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Elon Musk exercises Tesla options, pays $50M tax bill with own cash - SCAQTony
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/elon-musk-buys-tesla-shares-cheap-pays-hefty-tax-bill-with-own-cash-2016-01-29
======
Havoc
>priced at $6.63, according to the SEC filing. That is less than 3.5% of the
current going rate for Tesla shares
Bit of a no-brainer then, tax or not.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
25-Year-Old Textbooks and Holes in the Ceiling: Inside America’s Public Schools - SQL2219
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/reader-center/us-public-schools-conditions.html
======
awat
I wish I could upvote this more than once. Both my parents were teachers. The
disparities that children face from day one neighborhood to neighborhood are
so large it makes me sigh so hard when I hear people say things like just work
harder.
~~~
mncharity
I'm not sure whether the following thought makes that better, or even worse.
Even the best of pre-college science education is wretched. Chemistry
education research describes chemistry education content as "incoherent".
There's limited evidence that it's possible to do much much better. But it's
hard to create such content, and there's little incentive, so it largely
doesn't exist. Even in expensive private schools in states with the best
public education.
So one perspective is, if by dint of extraordinary societal efforts, the
disparity were eliminated, then science education would achieve... a
uniformity of wretchedness. Useful for student opportunity and mobility, but,
sigh.
Another perspective is, that if changing technology and incentives makes
transformatively better science education possible, it need not follow the
existing pattern of disparity. For illustration, if the best lab experience
becomes a virtual lab experience, then having a well-stocked lab vs a moldy
closet, suddenly matters much less.
Another perspective is, of course, that the pattern could live on (ducktaped
broken obsolete VR?), and thus the barrier grow even larger. :/
But in such a transition, there's at least a hope for piggybacking a change in
disparity.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What design services have you had luck with? - broose_goose
A fellow developer and I are about to start working on a new Web App in our free-time, and I wanted to use a design service to expedite the process.<p>If you have used a design service before: what was the service and would you recommend it? Any tips or things I could personally do to get more out of the service? All feedback is appreciated!<p>I have been lurking on this site for around two years now and this is my first post, hooray! :D
======
indescions_2018
[https://www.manypixels.co/](https://www.manypixels.co/)
~~~
broose_goose
This looks promising! Can you share anything about your experience using their
services?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
5 Reasons Why I Switched from Mint to a Spreadsheet - dend
https://www.dennisdel.com/why-spreadsheet/
======
osullivj
Some good points explaining why spreadsheets are so sticky. I do my books for
my limited company in Google & Excel. Points 2 & 5 are key for me: flexibility
and awareness. I tried freeagent.com a while back. Initially it seemed very
convenient, but then I had massive hassle with some double booked
transactions, so went back to spreadsheets. I do note that the author is an MS
person, so is likely to talk up Excel...
~~~
dend
Full disclosure - yes, I work at MS, but not on the Excel team, and have no
stake in Excel in any way. That said, you can substitute Excel with any other
spreadsheet processor you like :)
And I agree with you that in some cases transactions are hard to track with
existing tools when there are very specific scenarios that are simply not
common enough to be included in the "one-size-fits-all" services. For me those
are cash transactions between friends and them paying back for things through,
say, Venmo.
~~~
fleurdelotus
What about Microsoft Money?
~~~
dend
Hey, Money Plus Sunset is still an available download:
[https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/download/details.aspx?id=207...](https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/download/details.aspx?id=20738)
------
saddestcatever
How are you populating your spreadsheet? Importing a .csv from each of your
bank accounts? Let's say I have 3 different accounts, logging in and getting
updated transactions is now a 15 minute process.
Mint absolutely blows (slow, barely works, poor categorization, poor
projections), but I haven't found an easier way to view multiple accounts in
one place.
~~~
dend
CSV export/import for frequent transactions, for others I just pop the Excel
spreadsheet on my phone (it's synced to Dropbox) and just roll from there.
------
zomg
Seems like a move backwards to me. I'd recommend trying YNAB (You Need A
Budget - youneedabudget.com).
~~~
dend
How do they talk to banks and what is their security policy?
I've found that they use Finicity
([https://www.finicity.com/](https://www.finicity.com/)) for API and are
stating that only a limited number of engineers have access to the DB
([https://www.youneedabudget.com/security/](https://www.youneedabudget.com/security/)).
Still, would love to know more details on the security policies and
infrastructure that are kind-of glanced over.
~~~
zomg
I intentionally don't auto-import transactions, which keeps me honest about my
spending (part of their philosophy, which I enjoy), so I haven't had a need to
look into it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: StarTrack – GitHub star history and stats - seladb
https://github.com/seladb/StarTrack-js
======
ecesena
Really nice!
If I can suggest:
1) update the browser url so I can share directly, no need for the copy button
(I shared it with my team, then the link was wrong, then I went back and found
the copy button).
2) maybe cache the result for like 2h? it should be barely 0 cost, but if I
refresh or share with someone who clicks immediately it’s almost instant.
------
dudidu
Very cool stuff!!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Chargify New Pricing - MicahWedemeyer
http://chargify.com/blog/chargify-news-new-pricing-features-more/
======
jacquesm
> we do need to migrate everyone to the new pricing
You can't change your pricing upwards for existing customers, ever.
You can change your price to anything you want for new customers.
You can decrease your prices for anybody at any point in time.
Something like chargify is the basis for the business models of other parties,
if you made a deal in the past you have to honor it, so that your customers
can honor the deals that they made.
~~~
davidu
Agreed.
First, it's crazy that Chargify is not talking about this here and responding.
(Update: they are responding quickly via Twitter)
Second, when will companies understand and learn that you simply CAN NOT do
this. Hell, how can any board member let a company do this?
We just started looking at Chargify for all OpenDNS enterprise users (doing
many $mm/year in transactions) but we thought their pricing might not scale up
for us. So we had it on hold. The distinction between free and paid customers
was critical for us.
Now I know I was right not to pursue it. We'll continue with our home-built
solution.
~~~
jackowayed
> _Update: they are responding quickly via Twitter_
Saw this when skimming their tweets:
"@jamiequint We're making changes as we speak for existing merchants."
<http://twitter.com/Chargify/status/27063975080>
------
markbao
Wow, really? Chargify just lost its position as the best choice for
subscription management. Extremely glad we didn't launch yet with Chargify...
Here are some Chargify alternatives that we are looking at: Recurly,
<http://recurly.com/pricing/> at 200 transactions and 500 users $29/m -
Spreedly, <http://spreedly.com/info/pricing/> at $19/m + $0.20/transaction or
2% per transaction if less - CheddarGetter,
<https://cheddargetter.com/pricing> at $39/m -> 1000 customers, $0 per
transaction.
At the moment, we're probably going to switch to Spreedly, since the rates
look good and they've been around for a while. Depends on what kind of dunning
management they have.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's pretty ironic that it was part of the lean
startup bundle.
~~~
cglee
Last time I looked, Spreedly's API and functionality wasn't even in the same
ballpark as Chargify's. I've worked on integration projects with both, and
Chargify is much better and more configurable. Spreedly may have improved,
it's been a while.
~~~
ntalbott
On the one hand, I agree with you - Spreedly's not as feature rich as some of
the competition. On the other hand, we have a lot of _very_ happy customers,
so that doesn't mean we're not a good fit for a significant set of startups.
~~~
cglee
Very true, please count me as one of your satisfied customers. In a different
comment, I did say Spreedly would be a great fit for those who just want a
straight forward recurring billing solution, without deep API integration and
other features offered by Chargify/Recurly. I forgot to note that here.
~~~
jacquesm
Deep API integration translates in to 'more lock-in'. Better try to handle as
much of the business logic other than the initial add, the rebilling and the
deletions upon account expiry yourself.
Keep your interface to services like this as thin as you can get away with
without compromising customer comfort, in the long run you'll be very happy
you did.
------
matt1
I've been slowly integrating Chargify into my app for the last several weeks
and was blown away to read about this just now. One of the big selling points
for me was the fact that it was free for up to 50 customers. I thought this
was brilliant on their part because neither Recurly or Spreedly offer this. It
got you locked into using their service, which is huge.
That being said, I bet that 95% of their users are under the 50 users/month
threshold and it must cost a bit to support them all. They must have
calculated that it just wasn't worth it.
I wish they would offer a cheaper plan for up to, say, 100 users. I think that
would a great middle ground for new apps.
I wrote a blog post a few weeks ago comparing the costs of Recurly, Spreedly,
and Chargify and concluded Chargify was way in front [1]. I think they're way
behind now.
[1] [http://www.mattmazur.com/2010/08/comparing-recurly-
spreedly-...](http://www.mattmazur.com/2010/08/comparing-recurly-spreedly-and-
chargify/)
~~~
MicahWedemeyer
This seems like a big shoot-self-in-foot moment. To get to 50+ users you have
to start at zero. Cut out all your <50 customers and you'll never have any >50
customers. Seems blatantly obvious to me. I guess I must be missing something.
~~~
alextgordon
I don't know why they don't just charge a set monthly amount for each user (up
to a threshold). Say $1. So if you have 20 users you pay $20/month. That would
allow them to keep their existing customers, cover their costs and provide a
path for people to work up to $99/month.
Also, they shouldn't have doubled their fees for existing paying customers.
~~~
3pt14159
I empathize with you're sentiments, but I ran a split test for a SaaS based
business and it turns out "packages" convert better, at least for their target
market (law firms). It would be nice if everything was just a continuous
curve, but people are more sold on "plans".
~~~
alextgordon
Hmm. I can understand that. But I don't think it applies here, since the
distinct plans would still be there for customers with more than 500 users.
The per user $x pricing would only change things for customers with less than
100/x users, which let's face it, they're not going to be making _any_ money
off now.
------
dh
My name is David Hauser (@dh) and I am a founder at Chargify as well as the
Grasshopper Group where I have spent the last 7 years serving hundreds of
thousands of entrepreneurs and helping them to succeed. I want to respond
directly here and invite anyone to reach out to me personally on Twitter or
email to talk about this or anything else.
We made a mistake with how we implemented and communicated a massive price
increase and in doing so totally ignored our loyal and amazing customers that
spent the time to integrate with Chargify. After starting many companies with
NO outside capital I understand the struggles of a bootstraping company or
lean startup so we should have done better with this.
Listening to the feedback here and via many other channels this was very clear
and we wanted to make a quick change. We have released a $39/month plan that
supports 100 customers for anyone that has signed up for an account, does not
matter if you never used or have not started to integrate. Some important
points.
\- Only active customers are ever counted in your customer count
\- $39/month plan will be available for anyone that has a Chargify account
now. Do not worry that you will miss signing up, it will be available for you
\- Offering the type of support that we want to is not cheap, and it is how we
do business
\- PCI Level 1 is both expensive and valuable and we want to provide that to
our customers
While we firmly believe that Chargify and many competitors provide great value
to a company that wants to do recurring billing we realize the mistake that
was made. We will not go back to free as it will not allow us to support our
customers the way we want to. There will always be a "cheap" or cheaper
competitor out there but we are not that one.
~~~
toast76
Firstly, thanks for the change of plan. But don't think you're off the hook
that easily! :P
I understand the need to ditch free users. It's a common tale that supporting
free users is just not worth the effort. But realistically, dropping a bomb
like this on the many customers you already have which are either "only just"
paying or "about to pay" is just plain horrible. Startups who are just ticking
over to the base paid plan are particularly vulnerable, not to mention the
hundreds of customers who are no doubt not that far yet. The point is, that
EVERY one of your customers starts off with ZERO of their own customers.
That's what made your pricing so great for bootstrapped startups like us.
Today, you've made it just that little bit harder for people like us.
We started using Chargify in production about 60 days ago. We were just about
to write our first cheque to you, and I've even mentioned to Lance that I was
actually looking forward to it. In my mind, getting to 50 paying customers was
something of a milestone. But to go from budgeting for $50 a month to now
budgeting $100 a month on top of the all the merchant fees for both is just
about a show stopper. I guess that just means we're not in your target market.
I don't think anyone expects businesses like Chargify to offer their (awesome)
product for free. But for someone who has been in business for so long, it is
hard to believe you guys are so naive as to think this would go down at all
well. Especially when it has happened time and time again with others only
recently.
Chargify is in the unique position of having a fairly substantial "lock in" on
customers. The switching costs for us is huge. For us to change to competitor
would be prohibitively expensive. When you're in that position, it's
unpleasant to be reminded just how much power a third party has over your own
business.
I mentioned in another post here that UsabilityHub has just shy of 10,000
users. 90% of those were migrated from our previous system (paypal) which
wasn't subscription based. At the time I made the decision to keep those users
out of Chargify rather than paying $40 a month to maintain them. I felt
dishonest for doing so, but now that I'd be getting charged $1000 a month for
those "free" users, it was possibly the best decision I ever made. We got out
relatively unscathed, but that is how close we come to being forced to shut
down our product because of pricing decision made by a third party. Let that
be a lesson to all.
The moral of the story here, however, is that you guys have spent nearly a
year building up some pretty awesome goodwill amongst the startup community.
Today you've turned around and told all of us that we don't matter to you. You
guys have spent so long telling us how the banking sector is "doing it wrong",
is too expensive and has too many fees, and then you turn around and join
them.
To underline all of this, Chargify is now the most expensive part of the
billing chain for startups. Congratulations.
EDIT: I'm currently in the process of implementing "one time" purchases using
Chargify. This is our most requested feature. Given that all these users will
be counted as "active users" in Chargify, we'll be getting billed for every
one of our 10,000 users that decide to make a "one time" purchase even though
they're not actually subscribers.
So I guess I need to explain to our customers why we won't be doing that any
more.... this just keeps getting worse.
~~~
rksprst
I've met David and he is a great guy that really cares about entrepreneurs, so
I'm surprised about how they went about this pricing change.
The pricing change itself makes total sense (startups who never get any
traction/paying customers end up costing a ton and never pay anything) - but
changing to a pricing structure that can hurt so many entrepreneurs (like in
toast76's case) seems the wrong way to go.
Is the cost to grandfather in all the existing customers really worth all the
brand damage this created? Not to mention the startups that are now cash-flow
negative since they are being suddenly charged for all their free users (and
apparently one-time payment users).
The icing on the cake is that their branding is focused around being the
service provider to entrepreneurs.
~~~
toast76
That's the bit that upsets me. I've dealt with Lance in particular quite a
bit. These guys are fanatical about helping out. I WAN'T to give these guys
money. I love their stuff, I love their spirit. If this was Paypal I wouldn't
be posting here... I'd just be closing my account.
------
youmon
Chargify can charge what it wants, but the pricing change was abrupt and BIG.
Apps on the ground floor went from FREE to $1200/year. No grandfathering, 30
days to accept. For a service that needs to be integrated, that's a terrible
move that shows no respect for startups.
~~~
wheels
What's worse is that if you're already using them, you basically have no
choice in the matter since the alternative is trying to get all of your
customers to sign up again, which is basically a non-starter. Note that they
also doubled prices for their first tier of _paid_ customers from $600 to
$1200.
~~~
MicahWedemeyer
Well, technically you have all the customer data in your gateway's info
manager (like Authorize.net's CIM), but it would still be a real bitch to take
that and do anything useful with it. Plus, the clock is ticking on your 30
days to get it migrated to your new setup.
~~~
jacquesm
CC, EXP and CVC as well ?
Without those you won't be doing much in terms of migration.
Other than contacting the customer, figure you'll lose 75% or more of your
business that way.
~~~
MicahWedemeyer
In our case, all that stuff is handled via the Authorize.net CIM. Chargify
stores everything in the CIM and just makes calls to Authorize's API.
To be clear: we can leave _Chargify_ , but _Authorize_ has us locked in.
~~~
jacquesm
What does chargify do for you that the authorize.net api can not do for you?
~~~
MicahWedemeyer
Honestly, I haven't looked closely at the raw A.net API. I heard about
Chargify, pricing looked good, and it fit my model. Basically, I wanted
someone else to deal with dunning, expired cards, running the periodic
charges, etc, etc.
I write about it more here: [http://peachshake.com/2010/06/15/saas-
subscription-billing-o...](http://peachshake.com/2010/06/15/saas-subscription-
billing-or-how-to-avoid-getting-your-nts-in-a-vice/)
Up to now, I've been nothing but pleased with Chargify. This change makes me
question their sanity a bit, though.
~~~
jacquesm
Here is the PDF with the authorize.net recurring billing integration
information:
<http://developer.authorize.net/api/arb/>
------
thetrumanshow
Spreedly: $20/month + $0.20 per transaction. .. and I'm using it on 2 apps.
I was considering trying out Chargify, but not anymore. Unlike Spreedly,
Chargify apparently wants me to pay a lot more up front for users I don't even
have yet.
~~~
symkat
Thanks, I've never heard of them!
------
MicahWedemeyer
This spooks me a bit. I'm a big fan of Chargify, but for their prices to jump
like this and totally remove the free plan is scary. That will make it much
less attractive to brand new web apps that don't have a proven business model.
With the new pricing scheme your setup cost for accepting credit cards are
merchant account, gateway (ie. Authorize.net), and $99/mo for Chargify. For
most brand new web apps that's going to be significantly more than you pay for
server/hosting costs. That's a bitter pill to swallow when you're not even
sure if anyone will actually pay for your service.
~~~
sv123
this is disappointing. we were looking forward to starting to use chargify
because of the free tier. Now I would be reluctant to even sign up until I was
sure I had at least a few paying customers. I don't remember exactly but the
free tier seemed pretty generous, maybe cutting that down to under 5-10
customers is free? To at least get people hooked on it without such a big
barrier to entry.
~~~
owkaye
Even giving me 5 customers free would encourage me to try them, but they can
forget that now -- because I'm not going to commit to anything close to $99 a
month unless I actually have hundreds of paying customers. Just my personal
point of view, but it feels like they have so much business now that they no
longer care about getting any new customers.
------
toast76
Wow. What a kick in the nuts.
UsabilityHub has just shy of 10,000 users. The VAST majority of those are free
users, and a fair percentage of those are inactive. My Chargify bill would've
just gone from $50p/month to $999p/month! And pretty soon I'd be looking at
having to NEGOTIATE my pricing. What the fuck chargify?
Fortunately for us, we saw the potential for asshole acts from Chargify and
never registered our free users with them. If we had...well...we'd be royally
screwed. $50 to $1000 with one newsletter.
I feel like a moron the number of times I pointed to Chargify as a great way
to do business. They were startup friendly, they helped you grow your business
to the point where you'd be happy when you start paying them. I know we were!
Most of all, Chargify were the beacon of freemium pricing. Not only were THEY
freemium, they were very freemium friendly.
In one swoop they've gone from the cheapest part of setting up your billing to
being BY FAR the most expensive part. What a bunch of suckers all your
customers are...us included.
Chargify, you will NEVER under the hate you've just brought on yourselves.
------
davidedicillo
Some Chargify alternatives:
<http://cheddargetter.com>
<http://www.spreedly.com>
<http://recurly.com>
<http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com>
~~~
cglee
Just a note that Recurly did this exact same thing several months ago, though
they've since changed their prices again. We were literally 1 day away from
launching on Recurly when they changed prices. Spooked by the sudden price
hike, we spent a good deal of time re-writing our ecommerce on Chargify. And
now this. Maybe it's time to just bite the bullet and roll our own solution.
Spreedly doesn't provide the same functionality, but it's great if you just
need a basic recurring payment solution without the frills or deep API
integration.
I haven't worked with CheddarGetter or BrainTree directly.
~~~
jacquesm
If you can at all afford it get your own merchant account and work with an
IPSP directly, keep control of your own data as much as is allowed and make a
deal that if they go belly up that you will get access to your accounts for a
one-time migration to another IPSP. Otherwise you're just setting yourself up
for big trouble down the road.
Middlemen in the payment business have a habit of going down when you need
them most (when your business is successful and you are growing like mad, have
a bunch of employees and suddenly your income evaporates).
iBill, DMR, now Jettis in trouble and many others besides.
All it takes is one big VISA fine for not following procedures and these
operations will fold like a house of cards.
~~~
boundlessdreamz
braintree looks like the best option then. They are PCI Level 1 compliant and
they are too big to go belly up and they have a great reputation.
------
apowell
I was piloting Chargify with about dozen customers to see if I wanted to make
it the default platform for all of my customers. Now, definitely not. This
bait and switch shows a complete lack of respect for everyone who has invested
in the platform.
Chargify, I'm sure you'll be laughing all the way to the bank, but not with my
money.
Does anyone sell an installable non-SaaS replacement for Chargify that
integrates with Authorize.net CIM?
------
bobx11
I spent the last two days porting our code from paypal web payments pro over
to chargify... and then they just jacked up their prices for starter level
from 0 to $1,200 a year, and you still have to subscribe to authorize and the
customer information manager - so they're just providing the gateway for
$100/month. Ruined my afternoon, and probably tomorrow as I look at the other
options like recurly.com , spreedly.com , cheddargetter.com , etc.
~~~
carbocation
If you want to waste a bit more time, it would be great if you would take
notes and submit a blog post to HN with what you find.
------
atldev
You can predict the response based on a similar move made by Zendesk back in
May (<http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/18/zendesk-pricing/>). Spoiler alert:
there will be backlash.
It also strikes me as a dangerous strategic move. The reason I originally
selected Chargify over competitors like Spreedly and CheddarGetter is because
they had the lowest entry cost. I can experiment and find product market fit.
By that point, I don't care so much about the monthly cost (and I'm locked in
to a product that I like, which helped me reach my goals). The new pricing
model is extreme enough to make me revisit the decision. I'm sure I'm not
alone.
I find their product and support to be great, and I'd like to see them keep a
similar model. Maybe they should lower the thresholds (free up to 10 paying
customers, for example). I'm sure there are other models that will work for
them and their customers.
------
matt1
Question, since this is getting a lot of discussion right now and it's
relevant for anyone this impacts:
If you run a subscription-based web app and you determine that you need to
increase your prices, what's the best way to do it?
Grandfathering existing customers obviously makes sense, but what if that's
not an option? What if you need to charge them more to survive?
~~~
Goosey
Make the old customers part of a 'legacy' tier which allows them to continue
to pay the same and receive the same, but don't allow new customers to join
that. Put new customers in the 'fancy shmancy' tier and allow old customers to
migrate there (with price increase) for whatever new features you are adding.
It's still going to be a bitter pill for the old customers, but it IS better
than saying "Sorry, you gotsa pay more now! Suckers!"
------
teye
I find the new pricing chart to be misleading. By listing the free account
next to their customer-enabled plans, at first glance I expect it to allow me
to serve customers.
<http://chargify.com/pricing-and-signup/>
Took me a minute to realize I get nothing (except the ability to integrate...
SCORE!) by signing up. Smart to drive signups this way, but I think
expectations are being set incorrectly.
------
ntalbott
Full disclosure: I run Spreedly, an earlier to market but much less funded
competitor to Chargify.
Here's the dirty little secret that Spreedly discovered about 18 months ago,
and that I'm sure Chargify - like Recurly before them - has now found out for
themselves: there are plenty of people who want to start subscription
businesses, and out of those, the _vast_ majority will not succeed and will
actually end up costing more than they ever bring in. That leaves businesses
in this space two options: either focus on successful startups and actively
filter out the "losers" (by charging a minimum of $99/month, for instance), or
minimize costs for "low probability" businesses - and they're all low
probability early on! - and use "cheap to try things out" as a star search for
the few businesses that will end up getting big.
Note that Chargify paired this price increase announcement with two other
significant announcements that have largely been overshadowed by the
hullabaloo: PCI Level 1 compliance, and 24/7 phone support. This pairing is
not coincidence - I'm pretty confident that the pricing change is very firmly
tied internally to these two new "features". PCI Level 1 compliance is a hefty
upfront cost _plus_ a large ongoing price tag. Good 24/7 phone support is
crazy expensive to provide, and means that free customers would eat their
lunch since so much of the support needs for one of these businesses is on the
front end.
The __ridiculously huge __mistake I think Chargify made here was something I
thought was just a given these days: they should've unilaterally grandfathered
all of their existing clients, and quietly given the grandfathered plan to
anyone who was already integrating but not yet launched as well. When Spreedly
made our last pricing change - from percent of transaction fee to flat per
transaction fee - it was a price drop for most of our customers. But not all:
anyone with super low prices would've ended up paying us more, so we
explicitly made it the minimum of $0.20 or 2% of the transaction. There's just
no excuse for ticking off existing customers - it makes you look like a cell
phone company. Even if you absolutely have to raise prices across the board, I
think three months of warning is the absolute minimum amount of time to give a
customer base before you hit them with the increase.
So, that's my $0.02 - hope it helps folks understand why I think this is
happening. Questions, feedback, etc., welcome.
P.S. I think in some areas Chargify's definitely ahead of Spreedly
Subscriptions in terms of functionality - all of that extra capital definitely
shows in the end product. But that's because we've been focused on "what's
next" after you figure out the naive business model doesn't work in this
space. I said above that there are two options. That's a lie - we're working
on a third option. If there are any angels reading this that would like to
invest in a team that's been thinking deeply about this space since before
Chargify and Recurly were a twinkle in their founder's eye, drop me a line.
~~~
jacquesm
> here are plenty of people who want to start subscription businesses, and out
> of those, the vast majority will not succeed and will actually end up
> costing more than they ever bring in.
That's not exactly news, that's why you try to get a good grip on the life-
cycle of a cross section of your potential customers before you set a pricing
scheme.
A free customer should work out at any level of scale and any life cycle that
that customer can go through, the fact that there are 'many of them' or that
the distribution is not what you expected points to a lack of research of your
prospective customers.
Bait-and-switch by accident or by design makes no difference to your
customers.
> Note that Chargify paired this price increase announcement with two other
> significant announcements that have largely been overshadowed by the
> hullabaloo: PCI Level 1 compliance, and 24/7 phone support.
Wait until they start getting in to more and riskier transaction volumes,
they'll have to add up to 30 cts per transaction worth of fees for various
services to help with scrubbing the bad stuff from the good stuff to keep the
chargeback rates in check.
