Google will warn users when sites contain social engineering ads - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/12/google-will-now-warn-users-when-websites-host-deceptive-social-engineering-ads/ <comment><USER2> From the article: "Others pretend to be "Download" or "Play" buttons, as if clicking them would provide access to the video content or stream the user had wanted. "

These are actively being served through Google Adsense, right now.

Here's a few example, live sites, where I see "Download" buttons in an ad, in a context that would be confusing.

[http://www.getpaint.net/index.html](http://www.getpaint.net/index.html)

[http://downloads.tomsguide.com/PaintNET,0301-4883.html](http://downloads.tomsguide.com/PaintNET,0301-4883.html)

[http://filehippo.com/download_paint.net/](http://filehippo.com/download_paint.net/)

<comment><USER3> > These are actively being served through Google Adsense, right now.

There should be a button to report them. _Please_ report them.

<comment><USER2> Sure. But it's just funny that Google's approach is to mark these sites with big red warnings when Google itself is the source of the actual problem.

<comment><USER4> The ads are the actual problem. It's entirely possible this is a stopgap solution while they flag the client for manual auditing (or whatever)—manual auditing doesn't scale, so I suspect this is going to be more successful at preventing abuse in the short term.

<comment><USER5> The problem is that Google has built most of it's products and business around the concept that they can automate away manual intervention. I think they are quickly starting to discover how faulty that concept is.

Some of the "AI" startups that mix automated intelligence with human fallback have probably got it much more right: Sometimes, you need people.

<comment><USER4> Regardless, I think the warning is better than no warning. Again, we don't know the process behind the scenes.

<comment><USER5> If Google believes any of their ads on the page are questionable, Google should simply not display those ads.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> From Wikipedia[0]:

> _Social engineering, in the context of information security, refers to > psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging > confidential information. A type of confidence trick for the purpose of > information gathering, fraud, or system access, it differs from a > traditional "con" in that it is often one of many steps in a more complex > fraud scheme._

Honest question: When you take a look at the "manipulation of people into divulging confidential information" part, wouldn't this, by definition, incriminate the vast majority of the modern ("Internet 2.0") web, WRT unremovable-cookies, tracking, "analytics", and so forth?

I fully admit there is a difference between downloading a random AdobeFlashPlayerUpdate.exe or MacKeeperApp.dmg from a malicious site and having all your personal data and information about you sent off to a 3rd party company......but where do we(or Google, here) draw the line?

Just last week, Facebook started gleaning contacts from my phone and injecting them into the "People you may know" page - these were people I did NOT want on my Facebook - ranging from business contacts to tinder matches. I knew this was (sadly) standard behavior for users of the Facebook App, or users of "Facebook for Mobile", but I have never given my phone number to facebook, not once, and I only access it via a mobile browser.

Is it social engineering to see my recent searches in the Amazon app on mobile reposted on Facebook on my desktop Web browser?

[0]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(security)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_\(security\))

<comment><USER7> IIRC, you have to auth to Tinder with a FB account. Not saying that nothing shady is happening, because I believe it is, but note that there are hundreds of ways for a company like FB to connect the dots. Post locations, event invitations, friends of friends, searches, ads/trackers, even your behavior/patterns on the site. The only real options, IMO, are to delete FB or accept the uphill battle.

<comment><USER8> _IIRC, you have to auth to Tinder with a FB account._

Wow. Just wow. That seems like such a horrifically bad idea. The worlds represented by FB and Tinder are almost diametrically opposed and I imagine that people who use both would never want any mixing. We are one FB bug away from some serious embarrassment.

<comment><USER9> Fun fact:

Tinder (as of my last login last year) displays an user liked pages along with their interests and then only their first name so that there is some "privacy".

I used to put all that data through Facebook Graph search and it would get me their full name and contact information, which in turn would lead me to their email address, which would lead me to their addresses or phone number.

Fun, fun time. It's a good thing that I am not the kind of person who would abuse of such things.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> It's worth remembering that this is the pain point Adsense and Adwords originally solved for by only allowing a title, 2 lines of text, and a URL. And they did it so well they disrupted/killed a mutli-billion dollar industry of online flash ads practically overnight.

And then they become that problem by taking on flash ads a few years ago.

<comment><USER11> I think their USP was contextuality, no?

<comment><USER10> The contextuality came later once they had built out the backend systems and proven the core idea worked.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> What about on their own sites? Like YouTube?

Yesterday I just saw a banner ad on a YouTube music video - from Google AdWords - that was alerting me I may need some "Drivers" for my machine and I should get them from some suspicious company called TechSoft or RealSoft or something like that. It was the "dying car alarm drops a sick beat" extended remix if that's of any interest.

I did take a screenshot but don't have it handy right now.

<comment><USER13> I regularly see ads during Youtube videos for what I would assume to be malware -- "driver updates" and the ilk. It would be nice if Google would get their own house in order.

<comment><USER5> Why should Google get it's house in order? The best part about being a monopoly is everyone has to deal with you whether they like it or not. ;)

And they can punish other people's websites for having malicious ads, including Google-sourced malicious ads, because that totally solves the problem!

This comment was thick with sarcasm.

<comment><USER14> Because people start using Adblock and sucking the life out of their business. I just deployed adblock across the entire organization I work for as a basic security measure.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> The only time I have been bothered with these kind of ads, is when DoubleClick serves me those on my Android.

DoubleClick certainly is not the worst offender of this, but they are the biggest player. Is Google going to block/penalize the sites of their own customers? That would feel weird. Is Google going to block/penalize the sites of their competitors? That would also feel weird.

<comment><USER16> Usually the burden to approve an Ad is on the network that hosts/serve the Ad. Google does require approval for all Ads you want to serve to Google Search or Google Display Network, as well as Ads you want to sell through Doubleclick Ad Exchange.

Doubleclick is actually a suite of different applications.

I suppose you mean DFP (Doubleclick for Publishers). This is a google product but it doesn't necessarily display ads from Google Network. With DFP you can show ads from Google but also other networks or even your own negotiated ads. So in other words even though it's a Google Product it's designed to give publishers freedom on which ads will be displayed. If you use DFP to only show ads from Google Network such as adSense you can rest assured these are reviewed by Google for such social engineering tactics.

I suppose they might block sites that use DFP to serve ads from other networks they can't vet and don't go through good review and were detected to contain bad Ads.

<comment><USER15> Google partners with these other networks (like Advertising.com and AppNexus). In the end it is their DFP .js code that invokes malicious ads/redirects. I blame the last in the chain, and I do not think that is unfair.

Not all ads on adSense are reviewed. Or, if they are, the reviewers are doing a poor job. Locally, and on mobile devices, I get adSense ads like: "Your device has a virus. Click here to download our anti-virus software for 4.99$." Then the page shows the "404 broken robot"-graphic (it is an ad on adSense network, which spoofs Google, and scares you into downloading a paid, probably worthless, virus-scanner).

I've reported numerous ads to Google over the years: Some competitors who were not playing by the rules, but also redirects to porn websites and the (locally) infamous: Your Whatsapp has expired! Enter your phone number, so we can mine that, and charge you weekly for a fake app.

> I suppose they might block sites that use DFP to serve ads from other > networks they can't vet and don't go through good review and were detected > to contain bad Ads.

Likely, but this seems weird (fix/penalize DFP partner networks first, don't penalize your users for using your own product). Also from a competitor sense: I am all for protection of users (use an adblocker!), but it does not feel right that a company with the resources of Google, finally manages to rid their own network of these malicious ads (let's say for sake of argument they have), then immediately puts the ban-hammer on their less resourceful competitor networks. Perhaps that is a side-effect of owning both analytics, the ad networks, and the browser people use to view those ads.

<comment><USER17> I may have been too harsh on Google. If Google implements: "Hey, this javascript ad code is trying to redirect to another domain, let's throw up a warning." then that would be great (no matter if it hits their own ads).

Google may also share information from SafeBrowsing with other companies, so they can opt to fix their stuff.

Also that what I may view as terrible ads, Google sees as companies gradually finding the razorsharp edge of their program policies.

For obvious reasons, we do not hear (or see) anything about the successful efforts to keep scam and spam away from their networks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> And Google's own Adwords ads looking more an more like organic search results and pushing the organic results further down the page isn't social engineering at all, right?

<comment><USER19> What's interesting is that this is moving more and more in the direction of the tried and trusted legacy yellow pages phonebook model.

In that model you got a free listing in a category or two but had to pay to get either additional listings (in other categories) or for an advertisement (of various sizes) in order to get phone calls. The rationale (in addition to making money obviously) was that there had to be a way to determine the serious people trying to hawk a particular or good or service from the casual players. The thinking was that if a person took out a listing or an ad saying they "sold recumbent bicycles" they must be doing that because they were willing to pay to say so. So the theory is if you pay for say something you must be fairly serious about what you are saying (in terms of things you are selling).

