Why the Amazon Basics Keyboard Is My Favorite Keyboard - <AUTHOR> https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/why-the-amazon-basics-keyboard-is-my-favorite-keyboard <comment><USER2> > Jokes aside, I totally understand the appeal of mechanical keyboards. I've > used them and it is satisfying to hear that clickity-click sound and the > keys do feel amazing but that just doesn't work for me due to being on so > many pair programming calls and recording video courses.

I don't like it when people equate mechanical keyboards to loudness. They don't have to be loud! My keyboard has MX Clear switches which are not loud in the slightest, and I personally think they feel miles better than any non- mechanical keyboard I've used.

<comment><USER3> Yeah, no offense to the author, but this article read like one written by someone who really doesn't know much about keyboards. There is a whole _slew_ of different silent, non-clicky, tactile and linear switches to choose from, as well as sound dampening o-rings.

<comment><USER4> I can't really blame him though, if you assume Amazon is the standard marketplace for everything all you'll find is Cherry blue and red switches, and Razer/Logitech's versions of those. It wasn't until I attended a mechanical keyboard conference that I found out about Zealios, by far my favorite switch but near-impossible to find in pre-built boards. Even Clears, which are really great and my favorite Cherry switch, are somewhat hard to find if you don't know specific keyboard sites.

<comment><USER5> So if I had to buy something off amazon, what would I be searching for? (Gamer & programmer, preference quiet keys)

<comment><USER4> If you want to buy one right this second, get the Vortex Race 3 with Clears. They sound and feel fantastic, and the aluminum case with the DSA PBT keycaps makes for a great build quality overall.

If you want to spend some time deciding, we should go over what kind of keyswitch and what kind of layout you want. This [1] is a pretty good overview of the different kinds of layouts (60%, tenkeyless, fullsize) and linear vs tactile switches. You can listen to sound tests for any switch on youtube to get a better idea for how quiet it'll be. I personally use a Poker 2 with brown switches for 90% programming/10% CS:GO, and I love it.

[1] [https://kotaku.com/how-to-pick-the-right-mechanical- keyboard...](https://kotaku.com/how-to-pick-the-right-mechanical- keyboard-1822737458)

<comment><USER5> Well that's 2x vortex recommends. Bit more than I'd usually spend on a keyboard though...

Size aside do the tenkeyless have any other advantage?

<comment><USER4> For me, tenkeyless allows me to keep my mouse much closer to my keyboard which is significantly more comfortable. It's somewhat common to have long-term shoulder injury from using a fullsize keyboard and mouse intensively, like for gaming: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/a5ques/has_anyone_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/a5ques/has_anyone_else_had_one_rolled_shoulder_from/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Author here.

A lot of people commented here saying it's questionable not to mention I happened to use an affiliate link.

I want to thank those people for bringing that up. My intent wasn't to deceive anyone and I hope my HN comment history (98% of what I post here are comments on other people's stuff) separate me from yet another affiliate blog spammer.

I just pushed an update to my site that now includes a little snippet of text at the top of every post that has 1 or more affiliate links.

If anyone is curious about the numbers. I have 243 public posts about a whole bunch of developer focused topics at the time of writing this comment and 15 of those posts had affiliate links, and of those 15 posts most of them are 2,000 to 5,000 word articles evaluating and talking about a product or service I really enjoy using and have used successfully for months or years before even writing about it.

<comment><USER6> Isn't it required by Amazon Affiliate to have a warning on ALL pages that link back to Amazon using affiliate tracking? Isn't it also required by federal law as well?

<comment><USER7> Not sure if you're joking or not - are there really federal laws about affiliate links?

<comment><USER6> Not joking at all. If you are being compensated to place a link, the reader should know. I think it's a fair law.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> >I'm sure you've seen keyboards where the lights of these keys are all grouped together near the top right of the keyboard instead of being on the key, such as what you see below:

>This comes down to poor UI design or bad tech choices. You want related things to be together. If I have caps lock on by accident, I want to be able to look at the caps lock key and see the light. I don't want to have to look on the other side of the keyboard.

Completely disagree. I want to have all the status information in one easy and non-obstructed place. On my keyboard, when I have my hands on the home row, Cap Lock is obstructed by my pinky. Also, Cap lock is much further down from the top of the keyboard making the eye distance travel more to check it.

</comment><comment><USER9> I'm a keyboard enthusiast, I have a collection of ~15 mechanical keyboards with various switches, hand lubed, modded (spring swapped, stem swapped) various materials and sizes from the plastic HHKB to the monstrous TX1800 (fits the keys you'd find in a full size keyboard into the frame of a TKL).

I'm happy the writer has found a keyboard that works for them. Although I think that they'd be able to get a better typing experience by building a custom keyboard, it would cost easily $300+ and take a lot of time/research/etc.

Even though keyboards is one of my biggest hobbies, I still have a lot of respect for OEM keyboards that maintain a good typing feel at a relatively low cost.

I especially like the Apple Magic Keyboard, although many of my mechanical keyboard-using friends may not agree with me.

Anyone interested in typing, I strongly encourage to check out /r/MechanicalKeyboards on reddit.

You can customise anything!

\- Switch feel/tactility/sound

\- Case material, colour, size

\- Keycaps, feel, sound, look, legends

\- Custom software, macro keys

\- Talk to friendly people who love keyboards

<comment><USER10> I think they'd get a better typing experience spending $25. The Amazon Basics keyboard is the worst keyboard I've ever used. This article is just forcefully contrarian.

<comment><USER5> >This article is just forcefully contrarian.

I've been typing on some <15 logitech keyboard at work for like 5 years.

I like it in the it does the job sense & I can leave it on my desk if away for a month or three without worrying about someone damaging or stealing it.

<comment><USER9> Nothing wrong with logitech keyboards! It's a bit like high end audio, once you've tried it, it's hard to go back but it's certainly not something you absolutely need to do to get by.

I don't need to worry about someone stealing my current keyboard though, it weighs over 6kg!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The responses from the keyboard enthusiasts here are a real life example of this phenomenon: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZK8Z8hulFg](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZK8Z8hulFg)

The guy just likes this cheap keyboard. I use those aluminum Mac keyboards for most of the same reasons: I like (somewhat) low key travel, they're cheap and easy to find, and last reasonably well.

Edit: Actually it looks like the $50 keyboard I'm talking about got replaced by the "Magic" keyboard that's considerably more expensive. Too bad.

<comment><USER12> no, this guy is just selling his cheap keyboard via amazon referal link. and "if they ever stopped making it, i'd buy a few if them!"

<comment><AUTHOR> You're quoting things out of context.

I only said that because it was something I did almost 20 years ago with the Logitech Wingman mouse when it was officially labeled as no longer being produced.

<comment><USER12> thank you for adding the disclosure note to your post. it reads much better and more transparently now.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I've used many different keyboards. I can't say I'm a keyboard connoisseur, but I've probably used every possible combination of "keys" arranged on a "board". My takeaway from all this is that the switches matter a lot less than how keys are arranged. You see, human hands will become injured over a prolonged period of contortion into the shape needed to operate standard keyboards. For this reason I prefer ErgoDox. [https://ergodox- ez.com/](https://ergodox-ez.com/)

<comment><USER14> >You see, human hands will become injured over a prolonged period of contortion into the shape needed to operate standard keyboards.

There is no significant contortion _needed_ to operate a standard keyboard. Sadly, the standard keyboard does _encourage_ a regrettable bending of the wrist, but I have found it straightforward to learn not to yield to that encouragement. (Boards such as the Amazon Basics or Apple's keyboards in which the top of every key cap is flat rather than cylindrical help because cylindricality encourages the typist to line the finger up with the axis of the cylinder.)

I have learned to pay attention to the bend of my wrists (the bend in the vertical plane, that is). Once that became a habit, it has taken very little of my mental bandwidth to periodically bring my attention back to my wrists. I do lots of typing and have not had any RSI since about 2004 despite my having a chronic health problem that causes chronic inflammation, which in turn makes me more susceptible to RSI and despite my using membrane keyboards for the last 10 years or so. Specifically, I used 3 of the relatively expensive and fragile Logitech K750 (not recommended unless you are rich), then one cheap K120 (not recommended), then 3 Amazon Basics (recommended).

The Amazon Basics is $13 incl shipping ($10 each if you buy ten) whereas the cheapest configuration (no tilt kit, no wing rests) of your board is $270. Advocates of mechanical keyboards will reply that the mechanical switches will last about 10 times longer than the membrane switches of the Amazon Basics, which I do not dispute, but if you keep your keyboard that long, you've got to clean it very well every year or 2 to keep the population of germs to reasonable levels. My personal experience with mechanical keyboards is that I never find the time to do the thorough cleaning maybe because of a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that even a thorough cleaning won't reduce the germ levels to anything nearly as low as the levels of a new keyboard.

And by the time the mechanical board is 10 times older than the age at which the keys of a membrane board start to become mushy, you've probably had to do 1 or 2 repairs of electrical problems on the mechanical board. Case in point: for a few (not more than 4) years in the 1990s I used a Kinesis Advantage, which consists of about 10 PC boards internally. When one of these 10 boards failed somehow (rendering the board useless) the manufacturer told me it could be replaced by them for 50 bucks, back when a new board cost about 270. (I decided not to pay that because I had learned by then that I didn't like typing on that design of keyboard.)

In summary, being able to afford to replace my keyboard every year or 2 saves me from tedious cleaning an repairing tasks, which I find worth the cost of my having slightly less attention to give to the cognitive content of whatever programming task or writing task I am engaged in when I am typing because I reserve a very small fraction of my attention to how bent my wrists are.

Actually, the case for cheap keyboard is even strong than that. Here goes.

