Ask HN: How do you showcase work from previous jobs? - <AUTHOR>

I've worked for a few enterprise software companies on big products in the past and am currently working for a startup that may not be around in a few years (hopefully it will be, but that's reality).
Lately, I've been wondering how I could preserve my work to showcase in the future. I don't think it's always practical, or legal, to assume keeping a copy of the code is a good showcase. And screenshots are, well, shallow.
Anyways, I was curious if any of you have done the same? And what route you took for preserving your work.
EDIT: I'm not just referring to interviewing purposes. I think in general it would be great to reflect back on the things you've done from time to time. Who knows where you'll be in 20 years, but in a digital age it seems desirable to keep some kind of log of what you've done of the course of your career. Perhaps the word, "showcase", was a bad choice.
EDIT 2: My comment about keeping the code was poorly worded and being misinterpreted. I have no interest in keeping any former code, it'd be dated within a year or two. The heart of this question is about showcasing/archiving great innovations and cool things you've built that aren't easily available. <comment><USER2> This is an awesome question.

> I've been wondering how I could preserve my work to showcase in the future. > I don't think it's always practical, or legal, to assume keeping a copy of > the code is a good showcase.

I agree. I see a lot of organizations asking for open source as a litmus test for the candidate.

As a former manager who has hired dozens of programmers, I think that's stupid, because it vastly limits your pool of candidates to people who have time to contribute to open source. I've found that there are lots of very gifted people who have never worked on anything they can share. And "side projects" tend to show you what the candidate wants you to see: well crafted code that didn't have external requirements or hard deadlines. (Note: I'm not suggesting you _don't_ use open sourced code in the interview process, just that you don't use it as a gateway into the larger interview process).

Looking forward to watching this thread!

Edit: fixed a confusing sentence.

<comment><USER3> The other side of this is that I, as a candidate, use open source as a litmus test for the employer. If the company contributes heavily to open-source, the culture is more likely to be compatible with me, AND it's legal for me to show my work to future employers. A lot of open-source work is done with corporate backing, so if one doesn't want to contribute outside of work, I'd suggest looking for an employer that will let them work on open-source projects, at least part-time.

<comment><USER3> Adding this a bit late for it to be an edit, but I'd add that I think it's unfair for employers to have open-source work as a de-facto requirement if they don't contribute to open-source themselves. Open source is also a chance for you to see how the company's existing employees comport themselves, how they work through problems, and what kind of day-to-day problems they're working to solve.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> When interviewing people, I don't need to see previous work product. I need them to talk about what they've built, why it was satisfying and what was hard about it. I've found that in less than 10 minutes I can establish whether someone worked deeply on something and understands what they've done. After 30, I can tell whether they're exceptionally proficient and if we'd enjoy collaborating.

As to coding chops, I think that has to be solved via asking them to code a solution to something on the spot (or perhaps in advance). That's far from perfect, but I don't think you need a portfolio, per se.

Although, if you have lots of stuff that's publicly available, that's clearly a bonus. But that's not an option for many people.

<comment><USER5> Maybe I'm an outlier, but I cannot talk proficiently about a project I haven't worked on in months. When it's in my brain, I am living and breathing it, but afterwards if I'm asked to talk about it, it stumbles out as I try to recall the pieces. I can rehearse beforehand, but it becomes clear as soon as the interviewer does any digging, that I don't remember the details.

Ask me to code something beforehand and I'll excel at it, but ask me "what's going through your mind" as I'm coding it and I'll sound like a scatterbrain. I need time, low pressure, and privacy to code well.

<comment><USER6> >I need time, low pressure, and privacy to code well.

Me too. I've had jobs where I had to work in areas with high foot traffic, lots of distractions, I could never get in "the zone" and never got any real work done. Well, looking back, I did get some work done, but I always felt like I was too distracted to focus, and it definitely took me a lot longer than it would have otherwise.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> It is a difficult problem. I worked at a defense contractor where I can't talk about what I did at all, so interviewing afterwards was tough. One thing I did was write down a bunch of notes for myself, that way I can refresh my memory before future interviews. I don't pass it to the employer. I try to cover the typical questions:

\- How big was the team?

\- What was your role on the team?

\- Project scope / length / budget?

\- Did you meet that timeline & budget?

\- What kind of work? (Building new features? Maintenance? Replacing legacy project?)

\- Major technical challenges?

\- Lessons learned?

\- Technologies used?

\- What would you do differently next time?

If you can speak to all of that, it generally doesn't matter that you can't actually show off the product. In my case I can answer all of those without even telling you what the product was.

The one exception would be if you are doing heavily UI based work. Then I would think recording some screencasts might be good, and putting it in a gallery. That's not the kind of work I do, so it generally doesn't apply for me.

</comment><comment><USER8> Well...unfortunately you don't really own your work in most cases when working for someone else. Your best bet (as far as I know) is to describe the software and its impact on the business. A company will understand that you can't show them your previous code that is someone else's intellectual property: they wouldn't want you doing the same with their code.

<comment><AUTHOR> Yea, this is definitely true. My comment about the code was more in terms of being able to actually run a live version of what you've done in the past, either as a demo or just a refresher for your own purposes.

And also, part of my concern that wasn't well pointed out, was in some cases those previous companies may not even exist. You couldn't even "point to the company" and say I worked there, on that.

<comment><USER9> "being able to actually run a live version of what you've done in the past"

This is a non-starter. Its not your IP; you can't keep a copy around (even if its just for archival purposes).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I agree with what others have said; this is a great question. I think there are a few answers (most of which have already been touched on at least a bit) which complement each other:

* Open source whatever you can. I have had the good fortune of being self-employed for the last few years (although I was also in school for part of that time), and one of the huge benefits of that was being able to open-source almost everything. (My client agreements usually allowed me to open-source anything that wasn't unique to their line of business.) Obviously not everyone is that fortunate, but it often makes good business sense to open-source internal libraries and such (more eyes on the code base, currying favour with developers, etc) so it definitely can't hurt to ask and try making a case for it.

* Take screenshots and video. Sure, maybe shallow by themselves (especially if you're not a UX/front end person) but it is a neat part of the package, even if only for yourself to review 10 or 20 years down the road. Some people have pointed out that you may need permission to take a video of the software... it seems to me that if you were working on that sort of software you'd know it.

* Keep a journal. This is helpful on a lot of personal levels. You might also want to blog, for similar reasons. 10 or 20 years down the road, it will help you remember what you did. Information from the journal can be helpful in portfolios and resumes, and you might also find yourself using your own journal down the road when you run into similar problems.

Regarding your second edit, I think turning the above information into a "showcase" probably just means building a small portfolio for yourself. Have "case studies" where you talk about what you did for a certain project/company/whatever. Or, depending on the nature of the work, you might choose more of a "memoir" style--either way, the point is you pick a few things you worked on and write about them, using your journal (if available) as a memory aid and screenshots/video/open source contributions as supporting material, if available.

</comment><comment><USER11> How about a recorded screencast or youtube video showing the solution in use? It will not be interactive, but will show some of the interactivity of the solution.

<comment><USER12> That's a really good idea.

<comment><USER13> Actually, this is a pretty terrible idea in a lot of contexts. This could easily be interpreted as stealing from your prior employer.

<comment><USER14> I almost want to use the "flag" button for people suggesting this, given how colossally bad an idea it is. (But they are posting something on-topic, in earnest, so I don't.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Record screencasts of the applications that you worked on. Keep them under 3 minutes, showing only the major features.

<comment><USER14> No, this is a very bad idea. If your old employer would ever accuse you of stealing software, it would be extremely bad for your case for a video you made of the application to show up in any documentation.

I don't know where that "3 minute" rule comes from. It smells like the "you are allowed to download these ROMs only for 24 hours" nonsense that emulator sites (used to?) say. That only increases my suspicion of this advice.

<comment><USER16> I don't understand this comment. Why would me having a video of an app I built be a hint that I copied it? Also, would I even have to provide such a video as evidence?

The 3 minute thing seemed to me a simple example of "keep it short to keep viewer attention".

EDIT: maybe you interpreted GP as meaning take a screencast of the code, while I am thinking of the working app?