<comment><USER2> Ah, but without the loophole of naming your company "AAAAAAAAA Services" to land at the top of "organics" :)

<comment><USER19> My gaming of the system was putting a display ad with multiple phone numbers representing different areas of the city. Worked very well. Learned that by observing what other businesses did (in entirely different areas I might add) and figuring that must be the reason (since I knew they didn't have all of those locations). Yellow pages, at least for what I did (was a "well developed category") was instant business and paid off very well. I increased the ad size every year. In some cases ran a small and large ad after being told (correctly) that some people liked to deal with a small company and some a large company. I landed a big contract once with the larger ad when only 3 companies were asked to bid.

All this was well before the internet when there wasn't step by step guides and/or blog posts and things like this were never taught you either figured them out on your old or someone you knew was nice enough to tell you. (In the old days it wasn't typical to share info and secrets like it is today..)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Why stop there? When a site contains the offending ads, push them down to page four of the results. The ads will disappear in a matter of days.

<comment><USER21> So, punish companies for using AdSense, one of Google's core services? As many have pointed out here, AdSense is a big contributor to these ads. It seems it would be pretty easy to weed out on the AdSense platform, since they have to be bidding on "download" as a keyword to be assigned to that page.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> Can't wait until Google has to block websites using AdSense because they themselves served such an ad through a reseller.

...or until they don't and have an Anti-Trust suit on their hands.

</comment><comment><USER23> I didn't even know that there are ads that _don 't_ involve social engineering.

</comment><comment><USER24> >[Update: Google published this news today on its corporate blog, but this was previously announced earlier this year. We've asked Google to clarify why it was republished, if that was in error, or if it represents any changes since the first announcement.]

This was previously discussed at [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11032270](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11032270).

<comment><USER25> The actual news is this: [https://security.googleblog.com/2016/04/improvements-to- safe...](https://security.googleblog.com/2016/04/improvements-to-safe- browsing-alerts.html)

Google's expanded it from just protecting users to also notify the network admin via [https://security.googleblog.com/2010/09/safe-browsing- alerts...](https://security.googleblog.com/2010/09/safe-browsing-alerts-for- network.html)

(The "notify the AS owner" service existed before, but now it also notifies about social engineering content.)

[/end doing job of reporter who should have done it themselves.]

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> I'm not saying an ad-blocker IS the solution, but it works on blocking not only ads but making websites faster and safer.

<comment><USER27> Ad blocking IS the solution. To many many problems.

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Well I block ads on my desktop so I'm not really seeing fake "download" buttons that often. On the other end what really bothers me on mobile (using the latest chrome) is ads automatically redirecting me to another site, happens quite regularly when I browse Google news. I don't really know if those ads use an exploit of some sort or if they consider I've clicked the ad when I only tried scrolling the page with my finger but that should clearly be checked. And it happens on well known newspapers websites, not that I was browsing some obscure shady part of the web...

</comment><comment><USER29> Will they do that on their own sites too ? like youtube or blogger ? because yes, I got plenty of "Your computer is infected by a virus, Please call Microsoft hotline" popups from those.

<comment><USER30> I don't have Adblock on for Youtube and I've never gotten a popup like that. All of their ads are video ads. Are you sure you don't actually have a virus (that's causing the popups, not due to the message itself)?

<comment><USER31> The in-video popups (at the bottom, about 20% of the height of the video) very often advertise malware for me, too.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> What hypocrites [http://imgur.com/3Emyw5y](http://imgur.com/3Emyw5y)

</comment><comment><USER33> That's rich, coming from them. When I used mobile apps with ads, the majority seemed to be fake "update battery driver"/"uninstall virus" type nonsense. In flashing red and yellow.

</comment><comment><USER34> I see this warning in effect on [http://kat.cr](http://kat.cr) in Chrome:

      Deceptive site ahead

      Attackers on kat.cr may trick you into doing something dangerous like installing software or revealing your personal information (for example, passwords, phone numbers, or credit cards).

</comment><comment><USER35> Since sites like this are so ubiquitous, I wonder if users will see warnings like this so often that they'll start to ignore them and just click "proceed" without thinking.

It's definitely a step forward in the right direction, provided Google Adsense, well, adheres to their own company's guidelines…

</comment><comment><USER36> This is a good start to solve an old problem. However they need to start filtering out their own ads. I don't know which is easier, catch them before it goes live, or after, but either way... that's something in the right direction.

</comment><comment><USER37> Why warn? Why not simply drop/block them and notify the ad network/ad buyer?

<comment><USER31> Because then they'd hurt their own bottom line.

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> Hmm... I just saw this mess on Youtube today. An "Ads by Google" ad for some malware.

[http://i.imgur.com/vQkjZWU.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/vQkjZWU.jpg)

</comment><comment><USER39> They count fake download buttons as social engineering. Excellent.

<comment><USER40> What definition of "social engineering" are you using?

</comment></comment><comment><USER41> I'd rather my adblocker deal with these instead of my browser.

</comment><comment><USER42> Most people don't realize that Google's "Safe Browser" sends via Chrome & Firefox the URL of ever single URL you visit to Google; as far as I'm able to tell.

<comment><USER43> No, it doesn't. [https://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/how-safe-browsing- works-...](https://feeding.cloud.geek.nz/posts/how-safe-browsing-works-in- firefox/)

<comment><USER42> I've seen requests passed to Google, which is how I noticed it in the first place.

This source appears to show at least for downloads the browser is sending data to the API: "From Firefox 32 on, downloads are checked against the local list and a remote list if the local list does not return a hit."

SOURCE: [http://www.ghacks.net/2014/07/23/prevent-firefox-sending- dow...](http://www.ghacks.net/2014/07/23/prevent-firefox-sending-download- information-google/)

<comment><USER44> That article ends with a link to [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Features/Application_Reput...](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Features/Application_Reputation_Design_Doc#Remote_lookup_.28present_in_FF_32.2C_Windows- only.29) which contains:

>These lookups are Windows-only, because we rely on signature information in order to suppress remote lookups and signature APIs are only available on Windows. If the binary is unsigned or its signature does not match a known good publisher and the filename ends in a known executable extension, Firefox sends a remote lookup to the application reputation service.

This is more precise than your post including the quote.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


A Post-Mortem on India's Blackout - <AUTHOR> http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/the-smarter-grid/a-postmortem-on-indias-blackout <comment><USER2> I can't believe the author says greenhouse gas emissions are a bigger problem than India's reliance on expensive fuel. Greenhouse gases are not as important as electrical infrastructure. (If it were, the solution could be to generate less electricity.) Oh and the author gets around to mentioning the pollution which is _actually killing people_ near the bottom of the article.</comment>


New Alzheimer's Treatment Improves Patients' Cognitive Abilities - <AUTHOR> https://www.ua-magazine.com/56081-2/ <comment><USER2> At best this is poor journalism, at worst it's some kind of paid placement.

They make a claim that it's safe to use concurrently with medication, refer to company employees as "according to the experts". The say it's a clear breakthrough and safe.

Here is a proper article on the result, explaining the good and the bad, for example that there was no benefit for patients with moderate disease:

[http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/873886](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/873886)

</comment><comment><USER3> This article tickles my spidey sense. It reads like a sponsored story, or at the very least, an article written quickly and uncritically by someone who just took NeuroAD's press release and talking points at face value.

To wit, the article ends on this note: "It is clear that a new clinical solution for Alzheimer's is needed and Neuronix's NeuroAD treatment is not only a safe option, but a breakthrough in the treatment of AD."

Really? That's quite a bold statement to make, given that FDA review isn't complete, and we have no longitudinal outcomes to analyze.

</comment><comment><USER4> NeuroAD - [https://neuronewsinternational.com/neuronix-submits- neuroad-...](https://neuronewsinternational.com/neuronix-submits-neuroad- system-for-fda-clearance/)

</comment><comment><USER5> As all wise neuroscientists would say after reading meta-analysis about rTMS: don't count your chickens before they're hatched

</comment><comment><USER6> This article annoys me because TMS is a general treatment, there's no mention in the article of it being particularly suitable for Alzheimers or an involved study of it's use in Alzheimers. The entire premise of TMS lacks the precision of proper medicine at this early stage. It can be reduced to (this is honestly accurate) the following- "lets put a 9 volt charge across the brain somewhere and see what happens". People are getting results but if they are repeatable and then useful is going to be an entirely different matter. There's no evidence that this treatment does anything for plaque deposits.

It's 2017 and we are talking about putting men on Mars but at the same time we know this brain plaque is killing or will kill millions of us in the future but we don't have a way to remove it! Can't we build microscopic pipe cleaners at least!? It's infuriating!

<comment><USER7> On the company's website it says: "According to a company release, the study involved 131 patients at nine medical centres in the USA and one in Israel. The study evaluated the safety and efficacy of the neuroAD Therapy System in comparison to placebo, following six weeks of treatment and six weeks of follow-up, using the cognitive and behavioural standard scales for the evaluation of patients with Alzheimer's disease. The study's positive outcomes confirm and extend the results of former studies conducted across the world with the neuroAD Therapy System. The detailed results of the study will be presented at the International Conference on Clinical Trials for Alzheimer's Disease (CTAD; 8–10 December, San Diego, USA)."

