text
stringlengths 44
776k
| meta
dict |
|---|---|
Mozilla debuts implementation of WebThings Gateway open-source router firmware - cpeterso
https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/25/mozilla-debuts-webthings-gateway-open-source-router-firmware-for-turris-omnia/
======
tialaramex
This the closest we have so far to an answer to the point raised in the IETF
105 Technical Plenary a few days ago.
Encrypting everything means that IoT devices represent an unknown threat -
your "smart" TV connects to Sourceforge and downloads... something every week.
What for? Your "smart" thermostat calls the IP of the vendor, maybe to get
firmware updates, but it also calls the Disney corporation - what for? You
can't snoop any of this because it's using encryption with pinned keys, so
MITM doesn't work. Obviously hardcore reverse engineering is possible, but
it's extremely expensive. So in practice it won't get done.
But, if we can popularize a safe option, we can just flag all the unsafe
approaches that are popular today. We can teach vendors that this is a bad
idea and they shouldn't do it, and (cross fingers) it might go away, like
X-ray shoe sizing.
~~~
degenerate
I was fascinated by your X-ray example. Here's a link for others:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-
fitting_fluoroscope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope)
~~~
Shorn
Goddammit. The comments are why I browse HN on a daily basis, but sometimes
you folks are worse than Wikipedia. I _know_ I shouldn't click that link.
/me grumpily clicks link
------
m12k
What's HN's thoughts on IoT? To me it looks like yet another buzzword from the
"wouldn't it be neat?" crowd (the same people who previously gave us a lot of
hype about Semantic Web and P2P social networks) but as before none of the
applications are actually worth the hassle, this prevents critical mass from
ever being reached, and in reality it's mostly just a way for appliance
companies who are already overcharging me for non-repairable planned-
obsolescence-ridden products, to overcharge me a bit more. I'm glad someone
without a profit motive is taking a stab at it, but I still fail to see the
actual uses of it being worth the hassle.
~~~
SamuelAdams
It's a great idea, but companies are building products that no one wants.
Here's a few ideas of products / services / suites of items I would actually
buy for my home:
\- Machine to completely do my dishes. End to end. It puts them from the sink
to the dishwasher. Runs the dishwasher. Takes them out of the dishwasher and
puts them in the cabinet. I do not care if this takes 5 hours - it can run
overnight. I just don't want to think about it.
\- Lets the dog out. If I can do this manually, say when I'm on vacation or
something, cool. I saw a post about some dude who used facial recognition
software on his cat's door flap to see if the cat was bringing in a dead
rodent: it barred the cat from entering unless he dropped the rodent. That's a
good start. But I don't want to hire a dog sitter. Just have siri or Alexa or
whatever home assistant you have do it.
\- I want automated recycling. Basically I don't want to think about
organizing my garbage. Apparently there's a long list of items that can't be
recycled. I honestly can't remember them all, so forcing me to do this
manually is always going to result in error.
~~~
patentatt
Kind of an aside, but I hope such a virtual dog sitter never comes to fruition
for the sake of your dog. Dogs shouldn’t be alone for that long!
~~~
ivelostn
The dogs not alone. It has the robot. The robot could let you peer in remotely
and say hi. The robot could comfort your dog for you while you’re away. The
robot is there for your dog while you can’t be. The robot could 3D print dog
friendly toys for it and feed it too.
~~~
clairity
so it's the robot's dog then?
~~~
SturgeonsLaw
The robot owns the dog, the human owns the robot, and the human's job owns the
human. Just like nature intended.
------
Jonnax
My wish is to have the equivalent of Google home hub running locally.
Really my only use cases are:
* glancing at the screen to see the weather
* Asking it to turn on or off or change colour of Hue lights
* Timers for cooking
I've since unplugged my google box because I felt the sacrifice of privacy
with an always listening box wasn't worth it.
At the end of the day the functionality I use isn't that complex and even
basic voice recognition I'm sure doesn't require the internet.
So I hope that there will be or there is a platform I'm not aware of that runs
it locally.
Certainly Webthings is answering a good chunk of the question.
~~~
andrenatalbr
The Web of Things gateway contains an addon for offline voice control. Search
for it in the addons page. You just need to plug an usb microphone to it.
~~~
dmix
This sounds interesting but I’m curious if needs to be marketed differently or
use some better analogies, since it wasn’t super obvious what it did from the
homeless.
I presume it’s hard to explain how it fits into the stack when it does a lot
of generic IoT sounding stuff.
~~~
dmix
s/homeless/homepage
------
hokkos
It seems to handle a use case I was looking for.
I have a cheap xiaomi aqara hub that is homekit compatible, and I want to
exports its data. Sadly usually the use case is to connect a non homekit iot
to a homekit server from an apple device with homebridge. Here their HomeKit
adapter use a lib called hap-controller-node that seems to be a homekit
server. I will have to try this.
[https://github.com/mozilla-iot/homekit-
adapter/blob/master/p...](https://github.com/mozilla-iot/homekit-
adapter/blob/master/package.json)
[https://github.com/mrstegeman/hap-controller-
node](https://github.com/mrstegeman/hap-controller-node)
~~~
knd775
What do you mean by export its data?
~~~
hokkos
Get the temperature, humidity, pressure, open/close state of the sensors,
live.
~~~
knd775
Ah, here you go then.
[https://www.home-assistant.io/components/xiaomi_aqara/](https://www.home-
assistant.io/components/xiaomi_aqara/)
[https://github.com/home-assistant/home-
assistant/tree/dev/ho...](https://github.com/home-assistant/home-
assistant/tree/dev/homeassistant/components/xiaomi_aqara)
------
sirtoffski
It's kind of sketchy to upload your floor plan...or is it just me??
[https://iot.mozilla.org/docs/gateway-user-
guide.html](https://iot.mozilla.org/docs/gateway-user-guide.html)
~~~
xiaomai
It's uploaded to your device (router / raspberry pi / etc.), it doesn't go to
mozilla or other 3rd parties.
~~~
sirtoffski
Thanks! Totally did not pay enough attention.
------
sudoaza
HTTP for IOT is super heavy, on one side it may be simpler for developer to
hop in, but performance wise this shouldn't be used for anything large scale
or where power/bandwidth constrains are an issue.
Something like ble/lora/zigbee for device-gateway comunication and mqtt or
similar for gateway-collector is the best for me.
~~~
hardwaresofton
The great thing about HTTP outside of just being well known and available
everywhere for developers is that you can use it to negotiate switches to
other completely different protocols, or change content types, as necessary.
This doesn't do much to help truly resource constrained environments but
honestly as power and performance get cheaper, I think most consumer usecases
can spare the cycles.
The machine the gateway is running on can also be extended to use your
solution of choice, for example ZWave with an ESP8266[0][1].
You can also bring your ble/lora/zigbee device-gateway solution with you and
have _that_ thing talk to the WebThings Gateway as well, acting as a proxy if
necessary.
IMO it doesn't get much better than this -- the ship to have one true
communication standard (tm) has already sailed if it was ever even possible,
so we're going to have to paper over them if we want devices to interoperate
-- whatever does the papering is _probably_ going to be more powerful than the
devices themselves, and HTTP has proven to be a pretty easy to grasp and
flexible enough interface over them.
All that said, in the lighter-than-http pile of technologies there's also
CoAP[2] which I learned about recently that is pretty cool.
[0]: [https://github.com/mozilla-iot/zwave-
adapter](https://github.com/mozilla-iot/zwave-adapter)
[1]: [https://www.instructables.com/id/Mozilla-IoT-Gateway-With-
ES...](https://www.instructables.com/id/Mozilla-IoT-Gateway-With-ESP8266-and-
Z-Wave)
[2]: [http://coap.technology](http://coap.technology)
~~~
Spearchucker
And we all know some clown will hook up a nuclear launch system to it so the
good General can connect via his home WiFi. And the doctor a hospital life
support system to "stay informed" at his cabin...
For sure I applaud this and will play with it. And hope my cynicism is
misplaced.
------
gioscarab
I suggest you to take a look at PJON:
[https://github.com/gioblu/PJON](https://github.com/gioblu/PJON)
------
Chris2048
I'm trying to kit my own apartment out with IoT stuff, my biggest concern
isn't voice functionality, or compatibility with social media.
It's security. A NodeMCU device can connect to WiFi via build-in password, but
I'd prefer per-device certificate credentials in order to control what a
device can do. This would mean enterprise WiFi and radius, Maybe VLANs. Making
this easier is the main thing for me.
~~~
zaarn
I would recommend to setup a separate Wifi for IoT devices. This has an
additional advantage; you can put it on a different spectrum, meaning your
normal Wifi will be more free to handle other traffic and keeps the spectrum
cleaner.
------
dredmorbius
What does this offer over stock Turris or OpenWRT builds?
~~~
syn0byte
Absolutely nothing, It's worse with fewer features. Mozilla itself says as
much. This is for playing around with stuff, not general usage.
------
irq
I'm a happy HomeKit user with Apple's native solutions. WebThings Gateway
claims HomeKit support. What does that mean? Does it replace my native Homekit
gateway? Or can it do other stuff? I read the site and couldn't tell.
~~~
icebraining
Seems like it does replace your native gateway; you have to unpair the devices
from iOS and pair them directly to the WebThings.
[https://github.com/mozilla-iot/homekit-adapter](https://github.com/mozilla-
iot/homekit-adapter)
[https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/a-homekit-gee-i-
wish/37065/6](https://discourse.mozilla.org/t/a-homekit-gee-i-wish/37065/6)
------
Havoc
Been looking into IOT/home auto lately so this is of interest to me.
I hope they hurry up though. Consumer router gear is god damn awful. e.g. the
2.4ghz on my Asus router is dead (common) so I'm using a raspberry to create a
hotspot.
------
sandGorgon
Any reason Mozilla is not picking up and supporting one of the DD-WRT/OpenWRT
projects ?
They are hugely popular, have a huge userbase and are well supported by a lot
of hardware (most TP-Link, Linksys, etc).
~~~
kgiori
The WebThings Gateway does support OpenWrt if the router is beefy enough
(decent app processor, RAM, and flash). Most cheap routers wouldn't work. If
you are a savvy OpenWrt user see:
[https://github.com/openwrt/packages/tree/master/lang/node-
mo...](https://github.com/openwrt/packages/tree/master/lang/node-mozilla-iot-
gateway)
The Turris OS that runs on Omnia is a customized OpenWrt build that lets a
user plug a USB memory stick (with the Mozilla WebThings Gateway image, and
only that image on it) into the Omnia, hold down the reset button until the
4th front panel LED lights, let go, and wait until it installs and the
"WebThings Gateway XXYY" SSID appears. Then connect to it and proceed with the
setup process. Suggest other hardware to potentially support on Mozilla's
Discourse "iot" channel. Or the mozilla-iot/gateway repo on github.
------
dang
Related, from April:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19695595](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19695595)
------
polskibus
Is that compatible with smart home platforms like hass.io?
~~~
jore
from what I understood, it is either home assistant, or this WebThings
Gateway, it is not possible to use both at the same time
~~~
knd775
It's definitely possible to use both at the same time. But, there's no reason
to.
------
sjwright
The article seems to lack a TLDR so here's one. It is a "software distribution
for smart home gateways which allows users to directly monitor and control
their smart home over the web, without a middleman."
Devices supported:
- Raspberry Pi
- Turris Omnia
Protocols supported:
- HomeKit
- ZigBee
- Thread
- MQTT
- Weave
- AMQP
Framework languages supported:
- JS (Node.js)
- Python
- Rust
- Java
- C++ (for Arduino)
Home page:
[https://iot.mozilla.org/gateway/](https://iot.mozilla.org/gateway/)
~~~
rohan1024
> without a middleman
Are you saying that I should be able to connect to my home directly over the
Internet? How does it bypass NAT.
~~~
derefr
You configure your router to not use NAT for IPv6, and get your ISP to provide
you more than a /128, is how. This is why industry is adopting it and consumer
devices aren’t.
(IPv6 space is big enough that there’s no reason that residential ISPs
shouldn’t be assigning everyone larger prefix ranges by default, but that
doesn’t mean they will. They probably think they can up-sell it. Thread is a
great, simple protocol for the hypothetical world where the residential ISPs
give up on this practice. It’s not so great for the world we’re in, unless
you’re already using some separate VPN overlay network.)
~~~
amaccuish
The problem for me in the UK is that most ISPs are dynamically allocating
prefixes using DHCP-PD. So I've not got static address I can put in my
firewall for the equivalent of ipv4 port forwarding.
------
Proven
They’re constantly coming up with new ways to make money with aggregated data
mining. Mostly it’s about crating services by copying established OSS
functionality but still - good job!
~~~
zaarn
Okay, so what part of this open source and locally hosted application will do
the datamining?
------
rb666
I wonder why this project exists when Home Assistant is already near perfect,
let's put the effort in there!
------
samirm
We at Droplit are building something similar for any of you interested in this
area.
[https://docs.droplit.io/](https://docs.droplit.io/)
[https://www.npmjs.com/package/@droplit/sdk](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@droplit/sdk)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What's My Color IQ? - curtis
https://www.xrite.com/hue-test
======
userbinator
Alternatively: how good is your monitor's colour accuracy?
I find it a little odd that they didn't mention that as being one of the main
factors that can affect the outcome of the test.
~~~
neom
Farnsworth Munsell is based on a subset of sRGB, so unless you're using a
cathode ray tube, your eyes, not your screen, will discern the hue.
~~~
userbinator
Cheap (and even not-so-cheap) LCDs can be pretty inaccurate:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnsworth-
Munsell_100_hue_tes...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnsworth-
Munsell_100_hue_test#Formal_monitor_tests)
In particular, I suspect the DACs and gamma buffers used to derive the LCD
driving voltages may have some non-monotonic effects, which would definitely
affect the test --- i.e. if increasing the numerical R, G, or B value actually
_decreases_ the corresponding colour intensity, even slightly, of the light
emitted.
------
hathawsh
This particular color test is tricky because it's not a simple linear
progression. After finishing the test, I converted the RGB values to HSV and
found irregular jumps in hue (sometimes 3 degrees, sometimes 6) along with
nonlinear changes in saturation and value levels. The irregularity probably
makes it a better test, but it's annoying because when it's "perfect" it still
looks ragged. :-)
~~~
SuperPaintMan
> The irregularity probably makes it a better test, but it's annoying
This made me take a look at what they're doing and the sRGB vals map fairly
close to their Munsell counterparts. The value has been fixed which is nice
for this kind of test, but yeah non-linear hue progression. Probably helps as
a discernment test considering how much closer the center colors are to each
other.
[Possibly unordered] 10R 5/6, 2.5yr 5/6, 7.5YR 5/4, 5YR 5/6, 7.5YR 5/6, 10YR
5/6, 2.5Y 6/6, 5Y 6/6
[0][https://github.com/germ/munsellScript](https://github.com/germ/munsellScript)
------
CryoLogic
C'mon HN. Yeah there is no backend validation on the min and max scores.
Doesn't mean you have to hack it.
~~~
stuntkite
Yeah, that was lame. I mean the test was mildly interesting, but they could
have provided a few more stats and not just the min and max for my gender.
Maybe if they had decided to make a graph they would have thought about form
validation and acquired useful results.
------
wruza
I barely see these color differences, but swapping pairs clearly shows what’s
wrong. It is like a bubblesorting by hand.
Score 0 (iphone se screen)
~~~
tomxor
> swapping pairs clearly shows what’s wrong. It is like a bubblesorting by
> hand.
I found exactly the same, looking at the overall gradient only gets you so
far. I wonder if the magnitude of the statistic of 1 in 255 women and 1 in 12
men have more to with how many people figure out how to effectively sort
things without being explicitly told than it has to do with colour - perhaps
if an equivalent subtle sorting test was done with something other than colour
it would reveal a similar statistic.
~~~
foob
The difference is definitely genetic. Colorblindness is generally caused by
recessive genes that are part of the X chromosome. That means that the
proportion of men who are colorblind is basically equal to the proportion of X
chromosomes with one of these recessive genes. Women have two sets, so they
need the gene on both chromosomes in order to exhibit colorblindness. This
means that their proportion of colorblindness is roughly the square of that of
men (actually less because there are different types of colorblindness).
~~~
tomxor
Yes but i'm talking about the statistic having a potentially invalid baseline
because of the method of testing gives some people an advantage separate from
physical ability to perceive colour depending on how they complete the test.
~~~
Moodles
Could we not also correct by simply telling the participants this technique (I
used it too and have the same experience of only being 100% sure after bubble
sort)
~~~
tomxor
Yes, but it's probably more reliable to just construct a test that forces them
to compare in a pairwise sort, than try to explain how to do it.
------
hatsunearu
[https://imgur.com/a/3j3DJ5n](https://imgur.com/a/3j3DJ5n)
Perfect score, but someone forgot to validate their inputs :P
~~~
m1el
Yep.
[https://i.imgur.com/L23YNYA.png](https://i.imgur.com/L23YNYA.png)
~~~
jcelerier
how's life going with the little choppers ? are they still on a refined
gasoline diet ?
------
rossdavidh
" Best Score for your Gender -2147483648 Worst Score for your Gender
2147483647" Well ok then, I guess my score is about in the middle. But I think
maybe they have something going on that's not quite what they intended.
~~~
mwambua
Those are the min and max values of an int32. Not sure... but wild guess is
that something went wrong with input validation.
------
JeanMarcS
Best Score for your Gender -2147483648 Worst Score for your Gender 2147483647
Hum... I thought 0 was the lowest score :)
(Made 2 by the way, but maybe the night shift on my phone have something to do
with it)
~~~
natecavanaugh
They mention that 0 is the perfect score, though I'm not sure how the highest
and lowest they mention relate to one another (let alone how someones score
could be that far off), but I also got a score of 2 and also in Night Shift
mode. My weakest area was 17 (a greenish-teal like slice of the spectrum),
which would make some sense in how yellow/orange relate to the colors green
and blue.
------
Kaibeezy
Someone’s made a game of this.
Blendoku -
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blendoku](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blendoku)
More engaging than expected. Kid (7) loves it.
------
gnicholas
It would be interesting if they factored in time spent.
I'd also be interested to know if people have different strategies for solving
these. I first arranged them into left and right halves, then went through and
tweaked the order until I was happy. Toward the end, I did a couple reversals
just to see if it looked better or worse. In all cases it looked worse and I
switched it back. Final score was 0.
~~~
l0b0
Just did a rough ordering and then went through swapping each to see if that
improved matters, and ended at a score of 0. I wonder if years of amateur
photography and editing has helped, similar to grinding through IQ tests.
~~~
kqr
The swapping technique seems powerful to me. I do these with a type of bubble
sort algorithm which works surprisingly well.
------
jambalaya
Proud owner of a score of 16. I'm red-green colorblind with f.lux running.
------
divanvisagie
Challenge accepted
[https://gist.github.com/divanvisagie/fb490ef8a9c6c93c57ed827...](https://gist.github.com/divanvisagie/fb490ef8a9c6c93c57ed827b74e04cd0)
------
vatys
6 with night shift on
0 with night shift off (0 is perfect score)
Interesting how much the yellow shift impacts the ability to discern color
difference. My night shift slider is only about a quarter of the way up.
Good reminder to not do color critical work with night shift on.
~~~
trophycase
Also got a 6 with night shift on. Haven't tested without yet, but I was having
difficulties with a few because of what I felt was the night shift.
EDIT: Just tested without night shift and got 0. Very iteresting :)
------
jraph
To me, this feels like a clever ad for their products, where most people will
feel good because they get perfect score if not colorblind and will want to
read will being receptive. Usage of term "IQ" may further flatter ego and
attract people to do the test.
I admit enjoying doing the test. I think I would have liked something like "ah
ah, you were wrong for these colors!".
I'm still interested in a color perception test.
------
asdojasdosadsa
Well, that was different, haven't actually seen one of these. Thanks for
sharing. Ps: Best Score for your Gender -2147483648 Worst Score for your
Gender 2147483647
:/
~~~
mrmattyboy
Yeh - I saw that.. someone's been having a play!
------
Tyrannosaur
I've had practice for this test- had this android game recommended to me a
couple months ago. It's not bad.
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zutgames.i...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zutgames.ilovehue)
------
wnevets
I got a score of 74 without doing anything.
~~~
gpvos
Figures. 0 is the perfect score.
------
marcoperaza
Does this work? Can anyone who is actually color-blind confirm that they can't
get a perfect score?
~~~
_kush
I am colorblind (mild protan) and I got a perfect score.
------
redka
I've got perfect score even though I'm regularly unable to name simple colors
correctly
~~~
amiller2571
I got a prefect score and I didn't really try. I'm not sure their game is
working correctly.
------
nealabq
Experimentation suggests the scores are always even and range from 0 thru 128
(inclusive). And the initial layouts usually score between 70 and 100.
I would expect the initial layout scores to center around 64 instead of 84.
My sample size is not large, about 20.
------
daemonhunter
Perfect score and I am supposedly slightly colorblind in the blue/green range.
------
gsich
Score 6
i got some problems with Ishihara color tables though (but only tried the
wikipedia ones)
------
matthberg
A similar thing from different people in which you have to match colors before
a timer runs down: [http://color.method.ac/](http://color.method.ac/)
~~~
Fnoord
The time addition makes it very stressful for me, and that makes the game a
very different experience than the article's one.
------
Moodles
I got a perfect score. I don't know if my color differentiating ability is
particularly great. I think a good algorithm is: put them in roughly the right
order and then (2) do bubble sort.
------
hoppelhase
Reminds me of the Android game "I love hue".
------
snissn
I'm red green color blind and scored a zero (perfect score) on my Macbook pro
------
michaelmcmillan
> Best Score for your Gender -2147483648
> Worst Score for your Gender 2147483647
Sigh, computers.
~~~
ryandrake
More like "sigh, programmers". Guarantee the computer is doing exactly what
it's being told to do.
~~~
michaelmcmillan
I'd say that's implicit. A computer consists of hundreds of abstractions
constructed by apes like ourselves.
------
arikrak
Swapping didn't work when swapping the 2nd and 3rd to elements.
------
baalimago
Color _IQ_, really?
------
dmead
it's bugged
Best Score for your Gender -2147483648
~~~
skolemtotem
it's not bugged, it's been hacked
------
miguelrochefort
0
------
dvh
Not to brag but as 35 I got 0 on $49 phone. Exupery would be so proud of me.
~~~
exikyut
What phone?
~~~
dvh
MyPhone pocket
------
cup-of-tea
> Best Score for your Gender -2147483648 > Worst Score for your Gender
> 2147483647
Who did this? Come on... own up.
------
lancewiggs
A messsge blocks the site (without ability to remove) to tell me to rotate my
phone - but how I use my device is not anyone’s business.
~~~
gsich
oh look we got a rebel over here
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
USDA disavows gag-order emailed to scientific research unit - ArtDev
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-usda-idUSKBN1582OB
======
slg
Could anyone here make a legitimate argument why these gag-orders are a good
idea?
I am consistently baffled how a political party can make so many decisions
that are objectively wrong and still garner support of roughly 50% of the
population. I feel bad for anyone that has legitimate conservative viewpoints
on things like fiscal policy. The only people in government that seem to agree
with them also happen to be bigoted, anti-science, authoritarians.
EDIT: For those responding with some form of "the Democrats are no better", do
you honestly not see a difference between the first few days of the Trump
administration and every other modern presidency? It isn't about political
moves involving topics like abortion, Obamacare, or how to deal with the
Middle East. Smart people can have reasonable disagreements on those. However
in the last few day he has had his press secretary lie to the American people,
suggested the US should commit war crimes, and forbid government agencies from
speaking to the public. Things like this used to just be "wrong" but they have
now been turned into partisan issues.
~~~
thraway2016
_I am consistently baffled how a political party can make so many decisions
that are objectively wrong and still garner support of roughly 50% of the
population._
Same way that "the other side" went from a staunch antiwar position to
incessant apologetics for Obama's wars, extrajudicial drone murders,
deployment of a massive panopticon surveillance state, and sabre-rattling
against Russia.
It's always okay when _my_ guy does it.
~~~
yongjik
I hear that often these days, but in the past 8 years conservative pundits
constantly ridiculed Obama as "apologist" for talking to Iran, talking to
Cuba, pulling troops off Iraq, not bombing Libya after Benghazi, dissenting
with Israel's stance on Palestine, and other issues.
Maybe it's me, but I feel it is only very recently that most Republican
supporters started to criticize Obama for "saber-rattling against Russia."
Coincidentally, that timing roughly matches the rise of Trump.
Suddenly Russia is cool, and you are supposed to make friends with them,
otherwise you are a warmonger. (But apparently not China---it's still cool to
be hostile toward China.)
~~~
scholia
Trump has reversed his 2014 position on sanctions against Russia, and how
dangerous it is [1]
It's a moot point whether Russia owns him or not, because he now behaves as
you would expect if Russia did own him [2]
[1] [http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/16/politics/kfile-trump-
russi...](http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/16/politics/kfile-trump-russia-
sanctions-2014/index.html)
[2] [http://observer.com/2016/08/yes-american-spies-really-
think-...](http://observer.com/2016/08/yes-american-spies-really-think-trump-
is-putins-guy/)
------
jpgvm
"President Donald Trump has cast doubt on whether man-made climate change is
real and has railed against ex-President Barack Obama's efforts to combat it."
How is this sort of writing even a thing?
He hasn't cast doubt on anything, he has merely made a fool out of himself.
~~~
mmanfrin
... and then got himself elected.
~~~
ixtli
That's neither here nor there. He hasn't cast any doubt, he's simply said
things that are contrary to reality. Much as he has done in the past and
continues to do.
~~~
anigbrowl
the phrase 'cast doubt upon' doesn't necessarily imply that anyone was
persuaded, although it would be remiss of me not to observe that there is a
willing audience for such specious claims. OK, this is about as productive as
trying to have a debate about the existence of ghosts* with someone who isn't
even interested in designing experiments, but that's the world we live in
right now.
~~~
jpgvm
It does infer that it brought something into question.
Which is not what Trump did here. Climate change is still about as
unquestionable as it has ever been.
Denying it is on the same level as denying the holocaust happened. IMO we
should treat climate change deniers exactly the same way.
~~~
anigbrowl
I agree with you 100% about climate change but disagree about the implications
of the phrase. I'll spare you a long etymological argument as to why, suffice
it to say that I read the phrase as descriptive only of Trump's intention
rather than whether anyone else found it persuasive.
------
dmode
I am wondering the legality of this gag order. Doesn't the US Taxpayer own
scientific research and data in these agencies ? Unless these are national
security related, how can a government branch prohibit release of taxpayer
funded research data ?
~~~
cloakandswagger
Ask yourself this: Do I, a US taxpayer, own everything the government buys
with my money? Think I can take a trip to my local military base and use one
of "my" tanks?
And before you counter that there is a difference between data/research papers
and "real" things like tanks, the government (and the media industry, and the
scientific industry, and...) don't see it that way. It is intellectual
property, owned by the US government.
~~~
seanalltogether
I get the point you're making, but the USDA's job is to publish documentation
and guidelines for the food industry. If USDA wasn't capable of releasing
documentation, it wouldn't have much of a purpose. The military doesn't have
to interface with the public to justify its purpose.
~~~
nickff
The job of all government agencies is to execute the instructions given to
them by the chief executives in a manner compliant with legislation enacted by
congress. The agencies have no duty to the citizenry, as shown by a number of
court cases where the government failed to provide necessary services, then
argued they had no obligations (and won).
------
llamataboot
Up to date list of all gag orders:
[https://sunlightfoundation.com/list-of-federal-government-
ag...](https://sunlightfoundation.com/list-of-federal-government-agencies-
told-not-to-communicate-with-the-public/)
------
stephancoral
With all these gag orders going around (USDA, EPA) we are gonna need some deep
throats...
~~~
ceejayoz
We've got our first one today. [http://time.com/4645927/badlands-national-
park-climate-chang...](http://time.com/4645927/badlands-national-park-climate-
change-tweets/)
~~~
c0nducktr
...aaaand the tweets have already been purged.
~~~
cantblockatoot
The value proposition of [https://mastodon.social](https://mastodon.social)
(and GNU Social in general) has just made itself abundantly clear.
From its homepage:
_A decentralized alternative to commercial platforms, it avoids the risks of
a single company monopolizing your communication._
~~~
st3v3r
Which is probably why not many would want to use them. To some, being able to
delete tweets is a feature.
------
plg
Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried to do this in Canada. It was bad.
Thankfully he and his ideas were soundly rejected in the most recent election.
------
mark_l_watson
Bummer. I use the USDA nutrition database. I wonder if updates to that also
would not be released publicly.
------
theparanoid
Buried the lead "A copy of the interim procedures memo, dated Jan. 23 and seen
by Reuters, shows many of the steps reflect either the same or similar
measures taken by the previous administration."
~~~
theobon
If you are going to post that why would you leave out the section immediately
following that addresses why this is newsworthy
"The 2017 memo, however, differs in two main areas.
It centralizes the agency’s media inquiries and social media presence through
the Office of the Secretary. As part of that, the memo asks USDA agencies to
“review their websites, blog posts and other social media and, consistent with
direction you will receive from the Office of Communication, remove references
to policy priorities and initiatives of the previous Administration.”
It also rescinds the ability of USDA agencies to close an office or notify
local delegations of office closures."
------
openasocket
Question: with these gag orders, can't all the information still be gotten
through FOIA requests? Sure, there are hurdles, but fundamentally the public
has a right to access this information, right?
~~~
coldcode
You think this law will be respected any more than any other? Laws—and even
the Constitution—are only meaningful if they are enforced. Between
Congressional and Executive branch actions, along with a party friendly
Supreme Court (once a couple more Judges retire or die) why would you assume
any law will be enforced?
------
llamataboot
Their control is only equal to our obedience. Leak away patriots!
------
deemize
Rural American farmers backed Trump because they want their grants and
subsidies back. (welfare) I say put your own fences up and build your own
stack houses. Pay for your own water hookup. Most are polluting the air and
water anyway. There should not be a ban of info released but FOIA is a joke in
itself. I totally agree with the ban of grants. There's plenty of people in
this country willing to grow food for a free market. Can't afford to farm then
sell the land daddy gave you and let the REAL new and beginning farmers get a
shot at sustainable farming. Look ate ewg.farm.org and see the many local
politicians gutting taxpayer money. EPA and USDA shameful.
------
dragonwriter
This is probably in response to the OSC reminder that the gag orders without
whistleblower protection language that have been issued recently are illegal.
[http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/special-counsel-
whistl...](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/special-counsel-
whistleblower-anti-gag-order)
------
smudgymcscmudge
The article curiously omits who sent the email.
------
pilom
Yes the lack of engagement on social media will be sad but the article itself
says that peer reviewed research will still be published. Please RTFA.
~~~
kjbflsudfb
To whom are you responding? The original email directed ARS to "not release
any public-facing documents." That has been "retracted" for now, but still
awaits final clarification.
~~~
pilom
A number of different responses in the comments were along the lines of "but
I/we all own research done with public tax money! how can they do this!" which
alarmist given the actual text of the article.
------
finid
We have a firsthand account of what happens when govt scientists are not free
to openly discuss the results of their work without approval from political
appointees.
That happened during 9/11 when the EPA said the air around the World Trade
Center was just fine. Remember that! Many have died, and are still dying
because of that lie.
------
st3v3r
It is the duty of every scientist working at all of these government agencies
to ensure that data continues to be made public, no matter who is in the White
House.
~~~
kafkaesq
They also have (as bullies like Trump know all too well) a duty to feed their
families, pay the mortgages, and save for their children's education. At least
until they find another job (in the wonderfully lucrative and liquid job
market for research scientists of our current era).
And probably wouldn't appreciate outsiders telling them which duty is more
inviolable, or sacrosanct.
~~~
headcanon
They're not mutually exclusive. Scientists have been putting together open
data repositories as a "Trump shelter" ever since election day. Data that is
publicly available today can be downloaded and stored anywhere, and the
government can't do anything about it other than cast FUD.
Honestly, assuming all our data is preserved in some form, I think its almost
a blessing in disguise. finding and downloading public datasets involves
wading through a cornucopia of terrible websites that feel like they're
deliberately trying to keep people out. Government science shops don't
typically hire UX people, so allowing those people to get their hands on some
open data services can't be bad.
~~~
jonlucc
This assumes there are no downsides to not receiving any new data from these
agencies for 4 years (or 8).
~~~
headcanon
Yeah, that part doesn't sound so great :/
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Scientists Reconstruct "Movies" from Brain Activity - aasarava
http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2811%2900937-7
======
aasarava
A reporter's account, for a lay-person's description:
[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/brain-scan-movie-
sc...](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/brain-scan-movie-
scenes_n_976580.html)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What's the most useful online course you have watched? - dexxter
Fellow Hackers, I am bored and want to learn something new.<p>Have you watched any interesting/useful online courses recently on Coursera/Udemy/edX/OpenUniversity/others?<p>It can be free/paid and I am open to any discipline.
======
ericzawo
Joel Spolsky did a really good one-hour primer on Excel. If you squirm at the
thought of spreadsheet anything, this video is for you
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nbkaYsR94c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nbkaYsR94c)
~~~
joshschreuder
Just wanted to come back and say thanks for posting this.
I don't think I've ever learnt so many great tips about a program I use quite
frequently in this short of a video.
~~~
ericzawo
I took a course on Excel in high school and was just as shocked as you. It's
an excellent, highly informative video. Pass it on!
------
benjismith
There's a really excellent course on starting a startup, from Sam Altman
(President of YCombinator).
[http://startupclass.samaltman.com/](http://startupclass.samaltman.com/)
It was delivered as a live lecture at Stanford, with presentations by Sam
Altman himself, as well as Dustin Moskovitz, Paul Graham, Adora Cheung, Peter
Thiel, Alex Schultz, Kevin Hale, Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, Parker Conrad,
Brian Chesky, Alfred Lin, Patrick and John Collison, Ben Silbermann, Aaron
Levie, Reid Hoffman, Keith Rabois, Ben Horowitz, Emmett Shear, Hosain Rahman,
Kirsty Nathoo, Carolynn Levy, and Tyler Bosmeny.
My favorite presenter is Reid Hoffman, but all the lectures are awesome. If
you're a startup founder, you owe it to yourself to watch them all...
~~~
liadmat
Second this. You can also get this as a podcast, which is just as easy to
learn from.
------
okket
I really enjoyed the free "CS193P" course from Stanford with Paul Hegarty. It
is not 100% up-to-date but still a good start, covering Xcode/iOS8/Swift:
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/developing-ios-8-apps-
swi...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/course/developing-ios-8-apps-
swift/id961180099)
~~~
gbaygon
I recommend this course whenever I have the opportunity.
I started iOS programming about a year ago and it really helped me with
grasping how to use Auto Layout in XCode, once you learn that the API is easy
to pickup if you have some experience in mobile development.
Swift is a pleasure to use.
------
SixSigma
Gilbert Strang's linear algebra
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK3O402wf1c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK3O402wf1c)
Walter Lewin's Classical Mechanics
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo28HOrhipc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uo28HOrhipc)
for the content _and_ the delivery
------
_kyran
CS50 [https://cs50.harvard.edu/](https://cs50.harvard.edu/)
David Malan in the best lecturer I've ever seen.
Introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art
of programming. This course teaches students how to think algorithmically and
solve problems efficiently. Topics include abstraction, algorithms, data
structures, encapsulation, resource management, security, software
engineering, and web development. Languages include C, PHP, and JavaScript
plus SQL, CSS, and HTML. Problem sets inspired by real-world domains of
biology, cryptography, finance, forensics, and gaming. Designed for
concentrators and non-concentrators alike, with or without prior programming
experience
~~~
sn9
+1.
This was my introduction to CS/programming and is the counterexample to any
claim that C makes for a terrible first language. It just needs a phenomenal
lecturer.
The computing environment gets you going with Linux which avoids IDE
handholding and the recitations and other helpful videos and the forums all
make for a great learning experience, even for people are complete programming
neophytes.
Following it up with something like Coursera's Hardware/Software Interface
would be a great way of cementing the concepts.
------
jamesharrington
This is the best javascript video i've ever seen. if you wait they do deals
all the time, no need to pay $200 it will go on sale usually around $15-$20
[https://www.udemy.com/understand-
javascript/](https://www.udemy.com/understand-javascript/)
~~~
adnanc
Just came across this link from the course authors twitter
Javascript: Understanding the Weird Parts - the first 3.5 hours free on
Youtube: [https://youtu.be/Bv_5Zv5c-Ts](https://youtu.be/Bv_5Zv5c-Ts)
Also has the entire course at 87% off
[https://www.udemy.com/understand-
javascript/?couponCode=YOUT...](https://www.udemy.com/understand-
javascript/?couponCode=YOUTUBE19)
------
colund
I enjoyed Andrew Ng's Machine Learning course on Coursera. Why don't you give
it a shot.
~~~
Hortinstein
Yes, came here to say this. While I never completed the course (started OMSCS
@ Ga Tech shortly after), it did cement my desire to focus on machine learning
in my graduate studies. Highly recommended!
------
abraham_s
CSE341: Programming Languages by Dan Grossman
[http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse341/13wi/#lectur...](http://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse341/13wi/#lectures)
------
askldfhjkasfhd
Coursera, learning how to learn.
~~~
bishes
+1 for "Learning How to Learn". Helpful for improving study habits.
------
joshschreuder
These are paid, and not exactly a course but the Destroy All Software
screencasts are great, and cover a lot of topics like shell scripting, VIM /
EMACS, testing, refactoring etc.
[https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/screencasts](https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/screencasts)
They're by Gary Bernhardt of Wat fame, which is also worth a watch for its
presentation style and amusing content:
[https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat](https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat)
~~~
mjmj
Those are soo good. He has a talent for talking while typing and his style of
presentation keeps you intrigued and content so densely packed it'll keep you
rewinding saying, 'wait, wat was that?'
------
unixhero
[https://www.udemy.com/an-entire-mba-in-1-courseaward-
winning...](https://www.udemy.com/an-entire-mba-in-1-courseaward-winning-
business-school-prof/learn/)
~~~
DyslexicAtheist
udemy has some really questionable business practices
~~~
d0lph
go on
~~~
kup0
This may give some insight:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10638795](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10638795)
------
geekfactor
Coursera/UPenn's Aerial Robotics course
([https://www.coursera.org/learn/robotics-
flight](https://www.coursera.org/learn/robotics-flight)) and more broadly the
robotics sequence.
I'm taking now for a diversion (just started) and expect to learn a bit about
quadrotor mechanics, sensors & control systems.
------
quicky123
This guy is an amazing C#/.Net trainer as well as object oriented programming
concepts. Great for people coming from a Javascript background.
[http://www.learnvisualstudio.net/](http://www.learnvisualstudio.net/)
------
blabla_blublu
I did Creative Problem Solving through Coursera and had a great time
participating in the class projects.
There are some great tools which you can use in your everyday life to think
innovative solutions to problems. The exercises were incredible fun as well.
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/creative-problem-
solving](https://www.coursera.org/learn/creative-problem-solving)
Another course which I highly recommend is Learning How To Learn
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-
learn](https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn)
------
kleer001
Anything else from Brady Haran is pretty fun and educational. Not exactly in
the spirit of pedantry and sit-down-and-take-notes, but really fun and
engaging (like all good teachers should be, I say)
[https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile](https://www.youtube.com/user/numberphile)
[https://www.youtube.com/user/Computerphile](https://www.youtube.com/user/Computerphile)
[https://www.youtube.com/user/sixtysymbols](https://www.youtube.com/user/sixtysymbols)
[https://www.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos](https://www.youtube.com/user/periodicvideos)
etc...
------
YesThatTom2
Introduction to Operations Management Professor Christian Terwiesch
brilliantly and understandably explains the math behind "operations".... which
explains Lean, Agile, DevOps and everything from running a restaurant to a
doctor's office.
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/wharton-
operations](https://www.coursera.org/learn/wharton-operations)
------
rajathagasthya
Algorithms by Robert Segdewick and Cloud Computing Concepts on Coursera. First
is an essential, second is a really good intro into distributed systems.
------
martinni
Getting started with GO with Andrew Gerrand. Not only did it teach me the
basics of GO but showing his keystrokes demystified vim as well :)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KmHtgtEZ1s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KmHtgtEZ1s)
------
guzmanovich
Robert Sapolsky`s lectures on human behavioral biology.
Fascinating, funny and gives insights into many different topics like cultural
differences and nationalism.
[http://youtu.be/NNnIGh9g6fA?list=PL150326949691B199](http://youtu.be/NNnIGh9g6fA?list=PL150326949691B199)
------
Hortinstein
Artificial Intelligence for Robotics Programming a Robotic Car
Sebastian Thrun (former leader of Google and Stanford's autonomous driving
teams that won the DARPA challenge) teaches a class focusing on the basic
methods in Artificial Intelligence to support autonomous vehicles, including:
probabilistic inference, planning and search, localization, tracking and
control, all with a focus on robotics. Programming examples and assignments
apply these methods to building self-driving car like experiments.
Free course!
[https://www.udacity.com/course/artificial-intelligence-
for-r...](https://www.udacity.com/course/artificial-intelligence-for-robotics
--cs373)
------
blt
CS 61c lectures from UC Berkeley. Computer architecture. Ideal if you are good
with data structures / algorithms but the machine still feels like magic. It
is empowering to understand what the machine is really doing.
------
hackerboos
Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl is a good starter course on Rails.
[https://www.railstutorial.org/](https://www.railstutorial.org/)
------
THEUW
Course on programming in R: [https://www.datacamp.com/courses/intro-to-python-
for-data-sc...](https://www.datacamp.com/courses/intro-to-python-for-data-
science)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Gab Supports Your Right to Choose - rvcamo
https://medium.com/@Torbahax/gab-supports-your-right-to-choose-a57f157c77b9#.5ek1pe2px
======
minimaxir
Upvotes on this HN submission may be manipulated:
[http://i.imgur.com/OqSQJfd.png](http://i.imgur.com/OqSQJfd.png)
~~~
sheraz
Not my upvote.
I'm on gab.ai and thoroughly enjoy the idea of an alternative to twitter.
~~~
nikolay
What's Twitter? Oh, the social sewer that turned actually a bot wasteland!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ex-Uber employees are being surprised by big tax bills - sikim
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ex-uber-employees-are-being-surprised-big-tax-bills-they-n1233699
======
paxys
This story completely misses what the lawsuit is actually about. It isn't just
a bunch of employees who are pissed that the stock went down.
Employees' RSU agreements stated that Uber would deliver their shares 6 months
post-IPO. A few days before the IPO Uber decided to amend the agreement and
accelerate the vesting, so shares would be available on IPO day itself.
Why did they do this? Uber is legally required to withhold taxes during a
vesting event. The most common way to do this is to sell a percentage of the
shares immediately on vest. This, however, increases the total number of
shares in the market and depresses the stock price. To avoid this, Uber
decided to pay for the taxes out of their own pocket and claim a percentage of
the shares for themselves (basically a private stock buyback).
By moving the vest date up, Uber gambled on the fact that the stock price
would be higher in 6 months, and the move would thus benefit both themselves
(less out of pocket spend for withholding) and the employees (difference taxed
as capital gains rather than regular income). Instead the opposite happened
and both parties lost out. More importantly Uber reduced their own risk by
locking down their total liability at the IPO date itself and exposed their
employees to the whims of market fluctuations.
~~~
psds2
Thanks. The article initially read as if people had held their stock as if it
was an investment and are mad they didn't sell to cover the tax bill sooner.
After your explanation it is much clearer.
tl;dr Uber accelerated vesting of employee grants so that they happened during
the lockout period. Also they could have proactively taken more out to cover
taxes for the employee but chose instead to take the minimum out.
~~~
paxys
> Also they could have proactively taken more out to cover taxes for the
> employee but chose instead to take the minimum out.
They didn't do this for the same reason - they were paying for the withheld
taxes themselves.
------
carlosdp
This seems... spurious. Granting IPO stocks on IPO day is beneficial if the
stock goes up, and "detrimental" if the stock goes down from the initial price
instead, which is what happened with Uber.
The article makes it look like Uber tried to short change employees, but if
the stock had rocketed up, they would have saved employees a ton of money in
taxes because the gain from IPO price to the price when the lock-up expired
would have been taxed as capital gains.
They also make it looks like these people are all making pennies because the
stock didn't do well, which we all know is obviously not the case (especially
if they are engineers).
Side note: when people bash ISOs because they are evil or something, I just
think of tax implications like this. This wouldn't happen if they were options
instead of RSUs.
~~~
user555555555
Did anyone really think the stock was going to rocket up?
~~~
yumraj
Yes, everyone who went long on the day of the IPO.
------
dehrmann
Suppose you're at Uber, got your shares on IPO date (May 9) and sold 6 months
later (~Nov 9), wouldn't the tax shenanigans be a wash for you? You were taxed
when they vested, so the new cost basis would be the IPO price, and you'd get
to claim a loss when you sold?
It's a little different if you held into 2020, though. Then you'd be on the
hook for the higher taxes, but again, you should still be able to eventually
claim the loss, so as long as you're in the same tax bracket, it'd be OK.
~~~
paxys
> You were taxed when they vested
You were taxed the minimum amount (37%) when they vested, but likely need to
pay a lot more than that yourself.
~~~
scarface74
Where did 37% come from? It would usually be around 22%-24% and whatever your
state tax rate is.
~~~
dehrmann
37% is the highest federal marginal tax rate. It starts at $510,301, which
might kick in for a decent number of Uber shareholders at IPO.
That's also the tax rate, not the withholding rate.
I have no idea what they meant by "but likely need to pay a lot more than that
yourself," unless that was a reference to state income tax. 37% is the highest
bracket. It's higher than AMT. I'm not sure under what circumstances you'd owe
more than 37%.
------
phamilton
Lawsuit at [https://uberrsuclaims.gallo.law](https://uberrsuclaims.gallo.law)
~~~
user555555555
Is there any downside to joining that lawsuit if you qualify?
~~~
dehrmann
It's a class action, so it depends if it's opt-out or opt-in. If it's opt-out,
you'll be in the class by not taking any action. The downside to class actions
is usually that you can't sue on your own. You might also disagree with the
merits of the case, so there could be an ethical concern on your end. You also
might not like how much your lawyer is getting paid.
------
lacker
You have to read to paragraph #17 before you get the information the story is
really about.
_Uber delivered shares to its employees on the day of its IPO in May 2019,
meaning employees would be taxed at the price of $45 a share. But the
employees were restricted from selling their shares for six months, by which
point the price had fallen to around $27 a share._
This definitely sucks for the employees. But it isn't really clear that Uber
did anything wrong. In cases where there's an IPO pop, and employees want to
hold on to the stock for a while, this can be good for employees, because more
of their income happens via capital gains.
To me, the real lesson is that our tax code is stupid, because it treats "a
share of stock that you are given on day X, but may not sell until day X+180"
and "a share of stock that you are given on day X+180" in different ways, even
though they seem exactly the same to the employee.
~~~
scarface74
Why is that stupid? I own the stock on day X (and ignoring the lock in
period), it’s part if my compensation that I could sell and by any other
stock.
~~~
mchusma
> Why is that stupid? I own the stock on day X (and ignoring the lock in
> period), it’s part if my compensation that I could sell and by any other
> stock.
He means that if I offered you stock with a 6 month lockup, or a stock with no
lockup, you would prefer the second, and value it much higher.
------
ghufran_syed
are you allowed to short the stock during the period when you are not allowed
to sell the RSU’s? In other words, is it possible to create a liability (the
short position) that exactly offsets your asset (the RSU’s that are
‘delivered’ but that you can’t sell)?
~~~
beojan
You create a short position by selling borrowed shares.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Extreme Netflix? Some Users Have Rated 50,000 Movies - coffee
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/extreme-netflix-some-users-have-rated-50-000-movies/62988/#
======
qjz
I love Netflix, and streaming movies has been a big improvement over the
experience of renting DVDs. But I'm disappointed in the recommendation system.
For me, a movie is either worth watching or it isn't, so a simple thumbs
up/down system would be better. I don't sit down and decide, "Gee, I want to
see a mediocre 3-star movie." Even then, I'm not sure I'd be happy with the
recommendations. Too often, it seems like movies are being hid from me in
favor of the recommendations, so a random button would be nice to hit once in
a while. Especially now that my whole family shares one account for streaming
and can rate movies, destroying my own preferences.
~~~
fondue
I agree. In fact, I think the Tivo option of one, two, or three thumbs up or
down is perfect as some movies are better than average and some are what I
call my top ten. Better than average gets one thumb and top ten gets three. If
I can't decided it gets two. :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: grad school vs full-time founder? - BadassFractal
I'm currently in my 2nd year of part-time master's at a top 3 US CS school. Also recently after half a decade working in the industry I left to pursue high tech entrepreneurship full time (I saved up for years just for this). We have 0 revenue at this point in time, and are still in the exploratory phase, so I wouldn't expect any income whatsoever for a long time.<p>I'm contemplating dropping out of school. Paying out of pocket for a private institution like that is extremely expensive. With that kind of money I could probably stay afloat for an extra year or longer (my goal is to avoid working for someone else again for alap). I'm also not learning much, at least not compared to the hands-on experience of actually hustling and building. The contacts are good though, lots of very smart and somewhat experienced folks all interested in the startup world.<p>Hypothetically, let's say I can no longer stay afloat in a couple of years, and need to go back to work for a company. Would they rather have an extra year of experience of me running my own company and building and pitching most of the software for it, or would they rather see a really fancy degree? I personally know how much that degree is worth, but does the rest of the world see it that way?<p>What other options are there out there for people who want to have some income while still working on their ideas? I'd join a startup, but that's mostly "just another job" that goes way beyond 9 to 5, and the employee equity generally isn't really a big incentive. I hear contracting is an option, although I don't know enough about it to be able to tell if I'd still have enough time for my own company and would make enough to feed myself.<p>Thanks, any suggestions are much appreciated!
======
keiferski
A bunch of disjunct thoughts:
1\. If you aren't profitable now, and don't expect to be anytime soon, will
you ever be? Don't forget that the purpose of a business is to make money and
sustain itself, not merely to exist for as long as possible.
2\. Let's say you have X dollars, which can be used either for keeping a
startup afloat or for finishing your degree. Imagine it's a year from now, and
you've spent X. Either you'll have a degree (something that shows an
accomplishment) or you'll have work experience at a defunct startup. _Maybe_
you will have become profitable, but it doesn't sound like you're trying that
hard.
3\. HN probably isn't the best place to ask if a degree is worth it. You'll
get a lot of extreme answers from people in the anti-college camp.
4\. I don't have any personal experience with working for companies, but I'd
imagine that a degree would look much, much better than an extra year at a
failed startup. Especially considering that you worked on it for 1-2+ years
and still didn't make money (assuming you don't.) This sentiment will only
increase as the company gets larger; a small startup may understand that you
learned a lot from a failed startup, but a mid-size company or larger will
assume you just dicked around for a few years.
5\. A degree more or less sticks with you for the rest of your career,
especially if it's from a top 3 school. Will anyone care that you had a
(failed) startup experience in 10-15-20 years?
~~~
BadassFractal
Interesting perspective, thanks!
------
PonyGumbo
>Would they rather have an extra year of experience of me running my own
company and building and pitching most of the software for it, or would they
rather see a really fancy degree?
If you're interviewing with software startups, it's a tossup. If you're
interviewing with 'normal' companies, the degree is unquestionably worth more.
I decided to do the 9-5 thing for a while after selling my last company, and I
had to seriously downplay my entrepreneurial experience to even get
interviews.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Light Table needs a community - azeirah
I really want to get into Light Table (http://www.lighttable.com/), but even after 3 days of being interested in Light Table, I barely figured out how to usy any of its magical features. I need a place to ask questions, I need great documentation, I need many many many screencasts showcasing its features. What I need is a community.<p>If you're a lighttable user, and you already know how to use it, please join a few communities, maybe answer a question per week, just help people out. Here are some communities that need more people:<p>The subreddit, www.reddit.com/r/lighttable (this subreddit is deserted, here I was, thinking the Sublime Text one was deserted...)
The google discussion group, https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/light-table-discussion
Join the IRC at #lighttable on irc.freenode.net<p>If you're a passionate light-table user, please spend some time on improving the documentation!
If you wrote a plugin, please write a blog post or make a screencast on how you did it, or live-stream the making-of!
If you really like a feature, write an article, write a blog post, anything!
Please write some blog posts, please write articles. This editor has so many hidden features I can't figure out because no-one is talking about them.
If you don't have the time to write blog posts, or if you're at work and you're not allowed to stream, or anything else, even a simple tweet will spread the love <3<p>Light-table would be a revolutionary IDE if only it had a community. Chris (the author of light-table) has the right idea of what light-table should be, because it's based on a talk that changed the way Chris, I and many others think about programming<i>. Chris however, made a crucial mistake from the very beginning of the project, he never invested in a community.<p></i> The talk is available here, http://vimeo.com/36579366
======
auganov
I wish they just focused on being the new Emacs. Now it's in an awkward state
where it's not Emacs enough for Emacs people but weird enough [in an emacs
way] for others.
------
zindlerb
Thank you for posting this. I use Light Table on a daily basis, but don't
participate in the community. This is good motivation for me to get more
involved. If you have any questions here feel free to ask!
------
KobaQ
> Light-table would be a revolutionary IDE if only it had a community.
Documentation?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
High Sierra broke AFP searching on our server - idorube
http://www.idoru.be/notes/dear-tim/
======
hnarn
Firstly, Apple has never been a respected actor in the server market. If
you're investing heavily into Apple servers, you're investing in a niche.
Presume accordingly. Secondly, converting/reformatting 300 Tb of disk is a lot
of work, but it's probably less work than contacting Apple, and whining about
how Apple is going down the drain in a public blog post.
I've never been a big Apple fan in terms of the company, but the iPhone is an
excellent product. The iPod was an excellent product. I have never heard
anyone say that in terms of server infrastructure, Apple makes "excellent
products". The only lesson here is: don't drink the kool aid, and investigate
every use case thoroughly without making emotional assumptions.
edit: Despite knowing almost nothing about AFP, I found articles on Google
saying that Apple shifted from AFP file sharing to SMB2 in an article dated
2013 -- that's five years ago! Apple themselves state that AFP is deprecated.
If you elect to run your own servers and support your own services completely,
these are news you should be reading.
~~~
code_sloth
> ... converting/reformatting 300 Tb of disk is a lot of work, but it's
> probably less work than contacting Apple ...
He didn't know what the problem was, so he contacted Apple support. Unless you
are suggesting he reformat 300tb everytime there's an issue, I don't see how
he could have avoided contacting Apple in his situation.
> ... and whining about how Apple is going down the drain in a public blog
> post.
I don't see why the author can't voice his opinion on his _personal_ blog.
You've voicing your appreciation of specific Apple products in a _public_
forum.
> Apple themselves state that AFP is deprecated. Deprecating isn't the same as
> removing. Unless Apple has previously said they are removing (or will
> remove) AFP support in High Sierra release notes, or otherwise announce it
> somewhere, I don't see how it's the user's fault at all.
~~~
hnarn
1\. I'm suggesting that if you are hosting and supporting your own physical
infrastructure and file hosting solution, your first interest should be
solving the problem, and as far as I can see Apple gave this outdated setup
the best solution available. You can either whine about it or accept the fact
that you did not keep your house in order and do whatever it takes to solve it
for your users and customers.
2\. Of course anyone can voice any opinion about Apple in any forum they want,
but I'm not the one with a current ongoing issue that I know a solution to but
am choosing not to implement to the benefit of shaming Apple in public
instead.
3\. You are correct that deprecating isn't removing, but when you're in a
niche market (Apple servers), using any setup that includes deprecated
protocols or components is a bad idea, and you should know this and plan for
it if you elect to roll your own.
The person who wrote this post seems to have a very entitled sense of what he
as a customer deserves in terms of continued software support from Apple, and
very little sense of what in turn his customers and/or colleagues are entitled
to and should expect from him/those that are responsible for keeping their
business critical solution working.
------
Hendrikto
Easy solution: Don‘t use Macs as servers, they are completely the wrong tool
for the job.
> Nowadays, I purchase iMac18,2’s to realize it has no thunderbolt2
Another tip: Read up on the hardware you are buying. I can‘t believe this
guy... buys hardware seemingly without even looking at the specs and then
complains.
~~~
littlecranky67
You are absolutely right. Apple quit the Server buisness when they killed the
Xserve, and relying on Macs as servers is really a bad idea given their
support interval for macOS. Seems the author is very angry that his next
server cannot be a fancy Apple device.
~~~
idorube
I'm easing into it :-)
~~~
alex_hitchins
I'd suggest looking at a replacement solution around an open filesystem. Then,
even if the world moves on to other technologies, you still have the source
you can update or even hire someone to maintain.
