Raspberry Pi Myths and Truths - <AUTHOR> http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Top10RaspberryPiMythsAndTruths.aspx <comment><USER3> The comments in this thread kind of miss what I perceive to be the main point of Raspberry Pi. The great thing about Raspberry Pi is not that's it's a cheap enough _PC_ that you can run Python on, it's that it's a cheap device that has _GPIO pins_ and video.

There are significantly cheaper ARM boards than the Raspberry Pi, but to my knowledge none that have video output, or at least reasonably fast video output. Tell the children (or potentially interested adults that have only done software, never hardware) that they need to learn how to use a terminal connected through a serial port, or that they need to learn about cross compiling and other things and instantly the barrier of entry is huge. Tell them they can't have graphics, only a teletype and nobody will care. Let them have a simple thing they can plug a display and a keyboard into and _program the I/O pins live_ while displaying graphical stuff you can see and relate to, now that's something!

Look at Arduino, an expensive and vastly underpowered device, in many ways unsuitable for the task people use it for, but very, very successful because people don't have to deal with all the boring and idiosyncratic low level setup stuff.

<comment><USER4> I keep watching, but all of the other ARM boards cost more than the Rπ – usually greater than 3x the cost of the RπB. You can occasionally find an Arduino for less than what the RπB will run you, and while it has the GPIO, it doesn't have nearly the crunch the Rπ gets you.

Mine will be running some network testing software, driving a small handful of devices – doing the work a small laptop was doing before, but with a better power budget and in a much smaller form-factor. I don't need a display while it's running - it's going to sit there and collect data for me until I command it to shut down, at which point, I'll remove the SD, grab the data, and process it a bit on a more capable box, although it's conceivable that I could do it all on the Rπ itself.

<comment><USER5> A bunch of us at Robots & Dinosaurs (a HackerSpace in Sydney) have been playing with the TP Link WR-703N wireless routers* reflashing them with OpenWRT - they're available from Deal Extreme or eBay for under $25 - it's got no video, but it includes ethernet and onboard wifi. One of the guys has a stackable "daugherboard" which breaks-out/adds a USB hub, FTDI/GPIO/JTAG and two serial ports: <http://www.kean.com.au/oshw/WR703N/>

It's not as high powered as a RaspberryPi though, only a 400MHz cpu and 32M ram (+4M flash) - they're useful little machines, but the onboard video on the Pi kinda puts them in a different class. On the other hand, a Pi with ethernet/wifi/powersupply costs several times what a TP-W703N costs...

* <http://wiki.openwrt.org/toh/tp-link/tl-wr703n>

<comment><USER4> Several times? $35USD list price, and approximately $49USD delivered (tax/shipping).

I could do my project with dd-wrt/openwrt, but I'd be storage-limited. A day's worth of data is in the hundreds of megabytes range, uncompressed.

Your WR-703N plus a daughterboard would make an OK basis for a NAS.

<comment><USER6> A Raspberry Pi also requires a PSU, an SD card, and a case. By the time you add those in, you've probably doubled your cost, at least.

<comment><USER4> Powered off of mini-USB (I have extra chargers laying about), SD cards are cheap cheap cheap (I also have a selection on-hand), and a case can be made out of LEGO bricks (again…).

You forgot to add-on "keyboard, mouse, and monitor". Again, these are things that people usually have.

For the dev cards mentioned up-thread, you'd have to have some sort of programming dongle, which more than doubles their cost, as well as get your hands on the right magic toolchain.

<comment><USER5> All true - still means that bare minimum, a Pi (delivered) is double the price of a W703N (delivered).

If you need add any/all of: wifi, power supply, SDcard, enclosure - to the Pi for your project, then I think "a few times the price" is a reasonable description. Not everybody will have "spares" of those "on hand", and if your project involves building more than one of whatever _, then you can't rely on "on hand" extras.

On the other hand, if you don't need wifi and you do need video out, then the Pi is an obvious choice.

_ my project for the TL-W703N is a Tahoe-LAFS server/storage appliance - <USER2> router and a 1 or 2TB USB harddrive - if I could put 10 or 12 of them together and distribute them amongst friends, just a harddrive sized package they need to plug into the wall and allow on their wifi (or wired) network, in return everyone gets several hundred Gig of "private cloud storage" with baked-in encryption and distributed storage reliability.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> 'It is great for learning to code '

When the machine was first pitched it was as a spiritual successor to the BBC Micro computer - to inspire and create a generation of bedroom programmers.

Compared to the home computers of the 80s, the Raspberry Pi isn't as simple to use, you have to jump through quite a few hoops to get to a point where you can start to code in Python and in my opinion is sufficiently difficult enough to deter the lay person; a little bit more complicated than turning on a machine and getting a BASIC interpreter you can start typing commands into.

In my experience most of the Raspberry Pi community has been more interested in porting emulators and media players, rather than nurturing basic skills in computing for kids. I believe the world still needs a machine to get kids more interested in computer science and away from the spreadsheets and word processors, but I don't think this is the machine to do it.

<comment><USER8> The current RasPi community is not the community it was really intended for. It's primary audience is kids and youngsters and allowing them to get a feeling for a computer.

And kids today are way smarter than I was at their age. They catch on very quickly and their curiosity as well as thirst to learn allows them to quickly adapt the RasPi to their wishes.

<comment><USER9> Anyone who thinks that it was easy for kids to program those old computers probably doesn't remember looking through thick manuals of memory addresses, which would lead me to question how much they really did.

<comment><USER10> LOL, totally. I remember entering in the escape codes for an Epson FX-80 dot matrix printer because there was no such thing is a printer driver. Just copied it from the back of the manual. Took a weekend.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I think the tech media built these devices up a bit too much to the general consumer public. They are really a learning tool that you can tinker with, not a 'cheap pc' like they were built up to be. So many people got theirs after the pre-order wait and immediately complained about the performance. Think of them as a beefed up Arduino style device and you'll love it, think of it as a cheap computer for consumer use and you'll obviously be unhappy.

<comment><USER12> It's not that simple. The device has the potential to be an easy to use pc for the general public, but the community hasn't finished the software yet. The media reported the potential not the reality (there isn't a large quantity and it's just a little debian box).

As for the people who have one (like me) a large portion of the complaints aren't about the total performance capability, but it's the stability.. mine crashes all the time. There's some talk about fixing a bug in the USB driver that'll solve the issue (everything hangs up for 2-4 minutes every 20 minutes on average) but until that's finished it's rather unusable.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> I think the pi will have some problems being successful with it's target market (kids who want to learn to code) if it's web browsing experience is dog slow.

Does anybody know if it is being actively used in education anywhere or are the users mostly geeks using it to run an apache server from their RC helicopters?

<comment><USER14> I dunno. Perhaps it hits just that sweet spot where Stackoverflow loads just fine but Youtube is unbearably slow?

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> Can someone please explain to me why the Pi is good for those looking to learn to code in python or scratch? Both are cross-platform, and both rely very little on the OS they run in, at least at the basic level.

<comment><USER16> The problem isn't what computer you run it on, the problem is having a computer to run it on in the first place. There are still many schools and many households without computers. The school I went to is still using Apple IIe machines given to them in a grant decades ago.

The _raison d'être_ of the Raspberry Pi is to be cheap enough that every school could have one for each student.

<comment><USER17> Schools that can't afford enough computers also can't afford new monitors and TVs with HDMI connections, which if I recall the raspberry pi requires.

<comment><USER13> The Pi will work with svideo IIRC so you can plug it into an old TV. How well the window manager will work at that resolution on the other hand..

<comment><USER18> Actually the Window Manager seems to be OK (if a bit blurry). There may be problems with games going full screen for example open-invaders is a few pixels short on my PAL TV so only half of the score characters are visible, dunno if I should fix the display settings or fix the program.

Biggest problem I can see is that Midori as a browser seems to struggle on things like Google+ Photos (This may just be an out of memory and hitting swap problem, I've not investigated)

I haven't thought about what I'm going to do with mine yet (it was a gift from my father). It does come with Squeak so if thats useable on a CRT I may give that another go.

<comment><USER19> I believe there was a menu option to handle TV's overscan in the text-only interface that appears the first time you power it up with Raspbian installed.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> When that's your title and your first paragraph has at least 2 errors in it, how likely am I to believe what you say in the rest of the piece?

$25 does not get you Ethernet on a Pi.[1] >700mA on USB is not within the USB spec, and probably not accurate for current draw of a Pi.[2]

[1]:[http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?id=83T194...](http://www.newark.com/jsp/search/productdetail.jsp?id=83T1943&Ntt=83T1943) [2]:[http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=6...](http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=6050&start=50)

<comment><USER21>
      >700mA on USB is not within the USB spec, and probably not accurate for current draw of a Pi.

The raspberry pi quickstart guide at <http://www.raspberrypi.org/quick-start- guide> says to use a power supply capable of supplying 700 mA.

The page you link to says the RPi can consume 435-465mA just from CPU and Ethernet, meaning only ~250 mA of the RPi's 700mA power budget remains to power the two USB host ports. Just plug in a USB device that draws more than 250mA (like a second RPi) and the claim of consuming more than 700 mA will be proved correct!

<comment><USER12> If you plug a USB device that consumes more than 100mA into the pi it will likely not power the usb device without a powered hub in between.

<comment><USER21> I've checked the RPi schematic [1] and it each of the USB ports protected by a miniSMDC014 rated for 140 milliamps [2] (and taking 150ms to trip at 1.5 A)

With two usb devices drawing 140 mA, a total of 280 mA would be consumed, thereby narrowly exceeding the 700mA power budget. Fuses are also typically quite imprecise for obvious reasons - they rely on current heating up metal that melts and breaks the circuit, and you don't want it borderline molten under normal operating conditions! So you may well be able to draw 250 mA per port without the fuses triggering.

