From the Trenches: Making an IoT Platform Work with ESP8266 and CC3200 - <AUTHOR> https://blog.cesanta.com/esp8266-and-cc3200-how-we-made-them-work-on-our-iot-platform-presentation <comment><USER2> interesting to see the comparison between ESP8266 and CC3200. However, on a quick glance it is hard what Smart.js is about and what platform it supports best. This might be interesting to know in the context of a book that I am working on, see [http://embeddednodejs.com/chapters.html](http://embeddednodejs.com/chapters.html)

<comment><AUTHOR> Have a look at our GitHub page: [https://github.com/cesanta/smart.js](https://github.com/cesanta/smart.js) Smart.js is open source and works with ESP8266, CC3200 and POSIX.

<comment><USER2> so, it works with X, Y and Z, but what does it do? Is is a dashboard for data from IoT? Is it a web server/protocol ? Is it some other kind of control layer? What data does it deal with, etc. ? Not clear from the first glance.

<comment><USER3> Thanks for the feedback! We'll try to make it easier to figure out what it is.

The full docs are [https://www.cesanta.com/developer/smartjs](https://www.cesanta.com/developer/smartjs) (linked from the github repo).

TL;DR: two pieces: multiplatform firmware focusing very small embedded devices + hosted services that help you build your IoT solution.

\---

The Smart.js firmware implements a bunch of networking protocols and a JavaScript interpreter that fits in <1KB of ram.

> Is it a web server/protocol ? Is it some other kind of control layer We do > provide a JSON+WebSocket based protocol and some tooling around it that help > you build applications. It's designed to play nicely with devices that are > not always online (e.g. power saving) and that might often change network.

However Smart.js it's not only that. You can use plain HTTP and plain WebSockets and (soon) MQTT and connect your device with whatever is the rest of your stack.

> What data does it deal with, etc. We also offer a hosted service that can > collect metrics, store logs, do pubsub messaging and perform unattended OTA > updates of your firmware.

<comment><USER2> if Smart.js contains a new kind of JavaScript runtime for embedded devices, that might be interesting to put more into focus (and compare e.g. with Tessel or Espruino projects).

The protocols: HTTP, WebSockets, MQTT are pretty standard now. What is their relationship with Smart.js? Why e.g. are Arduino libs not used?

For high-level system design, Node-Red seems to gain traction, what is the difference between Node-Red and Smart.js ?

<comment><USER3> Smart.js is based on two projects:

\- V7: a small portable JS VM ([https://github.com/cesanta/v7](https://github.com/cesanta/v7)) \- mongoose: a portable async multiprotocol networking library ([https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose](https://github.com/cesanta/mongoose))

Both of those projects are independent and have some traction on their own; but you're right that we should make it more explicit. Mongoose is out there since 2004 and is a quite popular embedded http server. We added many other protocols to it, including also COAP and DNS.

Arduino libs are not used because they are not async and not portable.

Honestly I don't know about node-red, sounds interesting; however node's V8 VM is too heavyweight for the smallest devices we aim to support. Smart.js does expose a nodejs-compatible core API wherever possible, so it might be possible to port node-red to it.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Hola, a p2p web accelerator - <AUTHOR> http://www.hola.org/faq.html

<comment><USER2> I can see how on a slow connection (dialup,midband,slow broadband) this will speed up the connection, however on a decent-ish internet connection the compression will probably just offset the latency to peers. For web pages the only increase that may be noticeable is through its cache, and all modern web browsers have a cache built in making it redundant. As for the video cache, it implies you are reloading the same video over-and-over again, I seriously doubt it caches every video you watch and if it does that seems like a poor design choice.

Lastly it seems to go on the assumption that all peers have a large upload speed, so that multiple peers can match content coming from a CDN; whereas those who would likely benefit from a web accelerator probably have a minuscule upload speed.</comment>


Highlights from Apple's Keynote Event - <AUTHOR> https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/09/highlights-from-apples-keynote-event/ <comment><USER2> Was there anything that innovative at the event? Have we reached peak innovation?</comment>


IPhone 3.0 jailbreak and unlock already done by dev-team - <AUTHOR> http://blog.iphone-dev.org/post/124232620/big-week

<comment><USER2> And is expected to be out on Friday, ultrasn0w unlock through Cydia, and the general jailbreak through the usual tools on announced on the team's blog same day.</comment>


Bloomberg market data API made public for C++, .Net, Java, Perl - <AUTHOR> http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/it-business/3334375/bloomberg-market-data-api-made-public/

<comment><USER2> Bloomberg isn't offering this data for free. They can't offer full, real-time data for free.

I'm surprised how many people on HN are interested in this. If you are looking for real-time feeds, the best vendor I've found is <http://www.nanex.net/> . They offer the whole feed, real-time, over the internet. Unfortunately you have to access it through their windows based dll. I can't understand why they don't have a native linux client...but they don't.

A very interesting source of data is BATS. I believe you can get free data feeds from BATS. Since they are a very liquid exchange, in many instances their prices can be proxies for the full market. Unfortunately, you need industrial strength bandwidth to access that data (you can't just get it over the internet).

I believe there is space in the market for another market data vendor. Use good compression to drastically reduce bandwidth (see nanex), provide diverse client APIs (NOT nanex), slowly start to aggregate feeds from international exchanges, provide intelligent routing (100 clients in china should not make 100 connections to a NYC data center, they should connect to a local node), offer limited access to no cost exchanges, etc.

Unfortunately vendor agreements for exchanges are expensive enough that they are out of reach for bootstrapped operations.

<comment><USER3> Vendor agreements are only part of it. We actually run one of the largest private networks in the world. There are huge fixed costs with just the physical logistics of the operation. On the data side, I was curious and checked.. The aggregate amount of incoming ticks/messages is upwards of 45 billion a day.

<comment><USER2> You are right, bloomberg is obviously in a different league. I meant there is an opportunity to offer market data to a different set of clients.

However, that is not to say that the size of bloomberg's infrastructure is the biggest obstacle to competing with it. Today there are technologies (nosql, HDFS, virtual clustures, etc.) which make it reasonable for ambitious engineers to think about competing with sections of bloomberg's business.

Bloomberg does have an immense, non-technical, advantage because traders often love their terminals. From the outside, it looks like an ugly, mainframe age technology with weird commands and ancient looking charts. But boy is it ever useful :) Proficient BB users would make vim users proud.

<comment><USER3> I'm honestly curious if 3rd party cloud pricing can allow competition that makes business sense, though. Maybe someone will attempt it..

As for the terminal, it is constantly evolving. Change takes time :) Mess with something that works and you might not like the outcome. Just ask Netflix ;)

<comment><USER4> _As for the terminal, it is constantly evolving_

That explains why it installs .NET framework, Silverlight, Flash and God knows what else :)

<comment><USER3> It's not a big enterprisey mish-mash if that's what you're thinking :) Everything has its place. Flash is used for the animated ipanels just because it is easier for the designers to use. (It also is used for IB video chat because of its easy hookup to the webcams installed on the box.) Silverlight is used for all the TV streaming because the live video streaming is built on top of WM smooth streaming tech. .NET is used as a hosting environment for bits and pieces such as the Bing maps integration. It is also how apps such as our dev IDE are run. I can log into any terminal anywhere in the world and run any of our internal stand-alone apps without admin rights. (And via any browser using BBA to login.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm not convinced that they're actually offering the data for free here. Merely the use of the API is now free (You used to have to actually purchase Bloomberg terminals/hardware to use it). I've emailed both of their contact addresses requesting more information, will edit this as soon as I get a response.