Otherwise they'll be spending a lot of money on airline tickets to warm and
sunny places trying to get merchant accounts from banks that mere mortals
would rather not deal with just to stay in business.
> they should've unilaterally grandfathered all of their existing clients, and
> quietly given the grandfathered plan to anyone who was already integrating
> but not yet launched as well.
100% agreed on that one, I really can't fathom with they decided to shoot
themselves in to both feet at once like that.
Do you guys do segregated merchant accounts (one merchant account per
customer)? If not how will you deal with a merchant account issue once your
volume is larger and you start to attract 'bad apples'? (like everybody else
that ever did multiplexed merchant accounts)
~~~
dangrossman
> Wait until they start getting in to more and riskier transaction volumes,
> they'll have to add up to 30 cts per transaction worth of fees for various
> services to help with scrubbing the bad stuff from the good stuff to keep
> the chargeback rates in check.
Selling a billing logic service to businesses isn't exactly high risk. Their
customers' users' payments do not go through Spreedly/Chargify... they just
talk to the API of the customers' payment gateways using their customers'
credentials. Any end-user chargebacks related to the subscriptions are on the
customers, not Spreedly/Chargify.
> Do you guys do segregated merchant accounts (one merchant account per
> customer)? If not how will you deal with a merchant account issue once your
> volume is larger and you start to attract 'bad apples'? (like everybody else
> that ever did multiplexed merchant accounts)
You misunderstand what these services are. They do not provide payment
processing in any way. They are only selling business logic the app developer
would normally have to write.
~~~
jacquesm
Yep, I got it now. They're even thinner than I thought they were.
I figured they did the actual processing but they just pass that on to an
upstream provider of such services.
Interesting niche.
------
proexploit
I just joined Chargify Oct. 7th after the AppSumo bundle offered a $200
credit. 4 days later, they've raised their prices. I'm going to scrap the work
I've done and go out of my way to use other services. The money isn't an
issue. $99/month is fine, but I wouldn't pay it to get started.
~~~
frankkysly
Just an FYI they have a free plan as well as a $39 plan.
------
adamhowell
I feel like I'm missing something, because going by these pricing charts --
<http://chargify.com/pricing-and-signup> \-- it seems like if you're a
Chargify customer, "freemium" is no longer possible.
We (<http://mocksup.com>) happily use Spreedly and only send customers to them
when they're upgrading to a paid account. Can you not do this with Chargify?
And if you can, what do they count as a "free" user?
~~~
toast76
At UsabilityHub we (fortunately) circumvented their "free" user count by never
sending them to Chargify in the first place. If we did, we'd be now getting
billed $1000 a month. We did this because when we switch to chargify a couple
of months ago we had over 8000 users and didn't want to migrate them all to
Chargify.
We'd be shutting up shop right now if we had.
I'm doubly lucky as I was about to start migrating users to do "one off"
billing using Chargify. Given that every one of those would now count towards
our monthly fee we'll be using a different service for "one off" purchases.
------
endlessvoid94
Wow.
I'm about to launch a pretty involved startup, and we're bootstrapping.
Chargify, you just DOUBLED our monthly expenses.
Thanks a lot.
------
podman
This was very disappointing to read. If their product were rock solid I
wouldn't have minded as much but it's far from being a complete solution.
Unfortunately, a lot of chargify needs a lot of work. I'm especially unhappy
with the metered components as they enforce integer cent prices for the
components and only allow integer usages on those components. It's impossible
to charge fractional usages. I guess it's time to start writing my own billing
system.
~~~
jon_dahl
Agreed on the metered components. Chargify's metered billing system is not
ready for primetime.
I love the idea of a subscription management services, but this is still a
very young space, unfortunately.
------
steveaz98
We just launched globalfolders.com using Chargify (on a very slim budget),
thinking we could justify their costs once we graduated to a larger plan. This
change erases that idea.
It hurts more than just Chargify and their customers, it hurts anyone running
such a service as people will be more likely to avoid services that they can't
trust to keep their pricing stable (or at least give plenty of advance notice,
6 months to a year).
These kind of changes definitely make me think much harder about outsourcing a
service. How can we trust the current pricing? Do we have to change our
pricing every time they change theirs? How many customers do we lose based on
their bad business decisions?
Chargify knows that people have spent time integrating with their service.
They hope that this will give them a percentage of paying customers, knowing
full well that they will lose a lot of customers. This is definitely a bad
move for Chargify and a good decision for their competitors.
------
dh
We appreciate the feedback from all of our loyal Chargify customers and we
will have an update shortly to show we understand this support. A plan only
available to those that already have accounts that will be much less and have
a smaller number of customers.
We are very sorry that we did not show this understanding in our announcement
and pricing. No excuses.
------
jread
If you are bootstrapped and need low cost recurring payments capabilities here
are a few fully outsourced and PCI compliant services you could consider:
PayPal Website Payments Standard: 2.9% + $0.30/trans
[https://merchant.paypal.com/cgi-
bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render...](https://merchant.paypal.com/cgi-
bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/wp_standard)
Google Subscription Payments (experimental): 2.9% + $0.30/trans
[http://code.google.com/apis/checkout/developer/Google_Checko...](http://code.google.com/apis/checkout/developer/Google_Checkout_Beta_Subscriptions.html)
Aria SubscriptionPlus (via PayPal partnership): Free trial, then $40/mo
[https://merchant.paypal.com/cgi-
bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render...](https://merchant.paypal.com/cgi-
bin/marketingweb?cmd=_render-content&content_ID=merchant/subscriptionsplus)
------
patio11
Guys, if this upsets you, you are not in the target market. (Much love, but
the real world spends real money on revenue drivers.)
~~~
cglee
It's not so much as the money that's upsetting, as much as the broken trust
when prices are adjusted upwards so dramatically. For example, our monthly
prices will go from 0 to $99/month. You can say that may be a good thing,
forcing us to focus on customer acquisition. But the point is that a service
we budgeted X dollars for suddenly, dramatically increased. Of course $1200/yr
is not life threatening. However, the trust is gone (or, at least it's
dissolving quickly). As I wrote in my email to Chargify, if they're
experiencing increasing costs, let us (their customers) know and be sincere -
we are their fans! I WANT to pay them, because they have a quality product.
But right now, it looks like a money grab after locking in developers. That
part is upsetting.
------
mthomas
Chargify requires that you setup both a payment gateway and a merchant
account. Why would you use them instead of just integrating with the gateway
directly?
~~~
MicahWedemeyer
Chargify handles a lot of the recurring aspect, dealing with expired cards,
notifying you if someone doesn't pay, etc, etc
I talk a little about it here: [http://peachshake.com/2010/06/15/saas-
subscription-billing-o...](http://peachshake.com/2010/06/15/saas-subscription-
billing-or-how-to-avoid-getting-your-nts-in-a-vice/)
It _was_ a great deal for the price, but now...not so much.
~~~
rwhitman
Your post did a good job of pitching chargify, I was passing it around the
other day for justification to go with them. Such a bummer that they pulled
this
------
detst
It's clear that none of these services have quite figured out how to best
price their service but it seems that CheddarGetter is the only reasonably
priced option.
Why is it that they seem to be perceived as also-rans? With Chargify, you'd
have to bring in $60,000/yr before they would begin to be reasonably priced.
Completely unreasonable for a bootstrapper seeing if they have something that
will stick.
------
jread
Chargify just sent an email offering existing customers a "Bootstrapping"
plan. $39/mo for up to 100 customers.
[http://grasshopper.com/email_assets/chargify-
bootstrapper.ht...](http://grasshopper.com/email_assets/chargify-
bootstrapper.html)
------
speric
We have about 35 customers in Chargify, and growing steadily, but $99/month
will eat almost half our monthly revenue. Really disappointed.
~~~
traskjd
Really? Almost half your revenue is $99 off 35 customers? You charge your
customers marginally more than $2.80 a month?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding something here with the pricing, but this sounds
more like you're getting hurt because you're trying to take micro payments
which typically isn't a solved problem (yet).
~~~
speric
>>Really? Almost half your revenue is $99 off 35 customers?
Not sure how you got that. I'm not taking micropayments via Chargify. I don't
think you understood me.
------
matt1
Update on the Chargify support forum:
_We appreciate the feedback and will make something available to anyone that
built their business around this. It will not be free but we will give a large
discount for a smaller plan. More information to come shortly._
[http://support.chargify.com/discussions/support/3987-new-
pri...](http://support.chargify.com/discussions/support/3987-new-price-plans-
very-concerned-feedback)
I wonder how it will work for someone like myself, who has spent a month
integrating Chargify into my app but who hasn't launched yet. Discounted plan
or $99/month?
------
workhorse
Moral of the story is, it is OK to offer a free plan to gain traction, and
then remove it once you have it.
This decision worries me on so many levels.
I am so glad I went with Braintree Payment Solutions instead of Chargify.
Chalk up another victory for my gut instinct paying off!
~~~
pjscott
I think the real moral of the story is that it's _not_ okay to offer a free
plan and then suddenly remove it and jack everybody's prices up. Your
customers will feel betrayed, and it'll be a PR disaster. I'm not sure if
people will ever trust Chargify again.
------
rwhitman
Wow thats a real bummer, I was about to integrate it into an app, but I
certainly don't want to blow $99/mo on something that may or may not earn me a
small fraction of that
Has anyone used Spreedly or CheddarGetter etc? Thoughts?
Are there any robust open source self-hosted solutions? (For Django, Rails,
PHP?) Considering its just a subscription management wrapper for
Authorize.net, shouldn't be too hard to cut out the middleman
~~~
stympy
Yes, self-hosted Rails solution here: <http://railskits.com/saas>
Shameless self-promotion, yes, but it's actually relevant. :)
------
petercooper
It's not quite apples to apples but Recurly is similiar and is $29/mo for 500
users and under. They have some great Ruby integration demos too :-)
------
MJR
It seems very clear that the free pricing was a great incentive for customers
to sign up, allowing Chargify to get their business off the ground.
Now that their business is running and they have paying customers, they have
little need for keeping the free accounts and helping other businesses get off
the ground.
In my opinion, a really poor move and completely opposite of the mindset and
spirit of their initial offering.
------
davidedicillo
From their support site:
All,
We appreciate the feedback and will make something available to anyone that
built their business around this. It will not be free but we will give a large
discount for a smaller plan. More information to come shortly.
------
CoffeeDregs
Bummer. I just integrated this into a client's app... Wouldn't have done so
with this pricing.
Also, the price increase is _possibly_ a sign of a problematical revenue model
at Chargify. Probably not, but there's a chance that they really _need_ to
improve revenue and that gives me other doubts about whether to integrate with
them.
------
jtchang
I got this e-mail today and was totally floored.
This is going to turn into a marketing/PR disaster for Chargify. They even
sent out another e-mail to try and make up for their initial "mistake".
Customers are very sensitive to pricing changes. The minute you decide to
change pricing you should be thinking about it long and hard. While you are
doing it you should be communicating to customers that you are _thinking_
about a pricing change and solicit feedback. You need to be gently breaking
the news to them.
I signed up for Chargify to check out their pricing. I liked the fact that you
could have 0-50 without paying anything. Considering development for a
specific platform is not free this sudden pricing change has forced me to
consider alternatives.
As a customer who was just considering using them I feel kind of violated.
------
amccloud
They need to include 50-100 customers for the free developer plan. If I was
bootstrapping a service, I wouldn't pay $99 a month for customers I don't have
yet.
------
zefhous
I fail to see how this could possibly be a good business decision for them.
Seems pretty plain to me that they need to be going for the low end of the
market — new startups with 0-100 customers — rather than the high end.
------
proee
Bypass the SAAS model altogether and check out <http://www.opengateway.net>
One-time fee for the script and you get all the power of chargify on your own
host.
~~~
carbocation
Am not well versed in this, but wouldn't the onus be on you to be PCI
compliant then?
~~~
brockf
If you have a hosted order form with Chargify, there's no difference between
OpenGateway and Chargify when it comes to PCI compliance. VISA and MasterCard
say you should be PCI compliant either way.
Also, OpenGateway doesn't store credit card information which is always good.
------
railsjedi
That's a pretty huge price increase. With all the competition in this space
(Recurly, CheddarGetter, Spreedly, many others), I would assume the prices
would be going _down_ , not skyrocketing up.
They obviously are banking on the fact that their customers are already tied
up with their API, so it would be difficult to switch. This is pretty sketchy,
and it's going to make me very suspicious of these guys in the future. Also..
no grandfathering clause for existing paid clients?
~~~
heimidal
I don't think you can expect these services to lower pricing any time soon.
Why? It's clear now that Chargify and Recurly, who have both tried a very
friendly freemium model, vastly underestimated the costs and problems
associated with the businesses they are building. In both cases, it's a good
bet that they needed to either raise prices or go out of business.
Pricing only goes down once the business model is clearly established across
multiple competitors. This space simply isn't clearly defined yet.
------
symkat
Your pricing page does not look right in Chrome 6.0.472.63 on Mac (latest
current). Screen cap: <http://i.imgur.com/ffxIy.png>
As someone who will be looking for this type of service in the near future, I
agree with Michah that the pricing for a start up, _especially_ one that's
bootstrapping is not attractive at all. At this pricing it makes more sense to
build my billing system and use Authorize.net.
------
adraper
As a Chargify customer from very early on & having been in a paying position
since early March (we launched in mid-January & it took a month & a half to
hit a paying level) would we have used Chargify from the get-go if we had to
pay for it? I can't say for certain but it's quite likely as it still would've
been cheaper than moving development cycles into building a billing system (as
it is we're still backlogged in that dept).
If I was running a business that relied on a lot of freemium customers I might
think twice, but then unless you're asking for credit cards up-front just
don't put them into Chargify until they upgrade and give you their CC details.
We handle gift subscriptions this way, unless they convert to a 'real'
subscription when their gift is up they never go through Chargify.
For what it's worth, it's safe to say after using Chargify for almost a year
and having an active site using it for 9-10 months, the level of service and
support we've received has been more than worth what we're paying — our
development backlog is already a pain-point, I can't imagine what it'd be like
if we were rolling our own billing system.
------
podman
Their justification on Twitter seems to be that they needed to get rid of
their free tier. That makes some sense, but that doesn't really explain why
they double the price for their lowest tier and increased the pricing on their
other tiers as well. It's unfortunate that they're increasing their price
without adding any extra value to the product.
~~~
jacquesm
And the way to get rid of the free tier is to switch it off for new customers,
not to scare the crap out of all your existing customers.
Damage like this is hard to repair, it violates the trust between service
provider and customer, in a b2b setting that is most unwise. B2c you _might_
get away with it.
------
tworats
Here's the feedback I just submitted to Chargify:
While I entirely understand the need to charge and make money, I find the
sudden and significant change in pricing jarring. Many people just went from 0
to $1200 per year.
I'm guessing the cost of supporting the formerly free (0-50 customers) tier is
close to zero from a technical/infrastructure perspective, but relatively high
from a support/feedback perpective.
People in the free tier will either grow or go out of business. For those that
grow, your cost is the same - you'll have the same questions whether you
charge them day 1 or day 100.
So the real issue is the cost of support for those who signup for the free
tier and either flake out or go out of business.
In my opinion, the rate of customer growth you'll get from having a free tier
is worth the extra support cost. With no barrier in place, people will try
Chargify, see that it's a high quality product, and if they have a viable
business, will use it. That was our experience.
With a barrier in place ($100/month from day 1), they'll do a lot of research
and probably try the cheaper options before trying Chargify.
For our particular case, I'm quite happy with Chargify as a product, but quite
unhappy about the way the pricing was handled. With the former pricing tier we
had the luxury of growing in cost as we grew in revenue. With the new pricing
structure we have an immediate unexpected cost.
Now we have to go and investigate the other recurring payment options, which
bums me out entirely, since I was hoping we were well past that.
You should, at the very least, grandfather the old users into the old plan. In
my opinion you should keep the free tier around, but find ways to reduce your
support costs. For my business, we treat support questions as the leading
indicator for where we need to make the product more intuitive. We invest in
improving the product, thereby also reducing costs.
Of course that's just my opinion.
------
Chargify
Hey all, we've gotten a ton of feedback through Twitter, emails, tickets, and
a few phone calls. Plus we interacted with a lot of people over the past
couple of months.
All of these inputs are coming together in a smaller plan we're releasing for
existing merchants. Details will be out soon on our blog, via Twitter, etc.
~~~
jacquesm
Stupid question: Didn't you see this response coming?
------
nezumi
I was seriously considering Chargify, but now... I just hope they take a leaf
out of GitHub's book - remember this?
[http://github.com/blog/675-organizations-for-small-
businesse...](http://github.com/blog/675-organizations-for-small-businesses)
------
primigenus
Ironically, we just wrote a blog post ([http://blog.quplo.com/2010/10/the-
payment-provider-shortlist...](http://blog.quplo.com/2010/10/the-payment-
provider-shortlist-part-2-chargify/)) about Chargify as it was in our
"shortlist" of 3 remaining (subscription) payment providers that don't give
European businesses a hard time. Chargify got a pretty good end of the stick,
short of a couple of weird things like charging for free users.
But with this pricing change, they're off the list. Sorry. So far it looks
like Spreedly will be getting our money.
------
davidedicillo
I found out about the change of pricing friday and I was really bummed about
it. 50 free users were the perfect amount of user to guarantee some steady
income before tackling the expense. It's also true that with a $25/mo you
would need 7 clients to at least cover the billing costs
(chargify/gateway/merchant acc.). Maybe instead they could have just change
the free plan to 10 customers + no support.
I looked at Spreedly, I loved their simplicity, but at the same time I feel
they are missing some important features like discount and coupons management.
------
pauldoc
This is a truly despicable and irresponsible business decision. Not only did
Chargify pull a bait-and-switch but they completely pulled the rug out from
under both developers and merchants by providing virtually no warning on this
price change. Unfortunately, we launched with Chargify just a few months ago.
Big mistake!
Ning.com did this not long ago but did it in entirely responsible manner but
providing many, many months of notice.
------
cpr
With Patrick, I guess I understand the screams of pain on the unlooked-for
price hike, but, even at the lowest non-developer level, you're only paying
$0.20/month per customer. Assuming you're charging your customers at least
$5/month, that's only $.04/customer/month, or less than 1%.
Seems like a reasonable amount to pay for removing all the pain of recurring
billing.
~~~
carbocation
It's only $0.20/month/customer if you have 500 customers. If you have one
customer, then it's $99/month/customer.
~~~
cpr
Good point, but if I were starting something that depended on recurring
revenue, I wouldn't really begrudge $100/month to one of the most critical
parts of the whole solution.
Compare it to the $65/month I pay for a single Verizon Mifi data card, and it
doesn't seem bad at all.
Maybe you can't really look at per-user costs when you only have a handful of
users. Everything looks badly distorted as you head up asymptotically from
zero users.
~~~
carbocation
Yes, I think you're right about not looking at per-user costs while you're in
the very-few-user stage. And if one doesn't grow to the point that these
services are worthwhile at $100/month, then it's probably the case that one
didn't get to a sustainable place, anyways. The $40/month offer that they
added for existing customers is also a more accessible price point for those
bootstrappers _just_ getting started.
------
ohwaitnvm
So the 2001st customer costs you $650 - how much they're paying. Still, that's
probably > $600 for most startups, especially when you include trialing or
0-cost plan customers.
I'd much prefer a graduated system, with different overall price deltas for
each subsection (Dev/Start/Grow/Max) per member.
For comparison:
The first customer costs you $100-$price,
The 501st customer costs you $250-$price,
The 2001st costs you $650-$price
------
ericd
As a side note, rolling your own subscription code using Authorize.net's CIM
service (where they hold on to the CC numbers for you) is cheap and not really
that hard, and it gives you the ability to do whatever custom stuff you want
at lower cost. The API is a bit annoying, but I don't think I spent more than
a day integrating it.
------
dangrossman
Deja vu. This is exactly what Recurly did to its users a few months ago. It
was a bad move, with negative effects for their company that were serious and
lasting enough that they had to backpedal with new pricing a few months later.
~~~
raerae7133
At Recurly, we did roll out new pricing in May of this year, and immediately
received a lot of feedback from our users.
We then modified our pricing plans again in July to reflect their feedback,
and grandfathered existing users in, if they so preferred.
Dan, I wish I could work with you to change your opinion of Recurly. I'd love
to talk to you about your experiences and see what we can do to make it right.
Rachel, Recurly Support
------
youmon
On TC now: [http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/11/subscription-billing-
system...](http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/11/subscription-billing-system-
chargify-missteps-as-it-switches-from-freemium-to-premium/)
------
dterra
What I like about this is that Web Apps are now starting to remove the free
plan. Makes it more exciting. People need to get used to pay, and not get
everything for free. That way we can make money!
------
edanm
I'm not sure I understand - what does the free developer option give you? Just
the ability to integrate with your site (but not actually charge anyone)?
~~~
matt1
Until today they offered a plan that let you use their service for free until
you reached 50 customers.
Now there's no free plan that you can use after you've launched your site. And
for existing apps that use Chargify and have less than 50 customers, they're
going to have to start paying $99/month to keep using the service.
_Edit_ : I understand your question now. Yes, the current free plan lets you
integrate it into your site, but you can't actually start charging customers
until you upgrade to the $99/mo plan.
~~~
speric
I am that boat (existing app that uses Chargify, with < 50 customers). Sucks.
------
schammy
Did they learn nothing from the Recurly debacle a few months back?
I don't think their pricing is bad but they need a starter plan that's less
than $99/month.
Also, why are both Chargify and Recurly doing "bucket" plans with such high
starting price points? Why not charge based on actual usage? If you have 500
paying customers you can justify $99/month no problem, but most people are
going to take a while to build up to that size of customer base. These people
can't start off with a $99/month plan. At least give maybe the first 10
customers for free, or charge on actual usage, e.g. $X per 10 customers or
something like that.
One thing's clear at least, if I ever go into the recurring payment business,
Chargify and Recurly are both very good examples of what NOT to do to win
customer loyalty.
~~~
gdevore
The problem with charging for actual usage is that most of Chargify's support
costs are probably incurred while their customers are setting things up. And
that is when they don't have any users. Once you get chargify set up you don't
have to touch it too much.
Regardless though, this was a bad way to handle the price increase.
~~~
run4yourlives
Are you suggesting that basic customer lifecycle management is an issue for
them? That's not exactly reassuring.
When you determine pricing, you figure this out. Every business has customer
acquisition costs.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why the MBA 11 is now my sole computer - pmarin
http://antirez.com/post/apple-mba11-my-sole-computer.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+antirez+%28antirez+weblog%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
======
shade
I have the 2011 11" MBA (i5, 4GB, 128GB) and also the base 2011 15" MBP (i7,
4GB, 500GB). I can't justify keeping both, but I am _really_ torn on which one
I want to keep.
On the one hand, I love the portability and speed (due to the SSD) of the Air,
and it feels almost like a desktop when it's plugged into the 20" monitor on
my desk and connected to a USB keyboard and Magic Trackpad.
On the other hand, I really like the MBP's beefier CPU, discrete GPU, and much
larger HDD; the Air's 128GB HDD really feels limiting to me (since photography
is one of my hobbies). The HDD does make it feel a bit slower than the Air in
some ways, though.
I'm looking to get rid of my desktop Windows PC since I don't use it very much
anymore, so that leaves me with two options as I see them: either sell the
MBP, keep the Air, and get a Mini for the extra space/network storage, or sell
the MBA, consolidate everything into the MBP, and maybe upgrade it with a SSD
and kit from OWC to replace the SuperDrive with the spare HDD.
I'm really not sure what the best way to go is, since I like both systems a
lot for different purposes.
~~~
cmer
Why not buy a Thunderbolt external hard drive for your photography stuff? Do
you need this data to be portable as well or could you live with it just at
home?
------
mistrQ
I bought both last year in late 2010 when they came out. I really wanted to
keep the 11 but the 13 was just a much better all rounder. I always wished I
had kept the 11. But once you sit down at a desk, portability stops being an
issue and you appreciate the extra screen size.
1 year later and I sold my 13 to buy the new 11. For some reason I again
ordered both the 11 and 13 and now I still can't decide which one to keep. I
really really want to keep the 11 but the smaller battery, very slightly
slower processor, worse speakers and smaller screen keep putting me off. The
price is almost identical (top 11 vs base 13). The extra portability just
makes me want to forget about all these drawbacks.
I plugin to an external monitor at home anyway, but what about places where
you need the screen size. Anyone done or seen anyone do a hackathon with the
11?
If they just dropped both models and brought out a 12.1" my life would be
complete.
------
brianjolney
Agonized a bit and decided to run with a loaded 11".
Bought the new thunderbolt display to pair it up, so when I'm at home its
amazing, but I can bring it everywhere with me and I don't feel like its too
small to work.
------
robinreekers
Really doubted between a 11 and a 13. Went for the 13 and loving it. But as
you state, it's a little bit too big for the legs. Maybe one day...
------
cgrand-net
Can anyone confirm whether a i7 MBA 11 has worst battery life than a 2010 MBA?
~~~
lox
It's hard to tell as at the same time of purchasing I upgraded to Lion, but I
went from being able to code in a coffee shop for around 4 hours with the 2010
MBA to around 2.5 hours with the new i7 MBA 11.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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JQuery 1.6.1 released... - tcarnell
http://docs.jquery.com/Downloading_jQuery#Current_Release
======
timdown
This release is a fudge, and a partial backwards step. The jQuery team seem
uncertain about what the prop()/attr() change is trying to achieve (an
uncertainty that probably stems from the uncertainty underlying the whole
attr() method in the first place). The result is that the situation is even
more confusing than ever, judging by the release notes: a list of properties
for which you can only use prop() and then a recommendation that for
everything else you should use attr(). Really?? Then what the hell was the
point of this change? Having gone as far as acknowledging that properties are
not attributes and supposedly separating how they are dealt with, they then
continue to recommend using attr() even though properties are almost always
what you actually want and there is now a dedicated prop() method for dealing
with them? I'm now genuinely baffled as to what this change was supposed to
achieve, and average jQuery users are going to be seriously confused by the
messages coming from jQuery on this.