You'll note the Raspberry Pi wiki [3] has a bunch of bug reports like "Ethernet connection is lost when a USB device is plugged in" attributed to inadequate power supply current.

[1] <http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/1090> [2] [http://datasheet.octopart.com/MINISMDC014F-2-Tyco- Electronic...](http://datasheet.octopart.com/MINISMDC014F-2-Tyco-Electronics- datasheet-58412.pdf) [3] <http://elinux.org/R-Pi_Troubleshooting>

<comment><USER12> So, I've got one and am experiencing similar issues.. I believe that right now the "power supply" issue had been used as a blanket response to ethernet/usb issues until people were seeing that problem with an oscilloscope on their power supply and no power supply issues.

What seems to be the common conclusion is that it's a bug in the DWC OTG USB driver/firmware:

[http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=9470&p...](http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=9470&p=128799)

et al

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I actually like that browsing is kinda slow. One of my kids can code a little bit in Python, the fact that browsing is suboptimal helps him stay focused on coding. :)

I don't think it draws 700 mA except when it's really crunching CPU cycles.

The distro name is unfortunate. They should just call it "Raspian", it's a lot less tongue-tying.

<comment><USER10> It draws about 350-400 mA when it's running but then another 100 mA per USB port in use.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> I suspect that less than 1% of the people who comment on Raspberry Pi threads posses one. I sure don't.

Please reply to my comment with your home country and when you _received_ your device if you have one. I had trouble ordering and gave up.

Thank you!

<comment><USER24> I received mine in may if memory serves and I currently have it hooked up to a LCD monitor. We use it to watch movies, as a samba server and my 3 year old is learning to type on the command line even though he can't even read yet

We also use it to play music through mpd which is great because it can be controlled from any device in the house All in all probably the best 35€ I ever spent

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Nice to see objective & balanced views on the raspberry pi from a MS employee.

10 years ago I would have expected propaganda on terrible dangers of allowing children to use non MS software.

<comment><USER10> Thanks!

Working for Microsoft doesn't change my opinion on reality, though. I try to stay outside the Redmond Reality Distortion Field.

That said, I'm consistently surprised/impressed that every blog post I write that gets on HN includes a notification that I'm a Microsoft employee.

We are not nearly as organized as we'd need to be to be as evil as folks think we are.

Again, thanks.

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Looking forward to when they release a Cortex A7 (dual core maybe?) version that can run Ubuntu.

<comment><USER26> I have a "desktop pc" that has a dual core Arm Cortex A7 at 1 GHz, 1 GiB of memory and a GPU that will tear the RPi to shreds. And it runs almost vanilla Ubuntu.

But it's not usable for a desktop PC. The desktop is slow and sluggish because it's not properly hw accelerated. You can't use it for web browsing because all the modern web sites are too heavy.

The low-cost ARM system on chips can run Android fluently only because so much effort has been put into making Android run on them. This work is done by the SoC vendors and is generally not upstreamed.</comment></comment>


MS Sues Indian Company for Fraud - <AUTHOR> http://nvonews.com/microsoft-sues-indian-company-c-cubed-solutions-fraud/

<comment><AUTHOR> I don't know whether , this is the same company getting sued.! [http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/c-cubed- solution...](http://www.consumercomplaints.in/complaints/c-cubed-solutions- pvt-ltd-bengaluru-bangalore-karnataka-c470382.html)

"C Cubed Solutions has been a pioneer in cheating employees, using pirated Software from Microsoft, offering worst services even a decade after when the call center and outsourcing industry in India is at its peak. With inferior services by not retaining the highly skilled employees, C Cubed has contributed to radically tarnish the face of call center outsourcing and customer relationship mismanagement., through sick solutions that never comply with our clients' overall mission. Our pirated and stolen ensemble of technology and services is designed to cheat, fraud and suck customer's money out of his credit card. Multi-location credit card stealing centers in New York, New Jersey and Maine add to the scope and reach of our call center support services."</comment>


Google Adsense Banned my $97,500+ account one week before my payment - <AUTHOR>

Hello,
I am surprised, I was banned from Google AdSense one week before my payment. The account balance was $97,500.
They didn't give any warning or notice before disable my account. I get paid $18,457 last from same website. But this month when I reach more they disable my account.
Email they send below (Summary):
<comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>---
Hello,
This email is to alert you that your AdSense account was found to be non-compliant with our AdSense program policies and as a result, your AdSense account has been disabled.
Current account status: Disabled
Action required: None
Violation explanation
It's important for a site displaying AdSense to offer significant value to the user by providing unique and relevant content, and not to place ads on auto-generated pages or pages with little to no original content. This may include, but is not limited to:

    copying portions of text content from other sources
    websites dedicated to embedded videos from other hosts
    websites with gibberish content that makes no sense or seems auto-generated
    templated or pre-generated websites that provide duplicate content to users.
 For more information, please review the AdSense program policies, this help article about scraped content and Google's Webmaster Quality Guidelines.
</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>----
So how can I resolve this?
Please help me out this.
Thank you. </comment><comment><USER2> What's the website?

<comment><AUTHOR> Check this [http://www.cnet.com/news/new-lawsuit-accuses-google-of- adsen...](http://www.cnet.com/news/new-lawsuit-accuses-google-of-adsense- fraud/)</comment></comment>


Dennis Ritchie official webpage deleted by Alcatel-Lucent(/Nokia) - <AUTHOR> http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/index.html

<comment><USER2> Already archived: [http://cm.bell-labs.co/who/dmr/](http://cm.bell- labs.co/who/dmr/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Anyone with a backup? Even archive.org doesn't have it [https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://cm.bell- labs.com/cm/cs/...](https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://cm.bell- labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/index.html)

<comment><USER4> archive.org has a website grab from 2013: [https://archive.org/details/dmr- grab](https://archive.org/details/dmr-grab)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for that snapshot. Unfortunately it's missing a lot of the content that was available there. It's only around 1/3 of the full content.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Some of the other pages seem to be in google's cache: [https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Uo4LPZ...](https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Uo4LPZN_3oQJ:cm.bell- labs.com/who/dmr/otherlives.html&hl=en&strip=1)

</comment><comment><USER6> Server: Plan9

It's on plan9 so it will be in the dump. Plan9 does daily incremental backups.

[http://man.cat-v.org/plan_9/1/yesterday](http://man.cat-v.org/plan_9/1/yesterday)

It's not shown up on 9fans yet, I've passed it to someone who can help

[http://marc.info/?l=9fans](http://marc.info/?l=9fans)

The message will get to Geoff / Jim who should sort it out</comment>


Why nobody creates decentralized tax system? - <AUTHOR> Hi. I reviewed ICOs on http://icodb.net/# and figured out that nobody cares about taxes.<p>Ok, guys, we create a better future but what about environment. We have to think about it right now because tomorrow we will not be able to breathe tokens. <comment><USER2> There seems no point in decentralisation of the tax system because taxes are collected and used by a centralised system.

<comment><AUTHOR> We need decentralised miners who maintain computers. We can have decentralised taxes who will take care about environment. I thought it is easy to understand

<comment><USER3> Let's say we collect $1B for the Amazonas. Who will decide how to spend it? Let's say we collect another $1B for the penguins. Who will decide how to spend it? The same people or other group?

What happens if both groups decide to increase the tax rate? Who decide which groups can increase the tax? Who decides how many trees or penguins are enough?

What happens if I don't pay? Who will force me to pay? Sooner or later you need some tanks to collect the taxes, just in case. Tanks are centralized, and that's the government.

Actually, each region can decide to have it's own group of tanks and fix it's own tax rates. Just like now.

<comment><AUTHOR> We can use oracle machine for that</comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Plumber's Guide to Finding & Keeping Clients - <AUTHOR> http://www.freelanceswitch.com/finding/lessons-from-the-plumbers/ <comment><USER2> I will admit something embarrassing here: I would not have gone to the trouble of interviewing seven plumbers. And my mistake (and be honest, yours too) makes it hard for Michael to thrive and for the others to fail. After all, once you get a client, if you do the job somehow it won't hurt you much if you do it less then perfect. They might even recommend you: it's not like they know somebody else, and you _did_ do the job, after all.

This btw is one application of the Internet I expected for more then a decade and never materialized. A wiki-consumerist, with reviews in any domain. Unfortunately, I do not think it is easy.

<comment><USER3> The primary problem seems to be trust and identity. Those people who are being reviewed will want their chance to speak or vote. They may even do so surreptitiously. Who would run the service? They probably have conflicts of interest if they are doing it for money.

I have hope that the uptake of social networking will see some smart people deploy a service like this in the next 5 years.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I love #1:

"Some people are going to come to you with tough jobs. How you respond to their inquiries says a lot about you and your work. Are you going to be like Michael, who relished the challenge and motivated his crew to step up to it?"

We are fortunate to be in an industry still in its infancy. Many of our contemporaries don't know how to do things, so they mistakenly believe "they can't be done".

When I hear, "that can't be done," that's when the juices start flowing.

(Be careful, there's a flip side. Don't turn your nose up at work that "anybody can do".)

</comment><comment><USER5> There is of course though a fine line between going the extra distance for a client and being taken advantage of/ underpaid.