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> "might" is the operative word missing from this and every other press release that admits that clinical trials are not yet finished.

or in this case, even begun.

<comment><USER9> The trials were completed. See:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347086](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13347086)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> It angers me that a drug yielding cognitive improvement of X in an Alzheimer's patient is progress, but the same drug yielding the an improvement of X in a healthy patient is abuse. There should be no stigma against improving ourselves.

<comment><USER2> How is it illegal/abuse when you can pay to have similar therapy already or even buy a cheap kit on the internet to hook your brain up to?

I don't think anyone is holding back progress. The minute it becomes clear there's cognitive improvement for healthy people the demand and usage will make anabolic steroid use seem tiny in comparison.

<comment><USER10> Then why is Modafinil still a controlled subtance? What about Adderall? They both greatly improve cognitive performance in healthy people, and they _are_ widely used by healthy people, but we all do this ridiculous dance where we pretend that we're only using these drugs to treat medical conditions.</comment></comment></comment>


The Crash of United 232 by Capt Al Haynes - <AUTHOR> http://clear-prop.org/aviation/haynes.html

<comment><USER2> Errol Morris did a fantastic job of telling this emotional story in his First Person TV series (ep: 'Leaving the Earth').

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Person_%28TV_series%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Person_%28TV_series%29)

It's a heartwrenching and inspiring tale. I tear up every time I watch it. Denny Fitch was an absolute hero. RIP.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the pointer. I'll have to watch it.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Video of the talk, not sure if it's the same talk as the transcript: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mZYHMMMeHic](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mZYHMMMeHic)

</comment><comment><USER3> Charlie Victor Romeo, an off off broadway play that has since been turned into a film, also re-enacts United 232.</comment>


Translate JSON to YAML and back via API/command-line - <AUTHOR> http://j2y.me/ <comment><USER2> Like with `json_pp -t yaml'? Why would anybody need a _service_ for that?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the feedback. I'm well aware that there are a lot of tools out there which can do the same thing.

Motivation for this was that I prefer not to install special tools/modules on my machine if there's a service which can to the same without huge convenience barriers. I guess it's just a matter of personal flavor.</comment></comment>


Building a USB protocol analyzer - <AUTHOR> http://rdist.root.org/ <comment><USER2> permalink: [http://rdist.root.org/2010/12/27/building-a-usb-protocol- ana...](http://rdist.root.org/2010/12/27/building-a-usb-protocol-analyzer/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Not sure what is so interesting about this post, the brilliant bit is the link to the KickStarter project creating an Open-source USB analyzer.

[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bushing/openvizsla- open-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bushing/openvizsla-open-source- usb-protocol-analyzer)

While I am a die-hard fan of ellisys's solution, the price tag is well beyond any hobbyist. Hope they can get it to under 50$.

EDIT: Following the comment, I stand corrected. There is indeed some info for USB novices on using scopes to snoop on usb traffic.

<comment><USER4> It's a clever way of analyzing USB without requiring additional hardware (if you already have a DSO). That's pretty interesting to me.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Neat. I've not done this with USB, but I'll often take a trace off my logic analyzer and write a quick python script to turn it into something worthwhile. Now he's making me want to pick up a DSO.</comment>


Access USB devices on the Web - <AUTHOR> https://developers.google.com/web/updates/2016/03/access-usb-devices-on-the-web <comment><USER2> This design is just broken, because if I buy a device that is enabled for this functionality there's no way for me (wearing the hat of a developer or an end user) to replace the web half with something else of my own choosing. Even if that website burns down, falls over, sinks into the swamp, and is purchased by scammers, nope, I can't make a substitute website that can work with the device I purchased.</comment>


Facebook Timeline Will Change The Human Race - <AUTHOR> http://chrysbader.com/facebook-timeline-will-change-the-human-race

<comment><USER2> Facebook has definitely impacted many many lives and changed (to some extent) how some people communicate.

That being said, I can't understand how the technical community doesn't see the short sightedness of these closed/proprietary systems. Facebook isn't storing anyone's legacy. They probably won't even be around by the time I die.

Genuinely curious if my points are way off.

</comment><comment><USER3> It will definitely cause me to delete a lot of things from my first couple years on Facebook, that's for sure.

<comment><AUTHOR> Haha! Yeah, things we all thought wouldn't be seen again... :) Thanks for the comment!

<comment><USER3> Tempted to join the developer preview just so I can do that before everyone else can see it. ;)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> it sounds neat.

but its not as neat as providing safe drinking water for the majority of the third world. or staving off infectious disease. or even providing individuals food and shelter affordably.

until we tackle these issues globablly; a social network site will never change the human race.

i'm sorry, its a down perspective, its arguementative, and its not in the spirit of this site...but i'm tired of seeing intelligent people fawn over things that dont truly improve the lives of people who need help. in 10 years, this comment will seem silly. i may be wrong...but probably not.

</comment><comment><USER5> blather</comment>


The Copyright Defense That Online Service Providers Should Consider More Often - <AUTHOR> https://casetext.com/posts/the-copyright-defense-that-online-service-providers-should-consider-more-often

<comment><AUTHOR> For what it's worth, the author, Ira Rothken, has been litigating these cases for well over a decade. Notably, he is Kim Dotcom's lawyer for Megaupload- related litigation. It's really cool that he's sharing some creative thoughts about the different safe harbors ISPs can use to fight copyright claims.</comment>


Ask HN: What software for diagrams and flowcharts do you use? - <AUTHOR> What software for diagrams and flowcharts do you use? <comment><USER2> A pencil and paper are the superior solution.

When you get to show the results to others - just use whatever you are presenting the rest of the message with - almost all "office" type products have sufficient capacity to manage that part. The clever bit is the bit you do by yourself.

<comment> alok-g Nothing beats pencil and paper. We used to just scan hand-drawn diagrams and insert them into PowerPoint or wherever. Over the time this got accepted as the culture within the group.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I started using Dia ([http://projects.gnome.org/dia/](http://projects.gnome.org/dia/)) when my employer wouldn't spring for Visio. A bit quirky at times, but overall not too bad for simple stuff.

</comment><comment><USER4> I first use paper and pencil, but then I transcribe and keep it up to date electronically.

[http://lucidchart.com](http://lucidchart.com) has been my favorite service as it is free for simpler projects and can be upgraded if you need more complexity. I've watched the project grow from an idea, to recruiting developers in my CS classes, to a full blown project which has exceeded my expectations. It's exciting to watch!

<comment><USER5> What's your process/toolchain for transcription and storage?

<comment><USER4> My process is a bit rudimentary. I just have a folder with notebook paper in it. When I need to create a new system or subsytem I will draw it on paper just as it would look in any of these diagraming tools. Once ready I'll use lucidchart to replicate the drawing (schema or flowchart). Once it's implemented in code and committed in Git I will go back to the electronic copy, mark in red or other colors anything that will change in the next refactor or implementation. As I refactor I change the red makrings to black indicating it is now part of the system. The paper becomes an artifact of the first revision.

Sometimes I'll break out a new paper and do the initial drawings to test my knowledge of the system and see if I have complicated the design. This system works well for me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Inkscape, when I want them to look really nice and am willing to put some time in to making them look the way I want.

I've also used kivio on occasion, and graphviz, and ploticus. Again, all depending on what I'm after.

</comment><comment><USER7> Latex, with the TikZ package: [http://www.texample.net/tikz/](http://www.texample.net/tikz/)

Steep learning curve, but there are plenty of examples around the Internet, and it's certainly worth the investment.

</comment><comment><USER8> GraphViz: [http://www.graphviz.org/](http://www.graphviz.org/)

</comment><comment><USER9> Pencil + paper.

Then zap it with my DSLR. Or if it needs to be published, use Dia and export SVG/png into target document.

I occasionally write out graphviz stuff from my code using a very light weight library I wrote (C struct to stdout) if I'm trying to visualise what is in memory at a point in time. This has been invaluable whilst knocking up a simple mark-sweep GC for a project I was working on.

</comment><comment><USER10> UML, network diagram, flowchart: [http://projects.gnome.org/dia/](http://projects.gnome.org/dia/)

Sequence diagram: [http://sdedit.sourceforge.net/](http://sdedit.sourceforge.net/)

Also for the corporate world where only Microsoft tools are an option, I tend to just use MS Word, you can make diagrams that are good enough to get the message across, yet everybody has access to it without requiring a special license.

<comment><USER11> sdedit looks like a really useful tool. Thanks for posting this!

<comment><USER10> No Problem. I was really impress by the ease of use and output quality.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> [http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.html](http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.html)

<comment> alok-g Seconding Yed. It is great for making structured diagrams. It is very quick to make good looking diagrams without spending much time on formatting and beautification. User interface is nice and configurable, though a bit counter- intuitive at times. I have been unable to figure how to make free-form diagrams using Yed, so feel sometimes that creativity is hampered.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> \- A variety of online software along the way (most already mentioned here, nothing cheap or good enough for the long haul)

\- Dia

\- Microsoft Visio (when available, makes nicer diagrams than above, but sucks at anything software modeling related)

\- Enterprise Architect is supposedly the standard for the enterprise corp I work for.

