'Ancestors' Is an Audacious Experiment. I Never Want to Play It Again - <AUTHOR> https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7x5v5z/ancestors-is-an-audacious-experiment-i-never-want-to-play-it-again <comment><USER2> > _You'll be able to read message board threads with people sharing hints and > discoveries, or sit around with a group of friends and pass the controller, > as someone decides to test a hypothesis. I didn't have that. It might go > against the spirit of the game, but it's also going to prove a necessary > relief valve. And maybe it's not against the spirit of the game at all! > Maybe it reflects how different tribes would exchange information, helping > the species as a whole._

Given our own ancestry and evolution, it sounds like that's _exactly_ the right approach to this game - gaining knowledge not by slowly evolving into it, like birds who instinctively know how to build nests, but by learning from others by observation and tutelage.

<comment><USER3> Very cool, definitely a game to be played without any tutorials lying around

<comment><USER4> Reading this article, sounds like Cameron Howe's game from the TV series _Halt and Catch Fire_ (which in turn was a fictional precursor to Myst and Tomb Raider).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Everything from the UI, to the movement, the blurriness and the intro message is reminiscent of the original Assassin's Creed. Not surprising that the credits show at least six people from the original Assassin's Creed team in addition to Patrice Désilets:

\- Jean-François Boivin

\- Philippe Debay

\- Alex Drouin

\- Frédéric Laporte

\- Luc Tremblay

\- Sacha Viltofsky

</comment><comment><USER6> First time I have head about this game, the concept seems fantastic.

About needing to share info online, it reminds me of the Dark Souls series. The game series was made with the need to share tips in online forums (and through a system in game), in mind.</comment>


Ask HN: How do you organize your physical documents at home? - <AUTHOR>

I have lots of paper for taxes, receipts, statements, bills, letters, brochures. currently they are just tucked into various folders ad-hoc and put into a cabinet in no particular order.<p>Any tips or experience on how to sort things and keep them organized? <comment><USER3> First, I suggest you get a Fujitsu ScanSnap or other straight-to-Evernote scanner. Seriously, because once you start doing that you will realise how little you actually need to keep in paper format.

What remains depends on your life situation I suspect, but for ideas, here is what I do:

Some papers are truly important. I like to put those in one of those expanding files with multiple slots and a carry handle. I have one for my personal papers (will, passport, birth certificates etc), one for taxes and one for the house documents. These should be stuff that if the house is on fire, you want to grab and take with you.

Having taken care of the stuff you don't need in physical form, and the really important stuff you must curate carefully, that leaves a bunch of other stuff. In my case that is mostly product manuals and warranties, and personal and travel memorabilia. While I am not a hardcore GTDer by any stretch, I do follow it for filing: get a filing cabinet, a good label maker, hanging folders and file folders, and file the hell out of everything. For example for product manuals, have a hanging folder for kitchen appliances, put each separate manual in a file folder, label the folder with your labelmaker, insert file folder into hanging folder.

General clutter guidelines apply, like handle everything once, think about whether you really need this ever again (this is where scanning really helps you, as you don't have to agonise too much about the decision), etc.

<comment><USER4> Search for and download those product manuals and put them in a digital shelf. You never look at them, anyway, do you? Most manuals can be easily found on the web these days.

Unless I plan to resell a small electronic, I don't keep the manuals. Small electronics I keep the box, manual, everything, but in a box in a closet. It does help resale vlaue.

Otherwise 100% agree. I'm just amazed you're a scanner, but you keep paper manuals.

<comment><USER3> _I'm just amazed you're a scanner, but you keep paper manuals._

Don't worry, I understand it sounds peculiar.

One reason I keep manuals is for when I re-sell the product later, like you said. I also freecycle a lot of stuff, I feel it's nice to give people the manual. Also they are not zero-effort to scan - some of them are larger than letter size, you have to take the staples out if you have a feeder-scanner and so on. Given I can fit them all in one filing drawer, it doesn't seem to be worth the hassle. And if that is all you are filing, it is actually faster to pull the manual out of the drawer than it is to look for it on a computer, print out the page with the diagram you want, and so on.

If it helps, I generally throw out boxes. I used to keep them for resale but it got out of control, so the only boxes I keep now is for stuff where the box comes with special packing inserts that I would need if I had to move - <USER2> means computer cases and monitors basically.

<comment><USER4> Ok, but I've never had to scan them - it's been literally years since I haven't been able to find a manual online.

We all have our quirks. I just hate paper/clutter. More than I love books, which means my book collection is in limbo...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Here's my system.

Every piece of paper gets a number written on it in bold felt-tip pen.

This number is near unique - usually the date that I'm filing it, sometimes a "natural date" such as a date on the paper itself.

I file them all in a single box, in order.

In a file I have a line per item. It starts with the number, then has as many "tags" as I can think of. This takes about 20 seconds per piece of paper.

grep is your friend.

Finding any item is now easy, and there are no decisions to make when doing the filing. I copy the index file to my handheld and laptop. Occasionally I print it, although I haven't done that in ages.

A few items are filed in separate files, but those are obvious.

<comment><USER6> You could use one of those stamps automatically counting one up when used.

I'll try this. What hinders me from scanning is that you flip through paper much faster than through a bunch of pdf-files.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> The Bodleian library in Oxford is one of the largest in the world, and they have a very simple way of organizing books: They are numbered as they come in, go onto a shelf in that order, and an entries are made in a database saying where to find each book.

I use more or less this same approach: Everything goes into a stack, and when I need something I just do an interpolation search through the pile using the date of the document as a key.

</comment><comment><USER8> I had a great system for the kind of documents that you will only need in the far future, or not at all, but for which it would be a major issue if you actual need them but can't find them: tax stuff, receipts, statements, bills...

For this kind of documents you want to minimize the probability of loss, minimize the time to file them, and are not too concerned of the time to retrieve them. For this a drawer is perfect: just put them in the top of the drawer, and do not use this drawer for anything else. It does not look very professional but is very effective:

\- It takes 1 sec, thus diminishing the probability of not doing it and losing the paper.

\- Documents are organized chronologically, so you can find what you are looking for quite quickly. Just be sure to religiously keep everything in chronological order.

Once per year, transfer the drawer's content to a folder. If you fill up more than one drawer per year this system might not be good enough for you.

Alas, my gf did not see the beauty of this system, and insists on having a highly sophisticated and complex storage system that I think is strictly inferior on every account.

</comment><comment><USER9> I use the noguchi filing system (<http://www.lise.jp/noguchi.html>). Basically, it's just an LRU for documents. No categories, no filtering, just insert everything on the left side (whether it's new or something you just accessed).

I think any filing system you use needs to have O(1) no thought required inserts because inserts are so much more common than reads. I'm willing to tolerate a bit of time looking for what I need (though I can usually find everything fairly quickly) since I only do it a few times a year.

</comment><comment><USER10> Dropbox saved my life. I scan _everything_ except for the last seven years of taxes (required in the US).

<comment><USER4> Copies/scans of most everything are accepted by the IRS (Rev. Proc. 97-22).

<comment><USER10> Accepted for filing, yes. But if you get audited you are required to provide paper records:

[http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink...](http://www.irs.gov/publications/p552/ar02.html#en_US_publink10008614)

<comment><USER4> What's the point of accepting for filing (during which for many things you don't submit the record to the IRS anyway), and not accepting for audit? That seems more backward than even I'd expect the IRS to be.

The link you sent doesn't seem to back up your claim that paper records are required. As far as I can read, it simply states that if you keep records digitally that they must be kept to certain standards. Those standards seem in line with the initial submission standards.

It then references 97-22.

<comment><USER10> From IRS perspective, your filings are taken on faith, while during an audit, you are expected to have records to back up those filings.

Perhaps this article will explain my previous link more clearly:

[http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/02/afraid-of-an- audit-...](http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/02/afraid-of-an-audit-how- long-you-should-keep-tax-records/)

<comment><USER4> Yes, records, but not _paper_ records. Your latest link again reinforces the idea that you can keep scanned copies. Earlier it seemed like your point was you shouldn't scan/destroy tax records because you need paper copies in an audit. I don't see anything that agrees with that.

I keep paper copies of my tax filings because it's easy enough to do. I'm just not seeing where, if my digitals never disappear, I _need_ those paper copies to comply with the law.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Scan or take pics of them and add them to Evernote. Keep only the essentials. Works for me.

</comment><comment><USER12> Anything that comes in gets scanned to PDF, filed, and backed up to multiple disks + the cloud. If the physical copy is tax/business-related it's filed in the current year's tax folder. Otherwise its shredded.

