A Misguided Focus on Mental Illness - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/18/health/a-misguided-focus-on-mental-illness-in-gun-control-debate.html <comment><USER2> _"If we really want to stop young men like him from becoming mass murderers, and prevent the small amount of violence attributable to mental illness, we should invest our resources in better screening for, and treatment of, psychiatric illness in young people."_

Isn't that focusing on mental illness? I thought that was misguided. Misguided title I think.

</comment><comment><USER3> I guess I should add this to the list I compiled earlier, but which number?

Possible fallout from Sandy Hook that is far worse than the event:

5) We put metal detectors at all schools, not just the ones that make sense because of racial stereotypes.

4) We create a new branch of government called SchoolLand Security that does nothing but harrass people and make cameos in pop culture entertainment.

3) We force all students to wear GPS trackers and if they are not in the right place before or during school hours we send the new SLS to investigate.

2) We rewrite the constitution and remove the right to bear arms, and a few other inconsequential things like free speech.

1) We create a TSA/Air Warden mix official in each school that has carries the 1 gun allowed in school combined with the authority to cavity search your sons and daughters at their own discretion.

<comment><USER4> Wouldn't racial stereotypes put metal detectors in predominantly white middle class schools?

<comment><USER3> I don't know. It depends which racial stereotypes you are acknowledging as sarcastically valid in this hypothetical situation.

I can't honestly say I have ever looked up what schools have had more weapon related violence. The small scale incidents never make news cause that wouldn't sell papers, so other people never really bother me about it unlike this particular incident.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Accessible mental health care for everyone would make society better overall, if not decrease the likelihood of these mass shootings. Yes, people with mental problems are not going on shooting sprees en masse, but whenever someone goes on a shooting spree I think by definition they aren't functioning normally.

<comment><USER6> Not everyone who _needs_ mental health care knows they need it, nor might they be willing to seek it, based on how we treat "mental patients" in our society.

I guess what I'm saying is that, you are right, attacks like this are few and far between, and that's good. I'm not sure what we can do, _if anything_ , to make them fewer and further between. At some point, this all becomes security theater, that is doing something simply for the sake of "doing something", regardless of it's actual efficacy. In fact, "mental illness" is becoming a red herring to deflect discussion away from the harder topic of "gun control".

FWIW, I feel as safe sending my kids to school today as I did a month ago (that is, I don't give it a second thought).

</comment></comment><comment> jack-r-abbit _But there is overwhelming epidemiological evidence that the vast majority of people with psychiatric disorders do not commit violent acts._

But... but... but isn't there also overwhelming evidence that the vast majority of people with guns do not commit violent acts? I personally know a handful of people that currently own or have owned one or more guns. Not one of them has ever shot anybody. Ever.

[Edit to remove irrelevant point.]

<comment><USER7> The whole point is that all of this is extremely uncommon.

To put this in context, there are about 10,000 people killed annually in the U.S. That's 27 people every single day like clockwork, in often more violent and horrific fashion--many of them teenagers and kids. I think the "active shooter" stat is something like ~100 annually.

So if you want to get worked up about something, get worked up about drunk drivers. Or the far more likely cause of your death: heart disease and cancer.

[http://www.centurycouncil.org/drunk-driving/drunk-driving- fa...](http://www.centurycouncil.org/drunk-driving/drunk-driving-fatalities- national-statistics)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_causes_of_death_by_rate#United_States)

<comment> jack-r-abbit Totally agree with you. I kind of think about it like Plane crashes v. Auto crashes. Commercial Plane crashes are very rare but when they do happen 250 people die in one shot. Car crashes happen so much more frequently but each only has a couple deaths. The grand scale of devastation of this one single act, in one single location makes it far more emotional than 1 or 2 deaths every hour 24/7 across the US. And when emotions are running wild... people get all worked up.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> _"What the more realistic discussion is, 'How do we target people with mental illness who use firearms?' "_

\-- This is not misguided. But criminals break laws, by definition.

</comment><comment><USER8> Relevant> "Fear of being committed may have caused Connecticut gunman to snap"

[http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/18/fear-being-committed- ma...](http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/12/18/fear-being-committed-may-have- caused-connecticut-madman-to-snap/)</comment>


A Self Funded SaaS Story: The Journey from Zero to a Projected 31M ARR - <AUTHOR> https://www.whalepages.com/the-journey-from-zero-to-a-projected-31-million-arr/ <comment><AUTHOR> Seems that a lot of SaaS entrepreneurs start out as agency owners with a technical problem to solve for themselves. The problem provides a springboard for a SaaS product.</comment>


Mobile Network Performance in the US - <AUTHOR> http://www.rootmetrics.com/us/blog/special-reports/2015-1h-national-us

<comment><USER2> That's good news for any of us planning to build bandwidth-intensive apps on top of mobile networks and targeting the U.S. of A.

However, anecdotal evidence points at the LTE performance being very uneven in the U.S. (and even deliberate tampering like the one at convention centers).

Are people still optimizing their websites / apps for mobile bandwidth? Or is it a "solved problem"?</comment>


Show HN: Social Election 2016 a live monitor of the candidates social - <AUTHOR> http://www.2016socialelection.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> I wrote this so I could watch it....during the debate....</comment>


Google hints at launching a major search feature tomorrow - <AUTHOR> http://www.twitter.com/google/status/23883179800

<comment><USER2> How does "something exciting" imply a major search engine feature? Something exciting could be literally anything. Google is known for embracing notable events and people. I'm actually guessing that this is a hint at something to do with HTML5, but I am probably wrong.

</comment><comment><USER3> People shouldn't have to wait long to find out what this is about. A major announcement has been scheduled for Wednesday at 9:30 AM PDT.</comment>


Apple Lisa source code to be released - <AUTHOR> https://twitter.com/6502lane/status/944965691710496769?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Eios%7Ctwgr%5Eother <comment><USER2> Source: [https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lisalist/aIo6cNu54xM](https://groups.google.com/d/topic/lisalist/aIo6cNu54xM)

</comment><comment><USER3> Ahh, the Lisa. The last great Apple device.</comment>


Progressively loading CSS – changes coming to Chrome - <AUTHOR> https://jakearchibald.com/2016/link-in-body/ <comment><USER2> > At Chrome, we like the IE/Edge behaviour, so we're going to align with it. > This allows the progressive rendering pattern of CSS described above.

Kudos for chrome giving a nod to MS edge, and to the edge team for making things cool.

</comment><comment><USER3> With progressive jpegs, I end up missing out on the content of images because they're still blurry by the time I'm done skimming text.

But now I'm going to miss out on text because I'm done skimming and it hasn't appeared yet.

</comment><comment><USER4> _Content shifting around is right up there with pop-up ads in terms of user frustration._

I disagree, especially with the almost complete absence of any progress bars or loading indicators that the UI designers seem to love so much and have forced newer browsers to have. "Something happening" on the page is nice way to know that it is still loading. A white screen is worse.

(Then again, I'm used to pre-Webkit Opera, which has a very prominent progress bar and applies CSS as it loads.)

</comment><comment><USER5> Avoid specifity in CSS by adding bits of complexity in your HTML markup. Your style sheet foot print will be so small you'll never need any of these tricky patterns.

</comment><comment><USER6> I appreciate these efforts to optimize load times, but the problem we see today slowing down the web is caused by designers making 2MB+ webpages for simple articles you could deliver in 20KB. Why can't we stop it from the source and just decrease webpage garbage? In that case, CSS is negligible adds only milliseconds to the total load time.

<comment><USER7> Garbage attracts the masses. Advertising pays the bills. The unnecessary crap that we developers would blow away are, unfortunately, the only thing that the laity come online for and therefore the only reason why we have jobs/customers.

Better we explore techniques to optimise, no matter how incremental, so that we can shave as many milliseconds as possible without compromising on the nectar of content and thus challenge native app experiences on mobile devices.</comment></comment>


Wendelstein 7-X stellarator getting ready for the next phase of operation [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://www.ipp.mpg.de/4206699/013_April_2017_eng.pdf <comment><USER2> Wendelstein 7-x is really not fusion research, but plasma physics research. At the energy/temperature levels and magnetic field strength this machine is operating, plasma is showing all kinds of undesirable behavior, such as turbulence, radial forces... a little bit like the storms on Jupiter. This imposes many challenges, because as soon as the plasma escapes the magnetic field and touches the vessel, it rapidly cools - ending any potential fusion.

Wendelstein's goal is to find out the viability of the stellarator concept, to see if it could be on par with the Tokamak concept, which so far have shown a better ratio of energy invested and energy won back, but come with their own bag of problems.

What the folks at Wendelstein are doing is a step by step verification of some of the hypothesis. There is this excellent 3h podcast with the scientific leader of Wendelstein [0], unfortunately it is in German. It is fascinating to hear their story on how they build this ultra complex piece of kit. The current change is the shielding of the vessel, which now permits higher energy levels and longer runs. Their long term goal is to operate at 100m K for 30 min.

Regarding the "when we should stop trying" and "it is 30 years out" adage: There has been great progress made in improving the ratio of energy invested and energy won back, the G-factor. Right now no fusion reactor is crossing the G > 1 limit. But Iter would be design to yield about G = 5. Newer designs using high temperature superconductors could even yield G > 10 with a smaller footprint. For more on the current state of fusion research, this video [1] from MIT is fantastic, albeit 1h long.

