Some ad-blockers are tracking you, shaking down publishers, and showing you ads - <AUTHOR> https://boingboing.net/2016/03/02/some-ad-blockers-are-tracking.html <comment><USER2> Seems like the time for each of us to create a policy re: websites that try to coerce us into turning off the ad blocker. Personally, I strongly dislike such attempts to manipulate me, when a site makes demands of this kind, accordingly my policy is just going elsewhere.

There's no site I have so great a need to visit that I will put up with it. I can't think of instances where the content was unavailable elsewhere, or if not available I couldn't live without it.

The sites insisting that I subject myself to their ad abuse are likely to find their viewership evaporate. I can't see how how those enterprises will survive, considering that the internet will very likely always provide alternatives that visitors find more acceptable.

<comment><USER3> I think it's totally fair game to coerce me into turning off my ad blocker. That's how they monetize. That's how I'm supposed to "pay" for the content.

I choose to use a blocker because I don't like ads. But if someone wants say "hey, the deal is ads or nothing" I think it's a pretty fair bargain.

Currently the ad blockers (my self included) are free loading off the system. The internet only works because most people are willing to suck it up and watch the ads in my stead.

<comment><USER4> I don't mind ads. What I do mind is autoplay videos, malware, popups, and tracking.

<comment> blubb-fish I don't even mind tracking too much - I despise text-based sites with animated ads, though, for obvious reasons.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> _Wired 's final prediction is that all the ads will disappear into sponsored content within a decade._

I'm surprised that Wired made such a prediction because to me it sounds awfully wrong. For starters, whatever is going to happen it will happen much sooner than a decade. Ad blocking adoption has already reached 35% in some countries. At 50%-60% the industry is doomed. Not to mention fake ad impressions which already amount to one quarter of all traffic. I also find it odd that the only outcome they see is sponsored content. We already have that, it's called native advertising and it sucks. If advertisers can have a saying on the content then the quality will go south pretty fast. What about micropayments? What about serving ads from the publisher's domain? What about stopping the damn profiling which is the root of the problem? It seems that the online publishing industry is in a bit of a shock from the way things are moving and can't think originally.

<comment><USER6> Spam blocking on email is currently close to 100%, and yet there is plenty of companies that do news letters and coupons. Stores and services send recommendation emails to customers on a rather regular basis.

I would like to see googles number on how often such services get reported as spam, but I suspect its actually quite low. It helps that you can unsubscribe if you don't want to see it.

<comment><USER7> You have to keep your spam report numbers very low as the sender of such things, if you want to be allowed to continue to legitimately send them.

<comment><USER8> I like this analogy. It would be interesting to see a similar mechanism to banner ads. I'd imagine part of the responsibility would be on the ad network and part of it would be on the publisher.

Showing a bunch of low-quality "1 weird trick ads?" the network gets flagged. Trying to squeeze too many ads onto a single page? Publisher gets flagged.

I doubt we'll see such a thing. On the other hand ad networks like the deck, carbon and yoggrt have done a good job filtering out bad ads. I generally whitelist sites with those networks.

<comment><USER6> I too doubt that we will see explicit mechanism for users to manager/report ads on a website, but I do predict that we will keep seeing ads on website even if adblocking reach 100%. For example, online stores normally has a "if you like this product, then you might also like this other thing", a advertisement that I doubt will be blocked any time soon. Similarly, streaming services like to recommend films and music, and that feature is something I hear some people really want to have and would be upset if it went away. Youtube dedicate a lot of page space for this, including the front page, the top of the side panel, the top of the search result, and the end of every video.

The upside of those kind of ads is that they are intended to be both a useful tool for the user and a revenue source, and they must be designed carefully to remain both.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'm another uBlock Origin user because I don't like the compromise that ABP has become.

What I'm thinking about doing is writing a bit of software external to the browser that does something akin to what alot of us *nix users did before HTML5, which was to symlink Flash, in particular .macromedia and .adobe to /dev/null. This allowed the viewing of Flash content without the site being allowed to "write" LSOs to your HDD. Worked beautifully. I'm thinking the same sort of thing can be done with ads, tracking, etc., using a subscription model similar to what most ad blockers use. To whit, you surf a given site, yet see no ads and tracking, etc, is disallowed but the site doesn't notice. What say you, HN?

<comment><USER10> You'd need to download scripts and run them in the background if they send info back to tell if it's blocked.

That would defeat part of the purpose of the blocking. Tracking is easily blocked by deleting cookies after you leave the site/browser.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> You know what? I don't care. I'm going to continue to use ad blockers like uBlock and Privacy Badger that are non-corporate. I will set up any network I'm in charge of with a DNS that has doubleclick.com as 127.0.0.1, and also many others.

The web was better in the early days, when it wasn't full of corporate dreck. If all the ad-supported BS websites fail, then so be it. I'd rather have just a few websites run by people for their own motives, than have a plethora of websites run by marketeers, propagandists and corporate executives.

<comment><USER12> "I will set up any network I'm in charge of with a DNS that has doubleclick.com as 127.0.0.1, and also many others."

You mean doubleclick.net? Alas, that's a typo that would let the ads in.

Like you I redirect doubleclick and "many others". But not to localhost. I like to log all the requests either via pflog or a socket logger. Useful for examining what apps are trying to do from my device over the network. Sometimes I redirect certain domains to my own httpd and serve my own "fake" resources (placeholders for in-app ads, etc.).

You say "any network I'm in charge of".

What if there were a DNS caching server reachable from anywhere that blocked these ad servers for you? That is, what if there was a "public DNS" like 184.108.40.206 or 188.8.131.52 except not run by a company that sells ads or "security services"?

What if there was a turnkey ad-blocking DNS caching server solution that one could run on any suitable hosting provider virtual machine instance?

Would anyone be interested in such a thing? I have had this personal DNS idea for many years, ad blocking is becoming much more popular only recently.

I think users controlling their own DNS is a key step toward taking back the www from the "corporate dreck". Maybe blocking ads is the stimulus for such a change.

<comment><USER13> Awesome idea. Please please please if you are going to do it first look for a business model. I guess the people coming to you to avoid ads won't be too eager to pay. Myself included :) Maybe have a data mining or statistics service to pair with it. A curious search brings up an interesting QA about OpenDNS [https://www.quora.com/How-does-OpenDNS-make- money](https://www.quora.com/How-does-OpenDNS-make-money).

<comment><USER11> Wait, what? It's _my_ responsibility to invent a new business model for someone else? Or is it my duty to watch (possibly malware-infected) ads? I'm not sure what you're saying here.

If you're advocating for imposition of a legal duty to watch ads, then I demand the legal imposition of a duty for advertisers to frequently acknowledge that there is no "free" market any more.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> uBlock Origin (and uMatrix) are the only ad blockers that I trust and that I advise. The developer has strong ethics and, needless to say, they are open source.

ABP made a name for themselves as one of the first and best players, but they have turned too shady.

<comment><USER15> >uBlock Origin (and uMatrix) are the only ad blockers that I trust and that I advise. The developer has strong ethics and, needless to say, they are open source.

It makes the difference. Ghostery was interesting in it's first days, , especially with the [http://knowyourelements.org](http://knowyourelements.org) site (now offline) as an educationnal item about trackers, but when you learn about it's business model, it is quite scary... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery)

<comment><USER16> _The company that owns Ghostery, Ghostery, Inc. (previously Evidon), plays a dual role in the online advertising industry. Ghostery blocks marketing companies from gathering website user information, but it makes money from selling page visit, blocking and advertising statistics to corporations globally, including corporations that are actively engaged in collecting user information to target ads and other marketing messages to consumers.

Customers include advertising industry groups like Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Direct Marketing Association, parts of the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA).[9] These agencies then use those reports to monitor how Online Behavioral Advertisers operate and, when needed, refer them to the Federal Trade Commission.[10] Ghostery also offers data to university students, researchers and journalists to support their work.

According to some journalists, Ghostery is not transparent in how it collects data from users or what that data is used for. Other journalists have claimed that Ghostery sells user data to advertisers to better target their ads.[11] Ghostery, Inc denies this, asserting that Ghostery does not collect any information that could be used to identify users or target ads specifically at individual users. To support their assertion, the company made the source code open for review in 2010, but after 2010 further source have not been released.[12]

In February 22, 2016 Ghostery, Inc released new EULA for Ghostery browser extension, as proprietary closed-source product._[1]

Very shady indeed. Looking for alternatives now...

