The Unexpected Elegance of Irrigation Systems from Above - <AUTHOR> https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-do-farms-look-like-circles-from-planes <comment><USER2> Somewhat relatedly, "The Jefferson Grid" Instagram account: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-16/the- jeffe...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-16/the-jefferson- grid-shows-the-american-west-through-one-square-mile-per-frame)

<comment><USER3> Also somewhat related [https://twitter.com/americasquared](https://twitter.com/americasquared), which I think I found here on HN.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The article opens with an interesting statement that centre pivot irrigation was introduced, or rather succeeded, in the Plains where groundwater irrigation failed. That stamement is never really expanded on and is a bit odd on its own. All irrigation systems still need water, so what made the difference?

From what I can tell, centre pivot irrigation is preferred primarily because it's dirt cheap and it's reliable. But from a sustainably perspective it's simply encouraged intensive agriculture in places where the local water supply can't support it. These systems ultimately still have to pump water from underground. The irony is that while the invention allowed the dust bowl to bear crop, it's also thoroughly draining local aquifers and its likely that in the near future we won't be able to grow anything there any more.

[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-center- pivot-i...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-center-pivot- irrigation-brought-dust-bowl-back-to-life-180970243/)

</comment><comment><USER5> They easily could win 10% area usage by packing better. [http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/june32014/index.html](http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/june32014/index.html)

<comment><USER6> While true in theory, this doesn't hold up in practice.

The farmers here are constrained in space by roads on all sides and by the price of each irrigation machine. Many small circular irrigation machines will be more expensive and harder to maintain than one large one.

The article you linked shows how given a square area, the packing efficiency of a non-square packing order increases past 80% only after you have around 30 circles and even then the increase is negligible. It would take well over 100 circles to hit the 10% additional area usage you're talking about.

For farmers who want to make use of those corners of their field just use an irrigation system which can handle corners and make 100% use of their land.

<comment><USER7> There are these type of linear irrigation devices that will cover square/rectangular fields more completely: [https://www.valleyirrigation.com/linears](https://www.valleyirrigation.com/linears) . In practice I don't think super optimal land use is very critical for most farmers though, when compared to the additional cost for acquiring and maintaining more complex irrigators.

<comment><USER6> I initially thought the use of circular irrigation devices would be when land is cheap, but after some research I think the main reason to use them is when water is far more expensive than land.

I zoomed in to various areas in the Midwest US, and I didn't see a single use of the circular devices, only square fields which are likely using the linear irrigation device you described.

However, in areas where water is more expensive such as Colorado, I see the opposite: Only circular irrigation devices.

I think what's happening here is that circular devices shoot the water down which causes all of it to land on the crops. The farms in my area generally use a firehose style sprinkler which shoots the water up. This causes a large chunk of water to get lost but it hits the corners of the land. Due to the cheaper water costs in the midwest, this is acceptable.

<comment><USER8> My understanding is that many farms in the midwest (as least corn farms) don't irrigate - rainfall is sufficient.

Linear and circular systems should in principle be able to achieve the same water efficiency (within their swept area). They're the same thing - an above ground wheeled mechanism to deposit water.

If you're farming in an area where you're water constrained, then you might not necessarily care about parts of your field not being used (as long as it's reasonably small), since what you care about is your input to output cost.

Some advantages of central pivot is that: a) you only need to feed water to a single fixed point - in a linear system you either need a ditch to draw out of (that's water loss right there), or drag a hose around (that's a possible point of failure) b) you don't need to figure out how to regulate the two ends of your line to keep them in line.

<comment><USER9> Exactly right on rain being the determining factor. In NE Iowa and SE Minnesota, where I am from, it is one of the most drought-resistant areas of farm land in the nation. No one would waste dollar-one on an irrigation system. (Getting 4 rainless days in a row so that you can bale hay is a bigger issue). As you go west, the influence of the Rocky Mountain rain shadow takes on increasing importance. About half way across SoDak or Nebraska, center- pivot irrigation starts to pencil out.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> These would make great paintings, for sure. I'd hang a big one in the house.

The original Cosmos had a great episode on life at different scales, and the magnitude you'd have to view earth at to so see evidence of life.

Before that, there were the Eames with their great "Powers of Ten" film.

<comment><USER11> No reason to make it into a painting. Photos of this kind of thing can be art in their own right. I mean, who cares, but it's worth being aware that large photographic prints are acceptable as art, and, actually, photorealistic painting is often considered pretty cheesy.

Here's an example of a photographer whose (troubling?) work takes the form of very large aerial photos of feedlots: [https://mishkahenner.com/Feedlots](https://mishkahenner.com/Feedlots)

<comment><USER10> Don't have to convince me — I see photos as art too. I thought paintings with these because of the abstract shapes. So, not really photo-realism, but interesting compositions to lay down paint within.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Something that might be cool, if impractical: devise a system of end-to-end linked pivot sprinklers in a Fourier series that draws something interesting in vegetation when seen from above!

</comment><comment><USER13> These confused and then fascinated me so much when I started flying over the USA regularly in the early 2000s.

</comment><comment><USER14> Always a cute example when people think we need to optimise for land for farming.

Not to say the circle is the best for harvesting or fertilisation and pesticides, there might be gains in doing it in squares, but I think it'd be unlikely.

</comment><comment><USER15> What happens to the 1-π/4 of land that isn't irrigated?

</comment><comment><USER16> can you vary the pressure of sprinklers? like max pressure on corners that a perfect square irrigation can be obtained.

<comment><USER11> These circular areas are created by a rotating structure ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_pivot_irrigation)) not one sprinkler in the center of the field.

The machines often have a radius of 400m, so they're a _lot_ bigger than the range even a firehose could achieve.

<comment><USER17> Some people refer to the rotating structure as "the sprinkler", but at any rate the question has some merit.

Generally the middle of the structure has small sprayers evenly spaced, and the end of the structure has what looks like a regular sprinkler on steroids. The large throw increases the effective diameter.

It's a fair question, but the net would be that you use a slightly longer structure and get a rounded rectangle, where the rounded rectangle is just a truncated circle of the area the same sprinkler could cover in theory. Weigh that against the yield and extra maintenance costs.

I haven't seen this many times, but the Wikipedia article points out there are linear systems that irrigate rectangular areas. They use a canal on one end and pumps on the rig. That explains an unanswered question about irrigation practices I've seen in Eastern Washington.</comment></comment></comment>


A Private PaaS with Mongrel2 and ZeroMQ - <AUTHOR> http://notes.ceondo.com/mongrel2-zmq-paas/ <comment><USER2> I am the author of this PaaS, I wanted to push this note on HN Monday to have time to answer the questions, but the cat escaped the box faster than I wanted. I am here to answer questions but do not expect "instant" answers.

<comment><USER3> Very nice post, thanks! I'm looking at experimenting with Mongrel2 to see if it would be a nice fit at work, where we still use apache2/mod_wsgi (we have modest needs) to interface our Python + CouchDB app. However, we've started adding WebSockets stuff to the system, and it would be nice to run everything in a slightly more coherent matter. We also use ZeroMQ to pump messages around the network (that later get converted into WebSockets frames for web frontend consumption).

\- Is mongrel2 getting good development? The latest release was in June, and the latest commit in the canonical repo seems to be from July...

\- Is there good support for RFC-version WebSockets yet?

\- Is there easy/performant stuff for simple asset serving via mongrel2, or should I use nginx for that?

<comment><USER2> 1\. Zed is coding in bursts, check the develop branch, it is pretty active and a 1.8 is around the corner.

2\. The same, in the develop branch, there are still some questions on how to best implement it like which parts must be done by the handlers and which by Mongrel2, but the coders involved are good and very pragmatic, I bet the results will be a high quality implementation.

3\. <http://notes.ceondo.com> is served by the "Dir" handler, that is, direct static files from disc without going through the asynchronous ZMQ based sequence. It is pretty fast.

<comment><USER4> Of note: There are several of us in #mongrel2 on Freenode, and there are periodic patches from us :).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> This is a great article exploring what some technology behind PaaS might do, and also a great start, but falls short of true PaaS functionality.

* Many PaaS offerings (like AppFog) are not like shared hosting at all, only the free offering hosts people multi-tenant, when you pay you get dedicated VMs

* The platform in platform-as-a-service means it connects you to fully managed services (on Heroku there are all the add-ons as well as Postgres, on AppFog there are add-ons and MySQL).

* One of the most compelling parts of PaaS is that it is managed by someone else so that you don't get a call at 3am when it is broken

Moreover, if you were to run a PaaS on your own, it would make more sense to try Cloud Foundry which has specifically addressed at least the services aspect of the above comments.

<comment><USER2> I think you missed the "private" and you jumped a bit fast.

1\. Everything is running on dedicated hardware.

2\. The system provides MongoDB, PostgreSQL too, it is just managed by us because we _need_ this level of control to put PostgreSQL on SSD and special high CPU instance for scientific computations. Cf point 1.

3\. Hosting services for the past 10 years, crossing my fingers, I have never been called in the middle of the night. But yes, the risk is there.

For Cloud Foundry, I don't know it, our solution is extremely light on resources we have full control of it and we are extremely happy with. We can hack/extend as we want and all in all, it is very few lines of code and I personally love simplicity.

