Wal-Mart told all store managers to match online prices with Amazon - <AUTHOR> http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/13/walmart-amazoncom-idUSL2N0T30WN20141113

<comment><USER2> I assume this is really only going to be worth it on big purchases. It's an interesting inversion of the usual process for discount retailers.

When I was young, my friend's dad managed the K-Mart in our town. In the 70's and early 80's, K-Mart gave a lot of autonomy to store managers to set sale prices and do promotions. He would nearly always have loss-leader sales going for basic stuff like toothpaste and laundry detergent. He assumed that if he could just get customers in the door for toothpaste, they'd buy enough other stuff to make up for the loss. It worked, too. After a while, many people didn't even bother stopping by Target. K-Mart finally forbade loss-leaders in the late 80's, his sales tanked, and he quit to become a buyer for another chain. The K-Mart is still there, but it's a ghost town compared to Target and Wal-Mart.

I wonder if Wal-Mart can pull off the reverse of what my friend's dad did. Could they get people who ordinarily wouldn't think of going to Wal-Mart in the habit shopping there by discounting big things?

<comment><USER3> I don't think so.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Oh man I don't know what this says about Amazon's prices, that Wal-Mart had trouble matching their prices. And we know all the places where Wal-Mart has cut corners.

I don't even want to think about how badly amazon's warehouse employees are treated. (Although I've read one long account that wasn't good).

But Amazon has made the purchasing process so smooth, that it's hard to resist.

<comment><USER5> I'm not so convinced about that. Walmart has to spend a ton of money on real estate in reachable locations, as well as waste space laying out products for shopping rather than storing.

By comparison Amazon can buy a warehouse in the middle of nowhere and stack items as high as they will go.

<comment><USER6> A lot of amazon's costs are shipping, which may be close to a wash with Walmart... also, Walmart is setup to sell more perishable goods than Amazon... Given Walmart's supply chain, and Amazon trying to get closer to consumers with Amazon now charging tax in a lot of locations, many larger items may be a wash in terms of profit margin between the two.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Does anyone know what the procedure is with price matching at a store like Wal-Mart?

I know places like Best Buy had computers scattered all over the place and salespeople could bring up a browser and check the price themselves.

Wal-Mart doesn't have that. Do they trust you bringing up a price on a smartphone and showing them the screen? Do you need to go to the customer service counter and they look it up there? Could you show them a faked screencap/print of an Amazon page and they would trust that as legit?

<comment><AUTHOR> Given my extensive experience with the (lack of) customer service at Walmart, people often won't bother to price match because they don't want to wait 30+ minutes for someone to flag down the manager, check the prices, etc for a small benefit.

But when there's a big price difference, say on a high-ticket item, it's totally worth the time because you can save money while walking right out of the store with the item, instead of waiting on shipping.

<comment><USER8> > But when there's a big price difference, say on a high-ticket item, it's > totally worth the time because you can save money while walking right out of > the store with the item, instead of waiting on shipping.

So high-end baby items (automated swings), TVs, laptops, and the like.

I would rather wait the two days (Prime member) or pay the $4/extra for one day shipping versus having to go to Walmart. Waiting in line for 15-20 minutes to checkout? Possibly not finding the item or its not in stock? Lack of helpful staff (not that I blame them!). Nope Nope Nope.

<comment><USER3> Completely agree. The help in my local walmart is horrific. I have a running joke with my g/f that I feel like my IQ drops everytime I go in Walmart. As aforementioned - Amazon makes it SO easy!

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm guessing the reaction from Amazon will be to immediately put more downward pressure on the prices on the _key items_ that fuel Walmart's business (those of which that can be bought on Amazon anyway). I'm sure they know exactly what those are.

<comment><AUTHOR> Here's how Amazon put price pressure on Diapers.com to force them into being acquired by Amazon

(via [http://allthingsd.com/20131010/how-jeff-bezos-crushed- diaper...](http://allthingsd.com/20131010/how-jeff-bezos-crushed-diapers-com- so-amazon-could-buy-diapers-com/))

"Amazon has a secretive unit — dubbed Competitive Intelligence — responsible for ordering large quantities of goods from competitors to analyze their businesses. This division eventually became aware of Diapers.com and its parent company Quidsi, and dispatched M&A chief Jeff Blackburn to initiate acquisition discussions.

Quidsi's founders originally rebuffed acquisition offers from Amazon. So Bezos's Amazon sent them a message, Stone [author of a book on Bezos and Amazon called 'The Everything Store'] explains:

"Soon after, Quidsi noticed Amazon dropping prices up to 30 percent on diapers and other baby products," Stone writes. "As an experiment, Quidsi executives manipulated their prices and then watched as Amazon's website changed its prices accordingly. Amazon's pricing bots — software that carefully monitors other companies' prices and adjusts Amazon's to match — were tracking Diapers.com." Diapers.com revenue growth eventually slowed under Amazon's pricing pressure, and the founders engaged in acquisition talks, agreeing to a $540 million buyout.

As Stone tells it, Walmart eventually made Quidsi a better offer of $600 million, but it was too late by then.

"The Quidsi executives stuck with Amazon, largely out of fear," Stone writes."

<comment><USER10> Very interesting.

I haven't found Amazon UK particularly 'cheap' for the past couple of years at least, usually their day-to-day prices are about the same as mainstream and sometimes rise quite markedly for short periods.

Their primary advantage here seems to be centralised shopping and convenience of payment.

An example was a book on which they were offering 3 pence discount on the RRP. Hardly worth bothering about, but very low friction to buy from them instead of another site offering £1 off because my payment and delivery details are already lodged with Amazon.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Whenever I need a Walmart manager for something simple like a propane exchange it takes a huge chunk of time.

The only reason I would even waste my time with a manager is if the price difference is huge and there's a chance of me returning it because the product didn't work out...other wise I'd just pay an extra dollar, or wait a day or two from Amazon.

</comment><comment><USER12> I wonder what the rule is here, one frustrating aspect of dealing with Wal Mart is far too many items are never in stock and ship to store only. Worse they arrive late. This includes current movie releases.

Their site is a real mess at times and just finding a store with the item you want can be a real hassle. If anything it probably drives more to other stores than the stores themselves

</comment><comment><USER13> That's pretty interesting! I've been told at Walmarts they they don't even match walmart.com as it is "different".

</comment><comment><USER14> This will end well. I'm sure of it.

<comment><USER15> For Wal-Mart or Amazon?

<comment><USER16> Yes.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Walmart hates this one weird trick that gives you incredibly low prices!*

* MITM attack on a Walmart's internet connection that routes Amazon.com through a custom proxy which lowers prices even further.

<comment><USER16> With all the rumors and articles I've seen about how Amazon.com will show different prices to different people [1], I wonder if that's even necessary.

I could pull up a product on my Android smartphone in Chrome and see one price, while a manager on their iPhone browsing Amazon in Safari might get something a few dollars different.

[1] [http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/lawsuit-alleges- amazon-c...](http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-amazon- charges-prime-members-for-free-shipping-031414.html)

<comment><USER17> That's dirty. Thanks for linking it.</comment></comment></comment>


Google releases Insights for Search, an extension of Google Trends - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/business/media/06adco.html?ref=todayspaper

<comment><USER2> <http://www.google.com/insights/search/></comment>


Xobni Corporation Selected to Join Microsoft Startup Accelerator Program - <AUTHOR> http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/01-22-2008/0004740748&EDATE= <comment><USER2> In other news, King Herod announces free daycare for all infants under 1 year old.

In response to the question below, I really couldn't see Microsoft being able to stomach a rails application. They really are all about the 'ecosystem' of Windows.

</comment><comment><USER3> Xobni's competition is Microsoft. The only good thing I imagine that could come from this is getting ahold of the next Outlook to see how many features MS adopted and figure out how Xobni can adapt.

<comment><USER4> Hardly. We're making Outlook "cool again" and they're helping us do our jobs by giving us the support and software we need to do so. It's a complete win- win.

<comment><USER3> Microsoft will do what is best for Microsoft. They always have done what is best for them and they continue to do so. Microsoft takes the best add-ons and features from competitors and adds them to there own software. That is not a bad thing, Apple does it too. It just means that as they do, you have to figure a way to improve upon there new offering.

<comment><USER5> "Microsoft will do what is best for Microsoft"

and how is that any different than 90% of other companies?