When a typist switches from a standard keyboard to an ergonomic keyboard, the sheer unfamiliarity of the new keyboard basically forces the typists to pay much closer attention to the physical act of typing than he needed to pay while using the familiar keyboard. I believe it is this increase in paying of attention that is the cause of most of the reports of ameliorations of RSI after switching to an ergo keyboard, and that if the RSI sufferer had been familiar with an ergo board, then switching to a standard board would produce ameliorations at roughly the same rate and to the same degree!

In particular, regardless of what kind of keyboard we are using, we should pay enough attention to the physical act of typing to ensure than (1) our wrists are in roughly neutral position, (2) at the moment the tip of our finger hits a key cap during a keystroke, the tip is moving faster than it would have been able to move if the tip were resting on the key cap at the start of the keystroke (3) at the moment of contact, the finger tip is moving roughly in the same direction that the key will travel.

I am told that the reason (2) is important / desirable is that the human brain is better at striking accurately than it is at pushing accurately. I am also told that there is something about the "backswing", that is, the moving of the finger tip _away_ from its target in preparation for a movement towards the target, that improves accuracy and consequently reduces the strains that lead to RSI.

If they made a cheap keyboard that did not encourage the typist to bend his wrists and was otherwise as good as the Amazon Basics, I would switch to it. But no matter what board I use, to avoid RSI I have learned I needed to pay slight attention to ensure (2) and (3) above. Given that, it is very little additional trouble for me to ensure (1).

<comment><USER15> The cost of the ErgoDox is why I bought a kit instead. It's more effort to solder the switches, flash the board etc., but I saved a chunk of the price. It can also be repaired more easily, although contrary to your experience I don't have the impression that would be required for a long time.

It's not like such a keyboard is life-changing, but it's a significant improvement in comfort. For a tool that I use every single day that was worth it for me, if others are satisfied with an Amazon Basics model that's fine too; I haven't tried it myself, but I do know that some non-mechanical keyboards offer a great tactile feedback for much lower prices.

<comment><USER14> >For a tool that I use every single day that was worth it for me

Well, sure if it were guaranteed to prevent or cure RSI then either spending hundreds of dollars or getting out the soldering gun would clearly be worth it.

But I suspect you didn't get my point, which is that I spent the $270 in 1997 dollars for a Kinesis Advantage (and later on a different mechanical board) and it did not work for me. Or more precisely it did work for a month or 2 -- not because the Kinesis was more innately ergonomic than any other board, but rather because I wasn't used to it. Once I got used to it, it stopped working.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> This article is an affront to everything I know and have experienced about keyboards, all to post a non-disclosed affiliate link.

<comment><USER17> I have no problems with affiliate links not being disclosed. Why does it matter? If they're providing a useful link to someone, I don't care if Amazon gives them a few pennies as a reward. If their link is not useful, no one is harmed.

<comment><USER18> Because it may just be that the article is written around the links, rather than the links inserted into the article.

Sure you might not bother buying the keyboard after clicking through but the affiliate link is tied to you for x days, so they'll get a bit of cash of anything you buy in that time.

Why is it a problem if it doesn't cost you? It costs you the time to read it. Disclosing acknowledges this potential and explains what's going on in advance so you know you're not just reading trash someone wrote to make a quick buck.

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't think you can make that assessment just by looking for affiliate links or notices.

What if you found a 2k to 5k word article on something you really wanted to know about and maybe buy.

Also what if that person spent 5,000 hours over 5 years building up their site and only 5% of the posts on their site has an affiliate link for something.

Would you discard that post as trash / scammy because they happened to drop an affiliate link into it because they personally used that product for years before writing about it?

IMO you can't really gauge any of that just by looking for an affiliate notice or not.

<comment><USER18> Please do note the difference between me answering "Why does it matter?" and a review of your article. I have made no comment on this specific article.

I don't make the assessment by looking for affiliate links. I make the assessment on _undisclosed_ affiliate links, which I believe the article was at the time. It's one of many things that could indicate an article written around affiliate links and nothing is perfect.

You've since added disclosure so it's a moot point now :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Ah true. Yes there was no disclosure before.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> > Your rollover is the worst possible value you get.

> With the Amazon Basics keyboard I've seen as high as a 6 key rollover when > pressing spui<space>c

"As high as" implies that you've also seen lower. Which isn't the rollover of the keyboard.

My crappy two-key rollover (QWA fails) keyboard supports that specific keystroke combination.

<comment><USER20> Unless he edited it in the last 10 minutes since your comment, it already says

> Out of everything listed about this keyboard, its rollover is its biggest > weakness as it only supports a 2 key rollover in the worst case.

<comment><AUTHOR> I didn't edit it.

That was in the article when I originally posted it. He even quoted me in his quote with "> Your rollover is the worst possible value you get.".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I despise terrible laptop keyboards, even though I'm using one at this moment. This Amazon keyboard is very much like a laptop keyboard, and thus I know that I would hate it.

I fundamentally don't like low profile keyboards where there is barely any perceptible pressing. I don't like cheap plastic. I want a solid, heavy, mechanical board with real keys.

Also, I'm spoiled because I buy custom keyboards where all the labels and colors and configuration is up to me.

Though, no matter how grippy the rubber and how heavy the board, my keyboards always slide. My solution was to buy 4 long angle brackets and double-sided adhesive, and this proved to be a perfect backstop.

Doubleshot PBT keycaps would be the ideal way to ensure the labels _never_ wear off.

</comment><comment><USER22> I've tried many mechanical and on-mechanical keyboards, but always come back to Apple's magic keyboard, simply because it's the thinnest of all. It's virtually flush with the desk, and I can't for the love of god get used to anything else. Mechanical keyboards are often quite thick. Palm pads don't help, I'd still feel my hands are uncomfortably elevated.

<comment><USER23> > _feel my hands are uncomfortably elevated_

If you are bending your wrists to type, then you need to reposition or re- orient the keyboard, and/or change your posture or arm position, or you are setting yourself up for RSI.

For most comfortable typing, neither arms, wrists, nor palms should rest on any surface. But the palms should definitely not be resting directly on the table, even with a low-profile keyboard.

Generally it's a good idea to have the keyboard close to the edge of the table, and oriented so that its surface is parallel to your forearms while typing. With the keyboard relatively close, the upper arms can remain close to the body with the shoulders relaxed, and the torso and head upright.

Most office workers use a desk which is uncomfortably high for typing when sitting on their chair. So the most obvious first thing to try is lowering the desk, installing an under-desk keyboard tray, raising the chair, adding a booster seat above the existing chair, switching to a standing desk, or similar.

If the furniture can't be changed, then the keyboard must be tilted up at the back so that when the upper arms are kept close to the body, the keyboard surface sits parallel to the forearms. For many office furniture setups this tilt must be very aggressive (think mid-20th-century typewriter).

Office workers often instead compensate for the high desk by pushing their keyboard far in on the desk, with their elbows either extending out to the side or far in front of the body, and either slouching or hunching their backs, and uncomfortably bending their necks. To take strain off their shoulders they rest elbows, forearms, or palms on the table or an armrest or palmrest. All of these workarounds are causing static muscle load and non- neutral joint positions for the back, neck, shoulders, etc. That's fine for very short bursts for someone who frequently changes position (and better than having bent wrists), but pretty bad for long stretches for someone who sits in more or less the same position throughout the workday.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> FYI: The author of this is "not a home row typist", not mentioned in the article. YMMV if you touch type.

<comment><AUTHOR> Touch typing and home row typing are different things by the way.

My hands aren't on the home row but I do type by touch. I don't look at the keyboard except for a few weird key combos.

<comment><USER24> Not according to my typing teacher. :-D

<comment><AUTHOR> Ask him / her if all hot tubs are jacuzzis.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> My favorite keyboards is the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort.

I can type for hours without any wrist pain compared to all my other keyboards.

<comment><USER26> My previous favorite was the Natural 4000 Ergonomic, and now the Sculpt Ergonomic. In both cases, I have had keys wear out* and have gone through quite a few, but like them enough to put up with the trouble. Of course, I could get the 4000 for $20; I tend to have to spend closer to $60 to get the Sculpt!

* The Natural 4000 space bar was the worst offender. On my Sculpt Ergonomic, I've lost an 'L' and 'F5'.

<comment><USER27> In the easy-to-clean category MS Natural wins easily. I never used the 4000 but my Elite (still work after more than 20 years) can be washed in the dishwasher.

<comment><USER26> I washed one of my Natural in the dishwasher, and it still worked for a while, but as hard as I tried to make sure it dried afterward, the keys started to feel more "scratchy." It's possible this would all be in my head, but I feel like the water did do some level of damage.

<comment><USER28> It might be the heat you ran the wash at, what temp/setting was it?

<comment><USER26> Ah sorry this was way too long ago for my memory!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> I know it's been mentioned already, but my favorite is the MS Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard. I picked it up when I was starting to have RSI issues in my wrist and forearm. Together with some wrist braces, I was able to eliminate all pain in a few weeks.

When I was looking, my criteria were: comfort, usability (bonus points for a standard layout), and PC/Mac interoperability. The Ergo Sculpt met all of those well, although some individual units seem to not work properly with the Mac.

The best thing is, it only cost $65! Not bad for a tool that's probably the reason I'm still in the industry 2 years later.

<comment><USER30> > bonus points for a standard layout...The Ergo Sculpt met all of those well

My main problem with it is that it _isn 't_ a standard layout. For that reason, I went with the Surface Ergonomic instead, which, while still not standard, is more standard than the Sculpt.

<comment><USER29> What do you find nonstandard about it? I was able to start writing code on mine right away, and I'm a touch typist.

<comment><USER30> The nav keys, right control key, and function keys are all in the wrong place, and IIRC, all the keys are a bit too small, so I was hitting two at a time sometimes. I also prefer a right hand super key so I can lock my workstation with one hand.

<comment><USER29> I guess I never really noticed about the nav keys and function keys because I don't use them much. I would like to have slightly bigger keys, but it's not enough of a downside to me to use a different keyboard. (Side note: why don't keyboards come in different sizes by default? Hands come in different sizes, so should keyboards.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> > Yes, but I'm not a home row typist so it's very hard to me to adjust to a > wavy or split design keyboard.