 _Update:_ Ok, you are from a "Fog" provider, now I understand the defensive tone of your post. Do not worry, the goal of this note is to share what we do and give people willing to go this way some inspiration. Not trying to compete with you :)

<comment><USER5> I was mainly responding to the "Connecting the Dots, What is a PaaS?" section which I thought was the weakest part of your article. Otherwise well done.

<comment><USER2> Ok, I understand your point of view. But if you look at the current high quality shared hosting offers, you have managed dedicated MySQL instances included and many of such add-ons.

Anyway, we created this PaaS because it brings us real benefits and a competitive advantage. For our case (not the usual one as we need to run scientific computation with specific hardware and software) it is better to have full control of our hardware. We are outliers and most of the people would be better going with a good PaaS provider.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Thank you for this - it's a great example of how to do it properly and on how to choose the right tools for the job.

Unfortunately the organisation I currently work for managed to screw it royally. Firstly, we mandated .Net as the technology paltform (which is the most unscriptable and obtuse platform ever in the history of time). Secondly, we made the deployment too complicated (one deployment is 30+ VMs and about 20 SQL server databases!). Thirdly, we wrote our own tooling entirely (there is a lot of Not Invented Here in the .Net space). Fourthly, we let management in on the process (who don't know arse from elbow).

<comment><USER7> Hey now. There's probably a bit more blame on .Net than there needs to be :) I agree though, there seems to be quite a few _wannabe_ .Net architects who design unmaintainable behemoth deployments just because they can. In fact I'm helping one company completely replace their old system because all the developers who built it left in a hurry and no one now knows how to run the custom deployment. But that's not the language's fault. There really are some good companies out there doing awesome things with .Net

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I went through some of your links but didn't find the whole shebang. Is there a plan to release all of it.

I love the detail that we went through when describing it.

<comment><USER2> It will be released in parts, the core components are already available:

\- distributed process manager: <http://projects.ceondo.com/p/diprocd/>

\- the pre-receive hook taking care of packaging and deployment: <http://cdn.ceondo.com/bareku/buildpack-python.tar.gz>

If you need something similar, you will most likely adapt it heavily for your own setup, so, I am not sure if a full release is feasible.</comment></comment>


Mining interesting data about your name - <AUTHOR> http://whatsinmyname.prokta.com

<comment><USER2> Wish I could just enter a name. I don't use my social media logins to sign in to other sites any longer.

<comment><AUTHOR> We wanted to prevent automated bots from sending too many queries at once - that's why we kept the social login. If you are still concerned, you could authenticate with a fake Twitter or FB account or revoke the permissions after trying it out.

<comment><USER3> Wo don't you just use a captcha?

<comment><AUTHOR> yeah, I wonder why we didn't think of that option. We will definitely switch to that.

<comment><USER4> Make sure to resubmit with [FIXED] so I can give it a shot.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Made by beevolve a company who:

> Monitor your brand mentions, schedule and launch social media posts and > measure resulting sales and engagement for those posts - all in one easy-to- > use platform. Designed for SMBs.

Yeah,sure. Why don't I just give you access to my social networking accounts. That sounds like a fantastic idea…

<comment><AUTHOR> We will be switching to captcha in a day or so - if you want to give it a try after that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I don't know you, I don't trust you, and I won't be giving you my social login.

Should've just had it let us enter our names with a simple captcha.

</comment><comment><USER7> "Ben Dover" sure is a popular name... [https://www.evernote.com/shard/s97/sh/5a445178-f0ab-4eb2-863...](https://www.evernote.com/shard/s97/sh/5a445178-f0ab-4eb2-8636-309ed470f673/ae42f67f2a91645df38bcf4ed8d7163d/deep/0/What's%20in%20my%20Name?%20-%20Find%20interesting%20statistics%20about%20your%20name.png)

</comment><comment><USER8> Why does the app need permission to post tweets for me? Not a chance, sorry.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> You can read about why we developed the app here: [http://www.beevolve.com/whats-in-my-name/](http://www.beevolve.com/whats-in- my-name/)

</comment><comment><USER9> good work !

</comment><comment><USER10> No, c'mon, I won't login with twitter or facebook.</comment>


Buffett Defends Goldman Sachs - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608104575218071029226354.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEADSecondNewsCollection

<comment><USER2> It seems to me that Buffett's reaction to Goldman Sachs is a little more emotional and a lot less objective then his other investments.

While I agree that the specific charges against Sachs should be proven first, it's hard to deny the questionable behavior and dealings that Goldman has been involved in since the bailout began, not the least of which was the ex.Chairman and CEO being the Treasury Secretary and billions of dollars disappearing as part of the initial TARP program.

It seems Buffett really wants Goldman to be a pioneering American investment bank with a solid ethical reputation, but unfortunately for him the reality is less rosy.

</comment><comment><USER3> It also says Buffett has $5 billion invested in GS.

<comment><USER4> Not that we know everything about this situation, but Buffett is known for his honesty and integrity. He would probably consider it his duty, as a part- owner, to defend the company. If it came to light that Goldman is provably guilty of fraud, you can bet he'll stop speaking well of the institution and its CEO--but he would still do his best to save the company. That is what happened when Salomon Brothers, an I-Bank of what Buffett owned a part, was caught manipulating the Treasury market.

Besides, the guy probably isn't to throw his integrity--from which a large part of his $200 billion business derives its value--for a mere $5 billion in warrants. I mean, stranger things have happened, but I'd be very surprised if such a turn of events came to pass.

<comment><USER5> Defending a company whose stock you own, because you own the stock, seems more like self-interest than integrity.

Implying, as he seems to, that it's okay to knowingly sell junk to clients ("It's a little hard for me to get terribly sympathetic for a bank [customer of Goldman Sachs] that made a bad credit deal") doesn't seem to fit the definition of integrity.

<comment><USER6> Does that mean that we should throw the CEO of McDonald's in jail too because he knowingly sells junk food to customers? No, we shouldn't. And the reason is that people are free to buy whatever food they want. If they want shitty fast food, that's up to them. Similarly, the clients of Goldman were free to buy or sell whatever securities they want - Goldman's job is specifically not to make a claim as to whether something is "good" or "bad" especially when it's not very clear cut. Their job is instead to be ready to sell to or buy from clients who come in with requests. If these securities had worked out well, GS would be considered geniuses - hindsight is always 20/20, especially in the blogosphere.

<comment><USER7> "Their job is instead to be ready to sell to or buy from clients who come in with requests."

So their clients walked in and requested securities made up of crappy mortgages?

<comment><USER6> I don't mean to sound rude, but your comment shows how little you know understand about securities, investing, risk, and reward.

Of course nobody comes in asking for "crappy mortgages". Pension funds, endowments, etc. have certain investing goals. These are typically set based on future obligations to their investors. Let's say for example that you are a portfolio manager at one of these institutions whose job is to achieve a 7.5% annual return because teachers, firemen, and police officers actually expect to get paid in retirement. Well, the first thing to note is that this isn't easy. The investors diversify their investments among stocks, hedge funds, fixed income (bonds), and yes - mortgage backed securities, based on where they think the best relative risk-reward is.

Along the entire spectrum of assets, investors expect a much higher yield for what the market perceives to be a crappy asset as compared to a good asset. You can loan money to the US government at a 1% yield or you can load money to high grade corporate companies in the US for 5%. Why would you choose the "safe" US government vs. the relatively "crappy" high grade corporate securities? Well, it all depends on what yield (interest rate) you seek versus what risk you are willing to take.

The investors who bought these securities were looking for a specific risk (and for the interest rate that they'd get for taking it) which was detailed very clearly in the offering memorandum (<http://bit.ly/9zwBqB>). Some specific lines I'll cite are as follows:

\-----Prior to making an investment decision, prospective investors should ensure that they have sufficient knowledge, experience and access to professional advisors to make their own legal, tax, accounting and financial evaluation of the merits and risks of investment in the Notes and should carefully consider the nature of the Notes, the matters set forth elsewhere in this Offering Circular and the extent of their exposure to the risks described in "Risk Factors". \-----Concentration Risk. The concentration of the Reference Obligations in the Reference Portfolio in any one particular type of Structured Product Security subjects the Notes to a greater degree of risk with respect to credit defaults within such type of Structured Product Security. Investors should review the list of Reference Obligations set forth herein and conduct their own investigation and analysis with regard to each Reference Obligation. See "The Credit Default Swap—The Reference Portfolio". \----- The Collateral Securities may include Commercial Commercial Mortgage- Backed Securities. Mortgage-Backed Securities. CMBS bear various risks, including credit, market, interest rate, structural and legal risks. CMBS are securities backed by obligations (including certificates of participation in obligations) that are principally secured by mortgages on real property or interests therein having a multifamily or commercial use, such as regional malls, other retail space, office buildings, industrial or warehouse properties, hotels, rental apartments, self-storage, nursing homes and senior living centers. Risks affecting real estate investments include general economic conditions, the condition of financial markets, political events, developments or trends in any particular industry and changes in prevailing interest rates. The cyclicality and leverage associated with real estate- related investments have historically resulted in periods, including significant periods, of adverse performance, including performance that may be materially more adverse than the performance associated with other investments. In addition, commercial mortgage loans generally lack standardized terms, tend to have shorter maturities than residential mortgage loans and may provide for the payment of all or substantially all of the principal only at maturity. Additional risks may be presented by the type and use of a particular commercial property. For instance, commercial properties that operate as hospitals and nursing homes may present special risks to lenders due to the significant governmental regulation of the ownership, operation, maintenance and financing of health care institutions. Hotel and motel properties are often operated pursuant to franchise, management or operating agreements which may be terminable by the franchisor or operator; and the transferability of a hotel's operating, liquor and other licenses upon a transfer of the hotel, whether through purchase or foreclosure, is subject to local law requirements. All of these factors increase the risks involved with commercial real estate lending. Commercial lending is generally viewed as exposing a lender to a greater risk of loss than residential one-to-four family lending since it typically involves larger loans to a single borrower than residential one-to-four family lending. Commercial mortgage lenders typically look to the debt service coverage ratio of a loan secured by income- producing property as an important measure of the risk of default on such a loan. Commercial property values and net operating income are subject to volatility, and net operating income may be sufficient or insufficient to cover debt service on the related mortgage loan at any given time. The repayment of loans secured by income-producing properties is typically dependent upon the successful operation of the related real estate project rather than upon the liquidation value of the underlying real 26 estate. Furthermore, the net operating income from and value of any commercial property may be adversely affected by risks generally incident to interests in real property, including events which the borrower or manager of the property, or the issuer or servicer of the related issuance of commercial mortgage- backed securities, may be unable to predict or control, such as changes in general or local economic conditions and/or specific industry segments; declines in real estate values; declines in rental or occupancy rates; increases in interest rates, real estate tax rates and other operating expenses; changes in governmental rules, regulations and fiscal policies; acts of God; and social unrest and civil disturbances. The value of commercial real estate is also subject to a number of laws, such as laws regarding environmental clean-up and limitations on remedies imposed by bankruptcy laws and state laws regarding foreclosures and rights of redemption. Any decrease in income or value of the commercial real estate underlying an issue of CMBS could result in cash flow delays and losses on the related issue of CMBS. A commercial property may not readily be converted to an alternative use in the event that the operation of such commercial property for its original purpose becomes unprofitable. In such cases, the conversion of the commercial property to an alternative use would generally require substantial capital expenditures. Thus, if the borrower becomes unable to meet its obligations under the related commercial mortgage loan, the liquidation value of any such commercial property may be substantially less, relative to the amount outstanding on the related commercial mortgage loan, than would be the case if such commercial property were readily adaptable to other uses. The exercise of remedies and successful realization of liquidation proceeds may be highly dependent on the performance of CMBS servicers or special servicers, of which there may be a limited number and which may have conflicts of interest in any given situation. The failure of the performance of such CMBS servicers or special servicers could result in cash flow delays and losses on the related issue of CMBS. At any one time, a portfolio of CMBS may be backed by commercial mortgage loans with disproportionately large aggregate principal amounts secured by properties in only a few states or regions. As a result, the commercial mortgage loans may be more susceptible to geographic risks relating to such areas, such as adverse economic conditions, adverse events affecting industries located in such areas and natural hazards affecting such areas, than would be the case for a pool of mortgage loans having more diverse property locations. Mortgage loans underlying a CMBS issue may provide for no amortization of principal or may provide for amortization based on a schedule substantially longer than the maturity of the mortgage loan, resulting in a "balloon" payment due at maturity. If the underlying mortgage borrower experiences business problems, or other factors limit refinancing alternatives, such balloon payment mortgages are likely to experience payment delays or even default. As a result, the related issue of CMBS could experience delays in cash flow and losses. In addition, interest payments on CMBS may be subject to an available funds-cap and/or a weighted average coupon cap (which cap will, in each case, have the practical effect of deferring part or all of such interest payments) if interest rate rises substantially. Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities. The Reference Obligations will include and the Collateral Securities may include Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities. RMBS bear various risks, including credit, market, interest rate, structural and legal risks. RMBS represent interests in pools of residential mortgage loans secured by one- to four-family residential mortgage loans. Such loans may be prepaid at any time. Residential mortgage loans are obligations of the borrowers thereunder only and are not typically insured or guaranteed by any other person or entity, although such loans may be securitized by Agencies and the securities issued are guaranteed. The rate of defaults and losses on residential mortgage loans will be affected by a number of factors, including general economic conditions and those in the area where the related mortgaged property is located, the borrower's equity in the mortgaged property and the financial circumstances of the borrower. If a 27 residential mortgage loan is in default, foreclosure of such residential mortgage loan may be a lengthy and difficult process, and may involve significant expenses. Furthermore, the market for defaulted residential mortgage loans or foreclosed properties may be very limited. At any one time, a portfolio of RMBS may be backed by residential mortgage loans with disproportionately large aggregate principal amounts secured by properties in only a few states or regions. As a result, the residential mortgage loans may be more susceptible to geographic risks relating to such areas, such as adverse economic conditions, adverse events affecting industries located in such areas and natural hazards affecting such areas, than would be the case for a pool of mortgage loans having more diverse property locations. In addition, the residential mortgage loans may include so-called "jumbo" mortgage loans, having original principal balances that are higher than is generally the case for residential mortgage loans. As a result, such portfolio of RMBS may experience increased losses. Each underlying residential mortgage loan in an issue of RMBS may have a balloon payment due on its maturity date. Balloon residential mortgage loans involve a greater risk to a lender than self- amortizing loans, because the ability of a borrower to pay such amount will normally depend on its ability to obtain refinancing of the related mortgage loan or sell the related mortgaged property at a price sufficient to permit the borrower to make the balloon payment, which will depend on a number of factors prevailing at the time such refinancing or sale is required, including, without limitation, the strength of the residential real estate markets, tax laws, the financial situation and operating history of the underlying property, interest rates and general economic conditions. If the borrower is unable to make such balloon payment, the related issue of RMBS may experience losses. In addition, interest payments on RMBS may be subject to an available funds-cap and/or a weighted average coupon cap (which cap will, in each case, have the practical effect of deferring part or all of such interest payments) if interest rate rises substantially.

Note also Schedule A which LISTS EVERY SECURITY IN THE CDO. With a document like this (which is required), it is very difficult for someone to make a credible claim that GS did not forward appropriate info as to to what the buyer was actually investing in. These investors took a risk. They knew they were taking a risk and they knew the risk they were taking - these weren't mom and pop retail investors, but some of the most professional in the business. The simple fact is that they did a poor job of assessing risk versus reward and lost a ton of money as a result.

Again, when you go into a McDonalds, nobody says, "please give me unhealthy food", but instead they say, "give me a double quarter-pounder with cheese". This person is taking the risk of heart disease versus the "reward" of enjoying a calorific sandwich. They know the risk they're taking and have free will to take that risk. It was the same with these investors, only now it's as if they're suing McDonalds after having a heart attack.

<comment><USER8> > These investors took a risk. They knew they were taking a risk and they knew > the risk they were taking

The point is, I don't think they really knew the risk. In other words, if the risk was so obvious and you claim that these are smart professionals, then how come so many bought the securities? It seems either the risks were not disclosed properly or these so called "the most professional in business" were really "mom and pop" type amateurs. So which one is it?

> The simple fact is that they did a poor job of assessing risk versus reward > and lost a ton of money as a result.

Perhaps true, but if they didn't have the appropriate information to assess the risk because they were deceived, then that would be a serious problem. I am not arguing that's what happened, but rather, that it is hard to assess risk if you are provided with misleading data in general.

To use the McDonalds analogy, it is like them putting false nutritional information, or not disclosing important parts of the nutritional information to their buyers.

> Again, when you go into a McDonalds, nobody says, "please give me unhealthy > food", but instead they say, "give me a double quarter-pounder with cheese". > This person is taking the risk of heart disease versus the "reward" of > enjoying a calorific sandwich.

Again, if you don't know about the amount of calories in a McDonalds, you don't really think you are taking the risk. You just think you are eating a yummy lunch.

The pension fund, didn't think it was taking a risk, it thought those securities were AAA rated. You need access to available and truthful information in order to make an informed decision about risk. I agree that investors were professional and the fact that so many didn't assess the real risk correctly, it means that something was hidden from them. That's the gist of the problem.

<comment><USER9> _these so called "the most professional in business" were really "mom and pop" type amateurs. So which one is it?_

Even today, there are an awful lot of fund managers and traders who got their jobs because they showed up to the interview wearing the "right" tie, i.e. through the Old Boys network.

Goldman Sachs, despite what it might look like from the outside, isn't really a part of this network. They started out as scrappy Jews competing with old- money white-shoe WASPs, they were the outsiders that everyone looked down on once. It's baked into their corporate DNA that these guys are prey.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I liked how Charlie Munger said at the meeting "just because what Goldman did was legal doesn't make it ethical."

</comment><comment><USER5> This is going to cost Buffett a lot of credibility if Goldman comes out looking bad (and I don't think the SEC would make this move unless they have what they need to follow through).

<comment><USER11> He's defending those $5 billion invested in GS.

<comment><USER12> Probably not. As cynicalkane says above, Buffett is known for for his personal integrity, and he's not going to throw that away for $5billion.

<comment><USER8> > Buffett is known for for his personal integrity...

Aside from this cult followers claiming that, I only see a one of the most successful businessman in the world. One could equally have a psychopathic, dishonest, thief as the most successful businessman in the world.

I guess, I would be more convinced of his "integrity" if he actually criticized GS or Moody's, while he still holds large investments in those firms.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I'm currently at The Berkshire Shareholders Meeting weekend. Warren led the meeting off with his long talk on Goldman. I think the main thing that he was trying to drive home that is not getting reported is that there is a difference between being "accused" of wrong doing and actually having done something wrong.

