Wave concert app idea what do you guys think of this? - <AUTHOR> What if a concert never sold out? What if fans could connect with their favourite musicians? My co-founders and I are working on (Wave) "the Kickstarter for live shows" This platform allows fans to "vote" for their favourite artist (indie @ first). Musicians set their ticket prices and amount needed to play a show in their fans hometown. This project is currently in development and we'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback! <comment><USER2> You might want to read this before you get too far into it.

[https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-music-startup-meltdown- cd2f7...](https://medium.com/cuepoint/the-music-startup-meltdown- cd2f7a38e939#.3o21ijx0i)

</comment><comment><USER3> check out wedemand.com (queremos). Also Songkick tried that with Detour but it didn't work, so they shut it down

</comment><comment><USER4> What is your plan to attract bands to the platform?

<comment><AUTHOR> Hey speedyapoc, our approach is to target local independent bands first and partnering with small local venues. Essentially we're giving musicians more control over their music over ticket prices, the number of tickets needed to be sold to play a show in another city and to show them where their fans are coming from etc. We are working on demo walkthrough which we'll be posting up later this week. We'd love to get more of your thoughts and feedback!</comment></comment>


Show HN: RadioSilence. Easy to Use OS X Firewall - <AUTHOR> https://radiosilenceapp.com/ <comment><USER2> Very cool. A clean and simple UI, a good price and an awesome added bonus: an app icon that doesn't make me cringe like Little Snitch does (I know I shouldn't care but I do).

I only wish the demo period was longer than 24 hours. But, I guess that's enough considering how simple the app is. Kudos.

<comment><USER3> Why not change the icon(s)? Something like Liteicon[1] or just a shell script.

There are plenty of app icon libraries. I use Flat.icns[2]

[1] [https://freemacsoft.net/liteicon/](https://freemacsoft.net/liteicon/) [2] [http://flaticns.com/](http://flaticns.com/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Cheaper than Little Snitch[0], which has been the firewall of choice for privacy-conscious Mac OS X users for over a decade. I wonder how it compares. It's a shame that neither is open source. Also, I always wondered why there was nothing like this on Linux—I write firewall rules on my servers, but I just want to _use_ my Linux desktop. _sigh_

[0] [https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html](https://www.obdev.at/products/littlesnitch/index.html)

<comment><USER5> at least for ufw [1] on Ubuntu there is a GUI called gufw [2], and it's not as bad.

[1] [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UFW](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UFW) [2] [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gufw](https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gufw)

<comment><USER4> Does it have the ability to pop up on outgoing request? That's Little Snitch's killer feature.</comment></comment></comment>


Vedis: An embeddable Redis - <AUTHOR> http://vedis.symisc.net/

<comment><USER2> How does this compare to rlite ([https://github.com/seppo0010/rlite](https://github.com/seppo0010/rlite))?

<comment><AUTHOR> Oooh, rlite also looks great. Have you used it?

<comment><USER2> Not yet. I would like to benchmark it against both SQLite 3 and key-value stores like MDB ([http://symas.com/mdb/](http://symas.com/mdb/)) some time.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think comparing against SQLite would be meaningful, SQLite is full ACID with synchronous writes.

This post looks interesting:

[http://charlesleifer.com/blog/alternative-redis-like- databas...](http://charlesleifer.com/blog/alternative-redis-like-databases- with-python/)

<comment><USER2> Vedis is called an ACID database on its website and rlite is called "transactional" in the read-me, so I assume that, like SQLite, by default they sync at the end of each transaction. Even if this weren't the case, though, I think the comparison would still be appropriate. Any embedded database, regardless of its stated use case, is in direct competition with SQLite because the latter dominates the market (and for good reason!).

Looking for existing benchmarks of this kind I have found one that compares Vedis, Redis and SQLite: [http://charlesleifer.com/blog/completely-un- scientific-bench...](http://charlesleifer.com/blog/completely-un-scientific- benchmarks-of-some-embedded-databases-with-python/).

<comment><AUTHOR> > Vedis is called an ACID database on its website

The "D" means it should fsync on writes, yep.

> rlite is called "transactional" in the read-me

Transactions in no way imply durability.

> Any embedded database, regardless of its stated use case, is in direct > competition with SQLite because the latter dominates the market (and for > good reason!).

If you mean that you should compare them, then I agree. If you mean that you should benchmark them against each other, then no, you're going to get junk results because they're very different. That benchmarks seems to have fallen in that trap, as it seems to be comparing durable with non-durable datastores with no mention of the persistence setting.

<comment><USER2> >Transactions in no way imply durability.

I don't think that's true. Transactions are commonly defined as durable (e.g., in [https://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/library/aa366402%28VS.85%29...](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en- us/library/aa366402%28VS.85%29.aspx)). The term "transactional database" is used synonymously with "ACID database".

>If you mean that you should compare them, then I agree. If you mean that you should benchmark them against each other, then no, you're going to get junk results because they're very different.

You're right. One _could_ benchmark a non-ACID datastore against SQLite but only if each ran in an in-memory database mode.

>That benchmarks seems to have fallen in that trap, as it seems to be comparing durable with non-durable datastores with no mention of the persistence setting.

I agree with you per the above, however, the results from SQLite and Vedis in particular appear to be meaningful to compare.

Edit: One thing I've just noticed about Vedis is that it is dual-licensed under the Sleepycat license and a paid commercial use license. The Sleepycat license is a strong copyleft license that requires that you ship the code to "any accompanying software that uses the DB software". It's something to have in mind if you want to use Vedis commercially. By contrast, rlite has a 2-clause BSD license.

<comment><AUTHOR> > I don't think that's true.

I think it's largely a matter of interpretation. To me, transactions imply atomicity, isolation and consistency, but not durability (e.g. in-memory datastores can still support transactions). I can see your point, though.

> One could benchmark a non-ACID datastore against SQLite but only if each ran > in an in-memory database mode.

Yep, or you can just turn fsync off. This is an option in most databases, to trade performance off for durability.

> the results from SQLite and Vedis in particular appear to be meaningful to > compare.

Yep, Vedis seems to fsync after every commit, so I think you're right.

> requires that you ship the code to "any accompanying software that uses the > DB software".

Ah, damnit, that's prohibitive. I didn't notice that, thanks, I thought they only required the source for modifying Vedis itself. rlite looks better, I think.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Piladb – A lightweight RESTful database based on stack data structures - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/fern4lvarez/piladb <comment><USER2> I am wondering what is the use case for this and how is this different from Redis set commands (LPOP,RPOP, etc)

<comment><AUTHOR> This is a good question, that needs to be better addressed in the documentation.

piladb can have multiple use cases, but I'm mostly thinking on in-memory caching, keeping multiple versions of the cached resource (elements in the stack), and managing invalidation with the provided dates. It can be used as a key-value store, where the key is the name of the Stack, and the value is the Peek, and yet you can keep previous versions of this one. And it can be also used for pretty much any problem where a classic stack data structure can help, only that it is running as a lightweight http server.

The main difference with Redis lies in the scope and in many operational aspects. About the former, Redis provides all kind of data structures, whereas piladb only aims to provide stack data structures as a service, and do it right. Regarding operational issues, piladb is extremely easy to deploy (just a binary, no config files), and any HTTP client is a piladb client, no need for protocol implementations.

Last but not least, piladb provides a comprehensive Go library to implement embedded stacks inside Go programs.

Said this, this never aimed to be a Redis killer, Redis is an amazing project, and a huge inspiration to develop piladb.</comment></comment>


Introducing YC Series A Batches - <AUTHOR> https://blog.ycombinator.com/introducing-yc-series-a-batches/ <comment><USER2> I think that's exciting because raising an A is really stressful and time consuming, and often as a startup you need to pivot and do short-term non- optimal things to be able to raise it. If that same "non-bullshit" that YC is using for seed-stage is used for the A, I'm sure it'll improve startups in the long-term.

<comment><USER3> "as a startup you need to pivot and do short-term non-optimal things to be able to raise it"

Could you elaborate?

<comment><USER4> I assume GP is talking about dedicating time effort and energy to round up the money vs. spending that time effort and energy building the product.

At $small_startup_where_i_was_employee_3, when we were raising, it was the CEO's full time focus, and cost a fair bit of money to generate the meetings, be in the right cities, etc, etc. He was also responsible for a lot of our marketing efforts (4 person co) so that took a toll, and shuffled onto others shoulders where it wasn't our strength.

