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The mercury doesn’t lie: We’ve hit a troubling climate change milestone - kafkaesq
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/03/04/why-degree-temperature-jump-more-important-than-trump-hands/
======
tokenadult
Paywalled? I tried to reach the page, but got a page not found notice using
either of two different Web browsers.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Painless Decorators in Python - Suor
http://hackflow.com/blog/2013/11/03/painless-decorators/
======
Goopplesoft
>to reduce clutter and expose your intentions. However, there is usual cost.
This as any abstraction brings an additional layer of complexity on top of
python. And python could be seen as a layer on top of c, and that as one above
asm, and that
I took a look at the rest of funcy and it seems a great package, thanks!
However, a python dev I'm expected to know how decorators work not how funcy
makes decorators work. So unless this was part of the standard lib most devs
who already know how decorators work would end up having to read another doc.
I dont think its an issue of abstraction (the code is straight forward python:
[https://github.com/Suor/funcy/blob/master/funcy/decorators.p...](https://github.com/Suor/funcy/blob/master/funcy/decorators.py)
) but rather uniformity. I think coping with the standard library until
something like this becomes part of it is the best strategy.
~~~
unoti
This is a matter of taste. I think certain standard abstractions in Python are
pretty terrible, and really need to be upgraded. The standard way of doing
function decoration isn't good. Neither is the standard way of accessing
mysql. These, and a number of other things, really should have better
abstractions built on them to amplify productivity and readability.
Sometimes there's a war between standard techniques and DRY principles. I've
observed a lot of good coming from adhering to the idea of never copying code
or doing boilerplate. But as you point out, sometimes it can lead to a bunch
of nonstandard code. But I think any non-trivial codebase is going to have a
chunk of abstractions it creates and builds upon to amplify its own
expressiveness. When you can import some of those abstractions, that's
arguably a win. There are lots of people that would (and have) disagreed with
me on this point, but it is a subjective matter of taste.
------
j1z0
The article is interesting but really if you want to make decorators easier to
understand don't introduce another layer of abstraction, use a class. The
__init__ function handles the decorator arguments just like you would expect
from a class. The __call__ function is called when the decorator is called,
just return your new function and well; your done. And it's all pretty
straight forward.
~~~
Suor
You will still need a wrapper function and update it's metadata. Which is even
more boilerplate. Or you can hide that in base Decorator class, but then we'll
back to another layer of abstraction.
So it's either more boilerplate or more abstraction. Choose exactly one.
~~~
j1z0
Well if you use functools like you started with in your lead up examples your
talking about what two lines of boilerplate (functools decorator and function
definition)? Personally I often times just add the four lines of boiler plate
and forgo functools.... Look I'm not saying that your library is a bad idea;
Its neat, in fact it seems to handle a few thing better than the more well
known decorator library does.
( Out of curiosity though how about the functions signature, I think functools
doesn't maintain the original functions signature but I think decorator does,
what does funcy do? )
For me personally I feel its better to have the decorator all in one place
where you can see everything that is going on, and making it a class makes it
pretty straight forward to understand.
~~~
Suor
funcy doesn't preserve function signature. The only way for now to do this is
to use exec, e.g. compile code from source or AST, which I choose to avoid.
------
Leszek
How does this compare to the decorator module?
[https://pypi.python.org/pypi/decorator](https://pypi.python.org/pypi/decorator)
~~~
Suor
This handles decorators with arguments and makes a general case of passing
same arguments to function as to wrapper less cluttered.
~~~
abecedarius
It might help to show the same examples from that module's documentation, how
they are similar or different.
I still don't understand this after a skim of your post, since one example has
@decorator
def some_decorator(func, args, kwargs):
while the next goes
@decorator
def some_decorator(call):
Does this introspect on the parameters of some_decorator?
FWIW I'm happy enough with
[https://github.com/darius/sketchbook/blob/master/misc/decora...](https://github.com/darius/sketchbook/blob/master/misc/decorator.py)
~~~
Suor
The first part of a post is mere reasoning showing how I got to the actual
interface I use. @decorator works with `call` not with `func, _args,_
*kwargs`.
~~~
abecedarius
Ah, OK. So there's no way to express an example that needs to get at func,
etc.?
I think I'd separate out an @decorator that fixes the metadata on the returned
function, and another one, using it, that makes a decorator that works on the
call() interface.
------
anfedorov
Great library! I wrote something similar once [1] and thought two special
cases might be useful to optimize for: a predecoration that modifies the
arguments to a function and a postdecoration that modifies the return value.
1\.
[https://github.com/anfedorov/decorations](https://github.com/anfedorov/decorations)
------
JeffJenkins
It's important when adding a layer of abstraction like this to consider both
how much it makes this simpler, but also how much you're going to use it.
While it makes some common decorator patterns easier, your code really
shouldn't have so many decorators that having to understand this library is
made up for in the number of places it simplifies the code.
If I'm writing code and using a lot of _different_ decorators everywhere I
take that as a sign that something is probably wrong.
------
Qantourisc
You might want to look into class-based decorators, they take some of the pain
away.
~~~
Suor
This looks like even more boilerplate.
~~~
ekimekim
Arguably, it can make things easier to read in cases where you want "static"
variables, eg. a decorator that synchronises a function with a lock. The lock
shouldn't be passed in by the user, nor should it be created in an individual
invocation of the decorated function, so having a class to contain the state
is useful.
~~~
jessaustin
That's a great situation in which to use a class: state you don't want to pass
in every time it's used. It doesn't seem to connect to the idea of a
decorator, though. Rather than decorating the function, why not just make it a
method of the state-managing class? Or if it shouldn't be so closely coupled,
why not just pass it the result of invoking a different method of the class?
I don't imply that there _isn 't_ a good example of a decorator that should be
a class. I just don't think we've seen one on this thread yet.
------
tehwalrus
I like this, will try it next time I need a decorator.
------
benwr
What about iterators/yield?
------
huangbop
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How do you fight elitism in startups? - diminium
How do you fight elitism in startups?
======
se85
I have dealt with it in the past by using their egos against them to force
them to be accountable for their actions to the point where they back
themselves into a corner which is usually when the lies and deceit start
becoming very noticeable which gives me all the reasons I need to remove them.
I've never met someone that was an elitist and not full of crap.
The most 'elite' people I've ever had the pleasure to know were intact very
humble about it so whenever I come across someone who acts elite but is not at
all humble about it they usually don't last too long because I see this as an
attitude problem that can and should only be solved by the individual.
~~~
diminium
What would you do if you aren't a founder with limited control but you've
noticed it growing among the company?
~~~
andrewcooke
is elitism really the right word? it sounds like you're mad at something and
using the word "elitist" because it's the first thing that comes to mind.
what i would suggest doing is sitting down and thinking very carefully about
what has happened and what annoys you. make a list on paper if that's the way
your brain works. tease out all the details and your emotions.
i would guess, if you do that, that (1) you'll see that the "elitist" part is
largely emotional related to how you feel and (2) that you can actually some
real problems at a lower level (like being rude, or lazy, or incorrect, or not
giving credit, or whatever). once you have more detailed lower level problems
you can think about how to address those.
tldr - "elitist" is an emotional "catch-all" phrase that isn't helping you or
anyone else here. you need to do some work and think through in more detail
what happened. once you do that you'll have a clearer idea how to continue.
tldrtldr - only once you see things clearly can you fix them.
------
jpdevereaux
Fight elitism by getting rid of the elitists. A successful startup is not
fueled by egos, but by hard work, dedication, and cooperation. It's perfectly
normal to feel good about yourself if you've done (and continue to do) those
things, but those who do not tend to become elitist.
------
digitalWestie
What kind of elitism do you mean?
------
pvdm
Startups by definition are elitist.
------
zekenie
example?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Men Don’t Want the Jobs Done Mostly by Women - markwaldron
http://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/upshot/why-men-dont-want-the-jobs-done-mostly-by-women.html?_r=0
======
jenkstom
Ohhh... now they've done it. As an EMT, I can attest to the fact that
"Ambulance Driver" is insulting. "Drivers" don't know how to provide patient
care.
And if they're including paramedics in that, then I hope that Ms. Miller
doesn't need emergency medical services any time soon. Those folks take deep
offense to the term "Ambulance Driver".
~~~
mindcrime
Are there even any jurisdictions left that employ AD's that aren't at least
EMT-B's? I know here in NC there used to be a separate "Ambulance Driver"
certification apart from EMT-B, but I'm not even sure that exists anymore.
From what I remember, most of the providers here - even the all volunteer
squads - run at least at the EMT-I/ALS level.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Two million Facebook, Gmail and Twitter passwords stolen - swasheck
http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/04/technology/security/passwords-stolen/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
======
codeka
2 Factor Authentication, 2 Factor Authentication, 2 Factor Authentication!
I've had 2 factor authentication enabled on my gmail account for over a year
now, and once you get past the initial setup phase, it's really not _that_
inconvenient.
I have even been able to train my parents to use 2 factor auth, I just need to
get them using a password manager now...
~~~
zzleeper
What happens if I'm i) outside the country, so no SMS for me, ii) outside cell
tower coverage but with wifi (happens every day for me inside buildings), or I
got my cellphone stolen for instance. How does 2fauth works in that case?
(Just wondering, as the above _are_ the reasons I decided not to use it)
~~~
potatolicious
2-factor authentication does not require the second factor every time. It
typically only asks for the second factor if the device is unrecognized, or
the usage pattern is unfamiliar.
So, your laptop that's logged into GMail will stay logged in when you're out
of the country. Unless you explicitly log out, it will stay this way.
I enter maybe one two-factor auth code a week, if that.
So:
i) Prepare ahead and log into your services.
ii) Walk to the nearest window, get the code, and go back to your desk.
iii) Replace your phone - you keep your number - request the auth key again.
None of these are completely seamless of course, but the idea is that all of
the above happen rarely enough, and are mitigable enough, that it's far better
than the alternative: getting pwned.
There are also second factors in the form of mobile apps, which eliminate the
need for SMS, so as long as you have data/WiFi you're set. There are also ones
that don't need data at all (see: the Battle.net Authenticator, which is
basically a RSA key on your phone), but require more substantial initial
setup.
~~~
nl
This advice isn't _incorrect_ , but it isn't entirely accurate either.
The Google Authenticator mobile app doesn't require data, so that meets the
OP's requirements perfectly (ie, no SMS or data).
Use that, print out the one-time use codes and keep them in your wallet.
------
sergiotapia
Misleading headline, makes it seem like these guys were hacked on their
servers. When the reality is people spread a virus and passwords were logged
from individual machines. No fault from Google or Twitter.
~~~
obituary_latte
Yup. They're talking about the recent spiderlabs report it seems.
~~~
werrett
The source is this SpiderLabs blog post:
[http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2013/12/look-what-i-found-moar-
po...](http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2013/12/look-what-i-found-moar-pony.html)
------
gurvinder
"File Transfer Protocol (FTP, the standard network used when working from
home) "
May be at CNN, that is what they use to work from home.
~~~
krapp
HN greatly overestimates how dead FTP is.
~~~
sliverstorm
But I heard FTP was declared harmful and phased out in 1970?
~~~
krapp
Tell that to my wordpress projects....
~~~
JoshuaDavid
You can. Put this line in the config file:
define( 'FS_METHOD', 'direct');
------
wpietri
Ugh. Actually, 410k Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter passwords stolen:
318,000 Facebook accounts
70,000 Gmail, Google+ and YouTube accounts
22,000 Twitter accounts
~~~
sp332
There were thousands of services attacked, there isn't room in the headline
for all of them.
~~~
wpietri
Sure there is: "Two million Facebook, Gmail, other passwords stolen".
Or: "Two million passwords stolen, including from Facebook, Gmail, and
Twitter".
------
knownhuman
While technically accurate, the headline seems to allude to direct breaches of
Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter.
~~~
powera
Not even technically accurate. The article says that only 400k of the 2
million stolen passwords were from FB/GOOG/TWTR.
------
joshfraser
If you use LastPass, this is a good time to run their Security Challenge
([https://lastpass.com/index.php?securitychallenge=1](https://lastpass.com/index.php?securitychallenge=1))
to audit the strength and uniqueness of your passwords. If you're not using
LassPass or something similar like 1Password then today is a good time to fix
that.
~~~
Houshalter
What good will that do against a keylogger?
~~~
JangoSteve
Strength of password won't really help for key logging, but using e.g.
Lastpass helps because it logs you into everything without having to type your
passwords. It will even generate and fill in your initial passwords so that
you never have to type your passwords even once.
~~~
Houshalter
Lastpass doesn't have a password itself?
~~~
JangoSteve
Ah great question. It does, but it usually stays logged in on your computer,
since it runs locally. So you rarely if ever need to type your password for
Lastpass, meaning the keylogger would have had to be running on your computer
when you installed and set up Lastpass. On a related note, it can also be set
up with 2 factor auth.
~~~
Houshalter
Presumably the password is stored to a file or in memory (of course that could
be arbitrarily difficult to figure out how to decode, but it can't be
encrypted since that would require another password.)
~~~
JangoSteve
Why do you assume it'd be stored in plain text rather than hashed? Also, what
does compromising someone's local filesystem have to do with the functionality
of a keylogger?
~~~
Houshalter
Even if it's hashed, then the hash can still be used to reconstruct the
lastpass passwords. And I'm just assuming that you can't trust your filesystem
if your machine has been compromised by malware. You're right the keylogger
probably isn't that complicated. It depends on what level of paranoia you have
and how widely lastpass becomes adopted (thus more incentive to hack it.) More
likely the keylogger will just get the first time you enter your password into
lastpass and then steal it that way.
The point is lastpass is designed to protect you from weak passwords and
password reuse. It doesn't do anything to protect against attacks on your
actual computer.
~~~
JangoSteve
Oh, I misunderstood you; I thought you were referring to the master password
of LastPass as being plain-text or reversibly encrypted. You mean that the
passwords stored by LastPass must be reversibly encrypted on disk. Yes, that's
true. Password managers do open the door for such an attack, but they tend to
be much less vulnerable to attacks in general than reusing the same passwords.
Of course, it's really up to each person to decide what risks are acceptable
in the trade-off between convenience and security.
I think the main point was that a password manager would have been much less
susceptible to the keylogger attack which lead to this particular incident.
------
steffan
I found this rather amusing: “Among the compromised data are 41,000
credentials used to connect to File Transfer Protocol (FTP, the standard
network used when working from home)”
~~~
Raphmedia
Well, it is a not so wrong vulgarization.
------
nathan_long
What platform(s) was the keylogger written for and how was it spread?
~~~
sergiotapia
Given the vast amount of passwords farmed, I would say it was targetted for
the Windows platform.
~~~
prawks
Is this really a valid point still? Surely two million is a drop in the bucket
in the group of Facebook users accessing via OS X or Windows.
------
lurkinggrue
Does anybody have a torrent of this?
You know... for science.
~~~
owenfi
I'd like to verify my users are not among those exposed, since we use some of
the aforementioned services for single sign on.
------
mikeishi
Which operating systems were affected? It seems like the official report
doesn't even contain this critical information.
~~~
babuskov
Windows XP/2003/Vista/7/8 (x32/x64)
Apparently this keylogger was used:
[http://malware.dontneedcoffee.com/2013/10/jolly-roger-
steale...](http://malware.dontneedcoffee.com/2013/10/jolly-roger-stealer-c-
panel.html)
------
yaix
> The massive data breach was a result of keylogging software maliciously
> installed on an untold number of computers around the world
Is that a Windows only issue or are other OSes affected?
------
loceng
I had an unexpected login attempt from Vietnam in this past week. Google
blocked it automatically - though it was successful, correctly used password.
I wonder if connected..
------
Zoomla
Not as safe as other solutions, but I can remember all my passwords by
choosing passwords by website category (6 for example): one low-security
sites, one for sites that have your CC #, one for social networking, one for
email, one for work, and one for your banking sites. keep a copy in your
wallet. Sleep better.
------
rza
> Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter told CNNMoney they have notified and reset
> passwords for compromised users.
> The hackers set up the keylogging software to rout information through a
> proxy server, so it's impossible to track down which computers are infected.
Have I missed something or are these statements contradictory?
~~~
awj
Nothing contradictory about it. First statement is about accounts on services,
second is about finding the machines used to log into said accounts.
The sad part is that many people with this keylogger may react to the password
change before/without removing the logger, which would entirely defeat the
point.
------
werrett
In case anyone is interested the primary source for the article is the
following blog post (it is slightly buried):
[http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2013/12/look-what-i-found-moar-
po...](http://blog.spiderlabs.com/2013/12/look-what-i-found-moar-pony.html)
------
iamabhishek
I was wondering, how does these services come to know that they had a breach.
How Facebook or Twitter or Gmail, exactly number the amount of data(passwords)
stolen. Just curious to know!
------
denzil_correa
57.06% of the passwords stolen were for the Facebook domain. Sigh!
~~~
seiji
At least nothing of value was lost?
~~~
dragonwriter
The ADP -- a payroll service -- passwords (which, interestingly, aren't in the
headline), are probably the ones that, despite being smallest in number, offer
the most opportunity for direct financial disruption.
~~~
seiji
ADP is _horrible,_ but their website can't change financial details (it only
shows paystubs and tax forms). You can kinda change things through ADP
FlexDirect, but all direct deposit enrollment is done elsewhere.
The ADP employee site hasn't changed in the past ten years and still uses
basic auth. It's horrible. And freaky. When you login to your new company
account, it shows all paystubs from your past employers too. [With the
implication of your current payroll department being able to see how much you
were getting paid at all your previous jobs since it's the same account?]
~~~
dragonwriter
> ADP is horrible, but their website can't change financial details
The article here says that the account information that was compromised can.
I'm not sure if that is a result of bad reporting on the same level as that
related to FTP in the article, or the accounts that were compromised are
different than the ones for the website you are talking about.
~~~
seiji
Yeah, it's possible they were HR-level accounts that actually run payroll and
not just employee accounts.
The more power you wield in an organization the less competent with technology
you are.
~~~
dragonwriter
That's probably only even roughly true in tech organizations where the low-
level folk have tech-related duties. (Though HN users are probably somewhat
biased to think in terms of such organizations.)
------
mtsmithhn
So no details on how to detect if this virus is on your computer?
~~~
kevinchen
Apparently not. I think just wait until Google, Facebook, or Twitter reset
your password.
~~~
onemanshow33
That is exactly my fear
------
lcasela
Was this targeted towards windows?
------
iamabhishek
i thought hotmail was least secure. But every time passwords are stolen, its
always for the Big-3 Social networks. Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. This time
Gmail joined in. Great !! But then what can you expect from a free service
{kidding}
------
cdvonstinkpot
Page won't display in my mobile browser, so I can't read the story.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Typing the Technical Interview (2017) - guiambros
https://aphyr.com/posts/342-typing-the-technical-interview
======
platz
2017 -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14078852](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14078852)
> This is the Old type art.
Modern Haskell makes this sort of think nicer. Of course, if one is so
inclined (which is as big an assumption as anything else)
------
sam_lowry_
Brilliant but old. Put 2017 in the title.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Interactively View, Categorize, and Tabulate the Russian Facebook Ads - phrixus
https://qunc.co/russia_facebook_project/
======
phrixus
Some stats about the data set: There were 3,419 ads. They had approximately 40
million impressions. Approximately 3.7 million clicks. And, surprisingly to
me, cost only around 117,000 USD in total
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
His Mood Changed and Our Marriage Imploded. Then He Took a Blood Test - heshiebee
https://www.elle.com/life-love/sex-relationships/a27608740/his-mood-changed-and-our-marriage-imploded-then-he-took-a-blood-test/
======
Double_a_92
Summary: He had hyperparathyroidism (some small gland in the neck being
overproductive) which caused high calcium levels and depression.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What it took to save the Twinkie - alwillis
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2016/07/05/what-it-took-to-save-the-twinkie/
======
hedora
I've seen a lot of stories that blame robots and unions for the job losses,
and praise the new managment's tough choices, but it is all a distraction.
They reformulated twinkies to have a longer shelf life. This let them fire the
distribution channel, and close all but 3 of 40 factories. I haven't tried the
new twinkies, but the consensus on slashdot (this is running there too) and
elsewhere is that they taste like cardboard.
So, they didn't really save the twinkie at all; they just slapped the brand on
a different (and vastly cheaper) product, and now they're prepping for an IPO
by running consumer (investor) facing stories like this one.
Prediction: A year or so after this fall's IPO, they burn through their brand
equity, sales tank, and the stock collapses.
------
zaroth
It's not just Hostess automating, I think baking in general is becoming
increasing automated. I was talking to a COO of a large mill, and he remarked
how customers asking for significantly tighter tolerances on the makeup of
their various flours because they've automated the whole line and need highly
predictable results.
------
seibelj
You mean the same amount of quality twinkie product was created at a fraction
of the cost? And this is why the old company went bankrupt? Sounds like a
success story to me!
------
jimjimjim
AI/learning startup idea: build an AI to do the role of middle-to-upper
management or maybe just the c-suite?
Just think of the profits. sacking a thousand blue collar factory workers
won't save much but fire the decision makers (or outsource them) and you'll
save an absolute fortune.
I'm not even joking. It's unlikely to happen soon but if this were possible
the savings would be amazing!
~~~
ryankupyn
I've always wondered how effective this would be in different industries. In
some businesses, leadership exists to make very easily quantifiable (and
perhaps therefore more automatable decisions) - answering questions like
"Should we build a new factory?; What product lines should we develop?".
Where I work, in consulting, the senior leadership exists almost solely for
the purpose of building relationships with customers and bringing in business
- really hard for AI without a radical change in the sales model (but I can
imagine a sort of Consulting-As-A-Service, given that we already bill by the
hour).
I really suspect (and worry from an own-career perspective) that the first
thing to be automated will be the number-crunchers surrounding senior
management. I spend my time doing things like calculating the marginal effects
of extra pay on employee productivity, which is hard largely because most
companies have terrible data. Once companies start implementing systems that
can effectively and automatically track complex metrics like this, around 80%
of my role won't be needed any more, and instead of paying $250/hr for a guy
to whack out some R code, companies can get the same service wrapped up in
whatever future version of SAP they're using.
~~~
RangerScience
I heard a story once about how the introduction of power tools was protested
by the set builders of Hollywood (and probably Broadway) - they said, "now it
takes fewer people to build the same set! we'll lose jobs!"
The reality turned out that people built bigger sets on the same budget, and
people with smaller budgets could now build sets.
A large part of the job of programming is automating away the job you're
currently doing, so you don't have to do it again. This frees you up to do
more, newer things.
I suspect both with hold true for you. What you currently do will be wrapped
in an automated layer, and you'll do something similar on a higher layer
previously inaccessible.
~~~
ryankupyn
Yeah, that's pretty much what's going to happen. My employer just acquired a
rival that does exactly that, so now my entire division is gradually shifting
to build on their work and automate more and more.
The biggest change internally is what kind of grad degrees people get. 10-15
years ago everyone went for an MBA when they wanted to move up, now more
people are getting their Stats PhDs, then coming back and applying their
knowledge to problems that would have been the domain of B-Schoolers just a
few years ago.
------
losteverything
Another example of why a brand matters so so much. Brand managers all over
have to use this as an example
------
ebbv
What a crock. The whole bankruptcy was just a union busting maneuver to escape
the contracts they had signed. The company was deliberately run into the
ground to restructure and now it's making the executives rich while all the
workers have been tossed aside.
To hell with Hostess and all the people profiting off this upcoming "IPO".
~~~
Ataraxic
I mean if you engage in agreements with unions that are fundamentally
impossible for the company to meet, I wouldn't exactly call that union
busting. In fact from what I remember about this bankruptcy specifically, in
order to continue operations they absolutely had to negotiate a new contract
with all the unions. Every union but the bakers agreed. Because the bakers
walked, they had to file bankruptcy.
I feel like this is an example of the failure of unions. It also seems selfish
that given that if you know bankruptcy is coming, one union would bankrupt the
company when all the others were for it. If you hated the job that much, you
can leave. In the end, it didn't save jobs, it didn't protect their
livelihood, and I think it's quite possible that it delayed what is obvious
now: automation was inevitable and layoffs were necessary. Their workforce of
8000+ is now ~1200 and only now are the becoming profitable again.
~~~
ebbv
You can choose to believe that narrative, but I think that's what the Hostess
executives fed to the media. I believe they deliberately negotiated in bad
faith with the goal of declaring bankruptcy and restructuring.
_Some_ layoffs may have been necessary, but given how much profit they are
making now I'm not sure I believe that all 6800 were. Plus, we aren't given
details about how were these layoffs distributed? Were they all at the labor
level or was anyone from corporate laid off? Did any executives take pay cuts?
Are they all getting bonuses now? How much do they stand to profit from the
upcoming public offering?
My point being; the media was fed a narrative about the union being
unreasonable and the bankruptcy and layoffs being "unavoidable" and they eat
it up uncritically, and then the public does too. I don't think it's that
simple.
Unions are human institutions and like any human institution they can have
issues, but they have served an important purpose in this country in creating
the middle class. It is no coincidence that over the last 40 years unions have
been systematically undermined, busted and halted everywhere and at the same
time middle class wages have stagnated, with benefits that could have been
expected at a middle class job in the 60s now being basically unheard of at a
middle class job today.
~~~
seibelj
What is your calculation for the proper amount of workers at the Twinkie
factory? Modern technology allowed 1200 to do the work of 8000. How many
workers would you mandate work at the Twinkie factory in your ideal vision of
the world?
~~~
ebbv
Wow the libertarians are really pushing the straw men tonight.
This is going to be my last response on this thread because I'm tired of
explaining reality to you.
Obviously my number would be the number that makes the most sense. You
obviously take the view they did that already, but my point (which I've made
all along) is that companies rarely cut into executive staffing, pay or
benefits the way they cut into labor. Labor tends to pay the price of keeping
the executive staff, pay and benefits as is even when times get tough.
Ok enough of this tedious discussion. Have a good night folks.
~~~
seibelj
Your comment is both ironic and hilarious but I'm not sure you have the
perspective to understand why. Thank you for "explaining reality" to me with
your "what makes the most sense" argument about why the successful turnaround
of Hostess is a "crock" that is ethically dubious and screwing the common man.
The bottom line is that in a capitalist society reducing costs is required to
stay competitive. The only way to artificially inflate employment is to
mandate it with regulations. I was curious what mandates you would have,
perhaps banning robots so that all baking had to be done by hand? Or if it's
not the raw employment numbers you object to, but rather the pay differential
between management and labor, how would you force a multiplier that is fairer
to without being gamed? I talk to people who argue views like your's regularly
and they collapse when logically analyzed. I am hoping you can explain it to
me better.
------
sctb
We updated the link from
[https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/07/10/1659250/hostess...](https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/16/07/10/1659250/hostess-
saves-twinkies-by-automating-fires-94-of-their-workforce?sdsrc=rel), which
points to this.
------
dragon_ninja
This is the future.
One way to avoid it would be to tax companies as a percentage of their net
income divided by the number of employees that exceed some salary. However,
it's not a great idea to stifle innovation and efficiency.
~~~
slyall
Tax is usually close to 30% of net income to start with and even those with
the best accountants usually pay a few percent.
So dividing their tax bill by the 10, 100, 1000 or whatever workers that
exceed some magic income level won't generate much income...
------
beedogs
Capitalism's race to the bottom continues unabated.
~~~
GauntletWizard
Communism's race to the bottom has already been won. Only, Capitalism is
racing to the bottom of 'time spent by humans doing unfun things', and
Communism's was 'human rights'
~~~
sevenless
It's not like those are the only alternatives.
We should try communism with modern IT infrastructure and AI. The big problem
with many command economies was the inability to collect and act on the data.
Call it a "just-in-time command economy" if you prefer.
~~~
api
Ultimately those systems will have to be run by people, and all the same
perverse incentives will apply.
Corporations become corrupt too, but there is more than one and you can start
new ones. In a command economy like you allude to there is only one
corporation and if it becomes corrupt there is no recourse.
~~~
brightball
That's the exact point that applies to federal government programs vs state.
------
abrown28
Fight for 15 will fix it
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Ubuntu’s creator still invests his fortune in an unprofitable company - MarcScott
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/08/why-ubuntus-creator-still-invests-his-fortune-in-an-unprofitable-company/
======
toblender
Once Linux gets full PC game support, Ubuntu will be profitable.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
IFIII – If I Invested In - jbigmac
http://www.ifiii.co.za
======
PhaZZed
Good share! :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Alan Greenspan: Economy will 'fade' dramatically because of entitlement burden - hhs
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/alan-greenspan-says-economy-will-start-to-fade-out-because-of-growing-us-entitlement-burden.html
======
efficax
Why would anyone listen to greenspan after 2008? A dotty old randian who
doesn't know what he thinks he knows
~~~
dmfdmf
Greenspam was associated with Rand at least through 1977 when he was chairman
of Ford's Council of Economic Advisors, a position that Rand explicitly
approved. She died in 1982 and Greenspam was appointed to the Fed in 1987 so
she never had a chance to comment on that position.
However, based on Rand's writings on ethics and capitalism it would be immoral
to accept the Fed chairmanship unless you had an explicit charter to shut it
down which was obviously not the case for Greenspam. Rand would have denounced
Greenspam in no uncertain terms but she was dead.
Accepting the Fed position was an explicit repudiation of Rand's philosophy
and views on capitalism regardless of Greenspam's prior association with Rand.
It was also an implicit repudiation of the articles (especially the article on
gold) that he wrote in Rand's anthology "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" in
which Greenspam authored three articles; "Antitrust", "Gold and Economic
Freedom", and "The Assault on Integrity". He is no more a "randian" than my
mom, though he is dotty and old.
Greenspam would have been wise to read and heed an article written also in
Rand's book on capitalism; "The Anatomy of Compromise" in which she explains
the principle of Sanction. Rand wrote;
> In any collaboration between two men (or two groups) who hold _different_
> basic principles, it is the more evil or irrational one who wins.
Greenspan chose to collaborate with dishonest bankers, currency cranks (in the
Fed) and bureaucrats (in the bank regulators) who wanted make it possible to
"somehow" inflate the currency, give loans to the unqualified and to back
quasi-private debt (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) with govt guarantees all
without consequences. He thus set the stage for the 2008 mortgage banking
crisis.
------
cmurf
Ok so maybe we should axe FICA taxes for employer and employee and just borrow
it by issuing more treasury securities? I mean, he's not complaining about
unfunded military expenses that are paid for exclusively by borrowing. If
military adventures had their own tax, maybe we'd be thinking a little more
clearly about our priorities?
------
apo
> “Without any major change in entitlements, entitlements are going to rise.
> Why? Because the population is aging. There’s no way to reverse that, and
> the politics of it are awful, as you well know,” Greenspan added.
Funny that he'd lay the blame on entitlements when it could just as easily be
laid on out-of-control military spending with the Terrorism boogeyman cracking
the whip. Why, because neither the Republicans nor Democrats can keep their
entitled noses out of other countries' (or their own citizens') business.
There's no way to reverse that and the politics are truly awful.
The bigger problem is that the American people have collectively decided that
debt simply doesn't matter. Congress and the President pass budgets with eye-
popping deficits. The Tea Party and its calls for fiscal restraint are as good
as dead. Sanders, Warren, and the left wing of the Democratic party are on the
ascendency and will do everything they can to implement programs with high
price tags. Republicans will block any attempt to raise taxes to pay for it
all. The Federal Reserve has decided to pull the plug on quantitative
tightening, making it that much easier for Congress to balloon the national
debt.
Greenspan bears major responsibility for this mess. His complicity in letting
asset bubbles inflate well beyond control, and his rush to paper over the
resulting mess leads us where we are today. A financial house of mirrors where
bullshit passes for money and only the poor get hurt for their financial
stupidity.
~~~
manfredo
> Funny that he'd lay the blame on entitlements when it could just as easily
> be laid on out-of-control military spending with the Terrorism boogeyman
> cracking the whip.
Out of control military spending? As a percentage of GDP military spending has
had an overall downward trend since the Korean War. Measuring in terms of
dollars does not account for overall growth of the economy. There's nothing
"out of control" about US military spending.
[https://images.app.goo.gl/g1j2vkJz8UpdHcvU9](https://images.app.goo.gl/g1j2vkJz8UpdHcvU9)
~~~
peisistratos
The chart is incorrect because it does not take into account hundreds of
billions in veteran's benefits, nor interest paid on past military spending
(and as there is a budget deficit, the current year's military deficit
spending will be tacked onto next year's military debt interest).
~~~
manfredo
This cuts both ways, the spending on veterans post Korean War, WWII, and the
Vietnam War was probably very large as well. The point is the overall trend is
down. The economic burden of the US defense budget is decreasing, not
increasing.
Our military spending as a percentage of GDP has dropped by roughly 4x since
the 1960s. From around 12% to around 4%. In no way can a reasonable person
describe our military spending as "out of control".
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Story of the World's Biggest Diamond Heist (2009) - zakelfassi
http://archive.wired.com/politics/law/magazine/17-04/ff_diamonds?currentPage=all
======
ondiekijunior
Is it just me or it doesn't render well in 4 inch screens?
~~~
ablation
It's an old article. Doesn't appear to be ported over to Wired's new,
responsive layout.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Evolutionary gene loss may explain why only humans are prone to heart attack - rjzotti
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190723182255.htm
======
crabLouse
Since the driver of the selection against the related gene seems to be
malaria, I wonder if this is linked to prevalence of body hair on human
ancestors.
Bug bites on hairless skin probably had something to do with dying of disease,
and the early homonids that had the gene seem to be the ones hit the hardest.
We also see evolutionary markers related to bed bugs, head lice and body lice.
Maybe mosquitos and genes linked to a possible malaria pandemic offer more
clues.
~~~
fragmede
Malaria is a fascinating one, with the prevalence of sickle cell anemia and
G6PD blood deficiency in some populations with high exposure. Both of those
cause health issues but they both confer some level of resistance to malaria.
~~~
baddox
Isn’t the recessive gene for cystic fibrosis also linked to malaria
resistance?
Edit: apparently it might be linked to a resistance to cholera.
~~~
xythum
I was taught (undergraduate genetics) that it was TB, but I see the relevant
Wikipedia page also lists cholera, typhoid and diarrhea _shrug_
------
bitwize
On the other hand, cats -- for example -- are highly prone to kidney failure
in a way that humans are not.
~~~
glastra
Cats, being obligate carnivores and lacking a proper mechanism for extracting
energy out of fatty acids (e.g. ketogenesis in humans), have actually very
efficient kidneys to dispose of all the nitrogen coming from their protein-
exclusive metabolism.
Domestic cats are at risk, but that is more a result of domestication and
improper feeding (carbohydrate) than evolution or genetics. Unless I am
missing something, of course! Care to elaborate?
~~~
johnkpaul
Whenever I see comments blaming carbohydrate intake for large swaths of
problems I find it challenging because I agree and then feel that I am seen as
a heretic or extremely gullible.
Do you ever feel that way?
~~~
glastra
Yes.
I don't usually express my opinions on nutrition, metabolism and/or health in
general in the open, because I know they go against what is currently
mainstream and they would be met (as elsewhere in this submission) with
extreme resistance. I can't blame the others, though, as I once was in their
same position and know how it feels when deeply ingrained ideas are challenged
from the outside.
I have learned to live without the need to be "right", or to educate others
when they don't want to be. It is enough for me to apply what knowledge and
intuition I have gained over the last years for my own health and well-being.
If, at some point, someone wants me to share that knowledge, then I will
gladly do it.
~~~
johnkpaul
Thank you for this. This is very helpful both practically and emotionally.
I also try not to say a word about my beliefs. That was much easier before
having children who are offered carbohydrates constantly.
~~~
glastra
You're very welcome.
Even though I have no children, I can try to imagine what it feels like.
My paternal grandfather died of complications from uncontrolled, insulin-
dependent type 2 diabetes. He spent his last years half-blind, unable to move,
filled with ulcers and missing several toes.
My father has been hovering around the prediabetic range for many years now,
and I live a 5-hour drive away from him. Effectively, he is like a child, with
no knowledge of nutrition or metabolism, trying to find his way in a world
dominated by a food industry that doesn't have public health anywhere in its
objectives.
But it's not just the food industry, although they might have the monopoly of
malice in this context. Guess what the diet prescribed by his primary care
provider looked like once he was deemed prediabetic. Motherfucking biscuits
for breakfast, pasta or rice with lean meat, sugar-laden fruit juice... but
counting calories! Exactly the opposite of what I have finally convinced him
to eat by chipping away on every holiday visit. He's not exactly following a
ketogenic diet, but at least he is starting to figure out what sugar, starch
and seed oils do to people, and how the blame was shifted onto the wrong
substances (saturated fat and salt, basically). He is even giving intermittent
fasting a go!
It's hard when you know that the potential suffering of a loved one is
perfectly avoidable with just the right pieces of information.
As you might have guessed, having type 2 diabetes in my immediate ancestry
(also in my maternal family) was one of the reasons that led me down the
rabbit hole. I now treat nutrition and its effect on health and metabolism
sort of like a hobby. I guess there is a component of biohacking in there as
well.
------
raxxorrax
I have the feeling this has much more to do with our self inflicted lifestyle
than genetic factors.
Maybe no other animal is just that stupid.
~~~
klodolph
> Maybe no other animal is just that stupid.
Have you ever owned a cat or dog? My experience is that a percentage of them
will overeat unless constantly monitored, eat things that are outright
dangerous, etc. What is it that makes humans the stupid ones, here?
~~~
chosenbreed37
I wonder whether or not we should distinguish between domesticated animals and
wild ones
~~~
masklinn
It would be an interesting (if difficult) experiment but from what I know wild
animals will absolutely gorge themselves if they can.
The difference is that in the wild, this is tends to be quickly followed by a
resource crash from a normal cycle (e.g. winter crash after summer glut) and /
or population explosion.
I don't know that any organism has had evolutionary-scale periods over which
to psychologically integrate an access to essentially unlimited (in time and
quantity both) resources.
~~~
humanrebar
I have seen wild geese eat too much seed from bird feeders and practically
lose the ability to fly.
I suspect the correcting mechanism for that is generally predation.
------
dilawar
I wonder if a gone lost hundreds of years ago is somehow _responsible_, then
why heart attack related death mostly occured in last 50 years?
~~~
deanstag
It could be that they were not diagnosed as heart attacks before that.
edit: And also maybe general life style differences regarding availability and
richness of food, exercise, shorter life spans etc.
~~~
svachalek
In the 19th century, a heart attack may have been recorded as "old age",
"sudden death", "apoplexy", "stomach cramps", "spasms", or a lot of other
things. As long there weren't any suspicious circumstances I don't think they
usually looked into it that closely.
~~~
taurath
I mean, this was when amputation and leeches was the pinnacle of medicinal
triage. Life expectancy hit 49 in 1900 - for most of the 1800s it was below
40, a fact that still blows my mind today.
~~~
kqr
...are you aware that most of that low life expectancy was caused by infant
and child mortality? Once you lived past 15, you were expected to stick around
at least to your 60s, if not more.
So yes, modern medicine is a Herculean effort in many ways. One of them is
that it saves so many of our otherwise _very_ frail and helpless children.
~~~
taurath
Thanks for this - I was using life expectancy at birth. Looks like it was
around 55->60 from 1850->1900 if you lived to 5 looking at this chart:
[https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-
expectancy-b...](https://ourworldindata.org/uploads/2013/05/Life-expectancy-
by-age-in-the-UK-1700-to-2013.png)
------
cc439
Interesting, I was always under the impression that chipmunks were susceptible
to heart attacks. I can't remember where I read it and I can't find a current
source but you are apparently not supposed to harass chipmunks because they
can experience stress induced heart attacks when threatened/chased. I've also
seen potential evidence for this when my cat chased one around a parking lot
only for it to collapse after sprinting around for a solid minute. It was
immobile, looked short of breath and eventually died at some point between
when I brought my cat in and the next morning.
~~~
CamperBob2
Rabbits, too.
The whole premise behind this headline seems bogus.
~~~
DennisP
The headline seems bogus but the article says that "naturally occurring
coronary heart attacks _due to atherosclerosis_ are virtually non-existent in
other mammals." Atherosclerosis is the cause of only "one-third of deaths
worldwide due to cardiovascular disease" so other causes could still apply to
other mammals. For example, "chimp heart attacks were due to an as-yet
unexplained scarring of the heart muscle."
Of course we can give rabbits atherosclerosis by giving them high cholesterol
from a diet they don't eat in the wild. But in humans, "in roughly 15 percent
of first-time cardiovascular disease events (CVD) due to atherosclerosis, none
of these [risk] factors apply," where risk factors include "blood cholesterol,
physical inactivity, age, hypertension, obesity and smoking."
So the study explores a possible reason for that.
~~~
fpoling
Elephants that live in savannas in Africa are prone to atherosclerosis, while
those living in forest areas are not. [1] discusses that it can be due to
food. In savanna elephants are forced to feed on grains and dry grass, while
in forest they feed on leaves, which is probably more natural.
[1] Staffan Lindeberg. Food and Western Disease: Health and Nutrition from an
Evolutionary Perspective
------
jedberg
If this turns out to be true, I wonder if this is something CRISPR could
fix...
~~~
ordu
I'm not sure that I wish CMAH gene back:
_> Interestingly, the evolutionary loss of the CMAH gene appears to have
produced other significant changes in human physiology, including reduced
human fertility and enhanced ability to run long distances._
Reduced fertility doesn't seem for me important, we have a contraception for
that. But enhanced ability to run long distances seems very convenient. I can
ride a bicycle or walk for hours just for fun of physical exercise, and I'm
not going to lose that.
~~~
moccachino
I read somewhere that running very long distances is basically the only
physical thing humans can do better than any other animal.
~~~
ordu
Pretty close. I heard that humans are second after dogs.
~~~
barrkel
Per [https://www.quora.com/What-animals-are-better-long-
distance-...](https://www.quora.com/What-animals-are-better-long-distance-
runners-than-humans) humans are best in hot arid places, horses are best in
cooler temperate zones as the only other sweating animal, and dogs are best in
cold climates, where their breathing isn't as badly affected by panting as it
would be in hotter climates.
------
pvaldes
It seems that this guys never tried to catch a shrew.
~~~
akvadrako
I've seen a mouse die in a "humane" trap after being carried a couple blocks –
I always understood that was from a heart attack. It seems to happen with
birds too – stress them out a bit, then dead.
So in what way are "only humans" prone? Are these not heart attacks?
~~~
EdwardDiego
Probably time to agree on what "heart attack" means.
My Dad's heart stopped and he was kept alive by 45 minutes of CPR by burly
firefighters - did he have a heart attack? Nope. His heart's pacemaker cells
went on the fritz, but it wasn't a myocardial infarction.
A "heart attack" is a myocardial infarction, but many other bad things can
happen to your heart.
------
Rickvs
Perhaps we evolved a heart overclocking ability. Sometimes we just push the
heart too hard.
------
glastra
> Atherosclerosis -- the clogging of arteries with fatty deposits
What a way to start an article in a website with "science" in its name.
Atheroma is an accumulation of white blood cells. White. Blood. Cells. Not
fat.
"Meat bad, saturated fat bad, eat your necessarily fortified grains and heart-
healthy industrially extracted seed oils."
~~~
hirenj
-oma is a suffix that means tumour. E.g. lymphoma.
-sclerosis is a hardening. E.g arthrosclerosis for a hardening of joints.
~~~
glastra
I fail to see what this has to do with my comment.
The hardening in atherosclerosis is caused directly and exclusively by
atheroma.
~~~
sambe
Everything I've ever read says fatty deposits. The NHS website calls fatty
deposits "atheroma". You can find multiple definitions of
atherosclerosis/atheroma in other places describing them the same way.
Wikipedia says:
"While the early stages, based on gross appearance, have traditionally been
termed fatty streaks by pathologists, they are not composed of fat cells but
of accumulations of white blood cells, especially macrophages, that have taken
up oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL)."
So whilst it may be more accurate to say they are white blood cells that fed
on LDL (and presumably contain fatty substances as a result) there is a long
tradition of calling them fatty substances, and there is at minimum a
connection to fat.
It seems misleading to try to discount the role of the fat to me. They don't
sound like they are just normal white blood cells. Is there any doubt that the
fat plays a causative role? I know a couple of cardiologists who say it is
clear. Do you have some references for the idea that fat is not relevant?
~~~
glastra
What do those cardiologists say? That fat in the blood (triglycerides) causes
atherosclerosis? Or dietary fat? Very different things.
Regarding the mechanism of atheroma formation, I don't have a list of
references handy, but maybe this is a good start:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3152836/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3152836/)
Also of interest would be the role of high insulin and/or glucose and the
damage they can cause to the arterial walls (inflammation is a necessary
condition in the formation of atheroma).
~~~
sambe
The conventional wisdom: fat in the blood is the main thing to worry about
(along with genetics) and that lifestyle factors have a big influence on that.
So both, really.
Which part of that paper disputes the importance of fat?
------
Pimpus
So now we're including "survival of the unfittest" as part of evolutionary
theory? Sorry, this makes zero sense. If humans really did evolve, then we hit
the lottery - several times.
~~~
ben_w
Fitness doesn’t mean what you think it means. As others have noted on this
post, this mutation confers some resistance to malaria.
When the options are “malaria with high probability from birth onwards” or
“heart attack after multiple decades with high probability if nothing else
kills you first”, this _is_ fitness.
Besides which, if humans _didn’t_ evolve, you need to explain why the creator
didn’t use a better mechanism to prevent us from getting malaria. For example:
not creating malaria when they created us.
------
olliej
I like how the headlines explicitly states _humans_.
For yet another study in ... mice.
There are other options like dogs and pigs which are much better models for
human biology, so if you really want to make a claim about subtle effects of
human genetics you need to be as close to a human model as possible.
This is entirely ignoring the someone generous leap they make that one single
gene mutation is responsible for an increased rate of heart disease. It also
doesn’t touch on what the benefits for that gene were (to spread through the
gene pool completely it must have some benefit that outweighs the cost)
~~~
AlexCoventry
If this withstands scrutiny a chimpanzee study can't be far off, though.
~~~
buntsai
Nah. Primate studies are too expensive, impractical and ethically difficult to
justify. Think about the number of subjects you would need for statistical
significance ...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Facebook API Craziness - Nikos
http://blog.socialcaddy.com/the-facebook-api-craziness
======
Mistiki
I don't get it - so is the old FQL query still valid but in a different
format? I can't believe there is not more documentation about that. Good job.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ten apps is all I need - sant0sk1
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2959-ten-apps-is-all-i-need
======
jdietrich
The iPhone had sold millions of units before the app store launched. A
significant proportion of iPhone and iPad users have downloaded less than a
handful of apps.
I'm very much of the opinion that apps were more effective as a viral
marketing strategy than as a truly attractive feature. People talk about apps,
people show their friends, but most of the non-geeks I know don't actually use
anything but the built in apps, a Twitter or Facebook app and Angry Birds. A
lot of people in the comments are generalising from their own experience and
that of their peers, which is just a classic geek mistake.
I think Apple have been clever in perpetrating the myth that the App Store
gives them an unassailable "ecosystem", but I think what really sold the
iPhone was the fact that it's core features were so damned _useable_. Their
rivals have been falling over each other to attract developers, when they
should probably have been working on making the core features work better.
Look at the stats on mobile data usage - until the iPhone came along, nobody
really bothered to use their smartphone's browser because the experience was
so unpleasant. At one point 99% of all mobile data was being used by Mobile
Safari. Android is catching up, but iPhone users still spend a
disproportionate amount of time using their phone's browser. That has nothing
to do with an "ecosystem".