<comment><USER14> A lot of "enterprise software" is stuff that you will never ever get on your home PC. Your employer only let you have access to the software under the NDA and IP agreement you signed, and unless they explicitly say otherwise, that also includes showing how it runs.

This isn't like showing off the feature you wrote for MS Word.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> A few portfolios I like to refer back to as good examples of different approaches:

\- mason.js-style grid of experiments and projects, filterable: [http://hakim.se/](http://hakim.se/) – direct links to demos

\- short-description + screenshots: [http://www.robbiemanson.com/](http://www.robbiemanson.com/)

\- a full blog post per project: [http://www.minimallyminimal.com/](http://www.minimallyminimal.com/)

</comment><comment> w0rd-driven The implementation details of this idea are the problematic part, I think. Everything you can conceivably think of starts to skirt along ethical/legal lines but I think it's an important discussion to have.

Ideally, as developers, we would have some sort of standardized process to archive the important parts of our career. I personally don't _need_ this for future employers but with this weird fear I have that if I ever did have early-onset alzheimers, I'd want to remember at least _some_ aspects of my life. It may be a highly irrational fear but archiving my work life in a relatively meaningful way that I may archive my personal life seems like nothing but a good idea to me. These ideas may be completely impractical in most scenarios but at least having the discussion seems like a good idea.

As a hypothetical employer, I would want my employees to feel they can share the interesting parts of their career with my company. It promotes enthusiasm, showcases important work we're doing as a company, and a host of other benefits. I'm sure there are a series of downsides I can't think of at the moment but conceptually this seems like a good idea. It's just standardizing on what really works in most situations that'll likely be the biggest challenge.

<comment><USER18> As a developer, I want to have a record of my work just as an artist wants a photo or a mould of a sculpture they sold.

I'm not about to not do it based on someone on the internet's interpretation of IP.

If a programmer is working on super proprietary high-tech stuff like HFT, sure - but most of us are just pushing bits and most value we add is from processes and experience.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> In realizing that a lot of my best work was effectively walled, I've started taking it upon myself to build up a showcase of work that's strictly my own.

I think you should look to have a portfolio online and an active Github account.

I have 3 things on my portfolio (www.bcooke.net):

1) Side projects I never finished or am still working on 2) Freelance sites I built alone (where my good relationship with the client meant I could openly share the work) 3) Brief blurbs about the salaried roles in my career, with a screenshot

I haven't updated it in a while but it's something.

Do you have a portfolio? Is your Github active? StackOverflow? You need things you can show!

It sucks because your best work - the stuff you spent the most time on - isn't always available to share. And even if you could, there'd be questions about which part you did.

Having a site you can point to and say, "I did that" is a good way to showcase your abilities, and if all your work is owned by your employer, you should probably start thinking about ways you can change that.

</comment><comment><USER20> I think you can speak in terms of the technology you used, what you liked about it, what you disliked about it, the business objectives and how you helped achieve them and still do fine without showing an actual code repository.

Most interviewers come in with a list of questions they want to ask, so if you can talk about your work in terms of the answers you know they want, you're probably better off than a candidate who can demo a project that the interviewer may or may not care to see.

For keeping a log of what you've done, I don't think there's too much you can do about this. Part of your agreement when being hired is that you are being paid to build something that belongs to your employer. The only way around this I could see is if you were able to extract some abstract tool that could have wider use and get permission to distribute it or at least keep a copy for yourself (a lot of employers won't agree to this, however).

</comment><comment><USER21> My answer to your initial post was: be able to converse about your previous work in-depth.

To your first edit, I say I do keep a log of what I've done over the course of my career. That log is my resume. I typically update my resume multiple times while I'm at a job even when I have no plans to leave any time soon. I do this to keep it up to date while projects are fresh on my mind.

Some comment about edit 2. That's what the resume is for. It's my list of great innovations and cool things I've built. For me, this includes personal projects. This is where open source contributions can be really useful because they're public and everyone can look at them. IMO open source projects are one of the most impressive resume builders out there.

</comment><comment><USER22> 1\. Document what you do extensively, including explanative screenshots if it involves UI components.

2\. Give the documention to your employer ( it will be greatly appreciated )

3\. Ask your direct superior if you can keep a copy just for personal reference

4\. Unless your superior is a jerk, this will likely be given the ok.

5\. Do so ( strictly speaking this is often illegal; but if superior approves... )

6\. Use said documentation to write -new- documentation based off it off work hours ( clean room rewrite of docs essentially ) ( note that depending on what you signed, even these conceptual documentation rewrites may be illegal to share; you'll need to read what you sign )

7\. Give rewritten un-infringing documentation to whoever you wish

</comment><comment><USER23> It's definitely tough showcasing some of your work, and this is a question that I was curious about as well. In my case, there have been certain projects that I have worked on in the past where I have been under a confidentiality agreement. However, what I built is something that I'm immensely proud of and would love to show off.

I do like some of the suggestions other people have mentioned about recording a screencast of the product (if you're allowed to do it). Its definitely a great idea, although if you're programming something in say Ruby On Rails or PHP on the backend, how can you show off code that you wrote and then refactored?

I'm curious what the more seasoned hiring managers would want to see?

<comment><USER14> A seasoned hiring manager isn't going to demand a portfolio.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> It's difficult. If you're under NDA then there's very little you can say. Sadly this is what we have to work with in a digital strong-IP work-for-hire world: you don't own your work, you can't archive it, your employer probably won't archive it properly, and in a decade or so it may not exist. All you get to keep is the salary and the memories.

Pragmatically the easiest thing might be to take your own copies of company publicity materials about the product. That way you avoid NDA problems. Technically a screen shot of the product information page from 3 years ago is infringing but not in a way that anyone is likely to care about.

</comment><comment><USER25> I personally like the idea of keeping a personal journal. I usually just describe what i'm working on and write it in a document which goes into a folder that is month / year stamped. Just be descriptive in what project you worked. How you overcame certain problems. What were the pain points and your solution. Rather than using actual code you can use Pseudo Code or write it in descriptive english so its a reference point to your coding efforts and nothing to do with the IP.

</comment><comment><USER13> I don't want to rain on your parade, but having worked in a lot of highly IP sensitive jobs, don't attempt to showcase your work from previous jobs. There is virtually no way to do this that can't be interpreted incorrectly. Unless your employer has granted an open source license on your work product even talking about technical details can be tricky.

I've literally stopped interviews when the applicant starts getting too close to what appears to be protected output.

</comment><comment><USER26> Endeavor internally to drive your employer towards open sourcing pieces of the codebase (incidentally ones you've worked on) that are also irrelevant to your core business. This helps keep code more modular while also building up a public record of the employees' doings.

If nothing else the experience itself will probably turn out to be quite healthy for your team.

</comment><comment><USER27> I show people screenshots of the designs (I'm an EE). It's not like they can reverse engineer a multilayer PCB from a screen grab of the CAD program. The only people who had a problem with this were NASA, but other customers have been understanding of the "I can't show you much of my NASA work because they wouldn't let me keep copies" line.

</comment><comment><USER28> I have a very basic web site that with my portfolio. It has images of products I've made or worked on as well as interesting side projects. I put a link to it in my cover letters and resume'.

I have a video of one of products I made - a virtual oscilloscope but other than that one, they are just images with a little blurb about the technology used.

</comment><comment><USER29> If you've done any design work or at least contributed in some way to a creative project you could try [http://behance.net](http://behance.net). Alternatively, [http://github.com](http://github.com) would be your best bet if you've done mostly back-end work.

</comment><comment><USER30> To contrast the interviewer side: when I do interviews, I take depth over breadth, and depth can easily be evaluated by the interviewer asking specific questions along the line of: what was the most specific problem you encountered in your work on this specific problem and how did you solve it / work around it.

</comment><comment><USER31> patio11 has a great blog post tangentially related to this:

[https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/do-not- en...](https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/do-not-end-the-week- with-nothing)

</comment><comment><USER32> one way of archiving good innovations is to have a open-source fork of the innovative design artifact you might want to archive.