<comment><USER3> Disclaimer: I work at Bloomberg.

The point of opening up the API is to allow products to be developed around it without any restrictions on shipping our code within the 3rd party application. That basically sums it up.

In order to receive data you need to have a data subscription and we pass through all exchange fees that exchanges charge depending on which particular pieces of data you would like to access. (We serve 350+ exchanges over this API)

Previously, the 3rd party app market was a bit restricted because app developers themselves couldn't necessarily bundle our SDK into their product due to the restrictive licensing and it was a hassle for the ecosystem of devs who write apps in this space. This makes it easier for them to build and ship products.

In order to become a data customer, you can either talk to a terminal with the SDK, or we sell a managed appliance that only serves the data. The SDK can talk to either without configuring it differently. All the rules on distributing the data apply no matter how you get it because the sources of the data (exchanges) are very, very restrictive about specific use cases of their data. The contracts spell out exactly who can place the numbers where and for what purpose. Basically, no matter who you get data from, displaying it publicly anywhere or distributing it as any part of service requires special legal contracts.

<comment><USER4> Thanks apaprocki for the clarification. Dont you think that an additional step would be have a public API directly accessible through internet? In the past customers had to buy dedicated lines for your service, then BLB gave the opportunity to use internet connections, but with desktop software or appliance inhouse. The next step will be giving direct access to api from the internet without other software involved (opening probably in this way more market for new web applications/services integration)

<comment><USER3> Short answer.. I'm working on it :) I want to see it happen, but obviously can't guarantee it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I'm guessing that previously Bloomberg either charged or didn't allow 3rd party access to their APIs so that you could develop your own apps on top of the datafeed.

By making it open, it opens up the market for 3rd party tool developers to build apps that can access the Bloomberg feed data.

To those that are complaining, I have a developer subscription to IQFeed, which charges a fee of around $70/month for delayed data, and I pay $300/yr, so Bloomberg offering it for free is pretty good. Too bad their data feed costs ~$1000/month.

<comment><USER7> Does the cost depend on the volume of data accessed or is it just a fixed amount per month?

<comment><USER6> The cost of what, IQFeed? For IQFeed it's a fixed amount per month. I have no idea on Bloomberg.

<comment><USER3> There is a monthly cost and also tiered, metered usage. Keep in mind this isn't just for accessing North American exchanges. Our data customers can access all data we have, from the 110+ countries we collect feeds from.

<comment><USER7> Thanks for the response. Can you give a pointer to the Bloomberg pricing info, to get an idea of the fixed + variable costs?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> If anyone wants licensed Bloomberg financial news content, we have that in our News API and can give to you guys at HN rates. Can be used for commercial use. We worked hard to get this agreement done with Bloomberg since we know a lot of finance startup could use this.

</comment><comment><USER9> What is the cheapest way to get the actual data? A number of years back, opentick had a pretty cheap API for getting market data. However, they have shutdown. Is there anyone out there with a good api, and relatively cheap data feed?

</comment><comment><USER10> Note that ths is just an API - to use it you still need to be a subscriber, and nothing they offer is cheap. In the tradition of their Excel APIs, this doesn't even come close to giving automated access to their entire database.

This API seems like a marketing tool designed to get people to build algorithmic applications around expensive real time feeds from Bloomberg.

<comment><USER3> Is there an example of some data you need which isn't served over the API?

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Having worked there, I can see that this is a very powerful move towards solidifying marketshare for then. They were drowning in complexity. Opening the API will allow them to acquire any small innovating startup at a fraction of the cost it would have taken them to develop inhouse.

<comment><USER12> maybe so, but Bloomberg is the dominant player in most of the markets it operates in. Perhaps with this initiative Bloomberg is looking to embrace new markets as some of their previous cash cows continue to struggle as debt markets can't seem to put 2008 behind them. Empirasign is a market data company whose focus is transaction prices for OTC MBS transactions. We currently license our market data to Bloomberg for internal use. Our raw data is a series of email messages, and the output is basically one big table whose key index is the Blomberg Ticker--which thanks to Open Symbology (bysm.bloomber.com) is license free. One new market that comes to mind for Bloomberg is online ad rates. If I were starting a new finance start-up today, I'd focus on gathering transaction prices for online ads, organize them into some form that made sense to finance types, and publish this data to Bloomberg via their API. Now you have two take-out bids: One in the tech space, and the other in the finance arena. Anyone interested in this, message us: firstname.lastname@example.com.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> This is great for small finance startups where previously the costs were astronomical. I'm certainly going to look at incorporating this in to livelystocks.com which could benefit from some realtime finance data.

<comment><USER14> I was initially very excited but once you read the details it's the spec and implementation of the API for a realtime market data messaging system that is public and MIT licenced (unlike Bloomberg's competitors) not any actual data sources.

Presumably even if you want to test a new client implementation, you would need to have an account with Bloomberg (the magazine article mentions "beta" markets but I'm guessing that doesn't mean in finance what it means to developers).

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> My experience with using anything Reuters or Bloomberg is that you do not want their code anywhere near a critical system. It's poorly designed, poorly documented, low on features, hard to integrate, and incredibly expensive. Moving data from one place to another is a solved problem. But not if you are using RMDS. Then it's just a problem.

<comment><USER16> I can't speak for Reuters, but I have worked with two generations of Bloomberg data. One was a trading backfeed over TCP/IP that was pretty complicated to implement. For example, whenever my side crashed or exited, I had to call the NY contact to restart his server end. That was a pretty tricky, but once up it was quite steady. And it was attached to a very critical trading system.

The second was a very rich set of all manner of indicative data--a superset of what you would imagine is behind the Terminal itself. This seemed to me to be a very cleanly specified and implemented system. And it was quite feature rich.

I am not clear on what relationship this has with their current offering.

<comment><USER3> The first one sounds like some kind of custom FIX feed. That would be unrelated. The latter is essentially what was released today. The request/response mode is used for the indicative/historical retrieval and subscriptions are used for the realtime data.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Wow this looks pretty awesome. As a student who is interested in relating programming to finance, this definitely looks like it takes care of some barriers that were previously in place. I'm extremely excited to look into this.

<comment><USER18> Then why not just learn with Interactive Brokers API, you get access to their TWS test system API which is great for learning purposes.

<comment><USER17> Thanks, I'll give that a look as well.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Any way of using the api's in 'test' mode? Maybe have the methods return dummy / delayed data ? Or maybe have one instrument of each type available for free so that people can create mockups and test wrappers ?

<comment><USER3> I know internally we have a way to do this (use static files to test subscriptions / static requests). I'll ask if that is available in the package already or if it can be added.

<comment><USER19> Thanks Andrew. This is great work!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Quick replies by Apaprocki is why the internet is so awesome right now.

</comment><comment><USER21> They do not give away content, from their press release: "* Bloomberg is offering its programming interface (BLPAPI) under a free-use agreement. This does not apply to any content."

</comment><comment><USER22> Direct link: <http://open.bloomberg.com/>

But why make the docs .pdf?!

<comment><USER23> This is a massive step for Bloomberg; let's give them a chance to improve over time. One day they might make an appearance on GitHub...

<comment><USER3> Already working on it.. I wrote a Node.js module for the API which I am most likely putting on there soon :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Anyone know a service that provides easy access to historical income statements, balance sheet, and cash flow?

<comment><USER25> S&P Capital IQ -- <http://www.capitaliq.com> Depends on your definition of easy I suppose, but they have a superior fundamentals database.