<comment><USER3> Microsoft is different because they play both sides. Just as long as no one is lulled into a false sense of security, that was the meaning of my post.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Once I saw this, I looked on the Xobni blog to see if they had a better story but there wasn't anything. If you have a better link, post it as a comment.

<comment><AUTHOR> [http://www.xobni.com/blog/2008/01/22/microsoft-startup- accel...](http://www.xobni.com/blog/2008/01/22/microsoft-startup-accelerator- program/)

<comment> daniel-cussen This is blog post is the first time a YCer posts something that sounds like a press release. I guess that's cuz it was a summary, but it still weirds me out.

<comment><USER6> ?

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Interesting. This gives me the heebs a bit... I wonder how valuable it is, in the end. I suppose it's a good set-up for potential acquisition, but I wonder how much they tie you to their platform. Could a site that uses rails get in if they had a .Net client app, for example?

</comment><comment><USER8> Wonder what the fine print of THAT agreement is like...

I can't help but think they may have accidentally sold their souls for free copies of Visual Studio.

</comment><comment><USER6> Congratulations!

</comment><comment> daniel-cussen Of all the posts I've read YCers make, this is the one that most looks like a press release.

<comment><USER9> That's because it is. Look on the Xobni blog for a post that shows a little more love :-)

<comment> daniel-cussen Sorry, I was actually talking about that very blog post. I should have pointed that out.

<comment><USER10> yeah, i kinda felt corporate writing it. Sorry. I wasn't very inspired by the announcement of the MSFT accelerator press release. The press release was pretty much all boiler plate and had to be approved by MSFT.

You should check out the post I wrote right before the accelerator post. It is much more my style. [http://www.xobni.com/blog/2008/01/21/celebrating-user- happin...](http://www.xobni.com/blog/2008/01/21/celebrating-user-happiness/)

<comment><USER10> I should add...

Our involvement in this program is about more than free copies of Visual Studio. MSFT is helping the participating companies develop credibility with large MSFT software consumers. This is particularly valuable outside of Silicon Valley.

I think Loopt is the only other YC-funded company participating in the program.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> What does this mean for future web-based (e.g. gmail) versions of Xobni?

</comment><comment><USER12> ummm.... congratulations?

</comment><comment><USER13> Wow, free visual studio... doesn't anyone hack .net in vim?

<comment><USER14> Though I do use VS a lot, I actually do use vim -- and awk, grep, sed, etc -- when VS/Resharper can't do the tricks I want.

PuttyCyg/Cygwin provides a nice shell + unix tools on Windows.</comment></comment>


Drones to fly over parts of Onondaga, Madison and Oswego counties - <AUTHOR> http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/08/coming_soon_to_cny_sky_miles_above_you_military_training_drones.html

<comment><USER2> "The remotely operated MQ-9 Reapers have already been flying over a large swath of northern New York since October 2011. The Federal Aviation Administration has recently expanded that air space further south to include some of Central New York's most densely populated regions."

Is there anyone from this area around? Thanks to Parastoo[1] and Kingcope[2] I have gained some interest in how drones communicate(C/Ku Band) and who they operate with (SAIC[3]).

For those interested in partially decoding drone communications, particularly around where they are known to be operated in the US, it may be worthwhile to look into a setup like this[4]. It is a cheap $20usd-ish rtl-sdr tuner paired with a still cheaper 'Avenger' PLL LNB, allowing the operator to tune the cheap usb dongle into Ku band, which drones use out non-line of sight communications.

[1] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6038657](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6038657)

[2] [http://privat.bahnhof.se/wb907234/pics/skygrab.pdf](http://privat.bahnhof.se/wb907234/pics/skygrab.pdf)

[3] [http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/06/14/news-saic- wins-95-mil...](http://www.dailyfinance.com/2013/06/14/news-saic- wins-95-million-drone-management-contrac/)

[4] 'Crossband QSO, receiving EB5EA at 10GHz and transmitting EA5KGD on 432MHz. With SDR RTL2832U E4000 ("ezcap" stick) and PLL LNB ("Avenger" PLL321S-2), Digital KU Band Single LNBF' [http://youtu.be/Sdmo- FtHtGU](http://youtu.be/Sdmo-FtHtGU)</comment>


Why browsers, compilers, DB engines, 3d engines etc considered high level? - <AUTHOR>

Why are only OS kernels and firmware considered low level? Why not the above mentioned?<p>These above mentioned apps can in no way be client-user apps, as they are closer to the hardware, requiring very high optimizations for performance and generally tougher nut to crack! <comment><USER2> High/Low level is a relative concept. So something is high level as compared to something else or low level compared to some other thing.</comment>


On the Usability of Deploying HTTPS [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.sba-research.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/usenixTLSpreprint.pdf <comment><USER2> So, tls libraries, webservers, etc don't come with sane defaults for tls settings. They also don't come with sane defaults for security oriented headers, etc. I assume that's partly why software like caddy is gaining in popularity.

<comment><USER3> Is that enough? If I put caddy in front of my existing infrastructure am I now secure and doing TLS correctly? That's what I did but I have no idea if some expert wouldn't look and say "no, this is not done correctly, here's all the parts you missed"

<comment><USER2> Probably not. The default ciphers are reasonable. HSTS isn't on by default, last I checked. But Caddy does generally seem to aspire to do the right thing by default.

There is a Mozilla tool called Observatory that seems pretty comprehensive in checking TLS setup and some other security settings, headers, etc: [https://observatory.mozilla.org](https://observatory.mozilla.org)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> > Our results suggest that the deployment process is far too complex even for > people with proficient knowledge in the field

There we go again. You can find it every where. The human tendency to underestimate how much we don't understand , and how much others don't understand. Ahh, and how fast everyone forgot it.

</comment><comment><USER5> There's some good resources out there, the problem here is that most people simply don't care or don't think it's part of their job to fix these things.

[https://mozilla.github.io/server-side-tls/ssl-config- generat...](https://mozilla.github.io/server-side-tls/ssl-config-generator/)

[https://cipherli.st/](https://cipherli.st/)</comment>


Mining a 1993 game design for innovative game mechanics - <AUTHOR> http://lunar.lostgarden.com/game_HardVacuum.htm <comment><USER3> (commenting here since the author's forum is down)

There's a few points on here I'd like to debate:

\- I haven't played an RTS recently, but the last time I dived into the genre there was lots of innovation: World in Conflict had an entirely new resource- based deployment system, Warhammer 40k Dawn of War and Company of Heroes both employed brand-new "capture and hold" territory-based gameplay. You could argue that League of Legends and DOTA both contribute to this genre as well.

\- The author mentions several times that they didn't have the time or resources to spend on map creation. Level design is a pretty important aspect of any game development - maybe the Hard Vacuum game would've taken off if they had content?

\- "A team like this today can not even hope to create a major blockbuster game". See: decent indie studios all over the world. Maybe it's just that the definition of "major game" has changed since the 90's.

While I agree with the main premise of the article, that game designers need to take a critical, uninfluenced look at the genres they design games for, it feels like the author hasn't attempted to play a game in the last 10 years.

<comment><USER4> > While I agree with the main premise of the article, that game designers need > to take a critical, uninfluenced look at the genres they design games for, > it feels like the author hasn't attempted to play a game in the last 10 > years.

The article was written in 2005 so that seems like a correct assessment.

<comment><USER3> Oh, hey, look at that. Thanks for uncovering that. And the games I talked about came out after 2006, so maybe they were inspired by the article :)

<comment><USER4> Another game, though I haven't looked at it in a while, with a very innovative idea is Achron. Time travelling with all the potential hazards and benefits it implies. Lost a battle? Go back and reposition your units. Cost increased to go back further in time so you couldn't infinitely regress. I fell out of playing video games a couple years ago though so I'm not sure how it turned out. I should download it again and check it out.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you like to dabble in modding or are a game developer, here are some fairly obscure but quite innovative games:

Heroes of Might and Magic 4. What REALLY is unforgivable in the game is the AI, which - mostly due to time pressure - even its own developers described as "lobotomized". But it has many things new to the serries, including obstacles affecting line of sight in combat, towers that need to be manned (no more turrets that are either too weak or too strong), separate initiative and speed stats (greater flexibility in units). Gone is the notoriously hard to balance Attack Skill, Defense Skill, Spell Power and Knowledge (attack/def got stronger and stronger as turns passed). Heroes4 riped off Master of Magic spell system, which in turn ripped off M:tG spell magic colors. This means that magic schools are actually unique and work in different ways. Heroes 4 is a broken game in a couple of ways, but a library of intriguing mechanics as well.

