Show HN: Mission Statement - Keep track and refine project ideas - <AUTHOR> http://www.missionstatement.co http://www.missionstatement.co<p>I built over the last few weekend to help organize the ideas for projects I've been mulling over. <comment><USER2> This was a blast to work on. Ilya has done a great job getting it ready to show -- hopefully some people will get some good use out of it!

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> I built this little app over the last few weekends. The idea was to help me to organize my thoughts for the different projects I was mulling over. I really feel like writing things down can be a great way to get to the essence of what it is you are trying to do and why.

This is just a simple realization of that idea. Implemented in Python using Heroku's Cedar stack.

</comment><comment><USER3> I was reluctant to check your link out with a name like "mission statement". It's one of the most unfun names I've seen, but I like the idea. Glad I checked it out.

P.S. Call it Zingr or something.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Never thought the name would be a turn off, but you have a point.</comment></comment>


Summit – Oak Ridge National Laboratory's new supercomputer coming in 2018 - <AUTHOR> https://www.olcf.ornl.gov/summit/ <comment><USER2> Power9 is an interesting choice vs. x86. Anyone know the reasoning?

<comment><USER3> There are probably other reasons, but the NVLink interconnect is expected to show up on Power systems long before Intel, putting the GPUs much, much closer to system CPU and memory.

This thing is going to be a beast.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Let's hope IBM does a better job than they did on Blue Waters

<comment><USER5> I'm guessing ORNL isn't going to move the target as much as NCSA did for Blue Waters.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Looks like it'll be in the ball pack of 100 PetaFLOPS (~97.7 PFLOPS). Which should triple the Tianhe-2 (current #1) in computing power.

</comment><comment><USER5> Not a Cray... That's gotta hurt. They've been a Cray shop for years now.</comment>


Carp 0.3 - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/carp-lang/Carp/releases/tag/v0.3.0 <comment><USER2> Other GC-free Lisps:

        Pre-Scheme(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PreScheme) is a GC-free (LIFO) subset of Scheme

        newLISP(http://www.newlisp.org/) uses "One Reference Only" memory management

        Linear Lisp(http://home.pipeline.com/%7Ehbaker1/LinearLisp.html) produces no garbage (and seems to have no implementation)

        Dale(https://github.com/tomhrr/dale) is basically C in S-Exprs (but with macros)

        ThinLisp(https://web.archive.org/web/20160324213055/http://www.thinlisp.org/, https://github.com/ska80/thinlisp) is a subset of Common Lisp that can be used without GC

        Bone Lisp(https://github.com/wolfgangj/bone-lisp) semi-automatic memory management

list is copyed from: [https://www.reddit.com/r/lisp/comments/4mtktn/bone_01_lisp_w...](https://www.reddit.com/r/lisp/comments/4mtktn/bone_01_lisp_without_garbage_collection/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Has anyone used Carp? What is your experience with it?

I looked at it a few times over the years and the domain (statically typed language with Rust-esque lifetimes for no GC) is exactly what I've wanted a few times, but there isn't any mention of _embeding_ Carp in a program, only using it standalone. Targetting e.g. video games with low latency is fine, but I'd rather write an engine (or use an existing one!) and use Carp for scripting than be locked into solely Carp.

<comment><USER4> I've played with Carp a bit and have made minor contributions to the language. I'm not sure if there's been any investigation into using it as an embedded scripting language yet, but there are definitely folks using it for embedded programming based on the community chats. I think someone has used it for programming modular synthesizers (or something like that)? At any rate, Carp definitely supports interfacing with C libs and you can choose to disinclude the standard library which is useful when you have limited space.

More generally, the language is a blast to use! IMO it grants one the fluidity and expression of lisp with the confidence one gets from a Haskellesque type system.

If you have any questions, the community on Gitter is very helpful.

<comment><USER5> It's always interesting to see who adopts the languages first and what they build with it.

A non-GC statically typed language seems to be the future a lot of people are looking for.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> tl;dr Carp is a small programming language designed to work well for interactive and performance sensitive use cases like games, sound synthesis and visualizations.

<comment><USER7> Thank you, I thought it was OpenBSD's CARP port to Linux until I read your comment.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Today there's also discussion of the 1992 "Lively Linear Lisp" paper as [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20369522](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20369522) .

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> A talk about Carp from ClojuTRE 2018

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeG6fXMk28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeG6fXMk28)

</comment><comment><USER9> Wow, this is exactly what I was looking for. Christmas came early. We were debating if there is a way to create a lisp with no-GC using a borrow checker and also have ML style type system. The answer is, yes!

</comment><comment><USER2> Another Statically Typed toy Lisp: [https://gist.github.com/chrisdone/516489f4f27846712225](https://gist.github.com/chrisdone/516489f4f27846712225)

</comment><comment><USER10> The amount of parentheses is dizzying.

<comment><USER9> Once you are counting the amount of parentheses in a Python vs in a LISP program doing the same and realise the the Python version has more you give up on your parentheses phobia pretty quickly.

<comment><USER11> I'd like to see a proper example demonstrating this, because from what I saw on the linked project's README, the Python version would have about a third of the parentheses.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> i mean, is code written in lisp-like functional style maintainable? it always takes a few seconds more per line of code for it to register if it does at all... versus code written in say imperative or declarative style.

i mean what could this possibly mean? "(bg rend &(rgb (/ @state 2) (/ @state 3) (/ @state 4))))"

<comment> vincent-toups I prefer s-expressions, for what its worth, to almost any syntax. I've also been programming in Lisp dialects for more than a decade, so I've had time to get used to them. But I still find them more readable than any other kind of language.

<comment><USER13> And more writable, since your editor can take advantage of the consistent structure via paredit et al.

FWIW, I split my time 2:1 between C++ and Clojure these days, and the context switch to s-exprs is always easier, even though I spend less time working in them.</comment></comment></comment>


Abandoning the Static Site - <AUTHOR> https://schier.co/blog/abandoning-the-static-site <comment><USER2> I also fell in love with static websites, I built all static, had pipelines for automatic deployments on changes... Just to develop my own dynamic solution a couple of years later. Just that I chose Django + Wagtail.

What I always thought would be a good compromise between two worlds is a way of editing files 'dynamically' and deploying them as pure HTML. Something like having a cache in place, but really using static files.

</comment><comment><USER3> I don't really get the point of writing up a whole post on this if you're not going to make it available or providing a paid service. Perhaps consider one of those.</comment>


Show HN: Devilbox 0.12 released: dockerized LAMP/MEAN stack (any version combo) - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/cytopia/devilbox/releases/tag/0.12 <comment><AUTHOR> Devilbox v0.12 released

The devilbox is a modern and highly customisable LAMP and MEAN stack replacement based purely on docker and docker-compose running on all major platforms. It supports an unlimited number of projects for which vhosts and DNS records are created automatically. Email catch-all and popular development tools will be at your service as well.

\-----

* Webpage: [http://devilbox.org](http://devilbox.org)

* Github: [https://github.com/cytopia/devilbox](https://github.com/cytopia/devilbox)

* Changelog: [https://github.com/cytopia/devilbox/releases/tag/0.12](https://github.com/cytopia/devilbox/releases/tag/0.12)

\-----

If you have any questions, recommendations or other feedback, feel free to let me know.</comment>


Show HN: Slashjobs – AI-Powered Job Platform - <AUTHOR> https://slashjobs.io/?hn <comment><USER2> I have no idea what the AI-powered adds? It looks like any other job board for devs. Perhaps write a description or something for clarity.

<comment><USER2> Eventually found your About page in the footer. So it sounds like better tagging of jobs?

Not to be mean, but the 437,650 monthly visitors claim is too much of an exaggeration-- I know you want to establish credibility early, but this seems to be a 3-day old website. If you're using that number to sell job listings, it can be seen as false advertising unless you can back that number up.

<comment><AUTHOR> Oh uh, sorry about that. We put those numbers for testing purposes and totally forgot about them! I will update them asap.</comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: Does anyone else misread the 'time since comment' as karma now? - <AUTHOR>

<comment><USER2> Yes, you're not alone. This is one of those short term effects (i.e. withdrawal), although I agree that it has been annoying.

<comment><USER3> I initially upvoted this comment, rather than leave a redundant one... except comment karma isn't visible now, so it can't be used as a straw poll.

Since I made this comment, I guess I better answer the actual question: Mmmmmm-kinda.

We spent a _lot_ of time on this issue when Lesswrong was starting out, and didn't come to any real conclusions. Visible comment karma induces some pretty big cognitive biases, and 1-dimensional karma definitely encourages groupthink, but hiding it is just so damn _annoying._ I've been having a hard time distinguishing the factors of my annoyance from the "boo hiss UI change", "oh geez a feature I used to use is gone", from what annoyance that might be there from an actual poor design decision.

I'm definitely for experimentation, and weakly positive about hiding comment karma; but it's odd that such minor UI changes can so badly annoy users.

