How the Drug War Disappeared the Jury Trial - <AUTHOR> http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/how-the-drug-war-disappeared-the-jury-trial/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OTB+%28Outside+The+Beltway+%7C+OTB%29 <comment><USER2> I can't stress enough how damaging the drug war has been to our justice system. It's not only unfair to the (mostly poor minorities) that get caught up in the war, but is unfair to everyone else that receives slower service from the federal court system as a result of dockets clogged with drug cases.

That said, the lede of the article is dumb. The article complains about the drug war and plea bargaining, but Ronald Thompson's plight is not the result of those things, but rather of an overzealous gun control law: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-20-Life](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10-20-Life). Under this Florida law, the fact that Thompson fired a gun during what was otherwise a felony assault resulted in a mandatory 20 year sentence.

Indeed, the fact that many people who would otherwise oppose the drug war support gun control laws like this shows a deeper problem with American society than just the drug war. Whether we're calling for longer prison sentences for bankers or people convicted of gun crimes, we just love putting people in prison.

<comment><USER3> > we just love putting people in prison.

I think this is happening because of a general perception that too many people are "getting away" with breaking the law. It doesn't seem to matter that we're criminalizing everyday life and that many of the folks who actually deserve these penalties are untouchable due to money or politics, the sense of injustice is enough to make you want to just clamp down on everything. This means that for the few people that can exercise influence over the police and judicial system, the upside (votes, funding, whatever) from damaging it further far outweighs the miniscule chance that they themselves will get caught up in its workings.

It seems like it's caught in a death spiral. And it bothers me tremendously that, as a decent guy, I'm actively afraid of our judicial system.

<comment><USER2> There's no reason to turn everything into some "untouchable due to money or politics" angle. There is a simple reason why people perceive that harsh response to crime is necessary: [http://www.volokh.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/01/vcrime500.j...](http://www.volokh.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/01/vcrime500.jpg). The violent crime rate in the U.S. peaked in the early 1990's at about five times the per capita rate in 1960. Florida's law was passed in 1997 or so.

<comment><USER3> I'd agree that that "untouchable" idea is perhaps too easy to reach for, but I really do think it's germane to this particular problem. You seem to be well- informed on the subject, perhaps you could comment on this:

It seems to me that for a reasonably well-off person, being incorrectly or even maliciously accused of [random crime] may be inconvenient but you can probably throw comparatively small amounts of money at it until it goes away in the natural course of things (unless you're particularly unlucky). For a regular wage-earner with minimal savings, that same scenario can be a nightmare of missed time at work and incompetent or uninterested representation. If there's any truth to the accusation, the first case probably ends worse for the subject and the second case ends catastrophically.

This, in my mind, speaks directly to why even well-meaning lawmakers would be willing to contribute to the systemic damage that's been happening: their "sense" of how the legal system works is strongly skewed by the experiences they and their friends and family have had. I've had friends in both situations and the contrast was really stark.

On the massive increase in violent crime 1960-199x, wasn't that actually heavily localized in urban areas? We moved near Oakland, CA in the early 90's and it was completely unlike the various areas we had lived in previously. Though I suppose that wouldn't change the effect it had on general perceptions, with broadcast and then cable news delivering the worst of the nation every night.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I thought this was an interesting article, but the following jumped out at me:

>Ronald Thompson's case, and so many others, reveals that prosecutors don't think that twenty-year sentences for shooting into the ground constitute justice. _Why else would the plea bargain stay on the table._

The reason (in a majority of cases) plea bargains stay on the table is not because the prosecutors don't think the mandatory minimums constitute justice, rather the prosecutors do not have an incentive or otherwise want to go to trial. Therefore, they dangle the carrot and stick in front of the defendant (e.g. in this case, take 3 years or roll the dice and if convicted serve the minimum 20). So why don't prosecutors want to go to trial? Because the have extremely large case loads, they could not possibly take them all to trial, but to even take one to trial requires exponentially more work than getting the defendant to accept a plea. Additionally, if a prosecutor does all the extra work required with going to trial (win or lose) they do not get paid for all the extra work.

<comment><USER5> I gather that in some legal systems, the German system for example, mandatory prosecution of every crime is required because of this problem.

It seems worthwhile to ask what a good incentive for prosecutors would look like. For example, an incentive that rewards winning a trial more strongly than excepting a plea.

<comment><USER6> From friends in state prosecutors offices in a couple of states, I understand that there is a professional incentive to try cases on a fairly regular basis. Even though the office as a whole benefits from plea bargains, it's trial work that is apparently most respected and taken into consideration for promotions and the like.

I personally find the German system preferable, I think there is something very sick about a system that has so many cases it is in danger of collapsing under its own weight. Rather than striving for efficiency short cuts, like rampent plea bargaining accomplished via the lever of over harsh trial sentences, we should step back and figure out why there are so many alleged criminals to begin with.

<comment><USER7> I'm an American living in Germany now but I have no clue what the German system is. Can you enlighten me or share a link that explains it well?

<comment><USER6> This is the article everyone in (US) law school reads about it: [http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?artic...](http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1532&context=fss_papers)

but it looks like things are changing:

[http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol34/iss2/5/](http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/ilj/vol34/iss2/5/)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> _For example, when United States Army veteran Ronald Thompson fired two warning shots into the ground, he intended to scare off his friend's grandson, who was attempting to enter her home after she denied him entry. He never imagined his actions would leave him facing decades in prison._

So, `stand your ground` only kicks in when the purported assailant is shot dead? Words fail.

<comment><USER9> "Stand your ground" isn't magic, it's a legal defense like any other. Everything hinges on what the jury finds, and in this case it seems as though the prosecutor was persuasive.

Also, if you mean to draw a comparison to the Trayvon Martin case, "stand your ground" wasn't relevant to that case.

<comment><USER10> The Stand Your Ground laws are highly relevant to the Trayvon Martin case, since they provided cover for local law enforcement to initially decide they wouldn't be pursuing any charges against Zimmerman. Which led to the outrage and the public court trial.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> The most important check on prosecutorial power is the grand jury, where they decide whether or not a prosecutor can even bring charges against someone. But in the last 100 years the power of the grand jury has been dissolved entirely and now merely exists as a tool of the prosecutor.

</comment><comment><USER12> This is why bad laws must be fought hard _before_ they get passed. Because after, people forget about them, since "it doesn't directly apply to them", and they remain as laws for _decades_ , ruining many people's lives.

I also find the American system of _adding up_ charges incredibly stupid, and extremely easy to abuse by prosecutors, way more than any positives it may have (although I think he has none, especially with such high minimum sentences for most crimes).

</comment><comment><USER13> Incidentally, this is one reason why some activists insist on jury trials for even the smallest forms of civil disobedience. We have created a system that /counts on/ the fact that most cases will never go to trial. Insisting on a trial is one way to use significant resources of that system to make a political point.

</comment><comment><USER14> We just had a ruling a couple months ago, up here in Canada, that a 3-year mandatory minimum sentence involve possession of a loaded firearm was unconstitutional as it is considered "cruel and unusual punishment".

Is such a challenge possible in the USA?

<comment><USER15> Nope.

The US justice system is simply insane, and I've no idea what will bring it back.

<comment><USER16> > Nope.

I am missing a legal nuance? It seems like a challenge along these lines is possible but unlikely to go very far.