These needs understanding the underlying IP law motivations.Most things like mathematical processes around things cannot be IP'd.So , can't we have an open-source implementation around the same?

</comment><comment><USER33> When we are working for an Organization, your efforts makes how much impact on business, timely and correctly providing the deliverables as defect free, this leads to Business owner satisfaction. So automatically Company will recognize you and will reach your aspirations as soon as. We con't show the previous code becoz intellectual property of someone else and being a security or software professional we need to keep in mind that "Data Privacy policy".</comment>


OpenRefine – free, open source, powerful tool for working with messy data - <AUTHOR> https://openrefine.org <comment><USER2> You can do similar stuff using the visidata command line tool: [https://www.visidata.org/](https://www.visidata.org/)

You can use python code for more advanced data manipulations and creating plugins.

<comment><USER3> Wow, that is a nice little tool. Just installed it and tested on some random files in my current data analysis project.

By the way, I installed it using pipx [https://github.com/pipxproject/pipx](https://github.com/pipxproject/pipx) by running `pipx install visidata`. To also read HDF and Excel files, I added the necessary packages by running `pipx inject visidata h5py openpyxl`.

<comment><USER4> Thanks @rasmusei! If you are a data scientist you might also be interested in how to work along with Jupyter. Our community has some documentation on our Wiki about that here: [https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/wiki/Jupyter](https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/wiki/Jupyter)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Formerely known as Google Refine.

The history of the rename can be found in the blog: [https://openrefine.org/blog/2013/10/12/openrefine- history.ht...](https://openrefine.org/blog/2013/10/12/openrefine-history.html)

<comment><USER6> Formerly known as Freebase Gridworks as also mentioned in the article you linked

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Anyone used this before?

My own experience: I had a _lot_ of data to process, which I thought was the use case for a tool like this: but it took a _long_ time, and seemed to have to process the data in order to ingest it properly.

What underlying storage/tech is used? Is it all just web-stack?

<comment><USER4> Our current architecture is here: [https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/wiki/Architecture](https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/wiki/Architecture)

YES! We want users to process much larger data sets also! We have started experiments with using Apache Spark on the backend where the hope is that we can help users with much larger datasets. This work is being funded by CZI and you can read the grant proposal here: [http://openrefine.org/blog/2019/11/14/czi- eoss.html](http://openrefine.org/blog/2019/11/14/czi-eoss.html)

<comment><USER7> before you go down the spark route, consider perl/unix-tools may do this kind of thing quite well: [https://livefreeordichotomize.com/2019/06/04/using_awk_and_r...](https://livefreeordichotomize.com/2019/06/04/using_awk_and_r_to_parse_25tb/)

<comment><USER4> That author did not have Spark tuned well for the use case. This is a common issue with Spark. Since OpenRefine commonly is used with Strings, we plan to optimize in many areas for that such a few mentioned here: [https://databricks.com/glossary/spark- tuning](https://databricks.com/glossary/spark-tuning) But in general, there are always tradeoffs when trying to provide immediate feedback for interactions. Since OpenRefine has many interactive features, some will need to support batching and advise the user in the interface that things will take longer...do you want to send to batch? Some of the tradeoffs and ways we plan to address these are mentioned in our general OpenRefine on Spark issue here: [https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/issues/1433](https://github.com/OpenRefine/OpenRefine/issues/1433)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I have used and loved this since it was a project from MIT CSAIL SIMILE (circa 2006).

<comment><USER8> Follow up: Looking over the old SIMILE site I couldn't find the original project. Also David Huynh didn't mention it in his own website, but some searching yielded the original project, "Parallax"

[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_FZPtpgntwC&pg=PA36](https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_FZPtpgntwC&pg=PA36)

More from the era: [https://blog.jonudell.net/2008/08/25/motivating-people-to- wr...](https://blog.jonudell.net/2008/08/25/motivating-people-to-write-the- semantic-web-a-conversation-with-david-huynh-about-parallax/)

<comment><USER4> SIMILE library is used in OpenRefine for certain Faceting like timeline, clustering, etc. Parallax was originated by David to show how time series data visualizations could be enhanced. David was one of our original designers of OpenRefine and I worked closely with him and Stefano in testing it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Reminded me a bit of the 'data wrangler' tool from Stanford. It was __* a fantastic tool for dealing with messy data.

[http://vis.stanford.edu/wrangler/](http://vis.stanford.edu/wrangler/)

 __*it 's now a commercial product maintained by Trifacta ([https://www.trifacta.com/start-wrangling/](https://www.trifacta.com/start- wrangling/))

</comment><comment><USER10> See also [https://lnav.org](https://lnav.org)

<comment><USER11> That is really interesting but I don't see what it has to do with OpenRefine.

Thanks for the link though.

<comment><USER10> Was "really interesting" sarcastic? If you found lnav to be interesting, I don't understand how you'd fail to see how it's relevant.

lnav is a mini ETL tool, which, like OpenRefine, aids in transforming data from various formats to make it more useful. They're in the same space.</comment></comment></comment>


Why I Am Never Going to Own a Home Again - <AUTHOR> http://www.businessinsider.com/why-i-am-never-going-to-own-a-home-again-2011-3 <comment><USER2> Duplicate content: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2343740></comment>


Flash as a game development platform ("Getting Real" philosophy applied to casual gaming) - <AUTHOR> http://www.drizzle.com/~scottb/gdc/flash-paper.htm

<comment><USER2> This is obviously old since it doesn't cover Flash 9, Flex, and AIR, but still interesting.</comment>


A photo history of Frog, the company that designed the original Mac - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/design/2019/6/26/18758789/apple-mac-design-snow-white-frog-polk-photo-essay <comment><USER2> _Frog designed AT &T's digital answering machine in 1990, the model 1337._

I remember that answering machine quite well. It was one of the first digital answering machines, and very well made. Beautiful, compared with other answering machines of the day.

I bought one for myself, and my girlfriend broke up with me because I hadn't bought anything for her in a very long time. I wasn't a very good person back then.

<comment><USER3> Sounds like you dodged a bullet with the gf.

<comment><USER4> Nah. It all boils down to attention. If you have not treated your girlfriend in a while and buy stupidly expensive answering machine, that shows where the priorities are.

<comment><USER5> It's a complex area, I make much more than my partner so I try to keep things balanced, treat her to Metallica tickets, a nice hotel and a few days in a big city neither of us has been too.

Picked up my Oculus Rift S on the way back.

I don't do it to keep score or anything, I like treating her as her been happy makes me happy.

<comment><USER4> Of course one shouldn't keep score or anything, that's unhealthy on the long run and one should treat themselves once in a while. But showing affection even if it is by sometimes buying something is appreciated. And i speak this from an experience similar to the grandfather.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This is mostly great, and I wish I could visit the exhibit.

But the headline is just wrong. Frog Design did not design the original Mac. Jerry Manock did. Frog Design created the Snow White design language first used on the Mac with the Mac II and Mac SE.

<comment><USER7> And the Mac SE wasn't introduced in 1984 as the article says, the original Macintosh (128) was introduced then, designed by Jerry Manock as the parent says. The Mac SE and Mac II were introduced in 1987, after the 512, Plus and 512Ke.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I find virtually all of these, and especially the original Mac design [1], pleasing even now. Do they look hilarious to younger generations? I'm guessing yes...

[http://oldcomputers.net/macintosh.html](http://oldcomputers.net/macintosh.html)

<comment><USER9> I really like that Lisa design concept. Kinda wish 8.5"×11" screens caught on (or maybe slightly bigger to allow for some margins around the page).

<comment><USER8> right with you on that one. I'm kind of surprised that the 8.5x11 form factor didn't become the norm with flat screens, TBH.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> More early protos in the same spirit:

1) A proto Mac LC from IDEO \- [https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21652/lot/188/](https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/21652/lot/188/)

2) Several other unused protos from Hartmut Esslinger @ FROG - [https://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/an-apple-flip-phone- from...](https://www.engadget.com/2014/05/28/an-apple-flip-phone- from-1984-and-a-tablet-from-1979/)

<comment><USER11> From the description of the LC prototype:

 _has a vertically-oriented screen not used on any production models. Considering the screen orientation, this very well could have been a prototype for a model targeted toward the business world, rather than the artistic, publishing and educational markets that the Mac traditionally attracted._

Clearly the writer never saw the Portrait Display, which was extensively used in desktop publishing. I loved mine.