Nox. Easy to mistake for a Diablo clone, Nox by Westwood Studios (neglected by EA) has no random loot, no chance-based dodge or shield block or hit chance, practically no resists. All spells remain useful thorough the game. Nox has many interesting spells and mechanics. It is skill-based instead and combat is very satisfying. The most noticeable thing in the game is its fun line of sight algorithm. In Diablo, you can anticipate big fights because you can see past walls. Here, you can't. Teleglitch is a new game that also has this mechanic.

Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic. Like Heroes 4, it was sunk by bad AI I believe, but is a great game especially in multiplayer. I would describe it like "Heroes 4 done right". Flying units, spells on adventure map, Master of Magic- like research and magic system, the ability to build towns and roads as well as raze&rebuild neutral structures. If an ice witch passes over land, it's permanently covered in snow. Try that over water or enemy city's crops !

And play board games. Board games have many mechanics unseen in computer games. Try ones like Dominion, Neuroshima Hex, Seasons, or Dungeoneer. The last one may appear like just an improved version of Talisman, but it has one wonderful mechanic. Buffs and positive powers are used from a SEPARATE pool. Normally multiplayer games have a problem where by spending your resources on hostile actions you don't help your cause but make the target of your malice easier to beat for others.

<comment><USER5> I forgot Laser Squad Nemesis and Frozen Synapse. They have simultaneous turns, and in some ways it's the best of both worlds. You get the ability to plan moves carefully, like in TBS games, but don't get the time artifacts associated with them. Like in RTS games, time flows naturally. Try to distinguish between a shotgun and an automatic rifle in a TBS game. Good luck with that. The same thing is very easy in a game like LSN. I like to compare simultaneous turns to crossbows. Both inventions were very good and have their merits, but (in western world) they came too late to matter.

Also, Laser Squad Nemesis is a game designed by original X-COM's designer. It's from 2003, so and has nice high-res 2D graphics.

<comment><USER6> Anyone fond of Lasersquad (XCOM and such) type games please take a look at the flash game "Mission in Space: the lost colony" [http://www.kongregate.com/games/StormAlligator/mission-in- sp...](http://www.kongregate.com/games/StormAlligator/mission-in-space-the- lost-colony)

It has very nice mechanics. I especially like the unlimited shots of opportunity fire (well, limited by the ammo left in the clip) that allow for fun play while being hugely outnumbered.

<comment><USER5> It looks promising so far. The game actually explains mechanics to me is a good sign, it reminds me of Debian. Another interesting thing is separate action and movement points. I've been thinking about something like that. Basically the idea is you can move your legs separately from your hands.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The point on environment made me think of Civ, though turn based, in which affecting the terrain and fighting are somewhat linked : clearing terrain for faster transport, nuking an enemy city.. But it's nowhere near what's described in the article. Then you've got the total war franchise in which terrain is essential to tactical fighting, but still, terrain can't be modified to affect the fighting itself (and there are bomb units and cliffs, so the opportunity would be here). Maps are still very shallow in the strategy genre, it seems that they have resources and movement properties and that's often pretty much it.

While we're talking oldies, this made think of Master of Magic (turn based), which had parallel universes, another concept that is very much under- utilized. And 'parallel universe" is a theme up for the round 2 of voting for the upcoming ludum dare.

<comment><USER8> What about Bullfrog's Magic Carpet? It had resource gathering and terrain modification as core mechanics. I think it also had base building. It was first-person though.

<comment><USER5> By the way, Magic Carpet is returning as Arcane Worlds. It's looking very good, and has some new effects like good looking water spells. I described it in more detail here:

[http://forum.maiagame.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=159](http://forum.maiagame.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=159)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> When it comes to innovation in RTS games, it's really hard to beat Kung Fu Chess ! <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azzsuss-swo> (Princes of Babylon - Meaningless Conversation)

It's chess without turns. Yes, you can actually dodge other pieces if you click in time and your piece is not currently on a cooldown.

The idea is both innovative and very simple. How come no one thought of this earlier ? The idea is also very elegant, if you can look past chess rules quirks like en passant and castling.

<comment><USER9> Why is this game so godlike? I think people might have missed it because they are too used to thinking about what could happen on a real board, where arms would get tangled and whatnot. The strategies in place, like leaving your king wide open to get taken, but dodging at the last second to bait a power piece in are awesome!

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> While I like the idea of changing the shape of the map during the game I think the point about player created content falls flat.

There's significant modding, mapmaking, AI etc. communities for many games. In fact in this day and age I'd say it's smart to outsource that to the users to a good degree and provide excellent tools+some support.

Then again this seems to be a 2005 article about a 1993 game and I don't even recall what the situation was like in 2005. Probably a lot less modding etc.

<comment><USER11> I don't know how it compares to the modern scene, but there was definitely a large amount of RTS modding and mapmaking going on long before 2005. Particularly for the old Command and Conquer games, which were much more accessible to modders than modern, full 3D titles. It's much easier to plonk down some 2D or isometric tiles, carve a vehicle model out of voxels, or edit the "ini files" of those games than it is to create a similar experience with a full fledged 3D modeler and modern toolset.

It may not have really been programming, but modding Tiberian Sun and making simple websites from plain HTML were my childhood "I can make the computer do what I want?!" moments. They were such limited environments, but the ease with which a kid could do interesting things with them really opened up new worlds to me.

People talk about the "little coder" problem a lot. I wonder if it's better to start a child with "making your own pong," so that they are confronted with actual programming from the beginning, or to give them a powerful but inflexible tool so that they can do impressive things right off the bat, before starting to think "why can't I do this? If I had made it, it would be like this..."

<comment><USER5> There's an insightful comment over here: [http://crystalprisonzone.blogspot.com/2012/02/whether- they-l...](http://crystalprisonzone.blogspot.com/2012/02/whether-they-love-or- hate-story-in.html)

"""I think one of the very interesting things about modern single-player game development is that it creates exceptionally expensive content designed to appeal to everyone and be played exactly once for 8-10 hours. As anybody who plays European board games will tell you, making a game (read: the body of rules, the mechanics and dynamics) is cheap - all you need is creativity and a lot of playtesting. AAA videogames are entirely different, though - <USER2> are spent on voice acting, scripting, graphics, etc. This is why I'm excited for moderate-budget games like Bastion that can publish interesting and challenging gameplay with a budget lean enough that it doesn't have to sell to absolutely everybody."""

<comment><USER12> basically, to sell to more people, you need to appeal to a lower common denominator, and rely on high production value.

Its the same situation with other media, like movies, and i doubt its going to really change.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Excellent timing, because:

This coming weekend is Ludum Dare 25! <http://www.ludumdare.com/compo/>

Get game coding!

</comment><comment><USER14> I just got hit hard by nostalgia. I love that graphical style. It's very similar to the one used in Tyrian, if anyone remembers that little gem.

<http://www.abandonia.com/games/296/Tyrian2000.htm>

<comment><USER15> The author says that after doing graphics for this game Hard Vacuum, he went to Epic to draw sprites for Tyrian, so it's no surprise they have a similar look. :)

<comment><USER14> My mistake! And there I was wondering how they were so similar.

<comment><USER16> As a matter of fact, freely usable Tyrian gfx are also available at that blog :)

[http://www.lostgarden.com/2007/04/free-game-graphics- tyrian-...](http://www.lostgarden.com/2007/04/free-game-graphics-tyrian-ships- and.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> These are the innovations from the OP:

\- Supply Lines

\- Variable Height Terrain

\- Walls

\- Player created landscapes: (Walls, base building, supply lines, and advanced terrain modification)

Disclosure: The last RTS's I got into were Age of Empires II, Total Annihilation, and a little of Warcraft 3...

The innovations above don't seem like innovations to me...they seem like features that got ditched because of limitations (still present today) in AI and game-testing:

* Walls made it too easy to turtle against AIs and more importantly, play havoc on pathfinding AI. They also make no sense whatsoever in games that take place after the age of (gunpowder) cannons.