</comment><comment><USER14> Here is a list of web apps for making diagrams: [https://starthq.com/apps/?q=diagrams](https://starthq.com/apps/?q=diagrams)

I'll add any new ones that are included in the comments here.

</comment><comment><USER15> I use Umlet: [http://www.umlet.com/](http://www.umlet.com/)

It's good for quick diagrams when you need to explain some of the more bizarre architectural choices in your system.

</comment><comment><USER16> OmniGraffle

<comment><USER17> Yep, OmniGraffle for me. I've been using it for the last 8 years.

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> [http://www.sparxsystems.com/products/index.html](http://www.sparxsystems.com/products/index.html)

</comment><comment> alok-g This is one of the best I have found:

[http://www.tentouchapps.com/grafio](http://www.tentouchapps.com/grafio)

It makes good looking diagrams very quickly without hampering creativity. It requires almost no effort on formatting and beautification.

I wish they had an app for the desktop. People have requested the same on their forums a few times.

</comment><comment><USER19> Flowcharts are stupid. Simple systems can be internalized (kept in your mind, perfectly), and complex systems are too complex to graph to any human scale size or useful purpose. These two categories do not overlap. They apply recursively all the way down. Waste of time, no value.

<comment><USER15> Flowcharts are waste of time.

But diagrams can be very helpful. The important thing to remember is that "a complete map" will be too noisy to be useful.

A diagram can describe a few parts of a complex system quickly and easily.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Last time I needed to to create a diagram, I experimented with Diagrams [1], which is an interesting way of doing it if you like Haskell.

[1]: [http://projects.haskell.org/diagrams/](http://projects.haskell.org/diagrams/)

</comment><comment><USER21> For the rare moment when I need create a diagram in a computer, I'll use PowerPoint. However, mostly it's just the whiteboard or pen+paper. I like the chance to not look at the screen and, for the former, getting out of my chair.

</comment><comment><USER22> [http://www.draw.io/](http://www.draw.io/)

</comment><comment><USER16> For ASCII diagrams: [http://www.asciiflow.com/](http://www.asciiflow.com/) or [http://ditaa.sourceforge.net/](http://ditaa.sourceforge.net/)

<comment><USER10> Neat! Thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Sketchbook Pro + Wacom for sketching ideas and pasting in Campfire/Email/Whatever.

yUML for auto-generated diagrams or where I need something more pretty.

Sometimes a notepad + iPhone camera to capture meeting/whiteboard diagrams.

</comment><comment><USER24> I use [http://www.gliffy.com](http://www.gliffy.com) whenever I need to knock up a network diagram or similar. It's a browser based app but works very well.

</comment><comment><USER25> Lekh Diagram ([http://www.avabodh.com/lekh](http://www.avabodh.com/lekh)) Quick way to draw flowchart, block diagram etc. Only available for iOS though.

<comment> alok-g I had tried Lekh Diagram and Grafio both and found the latter to be better. You may want to try it out.

[http://www.tentouchapps.com/grafio](http://www.tentouchapps.com/grafio)

<comment><USER26> Lekh has better shape recognition and shape customizibility.

\- you can resize vertically and horizontally independently which grafio can not

\- you can move vertices of any polygon.

\- You can draw bezier curve and modify it to any shape by changing the control points.

-Lekh recognizes different kinds of connections from your drawing.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> gnuplot ([http://www.gnuplot.info/](http://www.gnuplot.info/))

dia ([https://live.gnome.org/Dia](https://live.gnome.org/Dia))

</comment><comment><USER28> definitely [http://www.websequencediagrams.com/](http://www.websequencediagrams.com/), it produces clear results for management and clients

<comment><USER29> This is how I think it up in my head, just with words, and end up writing it like that as well.

Thanks!

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> yEd Graph Editor from yWorks ([http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.html](http://www.yworks.com/en/products_yed_about.html))

</comment><comment><USER31> Gliffy. It's not perfect but it is quick and easy to get something decent looking. It also has reasonable integration with Confluence if you're using that internally.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Does anyone have enough expertise to tell me in which program this was made?

[http://cl.ly/image/1o070d3s2Y0b](http://cl.ly/image/1o070d3s2Y0b)

</comment><comment><USER32> \- Mindjet Mindmanager for mind mapping \- Visio for quick and dirty flowcharts \- ARIS for full blown process management exercises

</comment><comment><USER33> I sketch the initial versions on paper. To present and distribute the chart, I recreate it in MS Visio. Pretty powerful tool.

</comment><comment><USER34> Presently I use LibreOffice Draw, but I've wondered what HN readers use. I'm glad you submitted this thread.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks! I think of this topic as rarely discussed but its 'products' are often used.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Used to use Omnigraffle, but these days I'm a Keynote kid.

</comment><comment><USER36> yUML ( [http://yuml.me](http://yuml.me) ) is brilliant for quickly putting together simple, nice looking diagrams. It's based on Graphviz and doesn't require graphical tools, just a basic text language, so you can throw together something for a demo in 2 minutes.

I'm working on a tool to parse Objective-C into yUML at the moment- [https://github.com/darkFunction/DFGrok](https://github.com/darkFunction/DFGrok)

<comment><USER23> Interesting! I built yUML and have an iOS apps company, we should use your plugin. And add it to the yUML community page :) Thanks -- Tobin

</comment></comment><comment><USER37> Sparx Enterprise Architect

</comment><comment><USER38> Omnigraffle. Illustrator.

</comment><comment> X9E-127 I use paper. derp.

</comment><comment><USER39> Omnigraffle pro

</comment><comment><USER40> Powerpoint

</comment><comment><USER41> Open Source PlantUML

</comment><comment><USER42> Lucid

</comment><comment><USER43> Dia</comment>


Show HN: Coffee-React (JSX in CoffeeScript) - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/jsdf/coffee-react

<comment><USER2> This is an interesting project, however I can't help but think it's unnecessary in CoffeeScript. For example the Neat component could be as simple as:

        {div, h1, p, br} = React.DOM

        NeatComponent = React.createClass
          render: ->
            {showTitle, neat} = @props

            div
              className: "neat-component"
              h1 null, "A Component is I" if showTitle
              "Coffeescript really saves a lot of typing..."
              for times in [1..10]
                p null,
                  "is this component neat?"
                  br null
                  "#{neat}x#{times}"

Just as clean (if not moreso since you don't have to bother with closing tags), and it doesn't require any additional compilation.</comment>


Ask HN: C syntax augmentation/extension (possibly a libc replacement) library? - <AUTHOR>

Quite a while back, I saw a submission on hn linking to a C syntax augmentation/extension library (possibly a libc replacement), though I am now unable to find it via either site:news.ycombinator.com or https://hn.algolia.com/.<p>Anyone remember the name of the project? <comment><USER2> [http://libcello.org/](http://libcello.org/) ?

<comment><AUTHOR> Aha! Cheers :D</comment></comment>


Advanced Closure Compiler vs. UglifyJS2 - <AUTHOR> http://www.peterbe.com/plog/advanced-closure-compiler-vs-uglifyjs2 <comment><USER2> Closure compiler advanced mode is an optimizing compiler that will perform several nontrivial transformations while also making your source smaller. Uglify is a minifier, and just makes your source smaller.

Apples and oranges comparison. Of course the technology that does more will be slower, especially when the 'more' requires a great deal of analysis on the input.

Note: I'm not saying closure compiler is better, I actually tend to think that it is not for most usages, as the language it compiles is 'pretty much but not really javascript', and the difference there makes it hard to add into an existing build process with confidence.

<comment><USER3> The difficulty I found with Closure Compiler was that there were instances of valid, working JS code that it didn't (and in some cases probably couldn't) reliably process. Consequently, you had to follow stricter conventions about things like writing object literals than the language itself required.

That was enough for the projects I'm thinking of to decide a relatively simple minifier like Uglify was a better choice for their specific situations. Now that a lot of pre-optimisation JS is the output from one transpiler or another, that might be more of a practical limitation.

<comment><USER2> That's basically what I mean by 'pretty much but not really javascript'.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Worth noting that Google Closure Compiler specifically optimizes for post-gzip size:

[https://github.com/google/closure- compiler/wiki/FAQ#closure-...](https://github.com/google/closure- compiler/wiki/FAQ#closure-compiler-inlined-all-my-strings-which-made-my-code- size-bigger-why-did-it-do-that)</comment>


Ask HN: Deciding which project idea to pursue? - <AUTHOR>

Hello, friends. I've built a few small projects in my time and as a PhD student I enjoy working on smaller projects outside of my research to keep my skills honed and to keep my exposure to other programming languages, ideas, etc. up. I currently have a list of project ideas I'd like to start; I'd like to choose one that is not only fun to work on but one that may have the potential to turn into something a little longer lasting.
So I'm curious, what heuristic would you use to go about ranking a list of project ideas in terms of what to spend my time and effort on? Have you been in a similar situation? What decisions did you make and what were their results? I appreciate anyone's help / feedback.
Tyler Bell <comment><USER2> If the projects are amenable to that, create a landing page and have people sign up to be notified of project updates. This is an easy way to gauge customer interest.