[0]: [http://alternativlos.org/36/](http://alternativlos.org/36/)

[1]: [https://youtu.be/L0KuAx1COEk?t=37m23s](https://youtu.be/L0KuAx1COEk?t=37m23s)

<comment><USER3> almost all of fusion development is basically plasma physics research. nuclear fusion itself is known science, its the plasma containment & stabilizing that hard. so you can sustain the fusion & get positive yield.

that said I'd much prefer all the money being burnt on ITER/tokamak would be better spent by spreading the bets into exploring concepts like W7 or inertial confinement or even MIT ARC kind of efforts. Grand efforts like ITER are just ensuring fusion is always 30 years out.

My personal prediction is that we'll have fusion positive yield within a decade of when alternative energy becomes a significant portion (say 25% .. & growing) of total energy mix.

<comment><USER4> There really are physics that only work at very large scale, such as stars and black holes.

It may be that we can only get fusion power generation working in huge reactors like ITER. It's also a good attempt at getting many countries working together. Ideally, more big brains working together will have better ideas and results.

There's downsides to ITER too of course. But I think it's worth working on.

<comment><USER5> There are fusion reactors that are 5 cm diameter. Total size less than a microwave. They're very useful but not energy-positive, though there are reports of one that was Q=0.2, which given that that one was fridge sized was pretty good. They're the only practical way we have of producing fast neutrons.

They are critical in physics research, some medical treatments, fusion research, ... their is absolutely no even remotely practical alternative to them (they're microwave sized devices, using 4-10kw of power that replace synchotrons. Small synchotrons are basketball-field sized and need their own power station) (replace should be taken with a grain of salt since most places that have IEC fusors had no way in hell to afford a synchotron, so they are democratizing fast neutrons. Okay, that's perhaps a strong word but if you have a use for them, there's no reason why you couldn't operate one of these devices in any regular office)

(ps: given how easy, hard to detect, and deadly mistakes with fast neutrons are, please do do it in an office building at least 100m away from me. As it stands though, they're completely unregulated)

The reason we scale up is roughly:

1) Scaling laws work in favor of Q. Q should scale with something like the 3rd power of the size of the reactor. So it's much easier to build a huge Q>1 reactor.

2) Where to stick parts ? Fusion reactors require strong magnetic fields and the only real way we knew of doing that 20 years ago when these were designed was cyronically frozen. That means we need sections inside the reactor for superconductors, for crygenic cooling equipment (mostly piping).

Even disregarding that, fast neutrons will destroy any material they touch, making it brittle and crumble. Aside from bigger reactors making sure more material can get destroyed without failure, one thing that they interact with well is large volumes of water. So if at all possible, we'd like large volumes of water inside the reactor too (for other reasons too, like one strategy for extracting power). That needs space, obviously.

3) It is much easier to keep things stable if their scale is larger. There is more reaction time for the control equipment, the fields involved are larger and move slower, ...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> And just the other day we had a link here where a retired physicist was saying fusion is not likely to work, and if it does it will produce radioactive waste much like fission.

I propose we make a reactor large enough to use gravitational confinement and get the energy out via electromagnetic radiation. We could make it safe by having it operate in vacuum at a safe distance from the earth.

<comment><USER7> What if we made a really really huge one? I'm talking 15 × 10^28 kg worth of hydrogen. At that size it would start and maintain itself. We could place it far enough away that we could harness its output safely here on earth with solar cells!

<comment><USER8> The problem is, something that massive would affect the motion of the Earth itself.

<comment><USER9> I think it was a joke hinitng at the sun, but it seems to be @ 1 order of magnitude off, so I'm just confused now.

<comment><USER7> I was going for the smallest amount of hydrogen that would form a star. I suppose the joke would be improved if I used a number measuring the Sun's initial hydrogen content. I suppose that's why I'm not a comedian :P

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Meanwhile, in boring-shaped fusion reactor news, boringly-named Tokamak Energy switched on their new reactor, the ST40, today:

[http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Tokamak-Energy-turns- on...](http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Tokamak-Energy-turns-on- ST40-fusion-reactor-28041701.html)

They only switched it on for a 'glow discharge test', but hey:

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

Reactor teardown, sort of:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRyUWOUk_48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRyUWOUk_48)

<comment><USER11> Thanks for the links

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> So, assuming these work great.. what are the next steps to get fusion energy production?

Are there fundamental limits that prevent these designs from producing a commercially profitable neighborhood reactor for, say $1 million?

Actually, what's the smallest scale possible for these stellerators? Can one be produced table-top sized, to say, power a ship or train or even a car?

So many questions...

<comment><USER13> The smallest scale is basically the same as for tokamaks (the advantage is that you can operate a stellarator continuously, while a tokamak is pulsed which may be less convenient for power generation).

The scale is mostly limited by magnetic field strength. With ordinary superconducting magnets they get pretty big (the planned ITER reactor will weigh 5,116 tonnes). Some people say that new high-temperature superconductors will enable stronger magnets and hence smaller reactors ([http://news.mit.edu/2017/brandon-sorbom-designing-fusion- fut...](http://news.mit.edu/2017/brandon-sorbom-designing-fusion- future-0123)).

<comment><USER12> looking more into this, it looks like the minimum size limit is the wall that absorbs the free neutrons from the De-Tr reactions. It looks like it'll always be some minimum size due to the energy of the released neutrons.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> What's the next phase? When does it start?

(I don't know if there's a problem with my reading comprehension or what?)

<comment><AUTHOR> From the source:

In preparation for the next operation phase (OP 1.2a), which is scheduled to start in late summer of this year, the limiter structures have been replaced by a test divertor and all graphite tiles on the baffles and wall protection elements have been installed. This will allow the use of more heating power and access to the required magnetic field configurations.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Home page for the project, which provides some higher level details: [http://www.ipp.mpg.de/w7x](http://www.ipp.mpg.de/w7x)

</comment><comment><USER16> only 10 years too late..

<comment><USER17> The earlier, the better. Can someone say at what point we should stop trying?

<comment><USER18> The point when the black line on the graph goes below 0 [http://i.imgur.com/sjH5r.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/sjH5r.jpg)

(from: [https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/04/11/0435231/mit- fus...](https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/04/11/0435231/mit-fusion- researchers-answer-your-questions))

<comment><USER19> That only explains why the Wendelstein 7-X isn't being made in the US.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Back in the sixties some scientist said "Fusion is ready in 20 years", then in the eighties some others said it again, and in the 2000's the next ones... but hey, I don't care how long it will take as long as humankind strives for such stuff I'm fine</comment>


Ask HN: Would MDs diagnose/prescribe better with more machine learning? - <AUTHOR> <comment><AUTHOR> i.e. do people in the HN community think that their doctors would do a better job if they leveraged ML in some form? do doctors rely too much on their own personal in-brain understanding?

<comment><USER2> Probably, but in most cases it would be a small gain.

Maybe "Watson for Cancer" would get you a 55% survival rate instead of a 50% survival rate. Just doing the study to prove it is 5% better would cost billions!

The low-hanging fruit is things like

* getting people to really take their maintenance meds

* avoiding stupid mistakes such as [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2963580/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2963580/)</comment></comment>


Self-Driving Truck Encounters the Unexpected, Then Reaches a Milestone - <AUTHOR> https://blog.caranddriver.com/self-driving-truck-loses-its-remote-connection-but-not-its-shot-at-milestone-achievement/ <comment><USER2> Honestly, I do not consider stopping squarely in the middle of the highway and blocking one of the lanes as the "correct" way to handle this situation. I'd rather expect that the truck at least knows how to stop in a safe manner, i.e. by moving to the shoulder first. A large number of accidents (probably even the majority) here in Europe are caused by drivers crashing into stopped vehicles on highways, so having AI-controlled cars stop in the middle of the road is clearly not acceptable.

<comment><USER3> Agreed, but I would imagine a meaningful population of people would do the same thing in that situation

<comment><USER4> "That situation" was loss of contact with a control center. What is the equivalent for people?

<comment><USER5> Perhaps dense fog, or whiteout blizzard conditions? I'm making the assumption that the server parses the data from the truck to determine what it is seeing.

<comment><USER6> No, those are sensor failures, not external communications failures.

The human equivalent would be being unable to call someone for directions.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The article keeps iterating how they've tested for every conceivable condition they can think of, and yet the narrative says that they were stunned to experience a communications loss which they never tested/conceived of. It's not reassuring when someone claims 100% test coverage and 100% pass, when they only have a limited number or tests in their script. A comms loss was _unthinkable_?!? What is this, amatuer hour?

<comment><USER8> They say that the truck/system is autonomous?

Because, yes, if loss of connectivity is a major fault and put it into a safe mode, then no, is not autonomous driving.

<comment><USER9> Agree. It is "automated" driving, not "autonomous" driving.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> On one hand, it's great that the Semi truck was able to slow and stop without hurting anyone, after losing connection with the control center.

On the other, how does this bode for an autonomous fleet of trucks that all suddenly stop somewhere along a highway? The traffic disruption could be nightmarish. And what if there was no lead vehicle to go fetch said truck in a timely manner?

Also i feel like there is a lesson to learn here about how it's not just hacked servers and software that could produce these events, but a hacked or disrupted (lightening striking a utility pole) power supply could also have immediate real-world impact on these transport systems. Particularly if you dont have backup control that is distributed and redundant (or onboard the vehicle itself).

<comment><USER11> This is the tradeoff we get with technology. It gets increasingly better with every iteration but the consequences of failure gets worse and worse. What happens with humanity if a big solarstorm comes again?

<comment><USER12> We are incredibly eager to introduce technology dependencies it seems. The idea of robustness via simplicity seems to be a mantra for individual bits of software, but we are happy to stack it all together in a teetering jenga tower of dependencies. We rave about how great it is to have a good ecosystem in a platform or language, but the word ecosystem is synonymous with complex dependency trees (ha!). Nature is definitely a more robust architect than us though.