</comment><comment><USER6> I think this really boils down to being an expert in your chosen field. As a consultant, the people are paying you to be the expert and take care of all aspects of the project.</comment>


Visual C++ compiler consideres noexcept specs different if containing newline - <AUTHOR> https://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/1355384/c-compiler-consideres-noexcept-specs-different-if-containing-newline

<comment><USER2> Wow, I am a little baffled by just what kind of chain of failures could result in a bug like this. The token lexing stage should be eliminating whitespace as the very first stage of compilation.</comment>


Ask HN: Do you have any projects you'd like input or collaboration on? - <AUTHOR> I'm sure some of you have projects you've been working on alone and wouldn't mind some input on. Maybe you're good at algorithms, but suck at UI or the inverse? Maybe you'd just like some constructive criticism, hints or tips on how to do something?<p>Maybe HN can put their collective heads together during this quarantine and work together :) <comment><USER2> Sure, I'll bite!

I wouldn't mind someone to look at my horribly hacked together python helper scripts (python2: [https://bitbucket.org/koalephant/shell-script- library/src/de...](https://bitbucket.org/koalephant/shell-script- library/src/default/src/config-modules/config2.py), python3: [https://bitbucket.org/koalephant/shell-script- library/src/de...](https://bitbucket.org/koalephant/shell-script- library/src/default/src/config-modules/config3.py))

I do not write a lot of python so you can't hurt my feelings telling me how bad they are. If anyone feels really bored and wants to improve them, there's unit tests that should help (technically the unit tests cover the shell functions that call each helper script) in the repo.

If anyone feels ridiculously bored and wants to port one to ruby or Perl (or heck even awk if you're feeling particularly adventurous) I'll be forever grateful.

<comment><AUTHOR> Hi,

I had a quick look and here are my remarks:

\- with the [six] library, there's no need to maintain two versions

\- parsing script args yourself isn't necessary either thanks to tools like, [argparse] (in the stdlib), [click], [docopt]

\- not quite sure why you use the RawCongigParser, but it seems like you're modifying the behavior thereof. It might be advisable to subclass it instead

\- a little documentation wouldn't hurt

\- it's not entirely clear why the code is doing what it's doing

\- not sure what the goal of this is

Haven't run it through a linter, but I like the descriptive variable names and methods and the spacing. The lack of a argument parser has led you to convoluted code however: 5 levels of ifs aren't easy to read.

[argparse]: [https://docs.python.org/3/library/argparse.html](https://docs.python.org/3/library/argparse.html)

[click]: [https://pypi.org/project/click8/](https://pypi.org/project/click8/)

[docopt]: [https://pypi.org/project/docopt/](https://pypi.org/project/docopt/)

[six]: [https://pypi.org/project/six/](https://pypi.org/project/six/)

<comment><USER2> Thanks for taking a look!

To answer some of your questions: the goal of this (the concept rather than just this python implementation) is to read keys and values out of 'ini' formatted files from shell, by detecting which other languages can run on the machine (so far, python2, python3, php with DBA support, and php without DBA support), but Python's idea of what constitutes a valid 'ini' file is more restrictive than other languages, in that it doesn't allow for values before the first section heading (the parts in square brackets). So that's why it inserts a 'fake' section header and passes the StringIO object rather than just the file itself.

I'll look into argparse - being in the stdlib is a must - the only reason this (or it's counterpart in php) exists is because so far I've found no practical/reliable way to reliably read/write ini files via pure shell. Having to package up extra libs, or require a non-standard lib would defeat the purpose.

I wonder if that's going to be the situation with 'six' \- is it a runtime library, or more of a 'build' tool, to transpile from 3 to 2?

I honestly don't remember why I ended up using the RawConfigParser rather than just ConfigParser - maybe one of the options for ConfigParser (e.g. disabling interpolation), wasn't available in earlier 3.x releases. I'll try this again when looking at the above points.

Thanks for your input, it's very much appreciated!

<comment><AUTHOR> > I wonder if that's going to be the situation with 'six' \- is it a runtime > library, or more of a 'build' tool, to transpile from 3 to 2?

It's a runtime library. [2to3] is in the stdlib and transpiles.

> To answer some of your questions:

That whole paragraph could be put at the top of the file in a triple-quote. It explains what the file is for pretty nicely. If you end up using argparse it could be in the description :)

I'm glad I could help somehow. Have a nice easter!

[2to3]: [https://docs.python.org/3/library/2to3.html](https://docs.python.org/3/library/2to3.html)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> I've been working on a small outdoor / ultralight hiking gear management app [https://www.packrat.app](https://www.packrat.app). I've been getting some good feedback from memebers of the ultralight hiking community and am using this as an opportunity to learn Kotlin Multiplatform. My initial prototype was written in SwiftUI. From there I rewrote all the state management in a shared Kotlin library and I'm now slowly working on the Android version using Jetpack Compose. The whole stack is experimental and has been a fun and sometimes frustrating learning experience. Would love some feedback from HN on the app and my general approach.

</comment><comment><USER4> I'm pretty bad at front-end but last few days I've been playing around with d3js and I've done a new section of my Golang Cafe job board - Salary Insights [https://golang.cafe/Golang-Developer-Salary-USA](https://golang.cafe/Golang- Developer-Salary-USA) it's open source too [https://github.com/golang- cafe/golang.cafe](https://github.com/golang-cafe/golang.cafe)

<comment><AUTHOR> Unfortunately, I'm most inept at UI but I like the idea. The graphs look pretty smooth.

Hopefully somebody will be able to give better feedback.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> I've been working on and off for about a year on [https://contextualise.dev/](https://contextualise.dev/), a (collaborative) knowledge base application. It's open source ([https://github.com/brettkromkamp/contextualise](https://github.com/brettkromkamp/contextualise)) so contributing code is always appreciated but having some road map-level input would be great, as well ;)

<comment><AUTHOR> As a python developer maybe I could help with code, but I'm lacking understanding as to what the project actually does and how it compares to, say, a mind map.

How would you describe this in under 5 minutes to a interested friend or family member / layman at a social gathering? If you have the time, make a video, put it on peertube and link to it in your readme. It'll take a few hours or so to do it right, but it might help.

<comment><USER5> Thanks for your input. Really appreciate it. Yes, I'll record a short video explaining the use case for the application. Have been meaning to do it for some time, actually.

A somewhat superficial way to describe the application is perhaps to call it a more semantic wiki; for example, the application allows you to establish semantically meaningful relations between topics (i.e., defining not only the type of relationship but also what role each topic plays within the context of the relationship). There is much more to the application than just that, but it is an example of how the application allows you to model/express a knowledge domain.

<comment><AUTHOR> I look forward to the video. The project looks interesting and it could be useful once I understand more about the project and how it works.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment> chupa-chups We're working on an (at the moment manually curated, rule-based) AI devops solution, generating build definition(s) and deployment scripts automatically. Deployment may be docker based, single-instance test deployments, blue/green, hardware backed production deployments and anything above.

You're picking the environment you deem necessary and affordable, and our solution will automatically create appropriate build + deployment scripts for you. We promise no lock-in, generated scripts are downloadable and executable on-premises.

Our working MVP currently supports Java/Gradle based backends and angular / react based frontends. Supported databases are currently PostgreSQL. Supported cloud platforms are currently AWS, Azure to come next.

Roadmap:

* Azure support

* Google cloud support

* .net core backend support

Our own platform runs using our own product. We're searching for a select few alpha customers (lifetime free, incl. support).

If you're interested post a public comment here. No public details will be provided. The planned public alpha launch date will be around September 2020.

</comment><comment><USER6> I have been working on [https://turbovar.com](https://turbovar.com) , which is a Java SaaS Template. Input on how to improve the landing page and how to increase customer acquisition would be highly appreciated.</comment>


Ask HN: Is Hacker News a Waste of Time? - <AUTHOR> Although this might be a rather controversial question, I think it is a very interesting and maybe important self reflecting question. Of course there is no right or wrong answers, as my lecturers sometimes like to emphasise.
I usually wake up every morning and read the guardian, specifically its comments section which is a particular interesting section (most days)
Thinking about it though, I realise that most of the things I read on it are not relevant to myself. They speak of wars, problems society in general is facing, there are calls for mobilisation in regards to recycling, civil rights or some new found scandal.
These things are important to know of course and certainly interesting. Nonetheless I am reading the opinion of someone else. Someone who I have no reason to believe has a better or more righteous opinion than myself. I can not help it sometimes but think, in reflection, that they are maybe even influencing my own opinion, whether for good or bad.
I do not like my opinion to be influenced not based on facts, but words someone wrote without giving it too much thought. If their opinions are not based on facts or superior knowledge why should I give them the opportunity to influence myself, especially when bearing in mind that most of them have an agenda.
The guardian newspaper is of course very different from hacker news. Hacker News is a community which besides trying to take advantage of the fact that there is strength in numbers, i.e someone likes a story, others decide whether they like it or not, if many like a story, then there is a good chance that it is a good story, it also has a certain "code of conduct". Going further, as far as the website itself is concerned, the signal to noise ratio is high. There is a lot of good and interesting content.
The question though is whether interesting is good enough.
This particular website seems to appeal to the above average intellect crowd who require intellectual stimulation, but is it a waste of time?
I have mentioned the guardian, one of UK's leading newspapers, and compared it somewhat on this particular point to hacker news. Therefore I do not mean whether hacker news per se is a waste of time, I am speaking of the activity itself.
The activity can be defined as spending time reading fragmented material which is interesting to know, but not necessarily relevant to yourself. Material which is not relevant to yourself might not mean practically useless or that it does not indirectly effect your thinking and ability to perform. Nonetheless it does seem to mean in the context of this particular activity that it is knowledge somewhat remote with no use besides some mental ejaculation.
I do not wish to come accross as someone who would rather be isolated to his own enclave without wishing to know what goes on in the world, or find out interesting things such as the finding of a study about psychopathy. I am naturaly interested on many things and believe they have contributed to some extend towards my perception of the world.
The question is whether those 4 hour or so in the morning reading the guardian newspaper and then the articles on hackers news are worth it.
What do you think? <comment><USER2> It's certainly alarmingly addictive. Much more so than a newspaper. I've been wondering lately what to do about that. Any ideas?