<comment><USER26> Looks like Capital IQ is already using Hadoop for their infrastructure.

[http://strataconf.com/strata2012/public/schedule/detail/2258...](http://strataconf.com/strata2012/public/schedule/detail/22587)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> This reporter couldn't make the distinction between and open and free?</comment>


Micron stock hits 18-year high - <AUTHOR> https://news.alphastreet.com/micron-rides-on-upbeat-investor-mood-stock-hits-18-year-high/ <comment><USER2> I'm hearing multiple anecdotes that it's increasingly common for some new enterprise machines to be built with huge amounts of DRAM, like in the 512GB - 2 TB range. That would help account for the steady demand and favorable pricing power Micron has for it's core product.

</comment><comment><USER3> WallStreetBets will be happy...

<comment><USER4> Very.

I'm happy and I didn't even get in until late.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Micron has started shipments of a industry's initial SSD built on insubordinate quad-level dungeon (QLC) NAND technology

</comment><comment><USER5> I've been in since $13.</comment>


LoL Guru team comp analyser update (lolguru.gg) - <AUTHOR> We had 2 busy months since we released LoL Guru (lolguru.gg) in the beginning of September. We wanted to give LoL players a new tool to analyze team compositions and understand their strengths, weaknesses, power spikes and so on. Many of you confirmed that we are on the right track which made us more dedicated to develop LoL Guru! Now we feel it's time to give you an update on how things went so far development wise and what you can expect from us in the future.
Updated features:
In live game analysis LoL Guru is now able to automatically arrange the champions to the correct lanes. In the rare cases when it's wrong you still able to manually drag & drop them to the correct lanes.
Automatic region detection. Now we will detect where you are, and try to select the corresponding server automatically. If you register we will save both your server and summoner so you don't need to type it ever again!
Shareable links. Both in team builder and live game analysis you are able to share the match analysis with your friends.
Improved grammar and accuracy. (Still some work in here. Proofreaders welcome.)
Spanish localization: www.lolguru.gg/es
We count on your ideas and help to make LoL Guru even better. What else should we implement? <comment><USER2> Pretty nice site man, you have certainly done a better job than me at making a LoL team builder (www.lolteamstats.com).</comment>


Show HN: Spark - 37Signals Campfire client now available in Windows Store - <AUTHOR> http://codefather.io/spark

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm creator of Spark app ([http://codefather.io/spark/](http://codefather.io/spark/)) - <USER2> Campfire chat client for Windows (8.1)

IMHO it's one of the best Campfire clients out there (iOS, and Android included). I've put a lot effort into creating it and really hope users will enjoy it as I do.

Feedback welcomed. Tadek

<comment><USER3> I would personally choose more professional looking screenshots: currently the first two have pictures from Lord of the Rings and the Big Bang Theory (and character names from the BBT...), and the second two have memes.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for your feedback :) Actually it's on purpose :) Maybe will change it in the future, but personally like it as is! No everything needs to be so serious :)

<comment><USER4> If you want to sell your app to businesses or startups that have accountant who is going to look at the app to consider the requests to buy the app, then you have to consider the maturity of your landing page.

Some of the jokes will put people off, especially the one with sexual tone.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I don't use Campfire anymore but I do think that is a good looking chat client.

The promo site however needs a bit of work. There is just something about the combination of text, images, and spacing that makes it look unattractive.

<comment><AUTHOR> Would love to hear more details. I'm programmer(not designer) so it might be the reason I'm missing something there :)</comment></comment>


Compiled Web vs. Interpreted Web - <AUTHOR> http://www.bitsandbuzz.com/article/compiled-web-vs-interpreted-web

<comment><USER3> Don't think it really captures it.

"Compiled web" I guess is just client server, but running in a browser. Now the "compiled stuff" can be some embedded runtime (flash, java, silverlight) or compact obfuscated javascript, but really, its client/server separation all over a again (with a lot of the upsides, and some of the downsides, but not the installation hassle).

I think the happy medium that a lot of web sites like is the classic web app, with just enough ajax to help with the user experience (but not ajax dominated) - works well for content heavy web apps.

For JS, more and more people are compressing/obfuscating/compiling it - <USER2> does that affect the web in general - people can't see how it works and reuse it...

<comment><USER4> Not sure the compressing/obfuscating of scripts makes the application model similar to a Java/Swing or a Flash/Flex model. The granularity for a Web app is infinitely greater than an Swing/Flex app. Having the UI Structure (HTML), Style (CSS), Logic (JS) interpreted at runtime allows the server to take generate dynamically many part of the applications. This is the big difference, not that the scripts are compressed/minimized.

Now, I agree, some applications overuse AJAX, and often, single page is an overkill with lot of drawbacks and complications.

But the big sites, such as YouTube, Facebook, seems to be using these technologies the right ways.

<comment><USER3> Good point re the granularity - so you think even with a "compiled" JS ajax app, its still more open then the equivalent swing/flex?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I think it's more a matter of control than performance. Web programming is cheap and you don't need to marry with a tools provider.

<comment><USER4> Agree, this is the "business reason" I was talking about.</comment></comment>


When Crowds Try to Flee for Their Lives - <AUTHOR> http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-happens-when-crowds-try-to-flee-for-their-lives <comment><USER2> One of the best explanations I've read of this phenomenon was on reddit:

[https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/3pcvfb/saudi_arab...](https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/3pcvfb/saudi_arabia_hajj_disaster_death_toll_at_least/cw5vxtm/)

</comment><comment><USER3> This gives me a new appreciation for the panic bars ([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_bar](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_bar)) I've been seeing my entire life. I only recently discovered (thanks to a well- hidden tag on one) that they are fire safety devices, but this article makes it clear how important they are in crowd safety for building-type venues.

Presumably not launching fireworks into the ceiling and limiting crowd sizes are the other steps that would be taken in this particular situation.

It really is sad that people have to relearn fire safety lessons over and over. (Note that none of this applies to outdoor crowds, which is obviously a much harder problem when scaled up)

<comment><USER4> "At first security guards thought patrons were trying to leave without paying and blocked exits, trapping victims inside." One other thing to improve is to have people pay up front. This would have prevented the guards from closing the exits. If you have a tab apparently sometimes people try to do a mass break out.

Another great thing is to always have people leave through the fire exits to get them familiar with them (I think they do this in the UK).

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm surprised they didn't mention the fire at The Station club, where 100 people died in the fire because they couldn't get out in time. Mostly because they headed back to the door they came in (a behavior mentioned in the article)

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

</comment><comment><USER6> Some technical resources:

[http://www.vfdb.de/download/TB_13_01_Crowd_densities.pdf](http://www.vfdb.de/download/TB_13_01_Crowd_densities.pdf)

[http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd- density/CrowdDensity-1....](http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd- density/CrowdDensity-1.html)

[http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd- flow/MovingDensity.html](http://www.gkstill.com/Support/crowd- flow/MovingDensity.html)

And one very dramatic video:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu4DlwE0Bu8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu4DlwE0Bu8)

Viewer discretion advised.

</comment><comment><USER7> Absolutely mandatory reading on the subject:

[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/crush- point](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/02/07/crush-point)

</comment><comment><USER8> One thing that is used to prevent bad situations is to place wide round columns before the exits. This will direct the flow around the columns creating a little more time for people behind the column to go thought the exit and remove some pressure of the people in front of the columns.

</comment><comment><USER9> So is there any action which, if taken by a minority of people, could avert disaster? How big should this minority be?

