comment><comment><USER97> I actually do use a bidet, from <http://www.bluebidet.com/> it was easy to install and keeps my ass clean

<comment><USER98> Ha! I have the same one and love it!

</comment></comment><comment><USER99> The article says that bidet attachments are 100 dollars on Amazon. I have good news everyone! Amazon has dropped those prices to 30 dollars! I bought one!

</comment><comment><USER100> Watch the washlet industry sweep across the Bay Area now.

</comment><comment><USER101> "Basically, we're the Apple Computers of toilets" \- Toto spokesperson

Clearly not true. The Apple Computer of toilets would only allow you to download via iPoop.

</comment><comment><USER102> My sister has one of these.

My 4 year old used it. Once. When it sprayed her, she jumped up, ran out of the room, and refused to ever touch that toilet again.

</comment><comment><USER103> I can't imagine these responses over here.. I've been to japan 3 times, and everytime I wish I would have one of these things here.

</comment><comment><USER104> Like Japan, in India people prefer water over paper for cultural reasons, we dont have bidets but use health faucets

</comment><comment><USER105> I wouldn't want a bidet like contraption, it's just massive overkill for something that humans have turned into a big deal. People seemed to manage for hundreds of centuries just fine without computerized toilets. Utterly ridiculous and a good example of the first world having gone crazy.

These are just extortion, taking advantage of a cultural "issue" in a first world country like Japan.

I can't believe hn are even discussing this.

<comment><USER106> I wouldn't want a car like contraption, it's just massive overkill for something that humans have turned into a big deal. People seemed to manage for hundreds of centuries just fine without motorized horses. Utterly ridiculous and a good example of the first world having gone crazy. These are just extortion, taking advantage of a cultural "issue" in a first world country like America.

I can't believe hn are even discussing this.

<comment><USER105> motorized transportation is clearly an advantage, having water squirted up your arse is, _at best_ fetishistic, and at worst just a total waste of time/electricity.

If you can't see the difference then go right ahead and keep discussing this nonsense. Funny how the rest of the animal kingdom seems to have managed. Funny how nobody but the Japanese want these? Ever ask why the same nation that needs soiled panty dispensing vending machines also needs an electric bidet. See it for what it is, a fetish. I'm sure jonathan swift would have loved one.

<comment><USER107> You obviously have no experience with the devices in question, and your generalisations about other cultures are ignorant, at best.

Cleaning yourself with water, whether it be your hands or your butt, is not a "fetish" and I cannot comprehend why you would try to paint it as such. Why are you so scared of the idea that you'll go to the extreme of trying to dismiss it as sexual deviancy? Your argument says a lot more about you than it does about the topic at hand.

And for your information, used pantie vending machines in Japan is basically an urban myth. There may be some in fetishist sex shops, I'm not sure. I'm sure you can buy used panties in American fetish sex shops, too.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER108> They are sold in the U.S <http://www.pilotbidet.com/>

</comment><comment><USER109> I think it's just because the Japanese are really obsessed with cleanliness and others are not.

<comment><USER110> I have a shower next to my toilet. Take that, Japanese people!!

<comment><USER109> Do you also have an antibacterial pencil or notebook? Did you buy your car because it has an antibacterial steering wheel?

[http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-21/news/mn-1397_1_cleani...](http://articles.latimes.com/1996-11-21/news/mn-1397_1_cleaning- hygiene-antibacterial)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER111> The question should also be "why aren't the Chinese all using (at least) western toilets?" :P

</comment><comment><USER112> Its not just Japan. These toilets are what you find in most middle class homes in India too!

</comment><comment><USER113> Because they're all in Japan!

</comment><comment><USER114> I installed two of these in my house. One of the best uses of money ever :)

</comment><comment><USER115> If you sit too much and you've got hemorrhoids.... get one. Now.

<comment><USER116> Better advice might be to move around more and get more fiber in your diet. Better yet, see a doctor!

<comment><USER46> Metamucil is great, and without drawbacks in small doses with enough water. I will testify that it can solve such problems as discussed above for programmers. Plus, the extra fiber gives you guts of steel, which can gracefully deal with almost any rich food.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER117> OK, so what do you do when the lights go out (and the power)?