</comment><comment><USER13> A nice big filing cabinet that's sorted alphabetically. It's been great. I put things in manila folders that are labeled with a label maker. Straight out of GTD. It's helped me a lot.

</comment><comment><USER14> I've got a few filing folders with binders, each with different color of cover: red for bills, green for hardware guarantee docs, yellow for various (mostly government) docs.

</comment><comment><USER15> ScanSnap S1300 and Mariner's Paperless (osx)

</comment><comment><USER16> A box. A big box.

<comment><USER17> Seriously.

How often do you need to find mail that you have filed? Once a month or so? How often do you need to file mail? Much more often.

Optimize for many writes and few reads. Just throw everything in a box in chronological order. Everything will be easy enough to find and VERY easy to file. The most you should do is have a couple of boxes for broad categories of stuff to file.</comment></comment>


Reverse Shell from an OpenVPN Configuration File - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/tenable-techblog/reverse-shell-from-an-openvpn-configuration-file-73fd8b1d38da <comment><USER2> The other answer if course is that piping all your internet traffic through a single 3rd party has some obvious consequences: surveillance and traffic injection being the obvious ones. If anyone thinks they use TLS extensively; run a Bro packet analyzer off a cheap switch span port for a month on your upstream router and prepare to be surprised.

<comment><USER3> Is this possible on a ubiquiti switch?

<comment><USER4> Yes. For UniFi, in the properties of the switch, go to Ports and click on the edit button for the port that should become the mirror. Then click "+" next to Profile Overrides. Under Operation, select Mirroring. Type the port number that should be mirrored and Save. I did this with a UniFi Switch 8 POE-150W.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> The long and short is that OpenVPN has a way to execute arbitrary system commands at whatever privileges the OpenVPN daemon has (usually pretty high) via a config file.

Treat OpenVPN config files the same way you'd treat a bash script you pulled from the net and were thinking of running as root. IE: read the damn thing first.

</comment><comment><USER6> That's a good example of why permissions should be opt-in, not opt-out.

I recently developed an ElasticSearch plugin and I was positively surprised at the security model: plugins have to declare the permissions they intend to use and the user has to explicitly grant them when installing the plugin.

<comment><USER7> Funny you should say that, didn't elasticsearch have a default setting last year which caused thousands of servers to be compromised?

Amazon even has an article about securing ES

[https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/how-to-control- access-...](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/how-to-control-access-to- your-amazon-elasticsearch-service-domain/)

EDIT: [https://www.zdnet.com/article/elasticsearch-ransomware- attac...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/elasticsearch-ransomware-attacks-now- number-in-the-thousands/)

> Elasticsearch was never meant to be wide-open to internet users. Elastic, > the company behind Elasticsearch, explained all this in 2013. This post is > filled with such red-letter warnings as "Elasticsearch has no concept of a > user." Essentially, anyone that can send arbitrary requests to your cluster > is a "super user."

<comment><USER8> The free version of elasticsearch still has no real authn/authz/rbac built in.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I think in general reverse SSH tunnels can be extremely risky and very handy.

I've emailed friends scripts with ssh keys that were: "Click and open a tunnel to my server", I could then help them (i.e. to save images from their raspberry pi camera directly to webdav. Or I could work on friend's raspberry pi proximity sensor in his water tank...) Very handy, very risky.

<comment><USER10> Risky? If you never revoke the SSH keys and use them for accessing normal accounts, sure.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Also since you're creating a tunnel, you should make sure your end is firewalled correctly from the incomming connections from the other side. Especially if you're a dev type and may run local services on all interfaces mindlessly or whatever.

<comment><USER12> Windows should detect a new network and should ask you about the network's security level (public, private, domain), thus applying different firewall rule-sets.

Not sure if other macOS or some Linux distro has anything similar.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Excellent article. Sounds like the devs of OpenVPN have not implemented a proper interface and have instead opted to include a catch all command to be as flexible as possible. The longer this is in place the harder it will be to remove - perhaps it's too late. Nuget made the same blunder with their ability to execute scripts on package install. Now disabled by default. VideoLAN (VLC) allowed subtitles to become so complex that there were security problems there too.

A text file used for configuration should not be an executable.

<comment><USER14> Networking is complex and requires flexibility. Executing arbitrary shell commands to set up interfaces is useful. Why should I suffer because people might use a malicious configuration file? If you're in that situation then you're doing it wrong.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I just finished doing some install automation with Ansible of the ProtonVPN ovpn configs and I'm happy to report that these settings were not in there.

<comment><USER16> Not very surprising. I'd imagine it not being very common to find ovpn configs that both allow user-defined scripts and not require any authentication. This post should be a warning for any VPN services that -don't- let you look at the configs you're using.

<comment><USER14> AFAIK it is not possible to use a configuration file without being able to look at it, am I missing something?

<comment><USER17> I think some of the free VPN services may hardcode/import a configuration so your settings areessentially baked in. Your only option is to start and stop the VPN, and maybe change the server location.

<comment><USER18> In that case you're already running code from them so what's the difference if the "exploit" is in the script or the app.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Oh, okay, so user trust on openvpn file == something malicious hidden inside.</comment>


Ask HN: Comp Sci Student with very little real world experience seeking advice - <AUTHOR>

I have just finished my first year on a Comp Sci degree at one of the top universities in the UK. However, I have very little experience with programming on my CV. I have played around and spent countless hours messing with code but I haven't actually built anything worth while and have had no experience in a job, which leaves my CV looking very empty. What would be the best route to follow to get some experience that I can actually quote? I feel that I am not good enough/experienced enough at programing to follow the open source route and I lack the experience to secure any sort of internship(and I think I would have to wait till next summer to even get one, as winter ones seem very rare, unless anyone knows of any UK-based companies that accept people over the winter?!).<p>If there is anyone out there who has been through a similar path, what did you do to get experience in programing, besides the toy examples that aren't interesting to prospective employers? <comment><USER2> Everyone has mentioned programming, but that's the not only kind of experience that helps.

If you aren't familiar with Linux, start getting comfortable with it. I got my first internship with my only real qualification being that I knew my way around a shell. My tasks were mainly just running scripts on a regular basis, but it lead to getting experience in a lot of other areas.

</comment><comment><USER3> 90% of my programming experience came from this: clubs and hobbies.

I'm sure your school has some sort of club you can join. For me, it was our IEEE student branch, where we competed in a robotics competition every year.

No club exists? START ONE! It's fun! Being a founder is fantastic for your resume, and you'll get a lot more experience than just programming.

In the next year or so, do anything you have to to get an internship.

Find a fun project to do on your own. Personally I prefer things I can touch, as opposed to PC applications. If you haven't before, check out the Arduino platform. I can give you lots of ideas of fun (and useful!) things you can do with it.

</comment><comment><USER4> I'm still in my University program, and am writing this at my internship. I was COMS for a year and a half. After the first year, I was confident in Java (don't hate), but the only job I could get was contruction or an oil field job. I've been an IT now for 5 years. I recently switched to Management of Information Systems with a focus in security. Anyways, after your first year of COMS, don't expect to have any jobs. Your more difficult programming will come next year, and then you will become a good asset for a company. If you REALLY want a job, reverse engineer a program that's already out there, or just program your ideas.

</comment><comment><USER5> _I lack the experience to secure any sort of internship_ Isn't that the point of internships, to give experience to those without any? As far as open source goes, if you don't think you have the ability to contribute read the source until you feel like you understand what is going on in the project. If you still feel like you can't contribute to a project then try to come up with an ancillary project, like a gui front end for a DB project or some sort of convenience tool.

<comment><USER3> To be fair, a large number of employers of interns are looking for some sort of significant experience (though limited to job experience).

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Google Summer of Code is a great way to get involved with open source projects.

Look here: <http://code.google.com/soc/>

Also: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Summer_of_Code>

Edit: formatting.

</comment><comment><USER7> I caught a lucky break and was able to snag an internship at a (at the time) pretty tip-top Silicon Valley company. I'd definitely grab your network firmly and give it a good shake. Something good could fall out.

</comment><comment><USER8> Build something significant yourself. It can be a web app, a game, whatever. Just pick something that interests you and build it.