[http://myoldmac.net/SELL/apple- portraitmoni.htm](http://myoldmac.net/SELL/apple-portraitmoni.htm)

<comment><USER12> Was it possible to pair the portrait monitor with the LC?

<comment><USER11> Maybe, maybe not. The LC was very low performance, even compared to the pokey IIsi I first had the monitor connected to.

<comment><USER12> I ask that because the mock up is for a computer called "LC". Maybe the screen was supposed to be a color one. It looks a bit like the color classic.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> We went to frog to design some of our interfaces. Their closest office was in Shanghai - I was surprised at the quality and depth of the team there.

They were very process driven but also very creative - the first time I've actually seen both of those work well together.

<comment><USER14> I've worked on an embedded user interface according to a spec by frog. It was great fun because, among other things, the UI described by the spec was nice and good looking, and the spec left no important open questions. The customer paid for frog so I don't know how much it cost, but probably a whole lot. Anyway, if somebody asks for high quality UX/UI design, I recommend frog.

<comment><USER13> They are expensive - but they care about the work they do and are very good.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Interesting to note that Frog got a new owner yesterday - they are now part of CapGemini, through the acquisition of Altran.

</comment><comment><USER16> Wikipedia link: [https://bit.ly/2ZJLGPi](https://bit.ly/2ZJLGPi) (because HN isn't dealing with a period at the end of the URL)

</comment><comment><USER17> The article is full of examples of making the product worse to boost sales. Not a fan of this race-to-the-bottom engineering, no matter how 'iconic'.

</comment><comment><USER18> We've got those turrets at work! I would never have guessed they were by the same company as the early Macs!

</comment><comment> throwaway-1-2-3 Somewhat fitting then, that Frog also led the redesign of DisneyWorld.com in 2010

</comment><comment><USER19> That foam model is just gorgeous!

</comment><comment><USER20> intriguing to suggest that Steve Jobs/Apple considered themselves a fairy tale "Wicked Queen" who sat in a throne and had the power to apply judgment to others.

i don't know if that was actually true about Apple, but some other large corporations seem to view themselves in exactly that way. they treat their potential business partners and vendors as if they were beastly suitors of infinite patience invested with nothing but a powerful lust for a signed contract.

<comment><USER21> There's a wicked queen in the story to be sure but it isn't Snow White, who grows up to be the "fairest in the land" and isn't a jerk about it.

It's just a name for the style that suggests it's very beautiful and yet understated.</comment></comment>


Seymour Papert and Alan Kay on Technology in Education (C-SPAN 1995) - <AUTHOR> https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4616563/seymour-papert-alan-kay-technology-education <comment><AUTHOR> Just realized that the flash version of the clip doesn't work on mobile device. So if you are on mobile, please go to the original

[https://www.c-span.org/video/?67583-1/technology- education](https://www.c-span.org/video/?67583-1/technology-education)

and fast forward to 10:25 mark

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> This is an extension of this discussion

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12202330](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12202330)</comment>


Seventy maxims of maximally effective mercenaries - <AUTHOR> http://schlockmercenary.wikia.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries <comment><USER2> Love Howard Taylor's humor. I have been following Schlock Mercenary almost religiously for more than a decade now. And it has provided a great many good laughs.</comment>


Just About Everyone with Bitcoin Is Lying to the IRS - <AUTHOR> https://gizmodo.com/just-about-everyone-with-bitcoin-is-lying-to-the-irs-1825275308 <comment><USER3> Their data all comes from people who file taxes Credit Karma.

> The figure, reported by CNBC, comes from Credit Karma, a popular financial > app through which people can view their credit score and file taxes. Of the > more than 250,000 people who have filed through Credit Karma this year, a > whopping 0.0004 percent have claimed to have money in bitcoin or other > cryptocurrencies.

Could it be possible that people who file taxes with Credit Karma are not a random sampling of the population, and maybe bitcoin holders (and particularly those who report it on their taxes) have structural reasons to avoid CK? Lazy reporting to not even mention it in the article. Is it just me, or is there an increasing trend to take one statistic and stretch it out to a 5 paragraph news article?

(And that percentage is just a fancy way to say that 1 Credit Karma tax client out of 250,000 declared bitcoin.)

<comment><USER4> Also, why report 250k and 0.0004% and not just "~100 people". Makes it much easier to digest.

<comment><USER5> I read it as 250k x 0.0004 / 100

(which equals 1)

<comment><USER6> 0.0004% = 0.000004

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I don't think most people are underreporting out of malice. I'm guessing most with money in cryptocurrencies fall into one of two buckets:

1) People - esp. millennials who have never paid capital gains taxes - <USER2> don't even realize that crypto gains are taxed. (They should, but that's a different issue.)

2) People who put money into crypto and had some decent gains (<$10,000). Come tax season, they realized how difficult it would be to report their gains and just gave up, betting that they wouldn't be audited by the IRS.

Obviously if you realized massive gains and are actively evading taxes, that's a problem. But I feel for the little players here - a whole lot of people would report their capital gains if there was an easier mechanism in place. The current process of trying to figure out the dollar value of each individual trade on exchanges lacking basic reporting infrastructure is a _mess_. I'm not surprised that a lot of people just throw up their hands and give up.

(And yes, I realize that putting an easier mechanism in place to pay taxes on crypto is inviting the sort of financial regulation that runs counter to the ethos of blockchain...but let's be honest, in their current form, cryptocurrencies are not what we were promised. They have by and large been co-opted by financial institutions and the very intermediaries they were meant to supplant.)

<comment><USER8> It's nearly impossible. Here's just a few situations that are unclear (no i'm not asking for advice, nor do I think HN is my personal CPA)

1\. You buy into an ICO and it exit scams

2\. You get staking / masternode payouts (but don't sell them to $ or another coin)

3\. You trade futures - can you use Form 6781?

4\. What's your cost basis on a futures trade if not (selling/buying bitcoin with borrowed bitcoin)?

5\. You receive funding/interest payouts on an open leveraged trade

6\. One of your coins forks

7\. You have trades on a DEX with no downloadable history

8\. You have trades on an exchange which no longer exists

9\. You are awarded coins as part of an airdrop to holders of (other coin)

10\. You get hacked (are you sure you aren't faking that to avoid taxes, citizen?)

<comment><USER9> If you trade 1,000 BTC for 10,000 ETH and never touch fiat, is that a taxable event?

That trade on January 12 would have been worth $14 million. If you acquired the BTC years ago, you could have a tax liability of $5 million even though you never gained a single dollar.

Today that ETH is only worth $5 million. You would have to sell all of it to pay your taxes.

<comment><USER10> In some jurisdictions that is a taxable event. However isn't a gain only a gain when it is realised? If I have 10 BTC worth a $1000 and then they are worth $100000, do I need to report a gain if I don't sell them? My assumption is that I only have a taxable gain when I turn it into USD.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> _The figure, reported by CNBC, comes from Credit Karma, a popular financial app through which people can view their credit score and file taxes. Of the more than 250,000 people who have filed through Credit Karma this year, a whopping 0.0004 percent have claimed to have money in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies._

Garbage in, garbage out - like basing the alcoholism rate for the US by surveying the state of Utah.

 _Check your scores anytime, anywhere, and never pay for it._

[https://www.creditkarma.com/](https://www.creditkarma.com/)

Bitcoin attracts people who can't stand the mess that credit cards have created. A person obsessive enough about a credit score to use an app that lets them view it anytime, anywhere won't be interested in Bitcoin to begin with.

<comment><USER12> This appears to be about people who filed taxes through Credit Karma, not normal users. You need to file your taxes somewhere, and Credit Karma is probably the best free option available.

<comment><USER13> This makes me realize I don't know how the American system works. You file your taxes to private companies? Then they send it to the IRS? You can't just fill a form, online or on paper, and send it to the administration yourself?