------
sbuk
Apple scheduled AFP for deprecation with OS X 10.9 in 2013 - 4.5 years ago.
There has been plenty of time between then and now to prepare for this.
------
solatic
Dear author,
Do you have an unexpired warranty? A support contract guaranteeing that
certain features will continue to work for the length of the contract? If so,
please have your lawyers get in contact with our legal team.
Signed, Fake Tim Cook
P.S. Next time, either make sure your asses are covered, or use FOSS instead,
so that in the event that public maintenance is no longer provided, you still
have the option of forking the codebase and hiring an engineer to do whatever
maintenance you need, as opposed to using our closed, proprietary product,
where you are now SOL.
------
PeterStuer
First of all, let me tell you that I feel your pain. Having something that
behind the curtains 'just worked' in your toolbox stop working and being
forced to spend time on it while you could be doing productive work just
sucks.
We all do it. We tend to focus on the troublemakers, dousing their frequent
little fires, and just forget the 'good' guys that are chugging along day
after day without a hitch. Is this the hardware equivalent of 'technical
debt'?
That lovely machine of yours is 10 years old. In our industry that does most
definitely make it qualify as an antique (unfortunately not with the 'antique'
valuations, going by the ~400$ these go for on eBay). Over those ten years,
you've gotten good mileage out of it, but it looks like those maintenance free
years are now taking their toll. Time to bite the bullet and find a new
solution. even if they would revert on AFP, it would just be a temporary stay
of execution. And I wouldn't look at Apple for this tbh. Servers and
workstations have long Ceased to be 'mainstream' products for them.
------
wazoox
Apple doesn't take the professionals seriously. Yes, they supposedly shifted
from AFP to SMB in 2013 but ever since, SMB performance of Mac OS hovered
between laughable and abysmal. And it's not so much the SMB server, but the
SMB client implementation that sucks.
On gigabit ethernet, AFP as well as NFS on Mac reach easily 100 MB/s, while
SMB hardly passes 50 MB/s. On 10GigE it's even worse: AFP, 1GB/s, SMB 150
MB/s. Testing on a Hackintosh, the same hardware that hardly passes 150 MB/s
in SMB reaches 900 MB/s running Windows 10.
SMB on MacOS is a bad joke for everyone needing to move big amounts of data.
NFS works OK, but alas, the Finder has (many) bugs and some things don't work
well (refreshing, icons, etc). AFP is still by far the best solution.
~~~
zbentley
I've found that tuning some of the SMB options ("man nsmb.conf") has
dramatically increased my recent Macs' SMB network throughput and the
responsiveness of finder in huge/deep shared directory hierarchies (due to
caching).
I don't know if any of those apply to using OSX as an SMB drive _host_ , but
they might.
None of this should be taken as disagreement with your post; just ideas for
improvements if you find yourself thus frustrated again.
------
petecooper
Add to this the macOS Server components will be significantly deprecated soon:
[https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208312](https://support.apple.com/en-
us/HT208312)
~~~
mschuster91
Oh God. Just... wtf. Apple really is trying to get out of anything that's not
iOS?! macOS Server is the equivalent of MS's Small Business Server package,
and now they're, essentially, removing core features out of it.
~~~
petecooper
My first thought was along the lines of "what's left in macOS Server to make
it a server?".
~~~
Corrado
I think the Update Cache and the MDM will still be there. Other than that I
can't think of anything (major) that's not on that list. :(
Of course, both of those things are pretty big components of iOS management.
Which reinforces the idea that Apple doesn't really care about anything except
iPhones.
------
Karupan
Apple has been removing features from OS X for a while now, and I’m sure it’s
going to continue with their focus on iOS. Eventually we will all be running
iOS on macs.
P.S: I’ve always stayed one version behind as I can get stuff done rather than
spend time and energy fixing whatever Apple broke in the new version.
------
petecooper
Anecdotally, I've been migrating macOS client networks away from macOS Server
for a few years. The preferred solution is an HPE MicroServer with Linux
(typically Ubuntu LTS) with `netatalk` and various trimmings (`avahi` etc).
Bonus points are garnered for a Time Machine option, too.
The icing on the cake is the clients can also choose their "Mac" server icon
for Finder:
[http://simonwheatley.co.uk/2008/04/avahi-finder-
icons/](http://simonwheatley.co.uk/2008/04/avahi-finder-icons/)
~~~
kalleboo
I have a NAS with both SMB and AFP (netatalk-based) support, and despite Apple
deprecating AFP, it's is still faster and more stable than Apple's SMB
support. I guess the Apple devs who made that stuff in the 90's knew what they
were doing...
~~~
pixl97
> it's is still faster and more stable than Apple's SMB support.
Anything is faster and more stable than Apple's SMB support. MacOS is horribly
slow and buggy with almost every modern NAS. Fixes include enabling SMB 1.0
(WTF?).
------
dschuetz
I wonder why there still isn't a company making highest quality products like
Apple once did, while _not_ being a total dick about customer support?
The machine seemed to work fine, despite its age. Why this smugness "Why don't
you upgrade to/buy a newer inferior more expensive product which doesn't suit
your needs at all?"?
Is a product obsolete as soon there is a newer product? Where is the line
between products which provide infrastructure services and interchangeable
consumer products?
~~~
idorube
I agree, as a video archivist, we support a lot of technologies that are much
older than most computer systems. e.g. uMatic, half inch tape, BetaSP, Film
etc. Albeit daunting, there is a slower decline in support for these machines.
~~~
eastWestMath
Someone else pointed out that Apple announced the deprecation of AFP 4 years
ago - it’s a bit unfair to say Apple caught you off guard here.
------
smoyer
Clearly your server is obsolete ... and this describes why my last ever Apple
purchase was in 2012.
I bought an iPad 1 ... it's still a wonderful piece of hardware and I (try to)
use it for web browsing nearly every day. Unfortunately, Apple realized that
it was under-powered just after the iOS 5 release and it hasn't gotten updates
since early 2014. It works fine except that it also doesn't have a browser
that will run current protocols and standards. Sigh!
~~~
PhasmaFelis
> _Clearly your server is obsolete_
The server works as well as it ever did. The problem is entirely in the
software used on the client machines. That's not what "obsolete" means.
~~~
smoyer
Sorry ... I should know by now that sarcasm doesn't work well on the Internet.
But the truth is that the server is de-facto obsolete if there are no clients
that can talk to it. Hopefully my second paragraph is clear that I don't
appreciate planned obsolescence.
------
rdl
FWIW, you can't share APFS formatted volumes via AFP at all. AFP is probably
not something you should depend on going forward.
------
tarjei
What I find odd is that no analysts are asking Tim about the direction Apple
is taking wrt. to build quality and developer support.
To me, Apple seems to have chosen a direction that will push developers over
to other platforms. This will not happen overnight, but I suspect that in 2-3
years time the guys who have to develop on Macs will be the ones groaning over
their OS - not the Windows people.
The combo of too expensive hardware and low build quality on OSX + bad DX is
Apples biggest threat at the moment.
~~~
zelos
I think the same thing. Abandoning servers as it's not their main product is
fine, but what about all those developers who want to build a basic CI system?
For Android it's simple - a bunch of cheap Dell servers with Linux or
something. But iOS? Most teams are using Mac Minis as servers, but they
haven't been updated in years and are dual-core only, so they're not great
options.
~~~
zbentley
Past a certain number of OSX instances needed for testing, a lot of shops
virtualize. The licensing can be a hassle, though. I suspect a lot of places
that do this wouldn't pass an audit.
------
hollander
How long does it take to reformat 300TB of disk? I guess the most time it
takes is the restore from backup, because that seems to be the safest and
easiest way to do this. But I might be wrong here.
I can see the problem here, and it's annoying that Apple doesn't handle this
better, and doesn't give you any insights whether they will solve this or not.
But I'm pretty sure that reformatting solves this problem for him a lot faster
than waiting for a bugfix.
~~~
cakerino
To move 300TB (say, restoring a backup) at an optimistic 300MB/s would take
just under two weeks.
~~~
avianlyric
Can you not use OSX to perform the conversion for you in place?[1] There
should also be a `diskutil` command that does it as well. Then you get
snapshots and better volume management.
As always do your research first, this conversion is a one-way thing.
[1] [https://datarecovery.wondershare.com/apfs/how-to-convert-
hfs...](https://datarecovery.wondershare.com/apfs/how-to-convert-hfs-to-apfs-
without-losing-data.html)
------
jo909
"And I have one particular server that we have loved for a long time."
Yes, for over 10 years now! (I looked up the manufacturing date from the
serial number, week 29 of 2007)
I feel for your acute pain, but I think you got your moneys worth and then
some out of that system, there should be plenty of saved budget to replace
that with a new storage server. One that has support from the vendor.
~~~
idorube
:-) I know, but isn't it sad. I'm forced bu Apple to switch to another server
OS if I want to keep using the 300TB SAS storage.
~~~
idorube
*by
------
idorube
Hi All,
I've read all your comments and agree that a migration towards newer hardware
and OSS Server software is needed. I've taking some first steps away from OSX
Server and have come to the following results regarding the issue's I had. See
below a comparison between old OSX server and new Ubuntu test server with
regards to High Sierra:
AFP Finder search on OSX 10.6.8 Server from High Sierra Client (17D47): No
result (most often) -or- Incomplete results (certain mounted shares are not
searched)
AFP Finder search on Ubuntu 16.04.3 Server from High Sierra Client: Fast
result Opening file works
SMB Finder search on OSX 10.6.8 Server from High Sierra Client: results show
after 7 seconds Opening file fails "The alias "<filename>” can’t be opened
because the original item can’t be found.
SMB Finder search on Ubuntu 16.04.3 Server from High Sierra Client: Fast
result, Opening file fails "The alias "<filename>” can’t be opened because the
original item can’t be found.
AFP Finder search on OSX 10.6.8 Server from Sierra Client: Fast result Opening
file works
AFP Finder search on Ubuntu 16.04.3 Server from Sierra Client: Fast result
Opening file works
SMB Finder search on OSX 10.6.8 Server from Sierra Client: Fast result Opening
file works
SMB Finder search on Ubuntu 16.04.3 Server from Sierra Client: Fast result
Opening file works
Some speed indications: SMB file copy from Ubuntu 16.04.3 Server to Sierra
Client: 20.91MB/s 21923002.62 bytes/sec AFP file copy from Ubuntu 16.04.3
Server to Sierra Client: 49.19MB/s 49459712.12 bytes/sec SMB file copy from
OSX 10.6.8 Server to Sierra Client: 48.98MB/s 51399308.67 bytes/sec AFP file
copy from OSX 10.6.8 Server to Sierra Client: 64.58MB/s 67710528.40 bytes/sec
------
michelb
Sorry to hear this. But it sounds like careless system management. I work at a
lot of video shops and none of them are even on Sierra, let alone High Sierra.
Update one laptop and test. Apple has put AFP on the backseat for several
years now (since they switched the default in Mavericks), in favour of SMB2.
~~~
idorube
I admit, I usually let my users upgrade their clients as soon as they wish.
This is the first time it broke something. :-(
------
duncan_bayne
I run a nearly identical server at home (the Mac Pro that is, not the massive
RAID).
I made the decision to install FreeBSD when I set it up and haven't regretted
that for a minute. The hardware is actually lovely, right down to the literal
nuts and bolts.
Just stay away from the Apple software ecosystem and you'll be fine.
------
toyg
I'm so happy I'm still on Sierra. They were so busy on the new filesystem,
that they broke so much other stuff. But hey, at least if you don't like an
OSX version, now you can just wait a year and you'll get a new one! Which may
or may not have more bugs.
------
zbentley
Quite tangental to the article, but:
This is why you shouldn't name protocols/standards after products!
I've worked with a few know-nothing users trying to slog through mac file
sharing for the first time and got confused when I told them that the
better/faster/better-supported sharing options, between macs, were the ones
_without_ "Apple" in the name.
"But it's named after Apple; it's going to be the most official/best
integrated thing if I'm on a Mac!" is a common barely-technical-user refrain.
The same thing applies to the "Apple Partition Map" bootsector option when
formatting disks.
Give things a descriptive, concise, memorable name that has nothing to do with
a brand. If you deprecate them, you'll be glad you did.
/pedantry
------
danpalmer
Going to throw my unpopular opinion out there...
High Sierra has been nothing but a smooth update for me. APFS has corrected
several external disk issues I've had. All in all, it has been a solid, if
small, update, similar to the other releases like Snow Leopard and Mountain
Lion.
~~~
nawtacawp
I'm assuming you didn't read the article since it is about the Apple Filing
Protocol (AFP) and not APFS.
------
jamesfmilne
idorube
You can take the SAS cards out of your Mac Pro and put them into a Thunderbolt
expansion chassis, and keep using the same disk array. No need to reformat or
convert to APFS.
And you can export your disk array via SMB2 or NFS to the other Macs.
It's a pity Apple don't make a decent Mac Mini anymore which could serve as a
decent server. Maybe they'll release a new one some day.
------
nkkollaw
Meh, if your servers are valued that much, you should know better.
I even know that Apple is not investing in servers anymore and hasn't in
years. AFP was also abandoned.
They should've planned for this and switched to some more solid server
configuration like Linux.
------
therealmarv
My advice: Build your own workaround / software solution for this problem with
a future opt out option to replace the server with Linux and Samba (yes I know
Samba is a pain but it is the standard nowadays).
------
mschuster91
A HW question: how are all these cards attached to the system? IIRC the
cheesegrater Mac Pros only have 4 PCI slots.
~~~
idorube
SAS can be daisy chained.
~~~
mschuster91
Article says "bunch of 10G ethernet cards" and "some SAS cards", though.
------
jjgreen
What's a computer?
------
thinkMOAR
Only thing that catches my eye is, only 16GB ram for 300TB storage?
~~~
vetinari
I noticed 100MB/s.
You don't need 10GbE and Cat6 for that. 1GbE and Cat5/5+ are fine. The SOHO
NAS from Synology or QNAP with ARM CPUs, 1-2 GB RAM and 1x 1GbE ports are
achieving such performance.
~~~
wolrah
That's what caught my eye too. 100MB/s is nothing. The author claims that he's
getting half that with SMB, which means something is horrifically broken with
his system.
Anything worth using as a file server should have no trouble doing 100MB/sec
with pretty much any protocol.
~~~
wazoox
No, something is horrifically broken in Apple SMB client implementation.
That's probably why they never actually phased out AFP, because _it 's the
only way to move data fast on MacOS_.
~~~
vetinari
Paradoxically, the speeds that I'm getting from my rMBP13 for SMB transfers
are comparable over Ethernet (both Apple Thunderbolt adapter and rangom
assortment of TB2 docks) to Linux and Windows machines, but over Wi-Fi, rMBP
is much faster than any Linux or Windows machine I have. The Mac machine is
802.11ac 3x3 MIMO by Broadcom, while the others are only 2x2 by Intel, but I'm
not sure that the speed difference could be explained just by this factor.
Yes, there were small bugs in the past, like waiting for some timeout when
browsing shares on the server when the auth is done via Kerberos, but they
were ultimately fixed.
------
nailer
This will hit everyone using non-iOS Apple products either sooner or later:
You're no longer Apple's priority. You haven't been for some time. MacOS isn't
getting major updates, the development team has been largely disbanded: MacOS
is a niche platform that only exists to develop iOS apps. One day it won't
even do that.
Apple already markets and wants iOS to replace your laptops, and doesn't
significantly care about the server or workstation markets.
If you rely on MacOS you need to think about this, and the longer you delay it
the more it's going to hurt.
~~~
LeoPanthera
The iMac Pro is the strongest evidence that this isn’t true.
~~~
saas_co_de
It seems that the Pro is designed to appeal only to the faithful and have a
very limited lifespan.
Putting everything in an integrated system with limited to no expansion
possibilities rules out a lot of potential users (anyone with common sense)
and means that if one component fails or becomes obsolete the whole thing is
useless. If there were awards for excellence in planned obsolescence those
systems would be a shoe in.
~~~
matthewmacleod
It means none of those things and it is totally baffling to me that you refuse
to accept that other people may have different views on these systems' utility
to them and that they aren't idiots without "common sense" for that.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Why isn't rspec the default in Rails 5? - whatnotests
I'm personally of the opinion that rspec[0] is the greatest thing to happen to unit tests since the Test Anything Protocol.<p>I'd like to know: why doesn't `rails new <path>` default to using `rspec-rails`[1]?<p>Why isn't `factory_girl_rails`[2] already there?<p>How about `database_cleaner`[3], `rails-controller-testing`[4] and `shoulda-matchers`[5]?<p>[0] http://rspec.info/
[1] https://github.com/rspec/rspec-rails
[2] https://github.com/thoughtbot/factory_girl_rails
[3] https://github.com/DatabaseCleaner/database_cleaner
[4] https://github.com/rails/rails-controller-testing
[5] https://github.com/thoughtbot/shoulda-matchers
======
justsorneguy
[http://www.rubyinside.com/dhh-offended-by-rspec-
debate-4610....](http://www.rubyinside.com/dhh-offended-by-rspec-
debate-4610.html)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I.MX7 M4 Atomic Cache Bug - luu
https://rschaefertech.wordpress.com/2018/02/17/imx7-hardware-bug/
======
fest
I've never personally encountered a bug like this but I have hit my fair share
of weird/hard to track down bugs over my embedded software career.
Almost always, they leave me a) longing for the blissful ignorance of low
level details our whole computing infrastructure is built upon and b)
wondering, how on Earth our technology is working as well it does, considering
there are layers upon layers of abstractions which could have a lot of issues
which are either worked around or just not hit in particular application.
~~~
jacquesm
> how on Earth our technology is working as well it does, considering there
> are layers upon layers of abstractions which could have a lot of issues
> which are either worked around or just not hit in particular application.
Our technology works as well as it does _because_ of these layers upon layers
of abstraction. That's the only way you are going to be able to construct
something with a few billion components and a fighting chance at avoiding
unwanted interference between parts. The amazing thing is how often we get it
just right, not that there are super rare edge cases that were not taken into
account during the abstraction process that lead to bugs.
Every leaky abstraction is a bug in the waiting, all it takes is for someone
to focus on the discrepancy with enough time, effort and resources thrown at
it it might lead to a crash or an exploit.
Also note that it is not as if we don't know that caching is a hard problem to
get right, it is one of the three explicitly mentioned in the 'there are two
things hard about computing' joke.
~~~
flamedoge
I feel like the more I learn, the more convinced I become that computing _is_
because we build stupidly impenetrable abstractions that keep us from shooting
our feet. Yet I can't shake the feeling that we are leaving so much room for
optimization on the table.
~~~
jacquesm
That's true, but optimization is always an exercise in economy. If the money
is there someone will do the optimization, for instance, in the Bitcoin mining
arms race you could see the writing on the wall for CPUs long before the jump
to GPU's, FPGA's and eventually ASIC's.
In mobile phones I always expected battery life to cause a resurgence of
things like assembly programming but it never happened, people are happy to
recharge their phones. I wonder what would happen if someone introduced a
smartphone OS based on old school principles jacking up the battery life to 5
days or so.
~~~
jl6
It could still happen. Mobile phones have been riding the CPU speed
improvement gravy train for a decade or so, but there are signs that this is
coming to an end like it did for desktop CPUs.
There will be increased demand for faster software when the hardware stops
getting faster.
Optimization is vertical integration. Guess which mobile phone manufacturer is
best placed to pull that off!
------
codys
Reading the NXP thread, it is not yet clear that NXP considers this errata,
only that it is something that is desirable to avoid.
Does anyone have a link to the changes to FreeRTOS & use of libclang mentioned
in the article?
NXP thread:
[https://community.nxp.com/thread/459977](https://community.nxp.com/thread/459977)
~~~
ChuckMcM
In that thread -- _After reproducing the issue and performing some tests, it
was found that the issue is because “LDREX” and “STREX” instructions
overlooked LMEM cache. That means those instructions always access external
memory directly, which leads to data inconsistency.
There’s no SW configuration to make the cacheable data consistent with those
atomic instructions, and design team will fix it in later CM4 integration._
Its a bug. But they see a workaround so they aren't in a hurry to fix it
apparently.
~~~
Gibbon1
That reminds me of an article about a similar problem with the xbox. Cache
consistency is extremely brittle combine that with speculative execution and
that means just having instructions that break cache consistency in memory is
dangerous.
~~~
Dylan16807
Here you go:
[https://randomascii.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/finding-a-
cpu-d...](https://randomascii.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/finding-a-cpu-design-
bug-in-the-xbox-360/)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16094925](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16094925)
------
pslam
I’ve found my fair share of SoC bugs over the last couple of decades, and
cache coherency is by far the most common problem. It’s complex to implement,
and implementers are always messing with it to gain a cycle here and there.
They get it wrong, frequently.
I would go so far as to bet every mainstream SoC has at least one cache
coherency bug either already documented (errata) or undiscovered.
------
mbilker
This bug reminds me of the cache in-coherency bug with the xdcbt instruction
of the Xbox 360 PowerPC CPU.
[https://randomascii.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/finding-a-
cpu-d...](https://randomascii.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/finding-a-cpu-design-
bug-in-the-xbox-360/)
~~~
comex
There's an even more similar bug in the PowerPC CPU used by the Wii U: all
atomic operations have to perform a cache flush (dcbst) between the load-
linked (lwarx) and store-conditional (stwcx) instructions, or else they won't
work properly. (But I believe the issue is that the operations aren't being
propagated from per-CPU caches to main memory, so it's sort of the opposite of
the I.MX7 bug where operations are _skipping_ the cache.)
------
digikata
Nice writeup with coverage of both a discovery and fix. It makes me wonder
where the best distribution point to this ends up. The most convenient, but
hidden, is that it ends up in some embedded dev kit somewhere. But I suppose
it might go into the FreeRTOS software, but then it seems like it's not
globally applicable to the ARM platform, just the iMX.7 (and likely not even
all variants of iMX.7).
~~~
wallacoloo
I believe that the only generic fixes are to either (a) ensure DRAM is never
cached, (b) ensure no atomic operations address DRAM (as the author proposed
by using TCM), (c) implement atomics by disabling interrupts, performing a
_normal_ RMW operation (i.e. no LL/SC, as even with IRQs disabled that would
cause cache incoherency), and re-enabling interrupts.
No library like FreeRTOS can guarantee (a). Not even the compiler can
guarantee (a), since the user can control the cache by memory-mapped
registers. (b) can't be guaranteed by a library, nor can it be guaranteed
statically by a compiler, since only the _linker_ knows where the atomic
variables will reside in memory (and, atomic operations could be performed on
an address that isn't a compile-time constant, e.g. dynamically allocated
memory).
(c) also can't be guaranteed by any library, but it _could_ be guaranteed by a
compiler that has access to the _full_ source of the binary. That's a hefty
limitation though, since it means you can't mix any other compiler/language
(e.g. assembly, which is almost always used for the startup sequence) into the
binary and still have these guarantees.
For method (c), I believe gcc allows one to somehow override __atomic_load &
other "builtins" \- the use-case being that atomics can be implemented for new
or uncommon architectures without modifying the compiler itself. If this _is_
the case, then a potential fix could be shipped by a library (e.g. FreeRTOS)
which defines __atomic_load as something like
void __atomic_load (type *ptr, type *ret, int memorder) {
#ifdef IMX7_<partnumber>
__disable_irq();
*ret = *ptr;
__enable_irq();
#else
// insert code to perform a normal atomic load.
#endif
}
In fact, gcc allows one to "wrap" functions - it might be possible to do
something like
void __wrap___atomic_load (type *ptr, type *ret, int memorder) {
#ifdef IMX7_<partnumber>
__disable_irq();
*ret = *ptr;
__enable_irq();
#else
__real___atomic_load(ptr, ret, memorder);
#endif
}
which would have the benefit that the library doesn't need to know how to
implement atomic ops on other platforms. This approach could also be used to
implement (b) by performing a _runtime_ assert that `ptr` lives in a cache-
coherent section of memory.
But again, this approach _only_ works if you're not relying on any binary
blobs that perform atomic ops. In the end, if you're doing anything nontrivial
(e.g. atomic ops on heap-allocated memory, or even stack-allocated memory),
it's impossible for a dev kit to completely hide this bug from the developer.
Alternatively, do these M4 processors have some type of updatable microcode
like X86 processors do? NXP might be able to push a fix that somehow patches
LL/SC primitives, or traps when they're encountered at runtime and allows the
user to decide how to handle them (e.g. putting them in a no-IRQ critical
section like above, but since it's done at runtime now you can mix multiple
languages / binary blobs, etc).
~~~
rschaefer2
The M4, to my knowledge, has no microcode like x86 processors.
For solution (b), while it can't be guaranteed by the compiler, it can be
guaranteed with external tooling that manually ensures that all atomic
variables have a gcc section attribute specifying the linker section in the
TCM when all sources are available. This also will prevent heap and stack
allocated atomics, as I believe the linker will error when specifying a
section attribute that the linker cannot respect.
Solution (c), that is actually the solution developed for use with some M0
implementations that don't support LL/SC. It works with gcc as the gcc
functions implementations have the __weak attribute, meaning that your
implementation takes priority. An example override of fetch_add:
uint32_t __atomic_fetch_add_4(uint32_t* addr, uint32_t value, int memmodel)
{
(void)memmodel;
uint32_t mask = __get_PRIMASK();
__disable_irq();
uint32_t temp = *addr;
*addr = temp + value;
if (mask) {
__enable_irq();
}
return temp;
}
------
unwind
Learning the LDREX/STREX instructions a couple of years back was a great "aha
moment". I was/am fairly new to the ARM platform, and never really dug into
x86 so I'm not very familiar with the corresponding instructions there.
But it's a really elegant model, and it was really fun to use them directly to
implement some primitives we needed.
Later, of course, I realized that since we build with GCC, we can use their
atomic/sync functions instead that compile to LDREX/STREX but are more high-
level in the C code.
Great find, this must have been very frustrating.
~~~
cesarb
> and never really dug into x86 so I'm not very familiar with the
> corresponding instructions there.
The x86 has no corresponding instructions (other than perhaps the very recent
and not yet popular transactional extensions). Instead, the x86 world uses an
"atomic compare and exchange" instruction. Wikipedia articles:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compare-and-
swap](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compare-and-swap) versus
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load-link/store-
conditional](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Load-link/store-conditional)
------
epx
My case of hardware bug was a FPU bug in a PC/104 platform that either
returned an absurd value for a floating point division, or crashed the program
with SIGFPU. It was the only FP operation in the program and I was lucky
enough to log the result. Replaced by scaled integer division to avoid the bug
because replacing thousands of boards was not an option.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I met with 26 startups for my birthday, and here's what we learned - thauburger
https://writehub.io/people/thauburger/pages/public/535d18e2bab6ec000100006e?t=4254
======
elwell
Thanks Tom, for giving WeSawIt one of those hours. Really appreciated the
advice and feedback!
~~~
thauburger
Thanks, Chris!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Apple looking to douse Kindle Fire with 8-inch iPad - evo_9
http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/14/apple-looking-to-douse-kindle-fire-with-8-inch-ipad/
======
casemorton
Based on Apple's previous releases I just don't see this going through. It
seems a bit excessive to create a product that fits in between the size of an
iPod & an iPad.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
98-year-old tenant who paid rent on time for 50 years evicted by a loophole - jaysonelliot
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/10/san-francisco-landlord-uses-loophole-to-evict-98-year-old-who-paid-rent-on-time-for-50-years/
======
dangrossman
I wasn't aware that if you decided to rent some of your property, that you had
to do so in perpetuity until the end of time. Did rental agreements 50 years
ago not include a right of termination for both parties? Did they not need to
be renewed annually like virtually all do now? Or are they only doing this
because they want her out a few months earlier than agreed?
~~~
patio11
Rental agreements carry a no-fault termination option or option to elect to
not renew after the lease has expired virtually everywhere in the US _except_
California (and New York City, maybe?), where tenant's rights legislation is
very, very toothy.
It is largely an artifact of rent control. You can't have effective rent
control if a market for the use of the property exists, so rent-controlled
jurisdictions respond by making markets illegal. (And then they are shocked,
shocked when they fail to clear.)
------
lsaferite
I don't get all of the outrage.
Owner uses Ellis Act to declare he is getting out of multi-tenant rental
business. Plans to sell and/or renovate. Tenants, who don't own the building,
are no longer able to rent said apartments and notified of eviction.
Why is the owner a bad guy?
Because SF rental and real-estate markets are out of control? How is that the
owners fault and why should they have to keep renting property when they no
longer want to do so?
If the tenants are so shocked they are no longer allowed to rent an apartment,
why didn't they buy a place? Too expensive? Move someplace else.
I would love to live in SF but I cannot afford the cost of living difference
so I don't. I pay 1/4 what my colleagues in SF pay in rent and I'm BUYING a
home.
------
jmcguckin
It's not a loophole.
~~~
Yver
Are you going to elaborate on that?
~~~
patio11
The name of the "loophole" is the Ellis Act. It was passed after the
California Supreme Court declared that, under existing law, landlords had no
right to evict renters if they wanted to exit the multitenant rental business.
The Ellis Act has one purpose: to make legal the eviction of tenants if one
wants to exit the multitenant rental business. That is not a side effect, bug,
or unintended consequence of the law, it is the exact designed intent.
This eviction is an Ellis Act eviction. The reason for the eviction is that
the landlord wishes to exit the multitenant rental business, in favor of a
condo conversion, something which the Ellis Act was designed to allow. San
Francisco tenants rights activists _hate_ the Ellis Act, so they describe this
as a "loophole."
~~~
cratermoon
The problem is that there are ways for a landlord to technically take the
property off the rental market and evict the rent-controlled tenants and then
put the property back on the rental market with all new (much higher!) rates.
It's a loophole because the intent of the Ellis Act was for owners to reclaim
a property from renters, not to flip it into a new rental market.
Edit to add: [http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-
housing/](http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-housing/)
"Tenants activists say that the Ellis Act is instead abused by real estate
speculators, who evict their tenants, turn these rent-controlled apartments
into tenancies-in-common and sell them at a profit"
~~~
patio11
Tenants activists believe all manner of fun things, including that supply and
demand is a fiction created by evil capitalist bastards. Be that as it may,
that article is (despite being from TechCrunch) pretty awesome for its
comprehensive treatment of the issue. Thanks for the link.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Gini coefficient - sbolt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient
======
wodenokoto
One of the most interesting uses of gini coefficient I've heard of, was
counting messages, winks and likes received on a dating site as money or
wealth and measuring the gini coefficient for men and women.
Apparently the distribution is pretty fair for women and extremely skewed for
men.
~~~
xiphias2
I think this is the article you are refering to.
[https://medium.com/@worstonlinedater/tinder-experiments-
ii-g...](https://medium.com/@worstonlinedater/tinder-experiments-ii-guys-
unless-you-are-really-hot-you-are-probably-better-off-not-wasting-
your-2ddf370a6e9a)
~~~
claudiawerner
It's a little odd that the author almost consistently refers to men as "men"
but uses the word "femlaes" consistently to refer to women. A take on the
experiment is here: [https://medium.com/@ericschulman/2-big-problems-with-the-
tin...](https://medium.com/@ericschulman/2-big-problems-with-the-tinder-
experiments-meme-6dbfdfcee6a8)
I feel as though thinking of dating as a kind of economy with transactions
likely isn't the best way to find someone, especially when the "training" for
such "jobs" in the economy is so one-sided - men are very rarely taught how to
properly look after their appearance, but it's a core part of every girl's
life, 12 and up (and usually sooner than that). It does not surprise me that
those with the training (through receiving positive and negative signals on
their appearance) are more picky.
You'd find that a Javascript programmer asked to choose a JS framework would
probably make a better decision (and of course, be much more demanding given
the options) than a documentation writer or graphic designer on the same
project.
~~~
chownie
How many times each term appears on the page:
women: 13
men: 14
male: 6
female: 6
The language used is equal and every case where "male" or "female" was chosen,
it was matched by its inverse in the following statement. Same goes for "men"
and "women", I think you're perhaps reading something from the article that
isn't there.
~~~
claudiawerner
The context matters. Look at these sentences:
>The most important data I needed was the percent of men that these females
tended to “like.
>The females who responded to my questions could have lied about the
percentage of guys they“like”
>I have to assume that in general females find the same men attractive.
>Most females only “like” the most attractive guys.
>According to my last post, the most attractive men will be liked by only
approximately 20% of all the females on Tinder.
>According to this analysis a man of average attractiveness can only expect to
be liked by slightly less than 1% of females (0.87%).
In sentences where men and women are mentioned together, more often than not,
"female" is used instead of "woman".
------
woadwarrior01
Here's an online calculator[1] for Gini coefficient that I found some time
ago. Tinkering around with some numbers there was what finally gave me an
proper intuitive understanding of the Gini coefficient and the Lorentz curve.
[1]: [http://shlegeris.com/gini](http://shlegeris.com/gini)
------
marriedWpt
I think this is a bad way to gauge an economy.
If you want to look at why people are poor, I would look towards corruption
rather than merely inequality. Or maybe people in a country are poor on paper
but can afford a hundred dollars of luxuries a week.
Using gini reminds me of GIGO. You used a poor metric for information, your
decisions are going to be poor.
~~~
dang
Could you please stop creating accounts for every few comments you post? We
ban accounts that do that. This is in the site guidelines:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html).
HN is a community and we want it to remain one. For that, users need some
identity for others to relate to. Otherwise we may as well have no usernames
and no community, and that would be a different kind of forum.
[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=by:dang%20community%20identity...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=by:dang%20community%20identity&sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comment&storyText=false&prefix&page=0)
You needn't use your real name, of course.
------
RocketSyntax
My mind went straight to gini impurity
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A proposal to improve Twitter and perhaps the world - shaki-dora
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/04/the-case-against-retweets/554078/?single_page=true
======
russellbeattie
I read Twitter almost exclusively via my custom personal news reader that I
developed like 5 years ago. It allows me to do a variety of things to increase
the signal/noise ratio of tweets. For example, it aggregates tweets by person
in chronological order [1] - making the daily aggregate of a person's tweets
into a single post akin to David Winer's original blog. What I also did is
stop following non-humans except for rare instances. Both helped me cut
through the noise by quite a lot.
Then recently, I excluded all retweets. It's quite amazing how little actual
new thoughts and opinions are shared on Twitter - getting rid of retweets cut
out easily 80% of the tweets I'd see. And I'm OK with that - I think too many
people retweet reflexively, without real thought and it ends up being a waste
of time.
1\.
[https://photos.app.goo.gl/kdQyqzWXDIvV0VfR2](https://photos.app.goo.gl/kdQyqzWXDIvV0VfR2)
~~~
rahul003
How bad of a job the UX people at Twitter are doing, that we have to come up
with apps like this to read the feed!
This looks really cool. I wish they were flexible about organizing our feed.
~~~
Skunkleton
Twitter's goal with their UX is probably to maximize "engagement" rather than
"usefulness".
------
token_throwaway
"But I follow thousands of people"
I was wondering why someone would feel this way until I got to that line! Why
would you follow thousands of people if "noise" bothers you? I think most
people like their social media a bit more curated than that to start with,
could be wrong though.
~~~
michaelbuckbee
I follow a couple thousand people on Twitter. It's a mix of infosec folks,
developers, startup friends, comic book artists, news people, comedians, a
variety.
It's less I'm trying to follow individual people and more that I'm trying to
find interesting thoughts or articles or art that they're creating or sharing.
Even so, there is still "noise" in that you'll see the same article surface
multiple times or the same news story be bandied about (for the last 24 hours
it's been pretty Sam Nunberg).
~~~
andrei_says_
How is it humanly possible to ingest the daily feeds from a couple of thousand
of people?
I follow about a hundred or so and I get 300-400 items per day. I use lists
for different topics but following one of the lists takes too much time.
In addition to this, nobody stays on topic. The political climate is so
intense that the reactions to it permeate everything.
The signal to noise ratio is becoming unacceptable and I’m not aware of any
tools to improve it.
~~~
petercooper
_How is it humanly possible to ingest the daily feeds from a couple of
thousand of people?_
I know a few hundred people in real life but I don't feel a need to call them
all up every single day. Ditto for Twitter. I can follow a wide range of
people and dip in and out of it, enjoy the variety, and move on. I'd want to
read everyone's _every_ tweet as little as I'd want to know every one of my
acquaintance's thoughts every day..
~~~
betenoire
but... but you get choose who you call, so you only make one call. But you
can't unread tweets to find the one you want to read. So are these just
snapshots of a moment in time you look at? Which is nothing like calling
someone on the phone.
------
AHTERIX5000
I don't have problems with retweets, I usually just stop following people who
retweet non-interesting noise.
Twitter however now also displays tweets people I follow have liked and that
has been the worst change for me. People seem to use retweets more sparingly
(and may even think if followers are interested before retweeting) than likes.
So now my feed is full of cat pictures and memes users have liked instead of
just the content I really subscribed for.
~~~
dorfsmay
Agreed. You can configure twitter to not add retweets from particular accounts
you follow, and that's great, but unfortunately, you cannot prevent it from
adding tweets that have been liked.
At this point what is the difference between "like" and "retweet"?
~~~
mnx
likes don't always show. re-tweets do.
------
montrose
I would not be surprised if Twitter is one day regarded as a poster child for
the dangers of blindly optimizing for engagement. I'm sure all their features
do increase engagement, at least in the short term. They wouldn't release them
otherwise. But it is a sort of engagement that burns out users and ultimately
sends them away.
~~~
runeb
Seems like most social media is going that way now. Facebook in particular. I
thought Snapchat would be a break from this since the content is temporary,
but I've read news articles from my home country about kids having to get
"Snapchat-sitters" to maintain their streaks while they are offline for more
than a day. So they post random images to each other to keep their streak
number increasing, which is total nonsense with regards to both engagement and
content.
~~~
dEnigma
Yes, I have seen this Snapchat streak phenomenon with my little brother and
his friends. They constantly send completely random pictures to each other,
i.e. they open the camera app, take a picture of the ground, of the seat in
front of them in the car, etc. and then immediately send it to a number of
their Snapchat friends. When I had Snapchat installed for a short while he
started sending me those pictures too, which in the end led to me blocking
him. From what my brother said there is a lot of competition around who can
keep their numbers the highest. Quite a strange thing to watch as an outsider.
~~~
imron
> Quite a strange thing to watch as an outsider.
And working just as the cognitive scientists designed.
~~~
dEnigma
Indeed. At times it is scary what level of trickery and manipulation is used
to drive addiction (or engagement as some like to call it) in social media.
Especially when you consider that these methods are also indiscriminately used
on young kids, as soon as they get their first smartphone and start installing
apps like Snapchat (which can be pretty early nowadays).
------
la_oveja
I don't know if the author uses Twitter as much as I do, but I love RTs and
Quotes, and serve a central point on what Twitter is, a sharing network of
short messages.
Making people copy & paste is an 90's mindset. If you think too much noise is
being published, ask the author or stop following him. Or make add him/her to
a list so you can watch his/she's messages without RTs.
I want to know news, and I want them FAST. Twitter does an amazing job on this
field, because when something is really important a lot of people are gonna
share it. RTs are also is very important for Trending Topics!
imho not wanting RTs on Twitter is not fully understanding Twitter.
~~~
oneeyedpigeon
I don't think anyone is seriously suggesting copy+pasting as an alternative to
retweeting.
~~~
paulgb
Funny enough, the word "retweet" used to refer doing exactly that. Twitter
only added retweet functionality in 2009, before then the convention was to
write "RT" followed by the handle and then paste the tweet.
~~~
danso
As a trivia point, one of the tweets that got Quinn Norton fired from her NYT
editorial gig was a manual retweet she did of a John Perry Barlow tweet that
contained the n-word:
Her explanation:
[https://twitter.com/quinnnorton/status/963594118747361281](https://twitter.com/quinnnorton/status/963594118747361281)
The original tweet:
[https://twitter.com/JPBarlow/status/3760544030](https://twitter.com/JPBarlow/status/3760544030)
There was plenty else that Norton tweeted that was problematic (including
another time that she used the n-word in a debate to rhetorically quip that
"terrorist" was an equally stupid word), but I was struck at how easy it was
to misread those pre-official-RT tweets as actual original tweets from the
retweeter. And many of the people dragging Norton over that tweet may not have
been around back in 2009.
------
Y_Y
This article irritatingly mixes up the ß (eszett, or ss ligature), the italic
version of the same ligature and the greek letter beta (or it's math-unicode
alternative).
[edit: Originally I falsely accused the author of doing this, but the equation
was actually originally written in terms of eszett. This is silly.]
Also I imagine if everyone started blocking real retweets like this people
would just go back to the oldskool copy-paste method.
~~~
draugadrotten
> Also I imagine if everyone started blocking real retweets like this people
> would just go back to the oldskool copy-paste method.
Yet, other networks where retweeting (reposting) requires copy-paste has a
much lower percentage of this. Anecdotally, almost nobody in my instagram feed
are reposting other people's photos or text. There are applications to do so,
or one could just copy-paste a screenshot. Yet, most people post only their
own photos. On twitter, almost half of the posts I see on the first page are
reposted retweets. How does it look for you?
Also, Raising the bar very little would make a huge impact due to the
amplification of the network effect.
~~~
rythie
I agree with this, on Twitter and Facebook I will very often repost stuff, but
on Instagram I never do. However, I do think it's hard to get noticed on
Instagram (if that's what you want), due to the lack of native sharing, likes
are on someone else's feed and often don't even get a follow from a popular
share.
~~~
kitd
It may be related to the target platform for Instagram and Snapchat being
mobile devices. Copy-pasting on mobile tends to be more cumbersome, and the
slightest impediment to the UX can have a significant effect on how many times
it occurs.
------
insin
I use a userscript [1] to toggle display of retweets and likes which Twitter's
algorithm decides should act like retweets, to make their extra "engagement"
opt-in.
It also highlights these tweets when displayed, so it's a bit more obvious
when your timeline consists of someone else's retweet spree or Twitter's
algorithm.
[1] [https://github.com/insin/greasemonkey#twitter-engagement-
min...](https://github.com/insin/greasemonkey#twitter-engagement-minus)
------
padobson
The author praises Snapchat and Instagram and makes a compelling point for
their anti-shareable features.
I myself have begun to think that a higher standard of friendship is needed in
social media. Something like Twitter, where you can follow anyone unless they
actively block you, makes more sense where engagement is limited, like how
selecting a TV channel to watch is largely a one-way experience.
I would love to see a social network demand a higher standard of friendship
from a user before other users are allowed in their network - based on
something more than reciprocal button pushing, so kind folks don't feel
compelled to accept a friend request out of politeness. Snapchat may be on to
something here, as you actually have to know the person exists before you can
add them.
I don't know exactly what the answer is - ask compatibility questions, quiz
the user about their history, analyze their current social networks for
positive engagement - but I'm extremely curious about the possibility of a
social network that purposely limits its own network effects.
~~~
ckocagil
>I would love to see a social network demand a higher standard of friendship
from a user before other users are allowed in their network - based on
something more than reciprocal button pushing, so kind folks don't feel
compelled to accept a friend request out of politeness.
Like Facebook?
There is no one type of "social network" out there.
The solution is for people to learn how to use various social networks
effectively. Facebook is for keeping some sort of connection with people you
know or once knew. Twitter is for content, be it about activism or
entertainment. Instagram is for people to boost each other's self esteem so
they collectively feel better, at least for some time.
For personal connections, what we really need are small, immutable communities
like a small town or a school class. People who talk to each other on a daily
basis. This is the only way humans are accustomed to live and judge their own
worth and the progress they make.
This effect can best be observed on Instagram. By wiring very carefully
curated moments of a top percentage of millions of people to our brains, we're
only making ourselves feel worthless and put ourselves under enormous mental
stress.
------
jvns
> my office mate, who happens to be a skilled programmer, wrote a script for
> me that turned off retweets from everybody
if you also want to do this, here's a small hacky tool I made that uses the
Twitter API to turn of retweets for people you follow. [http://turn-off-
retweets.glitch.me](http://turn-off-retweets.glitch.me)
------
pjc50
As a Twitter reader, you need to (given the very limited tools) control what
comes into your feed. Yes, there's a lot of retweet-based outrage, but a bit
of selective removal of people or their retweet ability helps with that. Or
muting certain outrage keywords.
Whereas on the other end, the various sorts of Funny Twitter and Weird Twitter
and Artist Twitter live off retweets, they're an essential and beneficial part
of the experience.
What Twitter have done badly though is collapsed the disctinction between
"like" and "retweet" by causing things that you like to appear in the
timelines of others. Where they can then also like and retweet it, keeping it
alive.
It's often amazing how bad twitter understand how their site is used by its
communities. I suppose they focus on the paid "brand engagement" area, which
is a social desert.
------
dEnigma
I don't think retweets are trash _in general_. They are one of the main ways
for me to find new, interesting accounts on Twitter. I follow people because I
like the things they tweet, i.e. find them interesting. Chances are they are
going to retweet content that I appreciate too. If someone starts retweeting
random, uninteresting content I just unfollow (or disable retweets for them,
like the author mentioned). Problem solved. Maybe I don't have the same
problems with noise because I follow fewer than a hundred accounts, since I
treat Twitter as a source of information first, and a social network second.
------
draugadrotten
What is HN if not a stream of "retweeted" links. The author of the article
seems to think the act of Retweeting is bad, yet xir touches on the real
problem - the one of amplifying simple emotions rather than promoting
thoughtful content. On HN, most links, like the one in this post, are intended
to amplify our _thinking_ . However on Twitter, Instagram and many other
social media, almost every post is intended to evoke an emotional response.
~~~
na85
What is the intent of using "xir" against the author's wishes if not to
provoke an emotional response, then? The author is very clearly identified as
"he". I can only conclude that you are trying to start a flame war.
I'd report your comment to the moderators but I don't know how.
~~~
acheron
To answer your question about reporting, click on the time stamp of the post
and then there should be a “flag” link. There might be a small karma threshold
for it to be available.
~~~
grzm
There’s also the Contact link in the footer which has no karma requirement.
------
elcapitan
Wouldn't an easy solution be to allow making "retweets off" as default for
following other users? I do that manually for many accounts that I follow.
------
anotheryou
Retweets are essential for discovery of new people to follow. As such they are
too valuable to dismiss, even with today's popularity of twitter.
The empty-state is a big problem for the onboarding of new users on social
platforms, especially less personal ones.
~~~
TACIXAT
Personally, I do not want to find new people to follow, because the majority
of the time they will not follow me. This system leads to an awful feeling of
asymmetry, where anything I post gets almost no interaction while I am
constantly seeing a few hyper popular accounts. I think I just don't like the
consumption model of social media, I want interaction with peers, not the
latest hot take from a celebrity account.
I don't think my Twitter account will make it to the end of 2018.
~~~
anotheryou
I personally find the self determined curation the one good thing about
twitter and don't write posts myself at all... (just replies every now and
than)
For your purposes twitter might be truly unfit...
------
dobin
I would like the opposite - hide all uninformative and boring nonsense some
people tweet (but not often enough to unfollow), and just get the retweets.
These usually have high information and are of relevance (i'm only using
twitter for itsec news).
------
platetone
I wrote a little web app a while back to do this if anyone is interested:
[http://www.nathanbeach.com/deretweetme/](http://www.nathanbeach.com/deretweetme/)
------
paladin314159
> But social-media platforms don’t have to be organized around shareability.
> Instagram, for instance, doesn’t allow links, except a single one in each
> user’s profile. This dampens self-promotion and slows down the spread of
> information from the rest of the internet on the platform. It doesn’t have
> native reposting tools, either. And it is, by pretty much all accounts, a
> nicer place to spend time online.
While it may have that going for it, wasn't Instagram recently considered the
worst social media app for mental health?
[https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/health/instagram-worst-
social...](https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/health/instagram-worst-social-
network-app-young-people-mental-health/index.html)
I'm not convinced that dampening self-promotion and discouraging reposting are
sufficient conditions for considering one platform to be better than the
other.
------
douglaswlance
What I like about retweets is that they simulate the behavior of neurons to
some extent. Neurons trigger each other to fire and transmit information from
one node to another. The closer we can get to a giant hive-mind with millions
of linked up human brains working together, the sooner we can solve the
problems that plague society.
------
dingaling
I don't have a Twitter account but occasionally arrive on that site through a
link.
I concur with the author that retweets are lazy noise. And quite often they
reveal aspects of a person's character that I'd rather not know.
Maybe Twitter would be better if it had a technical means of enforcing only
original thought. Perhaps some day in the AI future...
------
Peroni
Readme App has made a huge difference the quality of stuff I see on twitter.
No retweets, no random reply chains, literally just the tweets from the people
you follow. It doesn't even allow you to tweet or reply. -
[https://readmeapp.stream/](https://readmeapp.stream/)
~~~
Veen
I use Nuzzel so I can see what's being shared by the people I follow without
having to deal with all the other nonsense on Twitter.
------
flafla2
> This article appears in the April 2018 print edition with the headline “The
> Case Against Retweets.”
So the title was changed from "The Case Against Retweets" to "Retweets are
Trash". Seems that the editor took the author's advice on creating sharable
content - this is a pretty clear-cut appeal to emotion.
------
Arubis
I fully expected that this title was a reference to the more-famed A Modest
Proposal:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest_Proposal)
Rather surprised that The Atlantic wouldn't have been self-aware re: the
title.
~~~
mc32
I'm sure they are aware. It's highly unlikely any writer for the Atlantic
would be ignorant of that _proposal_. They probably just wanted to go forth
with the plain meaning.
~~~
marshray
That we continually over-use this old gag is one of my favorite things about
the English speaking world. :-)
------
ValleyOfTheMtns
Here's my modest proposal to improve Twitter and perhaps the world. Don't use
Twitter.
------
oferzelig
The article didn't even touch the phenomenon of robots.
Take Trump's Twitter account for example. A second after he tweets, there are
other of retweets. How come? it's robot that do it automatically.
Now, if I (for some obscure reason) follow that robot, I'd see all of Trump's
tweets. But hang on, if that's what I want to do, I'd just follow
@realDonaldTrump, right? why should I get all his tweets from a robot?
Another option is that the goal of these robots is to create artificial
virality to Trump's tweets: "Oh, there are 5,023,482 retweets - this tweet (or
this person) must be clever!" \- which is the premise of this article.
Retweets are trash.
------
splitbrain
I experienced the same. Not showing retweets in my Twitter app of choice made
Twitter enjoyable again. I can highly recommend it.
------
noobermin
Dumb HN-tier nitpick, but when people use the words "modest proposal" do they
know where it comes from? The original modest proposal was satire and it's a
little bit of cognitive dissonance for me to see it used seriously in a title.
Regardless, I find the amplification part of twitter to be the best part,
although I don't really feel like I see more outrage than joy or just humor. I
think it has a lot to do with who you choose to follow.
~~~
hnal943
Agree. Before I read the article I assumed that this would be a tongue-in-
cheek series of suggestions that would destroy twitter.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Writing To-Do Lists Helps Your Brain - prostoalex
https://www.fastcompany.com/3063392/your-most-productive-self/how-writing-to-do-lists-helps-your-brain-even-when-you-dont-comple
======
ktamura
Over the years, I've tried many digital to-do lists, including one I wrote
myself. Today, I just use a notebook.
The trick that I made work is to have two to-do lists: daily and quarterly.
For daily, it's simple. I have a variation of the Bullet Journal [1], but
interleaved with meeting notes, ideas, etc.
But many ideas are bigger than what you can accomplish/benchmark on a daily
basis. For those, I have two pages per quarter that I fill with "quarterly
goals". I try to keep the list under 20-30 items and keep them high-level.
Every week, I look at the same two pages and make sure that I am making
progress toward them. If not, I go back to my daily notes and see if I worked
on the right stuff the previous week. This is a variation on the idea that I
stole from Aaron Levie [2].
For me, the tactile/tangible nature of paper note-taking, as well as its
flexibility in formatting, has been incredibly useful.
[1] [http://bulletjournal.com/](http://bulletjournal.com/)
[2] [https://www.fastcompany.com/3021586/most-productive-
people-b...](https://www.fastcompany.com/3021586/most-productive-people-box-
aaron-levie)
~~~
rasur
The Bullet Journal looks interesting, but to me it feels much more like it
_should_ be a tablet app, than in a physical notebook (mainly due to migration
of items, but this is of course achievable with an erasable pen or pencil).
I say this as someone that is trying to use a physical notebook more & better,
and looking for good organisational/notekeeping schemes.
~~~
zump
An app never works for productivity stuff.
~~~
rasur
My issue is latency from _idea in head_ to adequately captured somewhere.
A book is usually open in front of me with a pen at the ready. An
application.. well it depends, but best-case scenario is that it's in a easy-
to-switch-to window and is natural to just get the idea down without jumping
through hoops.
As an aside from a sufferer of ADHD, I think Augmented Reality tech would be a
killer platform for an in-place TODO/Note/Reminder/assistant.
~~~
jasonkostempski
A small boost to that workflow is the ability to unlock and launch apps in one
swipe but that still leaves the power button, optional pin, and never being
quite sure what state the app will resume in. Edit: Forgot to include the
animations that run slower than my hand can move.
------
Ayaz
No application I've ever tried has worked for me in the sense that I felt it
an indispensable part of my life. In almost all instances, after a few days, I
always kept forgetting to use the application. Plus, the overhead of using
applications seemed to appear significant overtime.
I am now successfully down to a good fountain pen and a clear notebook. It is
also part of my strategy to break my device-addiction, which is bordering on
insanity. Where I used to take in my laptop to meetings and use mind maps and
others for taking down notes and ideas discussed, I only simply carry my
notebook -- my pen is usually in my shirt's front pocket.
I have rediscovered the love for handwriting, which I had all through my
childhood and teenage years. I had a beautiful cursive handwriting and could
write fast, which I gave up when I joined university in favour of a more
mechanical style, and soon thereafter, gave up on writing completely. I have
started writing in cursive again, and it makes for my ability to take down
notes very fast in a handwriting that looks good.
The only real grievance I have is when I want my notes to be available to
others. In those cases, I do wonder if it wouldn't have been better to have
typed them down in the first place (I'm a fast typist). But, it is a small
price I'm happily willing to pay.
~~~
tdkl
> In almost all instances, after a few days, I always kept forgetting to use
> the application.
That's why the success is in building habits. It doesn't matter what
medium/tool, but the initial habit building process must take place.
~~~
nnnnnande
Wouldn't it be possible that the tool might also influence the difficulty in
building said habit? If different tools require you to exert varying levels of
mental effort only to remember to use them, then then medium/tool might
matter.
------
emdeha
Over the years, I've switched between several daily TODO lists. I used a plain
sticky note in the beginning where I outlined all the tasks I had to do. After
that I used Steven Covey's time management matrix, but I found that I'm not
using all of its quadrants and some _important and urgent_ tasks were never
done on time. Currently I have a TODO list with two columns -- Making, for the
long-term things I have to provide substantial amount of undivided attention
to; and POSS (projects, organization, skills, social) -- for tasks which
require frequent context-switching. It was greatly inspired by Paul Graham's
"Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" article [1].
For long-term plans, I keep a simple text file categorized by projects where I
plan ahead for about one or two weeks and put deadlines for my plans. I derive
these plans from my long-term goals, for which I store the big picture in
various mediums (Trello, E-mails, text files, written conversations, paper,
etc.)
[1]
[http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html)
------
NhanH
I've found out recently that rather than being something you make or plan,
TODO list is the end result of doing something else. Specifically, it's the
result of taking notes about your life and your works, TODO list is just what
left after you filter out all the actionable items.
For example, when I'm doing development work, I'm trying to keep a journal of
what I'm doing, why I'm doing something, which step of the task I'm on, what
the boss wanted to get done. With those info, when I get back to work
tomorrow, it's simple to get back the "TODO item" in the task.
The difference being that a list of TODO things on its own is pretty hard to
follow through and act: it's missing context (or the action is too vague), we
tend to have certain routine anyway and an ordered list of everything isn't
helpful since there is a limited number of tasks we can do at a certain
context. There are some productivity that tries to fix the missing context
problem by assigning context with a task, but they just amplify another issue
when making todo list: it's not that simple to write an actionable item. At
least 90% of the time I've tried, my item always ends up being broken down to
several more items when I started working on them, or I'm missing the mark on
planning the item. And they're always because I'm not in the mindset of a task
when I'm making its TODO items -- I plan things at the start or end of week/
day, rather than when I'm actually doing the task.
I think TODO list is just a special kind of notes, and I think a lot of people
would benefit from taking more notes about their lives, both for the past
(journal) and future (planning). Although "past" and "future" is a bit of an
unnecessary distinction here.
Don't make to-do list, just take more notes, write things down. You will
notice all the bullet point in the article would apply if you change "writing
to-do lists" into "taking notes".
Just a tangent, but that's also why I think org-mode is the only note-
taking/to-do app that did it right: TODO item is both part of the normal
notes, and well supported with multitude of features around it (all the agenda
functionalities).