As for what I would do when it all falls apart, I would barter for a sailing boat and some paper books on how to sail, and live the life of an ocean vagabond until I inevitably perish on some island or at sea.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> So, it lost its umbilical to the great brain in the sky and came to gentle halt on the highway.

Color me unimpressed.

Sorry for my snark, but, donkeys do better. If only they could travel at 70mph :/

We are making incremental progress towards this autonomous vehicle goal, but hey, let's get some perspective and not let our techno-fetishism get us overexcited. Trains and stuff.

<comment><USER13> So you're advocating taking a donkeys' brain and hook it up to a truck and let it drive?

<comment><USER14> Maybe an insect brain is enough, the ones that fly are very fast in reactions.

<comment><USER7> My windscreen would disagree with you ;)

<comment><USER14> You hit the insects with your car, also you need to consider distances relative to the insect size.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> > the truck inexplicably slowed and stopped in the middle of the road.

This scenario caused a fatal crash in England which is now finishing up in court. 8 people dead.

[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks- herts-432271...](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks- herts-43227167)

<comment><USER16> I wonder if these vehicles are performing advances regarding other vehicles they encounter. If that is the case, this particular truck could stop in the middle of the left lane, can you believe that?

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> Oh Fuck No.

The "safest decision of all" is most definitely not to stop "in its lane of travel". That's insanely dangerous in any real-world scenario.

At least have the vehicle pull over onto the shoulder. What makes them so "special" that they think they should just stop in the middle of a highway? If that's the state-of-the-art of self-driving, then those vehicles simply aren't yet ready to be on the road.

<comment><USER18> It should actually not be "insanely" dangerous to stop at any point, if you have sane drivers and laws. You should always be able to stop before the visible part of the road ahead of you, or before the vehicle in front of you, right?

But yeah stopping on the shoulder of course is a no-brainer. How to do that, though, is maybe not so simple. In winter judging where the road ends and a ditch begins can be very hard if there is no rail.

<comment><USER19> > You should always be able to stop before the visible part of the road ahead > of you, or before the vehicle in front of you, right?

You're following another vehicle at safe following distance. Which is much shorter than distance you can stop at if that car stopped in 0s. Car suddenly changes lanes, revealing obstacle in your line. If you can't change lanes as quickly for some reason, you've a massive problem...

<comment><USER20> For exactly the reason you list, what you describe is not a "safe following distance."

<comment><USER21> You can argue the point until blue in the face but you're not going to improve anyones safety by chasing this argument. Humans are terrible at managing risk. Humans will always make mistakes. Telling them to 'not follow closely' is futile.

If you don't design systems to take account of this then your safety practices will be ineffective.

If autonomous systems are to be on the road with human users then those autonomous _should_ be designed in a way to minimise the mistakes humans make.

They should be designed that way because they _can_ be designed that way.

<comment><USER20> I agree completely, and I never advocated for any change. I do, however, like to point out cognitive dissonance when I notice it on HN.

<comment><USER19> It's not cognitive dissonance at all. You're talking about safe speed based on line-of-sight. Meanwhile safe following distance is completely different matter. One of the reasons why traffic works is that we trust other drivers and rely on them.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> This is eerily like the common sci-fi movie plot of killing the "brain" to eradicate the entire fleet of bad guys. (Independence Day, Star Wars Ep 1, etc)

Imagine what this would be like at scale. Besides the danger of having thousands of trucks suddenly stop on the highway, now whatever those trucks were actually shipping is also stuck.

<comment><USER23> Should autonomous cars have multiple self driving systems, so if one service is DDOS'd, they can failover to another?

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> But autonomous vehicles are not autonomous (as in "without dependencies on a complex chain of tech with human operators in it"), and all I can think is "hackable."

</comment><comment><USER25> Odd how thoroughly the original meaning of "milestone" has been lost.</comment>


New Bitcoin exchange in the Philippines could set the stage for wider adoption - <AUTHOR> http://www.techinasia.com/bitcoin-exchange-philippines-set-stage-wider-adoption-currency/

<comment><USER2> This is a good use case for Bitcoin. But I think the bits about being able to cash out from hundreds of Bank of the Phillipine Islands branches and the part about disintermediating the banks' role as middlemen are directly contradictary. If this gets any traction I suspect China type rules won't take long in arriving.

</comment><comment><USER3> An exchange set up by an anonymous legal entity, with no physical presence or accountability, and without approval from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. Chancers like this are more likely to discredit and kill Bitcoin than promulgate its mainstream acceptance.

<comment><USER4> How are they anonymous? [https://buybitcoin.ph/about](https://buybitcoin.ph/about)</comment></comment>


Cloud Focused 'Streaming Xbox' May Be Powered by Semi-Custom AMD Picasso APU - <AUTHOR> https://wccftech.com/cloud-focused-streaming-xbox-amd-picasso/ <comment><USER2> Assuming this rumor is true are there related papers about how machine learning can improve or hide latency?

I know about Microsoft DeLorean/Outatime [0] but that doesn't use machine learning if I remember correctly, otherwise I found this [1] but that is about TCP and games usually use UDP for better latency.

[0] [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp- content/uploads/...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp- content/uploads/2016/02/outatime_techreport2014.pdf)

[1] [https://1989chenguo.github.io/Publications/SmarIW- IWQoS18.pd...](https://1989chenguo.github.io/Publications/SmarIW-IWQoS18.pdf)</comment>


Show HN: Using deep learning to organize your image collection - <AUTHOR> http://stowbots.com <comment><AUTHOR> Let me know if you have any questions!

<comment><USER2> Thank you for mentioning that this is currently Windows-only on your web page.

I've seen so many announcements of programs to do cool stuff that don't tell you anything about their hardware or OS requirements until you try to figure out how to download them.</comment></comment>


The Case for Paying the [Baltimore Ransomware] Ransom - <AUTHOR> https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/edition-252/the-case-for-paying-the-ransom/ <comment><USER2> I saw a stat somewhere, but no longer have the link that claimed upwards of 85-90% of contractors/consultants that recover your data usually just pay the hackers to unlock everything and then charge the company more than they paid to recover the data.</comment>


Sony to boost smartphone batteries because people aren't replacing phones - <AUTHOR> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/01/sony-boost-smartphone-batteries-people-are-not-replacing-phones <comment><USER2> How about providing a _fresh_ (produced within the last year) _replacement_ (needs to be user serviceable) _battery_ (that is proven to be original)?

Have to say my 2 year old moto-g (1st gen) is holding up quite well. (far far far better than my asus laptop which basically just falls apart after 4 years)

</comment><comment><USER3> But is the Xperia's battery accessible so that I can replace it?

P.S. Is it just me, or did the article have a really strong "hidden ad" vibe to it?</comment>


Dubai and Saudi Arabia to Block BlackBerry Messaging - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/08/01/technology/AP-ML-Emirates-BlackBerry.html

<comment><USER2> Dubai and the rest of the UAE just lost a lot of international respect and standing as a business hub, if you ask me.

<comment><USER3> because of this blackberry issue?

<comment><USER4> ...what else would it be?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> And it's also an issue in India: [http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india- business/B...](http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india- business/BlackBerry-agrees-to-address-Indias-security-concerns- MHA/articleshow/6232306.cms)

<comment><USER6> I remember laughing my head off when it hit the papers.

In my opinion no in their right minds should never ever reveal publicly what their security apparatus _can't_ do. They might as well have shot themselves in the head.

<comment><USER7> If you have a secret cryptoanalysis capability, then using data obtained from it in court will render it no longer secret, and it is no good for intimidating people. Having a nonsecret capability to do the same thing solves these problems.

<comment><USER6> Yes, but telling people that you _don't_ have it is another matter all together. It's quite okay to show off your defenses, but it's a completely different ball game when it comes to showing off your weaknesses.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> It's not simply businesses that are effected. Overall, it is young people who use BlackBerry's in the UAE.

The two carriers (Etisalat & Du) have pushed them heavily here. They allow young people to talk to each other without actually talking - which would be taboo.

If you go anywhere in the UAE, nearly all you can see is BlackBerry's. People spend more than half of their time messaging each other, email or otherwise.

I think the Gulf states are trying to apply their power to make RIM play their game. The states will succeed if RIM thinks it's a worthwhile market to stay in.

</comment><comment><USER9> This will be largely driven by morality concerns in Saudi Arabia. If they can't monitor the comms then they can't see whether or not young unmarried men and women are talking to each other, which means that they will.

It'll eventually get lifted I imagine, there was a similar think with cameraphones that was ineffectively enforced years back in kingdom.

</comment><comment><USER10> I guess the tech they are not blocking (texts, phone, email) they feel confident they can snoop.

</comment><comment><USER11> I bet the government is interested in all the gossip that goes around on BlackBerry service.