* Deformable terrain has the same issues as above...it's a good feature because it adds realism, but ultimately, it seems to require a much higher level of programming sophistication and game mechanics to implement in such a way that it didn't make the game too cumbersome to enjoy. I personally don't think it would add much to a RTS _unless_ terrain deformation was the _focus_ of the strategy... _that_ would be an interesting game. Adding full-featured terrain deformation to a standard RTS? I think it would just make things unnecessarily complicated.

* Supply lines: I think this was essentially handled through the use of "peasants" traveling from the townhall to the town center (in Warcraft and AOE). In Total Annihilation and other such games where mines/power generators wireless send you resources...you still had to allocate resources to protect the lines. In any case, it was a welcome form of streamlining.

* Variable Height Terrain: It seems a lot of games do have this, even Age of Empires (hills and such).

For me, if we're mining old games for innovation, I wish designers would be more open to incorporating more turn-based mechanics instead of making everything real-time twitch based. I still go back to X-Com and Jagged Alliance time and time again.

<comment><USER18> I call bullshit on your pathfinding AI excuses. A* is A*, it doesn't matter if you dynamically modify the terrain, and it's easy enough to check if a path would end at walls or impassable terrain, and have the AI deal with that accordingly.

<comment><USER17> > _and have the AI deal with that accordingly._

Yeah, that's kind of the problem I alluded to, isn't it?

But you're right, I don't know the state-of-the-art in pathfinding...as I admitted, the most recent RTS I played was Warcraft 3. It just seems to me to be a very common complaint in most modern games. I still play Team Fortress 2, and even though they've implemented AI, the AI only works on certain pre- designed levels. Yes, I know that a FPS is generally more path-computational than a RTS, but if you're proposing that an RTS have 3D terrain then, well, that makes it a 3D game, no?

And it's been awhile since I've designed a game but I think you're underestimating the computational power it would take for an AI to dynamically generate efficient paths with every change to the terrain. IIRC, a lot of early AI compensated by having pre-calculated paths for each level (and I think virtually all of them only pretended to be encumbered by a fog of war).

My point still stands though...these aren't really innovations...again, I'm not in game development, but I'm guessing that some of these are ideas that teams consider and then drop in lieu of their difficulty of implementation. In other words, the innovation would be the actual implementation of the idea, not the idea itself.

<comment><USER18> Using a tile or node based A* map, there's no additional cost for altering heuristics on the fly. All paths are always dynamically generated on the fly.

The only reason early AI had 'pre-calculated paths' (an assertion I am dubious about, to be honest) would be that it was running on processors that could barely push the graphics of the time to begin with.

Those days are loooooong behind us.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I just watched Penny Arcade's excellent summary [1] of how game genres should be broken down. If you find this article interesting, I highly recommend you check it out -- it pretty much carries off where this article left.

1: <http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/aesthetics-of-play>

<comment><USER20> Actually, it's "Extra Credits" summary. PATV just hosts them now after they had a falling out with The Escapist involving a fundraiser for covering medical bills.

</pendant>

<comment><USER21> > </pendant>

</pedant>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> A game from that era that I wish would inspire some clones is Robosport. I believe it was a Maxis title and was turn-based, but was really clever in that it didn't just feel like a board game that got ported to a computer with some animation tacked on. The version I played was on the Amiga and supported TCP/IP networking (kinda, I actually wrote my first public tutorial to help people get the networking running).

</comment><comment><USER23> > Supply Lines: When you built a mining tower on a resource deposit, there was > no need to manually build and manage drones to carry the minerals back and > forth. Instead, a road was built from your base to the mine. Drones were > automatically created when the mine had a full load and sent along the road > to your base. Enemies could blast your supply line and interrupt your flow > of resources. So protecting fixed supply lines became a bit part of the > strategy.

I always hated this mechanic, and loved Total Annihilation's (and Supreme Commander — not 2)'s resource _flows_ , and necessity of regulating resource flows in order not to gridlock an economy.

<comment><USER24> Could you please expand on this? Why did you hate this mechanic, and how was TA's mechanic better?

<comment><USER25> In most RTS games, an arbitrary Resource Mine generates resource X at a fixed rate, but the resource is delivered into your resource pool in fixed-rate chunks. 100 units of X per minute, delivered at the top of the minute (for example). You can't purchase Unit Y until you have all 300 units of Resource X, so you wait 3 minutes.

TA employed a continuous economy system where you were more concerned with your resource Bandwidth rather than total quantity available. Energy or Metal mines added +X of their respective resource to your pool, but it was continuous and if your pool was full, excess resources just vanished.

The unique aspect to this system was that the player could begin constructing _any_ building whether or not he had the resources available to finish it. The player didn't need 300 units of Resources X to start constructing Unit Y -- he just started building it. The construction units would open up and start taking in Resources at their fixed rate. If the resource pool ran out of resources, aka your construction needs outstripped your gathering capabilities, all construction slowed to the maximum rate at which you were able to gather resources.

A liquid economy, still one of the most fun I've ever played.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> I absolutely _love_ these graphics. I am currently derping around with WebGL etc., making a super simple "space shooter" ala Galaga, and so far the enemies are colored circles haha. There are a lot of objects in that archive that will make rather neat spaceships and collectibles, in a graphical style I adore -- thank you so much!

</comment><comment><USER26> Is the file of resources available anywhere? The link in the article is broken.

edit: fixed now

<comment><USER27> <http://lunar.lostgarden.com/files/HardVacuum.zip>

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> "What many PC gamers today consider to be one of the most burnt out genres was at that time new, fresh and completely unknown to most gamers."

Is this true? Are RTS games considered played out by the general gaming public?

<comment><USER21> In 2005? Yeah. At that time, I remember that my obsession with RTSes was to go back to older games, on the recommendation of gamer friends. I ended up jumping ship completely into MORPGs for a while. I guess this is why I like doing World v World in GW2 nowadays.

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> Some retro games that I think had great mechanics:

Deadlock: turn-based strategy game, like Civilization, but in a sci-fi setting. You had to manage resources and colonizer during each turn, but there were cut-scenes for battle events.

Dark Colony: very fast paced RTS game. Different than most, you couldn't place buildings anywhere in the map, only control access to resources and deny area to rivals using your units. Well balanced units. I think it had amazing graphics and sound design for the time (1997).

<comment><USER5> I remember that one. Dark Colony was one of games that inspired Starcraft.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> Dan, out of curiosity, why was it never released?

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm not the author, I just posted this article to HN.

I have no idea why it wasn't released. Sorry!

<comment><USER30> Ah, the author's name is Daniel Cook, so you can see how I would make that mistake! :-)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> Wow, this + MOAI is going to be a fun week .. ;) Seriously, thanks for the Artwork, its exactly what I need to get things happening in a more creative way on a couple of my MOAI projects. If we make something nice, we'll definitely let you know!

</comment><comment><USER32> _He would call me up on pay phones to talk about game design. Every few minutes he would have to play a series of tones from his little blue box to get another few free minutes of talk time._

Correction: That would have been a "red box". ^__^

</comment><comment><USER33> Desert Strike and (it's even better sequel) Jungle Strike were amazingly well designed. I think they were on the Sega and circa 1992 & 1993\. The Hard Vacuum game looks like it might have been even better.

</comment><comment><USER34> Ummm... Why you think that I still play DooM . It's the best FPS game of all times (if you play a source port, of course). It's very fast, with hordes of enemies, and very easy to mod and make maps.</comment>


Jack Dorsey Returns to Twitter Day to Day as Executive Chairman, Product Lead - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/#!/dickc/status/52406894186348545 <comment><AUTHOR> Jack also confirms on his own feed: <https://twitter.com/#!/jack/status/52407042966695936>

_Today I'm thrilled to get back to work at @Twitter leading product as Executive Chairman. And yes: leading @Square forevermore as CEO. #200%_</comment>


A path to learn data science - <AUTHOR> Hello. Any good books, websites, podcasts, courses etc to recommend to a Computer Scientist who wants to start learning Data Science from scratch? <comment><USER2> Assuming you're confident around CS fundamentals, good software engineering practices, and higher math (statistics, probability theory, linear algebra) — you can take shortcuts that won't cut it for complete newbies, like playing around with other people's Jupyter notebooks with handy examples and reading good books/papers that come with lots of prerequisites.