~~~
tonyedgecombe
"I think TODO list is just a special kind of notes, and I think a lot of
people would benefit from taking more notes about their lives, both for the
past (journal) and future (planning)."
I think this is a really good point, in fact if I look at my TODO lists many
if not most of the items get added after I complete them.
------
caseysoftware
And you should purge it occasionally.
With Trello, I use the "card aging" feature to see which things haven't been
updated or moved recently. Each week, I spend five minutes skimming through
the cards, making sure there are due dates if applicable.
At the end of each month, I spend closer to 20 minutes and look at each card
and ask "is this still relevant?" and give it a simple yes/no. If it's "no" I
delete it immediately.
Those never-ending tasks and wish lists simply go away. It's not like I was
going to do them anyway _and_ it's less junk on the list.
I do the same for meetings. _None_ of my recurring meetings/tasks extend past
December 31st. After the January 1st, I double check to see which ones I
really need and are still relevant and recreate those. The others are already
done.
~~~
qznc
I wonder if some manual bookkeeping is necessary to develop a habit and give
room for introspection/reflection?
Currently, I use Wunderlist and I have weekly lists. At the end of the week
there is the manual process: create list for the next week and move everything
left from this week over. Then I quickly look through the done items of the
week.
I also have lists for long term and recurring items, but the process does not
really work well. I forget them, they get outdated, etc.
------
asadjb
This first few sentences of this article describe almost exactly how I've been
feeling lately:
For a long time, I resisted to-do lists. I wanted the flexibility. I felt that if I kept a list, it would tie me down to a particular set of tasks. Gradually, though, I came around. The busier my work life became, the more crucial it was to have some sort of running agenda on hand.
It was embarrassing after a few times when I kept forgetting important tasks,
and that pushed me towards using a todo list manager at work.
Being a developer who works almost exclusively in a terminal, I settled for
using TaskWarrior (TW). I can't recommend it enough for people who spend most
of their time in a CLI. I tried a bunch of different options before I found
TW, and my biggest problem with anything else was the added friction and
mental context switch involved in switching to another app to add a task.
Now I'm looking for something more, a task manager that works everywhere.
Especially for longer projects and goals, something I can use for my personal
life. While TW is great for the CLI, it lacks apps for the desktop and mobile
(OS X and iOS). I've settled to using Wunderlist for now, which is the best
option I could find for myself, but I'd love something that works as well as
TW for the desktop and mobile, which for me is just entering tasks as a single
line of text and having meta data like due date, project, categorization, etc
picked out automatically (which Wunderlist does for dates but not
categorization).
And one very important thing I've felt a couple of days ago when I moved to
Wunderlist for my personal stuff is that at least for me it makes me feel more
relaxed as well. I had a bad day a while back where I was in a panic because I
had a _lot_ of things to do personally and I didn't seem to be getting
anywhere with any of those tasks. I sat down for about 30 minutes and just
created tasks for everything. Since then I feel a lot easier. While I may not
have made any progress on the tasks, just knowing they are written down
somehow makes me feel better.
~~~
DiabloD3
When I last used Wunderlist, I really disliked how inflexible it was, and how
bad it was at handling recurring tasks.
I discovered Todoist shortly after, and stuck with it.
I think for me, personally, to get anything even more productive, I'd have to
write it myself.
~~~
asadjb
Writing something myself is an idea I have brewing in the back of my mind. But
it's not something I have any clear ideas about. I have no idea how it should
work, only a vague idea that it should be as seamless to my daily routine as
TaskWarrior is right now.
But I'm trying to collect notes on how I use Wunderlist and TaskWarrior. Maybe
in a few months I'll have a better idea of my usage patterns and then I can
come up with something that I'd love to use everywhere.
Do you have any ideas on what you'd like to write yourself? I could get ideas
off of you. :)
~~~
DiabloD3
Unlimited priority levels (as opposed to just 4), more cohesive project
parenting (I can parent projects, but Todoist sometimes won't list items from
child projects if I ask for the parent in some areas but not others), and
probably exchange Todoist's query language for straight up SQL ala JPQL-esque
usage.
Other than that, Todoist gets very little wrong (and they're constantly
polishing the more mundate UX parts, which is also an important part of any
frequently used app).
Their team has been often very responsive to my requests, and have also been
working on integrations into other services (which is often a sore spot for
'cloud' services).
------
varlock
Interesting that no one has mentioned Google Keep - it works for me, mostly
because it's available for both Android and IOS and as a web service. I have
to admit syncing is not always perfect, though. Just curious, any particular
reason why others don't mention it?
~~~
userchris
I use Keep, and it's become a pretty central part of my life over the last
year or so. I never stuck with any other to-do apps- either they were way too
extensive (Evernote) or not flexible enough (Wanderlist, Google tasks, Any.do,
etc). I like Keep because it lets me store random notes that I need access to
during the year (books I want to read, workout lists), to do lists that are
transient (a shopping list, recipes), and to do lists that need to stick
around for a while (Personal Goals for September). Something about having all
that just displayed on one scrollable screen works really well with my mindset
where other apps feel tedious and unhelpful.
------
aprdm
Every day before leaving work I make a todo list of what I am going to work on
the next day, crossing the list as I get them done in the next day.
10 mins before leaving work I do the same.
Works really well, gives a good sense of progress, offloads thinking about
work when I am home and etc.
------
wineisfine
I noticed a certain point, experimenting with todo lists and productivity
apps, became a thing of its own. Tweaking Omnifocus to perfection, for
example.
I threw them all out and am using a reporters notebook (which is a good
format, btw), with daily todos and this is the system that sticks.
I guess this is what it really boils down to: which system is naturally easy
to stick to in the long run?
I guess it's the same for sports, diets, etc
------
peter303
When I was in my 20s I could hold my daily ToDo lists entirely in my memory.
This was useful for tracking coding features and bugs. Somewhat older now, I
do this with a legal pad.
------
newman314
I spent a lot of time context switching (lots of roles, go-to guy for fixing
things) so lists are a key tool in keeping me sane.
I've tried many things over the years but settled on Quip. The availability of
the app on many platforms (mobile, desktop) means I can pretty much take notes
anywhere (except the shower; I have pen and paper for that and transfer it to
Quip later).
The shared notebook functionality allows me to easily organize my thoughts and
share with others as necessary. This works for both short lists and longer
documents. For example, I've built a fairly extensive document on HTTPS
configs and best practices over time just by filling things in as I go along.
No relationship to Quip. Just a very happy user.
~~~
chambo622
My company uses Quip and I'm very happy with it as well. Thinking of moving
some of my personal notes and lists from Keep over to Quip. Although I'd give
Keep the leg up for simple, quick notes on mobile (and their predictive entry
for grocery lists is fantastic)
------
winkle
I'd say this article accurately describes my organizing. I'll start a todo
list in Evernote when I get too many tasks. I'll knock of the highest
priorities and the rest get forgotten because they weren't "really" important.
After a week or two I create another todo list when new "high priority" items
come up.
If no one is asking for something to be done, it wasn't really that important
in the first place. I have hundreds of todo lists that are unfinished and I'll
never do them. But, if someone does ask me for that a year later it just goes
on the new todo list.
------
puddintane
I combine this method with a LiveScribe Echo smartpen (Sky edition). This
allows me to backup my notes via wireless but also keeps the human pen + paper
touch to the notes.
I feel as though I remember things a lot better when I write them down versus
typing.
I originally picked up one of these pens for college and it helped a ton with
staying on track in class and always having a backup of the lecture that
sync'd in an animation to my notes (so i could either play the notes back, or
tap at a location and begin playing back from that point).
They have various versions but I would only recommend the Echo or the Sky -
the version 3 in my experience only connected to the mobile apps, so on
windows/mac you were not able to view your notes (very annoying). However the
Sky (Echo with wifi sync) and Echo allowed me to sync the notes to a desktop
app which allowed me to export pdf's. I hope they open up PC support for the 3
but after two or so years it looks as though they will never add that as a
usable platform.
------
vram22
Interesting thread.
Wondering if anyone here has tried using shorthand, a.k.a. stenography, for
to-do lists?
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorthand](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorthand)
I remember people using it much earlier, and it was offered in a neighborhood
typing class I took as a kid. Plus, had seen books about it then.
~~~
andai
You may be interested in Quikscript, a writing system inspired by shorthand
and intended to replace the messy English writing system.
~~~
vram22
Cool! Will check it out, thanks.
------
gglitch
I feel like I've used it all - apps, plaintext, files+dirs, taskwarrior, ad
hoc paper, bullet journal, org mode. I've used org mode many times over
several years, but it only clicked for me as a system when I recently started
using its capture templates and agenda views. If org-mode could be described
as a system built on Emacs, it feels to me like task management with custom
capture templates and custom agenda views is sort of a system built on org-
mode. That probably makes it sound unnecessarily complicated, but it's
actually extremely simple, fast, and reliable. I'm still using Apple's
Reminders to remind me at 0900, 1245, and 1600 to actually check in with my
system, but the system itself is working beautifully.
------
ourmandave
My paper to-do list is only immediate things (e.g. pick up 'script, dog to
vet). Everything else is on the calendar (with reminders) and gets moved to
the list when it's time.
~~~
garrickvanburen
Anything non-trivial, I put on my calendar. In addition to telling me 'what' I
should be doing, it also tells me 'when' I should be doing it. I've found
knowing 'when' \- no matter how arbitrarily declared - is huge for preventing
things from continuing to haunt me.
------
taeric
> To-do lists get a lot of flack,
> but the simple act of planning
> has some psychological and
> productivity benefits all
> by itself.
My problem is that TODO lists are not necessarily a solid basis for planning.
Specifically, they are often only good for easy plans.
~~~
TheDrizzle43
If I don't write tasks in a TODO list I get anxious I'll forget about it
forever. Even if I don't plan on doing a task anytime soon I like to jot it
down so I have the freedom to forget about it.
~~~
tkjef
Exactly this. It has been written to disk, and now your mind is free to
compute away and use as much memory as possible for new things.
------
tdkl
Until making To-Do lists (not to mention evaluating different software, mobile
apps, techniques) is just another way to procrastinate.
The best To-Do list is the one that gets you do the thing, even if this means
not ever writing/using one.
------
thewhitetulip
I wrote a to do list manager
[https://github.com/thewhitetulip/Tasks](https://github.com/thewhitetulip/Tasks)
------
perseusprime11
I always create a list of things I did and that somehow helps me reflect on
things I may have missed or could have done better. Not exactly a todo list
but it works for me.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Intelligent brake lights for Motorcycles - keithwarren
https://gearbrake.com/
======
dmckeon
Look good. Almost any increase in visibility would be useful to motorcyclists.
Earlier attempts include the Vovedesky Cyberlight from the 1980s and more
recently:
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vololights/vololights-e...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vololights/vololights-
enhanced-motorcycle-visibility)
There have also been setups that pulse headlights. People will tend to have
concerns about whether pulsing or flickering lights are legal, but in the US,
if you aren't trying to use the lighting to pretend to be an emergency
response vehicle, law enforcement folks are unlikely to care, unless one gives
them a reason to care.
------
keithwarren
Saw these guys tonight at a Demo Day in Louisville, fantastic presentation,
good traction and a knockout no-brainer product that has a powerful sales
hook. $69 for a massive safety boost.
------
hindsightbias
IDK what the video is showing. Can't see the lights half the time.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How to build a test harness for a legacy system? - marsrover
I'm working with a legacy system that has no automated testing. I have a section of code that I need to refactor or it is going to get increasing more coupled. First, I tried going through the Legacy Code Change Algorithm but when trying to break dependencies, I'm moving a lot of code around (maybe I'm doing it wrong?).<p>I'm starting to think now that it would be a good idea to build automated acceptance tests around the functionality that I want to refactor, before breaking dependencies. Should I revisit how I am breaking dependencies or would it be worthwhile to take this path?<p>Any other words of wisdom you can impart my way?
======
Rjevski
If it's got a web interface I suggest starting with browser-based testing like
Selenium. It won't be as good as unit tests but will catch the obvious
fuckups. I plan on doing this to a legacy project at my employer's and I
already know it would've caught a few production fuckups we had lately - 500
error on the homepage, etc.
This also means you don't even need to be familiar with the code base, but
just know how to use the web interface as a normal user would.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Virginia Woolf kept her brother alive in letters - lermontov
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/how-virginia-woolf-kept-her-brother-alive-in-letters
======
angel_j
Lost to the article writer that Virginia may have done that to keep her friend
alive, who had caught typhoid along with her brother.
~~~
niklaslogren
That possibility was actually mentioned in the article:
> She had to lie, Virginia implies, in order to shield Violet, who was
> recovering from her own illness.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Stripe and Wufoo Join Forces to Power Payments in Online Forms - kurtvarner
http://www.wufoo.com/2012/10/11/wufoo-and-stripe-join-forces-to-power-payments-in-online-forms/
======
ryan_f
Stripe is developing a lot faster than I ever expected. I was really happy
with the initial product when it became available. Easy payment integration
for developers was a [INSERT EXPLETIVE] dream. Their latest features have been
terrific and add extra benefit. To see them partnering with Wufoo to help
other developers is great.
Whoever put together Stripe's roadmap should get a beer or at least a high
five.
Consider me a fanboy (and smarter at security thanks to them).
~~~
leetrout
I'm right here with you. And in addition to their roadmap, the overall
structure / priorities are also stellar.
+1 for being open, accesible, and responsive on all fronts.
------
DigitalSea
Stripe are absolutely killing it right now, well since the beginning really.
The amount of growth this company has gone through in the last 18 months alone
is impressive. If I were Paypal I'd be starting to get really worried once
Stripes takes off on a global scale and has the same kind of reach as Paypal.
Just waiting for Square to hit Australia and I'll be first on-board the Stripe
train.
------
bdunn
Couldn't have been a better day to come across this.
Needed to sell seats for my workshop, and was going to build a registration
page and hook it up to Stripe's new button. 5 minutes later with Wufoo and I'm
up and accepting registrations :-)
Feature request: Allow for a coupon field.
------
loceng
Ask Stripe: How have you managed your execution and releases so well? It's
inspiring, though I'm wondering what core function or role in the organization
allows this? I imagine it's a team effort with an overall vision that everyone
is fully aware of and contributing to. Is it that simple?
------
apedley
Excellent. I love the progress Stripe is making with payment options.
~~~
livestyle
Looks like Jotform hooked up with Stripe too, with an even deeper integration
with recurring billing too. [http://www.jotform.com/blog/64-JotForm-Stripe-
Beautiful-Paym...](http://www.jotform.com/blog/64-JotForm-Stripe-Beautiful-
Payment-Forms-in-Minutes)
------
dlf
Neat!
Next: Stripe and Curebit. (With their speed of development, I just had to
check their site to make sure this hasn't already been done.)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Any place where you can get paid for writing about technology? - febin
Except medium, it is not open for all countries
======
deadcoder0904
For writing blogs about Tech -
CSS TRICKS - [http://css-tricks.com](http://css-tricks.com) \- They just say
they pay on their website
SMASHING MAGAZINE - [http://smashingmagazine.com](http://smashingmagazine.com)
\- $200 for new authors or else $250
SCOTCH IO - [http://scotch.io](http://scotch.io) \- $150
TREEHOUSE - [https://teamtreehouse.com](https://teamtreehouse.com) \-
$100-$200
TUTS+ - [https://tutsplus.com](https://tutsplus.com) \- $100 for quick tip &
$250 for regular tutorial
A LIST APART - [http://alistapart.com](http://alistapart.com) \- $200 for
1500-2000 words
SITEPOINT - [https://www.sitepoint.com](https://www.sitepoint.com) \- $150 for
articles & $200 for tutorials
For more info, checkout -
[https://www.technig.com/pay-per-article-to-write-for-
us/](https://www.technig.com/pay-per-article-to-write-for-us/)
[http://justlearnwp.com/make-money-writing-articles-
websites/](http://justlearnwp.com/make-money-writing-articles-websites/)
[http://www.jeffbullas.com/20-amazing-sites-that-will-pay-
you...](http://www.jeffbullas.com/20-amazing-sites-that-will-pay-you-100-per-
article/)
------
ohjeez
Define "writing about technology."
A how-to (e.g. here's the steps in accomplishing this task)? A review (e.g. I
tried this product and here I share how well it works and if it's worth your
money/time)? Tech explanations (e.g. need to come up to speed on TechThing? I
explain)? Something else?
And for whom? Developers, consumers, enterprise CIOs?
There are all sorts of ways to get paid for writing about tech. But it's
easiest to guide you if you tell us more!
------
leonagano
I came across this opportunity for Java Developers to write some articles:
[https://stackoverflow.com/jobs/157697/java-spring-
developer-...](https://stackoverflow.com/jobs/157697/java-spring-developer-to-
work-on-articles-baeldung?so=p&pg=1&offset=13&l=Remote&u=Miles&d=20)
------
larrykubin
Envato Tutsplus if you want to write a tutorial:
[https://tutsplus.com/teach](https://tutsplus.com/teach)
------
wj
Maybe become a Forbes contributor, look for blog writing jobs on Upwork, apply
to content creation agencies, or write analysis of trends you can sell to
hedge funds, investment banks, or private equity firms.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Discern Neural Networks for Ubuntu - mekarpeles
http://www.patternsinthevoid.net/blog/2011/07/discern-neural-network/
======
mekarpeles
Looks like Dan Cote [https://github.com/terminationshok/Discern-for-Ubuntu-
based-...](https://github.com/terminationshok/Discern-for-Ubuntu-based-
Linuxes) forked and cleaned up the repository for a cleaner install. Isis gave
a great lightning talk at Noisebridge hacker space (during Hack Meetup 2011)
on the topic.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facial hair trends over time - linux_devil
http://flowingdata.com/2014/01/08/facial-hair-trends-over-time/
======
Jeremy1026
Without labels on the X Axis these are worthless. Did someone shave their
mustache off a few days ago which caused the sharp drop in the middle of the
chart?
The bottom of the article mentions 1905 in relation to the beards chart, but
which decline are they referencing?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Where can I rent a cheap small startup place in the US? - tiatia123
Preferably East coast
Nothing fancy.
Should allow for assembly of some tech hardware.<p>Suggestions?
======
rman666
If you can’t google this on your own you have zero chance of a successful
Startup, IMHO.
~~~
tiatia123
Why not rely on crowd intelligence?
I can't google every state. Many of the "incubators" are just real estate
businesses, they don't offer cheap or subsidized rent. Ycombinator is not an
option.
------
anoncoward111
Would you consider operating out of an apartment?
~~~
tiatia123
Yes, but it must be a little bit office like.
I know NYC but this seems to be too pricey.
------
a-fried-egg
Try the SouthEast
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
IRC client in 135 lines of code - huydotnet
https://github.com/huytd/nodirc
======
laveur
The headline is a bit misleading. The wrote a client sure but it uses someone
else's library to communicate with the IRC Server.
~~~
FroshKiller
Welcome to basically every "do x in y lines of code" post.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Post verbal discussion, unsure about signing shareholders agreement - startupman
Apologies for the throwaway account.
Myself and 2 other developers are in a bit of a tough spot and wondered if HN had any advice. Here's the situation:<p>The optimistic start: We are part of a 5 person SaaS startup. we believe we are currently nearing product market fit. 3 of us are developing the product - we all have worked full time for nearly a year (no salary). 2 guys with experience in the sector work part time (<1 day / week - no salary) and are doing: 1. sales 2. guiding feature development.<p>The difficult situation: There was a verbal agreement of an equity split before we started -- no specific conditions were discussed. We have incoorporated with only one of the devs as the sole director AND sole shareholder, with a view to officially assign more shares at a later date. We're 11 months in and they haven't really generated any tangible sales (3 or 4), and we feel they are not fulfilling their role enough to justify the huge cut of equity we discussed verbally. This is not just in converting leads into sales (which is of course product dependent) but in generating leads themselves (v. few leads have been generated) for demos etc. We have not signed any shareholders' agreement but discussion of it has begun. We are currently very hesitant to sign away 55% of the company on oversold promises of them being able to generate sales.<p>The questions:
We are really not interested in screwing them over, we just want to make sure that the split is truly equitable. We were wondering if the HN community had any thoughts on:
1. How much room do we have to negotiate better terms (we want to maintain the partnership, just for far less equity)
2. Do they have strong legal grounds to sustain the original split based on the verbal discussion<p>P.S. We are based in London, UK<p>Thanks in advance for any help - let us know if you have any specifying questions.
======
calcsam
(1) I'd advise you to push out the sales guys -- they don't seem to be pulling
their weight. Feel free to give them 5% each for their work, whatever seems
reasonable, but not more than 15% total.
A startup is kind of like a marriage. If you don't trust your partner when
you're dating, you're not going to trust them when you get married.
You can do sales and product development too. It's a skill that can be
acquired.
(2) You'd better talk to a lawyer.
Keep in mind Thiel's law: a startup screwed up at it's foundation cannot be
fixed. You should use your muscle to make this right now, or it's all going to
fall apart sooner or later.
[http://blakemasters.com/post/21742864570/peter-thiels-
cs183-...](http://blakemasters.com/post/21742864570/peter-thiels-
cs183-startup-class-6-notes-essay)
------
MrQuincle
Look at the future. You say there aren't enough leads per month from the
current team.
Perform sales yourself or hire someone. Use that performance as a baseline
against which they get equity. If they underperform you have facts rather than
feelings to start to talk about equity. If they overperform you'd like to have
them in the team after all.
------
JSeymourATL
> we just want to make sure that the split is truly equitable.
Perceptions dominate all parts of negotiation. If they don't like you, don't
trust you, they won't hear you.
How do they value things? Learn their standards.
First: Have a human conversation, consider the world from their point-of-view.
On the subject of negotiating, Stuart Diamond is brilliant >
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks_FU9saToM&index=3&list=PLg...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks_FU9saToM&index=3&list=PLgKL8rAPQlStJth5n1rlBp04zjnxowiXj)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
HIV appears cured after stem cell transplant - dcurtis
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/02/11/health.hiv.stemcell/index.html#
======
ntoshev
This story has been on HN before ~3 months (of course it is still news that
the patient is well and without any trace of HIV):
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=357144>
Also see an earlier speculation by a HN reader that such a cure for HIV would
be possible:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47746>
~~~
zspade
Yes but FTA: "The case was first reported in November, and the new report is
the first official publication of the case in a medical journal."
This lends a lot more credibility to the news.
------
froo
"It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a
great leap forward only to stumble backward." - Old Chinese Proverb
~~~
akd
Depends on the length and frequency of the steps, the length of the leaps and
stumbles, and the recovery time between a stumble and the next leap.
------
spoiledtechie
"About a third of the people die [during such transplants], so it's just too
much of a risk,"
Good Luck
------
swombat
From the article, they're extremely unwilling to call even that one successful
patient "cured", as there are other variants of HIV that will latch on to
different receptors.
Sounds like this isn't really big news at all - just one experimental cure
that perhaps appears to have worked for one guy but will probably never be
used in a widespread manner. Or am I too skeptical?
~~~
vinutheraj
That's what I like about this news, they haven't gone over the top with it ..
saying it IS the cure for HIV(though the title is misleading).
The doctor seems cool with saying that it was something experimental that they
did and it seems to have worked, but they still are unsure of it, because the
virus may be hiding.
All in all they have covered it like a proper scientific story.
~~~
Angostura
I came here to say the same thing, it is a _very_ well written story in my
opinion, which manages to be accessible, while at the same time retaining
accuracy. Well done Jacquelyne Froeber and the editors who worked on the copy.
As for whether this is a big deal: Yes - in terms of science, although not
necessarily a big clinical deal. Other strains may use different receptors,
but this is the most common. There is also the mystery question embedded in
the story: Why didn't the other strain he was infected woiith rebound
~~~
niels_olson
I just read the New England Journal report. He wasn't infected with another
strain. Strictly, everyone with HIV is infected with a distribution of strains
because it random mutations happen. The virus can bind either the CCR5
receptor or the CXCR4 receptor. As pressure on the CCR5 pathway increases,
survival of CXCR4-tropic variants becomes more pronounced. Essentially, CCR5
is the easier and more common target of the virus, so the wildtype tends to
equilibrate toward a cluster of strains that favor CCR5. It's simply more
energetically efficient for the virus. It's a thermodynamic equilibrium. In
fact, the report explains this. As HAART therapy is used to suppress the
virus, the surviving viral genes get better and better at binding CXCR4 and it
is a well observed part of the natural course of the disease that
CXCR4-tropism develops late in the course of the disease. The patient lives
longer with HAART therapy, but dies of a slightly different disease than they
were infected with. It's very much the same sort of evolutionary thing that
happens with other, less exotic forms of bacterial antibiotic resistance.
The big deal, intellectually, for me, is the clear-cut experiment that shows
just how dependent on CCR5 the virus really is. Now in my fourth year of
medical school, the professors have always been hedging their statements: well
CCR5 is a known tropic factor, but we really don't know how big a deal it is,
and then there's CXCR4, and maybe there's other factors, so we really don't
know.
Compare that to "took him off HAART and the virus came back like a ton of
bricks. Reapplied HAART and the virus regressed. Coincidentally, we took the
CCR5 receptor site out of his system, then took him off HAART again, and we
get an entirely different response: no virus, and any evidence that there ever
was a virus is slowly fading from his system".
Hopefully there will be other advances in how to kill the HIV, but this very
much a lightswitch sort of event for medicine.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Stephen Fry under police investigation for blasphemy in Ireland [video] - stringcode
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/stephen-fry-blasphemy-god-utter-maniac-ireland-gardai-rte-meaning-of-life-atheist-a7722081.html
======
brynedwards
The reason this law still exists is because blasphemy is included in the Irish
constitution and so to remove it would require a referendum which "would
rightly be seen as a time wasting and expensive exercise" [1]; the law is
effectively a dead letter. With this becoming popular, we'll probably get a
referendum moved forward with the result being overwhelmingly in favour of
removing it. The person who reported him claimed he/she was not offended[2];
it wouldn't surprise me if it was done just to highlight the silliness of the
law.
[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_the_Republic_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blasphemy_law_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland#Defamation_Act_2009)
[2]: [http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/garda-launch-
blasp...](http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/garda-launch-blasphemy-
probe-into-stephen-fry-comments-on-the-meaning-of-life-35684262.html)
------
Zuider
the article links to a post from the Irish Independent Online which gives more
detail:
[http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/garda-launch-
blasp...](http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/garda-launch-blasphemy-
probe-into-stephen-fry-comments-on-the-meaning-of-life-35684262.html)
Reading between the lines, this looks more like an attempt to challenge the
blasphemy law than to punish Stephen Fry. From the link above:
"[The complainant] said he was asked by the garda if he had been personally
offended by the programme and If he wished to include this in the written
statement.
I told the Garda that I did not want to include this as I had not personally
been offended by Fry's comments - I added that I simply believed that the
comments made by Fry on RTÉ were criminal blasphemy and that I was doing my
civic duty by reporting a crime."
Atheist Ireland responded by republishing a list of blasphemous statements on
their website, atheist.ie, in solidarity with Stephen Fry. They note:
"If we are prosecuted, we will challenge the constitutionality of the
blasphemy law. If we are not prosecuted, it will again highlight the absurdity
of this law, which should be repealed immediately. We again call on the Irish
Government to honour its commitment to hold a referendum to remove the ban on
blasphemy from our Constitution."
What is troubling is that, though the law was designed to be unenforceable in
Ireland, it has been used as a template for corresponding law in theocratic
countries such as "Pakistan and other repressive states".
------
stringcode
Yesterday I would argue this is unimaginable, someone being investigated for
blasphemy in 2017 (in the west). We are dropping the ball on free speech. We
chipping away on our liberties bit by bit. This is why hate speech laws are
dangerous.
~~~
blibble
it's ireland...
abortion is still illegal in nearly all circumstances, divorce was only
legalised in 1997 and only in very specific circumstances
~~~
Udik
Abortion aside, Ireland is in fact much more progressive and liberally minded
than the US and most of southern Europe.
These comments were made during an interview on the Irish public broadcasting
network; just for a comparison, in Italy nobody would have even dared to speak
their mind so clearly about God on tv, or the show would have likely been
cancelled. Twenty years ago the sitcom "Father Ted" became the most popular
show in Ireland, and it would be still considered too blasphemous to be aired
by any of the major tv networks in Italy.
------
kristianc
This is troubling. This a legitimate philosophical problem that dates back to
Epicurus, Hume, Kant. It's something theologians since Aquinas have wrestled
with, and that modern philosophers such have taken up. It applies as much to
Christianity as it does to Judaism and Islam. There's no reason for this to be
covered by blasphemy laws, even if you accepted blasphemy laws as legitimate.
~~~
eternalban
It is legitimate but it is also of the sophomoric category of questions. As
for Islam that you mention, there are no such issues in Islam.
Stephen Fry is arguing the same position that Satan does in the Qur'an,
pointing out 'errors' in God's judgment.
The Angels question God too in the Qur'an, but they do it very politely ..
~~~
tim333
Hmm...
>Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger – Allah has cursed them in this World
and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating Punishment...
>They shall have a curse on them: whenever they are found, they shall be
seized and slain (without mercy). [Quran 33:57–61]
You could argue calling Allah “stupid” and an “utter maniac” might annoy him,
hypothetically.
~~~
eternalban
"Allah and His Messenger" is a technical term. You are likely misreading this
as indicating 2 distinct points of view as in "A and B both think X".
> You could argue calling Allah “stupid” and an “utter maniac” might annoy
> him, hypothetically.
It depends where you do this. In general Allah claims, very much like Krishna,
to have perfect 'detachment', so arguably IT does not give a fig.
------
stringcode
Here is a link to longer clip of that exchange than shown in article.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suvkwNYSQo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-suvkwNYSQo)
------
bmh_ca
This is a trial I'd like to watch.
~~~
TheOtherHobbes
Indeed.
Apparently the most powerful entity in the entire universe needs government
protection from the opinion of Stephen Fry.
Doesn't seem like a fair fight to me.
~~~
johnnydoe9
Fry should make a statement similar to what Colbert made recently for his
remarks against Trump "I've got the jokes, he's got the launch codes so it's a
fair fight"
~~~
jeff_petersen
Homophobia isn't excusable no matter what position the target holds.
~~~
johnnydoe9
Don't think Colbert's statement was homophobic though, don't want to fight
genuinely want to know what made you think it was?
------
idop
No one expects the Irish Inquisition!
~~~
Tomis02
I find Monthy Python unimaginative and boring. Your comment was hilarious in
the context, though.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How long are you going to keep your dirty business phone? - olivierpailhes
http://blog.aircall.io/post/79958613803/aircall-fun-facts-how-long-are-you-going-to-keep-your
======
chimeracoder
I used to have two phones (one for work, one personal[0]). I appreciate the
appeal of consolidating that into one just out of convenience. "You're
carrying around too much bacteria" seems to be a rather weird argument even to
bring up.
[0] In my case, I needed access to both iOS and Android, so this wouldn't
really have helped anyway, but that's separate.
------
Jugurtha
You know what I hate ? Posts on HN of a company's website where after you read
the whole thing, you still have no clue what they're doing.
The use of we're reinventing/we're disrupting or things like that.
A landing page with whoop whoop colors, fancy words and bacteria talk. Aiming
at reducing the number of phones to just one, using expressions like "phone
solution" (what does that even mean). Many startups fail miserably to tell you
how it works, simply. And no, no amount of CSS or infographics will remediate
that.
Now: On the link, you actually have to click to the main site to make sense of
it. Then, it shows you a sort of screen, but it's not a phone (it's part of
the image. The layout is broken. I have to dezoom to 33% to see there's a
whole image, but I can't read what's in there and I can't zoom on the specific
image. Just awful).
Then, there's the wrong argument provided: Frigging bacteria. For one, do you
know how many bacteria there are ? The argument is weak.
And two, there are phones that have dual SIM(heck, there are even triple SIM
phones) so the argument cancels itself out. You're pushing the wrong piece of
chess.
Show me how it works. A frigging prototype. An actual phone (since you said
the "phone solution" is on your "existing devices". Why there's no image of an
iPhone or an Android phone with the product installed).
I hate those links. So to sum it up:
-Weak arguments (Bacteria. Many people don't care given the already huge number of bacteria they deal with already. And tow, there are multiple SIM phones).
-Awful page layout.
-No info:
_No info on how the product works._ No info on the price. _No demo (photos of
at least how it_ should* look like because I think there isn't even a product
and it's a test balloon, just to test the waters).
Aaaand the use of one of the most hated expressions in my book: "We're
reinventing". Heck, even Nikola Tesla didn't use that expression and I mean,
he's TESLA !)
~~~
Piskvorrr
"a solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of only one phase" \- a liquid
phone, that sounds cool!
------
hobs
This ad just makes me think there is some money is making a phone with some
antibacterial properties, not that I need to eliminate phones.
------
mcdougle
It seems odd to me that people still need separate phones for
personal/business. Aren't there services that allow you to set up a separate
number that goes straight to the same phone? I know Google Voice does that,
and lets you even set filters so that it (for example) only rings during
business hours and goes straight to voicemail otherwise.
------
jcox92
Steering wheels have 9 times more bacteria than a public toilet seat. That's
967,402 bacteria! Well by cutting the number of steering wheels per person to
0.1, over 104,345 billions of bacteria will be removed from earth by doing so.
Those bacteria will never know what hit 'em.
------
bananas
Are people really suffering from the bacteria on their phones?
Genuine story: I started using a smartphone about 4 years ago and a nasty skin
condition I had went away within a month and never came back. I suspect that
it was bacterial or fungal and there was a little war in which the bacteria on
my phone won. Exposure to bacteria can be a good thing. I suspect perfect
hygiene is bot going to do much for your immune system in the long run.
Oh and this is the shittest pitch I've ever seen.
------
Piskvorrr
You don't expect me to do my dirty business on my regular phone, do you? ;)
------
skimmas
can't find info on pricing or countries available... so... close tab.
~~~
logicallee
techcrunch is that way -->
you're on a startup incubator's community forum.
------
smoyer
There may be a lot of bacteria on my cell phone ... but they're _MY_ bacteria.
I avoid using other people's phones for just this reason (and don't share my
own).
------
rand223
Dual SIM phones exist. Or am I missing the point here entirely?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ocean Cleanup Foundation - hswolff
http://www.boyanslat.com/plastic/
======
hswolff
Other articles of discussion:
[http://robots.net/article/3556.html](http://robots.net/article/3556.html)
[http://vr-zone.com/articles/19-year-old-inventor-finds-way-t...](http://vr-
zone.com/articles/19-year-old-inventor-finds-way-to-clean-up-the-worlds-
oceans-in-under-5-years-time/19381.html)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Trends.vc – Helping founders and investors discover new markets and ideas - rosiesherry
https://join.trends.vc/
======
gczh
I'm a pro subscriber myself. Highly recommend giving this a look. It's the
best damn report out there on upcoming trends, put together every week through
dozens of hours of sweat and toil and love.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: When will the first HN account appear on eBay? - tantadruj
In the times of World of Warcraft, virtual power positions quickly appeared on eBay and high point user accounts reached up to $2K.<p>Hacker News has its own karma based system, which gives high karma users a power to create destinies of stories and also users.<p>Since first page HN listing with an interesting title can generate 2000+ UQ visits in 6 hours to a specific target group, this definitely has some commercial value.<p>We've seen bots that automatically submit influencer blog posts to HN to gain karma. There are some Chinese farmers on HN which are building their karma to impress pg for YC submissions.<p>When will the first HN account appear on eBay? Or will it be single upvotes sold to generate long term income for farmers? Do you think this is already happening undercover?
======
pg
"Hacker News has its own karma based system, which gives high karma users a
power to create destinies of stories and also users."
HN karma gives high karma users a power to change the color of the top bar
when they're logged in.
------
limmeau
The rewards of owning a high-karma account are limited. You don't get to
upvote a frontpage item more than once (or do you? not at 780). Your comments
may receive an occasional fanboy upvote, but that only creates more karma and
doesn't shift the visibility of your message by a large amount.
So in conclusion, I don't think HN accounts will be traded much. Perhaps more
if the frequency of "free invites to our beta service for HNers with 1000+
karma"-promotions increases.
~~~
bmelton
While you still only get to upvote once, as I understand it, that vote counts
more than once based on your karma.
Regardless, while you might get high karma values based only on article
submissions, that isn't going to impress anybody. When PG is looking at your
HN account, he's almost certainly looking for insightful _comments_ , vs. just
a high karma score.
It's really hard to farm out quality comments to somebody else, and have it
matter at the same time.
~~~
pmjordan
_as I understand it, that vote counts more than once based on your karma._
Unless there's been a recent change, each vote has the same weight unless it
triggers voting ring detection.
------
tptacek
All: Who controls the British crown?
Who keeps the metric system down?
We do! We do!
Karl: Who leaves Atlantis off the maps?
Lenny: Who keeps the Martians under wraps?
Alien: We do! We do!
All: Who holds back the electric car?
Who makes Steve Gutenberg a star?
We do! We do!
Skinner: Who robs cavefish of their sight?
Homer: Who rigs every Oscar night?
We do! WE DO!
------
TuxPirate
We have been maintaining a set of HN accounts used to rank stories on the
first page and it has been a valuable asset in gathering instant attention of
a fairly large amount of users in a short amount of time.
Works, as opposed to what some people suggested in some comments.
~~~
tantadruj
I knew it :) Thx for being sincere.
~~~
TuxPirate
I'm such a good liar.. On the internet.
------
rms
I had thought about doing this for a while and giving the money to charity so
that pg would look bad for banning me, but was convinced that it was more
valuable to have my HN account. I think right now I'd value my Hacker News
account around $5k, so would probably sell for $5k or more to the charity of
my choice.
It's not my karma points that allows me to get things on the front page, but
my intimate knowledge of the Hacker News ecosystem and voting process. The
bonus I receive for having a possibly recognizable username is minimal.
As far as I know, Hacker News is the last reach of the social web that has not
been hijacked by people selling votes. But I'm probably wrong.
------
JoeCortopassi
Meta-threads like this are a perfect illustration of how HN is declining. It
does nothing to motivate/inspire hackers and startups. Instead we waste time
up-voting/discussing things that have no relevance to real life. If someone
wants to waste money buying an account based on "Karma", let them. Karma =
nothing in real life
~~~
dwwoelfel
Someone could sell their HN account in real life.
"Relevance to real life" is not a good indicator of a submission's suitability
for HN. The Minecraft CPU has less relevance to real life than this
submission, but a Minecraft CPU definitely deserves the front page.
------
mihar
Should happen soon because people are attracted to power by nature. Let's wait
and see what kind of valuation one HN karma point gets.
~~~
rokgregoric
My bet would be more like $0.01 and a $100 for a 1000 point account.
~~~
franze
why the jump in valuation at 1000?
------
hcho
When the price of a high karma account becomes attractive to the owner. So,
probably never.
------
rf45
Wouldn't there be an escrow problem ?
~~~
tantadruj
I don't think so, because this can be done over a cup of coffee. Everybody is
in the Bay Area anyways :)
~~~
dwwoelfel
Will someone please explain why this has been voted down so far. I could
understand a 0 or -1, but in this case, I don't understand what warrants
another downvote when it is already at -4.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN:How is your perfect coding place? - jcslzr
Would you rather be around more coders? music? outside? text editor?
======
fezzl
Dark, cool, quiet room with bright table lamp and coffee, plus snacks like
cookies and chocolates.
------
messel
Backroom in my house, separate from yippin little doggies, connected to hacker
friends via IM
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: how to get back after epic fail. - MK5
Hi HN folks,<p>first, here's the background: in 2007, with friends, we watched a lot of Korean Starcraft games on Youtube. And we became fan of this guy: http://www.youtube.com/user/KlazartSC. He basically commentates the match in English because we can't understand Korean.
But he eventually retired because it takes too much time to download the source video from Youtube, cast, record, synchronize manually, encode and put it back on Youtube.
So, we came with an idea: create a nice service that does all these tasks easily and full web.
We did it! I've actually, talked about it in NH and TechCrunch France also covered us.<p>BUT, it's a fail. lol.
The feedbacks we received we're all pretty good BUT no one really uses it.<p>Marketing fail. We had the wrong target. We wanted to target the video game players but they were looking for Ustream, Livestream or JustinTV live video synchronization which we can't do because their API don't have stuffs like Timestamp.
What we could do is synchronize with Youtube video but people prefer to use offline tools to do their "VOD cast" because they are not afraid of doing hard-job and spending hours and hours to do something "perfect".
eLive is meant to help people to cast easily and quickly, not meant to be a Adobe Premier online :/<p>So we are now thinking about re-positioning our service. Actually, eLive could be used for many applications such as singing Karaoke or giving a lecture or just doing an interactive video/audio podcast, alone or with friends.<p>Do you have any idea, guys?
Have you ever failed in doing something but eventually succeed in re-doing it in another way?
Thanks about that ;)
======
gregschlom
>Have you ever failed in doing something but eventually succeed in re-doing it
in another way?
Sure, that's called "pivoting".
Also, from the fact that you got coverage on TechCrunch France, I'd guess
you're French. Being a fellow Frenchman myself, I know that failure isn't
usually as well tolerated in France as it is in the US.
You talk about "Epic Failure". Chill out. You seem to have identified the
reasons why your project didn't suceed. That's great. Now it's time to move on
and try to pivot. There's nothing wrong in failling, really :)
(Also, it reminds me of a quote I once heard in a start-up conference: "Try
and fail, but don't fail to try.")
Good luck
------
bvi
Don't get hooked on the term "fail." Continuously evolve your product (Seesmic
comes to mind, among countless others) - and never give up.
------
devmonk
Why not convert it into a community-powered video translation site (and
possibly add subtitling capabilities- allow users to enter text to display at
bottom)? Also, why not market the kids and teenagers that want to do
MST3000-like overdubbing? (
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000> )
You might have trouble getting people to pay for it, but maybe you could
convert to a non-profit if the goal was to provide tools to help the blind,
the deaf, or to translate important works.
A big problem I see with the site now is that there is nothing on the front
page that says what it does. You can't expect it to be content driven before
people understand what it is or why they should be adding content. Also, how
and where were you marketing it? Web apps aren't like the game from the the
movie "Field of Dreams". If you build it, people only come if they know that
their work will not be wasted. You should have the app say that it will
reupload the edited video to Youtube, Vimeo, etc., and that its purpose is
just simple Saas video editing for translation (and perhaps subtitling).
~~~
MK5
Oh, thanks about this one. And yeah, definitely, I should put somewhere
telling what it does.
~~~
ks
As a user, it seems that the main purpose of this site is to consume videos
posted by someone. The "Cast now" button tells me nothing. I hope I don't
appear too negative, but I think you have missed a lot of potential users.
It's little that tells me that this is something other than "break.com" for
games.
~~~
MK5
oh? really? Thanks about this one, I never thought about it but you raised a
good point. Thanks!
------
Tichy
It sounds like a cool product. So I suppose you could also do just subtitles?
Maybe the need for voice translations does not emerge that often, because in
most cases, if you are interested in a certain field, you either know the
language already, or it is really niche. For example IT conference talks -
most people would already speak English, even if they are not native speakers.
However, not being a native speaker of English myself, at times I would wish
for subtitles because some speakers are hard to understand.
Karaoke is also REALLY big, I should think.
~~~
MK5
We are actually repositioning eLive as eDole: the first social Karaoke
webservice. Imagine: you just have the largest music catalog for cover songs
EVER : Youtube :D And the subtitles thing is definitely a good point. Thanks
so much folks !
~~~
hkuo
Perhaps you could take it one step further from karaoke and put an American
Idol spin on it. Competitions, prizes, Internet fame. If you could somehow
pull in a celebrity partner or sponsor, this could become an even greater
possibility.
~~~
MK5
LOL, this is what we talked just an hour ago with my CTO! I'm happy one of you
guys raised this up, makes me more confident :) eDole or eDol is a good name
:p
------
kilian
Well, you could start with adding some more info about what the site actually
does on the homepage. Looking at it, I'm at a loss what to do. You're probably
losing a lot of potential users because of that. Just give them a couple of
sentences on what they can do and what you can help them achieve.
Like others noted, subtitles sound like a major opportunity.
------
lukehasnoname
Step one: Ask HN, not NH!
~~~
MK5
mea culpa. :(
------
anonyacc
Suggest you add link to site.
------
bjonathan
link to their website: <http://elive.pro>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Some Rookie Mistakes in Go - rayascott
http://engineroom.teamwork.com/go-learn/
======
csense
> Go has multiple returns from functions so a very typical scenario is a
> function that returns something and also an error, which would be nil if
> everything worked okay
This is one of the problems I have with C. You basically have to remember to
manually check for an error on every function call, which means (1) an
algorithm with short and simple pseudocode becomes lengthy and hard to read
real code, because you need to add a ton of error handling, (2) it is easy to
forget to handle an error in some place. Exception-based error handling lets
you delegate errors to a top-level handler without cluttering up intermediate
code (i.e. an exception anywhere in webpage rendering logic should be handled
by 500'ing the entire page, which exception-based error handling lets you do
without cluttering intermediate functions between the function producing the
error and the function handling the error with error-handling logic).
I've been thinking about learning Go, but if its only error handling
mechanisms are "pack it into a return value" or "panic() which is like exit(1)
in C" then it's a black mark against the language. It's still a black mark if
the language has exception-like error handling but it's not considered
"idiomatic Go" and the stdlib and a good chunk of third-party libs report
errors in return values.
~~~
jjnoakes
On the other hand, exceptions are implicit control flow, which means you have
to assume every single expression may throw an exception. So if you don't take
extreme care to write strong exception safe code, subtle bugs will exist and
are extremely hard to find.
Explicit control flow is more verbose, but it is also easy to spot when the
control flow passes over something important by mistake. And as pointed out
elsewhere, forgetting to check a return value is a solved problem via static
analysis.
~~~
aikah
> On the other hand, exceptions are implicit control flow
Go doesn't force you to deal with errors either. I see plenty of code ignoring
them with
retval , _ := MightYieldAnError();
And some languages that have exceptions actually force the client code to
handle them, like Java AFAIK .
Finally, Go "explicit control flow" didn't have to be verbose like it is,
that's a design choice its authors made.
Go is primitive in the sense that it uses C style code patterns , like the
famous :
retval = MightYieldAnError( &outError);
Edit: I forgot to mention the panic/recover which ultimately means Go
designers implemented some form of exceptions. That basically voids the
usefulness of Go error system, and an admission that it's broken.
~~~
jjnoakes
> Go doesn't force you to deal with errors either.
> And some languages that have exceptions actually force the client code to
> handle them, like Java AFAIK.
But this misses the point. Any error which you have to explicitly ignore is
fine, because then you were aware of it at some point and explicitly ignored
it, and anyone reading the code can plainly see you explicitly ignoring them.
And errors which can only happen at specific points (like function return
values) are also ok, because then you only have to consider error handling and
cleanup at those points.
But if you have neither of the above - if you have the situation where errors
can spontaneously result from any evaluation of any expression with no
explicit notation required - then you have a poor situation indeed.
------
logingone
Why does Rust get articles about eg an operating system written in Rust, but
all the Go posts are how to tie your shoe laces? Somebody explain, please.
~~~
wolf550e
Go is for writing api servers which otherwise should be written in python but
must be fast.
Rust is for the lowest level code which is not assembly, with all the
performance tricks, but that should be secure.
Rust is expensive to develop - if you can afford to use a GC, you should use a
GC.
So people want to rewrite all the world's C and C++ to rust, for security. But
people are less passionate about rewriting all the world's python into go for
performance.
~~~
TheHydroImpulse
> Rust is expensive to develop - if you can afford to use a GC, you should use
> a GC
This has not been the case for many people using Rust, including myself. Once
you learn the language, there is no "cost" to use it. In fact, the compiler
simplifies much of the mental overhead when dealing with concurrency, sharing
data, mutability, etc... Sure the compiler has some strict rules, but it's not
expensive to develop in by any means.
I would also say Rust is in a sense higher-level than Go in terms of
expressiveness and abstractions.
~~~
Retra
Rust can be hard to refactor. Not sure if that's a problem with Go, but it's a
real cost.
~~~
TheHydroImpulse
How so? From my experience, I was able to make massive changes and the
compiler would guide me through to make sure I didn't miss anything. If it
compiles, it'll generally work minus any logical errors/changes.
~~~
kibwen
There are definitely refactoring woes to be had when taking an existing struct
and changing it such that it now stores a reference in one of its fields,
requiring lifetime parameters to trickle down through your program. The
compiler guides you in getting it all right, but it's something that I'd
rather see an IDE do automatically in the future.
------
kough
Found myself agreeing with all of this. I very much second the decision to not
use a framework and instead use the core to libraries and a standalone
multiplexer. Another huge benefit of this is that you can write some glue code
and test your end points without using the http mocking interfaces, which are
absolutely terrible for testing.
------
daveguy
FYI: golang not the game of Go. Recent news has skewed my expectation of go in
article titles.
~~~
qz_
Yep, good news I like both ;)
------
otraore
I personally use gin [https://github.com/gin-
gonic/gin](https://github.com/gin-gonic/gin) and have never looked back
~~~
marcc
+1 here. Gin is a pretty reasonable web framework that sticks to the core go
patterns and practices, but provides some good built in helpers. It includes
http router (a high performance route handlers and dispatcher), and the
implementation of middlewares is nice.
We've tried with Revel, and I completely agree with the post here. We could
use net/http directly, but gin is working super well for us right now.
------
fpoling
It is spot on observation about rather bad rules in Go about := and scopes
that hit me as well. For example, the following compiles without warnings and
even runs the first invocation of test successfully,
[https://play.golang.org/p/tYQSNjudGT](https://play.golang.org/p/tYQSNjudGT) :
package main
func test(n int) { for { n := n - 1; if n == 0 { break } } }
func main() { test(1); test(2) }
~~~
Veedrac
That seems somewhat natural to me, to be honest. The same could happen in
Rust, or most languages with shadowing.
IMO, allowing it is the lesser evil.
~~~
fpoling
The issue here is not shadowing in general but shadowing withing a single
statement like in n := n + 2. A sane rule would not allow to refer to the
declared name in the right-hand side expression.
------
shwouchk
Most of these mistakes are mistakes for any language you write in.
~~~
reitanqild
"Don't use a web framework" definitely isn't something I would tell
developers.
I really think good web frameworks is one of the reasons why the web has
progressed so quickly the last ten years.
~~~
jerf
In Go, "don't use a web framework" translates to something like "net/http is
already a 'web framework' much like web.py or other 'minimalistic'
frameworks". Unlike, for instance, Python, where you "have to" use a web
framework because the standard library doesn't ship with much (http.server is
too basic on its own [1]), the base net/http is enough for many non-trivial
usages. (Of course Python has a few dozen good 3rd-party choices.)
[1]:
[https://docs.python.org/3/library/http.server.html](https://docs.python.org/3/library/http.server.html)
------
azinman2
I'm not sure that using a custom panic filter is idiomatic...
~~~
HeyImAlex
It's used in the stdlib I think, you just need to recover the panics at your
api boundaries.
~~~
sagichmal
Only for very specific use cases, like the recursive descent parser in
encoding/json. It's not appropriate as a general pattern.
~~~
azinman2
That was my understanding. You're just suppose to handle/return errors
normally right?
~~~
sagichmal
Yup!
------
knughit
Golang, not Baduk :-(
~~~
Natsu
I know. I was waiting for some life or death problems...
------
pm90
I was intrigued about the part about not being able to ready the response body
more than once. Can anyone more experienced explain why this decision was made
in the core libraries? And if there is a good reason to not read the body more
than once, is the author making a mistake by trying to get around it?
~~~
jerf
Go's core library specifies several interfaces for reading, writing, and
closing streams. Here's Reader, for instance:
[https://golang.org/pkg/io/#Reader](https://golang.org/pkg/io/#Reader) Those
interfaces do not promise seeking, so they apply to as many things as
possible. (See
[https://golang.org/pkg/io/#Seeker](https://golang.org/pkg/io/#Seeker) .)
The HTTP body is provided as an "io.Reader" which actually backs to the
network stream, and since TCP streams can't be seeked, it's an error to think
you can. This means that native Go HTTP handlers can handle a multi-gigabyte
upload or download without consuming all that RAM at once (assuming there is
some way to stream), but you lose seeking. You can easily recover read-only
access by using io.ReadFull to fully consume a reader into a byte buffer, but
then you pay the price of consuming all the RAM, of course.
([https://golang.org/pkg/io/#ReadFull](https://golang.org/pkg/io/#ReadFull) )
Whether or not it's a mistake depends on your situation. Fortunately, in the
HTTP context, you have a Content-Length that you can examine to make decisions
if you need to; the generalized io.Reader does not have that, either.
This all comes from the nature of HTTP itself. I tend to consider it a basic
requirement for any web development environment that there be a way to
correctly deal with an HTTP upload as a stream, and that the environment not
"helpfully" unconditionally load the entire stream into memory for me.
------
znemz
Can someone follow up with more details on vendor for those not using go
currently? What is the best practice for locking versions of libraries down. I
am comparing this to gemfile.lock and shrinkwrap.json . Ty
~~~
pm90
There are multiple ways to do this. Personally, I've used and liked govendor
[https://github.com/kardianos/govendor](https://github.com/kardianos/govendor).
As of go 1.5, its supported by the language itself:
[https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/PackageManagementTools](https://github.com/golang/go/wiki/PackageManagementTools)
------
saturn_vk
actually, for error handling, panic is a lot more like exceptions than exit.
much like java, panic acts like throw, and defer/recovery like try/catch. and
you can use it like that in the depths of your library, recovering from panics
in your exported functions.
------
pka
I am constantly amazed at how people will find a way to fly to Mars in a
bucket just so they don't have to learn how to operate a rocket :)
~~~
jshen
I'm constantly amazed at how people find a justification to fly a rocket just
to get to the McDonalds a block from their house.
~~~
hguant
Obviously you need to spend more time playing Kerbal Space Program. Rockets
are their own justification.
On a more serious note, I think that's just human nature - if you're invested
in something - a technology, a stack, a business model, a car - you value that
investment more than its worth, because it is yours. I think there's also an
element of "I put in the effort to learn this, so damnit I'm going to use it".
Or just people like challenges.
------
matiasb
Loved the article!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Spotify Teams Up with Uber: Your Ride. Your Music - mvip
https://news.spotify.com/se/2014/11/17/uber/
======
cbovis
I'm skeptical as to how popular this will be currently but it's a great
infrastructure to have in place should Uber decided to move towards driverless
cars in the future.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Tesla Co-Founder Sues CEO Elon Musk For Slander And Breach Of Contract - vaksel
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/11/tesla-founder-sues-ceo-elon-musk-for-slander-and-breach-of-contract/
======
vaksel
This is a good example of why you need to think twice about getting investors.
The guy suing him was actually the founder of Tesla, the Musk dude was just an
early investor who hijacked the company and threw out the founder over an
engineering disagreement.
~~~
menloparkbum
_the Musk dude was just an early investor who hijacked the company_
didn't he hijack paypal, too?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google is kind of bad now? (Rather than finding answers it ranks SEO spam) - ALittleLight
https://medium.com/@4fbf2d0bfde1/e1c240fac6d9
======
salawat
Goodhart's Law:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law)
Google is the same thing it always was, but their measurements became a
target. Thus the usefulness of Google as a yardstick of relevance against the
backdrop of info on the Net came to a screeching halt.
This is why I've always thought search and advertising are not two sides of
the same coin, even if it may look like it from a service providers point of
view. After all, Google is basically advertising your search activity to
business's potential entry point for a business relationship.
Fundamentally though, if you're searching, the more valuable service is to
make minimal assumptions about what the searcher is looking for, while maybe
helping empower them to be better at formulating good queries. I remember
digital library catalogs were decent at cutting teeth for that sort of thing.
EDIT:Dropped a few necessary words. Oops.
------
skepepepe
Google is always been giving me negative feelings. When this internet
censorship started, they just manifest them self to clear to me. Then I was
sure this company is nothing but trouble actually. Sad anyway so many good
innovational products have to be part of censorship company. I can't support
any of they actions against people and ideologys. Sorry google, but you are
evil to me and many others.. lies lies .. and tax avoiding and people
censorship is your core business.
------
DpdC
Google is a siren server. Read Who Owns the Future? by Lanier Jaron..
About the seo spam. It has always been like this.
The difference. Is that today. Google also wants to take over all the content
you're interested in, be even more powerful, and steal the business from
content creators through the short information at the top.
Basically. Yes.
Google is completely plagiarizing the entire web to improve your business
returns, and yes.
Google is the one who penalizes you for creating plagiarized or copied
content.
Although today. They. They are taking advantage of that very thing.
The only difference is that they give as real the content of the web pages
that pay them the most.