So... It's a surprisingly serviceable keyboard for $14, as long as you don't know how to type

</comment><comment><USER32> For what it may be worth to anyone, as someone who prefers an "ergonomic" split keyboard with a softer touch (so my hands and wrists don't get stiff; I also use a brace on the right hand just when typing), I have used several keyboards, and strongly disliking the Microsoft one (my hands hurt worse: some keys I use heavily like Alt and/or Space felt stiff), I tried a probably inexpensive one I really liked (but left the job that bought it and now I don't remember the name), sprung for a couple of Kinesis freestyle ones that I _loved_ (one at work, and one at home), then decided to make the leap and actually try the Kinesis Advantage2 (LF), and after rearranging some keys and about a month of use, it feels strange to go back to a "normal" keyboard again, even the Freestyle, though if I did go back it would only be because the keys seem to require a very little more force than the Freestyle. (No other connection to the company.)

There was another interesting split keyboard ("SafeType") on Amazon that moves the keys to a vertical position, each hand basically facing the other, that is on my someday list to try if I ever get enough desire to spend more money. Now I see that the freestyle can do that too, but I would want some way to rest the forearms during intermittent use.

<comment><USER33> The Microsoft ergonomic keyboards have been on a long, slow decline since they first came out in the mid-'90s. The original Natural/Natural Elite/Natural Pro keyboards were fantastic, real tanks. Those eventually devolved into the Natural 4000/7000, which had the same good layout as the originals but soft, mushy keyswitches that would fail if you looked at them funny. And _those_ eventually devolved into the modern Sculpt Ergonomic keyboard, which mated the mushy keyswitches with skinny laptop-style keycaps (ugh), and merged the function keys and media keys into a single row of keys that you have to use a switch to move from one mode to the other.

If Microsoft were to bring back the original Natural keyboard today and just replace the PS/2 connector with a USB one, it'd single-handedly improve the line more than 20 years of redesigns have managed to.

<comment><USER34> I eWasted all my old MS Naturals in favor of the Sculpt. Yeah, the function key switch sucks, but other than that I prefer the sculpt. I see the reduced key travel as a benefit. Extra travel does nothing but slow me down and require me to move my joints more. Sure, I like the satisfying feel of mechanical switches, but not when I'm pushing them thousands of times an hour.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> I like keyboards with built-in USB hubs. Some Lenovo keyboards have this.

[https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-73P2620-Enhanced- Performance-K...](https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-73P2620-Enhanced-Performance- Keyboard/dp/B0002376KW)

</comment><comment><USER36> My favorite keyboard is a silicone roll-up keyboard. I first got one probably fifteen years ago as a result of my brother getting in a fight with me and pulling the cord out of the keyboard we had. The Radio Shack in town only had this odd blue silicone roll up keyboard, so we bought it.

Turns out it's basically silent to type on, which was very nice at the time because my dad would always wake up from the keyboard noise and get after us to go to sleep.

Served the same useful purpose in college when I had roommates.

The thing these days that I like most about it is that it's completely flat, which means I can rest my wrists on the desk and not get weird RSI issues from my wrists being out of alignment.

The main complaint people have ever had about using it is that it forces you to learn how to hit the keys exactly on center because just hitting them on the edge will cause the silicone to buckle without hitting the switch. Really I think it's made me a better typist overall.

They do tend to break maybe every five years or so. More often if you pick it up or attempt to at all take advantage of the "roll up" feature.

Also it's sealed, so if something spills on it, you just needs to wipe it up and no harm done.

<comment><USER37> I vaguely recall using one once, ages ago, but don't the keys take quite a bit of force to press? Maybe it was just a cheap one I was on ...

<comment><USER36> I guess I don't really notice it being much different from say a laptop keyboard, but I suppose maybe it does take a bit more force to push the keys down. Not a metric that I ever really considered being important or not in a keyboard, I guess.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> I don't even remember why scroll lock exists

<comment><USER39> It's an early implementation of the same idea as the mouse scroll wheel. Engage scroll lock, and the arrow keys are used for scrolling the current text view instead of moving the cursor.

The idea of also using it to pause scrolling console text, I _think_ , originated in Linux.

<comment><USER40> There was a PC Magazine utility from the 80s, WAITASEC.COM, that allowed you to use Scroll Lock to page through command output that had scrolled off the screen.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> >> Robust Wire / USB Cable

This is one cost-cutting area that drives me nuts. As the PC price wars raged on, keyboards got cheaper and cheaper. Wires got thinner, and _shorter_. HP/Dell give you something like a 3 foot cable these days. You can't keep your PC on the floor or route around monitors anmymore.

I liked the old days, where you got a 6+ feet long cord on your keyboard.

</comment><comment><USER42> I wish they had a tenkeyless edition, so it would be worth a try :)

Having mouse too far at the right side or adjust to using left hand for mouse does not seem to be a good tradeoff just to have a numpad, which gets close to zero use.

filco ninja majestouch tenkeyless with silent red mx cherrys is definitely better at every aspect than this amazon basic kb (except the price).

</comment><comment><USER43> They gave me one of these at work and I gave it back. One of the worst keyboards I have ever used. Awful mushy chicklet keys, short key throw, the whole thing flexes with finger pressure. Its cheap rebranded junk.

</comment><comment><USER44> These are just things that most generic keyboards already have.

I see no reason why anyone should buy this keyboard over the one that probably came with their computer.

Unique features, like doubleshot keycaps, N-key rollover, layers and macros, actuation that is seperated from the bottom-out, good build quality, and more can all be found on a decent mechanical keyboard.

Also, mechanical keyboards don't have to be loud! Linear and tactile Matias switches, Cherry MX/Gateron silents, and Topre are all great keyswitches that are as quiet, if not more, than your standard rubber dome.

</comment><comment><USER45> IMO, that keyboard feels terrible. There's a reason it's so cheap. I use it for some local servers where I rarely (almost never) need to be at the console.

</comment><comment><USER46> I'm really surprised that ergonomic, split-key designs aren't more popular. Do you all enjoy unnaturally squishing your hands or something? Fans of RSI?

<comment><USER47> Some of us just don't get that. I've been typing at around 120wpm since my Typing II course on an actual typewriter back in '98\. With every other part of my body degrading far faster than I ever would have expected it to, my wrists and hands still feel right as rain while using a standard keyboard layout.

At least so far, I've won that lottery. I'll take it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> Maybe it's just because my keyboard is >15 times as expensive but I have an extremely hard time believing that the Amazon keyboard is in the same league. I can't help but feel like if the author unironically prefers a $15 keyboard (and believes that mechanical keyboards are all loud) then maybe he shouldn't be writing a blog post about keyboards because he doesn't really know what he's talking about.

<comment><USER49> The article is just expressing the authors opinion on his favorite keyboard. He can't really be wrong about that.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> I'm all for being frugal, but from my few interactions with Nick's blog, he appears to like to nickel and dime almost everything (building his own standup desk[0], cheap linux laptop[1]), so the Amazon Basics keyboard (and him loving it) is no surprise.

IIRC he also has a course where he teaches you to build a SaaS app with flask, but you don't build it from scratch - he starts with a fully built app and walks you through it/has you implement parts of it. It's a project he used for clients, and instead of investing time to reimplement it from scratch he just made a course based on the existing app (which is fine and better than no course, but an example of his frugality)

[0] [https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-a-home-made-standing- de...](https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-a-home-made-standing-desk- for-50-dollars-in-10-easy-steps)

[1] [https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/transform-a-toshiba- chromeboo...](https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/transform-a-toshiba-chromebook- cb35-into-a-linux-development-environment-with-galliumos)

<comment><AUTHOR> > I'm all for being frugal, but from my few interactions with Nick's blog, he > appears to like to nickel and dime almost everything

I don't think those are fair comparisons but if you did buy my course, thanks for the support (it really helps).

Now for the fun stuff, let's break down those posts you linked!

I built the standing desk because it fits my exact use case for what I want in a standing desk and I have the ability to build it, so I built it. Price wasn't even a factor, it just so happens you can build something cool for $50 so I did it.

I wanted a 3 tier desk:

A top tier for my 2 monitors

A middle tier for my keyboard and mouse to fit exactly at the height where my posture is perfect

And finally a bottom tier for my regular desk with enough room where I can use a laptop and do other "desk things" without the standing portion getting in the way. I also happened to have this regular desk beforehand and think it's a great size for my office. I had no reason to switch it.

Very shortly after building it, I built a 4th tier where I now have a stylus / drawing pad hovering over my keyboard on a ledge and it doesn't get in the way so I can draw live slides in my courses. You can see a picture in another blog post you missed where I built an 8x4 whiteboard for $15[0] (:D). Oh and my mic's boom arm latches on from the side now where it doesn't get in my way at all and minimizes keyboard rumble.

There's no standing desk at any price point that accomplishes all of the above in a way that works for me. To me what I built is the perfect desk because it addresses everything I need it to address. The fact it was only $50 (well $60 now due to adding that 4th tier) is just a nice side effect.

[0]: [https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-your-own-8x4-foot- white...](https://nickjanetakis.com/blog/build-your-own-8x4-foot-whiteboard- for-15-dollars-instead-of-200)

\---

As for the Toshiba Chromebook. After dozens of hours of research and a few recommendations I picked it up because it's an amazing piece of hardware. A 1080p display, IPS panel, good keyboard, good trackpad, upgradeable SSD, weighs less than 3 pounds, SD card, USB ports, 3.5" jack (!), decent battery life and it runs native Linux.

Why wouldn't I use it? Sure it costs $350 (fairly cheap in price) but why would I purposely spend more money for something equal or worse just for the sake of it? I still use it all the time 3+ years later and it's working fine for what I use it for (a portable computing device where I can do on the road dev work or comfortably read outside or in bed).