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery#Business_model](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostery#Business_model)

<comment><USER17> Try PrivacyBadger: [https://www.eff.org/privacybadger](https://www.eff.org/privacybadger)

Depending on settings, it'll break some sites that rely on e.g. Facebook login by default. I'm OK with this and trust EFF.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> The ad-blocker-blockers are annoying, and my usual response is to just go elsewhere. I'm not turning on advertising for anyone.

That being said, I'd happily pay a small ($5-10/mo) subscription if it enabled all (or a large number of) these sites again. Alledgedly my eyeballs are work millicents to advertisers: I'd like to buy all the advertising space I'm being shown at that price.

I don't think an adblock company could do it, as it would be too much like a protection racket, but surely someone could set up a subscription-based service for "ad-free content", where sites that took part got a slice of your flat subscription fee. A bit like microtransactions, except not microtransactions.

</comment><comment><USER19> > _Adblock Plus comes off the worst of the lot. The company charges publishers > fees to allow their ads through its filters, based on criteria about size > and placement._

Lie. Adblock Plus is a FOSS ad-blocker.

It has a whitelist of "acceptable ads" that is enabled by default.

You can turn it off, and since the thing is open source, you can clone your own version in which that is the default.

I haven't heard that anyone has to pay ABP (or _can_ pay) to be on this list.

There was/is some controversy, see here:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock_Plus#Controversy_over_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adblock_Plus#Controversy_over_ad_filtering_and_ad_whitelisting)

<comment><USER20> I'm curious if any evidence has ever been offered that the "Acceptable Ads" program is corrupt. It seems to me that literally the moment it was announced people characterized it as an offer to be bribed, but _as described_ I don't see anything wrong with the program.

<comment><USER21> Granted, it's unlikely that they would say anything if they were extorting people as you describe... but from just the other day: [https://adblockplus.org/blog/acceptable-ads-explained- moneti...](https://adblockplus.org/blog/acceptable-ads-explained-monetization)

Discussion (somewhat lacking): [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11182174](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11182174)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I tend to think of ABP a bit like the Advertising Standards Agency in the UK. They essentially enforce a minimum standard upon advertisers, whilst collecting administrative fees in exchange.

Long-term this is actually better for advertising agencies and websites supported by ads, as it'll help stop people just blocking ads completely. But people rarely think long-term anymore...

</comment><comment><USER23> Boing Boing runs "native advertising"\--ad copy barely disguised as legitimate reviews to bypass ad blocking--every day, under the byline "Boing Boing Store". It's depressing to see them pretending they still have any moral high ground here.

<comment><USER24> So does the New York Times, and Fox News, and any number of legitimate news sources.

<comment><USER23> First, appeal-to-authority doesn't make "native advertising" any less shitty or deceptive; and second, neither of those currently has a front-page article denouncing something that they themselves do every day.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> This could be done in a legitimate way. Suppose there were an AdFixPlus plugin with the mission of cleaning up advertising on the Internet by making sure every website conforms to an acceptable advertising policy that forbids intrusive ads. Users install it for free and advertisers pay for it.

It seems like that should be fine so long as both the users and the advertisers know what's going on, and there are alternative plugins with different policies out there.

Websites can forbid to serve users who turn off too many ads and users can refuse to visit websites that serve too many ads. But both sides would gain if some compromise can be reached. So it seems like a competitive market should evolve towards something that looks quite like this, with a middleman of some sort setting some reasonable rules, rather than one side deciding by fiat how it's going to be.

Of course ad networks and publishers do some of this already. They have policies about not accepting all ads. The constant negotiation about which ads are okay to show is part of the reason why Internet advertising is so complicated. But they are less focused on what the user wants since the user can't choose between ad networks; only the advertiser and publisher can.

<comment><USER26> > _forbids intrusive ads. Users install it for free and advertisers pay for > it_

This is a great idea, but eventually comes full circle. Advertisers will pay more to have more access until they push it too far. Then someone builds a meta-AdFixPlus.

<comment><USER25> Or alternatively, competition for users (or the threat of it) from some other plugin that does the same job, but better.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> I'm using Disconnect from [https://disconnect.me](https://disconnect.me), which is working alright for me. While not marketed as an ad-blocker (but rather as a tracker-blocker), I effectively see no ads at all. As far as I know, it doesn't track you in any way.

</comment><comment><USER28> Um, is AdBlock Plus not obeying the "Allow some non-intrusive advertising" checkbox? If so, _that 's_ a scandal.

However, if they only show ads to people who leave the box checked, I really don't see the problem.

</comment><comment><USER29> The shakedown model just seems so scummy to me. There has to be a better way to monetize ad blockers. I suppose it doesn't matter though, as most advertising will simply become sponsored content/native advertising anyway, which will negate the need for ad blockers.

We see it today on the web, but we have also seen it on TV for even longer as their answer to DVR-based commercial skipping. Take a show like Nightline, which is just an infomercial for every project that ABC and its parent company (Disney) want to promote, masquerading as a news broadcast. That format is likely a sign of things to come both on TV and the web.

<comment><USER30> > The shakedown model just seems so scummy to me. There has to be a better way > to monetize ad blockers.

Is it necessary to monetize them at all? An ad blocker isn't so complex that it couldn't be run as a free-as-in-beer software project.

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> Didn't Mondo 2000 -> hotwired -> wired "invent" the once-ubiquitous 468x60 format ad-banner? And now they're complaining...

Frankenstein's karma.

</comment><comment><USER32> One more point.

While Ad-blockers are getting popular the tech industry could indeed innovate to become ad-blocker-blockers. I guess ad-blockers work by looking at the domain names of the content. Why not use IP address alone to serve ads ? Why use JS embeds code to serve ads and not render it through server itself?

Even JS based ads could provide challenge response based callbacks to render content only after ad is loaded.

<comment><USER17> I'm already one step ahead and using CIDR blacklists + peer guardian. Keeps a lot of malware from installing or working too.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> We need an ad-blocker blocker.

</comment><comment><USER34> They are evolving!</comment>


Ask HN: What to avoid in life? - <AUTHOR> I've heard wisdom defined as knowing what to avoid, or knowing what to filter out / not give any attention.<p>Motivated by that definition, what are some things (behaviors, products, type of people, etc.) that you either think should be avoided or have been rewarded by consciously avoiding? <comment><USER2> Student loans.

I understand it's difficult, especially when you're conditioned to get one since the conversation about college starts when you're young, but I took one look at it. Saw it was going to be six figure sums, and said no way. Much to the horror of my siblings, parents, friends etc.

Got a job doing help desk and within a year taught myself programming in spare time and landed a well paying job as a developer. I was paid more than the university graduates they were hiring.

I know that university is largely to force people who don't have enough discipline to self teach AND make social connections, but is that worth hundreds of thousands in debt? No.

There's going to be a bunch of hate replies to this by people rationalising their debt, who are largely lying to themselves about its worth because they are in too deep, but this thread is about "things to avoid" and my vote is student loans.

Nullius in Verba - think for yourself, make your own decisions

<comment><USER3> I loved learning math and physics with motivated peers and experts to guide us. I'm quite sure I would not have been able to learn the things I did on my own. I'm not sure what I would have done if I lived in a country with education as expensive as you describe.

I hope that the US can find a way to help bright and motivated young people have a similar experience without taking on crippling debt.

<comment><USER4> Some community colleges in the US are $100-300 per course, and they offer most of those same core math & physics courses, without the crippling debt.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Per Michael Pollan:

Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food. When you pick up that box of portable yogurt tubes, or eat something with 15 ingredients you can't pronounce, ask yourself, "What are those things doing there?".

Don't eat anything with more than five ingredients, or ingredients you can't pronounce.

Stay out of the middle of the supermarket; shop on the perimeter of the store. Real food tends to be on the outer edge of the store near the loading docks, where it can be replaced with fresh foods when it goes bad.

Don't eat anything that won't eventually rot. There are exceptions -- honey -- but as a rule, things like Twinkies that never go bad aren't food.

Always leave the table a little hungry. Many cultures have rules that you stop eating before you are full. In Japan, they say eat until you are four-fifths full. Islamic culture has a similar rule, and in German culture they say, 'Tie off the sack before it's full.'

Families traditionally ate together, around a table and not a TV, at regular meal times. It's a good tradition. Enjoy meals with the people you love. Remember when eating between meals felt wrong?

Don't buy food where you buy your gasoline. In the U.S., 20% of food is eaten in the car.

In summation:

Eat real food, probably less, mostly plants, with friends/family.

</comment><comment><USER6> Bad managers.

