AirBnB for Experiences - Designed for Failure? - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/24/dead-pooling-gidsy-acquired-by-getyourguide-in-a-berlin-insiders-deal/

<comment><AUTHOR> I've always loved the concept of an AirBnb for experiences and even considered using a model similar for my own business. That said, overtime, I realized there were several issues with the business model - The founder of Skyara (one of the first AirBnb's for experiences) was the first that realized the model didn't work.

The founder @stevenou shared this a few months back:

"While in theory it sounds like a great concept, the key to realize is that no "AirBnB for Activites" can ever be an "AirBnB for Activities." What I mean by that is: the part of the "AirBnB for X" business model that makes it work is the part where you have a very low marginal cost to renting out an existing resource that, presumably, is getting very low utilization. I.e. a car sitting in a garage, an empty couch. The marginal cost of renting those out... is basically zero. However, with Activities, the resource at play is actually time! A person needs to take two hours out of their day to offer a walking tour, cooking class, etc. Arguably, time is the most scarce resource we have. People value their time highly, which means the marginal cost (in this case the opportunity cost) of them offering an activity is very high. Add to that the fact that individuals do not benefit from any sort of economy of scale, and that most likely means that they cannot compete with businesses on price (which is arguably where AirBnB is winning in its biggest market, NYC).

So of course, I'm not saying an "AirBnB for Activities" is not possible, but some fundamental problems make it significantly more difficult than one might initially expect. Personally I think Vayable is doing a great job, but time will tell..."</comment>


Push and Pull Kubernetes Helm Charts - <AUTHOR> https://coreos.com/blog/quay-application-registry-for-kubernetes.html <comment><AUTHOR> At KubeCon we gave a really quick demo os what is possible with this. It is now available on Quay.io as an early preview:

[https://youtu.be/lp05rkUJKOY?t=52](https://youtu.be/lp05rkUJKOY?t=52)</comment>


Uber and consumer choice in London - <AUTHOR> http://blog.uber.com/London-regulations

<comment><USER2> _We are bringing competition to an industry that hasn't evolved in years._

Hailo launched a good six months before Uber in London, and seems to have done so by working with industry and regulators, rather than by skirting around the law.

 _As per the regulations, cars using the Uber platform do not have a taximeter – TFL have confirmed that smart phones used by private hire drivers do not constitute the equipping of a vehicle with a taximeter._

This is technically correct, and it's why London hasn't acted against Uber. They're not breaking any laws at this point.

However, the use of smartphones in this fashion provides the same functionality as a taximeter. There's no denying that; the letter of the law may be followed, but the spirit is clearly being violated. And that's why black cab drivers in London are upset.

I wish Uber all the best - it's good to have some competition in this space. But I can also see why the LTDA(?) would be annoyed by this - they're essentially evading regulations in a pretty direct manner, and in their place I'd be pissed off too.

<comment><USER3> Evading regulations is the whole business model of companies like Uber and AirBnB.

<comment><USER4> The most interesting part of this is that the regulations were ostensibly instituted to protect the public from a parade of horribles; but the public seems to like the 'dangerous' service.

<comment><USER5> There's a difference between "like" and "accept the risk of".

I would never have used airbnb or Uber (and the like) if I hadn't heard good things about the services from my friends. Plus, these services offer me something that "legit" ones don't. Sometimes I can't get a cab, or get refused service. Sometimes it's cheaper to rent a whole house rather than enough hotel rooms for a large family...

Look, there's times when I was in a black (or yellow) taxi and didn't feel safe. Just because regulations are in place, that doesn't mean the public is always safe. Regulators aren't always watching, nor are they always straight.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This is in response to a proposed strike by London "Black Cabs" which are licensed to be hailed. I think they are a little worried as Uber is nearly as quick as hailing and much quicker than getting a cab through a private hire company (sometimes called minicabs) which are booked through usually calling a central operator who then dispatches the cab.

[http://www.ltda.co.uk/campaigns/planned-taxi- demonstration/](http://www.ltda.co.uk/campaigns/planned-taxi-demonstration/)

<comment><USER7> I fail to see how striking is going to help their cause.

<comment><USER8> The traffic chaos during their demonstration will be similar to the one we will experience everyday if uber grows unregulated.

<comment><USER9> How so?

<comment><USER8> There are about 20000 black cabs in London which make abrupt pull overs, ridiculous u-turns and blocking lanes 2 mins at a time. Luckily London drivers are familiar with how they look and can prepare ahead for erratic behaviour.

Imagine there are 100000 of them, effectively under camouflage.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Whilst I a massive fan of Uber, and I think they provide a good "taxi experience" I have to wonder why they are bothering with London.

What do they hope to disrupt in London, the transport infrastructure is phenomenal, with the private car hire business (be it black cabs, minicabs, addison lee ...) being an extremely well serviced and competitive space.

Wouldn't Uber be better off of focusing in places where the market for private cars is more nascent ?

</comment><comment><USER11> Gotta love the way they stress safety as a selling point even after all the stories about how they lie about safety.</comment>


Steve Jobs Takes The Stage At iPad 2 Event - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/02/amidst-medical-leave-steve-jobs-takes-the-stage-at-ipad-2-event-to-a-standing-ovation/ <comment><USER2> Craig Hockenberry: "Two reasons Steve did the keynote today: 1) To tell his competitors to fuck off. 2) To tell those speculating about his health to fuck off."

<http://twitter.com/chockenberry/status/43030854980730881>

</comment><comment><USER3> Robert Scoble: "I've been watching Jobs for the entire keynote. Even when he's back stage. He's been standing the entire time, looks healthier than me."

<http://twitter.com/#!/Scobleizer/status/43021083867222017>

<comment><USER4> Standing is the bar we set for healthy now.

<comment><USER5> To be fair, if someone was in truly poor health or undergoing radical chemotherapy, standing at length would likely be either incredibly difficult or impossible.

So sure, it's not fool proof, but its also not a bad indication that reports of his impending demise are exaggerated.

<comment><USER6> When my dad eventually succumbed to cancer (technically kidney failure), it wasn't until the last couple of weeks or so that he had energy and weakness issues. Even a month before, he was still out and about. With chemo, he was only weak for the day of, and fine the next day. I wouldn't say Job's apparent health can give any clues as to his health, aside from the fact he has at least another month left.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> That's nice to see, even if you have no interest in the iPad.

</comment><comment><USER8> Congrats to Steve and the Apple team. The iPad 2 is a phenomenal product. 33% thinner design in less than a year since it was first released. And crazy cool covers as a bonus.

<comment><USER9> Or was the first version 33% thicker than it needed to be to give them an easy win in version 2?

<comment><USER10> This isn't entirely a crazy idea.

Seeing as they were already setting the bar for tablets they could afford to make it thicker that they needed to. In all likelihood it was more of an economic consideration, larger components being cheaper, but knowing they had the ability to make it thinner and lighter later would have been part of the medium term plans.

<comment><USER11> Actually, at very high volumes (where the non-recurring engineering cost is sufficiently amortized), the larger equivalent component is more expensive, since you are using more material to manufacture the component.

Obviously, other factors, like process yield can be a factor here as well, since a lower process yield for the smaller component would increase its price.

<comment><USER10> Other factors include things like larger components might use cheaper materials and factories need to be tooled up to produce newer components.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I think this is potentially a mistake, it furthers (in my opinion) the image that Jobs is irreplaceable (being on a medical leave of absence he must still come back to launch products, etc.).

<comment><USER13> Several people have posited that Jobs should stay well back from the limelight, for just such a reason:

Why Steve Jobs Shouldn't Return to Apple <http://db.tidbits.com/article/11981>

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> "For someone who's supposed to be on a leave of absence, he's sure doing a lousy job of it" is how it was put to me a few days ago.

</comment><comment><USER15> unfortunately the "one more thing" was missing at the end...hoped it would be the retina display :(

</comment><comment><USER16> Oh man I could make a really nasty joke about Steve Jobs and the iPad being 33% thinner. But I won't.

It does look like he's lost weight but Jobs has always been skinny, so I don't think it's fair to speculate on how healthy he really is. I really hope he's doing well.</comment>


If you need a developer, consider this one - <AUTHOR> http://hireme.link/

<comment><USER2> I would have hired you but I'm poor.</comment>


A Five Year Android User Switches To iOS - <AUTHOR> http://tomtunguz.com/narcissism-of-small-differences <comment><USER2> Wrong platform to seek UX innovation.</comment>


John Gruber Has Some Career Advice For Developers - <AUTHOR> http://cycle-gap.blogspot.com/2011/11/john-gruber-has-some-career-advice-for.html

<comment><USER2> I was sad to see that Gruber couldn't step out of his Apple bubble to tackle this topic (or any topic, ever), so I will:

Everyone who thinks "I should be developing for platform X" is thinking far too small. Take a look around you.. how many of the great companies were formed developing for a particular platform (unless it's their own)? Almost none. In 10 years, do you want to be the old and busted equivalent of the MFC expert whose software was hot in year 2000?