From a personal perspective I would maximize the learning experience, e.g. choose one that you can implement with a new language/framework/stack/etc.</comment>


Premium Bootstrap Themes on Sale - <AUTHOR> https://webpixels.io/themes <comment><AUTHOR> We are preparing some major updates for our Bootstrap templates. Until then, you can buy all themes with a 30% discount. Free lifetime update.</comment>


Show HN: My Online Single Page Profile – Need Reviews and Suggestions - <AUTHOR> https://te-ch.com <comment><USER2> I would drop the pop-up on start, and do some proofreading. I can't select text, because when I click and drag to select it the box the text is on moves to the side. I would fix that behavior.

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks @abenedic i was just testing that popup..finally decided to drop it..will be working on something else..

also tell me what do you mean by proofreading, i mean in which context..?

<comment><USER2> I was going to select some of the text to show you, but I couldn't due to the box moving. Just general stuff like capitalizing I, and things like that.

<comment><AUTHOR> Got it thanks.. @abenedic

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Very nice, the only concerns I have:

\- Too many social networks, maybe hide some in a different part

\- The projects tab, scrolls badly on mobile (looks like its too wide for the parent div)

\- Notification at the beginning is annoying

Anyway, well done though!

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks don't worry, working on mobile issues.. that notification is for testing only..will remove it.:) social networks..?..umm will work on that.. anything else..you want to add..?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I like B&W theme.

I would only add social network links where you are active.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks a lot maitrik..hmm you are right but i have provided all possible links so as to provide people multiple ways to contact me..anything else you want to suggest..?</comment></comment>


Mobile Deeplinking Basics - <AUTHOR> https://blog.branch.io/mobile-deeplinking-basics/

<comment><USER2> A very nice writeup on the subject. I wasn't aware that this functionality is the oft-touted 'deeplinking' I hear of so much.</comment>


Physical memory attacks via Firewire/DMA  - <AUTHOR> http://www.hermann-uwe.de/blog/physical-memory-attacks-via-firewire-dma-part-1-overview-and-mitigation

<comment><USER2> This attack method is as old as dirt.

Besides, everyone in the world knows once you have physical access to the machine, you can do whatever you want to it. Firewire's DMA buys you nothing when you've already got the keys to the kingdom.</comment>


Ask HN: Are there any CS students looking for a coding job? - <AUTHOR>

Hi everyone,<p>I have a relatively simple web application idea that I would like to have developed. It would involve facebook/twitter integration, simple listings that people could buy, PayPal integration to purchase the listings, and then email notifications to let the seller and buyer know that the item had been purchased. For the sellers, they would be able to login again to post more listings. I would take a 15% cut of each listing sold. While I know it's not a lot, I only have a budget of $500. Anyone interested feel free to contact me at email@example.com. Thanks! <comment><USER2> It seems like you've posted this same appeal several times in the past. Have you had success finding people to work for you? If so, why are they not doing the further work? If not, why continue with the same appeal at the same price?

<comment><AUTHOR> I haven't found anyone in the past. The reason I have posted the same appeal at the same price is I can't afford a higher price as a student.

<comment><USER3> It's been a month and a half! You could have raised $1000 by flipping burgers. You could also have spent time learning to program yourself. I applaud you for taking the inititative to put up landing pages at <http://www.selfey.com/> and <http://www.selfey.net/>, but I think you're a little too inflexible on your plan to spend $500 to get your idea implemented.

On that note, I also recommend reading the following:

Value of Ideas, Scott Adams: <http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/the_value_of_ideas/> \- <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1404298>

Unfinanced Entrepreneurs, Mark Evanier: <http://www.povonline.com/cols/COL209.htm>

<comment><AUTHOR> I did work a summer job this year! I am learning Rails! I definitely know the idea isn't as valuable as the execution! I went to SW NYC in June and formed a team that didn't have any programmers, but still validated the idea. In the meantime I have been talking to businesses asking them for feedback. I have been toying around with ideas that would be simpler to implement. It's not that I haven't put a lot of time into it, it's I just don't have enough money to pay a lot for a prototype! Thank you for the feedback, and I would still love to talk if you're interested!</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Open-source ReactJS applications? - <AUTHOR>

I've been trying to get started with React for a while now but watching and reading tutorials only gets you so far. I still haven't found the courage to start building an app myself. Does anyone here know of any open-source React applications that I could take a look at? I'm mostly still confused about fetching data. React seems to portray itself mostly as the 'V' in MVC and I haven't found much information on "full stack" implementations. I suppose I could combine it with Angular or Backbone. Is the Flux pattern itself similar and worth studying? If anyone can clear some things up or has any applications I can look at, that would be greatly appreciated! <comment><USER2> I agree that selling React as "only the view" and then documenting Flux in the same page makes for confusing documentation. That said: just try it. Maybe eplace the rendering side (probably jquery, client side templating) of an old project with React.</comment>


Parapsychology in the PRC: 1979 [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00789R002600290003-0.pdf <comment><USER2> Can anyone offer some context on "parapsychology" in general? Is there any credible results on this stuff that happened within the last decade? Etc.

<comment><AUTHOR> I just went looking for some "credible results", as in "published research of well designed experiments", rather than "I predicted that X would happen and it did" or "I knew what Y was thinking and I was right", which although interesting and useful are probably less convincing for people.

There's this write up from 2011 by Huffpost[1] about this Cornell experiment[0]:

[0]: [http://dbem.org/FeelingFuture.pdf](http://dbem.org/FeelingFuture.pdf)

[1]: [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/esp- evidence_n_795366](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/esp-evidence_n_795366)

If you want a TLDR you do one for everyone else. You've stats skills, and maybe you're a skeptic, so I guess you can find some reason to dismiss the methodology, but it would be more interesting to get your insight into the stats in the paper.

Another paper testing more hypotheses related to retrocausal effects[2]

[2]: [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273946180_Anomalous...](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273946180_Anomalous_'Retrocausal'_Effects_on_Performance_in_a_GoNoGo_Task)

I've also heard about experiments to measure the effect of humans trying to influence a random number generator (genuine entropy source), and being able to do it, but I couldn't find any papers this time.

Also would be interesting to track [3] to see if there's any high performers.

[3]: [https://www.predibly.com/](https://www.predibly.com/)

The beyoncefan666[4] twitter is pretty spooky. Big ticket events, correct predictions. But I wouldn't really call it credible until I see a timeline of specific events with good accuracy.

[4]: [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/02/beyoncefa...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/02/beyoncefan666-twitter- account-predicting-future-beyonce-pregnancy)

psi is about more than predictions about the future, or looking into the past, or finding missing items or people. I haven't see any good evidence for human telekinetic ability (despite the legions of people on YouTube claiming they can spin 'psi wheels').

My notion is like all abilities, this is on a bell curve. There must be some people very good at some things. Genuine strong TKs tho would probably be considered a threat and suppressed / imprisoned (like Magneto, basically, in X-Men).

If I wanted to find strong psychics I would go to casinos.

<comment><USER3> Erm I'm skimming this and not finding anything you can test using statistics. Just a bunch of weird assertions that don't mean anything. For example:

"An article published in the Dec. 13, 2010 issue of The New Yorker highlights a phenomenon that is well known to scientists, not only in the field of psi but across many disciplines: Initial experiments can show very strong results, but when the experiments are repeated again and again, the effects can decline."

First off, the New Yorker isn't exactly ... well science. Second off; there is a well known reason why "initial experiments show strong results" -it's called p-value hacking.

<comment><AUTHOR> Please have a look at [1] and [2] now

<comment><USER3> I quoted something linked in [1] (Huffpo not science either; trash mostly) and I don't think [2] says what you think it says.

If there were statistical evidence for "psychic powers," you'd presumably be able to present some. It's not like there aren't enough fruity people out there who REALLY WANT to believe in this sort of thing. By now, after ... literally centuries of people trying this sort of thing, you should have at least one example of unexplained phenomena.

<comment><AUTHOR> that's weird, I meant [0] and [2] the two papers.

And you could be right about 2, I didn't read it yet, just included it to add a paper I found looking for credible results.

now, you called people crazy, and if this topic is so overwhelming for you that you're falling back to ignoring facts and calling people crazy names, take a mental health day and come back to it when you're feeling more resilient, instead of projecting onto others. that's not a nice or useful way to discuss.

since you said that I think I can point out that you've ignored 0 so far. you seem to want to not believe this, so is 0 the inconvenient truth you're pretending doesn't exist? closing your eyes and hoping reality will go away seems pretty crazy to me. haha.

you know that doesn't actually make it disappear, right? Right?