Despite the fact that this content is stolen from another side or from your
blog.
For Google it is more true / real / authentic / original, the content that
offers more and more benefits to your own company.
So the internet is screwed up today. Even if you have a personal website and
do not write on third party sites...
~~~
SahAssar
Your use of. linebreaks.
And punctuation. Makes.
this really hard
To read.
Basically.
------
djhaskin987
I also found this to be the case but check out verbatim mode under Google
tools search it makes it all better apparently
------
LeoTinnitus
You could have the converse with duckduckgo and have searched hit or miss a
lot
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
TC50: Short On Cash? Startups Can Trade Goods And Services - vaksel
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/14/tc50-short-on-cash-startups-can-trade-goods-and-services-instead-of-money-on-theswop/
======
patio11
I would be very scared about the long-term prospects of a company whose
customers were _defined_ by "inability to pay for goods and services critical
to our business needs."
The whole startups-targeting-startups thing strikes me as a bit of Valley-
thinking, too. Its like people think there is a parallel virtual economy where
there is an entire ecosystem of venture capital, startups receiving venture
capital, startups servicing startups receiving venture capital, web designers
working for startups servicing startups receiving venture capital, etc etc,
and _no one has to actually sell anything to real people at any point_. I
think this virtual economy is a consensual fantasy which crashes with reality
every couple of years.
------
dfranke
Botha took the words out of my mouth:
_Roelof Botha: I don’t like it. Money was invented for a reason, we’ve seen
people try to use beans etc. and it doesn’t work. I wouldn’t invest._
What problem does this company solve that banks and bond markets don't solve
with incomparably greater efficiency?
------
michaelkeenan
Interesting...bartering might help you avoid taxes and regulations.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Elite colleges fail half of the poor students they admit - betolink
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/6/17/18647250/privileged-poor-university-admissions-anthony-abraham-jack
======
bitlax
Vox with the misleading headline.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
London Stock Exchange goes open source - wglb
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2568
======
roder
Big loss for MS. They touted the London Stock Exchange as a case-study for
awhile.
Now where can I find the source for the exchange?
------
wglb
And a little more detail
[http://www.ibspublishing.com/index.cfm?section=news&acti...](http://www.ibspublishing.com/index.cfm?section=news&action=view&id=13440)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: 90 hour project to learn Rails: Roomiies - 'OKCupid for Roommates' - davj
http://www.roomiies.com
======
sonicjohnson
Damn, how has no one thought of this before! Such a good idea. Nice site too.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How do you protect your IP in beta stage? - SycamoreSavage
I am building an app and I want to launch as quickly as possible so I can get some user feedback, but I am paralyzed by fear that someone "bigger" with more money will scoop up my idea/methodology and build the same thing more quickly than I can. How can I protect against this?
======
mikeluby
I wouldn't worry about it. If you're at the beta stage then the app is already
ahead going to market that it would cost significant time/resources for a
competitor to catch up. By the time they do, you'll have already iterated
further.
Release, iterate, repeat.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Open Source Software as a Service List - nikhilrayaprolu
https://github.com/nikhilrayaprolu/awesome-open-saas
======
nikhilrayaprolu
Here at Awesome Open SaaS, we have created a list of Open Source SaaS
products. Built with a vision to bring awareness of these products and as a
list for beginners to contribute and learn from Open Source SaaS products.
Since the list is new and doesn't cover most of the Open SaaS products, I am
looking for contributions from the community.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
.su - gyosifov
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.su
======
wildylion
For me .su is a kind of historical curiousity. Not sure if I like it or not,
or if it should be phased out, but there are a bunch of Soviet Union related
sites in there too and sometimes these are pretty amusing (how about a site of
the CPSU?)
Also there's sudo.su :)
Source: am Russian.
~~~
skissane
> (how about a site of the CPSU?)
You are talking about [http://kpss.su](http://kpss.su) ?
~~~
Apofis
Предатели!
------
rimliu
There was a joke at the time:
В связи с геополитическими изменениями домен pos.su изменяется на pos.ru.
Which roughly sounds like "because of the geopolitical changes the domain
pos.su will become pos.ru". The joke is that pos.su and pos.ru in Russian
sound like "will pee" and "will poo" respecitively.
------
tsukurimashou
still trying to get pant.su but it gets renewed every time despite serving
nothing publicly :<
~~~
taneq
I was disappointed to find that [http://kat.su/](http://kat.su/) has nothing
to do with curry.
~~~
Grue3
Well, katsu refers to a pork cutlet, which can be used with other dishes than
curry. Katsudon is a pork cutlet on top of donburi, for example.
~~~
taneq
Huh, well that's my new thing I've learned today. I only ever heard it in
conjunction with curry-type things (katsu chicken, which was always served
with curry, for instance).
~~~
uswjupiter
Katsu is just a japonization of the word Cuts. Chicken Katsu = Chicken Cuts
~~~
SECProto
Not quite. Katsu is from Cutlet. (cutlet -> カツレツ -> かつ).
~~~
reaperducer
Isn't a cutlet a small cut?
As in a small "cut of chicken" is a "chicken cutlet?"
~~~
djur
It's derived from French "côtelette", literally "little rib". It's
etymologically related to "coast", actually. It being spelled "cutlet" is
probably the result of a phonetic spelling of "côtelette" in English being
reanalyzed as "cut-let", though, since "a cut of meat" is itself a thing.
It originally referred to the same thing "chop" does today, a slice of meat
perpendicular to the spine, containing a single rib. Then it started referring
specifically to a boneless chop. Then it started being used to refer to any
thin slice of meat. And in a lot of the world it was introduced specifically
as a breaded and fried thin slice of meat. And that's how we got katsu, the
Japanese version of schnitzel.
Language is weird, isn't it?
------
bsimpson
It had never occurred to me that the existence of the Internet and of East
Germany overlapped, and that East Germany would have a TLD.
------
w8rbt
I hope we keep it. It matches the maps I have from 7th grade.
~~~
vasili111
I hope we will NOT keep it. It reminds me how my country was occupied and
annexed by Soviet Union.
~~~
johnmulaney
There are many things that remind people of bad things. That's not an
appropriate reason to remove them.
~~~
rabidrat
Can you imagine if there were a .nazi TLD? Would you think it appropriate to
discontinue its use, despite its historical significance?
~~~
johnisgood
That is not the point. There are a lot of things in the world that may remind
someone of something bad. Take a look at history books. Should we not keep
them either because they remind people of bad things? Of course we could use a
zillion other things besides "history books" or ".su", the point is the reason
behind not keeping or removing them.
~~~
rabidrat
"History books" have value in aggregating and presenting information with
historical context. TLDs are artifacts without context. A history book that
covered the 20th century and blandly mentioned that the Soviet Union was a
collection of communist states, without mentioning any other events or
context, would be similarly irrelevant, and should be relegated to the trash
heap. Same with the .su TLD. We should definitely keep the historical records
_that it existed_ , but there is no reason to continue its actual existence at
this point.
~~~
Z-T-T
Thousands of people own .su domains (I'm not one of them, FWIW). That's the
reason for its actual existence at this point.
~~~
gattilorenz
A few years ago a friend found binaries of GCC and gzip for Xenix on a .su
domain: [https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2010/03/20/gzip-for-
xenix...](https://virtuallyfun.com/wordpress/2010/03/20/gzip-for-xenix/)
We were looking into Xenix as retrocomputing enthusiasts and we didn't have
any compiler, so _that_ had plenty of value for us.
------
cosmolev
Russian flag-carrier Aeroflot also has SU IATA code.
~~~
Z-T-T
And the hammer and sickle logo.
For Soviet-nostalgia buffs looking for a domain, although most obvious choices
like CCCP, KGB, Lenin, Stalin and even Gorbachev and _perestroika_ are
registered under .su, GLASNOST.SU is available.
~~~
brlewis
What about non-ASCII?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internationalized_domain_name)
~~~
Z-T-T
AFAIK IDNs are still possible under .su, but may depend on the registrar (non-
Russian resellers may not do it).
If you mean what Russian words are available under .su, probably most, for
example Ленин (Lenin) and Кремль (Kremlin), though КГБ (KGB), СССР (USSR),
Россия (Russia) are registered, as are single letters like А or Х that people
may like for a 'short' url.
Although the USSR collapsed not long after the creation of .su, it was briefly
in 'proper' use on the internet - unlike, say, .dd, intended for East Germany
- most notably via the ISP Demos, which famously used the name
_kremvax.demos.su_ as the name of its Usenet site, in reference to an early
internet hoax/April Fool's from 1984
([https://godfatherof.nl/kremvax.html](https://godfatherof.nl/kremvax.html)).
------
jon889
I wonder what happens to .co.uk if the UK dissolves, which seems more possible
than it should be after Brexit?
~~~
mike-cardwell
If Scotland leaves, I imagine we'll switch from "The United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland" to "The United Kingdom of Britain and Northern
Ireland", thus keeping the "uk". ".scot" already exists.
If Northern Ireland leaves, I guess the UK no longer exists, and we switch to
".gb". Could clone .uk at .gb for a while (ten years?) and give people time to
switch, but seems more likely Nominet would prefer to just charge people twice
for a .uk and a .gb.
If Scotland _and_ Northern Ireland leaves, that leaves us as just "Britain".
Maybe we create a new ".brit" (or whever the 2 char country code will be), and
give time for .uk to disappear again.
Wales wont leave.
[edit] I just saw emmelaich's comment that .gb already exists.
~~~
Symbiote
The three kingdoms which are united are the Kingdom of England, Scotland and
Ireland, the first two by the Acts of Union 1707 [1], and Ireland added by the
Acts of Union 1800 [2].
Wales is part of the Kingdom of England, under the "Laws in Wales Acts 1535
and 1542" [3].
Without Scotland, it becomes the United Kingdom of England and Northern
Ireland, leaving the Kingdom of Scotland. Scotland would be assigned an ISO
3166 code. SC, SO, ST, SL, SA, SN and SD are all taken. Perhaps they can have
"AB" for "Alba". The "GB" code would be unassigned.
Without Ireland, it becomes the United Kingdom of Great Britain. Northern
Ireland presumably joins the Republic of Ireland in this case.
Without both, it becomes the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Scotland, etc.
England would then need an ISO code, "EN" is available.
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1707)
[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1800](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Union_1800)
[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_in_Wales_Acts_1535_and_15...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_in_Wales_Acts_1535_and_1542)
~~~
m-i-l
According to wikipedia [0] and UK government sources [1] there are 4 countries
in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: England,
Scotland, Wales (together forming Great Britain) and Northern Ireland. If
Scotland and Northern Ireland left the UK, it is conceivable therefore that
the United Kingdom would continue to exist but as the United Kingdom of
England and Wales.
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdo...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Countries_of_the_United_Kingdom)
and
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom)
[1]
[https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080909013512/ht...](https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20080909013512/http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page823)
~~~
thefringthing
Wales is a constituent country of the UK but not a kingdom.
------
jbeckham
Back in the late 90's and early 2000's, there were a set of hacking challenges
called the Zebulun Challenges hosted by the site CyberArmy. For the 7th or 8th
challenge (Lt. Kernel to Kernel), you had to find a proxy or have an rDNS for
your IP that resolved to a .su domain in order to proceed into the simulated
system you were trying to hack into.
~~~
dsl
Which isn't that hard. You just update your reverse DNS.
I assume for a later challenge they actually checked the forward DNS matched.
:)
~~~
jbeckham
In the late 90's with dial-up connections, most ISPs would not do this, hence
the search for .su proxies. Today, it is much easier when you can spin up a VM
in the cloud and control DNS entries.
------
html5web
Russian Government owned Aeroflot Airlines still uses SU as a flight prefix.
------
paulpauper
I wonder what the most exclusive tld is . probably .gov or .mil
~~~
mc32
Probably one of the corporate ones like .xyz, .amazon, .bananarepublic, etc.
~~~
adventured
I believe anyone can register the .xyz domains. They're typically on sale for
$0.99 on GoDaddy for the first year, so there seems to be a lot of junk,
volume registrations using it.
~~~
mc32
My bad, my main point is that likely the most restrictive would be one of the
corporate/private TLDs that are for internal use mainly. .xyz was a bad
example. Maybe better is .bananarepublic
~~~
CydeWeys
There's literally hundreds of new gTLDs like this that only have the one
required nic.tld on them and nothing else (because they haven't launched yet
and might never). My team runs a couple dozen of these.
For comparison's sake, we should probably restrict ourselves to legacy gTLDs,
ccTLDs, and open, launched new gTLDs.
------
riffraff
I remember using a service to get a russian visa hosted on a .su domain. When
I found out what .su was, it felt pretty confusing :)
------
octosphere
Anyone know of English words that we can use to make a 'domain hack'[0] out of
this?
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_hack](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_hack)
~~~
k__
.de.su would be THE otaku tld, lol
~~~
ThinkingGuy
My first thought is that this TLD would be great for Japanese-language domain
hacks, i.e., "i.ta.da.ki.ma.su" for a food- or cooking-related site.
(I just checked; sure enough someone's thought to register that one)
------
tuxxy
If anyone is interested, registering a domain is $29.99/year and requires the
submission of an identity document (passport, driver's license, etc).
~~~
octosphere
Curious to know, but where can I buy one, and what registrars offer .su? Seems
entirely absent in my usual haunt where I go to get obscure TLDs:
[https://www.ovh.co.uk/domains/prices/](https://www.ovh.co.uk/domains/prices/)
There is however the following you can get on OVH which are similar:
.sucks
.supplies
.supply
.support
.surgery
~~~
konart
Not sure about western registrars, but
[https://www.nic.ru/](https://www.nic.ru/) sells them for 590 roubles (~9.2$
|| 7.4£)
------
jayess
This is kinda funny. I was able to get a .su domain earlier this year.
------
RRRA
I have a domain there, been using it for years, where else do you find 3
letters domains
------
Markoff
how about .cs for former Czechoslovakia, ema.cs usage case came first to my
mind
------
lekz
Lisa Su needs to buy lisa.su
------
Scoundreller
Oh. All this time I thought it was Sudan.
------
taesu
how does a link like this gets to the front page of hn?
~~~
tyingq
It's interesting because it's still in use, even though the Soviet Union
doesn't exist. ICANN hasn't been successful in forcing the retirement.
Compare to the .cs TLD for Czechoslovakia which was phased out and replaced
with new TLDs.
~~~
kijin
I don't think ICANN should retire a domain namespace just because a political
entity that it used to represent no longer exists. Cool URIs don't change [1].
[1]
[https://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html](https://www.w3.org/Provider/Style/URI.html)
~~~
tyingq
I suppose it avoids awkward politics. It's not clear to me, at least, which
country would get to control the former Czechoslovakia TLD.
------
djsumdog
Once upon a time I thought it would be funny to buy the .su domain for my
site, and on April Fools, have a link to it and a script that output all my
posts using the Cyrillic alphabet. I doubt I'll ever get around to it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Penny Arcade web dev / sysadmin job posting - harto
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/9887522?trk=job_nov
======
mattdeboard
> We’re terrible at work-life balance. Although work is pretty much your life,
> we do our absolute best to make sure that work is as awesome as possible so
> you at least enjoy each and every day here.
Sigh.
edit: oh haha I get it, it's a joke:
> \- Annual Salary: Negotiable, but you should know up front we’re not a
> terribly money-motivated group. We’re more likely to spend less money on
> salary and invest that on making your day-to-day life at work better.
I was disappointed til I realized no one in their right mind would be asking
someone to get worked to death for low pay. See? Joke!
edit 2:
C'mon this is probably one of the worst job listings I've seen in my handful
of years looking at developer job listings. This cannot possibly be serious.
In addition to the "We're gonna work you to death" and "We're not gonna pay
you what you're worth", there's also the awesome addition of "We don't have a
plan and it's basically up in the air what you're going to be doing every
day":
> Flexibility adapting to deadlines, changing schedules, priorities and
> unpredictable events in a fast paced environment.
And don't forget that you should be highly experienced, multidisciplinary
wizard who won't mind doing desktop support:
> the (dreaded) GENERAL IT for us here that need help configuring a firewall
> for a dev kit, etc. Sorry, I know that’s the WORST, but it’s absolutely part
> of the gig.
This is legit, at least they're being up front with it instead of springing it
on the poor schlub who gets hired.
~~~
nlawalker
Are you familiar with Penny Arcade? The author's not kidding when he says
it'll probably be the most competitive opening they've ever had. They could
lower the desired experience just a little bit, offer this as an unpaid
internship and they'd still get more applications than they could handle.
There are people who would would essentially replace everything in their
entire lives to work there - it's about the culture, the people and the
access.
~~~
mattdeboard
Yeah I'm very familiar with PA and a big fan of the strip. Less interested in
the auxiliary work though.
I get what you're saying and you're probably right, but it seems almost
malicious to take advantage of someone's fanaticism so boldly.
~~~
zorpner
It's absolutely malicious, and what's more, they already know that:
[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/1/25](http://www.penny-
arcade.com/comic/2010/1/25)
~~~
htilford
I'm reminded more about their actual reality show that ended with a job
[http://penny-arcade.com/strip-search/](http://penny-arcade.com/strip-search/)
------
patio11
The video game industry is generally _much_ less explicit about the fact that
they are structurally dependent on exploiting enthusiasts to work for them for
below-market wages until they are burned out and replaced by younger, cheaper
enthusiasts. So props for transparency.
Career advice: Like video games? So do I. Buy them. They're cheap at
programmer salaries and will, when used as directed, very rarely ruin your
life. The same cannot be said of burnout-inducing jobs.
n.b. Structural realities of the video game industry are common knowledge but
you can take a grizzled old hand -- say, a 30 year old engineer -- out for
coffee if you want to hear about what a typical development cycle looks like
at a company you love.
------
fruchtose
Job requirements:
* Ability to move in a fast paced environment, at a speed of 180 mph or greater.
* Demonstrated physical capacity to produce calefaction directed from eyeballs, at or exceeding 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Signed note from esteemed scientist showing capability for producing X-rays (preferably 5 nanometer wavelength) from eyeballs or eye sockets
* Affidavits testifying to eidetic memory.
* Ability to physically resist and rebuff projectiles, including but not limited to arrows, baseballs, rocket propelled grenades, bowling balls, and bullets between the range of 1 and 50 caliber.
* Established reputation for instantly understanding and speaking any language sufficiently established by a human culture, after initial exposure.
* Distinguishing characteristics: Faculty for achieving flight, and resourcefulness.
Are these job requirements impossible? Absolutely not! They are laid out
explicitly, so the list is perfectly reasonable. Being up front makes all the
difference here.
------
fishtoaster
I feel like I'm supposed to find this funny or angering (given the context of
being posted on HN), but I'm not really sure why I would be. They're being up
front about the demands they'll put on an employee, and they think they can
find someone who will do it. More power to them. Any developer willing to
relocate to seattle and meeting those requirements should have no trouble
getting a higher-paying or easier job, so if they take this one, it can only
be by choice.
I wouldn't take it, but I'm not so presumptuous as to assume everyone wants
the same things in life as me.
~~~
mattdeboard
I assumed it was posted because whoever posted it thought some people here
would be interested enough to apply. If it was posted as angst bait, well,
whoops,I fell for it.
------
asmosoinio
The link was not working for me while logged in in LinkedIn. Shows up fine in
an Incognito Window.
Copy&paste for others wondering what the fuss is about:
\----
Job description
__ __PLEASE NOTE: YOU HAVE UNTIL DECEMBER 20, 2013 AT 9:00 PM PST TO SUBMIT
YOUR APPLICATION. PLEASE FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER AT @RKHOO FOR UPDATES IN CASE
EMAIL GETS SENT TO SPAM FOLDERS, ETC. __ __
Given our audience and the job at hand, this could potentially be the most
competitive position we ever hire for. We 're looking for a web developer /
software developer / sys admin to join our small family. We’re a team of 15-20
people that essentially run Penny Arcade proper, the online store, our
fulfillment center, the PAX shows, Child’s Play, PATV, and a bunch of other
smaller things that no one ever hears about. We rely heavily on outside
partners and vendors, but as far as managing and helping run/deploy the
technical infrastructure to most of the things we do, we rely on one person.
That person is you.
So yes, we run lean. Most of us would say maybe a little TOO lean, but being
pushed to your limit is part of the job. I'm not saying that to try and scare
you away OR impress you, but it's in both of our best interests to understand
and set expectations properly. If you have boundless energy and desire to work
on both creative AND sometimes tedious work but in an environment that just
might change your life, perhaps this is the opportunity for you.
We are quite literally looking for a person that can do four jobs: Web
Development, Software Development, Sys Admin, and the (dreaded) GENERAL IT for
us here that need help configuring a firewall for a dev kit, etc. Sorry, I
know that’s the WORST, but it’s absolutely part of the gig.
So yeah, we know that’s a lot to ask of a person, but all of us here work
tremendously hard to do a lot of things, and if you’d like to be at the
technical epicenter of it all and don’t mind having a really bad sense of
work-life balance, this is the job for you.
Desired Skills and Experience
General Requirements \- You need to have a crazy-person level of attention to
detail. \- Strong project management skills, organizational skills and time-
management skills. \- A motivated self-starter who can overcome or workaround
issues independently. \- Flexibility to travel up to 30% of the time. \- You
should have no problems working in a creative and potentially offensive
environment. \- Flexibility adapting to deadlines, changing schedules,
priorities and unpredictable events in a fast paced environment. \- The
ability to communicate and work well in a team environment as well as on an
individual basis. \- Must have the ability to prioritize tasks and balance the
immediate and long term needs. \- You should have no problem appearing on
camera. \- It’s rarely we call on it, but if something breaks in the middle of
the night, you are expected to be on call to address that issue 24/7.
Some things you should know about this job.
We’re terrible at work-life balance. Although work is pretty much your life,
we do our absolute best to make sure that work is as awesome as possible so
you at least enjoy each and every day here.
And here are some other things we’re using to weed people out. It’s not fair.
I know. Life’s not fair.
\- A BA/BS or greater degree in Computer Science or a related field \- A
minimum of 3 years in development and project management, preferably in a
professional workplace \- Strong experience in PHP, MySQL, Javascript (jQuery
and AJAX), CSS, Apache \- Strong experience in one of Java, Python, Ruby, or
other object-oriented language \- A history of running and configuring
multiple-server environments, including load balancers, web
accelerators/caching systems, and databases \- A history of running and
configuring multiple server environments, load balancers, and varnish. \- You
should probably be a fan of Penny Arcade. Probably. Yeah.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
\- Annual Salary: Negotiable, but you should know up front we’re not a
terribly money-motivated group. We’re more likely to spend less money on
salary and invest that on making your day-to-day life at work better. \- Full
Medical, Vision and Dental \- 401k (SEP) retirement contributions (2% of
annual income per year) \- Holiday pay \- Periodic bonuses \- Flexible
vacation time \- We're willing to relocate you if need be Send me your resume
via the linked in system. If you don't submit your resume, I won't look at
your application. Sorry - I gotta streamline the process.
About this company
Based out of Seattle, Washington. If you are applying for this job you should
know all the nuts and bolts to us already.
------
Rantenki
If this job offering came from just about any other company, we'd be
snickering about how clueless their HR department was. Actually, we'll be
snickering anyhow, but it's surprising to see it coming from PA. This reads
like PA just hired EA's HR dept.
I have no doubt that PA is a cool place to work, and the people are probably
nice, but this job posting is pretty cavalier about the fact that you're going
to be overworked, underpaid, and life isn't fair, so tough.
------
sanskritabelt
Yesterday my opinion about Penny Arcade was 'jesus christ that one dude is an
asshole' and now I have a much more sophisticated opinion, namely 'jesus
christ both those dudes are assholes.'
~~~
robdrimmie
Khoo, the CEO (generally less in the public eye), is actually the third
asshole. Krahulik and Holkins are the artist asshole and writer _,
respectively.
_ no comparable foot-in-mouth public displays of assholery, but if you think
the other two are, you are very likely to think he is too
~~~
sanskritabelt
I am always willing to update the asshole registry.
------
anonymoushn
Does this come with a free dickwolves T-shirt and lecture about how transwomen
are men?
------
downer96
We need someone young, naive, with stars in their eyes
going gaga over internet fame about a website they'll
never have any creative input on, unless they swear a
blood oath to never take credit for an idea that already
aligns with our PG rated middle school sense of humor.
------
jetdillo
I feel you should always give somebody props for brutal honesty vs. hiding the
truth, so good on ya Gabe & co for at least laying it all out up front.
This reminds me of being in the running for a job at WOTC some years back, not
being terribly fanatical about the card game, but wanting to move to Seattle
to be with friends. The job was very similar, a sysadmin+build-our-
website+fix-the-printer AND bring-me-coffee(NOW DAMMIT! NOW!) type gig, but
back in the mid '90s when web developers were about as rare as a VengeVine
card.
Things kind of fell apart when they wouldn't even match my salary at my (then)
current job nor cover relocation. The guy I was talking to kept trying to talk
past that impress me with how cool it would be to work for them and how that
would MORE than make up for such mean concerns as a paycheck scaled to the
size of the job and cost of living.
In the end I failed to be sufficiently impressed and politely turned him down,
which he scornfully assured me would be a career-ender(and what's up with
that?--why do these things always seem to end with "You'll never work in this
town again!!!" type closings ?).
To the young fanper(s) sweating over their resume for this job: Think VERY
carefully what it would be worth to you to have PA as a line on your resume
and where you intend to go with this all once you get there.
"Creative" companies seem to be like this a lot. They're used to dealing with
artistic, creative people who need a LOT of self-validation and are willing to
be treated like crap just for the privilege of being treated like crap by a
specific person or group of people. They just assume that everybody in every
field of effort is the same and tend to get very bent out of shape when you
push back at them or just even have boundaries and requirements.
------
kar1181
Hrmm which one to believe?
'We're not a terribly money-motivated group'
[http://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/9887522](http://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/9887522)
'I developed humor as a defense mechanism. Now I drive a fucking Mercedes.'
[http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/15-09/mf_...](http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/magazine/15-09/mf_pennyarcade?currentPage=all)
------
josephkern
Possibly the most realistic job posting I've read.
------
BryantD
The next time you wonder why a major online game launch didn't seem to have
exercised the proper care for quality, redundancy, and the other factors that
go into keeping your site up -- go back and re-read this job posting.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why build this blog, or anything, on IPFS? - beaucronin
http://teetotality.blog/posts/why-ipfs/
======
nullstyle
IPFS still has a long way to go until it is useable in my opinion. The default
configuration for the desktop client will gladly keep open 1000+ peer
connections and will happily degrade your usual internet experience.
In addition the ecosystem is filled with technical/community debt that makes
navigating the system a nightmare for anyone who isn't an expert. As an
example: [https://github.com/ipfs/go-
ipfs/issues/1482](https://github.com/ipfs/go-ipfs/issues/1482)
It's a shame if you ask me.
~~~
momack2
Hey IPFS person here. We actually made a change to ipfs-desktop back in Feb of
last year to reduce the default connection limit to ~300
([https://github.com/ipfs-shipyard/ipfs-
desktop/pull/828](https://github.com/ipfs-shipyard/ipfs-desktop/pull/828)),
and also to set desktop nodes into DHT-client mode (so they don't get lots of
requests from other nodes for where to find content). If you've been running
your node since back then, you can change your defaults in the desktop
"settings" menu at the bottom of your IPFS config by setting '"HighWater":
300' (or whatever you prefer -- personally I like having ~600 connections). I
run ipfs-desktop all the time (including on crappy hotel wifis) and don't find
it gets in the way of anything.
You're right, there are a ton of great ideas and suggestions for how to make
IPFS better that we haven't gotten to yet - we're working on making it easier
to navigate and for more folks to help contribute. To that aim, we just
created a new ipfs-docs site (in beta right now) to better explain the
concepts and how-to of working in the ecosystem: blog.ipfs.io/2020-01-07-ipfs-
docs-beta/ \-- would love your feedback on how we can keep making that better!
~~~
woodandsteel
>You're right, there are a ton of great ideas and suggestions for how to make
IPFS better that we haven't gotten to yet
I love the idea of IPFS, but let me ask you the question, when is it finally
going to be ready for people to easily deploy? A year from now, 3 years, 5
years? Or maybe you have no idea?
Don't give some vague answer about how you are working on it. Give me a
reasonably specific prediction, or say you have no idea.
~~~
singron
Isn't this kind of an unreasonable demand? It's not like software isn't ready
for anyone one day and ready for everyone the next. Considering just about
nobody can give an accurate software development forecast for even objective
milestones, it seems ridiculous that there would be any reasonable answer to
this.
~~~
charles_f
Beyond the question of the possibility of giving a precise answer, did OP lose
sight of basic courtesy?
As far as I know IPFS is an open system contributed to by volunteers. Making
those kind of demands for deadlines in such an aggressive tone is way out of
place.
~~~
woodandsteel
No, I am just asking for honesty. Either they have some sort of idea when it
will be basically usable, or they don't. I am not saying they have to meet a
deadline, I am asking when they think they are going to get there.
And why do they need to be defended by others? If I am being unreasonable, why
don't they just say that themselves?
~~~
bardan
Who says they need to defend themselves? If I come across somebody making
unreasonable demands I ignore them.
------
leshokunin
Disclaimer: I run the unofficial IPFS Discord and Matrix (found at
[https://permaweb.io/discord](https://permaweb.io/discord) and /matrix) and
have helped organize IPFS Meetups in SF. We also run an IPFS gateway and have
built a groups app on top of IPFS and Textile.
I generally agree with the conclusion, but there's a few downsides that aren't
conveyed here.
Let's look at the proposed upsides: 1) Ownership, control, censorship: That's
partly correct. Ownership is fair, in the sense that you can run your node and
self-host. However this is true of any self-hosting solution. You could run a
Docker instance of a Wordpress or Ghost site and get ownership / control.
2) The point about censorship is muddied, however. I'll combine that point
with the second upside: Resilience. Every day for the past two years, I've
seen people wonder if IPFS is a magical cloud with infinite storage. People
seem to think you put a file on IPFS, and it just gets replicated, censorship
resistant hosting. That's not how it works. People need to pin your hash. You
need to tell the world about your hash somehow. All this is done via a public
list of IPs that is being broadcasted. Think of IPFS this way: you're letting
people with the hash become CDNs of your content. That's cool, but that
doesn't solve discovery, keeping things up, etc. IPFS doesn't encrypt the
content, or the connectivity, or hide the hosts. Solutions exist around that,
but they're niche, and honestly I question the motives besides just ideology.
3) Elegance. Yeah it's a really, really cool way to solve linking. As some
others pointed out, it's not as fast as classic centralized links, so it's
better suited currently for solutions that don't require speed.
~~~
skybrian
I'm wondering if IPFS might be better thought of as a common data-publishing
protocol that might be used to push content to any number of CDN's?
So, you could publish content to IPFS and tell your favorite CDN to pick it
up, and you pay them to keep it active. But IPFS isn't limited to one CDN, so
you could always pick another one. And your users could also go through a
different CDN. Or some people who really want to could run their own CDN and
pin whatever they want to host.
~~~
sriku
The Dat protocol was supposed to play that role
([https://dat.foundation/](https://dat.foundation/))
------
kalmi10
The thing I worry about with IPFS is privacy. If you use IPFS directly (as
intended, not via a public gateway), and you visit a site, then you are
automatically going to be seeding (like a torrent) the visited content, and
thus you will be announcing/broadcasting the fact to the world that you (your
node/your IP) have visited it. My current understanding is that this cannot
really be avoided, since one needs to be able to find the nodes that have the
content for any given hash.
~~~
mirimir
Well, one can use IPFS through Tor, and use gateways that are Tor onion
services.
~~~
judge2020
Obfuscating your IP doesn't solve the problem. If a malicious actor knew
someone's info (such as address), they could give them an ipfs link with CP
and report them.
~~~
mirimir
Sure. You also gotta hide your name, address and all other information that
could identify you. Otherwise, there's no point in obfuscating your IP.
------
rohan1024
> even go super old-school and run a web server at home. It's not as if we're
> short on options in 2020.
Though it's old school, it's incredibly difficult to run server at home now at
least in India. The network I connect to is behind a NAT which is behind
another NAT. At least that's what I saw when I tried to host my blog on
Raspberry PI at home over a year ago. Ultimately I gave up on that endeavor.
If anyone has solution that doesn't involve third party, please suggest.
I think I will have to wait until my ISP implements IPv6. That could take
another decade :/
~~~
johannes1234321
_Your_ ISP implementing IPv6 won't be enough: One can't reach it from the
outside, as long as not "everybody" else has IPv6.
~~~
Polylactic_acid
You don't need everyone on IPv6. Just most people. Then it becomes the issue
of those still on v4
------
olodus
Last I checked a lot of the consensus were that the Dat project was more
mature than IPFS and that it had some advantages over IPFS (such as not using
as much resources to run). How is it now? Is it more mature? Even though I
actually even sub to their newsletter I haven't really been keeping up to date
if they have made any major releases.
Not to be a downer on IPFS at all, btw. I'm very glad that both it and Dat
exist. IPFS has always seemed like a much larger undertaking and it is cool
thst they are trying to push the dweb even further. We need that just as much
as we need Dat, which with its inclusion in the Beaker browser for example
really serves as a super cool demo of what dweb can give us in the future.
~~~
StavrosK
I have quite a bit of experience with IPFS and I tried Dat once. It seems to
me that Dat works much better, but I think the immutability of IPFS is its
killer feature, Dat is thus much less interesting to me.
~~~
rakoo
Underlying dat data is immutable. It's the constructs built on top that
provide mutability. Dat is fundamentally a chain of immutable chunks, some
having a special meaning to say what the data means (file/folder) and where to
look for it. Once a chunk is there it will 'ever ever change. It is perfectly
possible to play with those only.
------
endothrowho333
It's pieces like these that remind me why good writing skills are important,
and one shouldn't stray from the basics unless they're fully aware of the
trade-offs. For this article, it would be: write a better hook, and make sure
to include a rudimentary thesis statement, because I wasn't able to deduce
what you were trying to persuade me of, within the first few paragraphs.
With a title like "Why build this blog -- or anything -- on IPFS?" You _were_
trying to persuade me, right?
I had to read through what is essentially every single cooking recipe on the
web, before I got to the actual filling. I.e a whole lotta aimless wandering
and musing, that is only tangenitally related to the topic at hand, before
giving me what the title promised. Similarily to cooking blogs, this page is
2/3 filler, and 1/3 actually giving me what the title promised "So……why IPFS?"
> 1\. Ownership, control, censorship
The author goes on to chastise Medium's censorhsip practices, but not too long
ago he mentioned self-hosted Wordpress and staticly-generated Github pages.
Wordpress and Github pages get over these hurdles and are easier to setup than
IPFS.
> 2\. Resilience
Suffice to say, the point of this pargraph was "DNS and HTTP unrobust,
webservers fail under unforseen circumstances." Ok, well how does IPFS do
things differently? You never explained how IPFS works, much less how it gets
over any of the aforementioned issues you outlined.
> 3\. Elegance
> But I will say that content addressing strikes me, and many software people
> who come across it, as obviously superior to host-based addressing along
> certain dimensions.
Never touched upon or elaborated.
> Plus, it's super cool. You should try it!
Atleast you have a call to action. Otherwise, this post fails to even come
close to making me interested in IPFS.
~~~
stanferder
I think bloggers deserve some leeway in how they write; it's an informal
medium and maybe the author's usual audience is arriving with a lot of shared
assumptions.
Still, I wish IPFS had been defined within the post. I had to look it up on
Wikipedia; presumably it's "Interplanetary File System".
~~~
endothrowho333
Yes, it occurred to me that his audience already had a background in IPFS and
I wasn't his prospective audience; yet, then why craft the title to seem like
it was meant for people who have no idea what IPFS is, because surely those
with prior knowledge of it, would already be able to answer for themselves
"Why... IPFS?"
I think my main problem with this blog post, and many others, is that they
come off too "stream of consciousness," instead of something more structured,
and easily-digestable.
It's obvious the author can write[0], but at risk of being presumptuous, it
seems like it was hastily written and submitted to HN for the sole purpose of
generating traffic.
[0] This is a much better piece, albeit short:
[http://teetotality.blog/posts/think-do-
build/](http://teetotality.blog/posts/think-do-build/)
------
jude-
If you replace the word "IPFS" with "BitTorrent," this article is still true.
Similarly, if you replace "IPFS" with "BitTorrent" in most of the comments
here, the comments are still true.
If you understand how BitTorrent works -- including its strengths and
limitations -- you'll understand how IPFS works.
~~~
sneak
Minor nit: BitTorrent does not allow one to maintain a persistent URI to
changing/updated data, as IPNS does.
~~~
jude-
Isn't that handled by mutable torrents a la BEP 46?
~~~
rakoo
Yes, but I'm not sure any dht client handles that functionality.
------
jillesvangurp
I'm involved with a startup that has been trying to use IPFS. There are still
a few problems related to incentivizing people to pin files for you. Filecoin,
the ICO coin associated with IPFS has been inching closer to a testnet launch
for quite long now. That was supposed to happen end of last year and it didn't
as far as I know. So, they are obviously a bit behind schedule on that.
Without that, content on IPFS is only as durable as the node that uploaded the
content. There are no guarantees long term availability of content.
So, IPFS is more of a CDN than a file system currently. It's a distributed
content cache. There's an enormous long tail of files that are only available
on 1 node, which is typically somebody's laptop.
Another problem is that the block system does not combine well with e.g. s3 or
similar file buckets on popular cloud providers. If you think of IPFS as a CDN
then you basically have to worry about hosting files somewhere that is
reliable and durable. IPFS does not solve that problem currently. So, you
basically will either be self hosting some file servers or use something off
the shelf, like S3. There's an S3 backend for IPFS but it's a bit unclear how
well that performs. We've done some tests with it and the small blocksize is
creating quite a bit of overhead for read and write HTTP requests.
Access control or privacy protection are currently not really in scope of
IPFS. I doubt this is a good tool for bypassing e.g. censor ship unless you
are willing to expose yourself to explaining why your node is hosting certain
content hashes. TOR and I2P probably provide better protection here. I2P
actually runs a variant of bittorrent for file sharing. It's been a while
since I looked at this but it used to be quite slow but reliable.
------
bsurmanski
> From a certain perspective, the internet and the web as we know them
> (including fundamental technologies such as DNS, TCP/IP, HTTP, SMTP, and
> even Javascript) are flawed in fundamental ways. Leaving the technicalities
> aside, how do these flaws manifest? It is hard to stop bad actors from doing
> bad things: sending too many emails, stealing sensitive data, flooding
> websites with traffic, spreading false facts and bifurcating the shared
> reality that allowed for a democratic global order.
I would argue that this is even more of a problem with decentralized services
because there is no one to define (or police for) spam or bad content.
------
mceachen
I've seen hugely varying IPFS latency. `time curl -o-
[https://teetotality.blog/posts/how-this-blog-was-
made/`](https://teetotality.blog/posts/how-this-blog-was-made/`) took > 20
seconds, for example, yet
[https://ipfs.io/ipns/teetotality.blog/](https://ipfs.io/ipns/teetotality.blog/)
returned in under a second.
I'd be really interested in a "what to do and what not do" wrt IPFS to avoid
those 20s (or completely non-functioning) URLs.
~~~
capableweb
You're not really using IPFS here. The gateway that responds to the requests
over at teetotality.blog is the one that actually communicates with IPFS, then
forwarding the content to you.
The traditional web works with the concept of timeouts set by the owner. So if
you request some content, and it's unable to find it within X seconds, the
request gets cancelled.
IPFS (the network, not gateways) works differently, as the use case is
different. Basically, there is no "requests". You simply put in a "ask" in the
DHT about who has this content. If someone finds someone who provides the same
content, then it tells you about it.
IPFS in itself doesn't have any timeouts, as the model is different. The use
case is basically "I need this content, no matter how long time it takes and
from who".
So, the difference between DNS addresses responding with different times,
comes up to the maintainer of the gateway. Sometimes it's more connected to
other nodes (like probably ipfs.io's gateways are) and sometimes they employ a
longer cache for content (cloudflare's gateway have a long cache) and it makes
the resolution time faster/slower.
------
fulldecent2
The long-term solution for web is:
\- Use more static HTML \- Since your assets are versioned and static, start
calculating hashes for everything you publish \- When you link to something,
include the URL and the integrity <a href="URL" integrity="sha256:...">...</a>
In the immediate future this will fix broken links. Things that are important
will be cached and accessible via content addressing. In the long-term future
this will fix other problems like linking to a page and then it being changed
to something you don't endorse.
------
TylerE
Right now this case in point of why NOT to.
ipfs resolve -r /ipns/teetotality.blog/posts/how-this-blog-was-made/%60: no
link named "`" under QmefCQnxfw2qaT5WKMxiMVGTWu2i47ttpyUCDdn7f3nA2K
------
netfl0
This blog is “built” on cloudflare apparently.
Why is medium being compared to IPFS???
~~~
endothrowho333
>This blog is “built” on cloudflare apparently.
You can read more about why that is here: [http://teetotality.blog/posts/how-
this-blog-was-made/](http://teetotality.blog/posts/how-this-blog-was-made/)
~~~
slacka
I found that too as the article linked raised more questions that it answered.
I was like "how can I be reading this if it's not using DNS?" And from the
link this explanation:
> It updates a dnslink pointer at Cloudflare, which allows Cloudflare's DNS to
> direct teetotality.blog HTTP traffic to the correct IPFS hash address via
> their IPFS Gateway. So even though you've (probably) reached this page
> through a regular old HTTP link that uses the teetotality.blog host name,
> there is in fact no server with that name - the content is stored on various
> IPFS nodes, including but not limited to Cloudflare's edge caches.
~~~
thenewnewguy
The blog is hosted on IPFS. To allow normal web browsers without IPFS support
to view the website they use Cloudflare's IPFS gateway, which is a service
that serves content from IPFS over normal HTTP.
~~~
netfl0
I’d be a bit more precise. The blog is hosted by cloudflare. IPFS hosts all
the versions of the blog, none of which are canonical.
------
spiderfarmer
Good luck managing a website with 10 daily blog posts and multiple authors
through static HTML files. The success of Wordpress is thanks to a lot more
than "now you don't have to know HTML".
~~~
dmos62
What's the problem with frequent updates and multiple authors? Those are
solved problems. As long as everyone knows how to use the static site
generator and git, you should be good.
------
EGreg
I think IPFS should be a pluggable back-end among many back-ends that become
possible once we move away from the idea that websites must be hosted by a
specific server / domain and start thinking in terms of “client-first”
architecture.
I don’t want to write a wall of text, right now the top post on
[https://qbix.com/blog](https://qbix.com/blog) lays out several specific
actionable things we can all do to bring about this future. It requires a
snowball effect and a critical mass for any of this to take off.
------
sergioro
Stopped reading after "Medium's engineers are much better at all of this than
you will ever be"; can't take this writer seriously.
~~~
oska
I dislike this formula of "Stopped reading after ..." that I seem to be seeing
more frequently.
Why not just make your criticism of the quoted text straight up? Why the
rhetorical flounce out of the room?
~~~
sergioro
I agree with your observation on how to improve my comment but the comment was
past the edit grace period so i could not update it.
------
kdtsh
I think one of the interesting use cases for IPFS is having a distributed
build store for tools like Nix and Guix. It sounds to me like almost the
perfect case for it: an immutable datastore of hashes of reproducible builds
is well suited to distributed storage. Imagine being able to peek into a
global store of build outputs and, for the hash of any given inputs, retrieve
some corresponding output. It would be an incredibly unique experience.
There’s a proof of concept of building IPFS into Guix’s store[1]. There’s also
periodically discussion on the mailing list. I’m sure it’s much more
complicated than I’m giving it credit for, and there would be security and
social implications (someone’s going to be building most of the software, and
what happens if you have low bandwidth or a small data plan?) Still, IPFS
sounds like an interesting experiment in this area.
[1] [https://github.com/fps/guix-ipfs-cache](https://github.com/fps/guix-ipfs-
cache)
------
aabhay
Out of curiosity, isn’t the DNS gateway like Cloudflare
([https://blog.cloudflare.com/distributed-web-
gateway/](https://blog.cloudflare.com/distributed-web-gateway/)) a single
point of failure? Is there a solution to this without having to resort to a
completely different desktop app?
~~~
tylersmith
Well there are many gateways which provides redundancy but if ipfs really
takes off I think it'll eventually need to be supported by browsers so that
you're using your own ipfs node for lookups but it's seamless for you the user
or developer.
~~~
momack2
Agreed - having a lot of gateways helps ([https://ipfs.github.io/public-
gateway-checker/](https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-checker/)), but
eventually integration directly with browsers is the upgrade path:
[https://blog.ipfs.io/2019-10-08-ipfs-browsers-
update/](https://blog.ipfs.io/2019-10-08-ipfs-browsers-update/)
------
fiatjaf
I once fell for this talk about "content-addressing".
You know what? Saying stuff is addressed by their content doesn't change the
fact that the internet is "location-addressed" and you still have to know
where peers that have the data you want are and connect to them.
And what is the solution for that? A DHT!
Turns out DHTs have terrible incentive structure and don't seem to be working
well.
Downloading content on IPFS is the _most slow experience ever_ and for some
reason I don't understand downloading is even slower. Even if you are in the
same LAN of another machine that has the content you need it will still take
hours to download some small file you would do in seconds with `scp`.
Now even if you know which peer has the content you want and tell IPFS to
connect to it directly and the connection is established and the is being
(slowly) downloaded... IPFS will drop the connection and the download will
stop.
------
anderspitman
When I first learned about content addressing a couple years ago, it sounded
like the holy grail. I'm less certain now. It seems much better from the
machine perspective, but I'm not sure it matches closely enough the way humans
interact with data. We are spatial and temporal creatures. There's something
unsettling about my video file being chopped up into a million chunks and
stored who-knows-where. Compared to the path/URL approach where I have a
single large file. I know where it lives and how big it is.
Moving/copying/deleting/updating/etc are all intuitive and map to analogs in
the physical world. Content addressing (and object storage system I might add)
isn't as easy to reason about.
Don't get me wrong. Content addressing is very cool, and may revolutionize
everything. It's very elegant. I'm just a bit skeptical.
~~~
ithkuil
Technically content addressing and chunking (chopping up files) are two
orthogonal techniques. You could envision a system where the hash of a single
raw file (no matter how big it is) is it's identifier, and you can then have a
mapping between that identifier and the locations (e.g. IP addresses) of
servers who store the whole file.
~~~
anderspitman
You are of course correct. I was implying current content-addressing systems,
such as IPFS.
------
meerita
I have my own blog on DigitalOcean using Jekyll. Can't be more easy to do and
mantain.
~~~
azangru
> Can't be more easy to do and mantain.
Sure it can.
\- Github pages
\- Netlify
\- Zeit
All free for static sites; all easy to set up a continuous deployment pipeline
for.
~~~
alwillis
I’ve been on Netlify for a while and it’s great at what it does.
I recently went back to Digital Ocean for my side project because of what
Netlify currently doesn’t have: DNSSEC, HTTP/2 push and prioritization. ECC
certificates from Let’s Encrypt.
~~~
lmm
Why do you want ECC specifically? Isn't that an implementation detail?
~~~
alwillis
From a performance point of view, ECC certs are significantly smaller than RSA
certs at a comparable level of security.
Smaller certs translate to fewer bytes going over the wire when doing TLS
handshakes, reducing latency.
But it was really their lack of HTTP/2 push support and how their CDNs don't
support H2 prioritization correctly[1] which annoyed me to the point of going
back to Digital Ocean and running my own instance of H2o where I have full
control.[2]
1\. [https://github.com/andydavies/http2-prioritization-
issues](https://github.com/andydavies/http2-prioritization-issues)
2\.
[https://h2o.examp1e.net/configure/http2_directives.html#http...](https://h2o.examp1e.net/configure/http2_directives.html#http2-casper)
~~~
lmm
> Smaller certs translate to fewer bytes going over the wire when doing TLS
> handshakes, reducing latency.
Provided it fits into a single Ethernet frame it's not going to make any
difference, right?
------
neiman
We run a blog on top of IPFS, and we use ENS (Ethereum Name Service) to keep
it always updates.
Basically you can access it if you use Opera browser or some browser
extension. If not there are some gateways, like this: blog.almonit.eth.link
------
imtringued
I once thought about building an app based on IPFS but the problem is the lack
of decentralized consensus. Only the Blockchain has cracked that problem and
it is incredibly inefficient. The IPFS app would still require a central
server and if that is the case then it would be better to just have some sort
of public database backup with encrypted user data so that anyone can host
their own fork and each fork can talk with each other through a standardized
protocol. It would be a federated system like E-Mail.
------
buboard
Wordpress is unlike github pages or medium. In theory a LAMP server could run
on everyone's home router, and they 'd publish their blog there. With
commercial interest , network configurations would change to accomodate that,
and people wouldn't lose their content when any service decides to shutdown.
It's scary how much of the web is being lost , i would wager most links to
nonocorporate sites > 10 years old barely work (has anyone studied the link
rot?).
~~~
zelly
I dream of the day when home routers have IPFS installed.
~~~
buboard
or webtorrent.
but even a personal publishing server would also be great to keep people's
data being controlled by megacorps
------
heelix
ISPs have made it really expensive to get a static IP. I maintained a
commercial connection for way to many years because I would remote into my
home systems.
~~~
zozbot234
That's not ISPs' doing, it's the natural outcome of IP address exhaustion.
BTW, there are ways to "remote into" your home systems even if you don't have
a static IP. You can even make it work if your home systems aren't directly
accessible due to NAT.
~~~
paulhodge
Zerotier is an awesome tool for this.
------
lbj
Im intriqued by the idea of IPFS, but it does seem like you're giving up a lot
of control - Has this been used for anything >= mid-scale yet?
------
thomas232233
All the docs tells about to setup IPFS server. What is the intended way to
browse ipfs sites(extensions , or new browser ) ?
------
cyounkins
Has Cloudflare made any commitments regarding the longterm availability of
their IPFS gateway?
~~~
StavrosK
Probably not, but why does that matter? It's like asking whether Mozilla have
made any commitments regarding the longterm availability of Thunderbird, just
use another gateway or run your own.
~~~
momack2
The really awesome thing about gateways over central hosts is if one goes
offline you can still easily access & verify the content from one of the many
other gateways ([https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-
checker/](https://ipfs.github.io/public-gateway-checker/)). =]
------
davidhbolton
Off-topic but from work this site is blocked due to a security issue. Anyone
know why?
------
bureaucrat
God, another IPFS shilling.
Can't they come back when it's really usable?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Code Style: A Key Ingredient to Developer Bliss - radialdevgroup
https://medium.com/@radialdevgroup/code-style-a-key-ingredient-to-developer-bliss-44e2d4c8e170
======
thermodynthrway
Where I work we have agressive linters and auto-format-on-build in every
project. I'll never ever go back. God knows how many bugs the linters have
caught, maybe half. And no whitespace diffs because formatters.
I don't know how so many places I worked before used neither. Now it just
seems reckless
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Your favorite resources for learning Rails - bsmith
I recently took a job as a PHP developer at a web shop, and—to my delight—they said they would pay me to learn Rails.<p>What were your favorite resources when you were starting out, even if they weren't free?
======
jsnk
In my case, I learned Rails from Ruby on Rails Tutorial by Michael Hartl. I
love the fact that he assumes no knowledge from the reader, and make sure the
reader doesn't make mistakes along the way.
~~~
abbasmehdi
I also learnt the same way. I especially like the fact that he taught best
practices right from the beginning, and focused on application based learning.
If this is your first go in web development then you might need to go over the
concepts twice since its not the same as building desktop apps (as it was in
my case).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Create CON folder in Windows operating system. - sinu9i
http://9lessons.blogspot.com/2009/03/create-con-folder-in-windows-operating.html
======
jgrahamc
This is documented: <http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/library/aa365247(VS.85).aspx> These names are reserved names from DOS which
got them from CP/M. Back in the CP/M days they were pretty important.
For example, to print a document it was common to do:
PIP LST:=filename.ext
to send the file to the LST (list) device which was typically a printer.
Dumping a file to the console was
PIP CON:=filename.ext
PIP itself goes back even further to the PDP line of DEC machines.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Court: Microsoft violated patent; can't sell Word - kgrin
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091222/ap_on_bi_ge/us_microsoft_patent
======
riferguson
I have absolutely no opinion about the validity of this particular patent, but
I want to forestall a bunch of random griping.
Please, please don't post commentary that involves "just reading the patent"
and thinking (a) you know what it means, or (b) saying that it's "obvious"
from a cursory glance.
All patents need to be interpreted in light of their "file history", which is
the correspondence between the Patent Office and the filer during the patent
examination. It is literally true that the words in the text may not mean what
you think they do.
It is not uncommon for patent claims to be completely changed by the file
history, which in complex cases can comprise thousands of pages of back and
forth; if you pay the copying costs you can get the patent office to send you
the file for any particular patent.
If a patent has been litigated, you may be able to figure out what the court
and the original patent examiner thought the patent meant by reading the
lawsuit filings and judgement, but just looking at the patent by itself is not
necessarily going to help you understand the details.
[IANAL, but I've been to the rodeo before.]
------
cookiecaper
This is good. We need more of these things to happen so that we can get some
power behind the anti-software-patent lobby. Software patents have to become
too dangerous to keep around, and that happens by things like this; right now,
Microsoft and others use patents to lord over Linux and make vague threats
about litigation. This is an important part of Microsoft's strategy, so
software patents are important to them. But if more awesome things like making
it illegal to sell Word and therefore Office happen, it'll be too dangerous to
keep software patents around, MS will call up their cronies in Congress, and
software patents will be out of commission in a year or less.
I hope all the patent trolls of the world open the floodgates on Microsoft,
Apple, and the other behemoths in the computer industry so that we can finally
put the issue to rest.
~~~
cloudkj
I'd argue that, rather than banning software patents outright, the process by
which these patents are approved should be put under high scrutiny and
changed. For a lot of large companies, the approach really is similar to
throwing everything against the wall and seeing what sticks. Having gone
through the process recently, I'm amazed at how easy it is for an engineer to
conceive an idea, pitch it to a few paralegals and lawyers, and get it written
up to submit to the USPTO. IMHO, there's a big disconnect between the
engineering minds that actually come up with legitimate patentable ideas and
the IP attorneys that write and file the patents.
Getting rid of software patents altogether is quite extreme. You need a
mechanism in place to protect the property rights of individuals and
corporations. When there's absolutely no sense of preservation of property -
whether it be tangible or intangible - innovation and risk taking are going to
suffer.
~~~
steveklabnik
> Getting rid of software patents altogether is quite extreme.
Really? I'd think that most people in software have the opinion that there
should be no software patents at all.
It's kind of silly, frankly.
~~~
cloudkj
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for openness and transparency. But I do believe
there needs to be some level of legal rights protection, and that it's a
pretty fundamental pillar of our capitalist system.
Out of curiosity, what do you (and others) think of a patent for something
like Google's PageRank?
~~~
dantheman
What right? Copyrights & Patents are not natural in a free market; they're
government creations. Remember patents and copyright only exist to encourage
people to produce, not because you're entitled to profit from it. As of right
now there is very little in the way of evidence that patents in anyway
contribute to encouraging people to produce. Most small companies don't even
bother patenting ideas because they don't have the time or the money to.
~~~
ghshephard
"As of right now there is very little in the way of evidence that patents in
anyway contribute to encouraging people to produce."
There are untold exception to this - It's important not to throw out the baby
with the bathwater. Drug Patents, in particular, are incredibly important.
Large Pharmaceuticals spent decades and billions of dollars on developing,
trialing, and getting their new drugs approved. Why on earth would they have
any incentive to do that if, once it was approved, they didn't have a
temporary monopoly on it?
Remember - Patents are good for only a short period of time, under twenty
years in most countries, and after that it's a free for all - anyone can use
the process's and systems that were shared and documented.
With all that said - 90% of the software patents really are nothing more than
crap - usually consisting of an engineer having an idea that most of their
"skilled and educated in the arts" peers could have come up with in less than
a week's worth of work and discussion. Public-Key cryptography class patents
are few and far between.
~~~
kelnos
Somewhat hypothetical, but: how difficult is it to reverse-engineer a drug's
exact composition with only the final product (the pill/vaccine/etc. itself)?
If it's difficult enough to be economically infeasible, then patent protection
here could be replaced by simply keeping the drug a secret.
Of course, that kills the generics market, and I suspect it's not such a
difficult problem to RE a drug, but... just curious.
~~~
pbhjpbhj
They have to disclose the contents to be licensed for medical purposes.
My wife did a stint as a student with AstraZeneca (global pharma corp) they
were making "new" drugs. One thing they do is take an existing drug and try
swapping out different parts for functionally equivalent parts and run tests
to see if the drug is effective enough to warrant proper trials and check to
see if it circumvents the opposition patents.