<comment><USER2> Yes, but also even the product/company vision sometimes need to slightly change in the short-term to get those critical metric numbers to line-up with VCs' expectation. I.e. getting a few important contracts to prove product- market fit even if it's very costly for a small startup whereas it would have been wiser to wait a bit, focus on the product and scale the team before tackling these contracts.

<comment><USER3> Ah okay.

Yes I saw such things too.

Company wanted to rise $4M and the investors wanted a "Cloud Product" with >10k customers etc.

Which was ridiculous, because we needed the money for the stuff we already did and it was an on-premis solution for like 10 big corporations.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> We think this is going to be an interesting new way for companies to raise their A rounds. Here to answer any questions people have about it.

<comment><USER6> How does YC think about signaling issues (in general and specific to YC)?

<comment><USER5> Important question. We think signaling is a tricky subject, especially with the number of VCs investing in As. There's a lot to unpack there, which I'll write about in the future.

For YC - we're thinking actively how to prevent any signaling. That's why we invest pro-rata in all of our companies in the same way.

<comment><USER7> What are "signaling issues"? Signaling that you're seeking a series A, or that you're seeking a series A from YC?

<comment><USER8> YC typically invests at the seed stage. If YC makes, or doesn't make, a large follow up investment for some companies in series A it sends a signal to other investors about what YC thinks about the company. Since YC has access to information about the company's financials from already being an investor this kind of thing can influence other investors to make, or avoid making, an investment.

<comment><USER9> I don't believe this is an issue. YC's stance is to always participate in their pro rata.

"We exercise YC's pro rata investing rights in all follow-on priced financing rounds, beginning with a company's first priced round. At post-money valuations equal to or below $300M, we exercise our rights in all companies where we have a formal pro rata right."

From: [https://www.ycombinator.com/continuity/](https://www.ycombinator.com/continuity/)

<comment><USER10> Yes, and per further up in this comment chain the purpose of that is to avoid signaling issues:

> For YC - we're thinking actively how to prevent any signaling. That's why we > invest pro-rata in all of our companies in the same way.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Dumb question: do you have to be a YC-backed company to participate?

<comment><USER5> Not dumb at all. It's something we thought about a lot. The program is just for YC companies, though we'll continue to release information and learnings for other people.

<comment><USER12> Why?

If someone has "seeded" from personal funds/friends/family and gotten to a stage of reasonable traction, why disqualify them from direct entry into Series A, or artificially force them into Seed even when they're clearly past that stage?

<comment><USER13> Because the Series A program is free (no equity) and YC, although very founder friendly, isn't a charity.

<comment><USER12> No charity expected, being very founder friendly is sufficient. I must have missed this bit - "Series A program is free".

In any case, what I wanted to say is an independent Series A program (that allows direct entry in addition to Seed Program graduates), parallel (and similar) to the seed program, sounds like a good idea. Maybe that's what this experiment might morph into eventually.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Aaron, thanks for answering these questions.

What is the YC Series A program's advice to founders around giving round allocation to prior investors? Is there an official stance on who should be let in?

I've found with popular YC seed rounds that the founders turn to their YC partners to ask who should get in. Extending this to A's is a bit scary from a concentration of power standpoint.

</comment><comment><USER9> 1\. Will there be any additional investment in the A outside of YC Continuity?

2\. How much do you think YC companies will raise post YC vs YC Series A?

<comment><USER5> From YC? No.

Not sure what you mean by the second question. Are you asking about the size of seed rounds vs. A rounds?

<comment><USER9> Sorry for the confusion. Yes, I was asking how much you think companies who graduate form YC should raise (say seed) compared to companies who are graduating from YC Series A.

<comment><USER5> That's heavily dependent on the company. There's a wide range that varies because of stage, market, required milestones, team, etc.

Overall, though, the companies coming out of the A program will raise significantly more than they did at seed.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> How does it compare to atrium.co? Are both of these for the same type of companies?</comment>


Ask HN: Has anyone had success with Amazon Affliates? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> I've been running affiliate links on the book reviews on my blog. Stats here: [https://gist.github.com/swanson/4711006](https://gist.github.com/swanson/4711006)

It makes about $20/yr.

</comment><comment><USER3> At least as good as Adsense for me, but payments outside of US are horrifically slow. It can take even up to 4 months to receive the checks. It's like Amazon has never updated their affiliate program since they started it a decade ago.</comment>


What Really Killed Homejoy? It Couldn't Hold on to Its Customers - <AUTHOR> http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/07/23/what-really-killed-homejoy-it-couldnt-hold-onto-its-customers/ <comment><USER2> A much more detailed analysis of Homejoy's demise was posted a month ago:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9986132](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9986132)</comment>


Top Blogs about Startups and Entrepreneurship - <AUTHOR> http://www.pathikshah.com/blog/best-startup-blogs/

<comment><USER2> Several of these blogs are written by venture capitalists and most of the rest focus on the high-risk-high-reward type of businesses that accompany VC. I recognize that HN tends to be focused on this type of company, but I would love to see an aggregation of blogs that talked about more mundane, lower risk businesses (which constitute the majority of entrepreneurship). In fact, I would love a discussion forum regarding that topic as well.

<comment><USER3> Here's a good list: <http://empoweryou.com/zen_area_res_3.shtml>

also check out all the other resources there.. especially the list on networking.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> <http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/> with Jason Calacanis.

I feel so evil for enjoying it.

<comment><USER5> I hate to love J Cal, the guy is just entertaining. The guests are mostly high profile. I also like TWIVC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I think Gabriel Weinberg has the best practical blog for startups www.gabrielweinberg.com/.

</comment><comment><USER7> Ben's Blog (Ben Horowitz) has recently been better than Mark Andreesen's blog which is sparsely updated. The last few pmarca posts actually just link to Ben's Blog.

</comment><comment><USER8> I feel like I am just seeing a re-hash of some of the most commonly linked domains here.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I've compiled a list of the best blogs about startups and entrepreneurship that I've come across.

Please comment and point me to any blogs I may have missed.

<comment><USER9> <http://www.hackerblogs.com/> (via <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1491875>, 3 days ago)

[http://buyersvote.com/categories/the-best-books-for- entrepre...](http://buyersvote.com/categories/the-best-books-for- entrepreneurs) (via <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1490365>, 4 days ago)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Hey Pathik, nice work there. If you don't mind, I've just added those blogs here: <http://www.gmbhnews.com/categories/Entrepreneurship.html> , you can keep in touch with their latest news on the go (andriod, iOS, Tablet, mobile phone, BB...etc) or on your desktop with a webkit browser for a better rendering, I will start a new thread to invite startups owner to add their blogs, if you have any additional suggestion for the Entrepreneurship category, please to submit it here: <http://www.gmbhnews.com/addsite> or just point me to any blogs I may have missed.

<comment><USER10> could someone explan why the downvotes?</comment></comment>


The need for an Alternative to Facebook - andrew-altly http://blog.altly.com/?p=18

<comment><AUTHOR> The summary is the key to this post. It's an excellent tl;dr.</comment>


US gov't to air-drop toxic mice on Guam snakes - <AUTHOR> http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-govt-air-drop-toxic-mice-guam-snakes <comment><USER2> A quote: "Vice said the goal is not to eradicate the snakes, but to control and contain them."