~~~
jimbokun
"and Angry Birds"
I bet games is the big exception here. I bet many of the "non-geeks"
referenced by you and others in this thread have downloaded a few games to
their iPhone, and would be much less likely to switch to a competitor that
didn't have the same games or games that were just as good.
One more counter data point: at a party last Saturday in a room with a bunch
of non-geek college kids, fiddling with their iPhones, one of them
spontaneously asks "Hey, what's that app that can tell you the name of a song
if you hold it up to the microphone?" One of the other college kids quickly
confirmed that it was called Shazam.
~~~
timknauf
Don't underestimate the power games have to give a platform staying power. The
prevailing sentiment in past discussions here has often been that games are
interchangeable distractions, but there's a big portion of the public that is
incredible passionate about their favourites and thus the platform on which
they run. (We've been taken aback at the fan loyalty shown to some of our
games, and this is stuff that's barely even troubled the lower reaches of the
charts.)
~~~
frossie
Bingo. It is all very well to say "I and my business buddies only use 10
apps". Go have a look at a random teenager's iPhone and if they are not full
of game apps I will eat my hat.
And yes there are a lot if kids with iPhones out there, either as full phones
or without phone service. Where do you think all the previous generation
devices are going?
In a family the app-store represents significant lock-in, both in collective
$$ spent on apps and media, but also in the device hand me down chain. I bet
there is a lot of pressure against one of the parents switching to an N9 all
of a sudden.
Brand new smartphone users or company issues are (maybe) a different issue.
~~~
cageface
Games also tend to be the most portable and least "sticky" of all apps though.
Most games are written with cross-platform engines or toolkits. If an app is a
huge hit on iPhone you're likely to see it on Android not long after.
------
m0nastic
I feel like he's missing the point of an ecosystem.
It's fine that he only uses a few apps on his phone, and that most other
people probably do the same.
The problem is that those "few apps" that most other people use aren't the
same "few apps" that he uses.
~~~
dhh
I've heard that mentioned before, but that's not what I'm seeing. I don't use
10 random apps from the App Store. I use the 10 default apps that come with
the phone. Except for Twitter, I consider the 3rd party apps to be completely
expendable without materially affecting my enjoyment of the phone.
From other "just a few apps on a daily basis" users I've seen, they tend to
use the default apps as well. It's not a random cross section of the 200K apps
in the App Store.
~~~
achompas
_Except for Twitter..._
This is a variation of m0nitaly's point: I would say "except for Instapaper,
Reeder, and Twitter..." and Jasber would say "except for Rdio and
RunKeeper..."
Even if apps 1-10 are native, I'm hanging onto my iPhone for numbers 11 and
12. The native iOS experience is great, but those two or three non-native apps
make it sublime.
~~~
esrauch
I still think that is really only true of the "geek" crowd. I am pretty sure
none of my real life friends that weren't computer science majors have even
heard of Instapaper or Reeder or Rdio or RunKeeper. The majority of the
"number 11" apps that I use are mainly because either they don't have a
workable mobile site (HN) or the mobile website doesn't quite work well enough
(reddit, imdb, possibly facebook) but the latter category should be fixed just
from phones getting slightly better and certain mobile oriented technologies
coming out (like HTML5 offline support).
On a side note (not related to current enjoyment of phones) I really think
it's not too long until the only things that are necessarily apps use lower
hardware features (GPS, compass, camera, Shazam, game graphics), with even
some of those possibly moving into the browser (disclosing location to sites
already exists on desktop, Google just launched voice search on their desktop
search).
I also think its a bit disingenuous to put the Twitter app (not an alternate
third party Twitter app) in the same category as the others. Right now, a new
mobile device would probably have a Twitter app and maybe even a Facebook app
as a "native" app. When I got my phone Twitter and Facebook was already
installed on it, equally presented alongside all the "native" apps like
Googles, Maps, Music, Navigation, etc.
~~~
achompas
_I still think that is really only true of the "geek" crowd. I am pretty sure
none of my real life friends that weren't computer science majors have even
heard of Instapaper or Reeder or Rdio or RunKeeper._
I disagree. I have friends who love Tiny Wings, Angry Birds, Pandora, the DC
Next Bus app, SimpleNote, NPR and Fruit Ninja. Most of these are iOS-only, and
those that are not have abysmal Android versions.
As for Twitter being native: are we talking about the Twitter for iOS app?
Because the iOS app is indispensable relative to other options.
~~~
smackfu
True, non-geek people just have different apps. Not Instapaper, but Facebook.
The stuff that is in the top 10.
------
saturdaysaint
If "all you need is 10 apps", then the platform is relatively unimportant, and
it doesn't matter if you're just distributing someone else's software.
Personally, I'd add a few apps to his "must have" list - Kindle, Netflix,
Wunderlist, Rdio, Facebook, iTalk (Dropbox-enabled voice recorder), Dropbox,
Instacast (high quality podcast app), Downloads, The Economist, VNC software,
Audible, ComicZeal... Also, I expect a robust tablet ecosystem, strong
syncing/backup capabilities and good accessories. The N9 isn't looking too
attractive to me.
~~~
esrauch
I've found the Facebook Android app to be lacking compared to their mobile
site, maybe the iPhone app is better. As for Kindle, Netflix, VNC, and
ComicZeal I just could not fathom actually using a 3 inch screen for visual
media. I've used the Netflix app once or twice when I didn't have easy access
to a laptop, but those situations are exceedingly rare and the experience was
very lackluster. They also completely murdered my battery so I pretty much had
to have my phone plugged in if I planned on having any power to use my phone
in a few hours, so the application of it would be seriously limited.
It feels like you are confounding iPhone and iOS in general (you specifically
mentioned tablet ecosystem). The N9 is a phone and I cannot fathom why you
would care that the OS that your phone runs on has a robust tablet ecosystem.
I also feel like you have must have a very unusual lifestyle to consider
Kindle and Netflix apps on your phone at all imperative; do you have an
unusual commute or something?
~~~
bad_user
Meh, it got better -- what I like about my Android is that it can sync
Facebook contacts with my contacts list, giving me extra emails (or phone
numbers, but maybe that was an illusion) -- and most importantly, I have my
friends avatars in my contacts, without me bothering to go out of my way to
take their pictures.
So the Android/Facebook integration is useful for me.
I do tend to agree with DHH -- besides the browser, GMail and Maps, I only use
3 apps I got from the Marketplace, plus one that I built myself.
Other than that I don't bother, as my laptop is much better for everything
else and when going out I only feel the need to stay connected, otherwise I
would rather drink beer or play with my kid, rather than playing stupid games
that are no match for the games I used to play in the 90-ties, or watch movies
on a shitty screen.
It is useful for commuting to work though, but that doesn't help me as I'm 5
minutes away from my work-place and I also have the freedom to work from home
when I feel like doing it.
DHH said it better, but I had the same impression - people are overestimating
the importance of an App Store. It's useful to be sure, but the phone can
initially sell without it.
------
kkowalczyk
One can wonder if a platform becomes successful because of a rich ecosystem of
apps or if rich ecosystem of apps follows success of a platform, but the
undeniable fact of life is: every successful computing platform also has a
rich ecosystem of apps. Be it Windows, Mac OS, web, iphone, playstation or
Commodore 64.
So reality strongly hints that you cannot have successful computing platform
without a rich ecosystem of apps.
If you've read reviews of Android tablets, there was one thing that every
reviewer brought up: there are no tablet-specific appsh. Applying Ockham's
razor, is it because:
a) reviewers are part of world-wide anti-Android tablet conspiracy that
coordinates talking points in their reviews
b) we have a freak statistical event of reviewers being in sync in their out-
of-touchiness wrt. what is important for potential tablet buyers
c) people actually do care about having lots of apps to choose from
Do we really have tens of thousands gullible developers who write hundreds of
thousands of apps that nobody wants or buys, or maybe, just maybe, developers
are following the money and writing apps because people are actually buying
and using them?
~~~
windsurfer
Compare and contrast A and B. A has features X and Y. B only has feature X. B
is missing Y. Reviewer complains.
~~~
kkowalczyk
I give reviewers a little bit more credit than that and believe they are
capable of telling a difference between important and marginal.
~~~
smackfu
Reviewers have been pretty terrible forever. See: any review framework that
enforces a Pros & Cons list at the end.
------
robenkleene
It is worth pointing out that this is 37 Signals. Which means, just by
dogfood-ing, they get rid of many of the major 3rd party app categories.
Productivity software make up a lot of the most useful 3rd party apps, and 37
Signals makes web productivity software that cover the same territory.
It doesn't mean their point isn't still interesting, it's just good to
remember context.
------
kleiba
I don't have a Smartphone, but I can relate to the basic notion very much. I
mainly do desktop computing, and lots of it, but pretty much all I ever need
are four "apps": the shell, a browser, an email client, and Emacs. That's what
I use 95% of the time. Then a PDF viewer, OpenOffice.org, and every now and
then the Gimp or Inkscape. So basically, 10 apps is all I need, too.
But at the same time, if I scroll through synaptics there are many, many
packages that I have installed over the years. Most of them I probably used
only once or twice, unless they're libraries. But for those couple of times,
it was great having the "ecosystem" to get them with a simple click.
So I suppose it's always a mixture: the 10 apps you use 95% of the time should
rock. But the remaining 5% should be painless, too.
~~~
dave1010uk
FYI, as the N9 is based on Debian, most of the programs you mentioned should
run on it. I use OpenOffice.org and The Gimp occasionally on my phone if I
really _need_ to (the 3.5" screen is not ideal but it works).
~~~
kleiba
Cool! Is it possible to attach a screen, a mouse and a keyboard to a
Smartphone? That should be fun...
~~~
dave1010uk
Phones that support USB host (or USB on the go) could have a keyboard / mouse.
I've done that with my N900. I don't think the N9 supports USB host out of the
box but I bet some enterprising hackers will get it working. The N9 also has
TV out (but not HDMI).
You could, alternatively, connect the keyboard / mouse via USB. Nokia's N8 has
USB host and HDMI out but runs the Symbian platform. Here's a demo of the N8
connected to a TV & a keyboard / mouse:
[http://dailymobile.se/2010/10/07/nokia-n8-hdmi-bluetooth-
key...](http://dailymobile.se/2010/10/07/nokia-n8-hdmi-bluetooth-
keyboardmouse-win/)
~~~
kleiba
That sounds mighty cool, thanks for the info.
------
petekp
Mostly agree with David’s points. I have at least 30 apps on my iPhone. Of
those, I use 5-6 on a regular basis, half of which were developed by Apple and
came pre-installed.
The endless variety of the app store is impressive, but there’s so much cruft
in there it’s beginning to feel more like an app Walmart. A large fraction are
either redundant or slapped together to make a quick buck.
I’d trade the majority of my apps just to have more seamless interaction with
those aspects of this device I find most useful; the camera app in particular.
It’s perplexing that Apple has just now decided to allow us to use a volume
button as a shutter. I’ll forgive that on the basis of the brilliant decision
to add a camera shortcut on the lock screen — that is an example of the type
of improvements that really make a difference in the everyday utility of these
incredible pocket machines.
Whoever masters the art of making it easy for a five-fingered hand to
effortlessly soar through those fundamental functions it’s difficult to
imagine being without (phone, messaging, browser and camera in particular) is
who will ultimately earn my dollar. /raaant
~~~
ja27
On my phone (Android) I regularly use Touchdown (Exchange email), GMail,
Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Google Talk, PdaNet, Google Maps, GPS Status,
c:geo (geocaching), WeatherBug, Pomodroido, Wireless Tether and somewhat
regularly use Evernote, Dropbox, and NXT Remote (drives LEGO bots).
On my iPod Touch besides the built-in apps I pretty regularly use Facebook,
Twitter, Foursquare, Stanza (e-reader), YouVersion Bible, Evernote,
PomodoroLE, iTalk, Skype, NYTimes, ESPN ScoreCenter, Opera Mini, VLC, and two
of my company's own apps. I regularly play a few games: the Angry Birds line,
StarDunk, Trainyard, HarborMaster, LEGO Harry Potter, Dungeon Raid, Words With
Friends and Carcassonne. Every couple of weeks I use Yelp, Urban Spoon,
Geocaching, and Wolfram Alpha.
My phone is a bit crippled due to slow speed and lack of space or else I'd use
a more apps there. I pretty much grab every interesting iOS app that I see and
give it a try.
------
AndrewDucker
I don't _need_ apps.
But why would I switch from a phone that has apps for Spotify, real time
updates for local buses, Facebook and Twitter to one that doesn't?
~~~
dave1010uk
I know it's not really the point but the N9 has a Facebook / Twitter client
built in. There's a few Spotify clients already for Maemo (what the N9 is
based on) so I expect there to be at least one before the N9 launches.
------
hnsmurf
The problem is everyone has a different 10 apps they "need" and even if you
figure only 1% of apps fall into that category for someone, there's still a
lot of value in a platform of 200k apps.
------
switch
What monastic wrote:
__ __ __* I feel like he's missing the point of an ecosystem. It's fine that
he only uses a few apps on his phone, and that most other people probably do
the same. The problem is that those "few apps" that most other people use
aren't the same "few apps" that he uses. __ __ __ __ __ __ __*
All the arguments against this are arguments made by people not willing to
step out of their own perspective.
1) The particular apps that are critical vary per person. 2) The number of
such critical apps vary per person. 3) The weight given to these apps when
valuing the iPhone varies per person.
Most importantly - in a system where iPhone is already as good or better (or
if you have religion of openness, a little worse) than nearly every other
phone - the apps become a huge advantage.
------
smackfu
He doesn't use his phones for games at all. I think that is a fairly common
use among those who buy apps.
------
EdgarZambrana
This is why Windows Phone is so much better than the competition. It
integrates all of the most commonly used features in a smartphone into a
simple, cohesive experience.
------
briggsbio
I'm taking a different read of this article, I guess. I view this not as a
"who cares what phone I use, since I rarely use the 3rd party apps." I take
this, and some other commenters do as well who have significant usage of some
3rd party apps (Netflix, Kindle, Instapaper, et al), as a challenge to build
better apps that provide more functionality. Every time I look down at that 4"
screen and think about all the things I can do with it, I still look at it and
think, "Good lord, there is SO MUCH MORE we haven't even seen yet!" And it
makes me want a whiteboard so I can start mapping out ideas.
There is still a huge amount of opportunity to create incredible apps. Social
Media apps have been done every which way from Sunday, content apps as well,
To-Do lists are certainly overdone, and basic note apps as well (though there
are some unique innovations that could be done on note apps IMO). But look at
those categories, compared to all the incredible things these devices can do?
There are still big wins to be made in mobile app development, both native and
browser-based.
------
ChrisLTD
DHH is probably right that most people only use a fraction of apps, and that
should mean any phone could succeed versus the iPhone or Android phones.
However, I doubt people are rational enough to realize this when they go out
to buy their new smartphone.
Even though I only use ~10 apps on my iPhone and iPad, I'd be wary of buying
into another platform that didn't offer the same breadth of choice.
------
hnsmurf
Also the notion of using only a few apps doesn't apply to games, which is one
of the killer features of smart phones. They are largely meant to be
disposable, and you assume you'll be playing new ones periodically. I might
keep 7 or 8 utility apps that I frequently use, but I've got a constantly
rotating selection of about 1 or 2 games I'll play, and I'm not even much of a
gamer.
~~~
MaxGabriel
John Gruber ran a series of posts about this for awhile, about how iOS had
significantly better 3rd party game selection, and especially from larger
brands
------
nasmorn
I think the compass is great. If you get out into the world sometimes and
arent a gazzillionaire you can't use Google Maps even if you happen to have a
signal. On my trip to Argentina for example a GB of roaming data was 15000
USD. In words fifteen thousand dollars. And if you didn't download an offline
map back home, GPS is not going to help you much.
------
jsz0
As many people have said the challenge is everyone's _10 apps_ are a bit
different and that's why you need a big software catalog. This is especially
true of games. You can only play Angry Birds so many times. There are hundreds
of other really great iOS games out there. The author says he can live without
playing Civilization but when the price tag for the phone and service is
basically the same that's a tough sell. We also cannot underestimate the
simple joy of consumption people get from buying/sampling different apps. A
device that lacks this experience is always going to feel limited even if you
spend 95% of your time in the same 10 apps it does provide.
------
mailarchis
It is interesting. I guess yesterday an article which compared the % of users
using addons on firefox vs those on chrome. Firefox had the higher number. But
its probably more of an indicator that chrome is reaching out to mainstream
user base.
I don't think that the mobile platform domination will be decided by how many
apps the platform has in the app store. Will it be dominated by the best
platform that nails the core use cases best like iPhone as mentioned in above
article ? Well maybe, it will.
But then it just might happen that the one with highest distribution channels
will win the race.
~~~
dhh
The whole point of this is that there need be no race. If all you need to
compete is to do the core set of 10 apps better than the other guy, it's
completely doable. If you need a 200K app ecosystem, it's not.
OS X is a great example of this as well. I switched because it did the basics
better than Windows back in the early 2000s. Back when it had virtually no
apps and Windows had all of them.
~~~
cageface
Laptops are different for me because they're big enough and powerful enough to
do non-trivial work. I use my phone for checking email and bus-stop web
surfing but I have a Macbook instead of something running Ubuntu because I
_need_ Photoshop and Ableton Live.
------
pclark
The "few apps" he needs vary wildly person to person. Here are mine:
TweetBot, WakeMate, SimpleNote, Spotify, Meebo.
Additionally gaming is a primary category for platform growth, if you do not
have a vast amount of good games you are stuffed.
------
Steko
Let's look at his 10 apps or more specifically what he didn't list. Would your
phone/tablet experience be degraded without the following:
RSS
Skype
iBooks/Kindle
Netflix/Hulu
Pandora/radio
Video Calling
all games
Mine would be and there are many more that I use less but value highly.
Barcode scanners, Fandango, White Noise, flight trackers, turn by turn, Word
Lens, a whole suite of reference materials that work offline.
A browser can replace some of them, somewhat. Chrome's promise is to replace
nearly all of them completely but that's not here yet and is really just
moving the goalposts.
Today I may not _need_ all of these apps but I love that I have them.
~~~
smackfu
...and the main problem with that list is that 3 or 4 of them are proprietary
platforms. So if Netflix or Amazon doesn't decide to support your platform,
tough luck. You will never have access to your movies or books.
------
tsycho
Reminds of that other saying about most users using only 10% of features in
Microsoft Excel......it's just that every one uses a different 10% of features
(or apps in this case) :)
------
tptacek
I used to think I was this way about the iPhone too, but if I look at what
apps I use constantly, it's more than 2: PCalc, Rdio, Remote, Instagram, RTM,
Screens.
~~~
spicyj
Curious – what do you use Screens for?
~~~
tptacek
Controlling the Mac Mini under my TV.
~~~
spicyj
I see, for the keyboard mostly? I always thought using a mouse over VNC on an
iPhone seemed awkward.
~~~
tptacek
It mostly drives Rdio.
------
kenjackson
This is the exact argument I make to others about why the app long tail is
less important than you think. In fact I made the argument here:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2664559>
You nail the basics as listed above, and have a basic app ecosystem and you're
fine. Much like how the web neutralized the desktop OS advantage -- we'll see
it happen even faster in mobile.
~~~
alex_c
That is basically what Apple did with the iPhone. There were lots of apps for
the other mobile platforms at the time, but the iPhone was simply in a
different class.
The problem is that today, you have to come up with something _that much
better_ than the iPhone. If a Nokia phone and an iPhone are of comparable
quality (which I think has yet to happen), but the iPhone also offers you
access to a huge variety of apps, then why would you get the Nokia? It needs
to be significantly better in some way.
~~~
MatthewPhillips
I needs to be significantly better to gain mind share, not to market share.
------
KeyBoardG
I agree mostly with these 10 apps. Its why I hung onto my BlackBerry for so
long. My jump to WP7 was mostly for the screen resolution and browser.
------
delackner
I'm not sure what the name is for this, but this is the same incorrect
reasoning that lead to the idea that the russians could compete against
capitalism with a planned economy. Just make the ten tractors and chicken
plucking machines that everyone needs!
The only way the next really amazing app comes along that EVERYONE wants is
for a seething ocean of developers churn through ideas fighting for users.
------
hernan7
Maybe there is a niche for a not-so-smart phone: like a dumb phone, but with a
usable web browser. I could live with a phone like that.
~~~
revorad
I totally agree. A good cheap tablet (weblet?) like that would also be very
useful to me.
~~~
icebraining
That was the N800, a few years ago.
~~~
revorad
That's quite small (4 inches?). My ideal size would be that of the Kindle,
like the HTC Flyer, but not as stupidly expensive.
------
papertowel
I don't agree with the premise. If Apple had nailed the basics, why there are
still many popular apps for camera, weather, clocks, photos and maps?
I also take issue with the fact that just because someone uses a few apps 95%
of the time, they don't need other apps. Some apps are really valuable only in
some circumstances like when you want to know how to go to an obscure place.
------
antidaily
To be sure, most people just want facebook, pandora and most especially angry
birds. But can I get every episode of Top Chef or the latest Golf Digest on
the N9 (or even Android)? I think access to content within iTunes is more
compelling than the 200k apps. And it seems to be what Apple is betting on.
------
mey
Andorid's biggest failing to me is the lack of a coherent killer e-mail,
calendar and integrated IM experience. Out of the box you have a carrier
crippled experience or the google locked in experience. Even Win7 get's that
right. Conversely you will pry my Incredible 2 from my cold dead hands.
------
dasil003
I'm not sure I agree that the app ecosystem doesn't matter, but one thing is
for sure, there are way too many app stores being launched and most of them
suck.
Certainly it would make sense to focus on the core user experience first
instead of some half-baked attempt to confront to out do Apple's whole
platform.
------
rogerbraun
But it's the same for non-mobile platforms. I only use 10 applications on my
computer, too, and I try to avoid platforms that don't have these. Of course,
one might argue that everyone needs the same apps on a smartphone (telephony,
messaging, notes...) but why not use a regular phone, then?
------
tobylane
Variety is also good. Just because you know you love these ten apps doesn't
mean you want to be confined to them. I have 350 apps on my ipod, I only use
five weekly, but if I had to stay entertained for a few days I'd play all 100+
games. I'd still prefer my Kindle.
------
rtc
The reason that 200,000 apps is huge is not because all 200,000 benefit a
single user; rather it's because 200,000 apps enables millions of people to
write this exact same post, but substitute Echofon and Bloomberg (his 2 daily
use apps) with App X and App Y.
------
thestoicjester
This reminds me very much of Navin R. Johnson. Not only just in phrasing, but
also the attitude that he'll be "just fine" with his few apps.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VbI5zcB8Ac>
------
icebraining
Nevertheless, the support for Alien Dalvik[1] might help.
[1]: [http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-n9-android-app-support-
promis...](http://www.slashgear.com/nokia-n9-android-app-support-promised-
with-alien-dalvik-22160809/)
------
cpg
What? It's a bit strident for the sake of it. "Fuck the platform" then ...
"they nailed the basics" ... that's essentially the platform too, I say.
------
atacrawl
The platform as a whole matters a lot less than the exclusivity of its best
apps.
------
buro9
The problem is, which 10 varies from person to person.
------
scrrr
I suspect that in a few years there'll only be two (native) apps: Making
phonecalls + webbrowser. (yes the webbrowser will also play mp3s and talk to
the camera to take pictures)
~~~
sheriff
Why couldn't the web browser also make phone calls?
------
zem
but everyone needs a different ten!
------
georgieporgie
I liked my Palm IIIx (1999) better than my Android. That's not to say it _was_
better, just that its simple, snappy, tightly integrated set of base apps
helped me be more productive. My Android, which comes with nothing very
useful, makes me unproductive.
PDAs were great time savers whereas 'smart' phones are great ways to get ads
in front of people. :-)
~~~
technomancy
What amazes me is that from what I can tell no modern mobile platform allows
you to sync contact info as seamlessly as IRDA did in '99. I had a Palm V, but
I could point the thing at my friends' Nokias and get their numbers in
seconds.
The closest thing I've seen is Bump, which is cool but nowhere near as
immediate. Plus it's a 3rd-party install.
~~~
georgieporgie
For what it's worth, in Japan it's 100% standard to exchange virtual contact
info via IR. Every time I witnessed a meeting of new acquaintances, people
would automatically begin to form circles and exchange contact info. It's so
cheap and effective, it really does make you wonder why it's so rare on
American phones.
The only electronic contact exchange I've ever witnessed in the US was between
Googlers using 2D barcodes. I've never seen anyone use IR or Bluetooth.
------
Cherian_Abraham
N9 is fucked, not just because of the lack of third party devs developing for
the MeeGo platform.
As per Engadget, Nokia plans to have N9 on sale on Sept 23, right after the
iPhone5 launch and several Android, WebOS and Mango phones that will be
released between now and then.
Sounds like bringing Knife to a Gunfight? The processor underneath the N9 is
already dated and they think releasing end of third quarter was a sound idea?
WTF?
~~~
KeyBoardG
Not to mention the Meego team has a limited time left at Nokia. From what I've
read Meego will run Android apps via the Dalvic JVM. If that were the case I
would rather run the leaner Meego than Android.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I wish this was hosted at hackernews.com - iammerrick
I always type in hackernews.com only to find some weird blog. I wonder how much traffic that guy is getting, anyone else fall into this trap?
======
OedipusRex
If CloudFlare didn't prevent it you could just edit your host file on Windows
to make hackernews.com pull from the (real) Hacker News IP Address
------
t0
[http://hackerne.ws](http://hackerne.ws)
~~~
iammerrick
Wahoo thanks!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: If anyone can code, why does hardly anyone pass interviews? - fitpolar
======
davismwfl
I'd argue the premise that anyone can code. Yes anyone can type what they saw
in a book or online, but not nearly as many can comprehend what they typed and
understand what they are doing and the implications of it long term.
Second to that, technology interviews overall are STILL broken. I really don't
give a shit if you know the Big O for a specific algorithm, I care if you know
when you would use certain data structures/algorithms and not others. I care
if you can work in a team and participate and have a passion to learn.
So I, long ago, dropped doing the whos smarter interviews and went to a method
that let's me ask you real world scenarios and see how you think through them.
Because in the end that's what we do daily. So I'll ask questions for real
problems we have faced and solved and see how you would approach them to see
how you think. I don't care if your answer is the same as what we did, I care
that you can defend your answer and participate in healthy non-conflict debate
because that's how we find the right answer. I also don't sit there and ask
you to whiteboard an efficient for loop to reverse a string or take your pick
on other stupid questions. That isn't to say I won't ask specific coding type
questions, but I don't care about you solving some stupid problem on the spot.
I do care if you know the content and can apply techniques to solve the
problem, because if you have those two things, you can figure the rest out
effectively.
Oh and I will never send you a problem and ask you to code something for me,
even paid. That is the ultimate of lazy and disrespectful IMO. To me it is
like saying, you are not worth my time, but if you can pass this test I MIGHT
bother talking to you, but no guarantees.
An alternative I feel is respectful and fair is during an interview, I might
present you with some code and ask you to do a code review on it. I am not
asking you to do "work" for free but I am seeing how you will look and think
through code, plus I will gain far more from being able to ask you questions
and see how you think than sending you home with some problem where I have no
insight to your thought process.
------
AnimalMuppet
Anyone can code - a little. People that can do it well, day after day and year
after year, are much rarer than "people who can code", though.
More: You probably don't want to hire "someone who can code". You probably
want to hire a software engineer - someone who can understand requirements,
write code that works, debug well, run a profiler, find memory leaks,
understand other peoples' code, give (at least somewhat) accurate estimates,
work well with others, not break working features, test thoroughly... You want
a _lot_ more than "someone who can code".
------
sophiebits
* Even though anyone can learn to code, not everyone can code already
* People get nervous in interview settings and there are many reasons why you might fail a coding interview despite being good at coding
* People who tend to not pass interviews end up doing more interviews than people who do pass them, skewing interview stats (everyone thinks they are hiring the best, but that can’t be universally true)
------
shahbaby
Because passing the coding interview is its own skill and rarely reflective of
the job itself.
------
chillacy
Companies always interview a handful of candidates for each opening, so it
feels like hardly anyone is passing because for each job, 1/7 gets it. On top
of that just coding isn’t enough, you have to stand out so they can
unambiguously say you’re the best. So you need soft skills and whiteboard
skills as well.
~~~
qwerty456127
So if they only hire the best 1/7, why do so many people say there are not
enough coders on the job market and the demand is high? Why don't they just
hire good coders too, not only the very best?
~~~
AnimalMuppet
Coders are not interchangeable. You're a hot web programmer? Congratulations,
you're not even considered for my job - I'm in embedded systems. You probably
can't get hired to do deep learning, or Android programming. And the reverse
is also true! There's all these programmers, and all these jobs, but nobody
wants a generic coder. They want someone who can do the specific job that they
have, or at least learn it quickly. When you're looking for a programmer,
there aren't enough _of the kind you want_ looking for work.
And then there's supply and demand. Good programmers are in limited supply at
the moment. (Perhaps we could train more, but it's going to take time. At the
moment, the supply we have is limited.) The demand is there, so the price
rises until the supply and demand meet. That happens when some of those who
want programmers get priced out of the market. _To those firms_ , there's a
shortage. That is, there's a shortage _at the price they can afford to pay_.
But since they're the firms that would derive less value from those
programmers, it's appropriate that they be the ones priced out. And if we had
more (but not unlimited) programmers, we'd still have the same problem - there
would be someone priced out who was complaining that there was a shortage of
programmers, because they couldn't hire anyone at the price they could afford.
When supply is limited, someone always gets priced out. To them, it looks like
a shortage. But it's just a shortage at their price, not a shortage in
general.
(There's also another problem: Programmers get paid really well. If you can
fake it, and there's _one_ company that you can fool, then you can get paid
really well. That's a strong motivation to, shall we say, exaggerate your
abilities. This leads to a number of "programmers" looking for work who can't
program very well at all.)
------
CM30
Well, I think you've got to realise a few things here:
1\. While almost anyone can learn to code, it takes time to learn how to code
well, and someone who's just starting out will obviously struggle to pass
interviews. I mean, would you hire someone who picked up a book about Python
two days ago and just learnt how to write a loop?
2\. There is a huge difference in the level of skill required by different
companies. Many people who apply for coding jobs will be above average for
some opportunities, below average for others and average for others still. Is
your average CMS theme developer likely to get a job at Google?
3\. People's perceptions of their abilities vary wildly. A lot of the time,
they'll go for jobs well above their skill level on the off chance they'll get
it, and this happens for everyone from complete beginners to actual expert
programmers. They may be able to pass an interview and become a programmer at
a company, it just won't be for the type of company they're applying to.
4\. Just because anyone can code doesn't mean everyone can code right now.
Does that stop them applying for jobs? Not really. But it sure makes it
unlikely they'll get said jobs.
In other words, there are quite a few factors here, even assuming being able
to learn to code is a universal human trait.
Edit: A few more
5\. Some people get nervous or fall apart in interviews, hurting their
chances.
6\. Culture fit is important for quite a few organisations, and there'll be
candidates turned down because their priorities differ from those of the
people already there.
7\. Interview questions often don't actually judge someone's programming
skill. Many companies end up relying on Google esque logic puzzle bullshit
that has no real effect on anything.
8\. The skillset required for passing interviews is different from the one
required for doing the work.
9\. Sometimes personal issues get in the way of a good interview or
opportunity. Perhaps the interviewer was having a bad day, or the interviewee
misunderstood the question. Or the boss/other employees were
racist/sexist/classist/agist/whatever or had a personal dislike of the
candidate based on first impressions.
------
mortivore
A lot of people pass interviews. Which still doesn't mean anything because the
interviews rarely have anything to do with the job.
~~~
babygoat
Huh? I've never been through a single coding interview that had nothing to do
with the job. Would you mind sharing some of your experiences?
------
jakobov
1) Knowing how to code and being good at it are completely different things.
2) Knowing how to code and having the specific coding skills the company is
looking for are also different.
------
InGodsName
1\. I am Serverless adtech coder.
2\. I only do machine learning geared towards adtech
3\. I can't be hired for php wordpress development because i charge way too
much for it $500/hr
3\. I won't bill for building Electron app either.
4\. If someone wants to build ad tech platform in C# or Java, i will pass. I
only code in Go, JavaScript and Rust. I'll not learn any other language!
In the adtech area, there are only 20-30 guys capable of building whole ad
tech platform A to Z from scratch.
They don't have any shortage of jobs.
But some guy doing wordpress thing can't be hired to for adtech. Got it?
Obviously, i always keep complaining that there are just not enough coders in
adtech who know adtech well!
~~~
jklein11
If you have some extra contracts that you don't have the capacity to complete
and could use some extra hands, let me know. I would love to lend a hand and
get some hands-on experience with what you do. You could pay me $100 and keep
the $400 an hour for training me. If you want to discuss this further, my
email is in my profile.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How to Stay Focused When You’re Working from Home - rbanffy
https://hbr.org/2017/09/how-to-stay-focused-when-youre-working-from-home?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
======
skate22
Paired programmining in a skype call is not ideal, but it keeps me on track.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Interface Design with a Homeless person - MIT_Hacker
http://www.delian.io/post/26331301430
======
weego
This rather confused me. Even more so because some of the details seem to
being live edited.
A cycle courier for legal documents that gets to read the documents. He crewed
on a sub (initially im sure it said commanded) yet doesn't get on with
computers yet even though he is homeless he knows about the square product,
and also having never worked in design knows about Dieter Rams, someone with
almost no designers I've ever met have ever heard of.
Just a weird story over all.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
About the wording, I actually had a friend in the Navy who reached out and
told me to change the verb. I wouldn't have posted it if I didn't think it was
a strange experience to have!
~~~
jawr
It is a very strange story. I'm also quite surprised you didn't know about the
two bike valves on a pump! At least it led you meet this cool person.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
Yeah, it sounds like I was out of the loop with these reversible hand pumps.
Things you learn from homeless people!
~~~
polynomial
I definitely appreciated the story, thanks! Now, having said that, I find the
continued overuse of the "homeless people" label somewhat fraught. Not just
you I mean, but in general I think it's a particularly lazy figure of speech
that does less good than harm to our understanding of the problem.
------
hdkmraf
Being homeless myself I can say most homeless people I have met do it on
choice. Not sure about the USA, but here in Tokyo people become homeless after
realizing they are wasting their lives working for goals and objectives that
benefit nobody. Eventually you realize you don't need most of the
"commodities" and "comfort" of modern life. Maybe it is my engineering
background speaking, but you learn to maximize output and minimize input in
all aspects of life. Sure, sometimes simple pleasures as sleeping can be hard
sometimes (some hot nights, some cold ones). But on the other hand there is a
feeling of freedom that comes from the lack of material possessions, nothing
to take care of, nothing to protect, no attachments, no home to go back, no
bills to pay, no future to worry about... just freedom, and it feels great :D
~~~
keithpeter
"Being homeless myself I can say most homeless people I have met do it on
choice."
Not so much in the UK. Usually psychiatric illness or drug dependency coupled
with a catastrophic loss of income. Perhaps the causes are different in
different places. I understand your idea of freedom, but I'm sure you can stay
free in a small room somewhere!
~~~
yaix
I hope even in the UK, the gov't would pay your housing and basic needs?
~~~
keithpeter
State benefits are payable, but the statutory right to be housed is for
families, not single people. There are not huge numbers of homeless people in
most cities, London is the worst of course as might be imagined.
I think there is more of a safety net here than in US, but there are holes in
it still.
------
rwhitman
What this guy didn't say is that he figured out an alternative occupation -
wandering the streets of san francisco saying intelligent things to young
middle class people in the hopes that they will give him disproportionate
handouts.
I've encountered this more than a few times when I lived in Berkeley. I think
its a technique thats somewhat endemic to the bay area homeless population.
~~~
kylebrown
The assumption I didn't appreciate, even more than "even MIT_hacker can learn
something from the homeless", was that Larry "could easily get a job at a bike
shop." The OP should read the recent article in Rolling Stone, The Sharp
Sudden Decline of America's Middle Class.
But it does sound like there's a demand from the upper-class for urban guide-
service through Tenderloin.
~~~
rwhitman
Exactly. In reality, guiding stranded bikers through the tenderloin might
actually earn the guy _more_ than working at a bike shop
------
anigbrowl
_Larry had actually been the messenger for the first documents in the Barry
Bonds perjury case. Larry had been the first member of the public to know
about the doping. He told me how reading those documents had ruined baseball
for him._
I find this a bit unlikely. Then again, it might explain why he doesn't have a
job as a bike messenger any more.
~~~
jschuur
On the other hand, he could have just heard about the contents without reading
them at the time, and later read them when they were publicized.
~~~
anigbrowl
He wouldn't have been the first person to read them then (middle sentence).
~~~
icebraining
It doesn't say the first person, it says "the first member of the public".
------
mmcnickle
Am I the only one who found the whole thing extremely patronising? "A homeless
man who could teach _me_ something, who would've thought. I went to MIT!"
~~~
cgoddard
Yeah i don't see what the story was here either. It sort of disgusts me to
think anyone would read this and be enlightened or surprised. If you've never
had to worry about being out on the streets yourself you've led a very
privileged life.
~~~
vpontis
And, that's the point. The poster in the story realizes the privilege of his
life and gains insight into the life of others. You really expect him, at 19,
to understand homeless people when there is so often a sensationalized
stereotype.
About his username, it is absurd that you cannot admit to going to a good
school without being pretentious. The classic example is how Harvard students
say where they go to school, "in Boston". Hiding information about your
successes because they might impress people is much more pretentious than
making a username "MIT_Hacker".
Think before you attack people.
------
ivasilov
I lived in the Tenderloin for 3 months during the past summer, one block from
the shelter on Polk st. I've had conversations with numerous homeless people
(while waiting for a bus) and all of them had an interesting story to tell
(whether it's true or not, that's another issue). What really struck me was
that every homeless is homeless by his own choice. They have families (which
could help them) and money and yet they choose to sleep on the street. I've
never had an incident with any of them.
One thing I didn't noticed until I moved out is that Tenderloin really teaches
you to be humble. I would recommend anyone considering to start the next
(insert buzzword here) startup to spend a month living in Tenderloin. You'll
learn a lot about real-life problems, not just 1st world problems.
------
guynamedloren
I like this story.
But this part baffles me: he 'wants to be his own man', so he won't work for
somebody else. Instead, he doesn't work _at all_ and accepts money from
strangers... and somehow that is better and more prideful than working for
somebody else?
~~~
cgoddard
Getting employed and staying employed when you're homeless is a lot more
difficult. Psychiatric and substance abuse problems don't help either; even if
you're a homeless person and lucky enough not to be struggling with one of
those, jobs available are often patronizing and demeaning (shit jobs).
------
bambax
Why be surprised that a homeless person knows a lot of things. Many homeless
people are not "losers" -- they're winners of sorts.
Not winners in the sense of being successful or in control of one's destiny,
of course, but in the sense of being slave to no one and fooled by no
ideology. They're real-life Diogenes.
~~~
sopooneo
I am surprised by this view. Most homeless people I've met who would not jump
at the chance for a decent place to live are either mentally ill, addicted to
something, or both. The other kind, the middle class kid having a time of
exploration I don't really consider homeless. I think it's a wonderful thing
to do, but is a very different situation.
------
joshma
A good anecdote re: the value in (not being afraid of) striking up
conversations with strangers. I think a lot of people, myself included, have a
tendency to shy away from such encounters - ask the right questions, and you
can get really interesting stories.
On the other hand, the man's comment about "wanting to be his own man" got me
thinking about doing startups for the sake of not working at a large company.
While it's probably a nice touch, I think I'm getting more cautious about
letting that be a determining factor.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
This is exactly what I was thinking. I was angry for myself that for the first
30 seconds of the conversation I could feel adrenaline pumping and my heart
racing.
In regards to your second point, I worried that I saw that same aspect in
myself :)
------
Comrade
I am glad you had a positive experience with The Tenderloin. I had quite the
opposite experience: I was nearly attacked.
He was spouting off stuff like "Stupid Americans!" and saying he was not
afraid to get sued and that he would just return to his home country. Needless
to say, I was pretty terrified. This dude was scary, and my friend (SF local)
warned me about The Tenderloin.
Anyhow, I think it's great that you met such a positive and interesting
character in one of the most unlikely places.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
I've been biking through the Tenderloin for the last couple of weeks since I
started at Square. I've always been really scared as I bike through and have
had a decent number of people yell at me. This was quite the opposite of that
:)
~~~
Comrade
I gathered it's mostly OK during the day. We were (stupidly) walking around at
2am after a night out.
Tourists. ;)
~~~
potatolicious
The TL is terrifying when there's no one else around except some ne'er-do-
wells. Anything goes in that situation. Where it's busy it's usually just
unpleasant, running the Tenderloin gauntlet of a million aromas (the more
belligerent cousin of the Mission gauntlet of a thousand aromas).
During the day time I'd be more concerned about stepping in human excrement or
rivers of piss. In fact, walking to the BART tonight from the Tenderloin I
dodged 3 piles of human shit and near-missed another.
The Tenderloin and Twitterloin are blights on this fair city, and its toxic
presence is oppressively pervasive if you spend any amount of time downtown
(or even further out, like Hayes Valley and the Castro). It's a startling
example of complete public policy failure at all levels of government.
------
Confusion
and found that my hand-pump was made for a different valve
than on my tire.
With all handpumps I know, you can unscrew that top part and reverse it, so it
fits the two most common kinds of valve (of which I don't know how you call
them in English).
~~~
MIT_Hacker
I didn't know about this! This is was my first-ever hand-pump
~~~
pgrote
Don't feel stupid. The same thing happened to me in the middle of a planned 50
mile ride. I was sitting on the side of the road, bike upside down trying to
watch a Youtube video from the pump maker on how to inflate my tires. Never
once did they mention flipping it around ... they sort of assumed everyone
knew that.
It is a great lesson to remember when designing software. Not everyone has the
base knowledge we assume.
------
brettcvz
Interesting - if only he had square, you wouldn't have needed to go to the ATM
~~~
MIT_Hacker
For a second I thought about signing him up on the spot. At one point during
the conversation I did walk him through the entire payment flow of the Square
app. That's what got us on the topic of humanizing computers!
~~~
Daegalus
This just gave me a thought that could potentially be great but also scary at
the same time.
What if homeless people signed up for square? They will now be able to accept
Credit Cards. As people don't carry cash anymore, the common thing people say
is "I don't carry cash." because they don't, but then he whips out a device
with square and says "No problem, I accept Credit Cards too!"
Though, getting an Android or iOS device plus be near Wifi or pay for cell
service and have a bank account. Sounds a bit tough to set it all up for a
homeless person.
Great story, btw. Sounds like you met a nice guy. Most of the Homeless I run
into in SF are pretty nuts.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
This was actually the first thing that occurred to me as we got talking. I
then realized it wouldn't really work since he probably doesn't have an active
bank account to receive the money.
I'd love the day when there are beggars using Square. It would mean that our
designs are simple enough for a homeless person to use!
~~~
ejfox
Dude, I really liked the story. I'm glad you wrote it and had this experience.
I was giving you the benefit of the doubt while reading the comments, but your
phrase "It would mean that our designs are simple enough for a homeless person
to use!" really, really, REALLY rubs me the wrong way. Whether you notice it
or not, whether you intend it or not, you are sounding incredibly patronizing
to other human beings. It makes you sound sheltered and ignorant. Both in the
way you phrase your story (Homeless people can be interesting?!?!) and in this
concept that designs would need to be "simple" or someone who is homeless to
use.
I suggest spending a LOT more time outside talking to strangers if you think
you need to "simplify" things for homeless people. Talking to and helping a
homeless person does not make for a blog post in my life, and many other
people's lives.
Imagine replacing "homeless" for any other adjective. "It would mean our
designs are simple enough an asian to use!" "It would mean our designs are
simple enough an MIT student could use it!"
It's offensive.
------
youssefsarhan
"here I was being schooled by a homeless person". Get off your fucking high
horse.
Nice story otherwise.
~~~
TheSOB88
This experience is part of the process that will get him off his "fucking"
high horse.
Why blame a person's ignorance on the person, rather than their upbringing?
Ignorance has to be resolved somehow.
------
rayyy
congrats, you helped a homeless guy buy drugs.
------
DanBC
> _I asked him how he knew to reconfigure bike pumps_
This is the most interesting part of the story.
Why do smart people come to weird conclusions such as "I have the wrong pump"
rather than "This pump has a simple tweak to work with both popular valve
types"?
And then "This was not obvious to me, and thus it is an obscure piece of
knowledge, so anyone who does know it must have some weird experience" when
really anyone who's used a bike pump knows this, especially if they've read
the box.
------
kdsudac
The most unbelievable part of your story: you didn't know how to use your
_own_ bike pump! From your description it sounds like a pretty common design.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
It was the valve on the pump. Made for mountain bikes rather than my street
bike and it was the first time I had to use it.
------
Mz
I am homeless and pretty open about that fact, as well as the expensive
medical drama which led to my current situation. I am kind of offended. This
piece sort of sounds like "wow, homeless people are actually human and once
had a life off the street. Whoda thunk! (pat self on back for being so
humane)"
Replace "homeless" with black, gay or similar words and see how you feel about
announcing they are human and everything.
------
dabeeeenster
Is this satire?
~~~
MIT_Hacker
Is this real life? Yes, yes it is.
~~~
jdale27
Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality..
Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see...
~~~
coolnow
This isn't reddit.
------
aniketpant
I really enjoyed the encounter.
It really makes one think about so many things. Who would have thought that a
homeless guy would know about Square and even after that, you would be in a
conversation with him about interface design.
If that guy has a good understanding of design by chance, I really think that
he can actually do well in the industry :) [Just a thought]
~~~
MIT_Hacker
I'll put him through the design loop @Square :P
------
DividesByZero
I enjoyed this story, even though I'm unsure about the message I should take
away, it does make me think.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
This experience really made me step back and think about humanizing design.
It also got me thinking about stereotypes and the way I classify people as I
walk down the street.
~~~
DividesByZero
Is it really about humanising design? The man's expert knowledge came from
very specific experience - despite the fact that you're a long time bike
rider, he still had many tips and tricks to show you that you were unaware of.
Maybe the real lesson is that good design comes from experience more than
theory?
------
steinhmr
Thank you for reminding us to be open to the unexpected. Life is a beautiful
gift and so often I live in my "shell." I am sure I have missed many
opportunities to meet the Larries of the world--thank you for the reminder to
be present.
------
dushra
"I’ve been riding since I was 12 years old and have done several long-distance
rides. Here I was getting schooled by a homeless person."
How is his being homeless related to his knowledge of bikes?
------
djvv
This reminds me of last year when I had a chat with a homeless professor in
mountain view. He knew way more geography than the average person.
------
machbio
The story seems to be untrue.. though there were no details of any design
principles they talked about..
~~~
vpontis
Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction. And I think the experience and re-
thinking interactions is more important than the specific design principles
they talked about. In addition it shows how interface design is universal and
how one can gain insight from even the most unlikely sources.
------
feralmoan
$100 for some TL crackhead giving $5 worth of service? Homeless guy clearly
had you figured out.
------
jhuckestein
This is great, I just bought a hand pump and found it didn't work on my bike!
~~~
MIT_Hacker
Ask a homeless guy how to fix it! Turns out most handpumps are reversible :)
------
tagx
I had a similar experience with someone in Palo Alto last summer. Good stuff
------
keville
OP's nick is "MIT Hacker" and he never disassembled his bike pump?
Revoke that handle, STAT!
------
derpmeister
The site is ybombinator'd, is there a mirror?