I just checked out your WordPress site and you are real scientist. I'm shocked that 1 you don't think there's some sort of quantum underpinnings of this phenomena and 2 you don't want to investigate it. You're an anti establishment guy you seem bitter that your niche research is unappreciated. well, this field quantum physics X psi could be a real fit for you. seriously consider it, I mean it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Stranger Things Chinese edition?</comment>


" How Breitbart and Milo Smuggled Nazi and White Nationalist Ideas ..." - 52-6F-62 https://www.buzzfeed.com/josephbernstein/heres-how-breitbart-and-milo-smuggled-white-nationalism?utm_term=.cm5Z2qXbG&bftwnews#.dm6qOWPlY <comment><AUTHOR> _In an email exchange shortly after the election, Yarvin told Yiannopoulos that he had been "coaching Thiel."

"Peter needs guidance on politics for sure," Yiannopoulos responded.

"Less than you might think!" Yarvin wrote back. "I watched the election at his house, I think my hangover lasted into Tuesday. He's fully enlightened, just plays it very carefully."_

Surprise (unless you've been paying attention)!

EDIT: I suppose this is as good a place as any to point out that _this_ is exactly the kind of journalism that Thiel has been attempting to have a chilling effect on.

</comment><comment><USER2> One relevant excerpt:

 _" Then it was about Y-Combinator cofounder Paul Graham; Wadwha felt Graham was being unfairly targeted for an essay he wrote about gender inequality in tech.

"Political correctness has gone too far," Wadhwa wrote. "The alternative is communism — not equality. And that is a failed system…" Yiannopoulos passed Wadhwa's email to Bokhari, who promptly ghostwrote a story for Breitbart, "Social Justice Warrior Knives Out For Startup Guru Paul Graham.""_

</comment><comment><USER3> jesus what a bizarre narrative they're trying to sell here. i don't understand why i'm supposed to be aghast at the idea that some small number of white racists exist and vote, and repeatedly telling me i need to be isn't enough to make it so. it definitely isn't evidence that america is some sort of white supremacist nation. racial hatred simply doesn't taint everything to the right of chomsky, and no narrative will make it so.

journalists really seem to long for the days when their voices were the most important ones and their profession had cultural power. now they appear to be trying to reclaim that power by positioning themselves as the high priests of the diversity theology, doling out our responsibility for sins and demanding constant contrition, while working to make it difficult for people to actually study the phenomena they decry closely enough to figure out how to actually intervene correctly.

it's as near to offensive as i can find anything

</comment><comment><USER4> 9000 words that (I assume) explain that a provocative troll is... what?

Nazism isn't mainstream, everyone online talks about punching Nazis. Every "Nazi rally" has an even larger counter-rally attached to it.

And this isn't even discounting the fact that almost everything is called Nazism now days. I've been called a Nazi because I support a generous humanitarian refugee intake, but think illegal immigrants with no valid refugee claim shouldn't be allowed to stay.</comment>


Twelve Words - <AUTHOR> https://www.kenyonreview.org/journal/septoct-2019/selections/brian-trapp/ <comment><USER2> _In June the hospital decided he had aged-out of pediatrics and transferred him to adult care, where the doctors and nurses were not trained to deal with severely disabled patients—because they didn't usually live this long and because, to be honest, they were not profitable. The doctors and nurses botched routine procedures but blamed the hole in his gut on the group-home nurses. Everyone disavowed responsibility, which did nothing to close the hole.

My mother stared down at the age spots on her hands. "I want him to die with dignity," she said. "I want to save him from future pain. They'll tech him out. They'll torture him. I think I'm just quitting and he's not, but that's not true. He's ready to go, too." Her voice broke. "I just feel like I'm killing my child."_

It's a very poignant piece about a family with a severely medically disabled member as told by his twin brother.

</comment><comment><USER3> This was unbelievably beautiful, thank you for sharing it.

</comment><comment><USER4> Holy cow, I was not expecting that. Thank you.

<comment><USER5> Yeah... been spending most of a lazy day reading random HN comment threads and the article if it seemed interesting enough, and then read this one. Powerful stuff.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Deeply touching. Thank you.

</comment><comment><USER7> All comments to this post should be exactly twelve words long. Agreed?

</comment><comment><USER8> FYI, because it is not at all clear from the title, this is a story about recovering from a serious brain injury.

<comment><USER9> lol that is the worst tldr ever. It is about someone born with profound retardation due to brain injury and who later dies due to his disability as an adult, and the attempt of his brother to communicate with him.

but i thought it had something to do with crypto currency seeds

<comment><USER10> Why was this downvoted?

This is correct, parent provides clearly wrong information. And yeah, I thought this was going to be the 12word thing cryptos use, as well.

Ended up in tears, instead.

<comment><USER11> Some people can't seem to differentiate between calling people the r-word out of the left field and the medical use (out-dated use or not).

It's silly to get outraged about that, yet 'imbecile', 'idiot' and 'moron' are somewhat acceptable.

[https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot- im...](https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/moron-idiot-imbecile- offensive-history)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Often have you had to re-write a legacy front end application - <AUTHOR> How often have you needed to modernize a legacy frontend application and re-build them using a more modern technology/framework like React/Angular etc.?
At my current job, I have to migrate a JQuery dashboard to React. I was wondering what other people's experience has been in this regard.
What were some of the pitfalls that I should look out for?
If you ever had to do it, what was the most painful part of this migration? <comment><USER2> OT: the automatic removal of "how" from the beginning of titles is not exactly working out so well.

</comment><comment><USER3> It's a fairly common task in my experience. Focus on converting one component at a time and it should go smoothly. Don't try to do a complete rewrite at once.

</comment><comment><USER4> Using React, an incremental re-write is pretty easy, since it can be plugged in for certain components as they become available. Slowly re-write components in React as you modify them, and always write new components in React. Not sure about Vue, but I believe it's the same.</comment>


What Other People Do in the Morning Doesn't Matter - <AUTHOR> https://bjmendelson.com/2017/11/10/what-other-people-do-in-the-morning-doesnt-matter/ <comment><USER2> Reminds me of what I do with my teams: Try new stuff that other people have had success with and see if it sticks. If it's not providing value then get rid of it and try something else.

This kind of pragmatism is useful in all aspects of life.</comment>


Mary Meeker's 2016 Internet Trends: 2 cartoons to summarize 200+ slides - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/thethirdwave/what-you-need-to-know-from-mary-meekers-2016-internet-trends-66b76282579e#.wskhuzhr1 <comment><USER2> Woot! Thanks ismdubey for posting my medium post to hackernews. I'm honored. Imagine my suprise when I saw a link to my own blog on hackernews. Followed by jumping up and down. Hit me up if you got questions :D

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi Tia, you are welcome. It's really well done. I was trying to read the report and it was too long. You did an awesome job. Following you right away on Medium</comment></comment>


5 innovative tech companies that got it wrong in the end  - <AUTHOR> http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2011/25thanniversary/050911-anniversary-companies-wrong.html

<comment><USER2> Ah, General Magic. I was there just before the final death throes, long after all the names had left. We were down to one significant customer, General Motors OnStar, selling minutes to people who wanted to get their baseball scores and stock quotes on their car phones. And trying to give away Portico, although I think it was called something else by then.

Death spirals are no fun. A couple of months after I got there, my boss the VP of engineering, the chief architect, the lead programmer, and several others left. We got a new president. The head of operations took over engineering. I took the hint an bailed out. A year later I got the bankruptcy notice in the mail.

</comment><comment><USER3> I worked at Nortel between 2000 and 2004. It was a great company. Their equipment for Frame Relay / ATM networks - called Passport - was really nice. It's amazing that we still can find their devices for X.25 networks (DPN) and a lot os companies still use it. They have been working for decades now. Eventually, all those beige phones of the Meridian PBX we could find in Hotels and Companies will disappear...</comment>


Multi-core, Threads & Message Passing - <AUTHOR> http://www.igvita.com/2010/08/18/multi-core-threads-message-passing/

<comment><USER2> This is a good article, with nice insight on what cache coherency implies for the future of concurrency, but the semantics seems misleading. The word 'thread' is so overloaded that I'm not sure it's helpful here.

Yes, operating systems frequently allow processes to share the same data space, and we call these 'threads'. Yes, CPU's allow multiple code paths to be in progress on the same core, and we also call these 'threads'. And as the the author knows (based on the replies to comments), neither of these really constrains the form 'threads' take at the level the programmer thinks about.

So I'm not sure what use there is in concluding that threads "not going anywhere". This is trivially true to the extent that 'threads' are synonymous with 'concurrency', but does it say more than "concurrency is here to stay"?

<comment><AUTHOR> Great points. Based on feedback so far, I definitely realized that I should have used different terminology. Between "thread" as a software concept, and "thread" as context of an execution (at multiple abstraction levels, even), there is a lot of room for ambiguity.