A bad manager will make or break your experience at a company. Doesn't matter how great the project is, or the people you're working with. Do your due diligence, ask around, and if you get even a hint of shenanigans run for the hills.

Similarly if you find yourself with one plan an exit asap.

The priority order when you find a team is: 1- manager, 2- team and 3- how closely the project as is aligns with your interests and expertise. 2- changes over time and 3- is often within your control once you join, but 1- is an awful lot of work to extricate yourself from after.

<comment><USER7> I had a manager at Microsoft -- I called him a "practice manager" because he had little experience managing and was just given a handful of people to wrangle -- and it was absolutely miserable. He interfered with my technical decisions, undermined me in meetings, and did a really shitty job defending me in stack rankings. At one point, after he refused to supply me with a workstation that would work ("That's the computer we gave you, you'll just have to deal with it"), I spent a bunch of my own money on my own hardware so that I could do my job [in retrospect, I should have gone up the management chain long before that].

A few years later he tried to use me as a reference for a certain other large software company. Let's just say they got an earful.

Fifteen years and I'm still angry at that jerk. If you have a bad manager, fire them.

<comment><USER8> You gave him a bad reference?

That's one of the more hurtful things you can do to someone. They were looking forward to the job, and companies have all the power.

I sure hope he deserved it.

After thinking it over, I think what's happening is that you've never been in a position where you need a reference to get hired. I mean _need_ , as in "I literally don't have anyone available except them." Being in that position just to make end's meet is awful, and people go through ups and downs in their lives.

Fifteen years...

<comment><USER6> Some folks are actively harmful to an organization, and you certainly don't owe one of them a positive review. Without knowing more, I mean, it sounds like the manager was digging pretty deep for references, meaning they were probably bad at their subsequent jobs too.

Finding a reference involves finding a single solitary human at your old job who didn't outright hate you. If it's that hard I mean...

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Social media.

Obviously not all of it is equal, but there's certain low-hanging fruit culprits (Facebook and Instagram immediately come to mind). I see far too many people endlessly scrolling IG loops, and apparently many spend an hour+ daily doing so. These applications hijack the brain's reward pathways and are inherently addicting by design.

Facebook is a trash advertising company with no regard whatsoever for privacy and I'm absolutely stunned that they haven't imploded yet.

<comment><USER10> It's quite difficult to function avoiding all social media, people communicate via Facebook, developers talk on Twitter, it's just important to be in the space.

But it sure can take over. I've been blocking it at the router level at certain times of the day. Seems like an ok compromise for now.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Toxic relationships. Also: looking for love instead of a partner that you can love. Nothing holds people more from goals in life than having a partner that is not similar in what you want from life. In the grand total, you should both want the same. You might have individual side hobbies (but try to share the main hobbies, too!), sometimes fight over the way to go next, that is all ok. But to make it big, two people can handle more than one person.

I see many people wanting "love". If I had chosen my wife the same way I had chosen girlfriends before, probably we would have been divorced by now. While I undoubtedly love my wife a lot, I was really careful to primarily find a partner in her, a person with similar goals in life, a person that I might still want to be with and be able to talk to at the age of 99, sitting next to her in a wheelchair. So absolutely avoid not being very, very, honest to yourself and letting alone love and pure attractiveness govern your search for a partner for life. Turn your brain on.

</comment><comment><USER12> Avoid toxic people and drama.

There are people who want to focus on everything wrong around them, and tend to amplify it and create drama. If you find yourself around people like this try to create some distance or cut them out of the picture entirely. If you find that you're always surrounded by people like this take some time to try to figure out how and why that is happening.

</comment><comment><USER13> Bad company. Not (necessarily) meaning where you work but more generally the people you surround yourself with.

You'll find yourself much happier in life spending energy to find good company (of people you enjoy being with) instead of trying to make things work with the people you just happen to be around with. It takes active effort to meet new people but on the long run it's worth the effort many times over.

</comment><comment><USER14> Cults. Learn to see what they are early on, learn what groups are considered to be cults, read Lifton's "Thought Reform and the Ideology of Totalism" ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychol...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_Reform_and_the_Psychology_of_Totalism)), stay away.

<comment><USER15> Anyone who is vulnerable to cults is likely vulnerable for reasons other than lacking a warning.

<comment><USER14> knowing about cults is therefore essential to those times when someone is vulnerable (which includes virtually everyone at some point), so that they have context for what is actually happening and retain enough wisdom to stay away.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Avoid taking "advice" from anonymous people on the internet. For example, let's say someone told you that coronavirus can survive for extended periods outside of a living body, and therefore, any packages you receive from China could be a health risk. Should you filter out this "advice"? Well, if it is just "advice", then you should look for substantiation. Without proof, it has little or no value. Now can someone tell me what to do with the package sitting on my front porch (please provide references).

<comment><USER17> Don't take advice from this anonymous person on the internet. SARS virus could last 6 days on surfaces. No one knows how long coronavirus lasts yet.

[https://foundation.chestnet.org/patient-education- resources/...](https://foundation.chestnet.org/patient-education- resources/severe-acute-respiratory-syndrome-sars/)

</comment></comment><comment><USER18> Add "Ask HN:" to the submission title to make clear that your submission is asking a question and is open for discussion instead of linking to an article that tries to answer it.

</comment><comment><USER19> Avoid increasing your expenses in line with increases of your income. It's an easy to fall into the trap on the way up, and a difficult one to escape.

<comment><USER20> Any fly "premium" economy to Europe? The horror.

<comment><USER4> Premium economy between Western Europe & the States is short enough that it isn't really worth it to me, but the States to Asia Pacific is generally worth it. 14-28 hour travel is much more awful.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> Sales.

As an engineer by training (and vocation), exposure to a cesspool of over- excited sales teams with overinflated egos, impossible targets, zero alignment with reality and the "always be closing" mentality nearly drove me insane, especially when I was called in to bring "technical credibility" to stuff that defied logic or when I was told I was "a negative influence" by pointing out (internally) that the sales pitch had the solidity of warm, brown fudge.

Toxicity usually escalates very quickly from then on.

Proper consulting (which also involves _pre_-sales, but which has to be grounded in reality because you're gauging commitment and risks to all parties) is much saner in comparison - the rule of thumb here is to never work in a customer-facing position with people who will vanish from sight the moment a deal is signed.

</comment><comment><USER22> Regret.

The older I become, the more I've come to terms that one day I'm going to die. I've watched both my parents pass and I'm fairly young (36). Since my mother's death, I've focused on my own demise in a productive way: I always ask if my actions can lead to regret. Not the nonsense regret of not picking the correct job, stock, or purchase but real regret.

Is this release getting in the way of me being a better husband? Is my work trip causing me to miss family time?

Everyone is driven and I'm no exception but what can I do to minimize my regret?

In other words, on your death bed, will I regret not having X more money or will I regret not seeing my kids first steps? Rephrase that question to suit your situation and that should be your driver.

And if you will regret not making more money or doing X product, that's fine too; that should be your focus. Just figure out what you want, regardless if it changes year to year and pursue it.

P.S. Also avoid caring what others think. They're not going to die instead of you. Their opinion is worthless. (This includes me if you disagree)

</comment><comment><USER23> Things. Stuff. Collections of ... whatever, really. Don't get too attached to things and widgets and thingamabobs and artefacts and all the other man-made objects which supposedly are there to serve you but which end up needing service in some way or another, from simple storage service - where are you going to put it all - to actual upkeep. Just keep the minimal required to live your life in a way you find worthwhile and decide that anything more is optional. That doesn't mean you need to go out and actively get rid of stuff to lead some ascetic life of frugality, it just means you might want to dump it the next time you move without bothering to bring or replace it. Make sure whatever you have and keep around you is there to serve you and don't fall for all those gadgets which are being pushed upon you.

</comment><comment><USER24> High risk (as in life-changing) situations that can be avoided: driving drunk, unsafe sex etc. Most other bad stuff can be handled with money and/or time.

<comment><USER25> Even beyond that, do not get in someone else's car if you suspect they may be drunk!

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> \- Avoid borrowing money, be it in the form of credit cards or even worse, mortgage. I know this is not something you want to hear if you are on a mortgage deal already. But borrowing can limit your freedom in ways that are not immediately obvious. You trade your freedom for illusory prosperity. That said, a business loan for your business may not be such a bad idea.

\- If your plan is to become an entrepreneur, start building your network early. Build slowly but surely, there is no rush, but one of the worst things that can happen to an entrepreneur is to be alone with your ideas and visions.