You don't make the Googles, Facebooks, Twitters, of the world by developing _just_ for iOS. Or _just_ for Android. If that's your business plan, tear it up and start over. Because $0.99 a pop doesn't amount to jack-all unless you're Angry Birds. And even they, if they got $1 for each of their 500MM downloads, have still not made as much as _Modern Warfare 3 made last week_ ($738MM in revenue).

Go create a market. Stop being part of Apple's/Google's market for drumming up hardware sales and/or serving ads.

<comment><USER3> There are two reasons why the platform matters:

1) You might not want to build the next Facebook. Many developers don't actually plan to start multi-billion-dollar companies. If you are an individual developer, or a small team, you cannot cater to everyone, you must pick the one platform most suitable for you. And then you can go create a niche app and make a decent living from it.

2) Even big and successful companies started on a single platform. A classic example would be Adobe: Photoshop was initially a Macintosh-only application, and has been ported only when it was already hugely successful. But actually Rovio is the best example that the choice of platform is extremely important: They have been hugely successful only when they started selling their iPhone app, and started porting to other platforms only when they were already extremely successful.

Hell, even Facebook, Twitter, Google started on a single platform: the web.

<comment><USER2> How's this:

Whatever you create, even if it's for iPhone first, don't get bogged down on it being on "platform X". Photoshop, as you mentioned, is a great example, it didn't need to be on a Mac to be great. It just was developed there first, and now sells more on Windows (I think).

If you focus too much on the platform, once that market wanes, you end up nowhere. This is what I meant by the MFC guy -- maybe an even better example is the VB 6 guy. We know this guy, right? He's an expert with VB 6. He made a damn good VB6 app 10 years ago, which he's supported since then. But he spent too long focused on VB6, so god help him trying to get a job today doing C#.

Your idea doesn't have to be as big as Facebook. All I'm saying is, don't get so focused on the platform that you become that VB6 guy. Focus now, sure, but developers over time should be broad and flexible. And if you are starting something new, your idea should be too.

<comment><USER3> I totally agree with you here. It's important to see when you should switch. But I think that _right now_ it's a great time to be an Apple developer, and as I understood it that's what Gruber said.

I don't think that everyone should develop for the iPhone or for the Mac. There are plenty of possibilities elsewhere. But if you happen to really like your Macbook, you can actually make a living developing Mac or iOS apps today.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> At the risk of being a cynical ass, let's not forget that this is basically Gruber playing the modern day equivalent of Levi Strauss: "Come to California/the App Store, you'll get amazingly rich! And while you're here, I am sure you would be interested in some clothing and dry goods/a $6,500 ad on the most influential Apple blog."

<comment><USER5> Or to put it in words that you might have heard repeatedly from the man himself, "You are not his customer, the people buying ads are his customer".

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I don't want to under-estimate the importance of movable type...but what has Gruber developed? Looking at the list at <http://daringfireball.net/projects/> doesn't exactly fill me with shock and awe. I'd imagine with his huge following in the apple community he could put almost anything on the app store and it would sell. Can someone enlighten me? I guess my meta-point is, why am I reading software development career advice from someone who doesn't seem to be a developer?

<comment><USER7> Gruber is a writer who covers Apple stuff first, and a developer only when he has an itch to scratch.

Just the same, though, Markdown is a pretty big deal. It's the de facto standard for content markup. I wouldn't call John Gruber a nobody.

<comment><USER8> Notably, it's a piece of software in which well-developed minimalism gets you better results than anything else.

<comment><USER9> The idea is good, but his execution and follow-through leaves something to be desired: [http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/12/responsible-open- so...](http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2009/12/responsible-open-source-code- parenting.html)

<comment><USER10> I've found that [Pandoc](<http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/>) has picked up the Markdown torch. It's got the most-needed additions using the probably least-controversial markup additions. Works great, is fast, well-documented, and is actively-maintained.

<comment><USER11> Where does it tell me how to write in Pandoc? Hard not to dismiss outright.

<comment><USER12> [http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/README.html#pandocs- markdow...](http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/README.html#pandocs-markdown)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> "One simple way to look at it is that there are far more people who've never bought an iPhone and who've never bought an iPad, who will in the next five years than all of us who've already bought at least one to this point."

That's one simple way to look at it. Another slightly less simple way is that the ones that already have Apple devices are the savviest, hippest, and spendiest consumers around, and you can't possibly hope to milk as much money per person from the ones that adopt later.

<comment><USER14> I disagree, though based on the attitude of your comment I'm not sure if you'll take my point.

Here in Dublin, at least, iPhones are becoming extremely popular, even with the losertechnicians of the world. Businessmen with no tech skills are replacing Blackberries with them, teenagers are flocking to get them, and there are even dodgy-looking iPhone accessory shops in bad neighbourhoods.

Over here, since around the start of this summer, the iPhone 4 has been available for free on a 40 euro per month contract with unlimited data and enough minutes/texts for the vast majority of people, on pretty much every network. That's a really good deal, and a huge number of people bought into it, figuring that they spend at least that on credit anyway.

When the iPad 2 launched over here, there was a period of 8 months where you could not find ANY, at all, even in the authorized resellers that Apple likes the most. At any one time there might have been one for sale in the whole city.

Android is gaining momentum here too, and I don't know figures for any of this, but I definitely haven't seem them on as many non-hackers as I have iPhones.

In conclusion, no, the people who have iPhones are not the Apple-savvy hipsters. At least in this city.

<comment><USER15> Here is how I see it:

The first wave are the tech enthusiasts, these people are not big app buyers but are interested in finding a good SSH tool, or an mail client that supports PGP. These were the main customers of the first iPhone.

I'd say we've been in the second wave for the last couple years. These people are seeing TV the ads and are curious. Their friends buy iPhones, it makes sense for them too as well. They're not "hackers", just people that are willing to try apps. These are your Angry Birds players, and where the main revenue comes from.

The third and final wave will be moms and general folk who will never sync with iTunes. It's those people that are never going to buy an app because they won't know what an app is. And that's fine, they'll like how their phone talks to them and how they can Facetime to their kids.

I don't mean to say that all iPhone 1 users are "hackers", just that a higher percentage of them were than are now iPhone 4S users. A lot of those people likely went off to Android in the recent years, anyhow.

<comment><USER16> "The first wave are the tech enthusiasts ... are interested in finding a good SSH tool, or an mail client that supports PGP. These were the main customers of the first iPhone."

Given that the first iPhone had no 3rd party apps apart from web apps, this seems _highly_ unlikely.

It's more likely true of early Android phone buyers.

<comment><USER15> Good catch, though there were definitely apps on the first iPhone. AppTapp/Installer was introduced around Christmas time if memory serves, and there were apps, utilities, and even a few games available.

<comment><USER16> Still, those presumably required jailbreaking, which I gather was not done by the majority of iPhone 1 owners, and certainly not by the earliest buyers, who bought before that was even an option.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> It would be interesting to know, why being an Apple developer is favourable to being any other type of a developer? For example, android market share is already larger than Apple devices, and people still spend lots of time in front of traditional web browsers.

You can still make fortunes and/or have an interesting career with other platforms and technologies too.

<comment><USER18> Gruber's right because the mobile market is expanding. However, his loyalty to Apple keeps him from saying what he really should have said: Get into mobile (Apple AND Android), hard and fast.

About 77 million of the "big two" (60 million Android, 17 million iPhone) smartphones shipped in Q3 2011. Apple has a huge install base, but it's not Apple's game anymore - Android has more than 3x Apple's marketshare, and is on a meteoric rise in contrast to iOS's slow marketshare decline. More and more customers are being introduced to mobile devices, and we're still in the early stages of the mobile landgrab. There's a lot to be won, but it's disingenuous to focus on Apple as the nexus of that growth.

<comment><USER19> It's disingenuous to focus on Apple at a Mac/iOS-centric symposium?

<comment><USER20> Why are you even asking? You know that's not what he said.

<comment><USER19> _Why are you even asking?_

Because this (and several other comments on this submission) appear to attack Gruber for not talking about Android, and I think that is an extremely unfair criticisim given that he was speaking to iOS and Mac developers at an event about iOS and Mac development.

More generally, I have a morbid interest in HN's tendency to flip it's collective shit whenever Gruber's name is mentioned, and have honestly lost faith in my ability to tell when that sort of criticism is intentional or not. So when presented with something that sounds a little dubious, I'd like a clarification. There have been times in this site's past where that was not offensive to anybody.

I hope that answers your question.

 _You know that's not what he said._

I don't understand why you take issue with my asking a question but then feel permitted to tell me what I know, but I don't care, either, so there's that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Gruber is like a person who really enjoys eating cupcakes. He knows all about cupcakes, and even goes so far as to think he knows how to make them. He's probably baked a few things here and there. Sadly, he also thinks his 'expertise' on all things cupcakes makes him an all round bonafide chef.