He did go to great lengths to explain how he interpreted the goings on at Goldman. He even compared it to a recent blind bond insurance deal that Berkshire had made. And in his opinion, according to the information he had available, it didn't seem like there was any wrong doing on the part of Goldman.

However, he was very clear that if the ACCUSATION of impropriety became proof of wrong doing that he would have a different stance on the matter.

I'm just reporting what I heard him say. Interpret as you wish. As for the side that says he has a conflict of interest in this matter, he also said his investment in Goldman is paying $15 a second. I know that would be a conflict of interest for me, but I am not Warren Buffett.

</comment><comment><USER14> I'm reading a biography about him called The Snowball. I'm currently on the section where Salomon Bros has just done something illegal and he has to step up and fix the company. I'm sure he's feeling some deja vu about now.

Awesome book - long, but has much more detail than anything else I've read about him.</comment>


Bleath Gill: Whatever Happened to the Heroes? (2011) - <AUTHOR> https://becausetheyrethere.com/2011/03/24/bleath-gill-whatever-happened-to-the-heroes/ <comment><USER2> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHGqGmzzQaY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHGqGmzzQaY)

Canadian style:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXzauTuRG78](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXzauTuRG78)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Snowdrift at Bleath Gill is a British industrial documentary. It's just under 10 minutes long.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ugIoMD495E](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ugIoMD495E)</comment>


"A fairly complex riddle": Write Medium headlines that 'click' with readers - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@dreamandexec/a-fairly-complex-riddle-here-s-9-tips-to-write-medium-headlines-that-will-click-with-your-readers-137310d4ec27#.e0zc471hd <comment><USER2> I hadn't dared to speculate that it was possible to make Medium more clickbaity.</comment>


Cannabis.com launches Cann.com for Medical Marijuana - <AUTHOR> http://cann.com Cannabis.com - One of the oldest cannabis forums, in preparation for the upcoming 4/20, have lanched Cann.com for medical marijuana dispensary locator for Medical Mariuana Patients and for locating a doctor around you. <comment><AUTHOR> Menus, locations, and reviews!</comment>


GitLab Issue Board - <AUTHOR> https://about.gitlab.com/2016/08/22/announcing-the-gitlab-issue-board/ <comment><USER2> I've just auto-mirrored a few projects to GitLab and I must say the CI integration is great. I have still to figure out thinks like using a repo- specific dockerfile as an image (because gitlab-ci uses docker images), how to avoid re-downloading images, and how to test against several versions of a compile or vm, but it works well and the separation into phases is very useful.

I never liked Jira because it's always, in every installation I've used slower than Bugzilla. So, I've preferred Mantis, Flyspray or Redmine for their responsiveness while being still featureful, so if GitLab can make the issue board fast enough (faster than Jira and Bugzilla), then I'm excited. Assuming it will land in GitLab core edition, of course.

</comment><comment><USER3> This is big news. I wonder if it makes GitHub, Trello, Atlassian, Zube, Waffle.io, & HuBoard nervous...</comment>


Stock trading halted for 15 minutes after the S&P 500 drops 7% - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/08/dow-futures-drop-700-points-as-all-out-oil-price-war-adds-to-coronavirus-stress.html <comment><USER2> If these losses are sustained I wonder what that will do to the SV investing scene. There's still deep pocketed funds, but I wonder if they wouldn't pivot to less risky bets until things recover.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's hard to say that it feels like an overreaction by the market. This oil price war couldn't have come at a worse time.

<comment><USER4> And that exactly why they choose this timing</comment></comment>


Trying to Improve CouchDB's Performance with NIFs - <AUTHOR> http://groups.google.com/group/erlang-programming/browse_thread/thread/f667a9a87ada3e7d

<comment><USER2> For those who are unfamiliar with the erlang parlance, like me: native implemented functions (NIFs). <http://www.erlang.org/doc/man/erl_nif.html>

</comment><comment><USER3> improving Erlang performance... by not using Erlang. neat.

next step: stop using CouchDB?</comment>


Study links early puberty in girls to chemicals in shampoo, toothpaste and soap - <AUTHOR> https://m.scmp.com/news/world/article/2179189/study-links-early-puberty-girls-chemicals-shampoo-toothpaste-and-soap <comment><USER2> Source study here: [https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article- abstract/34/1/109/52...](https://academic.oup.com/humrep/article- abstract/34/1/109/5204432)</comment>


Dark Corners of VIM - <AUTHOR> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/726894/what-are-the-dark-corners-of-vim-your-mom-never-told-you-about

<comment><USER2> Nice link.

Another cool trick is that instead of Esc, one can just `^[`. Much better imho than having to reach for that upper left key (god, I miss a Sun keyboard layout).

</comment><comment><USER3> :later 8h</comment>


Tesla workers' unemployment may be suspended if they don't return, emails show - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/12/tesla-workers-unemployment-benefits-emails <comment><USER2> I'm a foreigner so I don't fully understand this, but here's my take:

1) Tesla is restarting the factory against local rules saying they can't, because their competition is in different localities with their local rules saying they can, and Tesla is at a disadvantage.

2) It's basically illegal for the workers to go to work, but Tesla is still insisting they do this?

3) the local council has said they won't do enforcement.

4) If the staff refuse (a potentially unsafe) order from Tesla to return to their jobs (to break the law) the govt will stop paying unemployment?

So, my understanding, the workers have to potentially risk their health and break the law or the govt won't pay them unemployment?

Have I made a mistake?

That's a messed up situation for those workers. Does Cali do anything like suspended sentences(you get sentenced to prison, but you don't have to go, but if you do another crime you have to go for both durations)? Would this impact workers in that situation?

<comment><USER3> You're not missing anything. The local county has already said they won't prosecute the workers for violating the health order since Elon Musk is making them choose between their health or their livelihoods.

It's also unlikely the local county or state will prosecute Elon Musk since it's difficult to pinpoint the actual criminal violation he could be charged with.

However, it's very likely that Musk will be sued in civil court by one or more of his (ex) employees. There are a variety of different legal claims they could make, so it's hard to say what the outcome would be.

<comment><USER4> > _it 's difficult to pinpoint the actual criminal violation he could be > charged with._

Doesn't seem to be. These businesses in LA county have been charged:

[https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-03/coronavi...](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-04-03/coronavirus- closures-los-angeles-criminal-charges-against-four-stores)

[https://www.dailynews.com/2020/05/12/60-nonessential-l-a- bus...](https://www.dailynews.com/2020/05/12/60-nonessential-l-a-businesses- cited-for-remaining-open-during-coronavirus-shutdown/)

Alameda county could do the same.

<comment><USER5> The articles and their references don't quote any statute (the LADN has a _list of defendants_ but no reference to criminal charges; the article specifies only that they are pursuing cutoff of utilities to those properties).

<comment><USER4> > _the article specifies only that they are pursuing cutoff of utilities to > those properties_

No, it doesn't. Here are some case numbers:

[https://www.lacityattorney.org/post/feuer-charges-10-more- al...](https://www.lacityattorney.org/post/feuer-charges-10-more-allegedly- non-essential-businesses-operating-in-violation-of-emergency-order)

Look up the criminal case summary using the case number:

[http://www.lacourt.org/criminalcasesummary/ui/index.aspx](http://www.lacourt.org/criminalcasesummary/ui/index.aspx)

<comment><USER5>
      No, it doesn't. Here are some case numbers:

You say "No", as if the _article_ says otherwise, then quote a different source altogether. I was addressing specifically what the _article_ did and didn't reference.

Anyway, this confirms my earlier point about these articles not identifying a related _state_ criminal statute.

These charges are from the _L.A. Administrative Code_ , and there is a statute _specific to Los Angeles_ :

"Sec. 8.77. Punishment of Violations. It shall be a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or by imprisonment not to exceed six months, or both, for any person, during a local emergency declared pursuant to this chapter, to: ... 8.77(b). Do any act forbidden by any lawful rule, regulation, order or directive issued pursuant to this chapter, if such act is of a nature as to give, or be likely to give, assistance to any national enemy, or imperil the lives or property of other inhabitants of this City, or to prevent, hinder or delay the defense or protection thereof."

<comment><USER4> > _You say "No", as if the article says otherwise_

Yes, because the article says otherwise.

> _then quote a different source altogether_

Yes, it's additional information because you're still not getting it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. That is going to be one hell of a villain.

</comment><comment><USER7> Elon is playing with fire. This is punk mentality - let's get as close to self destruction as possible. It's OK to make decisions for yourself but health of others?

<comment><USER8> The thing is, the Alameda County Public Health Department changed their policy now that they received Tesla's plan (that was posted to the company's blog when they announced the lawsuit), and is now allowing Tesla to augment their operation activities beyond the bare minimum, in preparation for a full reopening next week. I guess both parties will claim that they went ahead according to their original plans but somehow, Tesla will have been able to restart much sooner than Alameda County's goal. In that case, "playing with fire" would be fruitful, esp. if Alameda County pretend things went just fine.

<comment><USER9> This depends on how much coronavirus ends up spreading among Tesla employees in the next weeks.