<comment><USER6> Nope. Once a crowd reaches a certain density you're pretty much just screwed. It's just physics at that point. You can't even get out (that's part of the problem). The best you can do is to never get yourself into a super-dense crowd situation in the first place.

<comment><USER9> As far as I can tell, all research on this topic assumes that all people behave in the same way. So it would be interesting to investigate how to change this.

<comment><USER6> People in a super-dense crowd behave in the same way because they have no choice. A super-dense crowd is essentially an incompressible fluid with people as the constituent particles. If everyone stood perfectly still everyone would be fine, but that is not a stable situation. One person tries to move, but they can't because they are packed in so tightly. There is nowhere to move to. So that person's movements are transmitted directly to their neighbors. Again, if _all_ of those neighbors just ignored the fact that there was someone wriggling next to them and continued standing perfectly still, they might be able to contain the problem, but that's not what happens. Some of the neighbors of the initial mover respond to the movement by trying to move themselves. As long as the average number of people responding to movement by moving by moving themselves is >1, the movement will inexorably amplify and spread.

<comment><USER9> > People in a super-dense crowd behave in the same way because they have no > choice.

Yes, it seems like all research focuses on the situation where it is already too late (perhaps because the fluid equations are easier to handle).

I'd like to see some simulations where:

1\. Half of the people refuse to move.

2\. Half of the people start moving in the opposite direction.

3\. Half of the people stand still and try to hold hands with other people (of that group), effectively blocking other people.

<comment><USER6> > Half of the people refuse to move.

When someone shoves you, you can't "refuse" to move. Momentum has to be conserved somehow.

> Half of the people start moving in the opposite direction.

Which half?

If you can somehow split the crowd cleanly and get the two halves moving away from each other that might help, but this is usually not possible. And getting a randomly selected half to move in a different direction than the crowd as a whole is simply not possible, again because of physics. A dense crowd is essentially an incompressible fluid. All of the particles in a local area have to be moving in the same direction.

> Half of the people stand still and try to hold hands with other people (of > that group), effectively blocking other people.

You really don't have a good mental model of what a dense crowd is like. There's no need to hold hands. You are already pressed up against neighbors on all sides of you. In a dense crowd you are going to remain stationary relative to your neighbors whether you like it or not. That is the root of the problem.

<comment><USER9> > You really don't have a good mental model of what a dense crowd is like.

And you are clinging to much to your crowd-as-a-fluid abstraction. Abstractions often don't hold up in the real world, especially if you actively try to break them. Further, yes, if you squash people hard enough they behave like a fluid, but what can we do at or before the state-transition?

<comment><USER6> > what can we do at or before the state-transition?

Get the hell out of there as fast as you can while you still can.

<comment><USER10> That's what everybody else is doing. The suggestion above to try and work your way to the edge of the crown seems sensible, even if that edge isn't in the direction of the exit. I've been in dense crowds but noticed that there is sometimes a significant gap between the crowd and the walls.

<comment><USER11> I think the main point is that you "get the hell out of there" where "there" is _the crowd itself_ not _whatever the crowd is trying to move away from_.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Reminds me of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster)</comment>


Some Countries See Migrants as an Economic Boon, Not a Burden - <AUTHOR> http://www.wsj.com/articles/some-countries-see-migrants-as-an-economic-boon-not-a-burden-1450881706 <comment><USER2> If you want to say that you're[Canada] doing a better job than Europe, please prove, or at least make likely, that the Canadian migrants are similar to the migrants in Europe.

The article also doesn't define the relation between migrant and refugee. If you're cherrypicking migrants, which I believe Canada is doing, you'll have a easier job at integration.

<comment><USER3> There's also some self-selection for highly motivated individuals moving all the way to Canada. And a person that can afford to move that far is going to have a better starting point than most of the people walking or floating into the EU.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> How many migrants from the current events are in Canada?

According to [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/syrian-refugees-canada- united-...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/syrian-refugees-canada-united- states-comparison-1.3340852) Canada pledged to "welcome" 25,000 by next year. That's almost as many as crossed the borders to Europe only within a few days.

As the title says "Canada focuses on assimilating educated foreigners who fill job needs, in sharp contrast to Europe", so basically cherry picking like hbogert said. In this case it is easy to assimilate and integrate. Try the same with hordes of "less educated foreigners".

If we draw comparisons then please not apples to oranges.

<comment><USER5> From my experience education doesn't dictate how well they integrate, culture does. Obviously anecdotal but I know doctors that feel like apostates should hang. They may pay their taxes but in long run its a loss for the host nation.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Maybe stop seeing migrants and refugees in general as homogenous group.

Some will not integrate and has other purposes than to flee either war or poverty. Some do it unconsciously. Either way I wouldn't say immigration from certain cultures has served Scandinavia well. I'm from one of them that's been a huge burden. The future looks bleak, for everyone involved. Worse for those stranded between Islamists and Assad l obviously.

</comment><comment><USER6> I have mixed feelings about this article. On the one hand, I accept that Canadian immigration policy is among the best in the world. Further, Canada is more accepting of immigrants than many countries, perhaps because we have had better experiences with them, or perhaps just because of general cultural attitudes.

However, it confuses the issue to bring in the recent refugee crisis in Europe. As several other commenters have pointed out, accepting 25,000 hand picked Syrian refugees, while laudable, is on a completely different scale than 1,000,000 refugees of random backgrounds flooding across the border.

</comment><comment><USER7> it's colder and more isolated in canada and fewer people want to live there. same for scandinavia. hence state-sponsored incentives in addition to market- driven ones. it is the economics of supply/demand that drive culture (state- sponsored and otherwise), not the other way around. we know this from states in the usa. north dakota pays farm workers higher than california. should we conclude that n. dakota is culturally more accepting than california? we over- attribute these kinds of effects to cultural norms.

<comment><USER8> We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities: [http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/07/we-wrestle-not-with- fle...](http://slatestarcodex.com/2013/03/07/we-wrestle-not-with-flesh-and- blood-but-against-powers-and-principalities/)

<comment><USER9> "But the puppetry expands past individuals toward whole empires and movements. If God reached into the year 1900 and removed every single Communist, and every Communist book, and erased all memory of Communism, I think it would take about five minutes before someone reinvented something much like the movement, because there were a bunch of very poor people who felt desperate and cheated crammed up against a bunch of very rich people who weren't afraid to flaunt their wealth. The new movement might have differed from Communism in minor details – maybe their color would have been blue instead of red – but it wouldn't be hard to identify."

I think it's green...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Fairly relevant:

[http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/european- immi...](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/european-immigrants- contribute-5bn-to-uk-economy-but-non-eu-migrants-cost-118bn-9840170.html)

</comment><comment><USER11> WSJ is a big proponent of cheap labor, which open borders and loose immigration helps. (Pointing this out is not somehow anti-immigrant BTW)

<comment><USER12> so, whats your solution? Place minimum income restrictions on immigrants ?

<comment><USER13> One idea: that they bring capital with them.

Increasing the supply of labor while not increasing the supply of capital can drive down productivity and wages in the nation getting migrants. If they come with accompanying capital, it could help maintain or improve productivity.</comment></comment></comment>


Anyone Having Issues with Pokemon Go and Google's Two-Factor Authentication? - <AUTHOR> Everytime I open the app it forces me to log into my account (which has two-factor authentication enabled). Every single time. My guess is that two-factor auth only gives the app some sort of one-time use token which 'expires' or stops working when I open the app again. I wouldn't like to turn off the two-factor auth, as I consider it an important security feature for my GMail account. I've installed the app twice and still face the same issue. Could it be only happening in my device or is it more of a UX (or software integration) problem here? If it is a real issue, then it'd represent a dangerous (yet somehow ironically funny) security breach, because a lot of people would be disabling their two-factor authentication just to "catch 'em all!" <comment><USER2> Yeah a lot of people are running into it. There are jokes that Pokemon GO just killed 2-factor auth for tons of people as a result.