<comment><USER14> > You can't just fill a form, online or on paper, and send it to the > administration yourself?

Yes, you can. There are both paper and fillable electronic forms (and, for simple cases with incomes under $66,000, tax prep software) available free from the government, and you can file them for free, by mail or electronically, as appropriate, with the IRS.

<comment><USER12> But of course the IRS probably isn't the only entity to which you owe taxes (states and the federal government are separate entities), so the IRS's forms only get you part of the way. What services like Credit Karma do is let you input your W-2 forms or similar (which indicate taxes paid), ask you questions to determine any adjustments you might need/want to make, generate the correct forms to send to the IRS and your state tax agency, and transfer the money you owe from your bank account.

Doing all that by hand is quite a bit more work.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> > The IRS has offered guidance on bitcoin transactions since 2014 and > _considers the cryptocurrency to be property, not currency. As such, every > purchase, sale, trade, and mining effort is considered to be a taxable > event._

Wait. So, cryptocurrencies are not taxed on capital gains? If it is considered property then do people need to calculate their base price, profit and then pay taxes?

<comment><USER16> A capital gain is a gain in capital made during the sale of property. Selling bitcoin for more than it was bought for and collecting the profit is the very definition of a capital gain.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Credit Karma's tax system couldn't even handle multi state tax filings so there is no way their tax filers could have been a good representation of anything.

</comment><comment><USER18> Coinbase provided 1099-Ks to the IRS. If filers didn't also provide an 8949 (cost-basis statement) to demonstrate their net gain/loss, they're likely going to be on the hook for taxes on the entire amount reported in the 1099-K.

</comment><comment><USER19> What are the demographics of Credit Karma users? That seems like a limited and biased sample to extrapolate that "just about everyone with Bitcoin is Lying".

I've reported BTC income to the IRS in 2014 and 2017, will do so again in 2018...

<comment><USER20> If I had BTC income (which I don't) I'd make damn sure to use an accountant so someone else has their name on the line. And I certainly wouldn't use Credit Karma (and not only because I've never heard of them).

<comment><USER21> You've really never heard of Credit Karma before?

<comment><USER22> Nope. Should I?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Making taxes difficult with crypto is a feature. It allows for selective enforcement and more IRS weaponization.

</comment><comment><USER24> I am actually worried about Trump from a solvency standpoint. Hear me out on this.

Trump has unquestionably shaken faith and trust in government. To the point I'm willing more than a few voters are thinking "jeez, if these guys are gonna screw me, I'm gonna take what's mine". Hell, our president has admitted to avoiding taxes in multiple on-the-record accounts!

As a result, everyone I know has admitted to cheating a little bigger on their taxes this year, and omission of personal investments like Bitcoin is one of the easiest.

From what I've read in the past (I don't know if this is true), it would only take a 2% decline in personal income tax filings to cause serious cash flow problems for the US government. The republicans have spent years weakening the IRS' enforcement power, and now Trump has given a lot of people both motive and a role model to avoid paying taxes.

Maybe if it breaks our current social contract enough, we'll get to create a new one appropriate for a 21st century world leader.

<comment><USER25> I don't think Trump ever claimed to have done anything fraudulent (whether he did or not is another matter). I'm not trying to get into a political debate or argue over Trump's flaws or merits, but there's a big difference between using legal loopholes that are available to you and deliberately not reporting things to pay fewer taxes.

<comment><USER26> >but there's a big difference between using legal loopholes that are available to you and deliberately not reporting things to pay fewer taxes.

Legally that's true, but I think the average person upset about this sees zero difference at all. Myself included, in my opinion using legal loopholes to get out of tax is morally just as bad, if not worse than deliberately not reporting things to pay fewer taxes.

<comment><USER27> "Anyone may arrange his affairs so that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which best pays the treasury. There is not even a patriotic duty to increase one's taxes. Over and over again the Courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands."

-Judge Learned Hand, Helvering v. Gregory, 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934), aff'd, 293 U.S. 465 (1935)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


What you think, what can be price of national (second level) openid domain? Say openid.fr ? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> $1500? but it seems openid becomes popular.</comment>


Show HN: Indie Game – Make your friends guess the most movies using 3 emoji - <AUTHOR> https://renga.party/ <comment><USER2> Tried, was nice</comment>


Ask HN: Book Authoring Tools for Hackers? - <AUTHOR>

I am going to write a book. It will be like an extended vision statement that I plan to give to my customers. I would like to make it relatively easy to update and republish, hopefully using on-demand printing and fulfillment.<p>Are there any tools that are really awesome for this? <comment><USER2> My company (Onyx Neon) has a pretty good lightweight workflow for producing books in multiple formats. I've been working to extract those tools into a free software project, as much of it uses free software already:

<https://github.com/chromatic/Pod-PseudoPod-Book>

We've been very happy with Lightning Source for on-demand printing and fulfillment.

<comment><AUTHOR> I was planning to use Ingram for publishing b/c I am in Nashville and they are a local company. Checked out Lightening Source and realized that is Ingram's on-demand publishing product. I guess that pretty much seals it.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> If you're using on-demand printing, you probably will need to typeset it yourself. Use LaTeX (or even better XeTeX).

</comment><comment><USER4> May I ask how you started out with the book? How did you come up with the structure and content.

It seems to me that it is relatively easy to hammer out just a book to have a book. For a memoir or something like that this might be fine. But writing good quality practice/problem centric ones with cases, illustrations, and a decent layouting appear to me like demanding an incredible amount of work. Would be very interested in any thoughts on how to optimize this process.

</comment><comment><USER5> There's LiberWriter made by HNer davidw - <http://www.liberwriter.com>.

</comment><comment><USER6> Check out lulu.com, sounds like others use them in a similar fashion.</comment>


Ask HN: Are there investment possibilities for lifestyle businesses? - <AUTHOR> Hey HN!
TL;DR; I'm running out of resources, need investment, not sure I want to scale like crazy and shoot for a unicorn IPO, are there investors that fund businesses looking to turn a profit rather than exit?
In detail; I've been trying to bootstrap my product idea to profitability, but I'm now 6 months in, and only have a proof of concept that is demo-able but not properly usable yet. I need another 6 months or so to finish the development and start on the promotion. I'd really prefer not to have the distraction of going back to contracting work, so I'm thinking of shifting to working on my pitch and trying to find interested angel / VC investors. After watching the first two talks of YC investment school, I notice the huge focus on investment that revolvs around the anticipation of future investment rounds, acquisitions, IPO's, etc. This doesn't fit my early ideas or just getting enough investment to bootstrap to a profitable company.
Do you think there are investors out there that would be interested in this mindset of growing a company, or is there nothing in it for the investor if the founders goal is simply achieving a level of sustainable success and profitability without incurring 100s of millions of dollars of debt and future investment? Perhaps I need to point my aim a lot higher a lot sooner to coincide with investor desires. <comment><USER2> Historically, lifestyle businesses take on friends and family investment or bank loans.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the suggestion.

I've been reluctant to do a friends/family round since reading some advice about conflating friends with investors. I would prefer investors who would use their experience/contacts/etc to help encourage a return on their investment, and also to keep friends and family impartial from the success/failure of the company.

A bank loan may be an option.

<comment><USER3> bank loans are hard with out cashflow.</comment></comment></comment>


Decentralized Twitter - <AUTHOR> https://leeroy.io/ <comment><USER2> Installed Brave and Metamask but sign up hangs after entering username.

<comment><AUTHOR> You have to approve the $0.03 transaction on Meta Mask. It's not user friendly. You can also watch to see if the transaction is pending on etherscan.

<comment><USER2> Oh weird, I don't have a balance and nothing mentioned that.</comment></comment></comment>


Moving Changes to Feature Branches After-the-Fact in Mercurial - <AUTHOR> http://blog.amir.rachum.com/post/39140324119/moving-changes-to-feature-branches-after-the-fact-in

<comment><USER2> It sounds like the author isn't really interested in named branches, but rather postpone the push of his work-in-progress that's on the default branch. You don't need anything fancy for that, and certainly not rebase.