<comment><USER8> It should be similar to Tesla handled in their Shanghai factory, and probably better considering that the Fremont team is in the spotlight now.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Elon Musk is the guy who bets his house at the roulette table. It's been working out for him so far but one day he's going to step into some shit his money can't get him out of and it's going to be entirely his own fault.

<comment><USER11> You've been using multiple accounts in ways that break the HN guidelines badly. We've banned several of these accounts. If you don't want to be banned, you're welcome to email email@example.com and give us reason to believe that you'll follow the rules in the future.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I have a question:

Where is her second leg?

</comment><comment><USER13> Many other businesses of the same size are probably already doing or will do the same, but it is Tesla who is always disgraced in the media.

<comment><USER14> They're all at fault. it's not just Tesla.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> No judgement , but just a reminder that this is a company making expensive battery cars at a time when nobody's driving and oil prices are negative

<comment><USER16> No presumption, but demand outstrips supply for teslas so they are always atleast a few months behind, and now probably much more.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> It's not like Tesla has a choice. From the e-mail:

>Choosing not to report to work may eliminate or reduce your eligibility for unemployment depending on your state's unemployment agency

Tesla is not the one making the rules of unemployment benefits. They merely informing people of the rules.

What is Tesla supposed to do: lie to the government about employment status of their employees? Pay them even if they don't work?

<comment><USER18> Not risk their employees' lives just to keep the Musk profit machine going? Let their workers stay safe while collecting unemployment benefit?

<comment><USER19> False dichotomy. Nobody is completely safe from the virus. There will be illnesses both in the factory, and outside it.

It's better that the workers have jobs, have an employer that stays in business, and have health care benefits for their families. If you want people to be safer, that is safer.

But again nobody is completely safe. There are going to be cases whether people go to work or not. But the factory is arguably a safer environment than most homes for virus transmission. I've been there and it's a pretty damn sterile place where viruses would not thrive imho.

I realize it can stay viable for weeks on certain surfaces but I wouldn't be surprised if the average surface in a home is more virus friendly than that factory. So, arguably safer.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Workers are saying "please don't offer our jobs back because then we won't get unemployment benefits".

<comment><USER14> Workers are saying "please don't make us back to work during a once-in-a- century pandemic because it's unsafe and we don't wanna die"

<comment><USER13> Who and when should decide if it's safe or not?

<comment><USER21> Fauci

<comment><USER19> 43-second video of Dr. Fauci saying people should not wear masks:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKZAxzT1j0c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKZAxzT1j0c)

Rhetorical question: Why was he saying that?

Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Dr. Fauci and his guidance has changed over time for a reason. But I am also a fan of looking at all angles of a situation and thinking for yourself, and Fauci is not here to see the situation in Fremont, nor is he entirely a straight shooter in all this since he is bending under pressure from different angles not to be.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: What switching on React concurrent mode means for apps - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/0xca0a/status/1199997552466288641 <comment><AUTHOR> Concurrent mode lets React render asynchroneously. It will batch updates and schedule render passes. If you give it an impossible amount of load, so many render requests that it must choke, it will start to manage these requests to establish a stable 60/fps by updating components virtually and letting them retain their visual state, using back buffers, etc.

It contrasts how web frameworks and even native frameworks work. Native has prioritizing and occlusion, but i know nothing that schedules as deeply as this.

The demo in particular schedules a react renderer for threejs ([https://github.com/drcmda/react-three- fiber](https://github.com/drcmda/react-three-fiber)). But it applies to any other target as well.</comment>


Verizon to buy wireless services provider Tracfone in $6.25B deal - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/14/verizon-to-buy-wireless-services-provider-tracfone-in-6point25-billion-deal.html <comment><USER2> Is Tracfone an MVNO in the US?

EDIT: seems they are. I feel it's weird for the article to start talking about consolidation among the main 3 providers when an MVNO isn't really in the same business.</comment>


Metaballs and Marching Squares - <AUTHOR> http://jamie-wong.com/2014/08/19/metaballs-and-marching-squares <comment><USER2> For a nice description of doing this in 3D: [http://paulbourke.net/geometry/polygonise/](http://paulbourke.net/geometry/polygonise/)

I used that in the 90s to do a Lisp implementation: [http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~wiseman/3D/marching- cubes/](http://people.cs.uchicago.edu/~wiseman/3D/marching-cubes/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Something really cool about this approach is the marching squares algorithm is highly parallelizable which would make this a good candidate for GPU acceleration provided that there is enough memory.

<comment><USER4> I implemented marching cubes in the 00's to extract isosurface meshes from PET scans. As far as I can remember I had it operating real-time on regular CPUs. The volumes were in the order of 512^3 if my memory serves me well. I guess GPUs could help for very large volumes though.

<comment><USER5> You wouldn't need marching cubes to operate real time - it runs once, generates an iso-surface mesh which can be efficiently rendered in hardware.

Edit: my thesis advisor was the first to prove that there were exactly 15 distinct configurations of voxels in MC, which gives you the ability to perform constant time lookup for the (configuration, rotation) for vertices on the edge of any particular voxel. [http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs164-10-spring/Handout...](http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs164-10-spring/Handouts/paper_p83-nielson.pdf)

<comment><USER4> The thing is there was slider to move the isosurface boundary.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I have used alpha threshold trick to achieve metaballs for my fluid simulation[1][2]. I wonder how efficient Marching Squares method is.

[1][https://jsexperiments.herokuapp.com/sph/](https://jsexperiments.herokuapp.com/sph/) [2][https://github.com/asadlionpk/SPHjs](https://github.com/asadlionpk/SPHjs)

<comment><USER7> It's pretty efficient, O(N), where N is the number of cells (partially) covered by something (which means some pruning of the cells that need to be processed is desirable otherwise you'd have to evaluate all of them for quadratic complexity). The algorithm is also embarassingly parallel, every cell can be processed independently so it scales perfectly with the number of processors available (if you forget about contention effects).

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> So metaballs aren't distinct mathematical objects that you can model on their own (like a fractal or a cylinder)- rather, they're artefacts that are created when sampling in certain ways circles/spheres intersecting?

<comment><USER9> Metaballs are a family of implicit equations that are visually interesting and easy to set up. They all come in the form of a summation of some function of distance from a control point over a set of control points. The appearance of spheres/circles intersecting is a consequence of the popular falloff-type functions.

You can think of metaballs as a bunch of glowy points. The implicit surface that is shown is all of the points where the glows add up to some target value.

<comment><USER10> Blumenthal, "Introduction to Implicit Surfaces".

Possibly quite dated, though.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Quick Desmos graph, if you want to play around with some of the math with less of the programming:

[https://www.desmos.com/calculator/mvnrzlrhrz](https://www.desmos.com/calculator/mvnrzlrhrz)

</comment><comment><USER12> I remember when almost every demo had metaballs in them. Now that's been replaced with distance functions/raymarching, which can produce far more interesting scenes.

<comment><USER13> I did some 3d metablobs using raymarching in a 4k exe.

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

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Blender has 3d metaballs, if you want to play around with them without too much fuss.

</comment><comment><USER15> You don't care, but I got to shake hands with Bill Lorensen (marching cubes), Alvy Ray Smith (cofound Pixar, co-invented the alpha channel), Jim Blinn (need I say more?), Tony DeRose (really improved Subdivision Surfaces), Anthony Apodaca (Director of Graphics Research and Development at Pixar Animation Studios, co-created RISpec)...

I'm like a Computer Graphics groupie.</comment>


The Parker Vacumatic (2016) - <AUTHOR> https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2016/7/28/the-parker-vacumatic <comment><USER2> Can anyone recommend a decent fountain pen that's easily available and affordable (USD 100 - 200)? All I usually see are vintage pens that are only available through specialist dealers. Surely somebody today must be making a pen that's good enough?

<comment><USER3> You could try things out with a Platinum Preppy for about 5 USD. Past that, a Pilot Metropolitan, or a Lamy Safari would be good entry level pens, in the 20 USD range. For 100-200 USD, you can get a very nice pen like the Pilot Custom Heritage 912, or a Pelikan M200. I'd recommend trying out the cheaper options first so you get an idea of what sorts of nibs you like.

[http://gouletpens.com](http://gouletpens.com)

[http://jetpens.com](http://jetpens.com)

[http://nibs.com](http://nibs.com)

Are decent places to start looking for more modern pens. Hope that helps.</comment></comment>


Serverless Meetup: A Deep Dive into Serverless Challenges and Solutions - <AUTHOR> https://www.heavybit.com/library/blog/serverless-meetup-a-deep-dive-into-serverless-challenges-solutions/ <comment><USER2> So this is entirely big-S Serverless the framework specifically, not just for people who are interested in serverless solutions in general, yes?