<comment><USER22> He is more like a person who likes cupcakes from exclusively one cupcake company and thinks cupcakes made by anybody else are dross.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> I am trying to figure out why don't Gruber himself listen to his own advice and develop iPhone/iPad app already.

I mean, writing good technical reviews and opinions about iOS is a very nice thing. But give advise to mass developers should be done from experience, rather than theory.

As for the advice itself, it is right that in five years from now, mobile devices will be all over the place and today's sales volumes are just the iceberg's tip, yet, a developer should think about the opportunity of "mobile- computing" rather than a particular "mobile device". For me, it is a web developer who decide his web apps are to be working with chrome browsers only, since the number of chrome installations today is nothing comparing to what it will be in 5 years from now, and simply ignoring safari, firefox (and even ie, oops).

<comment><USER24> Given that he's a writer, he _is_ following his advice by focusing on Apple/iOS.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Someone who calls themselves an Apple developer and who doesn't work for Apple needs to consider expanding their horizons. Mobile developer? That's a little better. Or just, developer. It's a great time to be a developer.

<comment><USER26> You've missed, entirely, the point.

What Gruber is saying is that anyone who is developing for Apple's platforms is about to enjoy an enormous surge of opportunity. As these platforms see even further adoption, their capability will only increase. So if you're in Apple's playground, you're watching it turn into Disneyworld in a way that will never come again once these devices are baked into people's assumptions about how the world works.

<comment><USER20> >>What Gruber is saying is that anyone who is developing for Apple's platforms is about to enjoy an enormous surge of opportunity. [etc]

Of course he is. That's all he ever does. Everything he says is worthless because you already know how lacking in substance the man is. Damn the Apple users who keep upvoting his garbage.

<comment> steve-howard I wouldn't have put it so harshly myself, but I did see the article and immediately think "John Gruber is going to tell me to write software for Apple products." I would have been mildly interested to have been wrong.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> The pool of revenue is still small: Since the creation of the app store in July 2008 to July this year, Apple has paid out $2.5 billion to developers and my projected payout for 2011 is $1.995B.

Even so, competition is fierce. In May this year there were 85,560 unique developers writing apps for the store.

Having said that, gold rushes are how big cities are built.

<comment><USER28> How about ad revenue from adMob and other 3rd party ad networks? Revenue from book, magazine, etc. sales, revenue from subscriptions, etc.?

<comment><USER27> Good point.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> >This is like being a Rock and roll musician in the late sixties. This is like being a film maker in the seventies following Scorsese, Coppola, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas (when he was a saint).

That's a hilarious sell. Better not mention the bigger, even faster growing Android market.

<comment><USER30> Faster growing, copycat infested, low paying market?

Not that you shouldn't develop for it (hell, >1 million activations/day), but the climate over there is very different.

<comment><USER31> There is a lot of that 'climate' that you will never see. We are developing Android apps that will never see a Market Place. We just put them on the devices directly. Those apps are used by big companies. They are very specialized apps. Why Android? Because we don't need Apple to install the apps. And a lot of developers already know Java.

So, don't believe the hype.

<comment><USER29> The ability to do this has always been - to me - the obvious advantage of Android over iOS, but this is the first time I've seen anyone bring it up.

<comment><USER32> Because there is no advantage - Apple allows organizations to setup their own App delivery mechanism, which is fully secured - cost to entry is trivial compared to App dev and normal deployment costs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> I usually find Gruber's tone to be arrogant and unnecessarily facetious. But I think his analogy is great.. _"This is like being a Rock and roll musician in the late sixties. This is like being a film maker in the seventies..."_

<comment><USER34> I don't think that analogy really works because there is not much distinction between "Apple developers" and other developers. There is no barrier to start developing on Apple platforms and there probably won't be for the next big platform. Low barrier to entry is one key factor of a platform's success.

<comment><USER35> Sure there are barriers. A few that come to mind include the $99 per year Apple developer program fee, which is necessary to distribute apps, the Mac OS requirement, and the objective c hurdle. These may seem more like inconvenience barriers, but they do keep people away from the development pool.

<comment> steve-howard I'm sure as hell not buying a Mac just to write for Apple's walled gardens. Inconvenience is an understatement.

<comment><USER35> While not ideal, some people have been able to run mac os on other operating systems using virtualization.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> This might be true of Apple, but it is _definitely_ true of both the software industry and theoretical CS. The industry is expanding--computers are getting cheaper and more plentiful so we need more and more software. Since we also have more computational power in our hands, we can do more and more interesting things with computers.

Theoretical computer science is also in an exciting time--it is a nascent field with many exciting discoveries and inventions to be made even without gigantic budgets. I think it's something like physics in the early 20th century, before they started needing gigantic particle accelerators and the like (I'm sure physics is still exciting and I'm just showing my ignorance, but I think there's a parallel nonetheless).

Right now is a perfect time to be a developer or computer scientist anywhere, not just at Apple.

<comment><USER36> I'm just curious (and hope I don't come off as being ignorant), but what kind of exciting theoretical CS developments have occurred in the last few years? If you can list some really groundbreaking papers that aren't too advanced, I'd love to read them.

Most of the stuff I see in academia is incremental improvement. Not that this should ever be downplayed.

<comment><USER37> All of academic output is an incremental improvement (it may differ for the social sciences. I don't have experience with that.) Newton famously acknowledged it in his letter to Hooke.

We also have the misfortune of struggling with the deep unknowns, as all of the trivial theorems have already been proven before (consider Feynman's definition of trivial in 'Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!', New York: W. W. Norton, pp. 69-72, 1997.)

But some improvements are greater than others. The question is where you draw the line. And I hold that most researchers' line encompass more then yours. Consider, for example, Jiří Matoušek's opinion of Computational Geometry in 2010 (to save you the reading, he called it no less than an annus mirabilis. You can read his reasoning here: <http://kam.mff.cuni.cz/~matousek/mor.pdf>)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> tldr; John Gruber endorses iOS.

</comment><comment><USER39> This is like being a Bee Gees clone in the late 1970s!

No disrespect intended to the kings of disco, but being a successful in a fashion bubble doesn't make you cool or give you shelf-life. I hate this sort of talking up. Gruber has been really hard to stomach since iOS took off.

"unless something unbelievable, dramatic changes" - You should expect surprise and drama in a walled garden. Facebook apps have been a lasting source of substantial revenue for only a few companies.

Why has this story got 118 points?

</comment><comment><USER40> By that logic, it's a much better time to be an Android developer as long as you support 2.2 and up.

You bring the dynamite, I'll bring the pickaxe & canary, let's gold rush!

</comment><comment><USER41> tldr; Develop for the App Store and you could be famous and make loads of money like <insert cultural icon>, or don't and you might just regret your entire life.

</comment><comment><USER42> It may sound incredibly frivolous now, but he's right. Irrespective of Apple or iOS, this is the time to be doing something _more_. I think the message here goes beyond just developing for iOS, but rather, for everything. Build something that you love, work for a company where you feel like you're doing something worthwhile. Whatever you do, make sure you're working on something that makes you say "fuck yeah." Don't neglect what's about to happen. We're about to see a major shift in technology and for those who are truly passionate about it, you'll want to be a part of it.

</comment><comment><USER43> I feel this way too just not about Apple products, but about HTML.

These surely are great days to be a web developer. HTML5, CSS3 and Javascript coupled with great browser support. It feels like there is so much that can be achieved!

<comment><USER44> Browser support is still a huge issue that people tend to gloss over. It's a problem any standards based environment will face. Native will always develope faster and be more consistent.

<comment><USER45> If you're shooting for the mobile market, writing a web app that works in the 5 most popular mobile browsers is a lot easier than rewriting your native app for each platform you want to target.

<comment><USER44> Isn't there huge fragmentation in Android webkit? Plus focusing on iOS and Android covers most 'mobile' cases. Other platforms hold a harder justification.

Perhaps the route forward is a simple web app to cover everyone, then focus on the top platforms for native.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> > _"This is like being a Rock and roll musician in the late sixties."_

In the mid 80's I used to see into Bobby Peterson of The McCoys at various parties around Gainesville.

Hopefully, it is a poor simile.

[<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_McCoys>]

</comment><comment><USER47> You could substitute Facebook App in there and moved the clock back about 3-4 years and it would read pretty much identical to blog posts back then.

</comment><comment><USER48> The bottom 80% of apps split just 3% of the revenue.

From [http://www.fastcompany.com/1792313/striking-it-rich-in- the-a...](http://www.fastcompany.com/1792313/striking-it-rich-in-the-app- store-for-developers-its-more-casino-than-gold-mine)

Developer Daniel Markham calls iPhone development "App Store Roulette," and Andy Finnell of the software studio Fortunate Bear cautions against hoping for App Store success. "You're betting a lot of this on luck, and the odds are stacked against you," Finnell says. "You'd have better odds playing slots at a casino."

Indeed, as much as app development has been called a gold rush, there is an equally loud theory that it operates more like a casino.