Mercurial has so-called anonymous branches, so all he needs to do is 'hg update' to the commit preceding his work on feature A, start work on feature B (will result in two heads on the default branch) and then push only _those_ changes by specifying the -r flag to push.</comment>


Shell Scripts Matter - <AUTHOR> https://dev.to/thiht/shell-scripts-matter <comment><USER2> This is the kind of article I can get behind. Love seeing more and more ways to perfect my bash-fu, a very underrated skill these days. I get more actual work done in scripts than just about anything else.</comment>


Prediction: Facebook Stock  Google Stock by 2018 - <AUTHOR> http://www.michaelrihani.com/2011/06/prediction-facebook-stock-google-stock-by-2018/

<comment><AUTHOR> This is my first submission to Hacker News, so please be nice! :)

This is also my first attempt at creating a blog, so I'm testing out the look and feel of the site and how I'm going to be writing.

Any feedback is welcome and appreciated, thanks!</comment>


Facebook Is Down for Some Users - <AUTHOR> http://mashable.com/2012/12/10/facebook-gone-down/

<comment><USER2> Via <http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/facebook.com> : "Huh? <http://facebook.com> doesn't look like a site on the interwho."

As if the DNS record itself is missing.

<comment><USER3> That page seems to a bit stupid. It shows me the same for: <http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/google.com>

<comment><USER2> Google has also had outages today.

If I put in other sites, I get the standard "it's just you. [site] is up" response. For example, <http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/news.ycombinator.com>

And if I put in a site I know no longer exists because we're no longer hosting it, I get "It's not just you! <http://rocksrolldownhill.com> looks down from here.": <http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/rocksrolldownhill.com>

Both the google and facebook outages appear to be unusual.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> This being on the front page of HN right now is a great example of how boring and insubstantial tech news can be

</comment><comment><USER5> It is down for me. It says "The server at www.facebook.com can't be found, because the DNS lookup failed." Workaround is using Opera with Turbo enabled. Or may be to use Tor.

</comment><comment><USER6> Change your DNS to Google's: 126.96.36.199 and 220.127.116.11

</comment><comment><USER7> +1</comment>


Editing your Google Docs on the go - <AUTHOR> http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/11/editing-your-google-docs-on-go.html <comment><USER2> I've used DocsToGo, which syncs with both Dropbox and Google Docs. <http://www.dataviz.com/products/documentstogo/>

I've also used PlainText, which is without question the best text editing tool on the iphone and ipad. The dropbox integration is sick. <http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/plaintext>

</comment><comment><USER3> interesting that it is in browser, but they say are "rolling it out... on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and on iOS devices (version 3.0+) including the iPad" what features does the android 2.1 browser lack the prevents it from being available there?

<comment><USER4> My guess is it comes down to performance. Froyo brought the V8 JS engine to Android, with a "2-3x times improvement in JavaScript performance vs 2.1":

[http://android- developers.blogspot.com/2010/05/android-22-an...](http://android- developers.blogspot.com/2010/05/android-22-and-developers-goodies.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> For Pete's sake, it's about time. I think that the lack of mobile editing has been the #1 thing that's prevented me from using Docs for any serious work.

</comment><comment><USER6> Anyone worked out how they are doing this without contentEditable? My understanding is that this was the issue on mobile webkit.

<comment><USER7> The new Google Docs editor (rolled out earlier this year) doesn't use contentEditable. The layout and text entry is all custom.

<comment><USER8> That still doesn't answer the question of _how_. Anyone know anything regarding the details of impementation?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I have been waiting my entire life for this to come out.*

(*Give or take a few dozen years)

</comment><comment><USER10> If you could edit while offline, and have it re-sync when you're connected, that would be nice.

It doesn't sound like that is supported yet.

</comment><comment><USER11> One step closer to making the iPad my go-to machine.</comment>


There's More to Science Than Evolution - <AUTHOR> http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2010/04/theres_more_to_science_than_ev.php

<comment><USER2> The reason why evolution stands out in contrast to other questions is because the church never got around to making a 'genesis' that flat out contradicts the size of an electron or how lasers function, and then turned this in to a central piece of their doctrine that supports a whole pile of other religious concepts.

Also, evolution operates on time-scales that most humans have trouble perceiving and/or thinking about so it is a convenient concept to create doubt around, even if it is one of the best supported scientific theories out there.

<comment><USER3> "even if it is one of the best supported scientific theories out there."

While it certainly has more evidence than AGW, it doesn't hold a candle to relativity (general or specific) or newtonian physics or a whole slew of chemistry theories.

I do agree w/ the first part of that sentence, that the large time scales are hard for people to wrap their mind around, and thus lends itself to a natural doubt of it.

<comment><USER4> "...it doesn't hold a candle to relativity (general or specific) or newtonian physics or a whole slew of chemistry theories."

I don't know if that's necessarily true. It's certainly not possible to measure how "accurate" the theory of evolution is, because it's not that kind of theory. It doesn't really make many (any?) specific predictions that can be tested in the same manner that those of relativity or chemistry can. On the other hand, I think our odds of discovering something tomorrow (or even in the next hundred years) that cannot be reconciled against evolution are significantly lower than the odds of us discovering something in the same timeframe that's inconsistent with relativity.

<comment><USER3> We can't borrow from knowledge we'll have tomorrow, any conjecture on what will be found is at best a hypothesis in its own right. Data and verification for relativity is just well established (but arguably more research dollars go into that than evolution).

Viewing the odds of discovering something tomorrow or the next hundred years is very subjective -- case in point, I view the odds of discovering something contradictory to evolution far higher than something contradicting relativity. So we are at an impasse, and I'd suggest we need to go on what we have now, rather than how something _might_ unfold based on our own biases (I am not denying my inclination towards astrophysics!).

If evolution could be harnessed to make verifiable predictions, I think it would be further along in terms of being a grounded and less disputed theory (with the understanding that no matter what, there will be dissenters). Or if alien life was found, I think evolution science would benefit from having a second playing field and _might_ be on a better footing.

<comment><USER2> > If evolution could be harnessed to make verifiable predictions

That's an 'ID' talking point and verifiable false.

There are many thousands of cases where evolutionary theory could be used to predict the outcome of an experiment and each and every one of those has held up.

The interesting one would be the first -and only- counter example required, but to date not a single one has been found.

Support for evolution is rock solid, to the point where the only people that try to undermine it usually have some kind of political agenda to push.

You have to hand it to the ID (formerly creationist) groups though, they are doing an excellent job of sowing doubt amongst the uneducated, and they are getting skilled at the debate to the point where all but the most interested lay people can see the holes in their arguments.

But when they go to hospital and need treatment suddenly science is a-ok and never mind the fact that these bacteria have evolved to become resistant to such and such an anti-biotic, give me the stronger stuff...

Your viewing of the 'odds' of something turning up that would contradict relativity is at odds with that of for instance, one Albert Einstein, who searched for a way of unifying general relativity with electromagnetism, without success. Once found it is widely believed that either one or both of the 'parent' theories will need some adjustment.

Evolutionary theory is _much_ more vulnerable to falsification, a single example of a creature that could not have evolved and it would be history. In spite of millions of species that we can observe today and the many very motivated people searching for such a counter example none has been found.

<comment><USER5> _But when they go to hospital and need treatment suddenly science is a-ok_

I find this statement to be disingenuous. I would be hard pressed to believe that (most) creationists are against science in general or think that science itself is generally wrong. In fact, they seem to try to make scientific type arguments, and I'd suspect that most IDers believe that the arguments are in fact _good_ science.

<comment><USER2> It isn't disingenuous in the least. Science is a method. You either accept that method or you don't, you can't pick and choose. If you are not an expert biologist you probably shouldn't hold expert opinions on the subject, just as you are probably not an expert surgeon so you shouldn't hold expert opinions on surgery.

To choose science for one specialty but pseudo science or dogma for another is inconsistent. The scientific method has brought us both surgery and insight in how we came to be here and so on. It's hypocrisy to claim special knowledge about our origins absence any evidence, but to be happy with the fruits of all that labour when it suits you.

I prefer the (true) Mennonites in this respect, at least they are more or less consistent in their beliefs and their application of those beliefs. That doesn't make them less wrong, but they are at least not guilty of hypocrisy.