<comment><AUTHOR> Nope. It's a mix of talks focused on the Serverless Framework and managing challenges for serverless ops in general.</comment></comment>


The Value in Learning Yet Another Programming Language - <AUTHOR> https://fabianlindfors.se/blog/the-value-in-learning-yet-another-programming-language/ <comment><USER2> Summary: "There is a great deal of thought and domain knowledge behind every programming language. Most languages were designed to address a need and every one brings novel approaches and solutions to problems their designers faced. When learning a new language we are taking part of this expertise behind every single design decision."</comment>


Ask HN: I have 18 weeks to learn whatever I want, do you have any suggestions? - <AUTHOR> Hello HN, to give you a bit more information, I'm 17 years old and present taking a second year computer course in which I can decide what I would like to learn. I presently have dabbled in Pascal, C++, and Ruby. I have some basic knowledge of data structures, and well, just written some programs(probably very basic to you).
I am very interested in trying to learn more about Ruby/Ruby On Rail/and C++. If you know of any small tutorials or site that teaches anything, I would appreciate any information that you can share! (Whatever you share doesn't have to be a full 18 weeks worth, obviously I am going to be doing a lot of things.
Thanks in advance for your replies.
edit: Any tutorial sites, books that are great for learning, source that is great to read, or project guides that I could create to get some hands on learning. All is appreciated. <comment><AUTHOR> Upon doing some more research and compiling a list of things to go through I've found the following:

<http://guides.rubyonrails.org/>

[http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and- comput...](http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer- science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming-fall-2008/)

[http://manwithcode.com/299/making-games-with-ruby- ep-1-intro...](http://manwithcode.com/299/making-games-with-ruby-ep-1-intro/)

<http://learn.knockoutjs.com/#/?tutorial=intro>

<http://peepcode.com/>

<http://railsforzombies.org/>

<http://ruby.railstutorial.org/>

[http://citizen428.net/blog/2010/08/12/30-free-programming- eb...](http://citizen428.net/blog/2010/08/12/30-free-programming-ebooks/)

[http://www.trybloc.com/courses/ruby- warrior/chapters/beginne...](http://www.trybloc.com/courses/ruby- warrior/chapters/beginner#/1)

and I've completed: <http://tryruby.org/levels/1/challenges/1>

\- just for those interested in the progress I've made so far

</comment><comment><USER2> If you want some "down and dirty" simply practical knowledge, read up on regular expressions. (Be sure to read up on the better cautions associated with using them, as well.) I would recommend Jeffrey Friedl's book, "Mastering Regular Expressions".

<http://shop.oreilly.com/product/9780596528126.do>

One other caveat about this, though. They make more sense and the topic is more motivating when you have a significant amount of text munging to accomplish (as I did, at one point).

Nonetheless, I remember some years ago being astonished at some of the Java code I saw being written, at not insignificant amounts of programmer time and with a bevy of mistakes, to accomplish simple pattern matching in use cases where a regular expression would have been more appropriate and more efficient -- both to write and probably in execution.

The developers, despite being fairly seasoned, just weren't familiar with the paradigm. A few years later, they were using them "all over the place".

</comment><comment><USER3> I would also like to recommend that you do some work in javascript. It has arguably become one of the most important programming languages around, and only becoming more so.

Also, since js is prototypal instead of class-based, its a different way of thinking about writing code. I have known many good programmers that had a hell of a time working with javascript as its meant, and they constantly try to write js with classes. If you learn both ways early on, you'll be a much better programmer later. Neither will seem alien to you.

I would recommend that the first javascript book you read is Javascript the Good Parts by Douglas Crockford. Its only about 150 pages and _only_ talks about the language. Nothing to do with web browsers. Read it a couple times and start doing some simple js apps and you'll be in good shape.

</comment><comment><USER4> This would seem like an ideal opportunity to get a solid grounding in the fundamentals of programming. I would suggest that you work through the MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) version of their "Introduction to Computer Science and Programming" (the newer version that uses Python as its teaching language). You would be learning Python while you are learning the fundamentals. The course uses a freely available textbook, and video lectures are available. The course website is located at "[http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical- engineering-and-comput...](http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering- and-computer-science/6-00-introduction-to-computer-science-and-programming- fall-2008/).

<comment><USER3> I want to second this. I'm 31 and have been doing web development for the better part of 10 years now. It wasn't until later in my career that I realized what I missed out on by not learning CS fundamentals much earlier. I played catch up for a while. If you have the opportunity now, especially with a more agile brain, take it. You will benefit from it for _years_ to come.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> One way you can go about learning is to find something you really feel passionate about building. Then try to find the best way possible to build it.

</comment><comment><USER6> You may choose to learn Ruby properly first and then start learning Ruby on Rails. This list of free programming resources might be helpful to you: <http://stackoverflow.com/a/392926>

<comment><AUTHOR> This is fantastic, thanks a TON!

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> 1\. Bayesian filtering, etc

2\. Neural Networks

3\. How to make money</comment>


Google's Entrance Into Venture Capital - <AUTHOR> http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/03/googles-entrance-into-venture-capital.html?success#comment-7675517 <comment><USER2> Please provide links to articles, like

[http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/03/googles-entrance-into- ventur...](http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/03/googles-entrance-into-venture- capital.html?success)

...and not links to comments, like

[http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/03/googles-entrance-into- ventur...](http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2009/03/googles-entrance-into-venture- capital.html?success#comment-7675517)

It's quite annoying to click a link and end up 25 comments down in a thread, and then have to page up to figure out what the heck the actual point is.</comment>


What Time Feels Like When You're Improvising - <AUTHOR> http://nautil.us/issue/61/coordinates/what-time-feels-like-when-youre-improvising <comment><USER2> Sometimes, when in soloing over some changes, it can feel like a short time has passed only to look at the recording and find out that it's been recording for well over 10 minutes. The opposite can happen too. It's also a little bit different when you're improvising on top of other musicians improvising in a jam setting.

Without sounding too eeky like Rupert Sheldrake, I have to say that once in a while, it seems like the "flow states" of all the improvising musicians in a room sort of sync up and beautiful things can happen. It's absolutely wonderful seeing this with extremely proficient improvisers like Pat Martino in his Live at Yoshi's record. Or Allan Holdsworth in All Night Wrong.

A single musicians flow state is great, but a bunch of flow states together is magical.

</comment><comment><USER3> The documentary Being In the World (2010) talks around similar issues, and the implications for how we conceive of the mind and intelligence. It includes contributions from a number of performers but, most importantly for this crowd, also Hubert Dreyfus.

Dreyfus's account of AI is the most interesting and well developed critiques I've encountered, and it's nice to see him giving his positive account of mind, rather than his negative account of AI.

</comment><comment><USER4> Whenever I sit down at the piano and just improvise over chords or just make up stuff, time goes by way faster than when I sit down and practice a piece of music. Though, time also goes way faster when I am sight reading new pieces than when I am practicing, so I am not sure if it just because I hate practicing a specific piece and time is slower when I hate doing something or what.

</comment><comment><USER5> Not being tremendously skilled at improv at the piano, I can't speak to experiences there but simply sitting down practicing or playing pieces or learning new ones, can be quite absorbing. On occasion, two hours can pass in what feels like 15 minutes.

</comment><comment><USER6> Time just flies by when I'm noodling around on my banjo.

Oddly, my wife tells me it seems like I was playing forever, even if it just took a few minutes.

Weird....</comment>


Instamania What Makes The Instagram iPhone App So Hot? - <AUTHOR> http://techcocktail.com/instamania-instagram-iphone-app-2010-11 <comment><USER2> That article lacked any semblance of content.

Instagram got huge because it let's you find friends through your phone/facebook contacts, and it let's you upload existing photos?

Dear tech blogs, please stop writing for the sake of putting words on a page.

<comment><USER3> I'm sure you are more informed on tech matters than the average bear. Just because it's not news to you doesn't mean it's worthless to their audience. Plenty of people haven't heard about Instagram, or don't have a sense of what makes web apps successful. Let them read their blogs in peace.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> The author doesn't mention what I think is a factor: a good name. I think its a portemanteau of instant and telegram. The word "telegram" has a old school charm. At the same time it conveys the purpose of the app.

</comment><comment><USER5> None of these reasons is a Technical Explanation.</comment>


Bleep: Chat securely - <AUTHOR> http://www.bleep.pm/ <comment><USER2> I played with this application with a friend and it is horrific, don't waste your time. You inexplicably can't communicate between the different platforms without having isolated accounts on each one. The very first thing it does as an "encrypted" "private" communication system is call home over plaintext HTTP with a UUID. [https://i.imgur.com/HPadlpr.png](https://i.imgur.com/HPadlpr.png) Total failure right off the bat.

<comment><USER3> A fantastic and widely recognised alternative is Signal for iOS, (and its counterpart for Android, TextSecure), created by Open Whisper Systems. People like Edward Snowden have been praising it.

iOS: [https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/signal-private- messenger/id8...](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/signal-private- messenger/id874139669?mt=8)

Android: [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcri...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.thoughtcrime.securesms&hl=en_GB)

<comment><USER2> > Signal uses your existing phone number and address book.

Failure, why restrict your users to their phone numbers?

<comment><USER4> WhatsApp does this too. I find it very inconvenient since I have many devices. I think it's not for security as much as theft/identity. It's a lazy way of forcing what is essentially 2fa on a user. Just give me real 2fa and let me use all my devices please.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It's a closed source proprietary chat client _claiming_ to be end to end encrypted.

</comment><comment><USER6> Chat securely on a closed source client?

</comment><comment><USER7> I can't take a solution that claims that sent messages "disappear" seriously, especially when it accompany with an elaborate depiction showing a fancy effect of that, as it only gives its user a false sense of security.

What sent is sent, and you can't recall them, whether encrypted or not.

</comment><comment><USER8> Meanwhile heml.is has died

[https://hemlismessenger.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/sometimes-y...](https://hemlismessenger.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/sometimes- you-understand/)

</comment><comment><USER9> What's the betting this will be become like BitTorrent Sync where it gets limited and a 'pro' version is introduced?