"The closest thing I've seen to a 'business model' for marketing iPhone apps is to advertise like crazy until you get into the top 50," says David Barnard of AppCubby. "Once you're there, the top 50 list will start generating its own buzz...But that's not a business model, that's like rolling the dice at a casino."

<comment><USER28> Now that I think about it, Android has 3X (or whatever) the market share of iOS, and no one seems to be making a ton of money from Android (except Google), the future for Android developers is pretty grim if you ask me.

<comment><USER49> 10 seconds was all it took to refute your claim: [http://www.intomobile.com/2010/12/03/angry-birds- android-1-m...](http://www.intomobile.com/2010/12/03/angry-birds- android-1-million-ad-revenue/)

<comment><USER50> Ah. I'm going to get my son up early tomorrow, talk him out of college and in to Android development. Or basketball star, I'm not sure which.

<comment><USER51> It can be argued that your son could do quite well as a developer without a college degree and without having to be a star.

<comment><USER50> Not to disagree with you, but ...

It astounds me that there are still jobs for developers. I'm not talking about SV stars, I mean the hundreds of thousands of programmers writing CRUD apps around the country. That is eminently moveable, and if the stereotypical code quality of the stereotypical foreign outsourcing shop is sub par, it's not because they don't have the same brains as we do, it's merely because a) they haven't caught up with us yet (they will), and b) they haven't captured that work as primary developers yet, they're still learning to take that work by being (at the moment) sub contractors.

Japan after World War II, for example, broke into the market by making "cheap plastic crap" and motorcycles. Then better plastic crap and small cars (remember the Honda 600?). Then really good plastic crap and really good cars, and now that pie is divided among many more people around the world, including "our" pie.

Why will software be any different? It takes no resources except a brain, a computer and a connection. The whole world has the same quality of brains and computers as we, and their connection quality is often much better and cheaper than ours.

<comment><USER45> "Why will software be any different? It takes no resources except a brain, a computer and a connection. The whole world has the same quality of brains and computers as we, and their connection quality is often much better and cheaper than ours."

It takes one more resource: communication. _Custom_ software development is quite different from motorcycles. If you need custom software development, and your business is going to depend on the result, outsourcing that effort to another country, especially across cultural and maybe language barriers, can be a disaster. You need developers who understand your business and the expectations of your customers.

In fact, take your argument and apply it to every other position in a company. Only a few of them, like sales, truly require an in-person presence, yet companies don't outsource most of them. Are they crazy, or are there good reasons for that?

<comment><USER50> "If you need custom software development, and your business is going to depend on the result, outsourcing that effort to another country, especially across cultural and maybe language barriers, can be a disaster."

For now. Yes, today it often is a disaster. It won't always be so. We didn't used to have an Indian software industry at all, for example. Now there is one. And one day it will be a no brainer to send most CRUD work there. In fact it won't be "sent" there, that function will exist there. And not only because India and other countries catch up on an industrial scale, but because businesses will demand it. Supply and _demand_ has two sides, and demand will be filled, however slowly.

"yet companies don't outsource most of them. Are they crazy, or are there good reasons for that?"

They haven't got good at it yet, but they're trying and learning, and suppliers are getting better.

Large corporations only make one thing, money. Each one happens to do it by selling something different, but what they sell is incidental, what they're good at is making money. Part of making money is not spending money. If you're a bank, your software systems may be crucial to your business, but they're two steps away from the primary business of making money: 1) Make money, by 2) selling bank services, enabled by 3) software and other systems.

If you can get the same or better quality outside your building you'll do it if it's cheaper and good enough. If you have a communication problem between the software department and the investment department, one solution is to send _both_ departments outside the building, and let them communicate with each other in a cheaper venue. If it's possible, it will be done.

I'm not saying don't go into software development. I'm saying that the world changes, and my 13 year old son's career is going to be much different than yours, inevitably. And your career is going to be much different in twenty years than it is today, not only because you'll have changed and grown, but because the world will have changed out from under you. And it gets faster every day.

Here's hoping that we're all rolling in dollars in twenty years. Or rupees.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER52> This sounds like an advertisement to come panning for gold in 1854, years after the gold rush had begun. I think the iTunes app store story is practically over by this point. The app store is long-since saturated with useless gimmicky fart apps, and Apple's force grip on the development process will stifle innovation which is already spilling back into the web via HTML5 and WebGL.

<comment><USER53> But the gold rush in the mac app store is just beginning. It will be interesting to see whether the mac app store will have a price race to the bottom like te iOS store, or whether prices will remain at 10x the level.

What would be really interesting is microsoft getting in the desktop app store game with windows 8. There's a gigantic potential market, if they manage to unlock it. I doubt they will, but still ... interesting.

</comment></comment><comment><USER54> Everything he said can pretty much be said about the web, too. Along with that comes the fact that of these millions of news users, hardly anyone will want to pay a dime for anything.

That was the beautiful thing about developing software in the 90's: people were still willing to pay for stuff, you just had to figure out the (often insurmountable) distribution. Now, it seems like the only way to make a meaningful income is to insert yourself between layers of large business.</comment>


Are porn site video players really better than youtube? From Reddit. - <AUTHOR> http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/rbn7u/why_do_porn_sites_have_video_players_that_are_so/

<comment><AUTHOR> This amuses me. In my experience I haven't seen any porn site player being faster or better than youtube; or may be I have too little experience to make a judgment on this. I find the fast-forwarding on youtube most efficient when compared to other video playing sites on web. The switching between full screen and half screen acts cranky at times, but other than that youtube videos run just fine. Also, many players don't even allow fast forwarding.

</comment><comment><USER2> The main difference I can see that adult site have is the .gif previews as this can distinguish the fake from the rest. Also you cant see any troll videos on adult sites.</comment>


Varoufakis on Valve, Spontaneous Order, and the European Crisis (2013) - <AUTHOR> http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/02/varoufakis_on_v.html <comment><USER2> I wonder, wether this structure prevents really large, long-term projects from succeeding.

<comment><USER3> Perhaps everyone has simply decided to not work on Half-Life 3, you mean?

<comment><USER4> Yes, especially since the final stage of a game (or even other software) project is the most tedious and stressful.</comment></comment></comment>


VigNAT: A Formally Verified Performant NAT - <AUTHOR> https://vignat.github.io/ <comment><USER2> > Our proof applies directly to the C code of a network function, and it > demonstrates the absence of implementation bugs.

Isn't this just like a type system? You specify what you want in types, and the type checker complains if there are implementation bugs (the inferred type doesn't match the specified type).

Of course, this just means that the hard part is now correctly expressing all the invariants (and combinations hereof) of your program as a type/proposition.

<comment><USER3> (2nd author of the paper here)

By "implementation bugs" we mean _any_ bug that could cause the NAT to not satisfy its spec, which is a formalized version of RFC 3022.

This includes bugs that a type system would catch, such as improper use of void pointers, as well as lack of crashes (e.g. Out-of-bounds indexing, division by zero...); but most importantly, it includes _semantic_ bugs, such as forwarding a packet to the wrong port, incorrectly modifying a packet, not updating the internal state properly (so that future packets are handled correctly), etc.

The main contribution here is that only the data structures (which are reusable) need to be proven by hand; for a new NF, you only need a specification - which is, as you point out, not always easy to do.

<comment><USER4> IMO this kind of work is very important, and is necessary to be able to categorize computer science as engineering. How do you see the future of this kind of programming? Will it become much easier/semi automated? Even mainstream? Could we see operating systems made with these methods?

<comment><USER5> Do you mean 'programming'? Because 'Computer Science' doesn't really need to be categorized as engineering, being a science and all.

<comment><USER6> Yeah. It's the other way around. Science is about learning. Engineering is build things based on knowledge gained from using the scientific method.

Building things without using scientific knowledge is not engineering. It's hacking.

<comment><USER4> Yes. Mainstream programming is more art than engineering, like how we built buildings before statics.

<comment><USER5> Buildings before statics were not built by 'art'. That entire 'programming is not like engineering' analogy is just terrible in almost every conceivable dimension, despite its enduring popularity.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Why choose this problem to solve in 2018? NAT is a hacky solution to an old problem which is fixed by IPv6.

<comment><USER8> It was not a design feature, but IPv4 NAT provides some anonymity that IPv6 will take away in the future (if it hasn't already).

ISPs in my area assign a prefix per customer; If you know the ISP, you know the length of the prefix, and can thus pinpoint the exact ISP customer with every connection.

On ISPv4+CGNAT, the common deployment, they can't do that.

<comment><USER7> The IPv4 equivalent of that is giving each customer their own IP which happens all the time now. Individual devices within a customer network can be uniquely identified with IPv6 though which is new.

<comment><USER8> The IPv4 equiv cannot and does not happen because of address pool size.

Most ISPs charge extra for a fixed IPv4; and many default to CGNAT which makes it impossible to correlate even within a 10 minute period.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> code is also available here: [https://github.com/vignat/vignat](https://github.com/vignat/vignat)

yay !