For what it is worth, this isn't a problem with Ingress, so I'd imagine it will be fixed soon.

</comment><comment><USER3> Create an app specific password just for the game. Some very early Ingress players had to do that. No rhyme or reason to why one account will work, others wont.

<comment><AUTHOR> I created an App specific password but still didn't work (tried twice).</comment></comment>


Facebook-like documentation for your startup made with Kirby - <AUTHOR> http://christianreber.com/blog/facebook-like-documentation-for-your-startup-made-with-kirby <comment><USER2> Just awesome, there's definitely a gap in the market for easy to use Knowledgebase systems. Sometimes wikis just seem like overkill :)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks Jackson! We'll improve it continuously!</comment></comment>


Heroku Update & Roadmap - <AUTHOR> http://blog.heroku.com/archives/2010/4/27/update_and_roadmap <comment><USER2> "Our customer count and revenue have similar growth curves." That is good news, since they provide a good service. While it would be easy to migrate any app to EC2 (or RackSpace, RimuHosting, etc.) I have been feeling spoiled using Heroku because it eliminates tasks that are not directly related to getting apps written (read the book "REWORK").</comment>


Building Scala at Scale - <AUTHOR> http://www.sumologic.com/blog/company/building-scala-at-scale

<comment><USER2> I use a similar approach at work (though with a vastly smaller codebase ~ only 20k lines or so). I don't get why they're using maven though; sbt is amazing; especially with 0.13.2 and the new hash algorithm, not to mention all of the great plugins it brings.

<comment><USER3> I've only used Scala briefly (and then sbt fulfilled my meager needs) but from the rants by people I follow, each one of them shifted between sbt and mvn every 1-n releases over the years, because the one they were currently using annoyed them too much.

Then again I guess this goes hand in hand with the old criticism that the various releases are not backwards compatible.</comment></comment>


Israeli DDOS Service vDOS responsible for "several decades worth of DDoS years" - <AUTHOR> http://krebsonsecurity.com/2016/09/israeli-online-attack-service-vdos-earned-600000-in-two-years/ <comment><USER2> Looks like it's Cloudflare DDoS protected, like most other booters</comment>


UK is about to wield unprecedented surveillance powers – here's what it means - <AUTHOR> http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/23/13718768/uk-surveillance-laws-explained-investigatory-powers-bill <comment><USER3> Wow. Browsing history available to police without a warrant. Personally, I'm not in the UK, but the fact that this is happening in a democracy means I'm suddenly really serious about figuring out how to set up a VPN hosted in a country with privacy laws I can trust. Which, I'm sure, is probably no real country, but at least enough to make it hard for Big Brother to look over my shoulder.

</comment><comment><USER4> How will they store every website anyone visits for a year when everyone starts using SSH tunnels?

<comment><USER5> Unfortunately, the vast majority of people either think that this kind of legislation is fine - to catch terrorists/pedos, nothing to hide etc... or just don't know/care.

If that wasn't the case, then legislation like this wouldn't get passed - <USER2> people wouldn't vote for the kind of politicians who promise to pass it.

Statistically, ~0% of the population even knows what SSH is, let alone using SSH tunneling for everything. Thinking otherwise is, sadly, just a comforting fantasy.

<comment><USER6> I think the people who don't care about such draconian laws have very little knowledge of history, and even less ability to extrapolate from that knowledge.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> >...it establishes a dangerous new norm, where surveillance of all citizens' online activity is seen as the baseline for a peaceful society. Collect evidence first, the government is saying, and find the criminals later.

Sounds like something right out of 1984. Who is Oceania at war with again?

<comment><USER8> We, The Citizens, obviously.

<comment><USER9> I fear making those kinds of "inferences" may one day soon get people in tangible trouble.

Crimestop comrade, crimestop!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> sounds like lots of big business opportunities might be coming up in allowing citizens and businesses hidden browsing from ISP's and Mobile Carriers.

<comment><USER6> And how long until such businesses are made illegal?</comment></comment>


Comcast to combat cord cutting by limiting speed increases to cable subscribers - <AUTHOR> https://www.techspot.com/amp/news/74390-comcast-aims-combat-cord-cutting-limiting-major-internet.html <comment><USER2> Yet another reason to support any local ISP over embedded cable companies. This also would be a great time to take a look at municipal broadband or regional broadband. At least I'm glad I got to cut Comcast from my life with a local fiber company.</comment>


iPhone 5C passcode bypassed with NAND mirroring attack - <AUTHOR> https://arstechnica.com/security/2016/09/iphone-5c-nand-mirroring-passcode-attack/ <comment><AUTHOR> I made the title match the URL by adding "5C" specifically. Ars sometimes changes titles around after publishing and in this case I think having "5C" specified is important as that appears to be the only model that was actually tested. In the arxiv paper, Section VI. "Future Work", the author writes:

> _The iPhone 5c device being analyzed in this research project was far from > the latest Apple phones. Since then several new models were introduced such > as iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and 6s, iPhone SE and iPhone 7. However, iPhone 5s > and 6 use the same type of NAND Flash memory devices. It would be logical to > test them against mirroring._

Which seems to me to show that only the 5C has been tried, and the 5C lacks the Secure Enclave. Somewhat to my surprise the SE isn't mentioned in the paper at all, so I'm not sure this actually is applicable to later model iPhones as the author assets based purely on NAND type. The replay counter is stored within the SE itself [1], so mirroring the Flash should be useless in terms of gaining additional manual input attempts, and thus of rapidly diminishing importance as older iPhones cycle out of working use.

If this applies only to older devices it's still worth a bit of notice though as it contradicts what the FBI said earlier in the year, and as there are plenty of older devices still around. The iPhone 5C itself was only completely discontinued worldwide this past February (in India, discontinued elsewhere Sept 2015), and iPads tend to be held onto longer then iPhones, so anyone using those in a situation where they may face significant threat of physical attack should keep in mind that they should use an alphanumeric full passcode, even though since the 5C lacks Touch ID it's less convenient and can't cover the same gamut of threat profiles.

1: [https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf](https://www.apple.com/business/docs/iOS_Security_Guide.pdf)</comment>


Dear AirBNB, No Thank You for the XXX Freak Fest - <AUTHOR> http://dearairbnb.tumblr.com/post/120063930038/i-am-homeless-because-of-airbnbs-xxx-freak-fest <comment><USER2> This happened a year ago and AirBNB paid him $23,000 for the damages at the time. His new complaint is that he has been blacklisted from renting in NYC.

<comment><USER3> Leaving that out from the post is pretty misleading. He keeps saying "you need to fix this". What else does he expect them to do?

<comment><USER4> Get him to get unblacklisted so that he can rent in NYC again, maybe?

<comment><USER5> He was renting an apartment and he listed it on AirBNB, which was almost certainly a violation of his lease agreement (and poor judgement on his part). The blacklisting, if it exists as he says it does, is entirely his own fault.

<comment><USER6> AirBnB doesn't seem to take reasonable steps to protect either side. I remember I rented out a place and I had no hot water for a week and the place was filthy. AirBnB's response was along the lines of, sorry, good luck finding a better host next time!