<comment><USER17> The Supreme Court has upheld three strikes laws that put people in prison for life for low-value non-violent thefts. No number of years for a crime, no matter how minor, seems to be too much. The only challenges that succeed are challenges to unusual applications of the death penalty.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> What kind of evil motivates these prosecutors? These people are a danger to the community.

<comment><USER19> Stats, for one. And possibly getting re-elected.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> I know this is pernicious, but I'd suggest that disappeared isn't a verb

<comment><USER21> Surely you mean isn't a transitive verb? Anyway, it's rare but well attested: [https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disappeared+it...](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=disappeared+it&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cdisappeared%20it%3B%2Cc0)

<comment><USER22> "Disappeared" in the sense used here refers to domestic opponents being covertly kidnapped—and usually murdered—by their governments; a usage that originated in connection with Argentina's "Dirty War", but which has been used for many other situations since.

The use of "disappeared" this way here I would say I is very conscious commentary in itself.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> The linked site as is (whether intentional or not) contains an annoying spam script that periodically redirects to some spam game on the iOS AppStore.

I can't find a "flag" or "report spam" link, though, which is why I'm posting this as a comment.

</comment><comment><USER24> Interesting article but not so surprising after the revelations of how Aaron Swartz was harassed. More interesting (to me) is that using "disappeared" as a verb (in this tense) has made it to the headline of an article.</comment>


LimeSDR Mini – An open, full-duplex, USB stick radio for femtocells and more - <AUTHOR> https://hackaday.com/2017/09/22/cheap-full-duplex-software-defined-radio-with-the-limesdr/ <comment><USER2> I get to recommend one of my favorite sites again.

[http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/](http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/)

You can also just go to [http://websdr.org](http://websdr.org) and select from a bunch of other servers.

Basically, the site is an SDR with a web interface. You're able to go there and listen to the radio. It is, obviously, RX only. Still, you can go there and listen to the ham radio enthusiasts across the world.

I should warn you, it is quite a time sink. Not everything is in morse code. You can stumble across some interesting stuff and it is fun just playing with the buttons.

If you've wondered what ham is all about and haven't bothered to get your license, this is a great way to experience the monitoring aspect of being a radio operator. If you're anything like me, it will eat up more time than you'd care to admit.

Still, it is an SDR that you can actually play with to see if you're interested in learning more about it.

<comment><USER3> That site is really awesome, I've spent a lot of time there as well (for those interested, check out the "Chatbox" tab, where users share stations/frequencies).

Do you think that it would be useful to have an in-browser audio decoding of signals, i.e. support for various digital mode, as fldigi [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fldigi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fldigi)] does?

Tune in to a station, and see the morse output right in the browser..?

<comment><USER2> Absolutely. I'd also like to see an attempt to translate the output to the user's native language.

What I'm not sure of is if the signal will always be good enough to decode it. In fact, I suspect it won't always be good enough to decode it automatically.

Obviously, we shouldn't let perfect be the enemy of good and it should just fail gracefully when the signal is degraded too much.

But, it potentially becomes a support nightmare. While we may know that the trouble is the signal degradation, I suspect many people wouldn't and they would try to place blame on the developers. It may make identification of actual software problems more difficult to assess.

Still, I say it would be a 'killer feature.' I have pondered it before but I'm not a very good programmer. I am pretty sure that some of them would happily add it right to their site, should someone make it. There are a lot of great features that could be added along with it - such as outputting it to a chat room that was dynamically created for that specific frequency. It could even be tied into a social function where a group of people might select to all move to a different frequency together and it, the decoding software, would follow them along. Perhaps the channel could monitor multiple less-active frequencies. That sort of stuff.

I think it would be a wonderful idea and think that good is just fine, and that I'd not expect perfection.

That said, I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds the place to be a time sink. I've spent more hours there than I care to admit. I favor the site that I linked directly, but that is mostly because that is the one I discovered first.

Depending on where you live, you can possibly also find local feeds from people's scanners. You can listen to the emergency responders, police, and things like that. It's not quite the same, but it is similar enough to where I figure I'll mention it. I don't usually bother with it, because I have a nice scanner already set up. Still, it is pretty fun. Also, if there is some sort of major event, you can go listen and hear what is going on before it is covered on the news. That's always fun.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> It's nice hardware but as someone who moved to it from RTL dongles, there are a few problems:

\- It's super complicated. There are an incredible number of configuration options and I don't know what most of them do. Documentation for them isn't great. Normally common settings aren't easy to find or use.

\- Software support is limited. I don't believe I've ever had Gqrx working and though CubicSDR works, things like bandwidth selection in the UI are broken and I end up having to reset the board through the aforementioned complicated tools.

\- As sold, it's useless for HF. You need to fiddle around with soldering/desoldering components on the board to make it do HF: [https://myriadrf.org/blog/optimising-limesdr-matching- hf/](https://myriadrf.org/blog/optimising-limesdr-matching-hf/)

As a whole for me, it's been an unfortunately negative experience owning one. My RTL-SDR dongles and HackRF are much more useful to me because they Just Work™.

EDIT: I'm talking about the original LimeSDR. I didn't notice that this was the LimeSDR Mini, which I have no experience with.

<comment><USER5> Would you recommend BladeRF instead then?

<comment><USER6> The Bladerf is very easy to use. Good documentation. Pre-built binaries for the firmware and PC side APIs. I've used the C API extensively on Windows. Unfortunately as with pretty much all SDRs, the RF performance is pretty bad (spurious/images/etc). IIRC it has some odd limitations on the anti-aliasing filter and was quite CPU hungry at higher tx rates. You're not going to find an SDR without quirks though.

<comment><USER7> Better SDR gear is out there for a price: [https://www.ettus.com/product/category/USRP-Bus- Series](https://www.ettus.com/product/category/USRP-Bus-Series) (these are their cheapest models)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Full duplex is such a big deal.

As an example, I have some remote controlled ceiling fans in my house. They're controlled by dumb RF remotes, but I wanted to make them smart so they can be controlled from Alexa.

Being a total SDR novice I figured it'd be easy to use an SDR to tackle this. But after much searching, I discovered full-duplex SDR is _super_ expensive. I think HackRF is the cheapest one at ~$500?

So instead I grabbed an RTL-SDR dongle and some dumb, cheap RF transmitters (the fixed frequency kind that you just dump a digital signal into) that had roughly the same frequency as the fan's remotes.

It only took me a day to get the RTL-SDR working, capture some of the remote's signals, and decode them. But when I tried to recreate the signals using the RF transmitter I grabbed they only worked 10% of the time. Maybe my timing was off. Maybe my antenna was cruddy. Maybe the frequency of the RF transmitter was too far off from the remote's. I felt intimidated by the big, scary black magic of RF. So I gave up.

I ended up just cracking open one of the remotes and soldering relays to all the button pads. An ESP8266 later and I can control all the fans in the house using Alexa. Not bad for a day's work.

But it would have been a lot nicer and cleaner to just use a full duplex SDR. Awesome to see something affordable finally coming out!

<comment><USER9> you confuse Full Duplex with transceiver. RTL-SDR is receiver, hackrf is transceiver(receiving and transmitting, but not at the same time), lime is full duplex(can TX and RX at the same time).