~~~
MIT_Hacker
I think I got it back up? Scaled instantly on heroku :)
~~~
jrockway
You needed to "scale" a static page?
~~~
MIT_Hacker
It's actually loading dynamically from tumblr. I should probably implement
some caching onto the site
------
karatekidd32v
I know OP in real life. Class of '15!
------
abalone
You must be new here.
------
wilfra
I'm sure he was a really smart guy with an interesting story but you sound a
bit naive in believing everything he said i.e. about the Bonds papers and his
tours and all of that. Likely a lot of exaggeration, some straight bullshit
and a little bit of truth.
Great story though. And kudos to dropping a c-note on him. Giving a lot to
them rarely is far better than $2 here and there, which will likely just go to
beer or a small meal. $100 they can actually do something important with.
~~~
MIT_Hacker
You know, I thought about this throughout the entire encounter. I wasn't sure
if I could believe any of his stories. He seemed so genuine and so excited
throughout the conversation that I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
In terms of how much money I gave him, I decided that $100 was probably the
minimum amount that could actually help him pursue the idea and as a college
intern, I'm not sure I could have spared much more!
~~~
chmike
What are the odds that such guy would be given a chance to share a piece of
himself like he did ? I really don't think the OP was naive. I think there
should be more people like him.
Y Combinator gave a chance to people who would never have a chance at seed
investors or Angle investors. It appeared that YC found few very valuable gems
though. Surprised ? You shouldn't because seed investors and Angel investors
have strong bias to what a high potential candidate or project would look
like.
I assume we have a similar strong bias regarding homeless, close to consider
them as hopeless. Though I believe that there are gems in this group of people
as well, that need only to be given a little push and help to shine out.
And as for Y Combinator, people would consider it all normal and obvious
afterward if someone does it for them too.
My impression is that it was a kind of surprise for the OP to discover that he
had a bias regarding such kind of homeless guy.
BTW a bike shop looks like a good long term investment considering the energy
crisis. In Greece, a business that is very flourishing in this strong crisis
period is selling wool ! In Italy they raised gasoline tax so that a litter
cost 2€ (because of debt)! We'll all reach that point soon or later. Beside,
real lean startup founders ride bikes !
~~~
alex1
> _Y Combinator gave a chance to people who would never have a chance at seed
> investors or Angle investors._
Do you really believe this? I think most, if not all, YC founders are capable
of raising a seed round and making connections in the Valley with or without
YC. YC just expedites this process.
------
jsavimbi
Anyone who has spent time in San Francisco, worked in the industry or ever
spoken to a person who writes like that knows the story to be a fabrication.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Mountain Lion Mail Perturbs Sending Behavior - superchink
http://tidbits.com/article/13189
======
smparkes
Royal PITA
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Seven Reasons Why the New iPhone Sucks - transburgh
http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/37/52271-seven-reasons-new-iphone-sucks
======
aggieben
I always like a good, consumer-informing post like this, but this seems overly
reactive:
5. Wimpy 2 MP camera.
In the world of 5 MP Smartphones and 10 MP point and
shoot cameras that you can buy for under $200, why is the
iPhone still stuck with a measly 2 MP? That’s so 2003.
While we’re at it how come we can’t record video, afraid
the non-existent SD card might fill up? The iPhone should
be able to stream video by now just like many other cell
phones can already do right now.
Let's be fair - and I don't know the specs - but pixel count and linear
resolution aren't the same thing. A 2MP camera on the iPhone may be of better
quality than the 6MP camera Canon sold you last month.
See my article submission (yes, I'm a karma whore) post for full explanation
_update_ : arggh! Nickb!
The Megapixel Myth (kenrockwell.com)
12 points by nickb 200 days ago | 6 comments | flag
<http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.htm>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I Developed a $3.5K/Month Tool That Converts HTML to PDF - cx42net
https://www.starterstory.com/convert-html-to-pdf
======
totaldude87
Nice to see details around the implementation and decision process, would it
be possible for you to share your architecture/monthly expenditure?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Apple releases iOS 13.5 to the public with Exposure Notification API, Face ID - raybb
https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/20/ios-13-5-released-features-exposure/
======
aavalle
This is pretty incredible! I'm excited to see some of the innovative projects
that public health agencies build around this. I applaud Google and Apple for
collaborating on a single API that opens a new information channel out to the
public (billions of devices!) and could imagine a future where real-time
contact tracing inspires enough confidence in people/businesses to get things
moving again provided the proper precautions are in place. I also hope we
don't get over confident because of tools like these and blink first.
Couple of other interesting changes listed in the notes:
Face ID and Passcode
Simplified unlock process for devices with Face ID when you are wearing a face mask
Passcode field automatically presented after swiping up from the bottom of the Lock screen when you are wearing a face mask
Also works when authenticating with the App Store, Apple Books, Apple Pay, iTunes, and other apps that support signing in with Face ID
FaceTime
Option to control automatic prominence on Group FaceTime calls so video tiles do not change size when a participant speaks
Emergency Services
Option to automatically share health and other essential information from your Medical ID with emergency services when you place an emergency call (US only)
The first two make my life easier and the third is helpful. Thank you.
~~~
m463
I wish there was a way to flag comments that have inadvertently tripped
code/fixed-font by indenting.
------
whateveracct
My wife and I were just complaining today about how annoying Face ID is with
our masks on. Glad that's getting improved!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What should I do? - stasy
I've been making a game for iOS and have recently made some pretty good progress. After I release this game, I'm going to start working on a social app which I have been planning for about 6 months on sketches and notebooks.<p>There is an app that has a similar purpose to the social app I've been wanting to make, although they don't seem to make it that good and it seems a bit cluttered. Theirs has recently made #50 in the category as well.<p>I would like to work full time but being 16, I've got a lot of things to do for school right now.<p>What do you think I should do? Keep working on the game? Ditch the game and work on the social app? Or focus on something else for the social app?<p>Thanks
======
tokenrove
Try to release the game before moving on to the social app. If there's one
thing I regret from your age (and later), it was not making shipping my
priority.
~~~
robbiea
Agreed. Ship it for the sake of shipping it and using it as a portfolio piece.
I remember one app in particular that I spent a LOT of time on including
meetings with others, etc and I never launched it. It still makes me mad and
haunts me.
So if you're close to launching the first app, launch it for the sake of
launching it and seeing a project all the way through.
------
gregcohn
There's a lot of value in the follow-through from shipping. I don't want to
make too many assumptions based on your age, but if it's your goal to get
better at this, I'd encourage you to release, learn, and iterate before you
shift your focus to something else. See if you can make it successful; if you
can't, have a better reason that "I gave up", and you'll be the wiser for it.
------
JSeymourATL
Which project is grabbing the majority of your psychic bandwidth and gives you
the most energy? Which one represents the greater intellectual challenge?
------
chibuk
Ship it and break it best way to go :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
From Doom and Gloom to BOOM and Bloom (2016) [video] - espeed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voQKPymcCfA
======
jdonaldson
This is actually a much older talk from 2011.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
IRS electronic filing system breaks down hours before midnight deadline - cos2pi
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/irs-electronic-filing-system-breaks-down-hours-before-tax-deadline/2018/04/17/4c05ecae-4255-11e8-ad8f-27a8c409298b_story.html
======
sp332
Official status page, if anyone wants to keep an eye on it:
[https://www.marketingexpress.irs.gov/systems-
status/system-s...](https://www.marketingexpress.irs.gov/systems-
status/system-status-mef/modernized-efile-mef-operational-status)
------
tedunangst
I feel like this is a nothingburger hyped up to induce panic. I filled out my
return today, on the last day as always, clicked some buttons, and shat out a
return into the ether. The IRS doesn't seem to want it, but HR Block has it
and will give it to them eventually. My work here is done, it's time for happy
hour.
------
pasbesoin
With recent concern about malicious entities in the press, I'll pose this
question: "On its own, or was it 'helped'?"
Separately, it's worth noting the following quoted bit of the article. These
cuts have included investigators; at the same time, statistics indicate that
each additional investigator brings in 10x the cost of their job, in increased
"recovered" revenue, i.e. collection of taxes owed.
The IRS isn't "just incompetent". It's been under political and funding
attack, for years, now.
_Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) noted the agency’s budget has been repeatedly cut in
recent years, which he said he believes could have contributed to the
problems.
“While we don’t yet know what has caused this systems failure, the lack of
Republican funding for the IRS to serve taxpayers will only compound the
issue. Americans should not be punished for being unable to file their tax
returns or pay their tax bills today,” said Wyden, the top Democrat on the
Senate Finance Committee, which oversees the IRS.
The IRS has faced steady budget cuts for nearly a decade, with its staff size
falling by about 18,000 employees from 2010 to 2017 and a recent report
showing it can answer only about 60 percent of calls from tax filers._
------
maxxxxx
How do you design a system that is barely used most of the year and then
experiences one huge spike only one day? Do they have tons of capacity sitting
around most of the year?
~~~
wizardforhire
I ask the same question when I look out at parking lots. Yet there they are;
wasting resources, destroying habitats, soaking up heat, and suppressing
carbon absorption.
~~~
organsnyder
At least computing resources can be repurposed more easily. That can be done
with parking lots (park-and-rides, carnivals, etc.) but the physical proximity
makes that much harder.
------
qrbLPHiKpiux
Paper and postmark. I’m done. Technology sometimes is not the best solution.
Just saying.
------
logfromblammo
This is one of several reasons why I file on paper.
I caught a glimpse of how the sausages were made once, thanks to family
connections. That was enough. It's completely reasonable to assume that the
IRS is operating on technology that is at least 5 years out of date, and
possibly as much as 40. They have just barely enough resources to serve their
overall departmental mandate.
This is only partially on the IRS itself, and also on the politically
motivated processes that intentionally underfund it, especially with regard to
taxpayer assistance, guidance, or convenience. If not this year, next year,
and if not then, call the office of the nearest archdiocese to investigate out
who was responsible for the miracle of the unborked servers, and the miracle
of the balancing of the surge traffic.
~~~
Someone1234
You never really explained why you file on paper.
Yes, the IRS has outdated tech', but that within itself isn't really an
argument for why you needed to switch to filing on paper after you learned
"how the sausages were made." Plus aren't paper filings just typed in by hand,
and turned into eFilings anyway? Both go through the same pipeline after a
point.
~~~
logfromblammo
I didn't switch. I never started.
Paper filings are converted to electronic records, but they are also scanned,
and the images retained for some amount of time before being destroyed. They
might also do as much OCR as they are able, and ask a human to verify or
correct, rather than do all the data entry by hand.
If the internal digitization system goes down, well, the envelope still has a
dated postmark on it. That makes it not my problem. Securing the pipeline
between employee workstation and database server is likewise not my problem.
I don't want to explain further, because I don't want to discourage other
people from e-filing, and it would contain some assumptions that I cannot
verify. And it also contains the personal assumption that I will almost always
wait until the last weekend before the filing deadline to even look at a form,
because of a procrastination habit.
------
vinhboy
Oddly coincidental because I just spent all last night reading about
distributed computing for Uber's payment system.
I can't imagine the government system has more load than Uber.
~~~
heinrichf
Where did you read about that ?
~~~
vinhboy
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16852295](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16852295)
------
jameskegel
Do people affected by this get any consideration if filing today?
~~~
Someone1234
From the article:
> “If we can’t solve it today, we’ll figure out a solution,” Kautter said.
> “Taxpayers would not be penalized because of a technical problem the IRS is
> having.”
------
DoreenMichele
Oh, great. I'm trying to file today online, though I need to look for a free
service and redo all the paperwork because I'm broke and can't afford the
filing fee. And now this.
Can't they just announce an extension and give everyone extra time? That
wouldn't solve all my problems, but it would take some pressure off.
This is stupid. Just tell people the deadline is extended.
But they aren't likely to do that.
~~~
noahjk
If you’re unable to afford the filing fee, I’d assume you’re not submitting a
very complicated form, so while taxes are due today, why should the deadline
be extended? It’s not as if today was also the first day available for file.
Your poor planning does not constitute an emergency on the IRS’s part, right?
~~~
DoreenMichele
It isn't poor planning.
I'm medically handicapped and I fell in December and hurt myself and basically
spent three months in bed, not doing paid work, though I was working on other
things to try to raise my income. I'm a woman, so I am barred from the old
boys network. I appear to be the only woman to have ever made the leaderboard
of Hacker News. No, this does not gain me entree to the old boys club. I still
have essentially no professional connections here, though that may be
painfully slowly changing.
I have cystic fibrosis. So does my oldest son. Both my sons are ASD. So,
there's a whole lot on my plate.
I also am getting well when doctor's claim that cannot be done and that gets
me called a lunatic and teller of tall tales. It doesn't lead to anything
good.
I was gifted membership to Metafilter by a kind soul. That forum is full of
people who like to imagine they are good people making the world a better
place. They did nothing but crap on me. They were unwilling to help me figure
out how to increase my income.
I've done everything in my power to solve what are supposed to be unsolvable
problems and I mostly get kicked in the teeth for it.
But, hey, thanks for taking the time to make swipes at me. Really nice of you
to add to my troubles while I sit here with $2 to my name trying to figure out
how the hell I will eat for the rest of the month and also dealing with the
IRS sword of Damocles today just to add to the fun.
~~~
dragonwriter
> I appear to be the only woman to have ever made the leaderboard of Hacker
> News. No, this does not gain me entree to the old boys club. I still have
> essentially no professional connections here, though that may be painfully
> slowly changing.
The leaderboard, inasmuch as it correlates with any elite group, probably does
so more because people who are already in that group are more likely to get
onto the leaderboard for a variety of reasons, not because the leaderboard
offers entry to that group (whether generally or for men specifically.)
I don't think I'm at all unique in being a man who has been in the leaderboard
without ever having any professional connections through HN.
There is definitely a group with professional connections that overlaps with
the HN community, including the leaderboard, and there is certainly no small
amount of networking that is facilitated by HN contacts with similar
interests, but, even before coming considering any potential gender dynamics
issues, getting into the leaderboard just isn't a ticket into anything of
substance.
~~~
DoreenMichele
Your profile has nothing in it. You appear to have no interest in using HN to
make those kinds of connections. So no surprise that you don't have that if it
isn't a goal of yours.
It is a goal of mine. And when I do the same things the men do, it doesn't get
the same results. When men want to pursue something professionally, they
routinely say "Email in profile." When I invite someone to take it to email,
the most common outcome is they hit on me.
One guy spent some weeks talking to me and pretending to be my friend before
mentioning that he was married and needed a shoulder to cry on because his
marriage was in the toilet and he was hoping I would be said shoulder to cry
on. I gave him about 3 more days of my time to cry on my shoulder, at which
point he resumed sleeping with his wife while talking at me like we were
lovers, never mind that I told him up front I was not going to be the Other
Woman. I cut him loose at that point. The more I think about how he
intentionally withheld his marital status, the madder and more used and lied
to I feel.
There's a whole lot more backstory here that I am unwilling to comment on
here. Suffice it say, I have good reason to believe that if I were male, I
would have professional connections here of meaningful value.
If you don't want to use HN to make such connections, cool. But it's
aggravating to be constantly told that this is an unrealistic expectation of
mine when other people clearly pull it off and then also get told that my
gender isn't the problem. If it's not, what is?
~~~
dragonwriter
> When men want to pursue something professionally, they routinely say "Email
> in profile." When I invite someone to take it to email, the most common
> outcome is they hit on me.
I don't doubt at all that you get people feigning professional interest that
turn things that way, and I _do_ think that your gender and the fact that
there are sexist, and more particularly sexually exploitive, men here plays a
significant role in that.
You absolutely _should not_ have to deal with this, and you have every reason
to be upset about it. I suspect—and I want to be clear that I say this by way
of explaining a pattern I've observed with this kind of targeted behavior
eslewhere and how it tends to be targeted, but not at all to imply any blame
on you—that the fact that you tend to be very open about circumstances of
intense and urgent financial need and your hopes for professional connections
on HN to alleviate that contributes to people who are inclined to they type of
exploitation seeing you as a likely target.
I want to emphasize again that this is a problem with the people acting this
way toward you, not with your writing.
> But it's aggravating to be constantly told that this is an unrealistic
> expectation of mine when other people clearly pull it off and then also get
> told that my gender isn't the problem. If it's not, what is?
While I think your expectations as to the general level of success at that
here is too high, if I were to take as given the assumption that you are
underperforming in that regard based on what would be expexted your
leaderboard position and other indicia of prominence in the discussion
community, and had to come up with an explanation, my first suspicion would be
the fact that your professional focus seems to primarily be neither/technical
nor financial nor in a hot application domain for technology, combined with
the fact that you don't have a lot of money. Much of the networking at HN
seems to center, as one might expect given it's connection to a tech heavy
startup accelerator, to connecting people with certain professional focuses
with each other and with people with money. (I don't think the attitude you've
projected in the community about the issue since you got the impression that
your failure to acheive what you expected was due to gender and personal
animus helps, either, and there may be a bit of a vicious cycle there.)
But you could really be getting significantly disadvantaged in networking in
HN because of your gender. I don't see evidence that would lead me to conclude
that, true, but I think I've made the mistake of being insufficiently clear in
my reaction against what has seemed to be your repeated implicit argument that
your leaderboard position alone combined with your lack of success in that
regard was sufficient evidence of exclusion on the basis of gender and that
I've given the impression that I am dismissing the possibility that you've
been disadvantaged in networking here based on gender. To the extent thst that
is the case, it is my error, and I apologize.
~~~
DoreenMichele
Thank you for this reply.
_your repeated implicit argument that your leaderboard position alone_
I am clearly miscommunicating something because my point is not that my
(former) position on the leaderboard alone should open doors. My point is that
my (former) position on the leaderboard should stand as proxy for community
esteem and since I appear to be the highest ranked woman here, why can I not
achieve what I am trying to achieve similar to what men at the top of the
leaderboard are achieving? The top three people on the leaderboard have very
clearly established professional connections here. Why is the top ranked woman
so unable to establish the same?
It is also intended in a nutshell to suggest that it looks to me like sexism
is a very large factor, because if the seemingly highest ranked female member
here can't get a toehold, surely no woman is getting much out of the forum
professionally on par with what men are able to achieve if they so desire and
set it as a goal.
I apologize if this seems argumentative. In the good news column, I did get my
taxes filed for free last night and using different software that asked
different questions, I am due a refund instead of owing money. However, that
isn't money in hand at the moment, so I am still having a larger than usual
crisis.
But I very much appreciate your comment. It is one of the meatiest comments
genuinely addressing my issues in this forum that I have ever seen and I
expect to find it useful.
------
0003
Russians.
~~~
allthenews
Trump.
------
tekromancr
This is a bit of a disaster. Not surprising, though. Lots of US government
electronic services have gone unmaintained under the Trump admin. The website
for servicing defaulted student loans has also been completely broken for
months: [https://myeddebt.ed.gov/borrower/](https://myeddebt.ed.gov/borrower/)
~~~
gervase
US government electronic services have gone unmaintained for _decades_ ; I
don't think it's fair to blame it on the administration who happens to be in
power when things go sideways (see: OPM hack, etc).
I'm not sure the root cause, but there seems to be a long-standing,
fundamental distaste for infrastructure maintenance by the US government.
~~~
Retric
It's been 15 months, that's enough time to see results from poor decisions.
Sure, he would need to be unusually competent to prevent such issues, but
arguably that's a reasonable expectation for a president.
(I say this as a government contractor.) As to root cause for Gov IT issues,
the real issue seems to be the government outsourcing so much. It makes many
people rich, but outsourcing ends up being both extremely expensive and error
prone. This is not purely an issue with the government most private companies
face issues when outsourcing IT as it's difficult to get right.
~~~
newbie912
Except neither the president nor his close friends pay any taxes, so how would
they know anything is broken? /s
------
jes
Why does the IRS not distribute the tax-filing workload across the whole year?
Having everyone trying to complete their taxes on the same day seems wildly
inefficient and wasteful.
~~~
clintonb
How do you determine when an entity—person or company—needs to file? If the
filing date is based on employer, what happens if I work for multiple
employers or change jobs? If the filing is date is based on the filing entity,
every employer now needs to keep track of my filing date. I got married. Do I
need a new filing date, or does my household now need two returns instead of
one?
Sure, computers could solve this problem, but the human cost—changing
accounting systems, communicating new dates, etc.—is not negligible. A simpler
(and probably cheaper) solution might be to update the IRS systems to scale
better for the week before and after tax day.
~~~
tedunangst
Anyone mailing you tax forms in January already has your birthday, so it
wouldn't be any more trouble for them to mail you that month.
~~~
clintonb
Problem extends beyond mailing forms. Everything linked to the tax year is now
broken in this world. FSAs, employer-provided insurance, even general
budgeting all have to change. Such changes will have an effect on the economy
at the $100M scale, if not $1B. Why? Because the government couldn’t rent more
server space? Buying a new data center would probably be cheaper than moving
away from a single tax day. The proposed treatment is far worse than the
disease.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebook Is Worth More Than ... - Interactive Feature - taytus
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/05/18/business/dealbook/facebook-is-worth-more-than.html
======
kristopolous
Let's play this game again in 7 days.
~~~
kristopolous
and 7 days have lapsed! FB is down 28%. Wonderful.
------
johnrob
While I'm not going to say that facebook is worth 100 billion (or even the 66
billion it's at right now), it's easy to forget one fact: facebook is
operating in almost every part of the globe. The companies that are referenced
in the feature may be large and well established, but few if any have the
global penetration of facebook.
~~~
pwaring
Global penetration is only useful if you can make money from it though, and it
brings the problems of operating in multiple countries with different
currencies, cultures, legal systems etc.
Lots of the companies referenced in the feature have stayed in their home
market for a good reason.
------
SoftwareMaven
Ford Motor Company: $38.4 billion
Public Storage: $23.6 billion
Whole Foods: $15.4 billion
Sara Lee: $12.4 billion
Campbell Soup: $10.7 billion
JetBlue: $1.2 billion
EarthLink: $897.4 million combined
I think this does a better job of showing that stock prices are about _future
expectations_ rather than _current assets_ than just about anything else I
could find. Just have Ford Motor Co. on here typifies that.
The real question is whether it can possibly live up to that.
~~~
patio11
Facebook isn't tied to paying the pensions of hundreds of thousands of people
due to poorly conceived agreements made in the 1970s which they will be
nationalized if they attempt to get out of, which means they avoid the drag on
their valuation suffered by the major American health insurance company on
your list.
------
hef19898
Given the fact that stock valuations are highly volatile I think the current
drop os FB as well as comparisons of market caps is kind of pointless.
Things have the value people are willing to pay for them, and no matter what
stock experts say this has imho nothing to do with actual values or assets a
company might have. It maybe enough for some analysts to not understand your
business model and your stock value drops way down. On the other hand, if
analysts like it stocks go up. And that doesn't tell anything about the actual
quality of your business model.
Equaly pointless but at least more entertaining were the list of what Apple
could buy with its 100 bn in cash.
Interessting point in case: The soaring stock price of the german TV set maker
(Loewe I think it was) after someone claimed they where about to de bought by
Apple. Did the value of their assets change over night? No.
Now, FBs stock drops because people say they don't see any actual value behind
and the stock was actually overvalued right from the start. Maybe it was I
don't know. But nobody complains when stock drop because some banks say they
don't belief in future prospects. So it seems to me the same people choose
their arguments only to fit the current situation.
Not all of them of course, the really good ones (W. Buffet among others) act
diffrently.
------
patrickaljord
Shouldn't this say "Facebook is valued more than..."?
------
zackzackzack
Fun way to generate a bunch at once: for(var i = 0; i< 100; i++)
jQuery(".nytg").find("a").click()
~~~
AlexFromBelgium
... and then the animations begin O.o
------
sparknlaunch12
I have to agree with the sentiment - why is this an interactive?
Why not just stick all of the data in a single table or create a cool info
graphic.
News sites also enjoy creating photo carousels. Why?
------
dnewms
Unfortunately, Facebook is worth only $66 billion now...so about two
Pricelines.
~~~
waterlesscloud
Yahoo Finance shows a market cap of $84.84 billion as of tonight.
~~~
olalonde
Google Finance shows $66.28 billion right now.
~~~
waterlesscloud
Interesting.
At the time of IPO, several sources said the $38 offering price gave FB a
market cap of $104 billion. At $31 a share, that does indeed translate to
$84.84 billion.
Google Finance lists 2.14 billion shares outstanding, which is where they get
their market cap. Yahoo Finance lists 2.74 billion shares.
Hmmmmm.
------
captn3m0
Actually, Facebook is not worth more than Google ($195.7 billion)
------
devinfoley
I'd venture that none of the brands mentioned in this comparison are used by
as many people as Facebook. Everybody you know uses Facebook. How many people
do you know that drive a Ford? 1 of 10?
~~~
tomgallard
But how profit does Ford make when someone buys one of its cars? How much
profit does Facebook make when a new user signed up.
Users aren't everything.
------
RobLach
Pointlessly interactive.
~~~
a3d6g2f7
Gratuitous use of javascript.
------
a3d6g2f7
How many bitcoins is that?
------
bdg
The JS that drives that is awful. Why are they not using an array?
nytg.buttonText="What else is facebook worth more than?,What else is facebook worth more than?,What else is facebook worth more than?,Keep going?,One more time?,Another one?,Again?,It might be time to stop,I can generate thousands of these".split(",");
~~~
Animus7
If you think this is "awful" JS, you're in for a rude awakening.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Work as .NET independant contractor in SF/Bay Area? Or re-specialize? - ThrowawayUry
I wanted to ask you if you think if there's interest for a SF/Bay Area company to hire a senior .NET developer as a semi-remote independent contractor / consultant, or if it's better to shore up other skills.<p>I'm a longtime developer, working mostly on .NET for an U.S. company as an employee for a South American branch, getting a (good by local standards) South American salary, but I've hit the "glass ceiling" and the only way to get a better salary is to go the management path.<p>I have an U.S. business visa so I thought I might try my hand going to SF and interviewing for .NET positions next year, working mostly remotely, but I do have where to stay in SF for short periods of in-house work (crunch times, project prep or whatever is needed).<p>I know .NET is not the most used stack, I don't know if I'd have more success if I brush up React/Vue (I'm not a fan of frontend work), I'm mostly a backend person. I work with Java occasionally but I'd rather not. Rails demand has gone way down from what I see, but seems much more in demand than .NET - should I learn it?. I have a chatbot in production use but it's very basic - I did try out all the current frameworks. I'm also very comfortable with Azure but not at all with AWS.<p>Pretty sure I'd at least learn the basics of AWS, but I'm not sure where to spend the next few months preparing. I probably should shore up on the algorithms interview questions but those are unrelated to the actual job :)<p>Very grateful for any feedback.
======
ljquintanilla
Doesn't hurt to learn other skills that are in demand like Node. However being
an independent contractor you're at an advantage (when building new solutions)
because the client may not care what you use as long as you build a
deliverable that meets their requirements and solves their problem. In my
opinion which may be biased since I prefer the .NET and Microsoft ecosystem
there's never been a better time to be on .NET. The new direction for the
company is .NET Core which means great performance and cross-platform
capabilities. The ease of deployment allows for leveraging the cloud with
containers and serverless solutions that can run on Windows or Linux
environments. Add on to that SQL Server starting with 2016 being available on
Linux and you have a winner. That's on the back end of things. On the front
end you have ASP.NET Core with support for SPA applications if you choose not
to use Razor Pages. You also have Blazor which look interesting as well. For
mobile development you have Xamarin. If you want to do Machine Learning you
have tools like ML.NET and CNTK. Long story short, with Microsoft becoming
more open and offering tools for developers to be productive on Azure as well
as ways for people to build the next wave of solutions like Chatbots,
Augmented Reality, Microservices, etc. having invested so much time on the
.NET platform can be rewarding because the transition to these new set of
tools can be seamless and your opportunities endless.
~~~
ThrowawayUry
Thank you ! You're right, maybe getting better on what I do know and try to
sell solutions not technology.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Review my project (1000memories for pets) - msencenb
Hey guys,<p>I submitted a show hn 5 days ago that only managed to garner 1 upvote so I thought I would ask you guys for some feedback instead.<p>Basic idea here is 1000memories for pets. There are actually a number of other sites (go ahead and search online pet memorials) but none of them are really up to date. This is most certainly a MVP but feedback on price, design, content, etc is all very welcome!<p>The sites url is www.thepetmemoir.com
======
brandoncordell
I think the price point is decent, maybe a bit much from a customer stand
point. It's hard for me to say really, I've never had a pet pass away as an
adult, just when I was a young child so the value isn't quite there for me in
a first person sense.
It was hard for me to find the demo's. You should add a 'tour' link at the
top, where it's clearly defined for people to see. Might get some conversions
from people that don't even reach the pricing page.
Good luck with your project.
------
bjplink
You could do with a demo/example I think. It's tough to even bother to signup
without knowing what I'm going to be getting.
~~~
msencenb
There are demos on the pricing page... although I should probably put them on
the home page also now that you mention it.
~~~
fezzl
I would do the "Sign Up Now!" with a small "...or see a demo first!" link
below it.
------
ColinWright
Clickable: <http://www.thepetmemoir.com>
~~~
msencenb
Thanks. Any thoughts or feedback about the site?
~~~
ColinWright
I always get annoyed at the call-to-action button being placed above the
descriptions of what I get. I want to see what I get before I sign-up, and
you're making me scroll down below to fold to try to see what I need to know,
then I need to come back up to the button.
I wouldn't have the "Sign Up" button on the front page like that. I'd have a
careful and considerate but above all short description of the aspects of the
features - I've chosen my wording carefully there - that leads me on to ask
natural questions, that then get answered.
There's a reason why these shopping channel pitches always say "But wait!
There's more!" until they finally have you screaming "YES - BUT WHAT'S THE
BLOODY PRICE!!!" They get you engaged and committed before asking for actual
action.
And those were my immediate thoughts.
Also, what's the point is using valuable landing page real-estate to put the
name of the site with a link to the same page? I refer to the lovingly
designed logo/name at the top left.
I'd say you need to lose half the words, tighten the layout, remove half the
graphics, and lead me through some pages showing the benefits, each with a
subtle call-to-action button that gradually gets more prominent.
But I'm not a designer. I would be interested to see other people's responses
to this critique.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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IPFS gateway blocked by some ISPs in Spain - Sirikon
https://twitter.com/cfenollosa/status/912057183159951361
======
basicplus2
"IPFS is The Permanent Web A new peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol"
Until it is blocked by everyone because DRM
~~~
alexandrerond
Except it's not about DRM.
Except the P2P network is not blocked, only the official gateways subdomain to
acess ipfs content from the browser.
Except is not blocked for everyone.
Effectively only 1 ipfs node dns cname has been hijacked. Content can be
accessed using any other nodes. Works as intended.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
W – A simple programming language - networked
https://www.vttoth.com/CMS/projects/49-w-a-simple-programming-language
======
vorg
I particularly like the keywordlessness of W's syntax. Virtually every other
language divides identifiers into 2 arbitrarily defined classes: the somewhere
from 20 to 100 special identifiers that mustn't be used, and all the others
that can be used by the programmer. Because W's syntax uses punctuation and
symbols for all its functionality, the programmer doesn't need to either
remember which 50-ish identifiers not to ever use, or have a special IDE-like
task running in the background to gives prompts whenever it detects an illegal
identifier use. Very clean syntax!
~~~
hacker_9
..sorry but this is a non-problem. If you insist on not using an IDE, then the
compiler will still catch any keyword clashes as errors. Also most languages
use contextual keywords so it's even less of a problem.
~~~
sdegutis
Right. I think I've never wanted to name a variable "if".
~~~
paulddraper
But what about old, current, and new?
Or int?
Or class?
There is more then one project out there with klass.
~~~
Retra
I name variables 'old', 'current', and 'new' all the time. Just not in
C++/Java.
And why would you want to name a variable 'int'?
~~~
paulddraper
Or in JS. Or in C#. That covers a lot of the big ones.
Perhaps you should name your language, so I can provide better examples.
~~~
Retra
Examples of what? Ways to name variables so they look like keywords? I don't
need your help with that. Even if I used a language that used keywords like
'ssalc' and 'wen', you could contrive some reason to be upset that you can't
use those words in your code. The advantage offered by keywords is
readability, and it comes at the expense of your ability to use those words
for other purposes. If that's unacceptable, then your priorities are probably
misplaced.
Plus, you can always use a grammar that distinguishes between keyword rules
and variable rules, and you'll never have any unambiguity. Even if popular
languages don't do this, that's not a general problem for computer languages.
~~~
paulddraper
> Ways to name variables so they look like keywords? I don't need your help
> with that.
Oh good. My comment was in response to someone who doubt keywords would ever
make good variable names (e.g. class).
> you can always use a grammar that distinguishes between keyword rules and
> variable rules, and you'll never have any unambiguity.
Yes, that is nice. And that's what W does. As an ancestor comment said, kudos
for a "clean syntax"!
(NOTE: there are alternatives, e.g. Scala's backticks. But W's choice is a
good one.)
------
Svip
I think he needs to update his grammar.[0] The definition of _program_ does
not allow for anything but _definition_ s (i.e. declarations), except in
blocks (see _compound-expression_ ).
So his examples in his tutorials[1] do not conform to the grammar described,
e.g. conditional expressions.
[0]
[https://www.vttoth.com/CMS/index.php/projects/14-w-compiler/...](https://www.vttoth.com/CMS/index.php/projects/14-w-compiler/51-w-syntax-
specifications) [1]
[https://www.vttoth.com/CMS/index.php/projects/14-w-compiler/...](https://www.vttoth.com/CMS/index.php/projects/14-w-compiler/50-w-a-
brief-tutorial)
------
reacweb
According to [http://gtello.pagesperso-
orange.fr/hp200lx_f.htm](http://gtello.pagesperso-orange.fr/hp200lx_f.htm)
turbo pascal works very well on HP 200LX.
~~~
timonoko
Everything works on HP200LX. Except Emacs, but there was some C-script-based
Emacs, which was OK. I think had Smalltalk and serial mouse at one time, as an
extreme example.
HP200LX was my only computer 1993-1995, if I wanted to see some color pictures
I went to see library computer. It was my travelling companion for 20 years
upto 2010, mostly as an E-book reader.
------
mdjt
We've almost run out of single letter programming language names!
~~~
dagw
Assuming Wikipedia is up to date, we still have: A (there is however a A+
langugae),H,I,L,N,O,P,U,V,X,Y and Z left
~~~
taylorfausak
I know of a tiny language called Z:
[http://chrisdone.com/z/](http://chrisdone.com/z/)
------
AstroJetson
Interesting that he's making things to run on his HP200LX. I (still) have a
Zeos Pocket PC that I used daily for about 2 years. MSDOS and MS-Works was my
world. Ahh, good times...
[http://www.oldcomputers.net/zeos-ppc.html](http://www.oldcomputers.net/zeos-
ppc.html)
------
talideon
Vaguely related (due to the similar naming):
[https://github.com/catseye/Specs-on-
Spec/blob/master/star-w/...](https://github.com/catseye/Specs-on-
Spec/blob/master/star-w/star-w.markdown)
------
d_theorist
>So why would anyone in his right mind would create a whole new programming
language? Isn't BASIC or C++ good enough already?
Ha ha ha!
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"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Harvard, MIT sue govt over order revoking visas for foreign students - samizdis
https://phys.org/news/2020-07-harvard-mit-sue-trump-govt.html
======
ra7
Dupe:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23769558](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23769558)
~~~
dang
Comments moved thither.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Show HN: Fix All Conflicts – command line app for fixing merge conflicts - mkchoi212
https://github.com/mkchoi212/fac
======
topher200
Discussion here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16056271](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16056271)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Decision theory and the Underpants bomber - wallflower
http://www.samefacts.com/2010/01/terrorism-and-its-control/decision-theory-and-the-underpants-bomber/
======
jacquesm
The more information authorities have to deal with the bigger the chance
they'll miss the needles. After all, there is a relatively constant number of
needles, make a bigger haystack and you've only made it harder to find the
needles.
What they need is _better_ information, not more of it.
Tightening the screws on things like no-fly lists is only useful if the
underlying information gets much better than it is today, right now the number
of false positives is so high that you're essentially looking at the boy that
cried wolf once too many.
Maybe this guy did trip a flag, maybe he didn't (he should have, but that's
after the fact). The problem is that on the day that he flew probably 10's if
not 100's of people were actually flagged and searched as false positives, and
that's one of the many reasons why this false negative managed to slip through
the maze.
Another thing that this clearly demonstrates is a total communications failure
between agencies, and that's not exactly news. As always, the information was
there for the taking but because of the high number of links between the
people that act and the people that know nothing was done with the
information.
edit: And because of political correctness a lot of time is wasted on
searching people that are picked at random when openly profiling would
probably be much more effective but will be shouted down immediately, so the
system actually _has_ to waste a lot of time and effort just to avoid being
accused of racism.
As someone else pointed out (paraphrased) the day that old white rich people
start blowing up airliners we have a real problem.
Also, every day there are probably worried parents that call in that their son
is about to become a radical, and 99% of the time you probably never hear from
those people again.
An interesting thing I noticed is that plenty of these terrorists seem to be
rejecting their parents wealth and become willing victims for radicalization,
I wonder if there isn't a deeper psychological parallel that might be used to
identify this 'kind' of wannabe mass murderer, after all if the terrorist
groups can uncover these characters with some regularity others should be able
to do the same, then either get to them first and give them some psychological
anti-dote or use it to figure out the risk at a later date.
~~~
johnl
I don't think they need better information, just a collection place that adds
up the red flags and spits out a security risk level. Cross referencing the
different sources of information should do it. Create a central database. It
also may be how these people are tracked. If it's on a assigned case basis,
that could be difficult to manage.
------
andrewcooke
great article. the final point is crucial: there needs to be a separate level,
between normal and no-fly, that is relatively easy to trigger, for special
screening. the "fire hose" of intelligence needs to be connected to that, and
it's an almost-real-time problem (eg. paying with cash just before the
flight).
~~~
epall
I believe that kind of list already exists. A friend of mine is consistently
given extra screening every time he passes through an airport. They put a mark
on his boarding pass and he gets a pat-down.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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A deep and fuzzy dive into search - janemanos
https://www.arangodb.com/2020/07/deep-and-fuzzy-dive-into-search/
======
gnusi
Hey, I'm the author, if you have any questions feel free to ask me
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Anyone read Tibetan Book of Living and Dying? - rblion
Just curious. I've met a lot of interesting people through this discussions about this book.
======
kunley
This book is actually a tibetan manual for a dying person on how to proceed
with his mind during the process. It's not a poem nor mystical metaphore about
anything not related to dying.
One of the translations of the original sub-title is: "the precious way of
liberation through listening", meaning that the purpose was to read it to the
dying person in order to liberate his mind from the subconscious baggage which
resurfaces and takes over during dying.
The images, scenes and dramatis personae (including gods, demons and stuff)
occuring in the text are all projections of the subconscious impressions in
mind, accumulated during a life and resurfacing when dying. The fact that this
is not explained in the book is because every tibetan buddhist knows / takes
for granted that mind works this way, so there's no need to explain it
additionally.
The other funny thing and a source of misconception is the translation: while
tibetan culture was perceived inferior, mystical and over-religious by
westerners, it was actually discovering lots of stuff about consciousness and
subconsciousness since centuries, same as the whole buddhism. But the western
discoverers couldn't believe that tibetans, being technologically inferior,
were able to make a progress in different areas, so when translating they
didn't used then-new terminology like counsciousness and stuff, but used
church-like terminology like if they were translating european middle-ages
material. This trend, though diminishing, continues to this day.
My advice is to remember this book was written for different people and then
translated using language and metaphors the translators could bear. Yet since
70s some people made a huge advance of making a connection between asian and
western way of thinking in order to bring the buddhist methods to the west,
cutting off the misconceptions and cultural baggages. Such teachers, whether
would they be Zen or Diamond Way representatives, can teach practical stuff on
what to do during dying or how to help dying people in our modern world. If
anyone's interested I'd reach such teachers instead of taking such books too
seriously.
~~~
rblion
Nothing is permanent and we are all dying people, if you really think about
it.
The book is about shedding all the layers of delusion that separate man from
the universe.
Einstein believed Buddhism would be an ideal candidate for a universal
religion for lifeforms outside of Earth too.
What I got from the book is a simple way to focus on the immaterial instead of
the material. To see the entire universe with consciousness and compassion
instead of an expanse to be colonized and conquered.
I think the world is just reaching a point where the Eastern and Western
perspectives are starting to become one. The 21st century is the dawn of the
universal age where we all start to realize we are made of equal atoms and
cells striving for survival and transcendence.
This book seems to be in tune with modern science journals too.
~~~
kunley
I'm happy this book inspired you into some thinking. The question is, how is
it going to practically change your life in a long term?
I'm making this point just to strike a common misconception, not that you're
certainly in it, but for anyone reading this thread. People often have an
impression that buddhism is mystical, it says about all things being one and
that if they got into it seriously they would be given next levels of
beautiful thoughts and ideas up to the final nirvana.
It's not like that at all. Buddhism is practical. Deadly practical. Meaning
one has to fight his own limitations first. You get some meditations and
instructions from a teacher, usually tied specifically to you, and you do
meditate. It changes you. Ego fights back. But if you continue the practice
you loose some previous obstacles and in general you see a new value in your
relations with people, your view, in everyday things. Then another obstacles
come, and so on.
The crucial are meditations from a teacher - it all makes sense only when you
trust him. The trust must be earned somehow, it's not measurable. One of the
meditations is a conscious dying meditation which I for example relearn every
year. Others work best if you repeat them every day. It changes you
inevitably. There's no warranty it will change you for the good, but you
observe yourself. You observe the mind. It's a constant work, meant to finally
relax you not tire you, though.
All this sweat is for understanding that everything we feel and see, including
material world, is only a projection of the mind, so it's best to focus on
mind itself instead of images which it mirrors. And keep this view possibly
all the time.
Of course this view is kinda related to recent discoveries of science, esp.
quantum physics and so on. But what does it mean in an everyday life? Did
Einstein had a hunch buddhism is related to physics and is probably very
useful? Yes. Did he follow that path? No. Did he remember in every minute of
his life that things are impermanent and world is a dream? Probably not. Was
he impervious to anger because of that understanding? Probably not. Some
people say he was terrible person, others say he was excellent and nice.
Whatever. Einstein's words may be a trampoline for someone to become
interested in buddhism but he's no expert on the topic.
So, to really judge if it works it'd best to actually find the people who do
it, or even know such people and compare how they behaved in the past and how
they behave now. I know it's not easy. But Einstein, well, is dead... We're
not, yet.
edit: Thank you HNers if you read this, these are important things and it
seemed urgent to share my few cents.
~~~
rblion
I'm 20 and I have been interested in science, technology, and spirituality for
as long as I can remember. I've seen a lot of life and a lot of death in my
years of wandering in the West. I guess that's why this book resonated with
me.
To me, Buddhist thought just makes logical and intuitive sense with everything
I have studied about astronomy, physics, biology, and chemistry. It just feels
natural and has no arrogance about it, just a gentle affirmation of life and
love. It also shows the darkness inside us and how to conquer it with mental
force, not physical force.
Buddhanature, from my experience, is about fully embracing life and
transforming your suffering into potential. And the most practical way to
achieve this goal is to have a clear vision of reality, live in accordance
with natural principles, and keep developing your mental capabilities.
I fully agree that Buddhism is not about anything mystical and that people
overthink and project a lot of madness into it. The only thing people can do
is keep striving, there is no higher goal than enlightenment.
------
rudin
Just a warning who anybody thinks the book is ancient and "gutenbergable" (as
the name kind of implies). Don't bother, it is only 10 years old.
~~~
rblion
the ideas are ancient and they still resonate today. the author never claims
they are all original either.
------
pavlov
I haven't read the book, but I've seen the new movie _Enter the Void_ by
Gaspar Noé, which pretends to be a kind of dramatization of the Tibetan post-
death myth. One of the most unique films I've ever seen.
~~~
rblion
sounds interesting. ill look that up.
------
GiraffeNecktie
Just wanted to note that some people are confusing the recent _Tibetan Book of
Living and Dying_
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tibetan_Book_of_Living_and_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tibetan_Book_of_Living_and_Dying)
with the ancient _Tibetan Book of the Dead_
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_book_of_the_dead>
~~~
rblion
The latter is the source of the material covered in the first. Dalai Lama
introduces the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
------
hunterjrj
After reading it I began to research Sogyal Rinpoche and came across the
allegation that he had abused his position and assaulted a woman.
[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6...](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article6638586.ece)
Definitely tainted the advice presented in the book: "Do as I say, not as I
do", etc.
~~~
rblion
the message, not the messenger.
you didn't gain anything positive from the book?
~~~
hunterjrj
Tricky question. The sections that describe the process of dying were
fascinating, especially those sections that describe the grand luminosity. I
found the message behind the ideas and processes he describes very positive.
However, Sogyal Rinpoche's message about compassion seems a little thin to me
in light of the allegation. He is accused of abusing his position to coerce
followers into a sexual relationship. Doesn't seem compassionate to me.
I'll admit that I've judged the man based solely on accusations and
intimations. But the accusations are strong and are repeated. I encourage you
to read the article I linked in my original response.
~~~
rblion
I wouldn't doubt it if he did fall to his primal urges. It's the human thing
to do. The predator and prey games play out everywhere in society and in most
instances, no one is really thinking about it.
~~~
hunterjrj
Thats an interesting argument. Let me apply it to a different situation: A
priest coerces an altar boy into a sexual act. The priest will certainly argue
that he succumbed to a primal urge, that he is only human, etc. Can you attend
his Sunday mass and digest the message that he is sending strictly in context,
completely ignoring what the man has done?
I'm not trying to provoke with the above, I'm just pointing out that the
argument doesn't hold water if you look at it in its strictest terms and apply
it universally.
This is what turned me off the book and its also what turned me off the
writings of Jiddhu Krishnamurti (accused of committing adultery with his best
friend's wife).
I'd be glad to continue discussing this with you outside of HN. Feel free to
email me at jrhunter at hotmail dot com
~~~
rblion
It's not an excuse to do whatever you want, I just meant it as people get into
odd situations and strange things happen.
I just think about the message and let people be people. human nature is a
wild elephant.
~~~
hunterjrj
"Human nature is a wild elephant."
Agreed.
I also like, "“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do
not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious
books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and
elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for
many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that
anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one
and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
~~~
PemaChotse
Hello -- I am the journalist who wrote the feature in The Guardian newspaper
in 1995, following the Janice Doe lawsuit against Sogyal Lakar aka Rinpoche .
Since then I have been assembling evidence of Sogyal's promiscuous, sadistic
sexual depravity and now have an extensive dossier of corroborated
testimonies. There is not a scintilla of doubt that the allegations you see on
the internet are truthful and accurate.
------
jasonwatkinspdx
Once a long time ago. I recall some of being quite striking, but these days
I'm (overly?) cynical about things that have the scent of mysticism.
~~~
rblion
Me too. I avoid New Age-y books altogether. This is one gem in a pile of
rhinestones. This wisdom in this book seems to be in universal in nature and
applies to all atoms, cells, being, and stars.
~~~
naradaellis
I also think that the Tao Te Ching (and Chuang Tzu in the same vein, and Alan
Watts for a modern take) is amazingly applicable to life today and is
surprisingly not that New Age-y.
~~~
rblion
Read this book: [http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Exploration-Parallels-
Myst...](http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Exploration-Parallels-
Mysticism/dp/1590308352/ref=pd_sim_b_16)
~~~
naradaellis
I got very excited a while a go when I found out that this book existed, and
that it was Capra who wrote it (the Web of Life was great), but the top amazon
reviews at the time were pretty disparaging. Looks like the top reviews have
shifted since last time I was there though, I'll probably give it a try.
