Show HN: Community Events - kpasa - <AUTHOR> http://lax.kpasa.co/

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi, I needed a side project to teach myself Django & AWS but couldn't think of anything Earth-shattering to work on... After searching and coming up empty I decided instead to build the kind of events site I've been waiting for for about ten years.

Though events sites are a dime a dozen, after all these years I still haven't found one I like. None seem to focus on what I want to know--what are the fun (and best) things to do today and this weekend?

I'm wondering, can such a mundane site pay for itself? It's been fun implementing all the ways it could. I would appreciate some ideas on the premium services front.

Also, would anyone be interested in renting the app for use in their city, on something like Amazon Marketplace? Finally, if it doesn't get traction on its own I'm thinking of open-sourcing it to see if hosting/consulting are a possibility.

Would appreciate any thoughts, and thanks for your time.

TL;DR - I've made an (events + reddit + meetup + gmaps mashup) prototype for fun and hope to turn it into something.</comment>


The NIMBY Backlash Against Amazon's HQ2 - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-11-13/amazon-s-hq2-backlash-it-s-mostly-nimbyism <comment><USER3> I'm actually a YIMBY but I don't consider the Queens backlash against the Amazon's HQ2 NIMBYism. Instead its a valid argument against why Amazon should get billions in subsidies to essentially gentrify Queens -- what will the actual inhabitants there see, other than landlords mostly getting higher rents as they push existing tenants out? These kind of 'race to the bottom' economic subsidies that states and cities compete on should be eliminated IMHO.

<comment><USER4> What's clear is that Amazon is an unstoppable force, the only question is, how to handle that force.

Their business model is here to stay, because online retailing turns out to be a natural monopoly due to network effects and economies of scale.

The best solution is to nationalize it. Instead of squeezing the public to boost private profits, all profits would be returned to the public.

<comment><USER5> > The best solution is to nationalize it.

No, break them up. Governments are terrible at running businesses. Fragment the market legally so competition can't be eliminated by a monopoly. A competitive market is better than a government run monopoly.

<comment><USER4> > Governments are terrible at running businesses.

Pure ideology, and trivially factually wrong.

\- Nationalization means the government owns the business, not that it runs it. Only difference is who collects the profits, Bezos or everyday people.

\- Norway and the other Scandy countries have high levels of public ownership and huge public sectors. Their economies run great.

"Some of these SOEs are businesses often run by states: a postal service, a public broadcasting channel, an Alcohol retail monopoly. But others are just normal businesses typically associated with the private sector.

In Finland, where I know the situation the best, there are 64 state-owned enterprises, including one called Solidium that operates as a holding company for the government's minority stake in 13 of the companies.

The Finnish state-owned enterprises include an airliner called Finnair; a wine and spirits maker called Altia; a marketing communications company called Nordic Morning; a large construction and engineering company called VR; and an $8.8 billion oil company called Neste.

In Norway, the state manages direct ownership of 70 companies. The businesses include the real estate company Entra; the country's largest financial services group DNB; the 30,000-employee mobile telecommunications company Telenor; and the famous state-owned oil company Statoil."

Read more here: [https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/03/14/the-state- ow...](https://www.peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/03/14/the-state-owns-76-of- norways-non-home-wealth/)

<comment><USER6> The US and Scandinavian countries are hardly comparable.

It's like saying, "Hey Ethiopia, you should just be more like Canada and that would solve all your problems!"

<comment><USER4> Actually the comparison is fine. They're both similarly developed first world economies.

The US isn't Ethiopia. It has ample resources to solve all its problems given the political will. It just needs to overcome its irrational fear of the welfare state.

<comment><USER5> It's not an irrational fear of the welfare state, it's an ideological opposition to collectivism from the half of the country that are ideologically individualistic.

<comment><USER4> You say potayto, I say potahto

<comment><USER5> If you can't agree there's a difference between an irrational fear, and a core value, well then there's little point bothering to converse, you're too closed minded.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Uh, that's not what NIMBY means. "NIMBY" means we all agree that something a Good Thing™, but I want it placed in someone else's neighborhood instead of mine. It doesn't apply to any possible objection to one's neighborhood.

<comment><USER8> No this is exactly what nimby means, tons of people who would support HQ2 being in manhattan are opposed to HQ2 being in LIC.

<comment><USER9> WHO would support Seattlification? It's boring, it's numb and on top of that it's Amazon. Sorry about how offensive that is.

<comment><USER10> > and on top of that it's Amazon.

That's what amuses me about this whole saga. Out of the successful tech companies, Amazon has by far the worst reputation as an employer (mediocre pay compared to other top tech companies, and poor work-life balance for engineers - never mind work conditions for warehouse workers), yet all these cities were bending over backwards to entice Amazon to move to their cities.

<comment><USER11> Totally, I don't know why anyone these days would accept a pitiful $140,000 total compensation pay as a new grad software development engineer these days. That's practically slave labor... \s

<comment><USER9> People can still be taken advantage of with a mighty sum of money, surprise surprise. Money doesn't make everything right always. It's all about opportunity cost (how long does one's 20s and early 30s last?), the value this young fresh labor provides, how much life is sucked out of their enthusiasm in the process (i.e. jaded expectations carry on for a long time, emotionally), and the naivete combined with ample time to devote to the Bezos cult that's exploited with perks and status that amount to, sincerely, working for the man, in the clearest sense possible (I mean you could up that game with something like Palantir.)

If one's real happy working for Amazon though, I wish them luck and continued prosperity, and a bit of willful ignorance to carry on. For sure it looks real good on the resume for the next gig.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> As a YIMBY, I think it's unfair to label the backlash against Amazon HQ2 as a NIMBY backlash. Not wanting to dole out arbitrary tax breaks doesn't make you a NIMBY. Same for being concerned about the extent to which it will create well-paying stable jobs.

The concerns about rent and displacement are really the only NIMBY complaint (particularly the idea that building luxury condos for new workers would shuffle out existing residents from existing apts / condos).

</comment><comment><USER12> This random reddit comment describes the situation with NYC subsidies pretty well. It jives pretty well with what I saw locally when they built the Whole Foods near me in Gowanus.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/9wploz/ocasiocortez_bl...](https://www.reddit.com/r/nyc/comments/9wploz/ocasiocortez_blasts_tax_breaks_for_amazon_says/e9mdind/)

Overall, a much better argument against these subsidies is that they shouldn't be needed at all. Everyone should be able to have the same streamlined permitting processes.

<comment><USER13> This also jives really wel with the banking deregulation bill republicans and democrats want to pass.

They used the excuse that small banks and credit unions got screwed a bit with Dodd-Frank so we need to pass a bill to fix that, and oh by the way we'll roll back big player regulations along the way cause that's all we actually cared about.

My point is, small business get screwed all the time and it sucks and should be fixed, but for the love of god don't use that as a justification for why Amazon should be able to shop around to dozens of cities to get a better deal than anyone else could (or why we should pass banking deregulation).

Your framing of the argument, and that comment, seems like an intentional misdirection.

<comment><USER12> That's some nice whataboutism concerning Dodd-Frank.

With regards to uneven enforcement, you would have to be delusional to think that these same tax incentives aren't being extended to every other large development, be it Google NYC, Goldman's 200 West, or Jared Kushner's DUMBO mall.

You can even download a list of NYC property tax refunds here: [https://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/property- refunds-201...](https://www1.nyc.gov/site/finance/taxes/property- refunds-2018.page)

The only reason you're hearing about this one is because of Amazon's unconventional bidding stunt and its publicity.

The process is outrageous and benefits large developers the most. But it's naive to think these companies won't always lobby for lower taxes, and cynical to think that the same benefits can't be extended to smaller firms.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I don't really understand that even booming areas like Northern VA and NYC have to give a company subsidies to settle there. I can see this as a tool to help disadvantaged areas but I don't think we should subsidize wealthy companies to settle in already wealthy areas.

As an ex-small business owner I would much prefer if little companies got more incentives.

<comment><USER15> > I don't really understand that even booming areas like Northern VA and NYC > have to give a company subsidies to settle there.

Politicians see the chance for tens of thousands of high paying jobs to be a net positive for their city -> politicians compete to bring said jobs to their city. I don't understand why this is so controversial. Even absent Amazon's explicit RFP process, which was a bit tacky, you were always going to have cities falling all over themselves trying to gain Amazon's favor. It's no different than if you were buying a car and trying to play multiple dealers off each other, just on a larger scale. To think that NYC and DC don't have to compete to attract business is naive.

<comment><USER16> Because it's an unfair playing field. Government is supposed to be a check on corporate power - not guaranteeing it with unfair advantages.

On the non business side our tax dollars are going to support billionaires. At the national level this is pretty close to zero sum. Every dollar Amazon doesn't pay is a dollar someone else has to. Discrepancies between regions would be solved more efficiently with transfer/equalization payments.