You can navigate through some good books here: [https://datasciencetexts.com/](https://datasciencetexts.com/)

Notebooks you can play with: [https://github.com/WillKoehrsen/Data- Analysis](https://github.com/WillKoehrsen/Data-Analysis) (there's a link to Will's Medium page in the repo description, there is some good advice, too).

I'm curious to hear what do you want to learn Data Science for though. Stating your goal and possible areas you want to focus on would help to give you the right resources a lot.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi. Thanks a lot for your answer! Those links will be of great help. :)

I was actually skeptic about getting an answer on this after 24h without one - thought it would become unreachable.

I am indeed confident around higher math, analysis of algorithms, software engineering etc, maybe I'll get to take some shortcuts.

I work at a company that collects data from social platforms. We used to provide our clients a data visualization tool but, lately, we started to also analyse the data and build custom reports. The thing is none of us have studied data analysis (nor data science), and it is currently impossible for us to hire. So I realized how useful that kind of knowledge is, even if I'm not gonna learn it all in the short term.

Anyway, thanks again for your answer!</comment></comment>


Do Startups need a CRM? YES - <AUTHOR> http://salesapple.wordpress.com/2012/10/17/do-startups-need-a-crm-system-yes/

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you use a CRM?</comment>


Bicycle Day Revisited (2018) - <AUTHOR> https://mikejay.net/bicycle-day-revisited/ <comment><USER2> Has anyone on HN tried riding a bike while on LSD? I couldn't imagine wanting to stay on the bike. I would just find the closest grassy spot and leave my bike by a tree.

<comment><USER3> I took 140ug in a semi rural suburb. Rode my bike around a couple times during a sunny day, was pretty awesome. I did realize I wasnt caring much about physical limits/exhaustion and thus had to drink way more water. At one point I thought something along the lines of "even if I intentionally fall off right now it wont be that bad, Ill recover and heal", while moving fairly quickly. I got off the bike.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: In the light of Yahoo hacking,what is the best method of password hashing - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> [http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/211/how-to- secur...](http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/211/how-to-securely- hash-passwords)

</comment><comment><USER3> Please define: best method. Do you mean for speed? for privacy? for something else?</comment>


'It drives writers mad': why are authors still sniffy about sci-fi? - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/18/it-drives-writers-mad-why-are-authors-still-sniffy-about-sci-fi <comment> cljs-js-eval Leave it to the English novelist community to shun the one field that is undergoing a golden age. Seriously, what recent books with any staying power have come out of the non-SF/fantasy genres? Meanwhile, authors like Liu Cixin and Peter Watts are churning out some of the most interesting material around.

</comment><comment><USER2> Oddly, science fiction is one of the ways to escape publishing a book that has "a novel" on the cover that is on the remainder rack for 99 cents. That is, most literature faces indifference and sci-fi is an alternative ghetto to the ghetto of "books nobody cares about".</comment>


Firefox To Drop http:// and Single Trailing Slashes In The Address Bar - <AUTHOR> http://browserfame.com/41/firefox-hide-http-address-bar <comment><USER2> "The basic purpose of hiding the common prefix, <http://>, is to make URLs more visible. This will also help users to easily identify the website they are dealing with. Although, the URL prefix for encrypted pages (<https://>) will be displayed as usual to avoid confusion."

How is showing the prefix in one case and not the other avoiding confusion?

If they want to get rid of it, they should get rid of it fully, like the others, and use a recognizable icon for the modes, but not show it and hid it depending on the case. That's the base of confusion, no?

<comment><USER3> Chrome works that way, shows <https://>, hides <http://>. It's absolutely fine. The less stuff you have to look at, the more efficient you are.

<comment><USER2> Ok, but why would you have to see https, then? Wouldn't a lock icon be enough?

If the idea is to drop the prefix because it's redundant and useless to most, then it's same for https. All what matters to the end user is that he is on a secure connection, I think.

<comment><USER4> If I had to guess, I would say that the idea behind this is to force the clueless user that doesn't know anything about the internet to write the <https://> when he is given a link that starts that way. Since there is no guaranty whatsoever that a website will redirect you to a secure connection without the user asking for it.

I'm not saying it makes perfect sense, just that I wouldn't be surprised if that's the idea behind it.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Chrome did this and it's problematic. When a user copies a url they are either required to add the <http://> themselves, or firefox could do what chrome did and automatically add the <http://> to the url when you copy it. This is a problem if you just want to copy the domain name and now you have to remove the added <http://>

There is no advantage to this kind of change.

<comment><USER6> I haven't typed the <http://> in Firefox for ages, seems they already add it automatically.

<comment><USER7> He's talking about when you select the URL to copy it to another application, say an email or instant message. At that time you need the <http://> so the other app knows it's an URL. Which means you're putting something in the clipboard which is not visible in the user's selection. Which is weird and bad.

<comment><USER6> Most apps seem to recognise URLs without http by now, though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Isn't dropping trailing slashes a bit dangerous? They have different semantic meanings.

<comment><USER9> Agree. Slashes typically mean a directory separator but they're really a character like any other. Having separate pages at /foo and /foo/ is completely legitimate.

Sometimes it seems like we're desperate for innovation. Someone remind me why are we tampering with how the urls are displayed. Is there some major benefit I'm missing out on and why is this type of thing "news"?

<comment><USER10> _Someone remind me why are we tampering with how the urls are displayed. Is there some major benefit I'm missing out on and why is this type of thing "news"?_

1) Normal users do not understand URLs, at all.

2) It is in Google's direct financial interest to extend overwhelming control of navigation on the Internet into complete domination, by discouraging navigation by end users and teaching them that the right way to navigate is to use AOL Keywords 2.0 at their friendly local multinational advertising company.

Why would Firefox do this? I don't know. Maybe they have Chrome envy.

Want a conspiracy theory? Firefox receives essentially 100% of their funding -- to the tune of over a hundred million bucks -- from Google kicking back advertising revenue in return for being the default search engine in FF. If a for-profit corporation made a decision in the interests of their sole client whose happiness was worth 9 figures a year, what would you conclude about the motivation for that decision?

<comment><USER11> I believe point 2) has not been emphasized enough.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Why show the address bar at all? Most users don't care about URLs, and they don't type them in, they have google as their home page and they navigate the internet via searches.

</comment><comment><USER11> I wrote a longer response, but I'll summarize it to "this blows".</comment>


Ruining the User Experience with AJAX - <AUTHOR> http://www.alistapart.com/articles/ruininguserexperience <comment><USER2> In the beginning, there was HTML, and lo, there was much rejoicing among the scientists. Content was king. HTML was to provide guidelines for presentation, without dictating exact formatting. Lynx and Mosaic users existed in harmony.

Then came the .com rush, and with them, their horde of designers. Designers used tables to wring miracles from HTML, all above the protests of the purists -- "HTML is not a page description language!", "What about the Lynx users??" etc.

But what the purists missed was that the landscape had changed. HTML was no longer just about content: de facto, it had become about the presentation as well. Eventually CSS caught up and specs mirrored reality.

Ironically, it's the designers, like the author, who are now missing the context change. It's their turn to be the dinosaurs. Web 2.0 is not just about more presentation options; spice and sugar on a page-oriented website. AJAX is about building applications that use the browser as the environment. Protesting that cell phone users won't be able to use the app is missing the point. Do people complain that Writely doesn't work on a cellphone?

(Well, maybe they do. Stuff 'em! :)

<comment><USER3> Sure, that may be what AJAX and Web 2.0 are about. But isn't the point of a web site to provide some service? In the case of Lala, the service is to facilitate CD trading (or something along those lines). To best provide that service, do they really need Web 2.0 and AJAX? If they want to accomodate users of mobile devices (and wouldn't they? every visitor is a potential customer), then they should provide a working interface for those users.

On the other hand, if they think AJAX is the best way to provide their service, that's up to them... it's their web site. I think the author really means that they should be designing for a wider audience if they want to appease as many visitors as possible. Whether that demographic is important enough to bother with is another question.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> On the sites that use AJAX correctly and effectively, I must admit that the UI is a marked improvement over past technologies. In many cases, though, it can be overkill: a waste of bandwidth and programmer time (i.e. it would be unnecessary for the Google home page to use AJAX to display search results). As an occasional Lynx user, I really appreciate when a site keeps alternate browsers in mind.