------
mindcrime
Not yet. I bought a copy over a year ago, but it's still in my queue. My only
real exposure to Eastern thought, Buddhism, etc. have been the books
"Introduction to Zen Buddhism" and "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind."
------
codedivine
Yes I did. Fantastic book.
edit: Has been some time though.
------
eof
I read it years ago in college and took it as a metaphor for a psychedelic
experience. No surprise I was having a lot of psychedelic experiences at that
point in my life.
To be clear, I don't think that it was literally meant for tripping folk, but
I also think kunley (top rated comment at the moment) may have missed
something fundamental maybe due perhaps to not grasping a fundamental part of
tibetan and buddhist culture.
To the Buddhist, the whole of existence is a struggle between experiencing the
perfection of the cosmos as your bona fide identity and your mundane ego.
Liberation is not something for those on their death bed, liberation is _the
thing to strive for._
\-- well I was writing about 'The tibetan book of the dead' I have never heard
of this particular book, I just realized. I figure I will just leave this here
in case anyone is interested rather than just delete it.
~~~
rblion
I think Steve Jobs, Jason Fried and many other design geeks can relate to this
experience in their developing years.
It is what it is. Psychedelic means mind-manifesting so the two should go hand
in hand anyways. I think people just overthink enlightenment and miss how
simple the universe really is. Ancient wisdom and modern science are coming
together and revealing the same truths.
Read this book: [http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Exploration-Parallels-
Myst...](http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Exploration-Parallels-
Mysticism/dp/1590308352/ref=pd_sim_b_16)
~~~
eof
I'll try and get a copy of that locally and add it to my list in any case.
I have read a number of books trying to tie the link between ancient
mysticicsm and modern physics. I am not a physicist and have only the most
basic understanding of the maths involved in quantum systems.
However, without fail, these ideas seem pretty much universally dismissed by
the graduate level math and physics students I have had the opportunity to
talk with these things about.
No one wants to let go of determinism it seems.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Social.com launches - BlueSkies
I just completed the launch of a new site at Social.com. This is a collection of the same tools (bookmarklet, WP plugin, widget, Google Reader integration) that was formerly called BigTweet. The bookmarklet in particular is useful for posting to Twitter, Delicious and Ping.fm without leaving the current web page.<p>I listened to the comments previously about BigTweet in HN (logo & site design was poor, etc) and tried to make some improvements with the change to Social.com.<p>I would appreciate any feedback on the site and the tools. Thanks!<p>- Scott
======
BlueSkies
Adding clickable link
<http://www.social.com/>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Is Hackernews still using the file system as database? - tosh
I'd love to learn a bit about what the current hosting/tech stack setup looks like. IIRC the posts were stored in files on the file system and scaled quite well vertically. Is that still the case?
======
dchuk
While on the "how HN works" topic, I have a question:
I'm working on an HN app reader idea that I think is unique (more to come)
that requires regularly getting the front page posts and comments. I wrote a
script to do that through the Firebase API but holy shit it ended up needing
thousands of requests to get all the data for the current state of the front
page.
So instead, I wrote a scraper script to produce the same thing, just with 30
requests (1 per front page post). (Trying to turn these damn <tr>'s into a
recursive comment tree was a quite the mindfuck btw)
...is it ok to scrape HN? I see nothing in the robots.txt to say it shouldn't
be allowed, and I actually feel better making 30 scraping requests rather than
XXXX API requests.
EDIT: Also happy to receive suggestions. I'm coding in Ruby and don't see an
obvious way to access the Firebase DB directly (quite frankly I don't even
know if what I just said makes sense) so any help is appreciated.
~~~
tbirdz
The algolia api has more bulk operations, so you can get more than one
response per api request. Also if you look around, there are some datasets
where people have downloaded all the HN API json responses, and have made them
available, so you could use those for local development and testing.
As far as ethics go, it's probably better to use the API than scraping. Sure
you're making more requests, but I think the firebase servers and cdn have far
more ability to handle a lot of requests than the HN server does. If having
that many requests would put firebase out in any significant way, then I'm
sure they would put a query load limit on the HN api.
~~~
Artemis2
HN is behind Cloudflare; if you're not logged in the pages can be cached so I
wouldn't expect small-scale scrapping to have any effect. Cloudflare might
stop you though.
------
Kaizyn
The source code used to be open, and it isn't clear what happened to it. Maybe
ask over on the arclanguage.org forum as HN is written in arc.
The closest thing to a source repo is this from many years ago:
[https://github.com/wting/hackernews](https://github.com/wting/hackernews)
~~~
akkartik
The official sources are at
[http://arclanguage.org/install](http://arclanguage.org/install)
Community-supported version:
[http://arclanguage.github.io](http://arclanguage.github.io)
~~~
j_s
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11176894](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11176894)
> _A version of HN 's source code is included with the public release of Arc,
> but HN's algorithm has many extensions that aren't public._
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13456306](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13456306)
> _We 're unlikely to publish all that because doing so would increase two bad
> things: attempts to game the site, and meta nitpicking._
Including at least at one time a Chrome extension for moderation:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11670071#11670562](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11670071#11670562)
~~~
newsat13
> We're unlikely to publish all that because doing so would increase two bad
> things: attempts to game the site, and meta nitpicking.
So security by obscurity helps at times.
~~~
CydeWeys
Passwords are security through obscurity too. Things would be a lot less
secure if all passwords were publicly available.
~~~
pdpi
Security by obscurity is precisely defined as security that relies on the
algorithm/implementation itself being private to be able to function. Key
material being private does not qualify for this. The alternative is that
security through obscurity becomes such an all-encompassing term as to become
meaningless
------
markkat
We at [https://hubski.com](https://hubski.com) use a very hacked version of
news.arc. Going on seven years. We moved data to postgres though.
The app is top notch, but it does not scale very nicely. Too much to hold in
memory.
------
ers35
I'm working on a tool that maintains an up to date archive of Hacker News and
a companion tool to browse and search it. I'm not ready to release yet, but
here is a dump of the stories, comments, and users from the Firebase API as a
SQLite database with a full text search index:
[https://archive.org/details/hackernews-2017-05-18.db](https://archive.org/details/hackernews-2017-05-18.db)
------
sandGorgon
The source of lobste.rs is actually a good second alternative to HN
[https://github.com/jcs/lobsters](https://github.com/jcs/lobsters)
It has been in active development for several years, and is actually quite
popular in its own site.
It also incorporates several interesting concepts like an invite-tree,etc.
I don't mind HN close-sourcing its code...But I'm definitely curious keeping
Arc alive. IMHO, the rest of YC stack is pretty vanilla.
I wonder if Arc is the "burning candle that must never be allowed to die out"
------
cyberferret
The database is now on Google Firebase, is it not?
At least their API is sourcing all data from Firebase last time I looked at
it...
~~~
pvg
That's just for the API.
~~~
cyberferret
Thanks for clarifying... I'd be interested to hear about how they sweep the
data from the existing database into Firebase. Must be in close to real time,
because the Firebase API update feeds trigger every 10 to 15 seconds with
updated data.
~~~
kogir
I wrote the original integration, which required updating some Racket
libraries to support HTTP pipelining, chunked transfer encoding, and streaming
JSON serialization :)
My version was near real time, with a 30-60 second batching delay IIRC, and
could still be what powers it for all I know.
------
zitterbewegung
I would also like to know about how they have optimized arc and it's
underlying runtime from racket . They seem to have proven that arc can scale .
~~~
jacquesm
It mostly proves that cloudflare can scale. Not that long ago Dan asked us to
log out due to server load so that pages would be served from the cloudflare
cache rather than that they had to be generated on the fly.
~~~
j_s
Thanks to DanG and others for their work keeping HN running! (for the past 3+
years:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7493856](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7493856)
)
\--
HN Scalability
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13755673#13756819](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13755673#13756819)
(3 months ago, on _Ask HN: Is S3 down?_ )
> _If you don 't plan to post anything, would you mind logging out? Then we
> can serve you from cache._
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12909752#12911870](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12909752#12911870)
(6 months ago, on _Donald Trump Is Elected President_ )
> _please log out unless you intend to comment, so we can serve you from
> cache_
> _We buried the previous thread on this because, at almost 2000 comments, it
> was pegging the server._ |
> [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12911042](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12911042)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9174869#9175457](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9174869#9175457)
(1 year ago, on _Ask HN: Why the HN Nginx error for articles below 9M?_ )
> _We turned old articles off a few hours ago as an emergency measure because
> the site was being crawled aggressively and our poor single-core Racket
> process couldn 't keep up. Previous solutions that have served us well until
> now, such as IP-address rate limiting, appear no longer to suffice._
\--
Source:
[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=author:dang%20cache&type=comme...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=author:dang%20cache&type=comment)
------
peterwwillis
Don't use a filesystem as a database. We did that back in 1998 mostly just
because we were using 1998-era computing power, and the more static content
you could serve the less likely your box would get hosed by Slashdot. Now my
watch has more computing power than those old servers. Use a real database,
even a file-backed one like BerkeleyDB (or god forbid, SQLite)
~~~
STRML
"God forbid, SQLite"? It's honestly a great product and a wonderful stepping-
stone. I wish more new projects used it rather than half-measures like Mongo.
~~~
nerdwaller
100% agreed, it can hand a few hundred thousand hits a day. Obviously not okay
for HN scale - but it's what my personal site and a bunch of side projects
use.
~~~
hdhzy
Do you have problems with locking if two requests are made in the same time?
~~~
akx
AFAIU it's only locked for concurrent writes, so a largely read-only workload
should be okay.
~~~
hdhzy
Reading notes at [0] it seems it takes a little bit of configuration to get
good setup.
[0]:
[https://secure.php.net/manual/en/sqlite3.exec.php#usernotes](https://secure.php.net/manual/en/sqlite3.exec.php#usernotes)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Hackers steal card data from Neiman Marcus - panarky
http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/01/hackers-steal-card-data-from-neiman-marcus/
======
nikcub
Notice the pattern to all of these - the hacks are only discovered _after_ the
cards have already been charged and the card companies piece together where
the possible source could have been by looking at common purchases.
That is the state of security at the moment, not only is it easy to hack into
sites, but it is easy to cover you tracks and not be discovered.
Vendors have resorted to trawling the carding forums and buying up dumps to
figure out who has been hacked.
I can't remember the industry ever being so imbalanced towards the black hats.
~~~
magic_haze
Is there any reason why these stores need to store the full magnetic stipe
details of the card in the first place?
~~~
MartinCron
I would expect the credit card companies would require that they _not_ store
the entire card swipe data (or the PIN for that matter).
~~~
magic_haze
That is what I thought as well, but details on the Target hack suggests they
managed to get hold of the cards' entire track data (I'm on my phone so can't
link to the article directly, but it's on the same website as OP's link) I'm
guessing NM has the same data policy.
~~~
ForHackernews
I thought the theory was that the target hack was targeted at POS card-
readers, not recovering numbers after the fact from a database.
~~~
cynwoody
It was.
But in order to pull it off on the scale they did, the bad guys must have
broken into Target's corporate network. Apparently, the level of access they
achieved allowed them to raid the marketing database as well as to hack large
numbers of POS terminals to leak the card swipe data.
The marketing database, BTW, contained name and contact information, but not
credit card details. The bad guys might find it useful for phishing attacks.
------
interstitial
All these revelations are timed too perfectly. It is obviously a crypto-
currency conspiracy to drive credit card transactions out of the comfort zone
of mainstream Americans, and subtly migrate the shell-shocked populace into
accepting the underworld's own spawn -- a hoarded and cracked crypto-currency.
Well, it would be if I ever finish my sci-fi distopian short story on it.
------
NN88
...this is getting ridiculous.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Pogo – Host your own podcasts - gmemstr
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/pogo-3
======
bernardhalas
Nice presentation page, but it doesn't explain how does this work. It says I
can host my own podcasts. What exactly is meant by that? I can host podcast on
a hard-drive on a machine with public IP. Or I can host the podcasts on AWS
S3. What's the added value of your tool?
What's the architecture of your solution? What are the benefits? I can look
into the source myself, but if the tool is meant for an average audio-blogger
who is not a SW developer (who would look into github and try to understand
what this is by reading the source), then I guess you need to share more info
on this matter. Is this command-line only? If this has a GUI, any chance to
see some screenshots? Does this allow streaming? If so, how? Does this tool
come bundled with a web-server?
From my perspective if you want people to try this out a little you need to
set some (positive) expectations.
If you want feedback from more people, you can try
[https://usability.testing.exchange](https://usability.testing.exchange)
(disclaimer: I am associated with it).
Good luck!
------
stevekemp
The real site is [https://pogoapp.net/](https://pogoapp.net/)
Linking to producthunt is needlessly indirect and feels spammy; like you're
trying to encourage people to voat you up you there.
~~~
gmemstr
Yup, I'm sorry it came across that way.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Internet Companies: Confusing Consumers for Profit - DiabloD3
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/10/internet-companies-confusing-consumers-profit
======
Animats
A few days ago, I posted "Unicorns aren't ad-supported" on HN.[1] There, I
pointed out that, of a list of the top 50 "unicorns", non-public startups with
> $1bn valuations, only three (Snapchat, Pintrest, and Vice) are ad-supported.
This dot-com boom isn't driven by ads. It's driven by companies that provide a
product or service for which their customers pay them. The companies that make
their money from ads are from the _previous_ dot-com boom.
Ad-blocking and tracker-blocking thus won't hurt the growth companies in
Silicon Valley. YC could get behind ad-blocking without reducing the value of
their portfolio. The concept that "the user is the product, not the customer"
is now outdated. There are still companies which rely on it. They are
vulnerable. Google still hasn't come up with a major revenue-generating
product other than ads.
[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10372789](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10372789)
~~~
pdkl95
I agree that selling an actual product or service[1] the proper way to build a
respectable and sustainable business.
As for making the user the product[2], advertising is merely the most obvious
and publicly visible way stolen user data can be exploited for profit. For
example, I doubt Experian is using the search information they get from
webmd[3] for targeted advertising.
[1] an actual service; abusing copyright to bypass first sale and other forms
of rent-seeking doesn't count
[2] obBalkan:
[https://projectbullrun.org/surveillance/2015/video-2015.html...](https://projectbullrun.org/surveillance/2015/video-2015.html#balkan)
[3] [http://motherboard.vice.com/read/looking-up-symptoms-
online-...](http://motherboard.vice.com/read/looking-up-symptoms-online-these-
companies-are-collecting-your-data)
------
oneJob
So,,, at what point does this become accepted (as opposed to tolerated)
business practice? Or, more optimistic, no longer tolerated. At one point it
was ok to say, "This is all new and still being worked out." But, it is no
longer new. It is very worked out. Entire sectors of the economy (and legal
system) are devoted to knowing more about consumers then they sometimes know
about themselves. The entire industry is being built on bait-and-switch and
obfuscation practices. And, the tech industry, the supposed knight in shining
armor come to save humanity from itself, is leading the way. Someone, at some
point, needs to call a spade a spade. We need to own this, if this is our new
society. Or stop closing our eyes, if it isn't.
~~~
eevilspock
_" If a business model wouldn’t work if users had to opt in, it deserves to
fail."_ (last line of the article)
Since the invisible hand of the free internet appears to be arthritic, a more
visible hand (fist?) is necessary. And we have it in the way of request
blockers such as uBlock Origin, wich can compleltely block Facebook's and
Google's tracking in their tracks. As more and more people turn to subversive
solutions such as privacy oriented request blockers and ad blockers, we may
finally turn things around.
My hope is on an open source browser that is entirely privacy oriented, easy
to use and adopt by non-technical users.
~~~
ised
The last line from the article you quote is spot on.
Why are alleged "services" provided for "free"?
One group will tell you it's because advertisers are picking up the costs for
"content". Another group will tell you that it's because no user (cf.
advertiser) would pay if a "fee" were charged to use the www.
Of course, no "free" business model will dare test the theory of the later
group, so I guess we'll never know how the user values these "services".
Instead the investors and advertisers set the value. Grossly inflated.
In the early days of the internet as I remember it the real (non-hardware)
costs for the internet were tolls on telephone calls (dial-up). Organizations
picked up the tab for employees who used the internetwork. Tuition-paying
students also got access.
Then came UUnet and "ISP's". And then people had their own personal computer,
at home, with a network card.
As far as I'm concerned, the internet connection fee is still the only real
cost.
I think the browser you allude to is possible. But I think some changes in
thinking in how information is structured and presented on the www is needed.
If we let the www be shaped solely by web developers with a lust for layers of
abstraction and increased complexity and being given carte blanche to run code
on others' computers, then it forces the "browser" to be something that is far
too complex and too much trouble for any open source volunteer programmer to
deal with.
Make the www easier to parse and then the www "browser" becomes easier to
replicate. This is only my opinion. Others would certainly disagree.
~~~
eevilspock
I believe we need a multi-pronged approach to _retaking the internet_ from the
forces that dominate it now. One prong is a resistance movement, such as I
suggest above. Another is to innovate on better ways to finance content and
services on the web, be it micropayments or something else. And another is to
find a way to counter or eliminate the perverse incentives that drive
clickbait, garbage content and viral shallowness. It is not accidental that I
allude to Adam Smith's invisible hand above. He and others knew the key was to
understanding the feedback loops. The internet's feedback loop is broken.
Clicks and quantity drive revenue, not quality.
And yes, my username is a reference to Star Trek, a show which is probably too
socialist for the heavily anarcho-capitalist-leaning libertarian crowd here on
HN (See the link in my reply to username223).
I'm working on setting up a website where we can raise awareness, change
hearts and minds, and support efforts that help us retake the internet. I
cannot do it alone, even with my evil goatee. Email me if you'd like to help.
~~~
bootload
_" my username is a reference to Star Trek"_
Goatie, S2 OTS.
------
r0naa
I do have a Facebook account, primarily because I am studying abroad and I
need to keep in touch with my family and close friends and Facebook is, thus
far, the best way to share what is going on in my life. It kind of allow me to
"broadcast" my life events.
Now, I really dislike what I just read.
I wonder if tech companies have a moral obligation to disclose to the user
what are the terms of the contracts.
While ToS and Privacy Policy are public documents, I don't think they are
close to anything readable for the layman. They are mostly pile of legal
garbage and it is virtually impossible to go through them everytime you sign-
up for a service.
That is why I would like to put the emphasis on clarity here. What if?
What if technology companies were forced to disclose _clearly_ what signing-up
for their product entails with respect to user privacy. I am thinking of
something alongside this:
""" Hello r0naa,
Welcome on Facebook, we hope that you will have a great experience here.
Facebook will allow you to: \- easily communicate with your friends
\- share photos, videos and play games with your friends
\- keep in touch with distant relatives
On the other hand, we will:
\- keep a record of the messages you send to your friends
\- keep a permanent record of the photos you have shared on Facebook
\- keep a log of all the websites you have visited that contain a "like"
button.
Moreover, you should be aware that we will disclose all your personal data to
the US government if we are issued a NS letter.
Hope you have a great day,
"""
To be clear, I am not saying that this is the right solution. Only, I believe
it is pretty obvious that there is a problem and that a lot of people who are
not technically literate are not able to make a informed choice about whether
or not they want to give up their privacy, even partially.
I hope it will spawn an interesting discussion, feel free to share your ideas
and suggestions.
~~~
joosters
It's not just that privacy policies / ToS are using complex legal language.
The real problem is that they are so broad.
For example, just about every privacy policy states that information collected
can be used to improve the company's products & services, or to help develop
new ones. That effectively gives the company free reign to do _whatever they
like_ with your data. Who knows that products they may decide to offer?
A company could release a new product tomorrow that sells your individual
browsing data to the highest bidder, and that would be covered by this clause.
Also remember that almost all policies state that they can be updated without
notice too. Do No Evil today, Evil tomorrow...
~~~
username223
> The real problem is that they are so broad.
Before I click the "go away" button, I interpret the wall of text as "we'll do
whatever we want, and if you disagree, you can try to sue us, but the PR
campaign will be what matters, not the legal stuff."
------
josteink
Glad to see Chromebooks mentioned. I for one consider Chrome to be Google's
last attempt to extract those last pieces of information from the desktop
which it can't get from having tracking on 99% of the pages found on the
internet.
That and subvert internet standards by giving Google the ability to push their
own HTML on server and client in real-time, forcing other browser to follow
their lead or be declared "legacy" or "outdated" in front of users on Google-
websites.
I consider Chrome to probably be the worst thing which has happened to the
modern web. It's much worse than IE ever was.
On a real laptop you have the freedom to chose a privacy-respecting browser,
but Chromebooks are even worse in the sense that there's only one browser, you
can't chose any other, and the browser there is spying on you real-time.
That these devices are not _illegal_ to use in a education-context is really
astounding to me.
------
modeless
Edit: My initial comment was incorrect, corrected version below.
Chrome Sync encrypts sync data on the client. By default the encryption
passphrase is your Google Account password. This allows Google to read the
data, as described here:
[https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1181035?hl=en](https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/1181035?hl=en)
However, you can set a separate Chrome Sync encryption passphrase in settings.
This second passphrase is never sent to Google at all and allows you to use
Chrome Sync without Google reading the data. It should be obvious why this is
not the default, as requiring a second passphrase is a very significant
decrease in usability, but it's there if you want it.
~~~
kuschku
Then how is this scenario possible:
Set up Google account with password "abc" on PC1, use chrome, set bookmark.
Go to PC2, select "reset password" and reset Google account password to "123".
Login to chrome with "123". The bookmark from before appears.
~~~
modeless
My initial comment was incorrect and has been updated. However, have you
actually tried the scenario you describe? In the past, when I have changed my
Google account password and logged into a new computer, I have had to enter my
previous account password on the new computer to decrypt the data before Sync
would work. Indeed, if you look in Chrome Sync's settings, you will see text
that looks like this: "All data was encrypted with your Google password as of
Jan 17, 2015", letting you know which version of your password to use.
~~~
kuschku
I’ve last used Chrome around 2012, and at that time it would work after
resetting the account password. In fact, I still don’t know which account
password I had used.
So at least at some point in time Google did store all this data.
It seems to have been quite leaky in the past, and that doesn’t make Google
any more trustworthy.
Solution: Use Firefox. Also, Firefox at least allows Cookies on localhost or
other local domains.
Anyway, Google may not store any bit of my browser history in the US anyway,
so I should probably go to court against them.
------
gorhill
I run benchmark regularly concerning privacy exposure, and I ran one this
summer to find out all 3rd parties for a sample of high traffic web sites.
I collected and sorted the results by [3rd party, 1st party] pairs: this
allows to see at a glance the most ubiquitous 3rd parties out there, i.e.
those which have the ability to build a profile of your browsing habits.[1]
Facebook (through `facebook.net`) was definitely at the top in the benchmark,
when using EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe's.[2]
I personally doubt a majority of users care that there is a Facebook _like_
widget on any page, except maybe for a handful of sites for those with a
Facebook account. So disabling Facebook globally with exceptions where needed
is a top advice to reduce privacy exposure.[3]
[1] [https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode#easy-
mo...](https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Blocking-mode#easy-mode)
[2] Followed by `googletagservices.com`, `twitter.com`.
[3] [https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-
filtering:-to...](https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/wiki/Dynamic-
filtering:-to-easily-reduce-privacy-exposure)
------
darrikmazey
Sounds like a situation that could be polluted with something like what Moxie
Marlinspike did with googlesharing, in an effort to bury the signal in the
noise.
------
username223
Stalkers gonna stalk, makers gonna make, founders gonna found. We nerds always
knew that the Facebook, Google, etc. images were tracking beacons, and their
business model was, to paraphrase Eric Schmidt, to get as close as possible to
the creepy line. Fortunately, it is/was easy to opt out by DNS-blocking a few
hosts. If this behavior becomes common, back-end data sharing and syncing will
become the norm, and something like ToR will become necessary, then local
encryption, then...
But who ever said fighting crime was easy?
EDIT: "And I have no doubt that the vast majority of engineers, designers, and
policy makers working in Silicon Valley want to do the right thing."
How can I even pretend to believe that the author believes that? They mostly
don't know what the "right thing" is, don't think of their behavior in moral
terms, and wouldn't dent their salaries to act morally.
~~~
ised
"...as close as possible to the creepy line."
Great stuff.
Blog posts are just too boring most of the time. We need more direct quotes
from the people toeing the creepy line.
That is the behavior that should be tracked. What do you think these
"engineers, designers and policy makers" get up to each day? Maybe lots of
"pretending to believe" they are doing something meaningful?
------
archangel11235
I'm not aware of the technical details of how the user is tracked. Is it
possible to be tracked even if the user has logged out of the social network
website (based on the browser or machine being used)?
~~~
stanleydrew
The technical details are simple.
When you are "logged in" to Facebook, your browser stores a unique token in a
cookie that can identify you. That unique token is sent with _every request_
the browser sends to FB, even requests you don't initiate directly.
These hidden requests happen all the time, like when a web developer embeds a
FB like button on a page. The like button is actually generated and served by
FB's servers (check your browser's dev console), and the request to show the
button itself gets that cookie sent along with it regardless of whether you
press it.
The tricky bit is that "logging out" might not actually be enough. I don't use
FB so can't say for sure, but it is certainly possible to implement "log out"
such that you can't see restricted resources or pages, but still have an
identifying cookie on your machine. In this case the cookie itself would store
a flag marking you as "logged in" or "logged out", but the cookie would still
identify you all the same.
~~~
sbov
I like to always use incognito browsing sessions when logging into Facebook.
At some point I cleared all my cookies too.
I remember a while back an article was posted about how to uniquely identify
users without cookies though. I don't recall the exact method though, or if in
this scenario it would require javascript and not just a link to a like
button.
~~~
kaybe
Basically you're using the specs the browser sends about the computer - OS,
screen size, add-ons installed.. this gets pretty unique. I've been able to
identify friends on a local site just by knowing them and their computers.
Check yourself here:
[https://panopticlick.eff.org/](https://panopticlick.eff.org/)
~~~
sbov
Was able to find it. Actually it's using etags. They work even if you disable
cookies. Perfect identification, similar to cookies. Sites were using it
before it came to light:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_ETag#Tracking_using_ETags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_ETag#Tracking_using_ETags)
~~~
pdkl95
You don't even need ETags - if the server sends out a unique (or mostly
unique) "Last-Modified" header, the browser will return the cookie in "If-
Modified-Since".
------
mark_l_watson
Is this a problem? Who stays logged into Facebook?
My browser does an auto fill for my user name and password, I login for 10
minutes to see postings from my brother, grandson, neices, etc. and then
logoff.
Never occurred to me to stay logged into FB. In the same way, I like to use a
separate web browser for just using Google and twitter. Small easy steps for
maintaining a modicum of privacy.
~~~
jessaustin
_Who stays logged into Facebook?_
That isn't relevant. There are login cookies and there are tracking cookies.
Unless one arranges for the tracking cookies to be deleted regularly, one will
be tracked even if not logged in.
~~~
mark_l_watson
Thanks, good point: I should use incognito mode.
------
dstyrb
Anyone else find it ironic that the site has a twitter, facebook, g+, diaspora
share bar hovering on the right hand side?
~~~
Strom
Not really, because those are good old links that don't contact a 3rd party
server before being clicked. The standard Like buttons connect on page load,
instead of on click.
------
Nursie
>> Starting this month, Facebook will use them to track your visit to every
Web page that displays the buttons—even if you don’t click on anything.
This is why I have had everything from facebook.com or fbcdn blocked on any
sire other than facebook.com for some time.
------
jstalin
Another point to think about is that if facebook (or any of these other sites
tracking you through social media buttons) receives a subpoena, it likely has
nearly your entire browsing history on file since so many sites have those
button.
------
JustSomeNobody
One thing to do is stop cloud seeding.
Another is to block trackers.
Another is to demand sensible advertising.
Your personal information is a currency. You get to spend it how you wish. But
just like any other currency, you must protect it yourself.
------
JustSomeNobody
Need to think of a particularly evil way to game this and embarrass FB.
------
polakallen
This title has at least two valid semantic interpretations. I'm mildly
disappointed.
<bad assumption redacted>
I'd argue that Facebook's moves create wealth, and are better for people in
the long run. The opt-out policy allows this type of system to exist.
------
runn1ng
Just display a warning notice on every page, where the user has to click "Yes,
I agree with the tracking cookie". That will solve the problem.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
California to become first U.S. state mandating solar on new homes - SQL2219
https://www.ocregister.com/2018/05/04/california-to-become-first-u-s-state-mandating-solar-on-new-homes/
======
Eridrus
I have to imagine this will get voted down.
Home solar is a kludge that is basically only workable because of subsidies.
The installation and maintenance costs alone are ridiculous compared to grid
renewables.
------
SQL2219
Wow, as if they didn't have a big enough housing shortage.
~~~
tzs
$15k for solar up front adds about $75/month to the mortgage. Subtract out the
savings on the monthly electric bill, and this should actually come out
slightly ahead for most homes. It shouldn't have much affect on house
availability.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Active Common Lisp communities? - jobeirne
I've recently been exposed to CL. Hacked up a few trivial evolutionary computation problems, but I'm itching for something else; alas, I haven't any ideas of my own. I'd really like to contribute something to CL community (to help revive Lisp, etc.) but I'm not sure of where to start.<p>Does anyone know of any active communities where I could find some group-ish stuff to hack on?
======
stefano
Have a look at <http://lispforum.com> There are also many open source projects
you could help (with code and/or documentation) here: <http://common-
lisp.net/projects.shtml>
------
ilkhd2
comp.lang.lisp?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Gordon Murray-designed ‘OX’ flat-pack truck - kaishiro
http://www.topgear.com/car-news/big-reads/can-flat-pack-truck-save-world
======
sandebert
”Three trained (but not necessarily expert) people can put an OX together in
approximately 12 hours.” (from [http://oxgvt.com/the-ox-all-terrain-
vehicle/](http://oxgvt.com/the-ox-all-terrain-vehicle/))
I'd love for them to put up a full 12 hour video on YouTube showing the whole
process, with no fancy editing or disturbing music. Just three engineers
working away in a big, empty hall, turning a package into an OX. I imagine it
would be mesmerizing to watch.
~~~
loxs
I recommend you watch the ongoing Project Binky series:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGSOZAHg1yQEatqhWza_a...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGSOZAHg1yQEatqhWza_ae83e313-GLTO)
~~~
MagerValp
Project Binky is pretty much the opposite of what the GP asks for though,
they're clearly experts and it's taken much more than 12 hours :) But Binky is
hands down my favorite thing on YouTube, though Clickspring would have to come
in second: [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCworsKCR-
Sx6R6-BnIjS2MA/vid...](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCworsKCR-
Sx6R6-BnIjS2MA/videos)
------
tarikjn
When Gordon Murray designs a truck, it's worth paying attention. The McLaren
F1 road car pioneered a lot of new and creative technology that is still
trickling down in consumer cars today, while remaining an excellently built
car loved by enthusiasts and that has appreciated in value several folds. It
almost defined the brand of form following function in super cars. McLaren are
also known for building a lot of their own parts and tools down to the nuts
versus using suppliers. Given Gordon Murray's attention to details, there is
probably a lot more interesting things about this truck than the article can
mention.
~~~
cromulent
I haven't heard much about his iStream technology recently. I wonder if anyone
but Yamaha has taken it up.
[http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a6665/gordon-
mu...](http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/news/a6665/gordon-murray-i-
stream-website/)
Murray "... even claimed that the process is so simplified that Walmart or
Apple could use it to start manufacturing cars."
~~~
jonah
the BMW i3 is probably the closest production vehicle. It's pretty
revolutionary:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDr4L6BzpP8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDr4L6BzpP8)
~~~
fwr
Is there a text version or an article about this?
~~~
jonah
The full report is available for $500k!
DDG says:
[http://www.hybridcars.com/teardown-reveals-bmw-i3-is-most-
ad...](http://www.hybridcars.com/teardown-reveals-bmw-i3-is-most-advanced-
vehicle-on-the-planet/)
[http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/01/05/reverse-engineering-
bmw-i3...](http://www.bmwblog.com/2015/01/05/reverse-engineering-bmw-i3/)
[http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2015/01/04/video-
unl...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/joannmuller/2015/01/04/video-unlocking-
the-secrets-of-bmws-remarkable-car-of-the-future/)
But for more you'll just have to do some searching.
------
cbr
I was curious what it looked like flat-packed: [http://oxgvt.com/wp-
content/uploads/Flat-Packing2.jpg](http://oxgvt.com/wp-content/uploads/Flat-
Packing2.jpg)
~~~
jonknee
Thank you! I can't believe that wasn't in the article.
------
mrb
This reminds me of the soldiers who can disassemble and reassemble an entire
Jeep in 3 minutes:
[http://www.military.com/video/logistics-and-
supplies/militar...](http://www.military.com/video/logistics-and-
supplies/military-vehicles/soldiers-strip-and-rebuild-jeep-in-
minutes/694682404001/)
------
swatkat
Design looks similar to Australian OKA 4WD ATV[1]. Hindustan Motors in India
used to manufacture a licensed version called RTV, back in the 90s.
[1]
[http://web.archive.org/web/20121021203320/http://www.oka.com...](http://web.archive.org/web/20121021203320/http://www.oka.com.au/)
[2]
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.the...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.thehindu.com/2001/06/23/stories/06230005.htm)
~~~
digi_owl
Similar problems, similar solutions.
------
forkandwait
I want one! Where do I order?
Anybody know about the emissions and if you can drive it in the US (non-
California)?
I also wonder if the parts are easy and standard enough to make in more widely
distributed factories. Seems the revolution waiting to happen is when a small
country can make at least some of the parts in a small factory and trade with
other similar partners to commodify the ecosystem, like PCs in the 1990s etc.
~~~
jonah
As a " kit car" I suspect you can legally register and drive it. They're not
held to the same standards as a production vehicle.
~~~
ChuckMcM
Exactly one, but yes you can register it.
------
rihegher
"Murray says the inspiration for the dynamics came from the Renault 4, once a
much-loved off-roader in Africa and Southern Europe."
for those who are interested the renault 4 also called 4l is used for an
international race run by student every year since 20 years.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/4L_Trophy](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/4L_Trophy)
------
gambiting
Wasn't an ultra cheap Chinese-made truck banned in EU, because in a head-on
crash at 30mph the whole cabin would just basically fold into itself, killing
everyone inside - does this extremely simple design not suffer from the same
problem?
------
bikamonki
How exactly is £10-15000 cheap in developing countries?
~~~
PieterH
The real cost hits over years of use. These things will effectively last
forever, as each part can be replaced as needed. There is plenty of money in
developing countries, just poorly distributed. You can easily see how the Ox
would pay for itself in reducing transport costs to/from remoter communities.
Also, the price will fall, these trucks will be sold second, third, tenth
hand... Same as with "expensive" mobile phones in years past.
~~~
sangnoir
> These things will effectively last forever, as each part can be replaced as
> needed.
You will find that Toyota comfortably holds this niche in most developing
countries. Toyotas are reliable, and there's a glut of cheap Toyota spares due
to network effects. The only advantage the Ox has over a Toyota Hilux is that
it can carry about 800kg more (about double). On all other points, the Hilux
is ahead or on par.
~~~
exDM69
There's a caveat... it's the old, pre-2000s Toyota Hilux cars that are durable
and easy to repair. A newer Hilux isn't as simple and reliable as the old
ones, and the old ones are in short supply.
Although the new Hilux cars seem to be quite popular in Africa and Middle East
too. Perhaps it's the brand, or perhaps there are some similarities (or even
interchangeable parts) that make it desirable.
------
grecy
Not much information on the diesel engine used.
Is it a Common Rail, computer-controlled diesel?
I'm in West Africa now, and the diesel quality down here means you really want
an all-mechanical injection pump, not a CRD.
Cool idea, but he's got to remember that virtually no body down here (save the
UN and big NGOs) buys new vehicles. They're all clapped-out things shipped in
from Europe - even the land cruisers have 400,000+ kms on them when they get
here.
~~~
exDM69
> Not much information on the diesel engine used.
It does mention that it's an off-the-shelf Ford Transit diesel engine and
transmission. I'm sure you can find the answers to the rest of your questions
based on that.
~~~
maxerickson
Likely some variant of
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Duratorq_engine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Duratorq_engine)
There are quite a few.
~~~
sbierwagen
These are all turbodiesels, which wouldn't be my first choice for use in a
place where you can't get spare parts.
~~~
grecy
Except for the computer running everything, the high-pressure common rail that
will hate bad diesel, and the touchy injectors that cost an arm and leg to
replace, and also hate bad diesel.
Those engines are great in the first world, not so much in the 3rd.
~~~
sbierwagen
Note the use of "wouldn't" in my comment.
------
vessenes
I can't believe I'm the only commenter who seems to want one of these. I
really want one of these. I'd like my kids to be able to mess around with car
repair as they get older, and this just seems perfect for teenagers --
camping, glamping, drive 11 closest friends around -- seriously, I love this.
This is just a very modern car/truck. I love it.
~~~
tsomctl
Get an old Toyota pickup. They go anywhere, reliable, cheap, easy to work on,
parts are cheap.
~~~
exDM69
Old Toyota Hilux pickups are hard to come by (in any kind of decent shape) and
if you happen to find one, be prepared to pay a lot of money.
Even here in northern Europe, a mid-1980s Hilux might sell for 5000 eur in a
barely runnable condition. There are two reasons, first: these things are easy
to repair but spare parts are an issue. Second: it can be in quite shitty
condition and can still be sold to Africa for a decent amount of money.
Then there's the indestructible reputation that surely brings up the price.
------
kragen
Can some Englishperson kindly explain to me what these phrases mean?
\- "sand ladders"
\- "a blockable front brake"
\- "a six-speed power take off"
Also, why is there no video? Doesn't Top Gear have anyone on staff who can
edit video? Or am I just missing the link?
~~~
schismsubv
Not English, but easy enough. \- A sand ladder is a weight distribution
mechanism that may be used to improve traction on loose materials. You can
achieve the same effect by putting a board under a tire when stuck in sand or
snow. \- A blockable front brake would allow you to lock one wheel, allowing
spinning the other freely. If that other one were jacked up out of earth
contact, the adapter provided would allow you to easily connect the wheel to a
standard PTO, with the advantage of a transmission. This would allow you to
pump water, generate electricity at a larger scale, run stationary farm
implements, etc.
~~~
kragen
Thank you! I hadn't heard of a PTO before.
------
ChuckMcM
Boy, this would be pretty fun to hack. I can imagine the RV possibilities.
------
andyidsinga
very cool ..I would buy one.
I'm assuming there's more to the name...unlike normal trucks that can only go
up to 10, this one can go all the way to 0xB ;)
------
afarrell
Could this be easily disassembled and stored in a way that it doesn't degrade
while in storage? If so, could the same design techniques be applied to
building MRAPs that don't end up as military surplus?
------
thesmok
Looks like OX is doing the same to trucks what Raspberry Pi did to computers.
------
JoeAltmaier
Designed to be hand-manufactured - no robots. Interesting choice. Is it
because labor is cheaper where this might be made? But its made in England...
~~~
rcoder
The tooling and engineering required for a modern car (even just a refresh of
an existing model) costs hundreds of millions of dollars. Ignoring that cost
automation might be cheaper, but if you expect to produce thousands, not
millions, you're almost certainly better off using old-school machine-shop
equipment and processes.
Going that route also lets you do manufacturing closer to the intended market,
vs. requiring supply chain, power, and other infrastructure that could be in
short supply in the developing world.
------
Nux
It looks like you'd need a cat C license to drive this (in UK), alas.
Still, the DIY-er in me loves the idea, hope they do well and get even
cheaper.
------
noonespecial
So about the same price as a _brand new Hilux_? Which are already produced
100's of thousands per year and are already all over the place in the
developing world.
I've got much respect for Gordon Murray but did I miss something here? At
something like 1/3 the price he might be on to something, but like this, its
just another rattle-trap diesel truck only suitable for 3rd world use. They've
got lots of those already. Plus at a cost that high to start with, I'm not
sure "you can save a few bucks in shipping if you put it together like an IKEA
couch" is actually a feature.
~~~
willvarfar
> And most of all, despite its strength, the OX has an extraordinary weight-
> to-payload ratio. It weighs just over 1,700kg ready to roll, but can carry
> another 1,800kg. Most pickups weigh much more yet will shoulder much less. A
> standard Ford F150 or Toyota Hilux takes barely 1,000kg.
> And because the OX is much cheaper, a buyer could have a bigger fleet.
> “There is just no competition, anywhere,” says Murray. “OXen would have a
> five times ratio of carrying capacity to cost versus Hiluxes.”
~~~
ddeck
_> “There is just no competition, anywhere,” says Murray._
How about a jeepney then? Perhaps the Ox has an advantage for extremely rugged
terrain, but it's hardly cheap. In the Philippines for example, a brand new 20
passenger jeepney costs GBP 8k:
_" For the record, a fully-appointed 20-passenger jeepney--with an "Isuzu
4BC1 engine, 75-percent stainless-steel body, stereo system, stickers, halogen
lights, side aluminum jalousies"\--is priced at P510,000 if you buy it in
cash"_ [1]
That was in 2011, but prices remain similar.
[1] [http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/feature-articles/how-
much...](http://www.topgear.com.ph/features/feature-articles/how-much-does-a-
jeepney-cost-these-days)
~~~
handedness
The Ox's kit will be manufactured in the UK, where the average wage is 11x
higher than in the Philippines.
That aside, Jeepneys are horrendous vehicles for anything other than their
primary use: going from stop to stop on flat ground, while carrying human
cargo with a high turnover rate.
The Jeepney weighs twice as much as the Ox and struggles with any incline (up
or down–given the weight and their generally shoddy brakes, stopping quickly
is out of the question), handles poorly with suspension that would have been
unsophisticated a half a century ago, and becomes a hazard at any speed above
gridlock.
The cargo capacity of the two appears to be significantly different, as the
Jeepney's optimized around having two benches for people–the rear opening is
positively small for cargo, removing the bench is a hassle (if it isn't welded
in place to begin with), and the roof is fixed, giving no allowance for oddly-
shaped cargo.
The two vehicles are hardly comparable.
~~~
ddeck
_> That aside, Jeepneys are horrendous vehicles for anything other than their
primary use: going from stop to stop on flat ground, while carrying human
cargo with a high turnover rate._
Agreed, but that's sort of the point. It's a cheap local solution perfectly
suited to local requirements. Similar solutions exist for transporting cargo
both on land and sea. It's also produced domestically, which benefits both the
price, maintainability, and local economy.
The reason for my comparison was to challenge the points in the article that
seem to suggest that the developing world is crying out for a solution like
this at this price point. It certainly looks like a decent product, but I
can't see it being a game changer in any way.
------
digi_owl
The first thing that came to mind was the WV Beetle.
------
ajuc
If developed world works anything like 90s Poland - people would prefer used
cars with more features/better comfort to a new car with less features/worse
comfort.
For carrying capacity it's nowhere near a tractor + a trailer combo. And also
tractor can drive anywhere, even places that 4WD won't, not mentioning weird
2WD.
It seems to be a cool project not solving any particular problem.
------
tajen
Part of the immature me wishes we don't invent new _diesel_ trucks for
developing countries, especially not with the goal of making it accessible to
massive new markets. Doing so will extremely accelerate the global warming and
local cancerigen pollution, both of which are there for the duration of the
vehicle line (40 years?). I wish we'd start issuing electric models and
portable ...nuclear plants? Solar systems? With wifi? This is childish, but
the irresponsible pollution aspect of new diesel vehicles is worth pointing
out.
~~~
gambiting
The thing is, that supplying a diesel truck to a rural community might
dramatically improve living standards in the community. The damage done by
burning diesel is small compared to the improvement of livelihood of dozens of
people.
I would say, if you are worried about trucks polluting the earth, we should
stop ordering shit online and expecting that every supermarket everywhere has
all the freshest produce from every corner of the world. I'm willing to bet
that the ecological cost of my local supermarket having fresh cherries from
Chile or watermelon from Argentina(I'm in UK) is an order of magnitude greater
than all diesel trucks used by 3rd world African villages combined.
~~~
joosters
Fresh fruit or flowers from remote parts of the world are often flown to the
UK via backloads, i.e. planes that would otherwise be empty. So the ecological
cost is not as great as you may think.
~~~
gambiting
I know that plane manufacturers try to make their planes as light as possible,
because every kg translates to actual fuel needed to fly - so even if a plane
would fly empty otherwise, filling it up with fruit has a cost. Not to mention
this fruit has to then be taken to shops on a fleet of trucks etc etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love that I can buy fresh produce any time of the year -
but I just wanted to point out that denying the developing world basic
transport technology to fight pollution, while we burn through monumental
amounts of oil just to get stuff that improves our lives marginally, is not
really fair.
------
pinaceae
The overall design is a riff of the Steyr Pinzgauer:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinzgauer_High-
Mobility_All-...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinzgauer_High-Mobility_All-
Terrain_Vehicle)
The British Army is using them, so Murray has likely been inspired by it.
It was designed for Mountains in Austria, is pretty much unbeatable in tough
terrain - just put on chains and gogogo.
Original had petrol engines, not diesel to avoid freezing up in winter
conditions.
As a driver in the Austrian Army we basically learned the whole thing front to
back, assemble and disassemble like a rifle.
Such a fun ride.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Oristand – A New Kind of Stand Up Desk - devNoise
http://oristand.co
======
embro
I wish this could hold a 27 inch monitor.
------
devNoise
This looks good if you're using a laptop. Unfortunately this doesn't work as
well for people with a large monitor or dual monitor setup.
------
burnallofit
A better, cheaper option is to build your own:
[http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-
for-22-dolla...](http://iamnotaprogrammer.com/Ikea-Standing-desk-
for-22-dollars.html)
~~~
devNoise
While a cheaper option, it isn't easy to remove when you want to sit down.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Fitbits seem to be haiving issues with time - tiernano
https://twitter.com/tiernano/status/953511144693616645
======
tiernano
was woken up 2hrs earlier than usual this morning by my fitbit thinking it was
6am, when it was only 4... phone the fitbit is connected to shows correct
time, so does everything else in the house... other people replying to the
tweet seem to have the same issue. bit more digging here...
[https://twitter.com/tiernano/status/953533936034033665](https://twitter.com/tiernano/status/953533936034033665)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Most engaging forms of online interaction between strangers? - neel980
======
neel980
Trying to understand the most effective ways in which users online engage with
each other, especially with people we don’t know. They could be games, groups
/forums or comment threads. Conscious that this is context dependent.
Commenters on Scobleizer/Kawasaki Google+ posts are engaging in an online
experience which is very different those playing WOW.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: project ideas for a noob - kunqiana
Hi, I just learned programming for about a year. I am familiar with a few programming languages such as python, scheme and java. My experiences with them include 1 OO programming course using Java and 2 courses using scheme and python. I feel I want to advance working on some simple projects but not sure where to start. Ideally the problem is not too simple or too complex. I have been reading source codes on sourceforge but not many really suit me. (either uninteresting or complex) So no idea what I should work on. Could you please share your experience with me about your first major/minor programming project that made your friends say, "wow"?<p>PS, I prefer writing in python or scheme.
======
mahmud
My first real programming project was a DOS TSR keylogger. When you start your
programming journey in the computer underground: 1) you have no idea the
magnitude of the problems being thrown around by your peers, everything is
trivialized and you're expected to know a great deal of info about the inner
workings of your programming languages and their execution model, application
software, OS/kernel internals, compilers, network, hardware, file formats and
.. _bugs_ and 2) there is an absolute joy to everything you do; never
underestimate the power of mischief as a great motivator.