</comment><comment><USER12> Betcha some smart-asses took out shorts on RIM and longs on Apple right before this bullshit.</comment>


Show HN: Common Three, find out what your friends think you have in common - <AUTHOR>

http://commonthree.com
Hey there, I've always had a problem with finishing side projects and actually releasing them. This is my first step in rectifying that problem.
Common Three is a threewords.me clone with a twist - your friends send you 3 things they have most in common with you, then you do the same for them and compare answers.
You can signup with or without a Facebook account, and either way should be pretty easy. All feedback is welcome, especially on whether you like the concept, and how effective the design of the site is (I don't usually do design, so I kept it sparse). Thanks! <comment><USER2>
       Elvis Presley sent you 3 things in common

I would look at rewording, eg: Elvis Presley posted 3 things you have in common

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks, that is definitely less awkward. I just shipped your suggestion to the site.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> <http://commonthree.com>

<comment><AUTHOR> my profile: <http://commonthree.com/razamobin></comment></comment>


Bike accident visualization in Vancouver on Stackato - <AUTHOR> http://www.activestate.com/blog/2012/01/bentframe-developed-komodo-deployed-stackato

<comment><AUTHOR> The visualization itself is sort of interesting, but the good part is the story of developing it: A bug via code-reuse; performance issues in Ruby; and fast code in C. Oh, also that Stackato compiled his C on deployment, that, I thought was very cool.</comment>


Why is there no (ad-free) YouTube Premium? - <AUTHOR>

The only thing worse than pre-roll ads on videos are the ads that pop-up mid-stream.
The real problem I have with video advertising is how much it messes with the user experience. I don't know if I'm going to see a pre-roll, a pop-up, both or neither. It's incredibly jarring when you're trying to get into the correct headspace to watch a video.
I'd happily pay $10-20/month or $150/year to not have ads in YouTube. Take my money, please. I've never clicked on a single one of your ads, and I want to support your service. <comment><USER2> Probably for the same reason that there isn't a Google Search Premium (that doesn't show you ads). And probably for the same reason that even if you pay for Hulu Plus, they still show you ads.

We could speculate that this is because the ads are too lucrative for them, or because they want to offer advertisers the widest market possible (with no opt-out), or because they want to preserve their image as a "free resource" as opposed to a seller of premium plans.

I don't know to what degree those reasons may be valid, but when companies this big choose not to monetize a channel, there is usually a strategic reason.

</comment><comment><USER3> As far as I know Google doesn't really offer meaningful support for just about any of their web products. Something like this would require significant support.

</comment><comment><USER4> There's hidden cost associated with offering a paid membership for "privileged" users, in that it affects the overall perception of the product. Many non-paying users would feel negatively about it, and start looking for alternatives. As a result, the membership fee has to cover (1 + lost users) advertisement revenue.

</comment><comment><USER5> I, also, would pay to avoid ads.

I use a mobile broadband dongle, and ads eat the monthly bandwidth I have available.

Some ads are remarkably bad. I have no interest in watching a 4 minute ad before a 30 minute video. I run the ads to support the platform and the content creator, but I'm usually on a different tab.

</comment><comment><USER6> Could be due to password sharing. Maybe ad revenues are preferred. I'm thinking about Netflix where there is rampant password sharing.

</comment><comment><USER7> Adblock works, but youtube should definitely offer this. I guess the problem is that they are an advertising business.

</comment><comment><USER8> Um,because Google makes more money from showing you those ads then you could pay them to not show you.

<comment><USER9> Do they make an infinite amount per user? Because if they are making $N every year from me watching ads, I could pay them $N + 1.

<comment><USER6> Your willingness to pay is probably W << N.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Use Adblock?

<comment><AUTHOR> Adblock doesn't really do much for pre-roll video ads, or pop-up ads within a video.

<comment> marco-fiset I've never seen an ad on YouTube since 2 years of using AdBlock. Maybe you should reconsider.</comment></comment></comment>


Understanding, finding, and eliminating ground loops (2003) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://web.mit.edu/jhawk/tmp/p/EST016_Ground_Loops_handout.pdf <comment><USER2> I actually read this document recently for my work on grounding equipment on ocean going vessels. Surprisingly, there is very little in Mil-std-1310 (1) about ground loops on ships. Ships are interesting from a grounding perspective because your grounds are generally attached to the steel hull which represents the "common electrical potential".

People get confused when comparing ships to land based (e.g. building) grounds in which two or more grounds in, say a building's earthen foundation, could have very different potentials for a variety of reasons and thus ground loops can be present in shielded cables grounded at both ends. On ships, however, unless there is some strange disconuity, the ship's hull is a common potential and generally no ground loop will be generated, so you can generally have a doubly grounded cable with little risk of organic noise.

1.) [http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qaDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=36...](http://quicksearch.dla.mil/qaDocDetails.aspx?ident_number=36209)

</comment><comment> benji-york Related: [http://www.rane.com/note110.html](http://www.rane.com/note110.html)

</comment><comment><USER3> That's a useful read!

One thing I've always wanted to know: Where is the actual "ground rod" in a building/residence? How do I find it? I've assumed it was just the water pipe, but now I am not sure.

Also, don't these rods get corroded to oblivion after decades in the ground from electo-chemical reactions?

<comment><USER4> Above, someone mentioned rebar in the foundation. That is a Ufer Ground. In places with very dry soil you can pound a stack of ground rods into the earth and still not get a good ground. Ufer figured out that concrete in the foundation provides a good ground.

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

5 years ago I built my house and did my all my electrical, I needed a Ufer ground in the foundation and 2 ground rods near the meter. Being a newer area, water lines were plastic.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Just in case it was not obvious from the URL (/tmp/p), this is not a durable URL and not guaranteed to last there.

</comment><comment><USER6> I used to be involved in car audio in the late 90's, and the people involved came up with many of these solutions via trial & error.

\- Have a central grounding point - a steel car body has higher resistance than copper wire so using multiple ground locations will introduce voltage differences.

\- Use a large gauge _stranded_ wire for your ground.

\- Use the same gauge wire for the ground as you did for the power wire.

\- Keep wire runs short.

\- Use twisted-pair wire for audio connections.

So for a multi-amp system, you'd run a large gauge wire from the battery positive to a distribution block, and from there to the head unit and amps. The ground from the head unit & amps would use the same diameter wire and be run to a central point. The ground strap from the car body to the battery negative post would perhaps be upgraded to the same diameter as the positive wire.

<comment><USER7> These are just the misconceptions the article talks about.

<comment><USER6> I suggest you look at my list and read the article again.

He is using ground loop isolators because of the length of his cable runs. In a car, that's not a problem as anything over 3 meters would be rare.

Single point grounding makes sense, because as I said, steel is a worse conductor than copper, so you'll end up with a voltage difference between your grounds (from each to the battery) if you use more than one.

So far as twisted pair, he strongly suggests using them to provide shielding against magnetic induced noise. They also provide good shielding against RFI - remember you've got 4-8 spark transmitters running at 900 to 5000 rpm interval in the engine.

And using the same size wire for both power and ground makes sense because different gauge wire has difference resistance.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> See also: [http://www.jensen-transformers.com/application- notes/](http://www.jensen-transformers.com/application-notes/)

The author, Bill Whitlock, is the president of Jensen Transformers, makers of high-end audio transformers.

</comment><comment><USER9> Thanks for posting.</comment>


Emerging trends of Collaborative Consumption - <AUTHOR>

A lot of models are starting up on this concept.
Collaborative Consumption is predicted as one of the most upcoming trends in 2011. A new era of sharing, bartering, lending, renting, gifting and swapping of products, time, resources and services. Even food too. Airbnb, TaskRabbit(give your time for getting your work done) and many others in this space.
I always had these unanswered questions in my mind about collaborative consumption. I think it is best answered geographically. More to do with the mindset(developed over time in that region). I Live in India, and most people in this part of the world don't like sharing their cars or put up their house listed in Airbnb).
Conservative and paranoid Mindset. This doesn't work for Collaborative Consumption.
I would love to see HN users discuss Social Behaviors in their region - (Spending, mindset etc). Also on -
1. Is this a viable long term model applicable to your region? 2. Is this is a Social Behavior only problem?
3. If Collaborative Consumption works on the long run, this must bring the middle and upper classes together or bridge the gap in some way right? That's a reform in our society. Applause. It brings less differences. <comment><AUTHOR> ps: On an ending note, leave this message about your region -

(What does your region think about Collaborative Consumption?) i.e I live in <_______> part of the world, people here think this <______> way about sharing X,Y or Z.

This will be an useful thread for all Entrepreneurs working on this Collaboration model -

To know social behaviors of users in other regions(Thinking of launching your idea that best fits in some other niche market).</comment>


Cloud computing company NearForm to create 100 jobs - <AUTHOR> http://www.irishtimes.com/business/technology/cloud-computing-company-nearform-to-create-100-jobs-1.2159261

<comment><AUTHOR> nearForm[1] sell node.js consulting and software to enterprises like Condé Nast, Universal, Intel and Qualcomm. They organize NodeConf Europe[2]. They're bootstrapped with 100% year on year growth so far and projecting 200% growth this year (according to the article).

One of the interesting things here is that they're Irish, but instead of setting up in Dublin (home to the EU headquarters of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Airbnb, Intercom, etc) they've decided to set themselves up in a small town in Waterford, a county with a population of 114,000.

[1] [http://www.nearform.com/](http://www.nearform.com/) [2] [http://nodeconfeu.com/](http://nodeconfeu.com/)</comment>


An app to store and spend pocket change.  - <AUTHOR>

What are your thoughts on a mobile app to store and use all your spare change? Are there still enough cash transactions to render such an application useful? Could this potentially lead to an increase in cash transactions knowing you wouldn't have to carry the coins around in your pocket? <comment><USER2> > mobile app to store and use all your spare change

How exactly? I don't carry around a lot of change, but I can see some people use the app in some ways.

Sidenote: Here's a crazy idea I had a while ago. Allow users to take a photo of the change they have, and the app automatically sums up the change. I haven't done any research on this idea, so don't know if there's someone doing it, or if it's even possible.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm still working on the how. Currently building out a solution I've come up with.

I actually just watched a concept video for that very thing. I'll try to find the link. It would seem like a much faster process to just count the change yourself though, a lot less steps.