<comment><USER17> Government is also supposed to create jobs. It's a double edged sword. While it's been relatively lax on the oversight, everyone loves jobs. Unfortunately not enough regulation can lead to the same outcome as too much regulation as when there are too many monopolies like there are right now, it crowds out small businesses which actually create most of the jobs.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Clearly there's a lot of deep, financial analysis that's done in determining whether giving Amazon financial incentives is a good idea (i.e. bring enough jobs & tax revenue to compensate for the tax breaks). It's probably not done by all cities, but certainly the bigger ones.

I'm curious why we don't see those analyses in news stories about HQ2. It's possible that governments don't publish them, but why? Some sort of NDA agreement with Amazon? It feels like those numbers would make people more favorable to HQ2 coming to their city.

EDIT - Found this NYT article, but it's light on the numbers: [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/amazon-long- isla...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/nyregion/amazon-long-island- city.html)

</comment><comment><USER19> To folks saying this isn't NIMBY: a lot of backlash to HQ2 is not the tax breaks (most of which are coming from NYS), but Amazon's failure to engage with local power brokers in Queens ( _i.e._ failure to give them the opportunity to extract concessions based on hold-out value). _That_ is classic NIMBY-ism.

</comment><comment><USER20> Assistant professor from Long Island, now writing from LA, thinks we should not reconsider entrusting billions in taxpayer's money to the richest man in the world.

He should debate David Sirota, or Nathan Robinson.

</comment><comment><USER21> I agree the tax breaks are absolutely laughable. We no longer have the collective wherewithal to break up large monopolies, and sooner or later won't be able to collect taxes from them either. Where's the line? We'll know when the Congress starts to hack away at entitlements. Then everyone will feel it and wonder wtf happened.

</comment><comment><USER22> 1st of all, these sort of tax incentives are quite common, who wouldn't want a giant company moving into their area and creating 10k's of jobs... it's worth it to the local economies...

Just look at Wisconsin and [foxconn]([https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/28/technology/foxconn- wisconsi...](https://money.cnn.com/2018/06/28/technology/foxconn-wisconsin- plant/index.html)) a taiwanese company getting 4 billion in incentives

Amazon will create 10k's of jobs paying on average above 100k/year and by proxy of these wages the workers will then inject millions into the local economies of these places right? ... it's win-win.

<comment><USER23> [https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/did-scott-walker- and...](https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/did-scott-walker-and-donald- trump-deal-away-the-governors-race-to-foxconn)

It was a pretty bad deal for Wisconsin.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> Very disingenuous for Rep-elect Ocasio-Cortez to ask "Are there benefits? Can people collectively bargain?" Virtually every full-time job in the nation has benefits, and collective bargaining is enshrined for virtually all private sector employees since 1935 with the New Deal Era NLRB. This is the world (second) headquarters of a multinational corporation--do you think they are going to somehow staff it with world class engineers at low-wage, hourly, part time, no benefits...?

<comment><USER25> I don't mean this to side with any particular party or another and mean this in purely objective fashion: She really seems to have no clue about economics. She's had quite a few Gary Johnson "What Is Aleppo" moments when asked economy-related questions.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> You'd think the US was big enough to find a city or location where Amazon HQ2 would be welcome. But no, it has to be some impractical location that's neigther wants nor needs HQ2, according to locals.

</comment><comment><USER27> it was reported that condo buying shark frenzy has started in Queens several days ago when the location of HQ2 became known.

</comment><comment><USER28> > Even factoring in the tax breaks, New York and Virginia will still benefit > from Amazon's expansion.

I wonder if Bloomberg owns a stake in Amazon.

<comment><USER29> What? Of course NY and VA will benefit. Otherwise they wouldn't give Amazon the tax breaks to attract them.

<comment><USER30> That is some specious reasoning. The politicians are betting that NY and VA will benefit more than the tax breaks cost, but those calculations involve a lot of assumptions such as the politicians using rosy numbers to get votes in the short term or indirectly benefiting from Amazon after their political career is over. There's a million ways the process could be corrupted.

<comment><USER31> That's literally how all government budgeting works, because there's never an audit with consequences. Or, as is the case with pensions which assumed 8% no- risk annual returns, the consequences are decades down the road.

<comment><USER30> Exactly, that's also a huge problem and it needs to change.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> A yes, it's the NIMBY's.

Got nothing to do with billion dollar giveaways to trillion dollar corporations. Amazon is just such a benevolent force that they deserve, and Jeff is a philanthropist now.

Got nothing to do with the corporate rule and oligarchy that controls America. That this is perhaps the most blatant example of the casual corruption that we accept, and to be fair it is just capitalism in action.

Got nothing to do with the absolute farce of a process. I'm sure that the biggest tech hub on the east coach and Washington DC put in the best bids. I'm extremely convinced of that.

It's all just a bunch of uptight people who don't want Amazon so close.

</comment><comment><USER33> Nonsense. I'm in tech, and I think it's a ridiculous waste of money to give Amazon billions of dollars in tax incentives to do something that they were likely going to do anyway.

It isn't a "NIMBY backlash" to acknowledge that this was a sweetheart deal for Amazon, and that it doesn't make a lot of economic sense. Moreover, at least in Queens, there's very little chance that it actually benefits the people who live in the neighborhood today.

<comment><USER12> > here's very little chance that it actually benefits the people who live in > the neighborhood today.

If we make the assumption that everyone who lives in the neighbourhood rents instead of owns, then yeah, probably.

But why are we attaching any value to the needs of renters? Economically, if your only concern is the benefit of renters then it never makes sense to enrich property values in an area because rent will rise.

I understand it's not compassionate as renters are typically much poorer, but this line of thinking that we should coddle renters leads to a lot of completely regressive policy decisions like rent control that leads landlords to poorly maintain property and public housing projects that tend to cluster crime altogether.

<comment><USER9> Because the needs of renters are pretty much the needs of young working people and the needs of landlords are the needs of the entrenched? 70's line of thinking doesn't work anymore, the world's vastly changed.

<comment><USER12> What a backhanded dismissal.

The cost to buy is not much more than the cost to rent in NYC for most property. NYC's regulations around coop and condo ownership are also fairly progressive.

The only real barrier is the traditional down payment size, which is typically 20% here.

We should be encouraging more young people to buy and build their wealth.

<comment><USER34> There's nothing wrong with encouraging young people to build wealth. However, as we saw in '08, the housing market is a less sure bet of wealth than was previously thought - not to mention changing climates make the value of some properties highly questionable (rising coastlines - maybe? How fast?)

Further, young working people frequently move from city to city to even a _new country_ every couple of years, and quite casually (the kind who could, in theory, afford to purchase a property in New York, who are a very small percentage indeed).

So OK, I purchase a property in New York. But my job now calls me to San Francisco. I have to manage that condo (Maybe I'll Airbnb?) in addition to paying a new equally pricey payment of rent in SF. And because of my demanding work schedule at a tech company, I won't be able to physically check on my property very often. I might have to hire someone to do it for me. Oh no - <USER2> now also have to have both home owner's AND renter's insurance. And next year I have to work for 6 months in Berlin, so I'm going to have to find someone to sublet from my 1-year lease in San Francisco... I'm now spending all my free time just trying to manage 3 properties instead of trying to build my own company/find a mate/obtain a higher degree.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Huawei has started selling laptops with a the Deepin Linux OS pre-installed - <AUTHOR> https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2019/09/12/huawei-just-started-selling-laptops-with-deepin-linux-pre-installed/ <comment><USER2> I am not at the point where I care about a "beautiful" Linux on a laptop, I'd be happy with twm and Motif widgets if only the hardware would be 100% supported and everything would work.

For a reference point, a vanilla Ubuntu LTS install on random (non-certified) T-series ThinkPads still doesn't always suspend/wake up properly, doesn't hibernate properly, crashes X when used with a docking station, has issues with Bluetooth headsets (no microphone), has issues selecting the output audio device, doesn't support the fingerprint reader (I think), has hiccups with external screens, and altogether less battery life than in Windows. (I'm sure some of these work on other models and others have workarounds, this is just my recent experience with trying to run Linux without spending time on tweaks).

I would seriously consider switching my work machine to any laptop/distro combination that would get closer to the experience one has on MacOS (not perfect, but close enough to be productive), no matter where it was made.

<comment><USER3> Ubuntu certifies most Thinkpads:

[https://certification.ubuntu.com/desktop/models?vendors=Leno...](https://certification.ubuntu.com/desktop/models?vendors=Lenovo&page=4)

I currently have an X1 Yoga (3rd), where Lenovo messed up modern standby on both windows and linux. Luckily they have since added standard S3 as an option in the UEFI settings. Everything else works out of the box except the fingerprint reader. Battery life is comparable.

> I would seriously consider switching my work machine to any laptop/distro > combination that would get closer to the experience one has on MacOS

In my experience hackintoshes are pretty annoying and quite far from "close enough to be productive" out of the box. Or were you comparing with a laptop where your OS of choice is preinstalled? Then "without spending time on tweaks" is trivially true; someone else did that for you already.

<comment><USER2> To clarify, I was talking about the experience you get using MacOS on a Mac, definitely not a Hackintosh. Of course this is due to Apple (in most part) fully supporting all (their) hardware.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> A well built Unix based alternative to Mac would be attractive to many in particular developers.

Huawei can address the security concerns by using established open source software (which they seem to have).