\- People change as they age or when they get rich. You don't have to.

<comment><USER6> Not borrowing money is bad advice. The best way to become rich is leveraged investment. A mortgage is simply a 5X leveraged investment in real estate. With interest rates around 3% on a 30-year fixed, tax deductible, you're actually winding up borrowing at below inflation. Then you're building principal too, yours and not your landlords. I wish I'd realized this sooner.

When you're young you could even consider borrowing money to invest in the stock markets. Imagine if you'd borrowed $100K in 2010 and dropped it all into the S&P. You'd have $333K right now. If you'd done it in 1995 you'd have $650K. When you're young it matters far less if you get wiped out, you've got years to recover.

<comment><USER27> If these investments of yours were as much of a sure bet (or adequately sure bet) as you're suggesting, banks would simply cut out the middle-person (i.e. the borrower) and invest in these things directly.

<comment><USER28> I think banks make their money not on interest rates but on various fees and overheads: each person getting a mortgage pays 10K (or more) to the bank right away. That is huge upfront money in addition to the interest rate.

Same with late fees etc. Huge business.

<comment><USER6> also folks on average refinance or sell their property every 10 years meaning folks on a 30 year restart, paying new origination fees and once more the bulk of their payments are interest.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER29> Don't get tricked into playing zero sum games.

Status, prestige, being the "best" are relative, not absolute measurements. Someone else's gain is your loss.

Health, love, education (to build a skill) are absolute. Someone else's gain can benefit and inspire you.

</comment><comment><USER30> Don't argue on the Internet. Information transfer is a gift. Use it on people who appreciate it. Know that the people who do not appreciate it are not eager to receive it and will not alter their behaviour.

</comment><comment><USER31> Following social conventions. The more I grow up, the more I have the feeling this lead people to the wrong path to happiness. Having the ability to be and act different is harder than it seems to. But when you know deep inside how you should do something, do no let society tell you how to do it.

Recently I found out that some people are truly happy being single. They're not acting. The only problem for them, is how people treat them in a condescending way: "Don't worry, love is coming for you, you'll be lucky too".

</comment><comment><USER32> Renting.

Okay, I know that's not possible for everything. Renting a home is virtually a must in places with high housing prices, and a mortgsge is often needed when buying a house.

But in 95% of cases, renting something is a worse deal than buying it outright, and will leave you worse off as a result.

1\. It's more expensive, especially in the long run. There's a reason so many companies have gone with the whole 'SaaS' model, and that's because it costs the customer a lot more to keep shelling out cash month on month.

2\. It's a liability if you run into financial difficulties, since you have to either stop using said thing, or keep paying money you might not have/might need for more important things. Actual property can be sold instead.

3\. And it's a security risk/livelihood risk that can be targeted by your enemies. The only reason stuff like cancel culture even 'works' is because so many companies would rather save their own reputation than stand by their csutomers, and because that can be exploited against others.

<comment><USER28> This advice is not universally valid.

There are plenty of situations where renting is greatly advantageous.

Being dogmatic is what everyone needs to avoid. Being preconditioned to the idea that buying is automatically a good decision is to be avoided as well - when you take out huge loans with little equity you end up paying twice or more for the property - not to mention the massive costs of owning a home: from taxes to crippingly expensive home repairs. You can easily end up paying three or four times more than renting. Had you invested just the difference, in thirty years you'd be a million dollars ahead.

As always weigh the options and choose the one where the long-term math checks out.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> A seemingly pithy statement would be: Avoid Avoidance.

Most spiritual texts talk of the dangers of following desires, and avoiding something is almost the same as following one's desires. The degree of difference is in how you look, either toward what you want, or away from what you don't want.

Unfortunately, as I go thru life I realise the spiritual texts are probably right and that giving into desires leads to more selfishness, which leads to giving into more desires... a never-ending cycle.

So I would dispute the wisdom in 'filtering' out undesirables, and realise that we're all on this rock, and being selfish leads nowhere but different peoples being unable to communicate and relate.

It's better to learn acceptance, and if something comes your way that you don't like, then try and learn why it is so & why you react so. Asking "why?" Is a far more powerful concept than 'filtering'.

<comment><USER34> Learning acceptance is the same as avoiding your, to this point, natural response :)

Some spiritual texts (stoic philosophy) place an emphasis on guarding your impressions to external events (e.g., deciding I have a flat tire, this is bad, my day is ruined) because if you solely restrict your judgement of good/bad to things in your control then you'll never fail to avoid what you want to avoid.

Personally, I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle: in general you should seek to embody Marcus Aurelius' "This doesn't _have_ to affect you" quote but there are also times where being affected by things is a natural and healthy human emotion and at those times you should not avoid feeling them and instead practice sitting with them, understanding them, and learning from them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> People or programs that claim they can teach you complex things quickly, easily, or painlessly. Learning hard things worth knowing is painful and excruciating. People who try to avoid that end up not learning.*

*thats not to say there aren't more effective ways to learn hard things. But that's just optimizing in return per minute of pain :)

</comment><comment><USER36> I feel that you should find something you like and avoid everything else.

</comment><comment><USER37> Toxic personalities and flakes.

The former are easier to spot, the latter much harder especially if they are extroverts and radiate a sheen of confidence or capability.

</comment><comment><USER38> Addictive drugs

<comment><USER39> Ya I'm currently ready Beautiful Boy. The movie was amazing. The book is pretty different in my opinion but also very good. Anyway, it's all about the toll that drugs, and specifically meth, takes on their family's lives. Really heartbreaking and touching at the same time.

</comment></comment><comment><USER40> Keeping all your money in cash. On the long term anything else is better, and some cash is necessary for short term expenses.

There are many great HN threads of investing, and the earlier you start, the earlier you can retire if you want.

</comment><comment><USER41> Alcohol

</comment><comment><USER20> Scams. Some are getting a lot more sophisticated, but I really mean the "if it's too good to be true..." scams.

</comment><comment><USER42> Comparing yourself with others.

</comment><comment><USER43> Advice, especially the unsolicited kind

</comment><comment><USER44> Fear.

To consciously avoid, is to avoid conscience.

</comment><comment><USER45> Avoid marriage until you have an income that can support a family. Make that a passive income.

</comment><comment><USER46> The internet. Too late.

</comment><comment><USER47> Internet forums

</comment><comment><USER48> Death

</comment><comment><USER49> Sympathy.

<comment><USER43> I understand this.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> Don't do drugs - it's retarded.</comment>


Visualising London Bikeshare Journeys Using Mapzen's OSRM Instance and Pandas - <AUTHOR> http://sensitivecities.com/bikeshare.html

<comment><AUTHOR> (Author here) This is sort of a follow-on from the previous Python mapping tutorial ([http://sensitivecities.com/so-youd-like-to-make-a-map- using-...](http://sensitivecities.com/so-youd-like-to-make-a-map-using-python- EN.html)). Here, the London Bike Share Network is visualised, and journey times are shown on a histogram with an inset map.</comment>


UserTesting.com - 15 minute video of a user testing your site for $19 - <AUTHOR> http://www.usertesting.com/ <comment><USER2> I've used it and it is good. Highly recommended. The videos you get aren't super great quality but they're useful and the price is right. The only complaint I have is that I'm a tad jealous I didn't start this site.

<comment><USER3> I wonder if one couldn't put together a software package that Mechanical Turk participants could use to generate similar (if lower-quality) data?

<comment><USER4> Why?

The main deliverable in user testing is _quality_. It's much better to have 5 detailed pieces of data than 100 that don't say anything at all.

<comment><USER3> A smaller sample means a greater chance that it's not representative. If 10% of the population is colorblind (or left-handed, etc), you stand a greater- than-50% chance that a random group of five people won't identify a problem for this segment.

A larger number of available testers means more fresh eyeballs, hence a better chance of repeat queries yielding accurate first-impression data.

Feedback from people whose job it is to evaluate websites may not be representative of the average site visitor. They may be more familiar with common site layouts or have specific pet peeves.

<comment><USER5> Probably depends on what you're looking for. When you're just starting out a site, just a couple users will point out all sorts of user interface weaknesses that'll keep you busy fixing for a long while.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> We've used it in the past, and will in the future - BUT this is not rigorous usability testing of the sort that you'll get in the lab. They're self- selected and they don't do well with loosely defined objectives (even though they tend to be North American native English speakers).

If you have access to a Mac and can recruit your own volunteers (college campus, etc), I'd recommend getting Silverback - <http://silverbackapp.com/> . Not only do you get the screen capture, you also get to see frustration/delight on users' faces. Plus, it's cheaper if you plan on doing four or more tests.