<comment><USER2> Or you know, I could just snap a picture, and be done with it. Again, optional, but would complement your app! Good luck.</comment></comment></comment>


Lessons from the Gnome Patent Troll Incident - <AUTHOR> https://blog.hansenpartnership.com/lessons-from-the-gnome-patent-troll-incident/ <comment><USER2> I think the best way to neutralize bogus patent claims would be to sue the patent office, and the involved examiners themselves, once a patent is found to be invalid (it shouldn't have been granted in the first place).

Why? Because it shouldn't be someone else's burden (time, cost) to have to clean up the mess they created (not to mention the waste in public money with court proceedings).

But, as usual, government employees/agencies have "sovereign immunity", which means they can get away with doing a bad job any other type of private employee would get fired for, without repercussions.

</comment><comment><USER3> > expecting that the cost of at least getting into court would be around > US$200k, even with pro bono representation

Where do these costs come from, if not from lawyers?

<comment><USER2> Pro bono doesn't always necessarily mean "for free" or "no fee" \- could be reduced fees.

Besides this, there's probably filling fees to the court; I also suspect there's outside work required (think research for current or prior cases - PACER comes to mind), which is not necessarily covered by regular "lawyer fees"</comment></comment>


The Invention of the AeroPress - <AUTHOR> http://priceonomics.com/the-invention-of-the-aeropress/ <comment><USER3> I am not a coffee nut, but got one of these serendipitously as a present and can attest it makes a good cup of coffee. Here's some facts (maybe obvious to others) I found out after the fact that I wish I had known a long time ago:

1\. If you've never owned an electric kettle, you may not know that they will boil water in mere seconds (!) and are a key part in making an Aeropress practical. (And they're cheap: [http://goo.gl/8dVnP2](http://goo.gl/8dVnP2))

2\. If you ever get heartburn and drink coffee, you MUST buy one of these ASAP, it will help immensely. Fast-brewed coffees have very low acidity, so you should treat yourself with aeropress (or Starbucks Clover coffee, another fast-brewed method) if you have this problem... you will probably feel better.

3\. That said, these things brew a coffee that is like a hybrid between espresso and drip coffee, so if that sounds bad/good to you, you'll feel about the coffee you get from this the same way.

4\. An aeropress is the easiest to clean kitchen appliance I've ever owned. You will NOT think to yourself "boy this coffeemaker could probably use a thorough cleaning" every time you want a cup of coffee... no such anxiety with this device.

<comment><USER4> Wait, what? Electric kettles aren't in every house there? That's insane! Here in Australia, it's like the one thing EVERYONE has. Hell, even hotel rooms usually contain a microwave and a kettle even if they have absolutely nothing else.

Maybe it's the fact that in the US, you have 120V/10A max, so your kettles are 1200W peak and therefore take twice as long as ours at 240V/10A and thus 2400W? I don't know. I just find that staggering that someone could _not_ have an electric kettle.

As an aside, it's always been amazing to me that the 'standard' coffee you buy here is espresso, everyhwere, whereas the standard there to my knowledge is usually drip or french press. That in itself (that entire nations can have substantially different ways of making 'coffee') is pretty incredible to me.

All that said, the whole 'makes 5 or 6 cups minimum' problem is the one I've always faced with making coffee at home. I might actually pick one of these things up if it really does solve that and really deliver something that's more towards espresso rather than drip/press.

<comment><USER5> I think most/all people in North America have electric kettles. With HN, you're probably dealing with a particular demographic (recent college graduates) that would have a lower adoption.

<comment><USER6> Most homes I know of in Florida don't have electric kettles. I have one, use it with my ap. many homes have stove top kettles here.

<comment><USER3> I grew up there, maybe that explains my kettle ignorance.

<comment><USER6> could it be since its a warmer climate, hot drinks aren't consumed at home as much? or coffee is prepared differently down here (espresso?)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I've been using an AeroPress almost every day for over 3 years, and love them.

I've had only one issue with them, in that the inside has become scratched and discoloured, which somehow messes up the taste as well (after about 2 years use).

A totally worth-while purchase. I'm now on my second one, hopefully this lasts longer, but if not, I'll just buy another one in a couple years.

One thing I like is how manual the process is - I can make a much weaker cup of coffee for guests who don't like it so strong without it becoming bitter. For different types of coffee, I can brew it in different ways.

And it's odd, but even cheap pre-ground supermarket coffee tastes hugely nicer with the AP. These days, I buy pretty much whichever the cheapest fairtrade coffeebeans the supermarket has, and grind enough for each cup, and it tastes great.

<comment><USER8> How do you feel about it compared to a Chemex, which is what I used when I drank more coffee and less tea (now I'm the other way around, in part due to this: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1934051](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1934051)).

<comment><USER7> I've never used an actual Chemex, but I do quite like other pour-over coffee makers. They're convenient, and much more controllable than auto machines.

I find that areopress tends to make cleaner coffee - if that makes sense - <USER2> that the flavours come out more. Especially certain kinds of coffee it's nice to let them brew longer - french press / cafetiere style. The areopress can do that easily (inverted style), but the pour-over ones can't.

If you want, you can use an areopress pretty similarly to a pour-over, by simply not pushing down the plunger and letting gravity pull the water through.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Just ordered my first AeroPress, wondering what type of grind works best?

> With his plans mapped out, Adler went to Westec Plastics in Livermore, > California, > ordered $100,000 worth of molds, and put the invention into > production.

Just how does one go about stepping up from something like 3D printing (manifold meshes [0] are easy) to something like injection molding?

[0] [http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/prepping_blender_files_fo...](http://www.shapeways.com/tutorials/prepping_blender_files_for_3d_printing)

<comment><USER10> I use a fairly fine grind, although not as fine as I use for espresso. According to the stock AeroPress instructions it should take about 20s to depress the plunger, if it's too hard to press it's too fine, and conversely if it presses with little to no resistance then it's too coarse.

<comment><USER11> I use a very fine grind (actually I cheat and use Cafe Bustelo right out of the bag). I've noticed using the inverted method makes the plunge step a lot easier, probably because the grounds are mostly still suspended in the water and not sitting on the filter right away.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> For my shame I now mostly use a Nespresso, but my Aeropress is certainly the best coffee _placebo_ I've ever used. I have no idea if the coffee was better or worse, but it certainly felt like I was sciencing up the perfectly crafted liquid with space-age tools. It's a lovely ritual, especially when it breaks you out of a hard problem at work to grind the exact right number of beans, measure the exact right temperature, steep for the exact right number of seconds etc.

</comment><comment><USER13> For anyone interested in quantitatively measuring the flavor profile of your coffee, and seeing how dosing and other changes effect your perceived quality of your daily (hourly?) ritual....

My startup [0] makes an Android App just for the occasion! We run statistical quality control and flavor profiling for coffee roasters, beer brewers, and distillers, so your reviews may actually help your favorite coffee companies make better roasting and sourcing decisions.

[0] www.Gastrograph.com [1] [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gastrograp...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gastrograph.testggapp)

</comment><comment><USER14> If you're looking for a grinder to go along with the AeroPress, the Hario hand grinder[0] is a good choice.

[0] [http://www.amazon.com/Hario-Coffee-Mill-Slim- Grinder/dp/B001...](http://www.amazon.com/Hario-Coffee-Mill-Slim- Grinder/dp/B001804CLY)

<comment><USER15> I prefer a conical burr grinder as they give you more control over how coarse/fine of a grind you need:

[http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search- alias%3Dap...](http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search- alias%3Daps&field-keywords=conical+burr+grinder)

<comment><USER16> The Hario Slim is a conical burr grinder. You can adjust the grind size by adjusting a small bolt on the underside of the grinder mechanism.

<comment><USER15> gotcha. good to know. i have the capresso which is electric and have had it for a solid 2 years at least. if you keep it clean, say, every month or so, it's really convenient.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Should users be concerned about pouring hot liquid into plastic and then consuming the result? BPA and such?

<comment><USER18> _> The AeroPress is made of three different plastics. The clear chamber and plunger are made of copolyester. The hard black filter cap, filter holder, funnel, and stirrer are made of polypropylene. The rubber like seal on the end of the plunger is made of a thermoplastic elastomer. All of these materials are FDA approved for use in contact with food. None of these materials contain bisphenol-A (BPA) or any phthalates, chemicals that have been in the news lately because of possible health effects._

 _> Aerobie has been shipping AeroPress coffee makers made of the materials described above since August 1st, 2009. Prior to that date, the clear chamber and plunger were made of a very special high humidity and temperature resistant polycarbonate. Polycarbonate does not contain phthalates but it does contain BPA. Even though the FDA and other governmental agencies around the world approve polycarbonate for use in contact with food, we had an independent lab test coffee brewed in a well used AeroPress to determine how much, if any, BPA leaches into coffee brewed in a polycarbonate AeroPress. Absolutely none was detected. Given that result, one could ask why we switched to using copolyester. The answer is simple. The use of copolyester removes any perceived risk from BPA and it is a more attractive material._

[http://aerobie.com/Products/Details/AeroPressMaterialsDescri...](http://aerobie.com/Products/Details/AeroPressMaterialsDescription.htm)

<comment><USER19> Plastics containing BPA were once FDA-approved too. Copolyester (currently in Aeropress) may be dangerous.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I used an Aeropress for a while but now I'm back on a glass French press. Its easier to deal with, glass feels cleaner and more durable, and the coffee is delicious.

<comment><USER21> I switched back to a French press as well. For half the amount of beans I can get twice the amount of coffee out of the French press.

<comment><USER22> Have you tried the inverted method for Aeropress? Pretty similar to french press, and you use about half the coffee of the 'normal' Aerorpess method. It also tastes better, IMO.