------
tcarnell
Sorry, should have summarized changes:
1.6.1 addresses backwards compatibility issues with new 'attr()' and 'prop()'
behaviour added in 1.6.
This means that code written against 1.5.2 will work 100% against 1.6.1 (this
was not the case with 1.6).
So to many people this is quite an important update.
~~~
crescentfresh
> code written against 1.5.2 will work 100% against 1.6.1
Nope. attr() returns a different value than it did before 1.6. Anything that
relied on that value (eg $elem.attr('disabled') == true/false) is still going
to break.
~~~
jeresig
Actually == true and == false will still work, === true and === false will
fail (as the return value is now "disabled" or undefined).
~~~
crescentfresh
I meant, explicit checks on the return value will break (not that this is a
bad thing). Specifically, neither `'disabled' == true` nor `undefined ==
false` will ever be true[thy] and are thus breaking changes.
Perhaps you meant implicit conversions to boolean still working? Eg
`!!'disabled'`, `if ('disabled')`, `!!undefined`, or `if (undefined)` will
continue to work.
------
chromic
This seems like the right choice. As nice as it is to force code to make
explicit distinctions between the two methods, something as popular as jQuery
shouldn't cause code breakage in a single update. Deprecate, hint at the
better way to do things, and wait for users to move toward the more modern
approach.
~~~
pak
Yes, this was the correct move. jQuery is for thinking less and doing more;
the prop/attr distinction is both a painful code change and a needless
complication for the sort of purposes that jQuery is used for.
~~~
timdown
Whether the property/attribute distinction is necessary for jQuery users is
one question (I strongly believe it is), but if not, the correct move would be
to remove the prop() method entirely, because according to the release notes
it nows seems pretty much completely pointless.
------
paraschopra
jQuery releases new updates with light speed. VWO is built on top of jQuery.
Just a couple of months before we had bleeding edge version (1.4.2) now looks
like we need to update again.
Every time jQuery changes, it means extensive cross-browser testing for us
agan.
~~~
dspillett
You don't have to upgrade to every version that is released, unless your
product is affected by a fixed bug (or performance improvement). jQuery isn't
exactly a system library that could have a security hole making your web
server exploitable remotely.
Unless of course "VWO" (you should provide a link or descriptive text when
mentioning a TLA we might not recognise, BTW) is somehow sensitive to what
version other people use on their sites so you have to test against _all_
versions.
~~~
paraschopra
Sorry, I should have mentioned. VWO stands for our product Visual Website
Optimizer. We internally prefer VWO over the full name since it is long and it
kind of slipped while I was writing the comment.
You are right that we don't have to upgrade to every version but as you say
performance improvement is sometimes very significant so we feel compelled to
upgrade.
------
jeresig
I started to write a reply to some of the comments here but ended up turning
it into a blog post: <http://ejohn.org/blog/jquery-16-and-attr/>
Looks like someone has submitted it to HN as well:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2544698>
------
giu
Blog post: <http://blog.jquery.com/2011/05/12/jquery-1-6-1-released/>
| {
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Ristretto: A High Performance, Concurrent, Memory-Bound Go Cache - ngaut
https://blog.dgraph.io/post/introducing-ristretto-high-perf-go-cache/
======
sethammons
This is a seriously great write up. So many links to research and papers.
There were some truly new-to-me concepts and they implemented some stuff that
are optimizations that I've not had to deal with yet despite the scale with
which I work; it is fun to read about those. Seriously awesome work -- I would
love to optimize as much as they have. Two things stand out. One, they could
maybe improve thrashing at full capacity by evicting more than one key when at
capacity (say, evict n% of total keys). Two, my reading here suggests this is
not production ready and dangerous to use.
> ... then used this hash as not only the stored key but also to figure out
> the shard the key should go into. This does introduce a chance of key
> collision, that’s something we plan to deal with later.
If a Get and Set can produce a collision and it is not dealt with, then it is
unsafe for production. Imagine calling user foo's data and returning user
bar's data instead. This could leak PII and would be an unnoticed bug.
Generally, in collisions, you drop down to a list and hurt your runtime to
ensure accuracy. I need a correct cache over a fast cache.
Unless I misunderstood, this is not production ready. Again, amazing work; it
is just not done yet.
~~~
mrjn
We will fix that in the near future. Known problem with our design choice.
Wanted to ensure we put it out there first, before solving it. FWIW, note that
the probability of a collision with 64 bit hash is pretty low. Still, needs to
be solved.
~~~
grumpydba
Could this be solved by some sort of cuckoo hashing?
~~~
mrjn
The benefit of current hashing algorithm is that Go team is maintaining it
;-). Its written in assembly and runs in single digit nanoseconds.
One way to check for collision would be to either store the key as well or use
another hashing algorithm (which would further decrease the probability of
collision, but not eliminate it). Either would introduce some slowness,
because every Get would need to be checked.
~~~
sethammons
Storing the key with the value is a solid workaround.
------
stephen
Wow. That is a great write-up. I was admittedly skeptical of "writing your own
cache" but these guys are super-OCD and obviously capable of producing best-
in-class implementations. Kudos.
...kind of wondering, they had so at least three "well, go doesn't do ..."
(lock-less data structures, thread local storage, and channels aren't high
perf) rabbit holes that I wonder if go was really the right implementation
language for their project (iirc they've also had articles go by about writing
best-in-class go versions of rocksdb/etc.).
But, they do seem very capable of rolling their own infra, and I suppose
someone has to do it to bootstrap ecosystems in each new/upcoming language.
~~~
karlmcguire
Thank you for the kind words!
You're right about our rabbit holes. Our initial "why" for this project was
essentially: "Caffeine is written in Java with excellent performance. Go
should be (and usually is) competitive with Java. Why is there no Go
equivalent?"
With such a high bar we were disappointed in naive, idiomatic Go solutions,
but we knew there had to be some way to close the gaps.
I look forward to continuing to do so. We have a few things on the roadmap
such as adaptivity (see Ben Manes' work for more info) and managing our own
memory.
------
twotwotwo
TinyLFU is kind of magical--most of the win you'd get from expensive tracking
of key frequencies, in much less space. The bloom filter in front seems like a
clever hack.
Not an expectation/criticism/etc. of Ristretto, but out of curiosity, does
anybody know of work about making the cache aware of the expected cost of a
cache miss for each key?
To spell out what I mean: if I'm sending a query result to the cache, I could
also pass along how long the query took to run. Then, in theory, the cache
could try to drop keys with low (expected number of fetches * expected cost
per miss), not just low (expected number of fetches). Of course that's
rough/imperfect, and for some caching scenarios the miss cost doesn't vary by
key.
I guess mostly the question is if it's enough of a help to justify the
metadata+complexity, which I guess requires a trace of gets/sets from
something that has miss costs that vary.
The intuition is just that now that we're pretty good at optimizing hit rate,
maybe expanding the problem to "minimize total miss cost" could be an
interesting direction for the use cases where there's a difference.
~~~
NovaX
There is not a lot of research in this area and I briefly outlined my
understanding of the current state when responding to a github issue:
[https://github.com/ben-
manes/caffeine/issues/345#issuecommen...](https://github.com/ben-
manes/caffeine/issues/345#issuecomment-530571533)
~~~
twotwotwo
Oh, fascinating. My intuition re: size was that you'd look at worth _per_ byte
for something like query results, a whole different kind of thing from the CDN
use case that's been studied.
Makes me wish I could justify adding instrumentation to our 'memoize' wrappers
at work, although our caching doesn't really match the use case for something
like Ristretto or Caffeine. (Little enough stuff and the latency of a
networked cache is fine for us, so "just set aside lots of RAM on some cache
servers" works well enough.)
------
aloknnikhil
Good work! Caching is one of the 2 hardest problems in Computer science. Not
because building a cache is hard, but cache invalidation/replacement is
complex when you consider the system as a whole. Integrating the cache and
preventing user from seeing the stale value is not a trivial task (if you want
to support highly concurrent access). MySQL removed query caching from 8.0
because of the mess that query caches are. Enforcing transaction isolation
levels in a database with caching is non-trivial.
~~~
mrjn
Exactly. Doing caching in a transactional MVCC system is hard. We plan to do
careful data caching in Dgraph with this. Block level cache in Badger would be
easy. So would be key with version level cache in Badger.
------
boulos
Disclaimer: I admit to only reading the blog post and not looking at the code
yet.
I really enjoyed this write-up as well! But I couldn't tell from the post:
does it have a distributed mode like groupcache? (I think the answer is no). I
think nearly all decisions in groupcache are because of the word "group" :).
Similarly, it would be great if there's a "safe mode" instead of the (IIUC)
"start dropping Set requests when overloaded". You'd naturally want most
applications to be prepared for your cache to get blown away, so you should be
prepared for it to be lossy, but I'd certainly want a knob for that :).
~~~
karlmcguire
Glad you liked it!
> does it have a distributed mode like groupcache?
Not at the moment, no. Though it could, theoretically, be used within
groupcache. We'll look into that as it has been brought up a few times now.
> it would be great if there's a "safe mode" instead of the (IIUC) "start
> dropping Set requests when overloaded".
We could definitely look into adding a config flag for that. I'd love to know:
in what situations would lossless Sets be important to you? We already have
guaranteed updates, so the only Sets that are dropped are new items.
~~~
mrjn
Also, if we guarantee that every Set is accepted, it goes against the idea
that the Estimate of the incoming key must be higher than the Estimate of the
key getting evicted.
Of course, one way to ensure every key goes in is to have a cache of infinite
MaxCost. But, that’s an orthogonal idea, I guess.
------
ArtWomb
Kudos on the informative blogs. It's always better when engineering teams
share their knowledge ;)
In setting up the cache, can I assign values to be arbitrary length, binary
safe strings? Can this be used to store indexed blob data of large size? Not
saying this is a good idea btw...
~~~
mrjn
Values can be arbitrary length, yes. We plan to store SSTable blocks from
Badger in Ristretto. They can be strings, byte slices, whatever. That's the
reason we chose interface{} as the input.
~~~
ArtWomb
Excellent! thnx so much for building
------
marktangotango
Does anyone know of a similar cache that lets you restrict memory usage by
“customer” for example? I used redis scripting to implement this use case in
redis, it really feels like a hack though.
~~~
hinkley
Why are you sharing caches between customers?
~~~
marktangotango
Why would anyone do that?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_charity)
------
KAdot
> we used the natural randomness provided by Go map iteration to pick a sample
> of keys and loop over them to find a key
The iteration order of Go maps is randomized, but it's far from being evenly
distributed (it could be good enough for the Ristretto use case though). Here
is a test that shows that some keys are 6 times more likely to be selected on
the first iteration
[https://play.golang.org/p/dT1CWuqoHEM](https://play.golang.org/p/dT1CWuqoHEM).
~~~
mrjn
Based on this behavior, the two scenarios for Ristretto would be:
1\. If the chosen sample keys have high Estimate, the incoming keys could be
rejected, affecting the Hit ratios. However, our Hit ratio benchmarks didn't
show such behavior (within 1% of exact LFU).
> With this approach, the hit ratios are within 1% of the exact LFU policies
> for a variety of workloads.
2\. The chosen keys have low Estimates, in which case they'd be removed and
hence, won't suffer from repeated selection.
So, yeah. Doesn't affect Ristretto. But, good thing to keep in mind for other
workloads.
------
kasey_junk
This is really nice. The sync.Pool based ring buffer is a really clever way to
get around the thing that always kills my low latency work in golang.
I wonder how much the type casting costs you’ll see in real world situations?
I’ve not benchmarked that generally but it’s always something I worry about
with ‘generic’ data structures like this.
~~~
karlmcguire
Thank you. The sync.Pool lossy ring buffers are probably my favorite
innovation, especially because of how little code it is.
I was worried about type casting as well and generally avoided bare interfaces
like the plague. However, in all the benchmarks I've ran for throughput, type
casting was a small percentage of CPU time. I'll see if I can dig up a
flamegraph.
Of course, the only reason sync.Pool performs so well is because of its
internal usage of thread local storage. If the Go team exposed that, we could
make our own typed sync.Pool implementations... I won't hold my breath,
though.
------
ysw0
Great write up and tool, can't wait to try it out in my projects. Enjoyed your
last write up as well!
------
jeffomatic
Question about the buffered writes and invalidation: is there anything that
prevents race conditions between a Del() and a prior Set() on the same key?
Just glancing at the source, it looks Set() ends up in a channel send, whereas
Del() seems to synchronously update the internal map.
~~~
mrjn
Feel free to file an issue. That could cause correctness issue in Ristretto as
of today.
~~~
mrjn
This issue would fixed with this PR: [https://github.com/dgraph-
io/ristretto/pull/62](https://github.com/dgraph-io/ristretto/pull/62)
------
wiradikusuma
Go is usually used for microservices, and for that scenario, Ristretto is not
applicable since it's a library, and not a "shared server" like Redis. Am I
right?
~~~
wrnr
Very much to the contrary, why go over the network to get a value from a key-
value store when you can have a mutex protected map that only hods the values
that where accessed by that node. The "lets have a shared memory between our
services" architecture makes things easy only to make it much harder again.
~~~
hinkley
I’ve been trying to convince my coworkers that we should have a cache per
node, but so far they aren’t biting.
Alternatively I think within the decade we are going to expect every service
to contain its own fault prevention logic instead of just the web tier. At
which point every service has its own reverse caching proxy in front of it.
------
cgag
Wow, I was just researching go caches like a week ago and read your previous
summary of the state of the world. Didn't realize this had been posted.
Excellent timing.
------
uvtc
Oh, same name as the Xfce image viewer:
<[https://docs.xfce.org/apps/ristretto/start>](https://docs.xfce.org/apps/ristretto/start>)
~~~
reaperhulk
Name collisions are unfortunate but inevitable. This name makes me think of
ristretto255 ([https://ristretto.group/](https://ristretto.group/)), but
that’s the world I live in. I suspect this project is likely to see more name
recognition over time than either of our examples.
~~~
baby
indeed, I thought this was a post about the crypto stuff :c
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Poetry: Dependency Management for Python - jtanderson
https://poetry.eustace.io/
======
SmirkingRevenge
After years of python dev professionally, I just quit worrying about it, and
embraced:
\- vanilla virtualenv: I don't even bother with the wrapper most of the time.
\- vanilla setup.py/setup.cfg: Its just really not that bad. Forget about
project.toml or whatever the next big thing is.
\- pip-tools: ditching pipenv and using this for pinning app requirements, has
made my life so much simpler.
~~~
theptip
`pip-tools` has served me well, but an annoying gripe that pipenv/Poetry
resolves is that you can't install git links in non-editable mode, i.e.
-e git+https://github.com/...
Works, but
git+https://github.com/...
Doesn't.
Also can you pin your dependencies to a specific hash? Last I checked you
cannot. A major advantage of pipenv/Poetry is that the lockfile protects you
against compromise of the package manager; if someone swaps in a new binary
for yourdep==1.2.3, the lockfile will fail to validate the hash and you'll get
an error.
~~~
taion
pip-compile added support for pinning hashes in 1.8.0 (in 2016) and support
for non-editable URL dependencies in 3.7.0 (in May).
------
1337shadow
If you like yarn I think you will like poetry.
Using --user here, no per-project virtualenv, used to have a virtualenv in
~/.env, where i keep everything up to date and have many -e installs from
~/src. For production deployments: --user in containers.
This means all my projects have to work with the same versions of
dependencies.
This means all my dependencies have to work with the same versions of
dependencies.
All my dependencies have to be up to date: all versions must be latest, or
next to-be-released.
When don't support new versions of other dependencies: I deploy a fork and
open a PR.
At such, I'm not spending time trying to make obsolete versions work, rather,
I'm spending time making new versions work together.
My perception is that this strategy offers better ROI than all others which I
have tried, not only for me, but for the whole ecosystem. That's also how I
made my Python 2 to 3 transition, and have been using 100% Python 3 for a
while (once you've ported one big software, porting others and their smaller
dependencies is easy).
I'm extremely happy about this strategy and my life has just been better since
I started working this way, and highly recommend it.
For my own (countless) packages: I use setupmeta which simplifies auto-updates
(I think it succeeds what pbr tried to achieve).
~~~
dec0dedab0de
_This means all my projects have to work with the same versions of
dependencies.
This means all my dependencies have to work with the same versions of
dependencies._
Then why not just install everything globally?
~~~
1337shadow
Not to mess with system packages, but I sometimes do so in containers. I just
started to switch to --user in containers so that my users would not have to
rebuild python dependencies from scratch when they use it for development:
with source bind mounted into /app, which is declared as the home of the app
user in my container, as such, .local remains between builds on the developer
checkout (like node_modules)
------
micimize
There are a few highly dismissive comments here. While the python community
has (clearly) been getting by with requirements.txt/setup.cfg/setup.py, the
project/package management story is far less usable than more recently
developed systems like npm and pub.
With poetry+pyproject.toml, I have one file that is flat, simple, and
readable. @sdispater has done incredible work on this project, and I hope they
get more resources for development.
~~~
1337shadow
Your comment does not explain why you think that the package management story
is better in npm, it's merely like saying "node-gyp is a pile of debt" and not
going into details, but I can surely tell I have no idea why node_modules ends
up so fat and why my npm install eats a lot of bandwidth, time and disk space
... is npm trying to workaround incompatibilities by installing different
versions of a same package in the same node_modules ? I hope not, because that
would be just perfect to accumulate debt in the whole ecosystem. Not to
mention that I was just handed a frontend source code where building the
source requires node-gyp which requires g++ and python2 :)
Quick question since you seem to know npm very well, is there a better
solution than this to automate npm package publishing nowadays ?
sed -i "s/GIT_TAG/${CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME/v/}/" package.json
(I don't have this issue with Python's setupmeta)
------
korijn
It took me a while to learn to love pipenv. It also bothers me how many
developers "blame pipenv" for any problem they can't easily explain.
Anyway, has Poetry caught up to the dependency resolution provided by the
pipenv lock command yet? Last time I tried it (~6 months ago), it couldn't
produce working environments for my requirements.
BTW, for anyone who wants to educate themselves, read the issue description
here and follow the links:
[https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/988](https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/988)
~~~
guitarbill
I do really like the workflow pipenv provides. But last time I checked, the
mayor downside of pipenv is it doesn't and won't support multiple Python
versions [0]. For libraries, this can be a dealbreaker. For applications,
especially ones you're deploying to a controlled environment, this isn't an
issue.
Been meaning to look into poetry. Not a huge fan of TOML, but hopefully all
the tooling supports pyproject.toml now (I know black does, but not sure about
flake8, isort, pylint, pytest, coverage). I know there's still some hacks
required for tox + poetry though.
[0]
[https://github.com/pypa/pipenv/issues/1050](https://github.com/pypa/pipenv/issues/1050)
~~~
meowface
What don't you like about TOML? It seems to be the best language for simple
configuration files. I think YAML is often overkill for basic configuration,
and JSON isn't ideal. pipenv's Pipfile is also in TOML.
What config language would you prefer to use instead?
~~~
guitarbill
To be honest, I don't know. All I can say is YAML parsers exist and it works
well enough for many applications, although I do understand the issues with
it. Sure, it isn't perfect, but no need to re-invent the wheel for marginal
improvements.
I roughly agree with the arguments laid out in PEP 518, even though the array
of tables thing is not at all "obvious" to me. And I actually do think an
"official"/semi-official YAML subset would be great for loads of use-cases -
yaml.safe_load already is that in practice.
------
angrygoat
The big win seems to be the lock file - like Cargo in Rust, or yarn in the JS
world. It's really, really hard to lock down dependencies reliably in Python,
especially when you are talking dependencies of the primary packages you are
installing (and their dependencies, ...).
One solution at the moment is to run 'pip freeze' and put that in as your
requirements file, but that very much feels like an 'and now I have a
different problem' solution.
------
peterwwillis
For dependency management needs, 99% of what you need can be done easily with
vanilla virtualenv, vanilla pip, vanilla setup.py, and a Makefile. A small
shell wrapper that sources bin/activate and runs your Python app is all you
need to allow anyone to run your code without additional steps.
The biggest problem with Python packages isn't a dependency manager, it's that
Python developers don't reuse and extend existing projects. They just keep
churning out new similar projects with different features. All of the most
commonly used Python packages are basically one-offs that use a bunch of other
one-offs. This creates a cycle of reinventing the wheel and friction in
ramping up on existing technology, due to all the extra integration work and
split development, and later lift-and-shift into completely different
dependencies that implement the same thing. PyPI is awash with duplicate
abandoned one-offs to the point that just trying to just find a useful module
to do what you want can take a long time.
~~~
bbmario
> done easily with vanilla virtualenv, vanilla pip, vanilla setup.py, and a
> Makefile
I wouldn't call that "easy", but OK.
~~~
peterwwillis
Would you consider this easy?
# Makefile
venv:
python3 -m virtualenv --version 1>/dev/null 2>/dev/null || \
( echo "Please install virtualenv (python3 -m pip install virtualenv wheel setuptools)" && false )
[ -d venv.d ] || python3 -m virtualenv -p python3 venv.d
./venv.d/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
$ make venv
# Running your project without setup.py
$ ./venv.d/bin/python3 my-program.py
# Running your project with setup.py
$ ./venv.d/bin/pip install .
$ ./venv.d/bin/my-program.py
The setup.py you can copy from another project and customize to your liking.
------
andyljones
I can't find a good comparison to Conda - is the main distinction simply that
Poetry uses the official repos?
For people working outside of scientific Python: conda is a package and env
manager maintained by a private company that's become the go-to because it's
really good at handling binary dependencies.
~~~
tduberne
Can you really build packages using solely Conda?
As far as my understanding goes, conda focuses on providing virtual
environments for interactive use, but to build and distribute a package on
conda forge, you still need to rely on setuptools/distutils.
My impression here is that Poetry aims more at _replacing_ the pip +
setuptools toolchain. Users of your package could still install it using
conda, if relevant. It seems a bit limited in what it can do at the build
step, unfortunately, so it is not a replacement yet.
Coming from the Java world, I pass my days dreaming of a "maven for python",
and this project definitely goes into that direction. I will definitely keep
it on my radar.
~~~
flyingdeertown
Well conda packages don't need to be python based, so technically yes you can
build and package up whatever your heart desires.
conda build recipes are essentially just shell scripts that conda runs in a
sandbox, taking care of library paths and so on. You could, if you really
wanted to, develop a poetry based Python package and then have your conda
build script use/run poetry to build and package the python package, and then
add whatever lines are necessary to the build recipe to make _that_ the
package that gets installed by conda.
~~~
tduberne
That basically confirms the feeling I was trying to express, in that conda and
poetry seem to solve different problems: conda focuses on easing the
distribution to the end user, whereas poetry tries to simplify managing the
build on the developer side.
------
HunOL
Worked a little with and it looks really nice and promising, but my biggest
concern is number of issues on github and that vast majority of commits is
done by one person.
~~~
epage
From what I've gathered, the project grew faster than the original dev had
time to build up other people to also monitor PRs and has since gotten very
busy, slowing down the review process. I know I have several straightforward
outstanding PRs. I hope this is able to be resolved so we can have a
sustainable community.
~~~
StavrosK
That is also my worry. I've opened issues that were show-stoppers for many
people and we couldn't even get the author to give us an update on when the
fix would be released.
I wish he'd run the project a bit better. Other than that, it's stellar
software.
------
macawfish
I like how transparent poetry is about what's happening when you run it, and
how well presented that information is. I've come to loathe pipenv's progress
bar. Running it in verbose mode isn't much better.
I can't be too mad at pipenv, but all in all poetry is a better experience.
------
dissent
Can I use this to build a package that can be uploaded to a pypi repository
for other people to depend on?
~~~
mjs2600
Yep, it works really well for that.
[https://poetry.eustace.io/docs/cli/#publish](https://poetry.eustace.io/docs/cli/#publish)
------
bbmario
How do you start a new Python project in 2019? I mean, there's so much stuff.
Poetry, pip, virtualenv... oh, my. With PHP, I just composer init and that's
it.
------
zys5945
Never used poetry before. How does it compare against pipenv?
~~~
j88439h84
Much better
------
sametmax
Love poetry, I hope it gets to feature parity with pew regarding project
naming and jumping.
------
julienkervizic
Neat, definitely something I would want to give a try.
I see though that it only supports pure python for building packages, does
that mean that it doesn't build if you are dependent on compiled libraries?
Is there also a plan to add some of the functionality of bundling tools such
as web-pack into this build phase? like automated css optimization, image
compression... Could be handy for some django/flask projects.
------
j88439h84
Poetry is very good. I think projects should use it.
I hope the rest of the ecosystem can catch up quickly.
Tox and pip and and pex need full support for PEP 517/518.
~~~
sametmax
They can't support reading the poetry data because it's not generic. Nor are
most practical implementations of tools using pyproject.toml because they all
use custom tool-namespaced fields in pyproject.toml: it's far from a
standardized format yet, despite the push for using it from the people that
made it.
I still wish poetry would support setup.cfg in parallel. It has been working
for 2 years, is compatible with pip, setuptools and the whole legacy stack,
and most fields are standards and documented.
~~~
j88439h84
I should be more specific about what I meant.
I would like to see tox support `install_commands` ([https://github.com/tox-
dev/tox/issues/715](https://github.com/tox-dev/tox/issues/715))
I would like to see pex support the `build-system` feature.
([https://github.com/pantsbuild/pex/issues/660](https://github.com/pantsbuild/pex/issues/660))
For pip, I'm not sure what's involved in getting everything to work
generically. This is probably not simple. It has the consequence that when we
don't have control over the install command, we end up needing hacks like
using `extras` for ReadTheDocs (e.g.