<comment><USER8> You're right, I misspoke. All I needed was a transceiver (or even just separate TX). Regardless, you can't even get a SDR transceiver for an affordable price.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> brian-armstrong I wish I could be more excited about this. I have one of the original LimeSDRs and it seems to have design issues. Mine has a massive DC bias that calibration doesnt seem to remove, and you can't actually use it for HF without desoldering a component. I feel like the Lime team so far has underdelivered for the hype.

</comment><comment><USER10> This thing has awesome specs! Would it require much to turn it into an oscilloscope?

I guess it would require some frontend to get the voltages in the right scale and perhaps fancy overvoltage protection. Obviously you can do a lot better than 3.5ghz these days, but for audio and simple electronics it seems to be plenty.

<comment><USER2> Just use your laptop's mic jack to make an oscilloscope.

[http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-Your-Laptop-as- Oscillosc...](http://www.instructables.com/id/Use-Your-Laptop-as- Oscilloscope/)

<comment><USER10> Well I'd hope for a slightly better range than 20Khz and maybe resolution. Also I'd imagine the noise level wouldn't be very satisfactory.

With a 3.5ghz oscilloscope you could work on Mhz order chips, power supplies and who knows what other fun stuff.

<comment><USER2> I figured you were just looking for something to toy with. I figure that turning this device into a scope is not going to result in an accurate scope nor something that would be useful beyond entertainment value.

It seemed like a good idea to recommend something cheaper, easier, and better documented. Besides, who doesn't want to use their mic jack as an oscilloscope? ;-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I started playing Watchdogs from Ubisoft about the same time I found out about the FBI's Stingray devices. At the time I thought "at some point the tech for a stingray will be small enough to fit into a lumpy phone case. Then some enterprising hacker might be able to walk around pilfering people's bank accounts like in the game." I recognize the difference between MitM and penetration but follow me here... Somebody is already building a femtocell with these. What's next?

<comment><USER12> Meh. We already had full femto on a carrier network compromised. They fit in a backpack and are easy to power on batteries. And we actually use them for full MiTM. It has been done in the field. Your concerns are reasonable.

Why use an annoying SDR and a flaky LATE stack when you can just buy and root a carrier femto? :)

Also, this is why you never use your real phone at DefCon/BH... Some joker's always have these going.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Anyone know if the FPGA code for the LimeSDR products is open source or tried to make modifications?

</comment><comment><USER14> Is this a good way to get into SDR or is this device too much for a total beginner? I'm taking a telecommunications course later this year and this topic looks really interesting.

</comment><comment><USER15> _Maybe_ we shouldn't start using the `femto` prefix yet.

<comment><USER16> Apologies asking a dumb question, but I am curious why you would say this...?

<comment><USER17> Not the GP, but... it has a specific meaning in the sciences:

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femto-](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femto-)

I'd imagine the argument against using it is that it's being used in a less precise way. Femtocell is a name commonly used for a consumer-level device to extend a cellular network. One could argue that use of femto should have some bearing on the radio being used.</comment></comment></comment>


Moon Not Only Has Water, but Lots of It - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303339504575566194097878552.html?mod=e2tw

<comment><USER2> "about twice the quantity seen in the Sahara Desert"

Ok, surely there _has_ to be something better to compare this to than one of the largest deserts in the world.

<comment><USER3> I think the point they're trying to make is that people are able to live on the amount of water in the Sahara, so lunar colonisation is therefore feasible from the water front.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I wonder what it would take for some nation or über-nation to set the goal to terraform Mars. That would be a goal worthy of mankind in the 21st century.

<comment><USER5> As a first step it might be more useful to terraform, say, Mexico. Or Australia.

<comment><AUTHOR> Maybe some of the ecological aspects, but changing the atmosphere and climate sounds like a risky affair. I'm pretty sure if we were able to do some heavy handed climate modification, we would want to do it somewhere else, not in a fragile environment like Earth where extinction or at least long-term catastrophe of many ecosystems is on the table.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> > _He and his colleagues estimate that 5.6% of the total mass of the targeted > lunar crater's soil consists of water ice. In other words, 2,200 pounds of > moon dirt would yield a dozen gallons of water._

5.6%: impressively high, wouldn't have guessed that at all. Though it _was_ in a crater, so could be abnormal.

2,200 pounds of moon dirt: weighed _here_ or _there_? Where's metric when you _need_ it, instead of where it's a PITA (mass instead of volume in cooking == ?!) ?

edit: that's one of the lamest animations I've seen in a while... where did they get it? Remind me to black-list the animator(s).

<comment><USER7> 2200 pounds on moon is same as 2200 pounds here.

<comment><USER8> No it's not. 2200 pounds on earth is 363 pounds on the moon (moon's gravity is 0.165 that of earth's).

1000 kilograms on the moon is 1000 kilograms on earth and vice versa. Pounds is a measure of _weight_ and not _mass_. Weight depends on the strength of the gravitational pull.

Also, please note that when people in Europe say they weight "75 kilograms," they're lying. What they mean is, they weight 75 kilograms-force or kilogram- pounds, which are again measures of weight and not mass. In truth, they would weight 7.65KG which equals 75KGF)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> _In other words, 2,200 pounds of moon dirt would yield a dozen gallons of water._

What would be the best water extraction technique?

<comment><USER5> Heat it to room temperature, squeeze it to a pressure of 1 atmosphere, and the ice should just melt and run out the bottom.

Or just heat it until the water sublimates, then collect the vapour and cool back down to liquid/solid.

I guess it depends on your constraints vis a vis time, energy and amount of equipment you want to bring to the moon. It doesn't sound too tricky, but the main part is that you have to bring the dirt "indoors".

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> "Lots of it" seems like a bit of an exaggeration. This particular site, a large crater close to the South Pole which manages to avoid direct sunlight, has 5.6% water by mass, but what does that come down to in Earth terms? A small lake? I suppose it depends how deep the water goes.

<comment><USER10> Things you can do with a small lake on the Moon:

* Create Oxygen and potable water for life support system, saving having to ship that from Earth.

* Build greenhouses with artificial lighting to grow in situ foods, saving having to ship that from Earth and vastly increasing the self-reliance of a Moon base.

* Create a rocket propellant factory (LH2 and LOX are a quite useful and indeed common propellant for exo-atmospheric spaceflight).

This means that after you set up the initial moon base and infrastructure later missions can skip sending as much water, Oxygen, and food. And, much more importantly, don't have to send a fully fueled return vehicle. Given the exponential nature of the rocket equation, this is _huge_.

<comment><USER5> Entirely true, and it's great news. But we have to be careful -- there's a pretty limited supply of this stuff, and we don't want to waste it.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Lots of awesome ISRU(Insitu Resource Utilization Presentations) <http://www.isruinfo.com/index.php?page=srr_11_ptmss>

</comment><comment><USER12> Free Luna!