<comment><USER7> I don't generally mind Pro version that offers additional values, but the case of the Sync was massive disappointment, when they chose to limit its core functionality so badly for non-Pro user. (And I actually would have bought Pro version if this wasn't the case.)

I don't know what they'll do to "Bleep Pro" but I just don't have any hope for it, given their track record...</comment></comment>


South Korea to kill the coin in path towards 'cashless society' - <AUTHOR> https://www.ft.com/content/bf5c929c-b78d-11e6-ba85-95d1533d9a62 <comment><USER2> Seems that this site requires a subscription, no?</comment>


Goodbye mocks, Farewell stubs - <AUTHOR> http://weblogs.asp.net/rosherove/archive/2008/09/20/goodbye-mocks-farewell-stubs.aspx

<comment><USER2> This strikes a few chords with me from my days of managing sub-par developers. I got to the point on my projects where I prefer not-so-good code with tests over good code with no tests! Blech X-|

Great points about the people barriers to testing -- too high of a learning curve and the difficulty of finding the balance where developers are not over- testing their code.

Unfortunately I think judgment for writing good, non-fragile tests comes from a lot of experience.

<comment><USER3> I agree testing has a big learning curve. I have been doing it for years now and still find there is a lot to learn. It took a long time to make me realize how much better isolated tests were at the unit level.

I think some of the language changes he suggests are interesting. Kind of follows some of the BDD over TDD. Something 'should' do something, not test. Tests should be isolated, not have objects mocked...

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Oh yeah one disagreement

"Think what you will ,but 99% of the dev worlds aren't ready for the 'testability' message"

I feel like the entire agile movement is ready and on testing. I think that movement is significantly larger and stronger than he sees it.</comment>


AI is digitally pasting products into your favourite films and TV - <AUTHOR> https://www.newscientist.com/article/2223621-ai-is-digitally-pasting-products-into-your-favourite-films-and-tv/ <comment><USER2> How about "vanity extras?" Say someone wants to appear as a background extra whose face is visible but is a background actor and they only want to be seen in the Omaha market... $50,000 split between the network and affiliate?</comment>


Fever: taking the temperature of your slice of the web - by Shaun Inman - <AUTHOR> http://feedafever.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> I'm sure Shaun has thought about this but I think it would have worked really well as hosted solution with free and paid accounts. I'd be more than happy to pay $10 a month for Fever as I've been looking for a way to sort out RSS feeds in this way.

<comment><USER2> I agree. It's a surreal combination of front-end polish (I'm sort of amazed) and difficult multi-step DIY installation(wtf?). I'd buy a desktop version or subscribe to a hosted version right now, but I don't want to deal with all that crap if I'm paying someone for an application. (If it's open source like Wordpress or something, fine. I'll deal with settign up my own cron jobs and creating databases.)

I hope it does well though, so that it will be worth his time to develop a desktop platform or something I can just purchase from the Apple App Store. (Hopefully both.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I've went ahead, bought and installed fever on my server. One problem: doesn't seem to parse Hacker News correctly!

I really wanted a Hacker News to act as a "spark" in fever, but it does nothing, always says there are "no items". This is extremely disappointing and my attempts to reach out to Shaun via email (on the feedafever.com site) and Titter have failed, and I have received no reply. :-(

<comment><USER3> Well, looks like Shaun can update fever from his end, and has version 1.0.1 has been pushed to my install of fever; in this update, Hacker News works!

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> "Fever caches and embeds the favicons of all the sites you follow into a single, compressed file so reading is fast and intuitive."

Ok, this tool is obviously targeted at a technical audience, but I don't know if this bit from the "features" section doesn't go a little to deep.

</comment><comment><USER5> UI gripe: the temperatures are too big and awkward. I think the fever icon set at different colors (bright red for hot) might have worked better.

</comment><comment><USER6> If he adds the ability to granularly control how often each feed is updated (1 hr, 24 hrs, 7 days, etc.) I'm sold.

</comment><comment><USER7> does anyone here use feedly? i'm curious to see what a fever user thinks of it.

</comment><comment><USER8> This product would be nice if it was free, and if it used the css trick to detect that I use Google Reader, and offered me one click to import my Reader preferences and see what the Fever system would recommend to me.

<comment><USER9> You've just offered what may be the ultimate gripe.

"It would be really nice if I didn't have to pay Shaun for the two (three?) years he spent developing. And also, it would be cool if it used a completely arbitrary and somewhat lame browser hack rather than using the feed import standard that _every RSS program has used for years._ "

Do you think feed importing is new? Or that solutions don't exist that aren't complete gimmicks?

<comment><USER8> I was just trying to give honest feedback. This feature isn't so important to me that I would pay for it, but I would try it if it was free, and if I didn't have to run a program outside the browser. I respect Shaun's work and wish him well even if he does not want to provide products for users like me, which is a totally understandable decision.</comment></comment></comment>


Regulators probe Apple 30% subscription plan - <AUTHOR> http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/18/us-apple-doj-idUSTRE71H4DU20110218

<comment><USER2> Google Launches New Web Referral Program

Google today announced a new Web Referral program as part of their search engine. Indexed web pages that accept payment will be required to accept Google Checkout as a payment option. Google Checkout payments now give Google a 30% cut per transaction.

CEO Larry Page stated, "Our philosophy is simple - when Google brings a new buyer to the web page, Google earns a 30 percent share; when the company brings and existing or new buyer to the page, without using the Google search engine, the company keeps 100 percent and Google earns nothing. All we require is that, if a company is making a product or service available on their web page, the same (or better) offer be made via Google Checkout. We believe that this innovative Web Referral service will provide companies with a brand new opportunity to expand their exposure on the world wide web, delighting both users and companies."

Page added that customers will benefit from a consistent user interface and less distribution of their credit card and personal information.

<comment><USER3> I don't see how that is an argument to get regulators involved (if that is the point that you're trying to make)

<comment><USER2> There are good arguments elsewhere in this thread. I'm just pointing out a scenario I haven't seen discussed much: What if all powerful tech companies started wielding their power as an offensive weapon?

Oracle wants a cut of JVM delivered content, Microsoft wants a premium on content that passes through their APIs, etc.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> The last thing we need at this stage of the game is "Regulators" messing around in the market. It's early years, in the tablet market, and Google is going to come out with some awesome android operating systems, and I'm confident we're going to see some great tablets that will let me read my Kindle books on.

If Apple wants to shoot itself in the foot, and send everyone over to Google/honeycomb tablets by coming up with some insane pricing strategy for resellers - I think they should be free to.

If _anything_ this step by Apple, at this stage of the tablet market, _ensures_ we'll have competition. If they weren't making blunders like this, then the argument for going with an Android tablet would have been much, much weaker. As it is - I, Mr Apple fanboy himself, am finally preparing to purchase a non-Apple tablet, simply because all the content providers I'm interested in (WSJ, NYT, Economist, NetFlix, KINDLE(!)) are going to start abandoning the iPad and moving over to the Android Tablets.

And I'll follow them. No government assistance required.

<comment><USER5> I don't think they "shot themselves in the foot" in terms of profit. If they actually have a dominant position in the market (kinda true for ipads), then Amazon and the others will accept Apple's terms.

That means that EVERYONE ELSE will subsidize Apple prizes (since they have to sell their products at the same prize as in the ipad). With that subsidy, Apple can choose to lower the prices of ipads, thus cementing it's incumbent advantage.

Let's put it in another way: If MSFT circa 1999 forced every shop selling Windows programs for a 30% share (and lower or equal prices than everywhere else), and with that share they gave away Windows at a low price (or for free), then it would have been VERY HARD for Apple or any other competitor to disrupt Windows.

<comment><USER4> Netflix, Kindle, and other resellers will not be able to operate on the iPad. The 30% number eliminates their entire margin. Therefore they will abandon the platform - rocketing up Android in popularity.

I think this is Apple's Plan (To have those resellers abandon their platform) - because they want to have a "Walled Garden" in which they are the only content sellers.

The only problem is that there are a _lot_ of us who like our Kindles, and have no desire to use "iBooks" - the lack of an eInk reader that lets us read in the sun is only one reason. Our large library of Kindle books is another.

Ergo - we'll go to the next platform, and abandon the iPad - reducing it to a niche player in the Tablet world.

This isn't like the iPod where Apple was the major distributor of Music. Apple is _not_ the major distributor of Books, Newspapers, and Magazine and there is _lots_ of competition in those markets. Apple actually only has about or so magazines and newspapers compared to the close to 1000 that PressReader and Zinio have. Apple has NO streaming Audio or Movie presence that I know of.

I think they learned the wrong lesson from the iPod - and now they are going to screw their Tablet market dominance - much to their loss.

<comment><USER5> So in that sense, this is a smart way to prevent their competition from using the platform, without ringing so many antitrust alarms. (If Apple just said "we banish Netflix and Kindle because we say so", it would probably lead to a few antitrust investigations)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I actually wouldn't be opposed to it if (big if) they hosted the content and allowed apps with subscription/content to not have any in-app purchase at all (no Apple / no flip to Safari) to avoid the 30%. This would let Netflix, last.fm, etc do their thing and Amazon to do its thing. Everyone already knows to buy books on Amazon, so no great loss not having something in-app.

<comment><USER7> this is exactly it. the problem with the rules is that apple requires any app that makes money outside of the app to also give apple a way to skim. Apple could of course just enforce this for the apps that they are direct competitors with, but that seems like an even bigger issue.