</comment><comment><USER9> Don't leave out NAT PCP (RFC6887)!

It's a must for p2p communication

[https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6887](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6887)

</comment><comment><USER10> I wish they tested a few adversarial conditions as well, like for instance having MANY open nat connections. At some point the memory runs out, right ?

<comment><USER3> The size of the flow table is configurable, and the NAT drops connections once the table is full. (Of course, the NAT also expires old connections)

<comment><USER10> Interesting. Does it keep actively used connections open so as to maintain as much functionality as possible if it's under attack ?

<comment><USER3> Yes, existing connections are kept as long as there is traffic often enough (in either direction) - the timeout is configurable.

<comment><USER11> This is truly amazing work, I'm glad you chose Nat as your NF example. One minor question I haven't seen answered anywhere: For vignat, in the git repository and the paper, I see no mention of software license.

May I assume that it is in the public domain, or if not, BSD licensed?

<comment><USER3> Good point. Will talk about it with the other authors. Thanks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> How does symbolic execution w KLEE work to formally verify programs, are there tradeoffs in coverage? For complete coverage you'd have to get it to cover the whole possible spaces of states and execution paths of the analyzed system.

<comment><USER13> The way they work around state space explosion is pretty cool. They push all the state off into another module, whose correctness they verify using other methods. Then they tell the symbolic execution engine that the state-holding module does not misbehave. So it's a hybrid -- use each verification technique where it's strong, to shore up the weaknesses/shortcomings in the other one.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Anyone know if there is anyone working on an equivalent of ascl or verifast for golang?

</comment><comment><USER15> How does this work with IPV6 ?

<comment><USER16> It's easy to prove correctness for IPv6 NAT: if you're doing it, it's wrong.

<comment><USER17> Let's imagine a small business with two IPv6-capable ISPs & a router. They want to make effective use of their two links for load balancing & failover.

There's not a chance that BGP is going to get set up or that their own IP allocation is going to happen.

How do you propose they implement multi-homing for their entire network? How do you propose they balance their link utilization?

<comment><USER16> >There's not a chance that BGP is going to get set up or that their own IP allocation is going to happen.

Why not? There's no restrictions on V6, unlike V4 where a small biz might not be able to afford even a /24.

<comment><USER17> Here are the three most significant problems from my perspective:

(1) Cost - IP allocation isn't close to free, either in $ or in time/administrative overhead.

(2) Technical Complexity - Using routing protocols like BGP is not currently a process with enough automated tooling to make it realistic

Those problems could likely be overcome with concerted effort.

But the biggest problem of all may be what this would do to the size of global routing tables. We've already got a problem with routing table size exploding with more and more people advertising smaller and smaller prefixes. All of that high-performance ram is expensive. That routing table is globally replicated.

If it were affordable for everyone to announce their own prefixes, routing tables would be prohibitively large. I don't think we yet have any good answers to this problem, and I am genuinely interested if you are aware of any.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Where Do I Put My Business Rules and Validation? - <AUTHOR> https://builtwithdot.net/blog/where-do-i-put-my-business-rules-and-validation <comment><USER2> Short version: Use Domain Driven Design. Business Rules / Validation go into the Value Objects (a name, an address, etc.) that make up an entity (a unique customer, business account, etc.). The article defines each term in the previous sentence and gives a sample as to how to perform it.

For a Functional Programming perspective or if you are a F# user, the Pragmatic Bookshelf book "Domain Modeling Made Functional" covers DDD architecture from a functional perspective and was an informative read.</comment>


Self-driving cars and the Trolley problem - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@tanayj/self-driving-cars-and-the-trolley-problem-5363b86cb82d

<comment><USER2> Made me think of a dystopian future where the autonomous car would use the few milliseconds it had to make its choice to set up an auction where the bots of the insurers of the involved parties would bid on the outcome of that choice.

The scary thing is that I don't think that is extremely far fetched.

</comment><comment><USER3> The closing example is quite good--if it's _my_ vehicle, I'd rather expect it to prioritize me over the other car. At the same time, what if I'm behind on payments? Or the other car contains a company shareholder?

What a mess.</comment>


I am a hacker, not a decorator - Design candies are not for me - <AUTHOR> http://www.pixelonomics.com/design-candies-not-for-me/

<comment><USER2> Some people would claim that his own site is over-designed and too pretty. He isn't exactly following the Bauhaus tradition himself.

Pretty can be functional, in fact pretty is functional. Pretty is about expression and exploration. Pretty doesn't solve it all alone but neither does function.

Would you critique a blogger because his posts where way too philosophical and reflective rather than utilitarian?

Would you critique a developer for creating experiments in HTML5 that have no utility?

I would agree with him if HP, Amazon, BP and all the other fortune 500 companies where pretty over functional but they are not.

His argument is based on sites who's purpose is to be explorative and expressive not purely functional.

Design is not about style, but style is a tool the designer can use.

<comment><USER3> There is a difference between experimenting and intention. Experiments are fine but this is more about what you put in practice.

Anyways, I don't critique their experiment but their intention. If you experiment to make it 'prettier' then it's a fail. Experiment to make it more functional.

Your point "functional is pretty" - is very true. Nothing better than the thing that works.

<comment><USER2> With what right do you consider yourself in the position to judge their intention?

Judging intention is probably the least useful form of argument.

Why should it be a fail to experiment with making it prettier? What exactly is wrong with that?

You are falling victim to your own critique. You are judging based on your subjective opinion about some ones intentions. Which is fine. Just don't claim it to be somehow a more rational argument.

<comment><USER4> _With what right do you consider yourself in the position to judge their intention?_

This is easier with some kind of sites than with others. If it's a company site trying to sell a product or a service, then obviously the intention is to... sell you the product or service. If the "design" doesn't push that intention or gets in the way of you learning about the product and why you want to buy it, then they've failed.

With personal sites and blogs it's harder to judge, and I'd agree with you. But I think in those places design (at least in the sense that the author is talking about) is less important. Someone's personal site might in part be a sandbox or playground to try out new HTML5 or CSS techniques.

Everyone's opinion is subjective. Claiming that that somehow invalidates the argument is disingenuous. Like everything, it's a continuum -- some things are easier to "objectively" judge, others are not and are more a matter of taste and experimentation.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Here are a few pretty and functional designs (in my opinion):

<http://www.airbnb.com/> <http://www.flickr.com/> <http://carbonmade.com/> <http://tenderapp.com/> <http://new.myfonts.com> <http://www.made.com/>

<comment><USER6>
      > http://new.myfonts.com

Way too busy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> The car door analogy is faulty. A designer spent a lot of time making that car door look pretty -after- an engineer made it work. It isn't that exact shape just because it works.

<comment><USER8> I disagree. The engineer made it work, by understanding the handle mechanisms, positioning it so that it was reachable and provided enough leverage to move the door. In essence, the engineer 'designed' the door. The author's argument is that design refers to functionality and usability - not only aesthetic appeal. Yes, appealing colors and gradients make the site easier on the eyes, and should be included as a subset of the entire design process.

My interpretation is that design encompasses all UI interactions, and the author feels that too many self-described designers defer to the aesthetics while underplaying other important considerations like usability and intuitiveness, even though the title of designer implies (or should imply) those.

<comment><USER4> _The engineer made it work, by understanding the handle mechanisms, positioning it so that it was reachable and provided enough leverage to move the door._

Did an engineer design that, or did the equivalent of an interaction designer do it?

<comment><USER8> A car door analogy is weak, simply because I don't know enough about how they are designed and built. Maybe an artist goes to town, and then the engineers and interaction team have to bend over backwards to make the concept work (probably a bad way go about making car doors!).

Still my point is that aesthetics, functionality, and usability are all subsets of design (according to the author).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> If the designers you work with prefer "pretty" over "usable," then you should find better designers. I've worked with plenty who do not fit this tunnel- vision visual designer stereotype.

The article is based on a false dichotomy that's part of the unending design v. engineering meta-argument. "Best design is ugly – and it works"? Rather, the best design works - and is pretty.

<comment><USER3> I guess I messed up with words here.

Pretty v/s Decoration. Rephrasing: "Best design is not decorated – and it works. + It is pretty, because it works."

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Hackers are good at design too, but not in the visual aspect but in the structural and architectural ones. Hackers do strive for simplicity and elegance in the smallest hack. Best example is of Unix. It has this inherent "design" in it, which makes it appealing to all hackers. Add a layout of awesome UI and you have the Mac. All the rich features with a decent packaging.

</comment><comment><USER11> If you follow delicious hotlist, you'll find some of the unusable-but-pretty designs he mentions... but you'll find more of the pretty-but-usable ones.

The usable get rewarded for their usability by being used.

<comment><USER3> No true-er words were every spoken before.