As for conclusion, I think I'm going to have to make another go at it in another post.. :-)</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Working on Startup projects at night and weekends - <AUTHOR>

I have lately been bitten by the entrepreneurship bug. I have a couple of ideas in my head which I would really want to get started with now. I work for one of the tech giants in Seattle and was planning to work on these ideas as a side project at nights and on the weekends. Do you think it is a practical approach or should I consider leaving my current job and take a real risk? One thing that concerns me the most is that I would not want these ideas to end up as just another school projects(with focus on just the technical learnings) and want to focus on creating a quality product and it give it a real shot with a quality business idea. Do you think this all can be achieved with side projects? Please share your experiences/suggestions. <comment><USER2> My story:

In 1995 I had a technical idea underlying a product, and tried to do it at my current company. It was an uphill slog due to lots of resistance, and it just wasn't happening. Java 1.0 had just come out. My company was thinking about client-side Java (which is how Java was initially positioned). My idea made more sense server-side and I liked Java. I decided that my idea was potentially useful and decided to do it on my own. I gave myself eight months to build something and then figure out what to do with it. I had no idea how to sell it, market it, did zero market research. I have a very understanding wife.

Eight months later, prototype is done and working great, and I had been trying to find interested parties. A tech giant in Redmond was "interested", but only because they were hiring people in my area of expertise. They were going to buy the software to hire me. It was basically a signing bonus. But I visited and _could not stand_ the place.

A friend of a friend put me in touch with a VC who put me in touch with a local startup who bought my software for a decent amount of equity. The startup went on to a good exit and I lived happily ever after.

Obviously, I was _extremely_ lucky. The idea I just had to work on happened to actually have some value. But I just as easily could have been fooling myself. Things are very different now, due to open source, and I think that the path I took wouldn't work any longer. Certainly not for the technology I worked on, (there are now many open source products available), but obviously lots of software that used to be proprietary now isn't.

As for what you should do: Do you have a technical idea, requiring innovative software? (I'm assuming you are a software engineer.) Or do you have a business idea that requires only well-understood technology? If it's the latter, and if you are primarily a techie, the risk of fooling yourself is much higher.

No matter what you do, be very careful about IP issues with your current employer. They can lay claim to anything you do while you are employed. Review your employee agreement and think about whether your idea overlaps anything your company cares about. I suggest talking to a lawyer with some experience in IP and employee agreements if you decide to pursue your idea while employed. (As I was about to sell my software to the startup, my old employer accused me of stealing trade secrets, which nearly killed the deal. They had no basis for the charge -- they were on a fishing expedition. But it made my life miserable for several weeks.)

<comment><AUTHOR> inspiring story. Thanks for sharing this. Well I am a software engineer but the idea that I have is business idea that requires only well-understood technology, so yeah the chance of me fooling myself is pretty high. I will need to check up about the IP issues though.

<comment><USER2> In that case, I'd be very careful about validating the idea before jumping ship. Talk to potential users, non-techies, ... These are all the things I personally find difficult, but I recognize they're necessary once I'm outside my narrow area of expertise.

What it came down to for me was: If I don't try, it will gnaw at me forever, and I was reasonably certain of some value. Of course, there can be regrets either way. But I've only had the "itch that must be scratched" feeling about technical ideas, not business ideas. I think you are in a different situation since you are a techie with a business idea.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Anything can be achieved (OK - I'll never play for the NBA, but _almost_ anything can be achieved).

You may have some legal issues regarding IP if you stay at the current gig and have any degree of intermingling of your 'work' and your 'side work'. You should probably review your current work contract, and perhaps seek legal advice on this point.

You will never have enough time for your side project if you're working full time for someone else. That said, many people working full time for themselves still don't have enough time. At least some of this comes down to being disciplined and focused. You can practice being disciplined and focused while keeping your fulltime gig, at least for a while longer.

"Burn rate" or "runway" - how much do you have in terms of savings to see you through? Are you independently wealthy, or do you need a steady stream of income? If so, calculate out how much you need, then determine what your comfort level is in terms of 'i could survive X months with $0 income'. My tolerance for risk isn't what it used to be - I'd want at least a solid year of expenses banked before I struck out on a venture. But you may be different - everyone is (kids, bills, etc).

As romantic as 'quit the day job!' is, have a strong plan in place _first_ (imo). You can accomplish quite a lot 'on the side' while testing the waters before quitting the full time gig. Not _everyone_ can, but many can.

I think we had a session on this at <http://indieconf.com> a couple weeks ago. :)

</comment><comment><USER4> QuasiPreneur.com here. Yup.. I like you been there... err... still doing it. I've spent several years collecting everything there is to be an Entrepreneur. From psychology to life style changes to inspirational stories and case studies. There are over 3,000 articles there. Sorry..not here peddle my stupid site.. it's nothing more than a collection I made. I started like all good surfers to bookmark only to return at a later date to no longer being available! argh@! Thus.. I collected/plagarized but do leave backlinks and author info.

Some thoughts to your Q:

You need a partner in crime or someone who can hold you accountable. Without that constant "reporting" of what you've done.. you will be incline to not do. I think we all know what I'm talking about... we've all been there AND have done that for sure. I tried support groups looking for co-founder but finding that even harder than finding a woman to marry. Luckily I've found her.. in matter of months but co-founder.. after years of meeting dozens and dozens..nope. why? I realize that they are all "alpha" male like me. Which is an fortunate and unfortunate trait for a founder. Two alpha's don't make for a good partner.. they really need opposite traits BUT with the same goal... I'm finding it's easier to find a snowball in hell ;-)

Last word of advice.. don't goto cafe's.. the environment I found is NOT conducive to work.. it's more of distractions. I found libraries are the awesomeest places on earth to work! why? bc everyone else is! And it's quiet, has bathrooms, wifi, big, clean and don't require you to buy what you shouldn't do which is 800 calorie frap with 500 calorie donut to patronize the place. Library cost.. zero. Also a plus.. feels like you're at work! while cafe is more like a playground.

So.. bottomline from who's still trying to make it... 1\. Keep your day job.. but keep it strictly "8-5" don't bring it home. 2\. just do 2 weekday evenings and 1 weekend .. all day...if you have a significant other like me.. else squeeze in another weekeday. Leave Sun for half at most.. else you're going to burn yourself out. 3\. always prep what you're going to do else you'll spend a good deal of your time floundering. We all know it takes a good hour to "start" coding again.. getting into that groove is much easier if you know what you need to accomplish. 4\. do set small milestones AND a good realistic deployment date and have it tape up somewhwere where you see it EVERYDAY. Start with: a) feature list aka eng spec, functional spec, bizplan etc... b) mockup (I found it best to "emulate" a site that looks like what I want mine to be for starters) c) Get a quick mockup up and running. It's important to make visible progress at the end of each day's worth of work. It's a feel good thing to see progress else you'll lose the "steam" to go further.

Sorry.. this is turning out to be a book.. I'm rambling.. but I hope you get the gist of it.

If anything.. get inspired by coming to my two sites I got up.. One for article storage: <http://www.QuasiPreneur.com> Another I just got done coding from the ground up: <http://www.VentingPost.com>

-QuasiPreneur

PS> Would love to hear some feedbacks on my sites... still coding 3 more before xmas!!!

</comment><comment><USER5> It depends on the project really. I've been doing the nights/weekends thing for a while now for a new startup of mine and I couldn't be happier. Could I launch quicker if I quit my job? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Nope. If you're happy with your job and enjoy receiving a steady income, keep your job, work on the project until you get a real gauge of what you want to put into it and how quickly you want to launch, then make a decision then. My personal plan is to stick with the job, work on the project until I'm ready to launch, then to see in a small test market what the viability and money potential really is. Then, if I think it looks good, I'll quit and dedicate more time. I'm obviously biased, but it's absolutely possible to build a product in your free time.

</comment><comment><USER6> Personally I left and went for it 100%, then I'm 100% committed to getting it done, and don't have the fall back excuse or mentality of the "day job".

</comment><comment><USER7> yes it will, do you know github ? its a side project btw, try see <https://gist.github.com/6443> . a must read for side projects.</comment>


Aha.io: Create beautiful product roadmap visualizations - <AUTHOR> http://www.aha.io/product/features/reports <comment><USER2> Nice visuals. Thanks for sharing.</comment>


Lime Accuses San Francisco of Scooter Discrimination - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-11/lime-accuses-san-francisco-of-scooter-discrimination <comment><USER2> I hope this backfires on Lime. Using legal means to deter competition doesn't reflect well (IMO).</comment>


Ask HN: Who are good web hosting companies in Canada? - <AUTHOR>

I'm looking for cloud hosting specifically with datacentres in Canada but don't know much about the reputation of the available options. Would prefer not to dedicated servers unless they're the only good option. <comment><USER2> <http://myhosting.com/>

I've used these guys for a few years for basic web and email hosting. Not as full featured as the major US brands, but decent, inexpensive, and based in Canada.

</comment><comment><USER3> <http://www.ovh.com/ca/en/>

<comment><AUTHOR> thanks! have you used them before? any issues come up? what have you used them for?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> <http://www.lowendbox.com/tag/canada/>

</comment><comment><USER5> <http://www.blacksun.ca>

</comment><comment><USER6> <http://cacloud.com></comment>


Idea: social network for investors - <AUTHOR>

Investors look to each other for ideas about cool startups to invest in. It seems inefficient to do it via email and get togethers and stuff. It seems more efficient if there was a social network for investors, where you could post cool investment opportunities, and only people who you're friends with would see them. <comment><USER2> So, AngelList? [https://angel.co/](https://angel.co/)

<comment><AUTHOR> No. I'm familiar with AngelList, and that's not what I'm envisioning. Founders submit the companies on AngelList. I'm saying that there's value in a network where investors themselves submit the companies to be seen.