Would be great to have an alternative to the windows/mac duopoly.

<comment><USER5> just to be pedantic: macOS is Unix whereas linux is not [https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3653.htm](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3653.htm)

<comment><USER6> Actually, Huawei's own EulerOS (which is based on CentOS Linux) is UNIX certified as well: [https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3622.htm](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3622.htm)

Linux is not inherently compliant (and Deepin isn't AFAIK), but it is entirely possible to package a distribution which is and submit it for certification.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Huawei seems to have put together a top design team. Both their phones and laptops look gorgeous and the quality is there, too.

<comment><USER8> Dont forget their stores, they sure know a thing or two about copying designs 1:1.

<comment><USER9> Interesting that you only mention copying on Huawei's part but not how Apple has copied features on their IPhones from Huawei and other Asian phone makers.

<comment><USER7> It does look like the latest iPhone is playing catch-up with its 3 cameras. Personally I prefer the design of the Huawei P30 Pro, though, so I'd say that Huawei has out-cooled Apple.

<comment><USER10> Well the latest iPhone has caught up to Philips shavers visually IMO. I'm not kidding, the distinctive "retro" look of it comes from associating that kind of design with the 1960s.

<comment><USER11> Don't forget the Rowenta Surfline iMac.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> >As for Deepin, its Chinese origins tend to ignite controversy (and anxiety within privacy purists) in the Linux world, however the distribution is open source and the code is available on GitHub.

Isn't this just plain racist? Is there any actual reason to believe that there's any privacy issues with Deepin, other that that it was made by Chinese people? Not to mention that I've never heard this particular FUD before, so I'm doubtful that it "tends to ignite" anything.

<comment><USER13> I think it has to do with that China has a terrible human right's reputation (yet we all use Chinese products, so there's that), but mainly that Huawei is pretty much obliged by law to build backdoors and share any kind of information with the Chinese government if they are asked to do so.

<comment><USER14> So does the US, I've yet to hear a valid argument on why the US is a better citizen on the global stage than China.

Domistically a very weak argument could be made that the US doesn't violate the rights of their own citizens as bad as China, but between FISA courts, the NSA and programs like PRISM (which is more than a decade old now), this argument barely makes sense.

<comment><USER15> Well, for one, whoever's running the US gets changed after two terms, sometimes it's a pity, sometimes it couldn't happen fast enough.

But in my opinion, it's definitely better than having the same person running things for who-knows how long, regardless of the integrity of that person.

<comment><USER16> A couple dozen people change at the top but literally everyone else stays on, including all the criminals in military and intelligence. It's an absolute joke.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Linux is the best thing that has happened for China and Russia. It helps them escape the Microsoft/Apple/Google control. Even North Korea has its own linux distro to avoid US software. Desktop linux will be a reality.

<comment><USER18> > Desktop linux will be a reality.

This is the 'Fusion power is just around the corner' of the computing world. There's only one way Desktop Linux succeeds, and that's that all the other Desktop OSs are abandoned or drive themselves into the dirt the way Win10 seems intent on doing.

<comment><USER3> Windows has WSL (2 by now). ChromeOS supports desktop linux apps. Samsung has linux on DeX.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the not too far future also macOS or iOS ship with some version of homebrew or macports included out of the box.

<comment><USER18> What's your point? Running Linux optionally in a VM isn't what people mean when they talk about Desktop Linux. Neither is homebrew (which is Linux how, exactly?). ChromeOS is on Chromebooks, which are explicitly not desktops because their whole design is as a web kiosk.

<comment><USER3> My point is running desktop linux apps. My point is that it is NOT "optionally" but officially and encouraged.

Also your notion of chromebooks is about a decade out of date.

<comment><USER18> Oh I see, we've shifted the goalposts from Linux on the Desktop to Linux Apps on a proprietary OS on the Desktop.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> In other news, you can install the Deepin desktop environment on any distro and avoid unwanted packages/repos/configurations.

</comment><comment><USER20> Does it have replaceable parts? I am willing to pay good money for a computer just like Mac, but which can be upgraded piece by piece.

<comment><USER21> Lenovo T480. Accept no substitutes.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> "Deepin Linux"? Is it known by anyone? Sounds scary enough.

<comment><USER22> [https://distrowatch.com/table- mobile.php?distribution=deepin](https://distrowatch.com/table- mobile.php?distribution=deepin)

The main devs are Chinese and iirc, ZTE is funding their effort. Based on Debian with a beautiful new DE based on Qt.

<comment><USER23> Well that's certainly interesting...

I used to work for the guy who pushed the original Qt acquisition at Nokia. He later on, after the Elopcalypse, moved to Huawei to head one of their R&D units.

Wouldn't be at all surprised if he and his teams had his palm prints all over this one. Custom media players certainly play to his history and strengths. (Shot in the dark: I will guess that the media player is built on GStreamer for the codec support and exposed through QtMultimedia elements.)

<comment><USER22> Looks like Qt + mpv: [https://github.com/linuxdeepin/deepin-movie- reborn](https://github.com/linuxdeepin/deepin-movie-reborn)

<comment><USER23> Oh. My guess was wrong on almost all accounts.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Title should probably be `Huawei has started selling laptops with the Deepin Linux OS pre-installed` (no stray `a`)

</comment><comment><USER25> 3:2 aspect ratio on the matebook x! I have said for quite some time that I would wait with buying a laptop until someone else than MS had that aspect ratio. I guess this means I will be getting a new laptop.

</comment><comment><USER26> Why don't they pre install Ubuntu? It's so simple, isn't it?

<comment><USER3> [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Kylin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Kylin)

It is.

</comment></comment><comment><USER27> The beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I don't consider Deepin desktop env more beautiful than Plasma, Budgie, Cinnamon or Gnome. This title is very clickbaity, so many distros are have this strage names Clear Linux, Scientific Linux, Beautiful Linux, Stupidly Easy Linux etc. You'd never know how "deep in" the article you will find relevant information.

</comment><comment><USER15> Why not just use a stock Linux distro, and maybe just change the wallpaper to something Huawei-specific? Add a desktop shortcut to some special Huawei- specific app store, if they want, but keeping the OS stock pretty much signals that they really couldn't care less about putting in bloatware, backdoors, malware or similar, which would be a very welcome change in the OEM equipment world.

I'd suggest Ubuntu, because of it's popularity and non-tech-user-friendliness, then again I'm not sure if they're allowed to do that, since Canonical Ltd. and Trump, thus, depsite open-source, possibly also requires special licenses, IDK (e.g. I once wanted to install OpenSUSE and then there was something in the licensing agreement about EAR directives from the US, so I cancelled that).

I've never heard of Deepin Linux, is it popular in mainland China?

Apart from that, there've always been a steady stream of Laptops available with Linux, it's not a novelty item... many of those that are advertised as "non-OS" often have some form of Linux bundled in, just in case.

<comment><USER28> [https://www.distrowatch.com/](https://www.distrowatch.com/) -> Deepin is the 10th most common distro.

<comment><USER15> It ranked 2013: 55th, 2014: 24th, 2015: 18th, 2016: 11th, 2017: 11th, 2018: 21st and presently, in 2019, is at 10th spot.

That's quite a shot to stardom, and yet, judging from the replies, I don't seem to be the only one who's never heard of it.

Still, I'd be interested to know, how Deepin is doing in China, is it comparable to Ubuntu in the Western world?

<comment><USER3> Stardom among the small number of people visiting a random website.

> They simply show the number of times a distribution page on DistroWatch.com > was accessed each day, nothing more.

[https://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity](https://www.distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=popularity)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> This is an advert, not news.

</comment><comment><USER30> they are $50!!!

</comment><comment><USER31> I want to see how this Hong Kong story develops before I buy new China goods.

<comment><USER32> So how is the invasion of Iraq affecting your buying decision process with regards to american goods?</comment></comment>


The Lemon Market of Programming Language Adoption - <AUTHOR> http://outspeaking.com/words-of-technology/the-lemon-market-of-programming-language-adoption.html

<comment><USER2> While I agree with him on not chasing "languages with buzz" I also feel that you have to try some new technologies or you get left behind. Some new technology is adopted for good reason. The trick is trying to differentiate the good stuff from the hype.

<comment><AUTHOR> Maybe it's the difference between programmers who have little motivation to try anything new and programmers who try new things on the side.

I've been fortunate to work in circumstances where it's allowed and expected to spend time experimenting with new ideas or technologies to see if they'd fit with the project--so it's not a distinction between people who put in their eight hours and go home and people who work twelve or fourteen hours a day, seven days a week.</comment></comment>


Meet the Man Google Hired to Make AI a Reality - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2014/01/geoffrey-hinton-deep-learning/ <comment><USER2> Hinton to Google, Yann Lecun to Facebook, the game is on :)

<comment><USER3> AI has always terrified me.</comment></comment>


Aaron Swartz on misogyny in technology - <AUTHOR> http://feministing.com/2013/01/15/aaron-swartz-on-misogyny-in-technology/ <comment><USER2> makes me wonder, would you (or feministing) stop supporting aaron if he was on the other side of the fence</comment>


Zed A. Shaw - The Web Will Die When OOP Dies - <AUTHOR> http://vimeo.com/43380467 <comment><USER2> I know I'm getting old when I fail to find excessive profanity entertaining.