------
pvg
Patent in question -
[http://www.google.com/patents?id=y8UkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5787449](http://www.google.com/patents?id=y8UkAAAAEBAJ&dq=5787449)
------
10ren
Oral argument for the Bilski appeal was heard last month - perhaps something
will come of that. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilski>
Personally, I think patent law needs a massive overhaul; but I also think that
the lone inventor should be protected - or why would anyone bother doing deep
useful work? We would then only get the deep work (of academics) and the user-
driven hill-climbing (of open source/big corporations).
I guess startups like Appjet (etherpad) are an exception... but, according to
their early webpage, they had a software patent. Which Google may have wanted
when it acquired them. I expect that Dropbox, which also has some cool
proprietary technology, also sought to patent it, given pg's position
<http://www.paulgraham.com/softwarepatents.html>
While a startup can protect itself by growing and innovating fast, I have a
soft spot for the deep technical innovator. I appreciate those incremental
hill-climbing innovations; the cool stuff in the labs that never actually
becomes usable; and the clever identification of markets and exploitation
thereof. But the revolutionary stuff is what I love.
I'm always surprised that so many developers, who I would think are creative
types, don't think deep innovation deserves the encouragement and reward of
protection.
Note that Xerox PARC was funded by patents (on xerography); and Bell Labs'
origin can be traced to a patent (on telephony).
------
coffeemug
Meanwhile, the judge's decision was written in Microsoft Word (do lawyers
still use Word Perfect?) May be Microsoft _should_ stop selling Windows and
Office in a couple of these jurisdictions. For serious document processing
there still is no good alternative to Microsoft Office. I have a feeling that
if this were to happen, the public would be losing a lot more than Microsoft
itself.
~~~
jrockway
OO.org Writer is adequate for 90% of Word's users.
I wrote a book a few years ago, and the editors used Word. Corresponding with
them by using OO.org was not too difficult; all the features were there,
although not completely polished. I looked at the features I thought were
unpolished a few years ago again recently (I am not a big word processor fan),
and they are fine now. OO.org Writer is now basically Word without Exchange
integration.
~~~
Eliezer
OO.org Writer will be adequate as soon as they come out with a decent Outline
view. Until then, I and a whole whack of other people are staying on XP rather
than Ubuntu _primarily_ because OO.org lacks this one feature!
<http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=3959>
~~~
jrockway
If it's such a big issue, why not implement it yourself? Then you and a whole
whack of other people can switch from XP to Ubuntu!
~~~
assemble
Have you considered that maybe they aren't a programmer and don't have the
technical knowledge to add a feature like that? This kind of attitude is one
of the things that drives people away from Linux and the open-source movement
in general.
Personally: every time I use OO, I'm reminded of how much better Word is--in
interface (the ribbon is GREAT), features (everything you could ever need),
compatibility (you can save in PDF), etc.
~~~
jrockway
_This kind of attitude is one of the things that drives people away from Linux
and the open-source movement in general._
Sorry, but it's just the reality. Very few people write Free Software out of
pure altruism. They write it because they have a problem they need to solve.
Often there is personal gain in sharing this solution with the world
(reputation, free bugfixes, etc.), so people do. This is the open source /
free software movement in a nutshell.
If this attitude drives you away from getting something for free, then I guess
that's too bad. The community only benefits marginally from consumers; it
benefits from producers. If you are never willing to produce, the community
can probably live without you.
~~~
assemble
Somebody has to consume your product or there is no reason to build it. If OO
wants to compete with a high-quality commercial product, they should act like
it. I use Windows and Office because they are superior products, with enough
of a quality increase that I'm willing to pay for it. I really doubt people
would mind shelling out their hard earned cash for Desktop Linux or OO if they
were viable alternatives, but as it stands: they aren't.
I'm fine with being a producer in a few of the fields I care about (I work on
one of the few remaining Perl BBSes), when I'm not busy getting paid to write
software. I don't want to have to help write my OS, my Office software, my
text editor(s), my web browser, my music player, etc. I just want these things
to work in (at least) a predictable fashion.
Anyway, I really do think that the open source community needs to lose the
attitude if they ever want to gain traction in the wider non-programmer
community.
------
og1
I don't understand how much of anything dealing with XML can fall within the
"non-obviousness" requirement of a patent. Who fills these juries for the
trial? From the view of the general public I think the majority of things
dealing with computers would be considered "non-obvious, and would therefore
be worthless. Why aren't these decisions being made by professional peers?
~~~
grellas
This is a classic forum shopping case brought by a Canadian company against an
international company headquartered in Seattle, with neither company having
any connection whatever with the venue (Eastern District of Texas) other than
that MS Word happens to be sold there.
This particular district is famous for being wildly receptive to patent claims
and is therefore used routinely by patent trolls searching for large verdicts
and, indeed, a $240M verdict (plus add-on items totaling $50M), plus a
permanent injunction, is a pretty big prize for "custom XML" technology that
constitutes a very minor part of Word's functionality.
Not that there isn't a form of justice in Microsoft being bitten by patent
abuses when it has benefited for years from patent abuses that it has heaped
upon others.
------
wayne
Microsoft's plan is to remove the feature from Office:
[http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/dec09/12-22sta...](http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/dec09/12-22statement.mspx)
------
ars
Previous discussion on this, with more details
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=757504>
------
chrischen
So what did Microsoft do? Violate a patent for a "program which let's users
type and format text"?
------
NathanKP
The Yahoo news item is rather trite. Is there a link to a better story with
more information about the patent that was infringed upon?
Edit: Nevermind, someone else already posted a better link. I propose that the
item link should be updated though.
~~~
houseabsolute
"Rather trite" is rather trite.
------
rayvega
Anyone know the specifics on what patent violation entails?
~~~
vaporstun
In this particular instance it was literal infringement meaning Microsoft
literally copied i4i's patented technology.
First of all, i4i is not a patent troll, they are a document management
company that actively deploys the technology on which they have a patent. One
notable case of such is that they used it to overhaul the USPTO's own internal
database.
Microsoft came to i4i and contracted them to help them move Word over to an
XML format. They then tried to strong arm i4i into some licensing agreement
which they did not accept so Microsoft just decided to willfully infringe.
This means they decided they would just ignore the patent and use i4i's
patented technology anyway without paying them. Essentially, they stole i4i's
work when they refused to sell on Microsoft's terms.
More of the backstory in this article:
[http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/i4i-says-
micro...](http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/09/i4i-says-microsoft-
went-behind-its-back-in-word-patent-tiff.ars)
~~~
roc
They might be an honest, hard-working group of good people who got tricked and
steamrolled by their business partner (Microsoft).
But their patent is still crap.
The first claim of the '449 patent covers essentially any code that maps
external XML data into a document. There is simply too much existing art in
the file manipulation and database domains for this to be anything _but_
obvious.
~~~
algorias
> But their patent is still crap.
No, the law is broken. What were they supposed to do, sit idle while someone
else got the patent instead?
------
dangrossman
Office/Word won't drop off store shelves for any period of time. In the months
since this case was initially filed and the injunction granted, Microsoft
rewrote the small bit of Word code the company claims infringes to no longer
use that method. They reprinted the Office CDs, repackaged and are shipping
out new copies to be on shelves before the day the injunction ends.
------
viggity
Here is more information on the dispute from the register:
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/22/microsoft_loses_word...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/22/microsoft_loses_word_patent_appeal/)
~~~
josefresco
"won by Toronto-based software company i4i in Texas"
Says it all.
------
bioweek
Why is MSFT stock up for the day and for the week? Shouldn't this majorly
affect their revenue?
~~~
nostrademons
The stock is supposed to reflect the discounted value of _all_ future cash
flows. In the grand scheme of Microsoft's Infinite Revenue Machine, having
Word off the market for a month or so while they figure out a workaround
really doesn't make much of a dent.
~~~
bioweek
So no one is worried it will be off the market permanently? I thought
investors were prone to panic?
~~~
ispivey
No; other people read the article, and have heard the news that Microsoft
plans to have a modified (compliant) version for sale as soon as this
injunction takes effect.
------
drawkbox
Sad thing about this is there is some developers at Microsoft right now
working on this, for as many possible hours per day all through the holiday
just to fix and remove the features. They couldn't have waited until January
4th to drop this?
------
10ren
Some insightful comments on slashdot (browsing at 5):
[http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/22/1936214/Microsoft-
Ord...](http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/22/1936214/Microsoft-Ordered-To-
Pay-290M-Stop-Selling-Word)
------
manish
"Microsoft has said that it and the public will both suffer if Word goes off
the market while the company devises a workaround."
I am touched by Microsoft's concern for public.
------
sev
Google's acquisition of DocVerse is starting to make more and more sense.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Two women quietly reading books in an SF bar started an introvert revolution - hodgesrm
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/Silent-Book-Club-women-reading-bar-San-Francisco-14954269.php
======
tempsy
After spending the holidays in Hong Kong and Taipei I realized how annoying it
is in the US to find anything to do at night or on weekends that doesn't
involve going to a bar.
In your typical "big Asian city", you have night markets, restaurants,
shopping areas, etc. that all "come alive", so to speak, at night. Young, old,
families, etc. are all welcome and expected. Yes, there are bars, of course,
but they aren't the sole focus of "nightlife."
In the US the only things open at night seem to be bars that cater to single
adults, and anyone who wants to do anything but social drinking in crowded
bars have few options.
~~~
narrator
Remember when they used to have the big halloween celebration in the SF
Castro? They cancelled it when gangsters from the east bay showed up and
decided to start shooting each other.[1] This is why we can't have nice things
in America. You have to charge an entrance fee or have a doorman checking ID
and bouncing gangsters at any public nighttime event where you have a lot of
gangsters around unfortunately. For example, whenever I go to clubs in bad
parts of town they won't let me in if I am wearing a plain color t-shirt if it
doesn't have some sort of writing on it.
[1][https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/9-people-shot-at-
Cas...](https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/9-people-shot-at-Castro-
Halloween-bash-2467357.php)
~~~
topmonk
Maybe this has to do with the negative side of drug culture of the USA. In
Hong Kong and Taipei there is hardly any drug use, and therefore crime is
reduced a lot as well.
~~~
novok
It's more america's history of intergenerational poverty, trauma and slavery.
The drug laws incarcerating people are not helping either.
It takes 7 generations for that kind of stuff to clear out I've heard.
~~~
topmonk
Asia has had tons of poverty and trauma for a lot longer than the USA even
existed.
And if its slavery, then why are European cities the same way?
~~~
toohotatopic
>It's more america's history of intergenerational poverty, trauma and slavery.
The drug laws incarcerating people are not helping either.
You have overlooked the third and fourth option: intergenerational poverty and
drug laws.
~~~
solveit
Southeast Asian drug laws are far more draconian than American drug laws and
the only reason nobody talks about intergenerational poverty there is because
single-generation poverty doesn't exist. Imperialistic powers took turns
colonising the region for a century or so and then World War 2 happened.
_Everyone_ came from generations of having no wealth and no power.
------
interblag
As someone who travels alone a lot for work, few things would make me happier
than if we could somehow normalize reading alone in a bar/pub. It's such an
accepted practice in a coffee shop, but somehow in a bar you can still feel
really out of place.
As discussed elsewhere in this thread, at night bars are often the only
comfortable place open. Meanwhile hotel rooms can get depressing and, for
people who drink, having a drink alongside a book can be incredibly relaxing.
I also think we underestimate the value for introverted people of being out in
a public setting, even in an asocial way.
Good on this group for using a bit of social engineering to help push this
idea - wishing them all of the success in the world!
------
grogenaut
Lol I lived above a bar for years in St. Louis and did all sorts of things
there. We ran wow raids from there. It was great, can get food and drinks
brought to you. Also great if the place has 9billion TVs so you can watch
other social events like sports, or if you know the people more oddball events
like Aussie Rules finals, Rubgy, eSports Tournaments, etc. Those are
conversation starters!
Fantasy football/baseball drafts, also great. Team meetings. You name it. It's
a social meeting space.
My fav was about 2005 someone gave me shit for using my laptop at the bar
during Sunday NFL day, because that wasn't that normal yet. I was a regular so
others looked at him wierd. About 10 minutes later dude walks back up to me
and asks if he can change his fantasy. "Didn't you just give me shit?". He
apologized and bought me my standard 2 long islands for sunday.
Now a days, kindles or laptops at a bar is a good way to relax. I hate
chilling in hotel rooms.
------
nudpiedo
As regular reader I find the whole thing senseless, unless it is a way of
promoting a local business in the Bay Area. Or it is just one more example of
the typical anglosaxon‘s overselling culture.
The whole article could be summarized as “some bars are offering a Time Slot
for readers in the evenings as a selling claim and they advertise it in HN
where supposedly are many people in the same geographical area where such
establishments are located. They also believe to have invented fire because it
is fashionable to be innovator in the SF/SV/HN culture.”
------
Simulacra
You know I think they have this kind of a thing already, it’s called a
library. I guess the Innovation here is that you can order drinks.
~~~
et-al
Except many libraries aren't open past 7pm on the weekends. Sometimes you just
want a clean, well-lighted place to read into the night.
~~~
xmprt
None of the bars that I've been to would qualify as clean or well-lit. Are
they common?
------
t34543
Bars in places you least expect them can feel like an oasis. I recently
discovered many Nordstrom’s have bars, with rather tasty cocktails. I’m happy
to oblige the occasional shopping trip now.
~~~
g82918
> many Nordstrom's
One no apostrophe(or if Nordstrom's Rack then apostrophe after the s). Two, I
have never in my life been in a Nordstrom that had a bar, where are these?
Edit: Sorry for the grammar stuff, I just passed TOEFL.
~~~
Stratoscope
> _Sorry for the grammar stuff, I just passed TOEFL._ [1]
Congratulations for passing that!
It is difficult to know when to offer a spelling or grammar correction and
when to just let it go. Especially if you are new to the language and excited
about what you have learned. Will you be helping someone who isn't sure of the
right way to spell it, or was it just a simple typoe?
After all, pretty much every native English speaker has trouble with where to
put the apostrophe's.
So my friend, welcome to our wild and funny and inconsistent language that we
call "English" but draws from pretty much every other language in the world
and inherits all of their quirks.
p.s. I also want to know which Nordstrom store has a bar!
[1] "Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL /ˈtoʊfəl/ TOH-fəl) is a
standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native
speakers wishing to enroll in English-speaking universities."
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_L...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_of_English_as_a_Foreign_Language)
~~~
_wzsf
He's right, though. "Norstroms" is valid. You didn't need to make such a
condescending comment.
~~~
Stratoscope
> _" Norstroms" is valid._
Well, strictly speaking, that may not quite be the case, eh?
> _You didn 't need to make such a condescending comment._
Now you have me at a disadvantage. I honestly did not mean any condescension.
I meant the comment as light-hearted, humorous, and supportive advice. The
mention of "typoe" and "apostrophe's" was in that spirit: even those of us who
grew up speaking English often get it wrong.
The wonderful thing about English is that even when you _do_ get the "rules"
wrong, it may still be cool as long as people understand what you meant.
If I said something that came across as condescending or mean-spirited, could
you help me and share the specifics, so I can do better next time? Thanks!
------
drewcoo
Reading I understand. Going to bars, sure. Combining them? I've been doing
that for decades now. But swarming in large groups on social spaces and
behaving antisocially? I'd honestly never considered that for some reason.
What's next? Attend city council meetings just to play sudoku in large groups?
~~~
glangdale
This is a rather mild version of being "antisocial". Maybe 'asocial'? From an
external perspective, I don't see how these people doing what they feel like
is any different from, say, a bunch of people going to a bar and paying
attention to only the people they came with (which is _very_ typical).
~~~
johnchristopher
Well, these are spaces supposedly optimised for conversations and it's kinda
expected by customers to have that chatty vibe.
What happens when someone hit them up "hey, what are you reading ?"
Anyway, it's only an hour or a chapter long.
Isn't book club an American thing though ? Never heard of one in Europe.
~~~
glangdale
Yes, an hour is hardly going to be the End of Everything. And just from sheer
practicality, it seems likely that these people would go to bars in the off
hours, as it's not like they're going to enjoy reading on a bangin' Saturday
night at 11PM or later... I would imagine.
It wouldn't be my thing, but hey, I used to go to a regular Friday evening bar
'blitz chess' session in Pittsburgh with a bunch of Russians who would get
progressively more blitzed as the night progressed. As you can imagine this
was viewed as a bit peculiar by fellow revelers. Though unlike the reading
club, we were not... exactly... quiet.
~~~
johnchristopher
That sounds really cool :).
------
around_here
The fabulous “introvert” revolution of people loudly superior to the rest with
all your fellow introverts.
~~~
scarejunba
Genuinely find this recent phenomenon of loudly proclaiming ones introversion
bizarre.
------
wanderr
I felt a bit awkward about bringing my kindle into a bookstore, but ultimately
nobody cared. I've gone a couple of times (SF location), the drink selection
is limited but not bad and it is a cozy spot to read for a while.
------
munmaek
I do this from time to time with a portable chess set. Highly recommend it!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Wanted: First reaction to a math question - ColinWright
Polls are currently temporarily disabled, so I'm having to put this in as a simple question.<p>I'd like your first reaction to this question, without you thinking about it too much, and before you read the comments:<p>What's the value of √9?<p>When (if?) you answer, it would be useful if you could give some indication of your academic or otherwise) backgound.<p>As you might guess, I do have a reason for asking this, and I'm also interested in your replies. It's not as instantly obvious as you might think, as I hope will turn up in the thread.<p>So thanks in advance - I'm looking forward to a broad range of comments.
======
cormacrelf
Assuming you're talking about the square root of the decimal number 9: either
positive or negative 3.
------
ColinWright
Thanks for the replies so far. I don't like asking for upvotes, but if no one
upvotes this submission it will disappear before I get enough answers to be
useful.
Feel free to use this comment as a scapegoat comment - upvote the submission,
downvote this comment.
Thanks.
------
asselinpaul
3...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Offer for Chinese Repos on GitHub Trendings - syny
https://github.com/us/english-please
======
MrFinch
To me, I like surfing on GitHub's trending page but for two or three weeks
there are some repos in the trending but their readme files are other than
English. Therefore, I support this project and I believe repos in the trending
section should support English. This project made me feel I wasn't alone.
Of course, this is the repo owner's decision and his/hers free-will whether or
not supporting English.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bill Gates says it’s time to redirect solar and wind subsidies. Is he right? - rmason
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614331/bill-gates-says-its-time-to-redirect-solar-and-wind-subsidies-is-he-right/
======
mikece
He’s been a big proponent of nuclear in the past. Does he still have a stake
in TeraWave?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
An Amazon patent stops you checking prices online while in a physical store - jrs235
http://www.businessinsider.com/an-amazon-patent-stops-you-checking-prices-online-while-in-a-physical-store-2017-6
======
PaulHoule
Remember that a patent is not a license to do something, it is a license to
stop others from doing it.
Amazon can use this to prevent physical stores from doing this.
------
jrs235
Kind of pointless since I don't use retail stores Wi-Fi and one can easily
turn off Wi-Fi even if someone does and use cellular data.
~~~
puddintane
I wonder if they will block cell signals?
I've noticed in certain Walmarts my signal won't work no matter where I am -
more than likely the thick walls I would assume were blocking the signal not
some malicious attempt to stop me from price matching.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Berlin now home to soaring rents and rising tensions - mrzool
https://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-berlin-property-20180424-story.html
======
collyw
Isn't this happening to everywhere where jobs are? Barcelona rents are soaring
but the salaries aren't going up much.
~~~
zerr
Yes, Barcelona is even worse - I see senior devs are paid 35-45K.
~~~
nkkollaw
In Italy, 15-20k
~~~
mantas
I assume that's after taxes? But even then, eastern europe is paying more...
~~~
dogma1138
You want good pay go to Romania IT pays more than in some W. Europe countries
and you pay little to no tax due to incentives.
~~~
ccozan
Yes, but in Cluj the rents are also quite high, since the hitech hub expanded
there.
Not sure about Iași or Brașov. Bucharest was expensive before and not quite to
recommend.
~~~
poloniculmov
You can get a 2 room apartment close to the subway/city center for around 300
euro and there are plenty of apartments on the market.
------
ben_w
I spent a few months last year in AirBnBs in Berlin, looking for a permanent
place.
From an outsider’s perspective, Berlin rents are _ridiculously low_ unless
you’re in the inner ring. Low enough I could cover the rent with money left
over entirely from the rent I was collecting from a one bed flat I own in a
small village in the UK, at the worst point of the €-£ exchange rate. Heck, I
could usually do that with the AirBnBs too, despite their markups.
Yes, there is definitely a housing shortage, but as they have rent control the
problem I experienced was too many people viewing each place. In one case,
there were about 80-100 people viewing the same appartment as me while I was
there. Not that my experience is at all incompatible with locals having more
problems from high unemployment or low wages.
~~~
Swinx43
Out of interest, where in Berlin were the rents so cheap? I recently moved to
the Berlin area and found rents to be on par with London for a 3 bedroom
place.
I have been visiting Berlin for the better part of 8 years and I am astounded
at the increase I have seen in living costs. Food and entertainment has also
gone WAY up.
In my opinion Berlin is by no means the "cheap" city that it once was. When
you combine that with the average salary in Berlin being lower than in other
big German cities (and a lot lower than London) then it has become a real
issue as of late for most people.
~~~
ben_w
From memory: Prenzlauerberg, Pankow, Freidrichshain, Keukölln, Friedenau,
Steglitz, Wedding, and Alt-Treptow.
~~~
playing_colours
In no way Prenzlauer Berg is cheap: it's a hip area, one of the most
expensive, with Mitte in leaders. The cheap are Moabit, Wedding, Neukolln,
Pankow. You can move further to Steglitz, Marzahn, Lichtenberg.
~~~
ben_w
The places I saw in Prenzlauerberg were cheap. Can’t comment on averages as I
wasn’t looking to invest in the general market, just get a place for myself.
------
erikb
Well, it's not like the rents stay static until death. As the owner you can
still find enough reasons to increase the rent for 2.5-3% each year which is
above the official inflation rate.
------
1ba9115454
The problem with rent control is that it causes more harm than good.
Great for the lucky few that get a rent controlled apartment. Bad for people
that don't and for landlords that now can't charge enough rent to cover the
mortgage.
~~~
distances
In Germany mortgages are with fixed rates, so no surprises in interests. It's
a somewhat incompetent landlord that takes higher mortgage than what the rent
covers.
------
eriken
It seems rather far fetched to have such low rents over time in a big EU city
like Berlin. It is unavoidable that capital will flow into the city and
compete for real estate. Not only that, but how they expect to get investments
if you cannot increase rent?
Having a housing market based mostly on rent obfuscates the other side of
housing, namely the owners need to take care of said house.
~~~
ben_w
If transportation is good enough, it isn’t _that_ unreasonable. While I am
impressed by Berlin’s public transport, that’s by comparison with the UK —
Berlin shares one problem with the UK, however, and that is that high speed
intercity trains feom nearish cities take an hour, but so to do internal
trams, trains, S-Bahns and U-Bahns coming from the inside edge of the city.
------
zerr
But salaries are stalled at 60-70K, right?
EDIT: I mean for experienced engineers.
~~~
ido
€60k/year is generally speaking a significantly above average salary for
Berlin.
~~~
sqidyyy
Very far above average.
------
dredmorbius
Iron Law of Wages meet Law of Rent.
David Ricardo rides again.
------
JanSt
German rents go up in most places. There was an influx of 1-2 million migrants
and refugees, all of which need living space. Additionaly, it's very expensive
to build living space because of very high special requirements for insulation
and energy efficiency. It's not worth it / possible for investors to build
profitable cheap living spaces, so mostly luxury apartments are build. There
are also high ancillary cost (10-15% of price) - i.e. taxes, notary etc.
~~~
izacus
1-2 million refugees are a tiny blip on German population and most of them
came nowhere near Berlin. Poor people can't raise rents, the exploding tech
sector and Berlin as a place for high-paid techies to move to has probably
more to do with it.
~~~
JanSt
It's happening all over Germany. They are getting the apartments paid by the
state, so high rents are being paid for them. 1-2 million is a huge number of
people if you're lacking living space. Where to put them?
~~~
rjtavares
It's happening all over Europe. We have very low influx of refugees/poor
immigrants in Portugal, but rents in Lisbon/Porto are skyrocketing.
~~~
Malarkey73
ditto the UK. Took virtually no refugees but rents still increasing ... hmmm
something wrong with this theory?
Seriously though in the UK we have had immigration over the last 20 years and
that must have led to higher demand and prices. Best estimates are about 20%
in 20 years in England.
[https://fullfact.org/immigration/have-house-prices-risen-
bec...](https://fullfact.org/immigration/have-house-prices-risen-because-
immigrants/)
BUT
English house prices have risen by 320% on average over this period.
Other factors are - getting married later, more single people, more divorced
couples, and financialisation of housing.
Probably a similar story in Berlin.
~~~
ccozan
Munich is very simptomatic of this "singles" issues. More than half of the
people there are singles, thus the housing need is quite high.
However, since the cheap money from the banks, more people are orienting to
buy than rent, which is quite different from the past.
------
golergka
Renting in some place for a long time doesn't give you any leverage against
another potential renters. If I want to move to Berlin and am willing to pay
more than existing renters, I don't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to
do so.
> Lustig pays $300 a month from her $800 disability check for the 570-square-
> foot apartment, located in a newly fashionable district only a mile from
> Tiergarten, a leafy city park that's one of Berlin's most popular.
$300 per month for even a small apartment in a good district is incredibly
cheap. Why on Earth would you expect to be able to afford such a place on a
disability check?
~~~
sqidyyy
tbh this is a very bad example. $300 (247€) for 570 square-foot (53m²) are
just not realistic for a city like Berlin. The real price for such an
appartment (in that district) is around 700-800€.
Not to be "that guy" with the unpopular opinion here, but I'm not even sure if
the landlord can even cover the costs for the apartment from what she's
paying.
~~~
jashmatthews
The landlord knew exactly what he was getting into buying a tenanted property
rented by someone on WBS social housing. Using your sister to evict your
existing tenant is dodgy. I have zero sympathy for trying to game the system
and getting caught out by your sister inconveniently dying.
~~~
sqidyyy
I couldn't find any information in the article that it's WBS social housing.
It says "located in a newly fashionable district" which doesn't sound like
social housing.
~~~
jashmatthews
It's not. I missed the 32 years bit and assumed it was WBS because she's
receiving long-term disability. Either way, you can't simply buy a building
and evict the tenant in Germany. The landlord knew what he was getting into.
------
lopmotr
It's an endlessly recurring phenomenon of people that when they don't have any
legal right to something but use it for a long time, they believe they have a
permanent right to it. If you really value living somewhere, you can pay for
that privilege and exclude other people who don't want it as much as you do.
Somebody has to miss out when there's limited supply of housing.
~~~
dx034
Berlin actually has a lot of potential supply, there's little geographical
restriction and generally good public transport. Zoning laws are also
comparably friendly (at least compared to SF and London). But real estate
projects still take 3-5 years to complete.
~~~
lopmotr
That seems to be a common problem. In New Zealand, especially Auckland,
there's a housing shortage so the local governments have relaxed zoning
restrictions. But there's also a shortage of builders so they can't build fast
enough and housing will stay expensive for years until that catches up.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Problems With My Startup - joe
http://awmf.blogspot.com/2007/09/problems-with-my-startup.html
I typed this up in order to collect my thoughts, in hopes of eventually showing them to my coworkers. I am totally open to questions, comments, and suggestions, especially from YC readers.
======
staunch
I think the solution is to get the idea guy down in the details of each idea.
Bring him along for the ride and let him come up with lots of micro-ideas. It
can be very useful to have two people thinking about the minute details,
especially if they balance each other. Involve him in the thousand tiny
decisions you have to make while implementing an idea.
Get him to stop looking at competitors. It's nerve wracking, demoralizing, and
distracting. You guys probably have more than enough ideas by now, if you'd
just focus on the most promising ones your competitors might start looking at
you.
~~~
joe
Good comments. I think I had some of those thoughts early on (specifically
referring to your first paragraph), I must have just gotten disillusioned with
them. I will attempt them again.
As far as getting him to stop looking at competitors, 100% agreed.
------
nostrademons
Stories like this, from startups that are still struggling, are very helpful.
Are you full-time, or do you still have a day job? How about the others on
your team?
~~~
joe
I have a day job, for which I "telecommute", and sadly that's not working out
too well. My day job folks just asked me if I would be willing to relocate,
and I've been considering it. It would mean much more work from them, which
would mean easier payment of bills, etc. I would be living near the job that
pays me, not the other way around.
~~~
choward93
This here shows that you have huge doubts about the startup, if you are
willing to leave it for a less risky decision. It saddens me to see your
operation come down to you deciding to leave it for a job. To keep it business
running, I would try to get another coder, tell the marketing guy to focus on
current products, not future side projects. Take control of the
company...basically what everyone else has been saying.
------
bootload
This guys comments (first comments in the blog) ring true ~
<http://tjic.com/?p=7265>
------
mickt
Hmmm, 4 people in the startup and only one writing code. Sounds like a top
heavy organisation to me.
Reminds me of a project a collegue was involved in at work (which is at a big
established firm). This had; 1 programmer, 1 manger (who requested more
technical staff cause he knew 1 programmer wasn't enough but was turned down),
and 2 project managers. As the project was running furhter behind schedule
(due to agressive scheduling and vague requirements and mainly because lone
programmer was in status meetings ever day), various high-level management
were thrown at the problem.
Eventually, the programmer spent about 1/2 his day in meetings about the
project, with his manager, 2 project managers, 1 VP, 2 senior VP's. Project
was never finished ...
------
joe
I typed this up in order to collect my thoughts, in hopes of eventually
showing them to my coworkers. I am totally open to questions, comments, and
suggestions, especially from YC readers.
~~~
Jd
Although I am very interested to read your comments, I feel that it is
disingenuous to put your name on a 'secret' blog. If you want to have a secret
blog, make it secret. If you want to be open and honest with your co-workers,
be open and honest w/ them. Half way in between strikes me as more likely to
hurt than heal.
Unless what you are trying to do is get at your co-workers, in which case I
think you will succeed.
~~~
joe
Your point is well taken. It wasn't my "secret" blog, really, until I typed
this particular post. I had not revealed its existence to any of my coworkers,
but as you will notice, none of the other posts are particularly charged as
regards business or business politics.
I do want to be open and honest with my coworkers, and I've already had one
(one of the designers) have a look at what I wrote. I am going to present the
ideas contained therein, to the group, ASAP--it's a matter of finding time to
meet and talk about "serious stuff". I was hoping to get some feedback from YC
readers because I trust their opinion and ability to perceive when someone has
gone off the deep end as regards ideas, reasoning, etc. In other words, I'm
hoping that if I'm smoking crack, or if all startups are this way, someone
will tell me before I unveil it to my coworkers at large.
I am certainly not trying to get at my coworkers. The stuff at the top is in
case it's discovered by a certain coworker who i would _rather_ heard it from
me, not the blog. He's been known to read YC news once in a while, thus the
precaution.
------
nanijoe
If you are the idea guy and you are not bringing in new ideas then what are
you contributing to the startup? I think it is a bad idea to have a designated
idea guy.
~~~
joe
We are all idea guys in one sense. The reason I've been referring to one guy
as the "idea guy" is that he's not a coder and if I were to gauge the number
of ideas each of us has put forth, he would easily take the highest
percentage. So because he mostly talks to clients on the phone, does other PR-
related things, and brainstorms ideas, I find it easy to refer to him as the
"idea guy".
------
samwise
I would take the new job and use the money to hire a coder, along with any
coding you can do on your own. You have to be willing to risk everything, if
you really want to make it work. No risk no reward. If it was easy everybody
would be doing it.
------
edw519
I commend your efforts. It's not easy to go through this. And it's smart of
you to share and ask for help. Very smart.
You asked. I won't be bashful. Take my feedback however you want (or tell me
to go to h*ll).
You do not have a startup. You have a hobby. A startup is full time. Greater
than full time.
Like you, I'm a hacker. I simply cannot imagine giving up equity to a designer
or an "idea man" (whatever that is). Design is grossly overrated (see Google).
Ideas are everywhere. Only a fool pays for them. People should be paying you
to give you ideas (more about that below).
I understand that these are your friends and that you love working with them.
Nothing wrong with that. What's more important to you, the quality time you
spend together or the outcome? I think you have a tough decision to make
because, frankly, I don't see you having both. You don't need these guys.
I would seriously consider taking your employer's offer to relocate. This
would give you a graceful exit from your current endeavor and preserve your
friendships. Then I would bank every dollar I could in order to go back to my
start-up full-time. You should be able to work full-time for at least 6
months, preferably a year. I would also try to pick up side jobs somewhat
related to my start-up. Pick up a few extra bucks and get your ideas FROM
THOSE WHO ARE PAYING YOU. These are real ideas coming from the field, not from
some ivory tower. So the logic is reversed: you can pay for untested ideas, or
get paid for real ones.
You don't mention whether your employment is related to your start-up in any
way. If it's not, all the more reason to pick up side work.
I would also try to make connections with other hackers; maybe you can find
more suitable co-founders.
(By the way, the comment about open and honest communication is spot on. Talk
to your partners!)
You've got quite a few things to think about and a lot of good feedback from
both places. Please - keep us posted. You never know where this may lead...
~~~
joe
Thanks for the blunt comment. It's what I was looking for, and much
appreciated.
I will attempt to let you all know how this pans out.
------
DanielBMarkham
In my late twenties I was brought in as the superstar on a startup. The "idea
guy" was a former professor of software engineering and a former VP for a
large electronics firm. Hey -- he was a teacher! And a VP for quality! What
could go wrong?
I staffed a very small team and we took off. Every day my idea guy would
wonder around the office, (his basement) coming up with some kind of new thing
or two that was cool. It was distracting as heck.
I finally took him aside and told him that we could do a certain amount of
work each time-box (which I believe was 3 weeks) but we couldn't work in an
environment where we didn't know from day-to-day what we were doing.
Interestingly, the other main programmer said that I was being too anal. So
the idea guy and I had words and I left.
The company never did pan out. Being agile is what it is all about, but you
have to actually _do_ something for that truism to work. This is like the guys
who sit in the stands at major sporting events. It's easy to have some master
plan that changes whenever the mood strikes when you don't have any skin in
the game to make something happen. This is why it's better to have geeks who
are also idea guys -- they realize the cost associated with the ideas. Just
because you can say it easily doesn't mean you can create it easily.
Dude -- I'm sure these guys are your friends and you've been through a lot.
But there's lots of serious, focused work involved with making a startup
happen. It sounds like what you've got is more of a painful group hobby. I
think it might be time to consider a better format for being productive.
~~~
joe
> It sounds like what you've got is more of a painful group hobby. I think it
> might be time to consider a better format for being productive.
I think you're right, at least for my part. One problem is that the idea guy
IS my friend, but I don't think he shares my point of view about this. I wrote
up the blog post in order to collect my thoughts to relate them to him.
~~~
DanielBMarkham
The business side of this is cold and harsh, as it always is.
But as far as keeping a friend? He's a teacher, right? Why don't you sell him
on the idea about learning how other startups succeed? I'll never forget
reading "A Good Hard Kick in the Ass" several years ago. It completely changed
the way I understood how startups work. Perhaps you could sell him on the idea
that you're feeling a little frustrated, and perhaps other teams out there
have learned something that might be useful to you guys.
I also liked "Founders at Work" which I read a while ago. I wouldn't bury the
guy in material -- after all, if you give him too much he'll just blow it off.
But I'd find some text that made the case and _was presented by another person
who is an authority_. That way, it's not a you vs. him deal, it's just a
couple of friends discovering how things work.
Good luck. If he's smart and your friend I'm sure he'll see the value of a
structured approach to creativity. The trick is to be non-confrontational. Let
the ideas battle it out, and not the people.
------
ph0rque
let us know how your talk with co-founders goes.
~~~
joe
Will do.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Microsoft plan to split OS from shell takes shape - mfritsche
https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-yields-more-secrets-microsoft-plan-to-split-os-from-shell-takes-shape/#comments-fc9984be-5a89-4ec6-a980-496937d746e4
======
ebg13
Hasn't this always been the case already? Explorer.exe is just an executable.
It has always been replaceable and therefore independently updateable.
~~~
WorldMaker
Explorer.exe hasn't been "the shell" in a few versions of Windows now, and
never as directly in any of the Windows NT family (XP+) like it was to Windows
95 [1]. For instance, the taskbar and start menu have moved into an
application that Taskbar calls the "Windows Shell Experience Host".
But the big issue here is not just making the Shell replaceable, and not even
just replaceable at runtime (switching/reconfiguring Shells on the fly; which
was not something that was possible even in the Windows 95 INI days), but also
presumably a lot more about the Windows build and deployment infrastructure.
Up to this point the Shells are built together with the rest of Windows, baked
into the Windows image, and deployed together as a single versioned unit (one
build of Windows). Sure maybe it is just an "unsexy" "refactoring" of existing
components to be more component like, and try to minimize coupling between
specific versions of them, but my DevOps hat certainly thinks it sounds like a
lot of work for a codebase as old and large as Windows.
[1] Windows 95 did use Explorer.exe for just about everything, and many people
do remember that for compatibility reasons it supported changing the "Shell"
EXE in an INI file, and you could change it into the Ghost of Windows 3.1
PROGMAN.EXE or some alternatives shells supported that. That INI has never
been in the Windows NT side of the family (XP+).
------
bni
Didn't Microsoft attempt to do this 10 years ago?
~~~
pjmlp
If you mean MinWin, they did not only attempt it, it powers Windows Core.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Postacard – Text a Photo to Send as a Postcard Anywhere on Earth for $3 - traviswingo
https://www.postacard.io
======
Animats
As a fun thing at steampunk conventions, I have the Aetheric Message Machine
Company, Ltd. People at steampunk conventions can send in SMS text messages,
which are printed on an antique Teletype machine in a brass and glass case.
Recipients get a yellow envelope and a message on classic yellow Teletype
paper, delivered by costumed messengers who call out "Telegram for ..." . We
set up a full telegraph office, with signs, props, and staff.[1]
The system uses Twilio. Twilio sends the messages to a web server which
returns an immediate SMS reply to the sender, then queues the message for
typing. We don't charge anything for this. I considered getting an SMS short
code and charging for messages, but it wouldn't generate enough revenue to be
worth it.
We did a thorough job on this, with a web site, videos, code on Github, a
modest social media presence, and some press coverage. Zoominfo thinks it's a
real company, with revenue of $2,400,000 and 12 employees.[2] One wonders
where Zoominfo gets its numbers. They didn't come from us.
[1]
[http://www.aetherltd.com/volunteer.html](http://www.aetherltd.com/volunteer.html)
[2] [http://www.zoominfo.com/c/The-Aetheric-Message-Machine-
Compa...](http://www.zoominfo.com/c/The-Aetheric-Message-Machine-Company-
Ltd/354259090)
~~~
Cpoll
That is very neat! What kind of volume do you get in a convention day? How do
your couriers know where to deliver the message? It seems strange that the
recipient doesn't need to visit the telegraph office; I imagine the best part
of the experience would be actually seeing your setup.
~~~
Animats
Since someone asked...
_How do your couriers know where to deliver the message?_
Senders have to send messages in the form "name@location : msg". "Location"
has to be in a list of known convention areas ("VENDORS", "AUTHORS", "BAR",
etc.) There's an autoresponder to help them get this right, and piles of
postcards around the con with instructions. We didn't have that the first year
we did this, and the messengers were run ragged calling out names over and
over again in various locations. About 80% of the messages get successfully
delivered now. We do about 200 messages a day.
_It seems strange that the recipient doesn 't need to visit the telegraph
office_
It's in a highly visible location. The first year we were in that location, we
made the office look so official that attendees didn't think they should go
in. We had to rearrange the place, adding a few chairs for visitors, a water
cooler, and "please come in" signs. Now we're also an information center for
the convention and get lots of visitors.
What makes this work are the two young people who staff the office. They're
both experienced actors; one works Shakespeare festivals and the other is a
stage combat instructor.
If you want more details, we have a manual for our operators.[1]
[1]
[http://www.aetherltd.com/public/othermanuals/operatormanual0...](http://www.aetherltd.com/public/othermanuals/operatormanual05.pdf)
~~~
Cpoll
Fantastic! The tape printer is a nice touch, too.
------
slackoverflower
This service is probably using the Lob API
[https://lob.com/services/postcards](https://lob.com/services/postcards)
It actually costs $1.62 to do the exact same thing, of sending a photo with
some text, international included.
~~~
woolly
Is it the exact same thing, though? Can I send Lob a picture via SMS with some
text and an address and have a postcard sent? If not, then maybe that's where
the extra cost comes from.
~~~
slackoverflower
It most certainly does not cost $1.38/customer to subsidize (minimial) server
costs of an SMS bot.
~~~
mosselman
The brilliant part is that it does most certainly not cost that and that is
the profit the site makes. I believe people will find it cheap enough to use
this service. Buying postcards and stamps costs about the same.
I don't understand your issue with this. Are you opposed to making profit or
are you jealous? I know that I am a bit jealous of not coming up with this.
~~~
mei0Iesh
Why are you jealous when you can easily create your own website that does the
same exact thing. You can think of your own added bonus and charge a different
price.
Too often we feel like because someone else did something first, or theirs
already became popular, that the opportunity is over. That denies the world
your variation, which might turn out to be much better.
~~~
mosselman
True words. I think many of us, me at least, have a special appreciation of
the original and part of the fun is to think of something yourself. That does
not mean, as you say, that we couldn't do the same thing, if not better/more
for you.
Maybe I will give it a go ;)
------
thrden
Seems similar to "thesimplepostcard"
[https://www.thesimplepostcard.com](https://www.thesimplepostcard.com) but for
a dollar more. I used simple postcard, but the photo arrived damaged. I'd be
willing to give this a shot if I had some sort of assurance that the photo
would arrive undamaged.
~~~
ahanna46
At risk of hijacking this thread...
Try my friend's app! [https://textmycards.com/](https://textmycards.com/)
~~~
techsupporter
I tried your friend's app but I bailed out when it was unclear where my
payment details were being sent.
~~~
ambyash
Thanks for trying it--it's my service, launched around Mother's Day of this
year. I should make it clearer--it's secured with Stripe. All payment info is
stored on Stripe.
~~~
techsupporter
That's what I figured but it wasn't obvious so I stopped. Could your payment
page also use HTTPS?
~~~
ambyash
Yeah, it does use HTTPS, but I'll definitely make it clearer. Thanks for the
feedback! Cool to see multiple versions of the same underlying service being
built. Competition on price, UI/UX (slight differences) , and marketing is
what it will come down to. :) Good stuff, Postacard--seriously mean it! Fun
little hack indeed.
------
adamwi
Main postal service in Sweden (government owned) have run a similar service
for multiple years (could not find exact number but would guess 5+ years)[0].
Lower cost at 2.10 USD (18 SEK). They also have apps for the service [1].
[0]
[http://rv4.posten.se/#page/index/sid=1473077144846](http://rv4.posten.se/#page/index/sid=1473077144846)
[1] [https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/riktiga-
vykort/id444458799?m...](https://itunes.apple.com/en/app/riktiga-
vykort/id444458799?mt=8)
------
traviswingo
Hey everyone. I'd like to thank you all for the feedback and for using the
service. There is a tremendous amount of traffic coming in right now (I really
didn't expect this to be on the front page, lol) and it's pointed out quite a
few bugs which I've since fixed. If the service wasn't replying, please try
again and it should work now!
If you have any issues, please send me an email at [email protected] and I'll
follow up with you asap. Thank you!
~~~
judiso
don't worry, the traffic will stop coming pretty soon.
~~~
qz_
Isn't HN great for pitching your app??
~~~
judiso
isn't milk white and sky blue?
------
gengkev
Kind of a silly comment, but is this really anywhere on Earth? What about
Death Valley? Antarctica? North Korea? Syria? Siberia?
I'd imagine they use the profit from domestic shipments to help subsidize more
costly international ones, if it's really $3 regardless of destination.
~~~
notpeter
Global forever stamps are $1.20 at retail, so that's the upper bound on their
postage expense and covers all UPU countries[1] (incl DPRK, Syria, Russia,
etc). Antartica actually only requires domestic postcard rates ($0.34) as it
has a domestic zip code (96598).
[1]: [http://www.upu.int/en/the-upu/member-
countries.html](http://www.upu.int/en/the-upu/member-countries.html)
~~~
gengkev
I'm quite surprised to hear that! Thanks for sharing.
------
sixhobbits
"The postcard will show up at the address within a week"
In South Africa if I send a letter from one city to another, it can take a
week to arrive. For international mail, I usually work on time frames of about
a month. I've known stuff to arrive 6 months after being sent. So even if they
are able to dispatch post cards from SA, I'd be surprised if the could keep
this promise. Going to give it a try though.
------
Kiro
At what stage and how do you supply payment details? I don't see that in the
example.
------
naren87
Neat offering at a good price. International message rates could be high.
It'll be great if you could integrate Whatsapp/Telegram/WeChat :)
~~~
lucb1e
Seconding Telegram here. I recently learned that making a Telegram bot takes
no time at all, and the custom keyboards make them great to use.
------
soared
I've always thought there should be more sms based services. It would be a lot
easier for me to text the pizza guy than to call...
~~~
lucb1e
The local pizza and shawarma* shops are always a pain to call. Half the time
when they speak I don't understand their broken Dutch and they always sound
impatient and don't repeat back, making me wonder whether they know what I
want. When I ask for confirmation they sound exasperated, as if I'm asking
them to spell out a fifty item order letter by letter.
So yeah, sms based service would be great here (or rather, something that
doesn't cost money when done internationally). On the other hand, this
postcard service sounds like it's going to cost me 20 bucks when I take a
picture from another continent, which is exactly the use-case here. A 160 byte
sms already costs like a euro to send from outside of the EU.
* This is what google translate tells me "shoarma" is in English. I've never seen that word before, not sure it's a thing in America. They're everywhere here.
~~~
Turing_Machine
Gyros (Greek version) is more common in the US, in my experience, but that may
vary by region. Arabic -> shawarma, Turkish -> doner, Greek -> gyros -- all
the same basic idea of meat cooked on a rotating vertical spit, sliced off and
served on flat bread.
~~~
lucb1e
Gyros we get in greek restaurants; döner is usually sold in the same place as
shawarma. Then you do have similar places, okay!
------
lucb1e
Sending pictures as "text", isn't that a MMS (multi-media SMS)? Which, as far
as I know, is hugely expensive; I'd much rather upload a picture to a website,
Telegram bot or email.
~~~
etatoby
No, no.
When they say "text a photo," they mean "describe the photo in your own
words," then somebody from their staff goes out looking for a postcard that
matches the description and mails it for you.
TBH, I think they could just use Google Images to find a picture that matches
the description and print that. No need to pay someone $3 to travel to the
other side of the globe and buy a postcard of that Japanese temple, in this
day and age. But what do I know of business.
~~~
lucb1e
On the website it clearly sends a picture via a messaging application, and it
says "text message" above (I assume as opposed to imessage).
~~~
etatoby
I think your sarcasm goggles are broken ;-)
------
lushn
A few comments:
Can you offer international numbers for this, or is your main market the US?
You don't specify on your site where the postcard is being sent from. I assume
the US?
It may be an idea to ask specifically for a country to send to, unless perhaps
it's in the US. You don't seem to mention this in the text instructions but
have Surrey as an example, which is in the United Kingdom. Perhaps a bit
confusing? :)
Photo examples of how the finished postcard looks (particularly the back -
font, size...etc.) would be helpful I feel.
Just a few comments/ideas, feel free to ignore!
------
Grue3
Too bad I can't send it _from_ anywhere on Earth. Which is probably a more
common use case.
------
agildehaus
Let me be a bit of a stickler about your security statements. This assumes you
have to text your credit card information to use this service, which it
appears is true?
It's not correct to say it's "about as secure and encrypted as it gets".
GSM/CDMA networks do employ encryption to and from towers, but it's weak
encryption by modern TLS standards, and who knows what happens to it when it
leaves the tower? It's certainly not end-to-end encrypted between your
customer and your server and could be silently eavesdropped at multiple
points.
And if you're receiving and processing the SMS that contains the card details
it's disingenuous to say "[we] have no idea what your credit card numbers
actually are". Yes you do. You may discard that information after you trade it
with Stripe for a token, but you had access to it, and the customer has no
guarantee that you've discarded it.
~~~
traviswingo
We actually don't ask for you to text your credit card number. When the time
comes for a first time payment, we send you a secure link and you need to fill
out a form (card number, exp date). After that, we use the card on file unless
you say otherwise.
Payment form and saved card details are all handled by Stripe, and the info
never even hits our servers.
~~~
agildehaus
Oh, great, carry on then :) Might try to be clear about that on the website.
Is there some mechanism for instructing you to forget my credit card details
(destroy the token on Stripe)?
------
bbcbasic
Email would be better than text since most places have wifi/data and then it
wouldn't matter if you are using your home sim or a temporary away sim.
It would also solve the "what if someone else inherits my phone number"
comment also in this thread.
------
RijilV
Perhaps I'm just old and crusty, but the "joy" of a postcard is that I took
the time to hand write something on the back of it. For $3, I'd rather the
person sending me this share the picture over a cup of coffee.
------
anithian
How is this different from [http://sharktankblog.com/business/postcard-on-the-
run/](http://sharktankblog.com/business/postcard-on-the-run/)
and that closed last year.
~~~
chrischen
Products like these mostly depend on marketing. Just because one of the
similar type closed doesn't mean another product will fail, since the product
itself is only part of the equation.
------
uniclaude
That's pretty smart! I can totally see myself using this service. Using an SMS
interface instead of an app or a website is great, as it is inherently cross-
platform, and reduces time to market and maintenance work.
------
jastr
Neat! What's the tech stack? How do you parse the addresses?
------
visarga
How do you text photos? By url? MMS?
------
sandeep45
this is pretty slick! I like how the entire interface is SMS based
~~~
traviswingo
Thanks!
------
ghshephard
Just tried texting a photo to +1 650 285 1713 - getting a "Message not sent
error". I'm able to MMS photos to other people in the +1 650 area code, so not
an issue on my side I don't think...
------
mikehi
It's basically a copy of [https://getcourier.co/](https://getcourier.co/) but
through SMS instead of chatbot. Pricing is the same as well.
------
prenschler
nice work - I've been wanting a service that sends the picture in an envelope,
instead of postcard style. I think opening an envelope is more fun and I don't
like that anyone can see your picture when it's sent in the open.
I've been using Bill Atkinson's app for postcards (~$1.50/postcard) and it has
worked great!
[http://www.billatkinson.com/Pages/aboutPhotoCard.html](http://www.billatkinson.com/Pages/aboutPhotoCard.html)
------
HaloZero
How do I fill in my payment information through a text message?
~~~
traviswingo
For a first time payment, you will fill out a very short form. After that,
card info is saved for later use.
~~~
trentmb
(how) do you handle the case where someone gets a new number, and someone else
gets their old one?
It's a bit far-fetched, I know.
------
kapauldo
This is a great implementation. You should ask people to opt in and then robo
tweet their photos as a they come in as a marketing tactic.
------
cottsak
Sent a MMS to +16502851713 from AUS and haven't received any form of response
as yet (20 mins ago).
~~~
lucb1e
Just curious, what did that cost?
Also the owner responded elsewhere in the thread that they had some issues and
you should try again.
------
atom_king
Are you related to a Dennis by chance? Cool service, definitely adding the
number to my contacts!
------
imaginenore
Anywhere? North pole? ISIS?
------
greenpinguin
What a great service!
------
choward
I can't find the source code.
------
coolspot
Are they going to add other planets as well?
------
joe563323
Awesome Article. Did not thought that it would be so cheap and easy to setup
exit node. Thanks very much.
~~~
Kiro
Wrong thread?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Freelance web developer advice - shire
I'm a young 22 year old guy I work at a warehouse by my house which pays $12/hr and feels like slavery work. Honestly I want something better than this I was in college for 2 years but I wasn't sure what I wanted to major in or my passion so I took time to work at this labor warehouse.<p>I'm the type of guy who likes to stay home and play video games I guess the lazy type. Is freelancing the right choice for me as a career? I've thought about it and it sounds like something I would enjoy but I have no clue where to begin and I have questions.<p>What is the pay I can expect as a freelancer?
What language will land me projects and clients soon?
Where do I begin my career as a freelancer?<p>By the way I'm familiar with some languages and frameworks but not an expert or anything.
======
zackmorris
I want to chime in because I did EXACTLY the same thing you did. I took a $10
furniture moving/warehouse job out of college back around 2001 so that I could
finance my struggling shareware game business. I worked seasonally, 7-9 hours
during the summer and a few 6 hour days a week during the winter, for 3 years.
It was one of the worst decisions I ever made.
I lost the next decade of my life to profound depression after the loss of a
close friend, crushing debt, no social life, just really endless problems that
were exacerbated by the regressive political climate of the times. I felt a
strange duty to give up my dreams and put my nose to the grindstone to make up
for the cushy years of the late 90s when the future was so bright you had to
wear shades. It put me so far behind that I was just coming out of my funk in
2007 and had no reserves to prepare for the housing bust even when I saw it
coming a mile away. I got another dead end computer repair job for 3 more
years only to see $1000 per month go toward my credit card debt (which never
went down even though I haven’t used a credit card since 2008) which led to a
falling out with my business partner and total implosion of my finances which
I won’t go into. So in many ways my career didn’t begin until around 2011 or
so when I started over.
But, in the 3 years since, I worked very hard every day to make it as a
freelancer and it seems the effort is beginning to pay off. I started small on
freelancer.com, getting $100 jobs that I completed every 1-3 days and began to
see that it was a possible replacement for a regular job. I supplemented my
income by flipping old Macs on ebay and craigslist. Then I moved up to elance
and odesk and began taking jobs in the $1000-1500 range. I’ve worked with a
couple of clients in the $5000 range and had a 6 month contract at my hourly
contracting rate which allowed me to save enough to live up to a year
afterward with no outside income. I’ve started getting so many leads filling
my inbox that I can’t answer them all. The catch is that this is mostly for
iOS work, which can be extremely taxing/tedious if you bump up against
limitations in the APIs (which seems to happen often in the projects I take on
because I like the fringe stuff). So there is definitely work available, but
be prepared to put in a lot of hours both on and away from the computer.
The biggest challenges I face now are lean weeks between gigs and just general
anxiety from everything resting on my shoulders. I’ve found that the right
client there makes all the difference. If you remember the old adage “good,
fast, cheap - pick any two” then the default mode tends to be good and cheap
if you are a perfectionist. So clients that are well educated and/or patient
tend to be more copacetic than clients that are merely wealthy or business-
oriented. YMMV though because I tend to be a lazy programmer who likes to
write the best solution once (as opposed to iterating) so I do the majority of
my problem solving in the background of my subconscious. In my younger days, I
was kind of the opposite, and would have made a better rockstar hacker in a
startup doing good/fast work had there been more opportunities after the dot
bomb.
I feel like I’ve been a bit of a broken record about this stuff but it’s
because I wish there was a road map available for new developers so they could
avoid the same mistakes I made. For example, always charge at least your
overtime rate which in your case would be $18 per hour. So that means if you
bid for a flat rate job, draw up your hours estimate, multiply it by 3, and
multiply that by $18. So say you think something will take 2 weeks or 80
hours, you would bid at least $4320 for it. On paper it looks like you’re
charging $54 per hour, but in reality it could be 2 months before you get
another gig, allowing for downtime. After you do a couple of jobs like that
and track your time, you can begin to refine your estimates and get closer to
actually making $50 per hour, and then gradually raise it to $75 or $100 or
whatever you feel comfortable with. That mostly depends on how much in demand
you are, so in the beginning it’s more important to land a couple of gigs than
charge top dollar IMHO.
As for where to get gigs, I’ve done a couple for friends in the $1000-1500
range, and if you want to do web development, just look at prominent
businesses in your area that have a lousy web presence. I tried cold calling
and hitting the pavement once but only had a list of 50 businesses and didn’t
get any hits. You should probably aim for at least 100 businesses if you go
that route since it’s maybe a 2% conversion rate. A better way is probably to
start with immediate family, talk to their friends in various businesses and
narrow it down to 2 or 3 and meet them casually over coffee or dinner and make
your pitch like it’s old hat. Then your conversion rate might be 50% because
you can get right to their sore points and once they are interested in what
you can do, charge maybe 50-100% of the going rate in your area, depending on
your experience level. The hardest part about that is being on call afterward
as the friendly neighborhood computer guy, so have some sort of plan in place
for incidents and charge accordingly, say $75 per hour with a 2 hour minimum
so they only call you when they really need you.