So I take it these people don't understand evolution? Because of the lack of indigenous brown tree snake predators, even a single surviving breeding pair will eventually recreate the present problem, and the evidence is that the present plague of snakes probably started with ... a single breeding pair stowed away on a ship.</comment>


Gene May Determine How Much Sleep You Need - <AUTHOR> http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111845909

<comment><USER2> Crap, I need 10-11 hours if I'm going to be productive.</comment>


Living a Lie: We Deceive Ourselves to Better Deceive Others - <AUTHOR> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/living-a-lie-we-deceive-ourselves-to-better-deceive-others/ <comment><USER2> Bernard L. Madoff

From Wikipeda

"In his plea allocution, Madoff stated he began his Ponzi scheme in 1991. He admitted he had never made any legitimate investments with his clients' money during this time. Instead, he said, he simply deposited the money into his personal business account at Chase Manhattan Bank. When his customers asked for withdrawals, he paid them out of the Chase account — a classic "robbing Peter to pay Paul" scenario. Chase and its successor, JPMorgan Chase, may have earned as much as $483 million from his bank account.[107][108] He was committed to satisfying his clients' expectations of high returns, despite an economic recession. He admitted to false trading activities masked by foreign transfers and false SEC filings. He stated that he always intended to resume legitimate trading activity, but it proved "difficult, and ultimately impossible" to reconcile his client accounts. In the end, Madoff said, he realized that his scam would eventually be exposed.[75][109]

let me emphasize from above:

"He stated that he always intended to resume legitimate trading activity, but it proved "difficult, and ultimately impossible" to reconcile his client accounts"

<comment><USER3> This is excellent. Describes moral bankruptcy as well. Maybe perhaps not entirely malicious, but ultimately wrong and unmaintainable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> From the wisdom of George in Seinfeld, when Jerry is seeking advice before sitting a lie detector test: "Jerry, just remember, it's not a lie if you believe it."

<comment><USER5> Also, the saying, "Fake it 'til you make it".

The study looked at perceived athleticism. I wonder if the same could be said about entrepreneurship?

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I always knew that lying to oneself is a good planned strategy for lying.

But never thought that our natural tendency to deceive ourselves might have the ultimate purpose of helping us deceive others.

This is why I love hacker news. I get a different perspective every day that (whether it's right or wrong) forces me to re-consider my mental models of the world.

<comment><USER7> > This is why I love hacker news. I get a different perspective every day that > (whether it's right or wrong) forces me to re-consider my mental models of > the world.

I almost believed you there. Don't lie to yourself, we like Hacker News for its entertainment value. :P

<comment><USER8> I'm just here for the pictures.

<comment><USER9> There are pictures? I think I've been using this wrong

<comment><USER8> Maybe you should check your settings. ;)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> There was an NPR story about how our current president listened to a lot "Power of Positive Thinking" lectures/sermons early in his life. He really embraced those ideas.

Seems he's almost always trying to convince the world that a certain narrative about himself, the voters, and reality in general is true.

But this research adds an interesting wrinkle to that story. By making so many questionable statements publicly, maybe he's really just trying to convince _himself._

And that's why, when outsiders try to tell him that his "facts" are not facts at all, it doesn't matter to him. He just repeats his original statement even louder. His public statements _aren 't for the rest of us._ We're just the audience that adds some emotional intensity for him and the process in his own brain.

<comment><USER11> I also find anecdotally that people like that only surround themselves with people who repeat (or at least don't challenge) the lie. If you throw in some reality that is at odds with their belief then you don't get a seat at the table any more.

<comment><USER12> Have you ever read discussions on HN about climate change?

<comment><USER13> That's a tacky and pointless comment.

<comment><USER12> I just tried to use a non-anecdotally counterexample.

<comment><USER11> I have absolutely no clue what you mean by it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> This seems like a junk experiment. They asked people to perform a task that would be easier if you had some information. Then they started showing them videos. The subjects stopped watching when they had enough inspiration for their story. That's it.

It's as if the authors of the study think the subjects have ESP and know that evidence contrary to their goal is coming up, and therefore decide to stop watching.

</comment><comment><USER15> Welcome to intelligence 101, if you don't believe it, you won't be able to convincingly lie to others as well. There is a reason intel bubbas have amazing cross training with acting, particularly Method.

</comment><comment><USER16> I lie to myself that I don't lie to myself

</comment><comment><USER17> "whether you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right." ― Henry Ford

</comment><comment><USER18> The one I can totally understand is

Contending that his statement that "there's nothing going on between us" had been truthful because he had no ongoing relationship with Lewinsky at the time he was questioned, Clinton said, "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

Words matter in a useless way for my math mind.

Especially the words "maybe" or "might have" \- both are correct in almost any instance, question or situation.

So clinton's "is" is his way to lie but not lie. Maybe.

</comment><comment><USER19> Telling the truth can be costly. Overwhelmingly we massage the facts to get the point across without causing too much damage. Textbook simplify a complicated facts for students, that is not lying. Commercials aren't lying because they aren't saying anything with a basis in fact.

While the majority of statements are neither true nor false, maybe we can quantify if a statement is closer to one or the other.

</comment><comment><USER20> Well, this sure explains why I suck so hard at lying.

</comment><comment><USER21> Slightly off-topic, but it is worth noting how unusual Robert Trivers acted in this case. Can anyone think of another interesting hypothesis that was put forward in the Foreword of someone else's book? In his own introduction, Dawkins remarks on how unusual this is, and his tone can be read as amusement, but also perhaps a little bit of annoyance.

</comment><comment><USER22> This is method acting. We all do it. It's the major self-help strategy. And it's very useful in developing personas for compartmentalization.

</comment><comment><USER23> Sure. How else one could get married?

<comment><USER24> As someone who is married, I truly do not understand your comment. The exact opposite seems true to me. Honesty and integrity are paramount (at least to me). Find somebody you respect. Find somebody who is compatible with you. Hope you find someone who thinks and feels the same as you do. If I struggled on my journey, it was to find a woman who did not want to dominate me or be dominated who was worthy of my respect. I consider myself very lucky. Been married for a long time to an amazing women who is an engineer in heart and soul. So, nothing about self doubt, deceit for me.

<comment><USER25> Congrats you hit the jackpot. Many people are not so lucky, well at least half or more* (depending on the percentage of marriages are actually happy).

<comment><USER26> If you are college educated divorce rates plummets. Same for marrying later in life. +the 50% stat is quite weighted by people with multiple divorces. The average HN reader probably has an 80% shot at lifelong marriage.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Secret Cult of Office Smokers - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_20/b4178073158612.htm <comment><USER3> One of my friends said smoking was his secret weapon to networking.

Because smoking is a habit cuts across hierarchies, you can meet a broader spectrum of people than just randomly talk to people at a networking event.

Also smoking time is discreet, so your convo have a natural end without awkwardness.

<comment><USER4> It is not only that. Smoking cuts across cultural lines - you can smoke with someone who have great difficulty to speak English (which would otherwise be a stupid situation). You can also have a conversation with very poor (manual labourers) without it being akward.

What is also nice is that you can meet people - by just asking for a light. Most smokers are extremely friendly to other smokers and if two people stands outside a building smoking, it is natural for them to talk. It is the new Freemasons.

I've sometimes wonder why tobacco companies doesn't embrace this with a slogan such as: "Smoking turns strangers into friends".

<comment><USER5> Asking for a light also provides a natural excuse to start a conversation with someone who there's no real reason to approach otherwise.

(I don't smoke myself, but I've ended up in more than one conversation I wouldn't have otherwise had, because I was with a friend who smoked, who approached a stranger in that manner.)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> The article makes it look like office smoking is a wild party. It's not. If you're a social person, you'll be a social smoker. But if you're not very social, you'll be smoking alone.

I've smoked all over the world, freezing in Montreal's -30 C blowing winds and baking in Dubai's 45 C humid summers. Most of that time, I was smoking alone.

What I miss is the hourly break from what I'm doing. That thinking time is where I seemed to solve the toughest problems.

<comment><USER7> If the hourly break makes you more productive, I say take one anyway. Being a smoker shouldn't entitle you to extra privileges, nor should quitting deprive you of any.

<comment><USER8> What appears normal and acceptable while you are a smoker feels pretty abnormal and unacceptable once you are free from the habit.

<comment><USER9> For non-smokers, it is the "go get a cup of coffee" break.

<comment><USER10> Ya, but a cup of coffee an hour would have me bouncing off walls by noon.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I've recently quit smoking and I am feeling a little out in the cold (figuratively speaking) because my network that I've developed over the last 4 years has suddenly been reduced to a simple wave when I pass them rather than meaningful conversations.

The smoking shelter is much like the golf course in my opinion, smokers share an out of work interest and that creates a bond. I know that the interest is a horrifically addictive drug, but it's the (decreasingly) acceptable face of drug taking.

For the bosses that think a smoke break is bad for productivity... You're wrong, things get done on smoke breaks, being away from your desk in a different context gives your unconscious time to work.

Instead of grumbling about smokers taking time out, I'd recommend that non- smokers take up the habit. By which of course I mean the habit of social breaks.