<comment><USER4> I'm in the "show karma only after voting" camp.

</comment></comment></comment><comment> X-Istence Absolutely. In the longer threads I used to use comment karma as a way to decide if a long post/reply was worth reading or if it wasn't. If the rest of the thread was at 10+ and the long comment was at 2, then I knew I could just skip it.

I have to filter information, it is no longer possible with the wealth of information to read everything that is written and decide on its merit. The amount of news I take in daily, and process would overwhelm those who start their day with a newspaper and watch the news at 8 at night.

I hope that pg can reconsider, and add the karma back to the comments, it would definitely help me while reading HN.

</comment><comment><USER5> You'll get used to it. Give it time.

</comment><comment><USER6> No.

<comment><USER7> I'm suprised this comment has so many up-vot.... oh wait. _"32 minutes"_

Never mind...

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I am surprised at how much I miss comment karma being visible. I scoffed at those who said they used it to gauge comments to consider versus skim past, but it turns out, it's exactly what I'd been doing. I guess I hadn't realized the amplification of the comment volume that has happened lately.

<comment><USER9> Yeah, I'm noticing it is harder with longer threads to get what the "group" finds important. For want of a better way to say it, it feels like I am more "alone" when reading the comments. I cannot see the wisdom of other people. Also, long response chains are really a pain because they "feel" harder to follow.

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Posts of this nature contribute nothing but noise on HN. I've flagged this for removal.

<comment><USER11> From the guidelines: "If you flag something, please don't also comment that you did."</comment></comment>


Adobe on Iphone: Will Apple allow it? - <AUTHOR> http://www.bitsandbuzz.com/article/adobe-on-iphone-will-apple-allow-it/

<comment><USER2> Had to stop reading at this:

"Apple is undeniably the most proprietary and closed technology company in the software industry. In fact, Apple makes companies like Microsoft and Adobe look like nonprofit open source organizations in comparison"

<http://opensource.apple.com/>

<comment><AUTHOR> Are you really falling for this marketing scam? Every company does open source or have something prefixed with "open" nowadays.

Apple is the only software company that lock the service, software, and hardware together. Microsoft would have never been able to pull the iStore market scam. But somehow, Apple can do it. Apple can create an ecosystem where they are the only gate keeper of what people can create and distribute.

I really like Software, and for what I am concern, Apple's iPhone/iStore system is a disease for the software and Internet industry. If Microsoft, Palm, and Android, would start doing the same, then we would be in a world where innovation will be gated by the incumbents. No more Firefox, no more Skype.

<comment><USER3> They're really not that different if you look at a wider perspective than just mobile phones. Microsoft's Xbox is as closed a system, if not even more so. Not so coincidentally, their Xbox is also far more robust and less bug prone than their PC counterpart. That's the nature of closed systems.

Apple are not interested in doing anything lackluster — from _their_ perspective and according to _their_ priorities, that is. It's just not in their nature to compromise with quality, hence you get a bunch of other compromises instead, all of which are well-known.

<comment><AUTHOR> Not exactly. The console market was already closed.

The mobile market was opening up. Windows Mobile, Palm, J2ME devices lead the way of openness by allowing users to install new application on their devices as they did on PC. This was quite step forward given the fact that service providers wanted to charge for everything.

And here we go, Apple with their cute bouncing pixels comes and tells us that we need to live in a world where only one organization can decide what application we can use. And while everybody argue about applications should have been approved or not, nobody is asking the right question "do we want a gate keeper or not?". This is a huge step backward in the software industry. But somehow, people think that innovation is about flying pixels and forget that the ecosystem around a product is as important as the product in itself.

<comment><USER3> Do you seriously think that "cute bouncing pixels" is what made the iPhone the fastest selling piece of consumer electronic of all time? No, of course not! That's just silly.

Clearly, the iPhone has a number of very attractive attributes, as is evident not only from the fact that it's selling _unprecedentedly_ well, but also from the fact that it's changed the direction of the entire industry.

Apple made a number of choices with the iPhone, and certainly they can't be all that bad, given the phenomenal success they've had. Even if you just limit the argument to the AppStore, the fact that they've also had _unprecedented_ success in bringing developers on board should give you a hint or two that it's not as one-sided as you make it out to be.

Before you can bring anything constructive to a discussion on this subject, you really need to stop lying to yourself. Take a sober look at the choices Apple has made, and realize that each of them has both advantages and disadvantages.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ok, not only "cute bouncing pixels." I think that 3 things made Apple the kind of the smart phone market:

1) Great product ahead of any other existing product at the time (not anymore though).

2) Understand that the mobile market value chain was vastly different than the PC one and architected a platform that would be attracting existing market players while creating a exclusive new market for themselves (this was so bold and smart).

3) Steve Jobs genius.

Now, the only thing that scares me is that they did it in the most proprietary way that any software companies have ever dare doing. Apple is the living proof that openness is not a required ingredient to create new technology based markets.

So, again, kudos to Apple to revolutionize a market that have been frozen for years. However, they are doing it in such as way that it could set a very bad precedence to the software industry.

I do not want to have to go through a iMicrosoftStore to publish my Windows application, a iGoogleStore to publish a Web Site, a iAndroidStore to publish a mobile application.

I have nothing against software stores, but they should be optional not required.

<comment><USER3> > I have nothing against software stores, but they should be optional not > required.

I agree completely. My hope is that AppStore will become optional, rather than the exclusive way to get apps on the iPhone.

But I do think it was a wise decision to _start out_ with the AppStore as the one exclusive way to get on it, and judging from their phenomenal success in both sales and attracting developers, it was probably a smart choice.

Lest not forget, the AppStore makes it extraordinarily easy to buy and download apps. Only by making it the _exclusive_ way to get apps on the iPhone were they able to make sure that users found the experience of buying and downloading apps so effortless that it makes impulse purchases super simple. And, safe! iPhone users do not worry about anything on the AppStore containing viruses or malware.

Now, as what they refer to as a "power user", I'd like to be able to just download any app from anywhere and take my chances. But I understand that Apple has to take more than just _my_ preferences into consideration. I believe it is actually _not_ in their best interest to do that — even though it would suit _me_ better. If I were Apple, I'd keep the AppStore the exclusive way to get apps on the AppStore. I'd work on continuously improving the experience and interaction with developers, of course, but I'd keep it a walled garden, approval process and all.

Pleasing power users such as you and me simply doesn't make sense in the big picture, because it would fracture the developer community. Some apps would be on the app store, some on the web. Users would feel safer getting apps from the AppStore, but as recommendations come from friends using apps from the web, soon enough you'd have regular users downloading apps from the web too. And following that you'd have viruses and malware. While users could still just stick to downloading from the AppStore if they wanted to be safe, Apple would still have to deal with malicious apps, problems and trust issues. This, they just don't need, and pleasing the relatively few power users just doesn't make any sense, considering the sacrifice.

Though _I'd_ be just fine with it, I understand very well why Apple does not prioritize _my_ needs in this.

<comment><AUTHOR> I am going to stop arguing against Apple, I am loosing all my karma ;)

<comment><USER3> I don't think its about arguing against Apple, I sure as hell don't feel I'm arguing _for_ Apple. Just allow yourself to see that there are many many aspects to this, it's not as simple as you made it out to be (and it's not just about _your_ preferences, it's about balancing everybody's). If you write fawning fanboy posts you'll be voted down just the same.

<comment><AUTHOR> Again, I give lot of credits to Apple, but having the Device/OS provider exclusively owning what can get distributed or not on this OS is a big step backwards. True, consoles and closed devices have this model, but Mobile was opening up.

If you step back and look at the consequence of having iStore model (exclusive control on application distribution) in the software industry, you cannot conclude that this is a good step forward.

The fact that Apple made the iStore the only way to distribute application is not about maintaining quality, experience, ..., it is about controlling the distribution. And this control does not exist in the PC world, and was going to disappear in the mobile world.

But point taken, I will be more diplomatic in my answers.

<comment><USER3> It's called the AppStore.

And of course it's _also_ about controlling quality, are you kidding? Don't reduce this to only being about either one thing or the other — like you apparently _love_ to do — it's obviously a multifaceted issue.

Quality has got to be one of the very primary concerns, Apple would absolutely hate for the iPhone to become a malware infested platform which consumers are afraid to download apps for, always on the look out for viruses, wondering if every unexpected behaviour is the fault of a trojan — like on a certain other platform.

Don't get me wrong, Apple don't just want quality because they're knights in shining armor — they want to make money. And how do you make money? First, make sure your customers feel _completely_ secure and don't hesitate about downloading a new app for even a _second_. You cannot do that without _very_ high quality apps, distributed in a _very_ secure way. It's not malice, it's a win-win strategy. As has been proven in a plethora of ways.