<comment><USER23> I don't get the inversion thing... Obviously you invert it after inserting the plunger (right?)... What does inverting it so for you?

<comment><USER7> 1) attach filter holder & filter. 2) pour through a bit of hot water to wash it all. 3) take off the filter & filter holder. 4) put plunger in about 1 inch 5) turn it upside down, so it's sitting on the plunger. 6) put the ground coffee inside, so it's resting on the plunger rubber head. 7) pour hot water in 8) let it brew as long as you like - thus the french press type taste using larger grounds, etc. 9) attach filter & holder 10) turn upside down and place as normal onto a cup (you need to be fast!), and press as normal

This way, you get a longer brew time, but still get the benefits of finer paper filtering, easy cleaning, etc.

I often use this method for columbian light roasted coffees, I feel it works better for some reason. You can use less coffee, and a much coarser grind. For some coffees, and for "espresso"-ish things, it doesn't work so great though.

That's what's cool - you can tweak so much with how long you brew, temperature, grind, etc.

<comment><USER23> Interesting... I have, independently developed a similar method (I didn't realize there was such a large AeroPress hacking community out there).

I add water and ground as normal, stir for a little while, then top off the water and put the plunger in place. Depending on the coffee, I then wait 0-90 seconds before depressing the plunger. The plunger seal holds the water in place with no problem.

I tend to wait the longest with South/Central Americans, and don't wait at all for Africans. Most Indonesians are somewhere around 30 seconds.

<comment><USER7> Funny - I hadn't really connected the dots, but that's pretty much how I do the different continents too. I guess we're doing something right then! :-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Have this, enjoyed it. Cut coffee out as my caffeine deliver device, so I could gift one with a pile of filters.

Very good. You don't get the creme that you get with a French press, but it's still head and shoulders above drip. I had roughly equivalently good quality coffee over a wide range of beans and a fairly moderate range of grinds/grinders from espresso to fine grinds in the cheapy bean/spice grinders you can get at your grocery or walmart/target.

Cleanup and maintenance is better than my drip ever was and the process is quicker, somewhat fun even, and a little bit zen.

</comment><comment><USER25> I'm yet to get an aeropress, but what was striking me most about it, was what I would consider an "internet-age packaging" \- with a customer testimonial printed on the package. I thought it was brilliant and can't recall any other product that does it - then again, I don't shop much, so I could be wrong.

I wonder if they A/B tested it ;-)

</comment><comment><USER19> Someone PLEASE make a glass or stainless Aeropress. Aerobie refuses to, I don't want to mix hot water with plastics, and the plastic discolors.

</comment><comment><USER26> I love the Aeropress! It's also lightweight and tough, so you can take it camping. A big upgrade from instant coffees.

</comment><comment><USER27> I use the inverted method, which is pictured in the first photo. It helps you get all the oils, which float to the top.

<comment><USER28> I use the inverted method myself, but I found that the paper filter absorbs the oils. A Kaffeologie S filter [1] seems to help in that aspect.

[1] [http://www.kaffeologie.com/shop/s-filter-for-aeropress- coffe...](http://www.kaffeologie.com/shop/s-filter-for-aeropress-coffee- makers)

</comment></comment><comment><USER29> I'm curious as to how this compares to a percolator. Anyone tried both?

<comment><USER10> We've done a few blind taste tests at the office between an AeroPress and percolator (and keurig and pour over if we're counting). I suspect it's largely personal preference as the percolator advocate has chosen the percolator brew and I (the AeroPress advocate) choose the AeroPress. To me the percolator has a certain (undesirable) taste profile that always tastes like percolator. Academically I don't like that the percolator keeps "recycling" the water during the brew cycle.

<comment><USER29> Thanks for the info.

Side note, I just discovered that what I was referring to as a percolator, is actually called a Moka Pot : [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moka_pot)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I wonder if I could just use a large bore syringe and some cotton wadding?

<comment><USER31> The aeropress is like 25 bucks.</comment></comment>


The Mystery of Florida's Cannonball-Eating Spanish Fort - <AUTHOR> https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/coquina-fort-in-florida <comment><USER2> > It's not clear whether the Spanish had known about coquina's properties when > they first built the walls, mining the stone from the nearby quarry within > what is today Anastasia State Park. But they certainly learned to appreciate > the material's absorptive properties. When they realized coquina's unique > abilities, they used the fort walls for target practice.

You know you're confident in your fortifications when _you use them for target practice_. That's just crazy!

</comment><comment><USER3> Interesting piece of history. Just up the coast in South Carolina they used the palmetto tree for fort walls. This resulted in the opposite, cannonballs failing to penetrate and instead bouncing off.

</comment><comment><USER4> I visited St Augustine this week and went on a trolley tour around the town with my family (highly recommended). The guides mentioned Coquina and there's actually a place where you can see a rusted cannon ball embedded in a wall of Coquina, pretty unique material that was easy to quarry from nearby.

<comment><USER5> Yeah fun visit except in Florida summer. That stone is amazing stuff.

<comment><USER4> Yeah I'm from South Africa and thought I knew heat but this week had been insane!

Another fun fact - because the material absorbs shock so well, the Spanish were able to dig undamaged cannon balls out of the wall. They'd etch messages on them and fire them back at the English!

<comment><USER6> i grew up in orlando and had multiple "field trips" to st. augustine. this cannonball fact was one of the more celebrated and (and funny) facts that they'd share with us.

as we got older, our attention went from "cool fort" to "cool cannons" to "dont want to go to prison" to "excellent and resourceful engineering."

unfortunately, as with so many other things, i didnt (or couldnt) fully appreciate it at that age

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> The article uses "English" and "British" interchangeably when describing events in 1702. But the Acts of Union that united England and Scotland creating Great Britain didn't happen until 1706 and 1707. I guess that means you can't call them British yet (unless you mean to name the island they came from, but not their nationality and identity, but that seems a stretch).

<comment><USER8> That's pretty common. Similar to people using Russian and Soviet interchangeablely

<comment><USER9> Yeah, but calling something from 1910 Soviet would be definitely wrong (probably more so than in this example).

<comment><USER10> They are all Romans, anyway.

<comment><USER9> Not Scotland though :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> 2 questions

Why wasn't this picked up on and used more widely? I find it slightly boggling that neither side seemed to investigate further.

2nd, I assume you could get a similar effect by covering the wall in turf? Why did that not catch on?

<comment><USER12> Coquina is pretty rare, occuring in only a few places in the world, and it's pretty heavy. It was 'right down the street' in St. Augustine, so it made sense to use it for the fort, but transporting it makes much less sense.

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

<comment><USER11> Sure, I get they wouldn't have been transporting the stone around the world, but why was it not a stopping off point for further investigation, why did they not experiment with different stone or materials.

<comment><USER13> They're doing it as fast as they can, it's only been 300 years.

<comment><USER11> Well Spain did invent the word Manana[1], it's just tardy from the British though.

[1] [https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/ma%C3%B1ana](https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/ma%C3%B1ana)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> I drive by this thing every day and didn't know that. Also didn't know coquina was so rare.</comment>


The Overview Effect - <AUTHOR> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect <comment><USER2> Maybe we should shoot politicians into space then?

</comment><comment><USER3> Great article. Thanks for sharing!

</comment><comment><USER4> An experience I hope more will be able to at least partially experience through VR.

I also hope in my lifetime it'll be within reach of Joe Average to visit space...

<comment><USER5> Consuming a huge lot of resources for this kind of tourism is not going to save the planet: I hope engineering and capacity will not focus on putting the average joe into orbit...

<comment><USER6> That is exactly an engineering problem. "Launching" an average Joe into space might be exactly what we need.

And about resources: resources required to produce 1GB hard drive 30 years ago are incomparable to the ones required for 1TB 20 years later.

One can definitely see how regular "touring" of space in the near future can consume only a tiny fraction of resources required to launch a single satellite into space today.

<comment><USER5> Well, having 1TB drives is useful, having the average joe in space is not</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Scitland blows away the competition – 106% of electricity form wind - <AUTHOR> https://electrek.co/2016/08/14/scotland-electricity-needs-from-wind/ <comment><USER2> Hooray for Scitland!

[wherever that is?]</comment>


Use of AI in the fashion industry - <AUTHOR> https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/07/business/economy/algorithm-fashion-jobs.html <comment><USER2> The problem I have with this idea is that ML systems usually only repeat patterns they've seen before. Sure, you can get quirky output by going to unused portions of the latent space, but that's also more likely to yield degenerate results (things that look 40% shirt, 40% pants, and 20% "other"). While these types of results are usually the most interesting, they're also the most likely to require professional "cleaning"; removing artifacts in a way that produces good results still requires skilled labor. I would expect an ML system to be able to do fine adjustments like spacing and repetition of minor motifs, coarse adjustments like combining motifs in novel ways, or even simple block patterns like the one in the article, but it's unlikely you'll find novel motifs solely via the latent space. Even for the most interesting potential use case, novel combinations of existing motifs, you're likely going to need human discretion as a final pass.

When a human designs something, there's often intent involved; there are design constraints and social context involved. I don't expect statistical ML (which is good at interpolation) to cross these gaps without integration with symbolic ML (which is good at extrapolation).

Though maybe I'm biased since I work in a symbolic AI lab.

<comment><USER3> Humans often only repeat patterns they've seen before as well, and quirky output comes from wild guesses and requires significant skilled labor to clean up.

For every new design you see, there may be 100 or 1000 that were thrown away. All of those discarded designs cost money regardless of if they were used or not.