<comment><USER5> In some settings, I've actually gotten some of the benefits of the smoke- breaks without smoking by simply accompanying smokers who I knew. I suppose it might be awkward if it were 8 smokers plus me as the only non-smoker, but I've mostly worked in offices with very few smokers, who might otherwise be standing outside smoking by themselves, so I ask if I can join them, if it's someone I at least sort of know already.

It does add slightly more social awkwardness, since I sort of have to explain why I would want to join them on a smoke break if I don't smoke, but I actually do genuinely enjoy getting out of my chair and going outside for a few minutes, and maybe swinging by the coffee cart on the way back, and it seems to have worked out well with at least a few coworkers I've had.

<comment><USER12> Several offices I've worked in now I've intentionally invited non-smokers out to join me - "fancy getting some fresh air while I pollute mine?" is often a good way to phrase it - and with a little care one can arrange for the non- smokers to stand upwind of the smokers to ensure they're not breathing stale smoke.

The reason for this was multifold - it got them a break, it got us a few minutes to chat, and while there was often some socialisation, in a group of programmers there was also almost always useful discussion of the stuff we were working on and brainstorming.

Here at Shadowcat, my development team is geographically distributed but our business guy (co-founder, non-smoker) and sysadmin (fellow smoker) are on site, and all three of us often go out for breaks together and use that time to update each other on where we're up to with stuff (or what we're stuck on) - the end result is as much as anything else an ad-hoc miniature stand-up meeting except with strictly optional carcinogens available at the same time :)

<comment><USER5> Ah yeah, I've seen that too. I feel smokers, and some non-smokers, are often worried/nervous about that "upwind" aspect, though. If everyone's a smoker or nonsmoker you don't get that, but if it's mixed, people can feel self- conscious about it one way or another. I think it partly works out okay for me because I don't care much about it, because due to a particular history I actually sort of like second-hand smoke, at least in modest amounts, and have a decent story to convince people of why. (More or less: Although I was born/raised in the U.S., half my family's Greek, and I spent a lot of my childhood summers there... and almost nobody I knew in the U.S. while young smoked, while almost everyone I knew in Greece smoked, so I've developed positive associations with cigarette smoke, where it seems totally natural for an outdoor, lounging-and-discussing setting, and reminds me of long dinners by the waterfront and other such pleasant things.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Smoking is a morbid fascination and an affirmation of our mortality. But it's hard to grasp that significance until you've witnessed an eighteen month battle with lung cancer. It's a slow and painful death.

To be clear, if you smoke there is a very strong possibility you will die tethered to an oxygen machine, wearing a diaper, and unable to swallow.

<comment><USER14> Not that I'm suggesting that you smoke - because I most certainly am not - <USER2> I'm wondering what sort of illusions one might hold about how painless their death might be if they did not smoke?

If you look at the top 20 types of deaths in the United States, nearly all of them are painful. The only certainty is that by smoking you are almost insured of it - supposing a stroke or aneurysm doesn't take you out.

I'm honestly not trolling, I've always felt it curious when people tell me that smoking results in a painful death, leaving me wondering how they think they are going to be going out of this world. Natural causes? Not likely.

<comment><USER15> Well, it's a mixed bag.

Top causes of death in the US, 2009:

Heart disease: 631,636. From what I have read, heart attacks are painful but usually over with quickly. Living with a pacemaker or heart surgery can suck but I'd definitely take that over lung cancer.

Cancer: 559,888. Notably, includes other smoking-related cancers (esophageal, pancreatic, etc) besides just lung.

Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 137,119. Again, over with quickly if it kills you. It's when it doesn't kill you and leaves you half-paralyzed that it sucks.

Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 124,583. "80% to. 90% of all patients with chronic lower respiratory disease have a history of smoking."

Accidents (unintentional injuries): 121,599. No idea how this generalizes. Probably "not as bad as cancer," overall.

Diabetes: 72,449. Unusually non-painful, for something that kills you, although some of the side effects are a bitch (e.g., going blind). Insulin shots or IVs to try to control blood sugar levels are also fairly non-painful as medical intervention goes.

Alzheimer's disease: 72,432. I'd take lung cancer, if I had to pick.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> > _"I stood outside a building that houses a large online marketing company in > Los Angeles employing about 150 people—I have already said too much..."_

I know the author was half-joking, but: "Software Engineer" + "Sooraj Akkammadam" + "Los Angeles" + LinkedIn = LowerMyBills.com

</comment><comment><USER17> An office can get nearly the same effect by installing an automatic espresso machine someplace not too close to close to the desks. Unlike the default American coffee, it's not quite enough liquid to be worth taking back to your desk; you don't waste time preparing it manually; you still need to wait a minute for the sugar to dissolve and the drink to cool off a bit, and then sip on it for another minute or so; and the caffeine content is moderate enough to justify several trips a day.

It also pairs well with cigs, so a smoker and a non-smoker can take a break together without it being awkward.

<comment><USER18> This. We have a regular espresso machine at work and it's the place talk casually because it takes at least 3-4 minutes to make a latte or a cappuccino. And who will complain about the free coffee? It's a very good way to boost morale at a very low price. Even at 20$/lb :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Smoking leads to enhanced conversation and sociability because all the parties involved are satisfying their cravings and enjoying the rush of brain chemicals. Dopamine causes other types of social bonding too, like office workers who go to the gym together, or have a drink after work.

The sad part about smoking however is the control dopamine begins to take over the smoker, so that smoking becomes the high point of their day.

[http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web1/Ferrell.h...](http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro01/web1/Ferrell.html)

I can't count how many opportunities were missed while I was smoking at the price of the few opportunities it afforded.

</comment><comment><USER20> Smoking while coding sucks, there is no good way to do it without drying out your eyeballs. I'm so glad I stopped smoking regularly.

But I still smoke for social reasons. Gives me something to do with my hands, allows me to punctuate points with drags of the cigarette, gives me an excuse to carry an awesome lighter, and introduces me to people.

</comment><comment><USER21> I can attest to some of this. I've worked with two specific individuals whose careers I believe were directly helped by being smokers. Not to say that they didn't deserve it, but it definitely helped.

<comment><USER22> I know some people who started smoking because of that. They only smoke at work. I contemplated starting too, but I know I won't do it because I really hate that smell.

<comment><USER23> I was a work only smoker for a year when my boss smoked and no one else in the dept did. It helped a lot. It was never a kiss-ass thing and there wasn't any direct benefit, no raises over non-smokers or anything.

But when we were working long hours and she went for a smoke I went with her and we shot the shit. It just made us closer and it was more fun to work together overall. (I had quit a pack a day habit years before and when I left that job I stopped the work smoking.)

<comment><USER24> You might be the person to tell me.

I always felt people can't stop because they associate smoking with bad feelings. You give a smoker bad news and he lits one, every time.

Now you associated it with something good: engaging with the boss. And so you could easily stop.

Would you agree with that?

<comment><USER23> No. Smoking's hard to stop because it's a crutch OR a boost (besides the physically addictive properties of nicotine). You make a great sale: I'll go have a smoke. You get your ass chewed because you screwed: I'll go have a smoke. So no matter what you're smoking.

The hardest part about quitting for me, was the fact that I'd gotten used to a 5 minute break from MY LIFE every hour or so no matter what I was doing. It was terrifying the first day I stopped habitually smoking all the time, because I had nothing to look forward to. It was like I just had to get through the next tiny chunk of whatever I was doing, but without that smoke break coming up, I had the rest of my life to get through. This was all on a fairly subconscious level and I can articulate it looking back, but at the time I was just _really_ pissy.

I'm sure it's different for everyone. (The psychological part, anyway. I think the physical addiction is just chemistry and takes time to get over.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> I loved this quote: "One guy acts like it's poison gas when we come back,"

Gee, ya think?

</comment><comment><USER26> This reminds me a Stephen King story: The Ten O'Clock People.

</comment><comment><USER24> The coolest guy in the world, Obama, smokes... (BTW, can he smoke on the White House? Is it considered his house or a public property?)

<comment><USER27> The coolest guy in the world is Jack Nicholson. Obama doesn't even crack the top billion. The question about whether he can smoke inside the White House, though, being a government building, is an interesting one.</comment></comment>


Ketchup Bottles & The Physicality Of Design - <AUTHOR> http://flyosity.com/design/ketchup-bottles-the-physicality-of-design.php

<comment><USER2> I was first surprised (and, admittedly, a bit disappointed) that the post wasn't more about the bottle itself. Then, I was even more surprised when the post never mentioned the term for the effect it discusses (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skeuomorph>).