<comment><USER3> He's always a little over the top.</comment></comment>


10 ways Android beats the iPhone 5 - <AUTHOR> http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/gadgetbox/10-ways-android-beats-iphone-5-1B5919523 <comment><USER2> These sorts of articles are getting really old and redundant. Both mobile OS's have their benefits. Larger than 4" screen = the best experience? No... not for many people who find it harder to hold larger devices. NFC? It's not THAT well supported yet around the States. Custom widgets on home screen? Huge battery drain. Third party software keyboards? iPhone doesn't need it because if you've ever used an Android keyboard, you know it sucks ass (this is the opinion of many of my Android friends). Visible file system? The majority of users want a simplified experience on their phone. Pen support? Any capacitive object can work on the iOS.

Point is, the same points can be argued on both sides. If you like Android because it's customizable, then go for it. It has more options, but wont last as long since you can buy a brand new Android phone and 9months later the newest OS wont work on it.

<comment><USER3> I agree. Comparing features is old now. How about we try UX? <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529225></comment></comment>


Top Intel Lawyer: Terror Attack Would Help Push for Anti-Encryption Legislation - <AUTHOR> https://theintercept.com/2015/09/16/top-intel-lawyer-pushing-anti-encryption-legislation-says-terror-attack-help/ <comment><USER2> All this modern TPM stuff had me a little confused, I thought this was counsel for the Intel corporation, not US intelligence.

> So he advised "keeping our options open for such a situation."

If this isn't just cherry picking on the part of the journalist, it strikes me as fuel for conspiracy theorists. Perhaps there really are agents of the government who would sabotage ourselves in favor of their selfish interests.

<comment><USER3> Yes, that is called a false flag. It happens and might be a lot more common than you think. Released documents even state that this is something they plan to use (at least in the digital realm) to support their agenda.

I wonder at what point everyone will finally call bullshit on all of this. The attitudes developed by their propaganda has only generated more and more animosity and hate between people. If the objective was really to protect public safety, they should just put themselves in jail and throw away the keys.

Unfortunately, there is no economic incentive for them to stop violence. The more violence that happens (even if it is an indirect byproduct of their backwards policies) only generates more fear in congress to throw more money and power in their direction. Additionally, they do not hesitate in any way to lie and misrepresent information in a way that benefits them and there is little repercussion for not doing their jobs to the utmost standard. The too big to jail mentality is more dangerous to our country than anything. Clearly this hasn't been effective and a more effective way to solve the problem would be to restrict their funding more and more for their mistakes.</comment></comment>


Physiological Ecology of Mesozoic Polar Forests in a High CO2 Environment - <AUTHOR> http://aob.oxfordjournals.org/content/89/3/329.full <comment><AUTHOR> This bbc article summarizes a few interesting points from the paper:

[http://www.bbc.com/news/science- environment-12378934](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-12378934)</comment>


Open Source Food - <AUTHOR> http://www.opensourcefood.com/ <comment><USER2> Yongfook (founder of Open Source Food) does some nice work. His Sweetcron lifestream project (<http://sweetcron.com/>) is pretty cool too.

</comment><comment><USER3> "open source" as a synonym for "shared" when not referring to source code is getting old fast.

Especially in the context of recipes, which have been shared forever.</comment>


Alzheimer's Tests Soon May Be Common. Should You Get One? - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/health/alzheimers-disease-diagnosis.html <comment><USER2> Tests such as this or genetic testing should be allowed to be taken anonymously. Otherwise you run the risk of paying increased insurance premiums for the rest of your life.</comment>


NYTimes Obituary for Ilya Zhitomirskiy, Co-Founder of Social Network, Dies at 22 - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/technology/ilya-zhitomirskiy-co-founder-of-social-network-dies-at-22.html?_r=1&src=twr <comment><USER2> "He was an immensely talented and intent young mathematician," Mr. Moglen said in an interview on Tuesday. "He had a choice between graduate school and this project, and he chose to do the project because he wanted to do something with his time that would make freedom."

22 is young to die. It's sad and I feel for his family and friends. But to have such a quote from Eben Moglen in an obituary in the New York Times, for his work to be compared to one of the greatest juggernauts (Facebook) of our day, to be respected for the quality of his academic and professional work and the choices he made to promote freedom...

22 is also young to have made such a meaningful mark on the world and to be respected for his work and choices. I feel I can at least learn something from his examples and hope to live up to the choices he made.

</comment><comment><USER3> the obituary mentions he attended tulane university, the university of maryland and nyu.

was he moving around as an undergrad or was he doing a graduate degree?

</comment><comment><USER4> I briefly talked to Ilya in March after he randomly gave me 9001 invites to Diaspora (some here might get the joke). It's like I won some weird sort of lottery. Anyways, it naturally encouraged me to invite lots of people, and I got about forty to sign up. He struck me as a very warm, fun-loving guy who was also fastidious in his work. I saw him announcing bug fixes and new features day in and day out. He really left a strong impression on me.

I'd really like to learn more about the circumstances of his death, and not out of morbid curiosity. I suffer from bipolar 1 disorder, and have been taken medication for two years since I was diagnosed after having a severe manic episode. His death was a bit of a wakeup call.

<comment><USER5> Are you saying you think / know that he suffered from bipolar I? This could have just been depression. Stories like this just make me realize how important a support structure is needed when pursuing anything with immense passion, whether it be a startup, higher studies, job, etc.</comment></comment>


Bit Traffic: Who Pays for Internet Traffic and Why? - <AUTHOR> http://thepbxblog.com/2012/12/03/bit-traffic-who-pays-for-internet-traffic-and-why/

<comment><USER2> TL;DR - internet traffic is paid for by users, but high-bandwidth use like video costs the ISPs more, and they'd like to double-dip by also charging sites like Netflix.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes.

It's important to note just how much video content has grown compared to revenues though. If you click through to the link on the Deck, you'll see a bunch of stats about video utilization compared to revenue. The numbers are pretty mindblowing.

Costs for consumers haven't really gone up, but utilization has increased considerably. Any idea about what the answer should look like? (Note: you can't say Google Fiber).

<comment><USER2> >> Costs for consumers haven't really gone up

Costs for consumers are whatever the ISPs decide they are. The answer should look like "if you cost us more, we charge you more," just like every other business on the planet.

It doesn't have to be X bits = Y dollars. It could factor in load; the meter runs faster at high-demand times and slower at off-peak times. That solves the "bandwidth is a renewable resource" argument and the "some people use more than their share" argument. They'd just have to ensure that the meter is highly visible to consumers.

<comment><AUTHOR> Let's be frank, the only real cost for consumer internet is the last mile. Since Internet access for residential bandwidth was reclassified thanks to the memo from George W. Bush around 2004 we haven't had real competition because common carriage doesn't extend to your front door.

Contrast this with Datacenter bandwidth where paying $.10 a megabit isn't unheard of. The cost structures are not related to the core infrastructure, but rather the edge.

I think this problem is a lot more complex than you're making it out to be, but that's just my opinion. In a lot of cases the rates for ISPs aren't set randomly, they're anchored to standards set by regulatory bodies (particularly in the case of DSL).

In short, pricing bandwidth is hard. The real cost is the last mile.

<comment><USER2> I think you understand this better than I do, so maybe I'm being simplistic. But isn't the gist of what you're saying "it's complicated because ISPs have gotten themselves a near-monopoly status and then, in reaction, we've regulated them?"

If so, that doesn't make me sympathize with them at all. If they want freedom to charge more according to access, or to charge more according to the difficulty of running the last mile connection, I'd say "give up your monopoly protections and we'll remove your regulation."

If they don't want that, I'd say "you start charging both the consumer and the content provider and we'll pass a regulation saying you can't."

If a company wants the government to be their sugar daddy, they shouldn't complain when they get grounded. You want your own rules, you move out of the house and compete in the free market.

<comment><AUTHOR> In very old industries you often have players who have a monopolistic status. Markets either become price efficient or competition deficient over time. In the case of telecom there is stratified warfare.

At the consumer level, competition is scarce. In the SMB Segment competition is fierce. In the Datacenters world competition is fierce, but at the core of everything you have to go through 721 Folsom street to get out of the left coast.

This fight is particularly interesting because it's one of the first to cross the Commercial-Residential boundary. On the one hand, consumers pay for access, on the other, large ISPs peer networks. One is a contract, the other a handshake.

In this particular case, ISPs argue that since usage increases so should rates, but in order to arrive at such a conclusion, the large ISPs would have to ignore their monopoly.

Let's take this a step further though; there's a really big problem with everyone building their own network. That is, no one wants thousands of wires running to each residence, but that's what a competitive last mile would look like.

The answer is municipally controlled networks with private operators. The infrastructure would be owned by the state, but operated by competitive virtual operators.

Unfortunately, this vision is impossible in America, and that's why we can't tackle this problem straight-on and instead have to operate through layers of abstraction.