</comment><comment><USER9> Build a website and launch it. Nothing says you can do stuff more than showing the stuff you've done.</comment>


Playing Nice – Designing and Implementing Well-Behaved Web APIs (slides) - <AUTHOR> http://danielwestheide.com/talks/playbb2015/slides/index.html

<comment><AUTHOR> Excerpt: "A well-behaved web API: uses the protocol semantics of HTTP; returns appropriate status codes and response headers; defines cacheability of responses; supports conditional requests; participates in content negotiation; drives the business process instead of exposing CRUD operations; is tolerant towards clients; is extensible; is self-descriptive and discoverable."</comment>


Our Full Report on the Voatz Mobile Voting Platform - <AUTHOR> https://blog.trailofbits.com/2020/03/13/our-full-report-on-the-voatz-mobile-voting-platform/ <comment><USER2> Systemic issues:

* Creds scattered throughout source code, including DB / AWS creds, "fixed" by removing but still present in git history

* Numerous crypto vulns: nonces / AES-ECB

* What's even the point of blockchain, it just makes everything worse

Selected quotes:

"Trail of Bits was only provided a backend for live testing on the second-to- last scheduled day of the assessment"

"The system is unusually complex, with an order-of-magnitude more custom code than similar mobile voting systems we have assessed."

"Voatz's voting processes are error prone and manual, relying on manual verification of voter identity and long-term storage of this identity on Voatz's premises"

"E2E-V systems allow voters to cast encrypted ballots such that ballot counts are verifiable to anyone, but individual voters' preferences are not revealed. ... Voatz is not E2E-V."

"Storing voting data on a blockchain maintains an auditable record to prevent fraud, but this comes at the expense of both privacy and increased attack surface. Clients do not connect directly to the blockchain themselves, and are therefore unable to independently verify that their votes were properly recorded. Anyone with administrative access to the Voatz backend servers will have enough information to fully reconstruct the entire election, deanonymize votes, deny votes, alter votes, and invalidate audit trails."</comment>


Matabele ants have evolved a complex system of battlefield triage and rescue - <AUTHOR> https://theconversation.com/these-ants-have-evolved-a-complex-system-of-battlefield-triage-and-rescue-94778 <comment><USER2> Always find it interesting how sophisticated they can be with such scant cognitive hardware.</comment>


The Pioneer Anomaly - <AUTHOR> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_anomaly

<comment><USER2> The first book on Astronomy that I read was very old. The author praised Einstein for his work, but he was skeptical about the expansion thing. His opinion was that even a slight unknown effect in how light travels between galaxies for millions of years could explain the red shift that's usually attributed to expansion.

I don't even understand the maths that justify it, so I won't dare to even have an opinion. But I find it strange how can "we" know so much about objects at monstruous distances. Most of this knowledge is based in a chain of facts that could be invalidated if only one of the links breaks.

<comment><USER3> If you are interested on the details of the measurements of galactic distances, Terry Tao has created an amazing pedagogical review: [http://terrytao.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cosmic- distance-...](http://terrytao.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cosmic-distance- ladder2.pptx)

<comment><USER4> PDF link for those unable to view Powerpoint:

[http://terrytao.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cosmic- distance-...](http://terrytao.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/cosmic-distance- ladder1.pdf)

It is good stuff, worth a read.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Why aren't all objects taking part in the expansion of the universe? Don't our ears move farther apart (ever so little) due to this effect?

<comment><USER6> IIRC, what's expanding is the distance between particles. Technically, the particles in your ears are moving farther apart, but the forces that keep your ears attached to your head then conspire to keep them in approximately the same spot. The expansion still happens, it's just that the effects get propagated to places where mass density is low, aka between stars.

Then again, I could be totally wrong about that.

<comment><USER7> I think you should not say that they are _moving_ farther apart, but that they are _getting_ farther apart.

The weird thing with this expanding universe is that things can get farther apart from each other without moving. Similarly, distances between objects can grow faster than the sum of the speeds of those objects.

<comment><USER6> Yes you're right, 'moving' isn't accurate there, whoops!</comment></comment></comment></comment>


1Password for Open Source Projects - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/1Password/1password-teams-open-source <comment><USER2> Hacker news, never change. Company gives away product for free to opensource teams... and almost all of the comments are complaints. :)

I get it. For some this will never be an acceptable solution. As a happy subscriber of the family plan, I can only say that this has appreciably improved the security of my family online. I'm happy to pay the subscription fee because I think that's the most sustainable business model for a software company.

In any case: "Hey 1Password, thanks for giving away free licenses to opensource projects."

<comment><USER3> Could not have said it better myself!

Thank you, AgileBits - much appreciated!

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> considering using and supporting the open source bitwarden project instead.

[https://bitwarden.com/](https://bitwarden.com/)

<comment><USER5> Why does it need me to create an account? What's the technical reason? My ye olde 1Password (pre-cloud) doesn't need an account, and stores its database in iCloud or on Dropbox using the accounts I already have there.

<comment><USER6> It's a web service. You can host it yourself.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> How I roll: KeePassXC + browser plugin + MiniKeePass + Dropbox

[https://keepassxc.org/](https://keepassxc.org/)

[https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minikeepass/id451661808](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minikeepass/id451661808)

<comment><USER8> Instead of dropbox, I'd recommend using something decentralized like Syncthing. I have a similar setup and recently changed to using Syncthing to keep my password database synced on all my devices.

<comment><USER7> Thanks! Actually never heard about Syncthing, looks really good!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I do find $36/yearly for a single licence quite alot for this kind of tool.

This is the kind of product that's so feature rich already, I would not need real new features built in. And storing a few passwords takes no diskspace either.

I'm using the non-cloud version, that sync with Dropbox, but suspect 1password of deliberately having it syncing poorly to push us to the cloud version.

<comment><USER10> I'm on the opposite end of the spectrum. I find $36/yearly a bargain for the value their product provides. 1Password is one of those tools I couldn't imagine my life without. And $36 is a small price to pay to have my online identity a little safer and more manageable.

<comment><USER11> I want to pay the $36 a year and not use their cloud.

<comment><USER12> 1Password 7 Beta supports local vaults

<comment><USER11> Do you have to use the single license edition and buy one for each OS or are you forced to use the cloud instance if you get the subscription?

<comment><USER13> Licenses are still available. It is also possible to pay the subscription and use local vaults, though this would not be recommended. - Ben, AgileBits

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Last month i gave up my dinosaur status (using a ciphered pen and paper notebook for managing my passwords) and started using Lastpass.

To be honest, i still feel a bit wary about keeping my password in the cloud, but LastPass has been so amazingly convenient, it's well worth the risk. To be extra certain incase of an undisclosed breach, I 2FA everything that has a 2FA option. I know i'm very late to the ballpark, but i'd rather corporate organizations add Password Managers to their policies instead of forcing everyone to change ever so often and worsening the situation.

<comment><USER15> As long as PCI, or ISO 27001, continue to require password rotation policies, it will be hard to implement for some companies, depending on the infrastructure and who has access to what. Hopefully we will see more things following the NIST guidelines, since it's a pretty ineffective way of ensuring security.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Free 1 year membership membership only? Am i reading that correctly

<comment><USER17> "Memberships can be renewed each year if your project still meets the requirements. Email us at ______ 30 days prior to renewal."

Presumably free.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Can't trust passwords being stored in the cloud.

<comment><USER19> Which is a fine mentality for personal passwords -- at least I get where the distrust comes from.

But for an enterprise team (or just a team), you need to be able to share passwords with various team members.

Without a system, you're left with each of those people having to use their own (often insecure) personal methodology. Without a password manager, people resort to very simple passwords, or reusing passwords across multiple systems, or writing passwords down on PostIt notes next to their monitors.

Without the convenience of a cloud-based system, you don't have an easy way to back up your passwords -- what happens if someone gets hit by a bus? And you can't easily have someone run compliance to verify when the last time was you updated your password, or how complex your passwords are -- at least not without showing them the raw passwords in all systems.

I get paranoia... but any team that runs a password manager service consistently for all users will be much more secure than any team that doesn't.

* Most Private And Secure Password Managers - Secured.fyi - Alpha || [https://secured.fyi/password.html](https://secured.fyi/password.html)

* Best Password Manager 2018 - Lastpass vs. Dashlane vs. 1Password || [https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-password-managers,review-3...](https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-password-managers,review-3785.html)

<comment><USER11> It's pretty much the old on-prem vs off-prem argument, and for some people & organizations, on-prem is non-negotiable.

<comment><USER13> I don't anticipate on-prem being available for individuals; there is simply too much infrastructure required. But for businesses this may be possible in the future. Please reach out to our business team at `email@example.com` if you are interested. - Ben, AgileBits

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Looks like a good alternative to AWS Secret manager [https://aws.amazon.com/secrets-manager/](https://aws.amazon.com/secrets- manager/)

<comment><USER21> AWS Secret Manager is for application code to retrieve secrets for different services (e.g. API Keys, DBs, etc). You can't use 1Password for that.