I considered shutting the site down for a couple hours a day. More people disliked that idea than liked it

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=372593>

but the vote was close enough that I might still try it.

<comment><USER3> An alternative to fully shutting down the site would be to "freeze" it. The site is available, but nothing changes. (This could even happen 24 hours per day: updates only happen every 6 hours or something.)

To me, the alarmingly addictive thing about HN is that something interesting could happen _at any time_. Removing this real-time aspect, HN would still be interesting, but no more addictive than a good issue of the New Yorker or whatever.

<comment><USER4> But what about all those in different time zones? Freezing the site for periods may make it tricky for people in some places to contribute at all.

<comment><USER3> I was thinking that anyone can access the site and do anything that they would do now. The only difference is that what you do doesn't affect other people until the freeze interval is over.

<comment><USER5> Freezing the content of the main page to update at a fixed rate makes sense.

The comments won't work as well if they aren't done in real time in the current format. One possible solution would be to add a separate section for active comment threads. This might serve as an acceptable way to slow them down, or keep them visible longer. However, the real time comments are a large part of what makes this site addictive, but it's also what provides a fair amount of the value.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It doesn't necessarily start out as a waste of time but it can become one if you spend too much time on it. I try to restrict myself to reading YC when recompiling stuff on my powerbook. At the beginning of the build I use

      open -a Opera http://news.ycombinator.com

and at the end I have

      open -a Opera make.out

That way the browser automatically takes me to the build output when it's time to get back to coding.

<comment><USER7> That is brilliant.

But you're still replacing one waste of time with another!

<comment><USER8> Is it really a waste of time if it entertains you and stimulates your thoughts, when used judiciously?

<comment><USER7> I don't know. You could post the question to HN :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm going to admit that I barely read any of your post. I'm just going to answer: Your question is like asking "Is the Internet a Waste of Time?" It really depends.

The stories are generally titled in such a way that I ignore stuff that I already know, don't need to know, don't care about, etc.

Conversely, I read the stories that seem interesting or relevant. There's a lot of cutting edge stuff discussed here and I like that. I haven't been here long enough for any one particular thing about HN to piss me off yet, either.

So, yeah.. it's a waste of time if you waste your time. And it's not a waste of time if there's a takeaway. So make a point to learn something each time you go on HN.

<comment><USER10> HN is a /timesink/. It is easy to dump a v. large amount of time there, without a great deal of energy expended. Much like heatsinks, this comes with advantages (less free-unthinking time) and disadvantages (can suck time away).

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> 4 hours reading The Guardian every day -- holy lord...are you independently wealthy? Try just reading The Economist on the weekends. Maybe you'll feel less guilty about all the time you also spend on HN.

</comment><comment><USER12> First, only your post is a waste of time. (Zing!) But seriously, that all depends on what your goals are when you come here, how you use the site, and _whether or not the site meets your goals_.

Second, some meta-advice about the "Trollish question? Although question might be trollish, it isn't because..." meme: Don't do it. If you have a question like that, then it really is trollish. If you think it isn't trollish, then you need to think about it some more, because you're missing something obvious. When you figure it out on your own, you're going to be so glad you didn't embarrass yourself by asking the smart people on HN such a--let's be frank about it--dumb question.

I normally don't respond to posts of this kind, but it has become a line-in- the-sand issue for me because this meme, and so many others like it, seem recently to be running rampant through an otherwise useful site. We get replies of the form, "I'm obviously unqualified to talk about X, but here's my opinion on X," the afore-mentioned "Trollish Q? Not so because _I_ think it's interesting," and so on.

Think of it as being like farting loudly in an elevator. It doesn't matter if you have really bad gas, you wait until you're alone. Similarly, if you've got a vacuous question or opinion so unjustified that you have to qualify it by saying so, just don't air it in a public forum. You're wasting people's time.

<comment><AUTHOR> I see your point. I started with although this might be a controversial question.......because the question is Is HN a waste of time, from that question you might get the idea that I am speaking of HN only.

It seems that you have come up with a sentencing formula which is bad in all circumstances. Maybe you should write a research report upon it, it certainly might be interesting. My academic training has taught me though that one should be weary of generalising.

I personally do not agree with your line of thinking that if you have an embarrassing question keep it to yourself. There might be many smart people here, but I do not usually refrain myself from asking a dumb question if I feel that it might shed some light regarding some issue.

Am I or this post wasting peoples time? I did think a bit about that before I posted it and concluded that if it was a waste of peoples time it would not attract comments or upvotes.

Thanks for your comment anyway, an interesting way of saying that the post was a waste of time without actually saying so, and further, an interesting way of wasting other peoples time while saying that my post was a waste of time. :P

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> _The question is whether those 4 hour or so in the morning reading the guardian newspaper and then the articles on hackers news are worth it._

Learning is generally worthwhile. Four hours each morning puts a lot of pressure on your schedule to be efficient in other activities, like running your start-up or caring for your family.

</comment><comment> puzzle-out HN is the closest thing to communicating with like-minded people since leaving university. As long as it retains its diligent, unpretentious and insightful membership, it is a good use of time, so long as you don't overdo it.

</comment><comment><USER14> > Ask HN: Is Hacker News a Waste of Time?

> The question though is whether interesting is good enough.

In my words:

"Is interesting stuff worth doing, and is using my own judgment OK, or should I stick to what tradition and authority and culture says is important?"

His best defense of reading Hacker News is not that he likes it. It is:

> I do not wish to come accross as someone who would rather be isolated

Being social is an approved activity.

Paul Graham says:

> [Hacker News is] certainly alarmingly addictive. Much more so than a > newspaper. I've been wondering lately what to do about that.

He has the common attitude that problems should be solved by an authority Doing Something, and that his judgment should trump the individual judgment of each reader. And he has the attitude that if people spend a lot of time doing something, that is prima facie evidence that it's a _bad_ thing. That is backwards.

All this is a direct result of parents who educate their kids with principles like:

\- it doesn't matter if you like it, do something important (aka, approved by an authority like a text book manufacturer or a tradition)

\- if you like it a lot, then it's probably bad. TV, video games, ice cream, playing in preference to doing homework, etc

\- your judgment can't be trusted

\- if you have a problem, don't do anything, tell an authority who will fix it. e.g., self defense is banned at school, only defense by teacher is allowed. even solving an "i need to use the bathroom" problem on one's own initiative is banned.

\- you have to share and socialize or you're a bad person. Ayn Rand is the devil.

</comment><comment><USER15> If you have to ask, you've passed the point where it is.

Reading the news is the kind of thing you do to fill in interstitial time that is not fungible with other activities, not something you do for its own sake, or should ever "make time" for, or that is ever inherently important. There may be important news, but the defining property of news is not importance, but newness.

I think that many here (and elsewhere) likely suffer from (to some degree) a kind of information-age malaise akin to scrupulosity (obsession over sinfulness). It's a condition where people feel anxiety over not being completely informed, or at least informed enough to have an opinion on every subject.

How often do you read an article (or bookmark it, or InstaPaper it, or tag it "toread", etc.) not because you want to read _that_ article, but you feel like you _should_ know more about that subject? How many unread items do you have in your RSS reader that you keep thinking you're actually going to read someday? That's what I mean.

It's an impossible task, but trying can very easily consume all of your time. You "just" have to learn to flip the switch from input to output without ever feeling "done".

</comment><comment><USER16> Yes, but so is working for a living.

</comment><comment><USER17> A few points: 1\. 4 hours in the morning reading anything is quite a long time. Perhaps if you were to reduce the number of hours, this would force you to reduce your intake and be more productive. This is based on the assumption that you have a vague feeling after morning reading periods that you have 'wasted' your time, possibly due to the numerous other things you could have accomplished in half that time.

2\. Certain interests (e.g. awareness of a recession and industry news) may help you to prepare yourself in case war, famine or other problems that may appear to be global start to affect your neighborhood, job, family or friends. This point is based on the assumption that you, your family and/or friends you care about could be affected by these issues.

For me, interesting is good enough. I'd like to point out that my interests have been changing recently as I think more and more about scenarios involving a loss of income, and taking appropriate investment/skills actions.

</comment><comment><USER18> It goes at the core of human development. Trial and error and results feedback loop, competition and community.

Here there are a collection of pieces of information that possibly contain valuable trial and error results; filtered by what might be a very interesting group of people. Also, competitors ways of thinking. Not to mention the other side of that the community aspect, so you aren't alone in your adventures.

So naturally you are attracted to it as it is an attractor, simple due to the possible trial and error results you might also be looking for. Anything that can touch on that natural instinct of trial and error result feedback loop, competition, community or other embedded biologically binded behaviors will win. Video games for instance hits all these for instance, nearly recession proof in the sense that they will always be played, and attract people.

</comment><comment><USER19> Information is as useful as you make it. It's really a questions of "are you just reading to entertain yourself?" vs "are you reading to learn and allowing your worldview to be shaped based on what you are reading?" Almost every piece of information is useful if you pick it apart and actively seek out the lessons to be learned from it.

I mean, Henry David Thoreau spent his time wandering around the wilderness, an activity that most would call a waste of time, and yet the lessons he learned about simplicity and its impact on life are still being quoted nearly 150 years after his death.

Wisdom is everywhere the trick is to hang around places where you can find it while enjoying yourself. If HN provides that for you than it's far from a waste of time.