</comment><comment><USER7> I was curious how much the reviewers got. A little digging reveals that they get $10 per review.

</comment><comment><USER8> I've used it - really helpful. Wish they would send their testers eye tracking monitors - that would rock.

<comment><USER9> Agreed, but do they not show the cursor?

Also, do they have a "more users, fewer minutes" option? I know I'd rather have 15 users for one minute each, or seven for two minutes each. After that, most users will have decided to stay or flee any ways. It would be good to get a sense of that early decision-making, especially across a statistically- reliable sample.

<comment><USER10> Tried it out -- shows the user's cursor fine in my experience.

<comment><USER9> Cool. They could just give their testers instructions to use the cursor as a pointer to where they're looking. Or you could put that in your instructions to them. It's a decent enough proxy for eye movements any ways.

<comment><USER11> Have you seen footage from an eye tracking session? A user can't explain or point his mouse to where he is looking. The eyes move quickly and somewhat unconsciously.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Can anybody share a video session that they themselves commissioned? I'd like to see how the quality of feedback compares with the "official" demo of tripadvisor.

P.S. Somebody else mentioned eye tracking - I think commercial solutions for this are pretty expensive, but I've seen a few hobbyists roll their own using low cost webcams, though I'm not sure how they fair in terms of accuracy.

P.P.S. And somebody else mentioned just embedding a screen grabber directly onto your website - I'm sure it's achievable but with a browser extension, i.e. Mozilla. I'll have a play around and see what I can come up with.

<comment><USER13> It's possible from Javascript without extensions. I did a prototype of this, and while streaming the mouse x&y coords to a server was trivial, the hard part was making sure that what the user is seeing is the same layout I'm seeing myself.

For example if the user has a larger font size, then the layout might be different, so those coordinates would not mean what I think they mean. Faced with this I abandoned my own project on this, but I noticed that sites like <http://robotreplay.com/> have appeared, not sure how they dealt with that issue.

</comment></comment><comment><USER14> "Don't Make Me Think" ( [http://www.squeezedbooks.com/book/show/9/dont-make- me-think-...](http://www.squeezedbooks.com/book/show/9/dont-make-me-think-a- common-sense-approach-to-web-usability-2nd-edition) ) has a good section on cheap usability testing.

</comment><comment><USER4> I really like this idea, and I'll probably use this for my own site currently in development.

Have you considered selling an embeddable recorder that people can use right on their site? Why or why not? i.e. I pay you $xx for a google analytics style plugin that I can embed and have any user that wants to provide feedback...

Just trying to understand why you chose to implement as it currently stands.

Once again, really nice.

</comment><comment><USER15> It's a cool idea. I'm not sure that selling mainly on price is a good move business-wise, though.

<comment><USER16> There would probably be demand for a more expensive, higher-quality service. Someone else in this thread mentioned adding eye tracking. It also might be useful to add multiple trials from random individuals and create some sort of aggregate statistics. These are both things that you could charge a large premium for.

What is cool about this site from a business perspective is that it is a low- capital, low-cost way to do things with just one person, much like girlinyourshirt.com

</comment></comment><comment><USER17> It's a cool idea, but I will be reluctant to use it. Sole reason being, the method they select personnas to do usability testing isn't transparent and I'm not sure how much useful feedback will be from those personnas.

</comment><comment><USER18> I like the idea. I'll probably use it at some point.

</comment><comment><USER19> How do you guys think they find testers? It's specific to demographic and such, so i think it's beyond mechanical turk?

</comment><comment><USER20> I love it, will definitely use this.

But please add an affiliate program.

<comment><USER21> They offer a white label program:

Can our usability firm get a white label version of your service?

Yes, you can resell it to your clients with your logo (not UserTesting.com) so you can use your brand and set your pricing. Email us at resellerusertesting.com and we'll get you started.

</comment></comment><comment><USER22> I'll do this for $10. :p</comment>


Avengers Fans – Can't wait for the Movie? Remix your own trailer - <AUTHOR> http://www.infotainmentnews.net/2012/04/27/avengers-fans-cant-wait-for-the-movie-remix-your-own-trailer/ <comment><USER2> I don't see why it came to theaters around Europe the 25th of April and in the US the 4th of May.

Usually most movies are out in the US before anywhere else.</comment>


PSA: Multiple WD "5400RPM" drives sold as "5400RPM" are actually 7200RPM - <AUTHOR> https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/ikk0rv/psa_multiple_wd_5400rpm_drives_are_actually/ <comment><USER2> Is that... is that a bad thing? Article got too deep in the weeds for my meager hardware knowledge, but I thought faster was better.

<comment><USER3> It depends.

If you were relying on the specific performance characteristics of a bunch of 5400 RPM drives all with predictable characteristics which you can't rely on because a random sampling of what you ordered isn't conformant? That's bad. If you're a homegamer with maybe 5 to 10 drives in a RAID setup, it may not be catastrophic, but you could end up with half your drives being noticeably louder/hotter running than others. If you're spec'ing out an enterprise level co-location in a datacenter with a strict budget for power supply/space/cooling and you've got a thousand drives or some such coming, randomly distributed between spec conformant vs. not... Then you have issues. What's really squicky though is if they're selling 7200 RPM drives locked to 5400 RPM performance speeds in firmware; at that point you get the MTBF/attrition rate of a 7200 RPM drive, but only get the benefit of an effectively gimped piece of hardware. That's bad as a manufacturer since you aren't even really being either direct or honest about what you're selling, which makes life more difficult for the buyer.

Sometimes there is a place for less physically stressed drive. If you're relying on it you expect to get what you ordered. Not something that just happens to be coming off the assembly line lodged with firmware, and a different sticker.

In my case, I'm not sure I'd be adversely effected, but I can imagine circumstances where that volatility could leaded to unintended outcomes. I do not like that. But that's life nowadays.

<comment><USER2> Reread this amazing answer a few more times. Humbling. Also just concluded that I literally know only enough about hardware to be dangerous. Thanks once more.</comment></comment></comment>


Programmers, Promise Yourself This - <AUTHOR> http://artisansystem.com/blog/entry/28

<comment><USER4> I love this post. As a hacker myself I can relate. I did not do much while at school - that pretty much took all my time. Also, "regular" sports did not appeal to me. I started taking up martial arts as soon as I started working and it has completely changed my life. It clears my head, keeps me fit.

I never liked the idea of hitting the gym just so you could have a "beach body". The idea of learning a new skill (or set of skills in my case) appealed to me. Having a fit and healthy body was a side effect. The inverse wasn't true, - lifting weights at the gym wouldn't yield any additional skill so it definitely did not appeal to me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you find the physical equivalent to hacking - whether it's rock climbing, free running, or doing wushu - it's fun and will also keep you in shape.

<comment><USER5> This essay by Henry Rollins sums up a number of the 'extra' benefits of strength training/weight lifting nicely. <http://www.gittlen.com/rollins.htm>

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> I love exercising, particularly weight training, and do it daily. I stopped for about a year, but now that I've developed the habit again I remember how amazing it is to just... feel _good_ about my body and my health. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

<comment><USER7> Ditto... I'm on a break at the moment because my house is too far from the gym and I don't want to risk being flattened by an angry bus or cab by biking to it every day - and, perhaps more importantly, I'm too lazy to go out much in the cold and wet London winter.

But I'm planning to move soon, and one of my first priorities while moving will be to find a place close to a gym so I can start weight-lifting again. It does feel absolutely great, and the article is right - it's a scientific/experimentation endeavour. It took me 2 years to figure out how to make my body actually build muscle.

For the record, it turned out to be a combination of the following (and all these ducks needed to be lined up, which is why it took me so long to figure out the winning combination):

\- Rely primarily on heavy Squats and Partial Deadlifts (which have to be done very carefully following good form to avoid injury - <USER2> [http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Tell-All-Handbook-Weight- Trai...](http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Tell-All-Handbook-Weight-Training- Technique/dp/9963916325/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233645065&sr=8-2) for information) as my core exercises... if I don't do these two, the other weight lifting exercises don't build much muscle for me.

\- Over-eat and particularly eat some protein shakes while training (need to ensure there's an abundance of foodstuff for my body to build new muscle)

\- Make sure I get at least 8, ideally 9 hours of sleep every night - <USER3> deprivation == no new muscle tissue

\- Train each major muscle group only 1.5 times a week - i.e. 3 times every 2 weeks. More often than that is actually counter-productive.