Similarly, you wouldn't store your Twitter, Facebook, NPM, Hex, etc. accounts in AWS Secret Manager. You'd use 1Password for that use case.</comment></comment>


AWS Database Migration Service - <AUTHOR> https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/aws-database-migration-service/ <comment><USER2> The truly interesting thing to me about this product is the pricing. Competitors in this space sell software starting at ~$5,000 all the way up into 5, and I presume 6 figures.

AWS is giving away their software and only charging for the hardware to run this migration software on. The catch is that you need to be migrating to AWS resources which you are paying for. I'm sure this tool will have less features than the more established competitors, but for customers that fit the sweet spot, it will be very attractive.

Disclosure: I know some of the people at [http://www.dbvisit.com/](http://www.dbvisit.com/), a database migration company, and competitor to this.

<comment><USER3> The lock-in is where the catch is right.

<comment><USER4> There's not a whole lot of lock-in using an rds instance. It's MySQL.

<comment><USER5> ... with automatically managed updates, backups, monitoring, auto-scaling, auto-replication ...

The managed services are a huge part of the lock-in with AWS services, because even though they generally cost more than the competitors, they can often come out equal after accounting for those aggregate hours lost to doing those things.

<comment><USER6> That's what you call "paying for a service." Lock-In is an entirely different matter.

<comment><USER5> Lock-in happens when migrating would be expensive, too. And leaving a managed service like this could introduce substantial cost.

<comment><USER7> When the vendor lets you export your data in a form that you can easily import into your own copy of the exact same software, I fail to see how that is "lock-in". If the vendor increase the cost of the service or changes other terms in a way that's unfavorable to you, you can easily leave, that's the opposite of lock-in.

You can't really accuse a vendor of lock in just because his product is priced lower than it would cost you to do it yourself.

<comment><USER5> I think that's a very rigid definition of "lock-in" that implies it must be done with some anti-competitive malice. That's not how I've encountered the term in my past, so I'm welcome to other interpretations.

Per (not authoritative, obviously) wiki:

"In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products and services, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs."

I agree with this. It shouldn't require that the service is purposefully preventing you from changing; lock-in can occur because a service offers advantages that prevent changing by virtue of some other cost.

<comment><USER7> "lock-in" implies some sort of lock. "I don't won't to leave because the service saves me so much money" is not a lock, you _can_ leave, you just choose not to because it's better for you to stay. And if the vendor increases his price you can just take your data and go - your same application will run on another vendor's hosted MySQL instance.

If I say I'll pay you $1 if you sit in my office for an hour, you can't say that you were "locked in" by me, if Mary offers you $2 to sit in her office, you can walk over to her office and get more money.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> One of the biggest problems I've had with RDS (postgres specifically) is not being able to do incremental offsite backups. I wonder if the database migration service can help with that, as they say the process is "reliable" and "automatically restarts the process and continues the migration from where it was halted"

<comment><USER9> You can, you just need to implement it yourself in EC2 (other compute platforms are available) with trigger-based replication, using something like bucardo or londiste.

[https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/rds-postgres-read- replicas/](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/rds-postgres-read-replicas/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> One feature that I wish was supported in RDS is to migrate from a MySQL engine to Aurora engine without having to create new database instance at all. It looks like Amazon DMS makes this process easier, but since Aurora is fully compatible with MySQL, I don't see why I have to create a new database instance and point my application to talk to the new server when Amazon DMS could do this behind the scenes on the one I already have.

Or am I allowed to set the source and target databases to be the one and the same?

<comment><USER11> You can snapshot your RDS database and restore it as an Aurora DB. Only caveat is it has to be MySQL 5.6.

[http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Aurora...](http://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Aurora.Migrate.html)

<comment><USER10> Not quite the same, unless I'm misunderstanding. I'm talking about an online migration on a single RDS instance with an engine switch handled fully behind the scenes. The link provided doesn't seem to handle data changes since the snapshot, and also requires a switch in the application to point to the new instance which has been restored via snapshot.

DMS gets closer than the above link, I think, since it will handle replication onto the target database for you. But, for two fully compatible database engines, it seems like you should be able to make the switch without having to fuss with replication configuration or spinning up a new instance at all.

<comment><USER12> The on disk format for Aurua is likely different.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I wonder, if it will be possible for me to "rollback" back to my "plain" database server if level of service does not satisfy me.

<comment><USER14> Not unless you're ready to try to create a physical host replica, and then fail over to it as a master during downtime.

<comment><USER15> Is it possible to run a read replica outside of RDS these days?

<comment><USER16> Funny this showed up on here. I just spent the last 4-5 days playing with DMS.

My company has been using AWS for a while, but management wanted a "backup" backup off Amazon "JUST IN CASE". Due to amazon blocking replication credentials for MYSQL servers we had to basically dump over scp to our off amazon server and run the update on that machine via a script. We tried a number of different options but none were reliable. All nasty stuff.

Anyway after setting up a dms.t2.medium replication instance, I was able to create a number of tasks pulling from our amazon server to our off amazon server.(You have the option to just pull a full dump, pull a full dump and continue replication or simply replicate data.) It's been running for a little under 24 hours now and has been, solid so far with the replication. I know not even a day yet, but it's looking promising. Fingers crossed!

A small bonus to doing the setup for this. I found out the hard way that there was bad schema in our database, which I spent the last couple days fixing. DMS is rather sensitive, and will fail and not restart if it encounters to many errors trying to replicate data.

Overall cost is looking like it's going to cost me about $150 a month for the replication instance, which is only marginally more than the bandwidth costs I was incurring doing full dumps to our off amazon server.

Benefits are almost instant replication and an interface that will give me almost instant feedback on failed replication tasks, all within AWS which is where we are hosting everything else at this time. I was also able to create individualized tasks for separate schema so I can watch and manage errors on a schema by schema basis which is nice.

Overall I'm happy with it, but only time will tell if it can continue to be a reliable replication option.

O.

<comment><USER15> Thanks for all the info. Is your On Amazon DB on RDS?

We use Postgres so it might be that we couldn't do the same. Presently I run the DB on EC2 instance(s) but one day I'm sure I'll switch to RDS. Just trying to understand what an exit strategy might look like in the future.

<comment><USER16> Yes we are running a mySQL 5.6 Database on RDS.

If the Database you want to migrate/replicate from is running on Amazon you should be able to make it a replication source.

I saw nothing that stated the database HAD to be on RDS. You use the servers address to setup the endpoints. And provide a database username and password to connect with so it should be doable.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Does anyone know how the MySQL migration & replication works under the hood? How is Amazon doing all this remotely via just a DB connector?

<comment><USER18> Typical MySQL replication works when slave is listening to changes on master's binlog. Which, essentially, is a log of all operations performed on the dataset. I did some quick googling and apparently it can be accessed quite easily: [http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/mysqlbinlog.html](http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.7/en/mysqlbinlog.html) so I'd assume that this is how they are doing the replication, or something very similar.

As for migration, don't know, you could export the database and listen to binlog but that will lock table for a bit, depending on the database size. But maybe that's acceptable.

Would be curious to hear from folks with more DBA experience :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Why is Amazon Redshift not a target for this service?

<comment><USER20> Syncing to redshift for reporting is a somewhat different use case - you don't always want to sync everything, you want to sync in larger batches, the "migration" never ends.

There are several startups that will do this for you, including mine (Fivetran).

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Finally! This is one of the most wanted functionality that we've waited since AWS re:Invent announcement!!!

</comment><comment><USER22> The "Price and Availability" section doesn't seem to mention anything about the price?!

<comment><USER23> Free!

<comment><USER22> Not free! They have now updated the post to include pricing details.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> This has been in beta for a while, the key thing lacking for our uses, at least with postgres, was full support for DDL.

The lack of "true" replication into postgres RDS instances is one of the things blocking us from fully using it.

</comment><comment><USER25> Hearing a few mixed things and the page doesn't make it clear so can someone clear it up for me, please; if you wanted to, could you migrate _away_ from AWS using this service?

<comment><USER26> Yes, you could migrate away. As long as either the source or the target is within AWS, you can use this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> What are my chances of a relatively successful SQL Server migration with several hundred tables and complex views to PostgreSQL using their migration tool?

<comment><USER28> I tried this, SQL Server isnt supported yet... its just not even in the dropdown options. However it is listed in the marketing and product overview text so it seems like it's coming.

EDIT: looks like it's there now. will try it out tonight then.

<comment><USER27> Great! Let me know how it goes. It will be a couple of days before I can try it. Hopefully I can migrate just the schema and cherry pick some relatively static tables. We'll see.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Looks like this could be a better way to migrate between major versions of PostgreSQL on RDS than rolling your own.