</comment><comment><USER20> Everything is good in moderation. If you spend 24/7 on HN then yes its a bad idea. But if you spend 1-2 hours per day its really not that bad.

\+ with HN you get to read a lot of stuff that you yourself wouldn't have found otherwise.

</comment><comment><USER21> "Info porn"

I can't find how I came across the term -- I think it was via a link on HN, maybe even in turn from this thread. My apology to whomever I may be shortchanging from appropriate credit for the reference.

The term, and its definition here:

[http://tools-for-thought.com/2009/01/05/curbing-info-porn- wi...](http://tools-for-thought.com/2009/01/05/curbing-info-porn-with-batched- reading/)

capture a lot of my concern.

Just using the term in my own head is helping me to re-evaluate my behavior in this regard.

</comment><comment><USER22> I hang around a lot of websites (passing the time), and websites like HN are full of entertainment ... but if I was honestly seeking self-improvement I would _open some study material and study it_.

So, yes, I use it to waste my time. I could be doing better things assuming you believe in objective measures of such things. The addictive low-cal- information-firehose nature of the internet is my one weakness, as Miss Lane never said with a twinkle in her eye.

</comment><comment><USER23> I very quickly gave up reading the comments on the guardian web site. Many, even a majority, are insulting and regurgitated opinions by people unopen to changing their mind, they simply want to shout their (often unappetising) opinion at you.

HN on the contrary is populated by people (like myself, I hope) who wish to learn. They engage in discussion in order to improve themselves, not to win arguments.

4 hours is far too long BTW. I'm sure there must be better things you can do.

</comment><comment><USER24> I think its a waste of time only in the trivial sense of time spent at HN doesnt' translate into work done. On the other hand, hard work requires making the brain work well, and the brain works best when its you cycle between doing different activities. So I think in fact having a source of novelty of consistent quality as HN, is ultimately not a waste of time at all if you are infact working on something intellectually nontrivial.

</comment><comment><USER25> I don't know about everyone, but I have a limited number of hours that I can focus on any single task before I need to take a break. If I didn't have this, then I would find something else to distract me. It is a lot easier for me to pull away from HN than to stop playing chess games online.

</comment><comment><USER26> Be informed. Don't rely on YN only. And use it only if you can't get the same content through easier ways.

</comment><comment><USER27> Great question. I don't have an answer although I do know that reading hacker news != hacking. I too think I spend far too much time reading all the interesting topics posted to this site and that I should probably be doing something more active and less passive. You're not alone.

</comment><comment><USER28> HN is entertainment, but it's productive entertainment. Better than playing solitaire or freecell or something like that.

There are posts here that make our lives better. I come here while I'm compiling code or uploading code or waiting on something for a short time...

</comment><comment><USER29> I avoid the "check HN every n minutes" addiction by using Google Reader to give me a static view of what's come to the front page. This way I'm never re- parsing the entire front page every visit.

</comment><comment><USER30> I overcame /. addiction by subscribing to its Headlines which arrive every morning in my mailbox.

</comment><comment><USER31> noprocrast: maxvisit: minaway:

No one actually uses the above features??? It really helps me to reduce my visits to YC less than 3 times everyday. My maxvisit is 60 and minaway is 180. This means that I can only visit HN for a maximum of 60 mins for every 180 mins interval.

</comment><comment><USER32> Reading that thread opener was a waste of time. Get to the point.

</comment><comment><USER33> It isn't. I've come up with a few great ideas in these threads.

</comment><comment><USER34> Yes, but its awesome so your point is moot.

</comment><comment><USER35> TLDR</comment>


Mathematician claims breakthrough in complexity theory - <AUTHOR> http://news.sciencemag.org/math/2015/11/mathematician-claims-breakthrough-complexity-theory <comment><AUTHOR> This story has been discussed elsewhere[0][1][2][3][4], but this article is a particularly clear, top-level description of the problem, the result, and the implications.

[0] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10505231](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10505231)

[1] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10506476](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10506476)

[2] [http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2521](http://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=2521)

[3] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10508418](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10508418)

[4] [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10512074](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10512074)</comment>


Research Paper – Effect of Crowd Size in Software Testing - <AUTHOR> http://blog.99tests.com/research-paper-effect-of-crowd-size-in-software-testing/

<comment><AUTHOR> Is there an optimum size for a Crowd Testing team?</comment>


At Stanford, computer science students are big cheaters - <AUTHOR> http://bayarea.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/heading-off-the-temptation-to-cheat-in-computer-science-classes-at-stanford/

<comment><USER2> That's not what the article says at all. In computer science, it's easier to detect cheating, which is part, if not most of the reason why it has a notably high proportion of honor code violations. The only people I knew who got caught cheating on assignments weren't computer science majors.

Please just copy the headline from the article next time.

<comment><USER3> Also, it says "About 1,000 students will have taken the course by the end of the year, with more than 75 percent of students passing through a computer science introductory course before the end of their time at Stanford." which makes it much more normal for there being a high _number_ of cheaters. A lot of people are taking the course, so there are a lot more cheaters although the proportion might be the same. (I don't know if this is actually the case.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Alternative title: one Stanford professor cares more about cheating that pretty much therest of the university combined.

Cheating is now pretty much rampant at even the most prestigious colleges. The only way to not detect it is to turn an actively blind eye towards it

</comment><comment><USER5> _CS is not like an English paper where you can just turn it in and there's not a way to say if it's a good paper or not... at 3 a.m, you can be looking a program and definitively say that it's not going to work._

The ignorance I encounter among fellow CS people in this area never ceases to amaze. A strange phenomena in a group of otherwise intelligent individuals.

Trust me when I say that you can evaluate a paper the same way you evaluate a program. In a functional sense you (the writer) _can_ definitively say whether a paper will work or not [1]. Most people who make statements like the one I've quoted simply never have been taught the appropriate skills.

[1] Creative writing is a different story.

<comment><USER6> Most papers aren't graded with some pass/fail grammar and punctuation rubric. I had many CS assignments for which no credit would be given if the automated submission site couldn't compile the work.

<comment><USER7> I think the original poster might be referring to the strength of a paper's arguments rather than grammar. But I basically agree with you... most Stanford CS projects are graded almost entirely by automated tests (which test the output of the program, not just whether it compiles or not). When there are automated tests, you can predict how your program will be graded with much higher accuracy than you can predict the grade your paper will get, even if you are very good at evaluating papers.

<comment><USER5> _When there are automated tests, you can predict how your program will be graded with much higher accuracy than you can predict the grade your paper will get, even if you are very good at evaluating papers._

Of course. This is the same as saying that a CS student can better understand the reasoning of a program than the reasoning of a human being. As a rule programs are, in general, more predictable.

I will disagree with the idea that it is impossible to achieve high accuracy in predicting grades on paper. It's anecdotal evidence only, but I've never been off by more than half a letter grade on any paper in the last three years of taking English classes (it's my minor). That's 6 classes with 5 different professors. So probably 20 to 30 papers? Usually I get the exact grade right.

<comment><USER7> Fair point, but even if you can predict paper grades within half a letter grade, there's something much different psychologically about the following: "This program passes all the automated tests, and the automated tests are 90% of the grade" and "I feel very strongly that this is an A paper, and I'm almost always right about what grades my papers will get." The former is a much more confident statement. Perhaps the quote in the article is meant to say that the grading of CS assignments is almost entirely deterministic; there's always the possibility that your prediction of your paper grade will be way off, but if you pass all the automated tests, you're getting an A or A-.

<comment><USER5> There's a big psychological difference: you have faith in the determinism grading computer but not in your English professors. The funny thing is that an English professor is more qualified to say whether your paper is a good paper than a grading computer is to say whether your program is a good program. Automated tests are not a production environment for a program. A living, breathing reader is a production environment for a paper.

Might I be too bold in suggesting that CS students prefer the determinism of a grading script because they are worried how their code will hold up in the real world? Given the quality of code most CS students produce, that's actually not that bold of an assumption. Seems to me that CS students that do not favor how grading is done in English have that opinion because they aren't used to thorough assessment in CS [1].

[1] The notable exception being theory classes. Go theory! But in those classes you've got a living, breathing grader as well. :-p

EDIT: I realize I didn't really address your point. Yes, that is a fair characterization of the quote in the Times. The problem lies in assuming the grading script is doing as good of a job as your English professor in determining correctness. I bet if you increased the accuracy of the grading method for programs you would sacrifice on precision and students wouldn't be as confident about their programs. If you graded on coding style and design decisions, for example. So yes, CS students can be more confident. But confident of what? The fact that your program conforms to a script? That's not the same as being confidant that your program actually works.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I still stand by the belief that it is the professors' responsibility to create interesting and unique problems that cannot be solved easily with out- of-the-box libraries. Seems very basic for the amount of money I spend to attend college.

Another solution is to use an unfamiliar language, such as Scheme.

<comment><USER7> I think the main problem is students copying each others' code, not students copying library code. I don't think I've ever had a CS assignment at Stanford where I could have gone out and find library code to solve the problem.

<comment><USER8> Like code from previous terms?

I didn't mean that using a library is bad— in fact, learning how to effectively combine and structure your code to work with preexisting libraries is a skill that should be enforced in every CS department.

To clarify, I was referring to finding an _exact_ solution to the problem (SCRAM state machine for example) and just plugging it in as the solution.

<comment><USER7> Yep, code from previous terms (friends who have taken the class before) or even from the same term (friends who are in the same class who have already finished the assignment). My impression is that the vast majority of honor code violations in the CS department are of one of those two types.

<comment><USER8> Do Stanford profs have tools to automatically check for copies? Or is it something the graders just notice.