Maybe AirBnB needs to create educational video instructions on how to act as both a Host and a Guest. Hosts and Guests seem to be uninformed on how to behave and these common sense practices don't really seem to be common, for whatever reason.

<comment><USER7> Videos would be great. Suggestions:

For Hosts:

 _How to Violate Your Lease Agreement by Renting Out Your Apartment the Right Way

Dealing with Cockroach Infestations_

For Guests:

 _How to Clean Up Properly After an Orgy

How to Blend In at an Apartment Community You Don't Belong At_

<comment><USER6> This is a start and better than what they have right now. :D

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I don't understand how AirBnB is responsible here. You're obviously taking a risk when you hand over the keys to your apartment to a stranger. This is the same risk that landlords take when they lease the unit in the first place; hence why these blacklists exist: to minimize risk. The difference is that the landlord is at least leasing what is his to lease. Renting your apartment on AirBnB is prohibited by just about every lease, and is flat-out illegal in NYC. He broke the terms of his lease and the law to make hundreds of dollars a night, trusted a stranger that a website connected him with, and got busted. He could try to sue the guy that threw the orgy, just like landlords can try to sue deadbeat tenants; but just like the landlords, he'll probably get nowhere. The law can't protect you from your own poor decision-making. Would you want to rent your property to this guy?

<comment><USER9> If its illegal by practically every lease out there, are AirBnB then encouraging people to break the law?

There is this site where people put movies and films they have got a license to see but not a license to distribute. That site got busted for assisting in the illegal activity that their users did, primary because they turned a blind eye to the problem.

<comment><USER10> A lease doesn't get to make the law, so it's not "illegal", it's simply "non- contractual". Breaking the contact means you'll get evicted, but there's no law-breaking occurring.

<comment><USER8> In this particular case it is also against the law of NYC, which prohibits short-term rentals like AirBnB.

<comment><USER10> Yes indeed, and while it's not "practically every lease" it's obviously highly relevant. It's worth noting that subletting a room is legal in NYC providing the actual resident is present in the apartment too, so it's certainly possible to have legal AirBnB in NYC.

<comment><USER8> If you search AirBnB for rentals in New York City where you have the whole place to yourself, you'll find thousands of listings for unquestionably illegal rentals. I wonder whether it's legal for AirBnB to do this, and I have mixed feelings about whether it should be. By taking a commission and providing insurance, they're involving themselves intimately in clearly illegal transactions. I'm guessing it would hinge on the exact way NYC law is written and on jurisdictional issues. Either way, this doesn't absolve people violating their leases by subletting on AirBnB. You're responsible for abiding by your contracts the same way that you're responsible for abiding by the law. The fact that someone helped you carry out your malfeasance doesn't change that.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I'm not sure why he wants AirBnB to fix the blacklist issue. I mean, sure, the situation sucks for him and he was put there partially because of renting his place via AirBnB. But he can't realistically expect AirBnB to fix this issue.

According to this [1]:

> The blacklist is actually a database of suits filed by landlords and > compiled by tenant screening companies.

So it's basically the same as Experian, Equifax, and other credit rating agencies. And it's the same kind of scam in the end.

What AirBnB could potentially do is get together with him to figure out how to appeal the entry based on the applicable regulations. But that's not what I'd call them fixing the issue.

[1] [http://www.npr.org/2014/12/14/367833532/tenant-blacklist- can...](http://www.npr.org/2014/12/14/367833532/tenant-blacklist-can-haunt- new-york-renters-for-years)

<comment><USER12> He wants AirBnB to fix the blacklist issue because he can no longer rent an apartment after an eviction caused by his AirBnB guests.

I'm not sure why you find that hard to understand. It was obvious from the post.

Not that I would ever let strangers stay in my place, but I would expect the same thing.

<comment><USER13> Hmm, an interesting and different perspective! Thank you for sharing.

If I were to consider renting my place on AirBnB, I would consider the people staying here to be my guests, not ABnB's. While I believe there is some concern with how the company represents themselves, the fact remains that it's his apartment he chose to rent out. Illegally, I might add.

If you rented a room to someone referred by a friend, and that guest trashed your place... would you expect your friend to make restitution? (Personally, I would downgrade my trust in that friend's opinion, but I don't think I would hold them _liable_...)

<comment><USER12> A friend?

No, I wouldn't expect a friend to make restitution at all - unless, of course, my friend had done this sort of thing millions of times, knew I was likely subjecting myself to the risk of eviction (probably completely inadvertently), and didn't bother to say a damn thing to me.

If, instead of warning me about the stupid risk I was taking, my friend highlighted things designed to make my behavior _seem_ risk-free (like, say, a million-dollar property damage guarantee), well, then I might feel a little differently. If my friend had built a multi-billion-dollar business off of the risky behavior of me and others like me, then I _know_ I would feel differently.

But this is a moot point, because friends don't let their friends engage in risky behavior without at least making them aware of those risks. Someone that does that isn't your friend at all.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Anyone who googles him (or does a background check) will see a ton of red flags, including being involved in several lawsuits over the last few years. I'm not shocked no one will let him rent a place - I sure wouldn't.

[http://nypost.com/2014/11/11/embattled-manhattan-doc- faces-a...](http://nypost.com/2014/11/11/embattled-manhattan-doc-faces- accusation-of-quackery/)

[http://nypost.com/2014/03/28/comedian-outs-pr-execs- affair-a...](http://nypost.com/2014/03/28/comedian-outs-pr-execs-affair-as- payback-for-bad-real-estate-deal-lawsuit/)

[http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/03/23/the-strange- tal...](http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/03/23/the-strange-tale-of- nextgen-and-nextgen/)

[http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/airbnb-orgy-victim- sues-...](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/airbnb-orgy-victim-sues-nyc- condo-super-comments-article-1.1957128)

</comment><comment><USER15> He acts as if he had no part in signing up to be an AirBNB user and just came home from work one days to find his apartment trashed by the freak fest.

<comment><USER16> He doesn't seem to act like that at all. He's acting like signing up for AirBNB doesn't mean you expect this to happen. He refers to some AirBNB guarantee, although I'm not sure what it says. In any case, I think it's reasonable to assume that signing up for AirBNB won't make you homeless.

<comment><USER17> Signing up for AirBnB exposes you to the same risks as if you sublet your living space the same way it would in a traditional transaction. Rent to shitty people? You're responsible. AirBnB does not guarantee a pleasant experience, nor is it required to make this person whole by getting them removed from whatever tenant blacklist they're on.

Welcome to bumps on the "sharing economy" road.

Edit: it appears property management companies are using public court records to screen this person, preventing them from renting. That's not an AirBnB problem, that's a fair housing legislation problem.

<comment><USER18> Is it really a problem? I'd argue that it _should_ be a matter of public record that this guy was evicted for (indirectly) causing $23k in property damage, and it seems entirely reasonable for landlords to screen tenants based on prior evictions and other housing court judgements.

<comment><USER17> I don't think it shouldn't be public record, but I do believe you shouldn't be able to reject someone outright due to one event.

I foreclosed on my underwater town home. Should I need to live in my car because my credit report has one negative item on it in 16 years? (Rentals of course pull your credit)

Housing is a regulated industry for good reason. Property managers are free to use data sources such as in this case, but there needs to be an appeal process. Otherwise, we'll start to have a class of people who a defacto homeless due solely to historical data.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> Was the author sub-letting his apartment on a temporary basis via air bnb? Would that be legal in NYC? Maybe the fact his landlord found out and blacklisted him for illegal sub-letting is the bigger problem...