I just want to close by saying that this is probably a means to an end. My
goal now is to be part of at least a 5 member team of consultants (what
contractors used to be called in the 90s) and charge hourly business rates,
which probably are in the $100-250 range, even in rural America. Either that
or save up enough money so that I can bootstrap my own apps. A possible route
there is selling ownership in your business, say 10, 20% for X many tens of
thousands of dollars but I don’t know enough about how the new micro investing
laws work so I will probably have to think of something clever enough for
kickstarter. I’m hesitant to go that route again though because I failed so
painfully in the past and am really looking for a sustainable business model.
This last part seems to be one of the great pains of our time, so I’m
optimistic that somebody might provide a turnkey solution, but I’ve been
waiting 15 years for it. Grouptalent, gun.io, freelanceinbox and others of
that sort seem promising so you might have luck there. If you want to get
started right away, I recommend odesk and have heard good things about guru as
well. You can definitely do it, so don’t settle for labor because most of the
safety nets have unravelled and they prey on people with no leverage. You know
how they say not to be the smartest person in the room, or the best player in
the band? Well don’t be the only guy in the warehouse without an addiction,
criminal record or kids on child support. The ridicule I endured at that job
was at least as damaging to my psyche as the low pay and backbreaking
workload. Get out as soon as you can.
~~~
shire
Wow that was actually very helpful, thanks a lot for this info. Just one last
question as a starting freelancer is PHP and Wordpress a good tool for
learning to become a Freelancer web developer or is there something you
recommend?
~~~
zackmorris
Ya I used Wordpress as a CMS for my first few clients and it is a good way to
learn the ropes because you can roll out a site rather quickly. The main issue
is maintainability, which I will explain below. I really enjoy PHP in
particular, but it's not a very well-formed language. It's kind of like
English, it's evolved over time to do everything under the sun and has a lot
of contradictions. That said, I've never found a language that lets me work
faster to prototype an idea. I have high hopes for Go though, and keep in mind
that PHP and Javascript are nearly identical except for a bit of syntactic
fluff like the $ and how Javascript kind of goes off the deep end when you get
into things like prototypes.
There is a whole spectrum of C-based languages like Python, Lua, Java, D, C#,
C++ that are all worth learning. I started with C++ and worked my way up to
higher level languages, which is why I tend to be more of a back end
programmer. I’ve never quite wrapped my head around Perl or Ruby because in my
mind they tend to mix functional concepts with imperative code in kind of a
weird way (lots of regexps, sets, filters, stuff like that, but still
requiring the elbow grease of C) so it's probably better to start with a
language like Lisp or Scheme before learning them so you have the
fundamentals, or else your code might turn into spaghetti.
For what it’s worth, I ended up moving away from Wordpress because it can be a
target for hackers. You may have to update sites each year as security
vulnerabilities are fixed. But Drupal and Joomla have the same problem since
they are built on PHP (they are also sledgehammers when a pencil would do). So
if you have the option, it might be better to go with Node.js or Go because I
think they are probably the future of servers. Node.js has the achilles heal
of callback hell, but, I think generators and coroutines will eventually
alleviate a lot of that pain, and futures might be a stopgap until then. If I
do web work again, it will probably be with static sites generated by
something like Jekyll or Phrozn, with jQuery and Foundation/Modernizr for the
fluid layout, and only write a few back end scripts when needed. I used to
host on Linode but found that companies taking the Rackspace approach are
really operating at too low a level than what most people need. I highly
recommend Firebase and their CDN hosting for this, because you can avoid
having to maintain a server or write back end code altogether.
If you decide to move some of the code to the front end, Backbone.js is a good
thing to know, but inordinately complicated for some reason. I think REST
APIs/CRUD are great but either build them from the start or keep them in mind
as you structure the site so they can be dropped in easily. React.js might
alleviate some of the front end pain eventually. Maybe skim or ask
Stackoverflow for the best CMS that can optionally generate static code and
that either has a nice GUI for layout or supports Markdown (if you find one,
lemme know!). That way you can keep your content separate from your
presentation in a more maintainable way than the old methods like pulling it
from a database, and compile your site like you would any other application.
The web evolves so quickly that any content that is mixed with the site itself
will eventually become unmaintainable. Techniques like that will let you also
roll out to mobile or other viewers. Allowing users to edit content easily is
still an open problem, so for now I would recommend taking contracts that
don’t require it. Either that or give them a simple Markdown or other
interface and store their body copy in the database, but don’t worry too much
about letting them edit the structure of the site because most clients don’t
end up needing to. Better to generate that from some high level description
IMHO. That’s where frameworks like Foundation come in, because you can begin
to think of the site as data instead of code and let someone else worry about
the inevitable browser incompatibilities.
Everything is moving towards SASS, because most of the uncertainties in web
development will eventually become ubiquitous tools, so check out appfog and
learn how your back end can call a service’s database, email, or whatever
other API you need so you don’t have to build that stuff out yourself. It’s
worth a few dollars a month to have someone else worry about the edge cases
and failure modes. Actually, after writing this out, that’s really the best
advice I can give you, is find people who are getting into SASS (either
providing it or utilizing it). Maybe see if there are any local meetups in
your area, or at a university if you have one close. It would be good to start
a blog as soon as possible and document the hurdles you encounter them,
because others can learn from it and you’ll get some job leads from it
eventually. I’ve been meaning to do that myself so that I could just point to
a link instead of being so verbose on forums! I hope I haven’t said too much
here, I just am trying to convey the pitfalls I encountered so that maybe you
can avoid them. Just pretend it’s always a year or two from now and keep your
eyes on the latest and greatest stuff and you’ll do just fine. Be skeptical of
anyone claiming to know the “one true way” and always remember that fatal
flaws in every approach are eventually exposed, to the future is a moving
target. But where there’s trouble there’s also opportunity. Good luck!
------
sj4nz
There's a lot of ground to cover to become a non-starving freelancer. You need
to find mentors and other working models quickly and some grit. You may need
more education and training. Since you're looking at web-work, you need also
to start building your own portfolio of sample-work in order to prove
yourself, I recommend learning everything you can about github.com and making
yourself a name there with a github page--version control systems like GIT
will become your ultimate UNDO/REDO system and will save you hours of agony
when you make mistakes. Make mistakes. You can't learn anything without
learning how to recognize you've made a mistake. But networking on github is
just networking on the Internet, you'll also need to find communities of
people to associate with in real-life to network. You're young, there are a
lot of other people out there to discover how things worked best for them--
their experiences can help you guide your own.
Here's some more rabbit-holes to fall into, you'll come out of them fine:
[http://thefoundation.com/](http://thefoundation.com/) (Entreprenuership)
[http://5by5.tv/quit](http://5by5.tv/quit) (Grit, psychology of going-it-
alone, passion) [http://www.danpink.com/books/free-agent-
nation/](http://www.danpink.com/books/free-agent-nation/) (Work ethic and
networking)
[http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/](http://www.personalkanban.com/pk/) (Self
management) [http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/a-review-of-the-
ar...](http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/a-review-of-the-art-of-
learning.html) (Learning)
And finally, if you have any debt, by hook or crook find ways to eliminate it.
Stay off the debt path, it will only cause you suffering after short-term
gain.
------
eabraham
Motivation is the key factor in becoming a successful freelancer. I freelanced
for about 2 years and in that time I learned 2 new languages and countless
libraries. My average week would be about 50 hours of which I was billing
between 30-35 hours at $100-150/hour (NYC area). The other 15-20 hours was
finding clients, writing proposals, dealing with self-employment business
issues (taxes, accounting, invoicing). Its definitely not the easiest life but
the pay was good and the problems were more interesting than corporate
development. Looking back on freelancing I appreciate the many skills I gained
(both technical and soft-skills).
Tips:
1\. Pick a programming language and complete a comprehensive tutorial. Then
start to find clients at $15/hr rate (check elance.com and odesk.com). Your
goal should be to fill up 35 hours of your weeks with billable time. Once your
weeks are full and your skills increase, creep up your rate by $5/hour until
its difficult to keep your week full.
2\. Look into local entrepreneurship/business Meetups as a good source of
clients and avoid equity-only business people who don't value your time.
~~~
shire
I like your advice, what languages and tools were you using to bill clients
$100/hr.
~~~
147
It's not necessarily about the languages or tools, but more about selling the
value of what you're making to the client.
------
wikwocket
_> What is the pay I can expect as a freelancer?_
This depends on where you are, and how well you can communicate the value of
what you deliver. Commodity hourly freelancing might be $10-40 an hour.
Business-savvy consulting might be $60-80 an hour. High-end consultants will
pitch and deliver projects in the $X0,000 range, which when divided by time
spent can easily equal $X00 an hour.
Note that all of these people may be doing functionally the same thing:
defining projects with customers, building websites/apps, and delivering them.
_> What language will land me projects and clients soon?_
Programming languages will not land you projects or clients. Nobody hires a
photographer because of the brand of camera they use. Nobody goes to a
restaurant based on where they buy their groceries. Anyone with purchasing
power will generally just want something that meets their need, or removes
their pain point/bottleneck/problem.
Your goal is to communicate that you can do this, in words and in actions. Not
to communicate that you use HTML9 Responsive Boilerstrap JS. [0]
_> Where do I begin my career as a freelancer?_
yen223's advice is good. Build a website or simple app that you like, that
could solve a realistic business need. Feature it as a demo or just keep it in
your back pocket as proof you can solve problems. Then the hard part: convince
someone that you are able to solve problem X for $Y dollars. Start small,
within your network: maybe your brother-in-law is a caterer without a website.
Maybe your aunt is a real estate agent always complaining about keeping in
touch with her leads. Maybe your dentist keeps all their files on paper
instead of in a computer. Discuss problems with people, brainstorm solutions,
communicate that you can solve their problems with technology, put together a
proposal, and deliver.
After a few gigs, if it's working out for you, formalize the whole process.
Look into contracts, incorporation and proper accounting, etc. There's a
million Ask HN's about these topics.
_> By the way I'm familiar with some languages and frameworks but not an
expert or anything._
If you can make a website that says "Hello world, welcome to our site, here is
a brochure of information on our products," then you are basically a wizard in
the eyes of many many people. 80% of the world's professionals would say, "I'm
not an expert at this, I can just get things done." My plumber is probably not
an expert on bleeding-edge state-of-the-art industrial water treatment. But he
makes the faucets run and the toilets flush, and I am happy to exchange money
for this service.
[0]:
[http://html9responsiveboilerstrapjs.com/](http://html9responsiveboilerstrapjs.com/)
------
yen223
As a guy who's making the transition between newbie freelancer and
professional go-to guy, here are some things that worked for me:
1\. Prove to yourself that you can deliver by building at least one site that
you're happy with.
2\. Go for the most popular language that you know. PHP, Python, Ruby, and
Java are good starting points.
3\. No one's going to come to your house to offer you a job. Go out there and
market yourself. Every month there's a freelancer thread on Hacker News. Post
there.
4\. How much you should be getting depends heavily on your level of skill, and
your location. But it's definitely going to be more than $12/hr, easily. I
highly recommend charging per project, instead of per hour.
------
seekingcharlie
Without any programming experience & knowing that you're really just looking
for something better than your current job, I would totally advise to start
with Wordpress. Learn to build websites in Wordpress.
You can easily charge $1000 for a basic, responsive Wordpress website & you
will find that there are a lot of family, friends etc that need/want websites
built. This will also introduce you to some fundamentals of web development
(deploying, communicating with a client etc & some PHP).
Perhaps your first few websites you will have to charge less to build up your
portfolio, but honestly, charging $500 in the early days for a website is
going to be a lot better than working 50 hours for the same money at your
current job.
If you do actually want to be a web developer as your career (rather than a
lifestyle job), learn an actual language. You will learn very basic PHP from
Wordpress, but I would recommend Ruby as an actual programming language & Ruby
on Rails (a Ruby framework) or Javascript as there is endless work there.
Read a lot. Follow Hacker News & the tech sites to keep you motivated /
interested. Sign up to one of the online education platforms (RailsCasts,
Codeacademy, Treehouse etc).
------
shire
Thanks a lot everyone for your help. I'm going to go with PHP to start of my
freelancing business is that a good choice?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Peer Community in X: A free recommendation process of scientific papers - eternalban
https://peercommunityin.org/
======
dibanez
One of the problems with the current peer review system is the ease with which
a reviewer can recommend rejecting a manuscript based on personal conflicts of
interest (for example, viewing the work as competitive with their own). Making
reviews open, and possibly de-anonymizing them, could alleviate this (allowing
the public to review the review itself). Since the review requires the
manuscript itself as context, the manuscript then needs to become publicly
visible regardless of the reviewers' decisions.
Another problem is the difficulty that editors have in finding reviewers (to
work for free essentially). One solution could be to require authors to act as
reviewers before they can submit their own work. For example, if a manuscript
requires N favorable reviews to be accepted, then for each manuscript an
author submits, they must provide N reviews of other manuscripts.
There is still something missing from the above in terms of "reviewing a
review". The closest thing I can think of is comment threads where the post is
the manuscript... There needs to be a way for low-quality reviews to be
reported as such and invalidated. Right now all this is on the shoulders of
the editor, who doesn't have time to do more than add up the recommendations
of the reviewers.
~~~
chrisseaton
> to work for free essentially
I don't understand this. If you are an academic, or in industry R&D, then it's
part of your job to take part in the community - you are being paid for it.
~~~
jorgemf
You pay to publish in a journal, you pay to have access to the papers of the
journal and you review for the journal for free. Do you see the problem? You
review for free but pay to access the content and to publish.
Note: the journal is not related with the people who pay you to do research.
~~~
chrisseaton
People review my papers for me and don't ask for any extra money for it. So I
review their papers for them and don't ask for any extra money for it.
Neither me nor my employer have never had to pay to publish any of my papers,
but my employer does pay a few dollars a year for access to a papers
repository run by a non-profit who just help the community come together - web
hosting isn't free. I imagine it's one of the cheaper of the web services we
pay for and a trivial cost of running a business.
I really don't see any problem.
~~~
jorgemf
Publish in a Congress is like $1000 (fee+trip), journals is less, access to
the papers is millions for the universities.
They don't review the papers for you, they review for the Congress or journal,
so they can decide which papers are worth to publish because otherwise they
don't know.
Web hosting for universities would is nothing. So that is no an excuse to
charge you for accessing the papers. Notice that the researches cannot have
their papers in their web site because once they publish the papers the
publisher has the rights.
Some things are changing but it is still so broken.
------
jessriedel
ArXiv-overlay journals like _Quantum_ seem like a strictly better approach.
[http://quantum-journal.org](http://quantum-journal.org)
~~~
eternalban
Stated end goal of Quantum:
"The point of “becoming an attractive journal for researchers in every stage
of their career” is crucial: Quantum should become an attractive publishing
venue for the whole community of researchers in the field, including those who
support Quantum’s vision but who, due to external constraints, cannot afford
to take the risk of not publishing in a high-impact journal. Arguably this can
be achieved in one of two ways: either the whole incentive system is
overturned, or Quantum must become comparable to high-impact journals for the
purposes of career advancement. In the short and medium term, only one of
these options seems realistic. The decision to create Quantum as a selective
journal is to a good extent based on the belief that it will give Quantum a
much higher chance of making a difference." [source: [http://quantum-
journal.org/should-quantum-be-selective/](http://quantum-journal.org/should-
quantum-be-selective/)]
I think it's an apples and oranges case given one (PCiX's) is a platform and
the other (Q's) is a journal. It also seems to me that PCiX's goals are
explicitly aligned with facilitating the sharing of results in a
trust/reputation network, whereas Quantum seeks to address additional e.g
career issues as well (which can limit it to more conservative decisions.)
~~~
jessriedel
As plainly written, that's a case of Quantum actually trying to consider real-
world constraints, not a different end goal. It demonstrates seriousness.
------
phreeza
Interesting. Romain Brette has been doing something similar by himself for
computational neuroscience (and other subjects that catch his interest)
[http://journal.romainbrette.fr/](http://journal.romainbrette.fr/)
------
veddox
I like the idea, but I am afraid that as long as there are no "big names"
behind it, it isn't going to make much headway in the conservative world of
science. As tough as it sounds: reputation is the currency of science, and
PCiX needs to get some before it can become a viable publishing alternative to
the established journals.
------
fiatjaf
Best scientific initiative of the entire history.
Just saying it because I had this idea 4 months ago (not that I'm claiming
ownership of the idea, since it's a pretty simple idea that probably was
thought of by thousands) and presented it to a friend which is a scientist
(I'm not, thank you, God) and he promptly dismissed it.
------
carbocation
Is there a reason to think this would be better than just computing the
pagerank of every scientific paper based on the citation networks?
(Optionally, use signals to predict future pagerank of recently published
papers.)
I would expect that using the citation data from published papers would be
more valuable, in the same way that revealed preferences are more valuable
than polls due to the cost.
While Google Scholar implicitly uses pagerank to rank academic papers, I've
put together a tool that explicitly shows you pagerank for each paper,
available at [1]. Currently, this contains only pubmed, which means that it
does leave out a significant set of physics/computer science papers, and also
doesn't yet capture preprint archives.
1 = [https://pubrank.carbocation.com/](https://pubrank.carbocation.com/)
~~~
SubiculumCode
To discuss how a paper is wrong you have to first cite the paper. The need to
discuss bad papers can arise for a number of reasons. So some papers cite rank
!= quality.
~~~
carbocation
True. Pagerank is "importance" rather than "quality". But as your network of
recommenders becomes larger and starts to approximate the scientific community
as a whole, I'd imagine that there will be convergence. If not, that would be
a welcome and (to me) surprising result.
------
fiatjaf
I expected other people to suggest here, or maybe come up with a link of, a
system totally decentralized of peer-reviews.
------
nmca
I really, really hope this takes off. Current system is so flawed...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Cascading Shit Show by fat [video] - moeamaya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iniwPUEbPUM
======
bluejellybean
This is by far the most fun tech talk I've ever seen!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
BrowserRemote, debug your user's browser remotely via Chrome DevTools - auchenberg
https://github.com/auchenberg/browser-remote
======
joshribakoff
I created a similar proof of concept recently. We need to inspect the webpage
displayed on a Chrome based "kiosk" running behind a firewall. We have an
existing socket (or socket IO binary) connection, and my proof of concept
"attaches" the Chrome remote debugging port to listen on the socketIO
connection - See the youtube video in the readme to see it in action.
[https://github.com/joshribakoff/devtools-
proxy](https://github.com/joshribakoff/devtools-proxy)
The tool linked in the OP looks a lot more user friendly, but perhaps my
example code will be of use to someone who wants something [overly] simple.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Georgia Tech MOOC MS/CS Experience - lscore720
I'm curious to know about the quality Georgia Tech's online Master's program in Computer Science. Generally speaking, is this degree considered as valuable as the traditional Georgia Tech MS/CS. If not, what would you say are comparable traditional MS/CS degrees?<p>Candidates and those hiring with this degree, what has your thoughts?<p>I appreciate it.
======
swuecho
If you do not have a CS degree or do have a job yet. try traditional CS.
If you have a job already, this is a good fit.
more: [https://www.reddit.com/r/OMSCS/](https://www.reddit.com/r/OMSCS/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Some College Kid Beat the Stock Market by 100 Percent - skadamat
http://jayshah.me/blog/signaling-how-a-ut-student-org-beat-the-stock-market-by-100
======
azmenthe
Really? It looks like a portfolio with a greater than 1 beta. It's net net
return over the period is about the same as the rest of the market.
Also 5 speakers a year is not enough events to be statistically significant.
2/10 would not invest
~~~
jayshahtx
Using the CAPM model, even an aggressive market risk premium/risk free rate
would not give you expected returns of 21%. Statistical significance is a
valid concern, but the net net returns of this portfolio are well above
average market expectations.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Kim Dotcom, The truth will come out - aadlani
http://kim.com/
======
s_henry_paulson
I like the video, and the fact that it includes a relevant summary of what's
going on. Lots of viral potential.
I have a hard time getting my arms around the voting thing though. The sad
state of the two party system in the US leaves people with little choice.
If people don't vote for Obama, will they vote for Romney instead? Will they
try to help Ron Paul win the primary? Will this help to make Gary Johnson more
relevant?
I think an appeal that relied on something other than the presidential
election might have been more effective due to the poor selection process
we're currently stuck with.
I guess while I'm ranting about politics, I might as well say.. "why can't we
have runoff voting?"
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant-runoff_voting>
------
antidoh
That site has a very interesting look.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Donald Knuth's First Computer - pkrumins
http://www.catonmat.net/blog/donald-knuths-first-computer/
======
michael_dorfman
The latest volume in Knuth's "Selected Papers" series, "Selected Papers on
Design of Algorithms" is due out any day now. (According to Amazon, it was
supposed to be released on the 15th, but my pre-ordered copy still hasn't
shipped...)
~~~
pkrumins
Yep, I am also waiting. I got the Selected Papers on Analysis of Algorithms,
Discrete Math, Computer Science and now waiting for this.
~~~
michael_dorfman
Are you planning on posting notes for the Papers, or are you going to do the
"Musings" videos first?
~~~
pkrumins
I am going to intermix Musings and Papers. Some weeks will post Musings
videos, some weeks notes of Papers. The next Knuth related post will be
Musings.
------
ShabbyDoo
I went to Case and was a border (renter, not member) one summer in his former
fraternity's house (Theta Chi). Kind of cool to see the composite photos from
the late 50's which included him.
~~~
blackguardx
Wow, I didn't know he was in Theta Chi. When I was going to Case, that place
was straight out of Revenge of the Nerds.
------
seiha
He looks so old for 20.
~~~
Retric
I think that's from his style, not his physical looks.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebook Users Report Seeing Old Private Messages Showing Up On Timelines - toumhi
http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/24/reports-facebook-users-seeing-private-messages-pre-2009-showing-up-on-timelines-as-posted-by-friends/
======
arunv
Hey guys - I work on Timeline here at Facebook and just wanted to chime in
here. I've looked into a bunch of cases today where people were concerned
their messages were showing up, but as has been pointed out in many places
(e.g. techcrunch), there was no privacy violation here.
If you've kept your old emails around (woohoo gmail!), one thing you can do is
go back and look for the notification email you got for a particular post that
you suspect was a message. There's a date search widget that makes this
easier. I suspect you'll find it was a wall post.
Another thing to note (for those that follow our technology), is that the
backends for these two systems are entirely different. The messages backend is
hbase-backed, designed for real-time communication more than history. The
timeline backend is MySQL / C++ backed. Migrating data from hbase to MySQL
would have to take months of effort.
I know that even though there was no bug here, this can be an alarming
experience to see old posts surfaced like this. We're working on ways to make
this interaction clearer so people aren't so surprised in the future. That
said, please rest assured that your inbox is not on your timeline.
~~~
_pius
_I know that even though there was no bug here, this can be an alarming
experience to see old posts surfaced like this. We're working on ways to make
this interaction clearer so people aren't so surprised in the future._
You ought to be doing more than that, actually. Having been an early user of
Facebook, I can assure you that people viewed wall-to-wall and other types of
posts differently from how they view wall posts now. No one expected their
data to be exposed this way, so for practical purposes, this is tantamount to
a bug or data breach from the user perspective.
Disabling this immediately for old posts or allowing users to opt out would be
the right thing to do.
~~~
MartinCron
So you're suggesting that they replace the perception of a bug (data showing
up when it shouldn't) with an actual bug (data not showing up when it should)?
~~~
_pius
Nice troll.
~~~
MartinCron
I was maybe a little snarky, but totally serious.
------
phwd
(Cross-posted on TC)
These are all wall to wall posts. You can inspect for yourself using a
Facebook Developer account.
Rollover the timestamp grab the POSTID.
<http://www.facebook.com/PROFILEID/posts/POSTID>
Example, <http://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/11111111111>
Throw it in the Graph API Explorer
<https://developers.facebook.com/tools/explorer> with /PROFILEID_POSTID or
curl <http://graph.facebook.com/PROFILEID_POSTID>.
The evidence speaks for itself, it shows up as a Status object.
You can push more with even browsing your conversation via
[http://www.facebook.com/YOURUSERNAME?and=FRIENDUSERNAME&...](http://www.facebook.com/YOURUSERNAME?and=FRIENDUSERNAME&sk=wall)
I don't think that private messages can transform into wall posts with such
ease. This would have to be intentional, it's not a simple click of a switch
that can do something like some are thinking that is occurring.
~~~
jenius
The fact that they are showing up as wall posts means nothing - it just means
that the bug was that facebook swapped messages for posts somehow, and now
they are all showing up on the wall.
~~~
drbawb
True, I wouldn't give Facebook a free pass on this alone.
Is it really so hard to imagine that somebody, somewhere fudged a query and
accidentally ran [pseudo-SQL] "UPDATE posts SET type='status' WHERE
type='private-message' AND date = 'x' TO 'y'"?
I'll admit, it's a bit of a stretch; but the fact that these show up as wall
posts is not necessarily an indication that there is no bug.
The bug may very well be that data has been manipulated to look like wall
posts.
Unless Facebook discloses that these posts were flagged as "status updates"
_in an archived version of their dataset_ (specifically an archive before the
issue first manifested), this information means practically nothing. We could
gather from the bug itself that these were flagged as wall posts in FB's
backend.
~~~
bwaldrep
No one is giving Facebook a free pass. We currently have no evidence
whatsoever of a bug. On the other hand, we do know that wall posts could not
be commented on pre-2009. Informal conversations were carried out with quick
exchanges of wall posts. The whole conversation could be viewed with the
"wall-to-wall" link. We used Facebook in a different way back then, and the
conversations reflect that. If you have email notifications confirming that a
private message is now public then please let us know. So far every person to
check their records has found that there was no bug, they merely forgot how
Facebook used to be.
According to one Facebook employee, private messages are stored on an entirely
different system (MYSQL vs HBase). This seems perfectly reasonable, and
precludes the possibility of a bad SQL query leaking private messages.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4567009>
Screenshot of old Facebook: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4566962>
------
palebluedot
This seems to be anecdotally confirmed by multiple people here. To me, _if
true_ , this screams of a broken engineering culture inside Facebook, where
the model for data privacy and security is secondary, not primary. If this is
indeed verified, no one should ever use Facebook for anything truly private,
regardless of what apologies or excuses are made.
It is difficult to think of something like this, where private emails are
accidentally disclosed publicly en masse, happening with gmail (or any other
email service).
~~~
huzur79
If it is indeed verified I would be the first one to jump on the bandwaggon
and delete the account and tell others to do so. But so far I have not seen
anything to verify it and more reports on Facebook claims that it is indeed
old user to user wall posts (something I remember and used in the past
personally) just showing up from people now liking them which at the time they
didn't have a like button.
~~~
mnicole
Regardless of what the actual situation is, if these posts are being brought
to people's attention by friends because they seem sensitive and are now more
prominent than they once were, isn't that a concern in and of itself?
~~~
jlgreco
Good point. Mass hysteria being used as a carrier for sudden bursts of clarity
would be an interesting phenomenon in itself. Thousands of people suddenly
realizing _"Oh god, what have I been doing?"_
Edit: The more I read about this, the more it seems to me that this is what is
going on. I think this has interesting implications for the _"Privacy is
dead"_ attitude. It suggests to me that, contrary to popular belief in some
circles, people are _not_ ok with their diminished privacy.. they just haven't
been thinking about it.
~~~
mnicole
I wouldn't put this on the users' lack of clarity as much as I would blame
Facebook for changing the course of it's features so much so that this is now
happening to people. People were using the site as it was once intended and we
can't blame them for being infuriated when the logic behind that usage
changes. To me it's no different than Quora deciding to make all of your posts
public without the chance to opt-in, except because of Facebook's privacy
settings mess, it isn't easily reversible without severely crippling the
content you've posted over the entirety of your account's lifespan.
~~~
jlgreco
Fair point. In either event I think it is fair to say that this demonstrates
that privacy _is_ valuable to consumers, despite what certain people might
have us believe.
------
kamechan
i can confirm this too. 3 private message threads from 2009-2010 were on my
wall with the privacy set to "friends". these were conversations right out of
my private messages (which were also in my private messages).
i'm deleting every facebook message as a result of this, which isn't easy as
it has to be done one by one.
i am in the US, but my UK friends are the ones who alerted me to it, as it was
happening to them as well.
~~~
hermannj314
Same here, my wife just called me crying because a large number of very
private conversations she had with friends in the past are now visible on her
timeline.
Is the quickest option a manual delete? She is freaking out.
Edit: I have set her privacy as strict as I can for now, but having pressed
her on the topic, it isn't entirely certain that these messages were ever
private.
My comment to her was that even if they were always on your wall, you (in
hindsight) don't think they should have been. Don't let Facebook convince you
that you are wrong to have thought differently. Facebook's model doesn't work
like the arrow of time, memories and conversations don't fade out naturally
and disappear, they just stay there permanently. And today, your present self
wonders what you were thinking that made you post that. When you add that to
the fact that your social graph on Facebook was different 5 years ago than it
is today, it makes sense that you naturally think certain things should have
been private.
In other words, you weren't fit in 2006 to know what in 2012 you would regret
having posted and you aren't fit in 2012 to know what you are going to regret
in 2018.
If you really are freaking out about stuff that your past self thought should
be known to the world, then do your future self a favor and stop putting your
life on Facebook.
~~~
zabar
quickest way to hide all of your friend's posts on your wall
<http://cl.ly/image/0s1e093Q0s1m>
------
jwpeddle
It's no coincidence that people that have tried to verify this by comparing to
email notifications have posted as much, and people that have "confirmed"
based on memory have yet to do so and post the result of their verification.
Do not trust your memory. Do not trust your assumptions. Just because this is
plausible and everyone is claiming to be affected by it is not proof that it
is in any way true. Check your notifications and find real evidence.
No one in here has even claimed to have confirmed this with email, let alone
posted any evidence.
------
pilgrim689
Every time I hear of Facebook developer philosophies, it's always "Move Fast
and Break Things."... Not with 800 million people's private conversations,
please.
~~~
seiji
What can one do? They aren't a government entity -- you can't vote management
out or change policies. They aren't regulated -- you have no complaint
procedures or escalation mechanism. The best you can do is yell at them. They
will gladly laugh at you through their young-and-rich-and-by-the-way-fu
billionaire eyes.
If they decide to make public every thing you've ever written in rolling 10
year intervals there is nothing you can do to stop them.
The public has no idea how much can go wrong giving one entity essentially a
copy of their entire private lives.
~~~
manifold
The Data Protection Act 1998 would presumably apply in the UK and Ireland, and
the EU has a data protection directive. My expectation would be that they
could not disclose everything without consequence.
------
AlexMuir
If I could short FB I would do so immediately. The fallout from this is going
to be immense and long-term. I'd imagine they are facing two choices at FB
right now:
1\. Take the site down and prevent any further leaks. But accept the
absolutely massive flak that would come from that.
or
2\. Continue to let the leaking happen and try to hotfix the bug. Be accused
of failing to get a handle on it, but perhaps get away with it if fixed in the
next 20 minutes.
I'd bet that it's been like this for ages and only just been noticed. That
will make fixing it a bit harder I should think - not simply a rollback to the
previous push.
~~~
soupboy
"Update: Facebook Confirms No Private Messages Appearing On Timeline. They’re
Old Wall Posts."
~~~
AlexMuir
So TC have basically rewritten their entire article rather than add an update
but anyway.
It's probably not private messages - but it is messages that people think
should be private TODAY. But it doesn't really matter - it's perception that
matters here. And also I guess this is an illustration of how people's
attitudes to FB have changed over time.
"I would NEVER have shared this publicly." they say. But either they did, and
now don't trust FB in the way they used to. Or they didn't and there's a bug.
Neither are good for FB's brand.
~~~
danielweber
_So TC have basically rewritten their entire article rather than add an update
but anyway._
There is no good way to answer "how do we correct a story that was completely
wrong," but this seems to be a decent enough way to do it.
~~~
tisme
The correct way is a rectification. You leave the old story and point
prominently to the correction at the top.
------
AlexMuir
You know what's most interesting to me here? The tug between trusting my
social network, and trusting FB and my own knowledge.
My friends are ASSURING me that these are private messages. But every media
outlet is now running the story that this is not true. And I have seen no
evidence. So what do I believe?
~~~
Havoc
EDIT: zevyoura pointed out that I misunderstood the comment I was replying to.
Please ignore if not applicable.
Trusting FB? I hope you are joking. You are the product being sold & FB will
maximize the value of that at any cost.
Its all one big scam: They provide endless privacy controls over what your
friends can see, but discreetly forget to provide controls over what they can
sell to advertisers.
~~~
zevyoura
You seem to have misconstrued the parent comment; he was talking about
trusting FB (and by extension the media outlets that are reporting their
statement as fact) over his social contacts on this issue specifically.
~~~
Havoc
I see. Thank you for pointing that out. I've added a comment highlighting the
situation.
------
gatordan
For a community that is usually quick to dismiss anecdotal evidence and fear,
uncertainty, and doubt there seems to be quite a bit of all of the above going
around in these comments.
Given the update on the Tech Crunch article, and the fact this is regarding
wall posts from three years ago (which people probably don't have the best
recollection of) my two cents is for those that believe that this is affecting
them to temporarily deactivate their FB account, and the rest of us wait until
we see some follow up blog/news posts with hard evidence before we start
yelling that the sky is falling.
------
mwg66
I can confirm it too. Scary stuff. This is going to cause real world problems
for a lot of people.
I am done with Facebook now. Bye.
~~~
drbawb
I see a few messages on my timeline; thankfully they are all _really_
unimportant. (One liners like "hey thanks again.", etc.)
In principal, though, this bug shakes me to the core. Had it chosen to sample
posts from 2010+ rather than 2008-2009; hell, I could easily be out of a job,
or be dealing with some very upset family members.
This is unacceptable; it violates any shred of trust I had left in Facebook as
a platform.
I'm done, too.
------
huzur79
Can at least one person making these claims actually show any real proof about
this? Just one person. I mean if its such a major flaw and verifiable I would
expect at least one screen shoot showing this to be the case.
------
click170
Im surprised at Facebooks response, which is basically, "Your all crazy and
there is no problem".
~~~
huzur79
Hum
[http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/24/reports-facebook-users-
seei...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/24/reports-facebook-users-seeing-
private-messages-pre-2009-showing-up-on-timelines-as-posted-by-friends/)
"TechCrunch has investigated more, and we have found no evidence that the
allegedly exposed posts were actually private messages. Their email receipts
show they were in fact wall posts, and the posts do not appear in users’
Facebook Messages inbox.
Facebook also says in no uncertain terms that there is absolutely no privacy
bug. What people are seeing are old Wall postings, not private messages. A
spokesperson tells TechCrunch:
“Every report we’ve seen, we’ve gone back and checked. We haven’t seen one
report that’s been confirmed [of a private message being exposed]. A lot of
the confusion is because before 2009 there were no likes and no comments on
wall posts. People went back and forth with wall posts instead of having a
conversation [in the comments of single wall post.]
A small number of users raised concerns after what they mistakenly believed to
be private messages appeared on their Timeline. Our engineers investigated
these reports and found that the messages were older wall posts that had
always been visible on the users’ profile pages. Facebook is satisfied that
there has been no breach of user privacy.”"
This is why real reporters actually check into news stories first before
publishing. I have yet to find a single shred of evidence anywhere that shows
this has been verified and repeated. And I've been looking pretty hard for the
last 30 minutes.
~~~
tisme
> And I've been looking pretty hard for the last 30 minutes.
You need not look so far, it's right here in this thread. People are
confirming some of their private messages set to 'friends' only to be world
visible on their timeline.
~~~
jwpeddle
They aren't confirming anything. People are looking at wallposts and
thinking/remembering they are private messages, but everyone that has tried to
verify using email notifications has found only wallposts. Until someone shows
that a verifiable private message showed up publicly, than there's no reason
to continue spreading this. If it's a problem, it can easily be confirmed.
Even Techcrunch, who criticised Facebook's response have now backpedaled.
~~~
tisme
"Same here, my wife just called me crying because a large number of very
private conversations she had with friends in the past are now visible on her
timeline."
Sounds pretty clear to me, I figure that the lady knows which conversation
were private and which weren't, if only by their content.
~~~
RobAtticus
Look at his edit, she isn't entirely sure they were private.
Amazing how many people have "confirmed" it but nobody has posted anything
verifiable. Just a screenshot of the private message inbox/email + the post on
the timeline. Redact as much as you want.
I've gone through the messages on my timeline, and truth be told I don't
remember the context of a lot of the messages, so it wouldn't surprise me if
people don't remember if something was private.
~~~
danielweber
This feels like the "everyone go find weird stuff in your Wendy's food now"
situation all over again. Except explained more by incompetence than malice.
I don't even like FB, but come on people.
------
Lionleaf
I too thought I found private messages on my timeline. But it turns out they
were indeed wallposts. It shows how much facebook has changed from a friends-
only environment where you used the wall of people for semi-private chats, to
a place where you have to be carefull and try to present yourself in a decent
manner. Noone would ever use the wall in the same way it was used back then.
~~~
randartie
I 100% think that this is what is happening. Before Facebook's chat feature
became as prominent as it is, the number of 'trivial' wall-to-wall posts was
very high, such as 'hey, what what you been up to?' or 'Thanks again'. These
posts look like 'messages' because these days you would normally just send it
as a message.
So much press on this 'bug' but so little proof
~~~
Lionleaf
Yeah, I'm really certain too. Some of them seem surprisingly private though,
so no wonder people get scared. It's still a bad thing that friend banter from
long ago suddenly shows up for all your new friends / colleagues / family to
see...
------
Flimm
I'm deactivating my account because of this. I can manage without Facebook for
a few days until they fix this bug.
~~~
iyulaev
Wow, a few weeks ago I was joking that if Facebook went through my private
messages, I wouldn't be surprised, based on how scummy they've behaved in the
past. Now apparently they've done this, except also shared everything with the
whole world. I don't think I have to say this, but this is totally, 100%
unacceptable. Back then I was using FB almost as a personal e-mail; the
consequences of something like this could be cataclysmic. Can you imagine
having your personal email "accidentally" posted to the general public?
~~~
drbawb
This is where someone typically parrots: "If you have something that you don't
want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place." --
Eric Schmidt; Executive Chairman, Google, Inc.
To which I reply: I'm sorry, but my personal matters are personal _expressly
because_ I've found people to be ignorant, bigoted, biased, or otherwise
untrustworthy when it comes to matters of my identity.
The fact that I could lose my job because of my thoughts on cannabis
prohibition? Or that I could be disowned because of my political and [lack of]
religious tendencies? These things are private not because they're wrong, Mr.
Schmidt. They're private because _someone_ thinks they're wrong; and _someone_
is making decisions that could impact _my future_ by judging what's publicly
available.
I can no longer trust Facebook to be a secure messaging platform, which is
basically all I used it for. I'm going to take charge of my web presence to
whatever degree I can. I'm done letting large corporations abuse my data for
their own gain, only to have shit like this happen.
~~~
stanleydrew
And the obligatory full-context followup:
Q: People are treating Google like their most trusted friend. Should they be?
A: I think judgement matters… If you have something that you don’t want anyone
to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. But if you really
need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines including Google
do retain this information for some time, and it’s important, for example that
we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act. It is possible
that that information could be made available to the authorities.”
------
ErrantX
It might be only certain users affected; I have trawled through all the '09
posts appearing on my feed, and all of them are legit wall posts from then.
Indeed; it was actually interesting to see how different Facebook was back
then. So much more intimately public in terms of messaging and back/forth.
------
randartie
Haven't seen concrete evidence yet though...I went ahead and looked through
some profiles and there's stuff that looks very revealing, as though it were a
private incoming conversation but then every time I click on them, the convo
box expands and I can see that people 'liked it', meaning it was public from
the start.
Does anyone actually have real evidence? Maybe a screenshot of a message that
CLEARLY is private and in no circumstance would they have forgot posting it on
a wall THREE YEARS ago?
------
robk
Definitely seeing a bit of this. It's inbound messages only, not outbound, but
there are some things here definitely not meant to be seen by some friends.
~~~
zabar
well, that's because your outbound messages are on your friends's wall, not
yours.
~~~
wilfra
correct, if u go back and forth you can read whole conversations.
~~~
drbawb
This fact alone may also add a bit of credibility.
If they were originally wall posts, your "threads" of conversation would be
comments, not individual posts on each other's walls.
~~~
bwaldrep
Not true. This is the source of all the confusion. Originally you couldn't
like or comment on wall posts. Conversations were individual posts on each
other's walls. You could click the "wall-to-wall" link to view the whole
conversation.
This system gave conversations a different feel, and is now causing people to
confuse them with private messages.
Edit: see <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4566956>
------
dm8
Looks like FB have confirmed that these were old wall posts not the messages.
Something is confusing.
~~~
wl
I can confirm that messages meant only for me were public on my wall and I
have found messages I only intended for others public on their walls. They
were most definitely NOT wall posts.
~~~
danielweber
This may sound snide, but you should contact TechCrunch. Offer up your proof
to them on the terms that they don't republish it.
------
kennu
So it's, again, people forgetting that they used to write wall-to-wall
messages in 2009, and that they were always visible to friends?
~~~
snippyhollow
Not at all, I can assure you I had my _private_ conversations disclosed.
~~~
snippyhollow
I seem to be mistaken. However I was twice as stupid because I have hidden all
these messages, and now I can't recover them on my timeline. I don't find them
in my activity log (not under "hidden" nor "all"). Strangely, if I update my
status and make it "hidden" in my timeline, it shows under "hidden" in the
activity log...
------
radicaldreamer
The posts in this thread are a great example of the power of suggestion.
It seems pretty clear at this point that there's no evidence that private
messages were made public- other than hearsay.
------
ohashi
That is deeply disturbing. Is it showing up as new or does one have to go back
and find them in the timeline when they were sent?
~~~
pilgrim689
They do not show up as new. The ones I found were mixed in with regular wall
posts at the time of the post (2009 for mine).
------
BasDirks
If this is true, this is the first nail in a lot of very expensive coffins.
------
zabar
True or false, it's not going to help Facebook stock.
Even if it's just people's perception, it actually matters a lot. Facebook
need user to trust them on privacy issues, that's their core.
~~~
toufka
wha, 10% cliff-drop isn't good enough for you?
<http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:FB>
------
conradfr
Yes I think I see some old wall-to-wall posts but no messages.
Now I don't even know if it's new as I never check my FB Timeline (which SUCKS
btw) ...
I just heard on the radio that the French government is monitoring the issue.
Yes, that's what the country needs !?
What is kinda hilarious is that even on 2007 people were confusing wall-to-
wall messages with private messages !
------
randartie
Old facebook that we don't remember:
A post on someone's wall had a link to 'Wall-to-wall' or 'Write on wall', in
place of what we have today, the commenting system.
Screenshot: [http://blog.hishamrana.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/07/facebo...](http://blog.hishamrana.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/07/facebook_new_layout1.png)
------
ctingom
I just found some of my 'messages' on a friends public wall post from 2008.
Not cool.
------
klaut
i went to check my fb timeline and indeed some messages between 2008-2009 DO
look like they must've been private messages - people writing their home
addresses and phone numbers and similar stuff.. i doubt these were public wall
posts to begin with .. i can't find any old fb notification emails as i am
deleting this things, unfortunatelly. but i does feel a bit scary :|
~~~
Evbn
The vast majority of FB users are confused enough to post this info publicly.
Look at any "I got a new cell phone! Send me your digits!" post.
------
j_s
One thing I'm walking away from this incident with is a better understanding
of the power of the Facebook PR machine. I would be interested in a timeline
of how this whole process unfolded... too bad only companies like Google and
Twitter will ever know for sure how it all spread.
------
gagabity
I think its actually old private chat messages that are showing up.
------
CGamesPlay
tl;dr: This is confirmed untrue at the bottom of the article.
------
tisme
Bye-Bye Facebook.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A podcast for new Rust programmers - steveklabnik
http://www.newrustacean.com/
======
steveklabnik
I enjoyed the first episode here, but I also _really_ like the aesthetic: they
use rustdoc, our documentation tool, to do show notes!
[http://www.newrustacean.com/show_notes/](http://www.newrustacean.com/show_notes/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Antivirus software could make your company more vulnerable - r721
http://www.csoonline.com/article/3020459/security/antivirus-software-could-make-your-company-more-vulnerable.html
======
hiram112
I avoided AV software for most of my life. Though, when I worked as a student
admin, I would always install AV for the majority of my users. Most users
(especially older) simply could never learn not to download that cool new
'freeware' app or game or not double click a downloaded exe (the fact that
hidden extensions are still the default on Windows OS is absurd).
As a more savvy user, I did not desire the typical AV bloatware (Norton,
McAfee, etc) stealing up half my cycles and spinning the hard drive without
pause. I knew enough not to try and 'open' resume.doc.exe.
However, AV's have trimmed down, SSDs are becoming more common place, and it
seems the biggest attack vector is browser based. For the last few years, I've
run a few different AVs (Kaspersky, ESET, Bitdefender are decent).
I run adblockers, don't install Flash games or Applets, but it is nearly
impossible to stop all browser based attacks. I'm not sure the AVs have helped
much, but they give some sort of psychological benefit, at least.
There really is no good solution anymore unless you're willing to give up 90%
of the web (via NoScript or using a primitive console based browser). I
believe the future for tech-aware users will be browsers in some sort of
container / VM that reset themselves upon each session, with absolutely no
control to the file system or data from other sites.
~~~
NetStrikeForce
>> I'm not sure the AVs have helped much, but they give some sort of
psychological benefit, at least.
I find this a very dangerous way of thinking. You use the placebo (well, not
even a placebo, just useless) and then you stop worrying _that much_ about
opening downloaded files, checking their hash if you trust the source,
visiting dodgy websites...
An analogy taken to the extreme, would be to smoke and binge drinking without
worries because you're taking homeopathic "solutions" (sic).
~~~
bonoboTP
Not necessarily! It depends! It could be that the constant popups about
updating the AV, about allowing access to trusted programs etc. constantly
reminds him of the aspect of security and has this aspect in the back of his
mind while browsing, so it may actually enhance security awareness. As in "I'm
the sort of person who cares a lot about viruses, so much that I have an AV
and adblocker etc., so I'm also the kind of person who doesn't just install
any crap."
Installing an AV doesn't automatically reduce your defenses. Only if you over-
trust it.
~~~
NetStrikeForce
>> Installing an AV doesn't automatically reduce your defenses. Only if you
over-trust it.
Recent news might point otherwise and there's a debate about it. Does an
antivirus really protect you from a real threat? On the other hand, as you're
running extra software you're increasing your attack surface, which makes you
more vulnerable.
I've seen very clever people pointing to the latter and marketing efforts to
make me believe the former. Still, haven't made up my own opinion. In any
case, I stick to just Windows Defender and EMET
([https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/kb/2458544](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2458544)) to mitigate.
------
tptacek
Not "could". Does.
~~~
AnimalMuppet
Do you think that AV, on net, makes you less secure? If so, can you provide
any data?
~~~
drummer32
This[1] is on the very top of the fronpage right now. TrendMicro has a daemon
listening on localhost that can execute arbitary commands.
[1][https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10882563](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10882563)
~~~
AnimalMuppet
Right. (But that's one AV vendor. Others have the same possibility, of
course.) But is it still better (more secure) to run without any AV at all?
Something like this leaves you vulnerable to that flaw, but no AV leaves you
vulnerable to _everything_ (unless a firewall saves you).
~~~
tptacek
It is better to run with no AV at all.
------
nikbackm
Well, if Microsoft applies their secure programming guidelines also to Windows
Defender that might be the best (and default) choice if you're worrying about
attacks like these.
------
mikecb
Application whitelisting much more productive.
------
caf
...and it also recently introduced HVMI (Hypervisor-based Memory Introspection)
technology that completely isolates the antimalware solution by deploying it in
a Type 1 hypervisor outside of the operating system.
"This kind of isolation separates the antimalware engines from rootkits or
exploits running in the user environment," the company said.
This completely misses the point. Yes, it protects the AV from exploits in
other user software, but it makes exploits in the AV software itself _even
worse_.
------
bitwize
Whitelisting is one of the only proven security technologies in a world where
you can download and run arbitrary executables. Bit9 should be a requirement
on office PCs.
------
scottyates11
Personally, I won't trust those AV software which are free but claims
themselves have FULL function. There is no free lunch in the world. Sometimes,
we make jokes on Qihoo 360, we say itself is already a virus. A lot of pop-
ups, consuming computing resources. It is very annoying!
------
basicplus2
Any views on Sofos? I use it to whitelist stuff as requested.. application by
application.. seems pretty solid to me.
------
johhnnnhyrocko
If you guys are looking for a list of some decent AV heres one from this year
[http://no-adware.com/blog/best-malware-removal-tools-of-2016...](http://no-
adware.com/blog/best-malware-removal-tools-of-2016/) I am a huge MB fan
myself.
~~~
mox1
Mackeeper is listed as #2 on the list you linked to...[1] They aren't exactly
a high quality AV product.
1\. [http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/08/10/mackeeper-to-
pay-o...](http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/08/10/mackeeper-to-pay-
out-2m-in-proposed-class-action-settlement)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Can I trust Tor? - eof
...
======
MacsHeadroom
It is literally funded by the federal government. Says so right on the
website. If you want to know who pulls the strings, follow the money.
While Tor theoretically can be secure (as long as you don't use it to access
the clearnet), there are a few known vulnerabilities which would be trivial
for an entity like the US Government to take advantage of. You can be sure
there are also plenty of non-public vulnerabilities known to government
security contractors and, of course, the NSA.
If you want close to guaranteed security on Tor, use PGP for all communication
while connecting to it from a VPN bought with Bitcoin. Never use javascript,
java, flash, etc. Use only a live linux CD and a non-standard browser. Just
don't be a low hanging fruit.
------
captn3m0
If PRISM is real, which seems more and more likely with every statement;
you're screwed even if you use Tor if to access any of the PRISM-enabled
services.
~~~
jrdn
Well, yes. This is like saying you're screwed if you pull a perfect bank heist
and then spraypaint on the wall "My name is jrdn and I robbed this bank. My
social security number is 123-45-6789 and I live at 123 Elm St."
Tor should still do a just fine job of protecting your anonymity if you don't,
you know, shout out who you are.
------
stray
Of course not.
~~~
e3pi
Of course not? Why?
~~~
stray
You cannot trust any electronic system.
~~~
e3pi
> You cannot trust any electronic system.
You are in error sir.
Proofed(eg, OTP) or overwhelmingly messy crypto and mathematics is secure.
Animal meatspace is not. Who watches the watchman? Something silicon.
~~~
tmzt
Ironic that you would say silicon, since someone could theoretically put a
backdoor in a chip and you would have no way of knowing it's in there.
~~~
e3pi
Silicon is only required because we're lazier doing repeated simplistic
operations. Apply alot of pencils, paper, a 1GB sufficiently long one time
pad(OTP) 11 miles off the grid without mobile, for the rest of your life, if
you think you need it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
EFF's 2011 Holiday Wish List - llambda
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/12/effs-holiday-wish-list
======
davorak
Not a security expert here but it seem like akamai should also be required to
use a root CA that does not use md5 for it's encryption. It am under the
impression that md5 based encryption has been broken since 2008:
<http://www.win.tue.nl/hashclash/rogue-ca/#sec71>
~~~
ordinary
MD5 is not an encryption algorithm. It is a hashing algorithm. You're right
though, it is broken.
~~~
Dylan16807
The authentication is based on encrypting said hash, so I would say that
md5-based is good enough as a description.
------
marquis
Regarding "All software downloads should be provided only over HTTPS", this is
very expensive to provide, but is allowing users to compare a checksum an
equally secure option?
~~~
jpiasetz
What's to stop someone in the middle changing the checksum on the page?
~~~
fuzzmeister
The download page could still be served via HTTPS, even if the download itself
isn't.
------
drx
Must be cool for Colin to have Tarsnap featured there ( _as secure backup
provider Tarsnap puts it, "[b]ackups are supposed to be a tool for mitigating
damage — not a potential vulnerability to worry about!"_ )
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: CSS/JS/SVG game IDE? - stuartjmoore
Does there exist an IDE for making games using open web standards (read: not flash)?<p>Do you think there is a market for a website to allow users to create, host, and share these (presumably free) games?<p>Of course, the adoption of the newer standards is what really stands in the way, but I've seem some great things made in Javascript, and I'd just like to see them expanded upon.
======
vitovito
Effect Games has something like this: <http://www.effectgames.com/effect/>
It was posted to HN a while back: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=986196>
------
olalonde
If such an IDE was built, it would pretty much mean the end of Flash on the
long term. So my guess is that there is a market for an open standards IDE.
------
BasicObject
How about in the form of a browser plugin. Think Firebug. That would be
completely amazing and it's definitely possible.
------
ThinkWriteMute
It both saddens and annoys me that programming for the web requires: A styling
syntax, a markup syntax, an ugly programming language, and a xml based graphic
format.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Will designer brains divide humanity? - codeodor
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227083.700-will-designer-brains-divide-humanity.html?full=true&print=true
======
aarongough
Wow. One of the links in the article lead to this:
[http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14000-robomonkeys-
use-...](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn14000-robomonkeys-use-brain-
power-to-grab-a-bite.html)
Researchers have several Macaque monkeys controlling robot arms via a direct
neural interface and using the arms to feed themselves...
The fluidity of the robot arm's movement are amazing, you can see the monkey
interacting with it as though it genuinely has come to associate the arm with
itself!
Watch closely and you'll see the arm move closer to the monkey at one point
because it has spotted a scrap of food stuck to it that it wants to eat.
------
russell
The article looks at both viewpoints. Personally, I think we are aways down
the path of augmentation with cell phones and laptops. I dont see any great
divide coming. Just like everything else there will be early adopters and late
adopters. Eventually everyone will have the choice. Again, think cell phones.
It's not going to be a race war between humans and super humans.
~~~
chris11
Exactly. And besides, I'm really not sure that I want to be an early adopter.
The thought that any bugs or problems would be directly affecting my brain
kind of freaks me out.
I definitely like the idea of reshaping my brain, but I'm pretty cautious. I'm
comfortable with things like exercise, diet, and meditation. But I want to
know that I'm in control of the process.
~~~
russell
The early adopters will probably those who need it for medical reasons: blind,
deaf, brain/nerve damage, prosthetic limbs, Alzheimer's, etc.
~~~
chris11
Brain implants have already been in use for a decade. Brain pacemakers have
been successfully used to treat epilepsy, Parkinson's, and depression. So
while the implants seem relatively simplistic, they do exist.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_pacemaker>
------
mynameishere
It's the only thing that could possibly undivide humanity.
~~~
philwelch
Only if we all have to get them.
------
spoondan
Humanity is already deeply divided by the ownership of technology; it has been
for all of recorded history. Those that have the technology have won the wars,
grown the food, and built the shelters to survive and propagate in greater
numbers. The availability of augmented brainpower may widen the gap, but it
will not create it.
------
mannicken
I predict a dilemma. On one hand, there will be an offer to become a cyborg
with superior intellect. And let's just call this futuristic mind-enhancing
technology "chip", to simplify further.
So, on the other hand this chip will contain methods to manipulate thoughts of
people. Thus, making thought crime possible. Sex offenders and criminals will
be forced to accept this, of course. So if you pee in public, you'll have to
have you thoughts controlled for the rest of your life.
On the other hand, as the thought power of intellectuals will be brought
further and further forward, their differences and disobediences will also be
punished. The consciousness will be merged together. So, we'll have a giant
brain made up of intellectually-enhanced cyborg-people that will be able to
solve a crapload of problems.
Ok, this scares me. A lot.
~~~
biohacker42
Ever watched any Ghost in the Shell?
------
joshhart
OH MY GOD IT'S THE END OF THE EARTH CYBORGS AND ROBOTS WILL KILL US ALLL!!!
I admit that some of the latest advancements in brain-machine interfaces have
been impressive, but articles like these are ridiculously bogus. Even if we
could make a nontrivial BMI it would still require a surgeon to plant it just
right. Don't even get me started on AI.
------
asciilifeform
Factory-issue brains have already divided humanity.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why go to the Moon? (John F. Kennedy at Rice University, Sep 12th 1962) - tosh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXqlziZV63k
======
082349872349872
No wonder JFK got cancelled:
[https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-
f-k...](https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-
speeches/united-nations-19630920)
> "Finally, in a field where the United States and the Soviet Union have a
> special capacity--in the field of space--there is room for new cooperation
> ... I include among these possibilities a joint expedition to the moon. ...
> Surely we should explore whether the scientists and astronauts of our two
> countries--indeed of all the world--cannot work together in the conquest of
> space, sending someday in this decade to the moon not the representatives of
> a single nation, but the representatives of all of our countries."
What would the 1963 equivalent of "Look up — for all mankind" have been?