TL;DR: public networks, private operators is ideal. Impossible in US.

<comment><USER3> Why do you say it's impossible in the US?

<comment><AUTHOR> It's impossible due to regulatory and lobbying pressure. I believe Palo Alto, CA operates a network similar to this, but that kind of network isn't possible in a city like San Francisco or LA.

IMHO the incumbent carriers have no interest in competing if they can be a monopoly.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> So I've never really understood why landlines should charge per data transferred. I mean, after all the communication lines have been run and hardware has been setup, the only additional fees are for power, right?

<comment><USER5> Lets say I'm an ISP and I have a gigabit connection to an internet backbone. I pay $X/month for it regardless of how much data is transferred. If I run fiber out to each of my customers that can run at gigabit speeds, how should I regulate/charge each user?

1\. I could artificially rate limit them to less than the physical link speed. So I could let each user connect at 10 mbit/s. That would let me have many customers using there max speed at once and if I have 100 or less customers then they are guaranteed to get their full 10mbit/s. If I have more then they only get 10mbit/s at off peak times.

2\. I could let everyone connect at the full gigabit speeds and put a quota on how much data they can send in order to prevent hogging.

Would you rather than 10mbit/s with unlimited data or 10mbit/s * 1 month of data transfer at a max rate of 1 gbit/s?

I imagine that you might want the first or second option depending on your use case.

[edit: forgot third option]

3\. I could do fancy traffic shaping and make sure everyone gets at least 1/(number of active users) bandwidth and can burst up to full gigabit speeds when the connection is idle.

This seems like the best way to share the resource fairly.

<comment><AUTHOR> See this is only with an even playing field. You're thinking about how you'd design a network in a world that didn't have all the embedded rules and dogma that we have in the US.

The biggest question is not network management policies, but last mile access. There are tons of ISPs with great bandwidth practices. Guess what? None of them have enough footprint to compete with the big guys.

The problem is not network management, it is edge distribution.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> That powerpoint deck is awful. So video is an increasing percentage of internet bandwidth - so what? Price/performance of bandwidth is improving exponentially. It's unsurprising that non-video bandwidth isn't increasing as fast as video, since video is automatically big (and easy to make bigger: just move up to higher resolution) whereas "normal" traffic only gets bigger when users create more stuff. This increasing percentage doesn't say anything about increasing backbone costs, even though the graphs are meant to imply that it does.

<comment><AUTHOR> That deck was done by a research group and yes I think it is intended to imply that the network costs increase as volume over the network increases.

While this is implicitly true, I agree that there isn't an explicit relationship, BUT it was interesting how dramatic the growth of video has been and how much of the network is video.

You do agree that carriers are moving more data than they ever have before, a fact which repeats itself daily. I'm not necessarily arguing that ISPs should be able to charge more for video, only that there is more usage on there network which may or may not impact their backbone costs.

You are correct that the implied linkage is misleading, but I wouldn't call the deck "awful". It's just a viewpoint, and it does provide some useful context/information.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> the only way for isps to grow is not to block the progress but to embrace it, they should try to find a way to improve the technology behind their networks imho, could 4g networks bring something to consider here?

<comment><AUTHOR> The problem here is Shannon's law. Ever go to a big event like SXSW and try to make a call? That's what massive deployments of 4G utilization look like; similar to downtown SF post-iPhone.

Wireless has a long way to go but fixed-wave might help here. There are also solutions from Ruckus and Meraki/Cisco which could help, but it's a big problem with no clear solution.</comment></comment>


New York on track to ban cashless stores and restaurants - <AUTHOR> https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/us/nyc-cashless-ban/index.html <comment><USER2> From the Federal Reserve website:

Q. Is it legal for a business in the United States to refuse cash as a form of payment?

A. Section 31 U.S.C. 5103, entitled "Legal tender," states: "United States coins and currency [including Federal reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal reserve banks and national banks] are legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues."

This statute means that all United States money as identified above is a valid and legal offer of payment for debts when tendered to a creditor. There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person, or an organization must accept currency or coins as payment for goods or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether to accept cash unless there is a state law which says otherwise.

Link: [https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm](https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm)

<comment><USER3> Is a transaction yet to occur, or that can be cancelled easily when posted terms aren't met, really a 'debt' in the legal sense, though?

<comment><USER4> This is probably the loophole by which both statements "cash is legal tender for all debts" and "not accepting cash is legal" can coexist. There is no debt if the transaction does not happen because one of the participants is unwilling to enter it for some reason (with the reason being that the other person does want to pay cash).

Banning specific reasons for not making business is possible however (it is done to protect ethnic minorities for example), so the situation can probably easily be changed by legislation that bans "wants to pay in cash" as a legit reason for not entering into a transaction at stores that are open to the general public.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > Businesses that still want cashless transactions can provide a machine that > exchanges cash for a gift card, but must accept cash if the machine breaks > down, according to the new law.

This would be a huge issue to me. I will admit that I don't live in NYC, but if I was to travel there on business and a random restaurant made me trade in $20 for a gift card to pay for a $8 meal in a place that I will probably never go back to, that's $12 out of my pocket that I paid in "cash is inconvenient" tax to that restaurant.

Even worse, if I go to a store all the time (e.g. it's the only grocery store within walking distance and I don't have a car) but I'm underbanked, then I have to continually keep money in their "bank".

> "Your total comes out to $20 but you only have $8 in store-bucks! Don't have > exactly $12 in cash? That's a shame. I guess you'll have to come back to > spend the rest!"

Later you find out that the gift cards expire. Oops.

<comment><USER6> In NYC you could walk into a CVS or DuaneReade and use cash to purchase a prepaid Visa card that works anywhere Visa cards are accepted.

<comment><USER7> Where I live these cards are expensive. For example, I considered buying one for a $60 a year service.

The card itself costs just $1, but there is a $6.95 per month fee. So it costs me $7.95, minimum, to use one of these (13%).

There are also fees for reloading the cards without EFT. If you keep the card all year it costs $83.40.

<comment><USER8> This legislation should really be about making this process free and easy rather than punishing stores for being lean.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> This strikes me as ridiculous and heavy-handed.

We should focus on finding a way to provide vulnerable groups a way to pay at cashless stores rather than increasing the overhead of operating a business (accepting cash, maintaining change, coordinating bank deposits, etc.). Many of these places are coffee shops where their entire ledger is automated.

How can we complain that small businesses are closing in NYC and then continue to add regulations which may make it harder for them to operate? That seems like an oxymoron.

<comment><USER9> The vulnerable are often underbanked. They might not have a bank account, debit or credit card, or smartphone with Venmo/Cash app/(whatever app is popular today).

Cash is the easiest way to help vulnerable groups. If a homeless person wants to buy a cheeseburger, its better to accept the cash rather than have him fill out FORM NY-892-F INDIVIDUAL RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT CREDIT ACCOUNT CREATION FORM, proposing to send a monthly bill to his non-existent address, or non- existent email.

<comment><USER10> The US has over 6 million unbanked which are not necessarily poor. Some choose to be unbanked. I'm developing an app and network to help with this problem, It allows businesses to become ATMs where you not only withdraw cash but some could accept to reload an E-wallet which in turn would allow you to buy things online without a bank account. (maybe later we would launch a physical card) - DO you think it will work ?

<comment><USER11> > DO you think it will work ?

Nope. Businesses can and do already reload value cards (including prepaid debit cards) which allow (among other things) buying online without a bank account, and it hasn't solved the problem.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Cash is legal tender and should be required to be accepted at all businesses. Electronic payments have overhead, too, so I don't accept that as an argument.

Electronic payments are a privacy concern for me. It's a big data collection source and it fuels companies like Axciom who built extremely detailed consumer dossiers on everyone.

Health insurance premiums tied to purchases? A teenager buying condoms who doesn't want their parents to know? Denied employment because you've purchased nicotine?

Not far fetched.

<comment><USER3> > Cash is legal tender and should be required to be accepted at all > businesses.

They're legal tender for _debts_. If they don't want to sell you something because you can't agree mutually acceptable payment terms then there is no debt.

<comment><USER13> I think the person you are replying to meant "should" in the sense of "I want things to be a certain way" rather than "I think it is true that".

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> All this concern about the unbanked/underbanked could be more effectively channeled into making banking more accessible IMO. As an example, the city could provide a free reloadable prepaid card to people who qualify as underbanked (based on some combination of income and residential address).

Does this bill mean car dealerships (more popular in the outer boroughs than most people think) and jewelry shops will no longer be able to refuse briefcases full of cash as payment?

<comment><USER14> > As an example, the city could provide a free reloadable prepaid card to > people who qualify as underbanked (based on some combination of income and > residential address).

Then you still have the people who are underbanked for some reason but don't qualify as underbanked under that criteria. The only reliable way to do it would be to provide it to _everyone_ , no questions asked (you can't even require proof of identity or residence, otherwise you'd still have the homeless people who lost their documents and can't get new ones). In the end, that reloadable prepaid card becomes a more complicated, less reliable form of physical cash.