The benefit of doing all this is feeling fit, feeling great, feeling on top of things. I strongly recommend it to anyone (just make sure you follow safe exercise form - and don't necessarily trust the gym staff about that, I've seen many of them practice or even advise very poor exercise form that will cause injuries in the next 10-20 years).

<comment><USER8> I think cycling in London is not as dangerous or scary as people generally like to believe by default. You can avoid most of the traffic by following cycling routes. Transport for London publishes quite good cycling maps -<http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/8966.aspx>

I was lazy about cycling for a long time for the same reasons you mention. But now I find that cycling is actually a great way to beat the cold.

And the rain? Well, you just get used to it...

Slowly wheeling around small lanes is also good thinking time, especially at the end of the day.

<comment><USER9> +1

I have never cycled in London, but I'd imagine it is similar to the US. There is no need to be excessively afraid of cabs and busses -- if those people hit you, their life is ruined. (Don't take this as an invitation to drive stupidly, though. Stay predictable.)

It's the dumbasses from the suburbs that I find to be the problem. They have never seen anyone riding a bike before, so they don't know how to act properly. If I had a nickel for every time I was almost hit from behind by someone with non-Chicago stickers... (Hint to these people: if there are 3 lanes, you don't have to drive so close to the right side that you clip the mirrors off parked cars.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> Two main reasons why working is important to programmers in particular:

1.) In general, programming is a well paid, lucrative profession. It takes a long time to learn how to program well, so naturally the rewards are large. However, these rewards really don't mean all that much if you aren't in a position to enjoy them. Becoming a millionaire before you are 40 is cool and all, but most people would rather have a long lifespan full of good health.

2.) Programming naturally leads to a large amount of time sitting down in front of a screen. It is also a pretty high stress job, which often results in excessive use of caffeine or other stimulants. Both of these habits are draining and unhealthy. In the long run they are bad news.

My biggest challenge when working out is the mental focus required. It takes a lot of energy to manage your sleep and eating schedules to the necessary degree. Also, there is a lot of background knowledge and thinking involved in planning proper work out plans. Bottom line is that as a Computer Science student, I work on things that require a large amount of mental focus every day. Adding another item to the list is of course difficult.

Having been in excellent shape only a year or two ago (I was a competitive swimmer in high school), I can say with full confidence that being in shape has a huge impact on how you run the rest of your life. I found that I was able to accomplish much more with my time and take on larger loads because of the discipline I learned through being an athlete. There's no question in my mind that staying in shape is worth it, but the difficulty in doing so should not be ignored. I am still struggling to adjust to the demands of a Computer Science education. In high school swimming competitively pretty much meant working out 4 to 5 hours a day all total. That's simply impossible in college when studying any type of Engineering or Science. I'm sure it's also impossible for a founder/working professional as well. Instead I'm trying to figure out how much I can accomplish with only an hour a day. With proper dieting habits, I'm convinced the hour will be enough, but it is a challenge. It will be worth it, but it's not easy!

Friends I've talked to who also struggle with these types of issues talk about how they don't have time. Obviously I understand that, and I'm sure most readers of news.YC can relate :-). Ultimately though one hour a day is a small price to pay. Mentally programmers are capable of doing some pretty crazy things. Anyone who's done an all night coding marathon to finish a project on time knows what I'm talking about. Getting in shape is simply a matter of redirecting that mental energy towards a different cause.

EDIT: Something I forgot to add. Another big barrier that people face is an aversion to going to the gym, where there are people who are in really good shape. It certainly can be intimidating, but have faith in the fact that your body is biologically designed to respond to regular and difficult work outs. The difference between you and the guy next to you bench pressing twice your body weight is a lot smaller than you think.

<comment><USER11> I particularly agree with your point about caffeine and stimulants. I've found that I very rarely do my best work when I'm all hyped up. Yes, sometimes you have to stay up to finish that last really cool feature or whatever... but most of the time when I go too long I just end up writing bad code that needs to be rewritten the next day anyways.

<comment><USER12> that's the ONLY time I do work it seems.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> People have more opportunities to stay in shape than they often realize. Walking helps a lot, and is very easy to do; for instance:

\- park _really_ far away, every single day at work

\- find excuses to walk over to talk to people instead of calling or E-mailing

\- use stairs instead of elevators

\- when walking from point A to point B, choose an indirect route

\- take a walk around the building every day after lunch

\- a few days a week, walk around your neighborhood for half an hour

\- every time you drive somewhere, walk inside (no drive-throughs)

<comment><USER14> For programmers in colder climates and without gym memberships: don't underestimate the value of shopping centers. They're large, climate controlled, and a godsend when the wind chill drops to -40.

<comment><USER12> I've also had a TON of fun cross-country skiing. If you dress for the weather it is a FANTASTIC workout.

<comment><USER9> Agreed. If you are exercising, it is hard to stay cool even when it is -10 outside. (Layers are your friend. Cotton is your enemy.)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> In my experience, going to a traditional gym to lift weights or run on a treadmill is very boring. I never was able to maintain a traditional exercise program like that for any length of time. However, I have recently found the secret to getting addicted to exercising: sports.

I fell in love with rock climbing about a year ago and feel the need to go at least three times a week. I would go more often, but I am usually too sore from the intense work out. Climbing creates a physical and emotional high that is unmatched by anything I have ever experienced.

I lifted weights in college, but never achieved the muscular definition and level of fitness that I have achieved through rock climbing. It helps create a balance of strength, endurance, and flexibility throughout the entire body. With weight lifting, I could never acquire the discipline to strive for the next weight increment. But with rock climbing, I yearn to be able to complete the next route and am singularly focused on reaching that goal.

It also helps that rock climbing can sometimes be a more social activity that weight lifting.

</comment><comment><USER12> We need to start a hacker health site. Hackers know that there is the way everybody does it, and then there is the less obvious, simpler and infinitely cooler way to approach it. The same has got to be true for fitness. I for one hate the idea of driving to a gym to stand next to a bunch of sweaty guys who look like they actually belong there for an hour 6 days a week. There has to be other, more fun way of getting in shape and eating right that will work better in the hacker lifestyle.

<comment><USER16> _There has to be other, more fun way of getting in shape_

Say hello to 7-OXO DHEA (also known as 7-Keto DHEA): [http://www.bulknutrition.com/advanced_search_result.php?&...](http://www.bulknutrition.com/advanced_search_result.php?&keywords=dhea)

<http://www.bulknutrition.com/?products_id=4948>

 _Researchers discovered that 7-OXO does not convert to testosterone or estrogen, minimizing androgenic activity, and supports various physiological processes. It is several times more potent than DHEA in stimulating the thermogenic enzymes of the liver, promotes basal metabolism, and helps to increase the lean/adipose ratio._

<comment><USER17> What are the downsides to this stuff? I googled a bit and couldn't find anything particularly detrimental. It even seems have "memory enhancement" attributed to it.

<http://www.delano.com/Articles/ketoDHEA.html> \- this was the most informative page that I could find discussing the benefits and claims against it. Seems to come out on top as being safe and effective though.

<comment><USER16> _What are the downsides to this stuff?_

I don't know of any downsides to 7-Keto (7-oxo). However, I know that DHEA, on the other hand, has _many_ downsides. It is important to note that 7-Keto (7-oxo) is _not_ DHEA. It is a _metabolite_ of DHEA. For a complete list of studies and abstracts, including the latest, I would search PubMed: [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&term=...](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&term=7-keto+dhea) (7-Keto search; 14 hits.)

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&term=...](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&term=7-oxo+dhea) (7-oxo search; 47 hits.)

There was an LEF (Life Extension Foundation) magazine cover story on 7-Keto (7-oxo) in the May 2005 issue: [http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2005/may2005_cover_keto_01.ht...](http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2005/may2005_cover_keto_01.htm)

 _Scientists have documented DHEA's wide-ranging benefits in numerous clinical studies. DHEA helps to retard the effects of aging and promotes enhanced longevity, exerting a multitude of effects through its conversion to some 150 metabolites, each with unique actions within the body.

One of the most important of these is 7-Keto DHEA (commonly referred to as 7-Keto), a hormone metabolite that can safely boost immune function and help reduce body fat. Unlike DHEA, however, 7-Keto does not convert to estrogen and testosterone. Because DHEA and 7-Keto have separate and unique functions and properties, it is important to understand the differences between these two popular dietary supplements. [...]