(As for Khrushchev, en.wikipedia says he wasn't stoked on the idea, but in any
case he got cancelled in 1964, the season after Kennedy.)
Bonus clip:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jwS76QCLtA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jwS76QCLtA)
------
tosh
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_choose_to_go_to_the_Moon)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
MySQL Sharding at Quora - jinqueeny
https://www.quora.com/q/quoraengineering/MySQL-sharding-at-Quora?share=1
======
bcassedy
Is Quora really big outside the US or something? I find it difficult to
reconcile their scale challenges with the fact that I don't know a single
person that uses Quora outside of when the come up in google search results.
~~~
technion
I suppose I would reply with the question "is being the top rated Google
answer for all sorts of questions enough?".
That is, I can't imagine anyone I know having deliberately visited Quora and
used it as a networking site. But I can sure imagine most of the non-tech
community searching for a random fact and clicking a Quora link. I'd have to
wonder what that means for traffic/load. Certainly I'd expect you could cache
a substantive portion of page hits.
------
troughway
While this is a great read, I'm excited to find out more about the tech
challenges behind their login wall.
------
JohnBooty
A couple of years ago, our infrastructure team
implemented the ability to move a table from one
MySQL host to another. This allowed us to have
multiple masters with different tables on different
masters, which we refer to as “vertical sharding”.
Each one of these masters, along with its slaves,
is called as a “partition” at Quora.
I nearly stopped reading here.
Naming things is hard, but why would they choose a term ("partition") that has
already existed for many decades in the same context?
That's nonsensical.
~~~
Ozzie_osman
What's nonsensical about it? A partition is just a logical split of your data.
You can do horizontal partitioning (aka "horizontal sharding"), like splitting
the same table to different databases by key. Or you can do vertical
partitioning, where you put different tables in different databases.
~~~
jeffdavis
I always thought vertical partitioning meant to split by columns (that is,
have fewer columns per table, and you need to join to get the original back).
~~~
JohnBooty
You're correct!
[https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18302773/what-are-
horizo...](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18302773/what-are-horizontal-
and-vertical-partitions-in-database-and-what-is-the-differen)
[https://www.datanumen.com/blogs/in-depth-understand-of-
verti...](https://www.datanumen.com/blogs/in-depth-understand-of-vertical-
partitioning-in-sql-server/)
------
gokaygurcan
[https://www.raphkoster.com/2009/01/08/database-sharding-
came...](https://www.raphkoster.com/2009/01/08/database-sharding-came-from-
uo/)
Nice article from Raph Koster. Especially if you played Ultima Online by any
chance.
------
awinter-py
'shard user scale data, centralize or mirror small scale data' (the A1 A2 B C
D E diagram) is a useful point
'obvious in retrospect' I suspect to a lot of teams that add sharding to their
system
------
RoboTeddy
Would Google Cloud Spanner work well for a workload like this one? Why or why
not?
~~~
axegon_
By all means yes, I'd argue spanner would be the ideal candidate for the task.
It scales beyond anything else I've come across. Mind you, so do the costs of
running it. I've only used it for training exercises and numbers add up like
nothing else. IIRC running a production instance at the bare minimum would set
you back around 9k/month.
~~~
boulos
Disclosure: I work on Google Cloud.
That was probably before the change last fall [1] to have an SLA for
single-"node" instances. At $0.90/hr per "node" for a Regional setup in Iowa,
that's just over $650/month. Note that I put "node" in quotes, because it's
hard to remember that "num nodes" != num replicas [2].
We "require" (I don't know if this is a hard requirement, but let's assume it
is) a node per 2 TB of storage [3], so the example for Quora of "tens of TB
without counting replicas" would probably be 15 nodes at 30T and say 50 nodes
at most (100TB).
Assuming 50T as a balance, you'll need at least 25 nodes and let's assume
regional pricing (since the MySQL example isn't going to be multi-regional by
comparison). That's 25 x $.9/hr x 730 hours/month (~$16500) plus 50T of
storage at $.3/GB/month (another $15k). So just over $30k/month or $360k/year.
As for qps, we quote the _multi-regional_ variants at 7k read qps per node (so
175k in this example) and ~2k write (so 50k).
That's all in though, so you'd need to compare to the cost of running a fleet
of MySQL boxes too (at a minimum you'll also need ~75-ish boxes, just like the
25x3 for Spanner), 150T of raw storage (assuming 1 master and 2 read replicas
per shard, which is pretty common) and then Zone to Zone egress (I believe
Quora is on EC2). I'm assuming they're using gp2 volumes at $.10/GB/month, so
that's the same $15k/month of storage. Being cost-conservative and assuming
r5a's and 3-yr RIs, you pay about $18/month per thread, so we can buy up to
833 threads of r5a for the remaining $15k/month. That's maybe close to
feasible (~11 threads per box), but honestly you probably need 16+ or even 32
for traffic this high (depends on query caching).
tl;dr: I don't think Spanner's pricing is higher than the sharded mysql fleet
in this example! I do think it's not available on AWS or on-premises though,
so that's a fine disqualifier for Quora.
[1] [https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/release-
notes#Septembe...](https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/release-
notes#September_25_2019)
[2] [https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/instances#available-
co...](https://cloud.google.com/spanner/docs/instances#available-
configurations-regional)
[3]
[https://cloud.google.com/spanner/quotas#notes](https://cloud.google.com/spanner/quotas#notes)
~~~
exacube
Even at ~$360k/year using Spanner, I wonder if Spanner is cheaper than the
amortized cost of dedicating engineers to develop and maintain a custom MySQL
sharding solution, on top of the AWS bill.
------
roskilli
Since it's range based sharding, was Vitess ever considered (a popular CNCF
MySQL range sharding cluster approach that came out of YouTube)?
~~~
sethammons
Different company. We evaluated Vitess in comparison to ProxySQL. While Vitess
was very promising, it was a large refactor and an all or nothing proposition
to switch to it. ProxySQL allowed us to move to it piecemeal and adopt a
crawl, walk, run solution in adopting it.
~~~
roskilli
Interesting, didn't realize it imposed a lot of client side changes, I'm
curious to hear your experience on that? Was it the change in MySQL
compatibility that makes it an upfront cost?
With Vitess I believe most get started with just deploying VTGate and just
proxying their existing queries to their existing MySQL server, then once that
is working nicely, start to range shard and expand the cluster sitting behind
VTGate.
~~~
sethammons
It was several years ago and I don't recall the details. And it is always
possible we missed something or that things have changed on the Vitess side. I
do recall the impression that we would have to have a "cut over" and it would
be going from zero queries to full load. It seemed doable but leadership
decided the risk was too high.
~~~
sougou
We've come a long way in Vitess in terms of usability. And we're adding even
more tooling to support onboarding and migrations.
------
fovc
> The result is that we do very few joins in MySQL
I realize depending on your data model some of this is unavoidable once you
shard, but it sounds like they did this even before sharding.
What's the reason to do that? Seems like you either end up with long
transactions or doing MVCC in app code
~~~
toast0
As a sibling has noted, joins across database hosts with SQL is somewhere
between hard and impossible. So it made sense to discourage and remove them on
that basis, given that the datasize was growing/has grown beyond what can be
managed reasonably on a single host.
Another reason to avoid joins is that they it can be difficult to consistently
write joins that execute quickly. Often, a poorly performing join can be
written as a sequence of queries which each perform well, and joined with
reasonable performance on the client side. Usually, it's easier to scale the
client (webserver) tier than the database tier, so moving work to the client
makes sense for that reason too.
Of course, this has to be considered in the context of the service. These days
it's pretty easy to get a database server with 64 cores and a couple
terrabytes of ram, and several terrabytes of fast SSD storage. You can do a
lot with that, and you may never need to shard.
------
zerr
Comment from the representative (probably) of the "Chinese Quora" is
interesting as well :)
~~~
jinqueeny
Thanks! Posting the case study here for more information:
[https://pingcap.com/success-stories/lesson-learned-from-
quer...](https://pingcap.com/success-stories/lesson-learned-from-queries-
over-1.3-trillion-rows-of-data-within-milliseconds-of-response-time-at-zhihu/)
------
TekMol
Interesting that they still use MySql and did not switch to MariaDB.
What is HNs opinion on MySql vs MariaDB?
~~~
Mailtemi
Their site(use case) looks almost similar to stackoverflow.com. The
stackoverflow.com has few MS SQL servers with a Memcached as cache. I guess if
reads are the heavy load it makes perfect sense just to continue with your
current SQL DB + sharding.
~~~
ramraj07
Did stack overflow even do any sharding?
~~~
Zenyaku
Here is what stack overflow does:
[https://nickcraver.com/blog/2016/02/17/stack-overflow-the-
ar...](https://nickcraver.com/blog/2016/02/17/stack-overflow-the-
architecture-2016-edition/) It's from 2016, but probably hasn't changed much.
Also StackExchange:
[https://stackexchange.com/performance](https://stackexchange.com/performance)
------
makz
This is going to be very useful for one of the projects I’m working on, thanks
for sharing
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Is speed reading really possible? - saurabh
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4229
======
critium
At around 7 or 8 years old, my reading level was several grades ahead of
schedule. I was consuming large (for my age) novels with no sweat.
My parents noticed this and gave me a speed reading book. I incorporated each
an every item on that book including the removal of subvocalization. It
certainly gave returns right away, allowing me to consume books at a faster
rate, but a huge cost.
Years later, I entered college as an engineering student. I noticed that when
reading highly technical textbooks, and classes that required deep
comprehension of text, I was much much slower that my classmates, or my
comprehension level was much lower. Turns out, it was taking almost double the
time for me to get through a section.
Really wished I didnt read the speed reading book now. I dont blame my parents
at all, it was unfortunate that at nearly 40, i'm still trying to unlearn what
that speed reading book taught me. I'm trying to re-learn subvocalication but
its very very hard to 'slow' myself down. I've actually installed screen
readers to replace subvocalization with some positive effect.
~~~
lusr
I just tried reading a number of articles on the front page using
www.spreeder.com that another commenter here mentioned. I got up to 800wpm
with chunk size of 3 before my suspicion was confirmed: while I had no problem
following the story, it felt like I had a mental buffer that was constantly
filling up and skipping over interesting questions or thoughts based on what I
was reading.
Fundamentally, speed reading through something is at odds with processing that
information in a useful way. And therein lies the rub: I don't read something
merely for the sake of reading it.
When I read novels, I enjoy losing myself daydreaming in another world, and
savouring the emotions of the characters while thinking about how I would
react in their shoes. When I read technical documentation I'm attemping to
create or update mental models of technical concepts. When I read a friend's
Facebook post I think about what, if any, response I will offer or how I would
deal with their situation. When I read a message from my girlfriend I have to
take time to understand and plan for whatever she's discussing or asking.
I'm honestly struggling to see the value in speed reading. I cannot think of
why I would be reading something simply for the sake of reading it without
further processing. More valuable would be learning ways to _process_
information more efficiently, i.e. accurately and quickly.
~~~
drostie
I think speed reading, as skimming, would be good in cases where you are
trying to skip through data rather than process it. I do something very
similar with lectures on topics which I'm already familiar with -- I speed
them up to 2x or 3x speed in VLC, then slow them down when I reach a topic
which requires extra thinking and comprehension.
There is also a tremendous value to watching an important lecture twice: the
first time on fast-forward so that you understand the structure of the talk
and the gist of the subject, and the second time on normal speed so that you
can really get into the details. A lot of writing tries to give you an
"overview" or "table of contents" to accomplish the same task, but when it's
not there, skimming can be extremely useful.
------
bambax
> _You can't read without subvocalization._
While this article seems well researched, I find this claim very hard to
believe. I can read while singing (not a song with words, but a tune that I
know well, without words).
I really don't think I "talk to [myself] so quietly, it cannot be heard" and
while my "tongue and vocal chords" may "receive speech signals from [my]
brain", I'm pretty sure they're not executed and neither my tongue or my vocal
chords move in any way.
(While reading in English there are some words I don't even know how to
pronounce, so how could I "subvocalize" them...?)
\- - -
The other point I have issues with is the fact that one should retain
everything they read while speed reading. While I'm unfamiliar with speed
reading classes' claims, I would argue that it's useful to be able to skim a
big wall of text to
1- get a rough idea of what it's about
2- determine if it's worth a further, more thorough examination
That may not be called "speed reading", but it's certainly a helpful skill.
~~~
unavoidable
Proof that you can read without subvocalization are ideographic languages such
as Chinese (especially the traditional variety), where the written text and
the 'vocalization' are not directly related - it is possible to understand a
passage of text based on the relation of the characters to each other and the
appearance of characters themselves (e.g. the radicals used and the parts
within) without actually knowing how each character is pronounced.
~~~
ryusage
My personal experience studying Japanese for a few years makes me skeptical of
this claim. Granted, the radicals, etc in the symbols can give you a hint of
their meaning, but ultimately a writing system is created to communicate
vocalized words.
In fact, many of the "hints" in the written symbols are based on words that
sound similar to other words when pronounced (their actual meaning being
unrelated), which is fully lost if you cut out the vocalization. As another
point, most words are written with multiple symbols, and the meaning of the
overall word may be rather different than the words you would get if you read
the symbols individually. At that point, I don't see any difference from a
word written with an alphabet like English.
~~~
unavoidable
You and the poster below mention Japanese as an example. I counter by saying
that Japanese use of Kanji is very different than the Chinese use. I am a
native Chinese speaker and have taken Japanese classes, and their vocalization
in the language are very different. Japanese places a heavy emphasis on how
the characters are pronounced because their language is not purely
ideographic; rather they use a hybrid phonetic and ideographic system which
forces the reader to vocalize sentences including the Kanji characters.
I posit that if you were a native Chinese speaker, you could skim (or speed
read as claimed in the article) without any subvocalization and still
understand the given passage.
~~~
ryusage
Hm...fair enough. I'm still skeptical, honestly, but I don't know enough about
Chinese specifically to argue with that. I do see your point about Japanese
being a mixture of systems.
------
dimitar
I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It
involves Russia.
-Woody Allen
------
acqq
"I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It
involves Russia." Woody Allen
------
js2
The comments in this thread, specifically the questions about deaf readers
prompted me to Google "deaf readers subvocalization", which lead me to the
book "The Psychology of Reading" by Keith Rayner and Alexander Pollatsek.
I'll excerpt a few paragraphs.
[Page 191 - <http://goo.gl/VLaaM>]
_Electromyographic Recording (EMG) records have been widely used to study the
role of subvocalization in reading. [...] Generally, EMGs are also recorded
from some other part of the body, such as the forearm, where muscle activity
should have no relevance for reading. In fact, normal skilled readers show
little forearm activity during reading, while EMG activity in the speech tract
increases markedly during reading in comparison to the baseline condition
(where the subject sits quietly). In contrast, deaf readers show a
considerable amount of forearm activity during reading (we shall see the
reason for that later in this chapter)._
[Page 211 - <http://goo.gl/R3NPT>]
_That profoundly deaf people can read at all is sometimes taken as evidence
that speech recoding in normal readers is optional. However, as we have seen,
they do not read very well, and the best available evidence indicates that
when reading English text deaf readers recode the printed information into
their native language (ASL) for comprehension purposes. Since they have not
experienced speech sounds, recoding into a phonological code is precluded from
deaf readers. Instead, the information is recoded into a manual form to aid
comprehension. The poor reading of deaf people is thus probably due in part to
inner speech being a more efficient system of recoding than overt manual
gestures.
Readers of logographic systems such as Chinese can probably access the meaning
of many printed characters directly from the visual representation. However,
associations between the printed word and the appropriate pronunciation are
activated during reading and appear to be important in comprehending text._
~~~
tokipin
my theory is that subvocalization (or this sub-signlanguaging) is actually a
'memory-query' aid that the brain uses. the subvocalization of a word is a
key, in addition to the printed key, that lets the brain rapidly conjure the
meaning from memory. _not_ doing this makes reading inefficient, so there is a
very strong conditioning for it
------
CKKim
In so far as I have had "success" with speed reading it has been to force
myself to run over the words more quickly and so interpret the commonly seen
structures as single units. This means that if a piece is written in a very
formulaic style then I can get through it fast because most of the stock
sentences read like single words with only the unique modifiers jumping out of
the page.
Think about when you look at code and automatically chunk the bits you have
seen a million times before but are somehow magically able pick out the needle
in the haystack which tells you what is special in this instance. The layout
of code helps enormously for us, but I find the effect is the same with
reading if I go quickly and with specific purpose to reformulate the
information as it is scanned. And the more you do it the better you get
because you have more data to draw from when identifying structures. It gets
to the point where often I _want_ an author to be formulaic rather than
stylish and idiosyncratic because it makes it much quicker to reorganise and
internalise.
~~~
derleth
> It gets to the point where often I want an author to be formulaic rather
> than stylish and idiosyncratic because it makes it much quicker to
> reorganise and internalise.
Hence legalese, and bureaucratese, and any number of other things that get
laughed at and railed against in equal measure.
~~~
JDGM
Excellent point. I rarely think of those as standardised structural
conventions for clearly and efficiently conveying meaning to those acquainted
with the terms and, to my shame, usually write them off as obfuscating
functions to mislead or confuse. Not so!
------
CurtMonash
Obviously, you get your best speeds when you're just accepting the text
uncriticially. If you stop to think about it, you won't hit top speeds.
Beyond that, you can certainly train for optimal eye movement, local or global
optimum as the case may be. After I took speed-reading, I knew not to look
directly at the very ends of lines, and I found it more comfortable to center
my eyes on white space than on actual text.
IIRC, I tested up to 800 WPM, but that was on grade-appropriate material in a
high school I found easy.
(Of course, this was all in the 1970s, when what one read was black text in a
familiar font in neat rows on white paper, all at least somewhat thoughtfully
arranged. Things are different now ...)
My best real-life estimates of my reading speed was in the 400 words a minute
range, with sub-vocalization. E.g., I have a few times read 3 novels the same
day, most memorably 2 days before my PhD qualifying exams. (One day
beforehand, I crammed like mad. :D One hour beforehand, I led my fellow
students in the most awkward game of frisbee ever.)
But it all depends on the material, and the approach to reading it. E.g.,
there are certain chapter subsections of Hormander's book on Analysis of
Several Complex Variables that famously take a week or more each to "read".
And yes -- I subvocalize.
~~~
joe5150
"(Of course, this was all in the 1970s, when what one read was black text in a
familiar font in neat rows on white paper, all at least somewhat thoughtfully
arranged. Things are different now ...)"
Different how?
~~~
Anderkent
Nowadays one mostly reads online. Adds, adds everywhere.
~~~
joe5150
I thought CurtMonash was referring to books nowadays, and I must disagree with
him if he's suggesting that typesetting, book design and the quality of book
production was better in the 1970s than it is today.
------
forgottenpaswrd
Yes, it is possible, I do it, but not as good as I would like. You could read
a book in twenty minutes as if it was a video with better comprehension that
reading it slowly(as most of the brain disconnects with such a low bandwidth).
When you speed read you train your eyes to look over a wide area and you are
able to read several lines at the same time and train the brain to make sense
of it(use the subconscious to store-order the lines automatically).
So the best thing you could do is to control the formatting, so text is always
the same size and always organized the same way, so if you force your brain to
make sense of it, it does after time.
The best structure is newspaper-like text, lots of columns, small lines so
your brain could make sense of entire sentences with just an eye shot.
It does not work with Hacker News, or most of the web by the way as each
format is different and content is scrolled, with wide lines, not paginated.
It works really well when you could control the formatting, aka non DRM text
you could interpret with your own software, but if you try to sell this
software you will have problems when even blind people are not permitted to
modify copyrighted text.
------
tokenadult
Wow. That was well worth a read, at whatever reading speed gives you full
comprehension. The author did a good job of reading the previous scientific
literature on the subject, and relating important issues to one another. He
examined both historical claims (supposed world records of reading speed) and
scientific claims (statements about how people read in general).
I read quite a few books about speed-reading when I was a university student
in the early 1970s, putting the techniques to the test while taking courses in
linguistics, foreign languages, history of technology, and Japanese literature
in English translation. There are a number of good books about how to improve
reading skills, with various levels of credulity about "speed-reading" claims.
After my own research and experience, I have to agree with the paragraphs in
the article submitted here based on more recent research:
"Ronald Carver, author of the 1990 book _The Causes of High and Low Reading
Achievement,_ is one researcher who has done extensive testing of readers and
reading speed, and thoroughly examined the various speed reading techniques
and the actual improvement likely to be gained. One notable test he did pitted
four groups of the fastest readers he could find against each other. The
groups consisted of champion speed readers, fast college readers, successful
professionals whose jobs required a lot of reading, and students who had
scored highest on speed reading tests. Carver found that of his superstars,
none could read faster than 600 words per minute with more than 75% retention
of information.
"Keith Rayner is a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and
has studied this for a long time too. In fact, one of his papers is titled
'Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research,'
and he published that in 1993. Rayner has found that 95% of college level
readers test between 200 and 400 words per minute, with the average right
around 300. Very few people can read faster than 400 words per minute, and any
gain would likely come with an unacceptable loss of comprehension."
I figure that my comfortable, steady reading speed in materials on a wide
variety of subjects at an upper-division undergraduate to graduate school
level is about 500 words per minute, with good comprehension. I plainly don't
need "tl;dr" summaries of articles submitted to HN as often as many HN
participants ask for those. (To be sure, many HN participants read English as
a second language, and we should admire people who come here to participate in
a second language, something very few Americans could do in a non-English-
language online community.) I definitely read more slowly and with less
comprehension on the first pass in Chinese or in German, my two strongest
languages for second-language reading, but I have read whole books in both of
those languages for fun or for research. I have diminishing ability to read
other languages that are mentioned in my user profile here.
tl;dr: Don't worry about fancy eye movements too much, and don't worry about
subvocalization too much. Just read steadily and think about what you are
reading while you are reading it for best memory of what you read and best
comprehension of what the author was trying to say. Building up your
vocabulary--by more reading, of course--is the best way to build up your
reading speed.
AFTER EDIT: The claim in another subthread here is specifically WRONG that
Chinese constitutes any kind of proof about subvocalization. I'm not
committing to a position on whether or not subvocalization, as defined by
throat muscle movements, always occurs in reading, but I know from the books
_Visible Speech_ by John DeFrancis (a scholar of Chinese)
[http://www.amazon.com/Visible-Speech-Asian-Interactions-
Comp...](http://www.amazon.com/Visible-Speech-Asian-Interactions-
Comparisons/dp/0824812077)
and _Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention_ by
Stanislas Dehaene (a neuroscientist who does brain imaging studies)
[http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Brain-Science-Evolution-
Invent...](http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Brain-Science-Evolution-
Invention/dp/B003H4RAOU/)
and from my own study of four different Sinitic modern languages (Mandarin,
Cantonese, Taiwanese, and Hakka) that all writing systems, properly so called,
are systems for writing out speech. Writing is based on speech everywhere in
the world and the Chinese writing system is full of clues that most written
characters are based on the SOUND of spoken morphemes.
How you might write the conversation
"Does he know how to speak Mandarin?
"No, he doesn't."
他會說普通話嗎？
他不會。
in Modern Standard Chinese characters contrasts with how you would write
"Does he know how to speak Cantonese?
"No, he doesn't."
佢識唔識講廣東話？
佢唔識。
in the Chinese characters used to write Cantonese. As will readily appear even
to readers who don't know Chinese characters, many more words than "Mandarin"
and "Cantonese" differ between those sentences in Chinese characters.
~~~
nhebb
> Don't worry about fancy eye movements too much, and don't worry about
> subvocalization too much.
I took a speed reading class back in the 80's, and it focused on these
techniques. I gave up. I found that I was concentrating so much on trying to
move my finger fast and not subvocalize that I lost focus on the activity at
hand - reading.
I was an engineering major, and the techniques weren't practical for my
academic reading. When reading fiction and non-academic work, it took the joy
out of reading. What was the point of reading a novel fast if I didn't enjoy
it.
For my academic reading, i did a little self analysis. I found my biggest
hurdle to reading quickly with high comprehension was concentration. After
10-15 minutes my mind tended to wander. It's an endurance exercise, and my
brain is no marathon runner. So instead of trying to block out an hour or two
for reading, I would break it up into shorter stints and try to focus very
hard.
It turns out this works out well for reading programming books. I do not want
to read a full book front to back without going over to the computer and
trying it myself. Otherwise, you end the book thinking you understand
everything but realize that stuff way back in chapter 3 is a bit fuzzy.
~~~
frobozz
> When reading fiction and non-academic work, it took the joy out of reading.
> What was the point of reading a novel fast if I didn't enjoy it.
Agreed. Personally, I think that if you don't subvocalize at least the
dialogue in a novel, you're missing out.
------
sesqu
I checked the link to The Straight Dope about the reading comprehension tests
they had conducted; turns out they hadn't conducted one at all. So I guess the
author didn't read slow enough before writing.
------
logn
I've discovered a few things about reading speed in my experience.
1) When I read fiction by good authors, I take great delight in reading their
sentences, so I slow down drastically to take every word and piece of
punctuation in.
2) Reading speed improves with practice.
3) Read smarter: if you don't need 100% comprehension then read topic
sentences of paragraphs carefully then skim the rest of the paragraph for
details you think are useful. And in news stories, they follow the "inverted
pyramid" for paragraphs meaning that they're ordered such that the first
paragraph is the most important, second one is second most important, etc. So
you can stop reading at any time.
4) Choose a column width that suits you. A lot of time is spent on line
transitions. Smaller columns makes this easier which you can control via your
window size.
------
camelite
I read this at 800 wpm (adjust this down @ 10-20% if a test I did a while back
still stands) fairly comfortably using <http://www.spreeder.com/app.php>. I
find it very much easier to stay "in the zone" using it.
~~~
hackerpolicy
This is called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_serial_visual_presentatio...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_serial_visual_presentation)).
After a few hours (or minutes) you start to identify the drawbacks presented
in the wiki.
~~~
camelite
Yeah I should probably add, I've only used it intermittently. For whatever
reason I don't find it comfortable enough to replace regular reading. It works
best for articles and the like where I want to actively extract information or
quickly ascertain quality.
------
brass9
Speaking of speed reading, the current layout of HN is not optimal for
reading. Main content width is way too long which makes of long sentences.
Font size is too small - so you're forced to zoom in.
Perhaps PG could think about improving readability of the site.
------
daven11
I did a speed reading course when I started uni and yes it does work. A lot of
stuff is bad habits - some others have mentioned, sub vocalisation, keeping
your eye in the middle of the page and read with your peripheral vision,
obvious stuff - don't slide your finger along the page, don't use a ruler
(some do) and so on. I improved my reading and comprehension quite a lot, but
find I turn it off when reading for pleasure versus reading to extract facts.
It's well worth doing - even if it only increases your reading speed 10 or
20%. [edit: How to skim read was another useful tool]
~~~
No1
"don't slide your finger along the page"
Interesting, most speed reading techniques teach the opposite and condition
you to move your fingers along the page.
------
aaron695
I did a speed reading course in high school and often wondered if it was a
scam.
Not a scam, scam more a motivational speaker/Eat less exercise more style
scam. If you followed it through it would work but almost no one follows
through hence the course/advice becomes bunk.
For instance one thing we were taught was to first skim the book/chapter
really quick then read it 'properly'
Makes sense to me, but I never do it.
People do have different reading speed levels and I don't think it's all
innate so I don't think it a crap idea.
I would agree that maybe the teaching is currently more based around customers
and less about pedagogy though.
------
Claudus
When I was younger I took a reading test and scored just over 1,000 words per
minute with 100% retention.
I remember reading an article that there were 3 types of readers.
Readers who sub-vocalize the words
Readers who "hear" the words
Readers who "see" words
Not sure if that's an accurate assessment, but I definitely don't sub-
vocalize. If I sub-vocalized, I think would at least some general idea how to
pronounce unusual character names from fantasy novels. I couldn't have even
tried to pronounce most of the character names in Lord of the Rings,
immediately after reading it but I could recognize the name patterns if I saw
them.
~~~
diminoten
I am very much a sub-vocalizer, and I have _no_ idea how to pronounce a lot of
fantasy words. What I find I do is I just don't sub-vocalize that word. I
don't even think about it, I just don't have a way of pronouncing the word, so
I "skip" it. Subsequently, I honestly couldn't tell you, were we to have a
conversation about that story, what that word was. My comprehension of names I
can't sub-vocalize is dismal compared to my comprehension of a) names I can
and b) larger story concepts and whatnot that I can largely sub-vocalize.
When reading Crime and Punishment in school, I remember specifically saying,
"I have no idea how to pronounce a whole bunch of stuff in here and I'm going
to need to talk about it, so I'm going to specifically come up with a
pronunciation." Without that conscious effort, I simply wouldn't have tried to
vocalize the names whatsoever, despite that being my standard method of
reading.
And to be clear, I _can_ not sub-vocalize, but it's just... uncomfortable.
------
Inufu
I think speed reading is most useful when you are reading some text where only
parts are relevant or new to you. By quickly reading those, you can focus on
the important pieces and spend more time to think about them.
Interestingly, the faster I read, the less I'm able to "filter" the
information I read about, it seems almost as if my brain absorbs it directly.
That means that I'd never speed read content that might contain bad memes or
false information: political propaganda, religious texts, etc.
Does anyone know a good test for reading speed (including comprehension)?
~~~
simonbarker87
This book did in fact double my reading speed in 1 hour and there are 2 nice
tests in the back which can help calculate you reading speed and also
comprehension
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speed-Reading-Double-Triple-
ebook/dp...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Speed-Reading-Double-Triple-
ebook/dp/B008J2MMWU)
~~~
xenonite
how ironic.
------
sp4rki
I've been a bookworm from early age and even though I slow down when the
material is highly technical and requires better comprehension I don't find
the words being repeated in my head. As a matter of fact, while reading I find
that while I do talk in my head, I might summarize or ask myself questions
about a paragraph (stuff like: "Don't believe. Rem. check refs", like I did a
few times in this article), as opposed to repeating the words I'm reading. The
only moment I find I'm repeating words mentally or sub-vocalizing is when I'm
writing, and I believe I do so to get the underlying tone of what I'm writing.
When I read a novel, I tend to want to spend more time immersing in the world
and the events in it. While I slow myself down in this case, I tend to make
images in my head while reading and I've found that it becomes inherently
harder to do if I'm subvocalizing... it removes focus from the imagination
side of things for me. I don't really believe that it's impossible to read
without subvocalization.
In any case, one of the tricks I use to speed read at a moderate speed (as
opposed to skimming) is to black out mentally everything but the current line
and process it as a whole. It works like imagining a rectangle enclosing the
current line. Works wonders for me taking into account I'm the fastest reading
person in my social circles.
------
Granitas
there are plenty of books around this topic. In short there are a at least 4
ways speed reading that you use for different materials. As the other comment
pointed out the 1st thing you have to do is stop vocalizing what you read,
then you need to learn vocabulary so you would know all of the words without
putting much thought to it.
speed reading can really be a game changer, I used to get bored of books
myself, but when I can read faster the experience seem to be way more
enjoyable!
~~~
jibbirish
But do you experience the same limits as stated on Skeptoid? Are your reading
at 500-600 words per minute, with full comprehension, or even faster?
~~~
StavrosK
I can read pretty quickly (I've never really measured, but it takes me about a
minute to read a page, which I guess is around 500 words). Depending on the
text, though, there's a lot of slowing down or re-reading. I read Harry Potter
pretty quickly, but "Thinking: Fast and Slow" is nowhere near at the same
pace.
~~~
realsuperman
Yes, a lot of times speeds keep on varying. It depends a lot on the type of
book that you're reading. For the rest, it's inherent abilities that assist.
------
btipling
I worry more about the quality of my comprehension than the speed at which I
read. I"d rather take ages and get a good understanding than speed up the pace
at which I read. Depth over breadth any time. In product features, in overall
understanding, in capability, in testing, art, in all things life. This is
akin to a get rich quick scheme, do things on the cheap, doing more with less.
You can only do less with less.
------
tjbiddle
I'd argue with a few points made in this article. Subvocalization can most
definitely be minimized - Not removed completely, but minimized. The article
brought out a study from NASA stating that there were minute muscle movements,
which I would believe - but if you can minimize it to a dull effect, can
drastically improve your speed of reading.
As with "fancy eye movements" as some have claimed it - Whether they have much
of a help, I'm not sure. Personally I generally read with my right eye, and my
left eye tails a fraction of a second behind which generally helps pick up a
few details I may have missed - But I notice I have trouble with this if a
page's width is too large (HN has a fairly large width and I will read much
faster if I make the window smaller). Anything more than that seems as if it
would be fairly difficult - But I haven't read into the various techniques.
Can you learn to read at the crazy speeds mentioned in the article? Probably
not. Speeding your reading up though seems definitely plausible - At least it
_seems_ to work for me, but I can't draw a very good conclusion from just
myself in the sample.
------
goldfeld
I used the coursebook Breakthrough Speedreading successfully in teaching
myself the technique a number of years ago. Though all arguments here about
nuance and critical thinking also were nagging in the back of my mind then,
the actual reason that made me drop it was actually reading another book on an
unusual technique: Relearning to See on the Bates method.
The Bates Method emphasizes that one of the worst offenders to natural vision
is staring, or the act of fixing a point and relying on peripheral vision to
capture a much bigger area. Relearning to See is in big part about relearning
to skip, like animals do, when they constantly move their eyes and heads to
scan the environment or an object. And speedreading was at odds with this,
because it emphasized you should fix your vision on some center point in the
page and allow your peripheral vision to gobble up the surrounding text, and
you need not even do it sequentially, you should get to the point where you
"understand" the image of the page as a whole. That's the bill, anyway. So I
opted for natural vision (and comprehension).
------
msutherl
As I was reading this article, I used the SpeakIt! Chrome Extension[1] with
the native voice setting to gauge how fast the quoted speeds actually are.
For me, 800 wpm was about the limit of how fast I could read while still
understanding most of it. That's the '4x' setting. The '2x' setting is 400
wpm, which based on the article and my experience is a good target reading
speed.
It's not entirely perfect because the rhythm imposed by the text-to-speech
engine is not optimal for fast reading – it pauses when you don't need a pause
and powers through complex sections, but I found it an interesting exercise
nonetheless.
Lately I do most of my reading by listening to audiobooks. The last two books
I read, I experimented with the 2x speed setting on the iPhone. It took a few
minutes to get used to, but now I can't recommend it highly enough. Now I can
get through audiobooks in half the time and I've totally adjusted to the
butchered sound quality.
[1]:
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/speakit/pgeolalili...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/speakit/pgeolalilifpodheeocdmbhehgnkkbak?hl=en)
------
KennethMyers
Anecdotal personal stuff: I learned to stop subvocalizing in grad school. I
had no idea it was a canonical speed reading strategy. I can read really fast
now, with unimpeded comprehension.
Common sense stuff: The author says that scientists say that reading without
subvocalization is impossible. The fact that deaf people can read is extremely
inconvenient for this theory. Seriously, man?
------
npsimons
It's funny this comes up here and now, as I am working through "How to Read a
Book", which was in one of the recommended reading threads on HN recently. In
HtRaB, they talk a little about speed reading, but dismiss it as mainly
something that can help bring someone up to speed, ie, it is mainly helpful in
a remedial sense. I think the commentary with comprehension is quite cogent
(it's precisely why I'm reading HtRaB), and so therefore the discussion should
turn to what to read, since time is limited. Again, I am grateful to previous
threads on HN for pointing out good reads, and feel that a more considered
approach to how time is spent (both in what is chosen to be done and how well
it is done), rather than in how quickly something is done is most beneficial.
------
gnosis
There's another Ronald Carver book called _"Reading rate : a review of
research and theory"_ , which comes to the conclusion that speed reading
doesn't work.
People can skim at faster rates than they can when reading with full
comprehension, but then their comprehension will suffer. You can learn to
skim, to take notes, to get quick overviews of whatever you're reading by
noting things like chapter and section headings and by reading for the main
ideas of sections and paragraphs.
These are all useful skills. But they are a far cry from being to read every
single word in the text with full comprehension, and doing that at a
significantly faster rate than normal. This latter achievement is something
there is little or no evidence of.
~~~
r0s
> read every single word in the text with full comprehension
Some would say this is impossible and unnecessary.
------
loopdoend
The whole eye-moving thing is a complete waste of time and effort. The real
trick to speed reading is RSVP[1], rapid serial visual presentation.
In RSVP the words or small groups of words are flashed in extremely fast
succession without the need for the reader to move their eyes at all.
I use iRSVP on my iPhone to read books from my Calibre library and my reading
speed has never been higher. It's not for everyone and requires a high degree
of concentration, but it enables me to read and understand books much faster
that I would have been able to otherwise.
[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_serial_visual_presentatio...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapid_serial_visual_presentation)
~~~
abentspoon
If you've had good luck with RSVP on your phone, I built a RSVP
bookmarklette[1] a while back for reading articles on the web. I never had
much luck reading with it, but it might be useful if RSVP works for you.
[1] <http://qwerjk.com/force-feed>
------
Tichy
Wondering about subvocalization, what about reading in a language I never
learned to speak?
~~~
batgaijin
unless it used an alphabet you don't know how to pronounce that's impossible.
~~~
StavrosK
What's impossible? Reading without subvocalization? I do it all the time.
------
hexagonc
I agree with the conclusion that improving reading comprehension is the best
way to improve reading speed, at least for me. There are two things I learned
from my stuttered attempts at speed reading: (1) The best way to increase
reading speed for me is to simply stop re-reading sentences that I already
read. I do this unconsciously usually because I didn't fully understand the
sentence the first time. Better reading comprehension reduces this. (2)
Attempting to speed read is probably a waste of time for me because most of
the material I read is technical, so comprehension is usually the bottleneck
to getting through the material, anyway.
------
Mz
Different people have different minds/brains. My ex read so fast that trying
speed reading techniques slowed him down. I read ridiculously slowly for
someone who was in a lot of gifted classes. I tried speed reading techniques.
I was able to read faster. I hated it and went back to my snails pace
voluntarily. I read with good comprehension, but, yes, I "say" everything
mentally.
My oldest son also reads shockingly fast. When I began watching him play
videogames, he flipped through dialogue so fast I could not read it. I thought
he was just skipping familiar parts. Nope. He just reads that fast. He has to
slow down if he wants to include me.
------
Tycho
I have 3 thoughts on speed reading
1\. Speed reading fiction is about as sensible as watching movies in fast
forward.
2\. Speed reading non-fiction will not lead to much formation of conceptual
knowledge in your brain, and definitely not the sort of rich inter-connected
learning that we probably read for in the first place.
3\. Speed reading where you develop a sixth sense for which parts of, say, an
academic paper you should slow down and read carefully could probably be a
good thing.
In general, while I used to think there was some sort of prestige attached to
how much / how fast you could read, I don't think that anymore. It's how
'deeply' you read that counts.
------
lius0035
I once heard a talk by an top government official who says she has to read a
briefing book of hundreds of pages every single day from 10p.m. to maybe 1a.m.
Of course, They skim a lot and they probably know a lot about the issues
already but still they must read at a much higher speed than a college kid to
finish that kind of reading assignment every day, right?
I know some people who read a book a day and I can't do it a week, and none of
them need to advocate their reading speed. They must read a few times faster I
do, I think.
Does anybody here read new texts, with no skimming and a decent comprehension
at 1000wpm?
------
fauigerzigerk
How do deaf (since birth) people subvocalize?
~~~
blowski
Studies have suggested that some do, some don't. The more deaf you are, the
less likely you are to subvocalise.
Totally not an expert in this area, but I think everybody associates more than
just the sound of the word - movement of lips, memories, and other senses are
also involved. Deaf people can obviously acquire those 'subvocalisations'
instead.
[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8PhwXf9uj1IC&pg=PA114...](http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8PhwXf9uj1IC&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=deaf+subvocalization&source=bl&ots=ZzKLbj_KCD&sig=204yVPfW8uNexHCO2M1-fby5kVk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fE8rUeGZLsqR4ASE5IGgAw&ved=0CGwQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=deaf%20subvocalization&f=false)
------
ericb
Around 5th-7th grade, I was in advanced reading and part of a speed reading
training class/experiment. It still all seems a bit odd to me. A woman came in
a couple times a week with a special projector that projected a book on the
screen, but using a rapidly moving light, only showed a few words at a time on
the screen. Each week the light moved faster. This was followed by
comprehension tests.
I read about 30% faster than most people, but I have no idea if this is really
why. Was anyone else a guinea pig? This was in Central NY in the 80's.
------
taeric
So, whenever I think of the subvocalization debate, I immediately see this
video. The basic idea was, do not presume that everyone does the same thing
you do in order to achieve the same goal.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL273BA8C6E484C988&fe...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL273BA8C6E484C988&feature=player_detailpage&v=Cj4y0EUlU-Y#t=148s)
In other words, I find it hard to believe a claim that subvocalization is
required across the board. At least, at an absolute level.
~~~
ax_
Feynman is not talking about subvocalization in that video.
He's talking about seeing and hearing. According to psychology, humans have
two sets of "short-term memorybuffers"; spatio-visual, and auditory. It is
perfectly possible to do two tasks at once, as long as you use different
"buffers". Like juggling and singing.
But to be able to comprehend text, it needs to go through the linguistic
centre. It doesn't matter if it goes through the spatio-visual or auditory
sensors. Subvocalization is created by the linguistic centre.
Simple words or numbers do not need to go through the linguistic centre. So it
is perfectly possible to comprehend text and at the same time count if you
"see"/"hear" text and "hear"/"see" counting. But you cannot comprehend two
advanced texts at once.
~~~
taeric
Hmm... I can obviously not claim you are wrong. But I do find the difference
between internally hearing something and "subvocalization" tough to
distinguish.
And, my entire point was that reading is different to different people. So...
it may well be that many folks can not speed read. Might even be the case that
most speed readers are not as good as they believe. Still, to see the numbers
in this, 600wpm with 75% retention sounds ridiculously fast and not too shabby
on the retention. So... yeah?
------
hmsimha
After reading this very informative article, it occurred to me that developers
of new tools that will be built upon heavily would do well to try to think of
names that can be vocalized in one or two syllables. Reading the name PHP or
the mouthful WYSIWYG should take longer than words such as C or Java or SCRUMM
or perl if we are indeed vocalizing them. Perhaps the convention of adding www
to the beginning of website names has had a substantial impact on the
efficiency of web navigation?
------
emiliobumachar
It's really up to the text. When I read math or comuputer science papers, I
have to read slowly, and a few times over, to get any comprehension, even from
the non-formula prose.
------
e12e
I wonder if NASA has done comparative studies on native vs foreign language
wrt sub-vocalization and reading/speed reading ?
It is rather well known that native language and (all) foreign languages are
"stored" in separate parts of the brain (with some limited controversy over
whether there exists "bilingual" people in a biological sense).
I wonder if that has an effect on how we read written text (other than that
most people presumably read faster and with better comprehension in their
native tongue).
------
daralthus
Good speed reading courses and books not only teach you how to skim faster and
not to subvocalize but how to comprehend and learn better. For example in Paul
R. Scheele's book he teaches you how to start on a book:
read the table of contents,
then read the headlines through the book,
then speed read the book and then try to probe your comprehension, ask
questions etc.
The table of contents and the probing is the most important. Teaches you
recursive learning, when you first build a foundation then you fill out the
details.
------
Raz0rblade
I also use spead reading once in a while. I can read realy fast going through
large documents To be able to find something quickly I once got a huge
document on my desk 3400 pages, and i had to decide if we would do that
project, please try to read it. To their surprice i fineshed reading and
pointed them on the hard parts of it, they never thought anyone would be able
to read the entire doc in just a few hours for the deadline.
------
emhart
Around the point in the article describing the eye movements required for
reading, I experienced a weird anxiety as I attempted to both perceive my own
eye movements and consume more of the text. After a few sentences it actually
became uncomfortable. Gave me the impression that implementing speed reading
strategies would be dubious for me, personally.
~~~
mistercow
I have this sort of problem all the time, and I wonder if it is due to a
Problem. For example, if I become aware of my blinking (like if someone does
the "manual blinking" trick on me ... ... damn it), then I become anxious and
uncomfortable until I can be sufficiently distracted from thinking about it.
Another one is eye contact; I generally don't have a problem making eye
contact during conversation, but if I start _thinking_ about it, I become
aware that I can only look at one eye at a time and, I get a similar feeling
of anxiety and discomfort. I can't decide whether to focus on one eye, switch
between them (and at what rate?), or stare past the person, "magic eye" style
so they look like a triclops.
~~~
emhart
Hah, the triclops comment made me chuckle. And don't read too much into this,
as I doubt it is at all an appropriate indicator, but I should disclose that I
actually have an anxiety disorder. Particularly in conversation I will sort
through conversational trees and actively analyze the dialog I am having, as
it is happening.
It can be both maddening and very useful. But more than anything it makes you
realize how comfortable you are with those closest to you, because all that
overlaid mapping and planning fades away into actual casual conversation.
Veering far off topic now though!
~~~
mistercow
Interesting. I also have an anxiety disorder, so maybe there is some
relationship there. We just need someone neurotypical to chime in and tell us
whether it happens to them too.
------
gordaco
I'm surprised about the bit about the subvocalization; I always thought that
brain speed was the number one limiting factor.
~~~
jibbirish
I have had a few workshops on speed reading at my university, and what those
guys said about subvocalization was something along the lines of: We learn to
read when we are about 6 years old, how do we learn this? By sitting in a
classroom and reading out aloud a simple text, with the entire class at once.
In this stage we start to connect reading with subvocalization, when we learn
to read better the teacher tells us to 'read in our heads'. Meaning that you
are still sub vocalizing. This is a limiting factor as one can (presumably)
only speak around a maximum of 500-600 words per minute. Coincidentally, this
is the maximum speed for which we can read with a high comprehension according
to skeptoid.
I personally never thought much of the guys giving the speedreading workshops,
they seemed to be acting and came across like secondhand car dealers. Their
claims of comprehension with over 1500 words / minute just sound insane. The
techniques however are not all nonsense, and I do believe that I have learned
to increase my reading speed from +/- 300 to around 500 words per minute.
The most important lesson they thought was 'guiding your eyes'. Our eyes are
not that good in following a straight line by themselves, just try to stare
straightforward, and make a perfect circle with your eyes: it will more likely
be a pentagon or something. When we let our eyes follow our finger drawing a
circle however, it is a lot easier. Applying this to reading, simply means
using your finger or pen to follow each sentence on the paper. I find it a lot
faster to read that way, but I still let myself subvocalize the sentences, for
comprehension. Doing this on a 500-600 words/minute rate is a lot more
exhausting though, and I only use it for academic articles or textbooks.
------
X4
1) Silence the inner voice.
2) Don't fallback with your eyes, just re-read the entire sentence.
I can combine two lines I've read into a sentence while reading the next two
lines. It helps when I'm in an exam, or when looking for something in a
Website.
I heard of people who scan pages diagonally, which makes my envious :)
------
donniezazen
Besides sub-vocalization I tend to read loudly making full use of my oral
musculature. It helps me stay active, improves comprehension and retention. I
am not sure if it's a bad habit or just the way my brain works. Any of you
guys have same experience.
------
appleflaxen
Just a shout out for forcefeed - a javascript bookmarklet that lets you read
any web page without moving your eyes. I think it's incredibly helpful, even
if my comprehension isn't 100%.
~~~
davidje
link? thanks
------
coldtea
Yes, if you don't value what you read and just want to get a quick idea of it.
It's not possible for actually _reading_ stuff.
Which reminds me of the Woody Allen quote:
― "I speed-read "War and Peace". It's about Russia, right?".
------
appleflaxen
Just a shout out for forcefeed - a javascript bookmarklet that lets you read
any web page without moving your eyes. I think it's incredibly helpful.
------
rahulroy
Is there any good speed reading online course?
~~~
mistercow
You are still looking for one after reading that article?
------
Executor
For a user of a speed reading CD (eye-Q), thank you for this info!
------
cafard
Not for me.
------
humanspecies
The text says it's been proven by NASA and several others that you can't
remove subvocalization, yet most speed reader comments here go on to say "yes
it works i removed subvocalization". It's obvious all these "speed readers"
didn't read a single line of this article.
~~~
daven11
depends what you mean by sub vocalisation - some people move their lips when
they read - this slows things down. You still read the words in your head - so
you could call that sub vocalisation - but don't move anything physical
(throat, mouth, tongue) - that slows you down.
~~~
ZeroGravitas
From the article:
Even skimmers subvocalize key words. This is detectable, even among speed
readers who think they don't do it, by the placement of electromagnetic
sensors on the throat which pick up the faint nerve impulses sent to the
muscles. Our brains just don't seem to be able to completely divorce reading
from speaking. NASA has even built systems to pick up these impulses, using
them to browse the web or potentially even control a spacecraft. Chuck
Jorgensen, who ran a team at NASA in 2004 developing this system, said:
"Biological signals arise when reading or speaking to oneself with or without
actual lip or facial movement. A person using the subvocal system thinks of
phrases and talks to himself so quietly, it cannot be heard, but the tongue
and vocal chords do receive speech signals from the brain."
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why You Should Never Skip Flossing Your Teeth - raymondduke
http://www.raymondduke.com/2013/01/why-you-should-never-skip-flossing-your.html#.UP68Hyc7Z8E
======
w0utert
FTA: _Just recently I decided that I would give myself another dental check
up. I seemed to have forgotten my horse racing lesson because I was expecting
to have perfect teeth, again. I didn’t. I was given a bill that would be the
equivalent of buying a decent used car. Ugh. Could I have prevented this? Yes,
I could have. If only I had been flossing my teeth two times a day, I would
have had less problems._
My personal anecdote: last time when I went to the dentist, for the first time
in ~10 years, because a tiny bit of a tooth broke off while trying to strip a
piece of wire with my mouth (yes I know that's bad), I expected my teeth to be
in horrible shape. Dentist fixed my tooth and did a full check-up including
X-rays, and as it turns out, my teeth where in near-perfect condition, no
cavities or other bad spots, just some dental plaque that needed to be
removed. I haven't flossed a single time in my 30+ years long life.
Moral of the story: flossing probably has nothing to do with dental health, as
long as you brush your teeth and don't eat a lot of sugar.
~~~
lucian1900
Actual moral is probably that some people have better teeth than others.
~~~
kposehn
I guess the molar of the story is clear.
~~~
raymondduke
Great comment!
------
teuobk
Interestingly, there haven't been many (any?) studies looking at the efficacy
of flossing for prevention of carries (cavities). What evidence is available
suggests that flossing can reduce gingivitis (gum disease).
Relevant Cochrane review: [http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD008829/flossing-to-
reduce-gu...](http://summaries.cochrane.org/CD008829/flossing-to-reduce-gum-
disease-and-tooth-decay)
------
mistercow
While the current consensus among American dentists is that flossing helps
prevent cavities, this (like what seems to be a frightening amount of what
dentists believe about dentistry) is not actually founded on or backed up by
scientific evidence. There is slightly stronger evidence that flossing helps
against gingivitis (<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22161438>).
As for dentists handing you a bill that would pay for a used car? There's an
easy fix for that: ignore most of what they tell you, and get things fixed
if/when they hurt. When the dentist has you sign a consent form that says
"dentistry is not an exact science", take heed.
------
gambiting
What is this "flossing" he is talking about? Nobody I know flosses their
teeth, is brushing and then using mouthwash twice a day not enough?
Also, having a public health care helps with the bills, I go for a check-up
every year and never had any serious problems.
~~~
nollidge
Where are you located? Every dentist in the U.S. will scold their patients for
not flossing.
~~~
pygy_
AFAIK, it is not promoted in Europe.
We're encouraged to brush after each meal, though, using fluorinated
toothpaste.
------
norswap
In Europe (at least the parts I'm used to), many dentist don't even actively
recommend flossing to their patients. Some do, but they're in a minority. The
other will say it's good if you ask them, but won't try to get you to do it
unless you have a specific affliction for which it is especially indicated.
~~~
riffraff
adding (possibly) a couple datapoints, it's the same for my home country
(italy) and where I live (hungary). Sometimes they suggest you floss, mostly
they don't.
~~~
pygy_
The same goes for France and Belgium.
------
bmurphy1976
I hate flossing. My teeth are packed tightly together. Getting the floss
between them is tough so I tend not to do it I have to.
I recently picked up a waterpik off of Amazon for about $40. It's essentially
a water pressure based flossing system. I love it! It's easy to use and gets
those spaces that are hard to reach with floss.
If you struggle with flossing like me, I recommend taking a look. I've been
very happy with the results so far.
------
at-fates-hands
I went through a bout with severe Periodontitis.
Just in case: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodontitis> "Periodontitis
involves progressive loss of the alveolar bone around the teeth, and if left
untreated, can lead to the loosening and subsequent loss of teeth."
My case was pretty severe. Mainly from drinking WAY too much pop and not
brushing and flossing on a regular basis. It is true flossing helps your gums
in a lot of ways and considering they're the main support structure for your
teeth, you really should take care of them.
And even if there isn't any scientific data showing dental care and other
diseases aren't related, shouldn't you just error on the safe side anyways?
------
tokenadult
An HN thread from eighteen days ago on flossing and dental care in general
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5007968>
accumulated a lot of interesting comments after I last checked it soon after
it was posted. Going back to those comments now is food for thought as I read
this thread. I'm trying out some of the ideas that come from the article that
opened the previous thread, for example by changing which mouth rinse I use
daily. I still floss daily, and have for years, and since I began doing that
(in adult life), my dentists have generally reported that my teeth are now in
better condition than they were before I started that habit.
------
beagle3
Nutrition has a significant role in teeth health that is completely ignored by
dentists. Apparently, vitamin D and vitamin K2 can do more for you teeth than
regular brushing, provided that you don't keep your mouth sugared for too
long: see e.g. <http://www.westonaprice.org/journal/journal-spring-2007>
And a pre-emptive answer to all those who will say Weston Price was a quack:
No, he wasn't. Ignore the soundbites, read his studies, and modern follow-ups.
------
stcredzero
A coworker of mine from way back had a dentist who put it this way: It's
simple. You just have to floss between the teeth you want to keep.
Flossing twice a day? I thought I was awesome for once a day.
------
jakejake
My dentist gives me a guilt trip about flossing on every visit. I've always
thought that was a bit odd because it would be in his best business interest
for me to neglect my teeth.
~~~
T-hawk
He's a professional. He genuinely cares about your dental health. Most medical
doctors enter the profession because they genuinely want to help people, not
exploit them for bucks. And prevention is very often the best method of help.
Compare him to the programmer who creates an extensible open framework, as
opposed to the guy who throws together a dense hack that only he understands.
The latter could be said to be acting more in his own interest, but the former
is more dedicated to his profession and the greater good.
------
epoxyhockey
The article draws an analogy between flossing teeth regularly and staying on
top of your game, in general.
I'm not a fan of the analogy in this case, but the tl;dr is: _don't rest on
your laurels_ when you're #1 at something. Reference:
<http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/rest+on+laurels>
------
mladenkovacevic
Apparently, flossing also helps to prevent heart disease. Perhaps that's just
some unfounded pseudo-science being pushed by the floss-manufacturers but in
any case I imagine it can't be bad for you. Twice a day might be a little
overkill, though.
~~~
Ives
It's real science. Bacteria in your mouth can enter the bloodstream through
wounds and travel to your heart.
//EDIT: Apparently, although the association between gum disease and heart
disease seems to be science, the causal link is not.
~~~
cma
What about wounds caused by flossing irregularly?
~~~
euroclydon
Seriously, and flossing undoubtedly pushes some food particles beneath the gum
line.
------
pclark
I floss all the time because it feels amazing
------
dgunn
Am I still on HN?
~~~
riffraff
yes and not hellbanned AFAICT.
~~~
dgunn
Nope. Just your standard flossing tips on HN. Nothing out of the ordinary
here...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Firefox announces Panasonic as a partner CES - hardwaresofton
https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2015/01/05/firefoxosces2015/
======
hardwaresofton
Super excited to see FFOS get some more momentum. Glad to see that they're
making their way into the TV space, and have grand plans (and are finally
getting a little limelight).
While I don't think I will buy a smart-tv, I am currently working on a side-
project to port FFOS to an android streaming stick I recently bought -- great
to see that the team at mozilla is thinking as big as they are.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
SellABand Music Model Gaining Traction - pg
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/03/29/sellaband-music-model-may-be-working/
======
BrandonM
I am very happy to see all of these music startups. My startup idea is one
which should help to change the current structure of the music industry for
the better, but I'm glad to see that such changes are already happening. Their
funding model in particular is quite clever, one that seems eerily similar to
one I read in some paper or article a few months ago, where the writer was
suggesting precisely the idea of an art funding model in which fans put money
towards bands they like to encourage them to continue producing music. It's
too bad that I can't find it.