If you squint you can see that Toshiba getting some usage when I went to Cloud Field Day last year. I'm in the back left: [http://nickjanetakis.com/assets/blog/cards/coming-back-to- cl...](http://nickjanetakis.com/assets/blog/cards/coming-back-to-cloud-field- day-for-the-second-time.jpg)

> IIRC he also has a course where he teaches you to build a SaaS app with > flask, but you don't build it from scratch - he starts with a fully built > app and walks you through it/has you implement parts of it. It's a project > he used for clients, and instead of investing time to reimplement it from > scratch he just made a course based on the existing app (which is fine and > better than no course, but an example of his frugality)

We don't build it from scratch because it's a very involved app. It has 4,000+ lines of just Flask code. You can't make a video course and code something like that up line by line from scratch. It would be an unreasonable amount of video (possibly even approaching 100 hours of video), and when I asked thousands of people if they would rather have an 80+ hour course or a ~10 hour course they all picked 10 hours.

This is also made aware on the course description's FAQ at [https://buildasaasappwithflask.com](https://buildasaasappwithflask.com) (near the bottom, 2nd FAQ item down from the top) so I'm not trying to hide it and we also do cover every single line of the code and you get to see it all come together from 1 file to the final app in stages, and you have git diffs to see what changed between each section. There's also 50 to 100 hours worth of coding exercises to add features into the app to get experience building specific things.

That decision wasn't due to frugality. It was out of necessity and user feedback. It also took me almost half a year of full time work to make the course. If anything it would have been faster to do it live from scratch because then I wouldn't have had to break things up so carefully into sections. The course is based on -some- existing production code I used in the past, but that's not a negative thing. It just means I used well tested code in the course instead of building some untested toy example for the sake of the course.

\---

Lastly, just to wrap up, you skipped commenting on my audio / video set up. I spent close to $1,000 on everything and the reason I spent that much is because I felt it made a big enough difference in the quality of my audio to warrant spending that amount.

I could have just bought a Blue Yeti for $100 bucks and called it a day (I actually did this in the past, which I didn't factor into the above cost since I don't use it anymore) but I didn't stick with it because I believe the set up I use now produces better audio than my older videos. Basically I spend money when I feel like it makes a positive difference.

If there were a $100 keyboard that's better than the one I'm using now in every way shape and form with zero compromises I would instantly buy it, but I don't feel like typing is my bottleneck and I haven't found such a keyboard.

<comment><USER50> > I don't think those are fair comparisons

> I built the standing desk because it fits my exact use case

Maybe, but I don't think my original comment was unreasonable. Funnily enough, today I went to hackernews and the top comment on story is a guy who put a black garbage bag on his bedroom window to blackout the light[0]. Then I realized that guy was you.

[0] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20885736](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20885736)

<comment><AUTHOR> Indeed haha. But look at the situation of the comment.

I had an immediate problem that I wanted solved that day (to prepare for that night). I thought about how I can block light and the only thing that came to mind was a black bag. It worked amazingly well and I guess it ended up being a top comment because it's something everyone can try with minimal effort / investment.

Now that I know it's possible to block out so much light, I will upgrade the trash bag to something less ridiculous looking.

Think of the black bag as whipping up a proof of concept that ended up being quite effective. Switching it to black out curtains is the refactor. That sure beats not taking any action on the first day, ordering curtains without even knowing what to get and if it would work and then having to wait for shipping.

The trash bag isn't a question of being cheap. It's being pragmatic.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER51> I might have to try that keyboard - it looks nice, and maybe it might feel as "ok" as the keyboard on the MBP I use at my job (older 2014 edition).

But nothing could really replace my keyboard at home.

I just can't get away from my Lexmark Model M - I love the buckling spring sound and feel, I love the "heft", I like the fact it has a built in "pen holder" ridge at the top, I love that it's almost 30 years old and going strong. I love that it still uses the PS/2 connector. I love that it's beige in a world that's forgotten what computers used to look like. I love that it doesn't have any "microsoft logo" keys.

Dunno if I could ever really replace it. I have a backup Model M if I ever need to. Plus a Unicomp USB classic in black. Then an old SGI keyboard (that needs an adapter/converter box or something built for it to be usable - another project for another day).

But this Amazon keyboard does look intriguing on it's own, so maybe I throw down the bit of money and try it. Might be worthwhile for those times I need or want a quieter keyboard...

</comment><comment><USER52> I would want more key rollover. I like the Model F keyboard, with full n-key rollover; just, it doesn't have lights. Also, I would like to have a Fn key which can be used to send arbitrary scancodes and possibly other options (such as key repeat). If a key with Windows logo is added, I think that it should be changed so that it has text (perhaps "Super") instead of a logo.

<comment><USER53> _I think that it should be changed so that it has text (perhaps "Super") instead of a logo._

The Windows logo is on the Meta key. Super (and Hyper) are other keys.

<comment><USER52> OK, although someone told me that it would be "Super"; maybe they were wrong.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER41> Somewhere around 2009 or so, our Mac users wanted 'real' keyboards, and they almost universally started using the Dell OEM keyboard of the time.

It wasn't anything fancy, but it worked. They were dirt cheap, like $7 on eBay, and we had piles of them from buying new PC's for teh rest of the office.

</comment><comment><USER54> One of the major advantages of this keyboard, like several other cheap options such as the Microsoft or Logitech $15 offerings is the adherence to the IBM 105-key layout and standard key sizes.

If you, like me at times, bounce around between various machines with mini keyboards, trackpad keyboards, laptops with various function keys, arrow key layouts, integrated/adjacent numpad and nav key clusters, etc: it can be a relief to find something where your fingers just know where to go. I request the Microsoft Wired Desktop 600 in all the mini server/dedicated function computers we build for this reason.

My personal machines have a mechanical Rosewill keyboard. I like and quickly readjust to my old ThinkPad's 7-row layout for laptops, but don't always have that available.

<comment><USER55> > I like and quickly readjust to my old ThinkPad's 7-row layout for laptops, > but don't always have that available.

This is a hill I would die on: wth did Lenovo ruin the greatest laptop keyboard is beyond me.

The lack of the 7th row mades many of my go-to shortcuts unwieldy (Winkey + Pause/Break) or impossible; e.g., ALT+codes for non-Latin characters.

I shouldn't have to open charmap.exe to get a stinkin' em dash.

/rant

My workstation keyboard is a Ducky One with MX Browns and doubled bumper rings ... but I already have leds dying after two years <sadface>. fwiw, I'm interested in a Topre or Topre style key action for my next primary keyboard, whenever that happens. /aamof, I'm going now to comb the comments for any specific mention of those.../

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I just can't imagine how this person can say that this particular keyboard is their favorite.

I get not liking the click of mechanical switches. I mean, I like the click, but I understand it is well in the realm of personal preference.

But the Amazon Basics keyboard is legitimately trash. It doesn't adhere to keyboard HID profiles, so there are systems on which it just doesn't work (like the Raspberry Pi). I have very little room in my life for _basic_ IO devices that don't work reliably on all of my systems.

But also, the build quality is terrible. It _feels_ like a $14 keyboard. Thin, plasticy, sharp edges. I have used a lot of keyboards and this one is legitimately the most painful and unpleasant one I've ever used.

This just comes off as intentionally contrarian navel gazing.

<comment><AUTHOR> Sharp edges in what way?

I've never been stabbed by it and the corners are all rounded. The long edge running across the bottom under the spacebar is the only thing that could maybe be described as sharp but it's nothing like the edge of a piece of wood or anything sharp. I wouldn't have even noticed it after years of usage without you mentioning it. I've also never once hit it with my hands.

I also used the device on Debian without issues. It just worked out of the box. No idea about a Raspberry Pi but Google mentions others are using it without problems.

Maybe you had an older model of this keyboard?

</comment></comment><comment><USER56> I got into custom DIY keyboards. Specifically split ortholinear. A bonus to using these boards is they are flashable with the wonderful QMK firmware, they can have multiple layers, dual function keys, mouse emulation, almost anything you can think of on a keyboard.

I could never go back to having a 'normal' keyboard after I've enjoyed writing my own layouts. I use normal qwerty for the alpha keys, but almost everything else is changed.

Should also note, mechanical doesn't necessarily mean clicky or loud. I have 7 or 8 mech keyboards and some of them have silent switches and are basically noiseless, others make a little bit of sound but not much. I don't like 'clicky' switches.

</comment><comment><USER57> I really want a keyboard that is:

1) Backlit (soo addicted to this) 2) Quiet 3) Has media keys (volume/mute/play/pause/etc, and ideally calculator)

There's not a ton of options out there. My Corsair K55 is good but flawed (stupid useless "programmable" macro keys that can't be rebound, wonky electronics don't let the computer boot properly the first time, doesn't actually store the config onboard). It's not all that quiet, either.

I'd pay more for a better one, but I can't tell if they meet my needs since the descriptions are rarely aiming for what I'm looking for.

<comment><USER4> I used the V1 of this for about 6 months and really liked it [1]. It has a nice adjustable backlight, media keys, it wasn't too loud in an open office, and the switches felt pretty nice, especially for being ~$30. There's a Mac version as well, but I couldn't find it on Amazon.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/VELOCIFIRE-TKL02-Mechanical- Copywrite...](https://www.amazon.com/VELOCIFIRE-TKL02-Mechanical-Copywriters- Programmers/dp/B07DFBKYT5)

</comment></comment><comment><USER58> This is pretty funny because I got an Amazon Basics Keyboard a few years ago and remembered thinking "This isn't half bad. Pretty dang good for the price." and bought 3 more for backup.

</comment><comment><USER59> Every machine at my alma-mater's CS many computer labs were outfitted with Amazon Basics keyboards... needless to say I share your sentiment. It too is my favorite!