<comment><USER13> Right after Iran :D

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> Are we really discussing science from the WSJ? Any science reporting in the WSJ is meant for the sole purpose of bolstering the non-political credentials of what is becoming an ever more right-leaning publication, thereby allowing its readers to participate in their own radicalization by pointing to articles like this as evidence that their source is "fair and balanced". Politics or pure Wall Street grist from WSJ, sure. Science?! We have plenty of better resources for it.</comment>


Apple unveils new iPad 9.7" with Apple Pencil support - <AUTHOR> https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/27/17167054/new-apple-ipad-announced-cheap-price-students-2018 <comment><USER2> A lot of folks are definitely hitting on the note about not having a keyboard being a major ding, especially considering they're trying to compete at the same price point a Chromebooks. But as someone whose worked with classroom deployment of tech, what makes Google so amazing is not just the form factor, but how easy it is to manage and deploy multiple devices. Google makes it easy to create and manage accounts, push apps out, restrict with all sorts of granularity, and none of it is tied to a device. It seems from today's event that Apple is just starting to develop that functionality, but they have a ways to catch up before they get there.

And I haven't even gotten to how useful the G Suite of apps are as well as Google Classroom.

I highly doubt today's event will do much if anything to change the tech landscape of the classroom. I would love to see Microsoft throw into the ring, though, and am surprised they haven't stepped up.

<comment><USER3> Microsoft tried to compete against Chromebooks with their Windows S version that could only install UWP apps. I don't know how the market has responded, but from what I can see UWP is pretty much a flop.

<comment><USER4> Failure of Windows Mobile is big reason of UWP failure. UWP make less sense on Desktop as it is mostly less featured/Buggy version of perfectly good normal Windows app.

<comment><USER5> Also, unless you can get your users to work their way through enabling side- loading, you'll be forking over a third of your sales to Microsoft.

<comment><USER6> Sideloading is enabled by default since TH2 (November Update) that came out more than two years ago. You just need to sign the package using a valid codesign certificate.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I think Chromebooks will still dominate because:

1\. Chromebooks have a much better web browsing experience than iPads. The web is where a lot of classroom exercises and materials are distributed. It also provides a lot of flexibility in terms of loading new applications.

2\. Physical keyboard means that there's more room to display content. Imagine typing up a book report on an on screen keyboard, or creating a presentation.

<comment><USER8> My kids have school-issued iPads and type reports with the on-screen keyboard filling half the screen. They're totally used to it. They seem to prefer the iPad to using a chromebook.

<comment><USER9> iPad === status++. Of course they're going to prefer it regardless of rational merits either way.

<comment><USER10> _iPad === status++_

Still? Maybe it's because I live in a nice upper middle class area and have nice upper middle class friends, but I don't think anybody, at any age, sees the iPad as a status symbol.

<comment><USER9> Conduct an experiment and see how your upper middle class kids respond when their iWant is replaced with a downmarket Google product.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> I love my iPad Pro, but as someone looking to use a device as basically a powerful remote terminal I think Chromebooks are better. iPad Pro is not what they released, but I have experience trying to use the device like how they'd intend for kids in schools and I would never pick iPads over Chromebooks.

In fact I keep almost buying a Pixelbook because it simply would do what I want better even though nothing would be "native" as it is on the iPad. Solid keyboard, still has touch and pen input (not that I'd really use it), and full access to browser and extra stuff.

In school you want them to have access to any of the web tools out there (chrome is best for web compatibility and developers target it where safari often lags strangely and is missing features. Try for instance to navigate [http://amazon.com](http://amazon.com) on an iPad Pro 10.5" and you'll see the problems) with a single login system so the device doesn't matter that is easily audited and managed by a teacher with support provided by the IT at the school.

Chromebooks hands down.

</comment><comment><USER12> What's interesting with pencil support is if it'll affect sales of the iPad pro. The processors are now comparable for everyday tasks, so is the better speaker + screen worth 600+ dollars? That is in addition to spending $200+ on a pencil and keyboard that you might as well get if you're getting a iPad Pro. At that point it's 3x as expensive as the cheap iPad with the same pencil and keyboard.

<comment><USER13> Pros have higher refresh rate, so probably if you take drawing seriously the "usual" iPad is easily not an option.

<comment><USER14> > if you take drawing seriously the "usual" iPad is easily not an option.

If you take drawing seriously the 60hz refresh is still fine - no artist I know drawing on the original iPad Pro ran out to upgrade solely due to Pro Motion/120hz refresh support.

For sure having a higher refresh rate is _nicer_, but not having it is hardly a deal-breaking flaw. My wife draws voraciously on an iPad and while the difference was noticeable to me if I really look for it, she didn't even pickup on the improved refresh at all when she tried a model with Pro Motion for a while before going back to her launch 12.9" model.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> Apple's push to include AR in the classroom setting is what excites me from this event today. I think AR has tremendous potential in education sector where it can easily encourage students on applied learning.

<comment><USER16> A trip to the museum, from your desk.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> The new iPad product page:

[https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/](https://www.apple.com/ipad-9.7/)

</comment><comment><USER17> Apple continually misunderstanding that you need a keyboard if you're going to go against Chromebooks in education.

<comment><USER18> Apple is already serious competition against Chromebooks in education. I know of no school district near me which uses Chromebooks, but a few that use iPads.

Plus, it's easier to add a keyboard to an iPad than to remove it from the Chromebook (and replace with touchscreen).

<comment><USER19> I have kids one one district (close to Cupertino) that uses both iPads and Chromebooks.

I hear the Chromebooks are easier to deploy/manage, but like the iPads, each kid gets one.

That said the kids prefer the iPads. I'm not sure if/how the Pencil will change the game.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Glad that Apple is making an effort to re-engage with Google in the education market. In my limited experience, Apple is way ahead in apps that use the stylus effectively, but the Chrome App "Squid" shows that the tech is there for Chromebook to do almost zero lag drawing.

</comment><comment><USER21> Anyone know if art apps like Procreate will work as well on this as they do on the iPad pro? I'm happy with my Air 2 and would love to draw on the couch or on the porch with it, but the iPad Pro is just complete overkill for me.

<comment><USER22> I don't see why not it's got the same processor as the Pro.

<comment><USER23> A10 != A10X

<comment><USER22> True but it's still highly advanced - an improvement on the A9 which was a major improvement on the A8, which performed quite well already.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> I'm still bummed the mini seems to be dead. It's a great size for hauling around.

</comment><comment><USER25> So it's $299-- unless you want the keyboard and pencil, then it's $450.

Yeah, no. Schools are getting Chromebooks with keyboards included for $199 each. Apple is going to continue getting walloped in this space.

<comment><USER19> No, it's $450 for consumers, $388 for education

<comment><USER26> So still almost twice as much (+$189) as a Chromebook? And with more accessories to manage/lose. There's a reason why the Chromebook is doing so well in this space, low price, single clamshell units, not tied to a single user, easy to manage, sane defaults for education, and does 90% of what a classroom needs.

Are there compelling iPad apps? Sure. Can the iPad w/pen offer things a Chromebook cannot? Absolutely. But the price remains too high, and Apple has yet to prove they can offer a seamless iPad cart experience with limited setup. The current iPad setup experience is a headache.

<comment><USER27> Apple makes its business selling to the sizable population who has money to spend and enjoys iOS apps and Apple hardware features. There is a similar set of premium academies in education. Tesla didn't wait to enter the car market until it was able to build a cheap car.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> The Apple Pencil is a choking hazard for kids (even adults); I get nervous when my 2 year old daughter picks it up. I hope they redesign the pencil so that it's more kid friendly.

<comment><USER29> Just the cap or is there something else about it? Can you just take the cap off?

<comment><USER30> I've never tested this for obvious reasons but when that pencil is sticking out of the lightning port during charging, it looks awfully vulnerable. Damaging the pencil is one thing but breaking the port on the iPad itself is another.