While the walled garden of AppStore can definitely and be seen as a step backwards, don't you think that the unprecedented amount of apps AppStore makes available for a mobile phone — and the unprecedented amount of developers finally being able to make a living from developing mobile apps — represent a gigantic step forwards?

Once again it's ridiculous to reduce this complex setup to being _just_ one of two things.

Don't be diplomatic. Be open to the fact that things aren't that simple. You'll never understand another's perspective if you don't even make an _attempt_ to.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ok, we are getting nowhere with your "not as simple & multifaceted" counter arguments. In an argument, don't patronize your opponent, just focus on defending and making your points.

Obviously things are not as simple as they look, otherwise, we would not be talking about it.

Now that this is out of the way. I think that quality is a pretext. Apple could have let developers distribute their application by other mean, and keep the same AppStore quality. The fact that AppStore is the only way to distribute an iPhone app does not make it higher quality. I would actually argue the opposite. If developers had other means to distribute their mobile application, Apple could fairly refuse the "iFart" type of applications and accept only applications that have real entertainment or productivity value.

Also, I know people developing iPhone apps, and while they welcome the additional income, it is not that easy to make a living out of it. Some might, but I do not think it is as big as people think it is.

<comment><USER3> If you don't think the AppStore approval process squashes bugs then you're simply ignorant about the feedback developers get from them.

Sure, not everybody doing iPhone apps are bathing in cash. But before the iPhone came along, there _was no_ mobile development business to speak of. It barely even _existed_. Now it's huge. That's not a step forward in your single-faceted view?

<comment><AUTHOR> ok, this is getting nowhere. You are not reading my comments. You are still stuck with your "multifaceted" counter argument.

Anyway, thank you for sharing your thoughts, they were very insightful , in a multifaceted way.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> "Developers also must get the application approved by Apple in order to distribute it. Microsoft would not have even dared to dream of such a market scheme."

Yes they would. It's called Xbox and Zune HD.

<comment><AUTHOR> Interesting you did not mention Windows Mobile. It is not healthy to have the OS maker deciding what application can or cannot be distributed for its OS.

<comment><USER3> Why is it so much less healthy for mobile phones than it is for consoles?

I mean, the difference is staggering: Apple gets cussed out daily because of how closed their iPhone app distribution system is — but nobody is wasting a single breath about Microsoft's Xbox equivalent.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's just because were used to one, and not the other.

<comment><USER4> Exactly. I don't want to argue one way or another if it's a good thing (let the market decide) but I am getting ever more annoyed at people who buy an iPhone, knowing fully well it's a closed platform, when open alternatives exist. It's not only hypocritical but its hurting the open alternatives too. If you buy any closed system, you support closed systems. No number of outraged blog posts can change that fact.

<comment><AUTHOR> wow, 200% agree. Technologist that promotes open system should not buy iPhone.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> "Just for my curiosity, I would love to understand how Adobe managed to get the specs of the iPhone byte-code."

It isn't bytecode, it is a binary on a commonly used platform (ARM).

But in general, somewhat a moot point seeing that Flash apps compiled using this method are already in the app store at present, as well as a variety of other applications made using things that aren't Apple's SDK. As long as you abide by their restrictions it doesn't look like apple cares what you program in.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ok, fair enough. I got confused about the bytecode.

BTW, John's comment is interesting: [http://www.bitsandbuzz.com/article/adobe- on-iphone-will-appl...](http://www.bitsandbuzz.com/article/adobe-on-iphone- will-apple-allow-it/comment-page-1/#comment-4494)

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> The author doesn't seem to be aware that there are _already_ applications created this way that have been approved for sale by Apple. Given that it does not trigger any of the objections Apple has previously had about Flash on the iPhone--which universally revolve around the Flash runtime, specifically in the browser--I don't see why anybody should be surprised by that. It only seems improbable if you make a lot of second-guessing about their motives rather than taking them at their word.

<comment><AUTHOR> To my understanding most non-XCode iPhone solution requires XCode at some point. Adobe is the only one that goes directly to .ipa.

See John's comment: [http://www.bitsandbuzz.com/article/adobe-on-iphone-will- appl...](http://www.bitsandbuzz.com/article/adobe-on-iphone-will-apple-allow- it/comment-page-1/#comment-4494)

<comment><USER6> How is that relevant to what I said? Why would Apple have a problem with people not using Xcode? As long as you're delivering an appropriately signed binary, I don't see how it would make any difference to them what IDE you used.

<comment><AUTHOR> Time will tell. Right now Adobe is bypassing entirely Apple workflow to _produce_ a iPhone Apps. Other tools play along. Will see what will happen.

I would be happy to be wrong on this one.

<comment><USER6> You _are_ wrong, that's what I'm saying. Apple has _already_ approved applications built with Flash CS5. I don't understand what your basis for thinking they would have a problem with it is. Adobe is producing native ARM code, not including a separate runtime, you still have to be in Apple's developer program, and still have to use Apple-issued code signing certificates. You're not bypassing anything that Apple actually cares about.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> "iPhone bytecode", eh?

Guess that's what happens when "Enterprise Web 2.0 Experts" talk about things that aren't "Enterprise Web 2.0"...

<comment><AUTHOR> Ok, fair enough, I removed the reference about the bytecode. I have been too long in the Adobe, Java, and Microsoft world and think that everything is bytecode.

Nice joke about the "Enterprise Web 2.0 Experts." Ironically, I was very involved in 2000 in the mobile space, before the "enterprise Web 2.0" stuff.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I think people over-dramatize this issue. I think everyone, at Apple and Adobe, knows Flash/Air will eventually be on the iPhone. I don't think there's any doubt.

What Apple's doing now is trying to drag their feet as long as possible. Because the longer they can hold out the more momentum they get. Both in Apps written specifically for the iPhone and video on the web (Quicktime gains more and more marketshare as more people use the iPhone to view video)

That's the beauty of the situation. Apple can drag their feet for a few more years and if the Adobe mobile platform starts to gain momentum they can support it and have all the advantages in an instant.

<comment><USER9> On the contrary, I don't think Flash/Air will ever be on the iPhone.

They have the upper hand over the whole situation and have invested a lot in Flash alternatives including HTML5 (via WebKit) and video with MP4. In addition, the battery suck will ruin the (already short) battery life, and I don't think they will compromise the user experience for Flash

<comment><USER8> Your logic only works if (a) Flash begins to fade and (b) Apple remains far ahead of all its competitors indefinately. Because in the end every other phone is going to support Flash and Apple is going to have to explain to iPhone users why phones from Windows Mobile and Google can view the entire web while iPhone users can't.

As for alternatives like HTML 5 we're at least a decade away from widespread use of those (since there are people who wait forever to upgrade their browser). So I don't see Apple being able to stall for that long.</comment></comment></comment>


Mitigate "tabnabbing" without breaking window.open() features - <AUTHOR> https://www.ctrl.blog/entry/tabnabbing-window-size-position.html <comment><USER2> The forgotten 90s JavaScript... I wonder who created this terrible API in the first place:

         window.open("about:blank", null,
         "height=500,width=500,top=100,left=100");

i.e. this argument list as string. It looks like a workaround for language limitations, such as passing an object/dictionary. Why was it done with the string in the 90s?</comment>


The screen on looted iPhones: Please Return to Apple - tech-historian https://twitter.com/onlyfanobtainer/status/1266933834064572416 <comment><AUTHOR> They call it a Chimera policy. Goes on all display phones, and the identifiers are logged so they'll never be able to authenticate an Apple ID.

When I was dealing with a spate of thefts from Apple stores, none of the handsets were showing up again. They just vanished, presumably exported.

<comment><USER2> > They just vanished, presumably exported.

Gotta wonder if they end up becoming parts in the US. I buy working pulled screens off ebay for doing repairs because the aftermarket ones suck. Often wondered how many were off stolen devices, but no way to know.

<comment><USER3> Aren't some of the hardware signed. For example, I know the fingerprint on older iPhones will only work with the phone it shipped with.

<comment><USER4> Making _all_ the components tied together would be difficult. Some components are too "dumb" to do so (case, power buttons, general-purpose ICs on the logic board like charge controllers or voltage regulators) and the majority of the efforts will be reverse-engineered and cracked anyway.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Somehow I doubt the authorities will prioritize the recovery of looted iPhones, considering the lawless context of their theft. But it's a cute threat.

<comment><USER6> How about Mac Pro and XDR displays? Are these traceable and would efforts be made to recover them?

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> This reminds me why I don't go on Twitter anymore.</comment>


Users weren't even aware that there was a problem to be solved - <AUTHOR> http://goodexperience.com/2010/08/a-product-development.php <comment><USER2> Users weren't even aware that there was a problem to be solved"

I'm sorry, but that's not true. At least 1 user recognized it was an issue and came up with a solution for it.</comment>


California's Energy Diet Is Working - <AUTHOR> https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-07-20/california-surpasses-emissions-goals-years-ahead-of-schedule-jjuaia7d <comment><USER2> Clickbait title. Energy consumption is, in fact, _up_.