<comment><USER20> I was once an illegal subletter. The actual tenant moved out, and so notified me that I was being evicted. I protested to the apartment manager, who told me that I could not possibly be subletting, because subletting was contractually forbidden.

"That may be true, but even so I was subletting."

The tenant left a huge mess when he moved out. I told the manager that I removed everything from the fridge, cleaned it thoroughly then put back in the fridge everything that did not belong to me.

I was invited to rent some other apartment in the same complex but oddly was not permitted to stay in the apartment I was subletting.

A couple weeks later the tenant called me on the phone to demand compensation for all the cleaning, hauling and dump fees he had to pay.

"I had to sell my truck," he said.

"I removed everything from the apartment that belonged to me," I replied.

"I understand" he said woefully. I never heard from him again.

This experience made me a lot wiser about how I search for housing. There were many red flags such as his response to my requirement that my new place be near public transit.

"There's a bus stop nearby, I'll pick you up in my truck."

"nearby" in truck miles is a lot closer than in walking miles.

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Here's a link to Gawker, first hit for "xxx freak fest" for those doubting the story, including a statement by Airbnb where they promised to help the host: [http://gawker.com/man-unwittingly-rents-out-apartment-on- air...](http://gawker.com/man-unwittingly-rents-out-apartment-on-airbnb-for- xxx-1544961941)

</comment><comment><USER22> While I agree with the tone of the message, I don't agree with how he tries to spin the ball. The constant repetition of 'You need to fix thix' feels really childish and finger-pointy.

Does anyone exactly what AirBnB's legal requirements/jib-jab is on this stuff?

<comment><USER23> AirBnB probably doesn't have any.

Now the question is why hasn't he sued the crap out of the tenant who lied to him and decided to have a sex orgy in his apartment?

<comment><USER24> He probably doesn't have legal ground to stand on. I mean, every single place I've ever rented, write in bold that I cannot, without explicit accept from the owner, rent it to other people.

I understand why he was blacklisted, and if his contract is anything like I suspect, it's his own fault. He can buy a place and rent it out instead, but doing it with other peoples property without their concent is asking for trouble.

<comment><USER23> Your experience matches mine as well. Hell, my current home doesn't allow subletting. (I'm only allowed to lease the _whole house_ as a unit, and it has to be for a full year minimum). Local laws, zoning... and all that good stuff.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> AirBnB could easily prevent such issues by explicitly requiring people to confirm they're not subject to a lease that prohibits short-term rentals and therefore not at risk of eviction -- before they can list a property for rent. No doubt they'll get right on that.

Kidding aside, not making people aware of these risks and trumpeting a '$1,000,000 Guarantee' (that only happens to cover property damage) just creates an _illusion_ of risklessness -- one that takes advantage of the greedy and stupid.

Normally when a company takes advantage of the greedy and stupid, most of HN pitches a fit. What's different this time?

<comment><USER8> This guy had a duty to his landlord to abide by his lease. The fact that AirBnB helped him violate his lease does not give him any cause of action. That would be like suing The Pirate Bay because the MPAA sued you for downloading movies through them. The landlord could perhaps sue AirBnB for tortious interference, but they probably don't care enough to go through the trouble.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> The poor guy seems to have a remarkable knack for accidentally stumbling into all kinds of drama.

[http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/03/23/the-strange- tal...](http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/2012/03/23/the-strange-tale-of- nextgen-and-nextgen/)

</comment><comment><USER26> Does anyone know how he plotted where he slept on a map like that? I am assuming he did not hand enter it into some API maps tool, but rather, an app he has marks his location.

I would like an app like this in the event I ever need to prove my location. And I think it would be cool to see where I go on a map.

<comment><USER21> In case you know a bit of javascript, such a map is trivial to do in Javascript.

<comment><USER17> Google "github location history". Should be first result.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> People who rent out apartments they don't own fully deserve to get blacklisted.

The author dares to call it "my apartment", but you don't get evicted from your own apartment. He is the one who abused someone else's property in the first place.

 __Edit __: I truly don 't understand all the downvotes. Here's someone who illegally exploits someone else's apartment for profit, and clearly feels no responsibility for his role in the whole affair. What is so abnormal about the fact that no one wants to rent to this person anymore?

If I borrow your car, rent it to someone I don't know who then proceeds to crash it, would you then consider met the victim or the a-hole who abused your trust to make fast buck and got your car totalled?

<comment><USER28> Confusing abusing someone else with abusing someone else's property is the reason for so much pain and evil in this world.

Thanks for propagating the mythos.

<comment><USER23> Unfortunately, there's a reason why subletting for less than 30 days is _illegal_ in New York City. Because you attract a crowd of people who like to do Sex Orgies in stranger's houses.

At the end of the day, it was a mistake for the author to use AirBNB, and now he is paying the price.

<comment><USER29> I'm pretty sure "people who like to do Sex Orgies in stranger's houses" wasn't on _anyone 's_ mind when New York made short-term subletting illegal.

<comment><USER23> They probably weren't thinking "sex orgies", but they probably were thinking "illegal prostitution".

There's a reason why zoning laws exist. In particular, hotels and other temporary arrangements attract drug deals, prostitution, and other unsavory characters.

I can guarantee you that "illegal prostitution" was on the mind of city planners when they zoned out the place. Maybe not quite "sex orgies", but it'd be within the neighborhood (oh I'm so punny...)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Isn't this exactly why you are not allowed to use your private apartment as a hotel?

</comment><comment><USER31> The guy has reportedly received $23k from Airbnb following the orgy, sued his condo for its super's disparaging comments, a doctor for misdiagnosing him, and is sued by some other guy for defamation in an unrelated issue.

<comment><USER32> ...and?

It seems as though he's in the right, and that AirBNB is still screwing him over, so why mention those things?

<comment><USER23> How is AirBNB screwing him over?

The AirBnB _Tenant_ screwed him over. Why would AirBnB have any responsibility over the tenants?

<comment><USER33> > Why would AirBnB have any responsibility over the tenants?

They may not have any legal responsibility.

But consider the message sent to potential renters. Does AirBnB really want this horror story out there, scaring away customers?

<comment><USER34> So he's blackmailing them, essentially?

<comment><USER33> That seems pretty harsh--another way of framing it is that he's spreading the information about a potential risk.

In the end, AirBnB's message _has_ to be "we make renting to strangers safe" or else nobody would rent with then. But a lot of people in this thread are saying "he took the risk and paid the price". So which should a potential renter believe?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER35> I feel like the real problem here is the same problem that exists in all of these situations where the law hasn't caught up to technology: someone is being made an example of.

When a few people pay a huge price for something that "everyone" is doing, it is simply unfair. The people who have been sued for downloading music are a similar example.

In my opinion, AirBNB should fix this situation because they can. It isn't fair for one renter to bear the brunt of the pushback while the company continues to make huge profit.

It isn't about blame, it's about each side's ability to right what is an unfair situation.

</comment><comment><USER36> He obviously made a bad decision to rent out his apartment. This isn't AirBnb's problem.

Look through my previous comments. I'm no fan of AB or most of the sharing economy's big players, but this is the sort of thing that will continue to happen and why basing a business model on the backs of people's bad risk evaluations is tenuous. These models won't hold up without the downside being felt directly by the app providers. But, then where's the fun/money?

</comment><comment><USER37> As the occasional host in SF, I do get extremely paranoid about guests, and only accept requests from guests who have had an account for more than a year, who have 100% positive reviews, and has at least 2 reviews in the last 6 months. Obviously I reject a lot of requests. Even then I did have one unfortunate incident involving a guest bringing home another guest that stole something even though I explicitly said "no guests."