<comment><USER31> They also ship with a cord adaptor for charging with a plug. I never plug mine into the iPad, which charges fast by the way, like 15 min.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> I wish they'd add pencil support to the iPhone. Right now I've got little pocket sized notepads and a pen, but it would be nice to be digital…

<comment><USER23> Or the iPad mini;

<comment><USER33> Or at least update the iPad mini, I'd say the mini is dead like the Macbook Air.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> FYI: It's $309 for individuals with the education discount ($329 for the general public, $299 for schools). The Pencil is also $89 for individual education customers.

[https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy- ipad/ipad-9-7](https://www.apple.com/us-hed/shop/buy-ipad/ipad-9-7)

</comment><comment><USER35> "What's a computer?". But now Apple want it to behave like a computer in the classroom?

</comment><comment><USER36> Does anyone know how well the iPad announced today compares to the current $329 iPad (without Pencil support)?

I've never owned an iPad before, but think it's time I jumped on the consumption device bandwagon.

<comment><USER37> Looks like mainly an upgraded A9->A10 chip, and the support for the pencil. Since it's the same price, it's probably worth waiting (or getting an older one when the price drops)

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> I wonder if they have done anything with writting lag.

I've used a ReMarkable tablet, and experiencing a virtually non-lag writting and drawing on an e-ink display is really something.

<comment><USER23> There is zero observable lag on the iPad Pro. I use it daily. I do wonder about the 9.7" iPad though, as it doesn't have a 120Hz display.

<comment><USER39> I own the first 12.9 iPad Pro and it has no Apple Pencil lag that I can detect. It also does not have the Pro Motion 120Hz display.

I think Apple did something along the lines of doubling the sampling rate (not sure of the exact number) of the capacitive layer to eliminate pencil lag. Seems to be fine, at least for me. Maybe they did something similar with the new iPad?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> For those of you with kids:

1\. Do your kids prefer using an iPad over a computer with a keyboard?

2\. Do you prefer them to use an iPad over a laptop?

<comment><USER41> My 4 year olds prefer the tablet, but the 8 year old prefers the laptop.

</comment></comment><comment><USER42> At first glance, this seems to be the iPad Pro with LTE at yesterday's entry level iPad's price.

</comment><comment><USER43> At that price, I'll buy one, and I'm several dozen years removed from school.

<comment><USER44> This is the same price as the 2017 iPad - what about this one makes you want to buy it vs buying the previous model last year?

edit: I guess not having pencil support last year was a dealbreaker for several people

<comment><USER45> For me, it's the Pencil integration.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER46> is a pencil able to enter text in a regular UITextfield ? i'm a developer and i still can't determine whether this pencil can be used in my app for regular text input without buying one.

<comment><USER47> No, there's no system-wide handwriting recognition in iOS for regular UI elements.

<comment><USER48> that's really a shame. didn't Samsung have that 3 years ago?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER49> I hope that the 2017 9.7" iPad will work with the pencil too

<comment><USER50> It needs hardware, so no, they won't backport support.</comment></comment>


Coarray Fortran Jupyter kernel - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/sourceryinstitute/jupyter-CAF-kernel <comment><AUTHOR> I'd love any feedback on implementing a better kernel.py. Also, if you want to try this kernel live using [Binder]([https://beta.mybinder.org](https://beta.mybinder.org)) you can at [https://beta.mybinder.org/v2/gh/sourceryinstitute/jupyter- CA...](https://beta.mybinder.org/v2/gh/sourceryinstitute/jupyter-CAF- kernel/master)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Cross post to my r/programming post: [https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/6hiwrb/a_coarr...](https://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/6hiwrb/a_coarray_fortran_kernel_for_jupyter_notebooks/)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> hmmm I'm pretty new to HN, I think I probably should have posted this under show HN... not sure if I can move it or delete it now.</comment>


Ask HN: Site from scratch or frameworks? - <AUTHOR>

I've developed my first serious web app / start up, its a social network and took about 300 hours to develop to where it is now. I built it from scratch using PHP, mostly because thats what im best at, but also because i like the idea of knowing all the parts and having total control.
To me it seems like using a framework would take away from that control.
What does hacker news think about this issue? <comment><USER2> Depends... what's more important to you, having control of every little detail of how underlying plumbing works, or increased productivity and the opportunity to spend your (finite) time on things that add value?

I mean, think about it... you _already_ don't _really_ have "complete control." You (presumably) didn't code your own OS from scratch in machine language... so why not? Did you code your own web-server from scratch? Your own PHP runtime? IP stack? No?

Seriously, nobody does that stuff from scratch because it takes too much time and they'd rather focus on the value they're actually trying to create, as opposed to re-creating the wheel. That said, having the ability to go down to the lowest levels of the stack does have value... when you actually _need_ to change something to achieve your goals. Take the guys who originally built Beowulf clusters... they actually did go in and hack on network drivers and IP stacks and what-not, because they had a unique need (low latency) that required it.

Anyway, I'd say apply this by analogy to what you're doing. Focus on adding value and avoid re-inventing the wheel, unless it's just a hobby project for learning / experimentation... but reserve the right to go as low level as you need, if and when you have an actual need.

<comment><AUTHOR> the site is my baby, I want to make a job out of it.(building it from scratch made my skills increase 10 fold).

I suppose though, now that its been made, I do have a 'framework' to work with.

<comment><USER3> Do you want to make a job out of your site, or building a framework for your site? These are two different things, and spending time one one tends to prevent you from spending time on the other.

<comment><AUTHOR> by job i mean money maker...

That is true, probably build out the site and extend/fix the framework as necessary.

Isn't it the same thing though?

<comment><USER3> If you use somebody else's framework, they can extend and fix the framework so you don't have to.

And if that framework is open source, and somebody else isn't extending or fixing it for you, you can do it yourself. You can still hack on it, but you don't have to build it from the ground up.

I respect building something from scratch so you can learn from it (I once wrote my own OS), but that tends to be helpful only once. After you've learned from the experience, you tend to be better at judging what to tackle yourself, and what you can leave to other people.

<comment><AUTHOR> i do use jquery for some of it, also got some methods from the internet to make some tasks easier. So its not totally from scratch.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'd definetly go for the framework approach. After building apps with and without frameworks, its a lot less painful to build upon something which exists already.

There are so many advantages to go framework, I can't tell everyone: \- frameworks are (mostly) under development, so you can benefit from trends and improvements in web development

\- frameworks are well tested

\- frameworks are more secure. Do you have all holes for XSS etc. closed? Are you sure?

\- frameworks have almost always a community behind it, so you benefit from other users knowledge and plugins

\- frameworks have plugins. You don't have to write anything from scratch, like DB connections, authorization or file uploads

\- frameworks have documentation. Unless you are the sole developer of your app, you really want to have good docs.

Do frameworks have disadvantages? Sure, but I don't think it outweighs the advantages.

<comment><USER5> Agreed, a framework is just a toolkit of best practices and useful tools.

Another benefit of using a framework is it lets you 'work' with other amazing coders. I have increased my php knowledge many times over by using symfony. Sometimes this happens because you just have to dive into the frameworks sourcecode to see what's going on.