<comment><USER3> It's mentioned in one of the articles he linked to.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> What I find weird is that there's an extra line on the 57 to add a 3D effect to text that's _really 3D_.

<comment><USER5> It's not that surprising. Clearly the "3D" on the bottle is "monochromatic" (not the best term) in the sense that everything is either flat (no change to the original surface), or embossed to a fixed depth. The extra line makes the big "57" look even deeper.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> When I read the title I was expecting an article about the impracticality of the Ketchup bottle design itself. For something that is so widely used, I've never been able to understand the impractical design of ketchup bottle. For such a viscous fluid, bottle design in highly inefficient and bothersome, so much so that the wikipedia page of ketchup itself, addresses the issue [1]. Admittedly, with the prolific use of squeeze bottles and sachets, the issue has been sidelined, I guess its just one of those things that have no rhyme or reason.

[1]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup#Viscosity>

<comment><USER7> At the risk of sounding arrogant, I found the post very naive, specially considering the ignorance of skeuomorphism which is the basic theory behind this "phenomenon", and has been pretty much under the spotlight recently.

The wikipedia article is worth a submission by itself, thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I've never been a big fan of design like that. I like it subtly and in moderation--not like that Apple buttons. I've always found that certain elements of Apple's UIs stand out too much (scroll bars and buttons mainly).

I personally like minimalist design (like HN, actually). From what I've seen, WP7 has the most minimalist interface of the main mobile systems, and I am drawn to it (if only it wasn't so closed and supported by a moderately annoying company...).

<comment><USER5> Are you referring to OS X scrollbars prior to Lion? The bars in iOS and Lion are about as subtle as they can possibly be.

I'm fine with so-called minimalist design, like the _visual look_ of HN. That said, there are some _features_ that are woefully missing on HN. The bizarre too-wide text width makes it unusable on a mobile phone without reflow (which is a feature that makes browsing unusable on most other websites), and barely usable on even larger tablets like the iPad. Comment threads can't be collapsed. The whole user experience of voting and replying is bizarre and unpredictable (some threads can be voted and replied on, some can't, and voting icons just disappear after you click one).

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Design trends come and go in waves.

In the past few years skeuomorphism was the hotness partly due to the arrival of CSS gradients and drop-shadows, and of course because of apple.

Now that the last gradients and drop-shadows have been explored (again) we're entering a new era of minimalism (cf. google, android, WinMobile).

Lather, rinse...

</comment><comment><USER10> Yup, perceived affordances. <http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/affordances_and_design.html></comment>


Are you tired of being google's guinea pig? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><AUTHOR> First it was the links for different search types bouncing all other the page. Then there was the automatic customized searches. What if I wanted to see what the general public sees? Now I'm getting news links 4 or 5 results down the search page.

I don't care how if their algorithms are better the anyone else's. Functionally, it's broken for me.

What's your favorite non google powered search engine?

<comment><USER2> Right now its yahoo for me. Switched 2 days ago (from google) after getting fed up with the way google handles privacy and how it seems also its new products just want more and more information about me. Pretty soon google would want to map my DNA as well.

<comment><USER3> You switched from Google to Yahoo for privacy reasons? Yahoo! has already demonstrated their total lack of ethics regarding privacy by helping the Chinese jail thought criminals. Whereas, Google has designed all its systems and its business models to ensure that it does not need to cooperate with horrible regimes.

Also, Yahoo! happily shared its users' information with the U.S. government upon request (when not even legally obligated to do so), whereas Google went to court to fight for its users' privacy.

<comment><USER2> I'm a lot less worried about having my information given away to the government than I am of a company trying to create a database of all the data in the world. Which is what google seems to want to do.

Yes, yahoo has given away information before (in China). But I'd still rather switch to a company that does not want to collect every single piece of data about me (be it my email, rss feeds, search history, or even the files on my computer - google desktop search).

<comment><USER4> You're fine with information being given to thieves and murderers but not to a company that wants to improve your experience so you'll voluntarily give it more money?</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Quit asking about my pain points - <AUTHOR> https://studiofellow.com/articles/pain-points/ <comment><USER2> _" You sound like a robot....try asking these questions instead"_

Thing is, any alternative questions will then start to sound robotic too: I already receive plenty of cold-call emails that try to mimic a more authentic voice.

<comment><USER3> Agreed, and I think those fall flat because they are trying to hide the fact that they're automated. There's nothing wrong with automation—just don't try to lie about it! Personally, I favor direct conversations over automated research. Even at smaller scale, it's just way more useful.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Like many here building our own businesses, I had to learn the hard way how to do customer research—on my own. I wrote this as a short summary of what I've learned. Thanks for submitting it!</comment>


How Will Clubhouse Make Money - <AUTHOR> https://www.arilewis.com/aris-posts/clubhouse <comment><USER2> While the transient audio conversation format is novel - Clubhouse lacks the key ingredient that makes social networks so powerful at scaling - the ability to generate sticky social capital and signal that capital effectively. They could perhaps succeed if there was some way to port the kudos a user receives from contributing to a rousing conversation into some marker attached to a profile signaling that this persons contribution warrants recognition.

<comment><AUTHOR> Agreed. That's why I suggested the pivot. It explains how its novel solution can become a permanent revenue generator.</comment></comment>


AirAsia and its effusive founder give lesson in managing crisis - <AUTHOR> http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-bc-as--indonesia-plane-compassion-20150102-story.html <comment><AUTHOR> This is interesting because of the contrast with how the MH370 crisis, and the Sony crisis has been handled.</comment>


Why NULL is Bad? - <AUTHOR> http://www.yegor256.com/2014/05/13/why-null-is-bad.html

<comment><USER2> Meh. Using a dummy object doesn't solve the problem of testing if you got the dummy or not. And throwing a specific exception is still an exception, but now more code to maintain, and only for exceptional circumstances (or is it really exceptional?).

Yeah, Null Ref Exception isn't as pretty as a more domain specific one, but the essential thing happens regardless: the program throws as soon as you try to access a member. And if you just pass your results on to another function, that function could be testing its inputs, and throwing your exception there as an explicit ArgumentNull instead of Null Ref.

I prefer less to more code, especially for an error I wont even expect to ever see. If it something I do expect, then sure, make a fancy exception and throw that.

</comment><comment><USER3> I don't like using null generally, because it results in having to use a bunch of unwieldy if statements. It's much nicer to have the notion of an "empty" object, which supports the same interface as a normal object. Python's lists are a good example of this, as opposed to passing around a bunch of lists or nulls, pass around empty or occupied lists. Both of course support the same interface. This negates the need for a bunch of if statements, which are cumbersome and easy to forget.</comment>


Ask HN: Anybody use optimization/ OR techniques professionally? - <AUTHOR> I am currently enjoying the coursera module on discrete optimization with Minizinc [1]. Optimization modeling always seems to me that it has great potential, but I find it hard to find case studies of real applications, nor do I know anybody that uses it professionally. The case studies I have found are all military based, and I find that a little far from anything I would use it for.
Could all you operations researcher types share your experience?  I would also love to hear from anyone who uses optimization modeling or OR in their professional capacity, and about projects.
Please note when I say "real applications," I don't mean a large scale simulation of a standard problem by an academic using made-up data and models.  I know that you can use Minizinc to solve the traveling salesman problem, but I want to hear about an actual sales organization -- one that sells stuff (Amazon devs/ analysts, please chime in!).
For "real application" examples: in social services, I could see optimizing case work schedules, application of expensive interventions for best pay off, etc ; then I would want to hear about the actual roll out of this system in county X.  In circuits, I could see using optimizing design problems, e.g. getting close to a required time constant using a dozen resistor and capacitor options; then how it was used to improve a robot that is actually produced.  In dev ops, I could imagine a model for best machine allocation.  Etc.
My two real application of optimizatioin:  I used quadratic programming to fit population translation matrices to demographic data [2], and we once used AMPL with NEOS to find estimates of population by household type that would fit a time series with a few years of  missing data.
[1] https://www.coursera.org/learn/basic-modeling/
[2]  https://escholarship.org/uc/item/47t278gq <comment><USER2> I met somebody who works for Target stores applying OR methods to optimize their supply chain.</comment>