You can't be against evolution and against science at the same time, evolution _is_ science, and science at its best.

Just like science put men on the moon and freed us from the shackles of the church it will occasionally cause a change of belief, either by replacing a wrong theory with a better one or by proving a widely held belief to be false.

The only reason the ID'ers try to make scientific type arguments is to sound more plausible when faced with scientific opposition, not because they've suddenly seen the light. And dazzling the masses with pseudo science is a great way of confusing the issue, right up to the claim that ID is just another 'theory' that should be given equal time in education.

<comment><USER5> _You either accept that method or you don't, you can't pick and choose._

 _To choose science for one specialty but pseudo science or dogma for another is inconsistent._

Yes you can (edit for clarity: Yes you can use dogma for one domain and science for another). It is perfectly consistent to say that the word of god is the ultimate truth but where god is silent on an issue science is the next best thing. There is no a priori reason to claim that the scientific method will give more accurate results than the word of god. The fact that science needs to keep updating itself is, for some (most?) people evidence enough that it can't be as accurate as the word of god.

But, thats not my point.

Most people get whatever knowledge they have of science from sources several level removed from the scientist. As a result, they don't get access to see the _true science._ Instead, they take what they hear from (seemingly) credible sources and trust it. Maybe they put some thought into the arguments given but generally they don't, especially if no one is disputing what they hear.

With evolution though, there's people yelling at them from both sides. Both sides use what seem to be logical sounding arguments (though, under close inspection, one side's logic breaks down). In addition, one side also claims to represent god, which they are told is the _ultimate truth._ In their minds therefore it becomes:

Science vs Science + Ultimate Truth

It doesn't take a genius to see which side would win in that battle.

However, with medicine, God appears to be essentially silent on the matter. There are no options to weight. Everyone agrees. Nice and simple.

So yes, there is some hypocrisy, but its limited to the politically motivated few who are pushing the ID agenda. The masses are not guilty of true hypocrisy.

<comment><USER2> God is silent on all issues.

It's men talking, pretending to be speaking in the name of god, and using the gullible masses to prey upon them and create power structures.

That's a bit of a difference.

I think the bigger problem here is that science is simply hard work and that even for a lay person to understand all but the most basic science requires some serious dedication.

Much easier to believe someone that claims to have all the answers in an easy to digest form with a catch all clause at the end. ("God did it").

When science was 'new' (as in, when it started to replace the various gods of old) it wasn't seen as much of a threat, and when it did the occasional scientist found himself put on 'trial' and silenced or murdered.

Now the whole of science is on trial, with the ignorant masses used as an endless supply of funds to further the goals of a few scared old men. It's a sad state of affairs.

In a time when information is available to all those that want it, it is disappointing to see that so many prefer to live in a life of illusion. We have _real_ problems and all the time and effort that goes in to reducing reproductive rights, the affairs of consenting adults and to put the lie to our origins is taking valuable time and energy away from more pressing issues.

Modern medicine would not be possible without a rigorous application of the scientific method. DNA evidence is used in courts of law. Speciation has been observed under laboratory conditions. And yet there are those that would deny others the knowledge of these truths to further their own goals and to extend their power.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Sikhs who saved Parmesan - <AUTHOR> http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33149580

<comment><USER2> Wow, I know it doesn't sounds very mature, but to see this article and comments on HN, really make me feel happy and proud to be a Sikh.

But, alas Sikh's own state of Punjab is nowhere close to successes of the community all over the world. It's a great tragedy.

The state of Punjab once a pioneer in green revolution and the richest in India is now being looted by dynasty politics and corruption. The state of things is so bad that people don't even want to visit back the place. Sometimes, we wonder if that's the key for our current success everywhere but in our own home.

<comment><USER3> Part of the problem is that drug addiction has reached staggering proportions in Punjab.

<comment><USER4> Can you elaborate on the drug addiction you've alluded to? Alcohol? Opiates? I'm interested in learning more about Punjab, which is why I ask.

<comment><USER3> Just saw this article: [http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/indias-soaring- drug-pr...](http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/indias-soaring-drug- problem-455-rise-in-seizures-26787)

As kjsingh says, it's both. Expand the list to any kind of high: prescription painkillers, Iodex, even lizards: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Drunkards-...](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Drunkards- turn-to-lizards-for-a-high/articleshow/14683945.cms)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> (Obvious Generalizations etc..) Sikhs are some of the hardest working and toughest people from the Indian Subcontinent.

They also have a fearsome reputation in the military and are considered one of the toughest Regiments of the Indian army. There are many stories where they have literally fought to the bitter end against overwhelming odds [1].

The great tragedy is that since 9/11 Sikhs have often been mistaken for afgans/arabs wearing turbans & discriminated against.

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

<comment><USER6> I'm generally pretty biased against all religion by default but Sikhism is one of the few religions I can't find much to complain about. It's pretty egalitarian, its followers are encouraged to defend the weak (and not just weak Sikhs either) and committing to its values and laws is an option that should only be taken after careful consideration rather than the default.

The only negative thing I can think of is the insurgency in India of the 1970s and the assassination of Indira Gandhi, although I don't think it's fair to classify those events purely as religiously motivated violence (or even terrorism).

<comment><USER7> I respect that they have a tradition that considers religious practice most valid when it occurs _in the world_ [1].

Many other religions have strong ascetic and/or monastic traditions, and they tend to consider those practitioners to be, in some sense or other, the holiest. Retreat from the world tends to be the advised path for the purest, or at least most successful, pursuit of religious study and practice.

Not the Sikhs. They're like, "Pft, that sounds like religion on easy mode. No thanks, I'm going to have a job, a spouse, and kids, and still manage to practice my religion well, because I'm not a wimp." This _despite_ their religion featuring all the usual the-world-distracts-you-from-salvation warnings.

[1] See #6: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhis...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism#Prohibitions_in_Sikhism)

<comment><USER6> > Blind spirituality: Superstitions and rituals should not be observed or > followed, including pilgrimages, fasting and ritual purification; > circumcision; idols & grave worship; compulsory wearing of the veil for > women; etc.

This is probably one of the things that surprised me the most. Other religions put these things first, Sikhism just bans them outright. You'd think a religion that doesn't reinforce its importance with obtrusive rituals wouldn't survive but here it is alive and kicking ass.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Here[1] is a nice 5-minute 2008 video on the same topic. And a 2011 NYT article[2] also points out some of the challenges they have faced. This 2012 article [3] has some nice pictures

[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frOl9mO7q6o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frOl9mO7q6o) [2] [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/europe/08iht- italy08...](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/world/europe/08iht- italy08.html?pagewanted=all) [3] [http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo- essay/parmesan-goes-indi...](http://www.caravanmagazine.in/photo- essay/parmesan-goes-indian)

<comment><USER9> Here is a 20 minute video on it: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HtKy7_n1LA)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> I recently watched the documentary Chef's Table on Netflix [1] and in the first episode, there was another interesting story about saving Parmesan cheese.

The earthquake damaged a lot of Parmesan wheels, leaving them vulnerable to spoilage. This would mean a huge loss of investment and possibly bankruptcy for a lot of the parmesan producers.

A chef from Modena then created a recipe called Risotto cacio e pepe that was both easy to make and required Parmesan. He used the to simultaneously raise awareness about the consequences of the earthquake and promote sales of the damaged Parmesan [2]. He ended up selling 360.000 wheels of Parmigiano, possibly saving a lot of cheese makers from going out of business.

[1] [http://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80007945&jbp=0&jbr=1](http://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=80007945&jbp=0&jbr=1) [2] [http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/en/press_area/2013_1/massi...](http://www.parmigianoreggiano.com/en/press_area/2013_1/massimo_bottura_podium_best_chefs_world.aspx)

<comment><USER11> A lot of damaged cheese was simply 1) sold in smaller pieces, as is the norm for retail distribution (1/16 or 1/32 of a whole wheel are the common sizes), or 2) routed to industrial processing to become little cheese pieces (shrinkwrapped as snacks) and pre-grated cheese.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> If the currently settled Sikhs are moving up in the labour market (and integrating well into Italian society), couldn't they just open up immigration to a new wave of immigrants to start the same journey?