Thanks for throwing this perspective man. Now I know I really should stop caring about CSS Galleries and 'make it pretty designer gatherings'

A designer's true reward is 'used'.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Perhaps a bit combative, but yeah, he's got a good point about pretty over functional

<comment><AUTHOR> Ya, I think he was pissed at designers makeing non-functional "pretty" sites

<comment><USER13> That's not as common as it used to be, is it? I do still run into sites that annoy me, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was during the first wave of "this entire site will be in Flash because that lets us do cool design stuff" web design.

<comment><USER3> Well now they have a new one. "Let's make it web 2.0"

And what they mean is more 'gradients and bigger buttons'. Instead of more 'easy to interact and find a way to connect" (true spirit of web 2.0)

<comment><USER14> Web 2.0 could also be construed as a philosophical and artistic (pertaining to visual style) movement.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> In my experience, pretty wins over functional. I'm the first to be saddened by that but it's true.

<comment><USER16> like gmail or google docs are pretty? or youtube player? or google.com?</comment></comment>


When your girl dumps you because you're spending too much time on your startup - <AUTHOR> http://vh.co/lnpBR8

<comment><USER2> Wondering why he doesn't participate in a car sharing service...</comment>


Is Upwork Posting Fake Jobs to Keep Freelancers Bidding? - <AUTHOR> https://hackernoon.com/is-upwork-posting-fake-jobs-to-keep-freelancers-bidding-a-deep-dive-4f12q328p <comment><USER2> This would explain the template spam I recently came across.

Here are a couple samples:

Full stack web developer for {type of app or your company name}

About us: {Description of your company and target audience}

What we're looking for: develop a website for independent living program. An experienced full stack developer to help kick-start/build on {description of website or platform}. We need someone to work on {specific project requirements}. The project is based on {software platforms, frameworks, languages, databases used by your company}.

We need the following deliverables: \- Deliverable #1 by {date} \- Deliverable #2 by {date} \- ...

To complete all the deliverables, the right developer will have experience in the following: \- Experience translating designer mock-ups and wireframes into front-end code \- {Software platforms, frameworks, languages, databases, unit tests, version control, APIs}

In your proposal, please share a brief summary of your experience and tell us about a recent full stack web development project you worked on.

 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __*

Copywriting for {type of product or your company name} Email Marketing

About us: Funnel marketing and landing pages

We're currently on the lookout for a world-class copywriter to help us write {types of assets}. The copy will highlight {brand benefits or business objectives}.

Deliverables: \- Copy for {assets needed for the campaign} \- Copy suggestions to conceptualize marketing campaigns \- One potential round of rewrites based on client feedback

This project requires: \- Copywriting expertise \- Background at {list agency, in-house, etc.} \- Creativity and ability to conceptualize \- Familiarity with {your company or industry}

In your proposal, please share a brief summary of your experience and tell us about your most successful copywriting project to date.

</comment><comment><USER3> If this is true (which I highly suspect it is) I cannot in good conscience _ever_ give another dollar to Upwork, and will actively spread the word of what is happening. To play games with individuals who generally have no safety net, in a time like this, is reprehensible. I'll be following this closely and hope there is a better explanation for this.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is what happens when you go public! The pressure to earn more (by hook or crook) also increases in times like these. As the author states, this started happening more only after Upwork got listed on NASDAQ, not earlier when they were still a solid private company.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Wouldn't surprise me, freelancer.com seems to do the same, there's lots of requests that receive many offers but never choose any and are left undone.

</comment><comment><USER5> Reminds me of when Reddit's founders would post under a variety of usernames to make it seem there was interest and build SEO.

</comment><comment><USER6> For those who don't read all the way down in the article, the disclaimers are relevant:

> _Disclaimer: The author has based his analyses and inferences on > conversations between the author and an Upwork Insider._

> _Disclaimer: The author works for goLance, an UpWork competitor._</comment>


Ask HN: Rejected from nearly every college. What can/should I do? - <AUTHOR> I'm such a failure. I was supposed to be the one. The first one to do things differently. The first one to go to college. The first one to lead my family out of poverty. Growing up I was bright but I don't know what happened. At the beginning of freshman year, I was two math classes ahead. It's senior year and I'm a class behind. I'm at the point where I'm killing myself of school and not being able to live on to my expectations. Being an immigrant makes things much harder. I have no idea how I'm going to pay for college....if I get into one. Rejection after rejection. 13 rejections so far and 0 acceptances. I couldn't even get into the state school. I suck at taking tests. What is wrong with me?
I'm at the end of my rope. Everything is crumbling around me and I have no idea what to do or who to talk to. I don't care what anyone says but seeing your mom cry fucking hurts. I don't want anyone to see the failure under the hoodie so I don't show my face in class. I guess this is the end.
They say failure is a good thing but when your entire future is on the line, failure is the worst thing to happen to you. I failed. I'm sorry mom. I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry everyone. I failed you. So much for being sober. I hope you can forgive me. I have no idea what to do. I feel like a failure and a disappointment to my parents.
Somebody help me. Please. <comment><USER2> If you live in the US then you should look into community colleges that offer transfer degrees. Many offer automatic acceptance into a public 4 year university if you do well enough. PLUS it will save you a ton of money.

<comment><AUTHOR> Would getting a transfer degree at a community college be better than getting an associates that ties in with the field I want to study? I intend on studying until I get my Masters but I don't know if I should go for an associates in something that relates closely to CS or get a transfer degree in science.

<comment><USER3> Do your research.

There is no such thing as a "transfer degree". You either transfer or you do not.

Get an associates, the paper looks good, it's an ego boost, and it will make your family proud of you. After you get your bachelor's, the associate's will not matter for anything.

A community college is a great way to get into a far better school than you could have anyway, I'm living proof. This is because your GPA resets when you start junior college, and a 3.0 GPA on a junior college will get you into a much better school than a 3.7 would have in high school.

Just get in there, and don't screw up your grades. If you are not going to get a high grade in the class, drop it and then re-take it. It's a weasel thing to do, but it's better than getting a shitty grade in your record.

It's no big deal the situation you are in. Just work at it intelligently. You will actually save a ton of money than if you had gone to a 4-year college for all 4 (or 5 or 6) years from the beginning.

<comment><USER4> > There is no such thing as a "transfer degree". You either transfer or you do > not.

The name may be different at different places, but transfer-guaranteed programs _do_ exist. For instance in California community colleges, the "Associate Degree for Transfer" [0], the University of California Transfer Admission Guarantee program [1], and California State University Transfer Admission Agreements and Transfer Admission Guarantees [2].

[0] [http://adegreewithaguarantee.com/](http://adegreewithaguarantee.com/) [1] [http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files...](http://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/files/tag- matrix.pdf) [2] [https://www.calstate.edu/transfer/apply/priority- agreements....](https://www.calstate.edu/transfer/apply/priority- agreements.shtml)

<comment><USER3> Ah good to know. I actually did the UC transfer thing, when I did it those guarantees for he UC system did not exist.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It is not a failure it is only a hiccup... I was 16 when i came to USA from Poland. I was struggling with English so after high school I decided to go to community college to learn English. I was two years behind everyone in my age group but I finally transferred to Penn State.

In my last year I decided to take a "break" from school to focus on my start up and I don't feel lie I failed because I didn't finish school, even though my parents were sad about my choice and I felt like I disappointed them.

If you worry about paying for college then it is not that hard as it may seem if you are willing to put some work into it. There is many options for Financial Aid or scholarships and they are not only reserved for the best students. My parents weren't able to pay for my school so I had to pay for it. I started working in a construction company during summer to pay for school. Whenever i was able to work over time I did. After summer i was always able to pay for my school and I had money saved up to live without asking my parents for financial support. I didn't have much but it was enough to not starve.

In the end, owner of the construction company now is my co-founder and is financing my start up and my English is still bad, but I am working on it all the time! You will always come across challenges but there is always solution to everything, You just need to work for it.

</comment><comment><USER6> Whatever you do, please don't give up. Your future is still ahead of you and you haven't failed yet. As cheesy as this may sound, there is so much more to life that you have yet to experience.

If you don't receive an acceptance to a college and reside in the US, I highly recommend attending a community college and transferring to a university.

I know because I went into high school a bright student as well, and like you, I came out without many options. I felt as if I had failed my family because I was the oldest of four and I was supposed to be the first one in my family to go to college. During my senior year of high school, I decided that I wasn't going to let my failures stop me from succeeding.

I went to the local community college, stayed focus, and transferred after two years to one of the top public universities in the United States with scholarships that paid for my entire education.

Now I'm here in the Bay Area, as passionate as ever about pursuing a career in software development. I still have a long road ahead of me and so do you.

</comment><comment><USER7> Shut up. Being melodramatic is annoying.

Apply to community college, do that bit, go to uni, get a job.

Maybe not all in that order. Maybe join the service. Lots of options out there. My own path was 5.5 years Marine Corps Reserve, while working, while raising a little one, while going to community college when I could. Now I'm still going to community college but earned a position as a software dev for a company.