Get Testing with Taplytics in the Student Developer Pack - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/blog/2264-get-testing-with-taplytics-in-the-student-developer-pack <comment><USER2> So I'm already a huge fan of Taplytics, but this is the first time I've heard of the Github Student Developer Pack ([https://education.github.com/pack](https://education.github.com/pack)), which looks like an amazing idea. Kudos to all the companies participating.</comment>


Zero-day hotel keycard hack goes unfixed, now being used by Texas thieves - <AUTHOR> http://www.extremetech.com/electronics/141557-zero-day-hotel-keycard-hack-goes-unfixed-now-being-used-by-texas-thieves

<comment><USER2> I fail to see how Onity should be expected to replace circuit boards in 4 million locks that take a deliberate effort to bypass. Mechanical locks can be picked with similar or less effort. Hotel customers should never leave valuables in the rooms, and when in the room should use the additional mechanical locks inside the door. The articles' author is unrealistic.</comment>


Apple's Tim Cook: 'I don't want my nephew on a social network' - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/19/tim-cook-i-dont-want-my-nephew-on-a-social-network <comment><USER2> "But I definitely won't block Instagram and FB and Youtube from my platform, like I've done to other apps."</comment>


Show HN: Podfall – Reddit for Podcasts: Listen to the Hottest Podcast Episodes - <AUTHOR> http://podfall.com <comment><USER2> Wouldn't that be [https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/](https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasts/) ;)

<comment><AUTHOR> yeah it could be :) . But the content there is discussions not podcasts.</comment></comment>


iOS 7 Safari & New Web Platform Features - <AUTHOR> http://blogs.adobe.com/webplatform/2013/09/18/ios-7-safari-new-web-platform-features/

<comment><USER2> Still waiting for Safari to report scroll events correctly. Still waiting...

<comment><USER3> If you're talking about scroll events only firing when you release your finger from the screen I can't see this being changed any time soon.

Apple want to keep scrolling responsive at all costs and definitely wouldn't let those pesky JS developers make Mobile Safari appear slow and laggy.

<comment><USER2> That's what I'm talking about, yes. And I really don't get the logic of it- it'll fire scroll events while the user's finger is down, but then immediately stop as soon as they raise their finger - so I can't see how responsiveness would lead you do that.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Glad to see Adobe's input into CSS - can't wait for CSS shaders to make their mainstream debut.

</comment><comment><USER5> Why would you write a whole post about a bunch of new features, and then include demos that only work in one browser on a new mobile OS release? Why not include screenshots?

Still, neat to see that Apple is shipping some of Adobe's new prototype css/canvas features. They seem pretty useful.

<comment><USER6> A few of them work across many browsers actually. For example, if you enable the right tags you would get Regions in Chrome. Clip paths, canvas paths should work by default, while canvas blend modes should work on Canary and most of these should also work on WebKit Nightlies. Canvas Blend Modes should work in Firefox too.

I could have posted a screenshot but I thought it was nice to have people play with the demo within the browseer, probably will stick to screenshots next time.

<comment><USER5> Well, the point is how do you even tell whether some of them are working? Supposedly Canvas Blend Modes are working in my copy of Firefox, but how can I tell? What's it supposed to look like?</comment></comment></comment>


Government doesn't rule out forcing Australians to download COVID-19 tracing app - <AUTHOR> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/paul-kelly-coronavirus-tracing-app/12158854 <comment><USER2> Most Australian government apps are outsourced to the cheapest Indian vendor.

I give it a week before the data is stolen and user privacy compromised.</comment>


Samsung May Buy webOS - <AUTHOR> http://www.tekgoblin.com/2011/08/29/samsung-may-buy-webos/

<comment><USER2> Nowhere here (or on the TechCrunch article it copies) does it mention that Samsung has it's own smartphone OS: Bada.

It, like WebOS, is Linux-based, so there are possible opportunities to merge them. But it just seems like incredibly lazy journalism that no-one even mentions Bada's existence.

<comment><AUTHOR> it wasn't a matter of ignoring Bada's existence, it was just the fact that the OS itself isn't doing well enough to be a competitor in the smartphone market. While Bada has plenty of apps and a solid build, when compared to iOS or Android is doesn't come close to worth, Bada is lacking a lot of things that iOS and Android came with in the beginning. Samsung might try to merge the looks and functionality of webOS and the applications and customer base of Bada, but at this point it doesn't feel as though Bada or Samsung will last very long unless they bring something new to the table.

<comment><USER2> That's not really the point, though. To write an article about a smartphone OS that Samsung may buy without making a single reference to the smartphone OS they _already own_ doesn't make sense.

There are a ton of integration issues (both in code and in personnel, should they get anyone from Palm) that might affect their decision.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Samsung is not a M&A company. That really hurts the chances of this happening even if there are forces within Samsung and HP pushing for it. The top management is skeptical of successful mergers, and at a tightly controlled company such as Samsung that makes a big difference.

I still contend the best buyer of webOS would be Google. The patents are gold, the price is probably right, it eliminates the possibility of a partner turning into a competitor, and the talent would integrate easily. Everyone's already in the valley. Just shut down webOS for good, put the developers on Android or ChromeOS, and tell consumers to look forward to great webOS features making it into future Android and ChromeOS releases.

<comment><USER4> What a sad idea. That's exactly what I _don't_ hope for.

\- No, Google shouldn't get WebOS. I lose confidence in Google every day..

\- No, please don't rip WebOS (the IP) apart because of patents

\- ChromeOS is more of a joke than WebOS ever was and is really the project that should die to bring more resources to Chrome or Android. What a waste..

You're making sense, maybe, from a business point of view. But for me this is just crazy and falls into the 'let us buy out a start-up, bury anything they did so far and hope that the people stay with us and work on other things we consider cool' category. Which works, sometimes.

Still - I hate those 'solutions'.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I would like to see webOS continue but has any commercial OS, not controlled by a US based company, done well in America?

<comment><USER6> Ubuntu Linux is doing reasonably well in America, as does Debian (neither controlled by a US based company).

A mobile phone OS? I think the Psion was doing ok in its day -- the operating system was later named "Symbian" and run a few hundred million Nokia phones, although it is not doing so well anymore.</comment></comment>


Evan Williams: Will it fly? How to Evaluate a New Product Idea - <AUTHOR> http://evhead.com/2007/12/how-to-evaluate-new-product-idea.asp

<comment><USER2> Best line: "The web is getting so damn big, what seem like niche ideas can be very decent businesses."

</comment><comment><USER3> Evan misses one very important component of evaluating an idea. What is the effect of mass liquidity on the value add. Is the value gained by the first user identical to the value of the millionth user.

Google,Amazon - even if I was the only user in the world using them, would be just as useful for me.

On the other side of the scale - eBay,Digg are totally useless if I am the only one using them.

<comment><USER4> You mean "Network effect", don't you? I think he buries it in "Deepness".

<comment><USER3> His quote: "practically any application, once people start using it, can be used as a lever to more activity and benefit delivery. Being smart about what you're leveraging is key."

But my point is that some applications aren't viable at all without this critical mass and some are. While obviously everyone wants more users, for some ideas the critical mass requirement is a very high initial obstacle and for some it isn't.

<comment><USER4> I'm not saying you're wrong; I'm saying there's a hoary old cliche that you can use to communicate the same thing: "He forgot to add Network Effects". Ebay relies on a network effect; Amazon doesn't.

I don't imagine that he forgot it; I think he's assuming most web startups rely on it. He is, after all, Pyra, Odeo, and Twitter.

<comment><USER5> Uh, why are people voting this down?

> some applications aren't viable at all without this critical mass and some > are

That is exactly what "network effects", or "positive network externalities" means, and they're critical to many, but not all, information goods.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> similar to this: [http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0130462217/002-0316973-9644868?...](http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0130462217/002-0316973-9644868?SubscriptionId=1T8GXYG45A6Y2VJ9YKR2)

only this article applies to web apps...

</comment><comment><USER7> Call me old fashioned, but it's hard to take an article about evaluating ideas seriously whens it never mentions "customer", "demand", "want", or "need".

This is typical geek thinking. What can "I" do? What's cool to "ME"? How do "I" succeed?

Slow down for one minute and look at things from the eyes of your prospects. Better yet, ask them. THAT'S the best way to evaluate a new product idea.