I don't expect you to dawn a blackhat at this stage, you're probably too
mature, and the scene is pretty much lame nowadays anyway. What you can do
however is join a community that enjoys and fosters a healthy hacking
attitude. Something very geeky and very focused, like the demo scene (if
they're still as innovative as they used to be.) You need a group of _friends_
, all of whom are hacking for fun and giving each other feedback. IRC is an
excellent place to find such people. Something focused on a given subject and
a given technology. Start with your favorite libraries and join their IRC
channels. The Allegro game library scene was cool, write 2D games for fun.
Once you master the basic usage of the library, you will see what more
experienced people have done with it. There is a different, unique taste to
seeing a master craftsman make something great out of the ordinary ("wow, he
did that in 4k" or "wow, fake 3D".) This will motivate you to no end :-)
Take out the manual of your "battery included" language of choice (Python, PLT
or Chicken Scheme) and step through the module list. Write small programs that
use each module/library and pretty soon you will have tons of ideas. Just take
a GUI library, a network library, a regex parser, a mime/XML/html parser, and
an audio library; taken into any combination, you will have something that
solves an interesting problem. Something as "big" as a web server can be
written with just the system calls built into every unix :-)
Finding your own problems, to keep you busy, is also something you will
eventually develop as you continue hacking.
P.S. DON'T start with a janitorial position cleaning up other people's code or
doing manuals, as the "Hacker HOWTO" advocates. Fuck that, NIH and all, go out
there and create your own bugs to fix. Have fun, eh? :-)
~~~
mahmud
There are more things I want to touch on, but I'm afraid my posts are long and
opinionated as they are. Just a few quick pointers and hints, things that must
be passed on:
* Learn how to find _good_ information. Hone your bullshit detector, learn who knows what they're talking about and who is full of it (many will try to sell you things, if not an actual product or service, then their personality: good hackers are selfless and rarely sign their work.)
* Get heroes. Find good hackers to imitate. I grew up wanting to be "like Terje Mathisen" ..
* Avoid fluff mediums. Best information is found in ASCII mediums :-P just my finding. Avoid the blog scene, most of it is written to pad an ego or a resume. Usenet is good, sparingly. Citeseer is good when you know better. The underground zines are good, with a grain of salt.
* Discover the past; everything you need to know about computing was invented/discovered before 1980. Mine the past, seek the originators, not the imitators. Nothing good happened since 1999; the greatest minds left the Science and went to industry, behind NDAs, patents and sold to "investors".
* Don't do the web, yet. Start working in the console, then perhaps do a tangible GUI. Don't do Unicode
* ACM, IEEE and Elsevier are bastards. If you need a paper, google the authors' websites and you can usually find it there.
* It's OK to be in hackmode. If you need to get away from society, you are allowed to forgo all human contact and basic hygiene until you figure shit out.
* Mathematics is easy. The smaller and denser the text the better. It's the long, repetitive hammer-into-your-head crap that probably bored you in school. Real mathematics is neat and compact. Get math books with answers to the exercises at the back. Don't cheat yourself.
* Save your first programs, even print them out. You will be willing to give up everything just to get them back, should you lose them (and remain a programmer ;-)
* Learn assembly language. Learn C. Learn how to write your own tools. Programming tools should be the first systems you investigate. Levine's book "Linkers and Loaders" is free online. You can find "Advanced DOS" on Alexie Frounze's site. K&R is online. Unix is good. Learn it well, at the kernel level. Familiarize yourself executable file formats. Get into compiler hacking early, it will enlighten you, but will also force you to learn so many different languages you will have no time for anything else.
* Share what you learned, even if you have to cringe at your own verbosity :-)
~~~
mahmud
[Edit: Update 2
* Help yourself to other people's servers. Get a free shell account on a unix server and try to use it to the fullest. Chat with people in whatever MUD system they have in place. Try to circumvent security, build software on your account to go around network restrictions .. but don't be abusive. Try to tunnel a banned network protocol over a permitted one. Have your programs in your various account talk to each other. Leave backdoors, but not big, nasty gaping ones.
* Automate your social life. Write scripts to check your email, or parse RSSes of sites you frequent, or see any replies to your threads.
* Get accounts on shells that run on non x86 archs. Learn different assembly languages and have fun. Hack your router and game consoles, install a different OS than the vendor's ;-]
Update!
* Clone the basic unix commands in python and scheme. Coreutils from the GNU project should keep you busy for a while.
* Keep your code off of other people's boxes, including Google (with the appengine recommendations and all.) Sandboxed environments will not teach you how NOT to shoot yourself in the foot. This also goes for hacking in an emulator or a VPS. Learn on a real machine that you can touch and physically fuck up. A desktop is highly recommended, it will force you to open it up and change hardware. The first time you google a motherboard manual to flip a jumper or change a dead CMOS battery will be the day you realize the benefit of having total mastery over your machines.
~~~
Hexstream
Some of your suggestions are a bit over the top for a noob...
~~~
mahmud
Nearly every interesting programming problem is a bit over the top to you, at
your current knowledge level. The point is to apply yourself, learn things as
you go, research, and conquer the problem.
There are no cookie-cutter "noob" problems; there are problems whose solutions
you can visualize in your head and see them happen, and problems that make you
sit back and go "hmmmm". As you gather many technologies, more and more
previously impossible problems begin to fall into the first category. This is
what allows you, as an experienced programmer, to rule many application
domains as boring and trivial. Even if you have never written a ticket
ordering application for a concert hall, if you have done the most basic
database application, you can pretty much visualize the solution :-)
------
shizcakes
Strongly recommending project euler.
<http://projecteuler.net/>
Start from problem 1 and work your way up - they get gradually harder to solve
as complete more. They are simple yet require flexing your algorithm-
development muscles, which also help you to think about coding in an
"efficient enough" manner: some problems can be implemented in ways that take
10 hours to run, or .001 seconds.
~~~
zackattack
A lot of those problems require an advanced understanding of mathematics to
properly solve; i.e., there is a "trick" that you would only know if you had
familiarized yourself with it earlier in the course of your mathematical
journey. But +1 for Project Euler!
~~~
silentbicycle
I've found it a great way to _learn_ those tricks. Once I've solved a problem,
working through the way somebody else did it, perhaps in an order of magnitude
less time or in an idiomatically different language, has often given me a
deeper understanding of the problem. I've learned a couple algorithmic tricks
that way, too.
Also, there are some paired problems where the first is small enough to be
feasible by a naive solution, but the second would take far too long, and you
_have to_ figure out the trick. There's a pair that requires finding the
maximum path down a pyramid of numbers, for example, and the second pyramid is
several times taller.
------
showerst
A few standard 'toy' learning projects come to mind:
Try building a client/server chat program, using TCP/IP, a mass-file Renamer,
or mp3 tagger, including a GUI for your OS of choice.
In python, try building something using either google app engine, or
implementing a full blog using django (with packages for all the useful
features).
Build something that downloads stock data from yahoo or google, parses it, and
charts it.
Most of those are more towards the 'trivial' end of the spectrum, but they'll
make you familiar with the standard libraries, and the last 10% of 'polish'
will sharpen your skills.
------
SwellJoe
I'd recommend spending some time with other peoples code. Open Source provides
mountains of great (and bad) examples. The only way you'll really learn to
grok the difference is to spend time enhancing other peoples code. You get
exposure to a lot more code that way, since you can't possibly write hundreds
of thousands of lines of code by yourself in a short period of time...but you
can learn to navigate projects of that magnitude in a few weeks, and learn a
lot of what those kinds of projects have to teach you.
Pick a project that interests you and has a large/friendly community, and make
a plugin or a patch for it. You'll learn a lot about working with other
developers, and a lot about the ancillary tools that are needed to build big
and useful software but are rarely taught in school.
------
silentbicycle
What are your interests?
When I was learning to program as a kid (not counting Basic), I was really
into text adventure games like this (<http://www.rickadams.org/adventure/>). I
wrote an interpreter for text game worlds. It wasn't that great (I was 12 and
it was in C++), but I learned quite a bit, and it gave me confidence for other
stuff.
If you like math puzzles, Project Euler (<http://projecteuler.net/>) is great.
Python Challenge (<http://www.pythonchallenge.com/>) is a series of fun
puzzles that will also lead you through its standard library.
But, really, go with your interests. If you like logic puzzles, or making
music, or 3D game stuff, or MUDs, etc., just pick something and run with it.
Also, feel free to start small, you can hit the ground running once you have
the basics down.
------
johngunderman
My first 'major' project was writing a Lisp interpreter from scratch. Looking
back on it, my implementation was horrible, the design atrocious, and the
extensibility null. However, I remember how AWESOME it was at the time to be
able to run my code on my own interpreter. What mattered most about that
project wasn't the program itself: it was what I learned in the process. I
guess my point is, no matter how shitty your code is, you learned something
from writing it. So don't wait for a 'firm foundation' to start hacking away,
just dive in and feel free to screw up. Just don't screw up in the same way
the next time you do it.
~~~
sharkbrainguy
I've got to agree with this. Writing Lexers/Parsers/Interpreters is some of
the most fun I've had programming. When your program can run other programs,
that's a huge thrill.
Read EoPL, it's awesome (and free) and LiSP is awesome but expensive. In fact
almost every Lisp related textbook seems to have several lisp interpreters in
it.
edit: As noted below EoPL is apparently _not_ free, and it seems that I've
inadvertently pirated it from somewhere.
<http://www.cs.indiana.edu/eopl/>
<http://tinyurl.com/lispinsmallpieces>
I'm working on a toy (for now) lisp in javascript at the moment and it's
profoundly unimpressive but has been hugely fun and educational for me.
~~~
plinkplonk
"Read EoPL, it's awesome (and free)"
EoPL is _not_ free afaik. I agree that it is an awesome book.
------
andrewljohnson
You should make a blog. It was my first project, and to this day i write my
own blog software.
I just launched the latest incarnation as a Google App Engine blog using
Django/Python: <http://andrewljohnson.appspot.com>
------
grinich
Find something that has a limited scope. ie: something that you /know/ you can
do from start to end. A lot of things seem "too simple" but often, there are
interesting ways to solve the problem which involve more complex thinking.
------
knowtheory
Sadly i don't have time to write a fuller post on this, to my regret.
But i definitely agree with Paul Graham on this subject:
<http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html>
If one pays attention carefully there are many opportunities for projects that
present themselves weekly. Some of your ideas will be bad, some of them good.
But just keep thinking of things that may be cool to work on.
I think the important part of finding ideas has nothing to do with
programming. You should find a subject you're interested in and something that
you think would be cool to accomplish to help others.
------
mnemonicsloth
99 Lisp Problems:
[http://www.ic.unicamp.br/~meidanis/courses/mc336/2006s2/func...](http://www.ic.unicamp.br/~meidanis/courses/mc336/2006s2/funcional/L-99_Ninety-
Nine_Lisp_Problems.html)
------
pookleblinky
Try livecoding with Snd or CLM or Impromptu (or extending them). You'll get a
sense for code structures and tweaking your dev environment, and produce
really interesting things.
------
sown
Are you familar with MUD/Mushes?
Try writing one. You'll learn about concurrency, networking, parsing (some
mushes have a built-in scripting language) and you will end up writing a lot
of code.
------
kunqiana
Thank you all for the great comments
------
klahnako
IMHO, it is hard to find a domain that is challenging, useful, and small. But
a couple of examples listed above are pretty good: 1) Write your own web
server, blog software, etc: By leveraging existing libraries (or not!) you can
get a lot of effect for very few lines 2) Script your daily chores: It does
not matter what language you write the “scripts” in. Choose your current
favorite and get a feel for how you can interact with the OS
------
buugs
If you like math or math problems or complicated problems that require some
thought you should check out <http://projecteuler.net/> the first 30 problems
don't really require a large amount of math knowledge and can be very
interesting.
Edit: I saw you were going for projects maybe something using pythons cgi
library on a web server to do interesting tasks would be nice.
------
paraschopra
Actually, my first programming attempts started with extremely simple
projects: BMI calculator, recipe generator, mathematics puzzles game, a simple
assembly language implementation.
If you want to start with web, start coding a blog or a url shortner. If you
want to have something more complex, start with existing web APIs and make a
mashup!
------
zubin71
after making a few API`s using java, after coding in c and cpp for about two
years, i moved on to explore the capabilities of various other languages. i
took me about 6 months; but it was well worth the time. I suggest you try out
networking projects; maybe a chat client coupled with a file transfer
mechanism; or maybe a P2P file sharing project. i don`t agree with the comment
which says "mischief motivated you like none other". it is true that many are
interested towards activities like circumventing security systems, but as long
as you do not understand the fundamental concepts behind the working of a
particular exploit or shellcode; you`ll be wasting your time and will remain a
script-kiddie learning little or nothing.
------
dbul
Be more observant in your daily routine. Analyze everything your friends and
family say and don't overlook any problem they may have, because it could
become your idea and something people want. Just ask questions and listen and
something is bound to become salient.
------
amichail
If you have no ideas, then maybe just try a small unoriginal project to
improve your skills for now. For example, try building something for the
Google App Engine in python.
------
zc
Stop procrastinating. Just make something.
------
swolchok
Wasn't this done over and over on Proggit?
------
zubin71
the first two comments mentioned by mahmud are very interesting; real good
advice for any programming beginner.
------
chaosmachine
Write your own URL shortener ;)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Alphabet-made Chrome extension is designed to tune out toxic comments - lnyng
https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/14/18265851/alphabet-google-jigsaw-tune-chrome-extension
======
etayl
About the same matter, can I suggest trying out my own (private, safe, fun)
extension which blocks comments and turn them to cute cats?
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/comments-to-
cats/h...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/comments-to-
cats/hgjfibdfedjcopejmhnhcimefdlfdpig)
------
towaway1138
This would be awesome if _I_ get to choose what I consider to be toxic. I'm
not interested in Google's opinion.
------
goombastic
Filter bubble intensifies.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Qt 5.8 released - reddotX
http://blog.qt.io/blog/2017/01/23/qt-5-8-released/
======
lultimouomo
New features:
[https://wiki.qt.io/New_Features_in_Qt_5.8](https://wiki.qt.io/New_Features_in_Qt_5.8)
------
justinclift
Weirdly, the download page is busted (for me) on both Firefox ESR & Opera
(latest versions, on OSX).
After selecting the appropriate download choice "Open source distribution
...", the "Get started" button never becomes clickable.
(This was working a few days ago, when I downloaded Qt 5.7)
Is anyone else having the same trouble with that page?
------
bostand
I wonder if the qt lite stuff can make future kde distros significantly
smaller...
~~~
turrini
I think the main benefit of Qt Lite is for static builds, since KDE heavily
uses almost everything available on Qt, dynamically.
~~~
akjainaj
Size of Qt has stopped me from ever thinking of making a small application
that uses Qt. It bumps the size by... 20MB at least. I'd love to try Lite
sometime.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: PDF.co virtual reality pdf reader - eumm
https://pdf.co/en/virtual-reality
======
eumm
Hi all,
This online tool takes PDF document (from url or from file) and creates a
virtual reality room with up to 12 pages from the document flying around. It
should work on Gear VR and Oculus as well as in Chrome and other modern
browsers.
It uses React VR for virtual reality plus a custom backend for pdf rendering.
Here is the short video showing how it looks like:
[http://imgur.com/qKMXJ8d](http://imgur.com/qKMXJ8d)
Any comments or suggestions are welcome!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Levi Felix, a Proponent of Disconnecting from Technology, Dies at 32 - xwowsersx
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/12/us/obituary-levi-felix-digital-detox.html
======
xwowsersx
Digital Detox [1] is an interesting idea. I think that we, as a species, still
don't have a great handle on how to use technology without being consumed by
it.
[1] [http://digitaldetox.org/about/](http://digitaldetox.org/about/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
New Documentary Features Y Combinator-funded Wattvision - jtflesher
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1480255348/sourlands-stories-from-the-fight-for-sustainabilit?ref=live
======
d136o
Savraj is innovating on many fronts, from being a hardware based startup, to
entering a field that hasn't seen much disruption in a long long time.
It's a great example of a startup that isn't just one more social-something-
or-other, and it happens to hit right on #27 on y-combinators "Startup ideas
we'd like to fund".
<http://ycombinator.com/ideas.html>
------
peterzakin
nice!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Largest Known Prime, 49th Known Mersenne Prime Found - taylorbuley
http://www.mersenne.org/#resubmit
======
sp332
Discussion from yesterday
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10931234](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10931234)
------
kazinator
Google "hacker news 49th mersenne prime" ... and here it is:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10931234](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10931234)
296 points by ramshanker 1 day ago; 123 comments.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What are you currently working on in your spare time? - SoundAndBug
I have a lot of spare time at the moment and I'm thinking about a new project to add to my portfolio.<p>I'm exploring the Canvas and WebGL APIs. I'll probably do something with it and add WebSockets for multiplayer functionality.<p>I was looking at Phaser3 yesterday and I was surprised how easy it was to get started.
======
trykondev
My mother has expressed to me several times her disappointment at not having
any printed pictures since she got her iPhone. I usually remind her that she
can get her pictures printed if she really wanted to -- but after several
years of this, I realized that the hassle of getting them printed is enough of
a barrier that it's never going to happen.
So I'm working on an app that will allow for automatic printing and delivery
of pictures from mobile devices:
[http://www.printstream.net/](http://www.printstream.net/)
You can add pictures to your PrintStream account and it will choose a certain
number each month to print and deliver to you. We also are thinking about an
even more automatic method, where the app will algorithmically choose from all
of your photos each month without having to explicitly add them to your
PrintStream account. This is definitely a feature my mother would want, but we
want this to be opt-in to protect the privacy of the users.
I'm still prototyping the app using React Native but I'm excited to get it up
and running.
~~~
otras
This reminds me of NanaGram [0], but it seems your use case ("I want to print
my own photos") is different than their use case ("I want to send printed
versions of my photos"). Very cool!
[0]: [https://nanagram.co/](https://nanagram.co/)
~~~
aacook
Thank you for the mention. My quantum-of-one [0] was my late 94-year-old
grandfather [1]. My brother and I gave NanaGram to him for his birthday.
(Well, really it was a quantum of two because my grandmother also loves
getting photos in the mail.)
I got married this past June and at the wedding shower my Mom gave my wife
lingerie while chanting "4 kids! 4 kids! 4 kids!" As you can probably tell, my
Mom has 4 kids. My initial use case was "I want to send curated 4x6 prints
from my 3 siblings and I to my grandparents." Most people using NanaGram send
photos to their loved ones but we do have some folks sending photos to
themselves.
@trykondev FYI your title tag is "Mysite." This is a super fun space to be in.
Good luck with your launch. I think grandparents and moms are some the best of
quantums.
[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3075&v=4WO5kJChg...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3075&v=4WO5kJChg3w)
[1] [https://nanagram.co/blog/on-happiness-from-tirrell-
cook](https://nanagram.co/blog/on-happiness-from-tirrell-cook)
------
graystevens
I got fed up of going to conferences and getting some cool stickers that I
never get to put anywhere.
The obvious idea is to put them on your laptop, but that can make reselling it
difficult, and you lose those stickers if you sell it with them still
attached.
So... I’ve managed to find some sticky-backed vinyl that looks almost exactly
like the aluminium used on the MacBooks and MacBook Pro’s. I’ve stencilled and
cut out a couple of lids and when applied you can barely tell they’re on
there. They look awesome.
I’ve had them on nice hot laptops for a couple of months (with cool stickers
applied on top) and they peel off fairly easily, but most importantly, leave
zero residue.
I’m planning on figuring out if there’s a market for these ‘skins’ and going
from there. I’ve take pictures along the way so I’ll put a blog together about
it shortly, and gauge interest.
~~~
nniroclax
That's pretty neat. My workaround at the moment is to put all my stickers on a
hardshell case for the MBP. That way, I can just pop it off if I'm ever ready
to sell or just want to look more "professional".
I must say though, that the extra bulk of the case can be slightly annoying
and I miss the look of the aluminium. I"ll be interested to follow your story!
------
matt_the_bass
I’be been making high build quality Wordclocks as presents for friends and
family over the past few years. I’m frequently told “you should sell these!”
So I’ve made a design that I think is pretty nice from a piece of hardwood.
I’ve sold one so far (without any promoting). I am now working on building
some stock and just about to start promoting the site [1] and hope to sell 3-4
before the holidays. I plan to market these as a limited edition (100 units
max) are piece.
Moderator Dan contacted me and suggested I post as a Show HN about my story. I
hope to in the next few days.
[1] www.finewordclocks.com
~~~
SoundAndBug
This looks amazing.
Can you share which micro-controller are you using?
~~~
matt_the_bass
Thanks! I’ve tried a bunch of different arduino/compatible units. Early ones
started with Duos. Some others used Sparks. It’s more a function of what bus
voltages are needed for the LED controllers. If possible I prefer to not use
line lever converters. Currently I used a customized protoboard but am
planning on custom PCB in the future. Each one is generally an improvement on
the last due to streamlining processes.
------
codegeek
I have been learning Go/golang for the past week. What an awesome language. I
always wanted to learn something that was not quite low level like C and not
high level/interpreted like php/python etc. Go seems like a good balance
between the two. I may build a REST API with it soon :)
------
jxub
Today, I was going through the ffmpeg tutorial on
[http://dranger.com/ffmpeg/tutorial01.html](http://dranger.com/ffmpeg/tutorial01.html).
C ecosystem has lots of warts, especially with linking, however I settled on
some "sane" defaults with all the warning flags, C11 version and clang-format
(now I probably still need to use Valgrind at some point).
On the physical plane, I've been practising my longboard carving skills.
Projects that I currently have on my backlog:
\- Upgrading my BarrelDB Elixir client ([https://gitlab.com/barrel-
db/Clients/barrel_ex](https://gitlab.com/barrel-db/Clients/barrel_ex)) to
support the new version of the underlying Erlang distributed database.
\- Fixing translation from Elixir to Erlang on a function body level of
Doppelganger
([https://github.com/jxub/doppelganger](https://github.com/jxub/doppelganger)),
an automated Elixir to Erlang code translator working with pattern-matching on
the AST level.
Also, reading about ways to limit global warming. I hope the recent IPCC
findings make people and corporations change their habits, or at least make
governments impose bans on non-electric cars, modern farming practices, etc...
------
ecesena
We’ve started Solo, an open source security key for two-factor auth. It’s cool
because it’s the first to be open and support the newest FIDO2 standard.
We worked for about 2 months on a kickstarter that launched last Wed and is
going beyond expectations! If we reach 10K backers, this will be the most
backed security product on Kickstarter... for an open source product that’d be
a dream coming true!
[https://solokeys.com/kickstarter](https://solokeys.com/kickstarter)
~~~
nniroclax
This looks really great! I've never really carried a key with me and am afraid
of losing it, but am thinking about giving it a try. How long have you guys
been working on this for?
~~~
ecesena
This is the upgrade of U2F Zero ([https://u2fzero.com](https://u2fzero.com)).
We're working on Solo since August, but we Conor started his project more than
1 year ago.
------
nniroclax
I work on a remote team and am building a tool in my spare time to help with
some of the downfalls of working remotely.
As a remote worker, occasional zoom calls help build connection and team
retreats are amazing, but the rest of the "oh hey! New coworker just walked
by! Let's go say hi!" type communication just isn't there. That serendipitous
communication you get in a colocated environment is hard to duplicate in a
remote one.
I'm building [https://hallwayapp.com](https://hallwayapp.com) at the moment to
serve as an asynchronous home base of sorts for my team (and possibly other
teams). If you work remotely, I'd love to hear your thoughts and/or how you
build teams.
------
dbla
I'm building a fitness tracker specifically for rock climbers using RFID in
addition to the regular fitness tracker sensors (accelerometer, altimeter,
etc). It started as a project to teach me lower level embedded programming (I
do web dev for my day job). Since then it's expanded and we're actually
testing it at a local rock climbing gym. If you're curious you can see a demo
video here
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gnEAeMDKt8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gnEAeMDKt8)
------
tomaspollak
I'm relaunching my chiptune/VGM music player [1] with a bigger catalog, and
working on a libgit2-based Git client for the CLI [2].
The former is all about exploring new browser features (WebGL2, Wasm,
WebMIDI), the latter all about dealing with ancient terminal stuff. Quite a
mix!
[1] [https://muki.io](https://muki.io) [2]
[https://tomas.github.io/jix](https://tomas.github.io/jix)
~~~
SoundAndBug
It's interesting to see what can be done with the Web APIs.
This is my venture into the Web Audio API (+ websockets):
[https://www.personalecho.com/jam](https://www.personalecho.com/jam)
It's pretty basic, but I find it fun. I used Tone.js for it.
~~~
tomaspollak
Tone.js is great! Also check out timbre.js if you haven't.
~~~
SoundAndBug
Is this it:
[https://github.com/mohayonao/timbre.js/](https://github.com/mohayonao/timbre.js/)
? (It says it's not maintained anymore)
What does it offer that Tone.js does not?
~~~
tomaspollak
Yikes, just realized it's no longer maintained.
Timbre lets you do more advanced stuff in a simpler way (less lines of code),
although the last time I used Tone.js was a long time ago, so things might be
different now.
Take a look at the Timbre.js examples!
------
peasantking
I run an Amazon FBA business and also organize a 1000+ person meetup group.
People often ask how they can find and vet a quality freight forwarder:
[https://www.jumpcargo.com](https://www.jumpcargo.com)
A user will be able to view and contact freight forwarders by state or
transport type. I'd like to get a payment portal and maybe even a jobs board
in there too.
------
Findeton
I have a big project and a small one.
The small project involves getting rid of reducers in react redux, by creating
a modified version of JSON.
The big project is a new social network. A selling point is recovering the
idea of Google + circles, but using groups instead (like in Whatsapp). Think
about merging WhatsApp and Facebook together, you should be able to publish
things in the same way you do messaging through WhatsApp.
~~~
SoundAndBug
Can you explain why do you want to get rid of reducers? What do you gain from
it?
Good luck with the social network. Seems like a tough job.
~~~
Findeton
With the spread (...foo) operator you can already merge json objects. However
in order to use it you need to have access to the objects you make reference
to.
This is how it would work: In the front end (like in react-redux) you have
your state variable and then you normally make a request to the backend, which
the backend returns this "JSON2" object, which you can merge automatically
(with JSON2.merge method) to create the new state, without requiring reducers.
The only thing is that the back-end would need to be aware of how the front-
end state structure looks like (it doesn't need to keep track of the current
state though).
// the front-end state
let state = { some: "things", nested: { something: { what: "what", } }, other:
[2,3] }
// action is a string with JSON2 format that comes from a query to the back-
end. Take the "..." literally
let action = "{ ..., nested: { something: { ..., more: "manymore" } }, other:
[1, ...] }"
// create the new state
state = JSON2.merge(state, action)
// now state is:
state = { some: "things", nested: { something: { what: "what", more:
"manymore" } }, other: [1,2,3] }
------
brogrammer2019
Thanks to heaps of feedback I have received via email, I am manually merging
feedback text changes into free programming books; goal is to release fresh
new free programming books by 1st of November 2018
Link: [https://books.goalkicker.com](https://books.goalkicker.com)
------
mechnesium
From a meta-perspective, HackerNews is how I'm currently spending my time.
Alas, it is a stopgap to a more pervasive problem in my life.
If I weren't currently on HackerNews, I would (very literally) be spending my
spare time wondering how I should spend my spare time.
Should I change jobs? Go to graduate school? Learn to make electronic music?
Play Hearthstone? Exercise? Eat? Sleep? Go(lang)?
This is a daily battle that happens when I arrive home from work with at least
3 waking hours to myself, which is a rarity.
The inability to make a decision on how to spend my spare time is causing me
to slowly lose my sanity. It is eating away at the fiber of my being. I'm not
sure if having ADHD may be a factor.
------
finfun234
I'm building [https://www.shareseer.com](https://www.shareseer.com) to make
access to financial data easy.
Most recently I added a feature that allows download of financial statements
for most US listed companies.
------
alashley
Just finished this app that lets people find workout partners/personal
trainers with similar routines/diets.
Link: [https://gymmmr.com/home](https://gymmmr.com/home)
------
bootsz
Right now I'm writing a Scheme interpreter from scratch. It's quite a rabbit
hole and I'm loving it so far. Planning to dive into the world of compilers
next.
------
tmaly
I am working on building a teach your kids how to program with Scratch 3.0
tutorial. It is slow going, but my daughter is having a lot of fun working out
the details
------
dkvochkin
I have been building an e-commerce website[1] from scracth (I know I could
have used shopify or similar but I wanted to learn the ins and outs) to sell
motivational posters. Tried a few ads but seems like there is no market for
this kind of posters. Probably shutting it down soon....
[1] [https://printinsanity.com/](https://printinsanity.com/)
------
Jemaclus
I'm building a Tradewars (old BBS game) clone in Go. It's fun trying to
reverse engineer how certain things worked.
------
seanwilson
I'm working on a browser extension that checks if the website you're working
on follows current SEO, speed and security best practices:
[https://www.checkbot.io/](https://www.checkbot.io/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Airtel,telecom provider in India breaking net neutrality and web censorship - koolhead17
http://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/2qabsd/airtel_breaking_net_neutrality_and_web_censorship/
======
anuj_nm
Thanks for bringing this up. Hate to see how unethical telecom companies
across the world can be.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Is Alliance Data Systems Corporation (ADS)responsible for the Epsilon Breach? - teksquisite
https://twitter.com/#!/BruceHallas/status/55373394945912832
======
teksquisite
According to a comment made in USA Today by OnAnIsland "...Alliance Data
Systems Corporation (ADS) as the company responsible for the data loss.
Epsilon SYSTEMS is the marketing branch of ADS which sells the information ADS
collects from banks and merchants and is not a stable corporate idenity and
could disappear tomorrow and reappear the day after as another shell in the
ADS structure." [http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-04-epsilon-
hacking...](http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2011-04-04-epsilon-hacking-
poses-phishing-threat.htm)
------
teksquisite
Alliance Data Systems Corporation (ADS) owns Epsilon
<http://www.alliancedata.com/pages/about/companyfacts.aspx>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What I Learned Building LittleIpsum - k-mcgrady
https://medium.com/what-i-learned-building/f03b96aa6533
======
madsravn
I like small apps like this. They do their job and they don't try to reach
outside of their domain.
However, I felt like the article was misrepresented by it's title. No real
talking about what was learned, more talking about what the app can and what
happened when released.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Anthropology of Hackers (2010) - christianbryant
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/09/the-anthropology-of-hackers/63308/
======
peterwwillis
They seem to fail to mention BBSes, which is arguably the most important
influence on the creation of the hacker underground, and IRC, which is today
still the most permeable means to access it. They seem to breeze over
MUDs/gaming even though that's a large part of what got people into BBSes to
begin with.
From the early 1990s and on through the present, if you want to find out what
governments are doing with your data, who has your credit cards and SSN, what
the next major DDoS attack target will be, or get the dirty details [along
with photo evidence] on the social lives of the most popular hackers, you go
to IRC. To learn about the hacker underground they should be reading IRC
transcripts.
Edit: I forgot about one of the newer and more exciting aspects of the cyber
crime, hacktivist and hacker underground groups: web forums. Want to know
who's planning Jihad on a Yahoo! Groups page? Want to know who's planning a
"digital sit-in" (e.g. DDoS) alongside an Occupy or animal rights group? Want
to get crack cocaine delivered to your front door (without using Silk Road)?
Want to buy 10,000 US credit card numbers? Want to rent out a botnet of a
million nodes for an hour? It's all on (somewhat) publicly-accessible web
forums.
While we all like to play dumb that these forms of cyber-crime and vigilantism
aren't "really hackers", they use the same techniques and often co-exist with
the more "respectable" hackers. It's not uncommon for a more traditional
hacker to live a double life (and make some nice coin on the side), committing
a lot of the back-room crimes that someone else later gets caught for using.
And it's just plain interesting to see how they all work.
~~~
codezero
From this comment I am confident in saying we were either friends or enemies
in the 90s :)
------
christianbryant
My first real job out of High School (no, not college) was in 1991 at a Crown
Bookseller where there was an Ingram Micro computer that connected to the
Ingram database and nothing else. I was never the same :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Conway Law(1967)-sys/app design is a copy of the org's structure that designs it - sztwiorok
http://www.melconway.com/Home/Conways_Law.html
======
sztwiorok
defined over half a decade ago and it is still up to date. I think many IT
organizations should seriously think about it
~~~
masonic
half a decade ago
Did you mean half a _century_?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Learning webdev - sillysaurus3
If you had to re-learn all that you currently know about webdev, what would your path toward re-acquiring that knowledge look like?<p>For example, which toy projects would you build as a way to learn it? Which tools would you focus on learning, and in what order? Which resources would you study?<p>To make this question interesting, assume that the learner is a competent hacker who wants to immerse themselves in webdev as quickly as possible, but knows nothing about modern CSS practices, which devtools to use, or anything else that you'd learn after working in the field for several years.
======
grillvogel
learn something useful instead
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
FPGA and Xeon combined in one socket - jsnell
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/18/intel_fpga_custom_chip/
======
pjc50
The barrier to adoption of FPGAs is not so much the hardware issue as the
toolchain issue. The toolchains are closed, frequently windows-only, slow, and
not friendly to newbies.
(Not that shader language or CUDA is _that_ accessible, but you can play with
shaders in a browser now. The time to "hello world" or equivalent isn't too
bad)
~~~
chillingeffect
I argue the barrier to FPGA adoption is the actual use-case, not the tools.
People who need them can use the tools just fine. FPGA designers are not
idiots. They do not walk around scratching their heads wondering, "how come
nobody is using our products? If only they were easier to use!" There is a new
open-source attempt at replacing imcumbent tools bi-annually begun and
dropped.
The use cases for FPGAs are a much harder impediment to adoption. Many people
get "FPGA boners" when they even hear the word, fancying themselves "chip
designers," but practical use cases are much rarer. As evidence, notice they
predominate in the military world, where budget is less of an issue than the
commercial world.
The technical issue with FPGAs is that they are still one level abstracted
from any CPU. They are only valuable in problems where some algorithm or task
can be done with specific logic more quickly than the CPU, given 1. the
performance hit of reduced real estate and 2. reduced clock speed relative to
a CPU and 3. more money than a CPU.
Further diminishing their value is that any function important enough to
require an FPGA can more economically get absorbed into the nearest silicon.
For example, consider the serial/deserial coding of audio/video codecs. That
used to be done in FGPAs, but got moved into a standard bus (SPI) and moved
into codecs and CPUs.
Because of this rarity, experienced engineers know that when an FPGA is
introduced to the problem in practical reality, _it 's a temporary solution_
(most often to make time-to-market). This confers a degree of honor which is
why people get so emotionally-aroused about FPGAs.
You can bet though, that if whatever search function Microsoft is running on
those FPGAs proves to be useful, it will be soon absorbed into a more
economical form, such as an ASIC, or, more likely, additional instructions to
the CPU.
Really, installs on 1,600 servers such as this article reports, is not that
impressive and certainly only a prototypical rollout.
~~~
ChuckMcM
Ok, I'll take the counter argument.
FPGAs promise the designer 'arbitrary logic' and deliver 'a place others sell
into.'
I disagree that FPGA experts "like" the tools they are given, they tolerate
them. One of my friends worked at Xilinx for 15 years and understood this all
too well. He felt the leading cause of the problem was that the tools group
was a P&L center, they needed to turn a profit in order to exist. They got
that profit by charging high prices for the tools and high prices for support.
His argument was that 'easier' tools cut into support revenue. When I've had
high level (E-level, but not C-level) discussions with Xilinx and Altera there
has been a lot of acknowledgement about the 'difficulty of getting up to
speed' on the tool chain and many free hours of consulting are offered. From a
business engagement point of view, making hard to use tools and then "giving
away" thousands of dollars of free consulting to the customer to gain their
support seems to work well. The customer feels supported, and stops wondering
why if the have consultants around for free those consultants wouldn't just
make the tools more straight forward to use and available on a wider variety
of platforms.
But the biggest thing has always been intellectual property. You buy an
STM32F4 and it has an Ethernet Mac on it (using Synopsis IP as evidenced by
the note in the documentation), you pay $8 for the microprocessor, work around
the bugs, and get it running. If you buy an FPGA, lets say a Spartan 3E, you
pay $18 for the chip, and if you want to use that Synopsis Ethernet MAC?[1]
$25,000 for the HDL source to add to our project $10,000 if you are ok with
just the EDIF output which can be fed into a place-and-route back end. Oh and
some royalty if you ship it on a product you are selling.
The various places that have been accumulating 'open' IP such as Open Cores
([http://opencores.org/)have](http://opencores.org/\)have) been really helpful
for this but it really needs a different pricing model I suspect. A lot of HDL
is where OS source was back at the turn of the century (locked down and
expensive).
[1] I did this particular exercise in 2005 when I was designing a network
attached memory device
([https://www.google.com/patents/US20060218362](https://www.google.com/patents/US20060218362))
and was appalled at the extortionate pricing.
~~~
Florin_Andrei
> _From a business engagement point of view, making hard to use tools and then
> "giving away" thousands of dollars of free consulting to the customer to
> gain their support seems to work well._
To me, the entire recent history of computer industry (well, all of it is
recent BTW) shows that, if you want your technology to become mass-adopted,
you need to make it easier for the little guy to get in the game. The high
school kid tinkering with stuff in the parents' basement; the proverbial
starving student. That's how x86 crushed RISC; that's how Linux became
prominent; that's how Arduino became the most popular micro-con platform
(despite more clever things being available).
You make the learning curve nice and gentle, and you draw into your ranks all
the unwashed masses out there. In time, out of those ranks the next tech
leaders will emerge.
~~~
ChuckMcM
I don't disagree, and I suggested as much to the Xilinx folks (well their EVP
of marketing at the time) that if they just added $0.25 to the price per chip
they could fund the entire tools effort with that 'tax' and since they would
be 'giving away' the tools they could re-task all of the compliance guys who
were insuring that licenses worked or didn't work into building useful
features.
Their counter is of course that they have customers who sweat the $0.25
difference in price. (which I understand but $10,000 in tools and $15,000 in
consulting a year is a hundred thousand chips. Which they say "oh at that
volume we would wave the tooling cost." And that got me back to your point of
"You already have their design win, why give them free tools? Why not give
free tools who have yet to commit to your architecture?"
It is a very frustrating conversation to have.
------
msandford
This gets even bigger if they throw their IP muscle behind it like they do
with ICC. If you can get (for pay or free) fast matrix multiply, FFT, crypto,
etc cores for the FPGA you will see even faster adoption.
If they're clever enough to make some of those IP cores available to say
MATLAB adoption will be faster still.
Nothing sells hardware easier than "do no extra work but spend another couple
of grand and see your application speed up significantly"
~~~
rdrdss23
Can you elaborate on what you're trying to say?
MATLAB already have MATLAB->HDL, which works very well. We have a team that
uses it exclusively for FPGA programming.
~~~
msandford
MATLAB will recognize if you've got FFTW or ATLAS or other highly tuned
numerical libraries installed. And MATLAB will then use them whenever
possible.
If Intel does a good enough job of providing a collection of compute kernels
and the surrounding CPU libraries to make using them roughly as "easy" as CUDA
then a lot of people will pick that up.
I don't have any hard numbers but I would suspect that there are a great many
more people who use MATLAB on a CPU than those who do MATLAB->HDL. So what I'm
speculating about is that Intel might support those folks who use MATLAB on a
CPU for more general purpose things.
Does that make more sense?
------
peterwwillis
"Intel reveals its FrankenChip ARM killer: one FPGA and one Xeon IN ONE SOCKET
Scattered reports of maniacal cackling amid driving rain and lightning at
Chipzilla's lab"
Is this just a Register thing, or do all UK rags use this kind of
unprofessional hyperbole? It's _literally_ the most annoying thing in the
world.
~~~
Aqwis
The Register is 50% satire and 50% tech news. Don't take it seriously.
------
rthomas6
This is their competition: [http://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-
devices/soc/zynq-7000...](http://www.xilinx.com/products/silicon-
devices/soc/zynq-7000/silicon-devices/index.htm)
Zynq has been out and working in industry for a couple years now.
~~~
hga
I don't know how much competition they're giving Xilinx, but Altera is doing
the same thing with the same high performance ARM core:
[http://www.altera.com/devices/processor/soc-
fpga/overview/pr...](http://www.altera.com/devices/processor/soc-
fpga/overview/proc-soc-fpga.html) As the fine article notes, Intel is now
doing some fabbing for Altera.
I've gotten the impression that putting a general purpose CPU in the corner of
an FPGA was a pretty standard thing.
One of the things that should differentiate this new effort from Intel is FPGA
" _direct access to the Xeon cache hierachy and system memory_ " per "
_general manager of Intel 's data center group, Diane Bryant_".
~~~
rthomas6
Direct cache access sounds cool, but I'm sort of under the impression that
Altera and Intel are playing catchup with the FPGA SoC idea. I believe Xilinx
was the first mover by a large margin, though I could be wrong. That doesn't
mean Xilinx's Zynq will always be the best product, but it is already for sale
right now, is an established product, and works well.
~~~
blackguardx
FPGAs with CPU cores have been around for over a decade. The difference is
that in the past, the industry has mostly focused on the PowerPC core. Now
that ARM has such tremendous popularity, it makes sense to focus on it.
~~~
rjsw
It made sense for Xilinx to use PowerPC in the past, the chips were being
fabbed by IBM.
------
nomnombunty
I have always wanted to learn Verilog. However, I find it quite different from
the typical programming language such as c or java. What is the best way for
someone who has programming experience to learn Verilog?
~~~
deadgrey19
The first thing to know is that Verilog is not a programming language. It is a
hardware description language. This may sound picky, but it fundamentally
changes the way you need to think about using the language. With
Verilog/VHDL/HDL, you describe a circuit, which requires very different
thinking to programming languages where you describe a sequence of
instructions.
The other thing to know is that HDL languages are mostly the domain of
electrical engineers and hence have suffered a lack of any "computer science"
in them. The languages and all of the tools are clunky and reminiscent of
1970/1980's style programming when CS and EE diverged. Hence, do not expect to
find decent online tutorials or freeware source code available. It's all
locked up and proprietary as with all other EE tools.
The best place is to start with a text book, this one
([http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Digital-Logic-Verilog-
Des...](http://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Digital-Logic-Verilog-
Design/dp/0073380547/)) is a nice introduction to digital design with examples
from Verilog.
Personally I prefer VHDL, and this fantastic introduction
([http://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Design-VHDL-Volnei-
Pedroni/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Design-VHDL-Volnei-
Pedroni/dp/0262162245/))
To make either of these useful, you will need a hardware platform and some
tools to play with. The DE1/2 is a reasonably priced entry board with plenty
of lights, switches and peripherals to play with at a reasonable cost and is
well matched with the text books above.
[http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-
bin/page/archive.pl?Language=E...](http://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-
bin/page/archive.pl?Language=English&CategoryNo=165&No=83)
~~~
typon
1\. I recommend that a newbie get a DE0 nano board. It's much cheaper than
DE1/DE2 and has fun sensors like an accelerometer on it which can lead to
pretty cool applications. I designed a quadcopter control system entirely on
the DE0, using a NIOS II based Qsys system. The academic price is only $59:
[https://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-
bin/page/archive.pl?No=593](https://www.terasic.com.tw/cgi-
bin/page/archive.pl?No=593)
2\. Fun fact: the cover of the Fundamentals of Digital Logic book has Chess on
it because the author, Zvonko Vranesic, is not only an father in the FPGA/CAD
industry, he is also an International Chess master. Also, he's quite good at
ping pong for being 76 :(
~~~
swetland
Depends what you're doing -- DE0 Nano is nice for integrating into larger
projects, but if you want to say implement a little CPU and peripherals,
something like the plain 'ol DE0 is only slightly more expensive and has a
bunch of buttons/switches/LEDs/7-seg-displays for just-getting-started
projects as well as handy IO interfaces like VGA, PS2 mouse/keyboard, etc.
------
ddalex
This may be huge. People will use the FPGA as they use the GPU now, but FPGA
has the potential to greatly reduce the programming complexity associated with
GPUs.
In the end, the success will boil down to how easy the development is, and how
well designed the libraries will be - if the framwork will be capable to
automatically reconfigure the hardware to offload CPU-intensive tasks, this
has high tech potential for widespread adoption, not just datacenter-wise.
~~~
nomnombunty
Can you elaborate on how FPGA has the potential to reduce programming
complexity associated with GPUs? I personally think it is harder to program
with Verilog than to program using CUDA.
~~~
hderms
Well it's probably easier to program CUDA for embarassingly parallel tasks, or
other tasks well-suited to CUDA, but FPGAs might make certain tasks easier
because of their flexibility.
------
pbo
If I recall correctly, Intel tried a few years ago to sell a system-on-chip
combining an Atom CPU with a FPGA from Altera. I believe it didn't work very
well, especially with regards to communication and synchronization between the
two cores.
~~~
deadgrey19
It didn't work very well, but there is a good reason: Nobody wanted a slow and
comparatively low performance chip paired with a small FPGA connected via a
(slow) PCI-express connect. There are hundreds of big FPGA boards with PCIe
connectors that can be tied to big CPUs already. It was a non-product from the
get-go.
------
mindcreek
Hmm, this might have implications for digital currencies and their mining.
~~~
deadgrey19
Unlikely. Custom built Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) (i.e.
bitcoin mining chips - e.g
[http://www.butterflylabs.com/](http://www.butterflylabs.com/)) will always be
faster than FPGAs (which are comparatively slow) and CPUs (which are fast, but
general).
~~~
tromp
Except that every other months or so sees the introduction of a new proof-of-
work system that won't have ASICs for years, if ever. FPGAs can easily
outperform the CPU/GPU competition on any alt-coin using such proof-of-work.
------
pling
Sold! Seriously. This is what I wanted for the last two decades.
------
retroencabulato
A good time to know Verilog.
------
YZF
Sounds like a bit of a gimmick.
FPGAs are typically used in ASIC development to emulate the ASIC being
developed. I've seen boards with 20 FPGAs emulate an ASIC design at <~1/10th
of the speed at >>x10 power. While FPGAs are programmable hardware they are
far less efficient than custom hardware for various reasons. Naturally ASIC
emluation is an application where FPGAs have a very large advantage over
software... At volume they're also a lot more expensive and good tools are
also _very_ expensive (virtually no mass produced commercial product uses
FPGAs). Now obviously if the FPGA is inside the Xeon you're not really paying
much more for it (except you lose whatever other function could be crammed in
there).
Companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Google have enough servers to make a
custom block inside Intel's CPU more attractive than an FPGA in terms of
price/power/performance (and they can get that from ARM vendors which is
probably scaring Intel).
CPU vendors have spent the last several decades moving more and more
applications that used to be in the realm of custom hardware to the realm of
software. There are certainly niches of highly parallelizable operations but a
lot of general purpose compute is very well served by CPUs (and a lot of it is
often memory bandwidth bound, not compute bound). Some of these niches have
already been semi-filled through GPUs, special instructions etc.
The FPGA on the Xeon is almost certainly not going to have access to all the
same interfaces that either a GPU or the CPU has and is only going to be
useful for a relatively narrow range of applications.
I think what's going on here is that as the process size goes down simply
cramming more and more cores into the chip makes less and less sense, i.e.
things don't scale linearly in general. So the first thing we see is cramming
a GPU in there which eventually also doesn't scale (and also isn't really a
server thing). Now they basically have extra space and don't really know what
to put in it. Also each of the current blocks (GPU, CPU) are so complicated
that trying to evolve them is very expensive.