My perspective from the host POV is that you really have to do your own vetting of guests beyond anything AirBnB will provide. AirBnB provides barebones proof of ID, but that's it.

Ultimately, I find AirBnB's business to be 100x "crazier" than other "sharing" companies like, say, Uber. At least with Uber there is a more regimented process for vetting and onboarding drivers. With AirBnB it is still a free- for-all on both sides.

At the end of the day, you're letting a total stranger into your house. Where you sleep and have all your things. It's a risk and everyone who uses AirBnB should be aware of it.

</comment><comment><USER38> What are the arguments for and against AirBNB being responsible for the behavior of the people using AirBNB?

<comment><USER39> Well Airbnb claim to cover hosts : [https://www.airbnb.com.au/guarantee](https://www.airbnb.com.au/guarantee) and market themselves as such.

<comment><USER38> It says they cover property damage and doesn't mention other things like eviction.

<comment><USER40> Is eviction not a form of property damage? In the best case a move costs money. In the worst case it's not even possible to find an appartment at comparable prices.

<comment><USER41> How is that _property_ damage?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER42> Background/original post: [http://dearairbnb.tumblr.com/post/79657042387/dear- airbnb-no...](http://dearairbnb.tumblr.com/post/79657042387/dear-airbnb-no- thank-you-for-the-xxx-freak-fest)

</comment><comment><USER43> Why is there such a shitstorm going on here?

Here's a guy who is now living on the street and, for all that is known, has his private life shaken up. I for my part can understand that he would like to have at least his reputation restored, i.e. be taken off the blacklist.

</comment><comment><USER44> One should always weigh the most one could profit against the most one could be harmed. Don't do it unless that loss is not very likely and one can be tolerate it or buy insurance for it.

This fellow's loss of reputation was one of those harms and you can't buy insurance for that. AirBnB didn't even know the terms of the lease he signed so why should they fix the consequences of violating it?

<comment><USER45> AirBNB does know that it's illegal in the overwhelming majority of NYC apartments (like, 99+%) to short-term lease. And yet they keep operating uncritically in NYC. Almost like they don't care about the illegalities they participate in. Strange.

</comment></comment><comment><USER46> Well at least he did a great job making the most out of this incident. [http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/how-to-make-the-most-out- of...](http://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/how-to-make-the-most-out-of-an- orgy.html)

</comment><comment><USER47> What I cannot really understand in the first place is why it is legal for the companies in the US to make (Black-)Lists of citizens.

Isn't it any law that regulates that?

</comment><comment><USER48> My sympathies for him. AirBNB should help him to get out of this blacklist.

</comment><comment><USER49> Sorry for my lack of knowledge. What is it "XXX Freak Fest"?

</comment><comment><USER28> He should just find an AirBNB :D

...oh wait

<comment><USER50> this is tongue in cheek but given that airbnb does not concern itself with the NYC tenant blacklists this might be one of few viable options for this guy.

</comment></comment><comment><USER51> What is the xhamster link to URL of the video?

</comment><comment><USER52> Well, he could rent a place through AirBnB...

</comment><comment><USER32> I really won't miss AirBNB when the inevitable blizzard of lawsuits destroys it.

What a terrible company.

<comment><USER53> Why will they be sued into oblivion?

<comment><USER17> Housing/hoteling ordinance violations, similar to how one by one, local governments are banning Uber from operating in their jurisdiction.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER54> This doesn't seem legitimate. Not sure why, but it seems fake.

<comment><USER21> It is legit and it was on HN when it happened. I'm on mobile though so I can't really search for the first submission.

<comment><USER55> HN thread: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7407796](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7407796)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER56> It seems like the issue here should be that rentals/hotels are discriminating based on whether someone operates as an AirBnB host or not. Other renter's who do the same without such a notable 'incident' are the same level of risk. It is quite unfair I believe that this person is unable to find a rental. Rental agencies should figure out their stance and make it clear and unilateral.

<comment><USER8> He broke the terms of his lease so he could make hundreds of dollars a night. Rental agencies aren't in the business of leasing to people with a record of violating lease agreements.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: The biggest technology that people think is working, but it doesn't? - <AUTHOR> What's the biggest piece of technology that everyone thinks or pretends is working fine, but it actually doesn't? <comment><USER2> Currency and debt.

Currency is a lot like electricity. It's a very portable form of power, easy to store, easy to convert to something else.

Like you can have a lot of political power, you can have charisma, skills, or military power. But you can't convert that easily into the other, the way you can't convert a river into lighting your house.

But the thing with electricity is that it still follows nature. You can't convert 1 MW of electricity into kinetic power, then convert it back to 1.1 MW. You can't lend it to someone with less, expect them to give you more, and have this system run forever. You can't just print as much of it as you think you can get away with.

Banking is a kind of arms race. If nobody used banks and usurious debt, everyone would be better off. But the people who do it have an unfair advantage, forcing others to as well. Except now we're pushing it as far as the concept can go, with every country taking well near their GDP in foreign debt.

The Bitcoin boom didn't come out of nothing. Some people lost faith in fiat and wanted to give alternative currency a shot. The bubble only happened when crypto attracted the attention of those who broke fiat in the first place.

<comment><USER3> The money/electricity metaphor has one very fatal flaw. Electricity, as a natural entity, must conform with all the conservation laws of nature. Not so for money.

The key attribute of money is that it's _much_ more efficient than the next best alternative, which is trading my pigs for your shovels and that's why it continues to work even in extreme (eg hyperinflation) contexts.

<comment><USER2> I'd disagree with the last bit - the next best alternative could be Bitcoin, ETH, gold, Euro, e-wallet money, stocks, bonds, or even debt. You can trade dollars for an imaginary dollar-backed value in PayPal's database. You can use something like HelloGold if you prefer something gold-backed instead.

You're probably right - that could be money's key attribute. So what happens when someone else does it better?

<comment><USER4> That's still money, it's just different currencies. Money (or currency) is something that is widely accepted to have value not from its inherent properties but because it is accepted everywhere in a transaction. If something is difficult to exchange quickly with most exchange partners (e.g. taking days to transfer stocks from you to a gas station) then it's either not a currency or its a bad currency. Bitcoin and other cryptocoins are "sort-of- currencies" because you can't practically use bitcoin and stop using USD. This is why the SEC is starting to treat crypto like a security.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> The biggest piece of technology that seems fine but isn't is automobiles. They are much too big and ponderous for the 90% of the time they are moving one person around a big city at 30mph. Electrification will produce much smaller, lighter, cheaper, safer vehicles for this purpose.

</comment><comment><USER5> Advertising data algorithms. Usually they are just promoting things you already have recently purchased.

</comment><comment><USER6> Advertising. There is not much published about how actual money people get on their investment in the major platforms, including online. It's not tech that "doesnt work", but it "doesnt work half the time". But since a lot of online advertising is fueled by the wave of high valuations , people seem to be fine with not knowing whether it works or not.

</comment><comment><USER7> Science. I can't take any study seriously until it's been replicated at least once, preferably twice. Does anybody know if there's a search engine for replicated studies?

</comment><comment><USER8> "machine learning" in large corporates, when in practice this is 90%+ just maths/algorithms

</comment><comment><USER9> facial recognition, especially when used by UK police against certain minorities

ML models making decisions about who gets to receive benefits (according to a bunch of articles in today's Guardian)

</comment><comment><USER10> Recommendation systems.</comment>