That said, I agree with jw that catering to users of ancient, insecure browsers is probably a waste of time and a barrier to progress. I disagree with a strict cost-benefit approach, however. As an analogy, Microsoft has been benefiting from this phenomenon for years due to hardware companies who only write Windows drivers, while NVidia is a good example of a hardware company which provides open source drivers and receives loyalty and sales opportunities because of it. Additionally, supporting cell phone users and the visually impaired is certainly a good idea, even if only a small percentage of visitors fall into these categories.

Of course, as numerous others mentioned, it's important to be aware of your target audience, but don't be surprised if your actual audience does not necessarily match the one you have in mind.

</comment><comment><USER5> While I agree AJAX apps should gracefully degrade when Javascript is disabled, I personally like the (Javascript-enabled) UI at Lala.com. I'm not sure I agree every service must be accessible everywhere.

It depends on the app. I'd really like to be able to check my Gmail and calendar on my cell phone. But I won't mind if I can't load Youtube or Flickr.

Know your target audience.

</comment><comment><USER3> I agree that you should know your target audience, but I think it's also a cost-benefit issue. I'm all for making your page accessible to as many people as possible, but in many cases it's not practical to cater to the 3 hits per month that for some reason still use Netscape 4.x.

I disagree with the article that you might need to "dig out some old favorites like @import" for older browsers. As discussed in "To Hell With Bad Browsers" ( <http://www.alistapart.com/articles/tohell> ), you shouldn't have to deal with people who refuse to use a modern browser. (Hmm that was 6 years ago now... am I old?)

I agree with the article that it's illogical to load an entire page with AJAX and not have a non-javascript option, but I think the whole 3-level scheme is overkill in some cases. I think it comes back to knowing your audience, and designing your site so that they will be able to use it how they want.

</comment><comment><USER6> Reddit renders in lynx. The reply boxes aren't hidden in the comments list, and I can't log in. Otherwise the site is easily usable.

I can load lala.com, and do get a nice description of the page (which is better than some sites!). I can access the search field, but can't change the categories. I can't press the search button.

I'd be interested to know the reason why, for example, they chose to set up their categories like that, rather than using some sort of radio button form. And if they're going to use AJAX, why not make the "tabs" look like actual tabs? What benefits are gained by having a search button that can't be pressed without javascript?</comment>


First draft of the Wordpress Twenty Thirteen theme posted - <AUTHOR> http://make.wordpress.org/core/2013/02/18/introducing-twenty-thirteen/ <comment><USER2> Wow, this is quite different from their usual clean and "safe" default themes. I think I like it though. I also like that WordPress is putting an emphasis on different post formats, that is a feature that is underused IMO.</comment>


Agile negates benefits of functional programming by ex Jet employee - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@bryanedds/agile-negates-the-most-important-benefits-of-switching-to-functional-programming-354c867391e9#.v5haejpus <comment><USER2> After reading this article all that remained was an unpleasant aftertaste from self-aggrandizing and arrogant delivery.

But perhaps I don't pass the bar to be considered an intended audience this was meant to be addressed to.

Signed, C# developer.

</comment><comment><USER3> A fluff piece where he doesn't actually show examples of why it doesn't work but only boasts about how great the stuff he made was and how badly everyone messed it up.

</comment><comment><USER4> Sounds like another example of an organization that doesn't understand what "agile" means and assumes "agile == cowboy coding with no rigor at all". But that is not true. There is nothing prescriptive in the Agile Manifesto that says you can't (or shouldn't) do: up-front design, code reviews, architectural standards, code standards, etc. What the Agile Manifesto is saying, at heart, is that you shouldn't be doing those things simply as ceremony, or treating them as an end goal in their own right.

IOW, "Agile" was a reaction to bureaucracy heavy methodologies that were highly prescriptive and loaded with ceremony of dubious value. Getting rid of that stuff is the essence of Agile in many ways. BUT... that doesn't mean you can't keep the stuff _that actually adds value in your organization_. And that's maybe the biggest point of all: "Your Agile isn't my Agile". Agile at Jet may result in an approach that looks completely different than Agile at Fogbeam, or IBM, or Google, or $WHATEVER.

Let's look at the first part of the Agile Manifesto:

        We are uncovering better ways of developing
        software by doing it and helping others do it.
        Through this work we have come to value:

        Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
        Working software over comprehensive documentation
        Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
        Responding to change over following a plan

        That is, *while there is value in the items on
        the right*, we value the items on the left more.

Emphasis added.

Now let's look at the 12 Principles of Agile:

        We follow these principles:

        Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer
        through early and continuous delivery
        of valuable software.

        Welcome changing requirements, even late in
        development. Agile processes harness change for
        the customer's competitive advantage.

        Deliver working software frequently, from a
        couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a
        preference to the shorter timescale.

        Business people and developers must work
        together daily throughout the project.

        Build projects around motivated individuals.
        Give them the environment and support they need,
        and trust them to get the job done.

        The most efficient and effective method of
        conveying information to and within a development
        team is face-to-face conversation.

        Working software is the primary measure of progress.

        Agile processes promote sustainable development.
        The sponsors, developers, and users should be able
        to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.

        Continuous attention to technical excellence
        and good design enhances agility.

        Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount
        of work not done--is essential.

        The best architectures, requirements, and designs
        emerge from self-organizing teams.

        At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
        to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
        its behavior accordingly.

Notice what's _not_ there: time boxed iterations, "sprints", "collective code ownership", daily standups, "scrums", "planning poker", rejection of design and/or architecture, rejection of code reviews, etc., etc.

Also pay extra attention to the last principle:

        At regular intervals, the team reflects on how
        to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts
        its behavior accordingly.

This is why "My Agile isn't your Agile". Teams self-tune and adjust to fit their environment. And you have a LOT of freedom to do that. Notice how little of this is prescriptive.

I think the real problem is this: People adopt a half-baked software development methodology, loosely based on a handful of ideas taken from Scrum and/or XP, and maybe a cursory reading of the Agile Manifesto, call it "agile" and then proceed to do haphazard slap-dash development and then when things get fucked up, they blame "Agile".

This is so wrong... Agile does NOT mean "do whatever the fuck you want with no planning, no architecture, no coding standards, no reviews, no design, etc."</comment>


Invite HN: Unofficial Post Startup School BBQ at the PA Hacker House - <AUTHOR> http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=309750265707523 <comment><USER2> Aw, man... saw "PA" and thought "Pennsylvania". You know, not everyone gets to live in California so long that Palo Alto becomes shortened to an acronym. :(

Looks like an awesome barbecue though! Will there be coding involved?

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry to get your hopes up! =)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> It's probably not critical, but is there no way to see this without having to create a facebook account?

<comment><AUTHOR> Sorry, did't realize FB makes you sign in to see an event.

Full text below \---- Time: Sunday, October 30 · 2:00pm - 5:00pm Location: Hacker House 354 Poe St Palo Alto, California

Startup School is just around the corner and that means hundreds of hackers from around the world are descending on Palo Alto.

Due to overwhelming demand (mostly our own), the hackers will be throwing hacker house party v4: BBQ edition.

\- We'll have hamburgers, hot dogs, and beer. 'Nuff said.

\- we hope you will be there (seriously, you're just going to code all day/eat ramen noodles otherwise)

\- yes, you can bring friends and booze (both of these are encouraged, obviously)

<comment><USER4> I'm in charge of the "beer" part, so I think it needs to be emphasized more. Just learned how to play Battle Pong, so bring your game/drinking faces

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Is there not a YCombinator Distributed Open House on that day this year? (It doesn't look like it.)

<comment><USER6> Yes, there's going to be. We just haven't announced it yet.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Awesome. Really looking forward to it.

PA Hacker House is awesome!

</comment><comment><USER8> wait so is this today or tomorrow?

<comment><AUTHOR> Neither, it's Sunday.</comment></comment>


Twitter pledges to update public policies after Trump threatens North Korea - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/25/16364048/twitter-pledges-to-update-public-policies-after-trump-threatens-north-korea <comment><AUTHOR> I know it's a slippery slope, but I seriously questioned whether or not Trump's account should have been censored after he claimed North Korea wouldn't "be around much longer." I actually felt concerned for my safety and for the lives of military personnel that might get pulled into a conflict. I don't think Trump's tweets represent any kind of strategy that shouldn't be interfered with. They only represent the possibility of an unthinkable tragedy which would take place over nothing -- the whims of immature men with outsized egos. They are "newsworthy" to be sure. But so would be the deaths of people in Seoul and wherever else if North Korea decides to initiate a conflict based on a provocative tweet.