EDIT: Just to explain a little where I'm coming from here. I worked for a
startup designing an ASIC where FPGAs were used to validate the ASIC design. I
also worked on commercial products that included FPGAs for custom functions
where the volume was not high enough to justify an ASIC and the problem
couldn't be solved by software. I worked with DSPs, CPUs, various forms of
programmable logic, SoCs with lots of different HW blocks etc. over a long
long time so I'm trying to share some of my observations... If you think
they're absolutely wrong I'd be happy to debate them.
EDIT2: Re-reading what I wrote it may sound like I am saying I am an ASIC
designer. I'm not. I'm a software developer who has dabbled in hardware design
and has worked in hardware design environments (i.e. the startup I worked for
was designing ASICs but I was mostly working on related software).
~~~
astrodust
FPGAs are terrible at emulating ASICs, but CPUs are even worse, yet FPGAs do
excel at certain problems that can be expressed as programmable logic that
operates in a massively parallel manner.
What if the Intel FPGA did have access to the same resources as a GPU? This
isn't inconceivable, it's in the same socket as the CPU.
This gives you the ability to implement specialized algorithms related to
compression, encryption, or stream manipulation in a manner that's way more
flexible than a GPU can provide, and way more parallel than a CPU can handle.
~~~
CamperBob2
_What if the Intel FPGA did have access to the same resources as a GPU? This
isn 't inconceivable, it's in the same socket as the CPU._
An FPGA that competes with a modern GPU would probably cost in the
neighborhood of US $50,000 per chip.
~~~
astrodust
In a general sense, yes, but not in very narrow problems where the GPU would
stumble and flail because of architectural limitations that would prevent it
from fully applying itself.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Not to Sell Bitcoin on eBay for 300% Profit - dysruption
http://whatilearnedtoday.jameslarisch.com/?action=view&url=bitcoin-ebay-profit
======
JumpCrisscross
Venue (space) arbitrage in illiquid, disconnected markets necessitates holding
collateral at each venue. In this case, it means holding USD and BTC at _both_
Coinbase and MtGox (presuming you don't know, in advance, which way the
arbitrage will open up). If one can fund accounts instantly USD and BTC can be
held in _outside_ accounts, waiting. When opportunity arises one
_simultaneously_ sells in one location and buys in the other. Aggregate USD
held to BTC held doesn't change, but quantities held slowly appreciate.
A challenge with a volatile pair like BTC-USD is keeping the portfolio _delta
hedged_ , i.e. neutral with regards to movements in BTC-USD. Without the
ability to even borrow BTC effectively this becomes difficult to do cost-
effectively. That said, a volatile pair in a fragmented market allows for
market making sans leverage.
Taking a space arbitrage, as the author presented, and executing it as a
space-time trade, as the author presented (buying in one place, waiting,
selling in another), is not arbitrage.
~~~
larsonf
Technically, sure. But 'arbitrage' today is interpreted broadly--more along
the lines of buying _basically_ the same thing and making the difference at
some point in the future. Like stat arbitrage. Merger arbitrage. Capital
structure arbitrage. There is an amount of non-simulataneaity in all of these.
Buy two of what ought to be the same price, but are not for some reason, and
wait. Sameness and waiting. I mean, shoot, in stat arb the entire thing is
based on such a murky idea of sameness that two
products/instruments/securities might not actually even be the same thing and
may never converge. So point being, in the vernacular, yes, 100% what the
author is talking about is in fact 'arbitrage.'
------
noonespecial
Ebay absolutely lacks the seller protection to ever make this kind of
transaction. If I purposely tried to design a market that supported this kind
of fraud, (even encouraged it, in a nurturing "please do this" sort of way). I
couldn't do better.
~~~
smsm42
I'd guess that's PayPal that lacks protection, since they are the ones making
the decision. Probably because their arbitrators are ignorant in what Bitcoin
is and how it works. I don't even blame them - they can't know everything, but
one must know there's a risk PayPal would rule against you if you sell
something that you can't prove is delivered to _their_ satisfaction.
~~~
tadfisher
This is part of the form letter that PayPal sends when you are caught selling
BTC after the fact:
"We have reviewed your PayPal account and found that you are operating as an
e-currency dealer/exchanger including the sale of electronic media of exchange
(such as electronic money or digital currency). Per our current Acceptable Use
Policy for Money Service Businesses, PayPal may not be used to operate a
currency exchange, bureau de change or check cashing business including the
sale of Bit coin."
So PayPal knows what BTC is, they just straight up ban digital currency sales.
~~~
smsm42
OK, then it looks like whoever sells BTC on eBay and uses paypal is pretty
much setting himself up for trouble. So the OP has nobody to blame but
himself...
------
STRML
This is the most classic bitcoin scam - buy with paypal, then claim you didn't
receive the item. The seller has no way of proving that you did, and Paypal
will rule on the buyer's side every single time.
This is why trading channels like #bitcoinotc discourage any use of paypal -
but for times where you have to use it, there's the trust system.
~~~
danneu
Gee, if it's really so foolproof then all of these comments (and OP's
lamentation) seem to be missing the point.
Clearly there is a free lunch, and it's buying Bitcoin on Ebay.
[http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=bitcoin](http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=bitcoin)
Look at all that free money.
I mean, for the small price of feeling like a twat, a small transaction fee,
and locking up a couple hundred bucks for a month... you get a Bitcoin. So why
aren't these listings being sponged up by a few people that don't mind the
twat factor?
~~~
pakitan
I don't think it's just the "twat" factor. You can only do so many "I haven't
received the goods, refund my money" before you accumulate such a horrendous
feedback that nobody will do business with you again. In addition there is a
chance your paypal/ebay accounts can get shut down.
~~~
michaelt
You exchange positive feedback before you send the refund request. And sellers
can't leave negative feedback any more.
With that said, your ebay account might get shut down after this happens more
than a handful of times. Better pick up some spare accounts from a botnet
operator.
------
vbuterin
It's a good thing to be scammed for a small amount at some point IMO. It's
like a vaccine; makes you more careful in the future. I lost $10 to Bitscalper
in 2012; amount was insignificant but it certainly did teach me the stupidity
of trusting anonymous people with money in the hopes of getting a few percent
profit.
------
nullc
It's pretty sad, considering that if the buyer sent the bitcoin address to
send to through paypal you can prove to paypal cryptographically beyond any
and all doubt that you really sent the coins.
Even when someone isn't claiming their account was hacked (which would be a
problem no amount of cryptographic proof would solve) paypal simply doesn't
care. I guess that really sums up paypal: Paypal doesn't care.
~~~
phoboslab
I guess it's a bit more specific: PayPal doesn't care about sellers.
I sell a JavaScript Game Engine[1] and have made the exact same experience
over and over again. Someone buys it, I send out the license email and the
download link and 2 days later I see a chargeback. I can show PayPal
screengrabs of the license email and database records, showing that my
software really has been downloaded from the account in question. They don't
care. It's not "proof of shipment" if the shipment doesn't go through physical
mail that supports tracking.
I have since come to terms with the fact. I see it as simple piracy - it still
annoys me, but I have to live with it.
Funny thing is: if someone sends me an email, saying he's not happy with my
software, I always give them a full refund - which somehow isn't nearly as
taxing on my mind as PayPal chargebacks.
[1] [http://impactjs.com/](http://impactjs.com/)
~~~
jedberg
Why not send a small postcard with the license key that requires them to sign
to get the postcard? Give them an instant key good for 14 days and then make
them use the one on the postcard for long term use. Then you'll have your
proof (and be pretty close to PayPal's chargeback limit)
~~~
bitJericho
You don't need to send him a different key in the post. Give him the key
digitally and send the same key via post.
~~~
jedberg
The reason you don't want to do that is because they can just reject the
postcard. That's why you have to give them needed info on the card. The point
of the temp key is so they can get immediate satisfaction.
~~~
bitJericho
You could offer other services that having access to a valid key gives you,
such as support, updates, community, so on.
------
downandout
By placing a ban on virtual currency transactions in their own fine print, but
allowing most of the transactions to go through unless and until there is a
problem, PayPal is setting themselves up for issues. In this case, only the
author of the article was victimized, but it would be almost as easy to
victimize PayPal/eBay itself even if the supply of legitimate Bitcoin sellers
on eBay dried up.
One person could easily act as buyer and seller. Seller receives payment and
withdraws it to a virtual bank account attached to a random prepaid credit
card that can be bought at any store with cash, then "buyer" (the same person
operating a different account) contacts PayPal and claims they never received
it from the evil seller. PayPal must reverse the transaction and eat the loss
because it was against their policies for the transaction to ever have taken
place. There is some work involved, but even just one $300 transaction per day
is certainly plenty of money for alot of the kinds of people that would do
this.
~~~
lnanek2
PayPal is infamous for freezing accounts indefinitely and even putting
accounts into the negatives even on people who did nothing wrong. That scheme
is not going to work. They are so intent on nuking any fishy business they
nuke a ton of innocents as well.
~~~
fnordfnordfnord
PayPal nukes fishy business when PayPal doesn't profit on the transactions.
------
unclebucknasty
I run an online business and the level of fraud we have seen out of China is
insane. We are constantly changing tactics and the fraudsters follow suit.
They are dogged, determined, and will persist until they put you out of
business if you let them.
Of course, we don't purposely do business with anyone from China, but they go
to great lengths to cover their origin, even employing Mechanical Turk workers
to do some of their dirty work. The guy who purposely sold BTC to someone out
of China was literally begging for what he got.
And these guys are virtually untouchable. We are a small business and we see a
ton of this stuff, so I can imagine what larger businesses must experience.
eBay alone must be the conduit for tens or hundreds of millions in fraud from
China.
Amidst all of the talk about stolen IP, military secrets, etc. emanating from
China, the likely billions of dollars in fraud targeted at American consumers
and businesses is the great untold story.
------
tadfisher
I am surprised that in his research, the author didn't come across any
warnings not to sell Bitcoin on Ebay. This is pretty common knowledge these
days.
I was also under the impression that PayPal does not allow selling Bitcoin or
Bitcoin hardware. This transaction should have been stopped automatically, and
it's a shame Ebay doesn't have automatic tools to stop blatant abuse of their
own policies.
~~~
dysruption
Honestly, all I saw was the quick buck. Total ignorance on my part. You're
right, I should have researched it better.
~~~
tadfisher
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is :)
~~~
bingeboy
At $300 yes, but what about $130? BTC isn't the easiest thing to dive into as
a NOOB.
~~~
tadfisher
If you are new to Bitcoin, you should probably review the ToS of any service
that allows you to purchase legal currencies with it.
------
badman_ting
I think you have to be a little bit crazy to sell anything on eBay. But
anyway, it struck me that there is a way to make money here (buy BTC then
charge it back), the author just found himself on the wrong side of that
process. As they say, if you don't know who the sucker is, then it's you.
~~~
eli
Sure, just like running a bot net is way to make money.
------
cheeyoonlee
I've learned in the past the only way to prevent and win 100% of Paypal
disputes as a seller is to actually send something physical to the buyer's
verified address. Besides, it's against eBay policy to sell digitally
(delivering by email). You can print out a physical address for the BTC amount
you're selling and send it by snail mail in addition to emailing. At least
then, you'd have physical proof of shipment and confirmation of delivery.
Obviously at this stage, I'm assuming those scammers wouldn't bother
purchasing, but everyone should keep this in mind when selling digital/virtual
items.
~~~
rickyc091
That's actually false. The buyer can still file a claim and just say the item
was inaccurate. Paypal will side 100% with the buyer no matter what the case
is. I had a case where I sold a tablet to someone and five days after she
received the item, she complained to me that the device didn't turn on until
she plugged in the charger. Then she stated that the power drained really
quickly and she had to plug it in again to turn it on. I basically responded
by telling her that the device probably ran out of batteries on the way there
and she needed to charge it boot it up. There was nothing faulty with the
device. My guess is she just drained the batteries too quickly or left a power
hungry app on. Regardless, I gave her the option for a full refund. I didn't
hear anything from her for two weeks. Paypal had already done a chargeback
since day 1 when she filed a claim. I couldn't find any contact emails on eBay
or Paypal's end... I escalated the claim to eBay. Guess what? They sided with
the buyer and gave her two extra weeks to return the item to me for a full
refund, shipping covered by ME. At the end, she never did send it back because
I guess she realized it was a user error, but oh how I love eBay/Paypal.
~~~
cheeyoonlee
I guess it wasn't totally clear but I was referring specifically to
digital/virtual items since they're often sold as is, not applicable of
defects or "item not as described".
------
patrickk
I wonder if this would work if you sold the BTC in a bitcoin wallet, stored on
a cheap USB key (or even a bitcoin paper wallet[1])?
It's slower, and there's the slight cost of postage, but as least you have
proof of postage as it's technically a physical item.
eBay sellers who sold virtual goods got caught a few years ago when eBay
changed their policy on virtual items, but I've noticed sellers often now
delivery the item via email but also on a burned CD or whatever to skirt the
rules.
[1] [https://blockchain.info/wallet/paper-
tutorial](https://blockchain.info/wallet/paper-tutorial)
------
vizzah
I was told by Paypal Ireland (oversees EU) that they do not allow chargebacks
for "virtual/digital" items and I was granted a win in a dispute on a number
of occasions when buyer topped up his account on my service site and then
wanted to reverse that transaction after service was consumed.
------
t0
You could have printed a paper wallet from Coinbase and offered to mail it to
them. You could then provide proof of delivery.
------
fexl
Never forget the May Scale of Monetary Hardness, from my old friend J.P. May:
[http://stakeventures.com/articles/2012/03/07/the-may-
scale-o...](http://stakeventures.com/articles/2012/03/07/the-may-scale-of-
money-hardness-and-bitcoin)
------
ck2
Selling virtual items on ebay is a bad idea.
But you can also block non-US buyers I believe which will slightly reduce your
risk.
~~~
jafaku
Actually the US buyers are the risk, since in US and Australia anyone can
issue a chargeback. In most countries you can't unless you have a premium card
I think. I read in in Wikipedia some time ago.
~~~
shawn-furyan
I don't think that these sort of scams are generally run using the buyer's
personal credit card, and if so this feature of foreign credit cards by no
means provides protection against getting scammed by international buyers.
Stolen US credit card numbers are a global commodity, so it is very possible
for you to be ripped off by, for instance, a Malaysian buyer using a US credit
card number.
------
yelnatz
Yep, the classic paypal chargeback scam.
People buying your bitcoins for 100-200% above market price.
After you send the bitcoins, they do a charge back on you.
Can't get your bitcoins back and Paypal is on the buyer's side. SOL.
------
mthoms
Ironically if you had sent it through the post on a USB key you'd be in the
clear.
Kinda takes the point out of bitcoin though doesn't it?
~~~
dsterry
Shipping the USB key isn't 100% fraud-proof.
If you think the point of Bitcoin/Litecoin is being able to transact with it
quickly and easily over eBay, you might want to look into the other things you
can do with these new currencies.
~~~
mthoms
That's my point. The useful features of Bitcoin are completely lost in this
situation. I was noting the irony of it all.
------
Havoc
I'm on the opposite end of the transaction - I'd like to buy some BTC but
everyone is (rightly) so scared that the only mechanism available is via bank
account. Great...except im not in the US. I'd have to string together multiple
online currencies to arrive at something that is accepted. Or trust a tiny
local exchange.
So much hassle to cover VPN costs...
~~~
aianus
Why not purchase them locally in cash? Localbitcoins.com probably has some
sellers near you who would be happy to help.
~~~
Havoc
This being South Africa, "local" is a bit more difficult and often not all
that safe. I've got solid local contacts - the problem is nobody is _selling_
here. Everyone is buying BTC & the only ones selling are scammers. So honestly
I'd rather risk money dealing with an American/EU than a local tbh.
------
marban
And keep in mind: Should the buyer still receive the bitcoin after all, he
would have to destroy it as per paypal's terms...
------
tghw
Really? PayPal has always protected buyers more than sellers. This scam has
been running since BitCoin started being traded.
~~~
fixxer
True. This is neither new, nor limited to Bitcoin. I got burned last year on a
small sale.
I did appreciate the author's "discovery" of a market mechanism... I'm going
to go bid on some bitcoin now and do this arb the right way!
------
robryan
This doesn't surprise me at all. Even with physical goods sometimes the kind
of proof they want us to send we don't have access to or sometimes doesn't
exist.
It is not enough just to show them some online tracking which shows that the
item arrived (even in some cases if it has a signature verification attached).
------
mortdeus
It took me a little more than 10 seconds with google search to find this ebay
bitcoin scam.
[http://bitcoinfan.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-selling-
bitcoins-...](http://bitcoinfan.blogspot.com/2011/12/why-selling-bitcoins-on-
ebay-is-bad.html)
If something seems too good to be true; it probably is.
------
LancerSykera
I sold e-gold for Paypal once. I knew at the time though that a chargeback was
quite likely, and sure enough, it happened. Somehow, though, I managed to win
that case and keep my money.
------
amenod
When it's too good to be true, it probably isn't. OP's main mistake was not
checking where he was adding value - why they were paying more for his BTC.
------
PaulHoule
Don't sell downloadables over Ebay and PayPal. You'll get about as much
sympathy as if you were selling cocaine no matter how honest you are.
------
markdown
Paypal always always always ALWAYS sides with the buyer.
~~~
Negitivefrags
I used to think this too for the cases of Virtual Goods, but Paypal surprised
me. Our company suddenly started getting Paypal chargebacks resolved in our
favor one day. Not all of them, but more than the zero we previously had.
We have a fairly large number of transactions per day, so I can only assume
that our account got flagged somehow.
That said, Paypal only sides with us if it was a transfer of Paypal balance.
If the transaction was backed by a credit card, and the credit card was
charged back rather than done via a Paypal dispute, we will lose every time.
------
patrikr
TL;DR: Chargeback fraud exists. PayPal sucks.
------
mangotree
So, can't you remove the money straight away, then close the account? Sounds
like this should be doable.
~~~
smartwater
PayPal will take the money right out of your bank account. If that doesn't
work, they send you to collections and your credit score takes a dive.
------
C1D
All it would've took is a google search about why no Bitcoin exchanges allow
PayPal.
------
tuananh
Rule #1: DO NOT sell virtual item on eBay.
------
Helianthus
>I have never traded stocks. I have never taken an economics course. I have
never aspired to be someone who trades money for money.
This is how someone becomes greedy.
>As an advocate of privacy, Bitcoin intrigued me at a fundamental level.
Trying to make money was (hopefully) merely a side effect.
Just a side effect!
>I would be scraping maybe $5-10 every BTC, and I would have to wait weeks to
see the money. I also had little capital. My interest faltered.
Wow, what an academic undertaking!
But wait, he goes full casino.
>No way. Too good to be true. I know what you're thinking, there's no such
thing as a free lunch, PayPal is an insecure way of trading BTC, etc. I wasn't
really thinking at the time.
As far as I'm concerned anyone who is into Bitcoin has no right to be angry at
Wall Street, because they get sucked into the same damn game.
~~~
dysruption
I am not angry at anyone, in fact I understand why somebody can get sucked
into the "game". You're right, my intentions ended up being not-so-pure. A
good lesson!
~~~
Helianthus
To be clear, my criticism is meant to be directed at Bitcoin and Bitcoin's
culture, not at your honest and well-crafted story-telling.
Cheers.
------
consonants
My favorite part is his earnest naivety in somehow thinking he wasn't the mark
and in believing that Paypal would ever side on his behalf.
This just further confirms my suspicions that you have to be retarded to get
involved with bitcoin. No group of people is so easily and quickly persuaded
into losing their money, and so readily eager to repeat said behavior over and
over again, than bitcoiners.
~~~
jafaku
How exactly am I gonna lose my money with Bitcoin? It has been there for many
years, and it has grown x20. My dollars, on the other hand, have only devalued
each year.
There's no scam, if there's no scammer. Think about it.
~~~
onebaddude
>How exactly am I gonna lose my money with Bitcoin?
Having this mindset is a start.
------
pbreit
Duh.
------
bingeboy
Sorry kid, nice post!
------
ydnaod
So interesting
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Janitor Monkey - Keeping the Cloud Tidy and Clean - Pr0
http://techblog.netflix.com/2013/01/janitor-monkey-keeping-cloud-tidy-and.html
======
purephase
This is very cool. Thanks for sharing, and thanks to Netflix for opening up
resources like this.
Edit: If only Amazon would offer something similar...
------
pinko
I'm slightly surprised they didn't use a "Trashcan" model where the data is
moved elsewhere before being deleted, so in the event that a critical service
is brought down by the deletion of a piece of data no one realized it needed,
it can be restored.
Maybe they just assume any good service worth its salt must have proper (out-
of-band) backups for that kind of event, since Janitor Monkey deletion is
basically equivalent to any other kind of data loss.
~~~
andrewflnr
This _is_ the same company that runs Chaos Monkey on their production setup.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Algorithm to enhance low-res muscle mesh with high-res muscle mesh in real-time - flacle
http://www.visualacuity.nl/2016/02/a-scalable-geometrical-model-for-muscle.html
======
austinjp
Very interesting. What are the ramifications for improving the understanding
of biomechanics? Does this allow for better investigation into the effects of
deformations such as compression, or muscles that are bent over pivot points?
Are cross-sectional areas easily available, and can these be used to determine
if muscle power is affected in certain situations eg the deformations
mentioned?
~~~
flacle
Any improvement in biomechanics would have a lot of positive consequences as
the field has a lot of subfields. One example is soft body dynamics. Research
in this area is very active as computational power increases more accurate and
complex finite element simulations of soft tissues are possible. While the
classical model used in the paper, from Delp et al., already contains pivot
points, it lacks other important info. For instance, the tendon slack length
parameter currently includes both the length of the free tendon and the length
of the aponeurotic tendon. In reality most musculotendons consist of at least
one tendon on each side. AFAIK, no functional representation is available that
divides the tendon length into separate lengths for the origin and insertion
of each unit, and also into its two constituents, free and aponeurotic. And as
has been shown, deformation effects for muscles and tendon are indeed
different as they they have different material properties. Regarding the
cross-sectional areas, these are available, just not within the classical
models. If there is a need to incorporate cross-sectional area into a model
than the main issue is measure. Most models in biomechanics are created by
taking external measurements of subjects in vivo, but I guess it won't take
long before models go beyond piecewise line segments. Or soft body simulation
get cheap enough to reach the same level of accuracy present in these trial-
and-tested models.
------
mentos
What are the applications for this?
~~~
flacle
For this specific project/paper it's any application that would include real-
time computer animation with an underlying musculoskeletal framework.
Biomechanics scientists, clinicians can use it to improve the "visual" realism
of their bio-simulation tools, or video game developers and artists can use it
to increase the realism of game characters. The benefit here is that you can
let the model takes care of the biomechanics and it's output is used to deform
the muscle and tendon geometry in real-time. The number of vertices (or
resolution) of each muscle can also be adjusted to keep the minimum required
frame rate, in case you want dynamic skinning and everything else that needs
to be added into a complex scene.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
WhatsApp Business API Sandbox - smranta
https://autochat.io/whatsapp-api-sandbox
======
smranta
Quick Start Guide added. Now trying out WhatsApp API is super easy. Please
share your feedback.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The truth about trade - walterbell
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2016/10/16/the-truth-about-trade/UWtu8jpAo8LTsTFlffaZ0K/story.html
======
sharemywin
of course if your in the wrong bracket and your income is flat your screwed.
of course, taxing trade goods and services directly is considered bad.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Paypal and Authorize.net: Help End the Credit Card Hostage Situation - browser411
http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com/blog/open-letter-to-the-ceos-of-paypal-and-authorize-net-help-end-the-credit-card-data-hostage-situation
======
browser411
Braintree is one of the most forward thinking payment providers out there. A
good number of startups on HN have integrated with them (we have, too). They
have an excellent policy about porting customer data (e.g., stored credit card
numbers) when moving to a different provider. Amazing customer service
overall.
~~~
bkrausz
They also require a 3 year contract where if you go out of business before
then they require you to pay thousands in monthly minimums (read the ENTIRE
contract before signing up). They claim to be very startup-friendly, but
really their terms are not that great.
I've heard great things about their service, but I found CDGCommerce to have
much better terms.
~~~
bryanjohnson
We (Braintree) have no contracts and no termination fees. Merchants can leave
whenever they want and for whatever reason without penalty. Some of our
sponsoring banks unfortunately have cancellation fee language (that we don't
control and are trying to get removed) but we provide an addendum to every
customer that states they will never be responsible for any cancellation fees.
~~~
bkrausz
I see on your application page that you have that addendum. I'm sorry for the
incorrect statement, the rep I worked with last year didn't do a good job of
communicating requirements (also was very inflexible with monthly fees).
I will be sure to keep Braintree in mind for my next venture
------
staunch
It seems kind of lame to beg the incumbents to make it easy for you to poach
their customers. The big evil guys have their customers by the balls. It's
safe to assume there's no way they're going voluntarily let go.
They need angry former customers to do the talking. Maybe this raises
awareness a bit, but what really resonates is horror stories. A few high
profile former Authorize.net/PayPal customers that are angry and willing to
tell people about it would probably go much further.
The sweet begging approach isn't likely to work.
~~~
mseebach
The addressees of an open letter are seldom the intended recipients.
~~~
staunch
Yeah no doubt. And maybe this is really the best way to get things started. It
definitely isn't enough though. Anymore than The Gimp guys asking the CEO of
Adobe to make Photoshop save files in XCF format.
------
cryptnoob
I got frightened by all the PCI DSS fear that permeates this board. I assumed
you guys had it all figured out, and to a man, you seem to all be of the same
mind on this issue. Fear, fear, fear.
When I actual Read the F----ing Manual about this ...., actually read that
what was required was peanuts compared to the thousands of posts and comments
I've read here pontificating on how to safely store a freaking password to a
dating site, I am perplexed. How can a group of people who can talk your arm
off for two hours about salts, rainbow tables, hashes, and password entropy,
be frightened of PCI?
[https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_...](https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/security_standards/pci_dss.shtml)
I store my own credit card info. Exactly how I do it is none of your business,
as, while I don't rely on obscurity for my security, I'd be foolish to deny
myself it's added protection. I don't just meet PCI standards, which are easy,
I greatly, greatly, exceed them. Why anybody would use a third party billing
company is not mysterious, but why somebody who reads HN would do so, is
strange to me.
I already know the comments I'll get for uttering such blasphemy. I would
respectfully request that you actually spend 10 minutes reading actual PCI DSS
guidelines before doing so, however.
~~~
modoc
I respectfully suggest that you undergo a 3rd party Type 1 PCI audit....
The amount of legal and policy documentation you are required to have is by
itself a massive undertaking. The 3rd party audit will cost $150,000-$300,000
and a huge amount of man hours.
~~~
cryptnoob
One in every crowd, isn't there?
~~~
jacquesm
I note you sidestepped the question that you had been audited by (as they put
it so nicely) a "Qualified Security Assessor" to complete your "Report On
Compliance" ?
~~~
cryptnoob
Well, I have to admit, I am certainly not a 6,000,000 transaction per year
merchant, which is when I would need a level 1 audit that you and your friend
so gleefully salivate over. I wish I was! If I was, I think it very reasonable
to audit your processes to insure security.
In fact, I am a level 4 merchant, to my shame, so I have not spent money
having an expensive "Certified QSA Security Consultant" audit my systems. I
would remind everybody, that, sadly, they are probably level 4 merchants as
well, unless they do over 20K transactions a year. Even if you do more than
20K,you're not in the scary big leagues till you get to 6M transactions.
Finally, I'd like to note that we hear a lot about these "possible fines", in
theory, but have you heard of any in real life? I assume they must exist, but
I invite you to read about the Heartland data breach, which exposed over 130
million credit card numbers. You'll note they still haven't been fined, but
they "may be fined over $150K".
~~~
jacquesm
One thing at the time here. Lennart, my buddy does indeed do well over 6M
transactions per year, so a level 1 audit is his lot. Technically his company
(vxsbill.com) is an IPSP, not a merchant. But because he has the requirement
anyway all the merchants that he works with and for benefit from the secure
facility that he offers.
If you are a level 4 merchant, so less than 20K transactions per year (which
sounds like a lot but really is only about 55 transactions per day, which I've
already crossed over all by myself) then you could theoretically roll your
own, but you are setting yourself up for a big fall if there ever would be a
breach of security involving your site. And you'll still be paying access fees
to a gateway, or have you found a way around that?
As for your 'theoretical fines', the two biggest instances that I remember
wrecked the companies involved, the first one involved a company called
Dacotah Marketing and Research, one of the largest internet billing companies
during the .com boom, the second involved iBill.com, which you could probably
qualify as their successor.
Both of these companies offered 'third party billing', which is one thing you
are at least staying away from.
But if VISA doesn't care about blowing 10K+ merchants to kingdom come by
fining an IPSP that does not abide by their rules out of existence, you
certainly are not going to be felt any more than a gnat would be felt if a car
ran over it.
They _really_ don't care about individual merchants at VISA or MC, and to work
with a large to mid sized IPSP will have a significant advantage in that
effectively you are bundling your negotiation powers against the card issuers.
This will help during acceptance, charge back issues, merchant account
revocation for some imaginary sleight and so on (you _did_ check if you have
permission to run those logos, did you get it in writing?).
Last but not least, working through an IPSP rather than 'rolling your own', no
matter how satisfying is that you get the benefit of a large pool of knowledge
on scrubbing and pre-authorization checks to make sure that your customer is
legit. But of course you've never had a fraudulent charge.
I don't know much about the Heartland data breach, other than what I read in
the media so I'll decline to comment on that.
Let me close this bit with that 100 days ago you didn't know about PCI at all
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1092224>) and now you are the expert in
the field and will tell people that they should just roll their own because
you slapped something together and it worked - so far.
Me, I'll be leaning on a decade+ of experience and a couple of very dedicated
employees to make sure that my money keeps rolling in, and that my customers
data does not get compromised. There is only so much time.
I also don't make my own computer chips, circuit boards, and so on. I've found
it to be un-economical to do so and the same logic is what stops me from
rolling my own billing solution.
Incidentally, I'm the original author of 'webpay', the software that powered
the first major IPSP, so it's not as though I wouldn't have an idea where to
start, but some things require a whole lot more dedication than I'm willing to
spend on it to do it right.
[http://web.archive.org/web/19980507122555/http://mattheij.nl...](http://web.archive.org/web/19980507122555/http://mattheij.nl/)
cheers!
edit: afterthought, you may be talking cross purposes when you compare the
$150K that Hearland might be fined to the most common kind of fine, the
chargeback penalty. If you haven't had a chargeback yet then I urge you to
read up on this and why scrubbing is so important, especially if your volume
is low a single group of unfortunately timed chargebacks can kill your
merchant account, depending on your contract the permissable percentages can
be as low as 0.7% of the volume in the _running month_ , the latter is a real
problem is there is a temporary change in volume on your website. I'll leave
it up to you to figure out why that is a problem.
------
mattmaroon
If I'm one of the mentioned CEOs, here's what I just read:
"Dear guys who are bigger than me: please make it easier for me to steal your
customers."
------
jacquesm
I'm not aware of how exporting the credit card data stored in the databases of
these companies could ever be valid under PCI compliance rules.
They _say_ it is, but I don't think it is up to braintree to say that it is,
it would be up to the issuers to say that it is, and as long as they don't
come out on the subject nobody is going to risk getting fined 10 million bucks
or so by VISA or MC (or worse, to get shut down) to find out.
Braintree should probably do it's best to lower the barrier to entry to their
services rather than to try to create a portability layer with competitors
that don't care. And then braintree could give the right example by allowing
merchants to take their data with them to other providers of payment services.
Note that just as you can't 'export' from Paypal or authorize.net you also
can't simply 'import', the reason for that is that bulk import with random 3rd
parties is extremely risky, it bypasses all the safeguards that have been
installed to prevent all kinds of fraud.
------
isaachall
Braintree is great for bringing this issue to light. I've personally been hurt
by the lack of portability and have seen it affect several other companies.
Here is Recurly's response:
<http://blog.recurly.com/2010/05/credit-card-portability/>
------
conanite
At some point, your customer's card expires, and you need to ask them to re-
enter their details. New details -> new provider. It might take two years to
migrate most of your clients - even if it isn't ideal, it's not like you're
locked in _forever_.
~~~
sachinag
Not true. Dirty little secret - you can roll forward the expiration on a
credit card with impunity. The expirations are because the magnetic strips
wear, not for any security.
~~~
quellhorst
I have tried this before with my processor, and the transactions were denied
because of no match on the expiration date.
------
sachinag
This is cute. Not even Chargify or Recurly support[1] the "standard" (as far
as I know), and they have vaults! Show me a list of other gateways that
support the standard, and then maybe you can get the big boys on board.
I used to work in politics. This is the sort of poke-the-giant thing that
longshot candidates do, and it actually ends up reflecting more negatively on
Braintree than anyone else. It's a tone-deaf PR move from a great company.
EDIT: Looks like Chargify sends the CC details to the gateway and they don't
have their own vault: <http://chargify.com/features/pci-compliant-security/>
~~~
isaachall
Just to clarify, we at Recurly will gladly return your credit card data to you
(in a secure fashion) if you decide to migrate away. I've been burned before
by Authorize.NET holding my business' credit card data hostage and I wouldn't
wish that on anyone. We'll be posting more on this shortly.
I'm really happy that Braintree is pushing this forward. I've seen it hurt
several companies when they need to switch gateways or merchant accounts.
Isaac Recurly, CEO
------
Judson
The problem: not many people actually switch _payment processors_. Once you
get with Auth.Net, you spend a lot of time negotiating better rates with
different companies, but your Auth.Net gateway stays the same.
I could see data portability being an issue in the long run, but for now, with
Auth.net being basically one of two gateways, not enough moving around happens
for their to be a "call for portability" (that will actually be heard).
I do, though, applaud a forward-thinking move like this. It may be looked back
on as the small spark that got the fire going.
------
thinkcomp
Or just forget about credit cards and use FaceCash!
<http://www.facecash.com>
(My startup.)
Seriously, the industry has no incentive to change. They make a killing.
Merchant contracts are strict and likely forbid alternative standards such as
the one being proposed here.
~~~
stephen
Agreed, the industry makes a killing, but you're still charging a percentage.
How about a flat $0.25 per transaction?
<http://dwolla.org/dwollak/questions/16/Advantages>
------
vishaldpatel
I have fun questions: Who is the target audience for this letter? What is it
trying to achieve? How effective is this letter in its current state in a)
reaching the target audeience and b) achieving its goals?
------
quellhorst
If braintree cares this much about this, why don't they allow people who use
authorize.net currently to store their credit cards in the braintree vault?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Startpad.org Lessons From Singularity University - Tues, Nov. 3rd in Seattle - Dmunro
http://startpad.org/countdown/lessons-singularity-university
======
Dmunro
It's free but I think there is limited seating. Anyone planning on going?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Unix - The Hole Hawg - ibejoeb
http://www.team.net/mjb/hawg.html
======
hollerith
If you have patience, you will probably find like I did that anything
computers can be understood without resorting to analogies, and that
understanding is deeper without them. Stephenson's nonfiction about computers
is _all_ analogies and hyperbole. It might be fun to read, but it will not
tend to increase your understanding.
~~~
rbanffy
Metaphors and analogies are good tools for conveying subtler meanings that may
not be evident at first sight.
------
Pieces
The Hole Hawg analogy is also used in Stephenson's _In the Beginning was the
Command Line_. He used to provide the text for free but I can't seem to find
the link anymore. <http://www.nealstephenson.com/command/>
------
3ds
The only problem is that OS X is a UNIX operating system.
~~~
DennisP
He wrote it before OS X was released.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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We flightless primates (2009) - curtis
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/07/13/we-flightless-primates/
======
ramgorur
Interestingly, bat penis looks astoundingly similar to that of human. Of
course, that has nothing to do with phylogeny, but with convergent evolution.
------
sliken
Title should mention the year, 2009. It was much more expensive then to
sequence genes, a few genetic sequences would seem to eliminate any guess work
on the relationship between the different bats.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Developing Backbone.js Applications – a Creative Commons book - getcontext
http://addyosmani.github.io/backbone-fundamentals/
======
jcadam
While I wouldn't want to use _just_ Backbone anymore, I've found Backbone +
Marionette to be quite nice.
About a year ago, I was beginning a new (personal) project, and thought maybe
I'd learn Angular... went through a few online tutorials, seemed fairly
pleasant to work with. Then I ran across the news regarding Angular 2.0, that
it would be more or less a completely new framework. Not sure if that's true
or not, but there was enough confusion in the blogosphere around that time
that I decided __not __to sink the time into learning a new framework whose
creators had already declared obsolescent.
Backbone is the old reliable, I'll stick with it for the time being.
P.S. I don't consider myself a frontend/js developer -- I only ever do front-
end work on my own personal projects, because there's nobody else to do it :)
------
igl
Not trying to be cynical, but i am kinda glad that backbone is "over" for me.
Been with it for about 5 years or more and i have seen big projects fall
apart. You don't see the tree behind all the leafs after a year of coding.
With flux/react/angular around development is a lot more fun again. I can't
imagine going back.
~~~
enraged_camel
What is interesting to me is that the top comment at the time I write this
provides the opposite anecdote, that they have seen huge projects using
Backbone go really well.
Makes me wonder if there's some sort of objective comparison and analysis of
frameworks, or if everything is based on anecdote and personal experiences.
~~~
igl
Success mostly depends on the size of the team and their culture. Do they do
code reviews? Refactor early and often? Is there a architecture plan that is
enforced and trained to new hires?
Frameworks do give you a corset to work within. I do not claim backbone wasn't
a success. Just providing that was big.
------
georgefrick
If we're just going to be Slashdot style anecdotal and start slinging... I've
seen huge projects go really well in Backbone. I can't imagine going back to
Angular. Since when is 'fun' the bar for frameworks?
~~~
jordanlev
> Since when is 'fun' the bar for frameworks?
Since Ruby on Rails
------
cdnsteve
Interesting issue with discussion regarding ES6:
[https://github.com/jashkenas/backbone/issues/3560](https://github.com/jashkenas/backbone/issues/3560)
------
sspross
no offense, but I am the only one who thinks this MVC style isn't an option
anymore after things like react?
~~~
tragic
Er, adding an option doesn't delete all the other options.
MVC is a decades old, tried and tested pattern for building user interfaces.
Whatever its merits, I suspect it will survive react.
~~~
wereHamster
This is not a critique of MVC, but rather the particular implementation that
Backbone provides. With React you still have your models (and controllers).
And adding a new option may make an existing one obsolete. Remember ES3? I do,
but I wouldn't want to write new code in it. Once new options were added (ES5,
and then ES6), they made the old one obsolete. It desn't mean you can't use
the old options, but why would you if the new ones are superior?
~~~
enraged_camel
Is the ES3 vs. ES5/ES6 comparison valid? The latter were subsequent versions
of the former, kind of like Angular 2 vs Angular 1. Whereas Backbone, Ember,
React, etc. are all different, each with its own "way" of doing things.
~~~
wereHamster
I used ES5/6 because those are (I hope) in the eyes of the HN community clear
improvements over ES3. I personally wouldn't use ES5/6 nowadays, and instead
use TypeScript or PureScript. Both of which are IMO even bigger improvements.
Backwards compatibility does not matter in this comparison, what matters is
the relative ordering: Backbone.View < React, ES3 < ES5 < ES6, and IMO: ESx <
TypeScript/PureScript.
------
berzniz
We've developed (and keep developing) a rather big application in Backbone.js
- it holds up and works perfectly.
We are setting a move from it since it lacks in some areas (no POJOs, no
nested, manual binding, lots of extra backbone-mini-libs required), but it
does hold well at any scale.
I wouldn't direct new comers to backbone.js anymore, new trends with 10x more
contributors wins over anything. I wrote about it being the C++ of JS MVC
frameworks ([http://berzniz.com/post/66372634868/backbonejs-is-the-c-
of-j...](http://berzniz.com/post/66372634868/backbonejs-is-the-c-of-
javascript-mvc))
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Source release for “Is this loss? A TFLite app to detect Loss.jpg” - eigenloss
<a href="https://github.com/eigenloss/isthisloss" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/eigenloss/isthisloss</a><p>Original thread: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16907615" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16907615</a>
======
Vaskivo
Thank you for this.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google San Jose HQ Plans Expanded - gok
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/11/google-expands-plans-for-second-hq-in-san-jose.html
======
lacker
I hope this encourages more tech companies to locate in San Jose. San
Francisco is getting worse over time as a place to live, but there are plenty
of nicer spots around the bay.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Functionless event handlers in jQuery - johns
http://james.padolsey.com/javascript/functionless-event-handlers-in-jquery/
======
chops
Even though the author didn't like it, I quite liked the ultra-chaining
approach presented. So what if the readability relies too much on indenting,
practically every language relies on indenting for readability (or the
indenting actually has syntactical meaning like python).
Frankly, I found this example very neat and would love to see this in jquery.
$('div')
.when('click')
.addClass('active')
.text('Hey')
.done()
// Also possible with on()
.on('mouseout')
.removeClass('active')
.text('Ho')
.done();
It relies on indenting for readability, just like everything else. I say go
for it!
------
DanHulton
Of course, if all you want to do is add hover effects to your app, it's always
worth considering doing it in straight CSS:
.menu {
background-color: #fff;
}
.menu :hover {
background-color: #ccc;
}
------
subbu
Though its a neat shortcut, a new member in the team who has not heard about
the extension won't understand the code straight away. That's the problem of
modifying the core behavior of a language/framework (often called monkey-
patching).
~~~
Hexstream
That's an issue with _every single_ piece of technology (operating system,
library, application, API, programming language, CPU, non-trivial function or
macro...). As such I don't think it can be a valid statement against the
adoption of any specific technology. Besides, this particular concept is
really easy to learn.
------
erlanger
If this becomes the standard way of working with jQuery in a future release,
I'll likely switch to MooTools or another library. Code like that would be
hell to maintain.
~~~
chops
It isn't being proposed as the standard way, it is merely a proposed
alternative. Nothing wrong with other ways to do the same thing. Some prefer
other forms of syntactic sugar.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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The Life of the Queen Bee: Superb Macrophotography - prakash
http://www.scienceray.com/Biology/Zoology/The-Life-of-the-Queen-Bee-Superb-Macrophotography.302147
======
dc2k08
With bees disappearing in the U.S., beekeepers have to regularly order new
queens.They order new queens from China. And China is now taking over the
Royal Jelly market, wholesaling to the world.
------
nostrademons
And here I thought this would be a photoessay on girls in middle school...
~~~
davidw
I was thinking Dolemite.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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EPIC Sues DHS Over Covert Surveillance of Facebook and Twitter - nextparadigms
http://epic.org/2011/12/epic-sues-dhs-over-covert-surv.html
======
josephmosby
Hate to be the bearer of bad news to the interwebs, but this probably won't go
anywhere.
Facebook and Twitter are public outlets, and if you aren't monitoring your
privacy on them it's your own fault. If you make friends with random folks on
Twitter or Facebook, that person very well might work for DHS - but you didn't
have to be friends with them. And if you're running a completely unfiltered
account, there's nothing that they couldn't find by using the Twitter Search
API anyway.
While the specifics of the program are not declared, they did publicly
announce that the program was going on and gave some generalities. Anything
further would be basically asking them to reveal either their analysis or
their methods...which won't happen and is likely already shielded from FOIA.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Current Senior Google Engineer Goes Public: Tech Is “Dangerous,” “Taking Sides” - Fjolsvith
https://veritas.cmail19.com/t/j-l-mdtyujl-trihjlhlc-r/
======
pashabitz
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas)
The group's productions have been widely criticized and dismissed as
misleading, fabricated or taken out of context; a failed attempt to sting The
Washington Post led to widespread mockery.[4][5] O'Keefe and Project Veritas
have been sued for defamation repeatedly, at least one of those suits leading
to an apology and $100,000 payment.[6][7][8] O'Keefe has been barred from
fundraising for Project Veritas in Florida and other states because of his
federal criminal record for entering a federal building under fraudulent
pretenses.[9]
~~~
aphextim
Although he has had a record of stuff in the past try this.
Google search, "project veritas defamation lawsuit"
See how many of the top results 9 of 10 are all libel lawsuits they have
gotten thrown out or actually won.
Investigative journalism like this is pretty much dead and even through
sometimes they may be wrong, it seems like 9 out of 10 is a pretty good
record.
~~~
fooey
They're not investigative journalism, they cut and edit video and stories to
create lies in support of a predetermined narrative.
They're propagandist tabloid journalism with a video camera
------
Omatic810
Be aware that this is from Project Veritas, an organization that is notorious
for lying and misleading videos. Here's a quick list of their previous
attempts:
[https://www.businessinsider.com/james-okeefe-project-
veritas...](https://www.businessinsider.com/james-okeefe-project-veritas-
sting-fails-2017-11)
------
Majromax
Note that as of this writing, the submitted link appears to be a tracking link
from an e-mail campaign.
------
fooey
Linking through a veritas tracking url isn't great
------
ap3
What is cmail19.com ?
------
Copenjin
A lot of "maybe" and "i think" from this guy.
~~~
mistermann
Stating uncertainty when you are uncertain should be considered proper
behavior.
Contrast that with how respectful, trustworthy news sites _often_ present
stories such as the MAGA hat kids. Do articles from organizations that write
mildly slanted stories like that, or such articles themselves, get memory-
holed on HN as quickly and efficiently as this one did?
------
onyva
Tech is dangerous but also right wing spin machine.
Planned Parenthood recordings (2008) ACORN videos (2009) NPR video (2011)
Americans United for Change videos ... Give us a break.
Wikipedia: A month before the launch of Donald Trump's presidential campaign,
the Trump Foundation donated $10,000 to O'Keefe's Project Veritas.
------
smacktoward
This video is from Project Veritas
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Veritas)).
As a friendly reminder, Project Veritas has been repeatedly caught out
selectively editing and manipulating their footage, and setting up their
subjects in "sting" operations where their words can be misrepresented and
taken out of context, in order to score right-wing ideological points. (See
[https://www.npr.org/2011/03/14/134525412/Segments-Of-NPR-
Got...](https://www.npr.org/2011/03/14/134525412/Segments-Of-NPR-Gotcha-Video-
Taken-Out-Of-Context), [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/james-
okeefe-a...](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/james-okeefe-
accidentally-stings-himself), [https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/james-
okeefe-helps-was...](https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/james-okeefe-helps-
washington-post/) for just a few examples.)
Given their history, I would not trust anything in a Project Veritas video to
be an accurate representation of its subject's actual opinions or intent.
------
CydeWeys
From the Wikipedia article:
"Project Veritas is an American right-wing[1][2] non-profit organization. It
was founded in 2010 by James O'Keefe. Its stated mission is "to investigate
and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other
misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more
ethical and transparent society."[3] The group's productions have been widely
criticized and dismissed as misleading, fabricated or taken out of context; a
failed attempt to sting The Washington Post led to widespread mockery.[4][5]
O'Keefe and Project Veritas have been sued for defamation repeatedly, at least
one of those suits leading to an apology and $100,000 payment.[6][7][8]
O'Keefe has been barred from fundraising for Project Veritas in Florida and
other states because of his federal criminal record for entering a federal
building under fraudulent pretenses."
Seems like this should be taken with a grain of salt.
------
aphextim
Bets on how long until YouTube removes this video like the last few
interviews?
I'm thinking by this time tomorrow it'll be gone.