It's actually an _estimated carbon release_ "diet", but even _that_ is a bogus stat in that it doesn't account for energy _imported_ from other states and Canada.</comment>


Anatomy of a Spam Viagra Purchase - <AUTHOR> http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26785/

<comment><USER2> Hi HN, I'm an author on this paper and would be happy to answer any questions you might have about it. It was a huge effort by a lot of great people and a lot of fun to do.

Here's John Markoff's writeup for the nytimes, it doesn't seem linked from the techreview site: <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/20/technology/20spam.html>

<comment><USER3> I just wanted to say that I really appreciated this research--thanks for doing this work.

It sounds like you purchased items from email spam; have you considered doing a similar study for items that are spamming search engines instead of email?

<comment><USER2> We focused on email spam because that's been our area of expertise for the past few years. Some of these programs are well represented in SEO spam as well - with affiliate programs like these, they don't much care how you bring them the customer traffic as long as it arrives. We haven't, however, looked into the programs that are exclusively advertised via SEO but it's definitely on our list. Most of our methodology will carry over, we just have to straighten out how to create some sort of canonical feed of SEO'd pharma links.

I'd also like to personally thank you for your employer's generosity in supporting this research :).

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> If Visa or MC wanted to fix this, they would merely need to issue a small number of "fraud" cards world-wide to various people who would _only_ use it for suspected frauds.

Instantly flag the merchant acct, bank acct, open a report, all while looking like a legitimate sap buying from spam.

I look forward to my "Death-card, by Visa(tm)" in the mail.

<comment> 911-inside_job That would bridge the contracts Visa and MC have signed with the processing bank.

<comment><USER5> breach?

<comment> 911-inside_job Yeap, thx ;)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> It would have been interesting if they tested the drugs as well, to see how they chemically compared with the domestic ones.

<comment><USER7> FTA: "The customers get the products they were paying for (albeit counterfeit versions)."

They're fakes!

<comment><USER8> No, they're generics produced to look like the brand name version.

<comment><USER2> This is correct: mass spec analysis showed that the correct active ingredient was present in roughly the same concentration in the pills we ordered compared to the store-bought brand version of the drug.

<comment><USER7> Interesting to know! In my mind, counterfeit == fake == placebo. Thanks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I'll ask the question that nobody else is crass enough to: Assuming I order and pay, what are the chances that I get a pill delivered to me that gives me an erection?

<comment><USER10> The article implies that the drugs are effective.

> The customers get the products they were paying for (albeit counterfeit > versions). If they aren't complaining, there's not immediately a reason for > banks to intervene.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I'm surprised the spammers actually sent something.

<comment><USER2> They basically always send something, as these are credit card transactions and easily reversed by the customer in the case of fraud, either not getting anything or not getting what you ordered.

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> Having read the paper I'm interested in the fact that a card issuer was actually willing to work with you on this. Especially with providing far more details about each transaction than a consumer can normally obtain.

Do you have any further details about this issuer and the details they were willing to provide? Or have they asked to remain anonymous?

<comment><USER2> Unfortunately I can't speak directly to this. Our correlation was done using the acquiring bank's BIN, and this information is readily available on some normal VISA cards, and even some prepaid cards (due to the CARD act, these are almost exclusively currently for use inside the US only). This isn't some super secret information, the specialty issuer helped the most with creating several one-off cards in specific values and other logistical concerns.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> relevant: <http://modernl.com/article/how-viagra-spam-works></comment>


Using Lasers and Antimatter to Trek to the Stars - <AUTHOR> http://news.discovery.com/space/varies-interstellar-antimatter-lasers-icarus-120716.html

<comment><USER2> _For a laser intensity greater than some critical value, pair production is generated via a 'break-up' of the vacuum polarization. While the electric field strength necessary to accomplish this is immense, to say the least, recent experimental advances have raised hope that lasers may soon achieve field intensities on the order of this very critical field intensity._

As a layman this seems to me to be the crux of the matter. First, there's the the energy costs required to generate a laser that will in turn generate anti- matter from the "void". Will the energy released by the anti-matter fuel cover the costs of generating the laser?

If so, this technique would also provide a way to generate a perpetual source of energy. The laser costs X energy but produces an explosion of >X energy. Who says this energy can only be used for propulsion? You could feed some of this energy back into the laser, covering the continuous operating cost of the laser, then dissipate or distribute the remaining energies.

Of course, I'm just a layman, so I might be completely off base on proposing this perpetual motion machine :)

There's also the problem of sequestration and storage. How do you keep the proton-antiproton pairs from immediately colliding with each other? Isn't this the basis of the fuel? Colliding matter/anti-matter pairs? For long-term storage how do you keep the anti-matter suspension intact until you're ready to ignite it?</comment>


Yet Another Rant About Blockchains - <AUTHOR> https://www.notion.so/Yet-Another-Rant-About-Blockchains-ece6657d0a3b491bb39dd8002055a5af <comment><USER2> I'd like to address this bit:

> The classic rebuttal against blockchains and other distributed technologies > goes something like this: there's nothing a blockchain can do that a plain > old SQL database can't do cheaper and more efficiently. That's true, but > it's also missing the point, and I'll leave it at that.

That is definitely not missing the point when it is raised in response to things that are sold as "OMG blockchain!" but do not need (or often, even make use of) what makes blockchains unique. Which is, IMHO, at least 95% of the things that I come across marketed as involving blockchains.

<comment><USER3> It's missing the point in the sense that plain SQL has properties that are not desirable for blockchain's (valid) use cases. Consider Git. Git could be implemented using plain SQL, but it's not. It's not implemented with SQL because SQL would be centralized. One entity would have to own the truth of a codebase. This is an unacceptable property for many open source projects, which is why Git was created.

The essential use case of a blockchain is when you have something where you want an immutable history, and where, for whatever reason, it is either undesirable, or difficult to converge on a single entity to own that history. This arises in many, many places. Financial assets, source code, legal documents, etc..

It is not that you _can 't_ implement say, legal document version control without a blockchain. You absolutely can. But to do so, you have to trust a single entity to warehouse that truth for you. Blockchains are a way of solving that problem, just like Git was a way of solving it for open source.

<comment><USER4> > It's missing the point in the sense that plain SQL has properties that are > not desirable for blockchain's (valid) use cases. Consider Git. Git could be > implemented using plain SQL, but it's not. It's not implemented with SQL > because SQL would be centralized. One entity would have to own the truth of > a codebase. This is an unacceptable property for many open source projects, > which is why Git was created.

Huh? "SQL would be centralized"

At no point is git required to use anything over a network or somehow is more decentralized than a database you pass around and insert data into.

A push request is a request to push the same data I pushed into my database into yours, whether its SQL or not makes no meaningful difference.

<comment><USER3> Sure, you can use sql that way. But it's not designed for it. Git is, and so are blockchains.

<comment><USER5> But that's exactly how SQL is used?

<comment><USER3> You push and pull incremental changes between sql databases in a history- preserving way?

<comment><USER4> If you want to, yeah, pretty much every SQL database supports replication.

<comment><USER3> Yes, but not in a history preserving way, which is why people don't use SQL for version control.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> One of the author's points seems to be decentralized technologies tend to have large points of centralization, so why does it matter that they're decentralized?

For me, the answer is the ability to opt out. When it comes to crypto currency specifically, it doesn't matter to me if 99% of users store their money on coinbase, as long as I individually have the ability to remove myself from the system.

The point isn't to force decentralization on everyone, it's to provide an opt- out ability to those who want it.

<comment><USER7> You can opt out of baking with cash far easier than away from exchanges with crypto.

<comment><USER6> I don't know what you mean. Baking?

<comment><USER8> I think it was a typo for banking.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> This is why I am very hesitative to accept a job in the "blockchain area", and I am still not convinced that I should.

 _Every single time_ I asked the question "how do you guys make your money?" it has been evaded ("we work in the finance area", thanks, that explains everything!) or has been paraphrased into "is my job secure?" which was then answered positively. I mean yes, my main motivation to ask is indeed about if my job is secure for at least a year -- in an area where people secure investor money by promising basically thin air, but I am also asking the question to gain an understanding of the company's business culture. And I haven't got the slightest idea of that after 7 interviews in the last 5 months.

I simply cannot wrap my head around this mass halucination. How are investors even agreeing with giving several million bucks to an enthusiastic young person with zero business planning? And zero ideas how will they repay the investment? The pitchers (future CEOs) are just like "we are totally gonna revolutionize area X with blockchain!" and then money starts rolling in.

I am sure I am over-simplifying but still, can somebody explain this process to me? I am still baffled to this day.

</comment><comment><USER10> He quotes Scott Alexander on "Moloch" (an essay I haven't read yet), "In some competition optimizing for X, the opportunity arises to throw some other value under the bus for improved X. Those who take it prosper. Those who don't take it die out.... The process continues until all other values that can be traded off have been – in other words, until human ingenuity cannot possibly figure out a way to make things any worse."