[https://github.com/readthedocs/readthedocs.org/issues/4912#i...](https://github.com/readthedocs/readthedocs.org/issues/4912#issuecomment-483756581))
------
ilovecaching
Python is the worst thing to happen to SWE (specifically SWE, not ML,
Education, etc).
Python makes huge sacrifices in readability and efficiency for a hypothetical
win in writeability. It's also fundamentally at odds with the multicore world
we're living in an will continue to live in, an issue that many people have
tried to fix and failed at.
I can't count the number of times I've had to spend my entire night reading
through an older Python service without type annotations, desperately trying
to understand the types of inputs and outputs. It's just a mess, and the bias
of programmers to believe that they are writing readable code (when in reality
it's only readable to them) exacerbates the use of names that provide little
context to solve the problem.
Python is awful, and it's an uphill battle to fix it. Asyncio can solve some
performance issues, but negates the benefit of Python's simplicity by
destroying the sequential mental model that Programmers can easily grok. It
also requires a complete rewrite of libraries and a split between non-asyncio
land and asyncio land.
Type annotations can make Python more readable and thus more maintainable, but
gradual typing still leaves lots of unanswered questions when you're
interfacing with untyped code.
Python is really not good unless you are using it to prototype or build
something on your own. It's led to a world of slow, buggy software that is
impossible to rewrite. It's downsides are easy to measure, but its benefits
are difficult to quantify.
~~~
j88439h84
Http://trio.rtfd.org replaces asyncio with a model that feels much closer to
sequential. And it's very good.
------
oweiler
Looks great! So, dependency management in Python is now a solved problem?
~~~
flixic
Seems to be solved only five or six times; not nearly enough.
------
markandrewj
I was excited by this project, and pipenv, but unfortunately I haven't had
consistent results cross platform with either. I have ended up sticking with
venv because of this.
------
pbreit
Could an effort like this ever be implemented as an (backwards compatible)
extension to or modification of something existing with traction?
------
Areading314
This looks awesome, well done! Is there a TLDR about how it improves on pip or
other python dependency management?
~~~
LaundroMat
The GitHub readme explains how it improves on Pipenv.
I like Poetry a lot; I hope platforms like Heroku will start supporting it
soon.
~~~
nickserv
How is the execution time when resolving a non-trivial project? Like your
typical Django app, for example.
~~~
LaundroMat
Adding dependencies takes a (little) bit of time, because of the lockfile. But
deployment (ie installing dependencies) is as fast as any dependency manager
(pip, pipenv, ...).
------
heyoni
Congrats on hitting version 1.0! I’ve been putting off completely switching
off of pipenv until this milestone.
~~~
LaundroMat
I'm not being snarky, it's probably just too early in the morning, but where
did you see the project hit v1.0?
~~~
heyoni
I am Le idiot. I saw a version 1 email update but it’s for the prerelease >_<
------
fouc
Does anyone know if there's a name for the "terminal" theme used on the poetry
site?
------
ausjke
what poetry can do that venv can not do? considering venv is the default tool
and is solid and fairly easy to use already?
~~~
dragonwriter
> what poetry can do that venv can not do?
Venv doesn't do dependency management, it just provides an isolated python
environment. By default, poetry uses venv for environment isolation, but also
does dependency management.
~~~
ausjke
what about pip freeze to requirements.txt for manually but solid dependency
management under venv? pip takes care of dependencies be it venv or poetry,
requirements.txt will record what's need so you make your project reproducible
and portable. what else does poetry bring to the table? If there is a strong
selling point I would like to try poetry again.
yarn came out great but these days I switched back to npm for the sake of
simplicity of my workflow, especially npm absorbed yarn's good features.
same thing happens to parcel/webpack, the neat new tool beats the old players,
but then the old dominant one catches up by taking in good stuff from its
smaller competitors, quickly.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: ML toy that tells you if you sound like Trump or Hillary on Twitter - sarim
http://thedonaldtest.com/
======
stephenr
So apparently ML doesn't understand sarcasm either.
~~~
sarim
I think it could. Our ML doesn't. Here's what a quick google search brought
up...[http://cs229.stanford.edu/proj2015/044_report.pdf](http://cs229.stanford.edu/proj2015/044_report.pdf)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google Search: site:*.*/phpinfo.php - elwell
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=site:*.*/phpinfo.php&start=20
======
getdavidhiggins
You can find more here: [https://www.exploit-db.com/google-hacking-
database/](https://www.exploit-db.com/google-hacking-database/) These are
called "Google Dorks" for some reason, even though there's nothing dorky about
them. Some of these are honeypots / tarpits monitoring inbound traffic, others
are actual servers which are running old versions of PHP. Frankly though if
it's public like that it often is a red flag that the webmaster has made other
bad choices with their servers...
------
yunyeng
What kind of information can hackers get from phpinfo() ?
~~~
krapp
The PHP version will tell them what unpatched vulnerabilities your apps are
likely to have.
~~~
smt88
Isn't that often in the response headers anyway?
~~~
krapp
Yeah, but you shouldn't be doing that, either.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Product Hunt Team Live – Let's chat about how we can make Product Hunt better - minimaxir
https://www.producthunt.com/live/product-hunt-team
======
minimaxir
My comment, since there is a nonzero chance of it getting downvoted/deleted on
PH:
\---
Hi Ryan & the Product Hunt team.
As the person who wrote the Most-Recommended comment on your Medium article
with 100+ Recommends, believe me when I say there is a large amount of
external interest in the topics of the questions I now ask about Product Hunt.
My questions are simple:
1\. What changes, if any, have you made in response to the June Re/Code
article accusing Product Hunt of being elitist?
2\. You said "all upvotes are equal" in the Medium article as evidence that
Product Hunt is fair. Would you say that the binary process of get-on-
homepage/do-not-get-on-homepage is just as fair?
3\. Whenever someone on Product Hunt upvotes a product, their friends receive
a notification saying "X and Y others upvoted Z" with a link to Z. Does this
call-to-action skew the upvoting process in favor of people with strong social
groups on PH?
4\. Do you believe that the current product curation process is meritocratic,
that is the best products, _on their individual merit_ , are the ones that are
on the front page?
5\. As a hypothetical maker trying to get my product onto Product Hunt, would
my time be better spent Tweeting and chatting on Slack with Top Hunters or by
improving the product itself?
6\. Do makers who schedule exclusive launches with the Product Hunt team and
offer PH-specific perks get favorable treatment in terms of ranking/exposure?
Would this be considered a "conflict of interest"?
7\. The new "conflicts of interest" section of the FAQ notes that they should
be disclosed in good faith. In the case where a conflict of interest is
blatant, such as when a venture capitalist submits a startup they funded (as
an casual observer, I notice this happens _all the time_ ), are you willing to
penalize the investor/submission and force disclosure?
Thank you for your time.
Max W. @minimaxir
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What's your top plugin/tool to help consume ever-increasing information? - abhimskywalker
Recently I discovered https://github.com/igrigorik/videospeed a chrome plugin.
And now I can easily breeze through most videos on internet at 2x-3x speeds. It's been awesome! Saves lot of time and increases efficiency. It was a very pleasant discovery.
Would love suggestions for similar everyday tool/plugins to deal with ever-increasing interesting content.
======
axvk
I use Imagus. It expands images on mouse hover. Basically you can look at
facebook, amazon, and many other sites that use thumbnails by just hovering
over the image instead of clicking on it and waiting for all of the additional
crap to load.
[https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/imagus/immpkjjlgap...](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/imagus/immpkjjlgappgfkkfieppnmlhakdmaab)
~~~
abhimskywalker
Nice. This is quite cool. Just saw the linked xkcd comic by just hovering on
the links in some of hackernews comments :)
------
tmaly
I use google keep to save links, pictures, voice recordings right now.
However, for long term storage, I have not come up with a great solution to
keeping everything organized.
------
pedrodelfino
Pocket (a read it later app).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Worque – CLI written in Ruby to manage and push your daily notes to Slack - hqc
https://github.com/huynhquancam/worque
======
jquast
I've solved this issue with a chat bot in the past, answering phrases such as,
"!open jira issues assigned to jquast" or "!github issues closed by jquast
since yesterday"
Expand or integrate as necessary for whichever systems your team manages with.
Although some of my teammates found it intimidating to have only 0 or 1
results where others might have much more, it presses home the idea that your
task progress should be made visible in these external systems.
As a team, storing your progress in a local notes file is anti-team. We should
strive to allow any other team member to continue your work using only the
information published to these systems.
------
bsg75
I don't see in the project _why_ I would want to push my notes to Slack. What
is the feature in Slack that makes this useful ?
~~~
phlyingpenguin
"Ever stunned when your boss suddenly asked what you've done yesterday?"
I thought the same as you. Then I read this line and thought, "Man I'm glad I
don't work there."
~~~
masukomi
you realize that's exactly the info you're supposed to have on hand for a
standup in scrum or any other Scrum-like agile methodology. What you
accomplished yesterday, what you're going to be working on today, and what
obstacles you need help with.
~~~
geebee
Absolutely accurate, but you did leave out the part about "when your boss asks
you," which I think is what gave the OP a shudder.
This is the big area where scrum goes awry. Defenders of scrum object,
reasonably enough, to the claim that scrum leads to micromanagement of
developers. The daily standup specifically _isn 't_ supposed to be a daily
status report to your boss, complete with renewed application of deadline
pressure. In fact, I remember reading once that in a scrum meeting, only those
who are producing are even supposed to speak. It is specifically not supposed
to take the form of a status update.
My main criticism of this defense of scrum is that I think scrum is somewhat
prone to this kind of corruption. It may not be what is _supposed_ to happen,
but it's not a corruption out of left field either, it does seem to be an
inherent risk. The presence of a daily standup, where developers can be put
under a microscope and micromanaged under the guise of a developer friendly
methodology, is just too tempting for bosses or other stakeholders who want to
micromanage.
------
0xmohit
workque todo --for=yesterday
# ~/notes/checklist-2016-07-18.md
# This will jump back to Friday's note if it's Monday today!
Too much of intelligence. Does this imply that one can't have notes for
weekends?
~~~
fweespeech
> If you're kind of nerd and you have no life. You would rather work over the
> weekend than hanging out with folks, so you should enable the hardcore mode
> which will stop skipping weekend for you.
> worque todo --for yesterday --no-skip-weekend
------
brudgers
If it meets the guidelines, this might make a good "Show HN".
Show HN guidelines:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html)
~~~
hqc
Thanks @brudgers but the title doesn't seem to be editable any more.
~~~
brudgers
Looks like it was noticed without one.
------
squozzer
So is it pronounced like "work" or like "torque"?
~~~
NegativeLatency
Looks like it could also be pronounced "work-u"
~~~
brudgers
I thought "work queue".
------
hoangvukenshin
Nice job. So can it can run on Windows environment ?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Google Maps has moved so far ahead of the competition - anthraxstars
http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/12/20/fascinating-read-google-maps-moved-far-ahead-competition/
======
jrnichols
This is an area where Apple needs to seriously reconsider all of the third
party sources. They just aren't where Google is by themselves. Perhaps using
OpenStreetmap as a partner?
TomTom supposedly has a map correction tool but I have never been able to get
it to load.
The Apple satellite images are woefully out of date in many places.
Although, Apple does seem to have gotten a lot faster at adding user submitted
places to Maps. I wonder if they have some sort of user reputation system in
place? I've noticed things I've submitted have been corrected within a couple
days. Pins moved, road changes, businesses that have closed/opened, or just
adding new places.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Path to Programming Language Theory - rspivak
https://github.com/steshaw/plt
======
krat0sprakhar
I've been taking a PLT[0] class in school and while the list above is
extremely comprehensive and thorough, I'd argue that you do not need to read
up all of it to get a good idea of programming languages.
Without even learning all the theory, you can get pretty far ahead (IMHO) in a
building your own programming language (if that's the goal). The two resources
that I've found invaluable are - the prog lang course[1] by Dan Grossman and
PLAI[2] by Shriram. Lastly, there's also a whole bunch of interesting
university courses that you can refer to -
[https://github.com/prakhar1989/awesome-
courses#programming-l...](https://github.com/prakhar1989/awesome-
courses#programming-languages--compilers)
[0] -
[http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/classes/2016/4115-sprin...](http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~sedwards/classes/2016/4115-spring/index.html)
[1] -
[https://www.coursera.org/course/proglang](https://www.coursera.org/course/proglang)
[2] -
[http://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs173/2012/book/](http://cs.brown.edu/courses/cs173/2012/book/)
~~~
tikhonj
There's a difference between learning about _programming languages_ and
learning about _programming language theory_. The class you linked is squarely
in the former camp. It's a bit confusing because they use PLT to stand for
"Programming Languages and Translators" where I usually see it referring to
"Programming Language Theory".
Honestly, "programming language theory" is a bit of a misnomer. It's less a
theory _for_ programming languages and more _a theory of CS from a language
perspective_. (Where theoretical CS is a theory of CS from a _computational_
point of view.)
Programming language theory is interesting in and of itself and is fairly
distinct from the sorts of things you'd learn in a normal programming
languages course or by implementing your own language. I'm not saying either
of those is useless—I'm a big fan of doing both!—just that they accomplish
fundamentally different things. Your advice is good if you just want to
implement a programming language; the linked repository is good if you want to
explore PL _theory_.
PL theory shares a lot with formal logic and the foundations of mathematics.
The main areas are things like type theory (a special approach to formal
logic) and semantics (akin to proof theory or model theory).
What you'll learn by reading the books linked above is almost completely
disjoint from what the class you linked covers.
------
cousin_it
I've spent a lot of time on learning these ideas. They are interesting in
themselves, but also because they come with a tantalizing promise of
usefulness. For me, that promise was never fulfilled. I suspect that's not
just bad luck. Creating programming languages is mostly a practical problem,
not a research problem. For example, type theory will never tell you that
garbage collection is a good idea, or which kind you should use.
My advice to younger folks looking at this field would be to turn back and
instead solve some practical problem by creative programming. Git or
BitTorrent would be good examples to emulate. Even a smaller project could
have more impact than the whole field of PL research combined.
------
infodroid
One thing that is sorely missing here is a section on motivation, which is
arguably the first step on the journey. Because I can see that learning PLT
will be hard. Yet most people are not going to learn PLT just because it is
hard. There must be _something more_ that makes it worthwhile. But I struggle
to appreciate why any programmer would want to learn PLT.
~~~
Xophmeister
Why does anyone learn anything? An intellectual pay-off is, to many, just as
valuable as the practical (and ultimately, presumably, economic) pay-off that
comes from learning a new skill. That might be seen by many others to be
"learning for learning's sake", but any research could potentially lead to
wider benefits.
That said, for die-hard-pragmatists, it seems reasonable to assume that
learning PLT might make one a better programmer.
------
Smaug123
I was struck by the category theory section, which starts with two fairly easy
books (Cheng and Awodey), a book I've never heard of, and then Mac Lane. Mac
Lane is a _fearsome_ book, which takes a lot of concerted effort and study for
me to read. I have had four years of the Cambridge Maths Tripos, so I am
(ahem) probably quite a bit more highly trained in mathematics than most
readers of this list, and Mac Lane is just barely on the edge of things I can
read. It should come with a health warning for its extreme difficulty and
abstraction; there's a reason it's in the "Graduate Texts" series.
~~~
thechao
I had the same feeling when Ben Pierce's introductory text was tossed casually
into the same list as HOTT. I mean... more power to you, but a few lines of
text are casually glossing over probably a decade of study for the reader.
------
gravypod
I know this might be a stupid question for some, but I have to ask anyway
because this will drive me crazy trying to figure this out on my own.
Why is this a 'theory', what makes this different from a documentation
different design patterns in programming languages?
~~~
rntz
It's basically a _certain kind_ of documentation of design patterns in
programming languages. PLT emphasizes the use of formal logic and mathematics.
It focuses on systems that can be rigorously defined, and theorems that can be
proven about them; as opposed to software engineering, which focuses on the
issues and patterns that crop up in the practice of developing software, or
HCI, which focuses on human factors.
Of course, all of these are overly broad generalizations, and it's not as if
there aren't points of intersection between these different ways of looking at
programming languages.
But the kind of stuff you'll see in a book like Types and Programming
Languages is super-different in approach from the kind of stuff you'd see in,
say, the Gang of Four book, both of which are different again from Bret
Victor's approach.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
> It's basically a certain kind of documentation of design patterns in
> programming languages.
PLT has become its own thing, and work in the area is not necessarily related
to PL. If you scan current papers at POPL, you'll see a trend of applying
language-oriented theory to problem X where X has nothing to do with
implementing/designing a programming language.
We can apply theory to PL, but many of the factors in a PL design today (or
yesterday) are not rooted in theory.
> But the kind of stuff you'll see in a book like Types and Programming
> Languages is super-different in approach from the kind of stuff you'd see
> in, say, the Gang of Four book, both of which are different again from Bret
> Victor's approach.
It is not even just the approach that is different, but the goals and
outcomes.
~~~
gravypod
Would you mind describing some of the goals, current problems, and some "must-
read" papers on the topic?
I'm in a university so I have access to most journals.
I'm very interested in learning more about this.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
PL is vastly huge, so you have to be more specific about "topic." What are you
interested in learning? I personally specialize in experience, and could list
many (what I consider seminal) papers that are not even on the radar for other
PL researchers.
------
Normal_gaussian
This is exactly what it says on the tin.
A path to enlightenment.
I've read a lot on these subjects already, but I am certainly saving this for
two reasons:
* Including papers and sections of books in my weekly reading
* I find it quicker to understand if I can grab a handful of explanations and critique them (often rewriting the confusing parts of several explanations once understood)
If you want an easy list, or a minimal list, this isn't it - and I am glad.
------
mpweiher
This seems very one-sided, skewing towards type-theory and functional
programming.
Is that what is taught these days? No wonder people think that's all there is.
:-(
~~~
mathetic
And what would be the omitted part of programming language theory?
~~~
chrisseaton
mpweiher could mean implementation theory, so things like how to write better
compiler analysis and optimisations and things like that, but in the academic
and research community I think that just isn't thought of as coming under the
term 'programming language theory'. It's not thought unimportant, it's just a
different topic, more grouped under 'systems'.
Looking at mpweiher's profile it looks like he might be interested in things
like metaprogramming and object protocols - again they're seen as either part
of the software engineering or systems disciplines rather than PLT.
~~~
chrismonsanto
I disagree that compiler analysis/optimizations would be considered under
'systems', I would expect that kind of work to be published in PLDI, which is
definitely the PL community. Systems is more OSDI/NSDI/SOSP.
Metaprogramming also has a rich history in traditional PL venues like POPL and
ICFP, such as the Scheme/Racket work on macros, Template Haskell and friends,
staged computation work a-la MacroML.
~~~
chrisseaton
I think POPL is PLT and PLDI is systems.
I say that I'm a systems person to signify that I want to talk about ASTs, IRs
and compiler output rather than core language models and formal semantics.
But you could argue about definitions all day.
The relevant observation is that the reason this list focuses on formalisms
like type theory and models we can reason about formally like FP is that this
is what we mean by PLT.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
You mean, systems in the OSDI/SOSP sense? Systems and PL implementation
(compilers) communities have always overlapped quite a bit, maybe more so a
decade ago than today (e.g. see Sanjay Ghemawat and Jeff Dean as PL people who
did systems who are now doing machine learning...).
------
paxcoder
I (and I'm sure others) would appreciate references to the minimal set of
things necessary to absorb to easily participate in the PLT discussion.
This is the opposite of that.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Closer Look at Crankshaft, V8's Optimizing Compiler - wingo
http://wingolog.org/archives/2011/08/02/a-closer-look-at-crankshaft-v8s-optimizing-compiler
======
tzs
Minor style suggestion: it would be helpful to toss in the phrase "Google's
JavaScript engine" or something similar in there somewhere, perhaps right
after the first mention of V8. I drew a complete blank trying to remember
where V8 is from.
~~~
wingo
Thanks for the note; fixed.
------
thaytan
Thanks, Wingo! These posts are really cool, and doing a great job of
explicating some complex beasts.
------
swah
I have to read a couple compiler books before reading this.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Flammarion – browser-based Ruby GUI Toolkit - MrBra
https://github.com/zach-capalbo/flammarion
======
MrBra
Some discussion
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ruby/comments/42xxsp/flammarion_the...](https://www.reddit.com/r/ruby/comments/42xxsp/flammarion_the_nifty_ruby_gui_toolkit/)
------
acveilleux
I wonder if Flammarion, the imprint of the Gallimard French publishing giant
will object at the use of their name?
------
jlebrech
Is it possible to make a fully fledged but ugly interface that can be styled
separately decoupled from the code?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Linux on Samsung Galaxy smartphones - djvdorp
https://seap.samsung.com/linux-on-galaxy
======
JorgeGT
It's quite interesting that with the power of today's mobile devices
(multicore 1GHz+ CPUs, GPUs, 2Gb+ RAM) we still don't have a standardized
interface to plug them into desktop peripherals and launch a desktop OS/GUI.
One would thing that such an universal interface would quickly become a
standard offering in airports, hotels, libraries, conferences, etc.
~~~
rsync
"One would thing that such an universal interface would quickly become a
standard offering in airports, hotels, libraries, conferences, etc."
My favorite computing peripheral form factor has always been the PCMCIA card.
It seems to me that you could fit a minimum viable phone inside a PCMCIA card
_and then_ insert that PCMCIA card into a normal sized laptop when you choose.
The laptop would have no CPU/RAM - it's just a big USB keyboard and monitor -
and the phone would probably have limited battery life, given the size
(although you could bump out the non-port end of the PCMCIA card with some
extra battery, the same way that wifi cards had an antenna bump ...)
Something like this was proposed ... there was some minor project where they
had built an entire PC (not a phone) into a PCMCIA card (although with
different pin-outs) and proposed using it as a portable "guts" for any laptop
"host" but I can't find the URL for that project anymore ...
I certainly would welcome a phone the size of a pc-card and a cable-less
docking of the brain into the host laptop would be much better than either 2-3
USB cables or some weird, proprietary phone dock ...
~~~
admax88q
I think you're thinking about the EOMA project. Boards are soon to go out for
their production run.
[https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-
desktop/updates/pcb...](https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-
desktop/updates/pcb-and-3d-printer-progress)
~~~
rsync
Yes that is indeed what I was thinking of - it's a very interesting project.
Imagine if that device was a fully functional, standalone phone ...
~~~
dpark
I don’t understand the desire for this. In this model, you’re still carrying a
laptop. It’s just utterly useless without the phone.
~~~
rsync
The use-case is in the opposite direction: when I only have my phone, I have
my _entire computer_ with me - including the storage and the files and keys
and so on.
No syncing required. You only have a single computer. That's a big win, I
think ...
~~~
dpark
If you care about the stuff on that computer, you really want it synced
somewhere anyway.
I don't personally see the utility in having my phone be my computer. I don't
need Visual Studio or Photoshop on my phone. If I don't have my
laptop/desktop, I'm not going to work on the things I typically do with a
full-power computer. The phone is just not the right form factor, so it
doesn't help for that stuff to be on my phone.
~~~
rsync
"If you care about the stuff on that computer, you really want it synced
somewhere anyway."
I disagree.
If you care about (stuff) you really want to _back it up somewhere_.
This is different than "syncing" which can mean anything, is usually a
completely unintelligible process for the end user, is fragile, and _is
actually a hard problem_.[1]
Much more intelligible and manageable is to have one single repository of data
and carry that "kernel" of stored data everywhere. Yes, certainly you should
back it up, but the backup is just that: a point in time backup that you do
not operate against.
[1] Two way sync, dealing with new, but different objects on both devices ...
this is not a "solved" use-case ...
~~~
dpark
> _This is different than "syncing" which can mean anything_
Then we should probably define it before asserting that it's "completely
unintelligible", "fragile", or a "hard problem", right? Yes, full multi-way
sync is not a simple problem. Most scenarios don't need this (and even ones
that do tend to devolve into simple cases since single-actor conflicts are not
that common).
The simplest case for "sync" is just "my stuff is in the cloud". Call it
remote storage, since sync is ambiguous. Make the client dumb, put the data
online, and most of the complexity evaporates. Of course, local storage with
remote backup is also a reasonable solution that has different tradeoffs.
For me personally, I prefer the "remote storage" solution for most things. I
greatly appreciate that my email is just "magically" everywhere I need it to
be without me carrying a repository of email in my pocket. I love that all my
important documents and photos are accessible everywhere even if I forget my
phone.
------
jpalomaki
What I would like to do is use my phone as portable storage device and then
plug it in to external processing unit and _boot_ from my phone. The external
processing unit could be desktop computer, laptop or tablet.
The reason? When sitting behind my desk at home or office I don't like to be
limited with the mobile CPU. I have the required kWhs to power a proper CPU,
GPU and run 64GB of memory. I also don't want to run separate computers on
each location, because keeping these in sync (OS settings, applications,
databases etc) is painful.
Technically we are almost there. We can put reasonably fast flash storage to
the phone. USB-C should provide enough bandwidth. On OS software side we would
need some work to make plugging in/out convenient. I don't want to do a full
reboot every time I "unplug" the phone from desktop processing unit and move
it somewhere else. As I move between processing units I would like to keep my
apps open, maybe just doing a hibernate/sleep and then waking the system up
connected to a different processing unit.
This solution means double spending on CPUs and memory, but desktop hardware
is relatively cheap.
~~~
dpark
> _I don 't want to do a full reboot every time I "unplug" the phone from
> desktop processing unit and move it somewhere else._
How do you expect this to work? You can’t hibernate an OS and swap out all the
hardware and expect it to actually wake back up. You’re going to have to do a
full boot.
~~~
emidln
Actually, you probably could. If you write the hibernate image to a place
using a machine-id of some sort. Imagine you have images like
/hibernate/machine/5c76f5e0-9117-4e33-8093-9de2e2f1b6de
/hibernate/machine/d755fe2c-2b13-4436-8a5b-ba3363b9c642
When your kernel boots up, it grabs its machine-id and looks for a hibernation
image to map into its memory. If it finds one, great, you have an "instant
wake". If it doesn't, you boot as normal. Now imagine that your kernel tries
to mount a specific device to `/hibernate` prior to looking for hibernate
images. Upon hibernating, it writes its image to its machine-id. You could
easily share the disk between two machines (even of different architectures)
and keep two separate hiberante images on disk. You wouldn't be sharing the
processes, but you could share your data.