</comment><comment><USER60> One of the great things about a mechanical keyboard is the repairability. When I spilled a drink on my keyboard and a few keys got sticky, I just ordered a few switches online and replaced them with some basic soldering. You probably won't be able to find any replacement parts for most keyboards. Also, while it's not best keyboard, it's fairly easy to find replacement key caps for Apple keyboards as well.

</comment><comment><USER61> I'd love to find a quiet keyboard that requires a lot of pressure and has tactile feedback. The only two keyboards I can comfortably use are the old IBM Buckling spring(or unicomp), or a keyboard with blue switches. Typing on say, red or black switches felt unnatural and gross to me. That said, both are quite loud. If anyone has any recommendations(reasonably priced, of course), feel free to shoot it my way.

</comment><comment><USER62> this is an ad. notice the referal link at the bottom.

if a keyboard _actually_ matters to you, please look for unbiased information.

a couple of suggestions that aren't just meant to net me a few bucks:

\- tenkeyless reduce wrist strain (a full size keyboard forces your hands further apart than is natural). if you need a numpad you can always add one.

\- consider a backlit if you work at night.

\- mechanical keyboards tend to last forever and they are easy to clean because all the keys come off.

\- non mechanical are quieter

happy coding!

<comment><USER62> edit: the author has since added a disclosure to the top of the post. thank you!

</comment></comment><comment><USER63> My keyboard of preference is the HP Wireless Elite Keyboard v2. I've been using them for a half dozen years. At first, I didn't care for it because there was some central flex. I fixed that with some rubber sticky feet and now it is very solid. The only other thing I would change is to add back lighting.

The bundled mouse is rubbish. Don't get that unless there's a better deal on the bundle and then toss it.

</comment><comment> mark-r I've always been a fan of mechanical keyboards, I just think I type faster and better with them. I had an old Zeos that I used for many years, until my wife insisted I remove it from our shared home office because it was too noisy.

For a few years now I've been using a Microsoft 600 which seems very similar to the Amazon Basic, including the price range.

</comment><comment><USER64> I use a Cherry MX Blue keyboard at home and I have the same model I bought 12 years ago for work too. I wanted to try out something quiet, affordable, with lesser travel and something that doesn't annoy people around me. The post makes me want to try out the AmazonBasics one and the Logitech K120.

Not too much to lose.

</comment><comment><USER65> The striking thing to me about this is that is is purportedly a "mechanical keyboard" and yet it failed after only 5 years.

I have purchased, or somehow gotten, at least 15 mechanical keyboards (and 10+ membrane-or-whatever keyboards) over the past 25 years.

Most of the cheap rubber-membrane-or-whatever keyboards failed within a few years, although there are some that kept on working.

But _none_ of the mechanical ones did: Apple Extended Keyboard II (two of them) lasted 20+ years, IBM Model M, Unicomp Model M clone, Das Keyboard somethin something with Cherry MX blue/brown, 3 or 4 chinese knockoffs with cherry knockoff switches, two or three Mattias mechanical keyboards, 4 Filcos, 3 Code Keyboards (the WASM + Jeff Atwood venture) a couple Japanese hackety hacker boards... plus like 5-10 more at least.

 _None of them_ ever failed. I gave them away or whatever eventually but probably the average time span of which I was aware of them being in use is 15+ years.

So what Amazon may have innovated here is a mechanical keyboard that can fail as fast as the new rubber membrane inferior crap that came later?

<comment><USER44> Nothing in the article indicated that this is a mechanical keyboard.

This is some generic rubber-dome over membrane keyboard.

<comment><USER65> Oops, you are right! I re-read it, and... not sure where I got that impression from.

So, Amazon made a status quo membrane keyboard. OK, uh, then yeah I guess I'll just move on then.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER66> It looks like the tops of the keys are completely flat. As someone who did a lot of typing on XT clone keyboards when they where common, this wouldn't be comfortable to me. I like some curve to the tops of the keys. Thinkpads have that feature for me.

<comment><AUTHOR> It's hard / impossible to tell from the images but there's the tiniest amount of rounded concave to the keys.

When I look at it from the side you can see the keys sink towards the middle, but it's a lot less than other keyboards where this feature is more distinct. It's much less than the Thinkpads.

Thanks for the tip though. As I was writing the post I was thinking about what other characteristics there were of keyboards and I never thought about that one.

</comment></comment><comment><USER67> I urge everyone to get an ergonomic keyboard. Your hands will thank you as you get older.

<comment><USER51> How much older is older?

I'm 46 years old, been programming a computer since I was 10 (TRS-80 Color Computer 2 - with the "melted" keyboard - not exactly ergo), and I currently use a classic Model M (not a Unicomp - a real one made by Lexmark, that inexplicably has the flow-thru option on it for some reason - bit of a unicorn from what I gather).

I've used keyboards in my career of all types, including ones on a VT-100, VT-220, and WYSE-320, 370, and 380...

I have never had any RSI issues. Not saying it can't happen, but one would think something would've happened by now...

<comment><USER68> What is flow-thru option? Google just brings me back to this thread. Wikipedia mentions "drainage holes to deter damage from spilled drinks" in the options. Is that what you're talking about?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER69> The happy hacking keyboard is my favorite and is made for programming [https://hhkeyboard.us/](https://hhkeyboard.us/)

It has a pretty different compact layout and very nice keys that arent loud.

</comment><comment><USER70> The noise problem can be mitigated by using a proper directional microphone/headset. It's a worthwhile investment if you are recording videos or are in conference call.

</comment><comment><USER71> I was very specific about my keyboard needs: I wanted basically a keyboard layout from a notebook (mac) so i don't have to adjust to layout, it had to be wired because bootcamp and bluetooth are not working good together, ISO layout (which is TERRIBLY hard to find), full size keys but compact design (think magic keyboard). In the end i settled with penclic, which had the added brilliant advantage of having those media keys right next to fn key, so you can adjust volume with one hand. Stil prefer logitech k780 feedback and feel, but couldnt handle the extra length. Once you go TKL it's hard to go back

</comment><comment><USER72> I switched to Input Club WhiteFox with heavy buttons (Hako Trues) and after getting accustomed to it I find it the best keyboard I ever had. It's sturdy, small (tenkeyless) and I learned not to bottom out. That makes the typing experience smooth. The noise is OK with my colleagues. Hard to describe the feeling of these keys - it's as if you're floating on a bouncy and precise spring. Used to get tired after a full day in the beginning, but this problem disappeared in a few weeks. Now I miss it when I am travelling, that's how great it is.

</comment><comment><USER73> Even if it's your favorite, a straight keyboard with no curve / separation to it is not good for your health.

</comment><comment><USER74> Is this really worth writing about.

</comment><comment><USER75> ignorance is bliss, i suppose

</comment><comment><USER76> "2 Key Rollover"

Dropped.

</comment><comment> j-c-hewitt He even picked the bad variant of the Amazon Basics keyboard.

<comment><USER77> Which is the better one you recommend?

</comment></comment><comment><USER78> This is blatant advertising on the front-page of HN. How did a post about a generic keyboard rise so high in such a short period of time?

<comment><USER79> What makes you believe the author of this article, who from what I can tell is a long-term active HN user, is advertising for Amazon?

Skepticism is good, but you should also be skeptical of the first conclusion it leads you to.

<comment><USER80> Using an affiliate link without mentioning it is scammy.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, I have a few affiliate links on my site (on products and services I've used for ~20 years). And those are all super in depth articles. Such as a 4,000+ word post on monitors that I still get emails about years later saying it is the best resource they found on the internet for purchasing a monitor, etc..

I spent about 3,000 hours over 5 years writing the content on my site asking nothing in return. The affiliate sales on my site help pay for hosting and I don't think it's scammy to drop them in when it applies. I also think it would be a little weird if I started every article that has an affiliate link with a 5 paragraph disclaimer to justify why I am using that link, but maybe I should write a post about that and then drop a 1 liner link somewhere.

Literally opening a lemonade stand as a grown man would be more profitable than what I make on affiliate sales on my site if you factor in hourly rates.

<comment><USER81> The operative phrase in the original comment was "without mentioning".

<comment><AUTHOR> > The operative phrase in the original comment was "without mentioning".

As a reader you wouldn't be weirded out if the first section of the article was to justify why an affiliate link was used?

That would annoy me as a reader a lot more than having an affiliate link used without mention. I mean, I'm not sitting there trying to trick people into clicking links. The blog post is just an honest look / opinion on the keyboard. If you decide to click and buy one, that's cool. If you close the article in 5 seconds after skimming around, that's cool too.

<comment><USER81> > As a reader you wouldn't be weirded out if the first section of the article > was to justify why an affiliate link was used?

Nope, and as the flagging of this article shows, it's _worse_ without disclosure.

It's not just an _ethical_ requirement, it's a _legal_ one. (I believe Amazon's affiliate program guidelines requires disclosure)

<comment><AUTHOR> > I believe Amazon's affiliate program guidelines requires disclosure

Good call, I just found it in their agreement in section 5: [https://affiliate- program.amazon.com/help/operating/agreemen...](https://affiliate- program.amazon.com/help/operating/agreement)

Technically I do mention it on my site but maybe it's not clear enough since I only wrote about it once or twice in a comment on a different post.

I'm working on something now to make this more apparent on all pages that have an affiliate link (which is less than 10 out of ~300 pages).</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


How the Cold War Defined Scientific Freedom - <AUTHOR> https://newrepublic.com/article/153383/cold-war-defined-scientific-freedom <comment><USER2> Between this and the pterosaurs it has been a great day for quality articles.

There is a tension when talking about 'freedom' that reminds me of the anecdote (unsupported by evidence afaik) that converts to a religion tend to be more extreme than people born in to it, because those born in to it know that there are a whole heap of stipulations that are best ignored or treated metaphorically. Eg, when the holy book says deliver death and destruction to the heretics what it means _bad_ heretics and not your friendly atheist neighbor living the next door down.