<comment><USER15> And this will never exist because of money laundering and KYC. Cash is just easier.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> As someone who in the past year has only used cash to pay for illicit substances, I was quite surprised by the title. Why punish business owners for choosing a more efficient and safe payment method? But having read the article, well, I see it differently. I did not know that cash still played such an indispensable role in the lives of many vulnerable groups in the U.S..

Does anyone have more info on what is meant by "alternative financial services"? I'm guessing they're not referring to bitcoin...

<comment><USER17> > I did not know that cash still played such an indispensable role in the > lives of many vulnerable groups in the U.S..

I'm not even close to "a vulnerable group", but I still use cash for convenience. It's faster than card, most places don't have phone-based payments (I don't use them anyway, never felt worthwhile), and I don't clutter up my bank statements with daily purchases (lunch, groceries, etc).

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Cashless stores is something we see a lot in Amsterdam. I always thought that they probably loose a lot of clients, both because of lack of cash and also because they only accept the "pin" card which is, afaik, a Netherlands-only type of debit card.

But at the same time it's also probably safer and less management with accounting done automatically.

<comment><USER19> According to Wikipedia, the PIN domestic payment network was discontinued in 2012 in favor of Maestro and V-pay debit cards.

The main problem with this is that many countries, even within the EU, don't really issue Maestro and V-pay cards, but rather proper MasterCard and Visa (debit) cards. In my experience it wasn't an issue in Amsterdam. In Brussels on the other hand, I came across a couple places where I could only use my Maestro card.

That said, the unbanked/underbanked population is probably a lot smaller than in the US.

<comment><USER18> Those pin card are Maestro "compatible" I guess. The card works where Maestro is accepted, but not all Maestro cards work on those PIN systems.

source: I live in Amsterdam and have a Pin card, a US debit Mastercard, a US Credit Mastercard, a dutch debut maestro and a dutch credit mastercard. Only the pin works on those PIN systems

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Quirky related trivia point when talking about legal tender - Scottish bank notes _aren 't_ legal tender, either in Scotland or anywhere else!

</comment><comment><USER20> Honestly this seems like progressive posturing that's all too eager to pass prohibitions than actually address the root of issues they're concerned about.

</comment><comment><USER21> The opportunity might be for generic in store cash -> debit card machines that can be used anywhere.

<comment><USER21> Unless the law says you can't charge a fee for the debit cards...

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Couldn't this be effectively curtailed by requiring exact change only?

</comment><comment><USER23> I admire the effort. Being poor is expensive.

I'd love to see big-picture legislation (like GDPR is for privacy) which could take a bite out of all the tiny cuts of financial mini-hardship that poor people face every day. I just have no idea what it'd look like. Maybe there's nothing better we can do than 100 little laws like this one.

I encourage everyone to try living one day like they're down to their last $20 and have to buy some things they need (pretend you don't have a wallet full of plastic cards and a phone full of passwords). Nearly every time you go to buy something, you'll encounter a situation where you could save money in the long run if only you had a little more to spend today.

</comment><comment><USER24> Funny isn't it how these stores don't close when their POS system goes down but are more than happy to take cash.

<comment><USER3> Why's that _funny_? It's not like it exposes some hypocrisy or moral duplicity. They'd rather not accept cash because it's bulky, dirty, slow, and expensive to handle. But if they can't accept anything else for a large number of customers for some reason they will go back to it.

<comment><USER4> It is hypocrisy to a certain extent. Cash only works because people accept it. It depends upon enough people accepting it, because only then enough of physical cash will circulate in order to make maintaining all the infrastructure (printing it, putting ATMs up, offering cash handling for merchants etc.) cost-effective enough for it to be done.

If suddenly 95% of cash acceptance was dropped, a lot of that infrastructure will vanish, forcing the remaining 5% to drop cash acceptance as well...a death spiral, ultimately ending with the elimination of cash and thus also the elimination of the very fallback that these stores mentioned by the OP relied upon.

Consider the cost of accepting cash an insurance premium against technical failures in the electronic payment networks and your POS systems.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Grande skinny matcha latte, please. $8.75? I've got a musket ball and this shiny bead, will that cover it?

<comment><USER25> Why the sarcasm? Here in Ireland a major bank was down for several days because contractor of bank located in India screwed up a production deployment or something, resulting in hundreds of thousands of transactions having to be manually reconciled.

In that time people had no access to their money, no tap and pay, chip and pin etc, nothing.

That was quite a lesson in importance of cash, another lesson was about a dozen years ago when all the banks here went to the wall and had to be nationalised in order prevent bank runs.

<comment><USER26> Ireland famously survived a six month lock out by nearly _every_ bank in the seventies, _with no harm to the economy._

Pubs were local guides to credit worthiness, larger shops cashed cheques so businesses could pay staff (an era when many were still paid in cash), so cash could go round the system again, and cheques were countersigned and passed on dozens and dozens of times -- effectively becoming variable size bank notes.

It's a fascinating story, and quite remarkable how little effect no banking had.

<comment><USER27> I'd never heard of this - fascinating. For others who are interested, there's a decent, referenced, account from the Bank of England's blog here: [https://bankunderground.co.uk/2016/01/20/the-cheque- republic...](https://bankunderground.co.uk/2016/01/20/the-cheque-republic- money-in-a-modern-economy-with-no-banks/)

Doesn't sound like there was "no harm to the economy" though, except in the broader sense. A quote from an Irish building contractor cited in the article: "I employ only 10 people. If it hadn't been for the bank strike I'd be hiring 30. I'd say I've lost up to £20,000 over it ... One of my problems is finding the money to pay the wages. I run round from Wednesday to Friday to scrape them up, and in that time I can do no other work."

<comment><USER26> Oh sure, I've no doubt there were individuals and some businesses quite badly affected, but look back at the overall growth, national and regional statistics and the periods with strikes or lock-outs are simply undetectable if not highlighted for you. Sales and growth figures weren't noticeably harmed. No doubt if you were new to an area, didn't yet have a local or just weren't a pub goer, you might have had more trouble than most.

The article also notes the steady stream of people going down to the local department store and other larger shops once a week, to cash their wages, or a wages cheque to pay their factory workers. Pubs were accumulating cashed cheques from regulars and some making smaller loans.

The real surprise for me is how smoothly they coped, and how little fall out there seemed to be when banks reopened. Though of course there were some of the millions of cheques doing the rounds that did bounce. I've seen far less about knock on effects after reopening like that, but it's usually described in a way that makes it seem "far less than you would expect".

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> I find this highly surprising (in a good way).

NYC is home to an industry that stands to benefit from a cashless economy and home to a government that never seems to turn down an increase in their ability to put people under a metaphorical microscope. I would have predicted they would be one of the first places to ban cash and one of the last to mandate businesses accept cash.

I'm really happy to see consumer protection winning out over private interest for money and state interest for power but damn is that a curve ball in this day and age.</comment>


Lot18 raises $30M series C led by Accel, 3rd round this year - <AUTHOR> http://allthingsd.com/20111104/exclusive-lot18-closes-third-round-in-a-year-this-time-for-30-million/

<comment><USER2> _How is sales tax calculated? The sales tax quoted at checkout is based on the shipping address you provide. The amount includes both state and local taxes, when applicable._

Looks like Lot18 solved a problem amazon claims it cannot.

<comment><USER3> _Looks like Lot18 solved a problem amazon claims it cannot._

1) Amazon has never claimed this. Amazon wants to be taxed the same as other e-commerce competitors.

2) It is far easier to calculate sales taxes in the 500 or so jurisdictions if you only sell one type of product.

<comment><USER2> _A message seeking comment was left Thursday on a media telephone line at Seattle-based Amazon.com. Amazon spokeswoman Mary Osako said last month the company believed "the sales tax issue needs to be solved at the federal level."_

And that was just today. Amazon does not want to pay local taxes at all. [http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INTERNET_SALES_IND...](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_INTERNET_SALES_INDIANA)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> On a related note, we are hiring: <http://www.lot18.com/careers>

</comment><comment><USER4> I would be very interested in knowing the open rate for these type of emails as well as the unsubscribe rate. I mean, are there really people interested in buying wine each and every single day? Seems like something you buy for a special occasion or once in awhile... If you buy once, you probably won't buy for a long time.. and if you get a lot of emails and don't buy, chances are you'll lose interest and unsubscribe

<comment><USER5> I'm a member, but unfortunately I am in Canada.

However, if their deals were opened up to us, I would definitely buy a bottle every so often. They have awesome deals and wine isn't just for special occasions!

The numbers from the site said 600,000 members who have purchased 500,000 bottles of wine. That's not bad, but I would assume it's a smaller chunk of the 600,000 members who buy multiple bottles of wine.

Just a hunch.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Tricia spends a couple grafs on the shipping costs. I'd be interested to see a pricing curve for mail related operating expenses for lot18. Reminds me a bit of Reed Hastings' Quora reply on how much NFLX spends on shipping ($500m to $600m [http://www.quora.com/Netflix/How-much-does-Netflix-spend- on-...](http://www.quora.com/Netflix/How-much-does-Netflix-spend-on-postage- each-year))

</comment><comment><USER7> Nice job Philip & company. lot18 has grown so much, its crazy.