I just thought of some other things that would be effected: google apps for business, any app that google distribs would need the option for in app payment.

this is 3.3.1 all over again.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Apple's problem is it's company name doesn't end in _AA_ , they are the only industries that can get away with 30% without investigation.

<comment><USER9> Non US guy here. Which company is it? (Must be famous, but does not ring a bell to me, right now).

<comment><USER10> Pretty sure he's referring to the MPAA and RIAA (they aren't actually companies.)

<comment><USER9> Thanks!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Apple has gone too far trying to gouge developers and the backlash is well deserved. I was planning on buying an ipad but I decided to boycott all Apple products until they back off from this madness. I bet if 90s Microsoft could travel ahead in time and see apple's behavior recently, even they would blush with blatant anti-competitive moves, monopolistic practices and gouging of their users.

<comment><USER5> Same boat. I was going to buy a new ipad for my parents but I can't see myself doing that now. However, the problem is that there is no real alternative to it..

<comment><USER11> Have faith in Android tablets

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> There is only one thing the DOJ should be concerned about with Apple's app subscription program, and that is the price requirement. As it's highly dubious that Apple has any kind of monopoly, it should be free to set whatever requirements it sees fit for its platform, but mandating other prices _outside_ the App Store sounds an awful lot like restraint of trade to me: [http://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/restraint-of- trade....](http://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/restraint-of-trade.html)

*Not a lawyer

<comment><USER13> I believe they have a monopoly in terms of digital music distribution, which is one of the services that would be affected.

I might be wrong, but I don't think Amazon's market share approaches that of iTunes in music.

<comment><USER14> I always buy Amazon MP3s, personally. It works really well, and I know they don't seem to have a big skin in the DRM game for music, unlike Apple.

Personally, a Kindle is my next gadget to buy. I've been very happy with the Kindle apps on PC/Mac and I've liked the physical Kindle UI.

The iPad just doesn't _do_ anything for me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Fully recognizing that Apple's 30% is highway robbery, isn't Google's "only 10%" still fairly outrageous? This seems like more a 5% feature, since the app providers still have to provide all their own infrastructure to actually support the subscription.

<comment><USER16> > the app providers still have to provide all their own infrastructure

Like the credit card processing, the hardware manufacturing facilities in China, the software libraries, the industrial designers...

Apple has made it absurdly convenient to consume rich content. They have built _fucking science fiction_. 30% to get delivered to someone _anywhere_ , any time is a bargain. You're paying to be part of the gut wrenchingly difficult channel Apple has created from scratch, which no one else had the foresight to predict or the balls to put money behind.

Apple bet the damn farm on this crazy iDevice shit and they get to charge whatever they like for it now that it works. Anyone who doesn't like it can go build their own fully integrated platform.

<comment><USER17> Except Apple didn't build Netflix any more than HP, Dell or LG did, all of whom provide devices you can use for Netflix.

Why doesn't Firefox get to charge 30%? A big chunk of people probably get to Netflix via it.

<comment><USER16> So we'll let the market decide which approach provides better value and a better user experience. Sounds like we've all got options, so what's the problem?

<comment><USER18> The problem is Netflix can't offer their content to Apple customers at $13, and everyone else $10. Apple using their position to remove those options you say consumers have.

<comment><USER19> Sure they can: Charge $13 for Netflix with iOS streaming, or $10 for Netflix with no iOS streaming.

<comment><USER20> I'm almost sure this kind of trick won't help your app get validated.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Is it against the rules to offer a different service to iOS devices than you do to Android, Web and/or PC users? For example, maybe Netflix could make "Netflix Premium" available on iOS devices, and charge $12/mo instead of $9/mo, covering Apple's 30% cut.

I'm sure this has been considered, but I'm not seeing where exactly.

<comment><USER20> > I'm sure this has been considered, but I'm not seeing where exactly.

Your app needs to get validated. Bazinga.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> I remember when another giant monopoly got investigated by Anti-trust regulators a few times a year. I miss hating on MSFT. But Apple actually worries me more than MSFT ever did.

</comment><comment><USER23> Here's the part where Apple argues that the iPad is part of the PC market, and thus represents < 1%. No antitrust.

<comment><USER24> That's going to conflict with their magical revolutionary marketing as a "whole new class of product"

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> The issue isn't just the 30% subscription fee. The problem is they won't let app developers charge any more than they would on their own site to make up for the fee. Also, they can't link outside the app anymore to where the developer would actually get more of the profit.

</comment><comment><USER16> If we're going to believe this website, looks like Apple will let you keep $3 more per $100 than PayPal and $11.50 more than credit card processors, assuming a $1 subscription fee like The Daily's:

<http://feefighters.com/paypal-calculator>

Maybe regulators should probe those guys.

(Credit to @schwa on this one: <https://twitter.com/#!/schwa/status/38676753316708352> )

<comment><USER26> It is interesting how the micropayment zeitgeist has evolved

\- Micropayments are not possible because fees and rakes amount to unsustainable cuts

\- In some specific verticals (self published, digital) some micropayments are able to thrive despite the large cuts.

\- Platform provider responds to those verticals by enforcing a micropayment fee structure on any transaction size

<comment><USER7> I think that the way to deal with micropayments is to sell them in bundles, like xboxlive points (MSDollars?). I could see amazon getting behind this with other platforms. Having your own currency is really nice for lock in, etc.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Literally the day after Apple's announcement, Google announced a competing and cheaper offer. A more clear cut case of "let the market decide" is harder to find.

</comment><comment><USER28> Apple spent millions of dollars promoting the concept that iPhone/iPad apps should not necessarily be free. How many times did you see a print ad where they showed a bunch of cool apps AND their prices? This 30% fee is simply a return on that investment. Paid apps don't sell on other platforms (e.g. Android) because these platforms never marketed this idea to consumers. 70% of something is better than 100% of nothing. It's the same story with iTunes -- Apple is the only company that convinced consumers to pay for music, and they charge exorbitant fees to the record labels.

<comment><USER29> _70% of something is better than 100% of nothing._

100% of nothing is preferable to 70% of "something", if it costs you 90% of "something" to deliver the service, and "something" is already the maximum price the market will bear (and Apple will not allow you to increase the "something" only on iOS to compensate for their demands anyway).

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> _This would mean customers who want to sign up for a Netflix Inc video account may have just two choices: They could do so through the Netflix website, in which case Netflix would keep the full fee, or they could subscribe through the applications in their iPhone or iPad which would cost Netflix 30 percent of its fees._

I haven't written an app, and I'm not entirely familiar with all the terms that have come up recently about Apple. Do I understand correctly that, merely by initiating the subscription from within an app running on iOS, that Apple is becomes entitled to 30% for all deliveries made on said subscription?

Is your only other choice then, within your app, to say, "please type this URL into your PC's web browser to subscribe..."?

Is the actual content delivery mechanism any different between the two cases?

<comment><USER31> > Do I understand correctly that, merely by initiating the subscription from > within an app running on iOS, that Apple is becomes entitled to 30% for all > deliveries made on said subscription?

Yes.

> Is your only other choice then, within your app, to say, "please type this > URL into your PC's web browser to subscribe..."?

You don't even have that choice. If you offer a subscription via the web, _you must also offer the subscription, at the same price or better, through the app_. They'll reject you if you don't. _And_ they'll reject you if you even so much as hint that there's a way to subscribe outside the app that won't cost you 30% of your revenue.</comment></comment>


360° GigaPixel Panoramas of Notre Dame Spire and Carpentry - <AUTHOR> https://www.martinloyer.fr/gigapixels-360/NotreDame/ <comment><AUTHOR> My business partner and I had the privilege of performing the first (and sadly the last) study on the Notre Dame Spire since the 1930s.

Our mission was to survey and digitize every square centimeter of the spire, in order that the Ministry of Culture could determine if repairs were required.

Our previous mission involved the same for the 12 statues surrounding the spire.

We also shot 32 360 gigapixel panoramas on the roof, towers, spire and roofspace. These were hitherto unseen by the public.

Some of the highlights include the "Jupiter" or "Bolt of Lightning" wood joint that held the spire's core (1 solid oak trunk) in place, while distributing the weight horizontally, and several photos from inside the roofspace itself. It's fairly stunning, and we felt compelled to share, so that others may appreciate the workmanship and hidden secrets behind this icon.</comment>


Any Image To CSS - <AUTHOR> http://codepen.io/blazeeboy/full/bCaLE <comment><USER2> I hope this will at least stop all the "x image in css" posts.</comment>


Paul Graham on Hacking - <AUTHOR> http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/05/27/paul_graham_interview.html

<comment><AUTHOR> Put this old article (2004) if only to add the following quote [0] wrt to hacking and Arc to put the process into perspective:

 _"... remember the enjoyment you got from science class when science was a romp through the mud and woods, a class like art where making a mess is accepted as part of the process ..."_ [1]

[0] <http://www.paulgraham.com/hackpaint.html>

[1] Found on the Hackers & Painters review for the book of the same name ~ Mike Smith, Harvard University, <http://www.paulgraham.com/hackpaint.html></comment>


Why I won't work for Microsoft - <AUTHOR> http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9951861-7.html?tag=nefd.top

<comment><USER2> Has Microsoft ever sued anybody for patent infringement?</comment>