<comment><USER5> It's like having your own personal secretary do all the work and research for you to get the ground work up.. heh I like that analogy

<comment><USER4> indeed! gotta save this quote somewhere :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I've just spent a couple of years on a project that I've built 'from scratch' in PHP attempting to follow an MVC pattern and trying to do things the 'right way' as I understood them at the time.

It's got to the point now where mistakes are coming back to haunt me, and some things that should be easy are not due to decisions made previously. This is compounded by the fact that growth of the code has been somewhat organic, and I didn't have a chance to anticipate some of the things we've done in the last year.

The upshot of all this is it's now time to re-write everything, taking the project as it now stands as the 'spec' for the rebuilt version.

I've learnt a lot during the project, and I'm a very different coder to the one I was at the beginning. One of the main things I've learnt is that I don't have enough time to be working on the "would be nice"'s in building your own framework, getting results ends up taking priority over taking time to 'do it right'.

So for this rebuild I'll be using an existing framework for several reasons.....

 _The people building the framework have time to concentrate on how the underlying code is built, and don't have to worry about a specific implementation_

 _As I don't have to worry about designing my application, I have a spec, I can spare the time to learn the framework properly as I re-implement_

 _Once I'm up to speed with the framework I should, in theory, be able to design and build anything in future much more rapidly._

 _I won't have to write any more bloody boilerplate that I've been re-doing due to my lack of knowledge/foresight in growing my current codebase_

 _It's fun to learn, and peeking inside the framework (possibly because I'll need to bend it to my needs) should teach me new tricks._

I don't think a decent framework should take away control of your code. I've had the luck to be able to take 4 weeks evaluating some of the options both in PHP and other languages and anything that leaves the underlying code in a 'black box of magic' has been discarded. There are plenty of options out there with excellent docs and api's and lots of room to bend things to your will.

My personal choice is to go onwards with Yii, but framework choice is fairly subjective and a whole other conversation.

</comment><comment><USER7> As a long-time PHP developer, I've worked on both frameworks and from-scratch applications, and from my experience, having even a minimalist's framework goes a _long way_ toward organizing your codebase; it takes a lot of discipline and foresight to keep a from-scratch project organized.

If you enjoy maintaining control and knowledge of your entire stack, then I would highly recommend using the CodeIgniter framework. It's designed to take care of most of the tedious bits, while staying completely out of your way when it gets to the actual meat of your project. It's very easy to modify or extend if you need to, with IMO excellent documentation of its API. Yet it still manages to offer enough structure that even I can keep my projects organized with little effort.

I know there are a couple forks of CodeIgniter, such as Kohana, but I don't think they manage to capture or maintain the same level of raw simplicity or lightweight feel of the base CI framework. YMMV ofc.

</comment><comment><USER8> I do not want to weigh in on the issue as a whole, but rather shed some light on an aspect you as a single coder have probably not given much thought to: accessibility and maintainability.

When I started using ruby on rails, adhering to all the conventions DHH came up with, especially the directory structure, felt like giving up a lot of control. And I, too, liked control.

But I had an epiphany when I first had to work with other people's rails code: Never before did it take me so little time to dive into and familiarize myself with someone else's code. I was productive at day one, while my customer did not really expect any results for the first 4-5 days.

So, if you ever plan on having someone else work with you on your code, or you need someone to take over maintenance of it, having a foundation that other people are already familiar with and where there is tons of documentation available, is a huge advantage.

But even if you stay alone on this project. With all you have learned, it is possible that you will approach your next project in a completely different way. In that case coming back to your old codebase in 6 months or a year will be painful. Having a consistent framework for all of your projects helps mitigate this kind of pain a lot.

</comment><comment><USER9> This discussion has a lot of good points:

[http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2007/09/7_reasons_i_swit...](http://www.oreillynet.com/ruby/blog/2007/09/7_reasons_i_switched_back_to_p_1.html)

Basically, you're not alone in liking that degree of control, but the guy admits that simply using a framework like Rails can help you develop better coding skills in any language, especially if you're unfamiliar with MVC architectures.

</comment><comment><USER10> If you had learned the right framework, you would be able to develop your next project much quicker, and you'd be a more attractive candidate to companies who use that framework. I guessing the attitude of hn is use the right tool for the job depending on your requirements.

<comment><USER11>
      > you'd be a more attractive candidate to companies
      > who use that framework

1) That limits you only to companies that use that framework 2) He/she's mentioned wanting to turn the site into a money-maker, which means not job searching.

<comment><AUTHOR> yeah working for someone else is depressing to me.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> There are some 'skeleton' frameworks available. These provide only the very essentials, like a database abstraction layer, user classes and some useful function wrappers.

For PHP, Tyler Hall's 'Simple PHP framework' is a good example.

</comment><comment><USER13> When you guys discuss frameworks, what exactly are you referencing? I've heard people use that word in reference to languages, CMS', etc...

Thanks for clearing this up for me!

<comment><AUTHOR> raw PHP Vs. Ruby on Rails.

<comment><USER13> Got it, thanks!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> well the problem with control is that if you need to stuff people you loose it as nobody would understand yours codebase and try to rewrite it anyway. Framework forces convention over configuration so it easy for newcommers just to grab docs and start coding. Also you can try to stuff some framework- experienced people.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> its seems to be more of a 'my framework' VS 'someone else's framework'

</comment><comment><USER15> Having been through a similar circumstance (built a huge application by myself, which later grew into my job) -- one of the major difficulties you'll have is in finding anybody else that can understand your code.

One of the hidden features for a framework, of any sort, is the general understanding of where things are, or can be expected to be. If I work within the conventions of Django, then when I'm hiring somebody, I can ask them if they know Django -- assuming all other things being equal, they'll have a much shorter learning curve ramping up to learn what I've built because they'll know, in general, where to look for certain kinds of things.

If you intend to ever hire anybody, then I'd take every spare minute you have where you aren't coding, and get to documenting the framework you've built.

<comment><USER16> Absolutely - for me one of the major benefits of a framework is documentation and user base. Developers new to the framework can easily get up to speed if it is well-documented. A good framework can also be easily extended to accommodate the custom aspects of your site/application.</comment></comment>


Object Oriented Programming is exceptionally bad - <AUTHOR> https://www.leaseweblabs.com/2015/08/object-oriented-programming-is-exceptionally-bad/ <comment><USER2> Hey look, yet another critique of object-oriented programming. This one fails to define what it means by "object-oriented programming" (c.f. [http://paulgraham.com/reesoo.html](http://paulgraham.com/reesoo.html)), conflates object-oriented programming and object-oriented programming languages, provides no examples (not even contrived examples), and makes obviously bogus assertions (e.g. data cannot be abstracted, data cannot be versioned).

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you for your feedback. With it I tried to clarify the point I was trying to make.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> For a detailed critique comparing Object Oriented programming and Functional programming - this is a good read: [http://www.smashcompany.com/technology/object-oriented- progr...](http://www.smashcompany.com/technology/object-oriented-programming- is-an-expensive-disaster-which-must-end)

<comment><USER4> I don't believe you. :) After wasting my time reading the OP's article which had absolutely no content except a bunch of links to other articles criticizing OOP, I spent another 2-3 minutes reading your link and learned yet again nothing.