</comment><comment><USER118> We have nothing else to talk on HN other than toilets?

<comment><USER119> Node.js-based toilets?

<comment><USER118> :P

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER120> Are they calibrated to European shapes and sizes?

</comment><comment><USER121> They actually have these in Google mountain view

</comment><comment><USER122> I know why I don't want one - the water will splash poop particles over my butt and legs, and no amount of added dryers is going to convince me that it is clean.

</comment><comment><USER123> I use three seashells. They're the best!

</comment><comment><USER124> This article needs a demo video.

</comment><comment><USER125> >These toilets, known as "washlets", have many amazing features - the most notable of which is they render toilet paper obsolete.

Uh, no they don't. And if the author is using them that way, that's fucking gross. If they rendered toilet paper obsolete then Japanese bathrooms wouldn't have toilet paper, or Japanese wouldn't use it anyway, but neither statement is true. The 'feature' of Japanese toilets is that your asshole _will_ be clean, regardless of how dire the shit you just took is. And believe me, it's a wonderful thing, but it doesn't render the paper obsolete.

Pardon the pun, but this author is talking out of his ass.

</comment><comment><USER126> Because I have no control over which toilets the apartment complex I'm living in chooses.</comment>


Could Scientists Really Create a Zombie Apocalypse Virus? - <AUTHOR> http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-02/fyi-could-scientists-really-create-zombie-apocalypse-virus

<comment><USER2> Rabies: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabies#Transmission>

I seem to recall a BBC news April 1 story about a 'zombie' outbreak that involved a mutated form of rabies...

Side note: also read the fascinating story of how Jeanna Giese became the first to survive rabies: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_protocol>

</comment><comment><USER3> I was disappointed that they didn't delve into how they would create the desire to heat human flesh / brains. This seems to me to be a vital feature of zombies. I'm sure there are some strange diseases that already cause people to want to bite or chew or something.</comment>


Show HN: Automatic feedback on improving your PowerPoint slides - <AUTHOR> http://sketch-deck.com/rater

<comment><AUTHOR> For people lucky enough without real slides to put into the rater, it looks like this:

[http://imgur.com/SSvMQ2N](http://imgur.com/SSvMQ2N)

<comment><USER2> The images for each rating didn't load for me, possibly my ad-blocker screwing up. Closed it now so can't easily check.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yeah, apologies about that - we've had a mime type issue with our node server that's broken the icons in some browsers

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> This looks cool, but how does it actually work?

<comment><AUTHOR> It takes your slides (PPTX format), and analyses each one a bunch of ways, to spot common pitfalls. For example, it checks the reading age, how busy the slides are, how colourful (or not) your colour palette is. It also checks if you put too much text on each slide.

It's not fool proof, but is surprisingly accurate for various slide-fails :D

<comment><USER4> Here are some formulas for calculating readability for a text: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability#The_popular_readab...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readability#The_popular_readability_formulas)

<comment><AUTHOR> Neat - we roughly implement the Fog algorithm

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I wonder how it would score the NSA slides.

<comment><AUTHOR> It judges the reading age is too old and there is too much text and bullet points :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Any support for Beamer?

<comment><USER7> PDF is a monstruosity. Having the same functionality on it would takes weeks if not months of development. It would be possible to parse a .tex Beamer though.

<comment><USER8> Well, the bullet check is easily feasible. "Too much text" and "difficult words" too.

Check [https://github.com/johnwhitington/camlpdf](https://github.com/johnwhitington/camlpdf), which does a really good job to parse PDF files properly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> This is pure genius

</comment><comment><USER10> Nicely done!</comment>


AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X Processor - <AUTHOR> https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-3990x <comment><USER2> AMD's hardware is pretty amazing, but their drivers and various utilities are fairly lack luster still. I hope with their new found head room, that they invest more in that side of things too. Intel didn't just increase performance during their reign with just hardware, they upstreamed patches and optimizations to _a lot_ of libraries. Some of it was anti competitive garbage directly detecting AMD CPUs, but most of it was just hard optimizations to use new instructions.</comment>


37signals Paper: An Introduction to Using Patterns in Web Design - <AUTHOR> http://37signals.com/papers/introtopatterns/ <comment><USER2> "Christopher Alexander, who came up with this stuff, calls these chunks patterns."