Maybe I never got a software job, who cares. It's a job, and there are plenty of jobs out there. The immortal words to aspire to: 'man can't find work, ain't lookin hard enough' \- Jayne Cobb.

</comment><comment><USER8> Does your school have a guidance office? A teacher you trust? Go talk to them - find out what your options are, preferably from a sympathetic voice.

</comment><comment><USER9> See if your 4-year college offers continuing education classes: you don't typically need to go through an acceptance process to get into those classes. After a couple of semesters, see about matriculating over to the undergrad program. The process for applying as an existing student is different than for incoming freshman. This is how I got into college in 1986.

</comment><comment><USER10> I am really sorry to hear about your recent struggles. I am no stranger to feeling this way.

Right now you are thinking there are no options to make your parents proud or fulfill your life goals. Don't ever think there are no options. We can't always follow our desired path that we lay out for ourselves. Sometimes we have to follow a different path because of unforeseeable, or sometimes, self- inflicting circumstances. In a perfect life I would have gone to film school after high school, but instead I ended up doing a bunch of other stuff until I graduated with a B.S. when I was 31.

You are going to need to way your options. As others have said you should consider community college. It is cheap, and if your parents can help you, you can work part-time and afford it. After two years of community college you can transfer to a state college.

Everyone has failed, my friend. Pick yourself back up. I know it is hard, I know it feels like the future is dim, but it isn't.

If you want to talk further my email is my username @gmail.com

</comment><comment><USER11> You got turned down for college. That does not count as "such a failure".

These things happen. A kid in my neighborhood ended up sitting out a year. I would suggest that you go to the local community college. You might want to go part time and work, to have something else to think about besides school.

If you feel as if you need some space from your parents, you could join the Navy. They aren't going to stick you on a firebase in Afghanistan, they will clothe and feed and train you. The tech blogger Steve Yegge was in the Navy before he went to college, and I have relatives that did so.

</comment><comment><USER12> Take my advice with a huge grain of salt. Also, the below advice is base entirely on the assumption you live in the US. I do not know how other countries operate so I can't comment.

1\. Take some time away from school after high school. I know people want to rush and get it over with but moving forward when you are in this state some times can create the opposite outcome you want.

2\. When you feel better, enroll in a local community college and work your way back towards transferring to a university. Apply for financial aid.

</comment><comment><USER13> It isn't over, not by a long shot.

It looks like you can code. Turn your internship into a job at a small web dev company and code. Take classes part time at the Community and work your way up if GPA is the problem.

Also if you have trouble staying sober, find a program or new friends, do whatever it takes to stay sober. Future you will look back and see this as your pivot.

</comment><comment><USER14> Go to community college and do really well. I know of people (including myself) who successully transferred to ivy leagues after cc. This is not the end.

<comment><AUTHOR> I didn't know that was actually possible. I'm going to find out where to go on Monday after talking to my counselor. Just need time to think about things.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> See a therapist, maybe. If you're suicidal, call your insurance company and tell them you feel like you may be at risk to yourself.

<comment><USER16> No, if you're suicidal, __call the National Suicide Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 __. There is someone there who will talk to you and will listen.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> You can go to another country were education is free and without exams to get into the university

<comment><AUTHOR> Where would I need to look for that? Also judging from your username, I have a feeling you are Nigerian just like me and I find that pretty cool.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> what would you like to do after college? start doing that now. remember, college is a trap for many, and you might hav e just dodged a bullet.

<comment><USER19> I tend to agree, college isn't always the answer depending on what you want to do.

OP if you are looking to do the development/startup kid thing, school may not be the answer at all. Start building stuff and getting to know people. Look around the internet for books and study your ass off. Maybe move to a college town that has a lot of cs grads and start meeting them/dropping in on cs classes.

Think of it this way; You get to save a boatload on student loans while also giving yourself a lot more time to study/create cool things. In my opinion it will also make you more independent and in turn stronger because you won't have your hand held like most college students.

College isn't for everyone but it can, at times, be a much tougher path to start down on. No matter what you decide is right for you though, the number one thing you should be doing is BUSTING YOUR ASS studying/creating things(I really can't say this enough). There is no point in making your future harder by being lazy in a time of struggle and uncertainty.

So get to it and best of luck!

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> First off: Asking for help means that you aren't anywhere close to a failure. We all hit our limits at some point - the thing that separates the successful from the unsuccessful is that the former recognize their limits and get help when they hit them.

Going or not going to college will not make or break you! A lot of young kids seem to have a view that if they don't go to college, they're destined for a minimum-wage job for the rest of their lives. This isn't true. What will land you there is giving up - so don't!

If you want continuing education, community college is an excellent place to start. It's much, _much_ cheaper than a university, and you can complete all your "bullshit" classes there at cut rates while earning transfer credits that you can then take to a university. With tuition and student loan rates where they're at, I'm not sure that spending your first couple of post-high school classes at a university is necessarily a wise economic choice, anyhow!

Second, what did you want to study in college, and what do you want to work as when you graduate? No _matter_ what the answer is, here is the single best thing you can do for your future: Find a way to start working in your target industry. Internships are the traditional way to do this, but there are lots of ways in. The important thing is that you start accruing industry experience _now_. Unless you want to be a MD, civil engineer, or lawyer, your degree is probably not going to make or break your career aspirations - it may make it easier to get interviews and find interest from employers, but at the end of the day, an employer is going to care about what you have done and what you can do, not what it says on your diploma. A 22-year-old with 4 years of hands- on industry experience and a couple of years of community college is going to be a lot more attractive to a lot of companies than a 22-year-old with a shiny university degree and balls-all for experience. The former comes with training and knowledge baked in - the latter has proved that they can attend class and take tests, but will have to be trained, at risk and cost to the employer.

Thirdly, _please_ talk to someone at your school (a guidance councilor, probably) about finding someone to talk to about this stuff. Counseling is not just for "broken" people - we all need it to some degree or another. You're dealing with some heavy stuff, and need someone to listen and talk through this with you. The fact that you're posting here tells me that you're open to help - your school should have resources you can take advantage of. It might hurt your pride, but it will help. Go ask.

Finally, this isn't the end. This is so cliche and cheesy, but you have your whole life ahead of you. What seems like catastrophe today will be something you look back at and see as a small speedbump in the grand scheme of things. I realize this is the most important thing in your life today (and has been for the past four years, at least!), but this is not the most important thing you'll do in life. That honor is further down the road yet. :)

You have drive and you care. That puts you ahead of SO many of your peers. Find someone you can talk to, get out this anger and frustration you're feeling (it's okay to feel it! Really!), and then figure out how to channel that frustration into solutions.

My dad always told me that there are no "No's". If you are told no, then just keep going until you'll find someone who will tell you "Yes" (if for no other reason than you've annoyed them so much that they'll give you what you want to shut you up. /g). It won't be easy, but it will get you what you want.

Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER20> First of all, relax. Life isn't about accomplishment. It's about conscious experience. Everyone who isn't Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, or Elon Musk is a "failure" compared to them. And they in turn might be considered failures compared to Augustus Caesar.

If you want to get better at taking tests, then practice them a lot. It's like getting good at chess. Anyone can do it, even people of average intelligence.

As someone else said here, you could first go to a community college and then transfer to a full university.

</comment><comment><USER21> Do not let this define you.</comment>


The fastest way to migrate from Auth0 - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/FusionAuth/fusionauth-import-scripts <comment><USER2> What's the impetus or context here? I feel like I am missing something.</comment>


Plastic rain is the new acid rain - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/06/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain/ <comment> IX-103 Yes, pollution is bad, but in some ways it's good that the plastic is getting spread out. Low levels spread across a wide area makes it more likely some bacteria would evolve to be able to eat it efficiently.

Of course it still sucks if you want to drink the water or breathe the air and there are all these polymers in them.

<comment><USER2> It would be quite a bit better if it was all in one place so the bacteria we are engineering to eat them have one particular place they can be deployed instead of the plastic microparticles and polymers wrecking havoc everywhere. If all the plastic was just stable in a giant landfill, it wouldn't even be that much of a problem/a significant ecological risk.

<comment><USER3> It isn't clear to me quite how risky these plastics are - is a grain of plastic worse than say a grain of sand?

Sure, the sand has more density so usually settles sooner, but apart from that both are effectively biologically inert.

<comment><USER2> Plastic is not biologically inert. Micro plastics accumulate inside tissues and many plastics contain endocrine disruptors, including some non BPA plastics. Glass waste (basically just sand) is not a big problem pollution wise since like sand it's basically just a rock, but plastic does break down slowly, making it far more of a concern.

<comment><USER3> Sand and rocks break down slowly too, and frequently give off heavy metals, arsenic, etc. in the process.

What's key is defining the magnitude of the harm of each, and just stating 'X million microparticles' doesn't do it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Some stay dry and others feel the pain...