<comment><USER4> I mean, it's going to be a long long time before we get an AI on the level of Iris van Herpen or Chalayan. It seems to be mostly about colour and minor variations on extremely basic articles of clothing, barely even "fashion" in the sense of innovation.

<comment><USER5> That surely happens and all but popular approval and celebration is the product of social structures rather than creative ones.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> A more in-depth view of the StitchFix model that I found really interesting: [https://algorithms-tour.stitchfix.com/](https://algorithms- tour.stitchfix.com/)

<comment><USER7> Someone put a lot of thought and work into that page. Very cool.

<comment><USER8> Yeah, the "rotate your device to landscape" definitely shows a lot of polish. /s

A simple fix would just be to inline all the content, like all the little ol' two-column responsive sites do. In light of that obvious solution, they put a modal on it and compromised their content.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Perhaps the risk isn't that technology will actually take over white collar jobs, but that managers will use minimally viable examples of technology to layoff massive numbers of people for short-term gains.

Of course when the companies then implode because the technology can no way make up for the resulting skill drain, said managers will have moved on to a new position, having sold the layoffs/technology as evidence of their "superior business accumen."

</comment><comment><USER10> There's plenty of uninspiring (not sure about high skilled) white collar work...I would not be surprised if a lot of what early career lawyers, investment bankers, accountants, consultants do could be automated. I'm also bullish on radiology being the first area of medical practice that can be largely automated by machines.

In the future (and even now) careers are going to be defined by how well you can form relationships (and therefore sell) i.e. the things that will be hardest for machines to do.

<comment><USER11> Do we end up with less skilled late-stage doctors, investment bankers, radiologists, etc. if we automate away the grind?

<comment><USER12> If these years of grind are replaced with a higher-level and more intentional early-stage practise of monitoring and managing the automation, then I think we could get better skilled people.

EDIT: Although I suppose that these professionals would need at least some practise of manual work too, to be able to monitor the machines' output.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> We're a long, long, long way from machines taking over white collar work to any reasonable degree. Even extremely basic commands are routinely misunderstood by voice assistants.

What is going to continue to happen is what is already happening now: Less work wasted on bullshit, more potentially interesting findings surfaced for humans to examine. Same type of thing I was working on 2011 (helping lawyers with discovery, edit: no I confused things. Back then I was helping companies scan internal communication for automatic skill mapping), only better.

<comment><USER14> We're a long way away in technology time but not in society time. We might be as far away from this world as we are from the creation of the Web — but society isn't ready to have 10x the number of unemployed people in 25 years. Political/economic/social systems will not survive — the hope is that they get replaced nonviolently rather than in a bloodbath.

<comment><USER15> There is no hard evidence that unemployment will increase by 10×. This is pure speculation. Meanwhile we have real non-imaginary problems to focus on.

<comment><USER13> I agree. Mass unemployment is not a concern we can start to address because we do not know the nature of the coming unemployment. We're talking about 20 or 40 years away.

Meanwhile, we have real fucking problems right now:

1\. Sky high housing prices. 2\. Extreme wealth disparity. 3\. Environmental degradation. 4\. Cybersecurity failures everywhere, just as everything goes autonomous or otherwise cyberphysical. 5\. Information operations threaten both democracy and the openness of the internet.

You can still make $100k a year _editing English_. The demand for talent is sky high, it's investments in education and society that will help us, not fretting over how AI will take away jobs long before we can do anything about it.

<comment><USER16> > You can still make $100k a year editing English.

The only employers paying that much are old-school publishers that are a bit of a hold-out but will eventually give way. As a translator often doing full- length books, I have witnessed some big publishing names severely slashing the amount they pay for editing (by doing things like outsourcing the job to India), and they don't worry about any drop in quality because it is felt that in a web-heavy world, the public no longer cares too much.

It is depressing as fuck for me as a translator, because I put a lot of effort into my translations and I wish they would get the same level of love at the next stage of the publishing process, but this is the trend of the future.

Also, I feel lucky to still have work as a translator because many clients today are running the text through Google Translate and then just paying a native speaker to clean up the text for less money than they would have to pay a translator. Obviously that is not common in the mainstream publishing world, but it is increasingly happening with the marketing materials and technical manuals that are a translator's daily bread and butter. "AI" is already hitting businesses based on human language hard.

<comment><USER13> My editor is fully booked and she charges $80—100 / hour. She does have a technical background, but she took a twenty year break to have kids.

As for translation quality; I care. Others do too. though you're right that many don't. In the long run quality wins though.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> Designing patterns on shirts is high-skilled work?

<comment><USER18> If it didn't require above average skill or more, it would mean your average Joe on the street should be able to come up with patterns that will sell above average. (The latter of which might be plausible at the end of the day. But professional cloth designers will probably beg to differ and/or raise that it's a recipe for lack of creativity.)

<comment><USER19> There's a wide spectrum between _average_ and _high_ skills; the parent referred specifically to _high_.

Besides, the article, which is very poor and click-baity, starts with a factoid (algorithms designing shirts) and then steers into something completely different - big data.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Anyone else annoyed with these disguised advertorials in the NYT lately?

<comment><USER21> Why do you think this article is an advertorial? What is it advertising? Is there evidence you can point to?

<comment><USER22> > "Suits make a corporate comeback," says the New York Times. Why does this > sound familiar? Maybe because the suit was also back in February, September > 2004, June 2004, March 2004, September 2003, November 2002, April 2002, and > February 2002.

> Why do the media keep running stories saying suits are back? Because PR > firms tell them to. One of the most surprising things I discovered during my > brief business career was the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a > huge, quiet submarine beneath the news. Of the stories you read in > traditional media that aren't about politics, crimes, or disasters, more > than half probably come from PR firms.

> I know because I spent years hunting such "press hits." Our startup spent > its entire marketing budget on PR: at a time when we were assembling our own > computers to save money, we were paying a PR firm $16,000 a month. And they > were worth it. PR is the news equivalent of search engine optimization; > instead of buying ads, which readers ignore, you get yourself inserted > directly into the stories.

[http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html)

<comment><USER21> I was asking about this particular article. I have no doubt that advertorial exists.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> _The first algorithm generated random images that it tried to pass off as clothing. The second had to distinguish between those images and clothes..._

Sounds like a long winded way of describing a GAN.

<comment><USER24> Sounds like an accessible way to describe a GAN to me. It's the New York Times, not Dr. Dobbs Journal :-)

<comment><USER25> I wish they could have cited the paper though, for credit assignment, and for those who want to learn more.

<comment><USER23> Precisely! The least they could've done is mention what it's called for people who might want to learn more, rather than allude to it being some proprietary AI technique that the company came up with.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


How to sell an app idea? - andreas-s

I am a hobby Android developer and have a pretty good app idea which does not exist yet.
My problem is, that i does not have the necessary development and marketing resource.
Therefore the question is, how can i sell this app idea? <comment><AUTHOR> Sites for crowdsourcing app ideas might work. if people like your idea, they develop it and you get a share of profits. For example:

[http://applits.com/](http://applits.com/)

</comment><comment><USER2> There are a million ideas. Execution is everything. You need to find a technical partner. Very unlikely someone will pay just for the idea IMHO

</comment><comment><USER3> You can't sell an idea. Prove you can build it. Then prove that what you built is worth something by getting people to use it.</comment>


Dokuen - A Personal Heroku - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/peterkeen/dokuen

<comment><USER2> Hey, I wrote this! I'm happy to answer any questions, or you can add issues and/or pull requests on github.

<comment><USER3> Isn't the whole point of PAAS/IAAS offerings the idea that someone else is responsible for maintaining the underlying platform/infrastructure? Not trying to cut down your idea; just trying to get a better understanding of some typical use cases.

<comment><USER2> Yeah, that's absolutely the point of PaaS/IaaS things. The point of Dokuen is to be able to deploy those things in a similar environment that is strictly under your control.

My use case, specifically, is that I have one app that has a large amount of personal data in it, and another one that doesn't fit under the terms of use of any of the PaaS providers. They're not going to get any traffic outside of me and a few other people and it's totally fine if they aren't available from time to time.

By using Foreman and Mason in my own environment, I get to use the patterns that those tools provide (buildpacks, Procfiles) outside of Heroku.

<comment><USER4> > _The point of Dokuen is to be able to deploy those things in a similar > environment that is strictly under your control._

I'd add that some of us know how dishonest people work, and would never give control of critical items to third parties (because everyone has their price.)

Thanks, and looking forward to trying it out.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> needs automated aws creation :)

</comment><comment><USER6> Why not use cloudfoundry.org or openshift.redhat.com/community/open-source ? They seem to be solve the same solution, but have substantial backing. Is there anything they don't do that you needed?

<comment><USER2> They're far more complex than what I wanted or needed, and they are not out- of-the-box compatible with heroku-style buildpacks or Procfiles. I admit I haven't taken a very close look at openshift but I used cloudfoundry as inspiration for a prototype at work.

The point of Dokuen is not to be a full distributed computing environment, actually rather the opposite. Dokuen is a lightweight system (there are in fact no daemons and less than 1000 sloc) to enable git-based deployments to a single machine.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I like Heroku, but can't use it for my current project because the webapp needs to live in the same EC2 security group as the backend I'm using. So this looks interesting!</comment>


Teaching Youth to Think 'Slow' May Help Reduce Crime - <AUTHOR> http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/teaching-youth-to-think-slow-may-help-reduce-crime/ <comment><USER2> So would vitamin D supplements. 70% of the population suffers from vitamin D deficiency and the rate is higher among African-Americans due to skin pigmentation, and possibly other factors. Vitamin D plays an essential role in the manufacture of serotonin within the body, and serotonin has an essential role in mood and executive function.