<comment><USER9> In fact, one of the most popular tools for checking for eerie similarities between programs (used at other universities I'm familiar with) was co- developed by a now-Stanford prof.

MOSS: <http://theory.stanford.edu/~aiken/moss/>

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> In college, you are punished for using others source.

After college, you are rewarded.

Perhaps there is a better way to teach than giving an entire class the exact same assignment. I wonder if you might find the same results in the basic math classes, where non-math majors just have to "tough it out". I would think it's harder to catch copying because the work can't be easily analyzed by a computer.

<comment><USER11> This argument gets trotted out in all sorts of internet discussions re: CS education, and it's bogus. You have to be able to stand on your own before you can contribute meaningfully to a group. More importantly, individualized assignments don't scale to classes of one or two hundred students.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> I understand that most of the cheating is done in the first cs course, but why on God's earth would you sign up for a major notoriously difficult if cheating can be a problem and you are the cheating type. I mean- _If you have to cheat during the CS course, I can very easily see you never be a good programmer._

A CS course isn't even like the real world programming jobs.

<comment><USER7> I would guess that most cheaters don't know they're the cheating type until the moment they cheat. Also, one of the points made in the article is that most people attribute the honor code violations largely to non-CS majors. The mindset is probably that they never want to be a programmer, and all they want is a good grade and the general ed requirement out of the way.</comment></comment>


John McAfee talks about murder charges - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBciMw0LRYw

<comment><USER2> He doesn't seem to address the fact that he's being accused of murder. Looks like there is an extradition treaty between Belize and the US as of 2007 [1], but it looks like Belize tends to prefer deportation [2].

Is anyone clear on whether the raid on his house happened in Belize, or how he got back there between the alleged murder time and now?

[1] [http://www.oas.org/juridico/mla/en/traites/en_traites-ext- us...](http://www.oas.org/juridico/mla/en/traites/en_traites-ext-usa-blz.pdf)

[2] [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050815/15belize_3...](http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050815/15belize_3.htm)

</comment><comment><USER3> This video is about another matter and quite old, not the current murder charges.

[http://www.reporter.bz/2012/05/investor-john-mcafee-says- gsu...](http://www.reporter.bz/2012/05/investor-john-mcafee-says-gsu- terrorized-him/) (edit, broken.)</comment>


Ask HN: How did you know it was time to quit your job and start your business? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> For me it was important that there was no gap in my income since I have a family, but you may want to get feedback from others to ensure you're on the right track. Maybe even get one paying customer to ensure you can validate the business. The best validation of an idea is that someone is willing to pay for it.

</comment><comment><USER3> When you saw yourself in the mirror..and couldn't stop smiling.</comment>


Ask HN: Someone just tried to break into my home. Security tech recommendations? - <AUTHOR> I heard a noise that sounded like my fence swinging open and (foolhardedly) went out with a flashlight looking.  This morning, I see that the screen has been pulled out from it's lining on a ground floor window. The window wasn't locked, so they could have easily gotten in. I'm struggling with what sort of measures I need to take. <comment><USER2> I assume your actual goal is to prevent being burglarized. Security tech is largely reactive. Why not work on proactive security first? It's not about building an impenetrable fortress, it's about not being the easiest mark in your neighborhood.

\- Lock your windows and doors at all times.

\- Trim back foliage that obscure windows and doors from the sidewalk.

\- Ensure you have proper exterior lighting. Shadows = bad.

\- Don't leave stuff like tools lying around the outsides of a house. Brooms or longish poles are great for reaching through a cat door and jimmying interior latches and deadbolts open. It's very, very easy with some practice.

\- Get a dog that barks. A big dog, a little dog, whatever. Just make sure it barks (proactive alerting & will let the burglar know you aren't the "slowest in the herd").

\- Get a (legitimate actual alarm company) yard sign and place it in your yard.

\- If you're a gun person, avoid NRA/Glock/I'm a gun-toting bad ass stickers on your vehicles, house, etc. That suddenly makes you a more lucrative target worthy of greater risk.

\- Don't leave the boxes for your new plasma TV, Mac, etc out front, visible. Maybe don't have Apple stickers on your car. That lets me know you like to spend money on gadgets that fetch high resale value.

\- Get to know your neighbors. Arrange an agreement with a trusted one to keep an eye out for each other when the other is away.

\- Case your own property as a burglar would. Pretend you forgot your keys.

Then, _after_ you take care of the preventative, start looking at reactive solutions.

Source: I may or may not have been a miscreant in my youth.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm not sure I understand the nra/glock reasoning, but other than that, makes sense.

<comment><USER3> Same reason you wouldn't advertise you have a stash of gold in the house.

<comment><AUTHOR> The only people I know with guns are poor (possibly a coincidence). Are the guns themselves valuable enough to make confronting a gun wielding home owner worthwhile? Does saying you have a gun imply wealth? That's the part I'm not following? What is the actual reasoning?

<comment><USER3> The wealth of an individual has no bearing on the value of an item. Guns themselves are high value items. Easy to sell for several hundred dollars depending on the model.

High end guns can be sold for several thousand dollars.

More value and liquidity than a TV.

<comment><USER3> Not to mention ammunition is extremely liquid. It's used as currency in some countries.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> \- Install a metal door frame and secure that with metal bolts into the wall that go about two hand lengths deep.

When I was at uni someone burgled my flat by expedient of kicking the door open - it was a thing you could see was going to happen even when you got there, the door frame had signs it had been kicked open before. That put a permanent stop to it. From what I've heard the next girl who lived there's never had any problem with people kicking the door down either.

\- Spiky nasty bushes under the windows. People don't like standing in a bunch of thorny crap to try and climb in.

\- Big motion sensitive lights, (make sure to stick them around the side too!) People like lurking. Make sure that they can't just go and lurk around the side of the house in the shadows.

Edit: Also, it might be worth seeing whether you can get some transparent security film to stick to your windows. It makes it more difficult to just smash the things and climb in.

<comment><USER5> 3M Security Film (it's the real deal - see demo video posted on YouTube): [http://youtu.be/vYdVK3BqPfk](http://youtu.be/vYdVK3BqPfk)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> You could do some basic stuff like motion sensing floodlights, and leaving a light or two on at night inside the house (on a timer).

I've always been curious if one of these fake tv things would be any good.

[http://www.faketv.com/](http://www.faketv.com/)

</comment><comment><USER7> I've considered DropCam[1] for just the same reason in the past. There are quite a few less expensive cameras available, with night vision even, that support archival/streaming to mobile devices.

      [1]: https://www.dropcam.com/

<comment><USER8> I think a dud camera with a red blinking led has the same preventative force.

<comment><USER7> Except that a DropCam's footage is admissible as evidence in case of an actual robbery. You won't get that out of a fake camera with a blinking light.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> A dog.

<comment><USER10> Upvoted, but please consider that those breeds most associated with protective tendencies are _high-maintenance._

I am an experienced dog owner and currently have a super-intelligent and high- drive dog. But she's not a pet. Can't be allowed loose with the kids unsupervised. Has strong fear-bite drive. Is a "one-person" dog (although she has bonded with 3 or 4 adults).

If anybody is interested, I can probably provide more info or pointers, but in general, I think a good rule is to equate protective dog breeds with firearms. It's that big of a deal.

<comment><USER9> No argument here, but I think the delta between a dog and a watchdog is much smaller than the delta between dog and no dog, if what you're worried about is preventing intruders. I believe that the overwhelming majority of burglaries are opportunistic, and a dog that barks is going to be pretty much sufficient to send the thief down to the next house.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> If you are going to get a dog, for security primarily, you need a PPD, (personal protection dog). They cost around $35,000 for a proper one. And you will have a friend for life when it is not in "guard mode".

The downside: have to speak to it in German/Dutch.

</comment><comment><USER3> Pre: Locks, security stickers on the windows, barking dogs, good lighting, fake or real visible cameras.

During: security system that calls police. Fire arm (last resort).

Post: hidden cameras so you have a record of what happened.</comment>


What Is Seen and What Is Unseen: The Hidden Price of Immoral Acts - <AUTHOR> http://www.skepticblog.org/2012/09/11/the-hidden-price-of-immoral-acts/

<comment><USER2> From doping to trading, the tragedy is that people take it so seriously and thus turn it into a life-and-death game of all-or-nothing.

Taking things seriously robs any chance to just be _good enough_ and be happy about _that_.

Anyone who can complete Tour de France at all or moderately but steadily grow an investment portfolio over the years should be extremely satisfied with just that already. If you're not, you'll seek greater but less likely and more momentary satisfaction from winning to win, and you'll likely end up more miserable in the average.

<comment><USER3> > Anyone who can complete Tour de France at all or moderately but steadily > grow an investment portfolio over the years should be extremely satisfied > with just that already.

(I'm not certain what "should" means in that sentence - a moral judgement? - but I'll interpret it as advice.) I think that this is excellent advice for some people, but poor advice for others. I don't think there is anything wrong, per se, with wanting to be the _very best_ at something. There's just a trade-off: you can be happily excellent, or you can take a chance and be perhaps the best but most likely just unhappy. But this decision is, in my opinion, a personal one: happiness does not have to be the ultimate goal of life.

<comment><USER4> > I don't think there is anything wrong, per se, with wanting to be the very > best at something.

Its probably obvious, but everyone wants to be the very best at something (or even everything?), even though of course its unrealistic, so most people disregard that desire almost immediately after thinking of it.

However, there are a minority that feel they can be, and when they realize they mightn't be, they cheat to do so, at the cost of others. And that's what i think is the real crux of the problem.