<comment><USER2> I agree with your analysis, although I tend to think that humans aren't well qualified to decide when it's proper to censor/silence others and when it's not. We're too easily corrupted and blinded by preconceptions, presuppositions, ideologies, and our current political views.

For that reason I tend to think we shouldn't play around with silencing people, even tho I agree that it's pretty hard to do in this case.</comment></comment>


Salisbury cathedral clock - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salisbury_cathedral_clock <comment><USER2> I live near Salisbury and it's amazing how many locals don't know about this clock. The Cathedral is well worth a visit for many reasons, but this alone is a pretty good one.

<comment><USER3> The Cathedral is definitely worth a visit. So is the town.

But that whole area is fascinating. Stonehenge is a short drive North. A slightly longer drive North gets you to Avebury.

Much closer is Amesbury, which has Blick Mead on the outskirts, with evidence of occupation from nearly 9000 years ago.

[http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp- content/uploads/2014/12/Blick...](http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/wp- content/uploads/2014/12/Blick-Mead.pdf)

<comment><USER4> Nice part of the world. New Forest is only a short drive away, too, and definitely worth a visit.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It saddens me that machines like this are still functional after so many years while modern technology is just a piece of garbage that cannot be expected to work after five years or less. It saddens me because with my current skills I am completely sure that whatever I try to build right now will disappear in a couple of years and people will forget about me, I cannot even imagine Google being alive in a century, or who knows, maybe when the AI evolves to the point where we will have a walking/talking machine in every house named GoogleBot :D

<comment><USER6> If you think about it, most folks from that time weren't making clocks either. They were making lots of junk that has since been burned, buried, broken, or tossed down the out house hole. If you want to leave a legacy, you should stop being Yorman the Web Site Developer and try being Yorman the Artist or Yorman the Architect.

<comment><USER7> Most art and achitecture hasn't survived either.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> It's a little unfortunate that the best method we apparently have of dating these clocks is by voting by panels of experts, rather than by carbon-dating or whatever metallurgic equivalent there may be, which it appears can't be done

</comment><comment><USER9> I can't believe I was there and I didn't see this. Oh well, I guess I got to see the Chronophage a bunch of times (which, BTW, was super lame.)

<comment><USER10> What was lame about it? I hadn't heard of it before, but it sounds pretty awesome, from the Wikipedia page ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Clock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpus_Clock))

<comment><USER11> Gold + blue LEDs is about the tackiest combination I can think of. Blue LEDs were cool for a few years in the late 90s because they were new and high tech. I think they lost their fashion value in 2000 with the release of the PlayStation 2 (which had a blue power LED). By then it was obvious they were cheap and widely available. People still using blue LEDs in 2008 were clearly out of touch, and in 2016 the only way they can possibly be cool is if they're obviously ironic, which the Corpus Clock LEDs aren't.

<comment><USER12> Blue LEDs are the worst. They are the most annoying of LEDs, in part because of their ridiculous brightness, in part because blue light just disturbs sleep more for biological reasons. If I have a device with blue LEDs in my bedroom, it gets masking tape.

<comment><USER9> Yeah, I ordered a bunch of extensions cords from Amazon and they came with an extremely bright blue LED embedded in the on/off switch. Needless to say, I was no happy bunny the first night when I went to sleep with two of those in the room.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Illico iPhone App is Like Reply All for SMS (feedback welcome) - <AUTHOR> http://illi.co/

<comment><AUTHOR> We launched our app today, and would love some feedback from the HN community. Happy to answer any technical questions you may have on underlying technology.</comment>


An Interview with Paul Graham: Hackers & Painters 10 Years Later - <AUTHOR> http://blog.onemonthrails.com/interview-paul-graham-hackers-and-painters-ten-years-later/ <comment><USER4> PG: "Hacking is getting a lot cooler now. But I think it is probably better for picking people up at parties if you can say you're a painter."

At a party, I say I used to be a painter, but gave it up because I can paint utter shit and still get recognition for it. When you code utter shit, nothing matters unless that shit works.

Most people don't understand either profession. Nowadays I just say - "I'm still a practising artist, but I only practise the black arts." Then I try and explain recursion to them.

<comment><USER5> "Nothing matters unless that shit works" applies to painting as well - <USER3> paint still has to stick to the canvas. And _plenty_ of coded "utter shit" gets heaps of recognition - like every middleman-creating user-disempowering "web 2.0" data silo.

<comment><USER4> > _" Nothing matters unless that shit works" applies to painting as well - <USER3> > paint still has to stick to the canvas._

Any artist with half a brain cell can get round that conundrum, just sell the collector an empty canvas and then sell them a bullshit story that it is art.

> _And plenty of coded "utter shit" gets heaps of recognition - like every > middleman-creating user-disempowering "web 2.0" data silo._

Wait up, are you suggesting that _every middleman-creating user-disempowering "web 2.0" data silo_ works well and has few known bugs?

<comment><USER6> > Any artist with half a brain cell can get round that conundrum, just sell > the collector an empty canvas and then sell them a bullshit story that it is > art.

Evidently you have never tried to do this before.

<comment><USER4> > _Evidently you have never tried to do this before._

No I haven't tried this, I have better things to do, like working out how to use the POSIX library.

But Lucio Fontano did something very similar, and it worked.

<comment><USER7> Lucio Fontan _a_ is nothing comparing to Piero Manzoni.

He get through making an artwork featuring 90 tin can filled with 30g of his own shit. Please read the label that said _Merda d 'artista_ ( _artist shit_ ) :

        Artist's Shit
        Contents 30 gr net
        Freshly preserved
        Produced and tinned
        in May 1961

Quoting Wikipedia : _The cans were originally to be valued according to their equivalent weight in gold — $37 each in 1961 — with the price fluctuating according to the market._

But the stuff is today shown in biggest museum, and one can has been sold $160300 in 2008.

<comment><USER4> I referenced Fontana specifically because he used to work with canvas.

At least Piero was being honest about being dishonest (a common trait in post- modernist art).

<comment><USER7> _Nothing matters unless that shit works_

<comment><USER4> Hmm, a new meme...

"nothing matters unless that _tinned_ shit works"

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> _When Hackers & Painters came out in 2003… hacking was not cool. Computer science was not cool. Having a startup was not cool._

I'm sort of curious about this, as I was still in grade school at the time. Can someone who was, say, in college or a recent graduate in 2003 comment to this? What was the climate like?

<comment><USER9> If they weren't cool in 2003, it was only as a short-term aftereffect of the dot-com collapse. Those were certainly cool things when I graduated in 1998 and shortly afterwards.

<comment><USER10> My experience is different. I worked for 2 successful startups back then and it never felt that cool. Maybe it was a _little_ cool, but basically it wasn't. The feeling and conversation was much more along the lines of "lol, can you believe what these fools are paying us? this whole thing makes no sense! and look at everyone trying to make work hip by installing ping pong tables and slides in the office. what a joke!" it seems like the big difference is that now a lot more real money has been made, and it seems like less of a joke, and more people have bought into the new office culture.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> _Paul Graham addressing the Y Combinator crowd_

White, males, crowd.</comment>


Microsoft, Facebook, Google and others launch web technology reference website - <AUTHOR> http://webplatform.org

<comment><USER2> Mozilla ia a sponsor, but they also have a notable reference of their own. For instance, the Javascript section is my go-to reference:

<https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/JavaScript>

Click "DOCS" at the top to see other topics.

</comment><comment><USER3> Tim Berners-Lee: Web Developer

<http://imgur.com/itWft>

A strikingly accurate description of his contribution!

</comment><comment><USER4> Their interface is setup more for marketing than it is for utility.

I much prefer <http://dochub.io/>

</comment><comment><USER5> When we already have so many repos of content, why another initiative towards making a new one? There is HTML5Rocks, MDN and so many others.