<comment><USER2> Well, under the assumption that there's value in creating a product to support such a network - I see where you're going. Now, go validate that assumption.

<comment><AUTHOR> It's just an idea I thought I'd share. I'm working on a startup already, so I don't intend to pursue this.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Salesforce Export – The fastest way to export Contacts from Salesforce - <AUTHOR> https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/okocadbiphjjjmdeopakmbdambldcfeb/publish-accepted <comment><AUTHOR> Hey HN, I'm the creator of this chrome extension! If you have any questions or run into any issues, please feel free to leave a comment.</comment>


Welcome to Skyliner: AWS is easy now - <AUTHOR> https://blog.skyliner.io/welcome-to-skyliner-aws-is-easy-now-35c1c9bc86e7#.eomkekt6y <comment><USER2> Why is this better than Heroku?

<comment><AUTHOR> (I'm the co-founder/CEO.) We're hoping to make the developer experience of Skyliner comparable, and eventually better, than Heroku, because they have done so well on that front. There are plenty of other tools that are essentially automation for API access to AWS; we're trying to do something different, making the operation of infrastructure as easy (or easier than) as the other part of Amazon.

Where I think we really differ from Heroku is in approach. Instead of a fully- enclosed platform that adds a tax for each cloud resource you use, we want to be an abstraction of AWS that allows you to _break through that abstraction_ when needed. There are over 50 AWS products, and we don't support them all yet. If you need to use Redshift or API Gateway or whatever else, we want to make it easy for you to get up to speed in just that one product, and hook it into your Skyliner resources. Your alternatives should not be so stark as "fully managed, no control" versus "a box of Legos, figure it out."

Finally, we're focused on building a resilient architecture for growth. We want it to be easy and obvious how your starting infrastructure can support your company growing to be as successful as you're able to be. If a platform gets you started but then falls over when you have a good day, that's not a big help. Our goal is to provide tools that work as well on your first day as on your best day.

Hope that helps. firstname.lastname@example.com if I can answer anything else.</comment></comment>


Ohloh's New People Pages – Your FOSS Resume - <AUTHOR> http://meta.ohloh.net/2013/07/new-people-pages-your-foss-resume/

<comment><USER2> Blog Post about the new pages: [http://metastage.ohloh.net/2013/07/new-people- pages-your-fos...](http://metastage.ohloh.net/2013/07/new-people-pages-your- foss-resume-2/)

These look awesome.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Here is one for one of Ohloh's engineers - [https://www.ohloh.net/accounts/codeimpossible](https://www.ohloh.net/accounts/codeimpossible)</comment>


The Reading Level of the State of Union Address Is in Decline - <AUTHOR> http://priceonomics.com/the-reading-level-of-the-state-of-union-address-is/

<comment><USER2> There are many of the words that were abundant earlier, but have been replaced with "simpler" variants over time. I wonder if someone from 1780 were to rate speeches they would come out with exactly the opposite slope.

I think they found that language is evolving over time and that evolution is mostly linear.

<comment><USER3> I was wondering the same, and had to go back to the article to check that they don't address it. (They don't)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> > _In simple terms, writing with longer sentences and bigger words yields a > higher score (grade level) than simplistic writing._

I wish people would start using dictionaries of words taught at different grade levels instead. There has been an effort throughout the years towards greater clarity in writing and speaking; I don't think shorter sentences should imply lower reading levels.

Here, let me take an easy example: Federalist Paper #12, written in 1787, from my copy of "Charters of Freedom":

> _By multiplying the means of gratification, by promoting the introduction > and circulation of the precious metals, those darling objects of human > avarice and enterprise, it serves to vivify and invigorate the channels of > industry, and to make them flow with greater activity and copiousness._

That's beautiful writing. It's artful, it's poetic. It's also dense and aimed squarely at college-educated people. As Samuel Clemens said, "My books are water, those of the great geniuses are wine. Everybody drinks water."

The implication of the priceonomics article is that literacy is declining. I suspect the opposite is actually true -- literacy is at as high a level as it's ever been. What's declining is _florid_ writing, and where political statements are concerned, that's not really undesirable.

And the thing is, it's not that hard to compile dictionaries by grade level. I did, and I'm a dumbass. Feel free to rip off the work I've done so far:

[http://shomisearch.com/api/vocab/grade/{pre-k](http://shomisearch.com/api/vocab/grade/{pre-k), k, 1, 2, 3..12, college}

or, if you'd like the data sources included for each word,

[http://shomisearch.com/api/vocab/grade+sources/{pre-k](http://shomisearch.com/api/vocab/grade+sources/{pre-k), k, 1, 2, 3..12, college}

I hope someone that's better at statistics can take the data and analyze the state of the union addresses with it. I'd love to see how it compares to the traditional measure of reading level.

</comment><comment><USER5> My understanding is that early SOU papers weren't delivered as speeches, but were mostly technical reports intended for what today would be regarded as people like the OMB and similar congressional bodies.

More recently they're vehicles for delivering messages to the public.</comment>


Apple's Awful Non-Apple TV Ads - <AUTHOR> http://mikecanex.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/apples-awful-non-apple-tv-ads/

<comment><USER2> There's definitely a school of marketing for which baby boomers are the most significant market. There are an awful lot of them and some of them have an awful lot of money. I remember how my aging relatives were all trying to outdo each other, a few years ago, to have the largest HDTV.

If you look at the discourse about iPods, iPads and all that in mass-market media such as Time magazine, NY Times, etc. you definitely see a boomer- centric discourse and there's a lot of that in Apple marketing.</comment>


Show HN Browser extension Snooze lets you put off tabs for later - <AUTHOR> http://www.eyalw.com/snooze

<comment><USER2> I find myself comparing this to Pocket, which I tend to use to queue content for later in much the same way that it seems Snooze is made to support. What Pocket offers over this is a cleaned up page of text to read, but what Snooze seems to offer is bringing things back to the forefront automatically.

I've debated where to go from here in my thoughts, and I think the issue I'm struggling with is that the use cases seem different. When I think about "snoozing" something (e.g. Google Inbox, a conventional alarm clock, etc.) I find that the common denominator is that someone or something else is on the other side waiting on me. If nobody was expecting me in lab, I'd come in whenever I woke up naturally (and I do). Similarly, I snooze an email in Inbox (when I do) because someone's on the other end waiting (with some variable amount of urgency) for my reply. A silent "deal with these later" folder would become a black hole, or at least would have a molasses-slow turnaround time.

Given this preconception, I'm not entirely convinced that "snoozing" is the right solution to the problem I'm assuming you're trying to solve (ie trying to help people keep track of and get through all the cool stuff they see on the Internet, right?). Instead, you kind of want to find the gaps in people's time and fill it with the right article for that stretch of time (which is difficult to do for myriad reasons).

I think something along these lines that would be interesting would be an extension that prompted you to catch up on your queue after a few minutes of browsing unproductive sites (e.g. Facebook, HN, Youtube). Even better, if the user could give it a list of sites and say "if I'm browsing any of these sites for more than 5 minutes, please remind me that I have a queue of webpages I wanted to read."

These are just initial thoughts, and I apologize if it's overly critical. I like the idea, and there's a lot of potential here. It's also entirely possible I'm just flat out wrong (and if someone has different experiences or insights that conflict with mine, I'd love to hear it).

</comment><comment><USER3> Great!! Finally I won't be having 30 opened tabs...

</comment><comment><USER4> Love it! it's a chrome pain-killer ;)

</comment><comment><USER5> Does this also sync data between devices?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yes, between all your Google Chrome browsers connected with the same google account

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Please bring it to Firefox.

<comment><AUTHOR> Safari and Firefox support coming next month!

<comment><USER6> Another firefox user here and I'd have snoozed the tab I opened the site in until next month, if I could ;-).

So, yeah, I think this would be _very_ useful for me, since I have a whole bunch of tabs open at any given point in time. A lot of them originating from HN.

Every once in a while I just go thru' them either closing them off or reading the bits I am interested in or 'categorizing' them ...which bring me to my feature request for this -- I'd like to also have a way to categorize the tabs into more than just 'time-based' slots. So that not only can I deal with the list based on /when/ I want to, but deal with those that interests me at the time when I decide to deal with some of the backlog.

Currently, I use TabSieve[1] to bookmark and tag, with one tag devoted to the urgency (so that's slightly similar to what you offer) and the others describing the content.

[1] [https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/tagsieve/](https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/tagsieve/) _note_ that the version on the site doesn't work and you'd have to manually 'fix' it following the instructions here:

[https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/tagsieve/revi...](https://addons.mozilla.org/en- US/firefox/addon/tagsieve/reviews/602120/)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The best chrome app ever.</comment>