The word freedom has similar problems. Obviously there is a form of radical freedom where everyone gets to steal stuff and live in a Darwinian free-for- all. Nobody important means that when they say things like 'commitment to ... freedom'.

This observation has implications. When a political idea is expressed as an absolute, that is for rhetorical not practical purposes. The ideological structure that gives society form is in constant need of testing and debate, because finding what a word means in practice is _not_ looking it up in a dictionary. The long struggle of women to assert freedom over their own bodies and lifestyle is an interesting study on how that style of thing plays out - before the advent of modern medicine (eg, the pill, improved surgical techniques, understanding of the mechanics of conception and childbirth, lots of stuff to do with transexuals, etc, etc) some of those freedoms were actually impossible and inconceivable as a practical issue.

In light of that any claim that 'American science had uniquely transcended politics through ... freedom' is clearly propaganda and hokum. The meaning of all the words in that sentence are, in context, political questions.

We can be thankful when our politicians stick to evidence based policies, even if we don't like them. I'm hopeful everyone is in favour of that in principle.

<comment><USER3> > _There is a tension when talking about 'freedom' that reminds me of the > anecdote (unsupported by evidence afaik)_

If we're talking about anecdotal evidence, this has been seen time and again.

It's also easy to see why logically: keeping a religion you've inherited from your parents/community is the default, low energy, mode. You just do the motions. Getting into one from outside requires extra energy and conviction.

<comment><USER4> That's an interesting way to look at it, as a kind of selection bias. Only the most fanatical people become converts.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > Whereas Western scientists, following Darwin, believed that genes shaped > organisms and were changed by the mechanism of natural selection, Lysenko > rejected genetic science and argued that environmental conditions determined > biological characteristics. (Lysenko thought, for example, that exposing > seeds to cold could make the plants that grew from them more resistant to > winter weather.)

This is the premise behind epigenetics, is it not?

<comment><USER6> Not really. Lysenko's ideas sort of imply that you can "will" biological changes. A giraffe can "will" a longer neck in its offspring by stretching its neck to reach the top of the branch. Nothing could be farther from the truth about how biology works (as far as science understand biology). Evolution, genetics, and epigenetics are really more a process of luck and trial-and- error at the molecular level.

<comment><USER7> Yeah, and luck cant be tinkered with- aka the dice loaded, for example by having lots of dice throws by succes in habitat.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> And chess competition (Spasky vs Fischer 1972)</comment>


Deploying Elasticsearch on a 150 node cluster to index 10B documents - <AUTHOR> https://www.spinn3r.com/blog/elasticsearch-at-scale.html <comment><USER2> "Periodically we do full index merges of multiple indexes into weekly indexes. Then weekly into monthly. etc. ... We do this with an internal tool we've developed named (for lack of anything creative) "index rewriter" similar to spark, hadoop, or map reduce just for doing parallel/concurrent scans of Elasticsearch and then writing the data to a new index."

ES 2.3 brings the reindex API [0], which is an absolute godsend. Also, that is a remarkable amount of computronium brought to bear on what I would charitably describe as a moderately-sized dataset. Is the 500ms query time an absolute hard requirement?

And I may be admitting my ignorance here, but there's also this statement:

"However, Elasticsearch doesn't have a way to efficiently tell us how many documents were returned in a given response."

Are you looking for something above & beyond the "hits" value returned in a query response? Or am I missing something? ex:

      {
      "responses": [
        {
          "took": 16,
          "timed_out": false,
          "_shards": {
            "total": 3,
            "successful": 3,
            "failed": 0
          },
          "hits": {
            "total": 38,
            "max_score": null,
            "hits": [
              { ...

[0]: [https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/2.3/...](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/2.3/docs- reindex.html)

<comment><USER3> So, just a clarification, the "hits.total" is the total number of documents that were found. The only way to know the number of documents in the current set ("hits.hits") is to parse the hits and count. But even that shouldn't be too expensive unless I'm missing something here.

<comment><USER4> Not even that. The number of hits returned has a default, which is 10. For more, you choose (the size parameter indicates how many results to return). There is a maximum, by default 100,000 I think.

If you do want to return all results, you can use the scroll API.

There's no guessing with the results in Elasticsearch if you read the (surprisingly accurate) documentation.

Edit (moved from reply to myself): I guess I should clarify before someone corrects me: you could get fewer results than the size parameter. But in that case the total hits should be less than your size parameter and it should be clear that the number of returned documents is the difference.

<comment><USER3> No, "hits.total" is the total number of documents that matched, regardless of what you specified as the number of hits to return.

<comment><USER4> Right, but if you set the size to 10, then you either return 10 or (hits.total - 10) documents. If hits.total is greater than 10, you know you returned 10 documents; otherwise, you returned hits.total documents.

<comment><USER3> Ok, yeah, I see what you're saying and that makes sense. But, even my response is premature because you generally have to parse the whole response to get "hits.total" anyway. So unless you have written a partial parser (does an open source one exist?) you are going to be parsing the whole document to get even "hits.total".

<comment><USER4> Based on the bug filed[1], "Return number of documents in the result counts as HTTP header or in JSON," the implication is that including the number of documents in the result in the JSON would be an acceptable solution. If that's true, then they're OK with parsing the JSON.

Although, to be fair, the related issue[2] specifically asks for an HTTP header.

JSON parsing is generally pretty fast, but I can understand it being unnecessary overhead (although in general, there are other more significant opportunities for optimization).

If you've ever implemented a JSON stream reader/writer, then you've done partial JSON parsing. Check out the tool `jq`[2], which will parse partial JSON surprisingly well and fast (and this is just a utility).

[1] [https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/18312](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/18312)

[2] [https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/16993](https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/16993)

[3] [https://stedolan.github.io/jq/](https://stedolan.github.io/jq/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm always excited to read about Elasticsearch being used for something besides logs! We have built quite the powerful realtime streaming big data platform where I work (Bazaarvoice), and we use Elasticsearch heavily.

I was recently at an Elasticsearch meetup hosted by HomeAway and pleased to see that may of the patterns that emerged at Bazaarvoice were generally repeated in HomeAway's deployment. I definitely encourage anyone considering Elasticsearch to explore its utility for more than just logging. So many times I read about or hear folks using Elasticsearch to index "billions of documents!!" only to find that only a few million documents are actually in an open index.

Does anyone know of any heavy users of Elasticsearch for non-logging workloads in AWS? So far it seems like most of these folks are running out of a colo or their own data center. I've been running Elasticsearch in AWS for a few years now and simply can't imagine dealing with the inconvenience of managing the hardware down to the specific number of nodes. (If you asked me, I'd say I don't know how many nodes -- lots!)

<comment><USER5> I agree with you. I work for Education company Accredible. We use Elasticsearch hosted on AWS for employment directory based on student data. It's working perfectly for us from last one year, very happy with it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> > The only other way to determine the amount of documents returned it to JSON > parse the entire result which is not free and would add latency to each > request.

Why do they have to bill synchronously (in realtime)? Why not return the response, then calculate the fee asynchronously? The customer is probably being billed at discrete intervals (e.g., weekly or monthly) anyway.

<comment><AUTHOR> It's a good idea (and thanks for the feedback) but we would still have to burn the CPU (which isn't free) to parse the response.

Much easier if it's just an integer header field.

<comment><USER3> What's your request size and how big are the documents you're needing to parse? Even if you're returning 1000 documents, if you're not fetching the source as part of the request (do you need to?) or if you don't have a ton of fields, it shouldn't be too expensive to parse that to get the total number of hits.

<comment><USER4> I'm assuming he needs the source, otherwise he should look at the count API.

<comment><USER3> The count API just returns counts. I'm assuming he needs some fields to display which should be smaller than source if source is "large." Unfortunately we are left to guess at his statements because not enough detail is provided.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The "CPU usage across our Elasticsearch cluster" chart shows a very large spread of utilization at almost all times. This is read-only since you are re- writing offline, right? What do you think is driving this variation?

Disclosure: I am VP, Product Strategy at MarkLogic...</comment>


Tell HN: Evernote Is Awesome Again - <AUTHOR> I am an Evernote user from 2016. Have used it for a year. Then moved to then latest cool kid Notion, but found their mobile app was too slow; search was buggy. Then went to open source alternative Joplin. It was good, but lacking important features and cross platform support. Recently found Typora - that also missing cross platform support. Used Goodnotes and Notability which is great for iPad, but in Mac their apps are bare bone.<p>Now back to Evernote after 4 years. (Provide cross platform, supports apple pencil, looks like a lot of new features like templates). Life is a circle. <comment><USER2> Have been a Mac user for the last 5 years. Apple Notes has worked very well for me and never really had a need to switch until... I switched to Windows recently as my primary machine.

I wish OneNote was the solution but its Mac app is buggy. Tried Evernote despite mixed reviews but has worked well the last 3 months.

The premium subscription has still been worth it due to the cross-platform compatibility. Insane to see just one cross-platform, no complaint app despite having so many options.

<comment><AUTHOR> > The premium subscription has still been worth it due to the cross-platform > compatibility

I use on Mac and iPad; still using their free version. Am i missing something?</comment></comment>


NASA to change 'harmful and insensitive' planet and galaxy nicknames - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/aug/08/nasa-to-change-harmful-and-discriminatory-planet-and-galaxy-nicknames <comment> 88840-8855 I can see how many people will be upset about this. I honestly dont care at all. Call them whatever you want.</comment>


Ask HN: Need opinion about IP things - <AUTHOR> I have some patents in software development field. This evening I will have meeting where I need to decide to give up exclusive rights to use my innovations in some specific areas or quit. I afraid, that if I will give up exclusive rights in any field to use my innovations, then later I might have problems to finish and distribute my own systems or the users of my future systems might have problems. I really do not know what to do. Can You advice something? <comment><USER2> Can't you license the patents to whoever it is and still keep the option to license them to somebody else later?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the answer. I figured out how to narrow down the exclusivity definition so that the partners will be satisfied and my opportunities to sell the patent licenses to others will not be limited significantly. The idea is to define the exclusivity related to the scope of the patent. When exclusivity was defined out of the patent scope, intuitively I had bad feeling, that something is not right. Now I can sleep calm. Thanks! :)</comment></comment>


What are the stuff to learn to become good at Kernel,drivers? - <AUTHOR>

What are the stuff that one needs to know to be good at Kernel/os stuff and drivers ? <comment><USER2> C and Assembly( your gonna need the asm / microprocessor internals knowledge). Also I'd recommend minix as a start <http://www.minix3.org/>, here's a really basic intro to drivers to give you the basic idea what that entails, <http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/articles/drivers_linux>.