With a sophisticated enough setup, you could probably even dual-install
binaries (although this would be much involved with ELF where you must have
separate binaries compared to something like Mach-O) to something like
/usr/bin_x86_64/ and /usr/bin_arm64/ and then use your shell to select your
path. This might work on a system level, but would certainly work on a per-
install basis manually.
~~~
fragmede
Stick a hypervisor and (some sort of) NFS share in the mix to sidestep having
to know about the layout of fs blocks on disk . Also, just extend the linux
kernel ELF loader to know about fat-binaries to make the scheme work - there
were proposed patches to accomplish this that were (unfairly) derided, but
there's nothing fundamentally _wrong_ with that proposal.
------
nickcw
I think termux ( [https://termux.com/](https://termux.com/) ) does most of
what I need when I need a bit of emergency Linux on my phone.
Termux provides a recompiled debian distro which runs as a android App. It
doesn't chroot or need root and it works amazingly well. No desktop apps
though.
~~~
boyce
Termux is so bloody handy. That and one of the recent Blackberry phones and
you've a tool rather than a toy
~~~
mschuster91
...or a tablet and Hacker Keyboard (which is loads better than the Google or
Samsung one, especially because it has arrow keys!). That's my setup.
~~~
mavendependency
Volume up button plus W A S D
------
saagarjha
> Linux on Galaxy allows the _latest_ Samsung Galaxy smartphone users to run
> their preferred Linux distribution on their smartphones utilizing the same
> Linux kernel that powers the Android OS to ensure the best possible
> performance. (emphasis mine)
I knew there was a catch somewhere. I seriously doubt there's a technical
reason why older Galaxy models can't support running Linux as well. I don't
understand why it's so difficult for Android manufacturers to allow users to
install whatever they want– _I_ bought _my_ phone, now let me install what _I_
want. Sure, void the warrant or refuse to support it, but don't get in my way.
~~~
simonh
We're all used to having desktop computers with generic x86 compatible
processors and highly standardized internal interfaces and components, and
compiling our software and installing it on any x86 computer we want.
Smartphones with ARM SOCs aren't like that because they aren't just a CPU,
they also include a crapload of additional system components. Even SOCs like
the Snapdragon within a specific model will offer many variations to the
manufacturers. Outside the SOC itself, phone hardware is far less standardized
than on a PC. You can't compile your Linux distro for ARM then install it on
any smartphone, the kernel needs to be tailored to the specific phone. That's
why even though unlocked Android phones are around it really takes the
manufacturer themselves to be able to do something like this because only they
have the detailed understanding of the platform and the resources. Otherwise,
other people would be doing it.
~~~
ahartmetz
The Linux Device Tree infrastructure was created as a hardware description for
hardware that cannot describe itself at runtime, which is mostly ARM SoCs.
However that only works when hardware drivers are wired up to the device tree
infrastrucure instead of being fully hardcoded. Given the usual bare minimum
investment in software by most embedded hardware vendors, many/most drivers
probably aren't.
Given a set of hardware with the same instruction set and drivers with full
device tree support, one can now create one kernel for the whole set.
~~~
pjmlp
Device Tree Overlays come to rescue, but only if OEMs actually do care.
[https://source.android.com/devices/architecture/dto/](https://source.android.com/devices/architecture/dto/)
------
herpderperator
I did something like this (shared kernel and chroot) on an old Nexus S back in
2012 with Gentoo. You can use a precompiled stage3 tarball which contains the
fundamental filesystem layout and utilities (for the target architecture), and
then for anything else that you need, you just use Portage (Gentoo's package
manager) to compile stuff for you. Not super practical in terms of battery
life and time if you're constantly compiling packages but a cool project
nonetheless. This wasn't the exact guide I used, but it's the same idea:
[http://thinkmoult.com/installing-gentoo-android-
chroot/](http://thinkmoult.com/installing-gentoo-android-chroot/)
~~~
hdhzy
Very cool thanks for sharing!
> Not super practical in terms of battery life
Samsung avoided this problem by requiring that the phone is connected to the
dock that is also charging it.
------
camillomiller
Maybe 2018 is finally the year of the Linux desktop. Wait... :)
Jokes aside, I can see how this would be useful for sysadmin and devs - bring
along your smartphone and you're set - but this would never fly for a general,
even if geeky, public. Very nice approach though, curious to see where this
ends up going.
~~~
K0SM0S
I tend to agree with your sentiment, but
> this would _never_
From experience, I now pause and consider twice any statement I make using
_never_. You know, I thought Facebook would never become dominant using such a
one-size-fits-all interface where I can't even choose a theme or even my
color, let alone which elements to be displayed and in which order (I keep
thinking their UI is ugly to this day, if this was our 'home' it feels it
looks like a housing project on internet to me). Or back in 2010 when I bought
an iPhone 4 and later an iPad 2, I thought Apple would _never_ keep iOS so
dumbed down compared to OSX (e.g. "Smart" features, a great first step into
intuitive automation, the real graal of computers imho, lest one thinks it's
OK to become a robot and click/tap thirty times to perform thirty times the
same operation).
So... yeah, I don't know. Everything says you're right today, but with just
the right tools/apps, a good Linux distro tailored to popular phones could
reach the same level of popularity than, say, iPhones (currently ~10% of the
market, roughly one in ten Android phones).
~~~
camillomiller
Good observation. I will keep it in mind.
------
5h
I've been using termux and a fold out bluetooth keyboard for django
development & code review for quite a while on my pixel XL.
I absolutely love having my dev work on my phone, being able to hack away or
do code review for 5 minutes wherever is incredible.
At home using a chrome-cast and have it on a big screen.
It would be nice to have a window manager I suppose - but i'll probably end up
in a full screen terminal anywya.
When mobile the biggest problem for me is just plain old screen size - I'm
tempted to get a cheap Chinese tablet and use it as a remote screen somehow -
leaving my phone in my pocket.
~~~
JepZ
Yeah, screen size sucks. Didn't Intel build some wireless screen technology a
few years ago? Somehow I never saw it in action, but as far as I can imagine I
would like to have a >24 inch screen which I could use as a normal Display
Port monitor, but also via NFC (+ some magic wireless technology) as a
wireless monitor for my smart phone.
Does anybody know where I can buy such a device or why it is not yet
available?
~~~
nrki
It's called WiDi / Miracast.
It's in most Android phones. Many TVs support it, or you can buy an adapter.
------
dobecker
>> Thank you for showing your interest in the Samsung for Galaxy project
This should be Linux for Galaxy right?
~~~
castis
Could also be 'Thank you for showing your interest in Samsung for the Galaxy
project'?
------
nopacience
We need phone drivers! To enable us to install any distro or OS. I would love
to download X distro directly from their website > install on the smartphone
somehow > boot > install phone drivers > make calls
I have nothing against Android. I would like to choose who creates the OS used
on my smartphone
~~~
morganvachon
> _" I would love to download X distro directly from their website > install
> on the smartphone somehow > boot > install phone drivers > make calls"_
Unfortunately it will never be that simple. First, the distro you want would
need to have an ARM port targeting the same version of ARM SoC in the phone.
ARM isn't like x86 with just two targets (32 bit and 64 bit), it's a quagmire.
Second, your distro of choice would need to stick with the exact kernel
version used by the phone, and I guarantee if you take any three Android
phones by three different manufacturers made in the past two years, you'll see
three different kernel versions, each with tweaks made just for that device.
Said tweaks would make it impossible to have a distro targeting all three
devices even if they did have the exact same kernel version.
Third, your distro maintainer would need to own or have access to every
Android device she wished to target, and while that works for a community
driven project like Lineage OS, it's not realistic for the lone Linux distro
developer or small team who wants to add phones as targets for their existing
desktop class distro.
~~~
Brakenshire
> Second, your distro of choice would need to stick with the exact kernel
> version used by the phone, and I guarantee if you take any three Android
> phones by three different manufacturers made in the past two years, you'll
> see three different kernel versions, each with tweaks made just for that
> device. Said tweaks would make it impossible to have a distro targeting all
> three devices even if they did have the exact same kernel version.
Would this apply for the new Purism phone? i.e. if all the drivers are
upstreamed into the mainline kernel, does thstnot mean you can use any kernel
past the point where the drivers are included, without modification?
------
djvdorp
Samsung press release: [http://www.samsungmobilepress.com/stories/samsung-
dex's-expa...](http://www.samsungmobilepress.com/stories/samsung-
dex's-expanding-ecosystem-pushes-the-possibilities-of-the-smartphone)
~~~
saagarjha
> At Samsung, we continuously ask ourselves what else is possible, and what
> else we can do to bring a better experience for our users.
Here's a tip: don't mess with my scrolling.
------
ericfrederich
Ubuntu wanted to do this but it never went anywhere... and they didn't open
source their code. What an absolute shame.
I really loved the idea of it. You had the whole Android / Java / Bionic
runtime sharing the same kernel as your GNU stuff. They had a way that you
could even access your Android stuff from within your desktop environment like
apps, contacts, text messages, etc.
~~~
j605
It is open source and it is being continued at
[https://ubports.com/](https://ubports.com/)
~~~
dharma1
I think he might be talking about Ubuntu for Android, which was classic Ubuntu
running on an Android phone, predating Ubuntu Touch.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_for_Android](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_for_Android)
It worked on Galaxy S4, and Samsung were really close to shipping it on every
S4. It never did ship though, and the project was abandoned. A couple of
people who worked on it tried to push for open sourcing it, but I don't think
it ever was open sourced.
You could hook it up to an external monitor with an MHL-HDMI cable. Of course
the SoC wasn't as beefy as ones we have now, but it was pretty OK.
------
pjmlp
Given how Tizen has been managed thus far I am not having big hopes for it,
but lets see.
~~~
bostand
Tizen on smartwatch is pretty awesome.
Imho its miles ahead of the other watch OSes
~~~
pjmlp
I guess you never bother to actually program on it.
Tizen already went through these reboots:
1 - Replaced Meego SDK with Bada OS SDK
2 - Replaced Bada OS SDK with EFL + C++ SDK
3 - Dropped C++ SDK and replaced a new pure C API alongside EFL
4 - Currently adopting .NET Core + Xamarin.Forms
Then there is the whole issue of code quality.
[https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened](https://what.thedailywtf.com/topic/15001/enlightened)
[https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/12/samsungs_tizen_no_l...](https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/12/samsungs_tizen_no_longer_worst_ever/)
~~~
distances
I never understood why Samsung didn't stick with Qt for Tizen. Was it because
it was owned by Nokia back then?
Everything they've tried to do on the UI layer is something I wouldn't touch
with an eleven-foot pole.
------
0xFFFE
I miss my N900, I could run full fledged Debian on it. The Maemo OS also had
Terminal app with full SSH client & server app. I used to SSH into my phone
from my laptop just for kicks. And then Nokia had to go and fuck it all up.
~~~
thesandlord
I had a N810. Great device, but once iPhone and Android smartphones came out,
the market for these quickly shrunk to niche status.
------
bfrog
Maybe I'm the only one that is getting tired of smart phones? I feel like it
just takes over every ones life sometimes. I'm ready to go back to a $30 nokia
that just f'n works for half a decade, doesn't die every day due to battery
usage, and in general... doesn't spy on my entire life story for the supposed
purpose of better targeted ads.
I think there's some serious room back in the mobile market with the way these
devices are going. Outrageously expensive disposables aren't sustainable
forever. At some point people get tired of throwing $500 in the bin for the
exact same thing they had last year, just so they can have a full day worth of
battery charge again.
~~~
blubb-fish
would love to do that, too - but if you use the phone responsibly and maturely
then its smartphone capabilities are pretty useful.
for starters - don't throw away the phone - throw away the crapps - FB, WA,
IG, Twitter, SC, ...
------
kasabali
It's already mentioned in sub comments but I'd like to mention GNURoot Debian
[0] in a top level comment.
It is regular Debian (full repository of unmodified packages unlike Termux),
and unlike variety of other chroot based solutions it doesn't require root
access (utilizes proot).
0:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gnuroot.de...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gnuroot.debian)
------
jaclaz
As often happens, I don't understand why one would want to subscribe in order
to be notified when it becomes public.
I mean, I can understand subscribing in order to get a beta or pre-release,
but if right now nothing is available and when it will be available it will be
public, it seems to me nothing more than a personal data collection.
When it will be public there will also be a lot of publicity about it, so it's
not likely that one needs to be notified.
~~~
pjmlp
The whole point is not to notify you, rather to get a feeling how much people
would eventually buy it.
~~~
jaclaz
>The whole point is not to notify you, rather to get a feeling how much people
would eventually buy it.
Sure, but I wasn't expressing a doubt on why Samsung put that on, I was
doubting why an end user would want to give away his/her name/email/company,
substantially in exchange of nothing.
~~~
jhasse
Because he wants this to happen.
------
SakiWatanabe
Engadget article: [https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/19/samsung-introduces-
linux...](https://www.engadget.com/2017/10/19/samsung-introduces-linux-on-
galaxy/)
------
xchip
I've been using for 4 years and old cellphone as my home server.
I run on it Nginx + PHP, OpenVPN, Samba, SSH, MiniDLNA, a git private server,
AvaHi, python scripts...
To get extra memory (not that I need it) I turn off the android UI and to save
power I turn off the LCD.
ping me if you want to know more!
------
pedroaraujo
I'm surprised no one commented about this yet:
[https://maruos.com/](https://maruos.com/)
------
dm319
I can hear Shuttleworth swearing right now.
~~~
tinco
Swearing? Don't you mean jubilating? Isn't Ubuntu on Samsung Galaxy phones
exactly what he would want?
~~~
morganvachon
Who said it will be Ubuntu? If this is anything like past attempts at a Linux
desktop running from a mobile phone, it will be a Samsung optimized (i.e.
locked down) half baked chroot monstrosity with limited tools and locked to
the phone's ancient, bastardized kernel with zero security updates from launch
forward.
I think it would be awesome and amazing if I was completely wrong about all of
that, but I'm not holding my breath. I'd rather wait for the Pyra to release
and carry two devices than torture myself with an impossible dream.
~~~
Jonnax
Here's a photo of it running Ubuntu 16.04 at a Samsung booth with a 4.4.
Kernel.
[https://twitter.com/TizenHelper/status/920507238485233664](https://twitter.com/TizenHelper/status/920507238485233664)
~~~
deusum
I spy a Virtual Box, no? The kernel looks too new for Android, as well.
I'm guessing users here don't want the emu penalty, just extend what's already
there a bit.
~~~
MikusR
1\. That is the current Note8 kernel. 2\. That virtualbox is the info string
of the machine that compiled that kernel.
------
emilsedgh
This is amazing.
The reason we have high quality free software for desktops is that you can
easily install anything you want on your laptops and PC's.
Significance of this is that it allows free software stacks to be built for
phones.
Kudos to Samsung for such move. Let's hope other phone makers also open up the
phones.
------
MikusR
[https://twitter.com/TizenHelper/status/920507238485233664](https://twitter.com/TizenHelper/status/920507238485233664)
Some pictures from a demo booth. Runs Ubuntu 16.04.2 on 4.4.13-1.
------
padraic7a
This is definitely interesting and I would be curious to see where it goes in
the future.
In the meantime however anyone who wants to use Linux on their phone today
should check out [https://ubports.com/](https://ubports.com/)
It works now!
~~~
kagamine
I followed the link, but don't quite understand the product. Does Ubuntu Touch
OnePlusOne replace the OS on the device? So I buy one of the supported phones
listed, and then erase and replace Android with this in it's place? Or it
installs on top of?
~~~
padraic7a
It replaces the OS, so you will lose everything you currently have on the
phone. The installation process is similar to flashing a ROM and you can
choose to reflash and move back to Android in the future.
~~~
kagamine
Actually sounds good. I'm tired of Apple devices going in a direction that
doesn't fit with what I want, and have never been impressed with Android.
------
neals
So can we go Samsung -> Linux -> Virtual Box -> Windows?
Or is that not how this works?
~~~
icebraining
To get fast VMs, you need the guest OS (in this case, Windows) to be built for
the same CPU architecture, and preferably to have virtualization features on
the CPU. Since you're not likely to get either, you'd have to emulate the CPU.
QEMU can do it, but it'll be _slow_.
On the other hand, if Windows 98 is enough for you, you can run it on your
phone right now:
[http://copy.sh/v86/?profile=windows98](http://copy.sh/v86/?profile=windows98)
That site is doing the CPU emulation in JavaScript(!). It's fast enough
because, well, it's Windows 98.
------
throwaway613834
[OT] Does anybody have any idea when the Windows x86-on-ARM phones will come
out? That's what I'm really waiting for and not seeing much information on.
------
obenn
Will there be immediate driver support for the DeX docking stations? I have an
S8+ and this might push me to purchasing one of the stations as well.
------
jankotek
Can Galaxy even run without Linux kernel?
~~~
pjmlp
In theory yes.
Android doesn't expose a proper Linux to userspace and Google has been
clapping down what we are allowed to do with the NDK since Android 7.0 (edit:
corrected, only started in 7.0).
So playing "what if", you can replace Linux with something else that is
compatible the NDK APIs and no one would notice, other than the OEMs.
~~~
throwaway613834
> Android doesn't expose a proper Linux to userspace and Google has been
> clapping down what we are allowed to do with the NDK since Android 6.0.
Would you have a link to more details/reading on this? I wasn't aware.
~~~
pjmlp
Here are the official NDK APIs.
[https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis.html](https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/stable_apis.html)
Here are the documentation entries related to clamping down unauthorized use
of other on-device libraries or Linux Syscalls.
[https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2016/06/android-
ch...](https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2016/06/android-changes-for-
ndk-developers.html)
[https://android-
developers.googleblog.com/2016/06/improving-...](https://android-
developers.googleblog.com/2016/06/improving-stability-with-private-cc.html)
[https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/07/seccomp-
fi...](https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2017/07/seccomp-filter-in-
android-o.html)
[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/nougat/android-...](https://developer.android.com/about/versions/nougat/android-7.0-changes.html#ndk)
[https://developer.android.com/about/versions/oreo/android-8....](https://developer.android.com/about/versions/oreo/android-8.0-changes.html#security-
all)
Small correction, it is actually Android 7.0, not 6.0
~~~
throwaway613834
Great, thanks!
------
TheChaplain
If I understand this correctly, it's a LXC with a distribution built by
Samsung?
------
diegoprzl
Just bought a Dex Station. If Emacs runs well enough then it will be a
lifesaver.
~~~
bergie
If Emacs is all you need, you can run it today with Termux. Dex is of course
nice for giving a bigger screen etc.
What this "Linux on Galaxy" thing will provide on top of Termux is X (or
Wayland?) and probably a bigger selection of software.
~~~
diegoprzl
I already tried Emacs in Termux but I was too slow and did crash while trying
to do some things.
Nowadays I simply use JuiceSSH and mosh to connect to my main computer. I
would like to have Emacs in my smartphone even while I don't have mobile
signal though.
------
capdotnet
i wonder how it will compare to the "Complete Linux Installer"App project.
------
themtutty
Why does this link go directly to a sign-up page?
------
turbinerneiter
chroot ftw!
(right?)
------
byterollingbits
No thanks! I'm not buying a phone that won't get updated with security
updates. My trash box is littered with Korean Android phones that have no
upgrade path or ability to clean with a fresh install.
I'm opting for a Pixel 2 and an iPhone X for work and personal. They're
expensive at first, but way cheaper and far more convenient in the long run.
They always have immediate security updates, and they update their OS for
atleast 3 years. Korean phones are rip offs, they barely update at all. Every
single one of my Korean phones are still waiting for security updates. It
costs way more to own a Samsung or LG phone in the long run.
Don't buy Samsung or LG phones.
~~~
swiley
It doesn't matter who the OEM is. All Android phones are now wrappers around
the Qualcomm snapdragon SOCs if they're sold in the US. They all have the
update problem because Qualcomm has refused to work with other organizations
or maintain their kernel forks.
~~~
microcolonel
It's been getting better recently as third parties have taken on the work of
maintaining drivers for Qualcomm chipsets, there are now a lot of their
chipsets which can run on upstream kernels, and if Android kernels were closer
to upstream, AOSP kernels could probably be built to function on some Qualcomm
chipsets today.
------
stephenr
This has exactly the same problem as Microsoft's WSL: they're conflating Linux
with "distribution built around GNU userland".
I'm not a gnu zealot. I think rms has many faults. But a major company saying
"now you can run Linux on android" or "now you can run Linux on Windows
subsystem for Linux" is beyond stupid.
In the case of Samsung it's Like saying you can make a sandwich out of a
sandwich. In the case of Microsoft it's like saying you can make a real roast
chicken out of a soy chicken.
~~~
nolok
And now you've just understood why the gnu zealots (whom I'm not a part of
either) insisted on the proper GNU/Linux naming, because they saw it coming
and now all of it got mixed up in the single name "linux" which can mean
anything and everything.
The number of things I've spent decades thinking "wow, rms/they're borderline
crazy" only to end up with "oh okay, they had a point" is kind of humbling.
DRM, encryption, naming, ...
Yet I'm still not in agreement with the GPL and keep thinking MIT or BSD are
better. Maybe only to be proved wrong again in the future.
~~~
stephenr
I always kind of got their point, but if I say "I used to run Debian Linux in
a virtual machine, now I can just run Debian under Windows subsystem for
Linux" there is no ambiguity, no one should be confused.
Nobody just runs Linux + the gnu environment compiled from source themselves.
People use a distribution, which has a name.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Kickstarter has no clue how drone startup raised $3.4M then imploded - pavornyoh
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/11/kickstarter-learned-of-zano-collapse-through-a-bare-bones-project-update/
======
DigitalSea
Kickstarter is the stock market for amateurs to buy into other people's
dreams. You are always going to have a few bad apples who spoil the bunch. I
have funded tonnes of successful Kickstarter campaigns and I have learned to
steer clear from the obviously risky startups, which at times can be
difficult.
Although I have never backed a failed campaign, every campaign I have backed
that requires some kind of manufacturing and hardware has never delivered on
time, except my Remix Mini Android PC. The problem is manufacturing starts out
inherently expensive and the price drops the more you produce. If you're only
doing a production run of 6000, you can guarantee you're not going to get a
good price for something that requires plastics molding and assembly.
I think Kickstarter needs to make it harder to start a hardware based
campaign. There are a lot of empty promises, I think some accountability would
go a long way. A milestone based system would be great where the owner of the
campaign specifies milestones (design, plastic mold, hardware components, etc)
and when they need a milestone released, Kickstarter evaluates on a request-
by-request basis and then updates the campaign automatically.
------
pavornyoh
How about KickStarter holding the money in an escrow account after a project
is funded and then releasing it in bits after the creators have reached a
milestone? That way, the creators are not getting all the money upfront? Will
that be hard to implement? Surely, there has to be a way to protect the
backers from losing all their money..
~~~
pavel_lishin
I think the people cost will be what would kill that; they'd have to have
people actually verify milestones, investigate the kickstarter campaigns, etc.
------
joeld42
Kickstarter's requirement that projects have a working prototype is a good
start. They should at least verify working prototypes in person for projects
with over some amount (like $500K) of funding. Or even just require a
prototype video shot by an independent third party.
------
thescriptkiddie
As to why they failed, just watch their original pitch video. Their claims are
essentially impossible.
~~~
lotu
Would you care to elaborate? I just watched the video and didn't see anything
impossible. They claimed a small drone that would take pictures and fly itself
in some limited ways. Everything described I've either seen in other (larger)
drones or sounds easy to implement and gimmicky.
I will admit the video dosent show very much of the team that would make the
drone and I consider that a bit of armed flag.
~~~
thescriptkiddie
The worst part was the mode where it follows you around. There is only one
device on the market (airdog) that does that, and it requires you wear a
special RF beacon and doesn't work that well. The zano was meant to follow
your phone's GPS (which isn't very accurate) and they didn't specify how it
managed to keep you in frame. I suspect it didn't.
Also, no way in hell are they getting more than five minutes flight time out
of the tiny battery they showed.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why the US is #1 in philanthropy and how it differs by country - dcaldwell
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704243904575630340322011652.html
======
fmw
The article touches upon cultural differences in how publicly flaunting wealth
by openly giving large sums to charity is perceived. In Europe, from my
perspective as someone living in the Netherlands, we find it hard to imagine
to attend a flashy fundraiser dinner to finance good causes or even
politicians seeking election. The only thing that comes close are auctions for
charity, but these are generally frowned upon in traditional circles as
vehicles for celebrities and the noveau riche in their attempt to appear in
the society columns of the less respectable newspapers. We love participating
in state sanctioned lotteries for charity (the only kind allowed here in the
Netherlands) and collectively open our wallets whenever a natural disaster
strikes (e.g. the tsunami of '04 or more recently the floods in Pakistan or
the disaster in Haiti). Our reaction to events like that is to broadcast
tremendously successful fundraiser shows on the public TV channels (like NPR
in the US) that feature celebrities appealing to the public to give money. I
suppose these natural disasters remind us of our own battle with the elements,
like the flood of 1953. The problem with that kind of aid, of course, is that
it isn't very effective, because it's hard to put all that money to good use
in areas where all the infrastructure is gone while dealing with corrupt
governments that can't be relied upon.
That being said, we do try to imitate the US. Things like fundraiser dinners
are starting to happen on a small scale. There is no self respecting (pseudo)
celebrity that doesn't work on a side project as the 'ambassador' of some kind
of animal shelter or what not. A cynic would say that these activities are
great publicity for people that want to stay in the spotlight. Of course,
there are also a few people doing productive charity work, e.g. on education
or micro lending, so it wouldn't do to be overly dismissive.