The first part of the article you linked literally consists of the author whining about the state of discussions regarding OOP and what HN user millstone said to him some time ago. It either needs a rewrite or to be summarized.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> [http://lucumr.pocoo.org/2013/2/13/moar- classes/](http://lucumr.pocoo.org/2013/2/13/moar-classes/)

<comment><USER6> That's a neat article.

Another example of a well-designed layered API is Django REST framework. And it uses classes.</comment></comment>


Please tell me you don't write if true equals true - <AUTHOR> http://www.codeshare.co.uk/blog/please-tell-me-you-dont-write-if-true-equals-true/ <comment><USER2> Please don't spam your site like that (and with multiple accounts...).

<comment><USER3> Proof: [https://hn.algolia.com/?query=codeshare&sort=byPopularity&pr...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=codeshare&sort=byPopularity&prefix&page=0&dateRange=pastMonth&type=story)

<comment><USER4> I'm sorry. I'm logged in on different devices. Messed up at the beginning when I first joined. Can't remember password for prjseal one. I'm signed to that automatically at work. I will continue with this piess account and won't repost links. Am I allowed to share new posts from my blog that I think you will find interesting? Please help as I'm new. I'm not a spammer, intentionally.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Fair point, but IMNSHO for a different reason: it brings an unnecessary risk of writing "if (isValid = true)" \- and _now_ you're in trouble ;)

<comment><USER4> I just got what you are saying. Yes you would be setting the value in that case instead of checking it. Very dangerous territory.</comment></comment>


Wormhole connections in neural networks - <AUTHOR> https://arxiv.org/abs/1701.08718 <comment><USER2> >model called TARDIS (Temporal Automatic Relation Discovery in Sequences).

Very clever.</comment>


Reporter breaks an 'unbreakable' mobile phone at CES - <AUTHOR> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8450385.stm

<comment><USER2> CEO took it well at least. There will be hell to pay off-camera later, no doubt. =)

</comment><comment><USER3> Are they naive and didn't have people try to break it in that situation first?

Or are the genius and put the guy right in front of a sharp corner?

The CEO seemed to be genuinely laughing. If I were HR at their company, I'd put this on the recruiting site. Shows what they do and a pleasant environment very quickly.

</comment><comment><USER4> The CEO took it in stride, amazing.

The reporter on the other hand did not seem to realise how good a job he had just done.

</comment><comment><USER5> Great reaction by the company rep! Obviously, 'unbreakable' has its limits (i.e. if you run over it with a tank). I can image the 'hammer a nail with it' part though, unless you use the display for that.

<comment><USER6> Actually, speaking of running something over with a tank, this hard drive did pretty well:

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8449893.stm>

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> To give the phone a little credit, it did take the reporter a few smacks before he got it right. Even though the phone obviously isn't "unbreakable", I doubt anyone could take their iPhone, dunk it in water and then smack it even once like that.

</comment><comment><USER8> i doubt that any "unbreakable" phone will resist being banged to a sharp edge for the near future...

<comment><AUTHOR> I think it was actually the corner of the tank, concentrating all the force of the blow into a couple of square millimetres.

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> All "good" publicity for the phone and the company.

The company rep seemed to quite cool about it ,what i didn't understand though was why was the reporter apologising ? The company rep did say - the phone is unbreakable do what you can and the reporter just proved him wrong, so why apologise, he should have said - "well mate you are wrong , this phone is in fact breakable".

</comment><comment><USER10> K. Obviously a lie when he said you could hammer it with a nail. Force/Area = Pressure. If the pressure from hitting the corner of a fish tank with normal arm strength can break it, then I am sure a hammer would drive a nail right through the phone.

<comment><USER11> I believe he said "you could hammer a nail with it" (00:20). So you're not hammering a nail into the phone, you're using the phone as a hammer to drive the nail into another surface.

It would probably still break if you used the screen as the hammer, but I guess he meant hammering a nail using the side of the phone (which is what you'd normally do anyways).

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> It's the top "watched/listened" story on BBC News right now. Hurrah for free publicity.

</comment><comment><USER13> In the CEO's defense: he just broke the screen, not the whole phone. I guess.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I wonder if he got the free phone promised at the beginning of the clip?

</comment><comment><USER14> I so hate being forced to watch advertising.

<comment><USER15> I don't mind so much when I can learn something (about advertising).</comment></comment>


Ask HN: What technical skill should I learn to prepare for the next 10 Years? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> It's a safe bet that if something was relevant twenty years ago, and still is today, then it will also be relevant in ten years from now. Examples: OS fundamentals, networking fundamentals, low level languages, embedded development, shell/bash scripting, vim, emacs.

It's nearly impossible to look at a new technology and determine if it will be around in 10 years. But you know for sure that these timeless fundamentals will still be relevant, so the first step should be mastering all of those.

Example: Unix system administration fundamentals are not going anywhere and are more important than ever in the age of containers and developers owning more parts of the stack. It's funny to read blogposts like "check out this problem we ran into with docker" that is really just a rediscovery of a long- known problem in system administration. Example: the recent post from codeship about running thousands of containers on one network. Surprise, they ran into issues with an overflowing arp cache.

</comment><comment><USER3> Learn about the magic of compounding interest and investing in index funds.

Oh yeah - if you save 68% of your earnings, you can retire in under 10 years.

The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement [http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly- sim...](http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math- behind-early-retirement/)

</comment><comment><USER4> Study the fundamentals. Learn some timeless science like physics or math.

</comment><comment><USER5> Learn about fundamentals and underlying principles; equip yourself with fast learning skills.

You may also push up your own technology and contribute in changing the next 10 years.

</comment><comment><USER6> Learn to be resilient.

Pick up an artistic or handcraft technique.

Make friends.

Comedy, music, drama, or something other performing art.

Know your means, live within them.

<comment><USER7> None of those are technical skills

<comment><USER6> "Making friends" is more technical than "learning math." But more importantly, having friends helps more with technical problems than, say, knowing some technology that doesn't apply here. Same for resiliency.

This was an off-the-cuff response, but it's a genuine one, particularly with skills "for the next ten years." I've hired a lot of developers over two decades, and some of them have done good work for me for a long, long time.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> I'd say survival-related technical and medical skills. Climate change will likely cause mass migrations in the next 10-20 years.

First aid and basic understanding of common emergency medicine needs.

Building of shelters, basic carpentry etc.

Gardening, food preparation, water purification.

Community building.

</comment><comment><USER9> Practice decomposing problems in a way they can be solved on multiple processing elements in parallel. Identify problems that cannot be decomposed in this way and why. Good if you can make a certain problem run on eight processors. But will it also run on a thousand processors?

Processor clock speeds will not rise much or any. Everyone has enough memory for most every day problems now, so memory will only gradually increase. The next bragging rights will be how many processing elements my box has vs. your box.

</comment><comment><USER10> The amount of cores in CPU's is on the rise; get into functional programming.

</comment><comment><USER11> Not sure if exactly technical, more like a meta-skill.

Learn how to analyse and decompose problems. There always will be some.

</comment><comment><USER12> If you're talking about programming - learn Lisp. Pick any. Clojure, Racket, LFE, Chicken, Guile or emacs-lisp, etc.. Understanding Lisp will make you a better programmer. I'm sure, even 50 years from now there will be a Lisp dialect among 20 most popular languages in use.

<comment><USER13> 20 is pretty far down the list for programming language popularity.