<comment><USER24> If you didn't catch it, AWS now supports upgrades between so-called "major versions" (eg. 9.3 -> 9.4). [https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats- new/2015/11/rds-postg...](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats- new/2015/11/rds-postgresql-now-supports-point-and-click-upgrade-from- postgresql-93-to-94/)

<comment><USER29> I didn't catch that, thanks for point it out. Like another commenter said: this seems to be an in-place upgrade which is not advisable for major PostgreSQL versions. Additionally, it looks like this involves restarting the cluster (downtime). The Database Migration Service looks like it wouldn't require downtime.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Is it possible to get cerified in PHP, Perl, Python, C/C++, etc.? - <AUTHOR>

In my resume I've listed the names of all the programming languages I know, but I don't have any hard proofs (like certifications) to back it up. (This applies esp. to languages like C/C++, Python, Ruby, LISP, ... and even though I know them inside out; I've not been able to find a certification program in them).
Some employers test their candidates, but others just believe in what you write. I know of a PHP programmer who listed in a resume a bunch of languages (LISP, Ruby, etc.) that he didn't know for a job that involved PHP programming. The employer didn't check whether he actually knew those languages, and it certainly increased his odds of success compared to his peers who had been more truthful. In the end he got the job.
I think it would be good to have certifications that prove to your employers that you know the languages well. There are well-established  certification programs for Java, Oracle, etc. I'm wondering if there are any reputable companies/institutes offering certification in languages like PHP, Perl, Python, C/C++, etc. <comment><USER2> Not really a fan of certificates...seems like a waste. The only time you should get one, is if your company promotes them...i.e. take so and so class and get a bonus or a raise.

Personally I think you'd be much better of making a few sample programs in each language, and showing those to the potential employers. Just throw them up on a site, and throw the url into the resume.

<comment><USER3> Create a pet project or two, contribute to open source. These will show what you actually know, where as a certification will largely just become a way for people to game the system.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I just hope I don't get to see a day when certificates for C/C++, Python, PHP! start to exist and people start cashing on it! Some things are meant to be free from certifications, projects and work speaks of better quality than a certificate. Where ever money and tag starts coming into picture, there corruption too starts sneaking in... thats evident when I see my colleagues clearing CCNA papers and Sun certifications with help of google.

</comment><comment><USER5> From the resumes I've seen, most people list far more languages on their resume than you could expect them to be very proficient with. I wouldn't worry about it - there are a lot more important qualities for a software engineer than "knowing the languages well".

One friend of mine did like to ask interviewees questions like "So, you say you are skilled in Prolog. Could you write some Prolog code to reverse a linked list?"

</comment><comment><USER6> You can be a Microsoft Certified Developer if you want, I think that includes Visual C++ or maybe it's all C# now. Oracle does certifications for PL/SQL too. No-one takes either of them terribly seriously.

<comment><USER6> Oh, and Sun does Certified Java Developer too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I would agree that certifications are not really important. Develop a solid portfolio of projects, show that users benefited, and then walk your employer through the lessons you learned.</comment>


What Works and Why: Opus Magnum - <AUTHOR> https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/02/27/what-works-and-why-opus-magnum/ <comment><USER2> One thing I would like for the Zachtronics games is if the optimization mattered somehow other than just personal satisfaction. Such as you get achievements, special equipment, or get to unlock special stages for meeting certain optimization goals. Or since you are basically designing factories (or PCBs in the case of Shenzhen and TIS), maybe your creations earn profit based on their cost and efficiency? And maybe you have to earn enough profit to win the game, in which case would have to revisit less efficient designs to improve them.

<comment><USER3> Well, part of the appeal for Tom is that you can just blunder your way through the campaign: "And that's reason 6: you don't have to optimise. If I had to do this to progress, I probably would have quit in frustration."

I'm reminded here of Wario Land on the Gameboy: you could finish the game by speeding through levels, but the time you spent collecting treasure directly influenced the prize you got at the end. Maybe that would be a good compromise for gamers driven by external milestones rather than personal ones.

<comment><USER2> > "I probably would have quit in frustration."

In actuality, I actually quit in frustration about 3/4ths through the game _because_ I realized I could just blunder my way through the rest of the game.

Eventually I got tired of the game after I stopped caring about optimizing, and then wondered why I should bother completing the game other than for the sake of completing it. Yes there was a storyline to the game which should be completed, but the storyline was disconnected from the essense of the game (which to me was optimization). I would have felt more purpose in finishing the game if the optimization mattered somehow, like for instance if it affected the storyline or progress of your character somehow.

I don't think it is a matter to me of "external milestones" vs "personal milestones", but more about engagement and immersion in the story and world of the game, which I suppose is something I am after in addition to simple mental exercise.

For comparison, another Zachtronics game "SpaceChem" does a great job in linking the optimization into the game and storyline though the following simple mechanism: in order to defeat bosses, your factory had to meet certain timing requirements. To me, that requirement made all the difference in terms of immersion.

<comment><USER4> I had the opposite experience: Infinifactory was great because even my kludgiest creations got to the point of giving a warm fuzzy "I made dis!" emotional payout... which is what drove my interest in optimizing against friends.

In contrast, some of the less-friendly (and less-intuitive) limits in the "boss battles" of SpaceChem simply turned into big painful dead-ends, leading to me abandoning the game on the final level. (And swearing I'd get back to it... someday.)

I think the distinction speaks a little bit to the spectrum between "problem solving" and "puzzle solving". Both games are solidly in the former camp, but Infinifactory feels far more like a creative unique exercise.

Plus, I kind of need more of the life-lesson: Getting something "ugly" that works and then iterating is better than holding yourself to an emotionally- safe but difficult standard that keeps you from getting work done :P

<comment><USER5> Fun fact revealed in a GDC talk: Even Zach Barth himself did not feel motivated to complete the final SpaceChem level. He just designed it to the point where it "looked solvable" and then turned his playtesters loose on it.

( [https://archive.org/details/GDC2013Barth](https://archive.org/details/GDC2013Barth) at 19:20)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Haven't seen any mention of Factorio in this thread. It's not as much of a puzzle game (except when going for extreme optimisation) but a resource management game.

<comment><USER7> Time, in particular. When you're new, you think all those »more addictive than crack« comments are jokes. They are not.

Factorio has a lot in common with writing a fun new language that you don't know how to abstract things in, figuring out as you go. Spaghetti bases will bite you just the same way as spaghetti code. And once you get the hang of it, it's all about scaling, becoming crazier and crazier, until you have entire bases built with a swarm of flying robots in a single click. Can't recommend it enough – but unlike Opus Magnum, Factorio is, as mentioned, definitely not a casual game.

<comment><USER8> I went over to a friends one night, we decided to check out Factorio. I didn't leave his house for 4 days, we both called out of work sick, I racked up 80 hours play time on Steam. I have since decided to never open that game again.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Someone created a bf interpreter using this game: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll0qHlx_qLg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll0qHlx_qLg)

Also of interest may be similar attempts to create computers in other games and applications:

OpenTTD: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyEzm1ghAsU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyEzm1ghAsU)

Minecraft: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPaI5BJxs5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPaI5BJxs5M)

PowerPoint: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNjxe8ShM-8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNjxe8ShM-8)

<comment><USER10> TIS-100 in Infinifactory

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMnOEgbm2fE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMnOEgbm2fE)

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Great review of the game, and doesn't even mention the built-in solitaire game, Sigmar's Garden, which is a fun game in and of itself, set in the same hex grid you play on in the main game.

</comment><comment><USER12> Another excellent game I would put in the same genre is Manufactoria, a free flash game. In fact, here's a glowing recommendation for it from the creator of Opus Magnum (the game featured in the OP): [http://thesiteformerlyknownas.zachtronicsindustries.com/manu...](http://thesiteformerlyknownas.zachtronicsindustries.com/manufactoria/)

Edit: It looks like this is the URL for the latest version of Manufactoria: [http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/](http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/)

<comment><USER13> I feel like there is a big shortage of games like this, but the absolute top to me is human resource machine, where you program a human:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL7rSN265Yg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL7rSN265Yg)

<comment><USER6> I prefer games like Manufactoria or SpaceChem. Human resource machine and TIS-100 look too much like regular programming to me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I enjoyed this one a lot more than his previous games. There's not a lot of challenge to just getting through a level, so it's more of a meditative experience. It has depth if you want to optimize but there's less banging your head against the wall for hours completely stuck, as can happen in his previous games.

<comment><USER15> I also found that a lot more enjoyable. You can always just bruteforce your way to the solution, if you're really stuck, and then come back and optimize later.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I'm not a gamer yet that write up was riveting. Cool.