A major difference between European welfare states and the US is taxation. Our
(upper) middle class pays a 52% income tax and that is just the first in a
long list of fiscal burdens. This raises different expectations from the
government, because unlike the US we actually give them the money to pursue
the dreams of ambitious politicians so they don't have to overspend the
budget. As I'm of the persuasion that private initiatives are infinitely more
promising than anything the government comes up with I envy the American
culture where the wealthy don't look to the government to support the causes
they care about.
Of course, the downside of the American culture is that the way politics gets
financed (with the Obama campaign as a positive exception) seems a bit sketchy
at times. Not that our own system is preferable, because we've taken it to the
other extreme and have our government pay for the election campaigns of our
politicians in order to avoid the suggestion of political debt to private
benefactors. My main worry about charitable giving in the US are the
incredibly well financed religious groups that force their creationist
fantasies upon helpless school children or hold back things like stem cell
research. The right answer to that, however, isn't to change the American
culture of giving, but to make sure that voices of reason can match the deep
coffers of religious pressure groups.
~~~
lucasjung
"Of course, the downside of the American culture is that the way politics gets
financed (with the Obama campaign as a positive exception) seems a bit sketchy
at times. Not that our own system is preferable, because we've taken it to the
other extreme and have our government pay for the election campaigns of our
politicians in order to avoid the suggestion of political debt to private
benefactors."
You are correct that Obama financed his campaign in a way that was
significantly different than any other U.S. presidential campaign in three
decades. However, I think that you misunderstand how our presidential
campaigns are financed, and especially how Obama's was financed differently.
For decades (ending with Obama), our presidential campaigns were funded by a
mix of public and private money. In return for agreeing to additional
restrictions and oversight on their fundraising and spending, presidential
candidates in the U.S. are given government-provided funds to match
contributions. The advantage to this is obvious: loads of extra cash. The
disadvantages are that the candidate's campaign spending is subject to
additional rules and regulations, and his total campaign fund is effectively
capped by the accompanying restrictions. However, this limit is so high that
for most of the program's existence (it began in 1976) there was no practical
way for a presidential candidate to raise more money on his own than he could
by taking the matching public dollars.
Obama changed that: he refused public campaign financing and directly raised
more money than allowed for by the limit on public financing. Now that he has
shown it to be possible, it is likely that every major-party presidential
nominee from now on will follow his example and refuse public campaign
financing. This means that their spending will no longer be subject to the
full scope of rules which previous campaigns operated under. If you believe
that wholly public and wholly private financing are undesirable extremes and
that some sort of middle ground would be preferable, then you should consider
the Obama campaign to be a negative exception, not positive: he took U.S.
presidential campaign finance away from an intermediate state and drove it
straight to the extreme of wholly private financing. Personally, I was never a
fan of public campaign financing and am happy to see it made obsolete, but if
I'm reading you correctly you find wholly private financing to be "a bit
sketchy."
~~~
fmw
Thanks for the insightful refresher on how presidential campaigns are
financed, because the last time I read up on it was back in '08 at the time of
the last presidential election. I'm very much in favor of private financing,
actually, but with a sufficient level of transparency. I really liked how
Obama seemed to get his money from small contributions by individuals. That is
very different from the image of powerful special interest groups financing
elections. That doesn't mean, however, that I think money from special
interests groups should be fully restricted. I much rather have them pay than
the government, but look favorably upon candidates that avoid creating the
wrong impression by concentrating on small contributors.
~~~
lucasjung
"I really liked how Obama seemed to get his money from small contributions by
individuals. That is very different from the image of powerful special
interest groups financing elections."
The key words from this quote: "seemed" and "image." You are absolutely
correct: Obama "seemed" to get his money from small contributions by
individuals. Many (most?) Americans shared a common perception of the "image"
of powerful special interest groups financing his opponents (both primary and
general). I am very skeptical of this. I would very much like to see some
actual numbers on the share of his campaign dollars which came from small
donors vs. large contributors, and how he stacked up against his opponents and
previous presidential candidates. I strongly suspect that he was more or less
average, and that these perceptions were the result of very good marketing by
his campaign (which is more or less what political campaigns are supposed to
do). Unfortunately, I think that sorting out which of his contributions came
from large or small sources will prove incredibly difficult because of the
lack of quality control in his contribution acceptance system:
[http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/22/opinion/main453853...](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/22/opinion/main4538537.shtml)
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/10...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2008/10/10/AR2008101002989.html)
------
rbranson
One thing that's never mentioned in these types of articles is that the top
two categories for donations are churches and schools. Fully one third of US
donations are to churches and another 13% for educational institutions
(including private colleges and K-12 schools). That's nearly half of donations
going to organizations that perform very little actual philanthropy and spend
most of their money with organizational self-interest in mind.
~~~
Groxx
Doesn't that make the _donation_ philanthropic, with the express goal of the
receiver using it to further their self-interest? That's still philanthropy.
Heck, what donation-receiver _doesn't_ do this? Middle-men like the Red Cross
count for both giver and receiver, so they're partially exempt - they give
money / services they receive to those who intend to use it to further their
best interest.
~~~
rbranson
The people who donate to the Red Cross are very unlikely to receive back in
any tangible form. The average American church is more like a club which
collects money from it's members to maintain the clubhouse and provide weekly
entertainment.
The more hip, "relevant" churches require even more money because they have
more contemporary furnishings and design, agency-style marketing campaigns,
sophisticated audio/video equipment, larger spaces for ancillary services such
as child care and small group meetings, bring in out-of-town acts, and keep a
large staff to support these operations. This is especially effective because
it positions the church as more of a brand and lifestyle provider rather than
just a "thing that we do on Sundays." People who spend 5-10 hours a week
involved in church activities become psychologically dependent and are going
to be astronomically more likely to donate, and donate in larger amounts.
This is clearly in the best interest of the church as it increases donations,
and I have no problem with them undertaking these activities, but I think they
operate far outside of the original spirit of what tax-exempt status was
purposed for.
As a side note, and a little anecdote, my girlfriend works at a liquor store
and has several regular customers that use their tax-exempt status as church
staff to purchase wine and liquor that is clearly for themselves. Of course,
there's almost no way to create an efficient audit trail for this type of
stuff, so they get away with it.
------
ilitirit
_I find the US initiative highly problematic. You can write donations off in
your taxes to a large degree in the USA. So the rich make a choice: Would I
rather donate or pay taxes? The donors are taking the place of the state.
That's unacceptable._
[http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,710972,00...](http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,710972,00.html)
~~~
viggity
There are four ways to spend money
1\. You can spend your money on yourself
2\. You can spend your money on someone else
3\. You can spend someone else's money on yourself
4\. You can spend someone else's money on yet another person
As you go down the list, people get more and more careless with how that money
is spent. Yet you suggest that #4 is superior to #2 (bureaucrat spending money
on a third party, instead of the rich spending their own money on a third
party). And that make zero sense.
~~~
ilitirit
I didn't "suggest" anything...
------
callmeed
This article sure doesn't answer the "why" question well. I'd love to see some
deeper analysis, especially related to tax breaks, the number of available
charities, and correlation between giving & religion.
~~~
dcaldwell
Houses of worship and religiously affiliated organizations pull the largest %
of donations in the US according to studies. Given the much higher presence of
churches and church attendance in the US as opposed to Europe, I could see
that driving per capita donations in the US up. However, unless it's only the
Christian population that gives more per capita, I'm not sure why other highly
religious countries wouldn't also rank high.
The article does address tax breaks in some countries. In regards to the
number of charities in the US, not counting houses of worship, we have around
1 for every 300 persons. Not sure what that level is in other countries but
would love to find out.
~~~
btmorex
Religious charity also doesn't really explain it. Even if you removed 100% of
the U.S. charitable giving to religious organizations, they would still easily
rank #1.
My guess is that it's mostly cultural. For example, a lot of large employers
will even match employee contributions up to a certain level every year to the
charity of the employees choice.
------
d99kris
I think it would be more fair to rank based on per capita or percentage of
GNI. Maybe I'm just Swedish.
~~~
xiaoma
The third and fourth sentences from the article:
"Charitable giving in the U.S. _as a proportion of gross domestic product_ ,
for example, is around 1.7%. In Europe, it is around 0.7% and in Japan it is
just 0.04%, according to U.S. wealth manager Northern Trust."
GDP is a very similar statistic to GNI, but also includes income from other
countries such as interest and dividends. Per capita rankings would make both
Japan and Europe as a whole look even worse, since the the US has a higher
per-capita GPD. For Sweden, which has a comparable GDP per person, it would
come out about the same.
------
barry-cotter
Because it has the largest economy in the world, perhaps?
------
known
Swedish are the best. Without _tax breaks_ their ODA is 0.98%
~~~
gjm11
The ODA figure is the amount the government spends, not what individuals give.
(The US's ODA figure is rather low. Perhaps that has an impact, one way or
another, on the giving of individuals in the US.)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Boomla – A free website for everyone – simple UI, JavaScript back end - zupa-hu
https://boomla.com/blog/show-hn-boomla-website-builder
======
newman8r
Good luck. I like how you don't have any trackers on your site (according to
my browser bar at least, didn't actually look into it). I'm sure you could use
that as a selling point somehow.
~~~
zupa-hu
Haha, thx! :) I do send some usage analytics data back, like, when you edit
your site, that you used a specific feature. Is that okay in your world? To
make it better I need to know what features people use..
~~~
newman8r
I do the same thing on my projects, just handling metrics and analytics
totally internally.
------
certera
Saw this from the early adopter thread. Looks really well build.
How much time dedicated over the decade+?
What are your thoughts on how well these kinds of tools generate html? Brings
me back to Dreamweaver.
~~~
zupa-hu
Thanks!
Depends on which part you mean, the platform, the drag&drop UI or the WYSIWYG
editor. In the case of Boomla, you can write code on the platform and fully
generate the result yourself, so that way it is up to you. As for the
drag&drop interface, because it manipulates the underlying data structures and
the final code is handcrafted by whoever wrote the code, it also tends to be
as good as you want it to be. That leaves the WYSIWYG editor. Slate and
ProseMirror are completely changing the game here, as they use a normalized
data structure instead of working with the less structured HTML directly. They
still have some rough edges but they are already amazing.
Time, wooh. I'd guesstimate 30k hours.
Would you maybe help kickstart a Show HN thread next time with an upvote? I'm
struggling with this, that would help a lot. My email is in my profile (or you
can reach me via the website..).
------
zupa-hu
Hi HN, author here. As I'm just showing this to the world, I'd really love to
get some feedback.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How not to test that mysqld is alive - kirubakaran
http://code.openark.org/blog/mysql/how-not-to-test-that-mysqld-is-alive
======
KC8ZKF
'ps ax | grep [m]ysqld' (The regex '[f]oo' will match 'foo' but not itself.)
~~~
kree10
That's one of my favorite shell techniques.
Still, I think they're doing it wrong. For keeping daemons alive I rely on
<http://cr.yp.to/daemontools.html> .
~~~
jrockway
This is the correct answer -- when you fork the process yourself, you don't
have to guess about it dying, you get SIGCHLD and can handle it accordingly.
If you use daemontools, this code is already written for you.
------
bprater
Sounds very hacktastical to count the entries as a way to know if the service
is alive.
If I found someone doing this on one of my production database machines, I
think I'd have to dig out the paintball gun and start chasing them around,
especially if the person run around with the title of sysadmin. (I'd cut a
slight bit of slack if they were a webdev.)
------
axod
I wonder why they didn't try the command a few times first from the shell.
Anyone who's ever done 'ps | grep' will have noticed that the grep sometimes
appears, sometimes doesn't.
Course you could do 'ps | grep | grep -v grep'
~~~
radu_floricica
If it restarted every few hours and the test executed once a minute, then the
bug would appear only once in a hundred executions. It's a good post, I think
I could have made the same mistake easily.
~~~
axod
It takes me about 10 runs to get a line of output without the grep. Sometimes
less. Try it :)
EDIT:
test.sh:
for i in {1..1000}
do
ps | grep grep | wc -l
done
./test.sh | sort | uniq -c
13 0
987 1
Which would indeed suggest 1.3%. Likely dependent on how quickly you're
running it, if it's in memory already etc etc
------
monological
You should check out monit ( <http://mmonit.com/monit/> ). It does, as the
name implies, monitoring of processes.
------
blasdel
Unmentioned is that there could easily be other 'mysqld' processes running on
your box, even without someone screwing with you -- a lot of commercial apps
bundle their own copy, even on the desktop (like Acrobat 8 Pro).
------
aston
Had they just run
/etc/init.d/mysql start
instead of "restart," their script would have worked fine. The spurious starts
when mysqld was already started would have been ignored.
------
brianr
_And best way, that will set your mind at ease even if you’re worried that
“mysql is running but not responding; it is stuck”: connect to MySQL and issue
SELECT 1, SELECT NOW(), SELECT something._
Fortunately this is easy:
$ echo "select now();" | mysql
now()
2009-10-05 19:24:22
------
WalkingDead
Use "mysqladmin"
run: mysqladmin ping
output: mysqld is alive
------
collinvandyck
Informative. I wasn't aware of the fact that all of the processes would be
started simultaneously, but in retrospect it makes sense.
------
akirk
The pgrep command mentioned in the article was new to me and does the job with
a single program. Had it on my debian preinstalled.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pgrep>
------
lallysingh
While the future is uncertain re: Oracle, Solaris's SMF takes care of this
problem automatically.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Meta (YC S13) raises $50M series B - svig
http://techcrunch.com/2016/06/13/meta-raises-another-50m-as-it-gears-up-for-the-next-version-of-its-ar-headset-and-china/
======
danielmorozoff
I very optimistic about what AR can bring. To me, the biggest roadblock for AR
as well with VR, is user interacting with the digital world constrained by the
physical one (a problem that's been recognized since the beginning).
Even in AR you do not have haptic feedback, this to me is a critical component
for a system to be truly adoptable outside of niche domains such as surgery,
industrial processing etc.
I am sure many people are think of this. I have seen some research work out of
the Media Lab at MIT trying to address this problem with deformable tables,
likewise a Japanese group was doing air pressure haptics.
Could anyone working in this space comment on some state of the art stuff? And
provide links? Thanks in advance.
~~~
svig
Yeah, haptic feedback is challenging. The thing that gets challenging in my
opinion with 3rd party haptic sensors is a low latency integration. Also,
there are no hardware standards that define performance/latency requirements
for a good AR experience. All those things will contribute to designing haptic
devices.
I saw a paper recently
[http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/handle/10292/9652](http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/handle/10292/9652)
around a low cost haptic game controller, which interested me a lot. There
might be clever ways to create alternate haptic feedback like hot or cold
sensations when an object is grabbed or interacted with
([https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151110082541.h...](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/11/151110082541.htm)).
Because AR itself is not mainstream yet, it is quite hard to figure out what
is the right haptic feedback that feels natural. I am hoping this will evolve.
------
alechops
I have worked with Meta in the past. They are not going to release a viable
consumer product. I have serious doubts about Magic Leap achieving anything of
the like either.
AR is a good idea, but the management over at Meta has about as much chance of
making it viable for any customer as uBeam has of delivering on wireless
charging.
~~~
mdonahoe
Any concrete information from your time working with them?
------
yefim
And here I was thinking the bubble was beginning to pop.
~~~
svig
What exactly is a bubble here? I think AR is going to hit high strides.
~~~
GFischer
Also, at the very least, they have a finished product.
[http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/02/hands-on-with-
the-949-mind-...](http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/02/hands-on-with-the-949-mind-
bending-meta-2-augmented-reality-headset/)
I don't know how big the market will be, but I already have potential
customers lined up for some very crappy forms of AR.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Job destruction by robots could outweigh creation - JumpCrisscross
http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21599525-job-destruction-robots-could-outweigh-creation-mighty-contest
======
chroem
And water is still wet. Really, it doesn't make sense for robots to not be a
net drain on employment.
As a thought experiment, let's say that a company fires n workers because it
is in the process of automating their jobs. Now, let's also assume n workers
get hired, at the same wage as before, producing the automated systems which
had previously replaced them. How can it be economically viable to automate,
if instead of only paying your original n workers, you are now indirectly
paying n employees producing the equipment you are buying, _plus_ the capital
costs of automation? Since we know that it is in fact more cost effective to
automate, then the only remaining possibility is that there are either fewer
workers producing the automation equipment or they are being paid less.
~~~
meowface
Exactly. It would not make any sense for companies to automate anything if it
did not end up reducing how much they're paying for employment.
~~~
YokoZar
This isn't strictly true -- an automation could come alongside a (substantial)
productivity improvement, growing the firm to the point that it's total
headcount still rises.
If there's consumer demand for more (and cheaper) versions of whatever
product, then rather than a single company this form of automation can grow
the industry as a whole too.
Inevitably, however, there will be industries that don't really need to grow.
We'll just get what they make cheaper without buying much more of it. But then
we'll have extra money (and extra people willing to work) -- figuring out new
things for those people to do, possibly in wholly unrelated industries, is the
very essence of why most of us still have jobs despite centuries of
automation.
------
crazy1van
This strikes me as the same argument that comes up with every new automation
technology. Like all of the others, the automation will hurt people in a
specific field, but help society as a whole.
ATMs hurt bank-tellers specifically, but all of society has 24/7 access to
cash.
Email hurts the postal workers, but everyone can instantly communicate with
nearly anyone in the developed world.
Robotic car manufacturing hurt some auto workers, but all of society gets
cheaper cars.
Amazon.com hurts the mom & pop book store, but everyone gets cheaper books
conveniently delivered.
Netflix crushed video rental stores, but a whole county got cheaper, easier
access to video.
The list could go on forever.
~~~
firstOrder
> Robotic car manufacturing hurt some auto workers, but all of society gets
> cheaper cars
This is false. Over the past forty years, the rise in price for the median car
sold in the US has far exceeded inflation. The idea that "society gets cheaper
cars" is false, cars have gotten more expensive, even taking inflation into
account. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics keeps careful track of such things.
Obviously automating something will benefit someone. You have your facts mixed
up however, thus your conclusion that it benefits "society as a whole" can be
disregarded.
~~~
MartinCron
You could argue that we're getting _better_ cars (as in, more safety and
convenience features) for more-or-less the same amount of money.
~~~
crazy1van
I think if you take a car from today and tried to make it without automation,
it would cost much more. If automation wasn't the cheaper manufacturing
option, why do it?
------
afriday11
From the 1920-2014, technology progressed and made many jobs irrelevant, just
as improvements in robotics have put a lot of people out of work. So if
technology puts people out of work, then our unemployment should have
increased since the 20's. Let's take a look at some data from The U.S.
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Year Rate of Unemployment 1920 5.2 % 1928 4.2 1930 8.7 1932 23.6 1934 21.7
1936 16.9 1938 19.0 1940 14.6 1942 4.7% 1944 1.2 1946 3.9 1948 3.8 1950 5.3
1952 3.0 1954 5.5 1956 4.1 1958 6.8% 1960 5.5 1962 5.5 1964 5.2 1966 3.8 1968
3.6 1970 4.9 1972 5.6 1974 5.6% 1976 7.7 19781 6.1 1980 7.1 1982 9.7 1984 7.5
19861 7.0 1987 6.2 1988 5.5 1989 5.3 19901 5.6% 1991 6.8 1992 7.5 1993 6.9
19941 6.1 1995 5.6 1996 5.4 19971 4.9 19981 4.5 19991 4.2 20001 4.0 2001 4.7
2002 5.8 20031 6.0% 20041 5.5 20051 5.1 2006 4.6 2007 4.6 2008 5.8 2009 9.3
2010 9.6 2011 8.9 2012 8.1
This doesn't seem to be the case. As people lose jobs, new types of jobs are
created, just as they were in the past. The job market will continue to evolve
as the world changes.
~~~
sanxiyn
Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
~~~
BHSPitMonkey
And the lack of a guarantee of future results is not something to panic about,
either.
------
WalterBright
As things get cheaper due to increased productivity, people want more things.
For example, due to the declining cost of air travel, people routinely fly
places, even commute by jet.
This was inconceivable not long ago.
Furthermore, vast industries have sprung up whose only product is
entertainment. Back when economies were less productive, there was no room for
such industries.
Even low end cars have what were once considered luxury only features. The
list covers every facet of our economy.
------
xwowsersx
How does this grossly misguided concern come up over and over again?! To quote
myself from the last time this came up:
"What's with this obsession with jobs? If all we wanted were "jobs", we could
create 100 million real quickly. Just go destroy a bunch of stuff and get
people to work, rebuilding everything again."
------
samstave
How about a robot tax: any profits made by companies employing robots are
taxed where that tax is put into a guaranteed wage pool.
Much like how Swiss have implemented a min guaranteed wage - feed that wage
payment by industry that benefit from implementing robotic workers...
~~~
sien
The Swiss have only collected enough signatures to get that initiative up to
be voted on this year.
[http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-16/inequality-f...](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-01-16/inequality-
fight-swiss-will-vote-on-minimum-income)
It is yet to pass. Less than 50% of Swiss referenda pass.
------
tim333
The proportion of people working seems a bit unaffected by technological
change. A couple of centuries back most people were in farming and now that is
done by like 2% of the population the others have found things to do mostly
because people like doing stuff rather then because they's starve otherwise.
Even if robots make all the stuff I imagine people will busy themselves
teaching each other yoga and the like.
~~~
nandemo
> the others have found things to do mostly because people like doing stuff
> rather then because they's starve otherwise.
I've seen variations of this statement many times on HN, that is, "there's no
such thing as disutility of labor". I'm a bit skeptical. I believe a lot of
software people enjoy their jobs, and some keep working even though they don't
hve to, but I doubt that's the case for the bulk of the world's urban
population.
Also, people have many other material demands (sometimes called "needs")
besides food and shelter. Viz. the common complaint by SV developers that "a 6
digit salary isn't much".
------
hcarvalhoalves
More automation -> Less jobs -> Lower wages -> More jobs -> Less automation
I believe there's an equilibrium going on. I don't think we'll ever reach that
point of automation, it will only happen when (and if) demographic growth
turns negative. Until then, availability of cheap labour hinders "full
automation".
------
stretchwithme
Even if every possible task were automated and made super cheap, and somehow
you were able to deny access to super cheap products and services to large
numbers of people, these large groups of people would still be able to trade
with each other.
The robotic abundance/destitution scenario is inherently contradictory and
assumes some things stay exactly constant while others undergo complete
transformation.
We have advanced societies that are making great use of technology today. And
others that do not. Somehow these co-exist. A completely robotic United States
will still have Amish people not benefiting from robots. Anyone else that
cares to operate on the tech of 2014 will be free to do so. Or the tech of
2050 or 2100.
------
Schwolop
Argh! About 90% of the people mentioned in this article are Doctors, not
Misters. And approximately zero of them are introduced before their names are
first mentioned. Likewise acronyms. Who edited this crap?
------
xarien
Let's stop talking about jobs and talk about productivity. What's the net
productivity of automation? Let's also start talking about guaranteed minimum
income.
------
einhverfr
Certainly automation reduces the numbers of jobs required for production. This
has always been the case. This leads to overproduction problems, but the
answer is always the same:
hire more people in the public sector, and try to bolster consumption further.
It is the growth of the public sector that solves the overproduction crisis,
by throttling production. This time is no different.
Taken to its logical conclusion, if all production could be automated, every
one of us could work for the government...
------
autodidakto
Who needs a job when you have robots doing all the work for you?! Think of all
the other things you could be doing.
No, really. Think about it.
~~~
dragonwriter
> Who needs a job when you have robots doing all the work for you?!
Anyone who doesn't own productive capital and lives in a society where you
either need income from productive capital or income from labor to get the
necessities of life.
> Think of all the other things you could be doing.
Starving in the street?
------
QuantumChaos
The advocates of basic income are almost right on this issue.
_If_ it were the case that we have a large surplus of labor, and there was
not enough work for people to do, then it would make a lot of sense to have a
basic income, which would be the most efficient way to deal with technological
unemployment.
_However_ , right now, we really don't have a surplus of labor. If we did,
then the average standard of living would be really high. In order to raise
the standard of living of people around the world, people need to produce
things, which requires work.
That fact that we cannot provide a high enough average standard of living even
when the incentive to work is very high, proves that drastically lowering the
incentive to work would not provide a sufficient standard of living.
~~~
cookingrobot
You seem to be arguing as if "surplus of labour" means that as a whole the
world has enough good stuff, and having more people work won't add value.
What it actually means is that there are people who want more good stuff, and
are even willing to do work to get it - but that's not an option for them
because there are no jobs available. It's the sad state of people not being
organized to work to provide their own needs - and it's caused by wealth being
so concentrated in the smallest group at the top that economic activity is
frozen for everyone else.
A basic income would take wealth away from the few who have more than enough,
and thaw out economic activity for everyone else. Poor people would be able to
spend, AND work because others are spending.
All of this has nothing to do with robots. Except.. One of the fears of
robotics is that they'll work so well that even more wealth will be
concentrated to a few. Basic income is the antidote to that concern.
In the long term it gets even better.. Eventually when robots are doing most
of the work, a basic income will mean that work is optional for everyone, and
people will do work they find meaningful instead of necessary, or will just
spend time with their families.
~~~
Uehreka
First off, you really need to add a disclaimer to this comment. As a cooking
robot, your view is clearly biased.
That said, I mostly agree with you. However I was mulling all this over last
night, and I hit a snag: If everyone is unemployed and has no money, who will
patronize the services that are owned by the rich? Will it just be rich people
passing money around? Or is wealth redistribution actually in the best
interest of rich people, since it means more people will buy their goods and
services?
~~~
jjoonathan
> Is wealth redistribution actually in the best interest of rich people, since
> it means more people will buy their goods and services?
I believe the answer is a resounding "yes." However, that doesn't exclude the
possibility of a tragedy of the commons, and we all know how good markets are
at preventing _those_...
> If everyone is unemployed and has no money, who will patronize the services
> that are owned by the rich? Will it just be rich people passing money
> around?