Is this not a fancy way of describing what's usually called the Tragedy of the Commons?

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

<comment><USER11> It is about the tragedy of the commons and what it implies when self- modification becomes possible, such as genetic engineering in humans and recursive self-improvement in potential future AIs.

That essay is a hell of a piece or writing. It didn't so much change my object-level policy opinions for the here and now, but it ripped the heart out of my Libertarianism. I've always found markets and selection beautiful and fascinating and powerful, which is all true. But I also thought they had a teleology that was humanistic. This is false.

To the extent this seems true now, it is only because humans are the current hardware markets are running on. Fundamentally, they are not our side in the long term.

I have found few pieces of writing more powerful:

[http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on- moloch/](http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/)

Nick Bostrom explores similar themes in The Future of Human Evolution: [https://nickbostrom.com/fut/evolution.html](https://nickbostrom.com/fut/evolution.html)

<comment><USER12> Loved this rabbit hole. Thanks!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> Off topic but doing blogs on Notion seems like a really good idea. I like the format.

<comment><USER14> I was thinking the same thing. If only Notion allowed custom domain mapping - I will be the first person to shift my public content to Notion, having already done so with much of my private content.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I'm likely guilty of being a naive technologist. I appreciate this different perspective.

</comment><comment><USER16> Huh someone is typing in that post as I read it. Pretty cool, but confusing.

<comment><AUTHOR> sorry :P</comment></comment>


You, Too, Can Be on the Cutting Edge of Functional Programming Research (2012) - <AUTHOR> https://prog21.dadgum.com/138.html <comment><USER2> it is really cool anecdotes, short and tidy. Loved it</comment>


A polyglot's guide to multiple dispatch – part 4 - <AUTHOR> http://eli.thegreenplace.net/2016/a-polyglots-guide-to-multiple-dispatch-part-4/ <comment><USER2> Really enjoyed this series. Previous parts:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11526923](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11526923) [Intro, C++]

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11541526](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11541526) [Python]

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11571451](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11571451) [CLOS]

</comment><comment><USER3> _I posted this on the blog but I 'm copying it here because I have to wait for approval on the blog._

If you didn't know, Clojure's dispatch mechanism is based on the Common Lisp library, filtered functions[0], which is described in this paper[1].

[0] [https://github.com/pcostanza/filtered- functions](https://github.com/pcostanza/filtered-functions)

[1] [http://www.p-cos.net/documents/filtered- dispatch.pdf](http://www.p-cos.net/documents/filtered-dispatch.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER4> > In fact, multiple dispatch is best categorized as a generalization of OOP, > being more in the domain of generic programming. Kinda like the generic > programming of C++, just at runtime instead of being limited to compile-time > constructs and metaprogramming.

Doing it at compile-time is a _feature_ , because the compiler has more information available for selecting the right specialization. (Technically, this can be done at runtime as well, but only at the price of making dispatch insanely expensive.) For example, in CLOS, how would I do the equivalent of specializing a template for when its argument is a `vector<list<unique_ptr<int>>>`?

<comment><USER5> Could you clarify if you are trying to make a comparison between garbage collection and unique_ptr? Or are you saying that you wish CLOS allowed dispatch on types as well as classes (anyone know the historical reason for why this is the case?). Or are you making the point that it would be ugly to create a new class "vector-of-list-of-fixnums"? Or something else?

<comment><USER6> CLOS only allows dispatch on classes and not types, because there is no hierarchy in types.

For example, if you have a method specializing on the type (satisfies a) and a method specializing on the type (satisfies b), and you call a generic function with an object that satisfies both a and b, which method should be called first?

Or methods specializing on the types (integer 0 8) and (integer 1 9). If the argument is 5, which type is more specific?

Classes are a subset of types with a certain hierarchy, so there is always a "correct" order for methods to be called in.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Didn't notice the part 4 at first. Initial thought was, "My god, how has this article been on the front page for two straight weeks?? Must be an _incredible_ write-up."</comment>


Ask HN: Are there any SMS-alert-on-email-message-pattern-match services? - <AUTHOR>

What I'd like to do is use a service (should be cheap--$1/month?) that watches my email for a particular header pattern (usually a subject pattern), and sends my phone an SMS alerting me to that message.
(In my case, it's sales messages.)
I don't need "push" email in this case, the obvious solution, as I only really care about a few critical emails.
This seems so obvious, someone should have already done it... <comment><USER2> An easy way to do it would be to set up a filter in your e-mail program to forward e-mails with your pattern to your cellphone. Most providers give you an e-mail address that sends SMS to your phone. For example AT&T have [number]@txt.att.net and it will forward to your phone number as a SMS.</comment>


It's no longer possible to make a functional indie browser - <AUTHOR> https://boingboing.net/2020/01/08/rip-open-web-platform.html <comment><USER2> This page redirects me to an adobe flash installation screen randomly.</comment>


Want to disrupt a huge and dated market? - <AUTHOR>

The hedge fund industry is screaming for innovation.
This is a market that literally hemorrhages money and will spend a huge amount of money for product that solve pain points.
A conversation with a small fund manager provided the following insights: CRM sucks and is a market there for the taking, marketing platforms don't exist, in house communication tools are costly for smaller funds and end of month reporting is expensive and ugly. <comment><USER2> Why not go to the Fintech hack weekend in London next month, probably the best place to find cofounders.

</comment><comment><USER3> I've been working in this area as well, if you'd like to discuss it further... shoot me an email.</comment>


Europe funds secure operating system research - <AUTHOR> http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/67026/europe-funds-secure-operating-system-research

<comment><USER2> Reminds me of this:

[http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2007/07/my- navr...](http://unqualified-reservations.blogspot.com/2007/07/my-navrozov- moments.html)

 _The lily needed no gilding at all, and it certainly did not need to be nanofabricated from isotopically pure, individually selected gold atoms. Academic CS researchers at the time, for whatever ridiculous reason (probably something to do with microkernels), thought that there should be many more fine-grained security transitions in an OS environment. In fact if anything the trend is away from multiuser computing and toward virtualized or "shared- nothing" designs in which communication between protection domains is minimal._

</comment><comment><USER3> Research needs to go into secure programming environments, not secure operating systems. The vast majority of horrible security flaws never come within a mile of the kernel.

<comment><USER4> The point of secure operating systems is not to reduce the number of flaws in the kernel. It is to make the authority gained by exploiting any single program minimal. So it should make flaws less horrible.

<comment><USER3> When I said "miles away from the kernel", I meant that the opportunity for the kernel to address problems in the application layer were minimal. There's little the kernel can to do, say, make SQL Injection less horrible.

<comment><USER4> Personally I consider the fact that a random downloaded game run, by default, could delete all your personal data a pretty big security flaw that can be dealt with at the kernel level.

So we have different meanings of security flaw. Probably because you are thinking of the security of a website, where I am more interested in securing the average users PC.

<comment><USER3> Read Dan Bernstein's retrospective on qmail, where he essentially disavows "least privilege" controls on his programs (which were the heart of his security model). Modern operating systems all offer some degree of privilege revocation and code-level access control; none of them get used, because users needs are too complex.

If a dent is really going to be made in this problem, it's going to happen in Flash Player (or its more recent analogs, like Google NaCL).

<comment><USER4> I'll grant you that current (and most proposed capability based) security systems are too complex for the user to manage.

However the question on the table is research. We should be researching security models that don't rely on the user to manage the complexity.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> This title says that funding is for secure operating system research. Contents seems like its for making minix better. I am very skeptical about operating system that fixes its bugs. It may become one more multics project. Though micro kernel looks really good in theory, neither minix nor hurd have taken off like linux or FreeBSD

<comment><USER6> Anything new about exo-kernels?

<comment><USER7> They got renamed to hypervisors. One of my coworkers is still being funded by DOE to do libOSes for HPC.

<comment><USER6> Thanks.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Research needs to be done into better operating systems, but I don't think it is worth implementing too much of them.

Minix, from what I have read, isn't going to be a sufficient enough advance to get the man on the street to adopt it. For that to be true it would have to significantly easier to manage. While he advocates the principle of least authority, he isn't currently innovating on how that authority gets passed on to the programs. A lack of mechanism generally means it is up to the user to do so, which puts some work load and cognitive effort on the user.

</comment><comment><USER8> So that's €2.5 million for 5 people for 5 years. Assuming they already own computers, that's €100,000/year each, and they don't even need to produce anything at the end of it. Nice work if you can get it!

Remind me again why we're a member of the EU?</comment>


Show HN: Coffee Break, Mini Games on FB Messenger - <AUTHOR> https://coffeebreak.games <comment><AUTHOR> This is an experiment and a mini side project, an attempt to create a game based on the Messenger platform. Playable entirely within Messenger, just like other bots.