</comment><comment><USER8> Flagged. Why is a wine store on the front page of "Hacker News" ?

<comment><USER9> Its a VC funded startup which uses technology as its primary business model and has several interesting problems to solve?

Seems like normal "Hacker News" fare...

<comment><USER8> You mean they use amazing high technology like a website, like 99% of businesses in the world now do?

You have to be kidding me. Not every company that has a website is a technology comapny. This is a wine company. They sell wine. They did not invent any technology or hack abnything. This isn't Techcrunch. We know the difference between Venture Capitalism and technology.

<comment><AUTHOR> Actually our technology stack is quite impressive and we are solving problems that are not quite apparent when simply viewing it as an ecommerce site. Your arguments would go against Gilt Groupe, BuyWithMe (when they were around) and Groupon.

There is always more than meets the eye - I would hope that someone working in the technology sector would realize that.

<comment><USER8> That's nice. But that's not what the article was about. It was about how a wine company got an investment from an venture caplitalist. It's nice you got funding and are doing well, but please don't parade around like you're solving humanity's problems by selling alcohol from a website.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Mac Apps That Use Garbage Collection Must Move to ARC - <AUTHOR> https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=02202015a <comment><USER2> To head off some of the misconceptions here, this is not about garbage collection in general but Objective-C built-in garbage collection.

Apple NEEDs to do this for their own sanity. I'm surprised they waited this long actually.

It's a serious PITA to support GC and non GC at the same time in a framework. Having to add finalizer methods instead of relaying on dealloc methods and dealing with non-deterministic object lifetime as well as deterministic was a huge problem.

ARC doesn't have these problems because it wraps traditional manual reference counting (to pick nits, it actually bypasses it when it can safely but this is an optimization detail that you shouldn't need to worry about).

To Apple and 3rd party framework developers, it's painful to support GC and non-GC paths in your code at the sametime. It's not really possible to use a non-GC compatible framework in a GC app.

It's also impossible to use ARC and still support the GC as well in the same framework. Apple has been completely _prevented_ from using ARC in it's own frameworks because of keeping GC compatible apps working, and making this change will allow them to start ARC-ifying their own code.

It also means that a significant chunk of the ObjC runtime can be simplified.

There are also some great advancements in the ObjC runtime that Apple is doing (like tagged pointers and shadow objects) that the reference boehm garbage collector can't really deal with and was all completely disabled in the ObjC runtime when you had a GC app.

This is a good thing. Not many app actually shipped with the ObjC garbage collector and ran well.

Now you are free to use your GC for your own needs in your app. That has nothing to do with ObjC. Feel free to add Java or Ruby or whatever language you like to your own app and submit that to the Mac App Store.

<comment><USER3> Question is, are they removing support from the OS frameworks themselves or just Mac App Store? There are many applications that still use GC, many of which are not in the store. Does that mean they cut support for these in a future 10.10 update or 10.11? I doubt it.

<comment><USER4> I'd bet on 10.11 or 10.12. ig they don't eventually remove it, there's little point in deprecating it or forcing it off the App Store as they can not reap the benefits in their own code.

<comment><USER5> Well, deprecating it would mean they're free not to support it in newer frameworks, right?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> What Apple calls "automatic reference counting" is what is usually known as just "reference counting." They call it "automatic" to distinguish it from the previous, even cruder, system where counts were manipulated directly by the programmer. Obviously this is an improvement, but personally I am a supporter of GC. It is a myth that reference counting is not subject to arbitrary pauses: [http://www.hboehm.info/gc/myths.ps](http://www.hboehm.info/gc/myths.ps)

<comment><USER7> Incorrect.

You can, although I haven't seen systems that do this, enqueue objects to be deallocated then have either the main thread every once in a while or a background thread periodically pop objects off of the queue and do the normal reference counting dance.

<comment><USER8> Yup, the problem with this is that it renders the other claimed advantage of reference counting moot (viz. there is now little or no temporal linkage between when the object's ref count hits 0 and when its destructor/finalizer is called).

The other problem with reference counting, which is I believe insoluble, is that it is inherently O(alldata); that is to say you must perform an operation each time a piece of memory dies, at the very least. This makes it good for collecting older generations in a generational GC (where O(alldata) ~= O(livedata)) but bad for the nursery (where the generational assumption means that O(livedata) << O(alldata)).

<comment><USER7> Any computer processor can do a finite number of operations per time period, and an (effectively) arbitrary number of objects can be marked for deallocation simultaneously. So yes, you can have arbitrary delays.

But this is _always_ the case. Refcounting, GC, manual memory management, etc. But I'd say you've gone one step too far in saying that there is little or no temporal linkage with refcounting. If you're using a queue, objects will be cleaned up as soon as they can be while remaining inside the time limitations you've allowed.

If you want to get fancy, you can even have the compiler rearrange objects such that pointers that are likely to point to objects with destructors are first in line.

And yes, refcounting is O(alldata). But that's ignoring that freeing is relatively fast, and that you can easily implement bunches and bunches of optimizations to prevent refcounting from having to work at all.(For example: if you acquire a reference to an object on the same thread and then release it, you don't have to do anything. If you create an object, but at runtime you can determine that you never released the reference to anything, you can free it immediately. If you acquire multiple references to an object, you only need to check for references reaching zero once. Etc. All of these are things that theoretically can be done with a standard GC, but good luck actually doing so.)

<comment><USER9> So in the end you implement a poor man's GC.

<comment><USER7> Reference counting _is_ GC - or rather it solves the same problem that GC solves. I don't see why people don't count it as one. Sure, basic reference counting cannot handle cycles - but there are extensions that can.

<comment><USER9> Sure it is GC, the very first chapter in most CS books about automatic memory management starts with reference counting and then proceed to more elaborate algorithms.

It is usually presented as a quick solution for when the resources for doing more powerful GC algorithms aren't available, either in computing power or engineering.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Any other languages that use Automatic Reference Counting? Is ARC strictly better than GC?

(Sorry for the question, I am not an iOS, Mac dev.)

<comment><USER11> Perl, Visual Basic 6 and to some extent Python are examples of languages using the moral equivalent of ARC.

<comment><USER12> Python has been garbage collected since 2.0.

(Edit: Perl is garbage collected since version 6, and Visual Basic is garbage collected since version 7. I am not aware of any language besides Objective C moving in the opposite direction.)

<comment><USER13> C++ and Rust both provide reference counting pointer-like-things (shared_ptr and Rc respectively). C++ has been around for quite a while, of course, but Rust is pretty new, and deliberately eschewed garbage collection.

<comment><USER9> C++ RC requires good behavior from whole developers in the team and third party libraries.

It is hard to get right with existing code bases.

Additionally C++11 got a GC API, but requires explicit programmer control.

[http://www.stroustrup.com/C++11FAQ.html#gc- abi](http://www.stroustrup.com/C++11FAQ.html#gc-abi)

C++'s memory model is tainted by C's compatibility, as such it is quite limited in the GC algorithms that can be implemented.

<comment><USER14> In C++, reference counting is in a per object basis. There is no need of cooperation at all from other libraries or code bases.

<comment><USER9> Really?!?

How can you guarantee that the component library that your company just bought, available only in binary form isn't doing something like this?

        void cool_stuff_with_widget(const std::shared_ptr<UI> ptr)
        {
           UI* evilPtr = const_cast<UI*>(ptr->get());
           // now store evilPtr somewhere else and try to use it any time the library feels like it
        }

No one is going through disassembly to check such behaviors.

C++ RC is a very welcoming addition to the language, but it only works if everyone plays by the rules, 100% of the time.

<comment><USER15> It's not really an issue, if the library is buggy and leaks or keeps reference to things it's not supposed to, it will be the same whether it's RC or just plain memory management.

It's just better documented and easier to spot the bugs if you're doing RC.

<comment><USER9> It not about bugs, rather C++'s lack of support to enforce that RC is not misused and programmers cannot grab RC internals and corrupt the data structures.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> What is the reasoning behind that? Given the advances over the last decade or two automatic garbage collection is good enough for a lot of scenarios and this looks like a step back. Why not use automatic garbage collection as the default but offer additional means for manual resource management in case it is really needed?

<comment><USER17> Everything GC can do, ARC can do in strict space and time constraints.

<comment><USER16> Plain (automatic) reference counting can not handle cycles without support from developers.

<comment><USER18> I find that a good thing, because developers are trained to think that they have to use weak references and think about object lifetimes.

Android developers tend to not think so much about lifetimes which leads to memory leaks because Dalvik apparently can't figure out some of those cycles by itself. Just do a search for "Android memory leak" to see some examples.

<comment><USER19> A platform with 80% of mobile installations has developers who don't understand object lifecycles Got it.

<comment><USER20> I guess he meant Android application developers, not the people who wrote Dalvik.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Does ARC work like reference counting in python? (i.e. a reference count is stored for every object)

<comment><USER22> With one difference: the reference count is usually stored inside the Object's pointer (taking advantage of the fact that allocations are 16-byte aligned so the lowest 4 bits are otherwise idle). This means that there's no storage overhead on the reference count.