It's still a problem if a sizable subset of people are unemployed and have no
money or ability to get money. It's not terribly difficult to imagine a system
with a underclass, a consumer class, and a "owner" class. Even if we automate
manufacturing, the consumer class will include mercenaries of the literal or
financial variety. In fact, I wonder if that's not precisely what Wall Street
is.
------
fixermark
That would be nice. I could stand to have fewer things to do.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Martin Fowler: An Open Letter to Pearson about SOPA/PIPA - juandg
http://martinfowler.com/articles/pearson-sopa.html
======
famousactress
Glad to see more high-profile open letters, but I'd really rather see all of
these come with ultimatums. Nowhere in the letter does Fowler say that he
feels strongly enough about this not to publish with Pearson in the future.
Companies are supporting the legislation in hopes of helping their bottom
line. Letter's like this ought to _threaten_ that bottom line.
~~~
skybrian
Do you make ultimatums when you talk to your friends? If so, do you have any
friends?
Actually, ultimatums are a great way to get people to flip the bozo bit and
stop listening to you. By attempting to use force, you imply that the listener
won't listen to reason, without having even tried.
~~~
famousactress
Colluding friends and businesses that you make money from and for is a
dangerous mistake. Also, yes.. when I'm serious about something I make
ultimatums. "Dude, if you're gonna keep smoking meth then I frankly can't hang
out with you anymore."
Incidentally, I've got lots of friends and none of them do meth (at least, in
front of me).
Enough with friends, back to businesses. Businesses that flip the bozo bit
when getting ultimatums about their income won't last long. GoDaddy is
probably the most arrogantly run business I can think of at the moment, and
putting money where mouths are even gave them pause.
~~~
skybrian
They are different situations. Here we're talking about an author who
presumably has had a good relationship with a publisher for years, versus a
situation like GoDaddy where customer relationships are almost entirely
impersonal (and automated).
Despite the metaphors we use sometimes, businesses are not entirely machines.
Writing a letter in the first place implies you're attempting to reach a human
being who can do something about it. With GoDaddy, writing letters barely even
makes sense. They presumably changed because people actually started moving
their domains, not because they wrote letters threatening to do so.
------
AdamFernandez
These are very thoughtful and concise arguments about why this legislation is
flawed. I'm hoping to hear similar arguments made by Alexis Ohanian and Dan
Kaminsky while addressing Congress on January 18th.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Gitlab: Defending CI/CD Security - Avyiel
https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2019/11/19/defend-cicd-security/
======
samanthalee233
GitLab employee, thanks for sharing this article!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Software Design Review - tjr
http://philip.greenspun.com/software/design-review
======
mdemare
Note that Greenspun is inviting comments.
I think the biggest drawback is finding good software design reviewers. If you
haven't got the technical expertise to judge the work of your programmers,
you're not equipped to judge the result of a software design review, or to
tell apart a good consultant from a quack.
------
ericlavigne
Just the fact that he links to SEIA would be enough to make this the best post
I have read all day.
<http://philip.greenspun.com/seia/>
This is the textbook for the MIT course "Software Engineering for Internet
Applications" ... The most concise statement of the course goal is that "The
student finishes knowing how to build amazon.com by him or herself."
I intend to spend the next few months reading through this book, completing
the exercises, and coming as close to the experience of that course as I can
without moving to Massachusetts.
~~~
tjr
Good to hear! It's an excellent book.
------
autarch
I don't really get how the he goes from the problem he describes to the
solution he advocates.
He doesn't go into too much detail, but it sounds like the application in
question was running on a grossly resource-starved system. If an application
needs more RAM than is available, it ends up using the disk as swap space.
This is a massive performance killer in my experience.
The fix here had very little to do with documentation and design review, it
just involved buying a decent server.
Also, how can the developer not have noticed that the app took 5 minutes to
display a page? Surely the developer actually loaded a few pages, right? Maybe
it was faster in the development environment (my desktop is way more powerful
than most virtual slices). When it was actually deployed the developer could
easily have said "gee, this is really fucking slow, maybe we need some real
hardware".
The incompetence here wasn't a lack of design docs or review, it was much more
basic. At some point there was a failure of communication between customer and
developer
Here's some missing bits of communication ...
C: "I'm planning to deploy to a virtual host, and I'll only have 256MB of ram,
so code like it's 1999."
or ...
D: "I see that you are using a virtual host for production. Did you notice
that each page takes five minutes to load? I think you need some real
hardware. I can help you purchase that."
or ...
C: "Why does each page take five minutes to load? This app won't be successful
unless page loads are no more than 2-3 seconds each."
------
kls
"There isn't any documentation," replied the business guy who had created the
idea and written the checks to the programmer
This is so vague, that it borders on absurd as a case of point. A counter
could be levied by this example that many times the business sees no value in
documentation, and is in a rapid cycle to get a first version out the door and
is leaning on the developer to get it out the door. As a developer who is
being contracted, he is familiar with the source so documentation is not
critical for him to understand or maintain the system. It not until something
goes wrong and the business is looking to sever their relationship with said
developer, that documentation becomes important and it is always the
developers fault if it is not done. If the business did not pay for
documentation then they have no valid expectation that they should receive
documentation.
Conversely, the developer should stress the importance of paying the developer
to document the system and help them understand the pitfalls of not having the
system documented. The if I get hit by a bus speech.
------
TalentOnCampus
Mostly a case scenario when development is completely outsourced , its
suggested that the tech vendor drafts a technology plan inclusive of Design &
Architecture . Get the technology plan vetted by experts , plenty of tech guys
would be willing to help for free. A clever way to go about it is , post a
specific tech challenge / query on LinkedIn , of those answering and willing
to help request if they would vet ur technology plan & get this done by 3-4
good tech Samaritans Don’t go overboard – prepare for success not for failure
, spending too much time on analyzing tech plans is preparing for failure.
Focus on building the Biz & success. Once u have costumer traction all tech
challenges can be solved . Heard of Twitter in the early days ?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Ask HN: Is it unethical to finish project from a company that never finished it? - casper345
I worked on a mobile application for a project that I was really invested in but after graduating, different developers with different coding beliefs - the project just fell apart. I still love the idea and put so much time into it. Has a lot of potential I think. Can I just complete it on my own. Do I even have an obligation to ask them if I can do it? When is their idea no longer "thiers". Also did not like the direction they were going with the business.
======
blihp
Standard IANAL disclaimer...
When you say 'finish' that implies using code/assets the company owns. Unless
it was produced under a permissive license (I.e. BSD/MIT/GPL) you can't use it
without explicit permission from the copyright owner.
As far as taking the _idea_ and running with it, as long as you didn't enter
into a non-compete/NDA agreement, you're probably fine. There are examples of
this all over the place in business history (with matching lawsuits when they
weren't careful to respect the rights of / agreements with former employers)
~~~
lotyrin
Even under such a license, unless that license and code were furnished to you
as an individual (not working with the code as licensed to the organization
with IP assignment to that organization) you aren't granted the rights
provided in the license, AFAIK.
~~~
blihp
That's a good point: a permissive license doesn't automatically transfer. This
should reinforce the peril using code from an employer... unless you were
granted permission or can otherwise publicly obtain the licensed code, best to
not even have a copy or look at it without explicit permission... it's a legal
minefield.
------
Bluestrike2
There are a lot of unknowns with your post, which makes useful feedback
difficult. The answer could range anywhere from "don't worry about it" to
"hammer out an agreement with the other parties first." Are you looking to run
with the concept, or are you hoping to build off of code already written?
In either event, I'd strongly suggest speaking to a qualified attorney before
doing anything. At the very least, you'll want them to review any contracts
you signed, walk you through your possible exposure, and give you some
recommendations for either minimizing or managing it. It's not a cheap move by
any means, but if you genuinely want to move forward with this project, it'll
help you avoid possible long-term problems.
------
cimmanom
I see nothing unethical about that, but there are legal considerations.
(Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.)
If you’re using existing code, they may still have a stake in the IP. You may
need to make sure they either license it or turn over ownership to you. In the
latter case you may want to set up an official bill of sale and pay them
something for it, even if it’s only $1 each.
AFAIK there’s no legal ownership of the _idea_ if it hasn’t been patented. But
your options may also be restricted if you signed a contract that includes a
non-compete clause.
~~~
dchichkov
Why do you see nothing unethical about it?
Imagine a software engineer invests half-a-year of full time work, iterating
through product/idea. Paying market rate of that person is $200k/year. A $100k
invested into R&D.
Now you are a VC. A software engineer shares the results of the work
(idea/prototype) with you. It's primarily the _refined idea_ that holds all
that invested value. And then VC just claims - ideas are not protected - it is
perfectly ethical to use ideas for free?
Doesn't it destroy trust? Would such software engineer next time go to the
same VC? How is it not equivalent to stealing $100k worth of someone's work?
~~~
kgwxd
>It is perfectly ethical to use ideas for free?
Unequivocally, yes.
~~~
ukulele
By this logic, it would be ethical for a mega-corporation to take any
technology they like from any individual or small business, without payment,
under any circumstance. That's not the kind of ethics I personally prefer.
~~~
grandmczeb
Copying the code is wrong, but if all they copy is the idea, where’s the
ethical problem? That’s just the nature of competition.
~~~
yebyen
The guy who invented the intermittent windshield wiper, Robert Kearns, made
tens of millions of dollars in court because Ford and Chrysler stole the idea
from him.
And he was able to do this because (TIL)... he had patented the idea more than
half a dozen ways!
------
deaps
Unethical, absolutely not, at least in my opinion. Legally speaking - there
are so many variables that are unknown to all of us that we cannot possibly
begin to tell you what your rights are to finish, release, and/or potentially
make a profit off of the finished product.
------
jppope
Offer to pay for it. They will either say no worries you can have it, or the
sum will be nominal. Make sure you get it in writing (email).
~~~
dnautics
I love this idea but I wonder what could go wrong.
~~~
Bluestrike2
At worst, they refuse to sell or even negotiate.
The (unknown) exposure is with how the previous project stakeholders might
react to you running with it and turning it into something viable. If they
won't sell when it's worthless, I'd personally take it as a given that they'd
litigate if it ever becomes viable or profitable. Even if you can reasonably
expect to prevail in such a case, it's still a concern.
~~~
dnautics
> If they won't sell when it's worthless, I'd personally take it as a given
> that they'd litigate if it ever becomes viable or profitable
That's a great point and I think that collapsing that uncertainty was the
lingering reason why I loved the idea, that I couldn't quite put the finger
on.
I kind of worry that the worst case scenario is management says ok now, but
later changes mind when it's turns up well, but if it's in writing, then
whatever.
------
coreyp_1
Indeed, there are a lot of holes to fill in. The problem is that the IP of the
existing code and assets (graphics/designs) might be contested in court, if
your project is successful enough to make money and therefore makes you a
desireable target.
As a non-lawyer offering non-legal advice, I suggest you rebuild the project
from scratch (using a different language if possible/feasible, as well as
different graphics) so that there can be no question as to whether or not you
used code or graphics for which you do not hold the correct license (in the
case of code) or copyright (in the case of graphics).
------
notJim
I'd talk to an employment attorney, or at least make a more detailed posted
/r/legaladvice to see if they think you should talk to one. If you're going to
ask for permission, I would definitely talk to the attorney _before_ doing
that, as tipping your hand may set bad things in motion from the company.
Ethically, I think you're giving them the same or more consideration than
they'd give you. Companies screw over small developers all the time, it's just
business.
------
TheOtherHobbes
Others have covered the legalities, but I'd wonder - as a useful question to
ask in general - if it's as good an idea as you think.
A lot of the value of any idea comes the execution - which doesn't mean the
code, it means the marketing, branding, support, networking, customer
acquisition, and reputation-building.
Unless it's a very unusual idea that needs minimal customer interaction - they
exist, but are rare - or something that works solo (games, mostly) you should
budget time and money for all of these.
Many apps are killed by the support process, not the development process. The
app sells, bugs appear, customers get various shades of irritated and angry,
negative reviews are left, and dealing with all of this can turn into a huge
time sink if you're not planning for it. This is even more true of projects
that have a significant server back end.
The app store is full of abandonware left by devs who didn't realise how much
extra work is involved in turning an idea into a reliable income stream.
I'm not saying it can't be done, but I am saying it needs some consideration
before you go ahead and spend time (weeks? months?) on a clean-room rebuild of
everything you've done so far.
------
arjunvpaul
Use "the newspaper test". If an article appeared in a local newspaper about
the decision and action you made, and your family and friends read the
article, would you feel good about it? Here is a video of some ol' man
explaining it well -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgvBV6kWE54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgvBV6kWE54)
If you are really invested, have a conversation with the highest decision
making authority you know about what you would like to do and what would be a
fair way for you to continue with this? Tell him you are broke and then offer
him solutions - buyout the codebase for a token sum? future revenue share?
have them invest in you? If the guy/gal is worth his salt this wont be a waste
of time.
You would be surprised and what you can get if you just ask.
------
caseysoftware
If you mean "finish it" by picking up the code and continuing development,
that's ugly at best. Someone owns that - you might have a claim! - but you'll
spend more time and money with attorneys than anything to do it right.
If you mean "finish it" by taking the idea and starting fresh, it's probably
competitive so I'd double check that you didn't sign some sort of non-compete
or "won't reuse this information" kind of thing.
Of course, either you could roll with it and see what happens.. no one is
going to pop up to make a claim unless you a) offend them or b) are
successful. And even under (a), it's unlikely they'll hire an attorney to
cause you angst.
------
saluki
Contact an attorney for advice.
But it sounds like you should just take the idea, and start building code from
scratch, pick a new name, domain, etc. Just don't use any code/assets from the
original project.
------
sjg007
The idea is not theirs per se but any code or digital and physical assets may
be. If you need those assets ask them for a release. If there are patents that
you can't work around then ask for a license. If you don't want a release,
make sure your NDA has expired and don't use or look at the old code in
question. You may want to hire a third party to write the code clean for you
too. Or proceed as you wish and if you are later successful expect a
lawsuit/settlement. Consider that the idea tax.
------
rmena123
Look failed things happen all the time, no one is going back to each other and
asking permission to continue. Do it! Now don't go off and use the same exact
code of the project, start fresh and try to change things up. Good Luck!
And I think another important thing is, be sure you are not apart of the
project anymore in anyway. No more being paid from them or working with them
sometimes. Be sure you create the business paperwork setup for yourself. Start
fresh!
If you need help in anyway, let me know, I'm a nobody fyi. haha
------
apo
What documents did you sign prior to working on the app?
The main thing to avoid is intellectual property (trademark, copyright,
patent, and nondisclosure) infringement.
------
orev
Assuming USA and that you had a standard work for hire agreement, then no, you
cannot sell it as your own without getting a release and probably having to
pay back whatever salary you received when working on it. The work/code you
produced belongs to whoever paid for it. You could rewrite from scratch if you
wanted to though.
------
megaman8
People don't get in trouble for doing unethical things. they get in trouble
for breaking the rules or doing illegal stuff. what you really need to know
is, is it legal? or will it have a negative public relations impact? those are
the questions you should be asking.
------
swalsh
No one owns ideas, you might have signed a non-compete... but those aren't
usually enforcable depending on what your position is.
If you take the code, that's unethical. They paid you to write the code, so
they own that. But you're free to do whatever you want.
~~~
henryfjordan
Intellectual Property is literally ideas you can own. Patents, Copyrights,
etc.
~~~
radley
No, IP is in how you specifically execute those ideas. Patents cover processes
and copyright is for expression.
------
pecg
If you are really attached to such idea and would love to work on it, your
best bet is to reimplement it on your own, with a new code base. That is if
you didn't sign a NDA.
------
acomjean
>I worked on a mobile application for a project that I was really invested in
but after graduating,
sounds like a college project. You should ask them. if not you can start over.
nobody owns the idea.
IANAL
------
incadenza
It’s impossible to know whether you’re legally liable without more details on
the arrangements made.
Ethically speaking, why not ask them?
~~~
fernandopj
Because, from the former employer perspective, there's no reason to say "yes",
and every reason to say "no". There's nothing to gain by saying "yes". So this
ethical argument about politely asking for a blessing is, IMHO, severely
discouraged if you consider an incentives perspective. He runs the risk of
having his project "shut down" or discouraged immediately not for
"legal/ethical" reasons, but just by this company protecting IP/future
interests, which are not shared with the developer. Again, IMHO: talk to a
lawyer and check risks, don't reuse code or assets, and don't disclose to
former company OR colleagues you're pursuing this idea.
------
maxxxxx
Definitely don't take any of their code. I am not sure what the legal
situation is for the idea as such.
------
fouc
Did you get paid to work on it? Is there a non-compete?
Can you delete all the code, and start from scratch?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Gitlab 12.0 Released - bjoko
https://about.gitlab.com/2019/06/22/gitlab-12-0-released/
======
dsumenkovic
Here's the brief overview of the top 3 features:
1\. Visual Reviews
GitLab review applications are a fantastic tool to enable stakeholders from
Operations to QA to business owners to evaluate and approve application
changes before production.
In GitLab 12.0, it's easy to provide visual feedback directly from the review
app. It’s simple and streamlined, no toggling between different tabs and
typing your feedback, helping to shorten review cycles and accelerate
delivery. Documentation [1]
2\. Project Dependency List
Projects typically include dozens of individual components, which can
introduce vulnerabilities. Often, security and compliance teams need to be
aware of the specific components included in a project. Documentation [2]
3\. Limit access based on IP address
In GitLab 12.0, you can specifically prohibit traffic from outside IP
addresses from accessing your GitLab data. Documentation [3]
[1] -
[https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/review_apps/index.html#visual-...](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/review_apps/index.html#visual-
reviews-starter)
[2] -
[https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/application_security/depende...](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/application_security/dependency_scanning/#dependency-
list)
[3] - [https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/group/index.html#ip-
access-r...](https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/group/index.html#ip-access-
restriction-ultimate)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Cloudron – Selfhosting made Simple. Instantly run 50+ ready-to-use apps - nebulon
Hi HN!<p>This is Girish/Johannes from Cloudron - <a href="https://cloudron.io" rel="nofollow">https://cloudron.io</a>!<p>We have been working on a platform that makes it easy to run apps on your server. It all started when Google Reader was shutdown :-). We initially started writing self-hosted equivalents of popular services but quickly found that there is a ton of great self-hosted software out there. It’s just a lot of work to actually run them and keep them up-to-date.<p>The idea with Cloudron is simple: you install the Cloudron platform on your server. You can then install apps like NextCloud, GitLab, Rocket.Chat from the App Store. Cloudron completely automates the installation. Seriously - all you have to provide is a domain to install it on and it will take care of the rest like DNS/certs, databases, sandboxing, backups, authentication etc. The App Store provides continuous updates for the apps, so you can use them like any SaaS product (this is all no different from how mobile app stores work).<p>Most importantly, all your data is completely private/local to the server - we don’t have access to your servers.<p>Our complete app list - <a href="https://cloudron.io/store/index.html" rel="nofollow">https://cloudron.io/store/index.html</a>.<p>Seeing is believing. There’s a demo at <a href="https://my-demo.cloudron.me" rel="nofollow">https://my-demo.cloudron.me</a> (username/password: cloudron).<p>Would love to get feedback!
======
shuriky
I've been using Cloudron since late December 2017 and have been a very happy
customer so far. The guys behind Cloudron are doing a great job with releases,
apps, support and community. I really hope they will keep up the great service
as they grow in size (it may be challenging to be so hands on, but there are
always solutions).
My journey stared with a decision to move away from Google for most of their
services. I've looked at various platforms, services, applications that would
automate email (at least) hosting and make it as simple as possible (I'm not
really interested in learning the details of e-mail management). I've almost
settled on either of 2 well known mail specific apps when I stumbled across
Cloudron. It does have build-in support for multi domain email hosting and, in
addition, really simplifies running a lot of other systems and platforms. And
did I say it's literally just clicking a button to get an app running? Email
is a bit harder - I think I had to add few values and point my MX records
(that was the hardest bit - imagine how dead simple Cloudron makes things).
So, it's been about 9 months running Cloudron. I've got 2 domains, with emails
configured for each, few apps (WordPress, NextCloud, etc.). This really
allowed me to move away from Google for email, contacts, calendars, cloud,
etc. I am definitely a very satisfied customer and am wishing the best of luck
to the founders.
------
rmdes
beeen using it since 2 years now and I'm super happy with everything, the
idea, the people behind it, the app store, the support, even trying hard I
can't find no reason to not try the cloudron approach if you are thinking on
owning your data or finding a hassle free solution to self-host clients, no
matter your perspective, cloudron allow anyone to jump in the self hosting
realm by abstracting most of the hard work of maintaining and running servers
into a smooth experience.
------
Driky
Let's say you subscribe to the basic plan, install 10 apps and then
unsubscribe. As I understand it your app will continue to run, you just loose
update and management abilities linked to the Cloudron sub right ?
~~~
nebulon
As you said, you wont get further updates to the apps, however everything will
continue to run as is. Also you will be able to further manage the server or
reconfigure already installed apps. Other features like automatic backups will
also keep working.
------
sharemywin
Does any money go back to the app developers?
~~~
gramakri
Our initial idea was to make a real App Store/marketplace where app authors
can publish apps themselves and optionally monetize. A marketplace has the
usual catch-22 issue where we need to have enough users and publishers. So as
a first step we have taken the app publish/update responsibility ourselves to
get users on the platform. Once we have enough users, we will be in a position
to work more closely with app authors.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Amazon Takes Fresh Stab at $16B Housekeeping Industry - prostoalex
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-28/amazon-takes-fresh-stab-at-16-billion-housekeeping-industry
======
2_listerine_pls
Amazon and Google will end up being the middle men for everything.
You simply can't compete with a company that has all the data, all the money,
the best engineers, the patents, etc... Once they like your business model,
you are out of business. This is happening at an increasingly faster pase.
There will be an Amazon AirBnB, and Amazon Uber, Amazon Food, Amazon Freight,
etc... the future of free markets is not free. They will own every slot in the
monopoly game and we will receive a basic income to keep the game going.
~~~
mseebach
> Amazon and Google
A couple of weeks ago, your list would have included Facebook. The future is a
lot less deterministic than you think.
~~~
castis
Yes, but does this make OPs forecast any less possible?
~~~
mseebach
The OPs forecast is predicated on an understanding of companies like Google
and Amazon being so big and powerful that they are immune to the ebb and flow
that define normal market conditions and allow new entrants to prosper and old
companies to whither when they no longer create enough value for consumers.
My argument is that when Facebook, a company until a few weeks ago commonly
understood to be every bit as immortal as Google and Amazon, can be so deeply
upset by a scandal that isn't even predominantly their own making (I don't
mean to imply that FB isn't culpable, but CA did the bad stuff and explicitly
and broadly broke terms in doing so), this immortality is a lot shallower than
it seems. Facebook isn't dead, and won't be for a long time, but the idea that
Facebook moving into Airbnb's space will immediately monopolise it for the
detriment of consumers seems rather more of a silly fantasy than a "forecast".
------
mabbo
> The online retailer is swapping the low cost of contract workers for the
> greater control of employing its own people. Doing so puts it on the hook
> for things like minimum wage, workers compensation and overtime pay. But it
> also lets Amazon determine how the workers are trained, which cleaning
> products they use and how they organize their schedules.
As an Amazon employee, I very much hope this trend continues. Amazon logistics
has gone the industry standard route of contractors hiring contractors and no
one seems to be happy with it at all. When Amazon is the employer, Amazon can
control quality better. Customer obsession means more than just lowest
possible price.
(My own personal opinion and of course I don't speak for the company)
~~~
Eridrus
I think the fact that cleaning services are a lot less standardized is what
drives the need to hire people. There's very little difference in logistics:
its both easy to do an average job (just take the route google maps suggests)
and its easy to monitor if contractors are doing a reasonable job.
The impression I get for cleaning services from people who have hired them is
that the person doing it will generally do the smallest/easiest amount of work
possible in the allocated time, which leads to poor customer
satisfaction/retention, so exercising more control as an employer is
necessary.
------
Dowwie
Does anyone remember HomeJoy? See [1] and [2] below.
Amazon isn't necessarily using this business model so that it may
differentiate itself from hands-off matching services. In this case,
regulation and legal battles that have destroyed entrepreneurial enterprises
like HomeJoy are guiding Amazon. Improved customer experience is a side
effect.
[1] [https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/07/23/what-
reall...](https://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2015/07/23/what-really-
killed-homejoy-it-couldnt-hold-onto-its-customers/#59188c4e1874)
[2] [https://www.recode.net/2015/7/17/11614814/cleaning-
services-...](https://www.recode.net/2015/7/17/11614814/cleaning-services-
startup-homejoy-shuts-down-after-battling-worker)
~~~
mdasen
Aaron Cheung, co-founder of HomeJoy, launched Homeaglow which seem like the
same business model as HomeJoy. Xiao Wei Chen, COO at HomeJoy, is also a co-
founder of Homeaglow.
I'm not saying it'll succeed this time, but two execs at HomeJoy have decided
to dedicate another 3 years of their lives to the idea with Homeaglow.
I know that the articles mention the lawsuits over classification of
independent-contractor vs employee, but nestled in there is a huge customer
acquisition cost against a low lifetime value. Offering an initial $19
cleaning means very high acquisition costs and you're getting customers who
probably won't return with $100 a month later. The Forbes article notes that
Handy has a much better customer retention rate and recurring revenue is so
important.
It also sounds like HomeJoy might have been over-staffed. Re/code notes that
20 employees of HomeJoy would be joining Googles product and engineering
teams. That seems like a lot of salary. I don't know what HomeJoy's site was
like, but Homeaglow's seems simplistic - some PHP just meant to handle the
booking/matching/reviews. Even small things like the forms are the kinda
simplistic looking ones where the zip-code box takes up the full width of the
form on a new line (the way it would if you grabbed Bootstrap and didn't want
to customize anything) rather than having a form with a more natural City,
State, Zip layout. But it gets the job done and looks like it can be
maintained with minimal effort.