One thing, if you're just starting out (which it sounds like), I would NOT recommend looking at the linux kernel src. And lastly, modern operating systems by tanenbaum is a good introductory text that has the plus of being a fun read. Good luck!

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks alot you 2 :-)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> Learn C.

Study the high-level kernel architecture of the OS you're interested in.

Browse interesting kernel code.

For Linux, read anything Greg Kroah-Hartman puts out. Attend any kernel driver classes he gives.

The O'Reilly kernel Linux drivers book is probably still being updated, also.

For the Windows kernel, the latest edition of the Microsoft Press "Inside Windows" is gold.

For the OS X kernel, about your only resource is developer.apple.com

<http://www.kroah.com/log/>

<http://www.kroah.com/linux/></comment>


Judge extends ban on 3D printed guns - <AUTHOR> http://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/403811-judge-extends-ban-on-3d-printed-guns <comment><USER2> My favourite quote from the ruling:

 _> First, it is not clear how available the nine files are: the possibility that a cybernaut with a BitTorrent protocol will be able to find a file in the dark or remote recesses of the internet does not make the posting to Defense Distributed's site harmless._

[https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4784902/3D-Guns-S...](https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4784902/3D-Guns- Seattle-20180827.pdf)

<comment><USER3> You can google the files, hardly "dark web".</comment></comment>


$0 Marketing: How To Choose Your Twitter Hashtags - <AUTHOR> http://90dayentrepreneur.com/twitter-hashtags-with-hashtagify-gp-dm/

<comment><USER2> Yeah, It is really cool app to increase the visibility of your app in twitter. The most interesting thing is that it also shows users related twitter Hash- tags according to user Query with a lovely Octopus Diagram...</comment>


Sexy witch, nurse, Mr. Rogers? Inside sexy Halloween costume industrial complex - <AUTHOR> https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/inside-the-sexy-halloween-costume-industrial-complex/2019/10/25/7184c23a-eacd-11e9-85c0-85a098e47b37_story.html <comment><AUTHOR> I had to edit the headline to fit. Original is "Sexy witch. Sexy nurse. Sexy Mr. Rogers? Inside the sexy Halloween costume industrial complex."

</comment><comment><USER2> Perhaps Halloween is the one time per year that some folks can "take off their mask".

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, the article discusses this:

>The rise of the sexy Halloween costume probably began sometime after the 1960s, but its biggest pop culture moment came in the 2004 movie "Mean Girls." Cady, the naive heroine, arrives at a Halloween party dressed as a gory bride of Frankenstein only to find the popular girls dolled up as a sexy bunny, sexy cat and sexy mouse. Oct. 31, she realizes, "is the one day a year when a girl can dress up like a total slut and no other girls can say anything else about it." Sex-advice columnist Dan Savage once called the yearly display of flesh a "Straight Pride Parade." "Halloween is now the big public celebration of straight sexuality, of heterosexual desire," he wrote in 2009.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Is Open Source useful for hardware projects? - <AUTHOR> Hey HN,
Recently, I've been learning a lot about chip design, and I was wondering if there are any open source projects around accelerators or even neuromorphic chips.
When it comes to hardware, is open source useful?
Also, are there any big projects in the chip design space? <comment><USER2> I bet the folks at Arduino and Puri.sm would say it is.</comment>


Ask HN: Pick an amazing example of Web Design? - <AUTHOR> If you had to pick an amazing example of web design (that isn't your own work), what would it be and why? <comment><USER2> www.lingscars.com

There is a lot of method to her madness.

<comment><USER3> If I remember correctly the design weeds out those who are just browsing and only those who are actually intent on buying a car bothers to filter through the noise.

Ryanair's previous web page was hideous in it's own way. I've heard that it was purposefully designed to meet the viewers expectations of a budget airline.</comment></comment>


Bill To prohibit companies from using practices that exploit human psychology [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.hawley.senate.gov/sites/default/files/2019-07/Social-Media-Addiction-Reduction-Technology-Act.pdf <comment><USER2> This might put a big beurocratic burden on a/b testing _anything_ by definition.

Do i exploit human psychology by changing my sign up button text to free trial? Now we might need a committee to decide.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's odd to me that the United States Government would consider outlawing infinite scroll, but has not considered outlawing motorcycles, free rock climbing, cave diving, etc.

<comment><USER4> Truthfully I'm always more surprised that large American cities don't do more to encourage motorcycling.

<comment><USER5> Seems pretty irresponsible considering they're death machines. I had one in my blind spot on the highway the other day, and it was virtually invisible. I always manually check beside me too, I never trust my side mirrors. Literally couldn't see her. Luckily, nothing happened, but I don't understand what people are expected to do when they can't see you.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Review my idea - fix the way girls shop for jeans - <AUTHOR>

I know this is a predominately male audience, but you are a group of smart people who can hopefully provide objectivity and help develop this idea.
The way girls shop for jeans is broken, IMO. Girls must browse through arbitrary, unstandardized sizes and try on a range of jeans from size 2-4, for example, to find ones that fit right.
Men have it easier. Two simple measurements, waist and inseam. I know that women would need more dimensions like hip and thigh to get a closer fit (us guys don't particularly care if our pants accentuate the right places).
What I want to do is bring uniform measurements to women's jeans, and allow women to custom-fit their jeans by ordering online, with a generous return policy like Zappos did with shoes. It's essentially a new brand of jeans that sets itself apart by making it easier for women to find jeans that fit them perfectly, every time.
Thoughts, suggestions, critiques? <comment><USER2> Currently if a woman wants to wear jeans in a new brand or style, you are right, it is a good idea for her to try them on before buying them. Depending on the woman, she may or may not consider going jeans shopping a chore.

In your proposed system, the woman instead needs to measure her waist, hips, thighs, inseam, and probably some other things too. Having done some dress making in the distant past, I know it is easier said than done to measure yourself in the correct places. And it is not fun. But sure, if you offered jeans that were customizable on enough size points, as well as in styles, perhaps you could sell your jeans online without a lot of returns.

I think the key to the success of a new brand of jeans though is not just about how well it fits. Just take a look at all the women in ill-fitting skinny jeans out there! My hunch is that women on average have a less utilitarian attitude to fashion than men (men often just want something that looks decent and fits well?).

Perhaps instead of taking on the risk and challenge of building a new fashion brand, you could leverage the brands of others. Take measurements of all the popular jeans brands in all the major sizes and then write the matching tool. Its not as lucrative a revenue model (it would be affiliate), but it would help you test part of your idea.

</comment><comment><USER3> I did this 12 years ago. Nobody really wants this. I would advise against it.

Men have the same problem, btw. Size 32/32 jeans at Old Navy are not equivalent to size 32/32 Levi's 501s or size 32/32 Diesel "skinny jeans" and so on and so forth.

<comment><AUTHOR> Could you elaborate? I'd love to see what you did, what worked, and what didn't. Did you have a website set up? Is it still up?

<comment><USER3> The fundamental flaw of your idea is that you think the way women shop for jeans is "broken". It is not. Women like to go to the store and try on clothing with their friends. It's also not just jeans... it's t-shirts, bras, shoes, coats, blouses, etc.

Anyway, I made a website for a large PANTS manufacturer. You'd measure your hips, waist, inseam and then put it into a web form and get a custom pair. After much promotion, we had an amazingly low number of customers. Like.... less than 50... for a site that we charged $300,000 to build. The men's version did a little better... but not much. The website is no longer available. Like the Kin and Google Wave, it was put out to pasture a few short months after going live.

You could try it again but I don't think shopping proclivities have changed much.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the info. Do you think that the failure might be due to the online shopping landscape of 12 years ago? I know that in 1998, buying things online was the 'new' thing, and there were lots of concerns about security. Has the mainstream acceptance of online shopping progressed to the point where people are willing to buy clothes without trying them on?

You accredited the low acceptance of the site you worked on to the theory that women want a shopping 'experience' possibly with friends and lots of physical connection (trying things on, feeling the materials, etc.). Are women still as interested in this, given how their relationship with the internet has evolved over the last 12 years?

Thanks for your input. I really appreciate it.

<comment><USER3> _Has the mainstream acceptance of online shopping progressed to the point where people are willing to buy clothes without trying them on?_

Yes, but you need a good return policy. Expect a lot of returns.

However, I still don't think women want custom jeans.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> _Girls must browse through arbitrary, unstandardized sizes and try on a range of jeans from size 2-4, for example, to find ones that fit right._

That's simply not true. Yes, there are a few brands that make everything in their own sizes but most denim manufacturers make jeans by waist size. Go to saks.com and check out their denim shop. Not a single brand sized by 2-4 as you say... everything sized by actual waist in inches. The others (Gap, J Crew, whatever) have repeat shoppers who know their sizes in that particular maker so it's not at all confusing or "broken".

</comment><comment><USER5> I like the idea. I log in, put in my measurements/traits (as many or few as I want (petite, bottom heavy, large bust, full figure, etc) and the system matches me up with clothes that not only FIT, but also look GOOD on me or at least complement my body shape.</comment>


Peridot – the highly extensible, highly enjoyable, PHP testing framework - <AUTHOR> http://peridot-php.github.io/

<comment><USER2> Thanks for releasing your hard work!