With the Messenger platform 1.2 changes, adding Webview Extension and Sharing button, it feels like the tools to build some mini games on top of the platform now exist. This is an experiment at that.

One more note to add, while the mini games are playable on web Messenger, they were designed to be played on mobile and the experience is infinitely better on it.</comment>


Ask HN: Why doesn't GitHub save just the AST, letting devs decide on formatting? - <AUTHOR> Big companies & repos have standardised code styles, big parts of which is formatter settings. Would it be possible to track only the AST on git, leaving the formatting of the code 100% on the viewer?
That would allow different devs from the same company view the code however they like it — it would separate meaning from style. And I'm sure working internally with only the AST would bring some more benefits I just fail to see at the moment.
Is anybody working in this space? Or is it just too much work to be worth it? <comment><USER2> GitHub is based on git and inherits its features, assumptions, and quirks.

1) Git is implemented as line-orientated differences between text files. This works well for any and every text file regardless of what the text represents. If you switched to ASTs, you would have to create an AST-oriented diff algorithm.

1a) You would have to write a language parser to generate the AST for every language you wanted to support.

2) ASTs generally don't represent comments. You would have to make your AST parser to understand and preserve comments.

2a) Often times comments are formatted in a specific way, e.g. using spacing and line breaks, to help understanding. If you reformat the code, it may destroy the information inherent in the comment formatting.

3) While there are "standardized" coding styles, there are innumerable corner cases that the styles don't cover explicitly or that programmers "interpret differently." Programmers tend to get unhappy if you reformat their code _with_ ironclad justification and get really pissed if you do it _without_ ironclad justification.

So, yes, IMHO it is just too much work to be worth it.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I think most of those things could be solved, along the lines of

1) Just swap out the diff algo, keeping the rest of git intact.

1a) Is already done for most popular languages.

2)+2a) Save the comments verbatim, with whitespace. Shouldn't shake up the normal AST very much.

3) No counterargument here, they would lose the cases that currently slip under the radar.

But yeah, you're probably right... Too much work. Shame we didn't have this from the start.

<comment><USER3> This is something I've thought about, not from the perspective of source management but editor operations. The best way to handle semantic diffs is to record the change semantically. E.g. rename field in struct. This only works for languages that can exactly and reliably find/change all instances.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> what would a diff look like?</comment>


Show HN: Status Money compares your finances to millions of people - <AUTHOR> Status Money is a new personal finance management (PFM) website that lets you anonymously compare your finances to millions of people.
We've been working on it for over a year and would love your thoughts and feedback!
Check it out at: https://statusmoney.com
How it works: Status aggregates your financial accounts, syncs with your TransUnion credit file, and shows you how your spending, income, assets, debts, net worth, and credit score compare with people like you – these are people your age that live in your city and have an income, credit score, and housing situation that is similar to yours.
You can find out if you spend more on rent or restaurants than people living near you, if you have more debt than people with similar income, or if you pay higher interest rates than people with similar credit scores. You can even create your own custom comparison groups to see the cost of living across different cities or among renters vs. homeowners.
Status crunches over 3TB of data to enable these comparisons for more than a million different combinations of age, location, income, credit score, and housing type (we think that's pretty cool). It also uses algorithms and natural language processing to create simple insights that help you find opportunities to save money.
About us: We're a couple of data scientists who previously worked at banks and credit card companies. We spent years working with financial data and wanted to build a product that would use that data to help millions of people understand and manage their finances. It was important to us to make this product available to everyone - so we have committed to keeping Status free.
Let us know what you think! <comment><USER2> This app is terrific! I like that it connects all accounts in one go and categorizes my transactions.

<comment><USER3> @roybaldi

Correlation not being causation, i could b wrong, but you signed up 50 mins ago just to post about the awesomeness of this app, with nothing critical to say at all? Not very HN of you!! My model has you at a 90% chance of being a shill, like I said I could b wrong tho</comment></comment>


Ask HN: WFH because of the pandemic? What is the most challenging task for you? - <AUTHOR> If you just started to work from home because of the current situation, what are the most challenging tasks for you in your day to day life? What is something that was really easy previously and became painful as you started to work remotely? <comment><USER2> My main point was telling my family I am not available although I am physically present.

Next was not to do housework in between. It always takes longer than I anticipate.

<comment><AUTHOR> Are you still following your normal daily schedule (eg. wake up the same time, dress up for work, pretend like go to work, etc) or you've set up a new one for this situation?

<comment><USER2> Same routine, except I don't leave the house. I'm thinking about actually doing that. :-)

I learned it helps my mind to get into "work" mode when I put on my office clothes. Not so much if I stay in a T-shirt.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER3> Motivation.My wife and one of our friends says the same thing. It is very difficult to stay focused and actually do work. It's difficult to care.

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you think that's because you are home (which is not the place for work usually) or because you have fewer things to do? Or instead of work, you are focusing on what's happening in the world right now?

<comment><USER3> It's so many things.

\- We just moved, so I'd rather be unpacking and organizing our stuff.

\- I'm sitting at my home PC, where I normally work on fun projects that I care about, or play games, etc. There are two projects I am itching to do right now that I _could_ be doing at my computer, but instead, I'm reading work emails.

\- I am admittedly a bit burnout from my actual job right now.

\- Three cats who want to climb all over me and my computer desk all day, and a dog who wants to play and go outside all provide excellent distractions.

<comment><AUTHOR> That sounds like a lot to deal with. Have you tried to mix your normal work with housework? Eg. working on work-related things from 9 to 11, do some unpacking and organizing from 11 to 12, back to normal work from 12 to 13, so on and so forth. While you are away from your computer, you can check your mails on your phone for "urgent" messages, so if someone really needs you, you can go back to your pc. That's probably not going to solve the issue with your pets :D But maybe it can help with all the other stuff.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Working more hours than I normally would</comment>


Algolia (YC W14) raises a $18.3M Series A - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2015/05/20/algolia-grabs-18-3-million-from-accel-for-its-search-api-on-steroids <comment><USER2> I'd love some insight from the Algolia folks on what metrics it took to put this massive round together (esp considering the 2nd seed). Obviously, it means that you had middling numbers for the 2nd seed that you've managed to turn into fairly substantial growth (congratulations!).

$2m ARR with 25% MoM growth?

<comment><USER3> Thanks! Pretty good guess, you're close :)

<comment><USER2> :)

Can you give more specifics, esp around the monthly growth. The difference between 20% and 30% is pretty massive there!

<comment><USER3> 30% on average in 2014, lower today. Sorry we don't disclose specifics (at least for now). Happy to share experience offline however.

<comment><USER2> No worries. Those are fantastic numbers, congrats!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Algolia is mind blowing. We are replacing mysql backend with algolia and its bringing down latencies from 300-400 ms down to 10-20 ms. Things like out of the box multi location support and full text search etc makes algolia compelling choice.

All this at $49/ month is actually a good deal!

I wish them well.

<comment><USER5> Did you try Solr or ElasticSearch before deciding to go with Algolia? Comparing them to MySQL is a bit of an apples/orange comparison, I would like to know how they compare to other search platforms.

<comment><USER4> Well. Setting up your own Solr/ elastic search would cost lot more than $49. Here you have a benefit of having platform as a service too

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

"Originally from France, the company is now headquartered in San Francisco."

Hmm, is it really advantage to move engineering to Bay Area from France. On LinkedIn it looks they have more than half of company employees are in Paris. Given large cost of living in Bay Area and how hard is to hire engineers there, it may make sense to grow their Paris office.

<comment><USER7> Good luck raising funds in France :(

Docker also moved from France to San Francisco and if they hadn't done so, they would be dead by now.

Congrats to Algolia. They have a killer product, backed by a really talented team.

<comment><USER8> The 'dailymotion' story certainly didn't help the French tech scene.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> I've never had a problem implementing realtime search. Can somebody give me an example use case where algolia is a better solution than doing it yourself?

Clearly it's a popular, in-demand service -- I'm genuinely curious as to the types of apps/websites this is best suited for.

<comment><USER10> Companies that don't employ people as talented as you probably are. There are lots of them, and they have plenty of dollars to spend on services that fulfill their needs. Often, technology is not the core strength of these companies.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> I really want to use Algolia, but their pricing model just sucks. What's the point of a 14 day trial? If I'm going to spend a couple days hacking something using Algolia, I wouldn't want it to end in 14 days. And it's extremely expensive..$49 a month for the starter package? No thanks.

Their free plan can only store 1000 rows..that's really small. What they should do is at least 100k row for free (I'd even go to 1 million), but charge me the moment i surpass X amount of requests. That way I would be comfortable using Algolia from day 1 of my startup and stick with them forever.

<comment><USER2> If you're building a startup, you should consider $49/mo to be a trivial expense and just pay it. I'm aware that you'll need to use dozens of services and the cost may well achieve $1000/mo, even in the early days. Doesn't matter, just pay it.