<comment><USER8> He does discuss "Is it clear why people should use it?" and whether the product is personal compelling.

<comment><USER7> "Is it clear why people should use it?" DOES NOT EQUAL "Is it what people want?"

This is not an argument in semantics. This is the ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, MOST FUNDAMENTAL question in business. If there is no demand, you are dead. Making something that creates demand is about as likely as winning the lottery (albeit as lucrative).

I'll stand by my original post. You must satisfy a demand. The best way to identify that demand is to ask. The best way to ask is to know your prospects. None of this is ever mentioned in the original article.

Whoever downmodded my original post still doesn't get it. I am interested in using technology to build a sustainable business, not a hobby. So I care about my customer first. That's the whole point.

<comment><USER9> The good news is, you don't have to know about the demand and neither do the demanders! As was mentioned a couple times in the "Will there always be more room for web startups" discussion last week (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=89055>), customers often don't know what they want until they see it or use it. That unknown demand is why the trial and error of the marketplace always tolerates "crazy" ideas. I agree with your comment that you should ask and find out what customers want, but you can definitely succeed if your instinct matches an unexpressed demand (Twitter, Facebook) or if you can envision a product better than customers can express it (Apple)

<comment><USER7> "customers often don't know what they want until they see it or use it"

Absolutely.

And I want to be the one who gets to know them, understands their pain, asks the right questions, and prototypes. I want to be the one who is told, "Yes! That's what I want!" instead of those who depend on trial and error or instinct.

And sometimes, I just have to get up off my butt and away from my screen to get that done.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> some coverage here

<http://scribblesheet.co.uk/article/is_your_idea_any_good>

</comment><comment><USER11> Will It Blend?

<http://www.willitblend.com/>

<comment><USER4> How do you downmod "Will it Blend"? Reexamine your priorities!</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Tutor? Seeking Tutor? (June 2019) - <AUTHOR> Please lead with either SEEKING TUTOR or SEEKING TUTOR, your location, and whether remote work is a possibility.<p>Please include a bit about your background and what situations you would like to confidently be able to handle. <comment><AUTHOR> SEEKING TUTOR | London, UK or Remote | Prioritisation

I'm software engineer with 6 years of experience working at startups on APIs and web UIs. I'm looking for a professional who can train me in a method to prioritise more efficiently and be more confident in my prioritsation. At the end of working together, I'd like to be able to confidently & quickly handle the following situations:

\- Identify the highest priority among a set of 10 tasks and explain why it is the highest. (Goal: 2-3x faster than current. 30% less verbose explanations. Roughly.)

\- Given a set of 40 recent emails from colleagues and error-monitoring systems, identify the subset which can be safely de-prioritised or delegated to another person/team. (Goal: 15 minutes or less. Roughly.)

<comment><USER2> It is definitely a good move to get mentored in the things you mentioned, and great that you are looking to improve in areas where most developers wouldn't care so much.

I'm interested in the driver behind this because it sounds like you might work somewhere where they don't have a lot of patience or time for thinking. Which to me is a bad sign. I think people at your work should be helping you with most of these things, as they have all the context.

Normally things are prioritised in teams (unless you are the only technical person there?). If you have your own mini backlog that needs prioritising, then you should be able to draw on your colleagues to help you. Stand ups can be useful for this. There might be some skills for you to improve, but it's not all on you.

In addition to getting a mentor, I recommend go to a coding meetup and ask other developers how they do things and handle the same problems.

For me prioritisation is simple. If production systems are down - that is the priority. Otherwise major bugs, and then tasks, and tasks where the boss has said its high priority first.

Other than that I usually try to finish what I have started before starting something new unless blocked. And keep long running things going (e.g. something where you need to check logs once a week).

For the general backlog someone else decides the priority - the role is normally called product owner or product manager, but might be done by a manager, team leader or even CTO/CEO. However developers can influence the order if they have an opinion.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am joining a new company as a Senior Software Engineer soon—thats one of the main drivers of this. I'm going to likely be in the position of giving others guidance on prioritization. Now, sometimes it will be obvious, but I'd like to be prepared for when it is not.

I would say that my last employer did give me time for thinking. However, I'd like to spend more of my time on harder questions and to get to be more efficient at resolving this particular sort of ambiguity. I've long felt like I wasn't as confident in my prioritization as I ought be. Thats why I say I want to be able to _explain_ my prioritization.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I am looking for someone to help me with CSS. I can make basic websites (inspite of reading theory and following tutorials on countless websites). I want to make a few simple websites along with my tutor so he can answer my questions in real time. I have tried JsFiddle, Stackoverflow, treehouse etc. I am not a beginner but also definitely not an experienced frontend engineer.

I am a backend engineer in my day job. I can help you with Java, APIs, system design, algorithms and anything else non UI related. I have expertise in compiler design and hardware design also.

Email in profile.

</comment><comment><USER4> SEEKING TUTOR | Remote | NLP

My background is in software engineering. I know Python, JavaScript and Scheme. I would like to transition to a data-science position related to Natural-Language-Processing.

<comment> alok-g Reach out to me using the details in my profile. I just helped someone like you encountered via Hacker News.

I am a pro in Classical NLP (pre Deep Learning) and generally understand Deep Learning (DL) well too. However, I am a couple years behind on the latest DL techniques for NLP. As a start, I can share my slides giving a very broad overview of Classical NLP that this other person had found very useful.</comment></comment>


Dell ships laptops with rouge root CA - <AUTHOR> https://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/3twmfv/dell_ships_laptops_with_rogue_root_ca_exactly/? <comment><USER2> >>rouge root CA

What's your problem with pink certificates?</comment>


Zero Indent Coding Style - <AUTHOR> http://moduliq.org/documentation/moduliq_zero_indent_coding_style.html

<comment><USER2> I can _kinda_ see their point for HTML and CSS. At least I could understand how someone would feel that way. For code though, this is a terrible idea. The point of indentation isn't just to show where a block begins and ends. It's to show depth and overall structure. Without indentation, seeing which "if" an "else" or "else if" goes with is a serious pain.

</comment><comment><USER3>
      end of sentence
      </a>.

That's amazing. _Every_ browser I use still has an incompetently maintained parser, even thirteen years after [http://www.w3.org/TR/REC- html40-971218/appendix/notes.html#h...](http://www.w3.org/TR/REC- html40-971218/appendix/notes.html#h-B.3.1) was first written to explain this detail of SGML in smaller words.

And yeah, one tag per line with no indentation has always been a common style in SGML, and doing that cleanly is why newlines are specified that way.

</comment><comment><USER4> They offer two extremes: use a huge identation or none at all.

Why not go for the intermediate solution? 2 spaces of indentation. IMO, that's most easy on the eyes, at least for things like HTML. You can still see the levels, but it doesn't walk off your screen.

With C, Python, etc you can just as well use 4 or more spaces, if your indentation goes to deep you should consider moving the inner code to a function...

</comment><comment><USER5> This can't be serious! Seriously, anyone who writes code without proper indentation should consider another job in a different field.

</comment><comment><USER6> You should try Zero-Line-Breaks Style. A 64 kilobytes long one-liner would provide appropriate insight into this idea.</comment>


HackerNews meetup at PyCon 2010 Atlanta - <AUTHOR>

Hi HN,
Who's going to PyCon this year?
What's your real name?
What do you do with Python?
What are you interested in at PyCon?
Looking forward to anything in particular in Atlanta?
Want to grab a beer? I'm arriving on the 16th and would be happy to meet with any and all of you. <comment><AUTHOR> Mike. Coming from London.

Infrastructure development - monitoring, reporting, creating config tools, glueware - for low latency trading environments (my background's in Linux).

During my time off, I work on Python Docx (the Word / OpenXML module), various django sites, and a project doing natural language analysis of a popular web forum.

At PyCon I'm looking forward to the NLTK talk - the OReilly book is very academic and I'm looking forward to a more human guide to some of the topics - and the Python payment talks.

I don't really know that much about Atlanta, would love to check out the local cuisine (whatever their specialty is - like deep pizza in Chicago).

I love American and Canadian microbrews too, so I'm hoping there's some good indie beer.

</comment><comment><USER2> Jack Diederich (my nick is an old UNIX login, "jackdiederich"[:8]). I'm an invited speaker this year so I'll definitely be there.