I know this isn't exactly the same as PHPUnit or Behat, but you're going to have a difficult time convincing developers to move away from those.

No developer is going to convert an existing PHPUnit test suite to this, but some information on the page about why I should use this instead of (addition to?) PHPUnit on my next project would be great.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for your feedback!

PHPUnit is an awesome tool (I even started [https://github.com/brianium/paratest](https://github.com/brianium/paratest) to get a little more out of it). Behat is equally awesome.

However we wanted something that was a little easier to extend, in a variety of ways. We spend a lot of time writing JavaScript tests with Mocha and Jasmine for JS apps that consume our PHP APIs, and we really enjoy that style of testing.

This is our way of bringing that style to PHP, and we think its a great tool for new codebases.

Thanks again for the comment :)</comment></comment>


A Laptop from 1981 - <AUTHOR> http://old-photos.blogspot.com/2011/06/first-laptops.html

<comment><USER2> Definitely wasn't a laptop - back then the big thing was "Portable", no one considered doing stuff on the go. Once we got to the TRS-80 Model 100 (and its relatives) a couple years later then we were thinking laptops.</comment>


Wire – encrypted voice, video and group chats; and works in a browser - <AUTHOR> https://wire.com/ <comment><USER2> On their Privacy page they put a check box for their entry in the comparison table for being "Open Source". And then they write:

> Our commitment to security is entirely verifiable — you don't have to take > our word for it. Wire uses open-source cryptography to encrypt all content. > We made the source code for data handling available to the public under the > GPL License. This means that anybody can review the source code.

This is very misleading. To provide verifiable security, the source code of the client software must also be open source, which it does not look to be. Because how else can you prove that the client software is also secure?

</comment><comment><USER3> How are they making money ? I mean they say they are about 50. They need a ton of money to pay them.</comment>


NY millennial can't afford to move to D.C. before her job in Congress starts - <AUTHOR> https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/yw7gwg/new-york-millennial-cant-afford-to-move-to-dc-before-her-job-in-congress-starts <comment><USER2> The headline kind of buries the lede. "Job in Congress" sounds like it could mean a Congressional staffer or something, but this is talking about an actual Congressperson.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Finally someone in Congress who represents me.</comment>


A Ferocious Heat in Delhi - <AUTHOR> https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/07/08/a-ferocious-heat-in-delhi/ <comment><USER2> I live in Phalodi. The place which recorded 51°Celsius, the highest temperature ever recorded in India. AMA!

<comment><USER3> How do you even breath in 50°C heat? Does it hurt?

<comment><USER2> Well, it's certainly tough. The heat wave makes it impossible to get outside. All you can do is stay indoors in air-conditioner.

<comment><USER4> What percentage of the population has air conditioners? Also, what do you think would happen if you didn't have one?

I honestly can't imagine that kind of heat and how people could even survive in it.

<comment><USER2> I would say less than 10%. Desert coolers are quite effective here, due to the no-humidity, which are way cheaper. I imagine, people who live here have the bodies adapted to it. Also, the house structures, food and other things have traditionally been developed keeping in mind the extreme heat, so I think that makes a lots of difference.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I've been working in Madrid the last few weeks and temperatures have been around 35-43 Celsius (~ 110 Fahrenheit).

Coming from London, it's been a real shock and sucks the energy out of me. I'm constantly crossing roads to find any shade while walking.

I can't begin to imagine living somewhere like Delhi which is even hotter!

<comment><USER6> > I can't begin to imagine living somewhere like Delhi which is even hotter!

And then combine it with tons of pollution...

<comment><USER7> and delhi is far from the hottest city in india!

<comment><USER8> well it was close this year: 48°C, only 3° below the national record

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I was in Delhi a few years back during the hottest month of the year. Temperatures were fluctuating between 45-50 Celsius on average. I had never experienced walking outside the door at 7 AM only to be greeted with scorching heat like that.

</comment><comment><USER10> And yet, despite all the claims that the author makes about quality of air and life in Delhi, it's steadily growing, adding something like 4 million inhabitants over the last 5 years. As the article quotes "Yet New Delhi was bursting its seams, because newcomers from rural India kept flooding in." \- the people are voting with their feet that urbanization with the associated jobs and wealth is more important to them personally than better environment conditions, since they're leaving the latter to gain the former.

<comment><USER11> India's great failure in the 20th century has been its inability to nurture urban centers outside a handful of major metros. So everyone floods into Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi because there are no jobs anywhere else. Capital cities in other states have nowhere near the quality of jobs on offer in these 3-4 major metros.

<comment><USER12> Its not India's great failure. It is India's great achievement. We need to move people rapidly from rural area to urban cities and India is doing an awesome job at it.

<comment><USER11> Yes, but urban cities. Not "just 3-4 urban cities".

<comment><USER12> I think urban areas of around 30-40mn are doable. We just need around 30 cities to take most of the population.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> This piece reminds me of Mark Manson's 'A dust over India' [0][1].

> "The boys can't even stand upright after a few hours in this kind of heat, > but the bosses won't understand this. They say the work must be completed on > schedule," he says. How do the men manage?

The general lack of empathy, compassion, and brotherhood is astonishing among the Indian elite. As for the general populace: Nothing unites them like tradition, nothing divides them like tradition. The race to bottom caused diminishing opportunities to secure financial freedom, this zero-sum game in the face of rampant corruption, a dizzying dichotomy induced by income inequality, a severe lack of humanism driven by rising population and dwindling resources, a merit-less-ness permeating the government and the judiciary favouring the powerful who are inadvertently also the rich, deceit at every step as a means to rise above the tide point to a society with hallmarks of an inevitable collapse.

> The state of Gujarat is suffering its worst dry spell in thirty years...

Its my home state, and I've written about this topic before [2]. The matter of fact is that activists who put tremendous amount of effort to try to bring about change aren't spared by the wolves [3][4] and then eventually there's no one left to speak up.

> The monsoon is late this year. We turn our eyes to the sky every evening, > fastening our hopes for relief to the tiniest shred of cloud...

This is key: I happened to once live close to Kerela in South Western India which gets the first monsoon showers and copious amount of rain (second only to the states in North East India), and on the onset of the monsoons the day- time temperatures would drop up to 20C, from low 40Cs to low 20Cs. This is almost as close as winter temperatures get in the tropics. Unfortunately, this respite from the unrelenting Indian summer is subject to wildly changing events elsewhere on the planet [5], which means global warming is absolutely jeopardizing the livelihood of 1 billion people right this minute.

> Chennai, India's sixth largest city, ran out of water.

Chennai was built on wetlands and the erstwhile settlement was littered with lakes and flanked with rivers... zero-day might have been unimaginable just a decade ago-- A city not far from there is surrounded by water bodies, but those are being strained due to sharing of water far and beyond just because the head of the state happens to be from a region hit with water crisis and so naturally all the water elsewhere needs to be transported to his constituency with no regard for environment or costs whatever. The ruling class is borderline nihilistic, morally, in my opinion.

> The affluent have already adjusted. The billionaires have their "golden > visas," residence permits that allow them to claim citizenship in some > European countries if they have made substantial enough investments in > property or businesses.

This is not farther from truth. I, personally, know four different families that have sent their kids to immigration friendly countries like Canada, Australia, Sweden for the 'golden visa'. It is almost parasitic behaviour, one would think [6]?

[0] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4214480](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4214480)

[1] [https://markmanson.net/a-dust-over-india](https://markmanson.net/a-dust- over-india)

[2] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16301765](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16301765)

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

[4] [https://yourstory.com/2017/09/rti-activists- murdered/](https://yourstory.com/2017/09/rti-activists-murdered/)

[5] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon_of_South_Asia#Changes_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monsoon_of_South_Asia#Changes_of_the_Monsoon)

[6] [https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/IM1-DQ2Wo_w](https://www.youtube- nocookie.com/embed/IM1-DQ2Wo_w)</comment>


How CNN, Yahoo and Fox News are wasting 13 terabytes a month on webfonts - <AUTHOR> https://pixelambacht.nl/2018/extra-extra-read-all-about-it/ <comment><USER2> I like how all the good analysis comes first and then comes the sensational punch line

</comment><comment><USER3> According to the analysis in the article, Yahoo does not waste bandwidth on web fonts because it uses system fonts. So, the title of this submission is a distortion.</comment>


The Rape Kit's History - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/17/opinion/rape-kit-history.html <comment><USER2> Marty Goddard: genius hacker.

> _Ms. Goddard's insight was that the only fix for this dysfunctional system > would be incontrovertible scientific proof, the same kind used in a robbery > or attempted murder. The victim's story should be supported with evidence > from the crime lab to build a case that would convince juries. To get that > evidence, she needed a device that would encourage the hospital staff > members, the detectives and the lab technicians to collaborate with the > victim. On the most basic level, Ms. Goddard realized, she had to find a > mechanism that would protect the evidence from a system that was designed to > destroy it._

> _Ms. Goddard had invented not just the kit, but a new way of thinking about > prosecuting rape. Now, when a victim testified, she no longer did so alone. > Doctors, nurses and forensic scientists backed up her version of the events > — and the kit itself became a character in the trials. It, too, became a > witness._</comment>


Anybody else getting 502 Error on Linode? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> <http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/linode.com> says yes.

My Linode VPSes are still up though.

<comment><USER3> Even if it's only an issue effecting their own website (though I daresay it's possible that some customers are seeing downtime on the VPSes, just not all?), you'd think they would have mentioned it on <http://status.linode.com/> or <https://twitter.com/Linode>

edit: Between my starting to write this comment and finishing it, their site came back online

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> If anyone is wondering, this was probably caused by their "100000$ giveaway" and the signups flooding their servers.

<http://blog.linode.com/2010/12/15/linode-100000-giveaway/>

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> This is frustrating!!!!

<comment><AUTHOR> Booked it!!!!</comment></comment>