A study with mice suggests that 7-Keto can boost memory as well.17 In this experiment, researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison trained young mice in the use of a water maze. They found that a single injection of 7-Keto (at 24 mg/kg of body weight) reversed experimentally induced memory loss. The scientists then fed 7-Keto or DHEA to old mice that had learned the maze. They discovered that memory of the water-maze training was retained during a four-week test period in the mice receiving 7-Keto but not in those treated with DHEA._

The article includes 18 references.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> I can't agree with this more. I despised gym and sports in high school, but in college I gradually took on more physical activity through a bit of martial arts (I was still a total slacker when it came to showing up for training, but it was better than before...) and I really think there's something that all intellectuals can learn through the concentration and coordination required from some sort of intense physical exercise. It's just my theory, but I think that part of the problem for "hackers" is that we tend to have eclectic tastes and conventional sports don't always appeal to us. So, if you don't like the normal sports of baseball, football, etc., seek out something different that's still good exercise. Try ultimate frisbee, or kendo, or rock climbing. You're bound to like something.

<comment><USER19> In my case it was a combination of factors, including a doctor advising I urgently make lifestyle changes to avoid premature death. Because nothing concentrates the mind like a well-written bug report with Issue: Programmer Dies flagged at the top.

The actual changes turned out to be fairly simple. I bike daily now, pay a bit more attention to what I eat, and have 45 minutes chiseled out to exercise approximately twice a week. (I really wish I had discovered the Hacker's Diet about, oh, 16 years ago would have been great.) I've never felt healthier, never had objectively better readings on my annual physical, and my personal Trac shows Bug #666 closed.

(Although I'll confess I have Feature Request: Abs still pending.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Healthy body = healthy mind.

For those who aren't sure of how to spend their gym time most efficiently, and get bored of doing the same old bike/treadmill routine, should check out CrossFit.

A workout is posted every day which is designed to deliver "a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive". You can scale the workout to your own abilities and feel encouraged by the knowledge of thousands of others putting themselves through the same pain around the world.

CrossFit would be good enough on its own - having world experts design your training program takes the guesswork out of what to do - but it's the community that makes it special. You've got world class athletes and beginners having interesting and informed discussions on fitness and nutrition.

Take five minutes and see what you think. I've been a convert for two years and it beats all my previous training experience for getting fit and feeling healthy.

<http://crossfit.com/>

<http://www.board.crossfit.com/>

</comment><comment><USER21> I hate exercising. I've always been in good shape, and I've never had to have any kind of exercise regime. But that's changing as I get older. Now I've tried exercising in several different ways, each time giving it a good solid month to get used to it, and I hate it.

Now I've started using the Hacker Diet method of general fitness, and I'm finding it simple, efficient, and unobstrusive. And I feel better. I've also started on the diet itself and I'm losing weight. At 5'10" and 175 pounds I'm targetting losing 35 pounds in the next 6 to 12 months. I've only just started, but I'm on track, and so far it's not a problem.

The Hacker Diet (and exercise) seems to suit me. The gym definitely doesn't, and I'm deeply suspicious of any drugs or supplements.

<http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/chapter1_2_5.html>

<comment><USER22> Hilarious:

"Even if you're resolute in believing you won't feel one whit better from exercising, you'll certainly concede that you'll feel a whole lot worse after collapsing to the floor with a coronary. I've no direct experience with this particular unpleasantness from life's menu of surprises, but folks I've talked to who have are unanimous that it's best avoided. Those who dropped dead right away were unavailable for comment."

<comment><USER21> I liked this:

 _"The marvelous mechanism that is your body has many signals to let you know when problems arise. If you're exercising and you encounter chest pains, shortness of breath, or other indications that something is awry inside your rib cage, don't ignore them! ... Ignoring these signals from your body is the height of folly. It can lead to all kinds of tedious and exasperating side effects such as sudden death. "_

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> Going to the gym after work Monday through Thursday improves my state of mind for the next working day. I've found that it has a huge bearing on my eating habits on those days, and my sleeping habits in general. I eat better and sleep less.

</comment><comment><USER24> I've made a similar transformation, going from 233LBS to 160LBS.

<http://blog.raamdev.com/2004/03/07/changed-for-life>

After losing the weight and getting in shape, my asthma and allergies disappeared, along with my eczema. Fitness has become one of the most important things in my life.

If there is one piece of advice I can give to anyone looking to get in shape it would be this: Stick with it and stay consistent. Fitness is a lifestyle, not a goal or destination (that's why diets fail).

</comment><comment><USER25> I changed my lifestyle by introducing fitness and health about 2 years ago. I suffered from really bad migraines at least once a month. Now I get them about once a year if at all.

I'm a programmer too and here is my story. Blog a bit out of date. :( <http://www.hackersinshape.net/>

</comment><comment><USER26> I went on a health kick for several months a couple of years ago. Went to the gym three times a week for an hour a shot. Did I feel better and was I more productive? Not really. At least, I didn't feel it except for about twenty minutes after the exercise. The exercise itself felt horrid, even after a few months.. and we're only talking running on a treadmill here.

So, like a lot of gym-goers, I stopped going, I've put on a few pounds back to my seemingly "natural" weight, and I'm sitting right here for now. I'm not sure organized exercise is for everyone, just like TDD or vegetarianism isn't for _everyone_ either. Instead, I just eat reasonably (junk food at most two or three times a month, lots of veggies), make sure I don't sit down for a whole eight hours a day, and that seems to work for me even if I'm a bit squishy around the edges.

</comment><comment><USER27> Exercise doesn't always have to be straight body building. I go rock climbing 2-3 times a week and I absolutely love it. One of the very few hobbies I kept up for well over a year (so far). On my off days, I run and sometimes supplement in the gym.

</comment><comment><USER28> One caution for people hoping to start exercising and go from picture A to picture B: if you want to lose weight, exercise is not enough. You need to keep track of your calorie consumption, or you will just end up eating more. At least that was my experience. Restricting calories, on the other hand, works with or without exercise. Not that I'm advocating non-exercise.

</comment><comment><USER29> I used to exercise a lot in high school but since college I've been doing less and less. Still, I seem to be unable to gain weight, its been like this my whole life, and it doesn't seem to matter what my diet is and how much I eat. My excuse for not exercising is that I would be even skinnier then I already am :)

<comment><USER30> Your goal for exercising (and nutrition) could be to gain some muscles. :)

<comment><USER31> Or your reason could be that aerobic exercise makes you smarter.:)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER32> I have to agree. Being in ketosis is the best thing has happened to my career.

</comment><comment><USER33> Speaking as a fat guy who's slowly getting back into shape (after taking 2 years off and gaining a bunch of weight), I liked the article -- everything except for the picture at the end.

People, probably for a good reason, have negative feelings associated with guys/girls who spend a huge amount of time at the gym. The word narcissistic comes to mind, also vanity. I'm not saying the writer is vain, just that a bodybuilding shot can be a little put-offish to some.

But more to the point, it emphasizes this huge gulf between the totally out of shape and the totally in-shape. The thing to focus on isn't the body building contests (if you like that sort of thing, which I don't), but it's his description of the day-to-day dedication it takes to make it work. If you want to lose a thousand pounds or run a marathon or whatever, those are great goals. Forget about them for now. For somebody who hasn't done it before, an even greater goal _is to get out of bed tomorrow morning and go to the gym_ \-- even if you don't exercise more than 5 minutes. Then do that again. And again and again.

Later on you lose the 40 pounds and start weight-lifting, as he did. Or maybe you go into flexibility training, or endurance training. Then even later you run the marathon, do the body-building show, etc.

Don't try to stick all of that in your head at one time. To a great degree, this is all about doing the same little things each day over and over again. It's not about the big things. Heck, you might not even want to do any of the competition stuff. Functional health -- being able to get around easily, climb stairs, lift heavy boxes, run for a departing plane, go for a 10-mile day hike -- that's a huge thing in itself. It doesn't have to be Twinkies or the Boston Marathon. There's lots of room in-between.

</comment><comment><USER34> I spent $200 US on a cross trainer last year - best $200 I have ever spent.

I highly recommend one, you do not really feel how much of a workout you are getting until you stop, and it is also gentle - I have yet to experience soreness or injury.

No gym fees, no time spent going there and coming back, no having to deal with people, it works great . . . win win all around for me.</comment>


Telling a Lame Joke in an Elevator Can Endanger Your Career - <AUTHOR> https://quillette.com/2018/11/23/warning-telling-a-lame-joke-in-an-elevator-can-endanger-your-career/ <comment><USER2> I do not have much sympathy - how did he finds the person who filed the complaint? Why did he tell her it was bad for the feminist movement? Why reveal her to the media? Why should he not apologise unreservedly? It doesn't take much imagination to realise that she would get some hate mail as a result of this story.