Eg there are lots of Sikhs left in India who'd be happy to tend Italian cows, and other people Sikh or not all over the world.

</comment><comment><USER13> Sikhs are the warriors of India - they have been India's guardians and the hardest working and friendliest people. They are revered all across India and referred to as "Sardarji" \- which is an honorific meaning "Commander" or "Leader".

<comment><USER14> Not to diminish the large contributions of many Sikhs in military service to India - that record is indisputable - but it's a bit far fetched to call them _The_ warriors of India.

India has had many martial communities over its history and up to this day, and to focus only on the Sikhs in this regard is to tell a selective story of the past and present.

In my travels in India I've seen a large number of Indian military personnel drawn from all over the subcontinent. Indeed most of those I saw stationed on the front lines in Kashmir when I visited there just ahead of the Kargil war in 1999 were from southern India.

<comment><USER15> The British while ruling India classified the Sikhs as a "Martial Race". "Non- martial" races weren't allowed to be recruited into the British Army in India. For more see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_race](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_race)

The interesting consequence of this, was when the Indian Army came in to existence, it had a highly disproportionate share of men from a handful of communities. I know this was true till a few years ago (haven't checked recently), but the Indian Army never released data on the state wise distribution of its personnel as a result.

<comment><USER16> Yup, and this led to an imbalance in the officer corps too, with sikhs being disproportionate to their population. Though it's generally not talked about, that imbalance in the officer corp has been corrected. Started during the 1980's.

Another interesting aspect of Indian Army regiments is that they are based on a region or caste for the enlisted members, but the officers can be from any part of the country. So if you're a south Indian officer then you must know hindi and if your parent regiment is say the Gorkhas, they'll teach you Nepali.

Also, there has been a greater emphasis on recruiting from all parts of the country for the enlisted members. Military recruiting has certainly improved and has become much more diverse over the years. The Army doesn't release this data because of political considerations. Politicians are sure to demand quotas if those numbers come out. And letting politicians meddle with the internal systems of a really good institution like the Indian Army is a sure way to gut it.

To clarify recruiting means recruiting of enlisted members. Selection may be the right term for officers.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Sikhs are hardworking people, so its no surprise you can see their influence across India.

Even during the heights of Punjab insurgency the Army Chief was a Sikh and a majority of India's defence chiefs have been Sikhs.

The Indian cusine that is found outside India is predominantly a Punjabi cusine. Bollywood is dominated by them as well.

A few year back, I met a Sardarji at Adelaide airport and his story mimics the one in this article. Difference is they are in the borders of South Australia and Victoria in Australia and into Citrus cultivation and were diversifying.

<comment><USER18> No argument against the fact that Sikhs are a hard-working people, but its a stretch to say Indian cuisine found in most Indian restaurants in the West is Punjabi cuisine. What gets served is generic North Indian food which is based on the Mughlai cuisine. For instance you almost never find Sarson da Saag or Makki di roti in any restaurant, so cannot really call it Punjabi food.

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Sikhs are hardworking lads.

<comment><USER14> and lasses ;)

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> I don't know why, but lot of Sikhs just do very demeaning work Abroad. Mostly Labour. 1-2% go to College and get Degree. In Long run, its bad for Economy.

</comment><comment><USER21> I live at 150 km from there, eat that parmesan very often, and didn't know anything about this. Interesting read and thanks to all those workers.

</comment><comment><USER22> btw, punjab was split in half between india and pakistan when the british left.

<comment><USER23> I doubt very many of the Sikhs remained in Pakistan after partition.

<comment><USER24> There are many pockets of Sikh population near important historical shrines like Nanakana Sahib and Panja Sahib [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankana_Sahib](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nankana_Sahib)</comment></comment></comment>


The fierce competition in the short-video market in China - <AUTHOR> https://www.ecommercestrategychina.com/column/sina-tencent-and-baidu-who-can-create-another-tik-tok <comment><AUTHOR> Chinese internet giants, threatened by the rising Tik Tok, are taking actions to grab the short-video market.</comment>


Ask HN: I need help gather data-sets and API suggestions for NYTimes Hack Day - <AUTHOR>

I'm trying to build a comprehensive list of new and interesting data-sets, tools, API's for the TimesOpen Hack Day in December.
The goal is a quick-start page for people to get up and running quickly with whatever project they decide to do. This would ideally would be useful for other events too.
- API's beyond the obvious
 - <USER2>
 - Classes, wrappers, and such
 - Open source projects that can be utilized
 - Sample code
 - Data (interesting, useful, electoral, esoteric...)
Please feel free to re-state the obvious stuff (Google, Twitter API's, PhoneGap, JQuery docs and such) since you never know what might get missed.
I'm hoping to provide a few Xbox Kinects for people to dev on so anything else beyond whats already on openkinect.org is be welcome.
Not to plug the event, but to get more info on it:
http://nyti.ms/tohackday
http://open.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/22/timesopen-hack-day/ <comment><USER3> WePay has a great API - <https://www.wepay.com/developer/api>

I built EverRibbon with it <http://www.everribbon.com></comment>


SimCity-like visualisation of real-world cities in the works - <AUTHOR> http://vizicities.com/

<comment><AUTHOR> Early screenshot: <http://imgur.com/TCG3itK>

<comment><USER2> How does this differ from cities that already have 3D building data in Google Maps/Earth?

<comment><USER3> 3D building data is only part of this, arguably the least interesting part. It'll be interactive and 'living', not much unlike city-strategy games. It'll also act as a real-time data view of cities in ways that aren't available on the Web yet.

<comment><USER2> Now that sounds cool!

Are the simulations(games?) multi-user?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Could the OP explain a little more about what it is they are doing?

A holding page and vague image of a block city doesn't tell us anything!

There isn't enough here to up-vote yet.

<comment><USER3> Sure, it's basically a 3d visualisation of real life cities using the latest Web technologies. Part data visualisation, part game, part art – it's ambitious and will be an interesting view of the cities we live in.

The aim is to have the beta up and running soon.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Always curious, I gave my email address. The result is a mailing list preference panel. Thank you but no, I'm not hackable. -> [Unsubscribe] -> bye!

<comment><USER3> The beta is coming soon, there are no plans to use your email for anything other than information about the early access.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I don't understand what this does and I can't play around with it without giving my email address. Is there a publicly available example online?

<comment><USER3> It's not out yet, but here is an early screenshot. The beta will be soon… <http://imgur.com/TCG3itK>

<comment><USER7> Can you please add an about section with some more screenshots and a "mission statement" ?

<comment><USER3> Understood. We'll definitely add more information in the near future.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


That's Just How I Scroll – tips for making scrollable areas more obvious - <AUTHOR> https://css-tricks.com/thats-just-how-i-scroll/ <comment><USER2> I hate OSX hiring scrollbar. By the time I am ready to scroll? It's hidden. Again.</comment>


Show HN: Arc – a declarative data transformation framework - <AUTHOR> https://arc.tripl.ai <comment><AUTHOR> Hi everyone I would like to show the project we have been working on for a couple of years: Arc, an opinionated framework for defining predictable, repeatable and manageable data transformation pipelines;

\- predictable in that data is used to define transformations - not code

\- repeatable in that if a job is executed multiple times it will produce the same result

\- manageable in that execution considerations and logging have been baked in from the start

\- MIT licensed open-source and cloud agnostic

We have seen that it is hard to scale data engineering teams in a code-first environment. Arc solves a lot of the problems we have seen data engineering/science teams struggle with. It:

\- makes data engineering accessible to audiences outside of data engineers - you don't need to be proficient at Scala/Spark to introduce data engineering into your team

\- has a Jupyter Notebook based development environment to quickly build logic

\- provides a clear path to production for machine learning (via MLTransform, TensorflowServingTransform or HTTPTransform for models as a service)

\- has a plugin system allowing federated development for any features not in the base framework

Currently it uses the Apache Spark execution engine but due to its declarative nature can be executed against future engines.

Please let us know if you have any feedback/suggestions.</comment>