<comment><USER6> HTML5 Rocks content is being upstreamed to WPD. Many expect the long-term to be the same with MDN, though more here on that: [https://hacks.mozilla.org/2012/10/welcoming-the-new-kid- web-...](https://hacks.mozilla.org/2012/10/welcoming-the-new-kid-web-platform- docs/)

Regardless, none of these are vendor-neutral right now and they have frustrating overlap. This site is for all of the web.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Why haven't they decided to contribute to MDN instead since it already has a lot of good content?

</comment><comment><USER8> This is horribly broken on my phone, using the stock browser on Android 2.3. Web platform indeed.

<comment><USER9> Yeah. Someone has asked that in the threads too: [http://talk.webplatform.org/forums/index.php/172/why-is- this...](http://talk.webplatform.org/forums/index.php/172/why-is-this-website- not-optimized-for-mobile)

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Where is APPLE when we need them for once on there.

<comment><USER11> The following organizations, including Apple, are listed as stewards:

Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, W3C

See <http://webplatform.org/stewards/>

<comment><USER10> You right, thanks for correcting me.</comment></comment></comment>


Did FTC Probe Cause Apple to Change App Rules? - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/09/ftc-apple/

<comment><USER2> I found it interesting that the pundits on NPR are claiming that this change may be intended to blunt competition from Android by keeping developers on iOS, as well as suggesting that this change may have been in response to FTC concerns. I love how one can view both closing and opening the license as hurting the competition. Doublethink is alive and well.

<comment><USER3> As the author of the article, I'd argue that the evidence that the FTC is talking to developers about tools (not so much about blocking Flash) shows that Apple was feeling FTC pressure. Jobs argued hard, and not unpersusasively, that third-party tools weren't the best for the ecosystem, so I think it's likely this reversal isn't what they want, but what they think they need to do to avoid a PR embarrassment from an FTC action or formal settlement.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Apple decides to do C. But C is a lot of work. So they do A and say "make web apps" and they start working on B. Meanwhile everyone screams, we want B, even though apple never promised B. Apple delivers B and everyone demands C and the FCC starts nosing around to see if it can drum up some "donations" to favored senators and congressmen from apple. Finally, apple finishes C and everyone says "see,we told you to do C!"

Yet when apple originally thought up C, these same people had never even considered the possibility of A.</comment>


Ask HN: Where do HN people hangout online? - <AUTHOR> Just wondering, is it possible to find people actively following HN on any online instant messaging platform like IRC or a web site? Are there any conveniences or common habbits you observed between communication of the users of this community? <comment><USER2> The #startups channel in irc.freenode.net is full of HN'ers, and usually active.

</comment><comment><USER3> Various stack-exchange sites. I'm more of a hardware type so the Electrical Engineering stack-exchange is the one I frequent most.

</comment><comment><USER4> Google+ . I have over 200 people in my HN circle. Do a search here. There are threads where people put there info to add them.

</comment><comment><USER5> On hn. This place is filled with people who love tech business and other interesting things like hiking, music, history and any other topics. It just so happens that hn is where they come to talk tech. The other places they go to hang out maybe totally outside of that. For example hn owns the vast majority of my on line time , then I spent a huge amount of time reading about religions, old scriptures etc and that has little to do w what we talk about here.

</comment><comment><USER6> I (and a few others, I think) hang out in #cobol on irc.synirc.net (which is Something Awful's "Cavern Of COBOL" channel)

<comment><USER7> I like #cobol, even though there seems to be a surprising lack of programmer talk :D

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Add HN chat: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2756145>

List of HN contact sites: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2934275>

Secret Cabal (actually already mentioned): <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2252897>

</comment><comment><USER9> G+. <https://plus.google.com/107781042718674753240/posts//p/pub>

Or here.

<comment><USER10> blank g+ page for me

<comment><USER9> Freakin' g+ gives me a link to cut-n-paste, and it's _broken_.

<https://plus.google.com/107781042718674753240/posts>

I think. :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> #ruby or any other language's channel on freenode is a good bet.

</comment><comment><USER12> I've been spending a lot of time on <http://anybeat.com>

</comment><comment><USER13> Generally just <http://webetalk.com> and reddit.

</comment><comment><USER14> <http://www.crazyontap.com>

</comment><comment><USER15> we have a small group of HN readers showing off and helping each other on their projects over at <http://www.virtualrockstars.com>

</comment><comment><USER16> my G+ link:

<http://gplus.to/kadnan>

</comment><comment><USER17> Reddit: reddit.com

</comment><comment><USER18> Quora, where else

<comment><USER19> Can you invite me to Quora please?

<comment><USER20> Why do you need an invite? It is open to everybody.

<comment><USER19> Hmm, but it shows me I need an invite. Maybe because I'm not from US... <http://cl.ly/2g18003S1D3q0v3p1P23>

<comment><USER20> weird - if you want an invite just email me at srmorrisonjit [at] gmail

<comment><USER21> People outside the US need an invite for some reason. Can't guess why.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


David Mamet's rules of drama - <AUTHOR> http://www.movieline.com/2010/03/david-mamets-memo-to-the-writers-of-the-unit.php <comment><USER2> _"The Unit"_ was aweful on multiple levels. But Mamet's point is basic and correct: _Any scene, thus, which does not both advance the plot, and standalone (that is, dramatically, by itself, on its own merits) is either superfluous, or incorrectly written._

True for all literature really.

<comment><USER3> That line stuck out for me as well. I just finished the new Wheel of Time book the other day; It's much better than the last 5 or so for precisely this reason. An object lesson.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Mamet's "True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor (Paperback)" is recommended reading. It's a quick read and gives a refreshing and blunt opinions about method acting.

From the editorial review on Amazon.com: "To hell with Stanislavsky. To hell with the Method. "The actor is onstage to communicate the play to the audience," says David Mamet. "That is the beginning and the end of his and her job. To do so the actor needs a strong voice, superb diction, a supple, well- proportioned body and a rudimentary understanding of the play." Anything else--"becoming" one's part, "feeling" the character's emotions--devalues the practice of a noble craft and is useless to the play. "The 'work' you do 'on the script' will make no difference," he cautions. "That work has already been done by a person with a different job title than yours. That person is the author.""

However, what I personally think is even more interesting is that before and after reading Mamet's book I've always found Mamet's movies somehow lacking on the emotional level. Either Mamet's opinions about acting (and directing) are a crock of shit, or I don't understand anything about the subject.

<comment><USER5> _Mamet's opinions about acting (and directing) are a crock of shit_

They are. Proof by counterexample: go watch Ian McKellen perform Richard III (1995 film). Here's a YouTube clip of a few opening scenes: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5-SUDrHMU>. This is simply brilliant stuff. Now imagine actors, no matter how good, merely reading the lines — _without_ an overriding concept for the show, just reading the text and moving just enough to make the action make sense. Laurence Olivier's 1955 Richard III is rather like that; good mostly because the play is awesome, not because it's a good movie or a good production.

<comment><USER6> Just read Mamet's unqualified (in the sense of phrased-as-universally- applicable) statements as being about his particular corner of the acting world. He likes to overstate his case, but there's room in the world for more than one kind of good production.

McKellen and Mamet are like, say, Picasso and Monet. We can all agree that _Three Musicians_ is brilliant without seeing it as a proof by example that Monet's ideas about painting were wrong.

Edit: while I'm here, I second the recommendation of McKellen's Richard III.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I did a minor in theatre (well, the closest my college had). I focused a lot on Mamet. It's easy to take his approach overboard.

Mamet is a playwright, and plays are a different medium than film. In fact, his book "On Directing Film," covers it: theatre is about the present moment between characters, film is about the juxtaposition of images.

Mamet has spent most of his life writing rather than directing, and look at his credits to see some of the great storytelling he is capable of. Unfortunately, putting a writer behind a lens is like expecting a great developer to be a great product manager. Very different skills.

</comment><comment><USER8> quick hack: when in doubt, withhold information from the audience. this is an easy way to add drama to a scene. experiment with rewriting the dialogue and leaving out a different important piece of information. often one of these rewrites will lead to a much better scene. yes, this is a cheap tactic, and the master writer weaves a web of missing details that funnels the audience towards an earth shattering climax. us mortals can make do with a quick hack.

</comment><comment><USER9> I wish he'd come up with some rules for fighting his own suck. I mean, he hasn't witten anything _really_ good since Glengarry Glen Ross.

<comment><USER10> Well, there's Ronin.

He also does a great deal of uncredited rewriting.</comment></comment>