<comment><USER23> So if you end up with more than a certain number of allocations you can write a memory pointer to any place you want, then execute the code there?

Because that does not at all sound like a huge exploit.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I wonder how many applications will start leaking memory as a result of this? Cyclic references are not that uncommon in many algorithms, and identifying the need to remove these will be challenging for applications which relied on automatic identification will take time.

<comment><USER25> When it comes to overall ease of use, the importance of tooling dwarfs the importance of GC vs RC, and apple has had really solid RC tooling for a while. It graphs memory usage, searches out leaked objects (by injected GC or by diffs), lists them, lists the retain/release events with timestamps, and lets you jump to the responsible code with a single click. Compare that to the nightmare of trying to get a misbehaving GC to cooperate and suddenly it doesn't seem so crazy.

EDIT: Or at least they had such tools 5-6 years ago, regression is certainly possible. For unrelated reasons I've been playing in other playgrounds for the last 5-6 years so I can't say for sure.

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> This is a pity. I have an app that uses ARC on 64bit, and GC on 32bit. Allowed me to ditch manual memory management without dropping support for 32bit machines.

<comment><USER27> Is there still demand for 32 bit apps? The last 32-bit mac was released in 2006 and the last OS 32 bit OS in 2009?

<comment><USER28> The most recent version of Microsoft Office for OS X is still 32-bit, still uses the deprecated event system, and still uses deprecated file I/O functions ... Remember resource forks?

<comment><USER27> If I wasn't clear, my question was the opposite, not is there still demand to run 32-bit software, but is there demand for new 32-bit software from people who can't run 64-bit.

I've assumed anybody with a almost 10 year old computer doesn't get that much new software. I tend to release supporting the last 2 or 3 OS releases and 64-bit only and haven't received any complaints.

<comment><USER28> I did indeed misinterpret. To answer that way, I'm not personally aware of anyone demanding new apps targeted to 32-bit on OS X. As an OS X developer, I'm averse to the idea of starting a new app with that as a target.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> I'm not so familiar with the Mac ecosystem, but is it really true that Apple decides what languages you can use to write your apps in?

<comment><USER30> No. You can write it in whatever you want (even on iOS these days) though you can't depend on any third party pre-installations. IOW you need to be able to vendor in your 3rd party language and library dependencies, and use a thin Objective-C wrapper to make the whole thing natively executable.

This announcement is more about a feature in Objective-C being actively discouraged by refusing to distribute your app on their store. You can still use it if you distribute your app on your own.

<comment><USER12> > No. You can write it in whatever you want (even on iOS these days)

This is somewhat misleading. Apple bans all use of JIT compilation on iOS, which de facto eliminates languages that depend on it.

<comment><USER31> I thought they just banned the use of code not embedded in your app. You are free to Jit. Just not files downloaded from the net. Only files embedded In your app

<comment><USER32> For those who are wondering, you can still use an embedded webview, which does end up doing just-in-time compilation of javascript.

<comment><USER33> Isn't JIT deactivated in webviews? I'm not even entirely sure it's activated in JavascriptCore.

<comment><USER34> As of iOS 8, webviews have the same JavaScript engine as Safari does, called Nitro, which I believe does do JIT compilation of JavaScript.

<comment><USER35> Well, UIWebView (the standard web view, pre iOS8) does not have Nitro, but WKWebView (introduced in iOS8) has Nitro. The only problem is that while they are similar, the WKWebview API is not feature complete with UIWebView, leading to a lack of adoption from big players such as Chromium.

[0]: [https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=423444](https://code.google.com/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=423444)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER36> [https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Swift/...](https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/Swift/Conceptual/Swift_Programming_Language/AutomaticReferenceCounting.html)

</comment><comment><USER37> Awesome. Now all they gotta do is stop treating strings like we're in a Pascal Intro to Computer Science class circa 1987 and we gots ourselves a kick ass development environment here. :)

</comment><comment><USER12> What the fuck? This is a _really_ bad technical decision. As written, it sounds like they're planning to reject garbage collection in-general, which would be a ban on most major programming languages. If you assume they only mean garbage collection in Objective C, it's still a head-scratchingly stupid decision. Modifying an app to not use garbage collection is, in many cases, a major project that will introduce a lot of bugs. And the benefit is... very dubious at best.

<comment><USER38> This is not a ban on garbage-collected programming languages.

<comment><USER39> Perhaps, but I see no reference to 'Objective-C apps', the current wording of this summary is broad enough to include other languages as well. Do you have additional information that exempts Java, Mono, etc...?

<comment><USER30> All Mac native apps need an Objective-C Wrapper at minimum to give them an executable entry point (all apps are actually directory structures). You also on the App Store need to vendor in your dependencies. There's no language restriction in play. You can even still use the old GC if you want - just not on their store. The Mac App Store isn't the only game in town.

<comment><USER39> Thank you for the information, useful to know about the requirement to build an application entry point in Objective-C.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Best Project Management Software and Tools for 2019 - <AUTHOR> https://www.proofhub.com/articles/top-project-management-tools-list <comment><USER2> So proofhub names itself the first in its list, sounds legit

<comment><AUTHOR> Many have done the same.</comment></comment>


Aged Internet Explorer Exit (AIEE) - <AUTHOR> http://kentbrewster.com/aiee.html

<comment><USER2> I agree with the goal, but I think a page in this flippant style does not effectively promote that goal. It's also at odds with the visual and verbal tone of the rest of the site.

Something like the following, intended to briefly summarize the issue and solutions, might be more effective:

This site uses modern web standards, common to most modern sites and supported by most modern browsers.

You're viewing this error page because you're using an older browser that does not support modern standards.

Possible solutions:

      - upgrade to [Internet Explorer 8]
      - install [Firefox]
      - install [Chrome]
      - install [Safari]
      - install [Opera]

If you're using one of the browsers listed above and you're still seeing this page, please ping me on Twitter at @kentbrew.

<comment><AUTHOR> The rest of the site is moribund and on its way to being updated. Thanks for the feedback, though; I may back off on the flippant tone. (Or I may jack it up even further.)

<comment><USER2> Wave your flippant flag high. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I prefer <http://www.ie6nomore.com/></comment>


Stripe is down - <AUTHOR> https://stripe.com/ <comment><USER2> The site stripe.com is experiencing issues loading for some -- the API is unaffected. We're working to bring the site back up now.

<comment><USER2> The site is loading now, and we're continuing to monitor. It had trouble loading for some between 17:31–18:10 UTC.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'm noticing other sites suddenly nonperformant or offline as well (Fitbit, Facebook for two). I wonder if there's some broadband thing going on.

<comment><USER4> Reddit, Hacker News for two more here.

<comment><USER5> ditto. all websites started loading slow for me around 12:45 eastern. I'm on Comcast business from South Bend, Indiana

Update: I've created a separate thread: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15637412](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15637412)

<comment><USER4> Also comcast.

        >tracert news.ycombinator.com
        ....
        Tracing route to news.ycombinator.com.cdn.cloudflare.net [22.214.171.124]
        over a maximum of 30 hops:

          8    12 ms    12 ms    12 ms  be-10563-pe01.350ecermak.il.ibone.comcast.net [18.104.22.168]
          9     *        *        *     Request timed out.
         10     *      161 ms   149 ms  18.104.22.168

<comment><USER3> I'm on Comcast, which might explain a lot.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Comcast is having major issues right now

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15637412](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15637412)

</comment><comment><USER7> There seems to be a spike across many major services according to [http://downdetector.com/](http://downdetector.com/)

That is just user reports though, so they all could be symptoms of a greater issue.

</comment><comment><USER8> there seems to be a service disruption at the provider level somewhere, not really tied to any single company/website.

</comment><comment><USER9> If you need to log in to your dashboard, the following is still working for me:

[https://dashboard.stripe.com](https://dashboard.stripe.com)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> And of course, [https://status.stripe.com](https://status.stripe.com) says everything is up and fine...

<comment><USER10> Likely the corporate website availability is not related in any way to the API availability (different servers)

<comment><USER11> Stripe's status page distinguishes between API, dashboard, stripe.js and checkout.js.

Right now it says none of the above had any problems today.

<comment><USER12> Because the problem seems to be with the corporate website, which is none of the above.

<comment><USER11> Yes, that was my point...

<comment><USER12> Reading your post again, it's obvious that I misread the tone or the contents. My bad.

<comment><USER11> No, mine, I should have been clearer. Sorry.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Yup, just started seeing this. Never noticed them down before! Wonder if we get a postmortem.

Edit: Seems to be back up

<comment><USER14> Back down again, also, it's probably not helping that the link on this post is to their site... causing more traffic to come into an obviously taxed system ... lol.

<comment><USER15> Seriously you think that a company like that can't handle a traffic spike from HN?

<comment><USER16> AWS came in here and asked us to stop swarming their status page during the S3 outage

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> I can't see how this post hit HN's homepage. Too random/minor to deserve a thread.

<comment><USER18> Probably because it seems to be affecting more than just Stripe. Seems to be an issue with Comcast at a very broad level. A variety of sites aren't resolving and are experiencing major packet losses trying to connect.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> is up for me</comment>