In design school, we called this design & layout.

</comment><comment><USER3> I have followed this technique to the letter several times when I need to get away from the computer and flesh things out more succinctly. It really does work wonders, because it keeps you moving along instead of getting hung up on some minor detail.

</comment><comment><USER4> Is their a link for their paper repository? I tried going one directory back and it gave me a 404

<comment><USER5> No, this is the only standalone article from them I've seen over the years and I assume it was the prototype form of what became the Getting Real series of essays:

<http://gettingreal.37signals.com/toc.php>

This particular approach (design all the UI "bits" first, then glue them together like legos) is a classic and I return back to it about annually. I use it in combination with another great bit of advice, Cameron Moll's "Nodes of design inspiration", which is to break down a UI into its component parts and then go looking around the web for good examples of each component:

<http://www.cameronmoll.com/archives/000016.html>

Using both of these techniques in combination is the single best way I know for busting designer's block when you're making a site or app from scratch, rather than redesigning or iterating an existing one. Those are the main tools I used last year to come up with the branding, site design and Flash UI for this interactive video startup:

<http://asterpix.com>

The video player got a bit cluttered since I left, but enough design elements remain to demonstrate the process in action. The top row of buttons on the video player, for example, were directly inspired by Flickr's strip of controls above their photographs. All the other annotation-centric video sites try to cram similar functionality into the same area as the playback controls or shove it off to the side where people ignore it. The sliding drawer of annotations on the left was inspired by google maps, etc.

The closest Getting Real article to this design patterns essay and most directly relevant to hackers is probably Epicenter Design - design the core functionality and most visually important element of a page first, then add in all the administrative debris around it afterwards:

<http://gettingreal.37signals.com/ch09_Epicenter_Design.php>

That advice holds true just as much for programming an interface as it does for designing it.

So putting all three of these techniques together, you end up with:

1) decide what is the single most important thing on any given page (epicenter design) 2) break it down into its component pieces and group related bits together (pattern design) 3) go looking around the web for good and bad examples (nodes of inspiration)

<comment><USER6> Good piece.

<comment><USER5> Thanks, there's a surprisingly high number of design-related conversations on HN and I'm glad there's a good home for them. It reminds me of what 37signal's blog comments used to be like while they were still a design firm and making a name for themselves - now the discussions after each post are almost Youtube- level bad.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


YouTube on PS4 has been down for 4 days - <AUTHOR> Whilst YouTube on PS4 is running, it has not been possible to sign in for 4 days now.
It's strange - what could possibly take 4 days to fix?
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/youtube-ps4-log-in-error-issue-fix-how-to-cast-a9541811.html
https://www.techradar.com/au/news/ps4-youtube-error-code-np-37602-8
https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/49846715?hl=en "If you're experiencing issues when trying to log into YouTube from your Sony PlayStation 4 device – we're on it! We've seen similar reports and our teams are looking into it. We'll circle back with updates soon! Thanks for your patience in the meantime."
Anyone here from Google got any idea what is going on? <comment><USER2> I work on console game web services and my guess is that it almost definitely has something to do with the CA certs that expired this weekend.</comment>


Ask HN: Best books or resource for writing copy for the web? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> "The Elements of Style" by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White.</comment>


Thoughts on pushing for equality: Shoving Matches - <AUTHOR> http://www.novemberwest.com/blog/2011/11/30/shoving-matches/

<comment><AUTHOR> I happen to be the author. That may not be obvious but it is also not a secret. I submitted a similarly themed piece a couple of days ago as my contribution to the ongoing HN discussion of issues like gender equality. I thought a few folks might find this piece of interest as well.

Thanks.</comment>


An increase of 1 rank on ProductHunt raises 6-month chance of funding by 9.2% [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/producthunt_rc.pdf <comment><USER2> Sounds like they've demonstrated correlation. But causation? I could see both variables acting as proxies for an underlying property of business quality/demand.</comment>