Startups are about growth. Paying for SaaS allows you to focus on your product and to grow much more quickly and aggressively than you would otherwise. It's silly and wasteful to even think about not spending $49/mo for the kind of leverage you'd get from Algolia.

<comment><USER12> As someone who bootstrapped a "startup", there are plenty -- PLENTY -- of non- SaaS solutions that:

1) are perpetually licensed. You don't have to worry that they'll disappear on you, or jack up their prices.

2) are cheaper. far, far cheaper.

3) are just as effective.

4) enable growth by:

4a) Being extensible (server-side code execution enables a _lot_ ).

4b) Being economical (SaaS chews up a runway like nobody's business).

4c) Building valuable (in the business agility sense) internal expertise.

5) don't incur the overhead of managing accounts for people across a different provider for every service. If you're growing fast, having a single account switch to flip makes a real difference to new-hire integration overhead and effectiveness.

Hard dependencies on costly software subscriptions is rarely a net win for a startup.

<comment><USER13> $49 per month is 'costly'? That's barely 1/2 an hour of developer time. That's an absolute bargain. If it took a developer 6 hours to build an in house solution, that just cost as much as a year of Algolia. And that dev time doesn't even include the servers or maintenance costs. $49 is nothing. It would actually be irresponsible to not spend that amount because you'd be focusing reasorces wastefully by building something you needn't build. It's like people who hire a Dev Ops guy when Heroku would cost them $2000 per month; instead they'll pay AWS $1500 and then a full time salary to manage it. Or, to put it into perspective; $49 per month is probably hundreds less than a typical ping-ping startup spends on microbrews for the beer fridge.

<comment><USER12> An in-house solution and the resulting acquired expertise may provide a great deal more inherent value.

And what's irresponsible is using software (languages, architecture, deployment methods) so inefficient that you need to spend $2000/mo to host a minimal deployment.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Congrats. I checked out Algolia a while back, and its great to see such progress. I wonder if Algolia and Swiftype will merge because they both offer great products.

<comment><USER15> how are algolia and swiftype different?

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I love Algolia. Used it as a core part of a project I worked on. Very slick.

</comment><comment><USER17> by the creators of exalead

<comment><USER18> ... and HN Search!

</comment></comment><comment><USER19> Great folks, great technology. Well done Nicolas, Julien and team!

</comment><comment><USER20> fantastic ui.

we barely use elasticsearch for searches but for statistics and data analytics, will these features also be added?

<comment><USER3> We already provide analytics about the searches performed on your indices. However, we focus on user-facing search use-cases. We don't recommend using Algolia for processing your logs for example. See this quora answer for an Elasticsearch / Algolia comparison: [http://www.quora.com/How-does- Elasticsearch-relate-and-or-co...](http://www.quora.com/How-does- Elasticsearch-relate-and-or-compare-to-Algolias-Search-as-a-Service)

</comment></comment><comment><USER21> Congrats to the team!</comment>


Rate/review my start - vyew.com - web conferencing - <AUTHOR> http://www.vyew.com We've been around for a while, but ui still needs work. Since theres been so much good criticism of other startups on HN, I thought I'd ask for reviews - specifically on product usability. <comment><AUTHOR> We've been around for a while, but the UI needs some work. Since there was so much good criticism of others' "rate my startups", I thought I'd give it a try. Im specifically looking for feedback on UI/Usability of the product. Thx.</comment>


I have loved football for years, but this NFL season is making me queasy - <AUTHOR> https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/ive-loved-the-football-for-years-but-this-nfl-season-is-making-me-queasy/2017/09/07/1e9f3eb0-9417-11e7-89fa-bb822a46da5b_story.html?utm_term=.663a044222c4 <comment><USER2> "And the blackballing of Colin Kaepernick and the overall NFL ambivalence toward its players' legitimate concerns about equality and social justice"

I think people think of Sports differently than they should. The NFL is an extremely popular and profitable business. If this were Hollywood -for example - I doubt anyone expect a different outcome. If an actor did something that the director disagreed with, it would be addressed. The NFL is a multi billion dollar stage - you had better believe that the proverbial directors are going to define what goes on.</comment>


What do startups use to track leads? - <AUTHOR>

My SaaS startup needs a CRM system.
Looking form something that integrates with Gmail, ideally.
What do fellow HNers use and why? <comment><USER2> DO you really need something to track leads or develop them in the first place, then email them and track them? I find many of my clients fall in this category when they think they need a crm. They don't - instead they really need a way to get leads and email them in the first place.

</comment><comment><USER3> Check out Pipedrive. It's a CRM and pipeline management tool that's simple yet still pretty powerful.

[https://www.pipedrive.com/](https://www.pipedrive.com/)

<comment><AUTHOR> That looks good, will check it out. Thank you.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Streak. Only. Ever.

<comment><AUTHOR> Will give it a try, thank you.

Edit: just installed Streak - it's exactly what I needed!

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> looking at solve360 as it does document management as well

</comment><comment><USER6> [http://close.io/](http://close.io/) looks pretty neat; it spun out from the YC "sales as a service" company Elastic.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: 14 days off work, help me pick a project - <AUTHOR>

I've got 14 days off from work and I want to build a SaaS/app to generate some income to substitute my job.
Need help/suggestions on what to build:
A) Idea: iOS/Android app that lets you "review" Facebook friends anonymously (imagine Amazon style reviews). Reviews are private, only the recipient can read them. E.g. you smell good but your time-keeping is horrible.
Business model: Get acquired.
Issue: Difficult marketing. No income for a while until funded.
B) Idea: Small entrepreneurs need finance ($5k-$30k to open a local coffee shop), other people have small amounts saved up ($5k-$50k) and don't know where to invest. Solution: Connect these people through a network (imagine linkedIn).
Business model: Entrepreneurs get charged to upload a business plans. Investors get charged a monthly fee to view profiles of entrepreneurs and their business plans.
Issues: Chicken and egg problem.
C) Idea: Replicate FollowGen:
http://edu.mkrecny.com/thoughts/twitter-should-shut-me-down
This will possibly make me some money until I get shut down, but by then I will have a proper start-up on the side (maybe A or B or other more convoluted ideas).
D) Idea: Web based server monitoring tool (CPU, RAM, etc...) with a pretty UI, e.g.:
http://dribbble.com/shots/1023229-Ultramarine-Admin?list=searches&tag=dashboard&offset=16
http://dribbble.com/shots/1315388-Dashboard-Web-App-UI-Job-Summary/attachments/184703
Analytics could be stored on the cloud to give web access.
Business model: Subscription?
Issues: Super small market? Sys admins know their command line stuff, no need to buy extra crap.
E) Any other suggestions are appreciated
UX/UI: Pay a designer at the end to build a pretty UI with all the latest.js/one page/flat/parallax and other crap.
Remember I only have full 14 days and then it's evenings/weekends. <comment><USER2> I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest you go on holiday instead; jump on a flight to somewhere fun, put your feet up and enjoy some sun and interact with some locals and other travellers. You'll come back with a ton of ideas.

<comment><AUTHOR> Already did that a few times in the past year + I am going on a holiday soon :)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I think you're approaching this in the wrong way. And, trust me, I have been there and done that over and over again and failed numerous times. People work on a side project for multiple reasons, and give that your reason is simply to augment your primary income, there is only one thing you should be looking for: people who are willing to put down their money to pay for what you want to build for them. Is that easy? No, but there are tonnes of crappy software out there which businesses pay for, and if you replace one of them, you can become ramen profitable pretty soon. What you really need to do is pick an industry (boring the better) that you know well or have good contacts in, and spend some time studying how they work and what you can do to make their life better.

You can of course also hypothetically build a product and hope to succeed, but that will be leaving too much to chance.

</comment><comment><USER4> > D) Idea: Web based server monitoring tool (CPU, RAM, etc...) with a pretty > UI

> Issues: Super small market?

This is definitely not a small market and there is plenty of competition:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7340001](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7340001)

[http://blog.dataloop.io/2014/01/30/what-we-learnt-talking- to...](http://blog.dataloop.io/2014/01/30/what-we-learnt-talking- to-60-companies-about-monitoring/)

</comment><comment><USER5> You could combine D) with some service products e.g. installation of tool + monitoring of tool. Let the user provide SSH-Credentials and stack together a built system, which automatically logs in and installs some packages with common configuration, the user has chosen before. Make this service free and charge for the monitoring. More complex configuration can be sold later on.

Sell it as System-Administration as a Service without a lock-in, this way you can target web designers or business people.

<comment><USER6> I've done system administration for many years, as a remote-worker.

Trying to sell expertise in this field is hard, even when you have a lot of knowledge and contacts. The biggest issue is that people don't want to give remote logins to systems, to people far away.

I setup a trivial page at [http://remote-sysadmin.com/](http://remote- sysadmin.com/) but getting attention has been very hard, even though I got a few contacts along the lines of "Please automate Debian updates", or "Please install plugin Foo for wordpress, plz".