</comment><comment><USER17> Abstract optimization games like this remind of Verigames, a DARPA project researching gamification of scientific problems (such as protein folding or formal verification of software) so crowds of untrained human players could attempt the solve the problems.

[https://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/darpa- ver...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/citizen-science/darpa-verigames- crowdsourced-formal-verification-csfv-project/)

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

</comment><comment><USER18> As you might expect, these types of games appeal to quite a few people that frequent HN, and have come up often the past.[1]

1: [https://hn.algolia.com/?query=zachtronixs&sort=byPopularity&...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=zachtronixs&sort=byPopularity&prefix=false&page=0&dateRange=pastYear&type=comment)

</comment><comment><USER19> I found this game to be terrible, in contrast to Shenzen I/O which I found somewhat fun.

The issue was the lack of any meaningful constraint, which means that there is no difficulty and solving the puzzle is just a matter of tediously entering a sequence that produces the desired result.

In theory you could try to get the most optimal solution, but that doesn't seem very fun either, since the lack of programmability and variety makes everything very bland.

</comment><comment><USER20> Perhaps it would be a tinge more fun, if the chemistry was somewhat realistic. Though I haven't played Opus, the totally bogus chemistry of SpaceChem was detracting from the experience, and I wonder why most reviewers haven't really commented on that aspect.

<comment><USER21> I might be misinterpreting you, but Opus Magnum is "alchemy"\- it makes no attempt to reflect real chemistry, the components are simply abstractions. I can't tell if that would be a pro or a con in your book, but it's a pretty good game.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> I am not sure i should buy 'opus magnus' or the new 'into the breach'

Opus looks like more about programming solving problem? And into the breach more like chess or tactical rpg?

I am curious if someone tried both could me make a choice!

<comment><USER23> That's a good broad description of both.

I loved their previous game TRS-100, but Opus Magnum didn't really do it for me for whatever reason. I'm completely hooked on Into the Breach.

<comment><USER24> Nitpick: Zachtronic's previous game was Shenzhen IO [http://www.zachtronics.com/shenzhen-io/](http://www.zachtronics.com/shenzhen- io/), and is definitely worth checking out if you liked TIS-100.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> From the article this sounds exactly like my experience playing code golf - coming up with a cool solution, finding out your friend did it in half as many characters, completely reinventing your approach, repeat.

</comment><comment><USER26> SpaceChem was my favourite iPad game. It was great when travelling when you had some time to burn and it could be really challenging. It's a shame that Zachtronics decided to drop support for iOS.

</comment><comment><USER2> What I love about Zachtronics is the vast design space.

<comment><USER4> It's what makes them problem-solving games rather than puzzle-solving games. Your solution is a subtly-unique creation that you can emotionally own.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Can those who've played these games recommend which one to start with for someone who is interested but hasn't played any of them?

<comment><USER6> I'd start with the free ones: [http://www.zachtronics.com/the-codex-of- alchemical-engineeri...](http://www.zachtronics.com/the-codex-of-alchemical- engineering/) [http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/](http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/)

Then depending on which one (or which parts) you like the most, select a similar one</comment></comment>


Amazon suspends all shipments to its warehouses except medical supplies products - <AUTHOR> https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/coronavirus-amazon-suspends-delivery-shipments-stock-price-a9406951.html <comment><USER2> Cue another panic buying wave,</comment>


World Of Classcraft - <AUTHOR> http://worldofclasscraft.com

<comment><USER2> Nice rules. Does it work in practice?

<comment><AUTHOR> I just mailed Shawn, and this was his response: Q: "and I wonder - did you try this out in the 'field' (ie class room), already?" A:"Yeah, I have, I have been playing this for 2 years with students. The response has been amazing, both for guys and girls, they are really into it."</comment></comment>


I'm working on opensource iOS Bitcoin wallet. Anyone can build it and run it - <AUTHOR> I'm working on opensource iOS Bitcoin wallet. Anyone can build it and run it (if you care typing a couple of commands on terminal). SegWit-ready; Replace-By-Fee implemented; arbitrary fees. Built with ReactNative & Expo.<p>Heres the link: https://github.com/Overtorment/BlueWallet Early Alpha, but pretty usable (use it myself in the first place). Still, don't store large amounts. Would really love some contributions on the project. Its ReactNative which means Javascript is used a lot, so if you wanted to jump in Bitcoin development - nows the change. Feedback appreciated! <comment><USER2> Javascript? storing BTC on a mobile phone? Sounds like a receipe for disaster.

</comment><comment><USER3> I will like to check it out, but which cryptography algos are you using to defend users ??

</comment><comment><USER4> You need someone trustworthy to audit it before anyone runs it.</comment>


Find apartments by commute times - <AUTHOR> http://www.walkscore.com/apartments/ <comment><USER2> Well done. I hacked together something similar about a year ago when I moved to San Francisco, because I needed a place within walking distance to my work, within walking distance to BART (for my girlfriend's commute), and that allows cats [1]. It helped me find the perfect place.

It's cool to see that there is now a general-purpose tool like the one that I made last year. I'll definitely use it next time I move. A couple things about this tool weren't obvious to me on my first experience:

1) I didn't know what a "walk score" was. I looked briefly for an explanation on the site, but didn't find one. At first I thought higher was worse, as if it were a measure of how far you had to walk to get to work. But by playing around on the site for a bit, it seems like higher is better, and it seems to be a measure of how accessible shops and necessities are by walking out your front door (that alone is really cool). My apartment scores a 92.

2) One implication of not understanding the "walk score" was that I thought the walk score filter was to limit the search results by how long your commute was. When I input my work address, my apartment wasn't within the search radius, so I actually wanted to _expand_ the search radius. (Walking 2 miles to work everyday is a nice way to get some exercise, but my commute is only 10 minutes if I decide to bike.) It took me a minute to notice the "time" filter at the top of the page.

3) Lastly, I didn't see how to filter by whether a place allows dogs or cats, but then I found that you can expand the filter box to filter by pets, price, and bedrooms. Perfect.

Now that I've figured out those three issues, the site is easy to use and I look forward to using it next time I move. It makes the tool that I hacked together for this purpose obsolete.

[1] <https://github.com/dcuddeback/apartment-scrape>

<comment><USER3> Padmapper already does this and does it well

<comment><USER4> Yes, Padmapper does this general kind of thing but it doesn't offer the ability to limit a search based on commute times (which is the title of the post.)

<comment><USER5> It doesn't filter by them, but it does overlay boundaries for commute time (open filters, then Super Secret Advanced Features).

I definitely need to add public transit, though.

<comment><USER4> I was corrected in another post and neglected to update this one. I just couldn't see the options for some reason (perhaps because they were super secret :)).

<comment><USER5> Haha yeah, maybe I should make them less of a secret via a redesign.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> <http://padmapper.com> is a much better system than this & it also includes the walkscore of an area. It's a site that maps out apartments from craigslist & other sources on a google map.

Have used it to find my last ~7 apartments/houses.

<comment><USER4> I like how this site offers a feature where you tell it how long of a mass transit commute is acceptable and it shows you those places. I don't think padmapper offers that.

<comment><USER7> Yes, it does. That's what he was saying. Padmapper does this, with multiple settings in the search as well.

<comment><USER4> No, it doesn't although it does have an option to show a walk score (which you might be thinking of). Note that a "walk score" is different than commute time: a walk score is how generally walkable an area is for everyone while a commute time is dependent on another location.

Can you tell me where one can find the option to limit matches based on mass transit distance from some location? (In general, when you say "yes it does" offer some feature, it would be helpful to describe where in the UI it can be accessed, otherwise we'll have a long "yes it does", "no it doesn't" conversation. The burden of proof is on the person claiming something exists rather than the one claiming it does not. :))

<comment><USER8> You can find what I believe he is talking about buried in the last level of padmapper's menus along with it's crime and walkscore overlays. It's mostly just a text box where you type some number of minutes and a location and it highlights the area you can reach by walking from the provided location for the given number of minutes, following roads and paths on google maps.

<comment><USER4> Thanks, I think that is why he talked about multiple settings.

I actually missed that when I looked at it previous times. :)

But still it only allows walking and driving and not mass transit so my first point in the thread still stands.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I. LOVE. THIS.

That is all.

 _EDIT_ : I'm looking to move across the bay, and this has brought some areas of Oakland to my attention that I had previously neglected. Too, it's a cool hack. So -- useful, and "I wish I'd thought of it". Killer combo.

</comment><comment><USER10> This is a great idea.

I once read a lesswrong.com article on how commute times are one of the most underrated aspects in picking a place to live.