<comment><USER5> Microplastics running through our veins</comment></comment>


Show HN: In-view.js – Get notified when DOM elements enter or exit the viewport - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/camwiegert/in-view <comment><USER2> There is an emerging standard called Intersection Observer that addresses the same use case: [https://github.com/WICG/IntersectionObserver/blob/gh- pages/e...](https://github.com/WICG/IntersectionObserver/blob/gh- pages/explainer.md)

This is a really useful problem to solve. But, I would personally prefer to solve it with a polyfill for a standardized approach that will eventually receive native implementation.

<comment><AUTHOR> I hear you. But, isn't this just an editor's draft spec? Only Chrome and Android have done any implementation at all. So, as far as I can tell, there's a chance this will never be fully implemented? And, because it's a draft, the spec could change significantly. Is that right?

<comment><USER3> A spec being draft seems like an odd reason to ignore it and do a completely different API.

Intersection Observer has been implemented in Chrome since 51, and Opera since 38. It's currently being implemented in Firefox ( [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1243846](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1243846) ), and is "likely" from Edge ([https://developer.microsoft.com/en- us/microsoft-edge/platfor...](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft- edge/platform/status/intersectionobserver/) ).

in-view.js's API is certainly less likely to be the cross-platform API than Intersection Observer. Also, plenty of APIs are implemented by browsers at the editor's draft stage.

<comment><AUTHOR> I was sincerely asking all of those questions. I'm not very familiar with the process these specs go through to reach adoption.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I know that this type of functionality is useful, but please consider the performance implications before doing anything like this. Non-native implementations (i.e. not IntersectionObserver) _always_ use properties and methods that cause style and layout calculations which have a significant performance impact on low-powered devices.

A more comprehensive list is here[1], but the main culprits are HTMLElement.offset{Width,Height}, Element.client{Width,Height}, and Window.getComputedStyle(). Avoid these, _especially_ on events like scroll. You will ruin the experience for many of your users.

[1] [https://gist.github.com/paulirish/5d52fb081b3570c81e3a](https://gist.github.com/paulirish/5d52fb081b3570c81e3a)

<comment><USER5> and it's impossible to achieve it without probing those attributes.

some advertising libraries solve that, since the advertising industry deals in in-view ad impressions for a few years now, by being smart about when to do it. the best one is called safeFrames. others like moat detect if the user has a fast computer, abuse it to no end, and then extrapolate the results for the whole audience.

i expect all of them to move to the native APIs soon (but Android fragmentation will make it slow)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> There are a lot of edge cases to handle when creating a library like that and I cannot see them dealt with in this library.

More than three years ago I created in-viewport and have perfected it since. [https://github.com/vvo/in-viewport](https://github.com/vvo/in-viewport) it's used on fortune 500 websites along with my lazyloader ([https://github.com/vvo/lazyload](https://github.com/vvo/lazyload)).

[https://github.com/camwiegert/in- view/issues/7](https://github.com/camwiegert/in-view/issues/7)

</comment><comment><USER7> I hope this gets used for good, not evil. Lots of sites (you know, _those_ sites, they crop on on HN from time to time) flash up "give me your email address so I can send you spam" boxes before I can read the blog post. Or when it thinks I've gone somewhere else when in fact I just opened it in a new tab. Or if a momentarily switched away. I mostly close blogs that aggressively try to sell me things, but sometimes I want to read the content.

Conversations about what's an app and what's a document aside, I'd much rather documents didn't know anything about how they were being displayed.

<comment><USER8> It's unfortunate. However, it's been shown over and over to have the best conversion rate for getting people's emails, so it's a trend that's only going to become more popular from here (until the next high conversion pattern is developed).

<comment><USER9> Not necessarily. Google just announced that, in the name of accessibility, they will start penalizing sites that use them.

[https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/08/helping-users- easi...](https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2016/08/helping-users-easily- access-content-on.html)

<comment><USER10> I think it's only for mobile versions of a website:

"To improve the mobile search experience, after January 10, 2017, pages where content is not easily accessible to a user on the transition from the mobile search results may not rank as highly."

They define what is acceptable and not right after. I like the move though !

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Babel and webpack are megaoverkill for this and account for a good chunk of the 2k gzipped size. The actual library code is barely 140SLOC. There's a lot of room for improvement if this is intended to be a real standalone library (vs. a webpack/babel test).

<comment><USER12> I've found rollup, [https://rollupjs.org/](https://rollupjs.org/), to be really useful for this.

<comment><USER13> This looks nice. Is it as battle-tested as browserify?

<comment><USER14> tl;dr—don't use rollup with large untested dependencies

I've had projects that got really strange error messages when using rollup that completely went away when I switched back to Babel.

One "issue" with rollup is that it is not 100% semantically correct. Neither is Babel in all cases, but the creator argues that if you're not following exact semantics now, you're relying on your tests to ensure proper behavior, so use something that is at least more minimal and keeps your bundle size down.

So when you're writing code and bundling with rollup, you can pretty much ensure everything works fine, but as soon as you pull in an extensive third- party library you have no assurances that it has been tested with rollup and will work correctly in all cases. In the worst case, it will seem to work fine but in weird situations will actually error out. This was my experience with rollup.

<comment><USER14> I should clarify on my above comment, in rollup the semantics don't matter as much but if you're using Bublé instead of Babel, the semantics may very well come into play. In either case, I didn't have luck on a project until I moved fully to webpack+Babel.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Whenever you attach an event handler on scroll, it can impact page performance because the javascript needs to be evaluated before the scroll event can continue AFAIK...going from some old Paul Irish talk on performance.

The #1 killer he found responsible for "jankiness" (that horrible scroll feeling where the page scroll is unresponsive and not 60 fps smooth) is by people attaching event handlers on the scroll event that take more than a few ms to complete, thus reducing the frame rate of the page.

It seems like this library is throttling the evaluation of the event handler but you still need to be careful as to not solve one performance problem and create another. I know I personally _hate_ slow scrolling web pages.

This seems like something that should be implemented in some as yet unreleased CSS selector. But that still won't stop people from abusing it.

<comment><USER14> Whenever I rely on scroll information, I store the event info I need on the scroll event in some variable, and the logic that would normally be placed in the callback goes in a separate requestAnimationFrame loop. This way, even if it takes a few ms, it doesn't impact the scroll speed of the page. I wish more developers did this.

<comment><USER16> Ah the good old "GET OFF THE UI THREAD!"

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Only yesterday I implemented this in an application, although a bit simpler (is the user < n pixels from the bottom of the document? then render more heavy stuff) so yeah, that's a pretty recurrent use case for a library like that.

<comment><USER15> That only works for content that is statically (absolute) positioned?

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> I made something similar for use with Knockout.js. Love your clear code and efficient implementation! I will probably swap out my core logic for yours.

Some here have mentioned the webpack overhead, and suggested rollup.js. I've had great results with rollup for these teeny-tiny browser-focused projects.

</comment><comment><USER19> Definitely a problem that needs solving, but we run the risk of implementing too many 'bite-size' libraries with code that could probably serve better as helper extensions to already existing toolkits e.g. jQuery, underscore, etc.

</comment><comment><USER20> Similar to [https://github.com/customd/jquery- visible](https://github.com/customd/jquery-visible) which I use a lot.

</comment><comment> angry-hacker Won't this be a performance killer?

<comment><USER21> Depends on how you use it and on how much elements. I am not sure if this is even worth to be a library. Sometimes I am wondering why people want to use a lib for everything.

<comment><USER22> I agree, many times a library isn't necessary. In backbone.js I solved this with an interval triggering a global event which sends current scroll pos to all listening views.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Interesting project. I wonder if you might be willing to outline a few use cases?

<comment><USER23> One of the best use cases is lazy loading expensive data until the div is visible. Image loading, or even fetching a resource. You essentially get this for free in native apps (iOS/Android with recycled views) but there hasn't been a great way to accomplish this on the web.

Note: this is definitely not the same as a recycled view. But can help accomplish one aspect

<comment><USER24> Yes, lazy loading is a good use case.

Echo.js ([https://github.com/toddmotto/echo](https://github.com/toddmotto/echo)) is another small no-dependency library (1.89 KB minified), which detects elements appearing on screen, and goes a step further to swap the "src" attribute with a placeholder for lazy loading and unloading.

Disclosure: I've submitted a pull request to it.</comment></comment></comment>


Dragdis May Be The Best Bookmarking Tool Ever - <AUTHOR> http://theultralinx.com/2014/03/dragdis-bookmarking-tool.html

<comment><USER2> > How come things didn't work like this before?

They kind of did. I can drag any image, link, favicon to my bookmarks toolbar in Chrome and it works exactly as expected. Ok, I can't drag to something that tweets/fb posts it, but I wouldn't want that to be a function of a bookmark manager anyway.

<comment><AUTHOR> And do you use it that way?

<comment><USER2> It's rare that I bookmark images directly, but I usually create a bookmark by dragging the favicon to the relevant folder in the bookmark bar. I have lots of bookmarks and adding them via Chrome's ctrl+d dialog is painful.</comment></comment></comment>