------
far33d
I've been thinking a lot about micro-finance/micro-credit for funding creative
content. There are a lot of different possible ways to do it, and this is a
nice one... Anything that replaces the labels, the studios, the publishers,
etc has the potential for major disruption. But this site is still a
middleman.
------
domp
This is an interesting idea. Although $50,000 is a high price to get an album
recorded with a producer. It seems more like a contest then a new music model.
------
zaidf
Good news for us:) This must be one of the most exciting industry to be in at
the moment.
------
ecuzzillo
About time the music industry started to fix itself.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: YC Schedule for Spring Round - melusafint
Hi, I'm planning to apply for the spring-round of YC funding, but I can't find any information about the schedule. I'm sure they'll post it when the time gets nearer, but I'm currently living outside of America, and want to have moved back by the time they call people out to California for interviews (I am an American citizen, just currently living abroad). I want to buy a plane ticket soon, so I would like to know when, at the latest, I can come back to America and still be in time for a potential interview (flying to California from outside the country would be too expensive, so I want to already be moved back).<p>So if anyone could let me know during what period interviews will take place next year, it would be really helpful.<p>Thank you.
======
cloudwalking
I believe YC does two investment cycles a year, one starting in January and
the other in June.
So there isn't a spring round; the next one will be summer.
~~~
melusafint
I thought the deadline for the application was in March, that's why I called
it "spring."
Then, for the summer cycle, when do interviews take place?
Thanks.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bootstrapping Understanding: An Introduction to Reverse Engineering - breadbox
http://www.muppetlabs.com/~breadbox/txt/bure.html
======
peteforde
This one is going on my permanent list of links to recommend.
When it comes to learning these sorts processes, there is a hierarchy of
related phenomena required to succeed:
motivation > intuition (experience) > patience/persistence/determination >
skill (aptitude) > tools
When people are learning to program, I always tell them that regardless of
their preference between books, videos, classes or peyote, the most important
thing they need to persevere is a problem or project that they passionately
want to see through to the end. This urgency translates directly to giving a
shit, which is something I believe is critically missing when implementing a
TODO clone in language framework X.
My hierarchy above can be viewed from another lens: in what order does having
ample supply of this trait _open the aperture_ for all of the others that
follow?
Being really patient and having access to Stack Overflow can make up for a
lack of skill. Doing something for a long time can occasionally make short
work of a project if you see the answer quickly. However, nothing else in the
chain matters if you aren't urgently motivated to reach the conclusion. When
you feel genuine _need_ to see something through, everything else clicks into
place.
------
moralrecordings
Great writeup! A good reminder that in reverse engineering you can get pretty
far just with static analysis and a bit of educated guesswork. Also a
fantastic demo of using statistics to get a foothold into how the files are
structured.
If anyone is interested in some similar research, I did a video writeup using
very similar techniques for reversing the graphics format of a cutesy platform
game -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0x7KU4wLGw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0x7KU4wLGw)
~~~
PeterisP
The statistics part is interesting but seems a lot of analysis work and
guesses to get what's happening there - I was left with a feeling that after
the initial analysis showed that the map layout isn't straightforward, it
would have been easier to just look at the code touching it, e.g. take that
DOS executable, put a memory breakpoint on one of these bytes with unclear
meaning, and see what the code is doing with it.
~~~
breadbox
(Note: I'm assuming from the reference to "map layout" that this comment is
directed at the original article, and not the video mentioned in the parent
comment.)
Reading the assembly language is what many (perhaps most?) people would do at
that point. But not everyone is as comfortable with reading assembly, and I
wanted to show that a lot can be done without taking that step.
Also, "easier" is a relative term. It was far, far easier for me to examine
the data files sitting comfortably in front of my Linux box, than to try to
pull together a decent debugging setup inside of a dosbox before making any
headway. There's always more than one way to do it.
------
proxybop
I absolutely loved that game! I played the Windows version when I was younger.
That guy is a mad genius. It's great knowing there are people who can figure
out a two-byte compression scheme (and even know what it is to begin with) by
just looking at the binary dumps.
~~~
breadbox
Thank you for the compliment, but I hope my essay convinces you that it's
actually not as hard as it sounds!
~~~
xelxebar
Horrible article. It had me glued to the screen in rapt interest and I ended
up losing track of time, causing me to be late for a meeting.
Actually, I have been biting at the bit to get into reverse engineering after
discovering some of Chris Domas' [0]. However, my hand has been stayed simply
by a lack of somebody to learn from and nerd out with on the topic. Would you
be able to share any communities you are aware of in this regard?
Really though, awesome article. Thank you for taking the time to write and
share it!
[0]:[https://github.com/xoreaxeaxeax/sinkhole](https://github.com/xoreaxeaxeax/sinkhole)
~~~
breadbox
Thanks for the kind feedback. Unfortunately I don't know much about
communities. Most people who do reverse engineering focus on examining
code/assembly, but my limited experience is solely with data files.
~~~
chocolatkey
This was a great post with references to many tricks and tools I was not aware
of that might help me in similar endeavors. Do you have any particular advice
for reverse engineering image data files (not encrypted, of a completely
proprietary format)?
~~~
breadbox
I'm afraid that's something I don't have any experience with. However, another
commenter mentioned a cool video he did on just this subject, at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21728298](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21728298)
\-- so maybe check that out?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Japan scientists detect rare, deep-Earth tremor - jackgavigan
http://phys.org/news/2016-08-japan-scientists-rare-deep-earth-tremor.html
======
Phithagoras
Paper at
[http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6302/919](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6302/919)
For Sci-Hub users, DOI: 10.1126
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How does project management work in your small / tiny startup? - akor
For some context I work for a tiny startup where I'm the only tech person. I am frequently handed a task that is unclearly defined and I work with the business owner to tease out the spec over time or am expected to come up with the "correct" solution intuitively. We're so small that everybody has too much work to do so I understand the necessity to just hand off the work but because I don't deal with clients my "correct" solution on first pass frequently diverges from what the owner / stakeholder is thinking. In addition the work sort of stacks up with the highest priority task being the one that has a client deadline attached or is a flashy "marketing" feature. There is no clear direction from the owner describing what should go next in the pipeline with a huge list of possible projects both small & large. The critical stuff is often left for me to work out outside of or in between the other requests but almost never has dedicated time to deal with it. We don't really have the budget to hire another tech person and have tried outsourcing work which resulted in almost exclusively terrible / sub-par results (which was partly on us). I also am not clear I'm given the tools to succeed in the sense that I feel like in a larger organization a CEO might tell a manager they want X feature and the manager is required to figure it out but they have more access to work out what a "correct" solution is (via access to stakeholder(s)). I realize there is a lot wrong with this picture and I should probably have already moved on but I'd like to grow as a person and think this is an opportunity for just that. I'm just not sure how to turn the tide in the direction I want. Anyway TIA.
======
muzani
IMO, ideally a minimal tech team consists of two people: a full time
programmer and a full time manager.
To use a gaming analogy, one is the DPS and one is the tank. The programmer
moves the needle, makes things happen. But someone has to absorb all the
attacks, so that they can do their magic.
The job of a programmer is to focus, deeply. The job of a manager is to handle
all the meetings, always pick up calls, cut out unnecessary features.
Without a manager, you tend to take on more than you need to, because there's
nobody around to reduce the number of things that need to be done, or estimate
the timeline properly. Sometimes you need stuff from the client - API access,
and so on. This is the manager's job to keep following up.
~~~
jackgolding
This is how I view managers, iteration managers etc. not only do they "steer
the ship" (i.e. set the strategy) they are a shield from the rest of the
business.
------
twunde
These are very common problems to have, even with large teams that include
project managers. The first problem is prioritization. One way to deal with
this is to do a weekly meeting to hash out the product roadmap and
prioritization. If you do this well, the business will prioritize your work
for you. To do this really well, you need a few things. First a rough sense of
how much effort a project is. A day, a week? Second, the business should be
estimating a rough impact on the business. A good question to ask is how much
impact will this have on revenue? You should be working on things that have
the biggest impact on revenue with the tiebreaker going to what's fastest to
implement. Importantly you need to make it clear what your capacity is. My
general rule of thumb is that you should be scheduling a maximum of 3 tasks to
do each week.
Let's talk about the ill-defined tasks. The short-term solution is to say that
every task requires at least one meeting to gather the requirements and design
a solution. Until requirements are defined AND accepted by you, you can't
schedule the work. You need acceptance criteria.
You're going to need buy-in from the business. Talk to your favorite
manager/exec and discuss the problems you're having and your proposed
solutions. They May have their own ideas and solutions to suggest. Trial it
out and adjust the processes as necessary.
As a side note, you'll recognize some of these practices as agile practices.
In factory terms, you're the bottleneck/constraint and you're trying to
protect the constraint so that it's used as effectively as possible. Good luck
------
PeOe
We use our own tool [https://zenkit.com](https://zenkit.com) for project
management and it works great. You need one person who overlooks the tasks and
reorganizes it when there is something wrong. The person organizing the Tech
Team (like you) should know at least the basics of the technical stuff you use
or what you (can) do. Is some info missing, you can just ask other persons via
@mentions. At Zenkit there is a rule, that we need to answer to such mentions
as fast as possible. The whole work becomes easier because you don´t need to
call someone and you and the whole team can see what everyone is up to. For
all these tasks we use the kanban view (like to-do, in progress, done) and
many companies set a rule, that one person should only have for example three
tasks assigned to him on to-do.
------
goatherders
I have tried trello, asana and google keep. And while they are useful the fact
that my company is just me means I lean most on post it notes and a notebook.
For example my entire sales pipeline is in color coordinated post it's on my
office wall. And for now it works great.
------
mabynogy
Taskwarrior.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Between the Lines: LA parking spaces - davesailer
http://www.lamag.com/features/Story.aspx?ID=1568281
======
byoung2
_The garage—designed to serve the public good—instantly made the Metro
immaterial to concertgoers, placed several thousand cars on the road every
week, and pumped a few hundred tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere each
year._
I'm an LA native, and this is what I hate most about my city. There are
sections of the building code that literally mandate a minimum number of
parking spaces when you build a new building. When every building has plenty
of parking, everyone is expected to drive everywhere. As long as this is the
case, there is no incentive to improve public transportation.
~~~
mturmon
Here's another good quote:
"Single-car garages, hidden in backyards and alleyways in the early 20th
century, doubled in size by the 1970s and moved onto the front lawn once
cities began to require two residential spaces for every house."
The LA city requirement that new houses must have parking for two cars, side-
by-side, has pretty much made the only possible home layout like this:
[http://image.americanhomeguides.com/cgi-
bin/imagemgr/get_ima...](http://image.americanhomeguides.com/cgi-
bin/imagemgr/get_image?image=832bed1e1f4626ee5de7cee343be8dfe)
i.e., driveway straight up to garage, which is in front of house. This means
the front yard is half concrete, and every (new) house front is dominated by
the garage.
Even relaxing the requirement to allow tandem parking would be an improvement.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Air Force Aims for 'Full Control' of 'Any and All' Computers - nickb
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/05/air-force-mater.html
======
brentr
I read this article because the headline made me think that Wired was outing
the Air Force as a means of taking away my civil liberties. After reading the
article, I realized that it was simply a job ad.
I think I am done with Wired. Two of the things I have vowed never to do are:
(1) Work for the government; (2) Work on something that could be used in war.
In my opinion, with this one simple article, Wired has crossed the line from
being a place I get interesting tech news to being a puppet of the U.S.
government.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Save some money on those long night outs with this app, would love feedback - andresmax
http://drinklistapp.com/
We're a consulting startup who recently released our first iOS app to help you manage shared tabs and save some cash on those long nights out, check it out here http://drinklistapp.com/<p>I would love to hear everyone's feedback, also if anyone is interested I have a few promo codes around so you can download it for free.
======
FuzzyDunlop
As nice as it's presented, I can't imagine going on a night out with my mates
and spending more time keeping an app on my phone up to date. I'd be too busy
getting drunk and enjoying myself to be arsed about what drinks I had and how
much they cost.
I'd say it was a solution in search of a problem. And the better alternative,
I would say, is to not share your tab if you're a bit of a penny pincher.
------
adamtmca
Seems like something my mom or the local news would mention when talking about
how phones can "do just about everything these days" but wouldn't actually get
used.
"Well Cathy, theres even an app to keep track of your tab when your out on the
town! Isn't that something John, now off to Simon for the weather"
That said, you are obviously talented designers - the site & the app look
really nice & will definitely make a great portfolio piece.
------
there
a great way to make your friends regret asking you to come hang out with them
at a bar.
~~~
rhizome
Actually, I think it would be a good idea to go drinking with someone who uses
this app. Since they'll invariably forget X number of drinks throughout the
night, you can offer to settle up the next day. "See? I only had two beers."
~~~
danso
Sorry but this app has no audit system.
If you and your friend don't have the kind of relationship in which either of
you can trust each other or forgive a beer or two, then you don't have the
kind of relationship in which you'll automatically trust each other to have
pushed the buttons on an app correctly.
------
timjahn
The landing page design is gorgeous.
But really - would YOU ever use this app in the intended social setting?
The horse is getting beaten to death already, but the last thing people out
drinking want to do is log their drinks in their phone.
If you're out drinking so much that you have to keep track of how many drinks
you've had, I doubt you're going to care about being charged for an extra
drink or two when you and your buddies split the bill at the end of the night.
~~~
presidentx
Horse getting beaten to death? Where did we come up with such awful sayings?
And why do so many I hear have to do with the cruel treatment of animals?
------
mjs00
Looks great, but agree with most points made around how folks might be
perceived using this (unless in a group of finance/accountant types).
Maybe a slight repositioning as something 'practical' that considers
responsible folks consume at different rates - have it know who is in the
group, who is 'in' for each round (as folks consume at different rates), then
when final bill comes in, it will do a proportional split of final tab based
on who is in each round, (also potentially relative drink pricing if different
costs beer/mixed/wine), and tipping suggestion for each based on a value you
set (18% / 20% / ??). Then app is more friendly to the group, and benefit is
you don't overpay/overtip individually or as a group when maybe not thinking
clearly when you settle.
You could even add a game element on who's paying the round, or based on
random, ongoing bets, ??
------
danso
The presentation here is nice but it doesn't fit the reality of social
drinking, as other commenters have noted. Long nights out involve free-flowing
liquor and some give-and-take in buying rounds, sometimes eating a loss,
sometimes getting many free drinks.
Drinking is about loosening up. The use of this app would seemingly inhibit
that.
~~~
andresmax
Definitely see your points (and everyone else's) the app started out as a
proof of concept and wanted to get some more feedback if there was a valid
market.
------
colinm
How are drunk people gonna use it?
~~~
andresmax
We made a fair bit of "on-site user testing", it works :)
------
aarondf
I think it's curious that at the top of the page it says "requires iOS 5" and
at the bottom it says "iOS 5 ready."
It's a beautiful landing page, but I'm not quite sure I understand the
problem.. Is this to split tabs? Or to show the bartender, "Hey, I only
ordered these drinks, don't charge me for more!" The latter doesn't sound like
it'd go over well. Confused.
~~~
andresmax
The use case is more for splitting tabs between large groups of people.
Also cross reference what the establishment is charging you vs what you
actually had, you'd be surprised how many bars and places are willing to
overcharge you once you've had a bit too many.
~~~
rhizome
So when I'm at a bar and I order "2 Whiskey Sours, a Budweiser, an Amstel
Light, a Heineken, a Sapphire Gimlet and a Knob Creek neat," and the bartender
charges $50 (or whatever), do I stand there asking how much each one was?
~~~
devicenull
Even if you ask, I've had cases where they just don't know (Everything gets
entered into a computer, computer does some magic math to come out with your
total)
------
trout
It would probably be better served to just keep track of how many drinks you
have. I would be more likely to use it if I wanted to quickly calculate
calories, drinks, estimated BAC, etc. The estimated BAC could be pretty cool -
it could do calculations based on weight and alcohol processing based on when
you click a +1 or something.
------
latchkey
Funny app idea. I'd say that if you need this app, you've got a serious
drinking problem.
~~~
andresmax
Well this is intended for sharing tabs between large groups, rather than you
counting your long night of an alcoholic spree.
~~~
latchkey
The only thing on your website that suggests that is this brief sentence "just
pay for what you had".
If I saw my friend taking out this app and being a miser about something like
this, I'd probably not drink with them again. Hell, I wouldn't drink with
myself again if I pulled out this app. I seriously can't imagine someone using
this in a social setting and not being ridiculed for it.
Could you imagine at the end of the night, pulling out your phone and
saying... "hey everyone, look, I only drank this much and I'm not going to put
any more money towards the whole tab."
Most of the time, the people who would even care about the tab are the people
who aren't drinking! Why would they even need this app?
Really, I hope my friends are honest enough to put their share of the tab up
or suck it up and just pay a bit more knowing that the next night of drinking
maybe they save a bit. It all evens out in the end between friends.
Spending time and money implementing ideas like this are exactly why we are in
a bubble right now. If someone is going to pay $0.99 for this app, but be
worried about paying too much for drinks in a group setting, something is
really wrong with that person.
~~~
danso
It seems like you got downvoted but you're pretty much on the dot. The people
I go out drinking on long nights with are friends and we're all fairly honest.
A lot of nights that I go out with non-friends, those people are either taking
care of the tab or I've decided to take care of it. The first impression
created by pulling out an drink-accounting app will probably not be a good
one.
------
emmelaich
I had to read this three times before I understood what it meant. It's "nights
out" not "night outs"
------
MenaMena123
Do you go out and drink much? Seems nice but in the night life the last thing
people are going to be doing is using an app to find out the cost of the
drinks, then adding them in. Understand its hard enough to get a drink in
crowded bars, it may help with costs, but that person may look like a cheapass
with his little app. _Hey everyone my app says I didnt drink those beers and
its off 50 cents, can I have the costs again to every drink i bought to I can
add them into my app..... If I didnt buy a certain drink I just tell the
waiter, I didnt drink that and they take it off.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What new technology / software are you waiting for? - andrewstuart
======
K0SM0S
I would say (profitable) fusion power (other than the Sun's...), but that may
be 20 or 2,000 or 2,000,000 years from now so...
I'll go with mind-controlling machines. I know the US military is already
quite advanced in that regard (trained pilots can control helicopters, jets
too iirc), we've all seen the monkey using a third mechanical arm after a few
minutes of training, there's this game with the ball in a magnetic field...
mind-controlling stuff is going to be immensely powerful. And so swell.
The human-machine interface (how fast we can transfer information into the
machine, how fast we can intake what it outputs) is the weakest link in the
chain. Improve that, and you massively improve our capabilities, our power to
do "everything else". Imho. And it would be so cool to feel like Jedis or Q's
hehe. And robotics, a "smart"-world IoT-enabled at every corner, and you get
an idea of a totally surreal world for us.
------
code_code
This has me believing in nuclear energy again: .. www.moltexenergy.com ..
Molten salt in tubes. Walk-away safe. Economics estimated cheaper than coal.
Can burn existing wastes. Uses existing materials.
------
ramtatatam
I'm waiting for feature-full postgres schema diff tool :) there are a few out
there, some written in C (so difficult to contribute to) but none is feature-
full.
~~~
karmakaze
Why is this hard? Can you just pg_dump the schema then diff?
Seems like this isn't something you have to wait for, you can start making one
in a language other than C (like Rust jk).
~~~
ramtatatam
It's very hard, merging schemas manually is painful and leads to errors. I'm
writing this from experience..
Such tool is on my list since long ago, but unfortunately there is only 24
hours in the day :)
~~~
jolmg
Some years ago, I wrote a tool to merge databases. There were a few
differences in schema that it handled through configuration, but the tool was
mostly about changing primary and foreign keys as it transferred the data so
the merges wouldn't clash.
What's your use-case on "merging schemas"? Does it not merge data? Is it like
you have a database with a table with columns "foo", and "bar", and then
another database with a table with columns "bar", and "baz" and you want one
of the database to end up with columns "foo", "bar", and "baz" without moving
any of the actual data?
~~~
ramtatatam
I'm using all sort of building blocks, I recall functions, views, custom
types, triggers, publications on per-table basis. In most cases I don't allow
for my schemas to divert, but there had been situations like developing next
generation of the system where for reasons out of my memory I had to wait till
job was done and then merge schemas. Probably this could have been avoided but
in the same time I was not there when decisions was made :)
------
Jack000
current generation "VR" is pretty underwhelming imo - it's literally a 3d
movie attached to your face, providing parallax but not depth of field. There
are things like magic leap that have 2 focal planes, but I don't know how well
they work in practice.
I'm waiting for real light field displays to come to market, which should have
a much more compelling experience. Maybe in 10 years...
------
cjbprime
Would be nice to do more in VR -- waiting for high enough res for programming
and photorealistic avatars for video chat.
------
karmakaze
Actually good videoconferencing. This means low-latency and high-resolution so
that you can see micro-expressions on the participants' faces in real-time not
lag-time.
This is more valuable than remote AR/VR.
------
gradschool
a development tool chain to embed a Zig language application into an seL4
based unikernel image deployable interchangeably on AWS, Digital Ocean, etc.
an Intel-supported multi-platform open source ME disabler
an up-to-date untethered iOS jailbreak
peer to peer encrypted DNS
------
Blakestr
I will take one Neural Lace, please.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Guy solves over 200 CS exam problems in 4 hours - ryandougherty
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_ZdcHSFGv0&t=1s
======
tromp
I stopped watching when he gets question 7 wrong, which should be C...
~~~
pxx
The person's logic is wrong: Clearly
(0*10*10*)*10*
can generate two ones next to each other (choose * = 0 except for the
parenthetical, where you add pairs of 1s).
However the problem also seems completely broken.
(0*10*10*)*10*
can't generate the string 01, which is clearly in the set of binary strings
with an odd number of 1s. It misses the entire set of strings that match 0*1,
in fact...
~~~
ryandougherty
Thanks for the correction! Totally my mistake.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: FOSS projects with bad UX? - oDot
All of our work at ShittyMVP.com is under an NDA, and we'd like to donate some of our UX resources to FOSS projects. We believe it's a win-win: we'll have something to show and the project will benefit from a UX improvement.<p>(P.S, not LibreOffice)<p>Thanks
======
exolymph
GIMP is... not great.
------
fenwick67
You should probably clarify whether you're looking for big or small projects,
how much of a commitment you can make etc.
------
xstartup
Tox p2p messenger
------
mrits
pgadmin
------
jakub-swierk
squirrelmail
------
return1
blender
------
ricksnyke
One word, Blender.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
SpaceX CRS-7 Launch, Count Down - MonCalamari
http://spacexstats.com/mission.php?launch=24
======
sctb
Comments moved to
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9793555](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9793555).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Rikers Drove My Innocent Patient to Plead Guilty - de_Selby
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/rikers-island-plea-bargains-213223
======
Asbostos
How is a plea deal not duress? Imagine if a cop pointed a gun at you and said
"I'll shoot you unless you confess". We wouldn't accept that confession but we
do accept a prosecutor saying "you'll get the death penalty at trial unless
you plead guilty now." Same goes for lesser sentences vs threats of physical
violence.
~~~
sp332
Because they can't directly give the person a death sentence. If you turn down
the plea, you go to a regular trial where a jury determines if you're guilty
and the judge & jury determine your sentence.
~~~
hughperkins
Well, they do, after several years at Rikers ...
------
blisterpeanuts
Plea bargaining should not exist. It makes a mockery of justice, turns the
legal system into a marketplace where you bid for relative degrees of guilt
and are rewarded for "copping a plea", and occasionally snares the innocent.
The war on drugs has clogged the system, but also our somewhat lawless and
rudderless population since the early 1960s, when a generally orderly society
gave way to a general contempt for authority. And the population has grown far
faster than the number of courts to accommodate it.
I think the only solution is to legalize drugs and build more courts to
address the remaining cases more quickly and efficiently, without throwing due
process out the window.
Better education would help, too. And instill moral education in our children
in the schools and at home. In the end, a more moral society will bring about
a more moral justice system.
~~~
AnkhMorporkian
> Plea bargaining should not exist. It makes a mockery of justice, turns the
> legal system into a marketplace where you bid for relative degrees of guilt
> and are rewarded for "copping a plea", and occasionally snares the innocent.
I confess that I'm somewhat naive regarding the larger context of this. I have
dealt with the criminal justice system, and I was very thankful for plea
bargaining. I was, without a doubt, very guilty of what I was accused of doing
and I knew that the state would have zero issue proving that and convicting
me, and my lawyer tended to agree. I did not have the money to post bail (at
the time I was very poor, the bail was very reasonable), and my lawyer told me
that a jury trial would keep me in jail for far longer than my sentence would
be if I pled down. With my plea bargain, I spent 22 days in jail. I likely
would have been in jail for at least a month and a half, even if my lawyer
pushed as hard as he could for a speedy trial.
With that out of the way, while I understand that the plea bargain process is
abused, isn't my case an example of why plea bargaining should exist, at least
in a limited context? It saved everyone involved time and money.
~~~
zo1
>" _isn 't my case an example of why plea bargaining should exist, at least in
a limited context? It saved everyone involved time and money._"
Other than saving money/time for some people, how was it a net benefit to the
victims (if any), or society in general? Care to elaborate as I'm not quite
understanding what you're saying?
I don't think I've ever encountered the notion (other than in Law&Order) that
the prosecutor is the one that gets to decide leniency in terms of punishment.
This is traditionally a power held only by judges come sentencing time[1].
Personally, it's akin to the prosecutors acting as judge and jury. You were
not judged by your peers, even though you knew you were guilty (and probably
everyone around you). But the prosecutor took the role of jury to essentially
"blackmail"[1] you using the power of leniency that a judge would have.
The system is broken, and we shouldn't have to come to a point where we make
such comments or interpretations. The expectation is that laws should be
obeyed, and punishment of them is applied equally to all. But what we have
here boils down to "equally for all", _except_ "more leniently" for those that
don't waste money and time of those involved.
[1]. Correct me if I'm wrong historically. [2]. One broad definition of the
term blackmail is: "the use of threats or the manipulation of someone's
feelings to force them to do something."
~~~
cloverich
> Other than saving money/time for some people
Time and money are both limited resources, especially in the case of the
Criminal Just system. That alone is an argument _for_ its existence.
> the prosecutor is the one that gets to decide leniency in terms of
> punishment.
IANAL, but believe the judge is the one who decides (e.g. you could
potentially plea out and _not_ get the deal offered by the prosecutor).
Moreover, if you don't like the bargain you can always roll the dice in the
courtroom where you'll face the established punishment for your crime (rather
than the reduced one being offered).
To be clear, I dont like the system as is either. But I think a speedy trial
would probably be impossible without bargaining. Thus I think the only route
to a solution (i.e. the one we should perhaps focus on) is: 1. Reduced
penalties for various crimes 2. Drug legalization
~~~
mikeash
The limited nature of time and money for the criminal justice system is
artificial scarcity. We _choose_ not to fund them adequately, and make up for
this by making unfair and unjust arrangements with the accused.
The portion of government spending that goes toward courts is not terribly
high. If we wanted to and needed to, we could increase it by a huge amount
without greatly increasing tax burdens.
There is no practical reason we can't give every single accused person a
speedy trial. We just don't feel like putting in the effort.
------
jimworm
It has been known for millennia that confessions obtained under torture are
very effective at reducing the workload of the courts. So much so, that a
billion-dollar industry can grow its own market at will with a minimum
increase in judicial expenses.
What's the next "disruption" in the industry? Automated guilt-finding? Mass
surveillance, check. Self-running prisons? Automated jail management, check.
Automated lawyers? Watson, check.
The system is turning into a predator that seeks out the slow and weak as
prey; unfortunately, unlike a predator in nature, it decreases the health of
the entire herd.
To naively take the predator analogy to the extreme, it would be more
beneficial for a nation to randomly select poor people and summarily execute
them than maintain a justice system that deals almost exclusively in
injustice.
------
given
I guess the suspects should not go to the same place as the convicts. So
prisons only for convicts and "safekeeping places" (which are not allowed to
be near a prison) for the suspects.
To treat suspects like criminals is not right. You and me could end up being a
suspect without the slightest guilt in the matter.
~~~
morganvachon
> I guess the suspects should not go to the same place as the convicts.
By and large, they don't. Suspects go to county or city jail, not prison, to
wait for bail or their court date. Convicted persons go to prison.
The issue is that a large, and growing, percentage of the pre-trial jail
population is repeat offenders, people who _have_ been to prison and therefore
the jail environment begins to resemble the prison environment. In the county
where I work, with a total population of nearly 1 million people, the jail
houses about 2300 inmates on a regular basis. Those inmates are classified and
housed based on a number of factors, including the type and severity of their
current charges, their criminal history, direct observation by medical and
psychological staff, age and infirmity, and so on.
Still, even with this sensible approach to keeping the "hardcore" inmates away
from those accused of minor crimes, occasionally someone who has never seen
the inside of a jail before ends up in a cell or dorm with career criminals.
There's no easy solution, but proper classification and staff education go a
long way towards keeping pre-trial jails safer for the accused.
As for the subject of this article, I can't help but wonder how high his bond
was set for that particular charge, given that most bonding companies
typically charge no more than 15% of the total bond amount. Even if his bond
was $10,000 (which would be consistent with the charge here in Georgia, but of
course NYC may be drastically different), the fee to a professional bondsman
would be $1500, something his family and friends could scrape together. Even
if his bond was set higher than that, he could have petitioned the judge for a
reduced bond or even a ROR (released on his own recognizance) bond, given the
non-violent nature of the offense and the fact he's never had a felony
conviction.
No, it sounds like a big part of the problem is apathy on the part of the
public defender's office in NYC, coupled with district attorneys who care more
about conviction rates than actual justice and judges who are nothing more
than rubber stamp machines.
~~~
coldcode
It's not apathy for public defender's office, it's that each one generally has
dozens of cases to try to work on. Governments hate to spend money on public
defense and prosecutors are happy to make their lives miserable. I find it
amazing that anyone actually wants that job.
~~~
imroot
I was a public defender for a year. When I was interviewed, I was told that
I'd normally do about 80-100 cases a year. During that year, I experienced
true burnout around my 250th case. I took an unpaid Leave of Absence and
ultimately left law because of this.
------
jimrandomh
New York has a legal and constitutional obligation to hire enough judges,
public defenders and court staff to provide speedy trials for all of the
accused. "Speedy" is legally defined to mean six months. For some reason, they
haven't done it, resulting in the crime against humanity that is Rikers
Island. This is odd, because I can't imagine they even save money this way;
imprisoning people is expensive.
~~~
vidarh
New York defines this differently. From an article about Kalief Browder[1] who
spent 3 years at Rikers before charges were just dropped (he subsequently
committed suicide):
> Many states have so-called speedy-trial laws, which require trials to start
> within a certain time frame. New York State’s version is slightly different,
> and is known as the “ready rule.” This rule stipulates that all felony cases
> (except homicides) must be ready for trial within six months of arraignment,
> or else the charges can be dismissed. In practice, however, this time limit
> is subject to technicalities. The clock stops for many reasons—for example,
> when defense attorneys submit motions before trial—so that the amount of
> time that is officially held to have elapsed can be wildly different from
> the amount of time that really has. In 2011, seventy-four per cent of felony
> cases in the Bronx were older than six months.
> In order for a trial to start, both the defense attorney and the prosecutor
> have to declare that they are ready; the court clerk then searches for a
> trial judge who is free and transfers the case, and jury selection can
> begin. Not long after Browder was indicted, an assistant district attorney
> sent the court a “Notice of Readiness,” stating that “the People are ready
> for trial.” The case was put on the calendar for possible trial on December
> 10th, but it did not start that day. On January 28, 2011, Browder’s two-
> hundred-and-fifty-eighth day in jail, he was brought back to the courthouse
> once again. This time, the prosecutor said, “The People are not ready. We
> are requesting one week.” The next court date set by the judge—March 9th—was
> not one week away but six.
... and so it continued. He went to court 31 times. None of those times for
the actual trial. Yet most of the 3 years he spent at Rikers, the "clock was
stopped" and so it was not counted by the court as more than 6 months.
[1] [http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-
browder-1993-...](http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/kalief-
browder-1993-2015)
~~~
a_c_s
This is both enlightening and depressing.
We need to redefine "speedy trial" with a more common-sense definition. Six
months, even without the technicalities of clock-stoppages, is in no way,
shape or form a "speedy" trial.
I'd argue something like 30 days is the upper limit of "speedy". If our courts
are too backed up to support this, then we ought to readjust our spending to
prioritize "justice for all".
New York State's courts have a budget of about $2 Billion/year[1]. In
comparison, the state's annual budget is almost $153 Billion/year[2]
[1]:
[https://www.nycourts.gov/admin/financialops/BGT15-16/2015-16...](https://www.nycourts.gov/admin/financialops/BGT15-16/2015-16-UCS-
BUDGET.pdf) [2]:
[http://openbudget.ny.gov/spendingForm.html](http://openbudget.ny.gov/spendingForm.html)
------
tluyben2
Many stories like this around and I still do not understand it; how does it
happen in a western country (not to mention the richest country)? A judge
would have to glance over the evidence for 5 seconds and another jail spot
would be free. Sure the conditions in those jails are really insane for a
western country, however for hardcore convicted criminals I guess there are
some (...) people who think that's ok, but what's up with the having people
wait for trials in trivial cases?
~~~
pjc50
The story avoids mentioning the ethnicity of the accused in this case, but the
US system's brutality cannot be disentangled from its racism.
I'd be very surprised if this kind of treatment was given to the average white
guy who hits someone with a car. But a nonwhite guy on a motorbike? Much more
plausible.
~~~
pbhjpbhj
>I'd be very surprised if this kind of treatment //
That's just blunt discrimination unless it's based on data/stats you trust.
Basically what you appear to be using the "I'd be surprised" phrase to avoid
really saying is that 'white people are racists and so the system, which they
control, must be tailored to let them off more cheaply'; that's fine with
strong trustworthy data IMO, without you're just being racist.
~~~
pjc50
Racial disparity in the system is like global warming: there's lots of
evidence which you have to work hard not to see.
You could start with, eg
[http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=349...](http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3499&context=flr)
and its references and footnotes. Footnote 4 contains the surprising sentence:
"Very few whites were charged with crimes in the Superior Court of the
District of Columbia. I was a public defender for twelve years and carried a
full caseload for six years. I represented only two white defendants during
those years. The exper- iences of my colleagues were very similar"
~~~
pbhjpbhj
It a sensitive area and there are many compounding causes that can give
similar effects - different races could have different rates of criminal
activity for example - so you need good data that goes beyond anecdotes and
can look widely across the system. Indeed I'd go so far as to say you probably
need to assess the system in question against other systems - perhaps places
where biases of different kinds are expected _a priori_.
Presumably public defender are in court pretty much every day? So even
assuming a caseload of one a day for 300 days of those 12 years we have a
ratio of 1:1800 of "whites" to others. Is this really anything like how it is?
Wikipedia figures (link below) suggest about 6-7 times the incarceration rate
per head of population for "adult black non-Hispanic males" and ~3 times the
level of "whites" for Hispanic males.
Interestingly the example case in footnote 4 is a report of a Vietnamese male
being killed and the killer being aided by the prosecution in preparing a case
for self-defence. Despite this being referenced as a case of racism - which I
can't determine the truth of but seems quite possible - Wikipedia tells me
that "Asians" have the lowest incarceration rate of all
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_St...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States#Race))
which following through with the logic of "non-whites are biased against, this
can be seen by proportionally less whites being convicted" means that Asians
are getting the most bias in their favour of all. But of course there are
other explanations, like Asians committing less crimes, or Asians being less
often caught committing crimes.
You appear to have looked at this in depth, I have not, do you know of
comparative studies: It strikes me that in a situation where a "black" police
officer arrests someone, they have a black public defending attorney, or a
black judge then if there is racism based on the controlling forces being
light-skinned ("white") that those cases would have a significant difference
in profile of arrest, prosecution and incarceration respectively. This must be
pretty easy to demonstrate with the available statistics - I think that would
convince me ( _) that there wasn 't a misinterpretation of results; that for
example it wasn't primarily the influence of poverty.
What I found quite interesting in your citation was it seemed not to be
concerned at all - eg when looking at traffic stops - with whether those
arrested had committed a crime or not, similarly when looking at drug use and
dealing.
_ \- I don't understand racism at all which makes it difficult to imagine that
it's possible to be having the massive effects claimed.
------
hughperkins
1\. It seems he really did kill someone with his bike. But it's not clear to
me why this would be considered a homicide? Is this standard practice in USA?
2\. For some reason, it seems common practice in USA to assume that if someone
decided not to go to trial, that this means they admitted their guilt. This
seems .... bizarre somehow. Perhaps 'pleading guilty' should be changed
semantically to 'chose not to go to trial'?
3\. It seems odd that if you are convicted of a felony that this means that
you'll basically be unable to get a job for the rest of your life. How is this
going to help rehabilitate people? Might as well just execute them. At least
its quick. (At least, it is quick in China, which is where I live).
~~~
c4n4rd
1\. Someone died. Most DAs (district attorneys) sees this as a reason to
charge people. They will charge even if it is not the case so that the shirt-
storm that might come from the media does not fall into his hands - it is like
district attorneys think: "It will not decide, let the jury decide and I have
my hands clean: If the person was found guilty, it was the jury who did it. If
not found guilty, it was also the jury - so do not blame me for the situation"
2\. You really need to watch a documentary called "The Plea"
([http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plea/](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plea/))
to get an insight on how FUCKED UP the "justice" in the USA is.
3\. The media and politicians have much to blame here. If you are ever
convicted of a crime (even like in the case of a plea bargain) you life is
likely over because no one wants to take a chance by hiring a "convict" \-
Business do not want to take this kind of risk.
~~~
revelation
Huh? No, the majority of people who kill others using a vehicle of sorts are
not ever charged (certainly not in NY), not even given as much as a ticket. If
you remain at the scene and are not drunk, you can drive tomorrow.
(This applies even if your license is suspended or you were otherwise
reckless.)
Now, the mistake you can not make is to choose the wrong mode of transport in
your killing. Apparently this kid used a motorcycle. Any other transport but
the good ol' car is an out group; you drastically increase your chances of
being charged by using it.
(Not that I want to take the stance of this article that this is all "an
accident"; too many reckless crashes are written off as "accidents". If you
take a high-powered machine into the public, you should accept criminal
responsibility regardless of your fault in a matter simply because of the
excess risk you have brought into the equation.)
------
tdkl
It's not "twisted" justice system.
It's totalitarian.
Using scare tactics like this is brainwashing the person in question to be in
state in saying, feeling, showing something he wouldn't in the lack of these
circumstances in a democratic country.
------
jensen123
Many people seem to think that human rights abuses is something that only
happens in dictatorships, and not democracies. I wonder, though, if you
compare say the US with China, is China any worse? Or the US compared to the
old monarchies in Europe, on a per capita basis?
~~~
vidarh
China certainly imprisons a much smaller proportion of its population, so
that's a good question.
"Worse" probably depends on who you ask. China is decidedly un-free for
everyone in that everyone knows that certain things puts you at risk, and so
e.g. in terms of free speech China is clearly worse.
But if you're sufficiently poor in the US, your odds of spending a substantial
proportion of your life in prison is vastly higher than in China, and I
frankly don't know if your chance of getting a reasonably fair trial in the US
in that situation is all that much better than China.
Personally, if I in some parallel universe found myself on a US jury (which I
won't - I'n not US), I would vote to acquit in all but the most atrocious
cases, as I would not in good conscience find it moral to contribute to
subjecting anyone to the US prison system. But as we see in the article, in
most cases, it's not up to a jury.
------
joesmo
Since clearly Rikers has over 400 violations of the 6th Amendment (since by no
sane person's definition can over two years in jail be considered speedy), how
about releasing these people on their own recognizance until trial?
------
randomname2
At least he got a trial.
/sarc
~~~
randomname2
Just to put this into context, this is of course a terrible injustice, but
even worse was Kalief Browder, the teen who killed himself after being
imprisoned in Rikers for three years without a trial.
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-
law](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Where I can get free data? - matysanchez
I am looking to create some examples with D3, and I need some free data.<p>For example: historical price of oil, weather in X city, etc.<p>Is there any website with tons of free data?
======
mindcrime
[http://datasets.reddit.com](http://datasets.reddit.com)
[http://opendata.reddit.com](http://opendata.reddit.com)
[http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-are-some-
intere...](http://www.quora.com/Data-Visualization/What-are-some-interesting-
public-datasets-to-visualize?share=1)
[http://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-large-datasets-open-
to...](http://www.quora.com/Where-can-I-find-large-datasets-open-to-the-
public?share=1)
[http://www.bea.gov/](http://www.bea.gov/)
[http://www.data.gov/](http://www.data.gov/)
[http://academictorrents.com/](http://academictorrents.com/)
[https://snap.stanford.edu/data/](https://snap.stanford.edu/data/)
------
taurenk
Here's a good spot if your looking for some US Healthcare data:
[http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-
Systems/](http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/)
------
maxerickson
EIA has all sorts of data sets focused on energy:
[http://www.eia.gov/](http://www.eia.gov/)
------
matysanchez
Nice links you share with me. Thank you everybody!
------
danso
For climate data, the U.S. NOAA is probably the go-to stop:
[http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/](http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/)
I know lots of other data sources, but don't feel it's worth your while for me
to list them...just because data exists somewhere doesn't mean that it's easy
to understand and/or easy to publish...but I can point you to a couple of
places where you can talk to others and get advice on it:
The OpenData StackExchange:
[http://opendata.stackexchange.com/](http://opendata.stackexchange.com/)
And the datasets subreddit:
[http://reddit.com/r/datasets](http://reddit.com/r/datasets)
And of course, there is the visualization subreddit:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful](http://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Square’s S-1: Ratchets and Unicorn Valuations - prostoalex
http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/10/squares-s-1-of-ratchets-and-unicorn-valuations/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29
======
dantillberg
I don't always believe in scare quotes, but we probably ought to use them
around "valuations" promoted by companies raising private capital.
I own a tiny bit of common stock in a private company (by way of ESOs), and I
have a hunch that virtually all of the rest of the stock is in preferred
shares of some sort. And thus I have no idea how much my stake is worth. For
all I know, it's zero.
~~~
tibbon
Does anyone have tips as someone with ESOs how you can get a better idea of
the value and your position, given preferred shares?
I feel you _never_ have as much diligence/information as an employee as a VC
would who is investing in the company.
~~~
JonFish85
You don't, and probably for a few reasons. An employee is not seen as being as
important to the company as the people with many millions of dollars. "Open up
your books or I won't come on board" won't make the company think twice about
letting you leave. If a VC with $25m wants to look at the books, the company
will at least think about it.
On top of that, the people with millions of dollars can hire much better
lawyers and such who can truly analyze a company a lot better than your
average employee.
------
cypherpunks01
My company runs about ~1M/yr revenue on Square and this morning I got an email
from them: "Own a part of Square". It seems to be some opportunity to buy IPO
stock through a company parterning with them called "LOYAL3". Anyone have
insight into the bigger picture here?
Full text here: [http://pastebin.com/X4EYq610](http://pastebin.com/X4EYq610)
~~~
vskarine
I've subscribed to IPO notifications in E-Trade and they usually invite me to
participate in some unknown IPOs. They've never sent me any invite to
participate in any high profile IPO, which to me means whatever they send
could not find enough interest. Couple of days ago I received E-Trade email
telling me I can participate in Square's IPO. Putting this together and the
fact that you got the invite as well, I suspect they are having trouble
filling up IPO as there is just not enough interest from high profile
investors. Clear sign to stay away.
~~~
robertspangey
If you're not going to use your IPO allocation I'd appreciate a PM with your
token number.
------
akg_67
> Companies get their shiny unicorn valuation (which helps with _recruiting_ ,
> in addition to being the vanity metric du jour)
Only losers appear to be employees in the end.
> Additionally, issuance of participating preferred stock is on the rise,
> having been issued in 5 percent of deals in the Fenwick & West study.
Lesson: don't join a startup unless you get preferred stock. Value of common
stock awarded to an employee = $0.00 x millions of common stock awarded.
> This “double-dip” was common following the dot-com bubble, but had
> disappeared in the recent bull-run in VC.
Looks like shenanigans of dot-com bubble are back. Who says current market
doesn't look like dot-com bubble? They should quit smoking whatever they are
smoking.
~~~
JonFish85
>Lesson: don't join a startup unless you get preferred stock.
Who gives out preferred stock to employees? I don't even know that founders
get preferred stock, generally. If any employee asked for preferred stock at
any company I've ever worked for, you'd immediately end the conversation,
whether you were an engineer or C-level.
All stock grants have to be approved by the board, and I don't know of any
board that's going to bend on "hey, we really wanted this engineer, we had to
give her preferred shares".
------
not_that_noob
This is a double whammy for employees - not only is the IPO valuation lower
than the prior round, their stake is being diluted in the process. Definitely
not a win for them.
~~~
JonFish85
God it would suck to have joined fairly recently, if you were banking on the
options being worth anything. You have to wait to vest, your stock options are
possibly underwater (depending on the 409a), even your vested options are
going to be locked up for quite awhile, and on top of it all you're getting
diluted.
After the lockup expires, you'd better hope to your lucky stars that the
earnings have been good, because those first few earnings are tough, and can
sink the stock price. And then on top of _that_ , there are probably very
specific windows that you can sell your stock inside of, so you have to hope
to time the ups-and-downs just right.
Lots of ways for that to bite you in the ass. I have friends who had this all
line up the wrong way as Twitter employees who joined a year or so before they
IPOed, and currently that stock isn't worth exercising.
~~~
mason55
That's kind of the point though. Options are (at least intended to be)
compensation for a lower than market salary and a risk that the company might
go bust. At the point that you're raising a Series E round you are going to be
paying market salaries and have enough cash that the chance of going out of
business is very low. At this point you'd expect options to behave more like
RSUs in a public company where the reward is for creating value as opposed to
being a payoff for taking risk or investing your time.
~~~
not_that_noob
I agree that the risk is lower, but the RSU analogy is imperfect because the
value of the underlying stock is the same for all holders. In this case, one
class of holders - the senior investors - will get more of the value, and this
value is taken away from other holders who thought they had more. If Larry's
stock value went up when employees and GOOG went down, there would be
pitchforks out in M View.
------
kriro
20% guaranteed ROI...how does one become a series E pre IPO investor? Seems a
bit like insiders filling eachother's coffers.
~~~
icedchai
The public will be filling the coffers: Retail investors are suckers. They'll
buy almost anything, just like in the dotbomb days.
------
pbreit
I've defended private market valuations since we haven't been hearing much
about "ratchets" but will need to back-track. Yeah, Square's last round was a
"debt" round with decent upside if Square can get back on track.
~~~
gsibble
Back on track BEFORE its IPO. Which it didn't. And now it's employees' ISOs
will get diluted. Let's just say I'm glad I didn't join when their strike
price was crazy high in the last few years.
------
llamamamama
Throwaway for obvious reasons, but my current company has a very high public
valuation, but they're based on a round where the most recent investor has 4x
prefs. The valuation was just marketing.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Reddit account compromised: a lesson in passwords - freakball
One app. That's all it took.<p>Look, I'm not even sure if my device is rooted properly, or even how to check. What I do know, is that I have narrowed the loss of my password down to an app I got from TPB.<p>Trying to save $3 resulted in the loss of my Reddit account and gmail of the same name in rapid succession (whoohoo, he let me keep my HN account!). Although im not sure which happened first, it is clear why it went down that way: the paswords differed by one character.<p>Ugh.<p>Anyways, they immediately started posting blogspam with my account. When I started messaging them, they made it clear that this would just be the beginning (removing themselves as mod from all of my subreddits), and I scrambled to secure my gmail account. I might have failed in that regard, but I'm trying...<p>As it stands right now, most of my accounts seem secure, but who knows.<p>Now that I reflect on it, I'm suprised it hasn't happened already, fools go crazy for that karma.
======
evanmoran
If they have key logging on your machine Google 2-factor authentication is the
only thing that would save you. This to me is the most important security
precaution you can take, the next being auto generated passwords with
PasswordSafe or something similar. Good luck=).
~~~
freakball
I did, however because I deleted and then recovered it, it is now locked. I
get a "temporary error 500 numeric code 59" when I try to log in. I still have
access to all other google services though.
------
samstave
[http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Freddit.com](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Freddit.com)
Report your account hijacked to the admins ASAP.
~~~
freakball
I did. I even limped into google+ with the compromised account and posted them
there.
------
romeo88
Dont install software from untrusted sources at least, especially when you are
too stupid to keep your passwords safe enough.
------
nroose
Not sure how this is "a lesson in passwords"... Seems to me like a lesson in
TPB.
------
octatone2
A lesson in passwords or a lesson in downloading/pirating apps from dubious
sources.
Official app stores have a hard enough time keeping their inventory clean from
fake apps and malware, what makes you think TPB is somehow not full of fakes
and malware?
------
mappum
I don't think the attacker tried variations of your password to get into your
gmail, their malware most likely got it some other way (keylogger or extracted
from saved passwords in browser).
~~~
freakball
Well, I dont know. Maybe the reddit accoint was the most valuable thing I had,
but my primary email seems unaffected.
------
matznerd
Was it an android app?
~~~
freakball
Yes. Im almost positive it was Super Hexagon.
------
samstave
Ping them on Quora as well..
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: GSuite / Office365 Alternatives for Non-501(c)(3) Nonprofits - andrew_
Please humor some quick background: I'm on the board of a very small neighborhood advocacy association in an incorporated city in Florida, and trying to bring them into the digital age. The association is voluntary, with minimal dues income at $10 / household. Our dues are mainly allocated to put on a yearly neighborhood picnic and to pay for expenses related to the larger advocacy that the association board and members participate in. Our neighborhood is bordered by several "historic designation" neighborhoods, which makes ours a target for developers looking to churn maximum profit per acre. Most of our advocacy and work goes towards keeping the neighborhood an actual neighborhood, pedestrian and bike friendly, keeping green spaces green, and welcoming to families both new and legacy. It's a non-intrusive, well-intentioned group of people mostly on their own dime and time.<p>We've gone through the arduous review and appeal process with both Microsoft and Google but was ultimately denied the free to use, nonprofit account, as we're a Florida State-registered and validated nonprofit, and not 501(c)(3) federally registered. We've explored the paid route, but would cost the dues of 36 households, when only 22 participate presently. We can't get corporate sponsors as we haven't found any willing to donate with no federal write-off. We can't register as a 501(c)(3) because the registration process and yearly requirements are cost-prohibitive. We can't get grants to pay for registration because we have to be registered to apply. It's a tough chicken and egg situation.<p>What we're in need of:
- An [email] account for 5 board officers
- Collaborative cloud storage
- Groups / Forums that residents can subscribe to
- Email lists<p>I've so far been unable to find services that will cater to state-registered, but not federally registered (501(c)(3)), nonprofits for these needs. Mixing services is not ideal, but would still be a welcomed last resort.
======
tracker1
Have you considered just _not_ doing domain mail, and just keeping a
relatively small website that lists the board's emails, and just use
personal/individual/free accounts? It makes sharing a bit more of a pain, and
group lists not nearly as good, but it may be easier.
There's OwnCloud and similar, not to mention mail-in-a-box solutions. Most of
which could be done on a $5-10/month digital ocean, linode or similar
environment. For that matter, a small ISP hosting account may get you 90% of
the way for less than $20/month total.
It kind of depends on your own technical expertise and how much time you can
dedicate vs. a paid solution.
Edit:
Take a look at Cloudron on DO for an example. I'd probably do the mid-range
$15 droplet, or the $10 one.
[https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/cloudron](https://marketplace.digitalocean.com/apps/cloudron)
~~~
vmurthy
> Most of which could be done on a $5-10/month digital ocean, linode or
> similar environment
@OP, Second this. Write to [email protected] and see if you can
get a few more dollars off [0]. Worst case, you might end up having to shell
out 2-3$ per month. It's certainly worth your time isn't it :-). Plus, good
karma!
[https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/is-
there-a-...](https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/is-there-a-
discount-promo-for-non-profit-organizations-or-charities)
~~~
Aperocky
Alternatively, you can order a domain and register it with Amazon Route 53 and
store your website in S3 buckets - that way its even cheaper than having a
droplet, the downside being that you wouldn't be able to have a back-end. It
doesn't sound like you need back-end logic though.
------
dejan
Hi Andrew,
We will gladly sponsor you with email services - migadu.com regardless of your
status. No cloud storage though and no documents/spreadsheets.
Groups/forums/email lists are coming soon by the end of the year. Calendar is
due in a few weeks.
~~~
andrew_
Very generous, thank you. I'll look into Migadu's services. What's the best
way to follow up?
~~~
dejan
email :) contact at migadu dot com
------
jen729w
Can you clarify your actual budget? Or is it $0?
For email, I found Migadu [0] this year and love them. It’s ~$50/year, but for
that you get unlimited mailboxes. The limit is on how many emails/day you
send. This might suit your needs?
How much cloud storage do you need? I’d be using the free tiers at
Dropbox/OneDrive/etc., or some sort of P2P solution based off my own server. I
use Resilio Sync and it’s great.
Good luck finding solutions to the rest. Sounds like something really
worthwhile you’re doing there.
[0]:
[https://www.migadu.com/en/index.html](https://www.migadu.com/en/index.html)
~~~
andrew_
Our budget for digital services is $0 at present. All available funds are
already allocated.
The free, individual tier for Google Drive is currently being used, but we've
run into some management issues with that. Some of our members aren't exactly
tech-savvy and have issues with getting off of AOL (for example) or linking an
AOL account for Google Drive access. Managing access when the board rotates is
also an issue. And allowing everyone to use one login isn't an option - we
absolutely have to track who is modifying what.
~~~
joezydeco
I'd say you have to up your dues to the point where you can get and keep
501(c)(3) registration. You'll want that for fundraising when you eventually
need to fight off these developers that are closing in.
Google Apps for nonprofits is a cinch once you have that registration.
If your residents can't afford any of this, they probably can't afford to hold
the developers at bay. Best of luck.
~~~
andrew_
Thank you for the well-wishes. We've been fairly successful thanks to some
tenacious members with an excellent knowledge of local ordinances and the
willingness to attend council and planning meetings.
We just had our bi-annual meeting last night and the discussion around raising
dues was raised. The motion did not pass however, as our most active residents
are also the least wealthy. It's an odd dynamic but they are good people.
------
m0zg
Raise the dues by about $5 and pay for GSuite? You aren't going to "advocate"
much against real estate developers without paying tens of thousands of
dollars to a lawyer anyway, so maybe you should revise your cost structure
even more dramatically.
Source: our neighborhood's HOA spent $53K on legal fees to disallow the
construction of a 4 story retirement home right across the road from us. This
took 2 years and we lost: the other side can just wait you out. Yearly dues
were raised from $300 to $450 to pay for this fail.
~~~
andrew_
> Raise the dues by about $5 and pay for GSuite?
Not helpful and not in the spirit of Ask HN. Please read the other comments
(there's only 23 to scan) on why we cannot raise the dues, it's been
addressed.
Your's is a very subjective take. We've actually been very successful
historically, without having to engage attorneys and going through city
channels. When making a statement like that, remember that your experiences
are not a universal truth.
------
Nextgrid
You should ask FastMail - maybe they’d be willing to do something for a non-
profit even though you don’t fit the “standard” non-profit requirements.
~~~
andrew_
I had contacted them and received a swift "no, sorry." But thank you for the
suggestion.
------
dawg-
Hey, I work in nonprofit admin and have never encountered this issue. Your
best bet is coming up with the $600 to file as a 501(c)3, because this issue
with email is not going to be the last time you run into problems without it.
Have you ever done any fundraising campaigns or events? I think you would be
surprised how much the people in your city, even people outside of your
neighborhood, might be willing to donate some money to keep livable, walkable
communities from being overrun by development.
------
ishfuseini
Maybe Zoho might be a good fit? [https://www.zoho.com/](https://www.zoho.com/)
~~~
andrew_
Thanks for the suggestion. I had a cursory look at them but their interface
wasn't exactly clear for nonprofits. For example, I couldn't figure out how to
get email going for the org. I'll give their support a shout and give them a
second look.
~~~
vmurthy
We have used Zoho at our for-profit (free-tier - up to 25 people) with 5 GB
Mailbox. We've had some issues when the HR tried to reach out to potential
candidates and sent out some marketing emails. We were blocked and informed
that it looks like spam. Do confirm with them before taking the plunge. Good
luck!
~~~
andrew_
How did you configure your free tier? We're being told that the org account is
on a 30 day trial.
~~~
vmurthy
To give you some more info: We had signed up in 2016 timeframe when they had a
more generous free tier. The one that I see now has 5 users [0]. Also, the
startup is in India. Perhaps they're offering different tiers depending on the
country?
[0] [https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-
pricing.html](https://www.zoho.com/mail/zohomail-pricing.html)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.