Of course, this also means you will have some teaching to do.

</comment><comment><USER11> For those of us chained down by mortgage: how about job listings within n minutes of my house?

<comment><USER12> A great idea. I would even be curious to see a heatmap of job availability in my area and then get travel time as I looked through them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Love the walkability score concept. Current digs get a score of 92, but that isn't obvious to folks that don't know the area so this did very well to figure that out. Falls down just a little on commuter trains, which don't seem to get a bonus versus buses, though in real life, the trains are faster, easier, and less tiresome.

However, the car commute times from a certain address seem computed oddly.

Picking, for example, 199 Elm Street, New Canaan, CT, shows 10 minute drives from what it considers main roads (because they have route numbers?) while not revealing the parallel side roads which actually have much lower times thanks to no traffic lights or stop signs. I've checked a number of areas on both coasts, and the same seems to be true: car commute times are based on main routes, not low traffic alternate routes. (The mountain roads NW of LA instead of the interstate are another example.)

That said, this is fantastic, and since the map is shown, you can probably eyeball the alternate routes to find a perfect low hassle drive.

Will be recommending this to my realtor friends working in highly walkable areas to help show the benefits.

</comment><comment><USER14> For this but without the apartment bit: <http://www.mapnificent.net/>

</comment><comment><USER15> Neat! I love how it can figure out what (possibly discontiguous) areas give the required commute time by transit. Doesn't seem to have any apartments, though.

EDIT: It finds apartments in New York; maybe it just doesn't work in Canada. Which is odd, given Craigslist works fine in Canada and it figures out commute times in Canada.

</comment><comment><USER16> Wow, that is very cool. I'm totally going to recommend it to new employees who are looking for apartments.

It seems to correctly pick up pockets in San Francisco where you can take BART from and not show you things closer to your destination, but out of reach of mass transit options.

</comment><comment><USER17> This is a much needed and well implemented tool for apartment searchers, well done! I live in Atlanta and have always considered commute time when looking for a home and searching for jobs. I've looked for tools like this for years and haven't found anything that comes close.

</comment><comment><USER18> YES!!! I was literally searching everywhere for this only 1 week ago and determined that there was nothing good out there.

Relevant: <http://youtu.be/zJOS0sV2a24?t=4m>

Now, if only there was a way to enter 2 addresses (for spouses/roommates) and have it give you the places with the best cumulative commute times. EDIT: Just saw Mapnificent does this!

Would also love to see this fully integrated into <http://padmapper.com>.

</comment><comment><USER19> This app is pulling data from Craigslist. But how? There is no API and the company is ruthless about going after scrapers. Search for 'Atwood' here [http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/17-09/ff_...](http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/17-09/ff_craigslist?currentPage=all)

This is a fantastic idea, I just wonder how sustainable it is.

<comment><USER4> Padmapper has been doing the same for awhile. From a technical standpoint, you can get data easily via RSS.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> It seems like it doesn't know that you can walk across bridges. I tried it with my work address "1 Main St, Cambridge MA" and it showed me walkable apartments in Cambridge only, even though there were closer apartments just across the Longfellow bridge in Boston.

When I switched to any of the other options it showed me Boston places.

</comment><comment><USER21> This is a great idea but it doesn't seem to work well yet. I tried 'mass av 77 cambridge ma' (MIT) and apartments within 5 min walking distance from that address where supposed to take 14 mins according _Walkscore_. Also, it doesn't make sense to me to show a transit commute for such apartments.

<comment><USER4> >Also, it doesn't make sense to me to show a transit commute for such apartments.

Then don't. You can tell it to look at walking, biking, car, or mass transit.

<comment><USER21> Well obviously I used that option. My point it shouldn't show a transit option as default for a workplace that is closer than the train/bus station.

<comment><USER4> Good point. Other sites such as Google maps mass transit search will show walking results instead of mass transit results in such situations.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> This is great, we thought about something similar when finding a new office. The middle-point between 3 coworkers, with least commutetime for everyone.

We did find something in the end, but it was a really manual process.

Rebranding it and doing an new-office-locator might work as well. :)

</comment><comment><USER23> This is awesome. It would be nice if you could choose to display real estate for sale as well.

</comment><comment><USER24> Amazing site. Great effort!!

I had a bug to report: When I move the slider on the 'number of bedrooms' and make it '1', I cannot change it (to '2', say). I am using chrome 14.0.835.186.

</comment><comment><USER25> Very cool! Can you add the ability to filter by price range too?

<comment><USER26> It's there. Expand the filters box on the lower left corner. Also filter by # of bedrooms

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> Love this. I've been trying to get my wife to move downtown for a while, this actually shows there are units in our market available. Thank you so much!

</comment><comment><USER28> This is awesome!

It's a great MVP, Would love to see more break down options (such as pets)</comment>


The man behind the netbook craze - <AUTHOR> http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2009/11/20/the-man-behind-the-netbook-craze/

<comment><USER2> lol, I always though Asus was pronounced as 'A-sas' , sas as in discus, but it appears it is 'A-soos' actually, pronounce it 5 times, and you will laugh enough to rival Shih (the CEO) himself :D This made my day!</comment>


Robots to take 50% of our jobs by 2050 and outperform humans at almost anything - <AUTHOR> http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/robots-to-take-50-jobs-7363442 <comment><USER2> Who will buy the things robots are going to produce?</comment>


Going completely prototypal in JavaScript - <AUTHOR> http://css.dzone.com/articles/going-completely-prototypal <comment><USER2> How unusual. A JS framework that is what it says on the box.

As opposed to Prototype (not prototype based) or Closure (not particularly functional).

<comment><USER3> Eh. Prototype seemed revolutionary when it was first being developed: adding prototype functions to objects & HTML nodes? Crazy!

Now it's silly. Closure still seems random.</comment></comment>


1177 BC – The Year Civilization Collapsed [video] - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyry8mgXiTk <comment><USER2> Unfortunately I can't recommend the book. It's a fascinating subject, but ... Much/most of the book is devoted to what various Eastern Mediterranean civilizations were like before the Collapse of the Late Bronze Age. It's useful as an introduction so that you can get some idea of what collapsed, but it shouldn't be most of the book.

The treatment of the collapse itself is fairly shallow. I know the collapse is still mysterious and comparatively little is known about it, but that's why a book like this should be so interesting. Surely there is enough information to fill a comparatively short book like this. The ever mysterious Sea People's are mentioned of course, but other than noting that they weren't just one group and that the Egyptians defeated one group of invaders he says little. There is the usual "they may have been from here, or perhaps there" but it doesn't go into much detail about the different theories. The possible causes of the collapse aren't discussed much either. Basically it says "stuff fell apart and here are some examples". I know that much of this stuff is far from settled but discussing the evidence and arguments for various theories is a good approach. Talking about how new civilizations arose after the collapse would have been interesting too; much more than endless detail about pre- collapse civilizations like the Minoans.

<comment><USER3> Take my opinion with a grain of salt because I put this books down after only 100 pages or so, but it seemed to exemplify my main gripe with many/most popular science/non-fiction publications these days...padding. Many authors seem to have a great ~150 page thesis, but publishers push hard that best sellers are 400-600 pages.

<comment><USER4> that was my main problem with "The Lean Startup" too. it was really really hard to finish it when only 10% of the content was actionable (the rest anecdotal)

<comment><USER5> I often find myself reading about 30% of books like "The Lean Startup," and moving on. Not necessarily the first 30%, but overall. Understand the thesis, and move on.

I have yet to find a business book where this doesn't apply. I only finish the ones where I particularly like the writing style or the anecdotes.

<comment><USER6> Have you read "The hard thing about hard things"? I found it had very little padding and was loaded to the rim with valuable information.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I like the "it's complicated" theory, but it also a bit of a cop-out. Can we not have a meta-theory? Here are three candidates:

1) Climate change. Doesn't directly cause famines because people adapt; but the adaptation might be e.g to become wondering marauders. Thus war, destruction famine etc.

2) Technological change. Iron-working upset existing power balances. The political results were different in different places but in the end there was a whole lot of war and chaos.

3) Luck. History is complicated and random things happen at all scales. Including total collapses of civilisations.

In each of these, the proximate causes of destruction are a complicated networks of events. But there are higher level explanations behind them.

Are these more general explanations testable? Are there good arguments for or against any of them?

<comment><USER8> Joseph Tainter's theory (The Collapse of Complex Societies) is even more general. Societies collapse when "continued investment in complexity as a problem-solving strategy yields a declining marginal return". The idea is that initially, solutions to problems are found and society becomes more complex as a result, but the benefit of the solutions exceeds the cost of the complexity. But as the society develops, the benefit in the form of solutions to problems become smaller and the cost of servicing the additional complexity becomes larger, until the cost exceeds the benefit. Then things break down and society is forced to become a lot simpler.