</comment><comment><USER3> I once got in touch with a counsellor to find out whether I had ADHD (because shrinks are in low supply here), and while she wasn't a certified ADHD specialst, she generally worked with troubled youth. While she didn't diagnose me with ADHD, she recommended me a mindfulness book to use instead.

<comment><USER4> Anyone interested in meditation but unsure of where to start should try the app / website Headspace.

I used to meditate once in a while, but I found it difficult to wrangle my thoughts without a guide and I kept falling off the horse. This app has helped me tremendously.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> This reminds me of Season 4 of The Wire where Colvin runs a special classroom for the "corner kids" and sees promising results.

One of the big differences is that in The Wire they mentioned that high school kids weren't going to be impacted as much as the middle school kids they ended up doing the program with. This program seems to focus on high school, which is interesting (and exciting).

</comment><comment><USER6> Not criminalizing people over virtually anything would help reduce "crime" and many useless arrests, too.

<comment><USER7> Not sure why this one got downvoted, its a good point. Enforcing stupid laws and the endless 'war on drugs/technology/whatever hot button issue happens to be popular' results in the astounding crime rates seen in modern America, and to a lesser extent the UK and Australia.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> The real problem is poverty and more generally extreme inequality. Kids stealing is a symptom. Treat the disease, not the symptoms.

Part of the problem is that structural inequality is supported by primitive racist belief systems like Social Darwinism.

<comment><USER9> _The real problem is poverty and more generally extreme inequality._

I don't understand how people can make statements with this when it is so at odds with the facts.

The homicide rate in Baltimore in 1911 was 5.8 per 100,000. Last year it was 37. Was Baltimore less unequal during the gilded age, long before the progressive income tax and federal welfare? No way. Obviously poverty is also way lower today.

The differences are even more stark when you compare modern Baltimore with a place like Edwardian England. Again, England in the early 1900's was massively unequal, had massive poverty problems. But it had homicide rates a tiny fraction that of modern Baltimore.

Why do the U.S. inner cities have so many more homicides than any slum in China or India?

Read the book _Ghettoside_ or _Don 't Shoot_. Crime happens when people can get away with it. Crime happens when cultural and legal sanctions against crime don't get enforced.

<comment><USER10> > I don't understand how people can make statements with this when it is so at > odds with the facts.

I do understand. People have one explanation they like that fits with their politics, and anything else is to be made to support this or discredited. Think of this as a religious approach to policy.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> For me this sounds like a broader application of insight from neuro science and especially from research into ADHD. While the latter is definitely a pathological condition, with major negative effects for the patients, there seems to be a continuum from extreme ADHD on one side (or even Finneas Gage) to fully enlightened buddhist monks who have trained their attention and focus for decades.

It may be well worth the effort to train attention, concentration and self- control in a more targeted manner, like through "Becoming a Man", but also martial arts, meditation, or certain other activities.

</comment><comment><USER12> That sounds interesting, but where can I read up on BAM? Even the paper they linked to did not give too many details about the intervention itself.

</comment><comment><USER13> Sounds like BAM is doing the job that dads are supposed to do. Glad someone's doing it though.

<comment><USER14> To a first approximation, "middle and high school boys from some of the poorest neighborhoods on Chicago's south and west sides" do not have fathers anymore.

<comment><USER13> They have fathers. The fathers may be dead or in jail or just elsewhere, but they exist and aren't doing their jobs.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> And we could teach them correct use of adverbs too.

<comment><USER16>
      When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
      The line too labors, and the words move slow;</comment></comment>


How to protect yourself against the WebEx vulnerability - <AUTHOR> https://blog.filippo.io/webex-extension-vulnerability/ <comment><USER2> "There was a secret URL in WebEx that allowed any website to run arbitrary code. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯"

What are the chances of this being done arbitrarily, and not just something that slipped out of code review...</comment>


Show HN: 6 months of blood, sweat, tears and bootstrapping. Meet Mistash - <AUTHOR> http://www.mistash.com

<comment><AUTHOR> This was my noob submission to HN. I appreciate the helpful feedback on Mistash and have started to make some changes. I think next time I will have to post earlier in the day to HN to get more eyes. Thanks again everyone!

</comment><comment><USER2> _The Social Product Catalog where your stuff meets your friends._

I didn't grok that line immediately. My stuff "meets" my friends? Huh? The wording on your /about page is much clearer.

<comment><USER3> the pitch to users probably shouldn't be the same as the pitch to investors.

<comment><AUTHOR> Agreed. I switched the tagline to the description from the about page.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm also unclear about what it's all about without signing up. Is the general idea that you can see people's reviews about products and keep a catalog of stuff you own and want?

<comment><AUTHOR> Yup. For now, it combines a personal inventory, your wishlist , and various social features. The idea being that you can discover new products, share your tastes, and get higher quality reviews from the people you know.

<comment><USER4> I used to have a high fashion blog, and I would have probably found it valuable to curate my trending wishlists and to show off what I've bought and where from. It's kind of like a clever way of showing off what you own without bragging

<comment><AUTHOR> My wife works in fashion, she thinks it could be a great way for models to share their wardrobe for photoshoots.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Throwing this out there with the hopes of getting some valuable feedback. Thanks everyone!

</comment><comment><USER5> Cool. There seems to be a lot of sites right now in this space.

<comment><AUTHOR> Does seem that way lately. However, I do think Mistash has a better focus on the social aspects than the others and is also going in the best direction for a product focused system. Plus, it's more fun :P

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Using it now.</comment>


ZenMate for Chrome encrypts all browser activity - <AUTHOR> https://zenmate.io/

<comment><AUTHOR> "100 % Protection – It's Free! " i wonder about the business model...

<comment><USER2> The screenshot says "you have unlimited free data _during our launch phase_ "

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> First i checked, corporation outside of the USA.

Check. So potentially legit ^^</comment>


Honour for overlooked Poles who were first to crack Enigma code - <AUTHOR> http://www.smh.com.au/world/honour-for-overlooked-poles-who-were-first-to-crack-enigma-code-20121009-27b9y.html <comment><USER2> I'm glad that Poland wants to honor these people, but to say that Bletchley Park has been overlooking them is utter nonsense.

1\. Here's what Bletchley Park says on their first history page about their wartime role (<http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/wartime.rhtm>):

"The Poles had broken Enigma in 1932, when the encoding machine was undergoing trials with the German Army. They even managed to reconstruct a machine. At that time, the cypher altered only once every few months. With the advent of war, it changed at least once a day, effectively locking the Poles out. But in July 1939, they had passed on their knowledge to the British and the French. This enabled the codebreakers to make critical progress in working out the order in which the keys were attached to the electrical circuits, a task that had been impossible without an Enigma machine in front of them."

2\. There's a memorial for the Poles at Bletchley Park (<http://www.flickr.com/photos/ell-r-brown/5109679597/>) and they have an annual Polish day.

3\. There's a special page on the Polish contribution (in English: [http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/history/polish....](http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/history/polish.rhtm) and in Polish: [http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/history/inpolis...](http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/history/inpolish.rhtm))

I do agree, however, that the 2001 film Enigma was an utter piece of crap that depicted "Turing" as straight and a Pole as a traitor.

<comment><USER3> I think the issue is less with Bletchley, but more with the mainstream media who spread the information more widely. I would expect most people on HN to be aware of the Polish contribution, but I think that the general population (of Britain, at least) are less aware of it.

<comment><USER4> Agreed.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I visited Bletchley for the first time less than a week ago and believe me, they waxed lyrical about the 3 polish mathmaticians. I've seen the memorial they have there. I came away feeling that it was a joint effort, but you have to remember that there were thousands of people working at Bletchley and Turing was key in the SPEED at which they were able to break the code by inventing the Bombe. If there's any mis-appropriation, it's not Bletchley's fault.

<comment><USER6> The first Bombe was built by the Poles and its design later given to the Brits. It was called the "Bomba Kryptologiczna", i.e. the "Cryptological Bomb" because of the amount of noise it made. Turing didn't invent the Bombe, his contribution was the improvements he made to vastly speed the process up.

<comment><USER7> And adding to the notion of teamwork and the critical importance of people in general and not just Turing we have the oft overlooked William Thomas Tutte [1], and Tommy Flowers [2] to remember. People seem to focus entirely on the Enigma decrypts and overlook the Lorenz cipher "Ultra" intelligence.

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._T._Tutte>

[2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_computer>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> FWIW all the points mentioned elsewhere in this thread about this having been known for a long time among cognoscenti of Bletchley Park is duly noted

but

to me it was news. So as far as I'm concerned the Polish government raising a stink about this, however much a symptom of Polish persecution complex it is, is a good thing. I learned something today (among others, after a few diversions on Wikpedia, about Wojzek the Bear - how cool is that?)

</comment><comment><USER9> These Poles are also recognized by the US National Cryptologic Museum (outside the NSA main building, see [http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/a-look...](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/a-look- inside-the-nsas-code-breaking-museum/64039/)) in its exhibits of Enigma and the Bombe that broke it.

It was actually in those exhibits that I first learned about the role of the Poles in this story.

</comment><comment><USER10> This book is really worth getting if you can find it somewhere for a fair price. It's almost worth it for the appendix alone where Marian Rejewski himself describes how they broke the original Enigma code.

[http://www.amazon.com/Enigma-German-Machine-Foreign- intellig...](http://www.amazon.com/Enigma-German-Machine-Foreign- intelligence/dp/0890935475)

<comment><USER11> Thanks for pointing it out. Can one find some mathematics behind Enigma in it?</comment></comment>