<comment><USER5> Well, if that is the problem, why not add a photo of you wearing a suit, an address, a short resume and some customer photos/logos with feedback?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> I could give you my opinion but I think you should pick what sounds most exciting for you brain.

Excitement == motivation to work on it!

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm motivated to work on all of them! But since there is an experienced audience here I could get some pointers/feedback that I might've overlooked.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> Something you charge money for.

<comment><USER9> I agree, but would add: "and that generates money for your customers".

</comment></comment><comment><USER10> Do you like commerce? I need help with Octopus (octopus.org).</comment>


How a Soccer Star is Made - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

<comment><USER2> I found the very subjective attitude to selecting talent interesting. I imagine this is because soccer is a sport that doesn't really lend itself to collecting metrics. Nor is it a sport where physical attributes are decisive.

The case of the 5-year-old was also interesting. It makes me wonder: how young is too young to meaningfully identify ability?

<comment><USER3> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS6nS8W0bOU>

'Young Messi' was definitely a talent

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> This awesome article highlights a problem I studied in college economics called the "inappropriability of labor".

The problem is that because slavery is illegal, investments in training will be significantly reduced. For example, if I was your slave, you might invest $50k in training me because you'd be sure that a better-trained-me would make you more money. But if I was your employee, you wouldn't invest $50k in me because I could leave at any time.

This is also why your cheap employer doesn't send you to that professional development conference you want to attend.

This Dutch club got around this problem by selling soccer contracts. One thing the article did not mention is that to adopt this model in the US, a US training organization would have to have some method of making money by selling contracts or the like.

</comment><comment><USER5> Fascinating. I can't help but think of _Ender's Game_.

</comment><comment><USER6> You should watch the video. A great way to illustrate an article like that.</comment>


Show HN: End-to-end LTE example with Docker and emulated radio - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/pgorczak/srslte-docker-emulated <comment><AUTHOR> If you wonder about real world use cases for open source LTE stacks like srsLTE: They're great for deploying small ad-hoc cells e.g. in vehicular and rescue scenarios like in our work from earlier this year: [https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.09262](https://arxiv.org/abs/1802.09262)

<comment><USER2> In an ad hoc situation like a rescue, what would the backhaul be?

<comment><USER3> I used to volunteer for a first aid organisation and often we would be providing support for large events like county shows or sports events.

The radios we used were simple VHF radios on licensed frequencies. There was no encryption which meant anyone could listen in, so obviously we weren't allowed to discuss personal details over the radio. Depending on the actual event we may be covering a large area or uneven terrain, so the radios may not always work.

For backhaul we'd either use our phone if we needed to call the emergency services or for larger events we'd have them onsite so they would forward the message on - for example to warn a hospital of an incoming patient (often it was in remote areas where the nearest hospital had limited A&E facilities) or to call an air ambulance.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Perhaps I'm missing something but what is the benefit of LTE over 802.11ac? I know that traditionally LTE is only on licensed bands and 802.11ac mostly on unlicensed. However, it seems 802.11ac gear is significantly cheaper. Both technologies can be run across whatever spectrum you'd like.

What characteristics does LTE have that makes it better than 802.11ac for some of the applications mentioned?

<comment><USER5> Distance?

<comment><USER4> I thought distance was more tied to effective radiated power, installation, and frequency selections. Off the shelf 2.4 GHz 802.11ac gear can easily do 30+ mi.

<comment><USER6> With ultra high gain antennas right? So 30+ miles is only good for point to point applications.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER7> Side question: there's no way to get low-level access to the WiFi adapter in a MacBook Pro, right? It would be nice if I could do SDR stuff with the radio antenna that came with my computer... though I'm guessing it's not the right type of antenna anyway.

<comment><USER8> Yes, the wifi antennas are very specifically sized for the 802.11 frequency ranges. They also often have band pass filters built in to prevent transmissions outside of those bands, as required by FCC regulations and such. That said, if you are really interested in that kind of thing, and you are willing to switch to Linux, the wireless card drivers are very hackable.

Source: I forked the driver for my wireless card many years ago and still maintain it, tho these days it's mostly the upstream kernel driver plus a few hacks to get the most out of the hardware: [https://github.com/FreedomBen/rtl8188ce-linux- driver](https://github.com/FreedomBen/rtl8188ce-linux-driver)

<comment><USER9> Damn, this is really cool. Great work!

Small question: how much does this affect power on the laptops you've used this on?

<comment><USER8> Thank you! I'm sorry I'm not totally sure what you are asking. Are you asking how much does it drain the laptop battery? To be honest I've never really tested that, but I'm curious now :-) If you are asking how much the driver affects the transmit power of the wireless card, it takes it from 20 dB up to 33 dB, and each 3 dB is a doubling of power, so it cranks it up by a significant amount.

<comment><USER9> Yes, I was curious about how much this affects battery drain. It seems like it would be a considerable amount.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> I have started development for low power IOT devices and am very keen to use LTE bands from 450 MHz to 2.7 GHz LTE Cat-M1/NB1/NB2 protocol layers L1-L3 to leverage the low power modems that are being developed on chip. I want to know if there is a way to make a local transmitter, there is no LTE-M cellular spectrum where I work from

</comment><comment><USER11> So a fully open-source phone is now feasible given friendly hardware? I thought replacing the baseband was much farther away.

<comment><USER12> The Osmocom project created a GSM baseband codebase already (but it isn't useful for end-users):

[https://osmocom.org/projects/baseband/](https://osmocom.org/projects/baseband/)

There are LTE modems that run Linux, theoretically the code that runs on them could be rewritten from scratch:

[https://osmocom.org/projects/quectel- modems/](https://osmocom.org/projects/quectel-modems/)

In addition there have been many baseband exploits over the years, those could be used to gain access to basebands and reverse engineer everything.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> Does anyone have experience with private LTE networks and iOS devices? Do they generally work in networks like this?

</comment><comment><USER14> these are interesting PoC's but the biggest hurdle for me is the price of the hardware. ~700-1000 USD for a radio?

are there better alternatives anyone knows of?

<comment><AUTHOR> The [https://github.com/srsLTE/srsLTE/](https://github.com/srsLTE/srsLTE/) readme says they've tested LimeSDR too (I don't know how well the smaller versions of Lime would work though)</comment></comment>


Christie's to offer T. Rex skeleton, estimated to bring $6-8m, at October sale - <AUTHOR> https://www.barrons.com/articles/christies-to-offer-t-rex-skeleton-at-october-sale-01600253090?mod=hp_minor_pos26&adobe_mc=MCMID%3D86206720836215356133852782028670449008|MCORGID%3DCB68E4BA55144CAA0A4C98A5%2540AdobeOrg|TS%3D1600266931 <comment><AUTHOR> [https://archive.vn/0i4j5](https://archive.vn/0i4j5)

>Stan, which carries an estimate between US$6 million and US$8 million, is considered one of the largest and most complete examples of a T. rex, with 188 original bones. The skull is also "one of the most complete T. rex examples known to science," Christie's said, with as many as 58 teeth and eyes the "size of baseballs."

The Black Hills Institute has studied and displayed Stan for 20 years, and is offering it for sale now as part of a settlement agreement. Sue also was the subject of a dispute that in its case led to the return of the remains to the owner of the land where it was discovered, who then brought it to auction.

With Christie's unable to accommodate crowds to see the massive skeleton, the auction house has blown out walls in its New York Rockefeller Center showroom so that Stan—at 13-feet-high and 40-feet-long including his outstretched tail—can be seen from the sidewalk on 49th Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues in New York City beginning on Wednesday. It will be on view until Oct. 21.</comment>


Spring sun banishes the last of winter - <AUTHOR> http://www.victusspiritus.com/2011/04/03/spring-sun-banishes-the-last-of-winter/ <comment><USER2> Hmm, is your blog set up to auto-submit to HN? Not that there's anything wrong with this post, but I was sort of surprised by it being submitted here, since it seems more of a "personal photos" than "submit to HN" type of post.</comment>


Facial Recognition Startup Megvii Files IPO in Hong Kong - <AUTHOR> https://venturebeat.com/2019/08/26/facial-recognition-startup-megvii-files-ipo-in-hong-kong/ <comment><USER2> Are they seriously expecting Hong Kong people to back a facial recognition startup? "Hey, guys, we know you've been cutting down facial recognition cameras but how about you actually buy in?"

These people have been fighting for their freedom for weeks, using Telegram to coordinate protests and provide shelter and medical help to those hounded by the 'police', using non-violent (largely) methods to fight back against opression... And now a Chinese state-sponsored startup wants to get money from them? How's that going to work?

Even the article states that the company is losing money and seems to be getting worse. Pretty sure Hong Kong citizens would rather invest into something like Telegram/Signal or a means of resistance to state-sponsored surveillance (EMP devices, masks, signal scramblers, etc.)</comment>