[https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/](https://www.tiobe.com/tiobe-index/) lists Scratch in the 20th position. Cobol is 25. I'm not sure there's a Lisp dialect in the top 20 now.

Of course, any ranking of programming languages is problematic. Learning Lisp is always a good idea.

<comment><USER14> I'm not sure I'd agree with the TIOBE Index as a measure of popularity. It ranks languages based on search queries, which more than likely does not correlate that closely with use.

For instance, according to the Index, Java (#1) is twice as popular as C (#2). While Java is certainly popular, it seems a stretch, given the amount of code written in C, to say that Java is twice as popular as C.

<comment><USER13> You might like githut's rankings better. [http://githut.info](http://githut.info)

For the purpose of what to learn for the next ten years, Java is probably more relevant to the job market than C.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> __* Tangent warning __* I used to be very focused on what I could do.... learn how to code, how to write a report, stats, CFA, how to present etc.....

I've come to realise that it doesn't matter as much as I thought. You only need to be good enough and what is really important is your emotional intelligence and network. Being able to process and manage your own emotions and interact with others in a positive, constructive manner is the most important thing. Reading the book How to win friends and influence people opened my eyes

<comment><USER15> I should finish by saying that if you want to future proof yourself.... you should focus on what I wrote above...

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> Functional programming, especially a language focusing on purity such as Haskell.

</comment><comment><USER17> Tensorflow. We're going to be offloading a lot of pattern matching to machine learning. Knowing when and where (and of course how) to apply machine learning will become increasingly important.

</comment><comment><USER18> There is no technical skill that will prepare you for 10 years.

</comment><comment><USER19> C#, JavaScript, Python.

Honestly, i can't see them going anywhere, especially Python.

Might as well learn Clojure, you have ten years..

C seems to not be going anywhere ever. Will there be that many new technologies??

</comment><comment><USER20> Machine learning, especially deep learning.

</comment><comment><USER21> decision making through empirical research

</comment><comment><USER22> Political science. Its like techical. It changes faster than technology.

<comment><USER7> As someone with a degree in political science, it absolutely does not change faster than technology.

What massive political science paradigm shifts have happened in the last 7 years, the same timeframe that has seen the advent of cloud computing, containerization, hyperconvergence, agile, ect?

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> The world is going WWW, so I'd recommend stick to it.

</comment><comment><USER24> Algorithms and SQL.

<comment><USER25> Why specifically SQL?

<comment><USER26> Even if you don't use the language specifically, the ideas it provides on creating queries applies to pretty much every database I've used, with the one exception being Redis.

It also doesn't hurt it's the most popular language at the moment and judging by the amount of applications using it, won't be disappearing anytime soon (especially not in just ten years).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> VR and self driving cars should do ;)

<comment><USER28> I built a self-driving car, and am launching a VR-based startup. Figured I should chime in here.

I personally don't see much opportunity for people to get involved directly with autonomous vehicles, from a tech/development standpoint. The vast majority of work is focused on highly specialized subsets of development. Computer vision, embedded systems, network infrastructure, cellular networks, robotics, artificial intelligence, yada yada yada. The only meaningful work being done right now, is mostly by engineers with Masters, Doctorate, or post- Doctorate level education in niche fields.

Personally, I don't have that kind of educational background. I still managed to piece together everything to make a working prototype, but there is not a snowball's chance in hell that I would be able to contribute anything into this field.

Not to say it's useless, though. This is about to unlock a need for UI designers/developers on a level that is hard to fathom. Sit down and think for a while about what the hell people are going to be doing, while being chauffeured around. Entertainment options (Netflix, Youtube, News, etc.) will be in massive demand. Gaming of all different kinds (especially multiplayer experiences, that involve the vehicle's environment.) Advertising as a whole. (And goddamn do I wish I could be an investor in PornHub right now.)

While Oculus, HTC, Microsoft, etc. all have (or will soon have) consumer-ready products available for the VR market, I still feel like this technology is barely entering it's infancy stage. The financial barrier to entry is holding back 98% of the world from getting into it (for now). There isn't enough meaningful content beyond some decent games. (Once again, goddamn do I wish I could be an investor in PornHub right now.) For the most part, still tethered to a computer (or using a watered-down phone-based experience). It's cool tech for sure, but it doesn't feel (to me, at least) like anyone has really figured out what the hell to do with it yet.

3D development isn't terribly different than any other kind of development. A few more thoughts and considerations, but still the same principles of traditional console/pc game development. WebVR (and ReactVR) are still just a novelty. Because of the sheer scale and intricacy of most 3D environments, and my own predictions of an explosive growth pattern in this industry, I'm thinking that some form of automation (A.I., etc.) will have to be taking over most of the grunt work for development. Thinking that most dev roles are going to evolve into mostly architect roles, and that the real need is going to be for UI/UX (particularly thought leaders, as opposed to designers).

<comment><USER29> Thanks for this insightful comment. The current VR status irritates me as well. It has only affecting gaming till now, despite the remote working/AR implications. What do you mean by an 'explosive growth pattern'?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> Learning how to learn is the key.

</comment><comment><USER31> Javascript?

</comment><comment><USER32> Sales.

</comment><comment><USER33> Android.

</comment><comment><USER34> Design Patterns.

</comment><comment><USER35> digital electronics, hardware programming

</comment><comment> Const-me OOP, OOD

<comment><USER36> I found it amusing that the comment directly below this was recommending functional programming.</comment></comment>


Comparison of disk encryption software - <AUTHOR> https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Comparison_of_disk_encryption_software

<comment><USER2> "The new Truecrypt 7.0 release is almost 7 times faster compared to 6.0 on my i7-620M with AES-NI. It is some hundred mb/s faster now than dmcrypt (which runs my system-encryption on Debian Squeeze), but that is expected since truecrypt makes use of multiple cores AND aes-ni and dmcrypt only supports 1 thread per mounted device, so unless you create a RAID consisting of multiple dmcrypt-devices, you can only use 1 core." more:

[http://www.robo47.net/blog/200-Truecrypt-7.0-Linux-AES-NI- Be...](http://www.robo47.net/blog/200-Truecrypt-7.0-Linux-AES-NI-Benchmark- with-i7-620M-on-Dell-Latitude-E6510)

</comment><comment><USER3> A pretty nice list... wish I'd seen it before, and it may be well known to others here, but 'tis news to me.

Kinda sad how few support OSX, Linux, _and_ Windows (the other OSes listed have even less support).</comment>


Huge new prime number discovered  - <AUTHOR> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7640183.stm

<comment><USER2> forgive me if i sound naive, but i would have though it was a relatively simple task to design program to decipher which numbers were prime numbers ad infinitum. if it was april 1st, i would have thought this was a jest. is this really that praise-worthy and notable?

<comment><AUTHOR> From the article: "The team from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) found the new number by linking 75 computers and harnessing their unused power. This enabled them to perform the enormous number of calculations needed to find and verify a new prime. "

It's probably just a matter of processing power needed to find that number(s).

<comment><USER3> > It's probably just a matter of processing power needed to find that > number(s).

It's just a matter of strength and technique to run a world record 100 meter....

It's not just processing power, although it was a large amount of processing power, it was knowing how to use it.</comment></comment></comment>


How to Model Pricing - <AUTHOR>

We are working on our pricing model for SaaS. Any ideas? <comment><USER2> yeas, A/B test price brackets.</comment>