~~~
onyva
No need to remove imho. Simply add a warning before and during about these
people and a link to the Wikipedia article. It’s actually good to inform
people of what their watching rather than ignore it. This is a great example
of high production value in fake news.
| {
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} |
Dark Patterns at Scale: Findings from a Crawl of 11K Shopping Websites - mxfh
https://webtransparency.cs.princeton.edu/dark-patterns/
======
dspillett
_> Countdown Timer_
This, and its equivalent "stock level countdown", has become an instant red
flag for me. If I see one I cancel all interest in ordering that product from
that company. I don't think I've seen one that is genuine (opening the page in
another browser and seeing the count reset to a value, or seeing a fresh
countdown started on a visit not long after the previous one ended) and I
don't appreciate being lied to. And these things are lies: not misdirection,
exaggeration, or any other softer word, they are outright lies and I refuse to
trust companies/individuals that tell them so won't be handing over my payment
details.
_> Sneaking & Hidden Costs_
I'm perfectly happy to make a little effort, even to pay a little extra, to
find other sources for what I'm buying when I see this happen. Unfortunately I
think I'm in a minority here and such trickery is getting more prevalent (so
harder to avoid) for that reason.
_> Even viewing products requires signing up and creating and account._
That is where my old friend Mr Fake McFakeFake who lives at Faketown,
Fakeshire, FA1 1AF, plays his part. Or of course just walking away on the
basis that if your offer was _that_ good you would openly display it.
~~~
blue_devil
I upvote this comment for the alter ego flamboyance.
~~~
MR4D
Heh - mine is similar but with a different “F” word. :)
------
amitport
I Could not find this one mentioned: some lodging sites add _obligatory_ costs
(e.g., "All prices (expressed in Euros) exclude € 27.50 reservation fee,
obligatory: € 7.95 p.p. bed linen per person per stay, € 6.95 p.p. cot linen,
tourist tax € 1.85 ")
some countries requires that everything obligatory is included in the main
price, or at least displayed with the same font, size, and placement.
this pattern should be generally illegal IMHO.
~~~
parliament32
Throwback to the ebay days when you could list an item for $5 but charge $150
shipping -- your item would show up at the top of the results (which by
default were ordered by sell price only).
~~~
Scoundreller
That’s because eBay only used to only charge commission on the item and not
the shipping cost.
I’m sure someone else (or even the same seller) has the same item for $175 and
free shipping for those wanting to indirectly donate an extra $20 to eBay
shareholders.
I was probably on a list for selling games for $0.01 and clearly specifying $7
shipping in the title.
------
doitLP
I see my own company on here. I work in a back office role and I’ve never used
the main customer site, because it’s just not my demographic. After some
honest looking I can say our company doesn’t just do one, but all of these.
I think it’s time to move on...
------
k__
"Sneaking & Hidden Costs"
The traveling industry is the worst here.
In 2016 I tried to book a holiday. I wanted it to have an okay price, good
food, and a beach. I didn't even have a specific country in mind.
Took me weeks to find something. I quickly noticed why we have so many
traveling agencies in Germany.
The longer you click through a buying process on such sites the more your
price goes up, sometimes you pay more than double than what was advertised on
page one.
~~~
martin_a
I have all my browsers set to delete all cookies on exit. Works wonders on
things like these.
~~~
m463
I wonder if fingerprinting will replace this.
------
supernovae
For every site that annoys the crap out of you with these “dark patterns”
there are probably 10x that don’t - that people don’t visit and don’t buy
from. To fix the internet we have to fix our behavior and not PUT our money
into systems that we find appalling.
~~~
rchaud
It's a trade-off. ~20 years ago, when aggregator sites like Priceline,
Hotwire, Kayak and the like became mainstream, we stopped seeing the
individual sellers, and started picking based on a table of prices.
It seems inevitable that companies started gaming their pricing so they could
appear on the top of the list.
------
dstick
Urgency, social proof and scarcity are dark patterns? Isn’t that online
marketing 101?
~~~
ehnto
Urgency and scarcity is so often manufactured that I can definitely see this
in the dark pattern side of things. As well, whether or not there really is
only 3 left, they chose to add the messaging as high impact alert messaging
and it's definitely intended to be coercive.
All marketing is intended to be coercive of course, but I think you land in
dark pattern territory when your coercion is no longer related to the value
propositions of your product. Saying "You need this TV because it has great
definition!" is just selling your product. But saying "You need this TV
because TIM bought one, we only have three left and this deal runs out in 9
minutes!" is just plain old bullying someone into buying, regardless of what
the item was.
Often enough too, TIM didn't buy one, there is a backorder of 1000 units being
delivered this week, and the deal will just start again after the current
ticker finishes.
~~~
Spooky23
I get where you’re coming from, but I think legitimate scarcity or urgency is
ok.
If there truly are 3 items left, that is a legit fact that matters. And it’s
context that I had in retail. Likewise, sales do run out.
That said, online retailers don’t seem to need to meet any true in advertising
standard, and they are mostly full of shit.
~~~
metters
There is no more legitimate scarcity or urgency anymore. This also was
discussed here yesterday:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20269376](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20269376)
~~~
tatami
I found the information on airline websites rather accurate (n seats left at
this price). I guess this comes directly from how it's stored in the back end
booking system (0..8, 9+ seats per booking class)
On legacy carrier official websites, not OTA or LCC like Ryanair.
~~~
metters
Before or after buying the ticket? If I already have paid and check in online
I can pick the seat. But then it is too late already.
If you mean before you bought the ticket, then I don't know. Maybe they are
the last ones to be honest here... But I would be surprised if they were
~~~
subhro
Also, you can get a subscription from a website like Expertflyer and see the
backend inventory from Sabre or likes.
------
CptFribble
These patterns get used because they work. It's game theory: if site A makes
10-50% more money because they do all this stuff, sites B-? are going to wind
up doing it too.
If you want to get rid of marketing dark patterns, the solution is simple:
just make sure all humans remove emotion and feelings from every decision, and
give them the time and money to find all possible alternative sources for the
desired product or service.
(/s)
~~~
rchaud
We could also recognize that businesses have an incentive to exploit human
psychological impulses, and attempt to counteract that by providing the public
with information about these methods so they can make more informed choices
next time.
~~~
tdb7893
Not to mention as a society we can also legislate against certainly patterns
(having to show costs up front is a common example).
------
dublin
There are very few, if any at all, large companies that are honest with their
customers on this stuff. I did a contract a couple of years ago with an online
home rental company. I strongly suspect the "only X left in this area" and
"viewed Y times" were often completely fictitious. (The latter could be easily
gamed by including it in any search results page, anyway...) Since I was the
PM for the product, I know for certain that 100% of the properties they
featured in their weekly emails touting getaway destinations were already
booked and never available. To my knowledge, they _never_ promoted a property
that was actually available the entire time I was there. And I strongly
suspect there was something fishy about the advertised rates, too, since they
were always ridiculously attractive properties that they knew couldn't be
booked.
------
carapace
Flipping this around, who are your _favorite_ sites that _don 't_ do this
crap?
For me I can list Digikey (
[https://www.digikey.com/](https://www.digikey.com/) ), my recent experience
ordering from them was flawless.
------
ptah
I can't help but think these dark pattern catalogues will make them
proliferate faster
~~~
rchaud
The information could also proliferate among the public, so they they won't
succumb to these tricks as often.
------
jtchang
If you really want to see some dark patterns go try booking a flight on
United.com.
~~~
aivisol
I was going to write something similar about some (many!) European (budget,
but who can draw a line these days) airlines: I can get crazy finding those
small, grey links labelled "No, I do not want to add checked bag", "No, I will
not buy insurance from you", "And I do not need your car rental, airport
transfer, hotel reservation, just let me buy that plane ticket!"...
~~~
doitLP
Agreed. It’s fine if you’re sharp and tech-savvy but there’s a reason I am the
family travel agent...my dad with his poor eyesight and short temper breezes
through tricks like that and ends up paying unnecessarily.
------
RocketSyntax
How is it that every hotel seems to have "1 room left!"
I'm a repeat user of your booking site, why would you treat me like a naive
fool?
~~~
SaladFork
Relevant discussion from yesterday too:
"Consumers Are Becoming Wise to Your Nudge"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20284298](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20284298)
------
leowoo91
Among all, showing low stock warning (if plenty) is more than a dark pattern,
because that's direct misinformation I think.
~~~
CWuestefeld
On our site, we show inventory on hand (when the data's available, we don't
always know).
We didn't put it there to create urgency. The feature is there due to customer
demand for it. Customers do not want to be surprised and disappointed when
something turns out to be back ordered. They've made it very clear that they
want this transparency.
Perhaps some sites misrepresent this (or just make it up). But the fact that
inventory information is shown isn't in itself a dark pattern.
------
VvR-Ox
Yes of course!
In a capitalist market where the one main goal is to earn as much profit as
you can people use everything legal on a big scale because they won't have a
chance to beat competition otherwise.
The really big ones even invent new "dark patterns" and more than enough are
also willing to do stuff which is illegal as long as they can cover their
tracks or think they can.
It's a flaw in the whole system because incentives lead people to morally
questionable decisions. It doesn't advance humanity or something like that - a
free market is free so no one stops the evil geniuses to get the max. out of
it.
~~~
VvR-Ox
Oh I forgot - many of the ppl responsible for implementing these patterns are
here to vote stuff like this down.
~~~
dillonmckay
Guilty!
~~~
VvR-Ox
Haha at least you are honest ;-)
------
kzzzznot
Don't a lot of these fall under 'false advertising'? Seems like each country's
regulators are not doing as much to combat this online as they are in brick
and mortar shops?
------
secure
Meta: I really like how the paper is summarized on the site.
------
m463
I think pop-overs and other interruptions should be considered a dark pattern.
Probably the original dark pattern.
------
jason_slack
Some other examples: Ticket Master, Wigs.com
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Which keyboard do you use? - wojtczyk
I am considering getting a new keyboard and am curious to learn what you use and what you value about yours.
======
auslegung
I use the ergodox ez Shine with cherry mx clear switches. [https://ergodox-
ez.com/](https://ergodox-ez.com/). This is my current layout (tweaking it all
the time) [https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/ergodox-
ez/layouts/ZPn5v/la...](https://configure.ergodox-ez.com/ergodox-
ez/layouts/ZPn5v/latest/0).
The biggest benefit is the comfort level of a split keyboard with tent/tilt.
I've used some Kinesis keyboards and a Mistel Barocco and those are fine, just
get a split keyboard with tent/tilt.
The ortholinear layout took some getting used to, but now I very much prefer
it. However, everything else about it I liked right away: split, ergonomic,
mechanical, easily programmable, controls the mouse, dual-function keys, etc.
And I've gotten used to the ortholinear and very much prefer it.
The 2 complaints I have are the thumb clusters are not ideal for me (it's
difficult to reach the 4 small keys), and the tilt kit doesn't tent/tilt
enough for me, and it's difficult to keep it in the right configuration.
~~~
wojtczyk
Nice, the configurability is pretty unique. I like the the flexible adjustment
of the split keyboard and programmability of the keys, but I wonder if I could
get used to the key layout on the two splits.
------
Multicomp
If I were to be encountered in a Pokemon game, I'd probably be referred to as
'Model M Maniac Multicomp wants to battle'.
I use an IBM Model M at home on my main PC (my first model m), which was a
gift from the energy, animation, and electronics office at my former
workplace. It was sitting for years on a desk next to it's replacement PC (and
nasty rubberdome kb) until I chanced across it.
In the computer lab, I have a Unicomp Model M Classic.
At work I have a Unicomp ultra classic.
At my moonlighting workplace, I have the knarly layout Unicomp PC 122
keyboard.
And finally for travel, I have an IBM model M I snagged for 20 bucks in
Craigslist.
Do I have enough keyboards? No. I want to get one of the unicomp trackball
keyboards so I will have a buckling spring keyboard with a built in trackball
mouse.
Send help
~~~
wojtczyk
Next time I visit my parents, I will have to check which of our 80's keyboards
are still in the attic.
------
geophile
Unicomp Model M. It's great because it comes close to the original IBM Model
M, which was my favorite keyboard ever. (OK, well, except for the IBM 029
keypunch.) Buckling spring keys, loud, great tactile feedback.
Someone put it out in a "Free Stuff" box and I grabbed it. It's in pristine
condition.
And that was a week after someone else put out some ancient computer science
and programming books. Including a copy of Knuth vol. 1 in much better shape
than my well-worn copy.
~~~
wojtczyk
A free Unicomp Model M? AND a copy of Knuth vol. 1 for free? Which
neighborhood is that?
In Berkeley I have seen a lot of valuable stuff in the streets after each
semester.
~~~
geophile
Somerville MA, which is near Tufts, and not that far from Harvard and MIT. And
countless software companies.
------
Kneighbor
I use the Unicomp Model M (macOS version). It's a great keyboard but having
used a standard Dell at work every day, I soon realised that I don't enjoy it
much more than a $30 Dell keyboard.
When, or maybe if, this Model M fails, I'll pick up a run of the mill $30
keyboard.
~~~
wojtczyk
Interesting, it's the second mention of Unicomp Model M. I have been working
on a $20 Dell Black KB216 keyboard for over a year but have not been enjoying
it.
~~~
Kneighbor
Funnily enough, that's the exact keyboard I am referencing when I talk about
the one I use at work. The Model M is a far better keyboard but it just
doesn't bother me that much.
~~~
wojtczyk
For a year I had no complaints about the Dell keyboard.
In the beginning I thought it's decent. Now a new computer was set-up at the
next desk with a brand-new keyboard of that kind. When I had to type something
in on that new Dell keyboard of the same kind, the tactile feedback was much
clearer. I am assuming it feels better since it is new and the rubber domes
(needs verification) are not that used.
At my desk I am now getting annoyed of the worn out feeling. It's interesting
how perception changes when you have a direct comparison.
------
johncoltrane
I use whatever keyboard comes with whatever computer I sit in front of. The
obvious values are flexibility and minimalism: I don't depend on a specific
piece of hardware that I would have to carry around.
~~~
wojtczyk
That's a great attitude. However I need to change out the keyboard for my home
office. It is an almost full-size keyboard, with "almost" causing me the most
trouble. The navigation keys are creatively rearranged and I keep missing the
right keys. This is a picture of the layout:
[https://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompress...](https://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/ProductImageCompressAll1280/AA5J_130984912877459180AhoMJ43UEp.jpg)
------
jdabney
I use an Apple USB full-size keyboard from 2008. It is actually my favorite
keyboard ever. After years of mostly using laptop keyboards I don't like full
height keys anymore.
~~~
wojtczyk
I have used that at a different company before. I liked that the feel was no
different from an apple laptop keyboard.
------
Zekio
Currently a generic mechanical keyboard with the US ANSI layout, and got a
Massdrop CTRL Mechanical Keyboard in the mail since my W and D keys sometimes
double type
~~~
wojtczyk
Never heard of Massdrop before. I'll check them out.
------
Topgamer7
Microsoft Sculpt. I don't much like the f keys or key feel, but its great
ergonomically. All wrist pain evaporated.
~~~
wojtczyk
I will keep that in mind. A wrist rest is good to have, but I would probably
need to test the arrangement.
~~~
souprock
I don't think it is safe to use a wrist rest. You'd be applying pressure
there. Keep your wrists generally straight, with a little variation.
I'm using an old Microsoft keyboard. The new ones are not good, particularly
the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000, because the keys aren't in straight rows.
Mine has that split in the middle, but is otherwise a perfectly standard
qwerty layout. I get a bit more comfort without having to relearn how to type
and thus become incompatible with normal keyboards.
The older the Microsoft keyboard, the better it is. The original was very much
a premium keyboard, with big aluminum plates inside it for rigidity. The
slightly later ones with multimedia key are OK, at least if you get the
traditional arrow keys. (what I have) On the more recent keyboards, the keys
are all different sizes and misaligned.
~~~
Topgamer7
The wrist rest is actually to keep your hands inline with your wrists. So you
don't have them at an angle while type. I attribute a good deal of my pain
being missing from the raised section of the keyboard under the spacebar and
the gentle wrist pad.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Should we apply for YC Fellowship if YC has funded similar company? - ismail
We have launched a company but it has not been going as expected and have a few problems with the model.<p>See online Office hours that was held a while back. Since then we have been doing customer research and have been testing a few ideas. We have hit upon something that we believe has massive potential with a great initial market.<p>In doing research on the idea i found that YC has already invested in a similar idea. We are not exactly the same, but very similar and could be considered a competitor.<p>Should we apply to YCF? What is YC policy on this?<p>Also note we are also geographically located else where so not playing in the same location.
======
zaguios
I don't remember exactly where, but I do recall someone at YC saying that due
to the fact they invest in such a large amount of companies there is bound to
be some overlap. I believe they probably try their best to be impartial and
try to keep the companies separated. Regardless, you should definitely apply
to YCF as it shouldn't impact their overall decision.
------
ismail
Online office hours:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9785941](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9785941)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Apple sued over 'shrinking' gadget storage - sdouglas
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30655176
======
coralreef
A fair enough lawsuit. I usually get the cheapest models (16gb) and if you
take photos + videos (including slow mo 120fps) your storage is virtually
useless. They really shouldn't even make 16gb models anymore, but its a smart
business strategy to hit price discriminate segments.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The pitfall of using PostgreSQL advisory locks with Go's DB connection pool - gsempe
https://engineering.qubecinema.com/2019/08/26/unlocking-advisory-locks.html
======
zeroimpl
Seems like if you tried to use transactions, you'd have the same problem?
~~~
karmakaze
A transaction executes all commands using the same connection so it would have
worked. The semantics are different though where the commands issued between
the lock and unlock aren't atomic if issued on the same connection but not in
a tx.
------
erik_seaberg
TL;DR: PostgreSQL requires reserving a single connection for causally-related
statements. Seems like a scaling problem for the C10K world, not just Go.
~~~
jabwork
I ran into this same issue with python/SQLAlchemy. It's a connection pool
thing
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
UK metal detector enthusiast finds ancient Roman bronze artefacts - curtis
http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/uk-metal-detector-enthusiast-finds-ancient-roman-bronze-artefacts-807584.html
======
empath75
I don’t really understand why archeologists always assume every single statue
from the ancient world is religious in nature. Why can’t people just buy a
cute dog Knick-nack for their kitchen shelf?
~~~
Isamu
I don't disagree with you, but in this case they are identifying the type of
statue:
> The licking dog is an example of a healing statue, and may be linked to a
> Roman healing temple at Lydney.
I have not heard of a "healing statue", so a bit of searching found this in
Wikipedia:
> Some healing temples also used sacred dogs to lick the wounds of sick
> petitioners.
So it is an interpretation of the statue - not a bad interpretation, but some
explanation would be nice.
------
sjcsjc
To be nitpicky, (and slightly tongue in cheek), would "treasure hunter" not be
a more appropriate term than "metal detector enthusiast"? I assume if there
were a better tool for finding buried treasure, they'd happily ditch their
metal detectors.
~~~
tpeo
I think "treasure hunter" is more likely to conjure the image of someone who'd
pawn off an artifact to someone else. Like the people who busted into Egyptian
tombs over the centuries.
------
tpeo
Archeologists hate him!
No really, they probably do. Archeologists have a love-hate relationship with
laymen who hit upon artifacts. On one hand, a find is a find, and local
communities can often point out likely archeological sites. On the other,
these people might not handle artifacts properly, or fail to take notice of
their context to the degree an archeologist might want, like taking notice of
the depth at which it was.
------
fredley
_Detectorists_ , a BBC show, is a wonderful (drama) show that explores this
subculture. Every time a story like this comes up, I can't help but recall the
characters' responses when they (spoilers) discover priceless ancient
artifacts!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Schema migrations merged into Django master - Spiritus
https://github.com/django/django/commit/9aa358cedd1ad93c0f4c20700db7016651dc0598
The Kickstarter:<p>http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewgodwin/schema-migrations-for-django
======
andrewgodwin
I'd like to point out that this is just a first working version, and there's
still some work left to do, but I'm very relieved this is finally merged!
~~~
mattdeboard
Is this pluggable? Can users stick with South (or whatever migration backend)
and still use the same API?
~~~
andrewgodwin
No, this is a complete rewrite and a different way of doing migrations than
South currently does. There should also be a South 2 eventually that is mostly
compatible with this new migration design, for those stuck on older Django.
------
inglesp
This is exciting for Django, and it's exciting for OSS in general, as it
demonstrates the viability of crowdfunding (certain) OSS development.
Congratulations to Andrew and to all involved.
~~~
vanni
For reference:
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewgodwin/schema-
migr...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewgodwin/schema-migrations-
for-django)
[http://www.aeracode.org/2013/8/23/plan-comes-
together/](http://www.aeracode.org/2013/8/23/plan-comes-together/)
------
j4mie
And here are the docs:
[https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/migrations/](https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/migrations/)
~~~
japhyr
Migrations are per-app, but the command is shown as
python manage.py makemigrations
Using South, it was
python manage.py schemamigration app_name
How does django know which app to build migrations for?
~~~
andrewgodwin
It does them all at once. The new system knows about interdependencies, so if
you have ForeignKeys between apps it'll make all of them in the right order.
~~~
arocks
So if I understand correctly, "makemigrations" will convert all apps to use
migrations except apps which were created using previous versions of Django?
~~~
andrewgodwin
It will prompt you if an app doesn't yet have migrations and ask if you want
it to. That prompt is currently a bit aggressive - asking you every time - but
that will be fixed soon.
------
falcolas
If any devs read this, for MySQL, you may want to consider using the update
method adopted by many larger companies - something like pt-online-schema-
change (or make the alter method pluggable so someone else can).
Basically, create a table as a copy of the old table, set up triggers to
update the new table as data pours into the old table, alter the new table,
and then do a rename.
This buys you some rollback capabilities, but more importantly it limits the
impact on production traffic as the alters run. Of course, this is only really
an issue on tables with hundreds of thousands of rows, but it's better than
the naïve approach.
~~~
famousactress
I've come to think this is something that I'll do earlier rather than later on
projects moving forward. The last few projects I've worked on have put this
off "until we get bigger", which inevitably ends up affecting agility and the
types of migrations you're willing to do and when you're willing to release
them. As complex as the approach is, I think I'd rather bite it off early in
future projects.
Or, use postgres!
~~~
falcolas
Personally, I don't start worrying about it until it actually becomes a
problem (i.e. when an alter actually takes more than a few seconds to run). At
which point it's easy to migrate to using pt-online-schema-change.
Then again, I do most of my DB maintenance manually (I have DBA experience),
so while I do use Django in production, I have less need to rely on generic
automation tools.
Or use PostgreSQL, Oracle, MSSQL, or... lots of options there.
[EDIT] As a final thought on the topic, never be afraid of making schema
changes, even in MySQL. It may require a bit more work to implement, but there
are a bevy of solutions (most of which can be automated) which can limit or
eliminate the "pain" caused by such alters.
------
gamegoblin
I started coding Django a couple of months ago and was blown away when I
attempted to add a field to an existing model only to get yelled at.
StackOverflow comments told me that South was the only way to go. I guess I
just couldn't believe it wasn't an already existing feature. It seems that
adding fields is common enough to be needed early on...
Happy about the news!
~~~
glesica
In the past (not sure about now) the Django docs (and thus, I have to assume,
the devs) were somewhat against automated migrations. The rationale was that
the developer should understand his or her data models and do migrations
manually to avoid problems caused by mistakes made by the migration machinery.
Obviously this attitude has changed, perhaps because of the success of South
and the fact that most people would rather have the process automated, even if
it causes occasional weirdness.
~~~
chrismorgan
It was documented as something that was _desired_ , but not something that
would go into Django core until the dust settled as to what the best approach
was; it's not something to hurry into.
What's been implemented now is significantly better than what South had. If
they'd just decided to adopt South, that wouldn't have happened. Thus, it's
good that it happened. :-)
------
jsmeaton
Fantastic work! I've been following the blog posts and it was interesting to
understand the decisions you made along the way.
Also, thanks for supporting Oracle straight away. When you first mentioned the
kickstarter I noted the possibility that oracle support would either lag or be
missed entirely, effectively making oracle support in django a second-class
citizen.
I'm starting a new project in a few weeks (on Oracle RAC), so I'll try to test
as much as possible.
~~~
bmelton
I'm also using Oracle, and have long lamented the lack of South (or anything
like it). I will be a happy test user for this as well.
------
caioariede
A bit OT, but how do you guys handle database changes between multiple
branches? Say I added some fields in branch A through multiple apps and then I
need to go back to the master to do a fix. How do you revert the changes
before checkout master?
~~~
sdfjkl
If you write backwards migrations as well as forwards, South will do that for
you, so presumably the Django migration system will do as well.
~~~
caioariede
I know this. But I'm wondering if there is an easy way to do that, like a
checkpoint that I can rollback all migrations to a specific point.
~~~
kanzure
Some people just choose to use separate database names for each branch.
------
defrex
"Migrations specify which other migrations they depend on - including earlier
migrations in the same app - in the file, so it’s possible to detect when
there’s two new migrations for the same app that aren’t ordered."
This is a fantastic feature. I've worked on projects that use a South fork
that only uses a migration number, eg 0003.py, specifically to cause version
control to trigger a merge conflict.
------
bb0wn
Finally, but too little too late in my opinion.
I love python, but I would rather use Rails for web stuff at this point. So
many 3rd party libraries are needed to do what Rails can do right out of the
box.
~~~
nkuttler
That's fine. Some people consider Django bloated. Some prefer flask. Others
will prefer something with more stuff included than Django. It sounds like you
never were really the target audience for Django?
~~~
bb0wn
What exactly is the target audience for Django? I actually love using Python
and the Python design philosophy. If I'm not part of the target audience for
Django, who is?
~~~
d0m
Well django is already very big.. so the target audience is people using
Django ;-) It's a very stable, python-based, web framework with a huge
community and widely supported. Some python hackers find it too big with too
much bloated features. As far as I'm concerned, anytime I start with a smaller
web-framework I need to add mostly all django functionaly the next few days so
meh.
IMHO, for new projects, DJango is clearly one of the top contestant.
~~~
andybak
Yep. If half the world complains it does too much and the other half that it
does too little then maybe it's got it about right ;-)
------
tocomment
Dumb question here. Instead of keeping all these migration files why can the
migration just compare the models to the database directly and make he
appropriate changes?
~~~
jsmeaton
For a couple of reasons that I can think of. You might want to do a rollback.
You may have multiple copies of the database (various dev versions, staging,
production), and multiple changesets might build up in one environment before
progressing to another which must be specifically ordered. There may be
changes that need to be manually coded or tweaked, and you need some
intermediate structure for that to happen.
------
gitaarik
So what about data migrations? In the docs I couldn't find something about it.
And it's pretty important for a complete migration tool, isn't it?
~~~
teilo
Not sure what you mean. South has something called a "data migration".
However, the only difference between "data migrations" and "schema migrations"
is that data migrations do not include a dry run. Dry runs require transaction
support. Not all databases have it (MySQL).
Other than that, what is your definition of a "data migration"?
~~~
metaphorm
data migration involves mutating data in the table. for example, consider a
timestamp column that was originally recorded in some local timezone but that
you need to convert to store everthing in UTC + offset format. No changes to
the table itself, but a fairly significant change to the data.
you could manage that operation using a Python script, but it would
potentially be slow and might make it hard to take advantage of database
specific features. A data migration tool allows you to describe this operation
in succinct declarative code and then the migration tool will figure out how
to get the database to do that with maximum safety and efficiency.
or you could do it in raw SQL as well, but thats a bit uncomfortable if your
project has used the ORM interface for all database operations. you'd also
have to write different SQL for each backend. a data migration tool can
generate the correct SQL for any backend you plug in.
~~~
teilo
Understood. But I cannot imagine a data migration framework that would be
anything more than a scaffold for custom functions.
Imagine the difficulty involving forward and backward data migrations. I
cannot imagine a way to automate this.
In any case, you can't have it both ways. Either you do it in SQL, or you do
it in Python using the ORM. There isn't a third option.
------
DrJ
People still argue over Flask vs Django.
Django is a working car, the comes with a lot of features, and is more
difficult to customize (and you eventually have to start hacking at it for
custom features).
Flask is the assembled chassis, engine, steering (no frame, body). It's up to
you to build it into a car of your choice.
Eventually though you will have to look at tuning the base system for your
special special system.
------
Demiurge
So is this slated for 1.7 now? Or is it still on track for 1.6?
~~~
tomchristie
It's for 1.7, always has been.
~~~
Demiurge
Ok. But it hasn't always been, according kickstarter
([http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewgodwin/schema-
migr...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andrewgodwin/schema-migrations-
for-django)) 1.6 is mentioned, and "1.7 at latest". Considering 1.6 isn't out,
I was hoping for it!
~~~
tomchristie
Noted, apologies. 1.6 is in beta and feature frozen, and it's certainly been
the plan for a while to target 1.7.
I wouldn't sweat it tho - the 1.5-1.6 cycle has been pretty quick, and I'm
sure as soon as the migrations work is ready and tested the Django core team
will be pretty eager to push a 1.7 release.
~~~
Demiurge
I'll work on tempering my excitement :)
------
slig
I briefly read the doc in the changeset, but couldn't find if the migration
files from South are compatible with this new bultin migrations. Does anyone
know that?
~~~
kingkilr
No, south migrations are not compatible, you'll have to collapse your south
migrations down and start with these.
------
Ensorceled
Yes! My £50.00 was well spent :-)
------
nilved
Awesome, Django might be usable out of the box now. :)
~~~
nkuttler
Yes, for people who couldn't type
pip install south
~~~
nilved
That's why I specified "out of the box." It doesn't make sense for there to be
completely mandatory extensions like South -- they should be bundled in,
fitting with the "batteries included" culture of Python.
~~~
nkuttler
I don't really feel out of the box when I type
pip install django south
~~~
nilved
Regrettably, how you feel doesn't change the well-understood and long-standing
definition of "out of the box."
------
lectrick
Welcome to Rails circa 5 years ago! :)
~~~
moe
Except no, Rails doesn't have this. Not even remotely close.
Rails still makes you write your migrations by hand. It also forces you to
distribute your critical constraints, validations and dependencies over a
usually incomplete model class, and incremental migration files.
In Rails/AR there is _no place_ in the filesystem to find out about the
currently declared schema.
It's a fundamentally broken design.
~~~
bmckim
db/schema.rb
~~~
moe
schema.rb contains an _incomplete_ reflection on the current SQL schema. No
references, no relationships.
If you don't know the difference between AR and a declarative ORM you may want
to refrain from dropping smarty oneliners.
~~~
lectrick
At absolutely no point in our dev team's existence did we find a huge need to
have more than the model files and/or schema.rb as a schema reference. If you
can't infer what you need to from there, then maybe web dev's not your bag,
baby
~~~
moe
_then maybe web dev 's not your bag, baby_
Over the past 15yrs I've written web-apps in 7 different languages and a wide
range of frameworks.
From your comment I can infer that you know Ruby on Rails, and that's pretty
much it. Maybe you should reconsider your tone?
------
workhere-io
Somewhat related: Are there any plans to integrate Alembic into SQLAlchemy?
~~~
lucian1900
It's about as integrated as it could get while still being a separate package,
since it's written by the author of Alchemy.
Most users of SQLAlchemy tend to use several libraries anyway, as opposed to
one framework (the Django style).
------
groundCode
This is great news for Django - congratulations to all involved!
------
Daviey
Neat. Once this hits a stable release, does it mean that South should be
considered deprecated for new projects?
~~~
andrewgodwin
For anything on Django 1.7 (the version it will come out in), yes, South will
no longer be needed. Older versions of Django should get a South 2 in the next
few months with a lot of this code backported.
------
ris
But does it work with custom ("initial") sql?
This was one of the failing points of south in my opinion.
------
kdazzle
Why wouldn't Django just use South instead of creating ever more dependencies
on itself?
~~~
simonw
The migrations support for Django is being written by the author of South,
based on everything he learnt on that project. It's essentially South 2 but
baked in to Django.
------
est
Now let's get rid of WSGI and make async signals possible!
~~~
jgroszko
Are you trying to combine WebSockets or realtime communication with Django?
I'd look at Cody Soyland's excellent work on this.
[http://codysoyland.com/2011/feb/6/evented-django-part-one-
so...](http://codysoyland.com/2011/feb/6/evented-django-part-one-socketio-and-
gevent/) or look at the Django example in gevent-socketio
[https://github.com/abourget/gevent-
socketio](https://github.com/abourget/gevent-socketio)
------
ciokan
I absolutely love python and I'm using it daily but Django seems
so....outdated?! Biggest web framework needs someone to raise funding via
kickstarter to build a schema migration?
2013 and you still can't build a REST application without installing 3rd party
code? I mean c'moon there's angularjs, emberjs, knockout, extjs etc etc etc
out for years don't you see a light at the end of the tunnel or you're the
type of team that build more tunnel?
Sorry to say but news like this just make me sad. Still happy I chose flask +
sqlalchemy for my website. Django is somewhere in 2004-2005 still. I lose the
admin of course but I hate general things anyway (one size fits all type of
thing).
~~~
wbond
I recently built (more or less) a REST API and a Backbone front-end using
Python. Why would I want to use Django to do so when there are so many other
(more appropriate) options? Does Django really need to be a framework that
does everything?
I started before Flask supported Python 3, so I used bottle, psycopg2 and a
bunch of other python packages. Knowing what I was interested in
accomplishing, I was pretty easily able to stitch together these libraries to
create a solid, to-the-point codebase.
Having spent a bunch of time working on various backbone-heavy apps with Rails
I don't have much interest in using a big, full-stack, opinionated framework
to act as a REST API. There is so much overhead and so many opinions to work
against.
~~~
taude
Couldn't agree more, especially when you're basically speaking JSON with some
authentication/authorization. I even question myself when using Flask-Restful
vs just making my views return straight up JSON....but...that's a different
discussion.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How to generate a double-precision floating-point number in [0, 1] uniformly - danieldk
http://mumble.net/~campbell/2014/04/28/uniform-random-float?
======
bhickey
If you can live with [0, 1), there are simpler ways of doing this. Generate a
number [1,2) by filling the 52-bit fractional component with a random integer.
Then subtract 1. And you're done.
[http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/~m-mat/MT/ARTICLES/dSF...](http://www.math.sci.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/~m-mat/MT/ARTICLES/dSFMT.pdf)
~~~
powera
Well, technically the probability of getting exactly 1 should be 0. Thanks to
rounding, it isn't literally a 0 probability, but for any practical purposes
the open and closed sets should be equivalent.
~~~
forrestthewoods
No. No no. No no no! Stop that. Stop that right now. You are a bad person and
should feel bad.
I've dealt with more than a few crashes that came from open vs closed set
differences. Yeah, the odds of it happening on a given roll of the dice is
low. About one in 8 million for a 32-bit float. But if you have 100,000 users
and they each roll that dice even a single time per use of your application
then it soon becomes less about the odds of it happening and more about how
many times it happens per day. And if it happening can cause a crash, well
you're gonna have a bad time. And since you're dealing with floating point
numbers they're interacting with gods know what so all it takes to cause a
crash is "oh this operation can never result in a divide by zero because this
other value can never be _exactly_ one". Oops.
~~~
Dylan16807
Heh. You're very right about the generation of 1. Even 2^54ish is not rare
enough to ignore. Put it in GPU code and you could find it breaking in
seconds.
But would you be comfortable ignoring double precision 0, with a proper
algorithm that makes the probability somewhere around 2^-1070 or 2^-1020?
~~~
forrestthewoods
I'd always prefer an algorithm to be correct 100% of the time than any rate
than 100%. This is the type of thing for which there is no fundamental reason
why you can't simply do it right. The more things you can do right the less
you have to worry about! It's much simpler.
That said, I'd certainly listen to the tradeoffs of being correct 100% of the
time vs being wrong a mere 1 in 2^1020 times. I wonder if 2^-1020 is greater
than or less than the chance of a cosmic ray flipping a bit...
~~~
Dylan16807
It's far far far smaller of a chance than a memory error. Unimaginably
smaller.
Now that I think about it, smaller enough that the execution time difference
makes it more dangerous to check. :)
~~~
forrestthewoods
Since I was curious, it appears that IBM did research in the 90s and came up
with 1 per 256mb RAM per month. That's 3.7 × 10-9 per byte per month or 1.4 ×
10-15 per byte per second.
[http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2580933/cosmic-rays-
what-...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2580933/cosmic-rays-what-is-the-
probability-they-will-affect-a-program)
~~~
cma
The surface area of 256MB of ram has shrunk a lot since then.
~~~
Dylan16807
Though the bits have gotten more fragile.
------
nkurz
I appreciate the effort to write this up, but I'm not seeing that this has
applicability to any real problem. If you put 53 random bits in the mantissa
with a fixed exponent, you get a smooth distribution from from [0, 1 - 2^-53]
in increments of 2^-53. He seems to be concerned that you will never get a
number between(0, 2^-53). True, but you'll also never get any other number
between (n * 2^-53,(n+1) * 2^-53) for all the rest of the range.
[wrong statement about denormals deleted]
His talk about "dividing" to produce the desired range seems misguided.
Floating point division is ~10x the cost of any other floating point
operations. If you are trying to produce precise floating point numbers, you
almost certainly want to be working at the level of bits rather than hoping
that division will do the work for you.
~~~
dbaupp
Numbers less than 2^-53 aren't denormals. Denormals occur when the exponent is
all zeros, i.e. less than 2^-1022, the floating point representation of a
double (ignoring sign) is normally:
1.mantissa * 2^(exponent - 1023)
A denormal occurs when the exponent is all zeros, and the representation
switches to
0.mantissa * 2^(1 - 1023)
~~~
nkurz
You are completely right, and I just got lost. I deleted my nonsense above. Is
there more to the main article that I'm missing too?
------
Dylan16807
First off this seems like unordered notes and I spent 15 minutes trying to
figure out what the actual requirements were, because it was saying things it
needed and then talking about solutions that didn't have those features.
Anyway, the main goal seems to be even density of chosen numbers, while also
not skipping floats. In other words the probability of any specific float
being chosen is proportional to its width.
This is easy to do, and needs no rounding. At least for [0,1)
Observe that floats [.5,1) are half the probability space. Use one random bit
to choose between them and smaller values.
Then floats [.25,5) are half the space. Use another random bit.
Once you've chosen the exponent, fill in the mantissa with 52 random bits. All
floats in the range are the same distance apart, so random bits work fine.
mantissa := random(2^52)
exponent := -1
while random(2) == 1:
exponent -= 1
return (1 + mantissa/2^52) * 2^exponent
If you _really_ want [0,1], then you must first define how wide of a range of
real numbers you want to assign to "1". Rounding toward zero makes more sense.
Alternatively, note how nonzero double precision floats go down below 2^-1000.
You will never ever actually generate a zero, no matter what you do. Why
should "1" be more likely than "0"?
But if you insist on rounding to nearest then you can put in a special clause
where a mantissa of 0 has a 50% chance of being treated as 2^52.
~~~
TheLoneWolfling
If you really want [0,1], it might be more simple to include a check at the
start:
if (1-in-number-of-floats-in-[0,1)) return 1;
Your version of 50/50 split with the mantissa will mean that 0 and 1 will be
less often chosen than others.
However, your version won't generate a (quite) uniform distribution anyways,
due to subnormals. I _think_ a simple fix for that would be to, if your
exponent reaches the subnormals, just return a random mantissa with the
subnormal exponent.
~~~
Dylan16807
I suppose my version might be wrong when it hits a denormal. It would depend
on the rounding mode. Also it would never actually get to a denormal.
But you're right that to be obviously correct it should stop when it reaches
denormals.
>Your version of 50/50 split with the mantissa will mean that 0 and 1 will be
less often chosen than others.
That's intentional, because rounding a real number to the nearest float has
the same behavior. The spec is wrong, I advise against following the spec, but
that is how you do it.
------
kestert
I like the idea of an random number generator that exploits the full precision
of the floats. However, the issue with the naive method is loss of accuracy,
not bias. When the article states
_If k is 64, a natural choice for the source of bits, then because the set
{0, 1, ..., 2^53 - 1} is represented exactly, whereas many subsets of {2^53,
2^53 + 1, ..., 2^64 - 1} are rounded to common floating-point numbers, outputs
in [0, 2^-11) are underrepresented._
this is very misleading, because the points that are "underrepresented" are
closer together. The discrete probability density created by the naive method
is a perfectly good approximation to the uniform distribution.
Furthermore, although as the article shows, we can do better, this can, and
must, come at a cost. Since the small numbers occur with much lower
probability, the only way to generate them (without importance sampling) is by
generating much more randomness (1088 bits in the article). Generating random
bits is expensive, and this uses 17 times more randomness than the naive
method.
EDIT: it would be possible to avoid generating all the extra bits in most
cases, and so an efficient average time algorithm should be possible, but the
worst case still requires 1088 bits to be generated.
------
noswi
For [0, 1), would the naive approach of generating a string of, say, 16
digits, sticking a "0." in front of it and calling strod / atof yield
similarly uniform results?
------
CamperBob2
Wouldn't the best (and coincidentally simplest) way be to synthesize the
double-precision word by combining a random integer exponent, a random integer
mantissa, and a random sign bit? You'd need to account for the logarithmic
distribution of the exponent, but that seems like the biggest complication.
I don't understand the debate about rounding. What does it mean to round a
random number? If the rounding process is biased, the number will be less
random as a result, so you shouldn't have rounded it. If the process isn't
biased, the number will be no more or less randomly-distributed than it was
before, so there was no point in rounding it.
~~~
alepper
The clue's here:
> What is the `uniform' distribution we want, anyway? It is obviously not the
> uniform discrete distribution on the finite set of floating-point numbers in
> [0, 1] -- that would be silly. For our `uniform' distribution, we would like
> to imagine[*] drawing a real number in [0, 1] uniformly at random, and then
> choosing the nearest floating-point number to it.
Because of the logarithmic representation, there are as many floating point
numbers between .25 and .5 as there are between .5 and 1. If you uniformly
sample numbers with an exact, finite floating point representation then you
don't get something that 'looks like' a uniform distribution of real numbers
in [0, 1] -- which is more likely what was wanted.
~~~
CamperBob2
Right, which is why I said you'd have to account for the log bias when you
pick a random integer exponent. Otherwise most of your results would be really
tiny.
The method bhickey suggests above sounds like a nifty workaround for the
problem as well.
~~~
alepper
You're right, sorry. I responded to 'why round?' but missed that comment.
------
rcthompson
I'm sure that there are valid reasons to want to do this, but if your find
yourself needing to do this, I think you should at least _consider_ whether
there might be some other way to get what you want.
------
mellavora
Using a computer algorithm,
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_twister](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mersenne_twister)
is a good choice.
"Anyone who considers arithmetical methods of producing random digits is, of
course, in a state of sin." \-- Von Neumann.
Using a computer, maybe look for small current variations around a resistor or
similar device?
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generato...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator)
~~~
lvh
The problems in the article have nothing to do with the source; it assumes
that a source of randomness already exists. Mersenne Twister provides you with
some random numbers (generally sequences of random, uniformly distributed, 32
bit integers). It does not solve the problem of picking a random double
between 0 and 1.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
TSA halts private screening program - bconway
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/01/29/tsa.private/index.html
======
jdp23
Wow. It's like waving a red flag in front of the new Congress. Talk about a
tin ear ...
EDIT: Here's the FlyerTalk discussion: [http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-
safety-security/117809...](http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-
security/1178098-tsa-shuts-door-private-airport-screening-program-
illegally.html)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Citibank hacked? - mtnboy
I logged in and saw this note in my account. Anyone else can verify this? I tried searching but didn't see any public details.<p>Your Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card account ending in xxxx was illegally obtained as a result of a data compromise and is at risk for unauthorized use, you will not be responsible for any unauthorized charges!. To minimize this risk, we have issued a card(s) with a new account number ending in xxxx.
======
patio11
FWIW, a compromise at Citibank is not the most likely way for that to have
happened. It is more likely to be a large third-party compromise (many
organizations manage to lose X00,000 cards in an incident) which gets reported
to Visa/Mastercard per the PCI procedures. Those reports get fanned out to
issuing banks, which often will take proactive steps to limit your liability,
and by extension their own.
~~~
mtnboy
Make sense. Thanks.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Who do I trust and why? Digital Ocean, Google Chrome and Motion Sensors - lemonberry
I just logged into Digital Ocean to update some DNS records. I notice a new icon in the address bar that looks like it represents radar or radio waves with a red square and a white x in it. When I click it I get "This site has been blocked from accessing your motion sensors".<p>Why would Digital Ocean be trying to access my motion sensors? According to this article it's to get more information about users.<p>https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/google-chrome-will-prevent-websites-from-using-your-devices-motion-sensors-to-track-you-2009386#:~:text=A%20new%20feature%20spotted%20in,gyroscopes%2C%20and%20ambient%20light%20sensors.<p>Of all the companies I deal with Digital Ocean never would have crossed my mind as one that I have to be concerned with regarding privacy issues. Veil lifted.
======
jsnell
My first guess would be that they were doing that as part of protecting their
sign-in page against bots / automation, which is the kind of thing you need to
do to protect against credential stuffers.
Look, you've just signed in with a long-term stable identifier. There is no
need for them to track you with any kind of fingerprinting.
~~~
kohtatsu
Which does make the fingerprint a lot more valuable if used in other contexts.
This is why Google is so scary; they have biometric fingerprint data on
everyone, account(s) or not, just through mouse/scroll patterns and cadence.
Ideally we need to find the JavaScript making the motion API request and try
determining what it might be used for.
------
MichaelStubbs
What page were you on, exactly? I can't seem to reproduce the issue that
you're seeing.
Could there be an extension that is causing this?
~~~
lemonberry
It's on the main page as soon as I log in. I just disabled all of my Chrome
extensions and I'm still seeing the warning. The warning says it's coming from
[https://cloud.digitalocean.com](https://cloud.digitalocean.com).
------
wsdan
[https://grantwinney.com/websites-requesting-access-to-
motion...](https://grantwinney.com/websites-requesting-access-to-motion-
sensors/)
Perhaps this link will help. It looks like websites can request if your
browser has access to things like a Gyroscope or Magnetometer, and by default
Chrome will block access without your consent.
It could be some sort of fingerprinting technique.
------
nxpnsv
Maybe they just want hear what you have to say?
[https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/usenixsecurit...](https://www.usenix.org/system/files/conference/usenixsecurity14/sec14-paper-
michalevsky.pdf)
------
lemonberry
On the warning popup there's a button to 'Manage'. I clicked that and selected
do not allow sites to use motion sensors and the warning is now gone.
------
dylz
DO uses a third party for invasive "antifraud" that does this at
login/register/pay/etc points.
------
sli
CNN's website always tries to start up SteamVR for whatever reason.
~~~
jlgaddis
CNN Lite: [https://lite.cnn.com/en](https://lite.cnn.com/en)
You're welcome.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Of Course It’s Already Been Taxed - hodgesmr
http://matthodges.com/2014/07/of-course-its-already-been-taxed/
======
murbard2
Not all taxes have this effect. A land value tax, a poll tax, a value added
tax, or a wealth tax do nothing of the sort.
Income tax, corporate tax, capital gain taxes are some of the worst, most
distortive taxation schemes. But taxation isn't just about raising revenue, it
needs to have some popular support, and so it caters to a strange vision of
fairness.
To get an idea of how distortive an income tax can be consider the following
scenario.
You do your own housework and cooking, but while you're a great cook you suck
at cleaning up. Your neighbor is the opposite, terrible cook, but great with a
mop.