<comment><USER9> It's also that to manage the complexity, individuals become hyper-specialized. So when a crisis comes along, that civilization can't repurpose people quickly enough to cope.

<comment><USER8> "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." — Robert Heinlein

<comment><USER10> It's my favorite Heinlein quote by far and I try to live by it but in the short term there is much to be gained for an individual by specializing, specialists tend to rake in the big bucks, generalists not so much.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> For those who don't want to watch the video, its about this book: [http://www.npr.org/books/titles/341580791/1177-b-c-the- year-...](http://www.npr.org/books/titles/341580791/1177-b-c-the-year- civilization-collapsed)

</comment><comment><USER12> I inherited a fascination with this time period from my father who acquired it from an Oxbridge educated colleague in the RAF during WW2 - who took copies of Homer on their adventures.

My fascination was fed by the excellent 1980s BBC series "In Search of the Trojan War" with Michael Wood, which covers some of the same topics:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkbUQKyie_w&list=PLH2l6uzC4U...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkbUQKyie_w&list=PLH2l6uzC4UEVdmfoR1awrHKEJFIsbcdu6) [NB Warning of nipples].

</comment><comment><USER13> Great video. Thank you for posting.

Not a scholar of ancient history nor anthropology, so I'm inclined to gloss over the social mechanisms. What is fascinating to me is the application of "systems collapse" theory.

I'm thinking of two contexts. On the one hand there are complex systems; Systems too large for humans to comprehend in total. This inclines us towards abstraction, dimension reduction and model-theoretic approaches which only simulate effects.

While on the other hand we have sudden collapse of complex systems. Popular examples which come to mind include Malcolm Gladwell's "Tipping Point", cascade failure (ex. Collapse of the World Trade Center, multiple organ failure).

Now I can add 1177 BC to my list of examples.

</comment><comment><USER14> Also the In Our Time Podcast [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07fl5bh](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07fl5bh)

</comment><comment><USER15> With the mention of drought and famine in the Levant possibly leading to internal rebellion it makes you think of modern day Syria.[0]

[0] [http://www.npr.org/2013/09/08/220438728/how-could-a- drought-...](http://www.npr.org/2013/09/08/220438728/how-could-a-drought- spark-a-civil-war)

</comment><comment><USER16> Horses and iron weapons. Neither are mentioned in the Iliad, just before this period. And it is documented when the Egyptions learned these technologies in the New Kingdom after being pummeled by more capable barbarians.

</comment><comment><USER17> I bet I'm far from the only one who wants an RPG supplement for adventuring in that era.

</comment><comment><USER18> The analogy of ISIS and sea people is spot on.However, we can safely say the ISIS was an outcome from a chaotic situation in the first place ; not caused by famine or climate change perhaps but much more sinister reasons.

</comment><comment><USER19> Love it! Reminds me of Dan Carlin's "Kings of Kings" series in his Hardcore History podcast. The world was fascinating back then. Even the names of people/places were epic: Ninevah, the Elamites, the Assyrians, Ahura Mazda, Marduk, etc! So epic!

[http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-56-kings-of- kings/](http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-56-kings-of-kings/)

</comment><comment><USER20> Is this the same period cited by Julian Jaynes in his theory of the bicameral mind?

[http://www.meltingasphalt.com/hallucinated- gods/](http://www.meltingasphalt.com/hallucinated-gods/)

</comment><comment><USER21> Oriental Institute youtube channel has some great videos.

</comment><comment><USER22> Thank you for posting, I really enjoyed this video. What books or videos would you recommend to gain general knowledge about history from the Bronze Age to the fall of the Roman empire?

</comment><comment><USER23> Cline also did a wonderful series of audio lectures on the archaeology of Troy. (The Modern Scholar: Archaeology and the Iliad: The Trojan War in Homer and History)

</comment><comment><USER24> What about disease?

Also, the displacement of god-kings by divine creators?

</comment><comment><USER25> tl;dw please?

<comment><USER26> You should watch in full. It was really nice.

Summary:

* It is assumed that there was no single reason for the "collapse of civilization" (in Aegean, Eastern Mediterrean, Eygpt, and Near East) between ~1200-1000 BC. At the time, it seems there were droughts, famines, earthquakes, invaders, and rebellions; havoc was caused, international trade routes cut, and many cities were destroyed.

* Parallels drawn at end to modern society with exception of the migration and/or invasion of "sea people" (actually people from several areas).

* Eric then at end says that he's not in a position to provide advice for what we should do, but seems to suggest that when history runs its course, it is likely that good things come from the destruction, citing the Alphabet and monotheism as coming after the 1200-1000 BC collapse (end Bronze Age) and fresh growth coming after a large forest fire.

I think the forest fire at the end could have been left out. While I like the optimism he was trying to relay, I think that some could take it is a reason for actively trying to light the powder keg by causing further destabilization in order to bring about a renewal.

Also, the problem with comparing the dark ages then to what would happen today is that they weren't that bad:

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

Trade was not relied on as much as it is now for food, material to build shelter, fuel for transportation, etc.

Many countries today could not become self-sufficient without a great deal of death and disease if trade routes were cut off.

And, our civilization is more at risk because we rely on electronics and electricity. If a large portion of the electronic equipment were rendered unusable by a well-coordinated set of strong EMP's/nukes going off (unlikely), a very large coronal mass ejection (more likely), or cyberattack on the electrical grid (most likely), that would disable our water, food production, hospitals, and heating/cooling. Few have the resources they need to survive or even physical books to teach themselves anything that would be useful (plants in their area that are safe to eat, how to build weapons and hunt, how to find fresh water, remedies for disease using local plants). Many have not made social connections with neighbors.

Note: EMP/CME cannot be mitigated by storing an extra phone or computer in a Faraday cage, even if you were to have a few bikes to generate electricity for it. What are you going to do with it other than use a text editor to store recipes for roasted squirrel and dandelion stew?

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859)

[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3838433/The-D...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3838433/The- DOOMSDAY-plan-EU-prepares-dark-scenario-cyber-attacks-devastate-power- communication-networks.html)

[http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/emerging-focus-on- cyber...](http://www.federaltimes.com/articles/emerging-focus-on-cyber- threats-to-energy-infrastructure)

<comment><USER26> If any of those things happen, you'll need clean water. In addition to storing some water, you'll need a renewable supply. Though distillation is the best technique, some other options are discussed here:

[http://www.practicalsurvivor.com/emergencywaterfiltration](http://www.practicalsurvivor.com/emergencywaterfiltration)

Aside from reading how to make a filter yourself with mosses, carbon, and stones, this is one that's recommended: Sawyer Products SP191 Point Zero Two Bucket Purifier Assembly Kit with Faucet Adapter

As for shelter and heating/cooling, some interesting ideas here like using a tent indoors: [https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/How-to-keep-warm- in-t...](https://dengarden.com/home-improvement/How-to-keep-warm-in-the- winter-without-electricity-and-keep-cool-in-the-summer)

More ideas:

[http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-37923.h...](http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-37923.html)

[http://urbansurvivalsite.com/ways-to-stay-cool-without- power...](http://urbansurvivalsite.com/ways-to-stay-cool-without-power/)

Go solar, assuming the related equipment isn't damaged:

[http://news.energysage.com/cheapest-solar-panels-price- per-w...](http://news.energysage.com/cheapest-solar-panels-price-per-watt/)

[http://fortune.com/2016/06/13/solar-to-get-crazy- cheap/](http://fortune.com/2016/06/13/solar-to-get-crazy-cheap/)</comment></comment></comment>


Papilio FPGA Platform - Papilio - <AUTHOR> http://papilio.cc/ <comment><USER2> "All design files are available under a Completely Open Source Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial." (<http://papilio.cc/index.php?n=Papilio.Hardware>)

Um... Non-commercial?

"6. No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavor. The license must not restrict anyone from making use of the program in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it may not restrict the program from being used in a business, or from being used for genetic research." (<http://www.opensource.org/docs/osd>)</comment>


New Web Tool Promises to Double the Speed of Your Website - <AUTHOR> http://itechtalks.blogspot.com/2011/10/new-web-tool-promises-to-double-speed.html

<comment><USER2> So this sounds like an advanced CDN, but instead of just serving images, CSS, and Javascript, they are caching your entire page after minifying html, Javascript, and CSS, optimizing images, rewriting paths to take advantage of parallelization, and georouting requests. Sounds like a pretty cool idea.</comment>