<comment><USER5> Imagine you're now the best programmer in the world who knows as much as any other programmer knows, and more. How depressing would that be. You'll always find room to improve any library you download from the internet. When you have no idea to do something, you have no one to ask. You'll have nothing to learn from reading programmer's blogs. Nothing to learn reading programming related entries in HN. No role models to learn from. No new information to read from programming books. No enlightenment reading Knuth's (Or Rob Pike or Paul Graham or Jeff Atwood or any other programmers') writing.

No, I have no desire to be the very best at all. It'd be great if I can always have someone in front of me to learn from, all the time.

<comment><USER6> I'm happy for you, really. But those who strive for greatness and who invent or discover new concepts also get amazing feelings, and learn amazing things too.

Not to mention that nobody can know everything. If you know everything about programming, you are deluding yourself. And even if you _could_ know everything, there is much to be said of applying concepts from other disciplines to your own. That's how we got Design Patterns.

<comment><USER5> That is true.

The journey may be exciting, but the destination not so much. :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Reminds me of a piece that I read on Marc Andreessen's blog back in 2007. Now I see that it was written by Ben Horowitz. I'm almost embarrassed to admit it how long it took me to find this, like 10 minutes. Anyway, quoting:

"Once WorldCom started committing accounting fraud to prop up their numbers, all of the other telecoms had to either (a) commit accounting fraud to keep pace with WorldCom's blistering growth rate, or (b) be viewed as losers with severe consequences.

How severe were the consequences for not breaking the law? Well, like a baseball player who refuses to take steroids, CEO Mike Armstrong of AT&T did not keep pace with the cheaters. As a reward for his honesty and integrity, he was widely ridiculed in the press prior to being fired and AT&T, perhaps America's most valuable brand, was acquired for cheap. Now you see why Barry Bonds needed something to help him keep pace with Mark McGwire."

[http://web.archive.org/web/20090621225533/http://blog.pmarca...](http://web.archive.org/web/20090621225533/http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/06/ceo- crime-punis.html)

<comment><USER8> There is a difference between financial fraud and doping. The latter can _actually_ increase performance, while the former only appears to on the surface.

Lance Armstrong actually _is_ faster. WorldCom was not, in fact, doing any better than AT&T and may have actually been doing worse.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Very good article! I think it really comes down to the fact that people can rationalize _anything_ nowadays. Get 10 people in a room and they'll all disagree on what's right and wrong.

You know, I always feel like deep down, everybody knows what is _really_ right. Whenever you make a bad decision, you've just got to know that you're rationalizing why it's okay. How could you not?

But maybe I'm wrong; I doubt that sociopaths and psychopaths have a true sense of right and wrong. There's stories of these people being in interrogation rooms and revealing all of the atrocities they've committed with no trace of emotion. It's only once they read the faces of their interrogators that they realize other people are horrified. And then they pretend to have remorse because it improves their own chances of a good outcome.

<comment><USER2> > the fact that people can rationalize anything nowadays.

That's the whole point of rationalization. Rational process of thinking can be applied to anything, to choices deemed good or bad, much similarly to science which can be (ab)used for purposes deemed good or bad. Nobody can't make a decision based on pure rationalism because anyone half-skilled in rationalizing is able to counter-argue his own argument down.

Rational thinking is a valuable tool to gain insight into things but only a fool thinks he can solve dilemmas of good vs. bad with it. Ethics itself is a product of a mind and what mind does is always rational.

<comment><USER10> You seem to be confusing rationalisation with rational thinking.

Rational thinking involves making logical deductions from a set of objectives and constraints to determine what actions to take. Ideally some of the constraints will be ethical, and perhaps some of the objectives will be emotional.

Rationalisation involves coming up with reasons to justify a decision that has already been made for other reasons. Perhaps the real reasons do not satisfy the person's conscience. Perhaps the real reasons will not persuade other people. Perhaps the real reasons are emotional and not rational. But the process of inventing these reasons is not allowed to challenge the original decision.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> A few years back, coach Angel Heredia did an interview with Spiegel on the same topic in which he alleges many of today's world-records would be impossible without PEDs. There's a translated version below, but note that at the time of interview, he under investigation for supplying illicit drugs to athletes, and his responses are mildly tainted by personal agenda.

Translated Spiegel.de article: [http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f13/angel- heredia-interview-sp...](http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f13/angel-heredia- interview-sports-doping-1927491/)

NY times discussing the investigation: [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/sports/13doping.html?_r=1&...](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/13/sports/13doping.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all)

</comment><comment><USER12> What is not seen is that for this homo sapiens to be writing this book his ancestors had to cheat themselves for him to be here. Killing off the Neanderthals and whoever/whatever stood in the way is how humankind got here. I think his observations are correct but the conclusion wrong. Cheating is the way to go but unfortunately this cannot be said out loud. Homo Hypocritus(hat tip to Robin Hanson) at work here.

<comment><USER13> It's not possible to "cheat" at natural selection, because it's not a thing and doesn't have rules; it's just a mathematical fact that's true.

And, like the other reply pointed out, human societies have systems of rules because the results are worse when they don't (to stretch your example, a species which consumes or destroys too much of a limited resource dooms all its members, whether they "cheated" or not).

<comment><USER12> > It's not possible to "cheat" at natural selection

You are right but the same can be said for winning in contests. The only real rule is "to win" all the rest are social contracts that you can break if you can get away with it. In that sense the smarter, more capable more hypocritical individuals will win, so yes, you are selecting for those same traits. I take objection with the author for his moral preaching.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Are the rich and famous happier than the rest?

I think the average professional cyclist might be less happy then the average plumber, even without doping. Think of all the pressure, knowing that you career will have to end soon, still not being the best, dealing with the press, etc.

In my mind, Cyclist Joe might be lucky to have become Joe the Plumber instead.

<comment><USER15> At least one rich guys says 'yes'.

I forget the exact quote by Dave Ramsey - who has been rich, then poor, then rich again, said something like 'People tell you being rich sucks. Nu-uh.'

One can be rich and unhappy, and poor and happy. This is not news.

But .. having been poor myself (and then middle-class) having money to pave over the small bumps in life makes it a whole lot easier to be content.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> > This is the problem with cheating across the moral landscape: it's robs > others of their possibilities.

If 1000 guys compete, only 1 wins the possibilities, 999 of them will be robbed of their possibilities regardless of whether the winner cheats or not.

Don't plan (let alone invest significant portion of you life and health) on 1/1000 ratio. You have more or less that chance of dying next year. Do you plan on that?

<comment><USER10> No, if the winners didn't cheat to get there, then the others have not been _robbed_ of their possibilities.

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> I take issue with how this article represents Lance Armstrong's doping as a fact. He never tested positive. From what I understand, someone just testified that they saw him shooting up with something. Who knows what Lance and his team really did or did not do. The US Anti-Doping Agency was out to get him, and from what I understand, the burden of proof is so low that they can get anyone they want.

I also do not understand how the affordability of top doping experts is any different than affordability of top coaches and nutritionists. The author claims that only the top 25% can actually compete legitimately since top doping specialists cost a lot. Top coaches likely do also.

I think these two points weaken the authors points tremendously, when I somewhat agree with is point. He just needs better examples.

<comment><USER18> Actually, he has tested positive. On multiple occasions. There was a urine test he failed in 1999 that he got out of with a backdated prescription. More controversially, it has been alleged that he failed an EPO test in 2001 that Hein Verbrugghen (then head of the UCI) made disappear. Coincidentally, Armstrong donated $125,000 to the UCI at this time. Also, 1999 TdF samples of his have recently tested positive to EPO (they didn't have an EPO test back then), but those positives didn't count because the testing was done for research purposes.

It's rather cynical, but [http://cavalierfc.tumblr.com/post/30172302298/its- not-about-...](http://cavalierfc.tumblr.com/post/30172302298/its-not-about- the-bike) is worth a look.

<comment><USER19> Perhaps you mean well, but you have not got a clue what you are talking about.

Armstrong has not tested positive for EPO, HGH or anything similar. The allegation about the prescription drug incident is completely irrelevant.

Whether he has in fact taken PEDs is another question.

<comment><USER20> It is not another question, and if it is, the same overwhelming evidence points to his guilt. Lance's entire myth is deeply tied to his appearance of being a clean athlete who is a victim of a vast and elaborate scheme to discredit him.

The exact opposite is true and no matter of denials and double speak will change this.

Lance fooled me. I'm a cancer survivor and an avid cyclist who was an original member of the Peloton Project before it was Livestrong. I have traveled to France and Austin multiple times to meet Lance and was completely taken by his story.

His continued denials and the complicit noise makers sicken me.

<comment><USER19> 1 Armstrong's performances have always been viewed with extreme scepticism.

2 The USDAA's investigation has also been viewed with extreme scepticism.

You believed completely in Armstrong and now completely believe in the investigation.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> I think we need context here, these are just people going around in circles on a track.

Their object is to entertain, and that they have in more ways than one.

This concept sport people are anything more is a sad reflection on society. The technology and methods they spend billions on developing are mostly useless to the normal world.

Even movie technology builds on itself and makes better movies, sport technology just shaves 100ths of a second off records, what is the point. It's forgotten by all but diehards 10-20 years later. At least a good movie or book lasts hundreds of years.

To say sport is more than that is quite sad I feel, people need to get over pretending it that important.

</comment><comment><USER22> For Want of a Nail (proverb) [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail_%28proverb%2...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail_%28proverb%29)

</comment><comment><USER23> I am so disappointed by American cyclists doping that I will no longer watch cycling on TV. The benefit is that I now have more time to watch (American) football.