So you'd like to hire your neighbor as house cleaner, and they hire you as a
cook, but now, both of you are paying taxes.
In this specific example, you could probably find an arrangement where money
doesn't change hands, and the transaction would be small enough for the IRS
not to really care. However, scale that up to an entire economy, and you see
the gigantic friction that it introduces in exchanging labor.
------
Zhenya
This article is wrong in a few ways from my understanding. Gifts are not
automatically taxed. You can give up to $10.96M dollars tax free over a
lifetime to a specific reciever. Also every year you can give up to $14K
without it counting against the $10.96M; else you just need to keep track of
the running total. source: IRS forms (709)
Furthermore, one thing the author has missed is that all of listed taxable
instances are economic transactions aka doing business. Inheritance is no such
thing, it is a simply transfer of title. Whether that should be taxed is a
completely different discussion.
~~~
your_ai_manager
Then surely it should fall into the same category as a other gifts?
------
topkai22
Makes me wonder if a sustainable world could exist where government spending
was financed solely through the issue of new currency. I doubt that you'd
avoid hyper inflation for long, but hey, no taxes!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: BOSO (Best of Stack Overflow) - marcamillion
http://boso.herokuapp.com/
======
gus_massa
Remember that the names of the authors should be linked to the S.O. profiles:
<http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2009/06/attribution-required/>
~~~
marcamillion
Someone on reddit just pointed that out to me.
Gonna fix that - requires a bit of a schema change, so will take a little
longer than other quick changes.
------
marcamillion
OP Here: I am not much of a designer, so forgive the un-polished UI.
Any, and all feedback, is welcome :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
“Where do you get your ideas?” by Charles Stross - zzkt
http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog&id=24831
======
DarkShikari
I've found that writing is a lot like programming.
For a skilled programmer, programming is easy. Designing a complex system
might be hard, understanding complex programs may be hard, and designing
algorithms may be hard, but the actual act of putting the concepts into code
should be pretty easy.
For a skilled writer, writing is easy. Designing a complex, believable plot,
characters the reader can empathize with, a detailed universe, and so forth,
can be quite hard, but the actual act of putting it onto paper is easy. Of
course, as any good writer will tell you, once you've written it down, there
are another hundred revisions to go before it's actually ready, a dozen of
which will involve a complete rewrite. So you have to be able to put thoughts
to paper quickly. Also, at least personally, I've found that I have a short
attention span with regards to writing: there's a window of a few hours
between when I have an idea and when my mind wants to throw it away, and I
have to get something passable written in that time.
When I get an idea for a short story I can often write out 5000 words in a
couple of hours. But going from that basket of words spurt out at 3:00 AM to a
publishable story would take far, far, longer.
One interesting bit of advice I've heard is that aspiring authors should start
with fanfiction--because that allows them to work in an existing detailed
universe with existing characters. This lets them get practice _making writing
easy_ so that when it comes to actually creating a setting from scratch, they
don't have to worry about writing it down. This is much like programming--by
the time you're doing serious work, it's expected that coding itself is
second-nature to you.
Also, a good read for any HN user interested in writing (especially Sci-
Fi/Fantasy) is the classic Turkey City Lexicon:
<http://www.sfwa.org/writing/turkeycity.html>
~~~
randallsquared
_as any good writer will tell you, once you've written it down, there are
another hundred revisions to go before it's actually ready_
Not necessarily. Some writers write publishable first drafts, at least some of
the time. Heinlein famously started out thinking that rewrites weren't worth
his time (though he still did some on at least some stories).
~~~
tricky
There is a mention of this in "On Writing Well" where Zinsser tells a story
about speaking at a conference along side an author who was able to write
publishable first drafts.
Sure, they're out there, but the skill is extremely rare.
~~~
wallflower
> Practice writing. Write every day. If you are a top-notch computer
> scientist, you probably read technical papers nearly every day. You are a
> writer too, so practice.
<http://www.dreamsongs.com/RPGWritingBroadside.html>
------
cturner
Ideas, hah. The real challenge in this line of work is
being able to weed the productive ones from the chaff, to
decide which you’re going to spend the next six to nine
months turning into something that people will pay for.
It's so true. I remember hearing about both Buffy and Heroes, "how can this
not be completely and utterly rubbish" and yet they turned out amazing (well -
one series of Heroes, at least). The pitch for Lost is: a bunch of damaged
goods people crash on an island. As time goes by we learn more about them via
flashback. Weird stuff happens.
------
jokermatt999
I find this post some what interesting, but I'm disappointed he didn't go more
into depth on specific examples of what inspired him. I've been reading
Accelerando (<http://www.accelerando.org/> It is quite nicely free, and I
highly recommend it), and I've been fascinated by how many ideas he managed to
cram into there. It's an excellent book, but it's so dense with ideas I find
myself only able to read it in short bursts so I can wrap my head around some
of the ideas it discusses.
~~~
ph0rque
Reading Accelerando was like taking drugs for me... I had a buzz that lasted
about a week after I was done.
------
eli
Ze Frank on the subject:
<http://www.zefrank.com/theshow/archives/2006/07/071106.html> (sorta)
------
russell
OK Hackers it's our responsibility to inspire Charlie. He said so. I
personally liked book 2 of the Merchant Princes and Accelerando, but that's
not really inspiration.
I recommend his blog <http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/index.html>
because of the discussions of ideas.
------
zandorg
I find the machine you use dictates your writing habits. I've used many
different computers/keyboards over the years, and I find it helps.
------
ableal
The canonical SF answer is "Mail order from Schenectady, New York", not
Poughkeepsie. Stross also got the author of the quip wrong, but I can't get my
memory to produce the right one (I saw it in print many moons ago).
P.S. Seems Stross was right about the source. I remembered Barry B. Longyear's
It Came from Schenectady. He explains:
<http://www.sff.net/people/bblongyear/ItSchenectady.html>
<http://www.sff.net/people/bblongyear/ICFSFF.html>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Launch HN: Latchel (YC W19) – Rental Property Maintenance as a Service - wilbo
Hi HN!<p>We're Ethan, Jullian, and Will. We're the founders of Latchel (<a href="https://latchel.com/" rel="nofollow">https://latchel.com/</a>). We handle 24/7 maintenance for residential property managers and landlords across the US.<p>Ethan was Director of Product at One Planet Ops, the creator of websites like contractors.com, homegain.com, and many other lead gen marketplaces. Jullian is a self-taught developer and designer who has built mobile and web apps, most recently at picmonic.com. Will comes from Amazon, where he helped design and deploy the last mile delivery operations for Amazon Fresh, Prime Now, and Amazon Logistics across the US and the world.<p>Will started the company when his family needed help running the family rental properties. His grandfather managed the properties full time all the way into his mid 90s! Sadly, his age caught up with him and he could no longer take care of the family business after getting diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The disease progressed quickly and unfortunately the family did not have a succession plan in place (advice to anyone with a family business: plan the succession early, you don't want to spend energy worrying about the family business when you want to focus on taking care of a parent's medical or end of life care). Will helped his father with the properties as much as he could while working full time at Amazon but was quickly overwhelmed by the maintenance dispatching and follow-up. He saw that the overall process was very similar to the logistics and delivery problems he was solving at Amazon. After looking for solutions online and calling Ethan to see if he knew of any solutions they couldn't find any. Ultimately, we teamed up to build what we couldn't find on the market: a service to handle rental maintenance problems and ensure work orders don't slip through the cracks.<p>Maintenance coordination is a difficult problem to solve because it is fundamentally a communications problem that isn't easily solved by software. First, most contractors are third party and take jobs infrequently from a property manager, so they're extremely unwilling to adopt a new process for reporting that work is complete or for getting paid. Second, tenants also interact with their managers rarely, so mobile applications (and even online portals) have low adoption rates among renters. Lastly, property managers face an agency problem: ultimately it isn't their properties, it is their clients who own the property. The property manager is responsible for its care and maintenance and wants to be able to have all of the details of what happened and to know why certain decisions were made in case something went wrong.<p>We sell monthly subscription services to property managers to take all of their maintenance calls. We have two paid subscriptions: 24/7 Emergency and a premium option where we handle both emergencies and non-emergencies. We also have a free software tier that gives property managers an online web portal for tenant maintenance request submission. This online submission tries to detect emergency scenarios and our software automatically calls the property manager in case of emergency. In addition to the monthly subscription services we also take a 10% referral fee from contractors we source for the jobs (we cover the credit card processing fees).<p>The HN community is full of people working on simplifying the oftentimes ugly interface between the real world and idealized technology systems. We'd love to hear your questions, thoughts, and concerns about this problem space.
======
dd36
[https://www.yardi.com/products/rentcafe-
connect/](https://www.yardi.com/products/rentcafe-connect/)
[https://www.appfolio.com/blog/2015/01/appfolio-contact-
cente...](https://www.appfolio.com/blog/2015/01/appfolio-contact-center-
new-247-maintenance-answering-service-now-available/)
This type of service has existed for a while with the larger vendors. What
differentiates your service?
Licensed property managers are on the hook for the decisions you make. How do
you and they manage that liability? Is it even legal to have an unlicensed
third party field a call and assign a contractor? I know states where it is
not.
If you've been small, you may have flown under the radar but getting attention
could change that. The difference between Appfolio/Yardi and what you're doing
seems to be the assigning your own contractors bit. That's legally
questionable IMO. Maybe less so for first-party but definitely for third-party
managers - it technically makes you an unlicensed property manager.
~~~
briandear
There are several states that don't require a license to be a property
manager. Massachusetts is one example.
~~~
dd36
That’s incorrect.
[https://www.mass.gov/service-details/re42r05-property-
manage...](https://www.mass.gov/service-details/re42r05-property-management)
------
pilingual
Are there any plans to automate property management? If so, when?
I posted this request for an Uber for property management 7 months ago. After
that post, I reluctantly hired a property manager and it has been a nightmare.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656752](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17656752)
~~~
wilbo
We're staying focused on maintenance right now because maintenance is usually
the biggest single headache for landlords and property managers.
There are so many problems to solve with generalized property management that
we feel it's much better to stay focused on what we know.
~~~
pilingual
Makes sense. Just as a thought experiment I was trying to figure what would be
required. You’ve solved the maintenance issue, here’s what I see is left:
1\. Placement. A system that posts to Zillow, Craigslist. It seems like photo
or video walkthrough is an all but done deal. With keycode locks a real estate
agent could escort a potential tenant through once they’ve been validated via
credit score.
2\. Payments. Seems easy enough to build this software.
3\. Evictions. This seems like an entirely legal process, so having a lawyer
on retainer for a metro might work here.
I think the biggest issue with property management companies is simply that
their incentives aren’t aligned with the owners. If they have a maintenance
person on staff they have to pay that person somehow. I’ve talked with other
indie owners/managers and keep hearing the same thing: “imagine you are in
that business. Do the math, and property management doesn’t earn much.” It
seems ripe for disruption.
Edit: the only thing that is missing is someone to keep an eye on the property
in general. Not quite sure how to handle that other than have one person who
handles an entire metro.
~~~
wilbo
The real value of a property manager is having someone who is invested in
increasing the value of your rental property asset. In multi-family this is
easier because the value is directly tied to the net operating income.
Increased rents and lower operating expenses = higher property value.
Single family gets more tricky because the value is more closely tied to the
property value and not the rental income. I think this is where the inventives
are often misaligned. Even so, the best property managers will handle a lot
more than just filling units, collecting rent, and handling maintenance. They
understand the goals of the owner and will adjust their management strategy to
meet those goals (eg income property or a quick sale in a few years).
To add to your list: tenant retention (highest cost is actually unit
turnover), setting rent to the right amount based on local comparables, and
keeping in compliance with the ever changing rental laws.
~~~
pilingual
Great insight!
Tenant retention, while an issue, is a very minor one in comparison to peace
of mind regarding the aforementioned issues. With scale and automation, I’d
expect to save on the placement fee. In any case, I wouldn’t even mind yearly
turnover if I had my other issues solved. Perhaps it’s just me. (My time is
valuable and I’ve spent way too much of it dealing with the property manager
and contractors when the property manager failed to deliver.)
I’ve heard varying things about setting rent. An investor/manager in the Bay
Area told me setting rent too high is bad, and I think his reasoning was you
wouldn’t have a pool to choose from. Another person had a system of just
setting the rent ridiculously high and lowering it every week until it was
filled. Comps can be tough, and usually the market speaks loudest here.
Keeping in compliance with laws seems to confirm there’d have to be a full
time employee familiar with the region.
~~~
dd36
The issue with turns is turn cost plus lost income. For anyone without
multiple properties, the cost of a turn is usually significantly more than
they would recover with a high turn rate but increased rents. This is why
institutional investors push rents aggressively but mom and pops don't. To a
mom and pop, a long term renter is valuable. As where a large investor isn't
concerned about cash flow issues from turns because they can spread it over
many units. Look at the public REITs, some have near 40% turn rates, which is
insane. But that's what you get when you ask for a 5% rent increase every
year. As where the mom and pop is just happy that you renewed and they don't
have to worry about a cash pinch.
~~~
pilingual
Your comment and x0x0’s are informative, thanks!
I guess I’m just optimistic that there is a solution which won’t require such
high cost of placement fees, in addition to other costs. It seems hard to
argue that the current PM system is efficient. Maybe it’s just the case that
there are good PMs and bad ones.
~~~
dd36
The companies I worked with never paid placement fees. You don't really need
incentives when housing supply is tight.
------
dvtrn
Anecdote: There was a brief time when I took a break from tech project
management working for software development companies, and did a brief stint
as a project manager for a small handyman startup in the real estate business.
I ran my own handyman company for beer money in college, sold it after
college, and have seen the handyman services industry grow and evolve with
technology. It's been very exiting to watch.
The work itself was a cakewalk. Dealing with property managers, contractors
and laborers was less of a cakewalk, but still manageable.
Where I saw an opportunity for the RE business I worked at for two years
(because of business decisions now even the owner has admitted were not just
stupid but "f--king stupid") was to try doing exactly what Latchel is doing
for property managers. We had all the resources, we had the people, we had the
market and we had the local reputation to actually get two management groups
with over 20 buildings interested enough to say "Show us your proposal and
we'll take it to our owners".
That idea died because of someone high above and their ego, and even though I
eventually returned to tech[1]--I still wonder what it would have been like
had I pursued this exact idea on my own.
Good luck Latchel, as other comments are showing here: this is definitely much
needed, and if you do it well, congratulations on your future riches, heh. The
demand for this is _HUGE_.
\---
[1] Me, returning to tech after two years in real estate
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ5nV9aKthU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ5nV9aKthU)
Edit: If you ever start operations in Chicago, or plan to, I can likely make
some introductions to a couple of large property managers I have a good,
personal relationship with that may be interested to at least hear your pitch.
~~~
wilbo
We've built our operation to be largely geographically agnostic. Our customer
base follows population density. Today we operate out of 41 states and have a
decent Chicago portfolio. Warm introductions are always greatly appreciated :)
------
gigatexal
How do you vet contractors? What’s the fee per month? Is the subscription a
lock in? Do you find and vet and place tenants? I’m interested: Alex at
alexandarnarayan dot com
Basically if you can beat the 8% per month and 50% first months rent my
current manager takes I’d jump easily. Even more importantly I’ve a tenant
that pays religiously on the first of the month. But I don’t get a deposit
until the 11th or the 12th. Can you guys beat that?
What are the chances I can get on the phone and talk to the person that would
be overseeing my property? How do you convey trust to owners when you don’t
live in the areas you serve?
Edit: the fee structure is insanely attractive.
~~~
wilbo
We do not take over property management duties at all outside of maintenance
(i.e. No rent collection, no filling of units, evictions, advertising, etc)
As far as vetting contractors, we ensure they have appropriate licensing,
bonding and insurance per local requirements and also vet their existing
social media reviews (looking for 4+ stars). Most of our clients provide us
their rolodex of contractors to work with and we can vet their responsiveness
and quality that way.
~~~
gigatexal
Ahh so only maintainence. Dang. Still a nice service but I don’t get a
discount from the current property manager for him just collecting rent on my
behalf as I used him mostly to get my current tenant but now the 8% a month is
torture.
~~~
dd36
You have to look at it like a retainer charge. Most of the time, what they do
is minimal but when something happens, they will give your property a ton of
time. I think property managers are chronically underpaid because the barrier
to entry is so low. The best run firms I've seen are one or two people that
charge a premium but cap themselves at say 150 units. Then you get their full
attention and care all the time. The hard part is they're never taking on new
clients because they're never losing old clients.
It's a lot like good CPAs, good lawyers, or good family practice physicians.
------
jho406
This is a headache for me too. Some questions for you:
Do you handle common area maintenance? Snow shovelling? Cleaning? Sidewalk
maintenance? Do you have a requirement on the minimum num of units per
building? How do you handle tenants that don't speak English? What is your
pricing?
Aside from maintenance, do you have plans to get into full-on property
management?
~~~
emlieber
This is Ethan, one of the founders here. Yes, we handle common area, snow
shoveling, cleaning, sidewalk maintenance, etc. We even handle unit turn
inspections and punch list creation.
No minimum number of units. In fact, 80% of our units are single family
residence.
We have Spanish speakers on staff, but all of our automated texts/emails are
in English. So that come some times be an issue for Spanish only speakers.
Generally we have to get on the phone with them.
We charge $25 + $1/unit per month for handling all tenant calls,
troubleshooting, and emergency coordination. For $25 + $10/unit we do
coordination for every time of job (snow shoveling, cleaning etc.) The monthly
subscription does NOT include the cost of the handyman/contractor going out to
do work.
No plans to go into full on property management. We feel like maintenance is a
big enough headache to solve for now!
~~~
dd36
How familiar are you with state laws? Performing walkthrough inspections as a
third-party without being licensed is illegal in many states - a felony, even.
I'll source it for you shortly.
EDIT: Here:
[https://azre.gov/LawBook/Documents/SPS_Documents/SPS_2017.01...](https://azre.gov/LawBook/Documents/SPS_Documents/SPS_2017.01_Unlicensed_Assistants.pdf)
"An unlicensed assistant shall not perform the following activities:
\- Perform a walk-through inspection or Tenant Vacate Inspection
\- Provide advice or negotiate with anyone regarding a property
Pursuant to A.R.S. 32-2165(B) A person who performs acts that require a
license under this chapter, other than a broker’s or salesperson’s license,
without being licensed as prescribed by this chapter is guilty of a class 5
felony."
Arizona is not unusual in this regard. I helped build a publicly-traded REIT
with an internal manager and worked with general counsel on these issues. Some
of the laws seem silly but if you can do what a property manager does then
what's the point of having property managers be licensed? And I for one think
they should be. People complain of property managers now but imagine if there
was zero training or licensing. I also deal with HOAs, which require no
training or licensing, and they make property managers look like geniuses.
They manage HOAs when they don't even know their own CC&Rs, let alone the law.
~~~
emlieber
Yes, we’re definitely more restricted in AZ than most other states on what we
can/can’t do.
------
projectramo
This is a much needed service, and I feel like I've seen a lot of people enter
this space but I wonder what happens to all of them after a few months. They
seem to disappear.
The main question I have is: which cities do you operate in?
The secondary questions: How do you handle the workmen? What if you customer
thinks that you charged too much?
~~~
jullianchavez
We currently service properties across the entire US. We have built Latchel to
be geographically agnostic so we can service rentals in any city without
having to establish a presence or build density. As for contractors, we will
work with our customer's existing contractors if they have any, and find new
ones if they dont. We work with our customers to set default budget limits for
individual properties or portfolios, and then seek either their approval or
their owner's approval (included with Premium service) for an increased budget
if we cannot find a contractor within their budget limit. This helps prevent
surprise contractor invoices and keeps budgets under control.
~~~
projectramo
That is great. It seems like a lot of work. I have often wondered how hard it
would be to find an honest, reliable contractor if I were to get a property in
a distant city.
I would be happy to outsource all that work to you, and I hope you succeed so
I can hire you. But how would you guys find one?
In other words, the issue with finding someone long distance is that you can't
check them out in person, or see their work etc.
~~~
wilbo
We have existing contractor networks in most of the cities we service.
Whenever we enter a new area we often have to source on-demand. We vet people
based on social media reviews and ensuring their licensing etc meets the local
requirements.
When we send someone out from our network we are implicitly standing behind
their work. The good new for us is you can tell a lot by a person's phone
demeanor and business professionalism. If someone is rude or curt over the
phone with us they certainly won't be polite with tenants.
------
hbcondo714
Congrats on the launch! Do you imagine scaling up to work with larger
properties like condominium associations? I ask because the property
management company at my current complex isn't that great. We have many
outstanding projects in the queue and they never communicate onsite issues
such as when the hot water went out. From a tech perspective, the website they
lease to us is so old, not mobile friendly lacks notifications and doesn't
have a CMS to allow our HOA to make updates.
~~~
emlieber
Yes, we hope to get into associations soon. Right now they are a much smaller
percent of our customer base.
------
gdiggity
This is a great idea. A friend of mine actually pitched this idea to me a
couple months ago.. and while I thought it was great it was too far out of my
wheelhouse.
------
altharaz
In France, this kind of work is proposed by a lot of real estate agencies.
Real estate agencies can even collect the rent for you and “guarantee” you the
amount you will get each month. This point is very important as it is a
nightmare to evict a bad tenant.
Do you have the same issues in the US? If so, do you plan to manage the rent
payment as well?
~~~
jullianchavez
Part of our long-term vision is to increase the number of tools we provide to
our customers to help with the other tasks associated with managing a
property. These tools may include tenant background checks, rental payment
solutions, etc. Right now we are laser-focused on tackling property
maintenance and making the most efficient processes possible. Most of our
customers currently use other solutions alongside Latchel that help with
tenant management and accounting.
------
kitcar
What are the differences between your services and SMS Assist?
([https://www.smsassist.com/residential-repair-maintenance-
ser...](https://www.smsassist.com/residential-repair-maintenance-services))
~~~
wilbo
SMS Assist targets commercial and large residential (eg 5000+ single family
homes). Their customers include Dollar Tree and the US Postal Service.
We offer similar services for mom and pop property managers.
------
crossroads091
Great idea! Wish there was something like this in India! It is becoming
increasingly strenuous on my Dad who owns a few rental properties, to always
be at the beck and call of our tenants and their problems.
~~~
jullianchavez
Hopefully with time we'll be in India, too ;)
------
raleigh_user
Is this different than rabbu.com? They just raised a round near me and I have
some experience in real estate, and have some concerns about the model
scaling. Happy to discuss more if it’d be helpful.
~~~
kitcar
What do you think are the most significant issues re: scaling the model?
~~~
raleigh_user
It’s really really hard to coordinate contractors in short time increments. I
did a consulting project with a measurement company (measures sqft of homes)
and their model is stressed coordinating and moving around in 1 market at near
max utilization. I helped them scale into 2 additional markets and it’s just
massive headaches. To the point I was thankful I generally work on software
and can operate with way higher margins. 15% margin on 3-$100 services a year.
Makes it really really hard to grow business, pay well, make mistakes (you’re
always going too and with such a small margin they hurt way more). Happy to
talk more in private if it’d be helpful. I am watching them hurt bad right now
trying to add market 4/5\. They’re at about 750k run rate
~~~
dd36
Homee helps address this.
------
deeteevee
Can Latchel be utilized by a homeowners association with an existing list of
preferred vendors?
~~~
jullianchavez
Absolutely. We organize vendors by trade category and customer contact
preference on a per-property or per-portfolio level. This allows us to
structure property and vendor relationships in a large number of ways that
accommodates almost any customer type
------
lukeplato
How do you plan on dealing with competitors? what do you think your 'moat' is?
~~~
jullianchavez
I feel like many of our competitors focus on either a pure software or pure
human operations solution to property maintenance. We approached this problem
by combining the two, leveraging the strengths of both to provide a more
efficient, and more scalable product. We use our technology solutions to
automate the tasks that can be automated, and use a skilled operations team to
either pick up where our automation hits snags (e.g. a tenant or contractor
doesnt respond to an automated SMS asking for their schedule) or where their
knowledge is required to make a decision that a computer may not be able to.
It's hard enough to build a quality product with either solution, even harder
to meld the two into an efficient engine. We believe this keeps us competitive
and makes it hard to replicate our processes.
------
draz
I'd be curious to see whether this expands into the BuildingLink market.
~~~
emlieber
I’m not very familiar with BuildingLink. What market is it for? Larger
multifamily?
~~~
notananthem
Lots of big multiunit apartments use it, its terrible, if anyone wants a run
down on current services like this I'd love to tell you why these are doomed
~~~
jullianchavez
I'd love to know more about these services and what specifically you find
terrible about them. Our team is always focused on building a good user
experience, part of which comes from learning from other services mistakes
------
rubyfan
How do you solve for quality control in the contractor network?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
NZ government leaks on TPP: copyright terms will go to life plus 70 years - sea6ear
http://boingboing.net/2015/10/06/nz-government-leaks-on-tpp-co.html
======
marssaxman
Why not 700 years? 7000? We all know that in practice they're going to keep
extending it every time early-20th-century works near the end of copyright, so
why not just own up to it?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Blacklist.co - Power to the People - valefebvre
http://www.blacklist.co/
Hi guys, here's a beta version of a new Startup that is called Blacklist.<p>Blacklist empowers consumers to react and impact, while creating for brands this opportunity of “Defensive Marketing” channel.<p>Blacklist is a web application where users can blacklist brands & products they dislike or with which they had a bad experience, anytime and anywhere from their favorite device.<p>The aim is to break the barriers of digital feedback and gives the power to the people by making it easy, fast and simple to react.
Brands and companies on the other side will have this ‘Defensive Marketing’ opportunity to listen, and engage directly with people talking about them on the platform.<p>The vision is to bring more transparency between consumers and brands, for more aligned interactions.<p>When you think about it, when you’re a happy customer you tell 3, maybe 5 people, but when you’re pissed, you want to tell the whole world.
Blacklist enables individuals to do so.
Because when people complain, the most important thing for them is the reach of their comment, the opportunity to get spread out and heard so they can have an impact; just as if their voice matters and their opinion can have influence.<p>Blacklist is that digital megaphone designed to do just that: give individuals the best tool to react and seize the force of their feedback.<p>One last thing: it is free and there is no ads
======
tobiashaag
When I first saw Blacklist one thing was extremely clear, its is not about
getting instant gratification, its not about getting a 1% discount on a
Starbucks coffee, and its not about collection a bunch of likes.
The key purpose of Blacklist is one thing; building a space for a
concentrated, organized and collective voice about consumer frustration which
finally fights back against billion dollor marketing and PR budgets. Its about
focusing this frustration and pooling it together to ultimately find the worst
of all and shout out loud.
Its off course true, all airlines are bad, but if we closer, some are just a
nightmare. These ones need that hear it and these ones are also the ones that
would pay a lot of money for the right "negative!" data. Think about it, if I
want to come back as the worst airline in history where do I start? I need to
fix the biggest pain points but where do I get this information? That can be
one massive revenue stream considering Blacklist is all verticals, all
geographies.
But apart from that, I feel it is finally a place where my frustration is
heard, is noted, not forgotten has impact. It is about feeling better after a
rip off, it is about contributing to the whole and about fairness!
All very important things in times of hardcore capitalism and corporate
superpowers. So team Blacklist, call yourself David (to the power 10) and
fight against Goliath - big time!
------
keenahn
Gotta be honest, I don't see the point of this app. As it is right now, it's
useless to me. What benefit is it to me to see that someone "blacklisted" UPS?
Guess what, I still have to ship packages occasionally, I'm still going to use
them.
Complaints about airlines... I'm guessing all airlines will be "blacklisted"
eventually because guess what, delays are part of flying.
It just looks like a slightly more organized version of what Twitter and the
Internet already largely is: people complaining. There already exist the BBB,
ripoffreport, yelp.
So... what value does your app provide? How will you make money?
~~~
valefebvre
what you see for the moment is an early version of the product, so it's easy
to drive conclusion based on that but let me tell you a little more. Blacklist
aims to be the destination online for people to complain on their consumer
experience (be it with brands or products). It's designed to empower consumer
to have a voice on that matter and extend their reach on the web from that
relevant platform. Think of it as a digital megaphone that leverages your
voice when you want to get heard. Because when you complain, what counts is
that you get the chance to get noticed in order to have interaction with the
targeted parties or your social groups. Blacklist is built on that premise.
The aim behind the concept is to bring brands and companies closer for more
aligned interactions. It's quite counter-intuitive but we'll create a
"Defensive Marketing" channel as an opportunity for them to engage with their
end-customers and be part of these conversation online about experience with
their products & service. This will effectively provide them the chance to
defend their reputation and manage their image in a genuine manner and in a
public way.
It has been proven that an individual complaining online, that is then taken
care of (and maybe eventually) and got his complaint resolved is far more
inclined to turn into a praising customer (than a satisfied customer in the
first place). In the same process the brand has the chance to show to others
their engagement and care of end-users.
So on a psychological level it means that you-as a customer- you are
important, your voice is valued and your experience/opinion matters.
Regarding other solutions out there today, I think they are well serving their
own purpose like Yelp for local and others for more specific consumer reports.
But Blacklist is focused on reacting and impacting on the brands & products
experience that consumer have; anywhere anytime from any of their web-enabled
device.
------
spenny2112
So far as it stands this app isn't very helpful considering it is just people
"blacklisting" huge companies in a non-descript manner. I think if you could
change the blacklisting process to encourage higher quality responses a la
Quora then it might have more use. Otherwise it just seems like a bunch of
people hating on companies with little justification.
~~~
valefebvre
There is some copyrighting and some test to be done here. The concept is
pretty straight-forward, but now there is some work to be done to lead users
into the best use of it, I agree. The best is constructive critics, but it's
also hard to find on the Web. Feedback from experiences are very valuable
though even if they are sometime not well formulated. Some contextual elements
can be added and thus enhance the content.
------
valefebvre
To get a glance about the vision and opportunity tackled by Blacklist, you can
check out the book titled "The Power to the People" (<http://amzn.to/TTZkZL>)
For more content: @Blacklist on Twitter and Tumblr: blacklistpower.tumblr.com
~~~
monsterix
Looks like something is wrong:
"An error occurred in the application and your page could not be served.
Please try again in a few moments.
If you are the application owner, check your logs for details."
~~~
valefebvre
yes thanks for the heads up, It has been fixed.
------
Chris2048
Power to the people? What about fairness?
It'll be easy for bad customers to complain, and then we have an ebay-style
situation where sellers have to unfairly make amends for nothing.
We need a way to rate the raters! That's the real problem.
------
alexnewman
Perhaps a better description would get more points.
~~~
valefebvre
right I changed it based on your suggestion which I find more appropriate
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A case for something, anything more simple than WordPress - cdevroe
http://colin.getbarley.com/5466/a-case-for-something-anything-more-simple
======
homosaur
I'm so weary of people pitching the solution to WordPress and then tossing a
proprietary cloud hosted thing at me. That's a complete non-starter.
All the time I hear from fellow devs "oh don't advertise you use WordPress,
it's irrelevant to clients." Tell that to my bank account and all the jobs
I've stolen from agencies who wanted to use their BS proprietary CMS.
I sell WordPress like this: when you want a rebuild in 10 years and I'm in
Thailand smoking drugs with your money pile you just gave me, you'll be able
to find someone to work on it no problem.
There's plenty to dislike about the WP codebase, but we all have to remember
that WP was made in an era when coding reasonable software in PHP was nearly
impossible. Nothing backwards-compatible can happen there that isn't going to
destroy all the millions of existing sites. It's still pretty freaking easy to
build a site with, especially when you compare it to other CMSes of that era.
Moreover, their development roadmap is actually really solid. I like where WP
is going. I unfortunately would no longer recommend it for basic blogging due
to its complexity but as a CMS, there's really not a lot of free software
options that can function on that level without extensive database programming
and security knowledge.
~~~
ZoFreX
So the advantage of Wordpress isn't anything you could find by looking at
Wordpress itself... it's the popularity and huge amount of support that
brings? Makes sense.
So the "next Wordpress" won't be able to be the next Wordpress until it's
popular. It'll have to be good for other reasons until then.
~~~
jamesbritt
Yes. People who say they are creating a Wordpress replacement need to make
clear what they understand Wordpress to be and what exactly they are
replacing.
------
gmays
Here's a crazy idea: You're a developer. If it's too complex for your
customer, then simplify it. Fight the urge to build something new just because
you can. You're really the only person that cares that you built it, everyone
else just wants something that works.
I understand why you're following 37signals' simplicity model, but those
markets didn't have flexible CMS' to start with like we do. The beauty of
WordPress is that it's easy to hide and remove extraneous features. It has
everything you need and you can just remove the stuff you don't, just like the
way a sculptor chisels away the unneeded parts. It's building from a different
direction.
WordPress is a tool, not an end product, and it's been around for over 10
years.
Face it, websites are a commodity these days. What new features, processes, or
anything else exist that WordPress can't do with a few tweaks? Front-end
editing, one-click setup, drag and drop, it's all easier to add than building
from scratch.
If your goal is to create value, then think hard about what problem your
customer is trying to solve. If it requires something new, then by all means
build it! But I don't see this as one of those cases.
~~~
rocky1138
In my experience developing websites for clients, I've found the ones that ask
for simplicity up-front (or ones I assume will need simplicity) end up
requiring other more complex features down the line, making WordPress a great
choice to start with and then expand into without much rework.
------
jamesbritt
I'm using Wordpress for a project because of the wealth of existing templates
and plugins. Without these Wordpress is not terribly interesting; it's not
Wordpress.
Once you drop the ecosystem there are plenty of alternative to creating static
or near-static sites.
edit: I should point out that more alternatives for creating Web content is,
on average, a Good Thing. Presenting a tool, however good, as an alternative
to Wordpress however brings a lot of assumptions that may cause people to
focus on the wrong things.
There's probably a market for a form of Wordpress that could use existing
themes but not plugins, and only allowed basic posts and pages, with perhaps a
more robust security model. E.g. prevent commenting (in order to avoid having
to accept external content) except via Disqus or something.
~~~
jsdalton
It's also very easy to extend. It may not be the prettiest code base, but I
very rarely hit a blocker where I _can 't_ do what I have set out to do.
Even if you're not the one actually extending it, the fact that it's easy to
extend means there is a wealth of plugin offerings.
~~~
jamesbritt
_It 's also very easy to extend._
True. I hadn't done any PHP coding in many years, and knew essentially nothing
about how WP worked, but Google + tenacity = useful results. Shortcodes, for
example; super cool.
There are plenty of WTF moments in PHP and Wordpress but nothing that prevents
pragmatic results.
~~~
Karunamon
Worth mentioning though, that level of easy extensibility, combined with
Wordpress' absurd popularity, makes it very easy to get into trouble. It's the
Internet Explorer of the blogging world.
Consider: [http://wpmu.org/why-you-should-never-search-for-free-
wordpre...](http://wpmu.org/why-you-should-never-search-for-free-wordpress-
themes-in-google-or-anywhere-else/)
~~~
zapt02
Your link has nothing to do with building themes or plugins though..
~~~
Karunamon
Building, no. Using, everything. A non trivial amount of plugins/themes an
average user is likely to install are major security risks.
------
jinushaun
The problem with this post, and other "WordPressis too complex" posts like it,
is that WordPress did not intially start off this way. Wordprrss was
originially a simple blog. Once Barley gets enough users, people will want it
to do more and more things until it becomes yet another blog turned CMS
platform.
As for me, I use Jekyll and disqus because I'm just one guy.
~~~
cdevroe
jinushaun: We agree. Sort of our company mantra is "we have a passion for
saying no" which means, to us at least, that we think we have the ability to
say no to new features that do not fit who we think our target is. Time will
tell if we're able to do it.
That being said, all software and services as they age begin to suffer from
scope creep and feature bloat. Then it will be time again for something new.
------
jtreminio
About a year ago I moved my blog completely off of Wordpress and onto
Piecrust[0]. I realized I didn't need all the dynamic tools available in
Wordpress, because blog, and Piecrust has so far worked beautifully.
Comments were replaced with Disqus. No more opening my site to any possible
security holes, no more having to keep on top of plugin updates, no more
crying tears of shame when I snuck a peek at said plugins' source code, I can
check in my whole site into github and be done with it.
[0] [http://bolt80.com/piecrust/](http://bolt80.com/piecrust/)
~~~
Kronopath
I'm in the process of doing the same for my personal site with Jekyll.[0] It's
so much more convenient to be able to structure and style my website the way I
want without having to mess with Wordpress's PHP-based themes. And I find
writing in Markdown with optional custom HTML snippets to be much more
powerful than trying to wrestle the Wordpress browser-based editor into doing
what I want.
[0] [http://jekyllrb.com/](http://jekyllrb.com/)
------
mikeschinkel
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnonolan/ghost-
just-a-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/johnonolan/ghost-just-a-
blogging-platform)
~~~
frankydp
this should be released by the 15th of oct
------
ryansan
I agree that WordPress is a little convoluted for simple projects. However,
you can get great starter themes that eliminate that complexity for you from
the get-go. Like the _s starter theme or something like Bones.
I think WordPress is often the go-to platform because it's just what people
hear about -- plus, it's free. My preferred CMS for websites is
ExpressionEngine because it's flexible enough to make it what you want.
There's no "loop" that you have to deal with over and over and there aren't a
gajillion default things that you have to strip out at the outset of a
project.
The trouble is that clients are afraid to try something that isn't what their
neighbor is using. I often get, "Yah, but this is what I used in a past
project." or "A buddy of mine used WordPress and he gets 10 million hits a
day!" Getting them to pay $299 for a commercial license for EE seems like a
really steep cost when they could just get WordPress for free and it's "good
enough."
------
Riley
I couldn't agree more. In fact, this is why I started building a project for
my girlfriend so she could create her own site. And now it's grown into
something powerful that I really enjoy using too.
[http://simplpost.com/blog/what-is-this-
thing/](http://simplpost.com/blog/what-is-this-thing/)
------
darkFunction
The first comment on the article is by Jason Schuller, who created a great
little open source blogging platform called Dropplets
([http://dropplets.com/](http://dropplets.com/)).
I use it myself and it's fantastic. Simple and elegant and I feel in control
of my blog now- there's no magic.
------
dkuntz2
I used WordPress for a while, but switched to a host of static site generators
about two years ago. One of the big reasons I switched was because WordPress
was so huge, and unnecessarily so.
Their big overhaul of the wp-admin section, in 2.5 I think, de-emphasized the
post writing page (something which was previously instantly accessible).
That's what started pushing me away from WordPress.
Recently I've started looking for another server-side platform. I've been
getting annoyed with the extra work involved with static site generators,
especially for a rather trivial "look what I saw" blog. I installed Anchor [1]
last night, and plan on playing with it. I'm also interested in Ghost, but it
hasn't been publicly released so far as I know.
[1]: Anchor CMS: [http://anchorcms.com](http://anchorcms.com)
~~~
egypturnash
These days there's a "\+ New" button at the top of every single page of a
Wordpress site - both the admin section, and the public section if you're
logged in - that lets you add a new post, piece of media, page, or user. Or
more; I use the Comic Easel plugin to manage my webcomic, and it lets me add a
new page that way.
That said if you want a CMS that only does the five things you need, you don't
want WP.
~~~
dkuntz2
That's exactly the conclusion I came to. Which is a shame, because there was a
point where WordPress basically did just what I wanted to, and put the
emphasis on those things. Now it's a full blown CMS, which I don't want or
need.
------
kartikkumar
> Some sites are blogs, others are small business web sites, others are photo
> galleries, others are one pagers of information, and some are pages that let
> you buy things. There shouldn't just be one tool to build all of these.
I find that above text a bit odd. Maybe I'm misinterpretting it, but why
exactly shouldn't there be one tool to build all of those websites? It might
very well be that Wordpress is not suited to build all those things, but it
doesn't follow logically that there should not be a "mastertool", no matter
what.
I understand the general sentiment of "horses for courses", but I also think
that it's important to make sure that your tools are performing well, rather
than trying to make a blanket statement about what web dev tools should and
shouldn't do in general.
------
joetech
I'm liking Ghost so far, but it's still a very early release and yet to
include some base features
------
marban
If you're into simple, hosted services, you might give
[http://www.postagon.com](http://www.postagon.com) a try.
------
lrem
Incidentally I just released my me-too static generator. It's targeted for
academics, with all the features an academic expects (hyphenation, LaTeX math
support and so on). If anyone's interested:
[https://github.com/lrem/phdoc](https://github.com/lrem/phdoc)
------
buckbova
I point complete novices to [http://www.weebly.com/](http://www.weebly.com/).
It has a gui site builder (wysiwyg) and what not, and is considerably simpler
than wordpress.
What does barley have over weebly?
Can I download barley and install on my servers like I can with wordpress? If
not, this is apples and oranges.
------
dsowers
You should try out Silvrback ([https://dsowers.silvrback.com/introducing-
silvrback](https://dsowers.silvrback.com/introducing-silvrback)). It's a
hosted, markdown powered blog as clean as medium.
~~~
silverbax88
Well, I like the name.
------
tlongren
I think Anchor CMS has done a nice job of filling this space. It's FAR from
complex.
------
matthewbaker
The only differentiator that I see you offering is inline editing, which can
be activated very quickly with a Wordpress plug-in.
I think you're traveling down a meat grinder of a road by choosing to spend
time on this.
------
jere
Just wanted to say: you've got yourself a pretty amazing promo video for
Barley. Love the quote, song, style, everything really.
------
rocky1138
Consider Perch.
[http://grabaperch.com/](http://grabaperch.com/)
------
jackmcdade
Another one: statamic.com. Flat file, live routing and caching, with a
responsive cp.
------
knieveltech
It's like Wordpress has turned into Drupal and Drupal flipped the hell out and
is trying to become Sharepoint. Crazy pills.
------
AsymetricCom
Perl/CGI is pretty simple..
~~~
jlgaddis
Well that brings back memories!
use CGI;
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Clicktofriend: click a button, make a friend in real life - shuzhang
http://clicktofriend.co
======
halleym
Webpage copy is great... worth a chuckle.
I've mulled over some sort of 'tinder for friends' and not had any new ideas.
This seems straightforward enough to work.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Airlander 10: Longest aircraft damaged during flight - teh_klev
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-37174417
======
JoeAltmaier
A spokesman said: "The flight went really well and the only issue was when it
landed."
Well, that's kind of every air flight ever. Its sticking the landing that's
the hard part. Its not the fall that kills you; its the sudden stop at the
end.
~~~
simplicio
One of the advantages of large lighter than air craft is that they actually
tend to crash in slo-mo, so the "sudden stop" tends to be pretty slow. In the
case of the Hindenberg, a lot of the people who died did so because they
jumped out too early and fell to their deaths, rather than "ride" the craft
down.
Even in the worst disaster, the USS Akron, most deaths were due to drowning
and hypothermia after the ship went down, rather than impact.
~~~
anexprogrammer
The majority of Hindenburg victims burnt to death - "riding the craft down"
doesn't seem quite such an attractive option.
~~~
simplicio
Well, obviously you don't want to hang around very long after its on (or even
close to) the ground. IIRC, most of the burning deaths were crew-members in
the upper parts of the ship who were either caught in the fire in its first
stages or didn't have a way out even after it hit the ground. The lower decks
weren't ignited till it hit the ground.
But the point is that "impact" wasn't a common cause of death for those who
stayed in the ship until it was near the ground. Even when the lifting gas is
being vented fairly rapidly, they tend to comedown at survivable speeds.
------
dvcc
For anyone who has not had the chance to read it there is a good article from
the New Yorker on airships:
[http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-
generatio...](http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/a-new-generation-
of-airships-is-born).
It was a fun light read. Although at the end I just felt like I got a lesson
in really expensive, and partially complete vaporware (vapor-commercial-ware?)
and was left with little hope for their future.
~~~
Naritai
I highly recommend that article as well. Though yes, like you I was left with
a sense that this industry is never going to take off, so to speak.
------
Declanomous
As the saying goes, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. A great
landing is one where you can fly the plane again.
~~~
mdip
Ah, ya beat me to that quote!
Growing up, we flew in my dad's 4-seat (and later 7-seat) Cherokee very
frequently and he'd always comment on his landing. He judged his entire flight
by how easy it was to identify when the tire made contact with the runway. I
remember a flight in high winds that he put down so softly that nobody could
tell when we hit the ground. I also remember a landing when I was alone with
my dad where we encountered a cross-wind a few seconds before making contact
resulting in my slamming my head into the top of the cockpit and yelling
"Mother F*cker!" (I was 14, he'd never heard me swear before and it was a
bonding moment that he shrugged it off and thought it was totally warranted
given the circumstances).
~~~
mikeash
Bad landings seem to be something that unites almost all pilots. The better
ones make bad landings less often, but nobody is immune.
Regarding your bonding moment, one reason I like to fly by myself is so I can
swear as much as I want. Part of me is always slightly terrified of having a
stuck mic.
------
LeifCarrotson
It nosedived on landing, and suffered some damage to the cabin. The crew was
fine.
That's a huge win for lighter-than-air flight in my book. A jet aircraft would
be a smear of aluminum, carbon fiber, and jet fuel all over the runway.
~~~
mdip
Actually, a nose-dive landing occurred at LaGuardia in 2013 - Southwest
Airlines - I believe the incident had something to do with the front landing
gear failing. There was a small fire (as you mention, jet fuel is quite
flammable and if there's a leak and a spark, that's a foregone conclusion, I'd
imagine).
But the aircraft itself didn't look too bad which is a testament to decades of
engineering experience with a device of such complexity[0].
[0] And found a link!
[http://gothamist.com/2013/07/23/video_southwest_planes_nosed...](http://gothamist.com/2013/07/23/video_southwest_planes_nosedive_ont.php#photo-1)
~~~
gengkev
I guess that's why you're not supposed to take your seatbelt off until you get
to the gate...
------
cptskippy
"The company has denied claims from a witness that a line
hanging down from the vehicle hit a telegraph pole about
two fields away from its landing."
Telegraph pole? Is that a British colloquialism or do they still have
telegraph poles over there? Or was that how they knew the witness was lying?
~~~
jameshart
British term for a wooden pole that has wires at the top, regardless of what
the wires are actually for.
------
Animats
Watch the 1080p version.[1] Did they have a control system failure, or was
this pilot error? The front fans are steerable, but there's no sign of an
attempt to correct the nose-down attitude as the craft dives. Watch the front
fan positions. After the crash, the front fans move, but by then the cockpit
has been crushed and there's probably nobody in control.
This thing is the same concept as the Skunk Works' P791 prototype - slightly
heavier than air, steerable fans - but the flight controls seem to be much
less effective and the landing gear is far worse.
[1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkYbw4R_-
RQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkYbw4R_-RQ)
------
sandworm101
Lots of different descriptions around this story: "Damaged during
flight"..."has been damaged after nosediving on landing"..."damage to its
cockpit when it hit the ground"..."Collided with the ground"
But only one honest: "The Air Accidents Investigation Branch has confirmed it
is investigating the _crash_ "
It crashed. During flight it collided with a fixed object (technically an
"ollision") resulting in damage to the aircraft. On its second a test flight,
the experimental aircraft crashed.
~~~
mikeash
They all look honest to me, and the one you're praising is much less
informative than three of the four you criticize.
------
EddieSpeaks
Down the Irons!
~~~
dan1234
Empire of the clouds[0]: part two…
[0][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Clouds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Clouds)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Wow: Craigslist loses Craigslists.com domain dispute - ilamont
http://domainnamewire.com/2012/08/10/wow-craigslist-loses-craigslists-com-domain-dispute/
======
gmyachtsman
Sounds like one of the Craig's needs some new lawyers.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
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