<comment><USER3> That your answer to the question "should he be censured?" but what's your answer to "what censude is appropriate?"

Where I live, censure can range from a stern telling-off by one's manager or HR up to being fired, or being fired with no notice, or in some rare cases it's even possible to be fired and lose accrued pension benefits. I don't know what's legally possible in that jurisdiction, but perhaps you could assume that it's similar and describe where on that scale you think his censure ought to be, and why?

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I've read the article and I still don't get the reference or the joke. Where is the "Ladie's lingerie" idiom/trope coming from?

<comment><USER5> Probably as if he's in a department store. Could have also said "sporting goods", it just wouldn't have been AS (marginally) funny. It's a dad joke, at best, but I don't think it's offensive in any way. People need to grow up and get over themselves, instead of trying to police each and every little thing someone says.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> " As she did not grow up in the U.S., I explained the intended meaning of what I said..."

I did grow up in the US, and don't get the reference.

</comment><comment><USER7> Humor, a lost art. Idiots! You're becoming robots!</comment>


The Psychology of Engineers: a talk on Introversion/Extroversion and Flow - <AUTHOR> http://bits.shutterstock.com/2013/10/10/tech-talk-the-psychology-of-engineers/

<comment><USER2> Dan, thank you for making this. You did a good job of summarizing and relating the three concepts.

I think there were two things that got left out, but the 20 minute time was perfect anyway. First, an emphasis on just how minor a distraction can be to interrupt flow or annoy (some) introverts -- a leaf blower, a ringing phone, staring off into space and having someone else look at you and then try to figure out what you're looking at -- and second, that introverts are more likely to have some understanding of introversion v. extroversion and their needs, while many extroverts are oblivious to the differences.

I've been living in a sort of introvert's hell for a few years now, it's really starting to get to me. I live and work in the same house, along with my girlfriend and another person. I don't have a space that's distinctly mine, and the other person and I run a business together.

I supervise his work on and off throughout the day, juggle email and the occasional phone call and a variety of other distractions, but I also need to be doing work that requires focus -- coding on big projects, or, to use yesterday's example, redesigning our business cards. While trying to do that, a visitor dropped by and discussed Airsoft at length two feet from my right shoulder, another person came and went, we were expecting another visitor (who didn't show until hours later), and my girlfriend needed right at that moment to take pictures of the cat and send them to her friend.

I gave up, ran a few errands, went to bed at 7, got up at midnight, just after everyone else had gone to bed, and got the card design knocked out and a few other things taken care of.

My sleep schedule is all over the place. Half the time I'm getting up late and staying up late -- and tolerating the occasional comment about sleeping in so late -- and the other half I'm going to bed early and getting up early and struggling to get through the day. If I try to code when I'm up late, I'm often already exhausted, and focusing for very long is extremely difficult.

It's rough on my personal life, too; my girlfriend is frustrated that I don't want to go out and do things with her and her friends very often, but the thing is, without any downtime of my own, I'm already in a constant state of social exhaustion. The very last thing I want to do after juggling distractions all day is go out and be social. For her, it would be like having to be cooped up inside, by herself, for a few days, with no outside contact, and then having me come in and suggest a nice quiet evening at home.

So, lately this has turned into this overwhelming desire to just leave and go somewhere -- anywhere -- alone, for a week or more, just so I can get some work done.

All of which is to say that, left untreated, introversion can lead to insanity. :-)

</comment><comment><USER3> The format of this vid is interesting to me. We've played different media formats for our engineering talks at g33ktalk (audio, video, slides and sometimes screencaps/demos) and it's been somewhat challenging to find the best format. Of course, ultimately it depends heavily on an individual user's prefs. meaning there's no perfect answer.

I find this format compelling since it's relatively short (19 mins) has high quality audio, and the only visuals are the main points represented as motion graphics.

</comment><comment><USER4> I really like the fact that they mention "ambiverts". So many people think you're one or the other extreme.

</comment><comment><USER5> Great talk, very interesting. I feel even more introverted now than before I heard this.</comment>


Show HN: Batteries Widget for Mac – Track all of your batteries from one place - <AUTHOR> https://fadel.io/batteries <comment><AUTHOR> Some notes (answering potential future questions): \- the app can't be on the App Store because it uses private Apple APIs. \- the app is notarized and checked for malicious content by Apple.</comment>


Rendering Views in Backbone.js isn't Always Simple - <AUTHOR> http://ianstormtaylor.com/rendering-views-in-backbonejs-isnt-always-simple/

<comment><USER2> This approach seems like a reasonable way to go ... but you also seem to be doing a bit more rendering than you really need to. If I understand the premise correctly, you have a situation like this:

        +</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>+
        |                                    |
        | MainView                           |
        |                                    |
        | (content)                          |
        |                                    |
        |                                    |
        |+</comment><comment>----++</comment><comment>-----++</comment><comment>---+|
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        ||SubView   ||SubView    ||SubView  ||
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        ||          ||           ||         ||
        |+</comment><comment>----++</comment><comment>-----++</comment><comment>---+|
        +</comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment></comment><comment>+

... and the data for the MainView is changing, while the data for the SubViews is not.

So ideally, just re-render the top part of the MainView, and leave the SubViews alone. Instead of trying to reuse the same "render" function, imagine doing this instead:

        mainModel.on("change", mainView.renderMainContent);

... where the hypothetical "renderMainContent" function just renders the template for the top half of the box. Or, maybe the top half of the box is a sub-view in its own right that can listen to its own events. Or, maybe you don't even need a template, and you can just update a couple of granular fields and/or attributes with jQuery. Whatever works.

<comment><USER3> Yep, I was wondering why "render" would need to be called multiple times.

I usually start off by doing that because I'm lazy, then something usually bites me in the ass (usually - oh hey, we need a transition effect).

And the end result is a bunch of "sub rendering" methods that get called in render ... and as callbacks from model change events. (It's awfully nice when you have to load everything off the server - no default state in the DOM.)

<comment><USER4> I completely agree with the small render helpers, we've been using that too and it works amazingly. I'll probably write about that next. But I still want `render` to be able to be called multiple times without breaking because it's a public method.

I'd love to read an article about how you guys handle transitions though. We've implemented a few of them, but I have yet to work on them enough to have found really nice patterns.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm not sure why there's so much significance attached to `render()` considering that it's a no-op in Backbone, and you've got an entire class to work with.

Trying to figure out how to cram everything into one function while still getting desired behaviour doesn't seem like the best way to go.

That being said, there are probably better ways to do it that don't involve Backbone, too.

</comment><comment><USER6> Backbone.Marionette is a nice set of view classes (and a few other things) solving a lot of the typical use cases for Backbone in medium to large application. Amongst other things it provides a Layout view with a simple region manager to take care of 'full page' or large views with sub views.

<https://github.com/derickbailey/backbone.marionette>

</comment><comment><USER7> Does more rendering than necessary and is still not perfect, as it won't preserve DOM state on model state changes. For example, consider <details> state (rolled up or not) - setElement won't keep it.

IHMO, somehow better (but more verbose) approach is to consider view as a FSM. Each state may render view's complete representation (using the template), while each transform (an edge of view's Moore machine) may transform DOM tree as necessary (i.e. just update necessary elements instead of re-rendering a whole subtree, if possible).

I belive, this could be automated (as DOM is, essentially, a tree, differences between states could be found algorithmically), but haven't really tried it that way.

</comment><comment><USER8> I took the approach of making a class called a "ModelView" which adds a few things - one of which is an "On Render" event that fires after the view renders. we do all of our jquery binding in our onrender function and so whenever the view re-draws, onrender is fired and all of the jquery stuff will be re-bound.

It would be nice to have the view re-drawn more intelligently so things don't need to be re-drawn and re-bound each time. But, I couldn't think of a generic way to do that without knowing the details of the view.

If anybody has any interest, the code I wrote is at <http://phreeze.com>

</comment><comment><USER9> Nice article, Ian! Just starting to lick my chops with Backbone and these are some of the questions I'm dealing with. Would love to see more articles.

</comment><comment><USER10> B L A C K M A G I C! ...and that is why I stay away from any of these MVC frameworks.

<comment><USER11> backbone has very little magic in it - and the particular confusing aspect mentioned in this post has to do with ubinding events by calling .html, which has nothing to do with backbone, that's all jquery.</comment></comment>