At least two automated trading firms sent contingents to PyCon last year so you won't be alone (I think both were state-side). As for microbrews? Although it started with states that had odd blue laws for liquor licenses (limited regular licenses but unlimited for on-premises brewing) you can now find micro-breweries in every major city and most minor ones. PyCon always has a beer BoF group.

<comment><AUTHOR> You're the guy that wrote decorators! Wouldn't mind checking out your 'I love graphs' lightening talk, there's a lot happening in that space and the lightening talks are often the best content/time value of the whole conference.

Must have missed the beer BoF last year, though managed to imbibe a fair bit anyway (The Map Room in Chicago was great). Will check it out this year & see you there.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'll be there. Jay Graves from Austin TX

I do a lot of glue-ing and some internal app development using Python.

There is tons of stuff I'm interested in at PyCon 2010. Many of my session slots are double and triple booked.

I don't know Atlanta, I've only flown through it on many occasions, so I know the airport but nothing else.

</comment><comment><USER4> Can we create a real meetup.com meetup or whatever it is the kids are using these days for this?</comment>


What made John Carmack a legend in C++ programming? - <AUTHOR> http://cppdepend.com/blog/?p=744 <comment><USER2> Doom 3 was the first game Id did in C++ instead of C, which helps explain a lot of the coding conventions.

From Carmack himself[1]:

 _In some ways, I still think the Quake 3 code is cleaner, as a final evolution of my C style, rather than the first iteration of my C++ style, but it may be more of a factor of the smaller total line count, or the fact that I haven't really looked at it in a decade. I do think "good C++" is better than "good C" from a readability standpoint, all other things being equal._

 _I sort of meandered into C++ with Doom 3 – I was an experienced C programmer with OOP background from NeXT's Objective-C, so I just started writing C++ without any proper study of usage and idiom. In retrospect, I very much wish I had read Effective C++ and some other material. A couple of the other programmers had prior C++ experience, but they mostly followed the stylistic choices I set._

 _I mistrusted templates for many years, and still use them with restraint, but I eventually decided I liked strong typing more than I disliked weird code in headers. The debate on STL is still ongoing here at Id, and gets a little spirited. Back when Doom 3 was started, using STL was almost certainly not a good call, but reasonable arguments can be made for it today, even in games._

 _I am a full const nazi nowadays, and I chide any programmer that doesn't const every variable and parameter that can be._

 _The major evolution that is still going on for me is towards a more functional programming style, which involves unlearning a lot of old habits, and backing away from some OOP directions._

[1] Originally as a comment on [https://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/01/the- exceptional-beauty-of-...](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/01/the-exceptional- beauty-of-doom-3s-source-code) , but it seems to be missing now.

Side note, I love C# in general but it'd be nice to have something the like const methods in C++.

</comment><comment><USER3> Even an article as shallow as this raises some red flags about the code base:

* A common base class is rarely a good pattern in C++. Such classes have a tendency to bloat.

* A custom string implementation is a cliché for new C++ adopters. Everybody thinks they need to reimplement std::string. Most are wrong.

* The code as shown separates declaration and initialization of local variables, which decreases readability and safety of the code.

<comment><USER4> Yeah, not sure why the author was praising the excellent library and string class. That's what std provides. Why reinvent the wheel?

<comment><USER5> Because the year is 2000-2002 and you are embarking on writing a game engine targeting PC, Mac, Xbox, Playstation, and any other consoles or platforms that come onto the market before your engine is finished. Compilers and standards compliance was a shit show. Things like EA-STL might look silly nowadays, but there are many great reasons why companies rolled their own stuff back in the day.

<comment><USER6> Even now STL is not perfect for realtime and threaded programming.

Thus comes from outdated and schizophrenic approach to memory management. It is getting fixed but that will take years and multiple revisions of standard.

Let's start with lack of immutable objects, continue with missing support for pmr or allocators and finish with hidden default heap allocations in algorithms and data structures. (Including some smart pointers.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Honestly, he's not a great C++ programmer. I think he'd agree that he's learning, and got away with C for far longer than normal just by being a phenomenal programmer in general.

IIRC the Doom 3 renderer was originally written in C and he ported to C++ to match the rest of the codebase.

<comment><USER8> This statement caught my eye. In what ways can tell that someone is a great programmer without them being good in a particular language? Can someone be a phenomenal programmer without being well versed in any particular language?

<comment><USER9> A couple famous examples are Dan Bernsteins's code style is considered weird (he was trying to write safe code his way in C) and Monty's MySQL code is considered "ugly" but runs great.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> It sure doesn't look like C++ programming.</comment>


How To Be a Software Developer Without a CS Degree - <AUTHOR> http://simpledeveloper.com/how-to-be-a-software-developer-without-a-college-degree/

<comment><USER2> Easy. Prove you know how to develop software. I've never had anyone ask about my degree(which doesn't exist).</comment>


Rutger Hauer: Blade Runner actor dies aged 75 - <AUTHOR> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-49098435 <comment><USER2> "All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die." \- Rutger Hauer in Blade Runner

<comment><USER3> The only movie besides Fight Club I know almost every word before they say it.

Easily my #1 movie of all time with one of the greatest closing speeches by Rutger (which he allegedly improvised). And I've seen nearly every movie on iMDBs top 250 list, although that isn't as meaningful a list today as it was 10yrs ago as superhero movies keep climbing it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Sad to hear. Always liked him until I learned he improv'd a number of lines from the Blade Runner rain scene. Then he became a favorite. Brilliant actor.

Source: [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tears_in_rain_monologue)

Edited. Missed a critical bit.

<comment><USER5> until?

<comment><USER6> I assume that after that "liked" wasn't adequate.

<comment><USER4> Exactly. Edited.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> When I moved to Los Angeles in '88, I was at a Sunset liquor store one Friday evening when I noticed the normal looking tall gent next to me was Rutger Hauer. Bless his heart, he was alone and let me gush in semi-drunken adoration my disbelieve it was him, how much I loved his work and so on. We sat on the curb in front of El Compadre for quite a while chatting and drinking. One of my favorite memories in life.

</comment><comment><USER8> Prediction: people will quote from Blade Runner, but will forget about Ladyhawke.

Edit: Its like the two sides should be together in SF/Fantasy but for some reason they just cannot ... quite ...meet...

<comment><USER9> Last night I was looking for some movie to watch. Ladyhawke came to mind, as part of my list of those I've never seen, but of which I have a fervent desire to enjoy. (mostly pre-1995 movies.) It meets all the requirements: fantasy and adventure movies, beautiful and talented female lead, awesome Rutger.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> RIP to the actor my family called "Brother Rutger."

</comment><comment><USER11> Saw it mentioned that he died in the same year as his character does in Blade Runner.

</comment><comment><USER12> He was staying in the same hotel as me when I was working in Montreal many years ago. After I saw him a number of days in a row he actually said hi to me before I did to him (probably on account of me being a bit star struck). That seems to me to be sign a pretty good guy. RIP.

</comment><comment><USER13> Not many Dutch actors were good enough to make it internationally, Hauer deserved every bit of fame he managed to collect. His best films are in Dutch, in spite of his Blade Runner fame.

<comment><USER14> I've loved Blade Runner since I was about 12 (h/t Westwood Studios), and never knew until today about Rutger Hauer's Dutch language films or collaborations with Paul Verhoeven.

It's happens so often, I wonder if there's a word for the feeling of discovering art, on the day it goes from the world? The clearest case for me, was discovering the music of Johnny Martyn, the day he died.

RIP Rutger Hauer

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I suppose I must turn in my hacker membership card for this, but for me he was always the enigmatic star of Guinness commercials for a long time before I saw Blade Runner.

</comment><comment><USER16> He has three films marked "Post-production, posthumous release"

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

</comment><comment><USER17> Casting for Blade Runner was uniformly excellent and many of the actors gave their standout performances in it. Hauer brought an amazing gravitas to the role.

</comment><comment><USER18> His voice acting work in the game The Observer was really good. Going to have to do a re-play through it now.

</comment><comment><USER19> Revel in your time.

</comment><comment><USER20> Obligatory Blade Runner final scene: [https://www.youtube.com/embed/NoAzpa1x7jU](https://www.youtube.com/embed/NoAzpa1x7jU) (tears in rain)

</comment><comment><USER21> So young...</comment>