<comment><USER19> Yes, watch the boys on roids.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> There's an alternative interpretation here: that the heights of human achievement are not available "cleanly."

Truth be told, there's a lot of doping in other fields. I've hung around startuppers, scientists, and med students who heavily use racetams, modafinil, amphetamine, B12 megadosing, "stack" diets, and massive amounts of caffeine. Musicians and artists use psychedelic drugs to artificially enter hyper- creative states. Isn't that a form of doping? Would we have most of the music we have if there were no THC, psilocybin, or LSD?

And doping is just augmentation. A bicycle itself is an augmentation. Shoes and special clothing are augmentations. The list goes on.

A race where runners run almost naked and are strictly limited to a straight diet would be interesting in itself, but it would not achieve anywhere near Olympic performance numbers.

I'm not necessarily saying that doping in sports is good, per se. If the rules don't allow it in your event, you are cheating in your particular sport. (There are no such rules for startups, science, or music.) What I'm really getting at here is that there is another issue, and that the overall issue is more morally complex than "honest and clean" vs "doped."

I also know that doping can destroy your health. Those modafinil/amphetamine stackers in the startup world might be shortening their life spans. LSD and psilocybin can make you go nuts. Steroids can cause cancer, heart disease, and mood disorders. But what if that's the price for exceeding the records?

<comment><USER24> I don't think the musician/startup analogy works. Regardless of the legality of using certain drugs and prescriptions, sports players are competing against each other for a certain output. Musicians and entrepeneurs are creating a product, whether it be music or a company, that stands alone irrespective of the lengths they went to achieve that creation. The people consuming that product aren't suffering because someone else did the drugs, unlike the cyclist who is competing against a doped up competitor or the investor who doesn't do insider trading like others do.

<comment><USER25> Wait, who is suffering because of doped up cyclists? (The insider trading investor does seem different as `lsc` talks about elsewhere in these comments)

<comment><USER26> The cyclists who want to compete without doping.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> Really well written and really depressing.

</comment><comment><USER19> So Tyler Hamilton has got a book out. What a joke.</comment>


Three things you should never put in your database - <AUTHOR> http://www.revsys.com/blog/2012/may/01/three-things-you-should-never-put-your-database/

<comment><USER2> I agree with your write up. Might be worth mentioning that storing binary files in Hadoop is a pretty popular strategy as well.</comment>


If You Can: How Millennials Can Get Rich Slowly [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29031758/If%20You%20Can.pdf <comment><USER2> I wonder how applicable that advice is to other countries, especially those that tax investment income. Also, how does currency risk factor in? If I don't use USD in my daily life, how good of an idea is to hold all my savings in USD denominated equity?

<comment><AUTHOR> Good point, this PDF is very U.S. specific. As long as the taxation is progressive, it would seem to make sense to put your money in a tax sheltered account during your peak earning years. And also to get any company match. Other than that, I don't know.

As for home country vs foreign investment, from bogleheads:

"The relative percentage of domestic and international stocks is a subject of intense discussion in the forum. One sensible option is to hold domestic and international stocks in the same proportions as they represent in the total world economy. As of October 2014, that would be about 50% U. S. and 50% international. ... Other authorities suggest holding less than that."

[https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Domestic/International](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Domestic/International) [https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three- fund_portfolio#Combini...](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Three- fund_portfolio#Combining_domestic_and_international_stocks)

The advice still seems to be U.S. specific though.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> This kind of ignores the people in their twenties are often in massive student debt and likely to be unemployed or have employment that barely makes a living wage.

Save/invest 15% is not helpful advice to somebody with no job, or somebody who is struggling to make rent cheques.

<comment><USER4> Go to a local community college for the first 2 years, then you can transfer to a UC or State college. Take the easiest/least time consuming classes you can find and try to work during those 4 years. Don't allow a useless college degree to make you broke. For most jobs/careers, You just need the certificate ~ at least in the long term.

<comment><USER5> > Take the easiest/least time consuming classes you can find and try to work > during those 4 years. Don't allow a useless college degree to make you > broke.

If you take the easiest/least time consuming classes you will likely end up with a useless college degree. Go to a state university that has a solid co-op or intern program and major in something difficult. Take hard classes and focus on those (EE, CompSci) because they will open up high paying internships during school and an entry job after graduation.

Don't burn yourself trying to balance school and work concurrently, don't waste your time taking easy classes that will leave you struggling after graduation!

> For most jobs/careers, You just need the certificate ~ at least in the long > term.

That may be true, but your courses/GPA will matter for the first job... or to get the MS degree required for many jobs in engineering today.

<comment><USER4> For example: a computer science degree teaches you a lot of stuff, covering an enormous diversity of CS topics, but 80% of it won't have anything to do with a career in Software engineering. The stuff you really need to learn, you'll need to learn on your own. That's why I'm saying, take the easy classes, then spend the extra time on an actual software engineering job or internship where you can learn what you really need to learn. The degree is required for a lot of SE jobs but that doesn't mean it's useful (as in applicable to SE).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> This is good advice but I think it downplays the seriousness of government insolvency and the repercussions with respect to investing.

The worst case scenario for millenials is not just getting 3/4 of our promised social security; it could be far worse.

To wit, the national debt increased from ~$5 trillion to about ~$10 trillion on GWB's watch (doubled). It increased from ~$10 trillion to ~$20 trillion on BHO's watch (doubled). DJT has promised massive new spending on infrastructure, increasing funding for border patrol etc, a massive military buildup, no changes to SS or Medicare, and massive tax cuts - so it is reasonable to believe we are still on track to double the national debt again within the next 8 years. That is something not unlike exponential (and BTW that "national debt" is just the level of outstanding treasury debt; the actual unfunded future liabilities are much much higher).

To cover the massive debts of the government (and maintain the stability of the economy and society) massive amounts of new money will need to be created to monetize government debt. This has already started, as the base money supply in the US has quadrupled since 2009. Velocity is low so we don't see the inflation (except in things like stocks, bonds, fine art, and tech startups) but DJT's Keynesian wet dream should get velocity up at least long enough for inflation to start showing up in the real economy, and even that doesn't get the snowball rolling, it is unreasonable to believe that velocity will stay so low forever and that the new money will not start flowing through the economy.

In any case, in such an environment bonds will get savaged and there will be great economic dislocations. A simple index-fund based asset allocation between US stocks, bonds, and international stocks is not necessarily going to work in the next 30 years as it did in the past 30. Past results are not guarantees of future returns.

That said, I think taking 15% of your income and sticking with a strategy that you are comfortable with is great advice. The best way to get rich quickly is to do it slowly indeed. But investing in the near-to-medium term might get interesting, just sayin ;)

<comment><USER7> > massive amounts of new money will need to be created to monetize government > debt

Really? Or they could just roll it over like normal, because the interest rates are so low?

Even the 30 year treasuries are yielding 3%.

<comment><USER6> Why do you think rates are so low? Hint: its because the Fed printed a bunch of money to monetize the debt.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> This honestly just annoyed me to read. To put it bluntly, I'm sick of old people telling people in their 20s that the reason why they are having a lousy time is because they dare to get a fucking smartphone plan and a decent pair of shoes.

You don't have enough money? Well give up your phones, car, vacation. Wear those old shoes. Live with a roommate, no wait that's too expensive just live with your parents until your 30. Kids? No you don't need those. Massive student debt? Why did you do that, I put myself through school working at mcdonalds. You can't even get a full time job, what's wrong with you? Millenials are so entitled.

<comment><USER4> >You don't have enough money? Well give up your phones, car, vacation. Wear those old shoes. Live with a roommate, no wait that's too expensive just live with your parents until your 30. Kids? No you don't need those.

Actually, these are pretty good suggestions.

<comment><USER8> My point is you can only tell people they can just make do with less and less for so long before you have to admit that maybe lifestyle isn't the real problem.

<comment><USER4> Most people aren't doing the things you listed, hence: for most people, lifestyle is the real problem.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> By William Bernstein, author of "The Intelligent Asset Allocator" and other books on index investing.

Mobi: [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29031758/if_you_can_v1.m...](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29031758/if_you_can_v1.mobi)

Kindle: [https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29031758/If%20You%20Can_...](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/29031758/If%20You%20Can_K6IRK6EFXDZNG2FNC52QBW5WSIGF6YQH.azw3)

<comment><USER9> Man those links are illegal and can get someone into trouble especially if they download it (unknowingly) from a corporate VPN. Just link the books on Amazon and leave out the dropbox referrals

<comment><AUTHOR> No they're perfectly legal. The author is giving away the booklet for free (its only 14 pages). See the bottom half of this page: [http://efficientfrontier.com/ef/0adhoc/2books.htm](http://efficientfrontier.com/ef/0adhoc/2books.htm)</comment></comment></comment>


Centra scam ICO selected a CEO to look like their stock photos (¶109) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2018/comp-pr2018-70.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> There's some wild stuff in here:

> That same day, Sharma sent Trapani another message that he "had one girl > contact me lol [and] said take my picture off your site." Sharma then sent > Trapani the picture of "Edwards" used in the early White Papers and website > and asked: "U know anyone [t]hat looks like this guy . . . I need someone > who kinda looks like him[.] I can't just change him now People are gonna be > like wtf." Later that same day, Sharma reiterated to Trapani that he > "need[ed] to find someone who looks like Michael" for the "[t]eam photos." > Soon after, he described the team members on the website to Trapani: > "Everyone real Except Jessica And Mike." Several hours later, Sharma asked > Trapani: "Who do we know looks like Jessica Robinson"? Later that evening, > Sharma said to Trapani: "Gonna kill both Ceo and her[.] Gonna say they were > married and got into an accident."

They raised $32M.</comment>