If you have 20 employees of Google-caliber, you have to imagine a lot of
salary cost. From LinkedIn, it looks like Homeaglow is a 2-person shop.
It could just be that while it's a large industry, they had trouble retaining
customers and had a high run rate at HomeJoy. With a lower run rate and some
alterations, Homeaglow might be a happy business. They don't seem to discount
first cleanings hugely. It looks like they offer a free half hour on a 3 hour
cleaning for first-time users, but that means that someone is willing to spend
a hundred compared to someone that just sees a deal at $19. They also only
allow recurring plans that you can cancel, but it gets you into the mindset
that this should be a weekly/bi-weekly/monthly recurring expense.
------
yesiamyourdad
Data point: I just moved and Amazon sent me a $20 off cleaning offer, which I
used to clean out my old rental this past weekend. They did a nice job (I
think, haven't gotten my deposit back yet). I was talking to the cleaner and
she said she used to work through HomeAdvisor exclusively but has put HA on
hold because Amazon takes less commission and keeps her just as busy.
The price was OK with $20 off, I know you can do better if you search out the
right service, but I imagine that you can already ask Alexa to schedule a
house cleaning, so the integration & convenience would have to be pretty
compelling for me to make it a regular thing.
------
yellowstuff
The general problem with "Uber for X" is that mostly consumers don't want one-
time anonymous services. It works for cabs and probably for one-time cleaning,
but if I'm going to have someone clean my apartment every week I want the same
person there every time, and I think that's pretty typical.
------
koolba
> A weekly cleaning of a 1,500-square-foot home runs about $156.
It doesn’t say what’s included but off hand that seems 2-4x expensive for a
weekly house cleaning of that size.
That (relatively) high pricing may be specific to Seattle though as they’ve
got a high ($15/hr) min wage laws there that would apply. Combined with non-
contractor employees, FICA, and benefits, they’re easily looking at $20+/hr in
labor costs.
~~~
ghaff
I have housecleaning every few weeks. It's about $100 and takes 2-3 hours for
about the same square footage.
------
sokoloff
> "Any products that require additional services beyond opening a box, Amazon
> doesn’t do well," Kalyanam said.
Well, there’s AWS, which smashes that mold.
~~~
pjc50
How's AWS human customer service?
~~~
sokoloff
Quite good for us. We have a team from AWS on-site every other Thursday (and
subject matter experts from AWS that we can call in as/if needed).
AWS started out as a REST-services-only take-it-or-leave-it business. They've
expanded quite substantially their human-provided sales, service, success
operation in recent years.
Even on my personal account (spending <$50/month), I get quick and sensible
email replies to my account-related inquiries.
------
neogodless
I'm in the weird position where, we are family planning, but (to our
knowledge) unsuccessful, but started getting a series of emails from Amazon
congratulating us and offering up suggestions like vitamins, baby registry
and, of course, housecleaning services w/ discounts available.
(The first email was, to put it lightly, premature. Now we got one that says
"week one", and it could be right, or not. We don't know yet.)
These emails puzzle me, because I pored over my shopping history, and I can't
find any indicator that would tip off their algorithm.
But I do get the idea of trying to sell things to expectant mothers. Such as
convenience services.
~~~
mabbo
We may not be there yet, but there's certainly going to be a day where online
advertisers know a woman is pregnant before she does based on the changes in
her behavior.
I'm not sure if that counts as a dystopia or not. Is there a good word for
"Weirdtopia"?
~~~
AndrewKemendo
Helpful?
I mean honestly, the whole point of computing is to do things we as humans
can't do with data to make our lives easier. Now that it's actually doing
those things, people think it's creepy and scary.
If a computing system knows you are pregnant before you do then maybe it can
help you take steps (like taking pre-natal vitamins, abstaining from heavy
drinking/smoking, starting a savings account etc...) weeks before you would
have normally. How is that dystopian?
~~~
kaybe
I can't help but think about how it would give you more time to consider
carrying to term vs abortion, since there is a hard time limit and earlier is
better in terms of stress on the body and ethics.
This would make it a target for anti-choice groups as well as internal company
ethics, however, so it's a complicated issue.
------
hownottowrite
Cached Version: [https://archive.is/SdQas](https://archive.is/SdQas)
------
yalogin
They have the keys to your house through Ring and others. So now we see their
conquest of our homes coming to a completion.
------
noemit
as a customer, I think it's great. Few purchases make me as happy as the
amazon house cleaning.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Debugging Behind the Iron Curtain (2010) - e1ven
http://archive.is/O70Rg
======
mav3r1ck
Wow. I’ve discovered many bugs in my life. But none caused me to fear for my
life.
>There were often significant food shortages in the Soviet Union, and the
government plan was to mix the meat from Chernobyl-area cattle with the
uncontaminated meat from the rest of the country. This would lower the average
radiation levels of the meat without wasting valuable resources. Upon
discovering this, Sergei immediately filed immigration papers with any country
that would listen. The computer crashes resolved themselves as radiation
levels dropped over time.
~~~
tecleandor
Check on the Therac-25 case, whis is particularly scary for me, having worked
for 10 years on medical software (on the sysadmin side).
A race condition which killed people:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therac-25)
> It was involved in at least six accidents between 1985 and 1987, in which
> patients were given massive overdoses of radiation. Because of concurrent
> programming errors, it sometimes gave its patients radiation doses that were
> hundreds of times greater than normal, resulting in death or serious injury.
------
jzymbaluk
I love reading these bug-hunting war stories, there's no breakpoint for
radioactive cows in GDB! Another favorite of mine is the 500-mile email
bug[1], if there's a bigger collection of these stories anywhere on the
internet, I'd love to read them
[1]
[http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles](http://web.mit.edu/jemorris/humor/500-miles)
~~~
bad_login
[https://github.com/danluu/debugging-
stories](https://github.com/danluu/debugging-stories)
[https://github.com/danluu/post-mortems](https://github.com/danluu/post-
mortems)
~~~
kiddico
Well... I guess I didn't need to do much work this morning. Thanks for the
links.
------
planteen
I kind of doubt this story. What kind of radiation would you have from
Chernobyl?
My understanding is that bit flips (SEEs) are typically caused by energetic
particles like cosmic rays. To simulate upset damage on Earth, you typically
need to decap the IC and go to a testing facility that directly hits the wafer
with particles. It seems unlikely that somewhere near Chernobyl that there
would be particles energetic enough that didn't get stopped by the IC
packaging.
Gamma radiation gives total ionizing dose effects that degrade chips until the
point they no longer work. Those shoot right through the chip packaging. But I
don't think it typically causes upsets.
~~~
PoachedSausage
Neutrons from the various fission products?
[https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/ChipIR.aspx](https://www.isis.stfc.ac.uk/Pages/ChipIR.aspx)
------
virtuexru
Having issues loading the text on this page. Seems to keep "blinking" out for
me. Is there anyway we can get a printer friendly or text only version? Super
interested in this article.
~~~
cs02rm0
[https://pastebin.com/raw/NR0SzmiL](https://pastebin.com/raw/NR0SzmiL)
------
rouxz
archive.is banned in Russia. Haha, the Irony.
~~~
mtve
allow me to call the parent story bullshit.
~~~
abritinthebay
Why? The error seems reasonable (radiation can and could have flipped bits,
I've done it on sensitive hardware with a camera flash).
~~~
mtve
1\. anonymous Sergey as a story source, without any verificable identity.
2\. "he went drinking with a few military personnel", so it's retelling of
rehearsal, even more trust.
3\. "government plan was to mix the meat from Chernobyl-area cattle with the
uncontaminated meat", that's seems plausible. contamination of meat was "up to
1,0*10-6 Ci/kg" (according to widely cited secret "annex 10 of protocol #32"),
it's 300 times of banana equivalent. from the same scary stories fansites,
there were 34 Кtons of bad meat (it's one thousand of railway carriages btw).
so not so dramatic, definitely not a near nuclear blast.
4\. [computer was] "located in a building close to the railroad tracks".
inverse-square law, walls, exposure time from a moving train etc. i would more
believe in vibration caused by trains as a cause of problems.
5\. the SM-1800 computer: KR580VM80A cpu (8080 clone) is 6 mkm and 2 MHz
(compare to modern 10 nm and 2 GHz), K565RU3A ram (4116 analog, like in ZX
Spectrum), and other components. even the computer case was solid metal. i can
not tell you precisely, but there should be a powerful source of radiation to
crash such computer reproducibly.
so no, i don't buy it. sorry for hurting your radio- and russo-fobias.
~~~
abritinthebay
> sorry for hurting your radio- and russo-fobias.
That's a mighty big chip you have on your shoulder there. Sorry to disappoint
your ego but I was curious as to your objections. They're... not very good.
The inverse square law one is the worst - you make tons of assumptions about
the building and then screw up the basic science. A few inches of lead is
enough to block gamma rays -- which is why you wear a lead apron when you get
x-rays -- but at least 3 meters of concrete are needed to stop them.
Assuming a standard brick or breeze block building and normal computer metal
case plus a meter or two of separation (common at railways in Europe at least,
when stuff is going by slowly) that wouldn't stop much gamma radiation at all.
Other than "it's a semi-anonymous story" you really don't have much in the way
of objection here.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Tegra K1 Glass Fracture Demo [video] - rinesh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGPK__0Vnz0
======
IgorPartola
And apparently Acer is about to ship a Chromebook with the K-1 as the graphics
card: [http://gizmodo.com/acer-chromebook-13-hands-on-gaming-
guts-i...](http://gizmodo.com/acer-chromebook-13-hands-on-gaming-guts-in-a-
chromeboo-1619231489)
------
Mithaldu
Mildly related, in comparison an example of what a desktop gpu can do:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=i8...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=i8hSZGTXTx8#t=214)
(warning, loud)
~~~
3rd3
Quite impressive. Here is a blog post about the techniques used in this demo:
[http://directtovideo.wordpress.com/category/compute-
shader/](http://directtovideo.wordpress.com/category/compute-shader/)
------
lttlrck
For me it would be have been more interesting to see one object shot at
multiple times from different angles and velocities.
------
josh-wrale
Looks good, but some of the physics are off. The objects aren't sliding or
tipping upon impact.
------
TorKlingberg
The interesting part here is that this in on a mobile SoC, not a desktop GPU.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A veritable Venn diagram of beverages ... - RiderOfGiraffes
http://twitgoo.com/1zdeec
======
RiderOfGiraffes
Technically it's an Euler diagram, because not all intersections are shown:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler_diagram>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Tiny Helicopter Piloted By Human Thoughts - smaili
http://www.livescience.com/37160-tiny-helicopter-piloted-by-human-thoughts.html
======
zsombor
Downscaling the myriad of signals from your brain to 64 electrodes controlling
four spacial dimensions seems tricky. I can see that making a fist may turn
left, but what prevents any other random thought of being interpreted in the
same way? I.e. how safe is a bike that turns left upon twisting the handlebars
left, you may end up turning right with odds of 1:1000?
------
droz
Wired ran a story last year on a Chinese team that did the same thing already:
[http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/zhejiang-
university-c...](http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/08/zhejiang-university-
china-brain-controlled-quadcopter/)
~~~
curiousducky
they mentioned that in the article
------
skolos
And here is how to make one yourself: [http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-
Controlled-RC-Helicopt...](http://www.instructables.com/id/Brain-Controlled-
RC-Helicopter/)
------
curiousducky
How many directions can EEG control.
If this is just up and down based on your level of concentration, it is
relatively useless. However, if it maps all 6 directions, it is pretty
impressive.
~~~
damoncali
I wonder how many "channels" can be worked out? 2? 20? 2,000? 2,000,000?
Anyone have any background on this? It's fascinating to think of the
complexity of a machine that could be controlled, when compared to the
inherent limitations of pedals, wheels, switches and the like.
~~~
breuderink
I have a background in these so-called brain computer interfaces. Typically,
research know some of the properties of the EEG signal during specific tasks.
Using signal processing and machine learning methods (and sometimes human
training), these tasks can be recognized by 'decoding' the EEG.
Some of these signals are spontaneous (realizing an error has been made), some
are produced by voluntarily executing some mental task. Currently, the amount
of these 'channels' that is available is limited by 1) the amount of detectors
that a lab is willing to build, and 2) how many tasks the user can
simultaneously execute — which is typically very low. If you really want a
number, I would settle for four as the current state of the art.
I have been working on a method to make problem 1) so easy it can be solved by
laymen by just collecting examples of EEG during the task of interest. Now we
are founding a startup to make this happen commercially :).
PS: I think this technology does not lend itself well for analogies with
channels or buttons. Buttons were invented for a physical world. Brain-
computer interfaces lend itself to interact with signals there are /not/
available in normal interaction (i.e. relevance, errors, intended movements
etc).
~~~
damoncali
Cool. How would such things work when it came to a prosthetic leg, for
example? Suppose you built a robotic leg with, say, 80 or 100 actuators all
working together. Could you train such a device to work on thought, mimicking
a real leg, or is that out of the scope of what you're talking about?
~~~
breuderink
Hmm, difficult question. In the US there are some groups doing very advanced
work with implants to restore limb or prosthesis control, and there are some
very impressive movies of monkey's controlling robotic arms. But invasive
(i.e. with implants) work is not really my thing. And in these studies, often
the monkey is the one doing the learning — it is not the device that adapts to
the user.
For non-invase (i.e. EEG measured from outside the body) EEG I think that is
still far off. The problem is that the signals are measured from a distance,
and that it is very hard isolate signals from a precise region in the brain
which is needed for accurate control.
I typically express the performance of these brain-computer interfaces in
bits/minute. Keyboard gets roughly around 300 bits/min, brain-computer
interfaces 2-20 bits/min. I would not know the bandwidth (and latency)
requirements for reliable prosthesis control, but that would probably depend
on intended use of the prosthesis. But then again, not all the actuators need
to be controlled individually; maybe it is feasible with a smart controller
and a forgiving application. And of course usability plays a major role; I
cannot imagine controlling a prosthesis using the keyboard, although the
information throughput might be sufficient :).
------
vishaldpatel
It would be interesting to learn how they account for: "No, not that way, I
was just kidding."
------
killing_time
Whatever you do, don't think about getting hit in the face by a helicopter...
~~~
blutack
It's a Parrot ArDrone quadrotor. The frame is made of foam which encloses the
rotors and the motors automatically cut off if they sense the blades are
obstructed.
Being hit by one is like being bumped with a bit of polystyrene.
~~~
CodeFoo
He was being humorous.
(HN is so pedantic)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How to get better at large system design? - zodvik
There are a lot of resources for learning algorithms, code design patterns, etc.<p>As you grow, what are the good resources for system design patterns? How did you get better at it? For large system designs, like say a fulfilment ecosystem, the choices become more abstract with not immediately clear trade-offs.
======
malux85
Most people learn by doing rather than reading (myself included) so just pick
a project and start building.
This is the journey I took:
\- Setup a Hadoop cluster from scratch (start with 4 nodes on virtualbox) \-
Write software to crawl and store data on every single torrent. (I dont know
why I picked torrents, it was just interesting at the time), but pick a single
topic, and then scale it as far as you can.
(Can I store 100,000 torrent files? Can I crawl 200 websites every 5 minutes?
Can I index every single file inside the torrent - whoops I have 500,000,000
rows now, can I distribute that across a cluster, can I upgrade the cluster
without downtime? Can I swap Hadoop and HBase out for Cassandra? Can I do that
with no downtime?) Why aren't all these CPU's being utilised? How can I use
redis as a distributed cache? Now the whole system is running, can I scale it
2x, 5x, 10x? What happens if I randomly kill a node?
Just pick a single project - Astronomy Data, Weather Data, Planes in the air,
open IoT sensors, IRC chat, Free Satellite Data, Twitter streams, pick a
datasource that interests you and then your exercise is to scale it _as far as
you can_ \- this is an exercise in engineering, not data science, not pure
research, the goal is scale.
As you build this you'll do research and discover which technologies are
better at scaling for reads, writes, difference consistency guarantees,
different querying abilities.
Sure you could read all of this, but unless you apply it, much of it wont
stick
~~~
zodvik
Thanks.
This has been my approach thus far. The place where I work allows for
practical applications of this (scaling systems to millions of requests per
second, having no downtime operations, doing BCP/DR, etc.)
2 things on this \- Learning by doing sometimes feels like spending time on
discovering things that would have been obvious given the right resources to
look at \- It's still easier for non-functional aspects of system where there
can be quicker feedback. The more abstract part to me is functional design of
large systems
For e.g., there are great resources for more "basic" patterns (on Java design
patterns, Effective Java, Clean Code, etc.). Are there such resources for
roles beyond SSE?
------
nailuj
I have not yet worked through all of [https://github.com/donnemartin/system-
design-primer](https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer) but I
liked what I've seen so far.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
No Man’s Sky Is A Huge Procedurally Generated Sci-Fi Exploration Sim - radley
http://indiestatik.com/2013/12/07/mans-sky/
======
Derbasti
There is an incredible amount of negativity in this thread.
They said all the landscapes are procedurally generated. They did not say that
there won't be any missions or tech trees or some other kind of hand-crafted
progression system.
Many games like Minecraft or Terraria do very well with procedurally generated
terrain and some kind of progression system.
I think that this might have huge potential. This could be an awesome game
indeed, and so far I have not seen anything that hints to it being boring or
repetitive--just unfinished.
~~~
Associat0r
Check out "Elite: Dangerous" it has a scientifically accurate 1:1 scale, fully
Seamless Milky Way galaxy using a mix of procedural generation with artist
direction
[http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Elite:_Dangerous_FAQ](http://elite-
dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Elite:_Dangerous_FAQ)
[http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Procedural_Generation](http://elite-
dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Procedural_Generation)
~~~
amiramir
I've been a fan of David Braben's since playing Elite and Virus as a kid. I'd
never seen him speak and The Procedural Generation video gave me a whole new
appreciation of his intellect. I hope he gets a knighthood for his work on
Raspberry-Pi. Much greatness in him and I wonder what he would have achieved
if he had started off in California rather than Essex and Cambridge.
~~~
objclxt
> _Much greatness in him and I wonder what he would have achieved if he had
> started off in California rather than Essex and Cambridge._
Wow, that's more than a little bit self-important / arrogant. You do realize
that Cambridge is home to several huge tech innovators, right (ARM?) And that
the UK produces more than its fair share of huge video games (GTA?).
Applying your logic, who knows what that Tim Berners-Lee guy might have
achieved if he'd started off in the valley rather than CERN...
------
MrBra
1) [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joshparnell/limit-
theory...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joshparnell/limit-theory-an-
infinite-procedural-space-game) (pledged $187,865 of $50,000 goal)
2) [https://www.inovaestudios.com/](https://www.inovaestudios.com/)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6a69dMLb_k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6a69dMLb_k)
(has been in development for years, about to start a campaign on kickstarter)
3) [http://pioneerspacesim.net/](http://pioneerspacesim.net/) (free, open
source, alreaady playable, alpha stage and actively developed)
~~~
octaveguin
I like the list. I'm thinking/hoping that sandbox games with generated content
will becomes a larger part of the core game market.
Mostly, we see success in the indie 2D world:
Don't starve -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsWm_gWyk4s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsWm_gWyk4s)
Binding of Isaac -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5PLC6nmOO4](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5PLC6nmOO4)
Terraria -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHPX0kR9h7I](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHPX0kR9h7I)
And just released Starbound -
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvrmB4tw33Q](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvrmB4tw33Q)
Certainly 3D games are quite exciting in this space, too, but the 2D games
seem to have a lot more traction with the big exception of minecraft.
I suspect it's simply easier to make an engaging sandbox when you don't have
to worry about complexities in art assets that a 3D game requires.
~~~
stefan_kendall
Uh, Don't Starve isn't generated. The world is fixed.
Pro-tip: You need rocks, and you need them fast. Get all you can in the south,
and then move northeast for the large rock pile. From there, you need to
figure out how to survive the stronger enemies.
~~~
pohl
The video above for Don't Starve shows the game saying that it is generating
the world.
------
kayoone
Today we are still writing code like 20 years ago and one could think there
has been little evolution regarding that. But this imo shows where the
evolution has gone. Today a team of 4 is able to build a procedurally
generated game of high visual quality with a gigantic scope like that because
our tools, libraries, techniques and also hardware have evolved to a point
where this is possible. I think thats pretty amazing!
~~~
AlexanderDhoore
Revolution vs Evolution. People want to think that progress comes from a
handful of revolutions that change the world. It's a lot more exciting than
what we actually have: evolutions, over long periods of time.
~~~
eli_gottlieb
Except that actual biological evolution works via _punctuated_ equilibrium, so
it _is_ possible to be living in interesting times.
------
alkonaut
Edit: I agree this thread contains a lot of negativity and I agree it's too
early to make any calls on this particular game, which does look fantastic.
Since so little can be said of this game the discussion is more "why have so
many tried to do this, and failed"?
So I'll try:
Why is "procedural" used as a sales pitch? The only thing cool about
procedural is that you can make something extremely vast. But then "vast"
should be the sales pitch!
I'd much rather buy a game that promised "ten thousand planets carefully
modeled by artists", than a game that contains millions of random ones. I
fact, I'd probably prefer a sim with a designed world much smaller than that.
The thing with procedural environments is that they leave everything to game
mechanics. A well designed world can support a basic or boring mechanic (such
as a linear shooter). Procedural worlds need a game mechanic so deep and
brilliant that only very few games have managed it (minecraft and a few of its
inspirations, for example).
There isn't much that can be said about mechanics from the trailer, so we'll
see.
I think (sadly) it will be the prettiest in a long line of "let's make an
elite style universe sim where the game mechanic will probably/hopefully
emerge from the sheer awesomeness that is an enormous space sim".
------
networked
I like the concept of a procedural space exploration game and No Man’s Sky
looks like a promising entry in the genre. There has been a number of attempts
so far that approached this concept from different angles (from using space as
a setting for fast roguelike gameplay [1] to pure exploration [2]), many of
them resulting in good games.
That said, if No Man’s Sky really is totally procedural I wonder how the
developers will handle the overall structure of the game and avoid the
"quicksand box" [3] trap. This is especially pertinent if the game doesn't
feature a Minecraft-style combination of building and survival to make the
players not mind the "quicksand".
I know the game in which I enjoyed exploring space the most is The Ur-Quan
Masters (formerly known as "Star Control II") [4]. The star systems and
planets there are not procedurally generated and I don't think randomizing
them would make much of the difference for the reason I'll explain in a
moment. My best guess as to why I liked UQM/SC2 so much beyond its audiovisual
style is that a) it has no formal mission structure that limits the player's
actions; and b) there's a lot you can do; but c) your exploration still ties
into an engaging larger story, which and in turn contributes unique one-time
encounters to the exploration. A consequence of c) is that mixing up the
layout of the galaxies without changing the overall plot, which at its core is
fairly linear and features a time limit (think the original Fallout), wouldn't
really change what the game is like. My guess is that the company that figures
out how to generate distinct game plots that provide c) along with a) and b)
will take over the procedural games business, if not the game industry as a
whole. The question is whether c) can be done well enough in some way that
doesn't involve an artificial general intelligence or per-player MTurk
writers.
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Adventures_in_Infinite...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Adventures_in_Infinite_Space)
[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctis)
[3]
[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuicksandBox](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/QuicksandBox)
[4] It's now FOSS and available from
[http://sc2.sourceforge.net/](http://sc2.sourceforge.net/). Highly recommended
if you have an interest in SF space games.
------
RyanZAG
We've heard this same claim so many times before. Procedurally generating each
atom? Come on, this is just a marketing gimmick. These never turn out to be
decent games, usually it's just running around a world with randomly appearing
enemies who all act the same and you're bored within 10 minutes. I'd be more
optimistic if this exact thing hadn't been claimed before every year for the
last 20 with no results.
~~~
electrograv
First, I want to say how amazingly cool I think "No Man's Sky" looks -- as an
enjoyer of scifi content and indie games, I will certainly be among the first
in line to buy/play it when it comes out.
That said, I agree with this criticism of "procedural content" completely. A
while ago I created a little toy WebGL tech demo featuring "a vast virtual 3D
universe containing billions of unique stars and planets" (it's open-source on
github if anyone's interested) -- so I encountered this issue first-hand (and
saw it come up many times elsewhere in the past, of course).
IMO, the fundamental problem lies in a subtle distinction between "infinite
variation" vs. "infinite novelty". Most procedural generation amounts to not
much more than random noise passed through a variety of hand-tuned filters
and/or custom code. In most cases it's how you tune that filtering and custom
logic that leads to any amount of interesting results, not the underlying
random noise generator (from which the too-good-to-be-true claim of "infinite
variety" is derived).
I don't think it's completely impossible to derive interesting variation from
a combination of mathematics and randomness, but I think the degree to which
we find something interesting or "novel" is at least somewhat related to the
amount of computational complexity put into its derivation (at least, that's
my intuition on the matter).
~~~
hyp0
I think grammars are a way to formalize this intuition of novelty (NB:
grammars can be use to generate as well as to parse). Noise is like a stream
of random symbols from an alphabet - anything is possible; most all of it
boring. A grammar carves out a subset of the possible streams, only those with
certain relationships between the symbols.
Regular expressions are a simple kind of grammar (aka "Regular Grammars") -
you can see generation as choices made for explicit choice operators ("|"),
and choices of whether to loop ("∗") or continue. Although limited, they can
be surprisingly expressive. Context Free Grammars allow you to generate things
that have the basic structure of xml, json and source code. And you can have
Turing Equivalent grammars that, in describing a subset, can compute anything.
Of course, grammars aren't restricted to the Chomsky Hierarchy, but can
include any way of describing the subset of streams (or generating an instance
of them) - for example, the recent HN travesty/markov generators.
You can search for the right grammar (machine learning), by taking a corpus of
instances of what you want to generate, and test out your grammar, by seeing
how well it compresses them. This shows whether it is capturing regularities
within them and between them - the rules or laws that are the essence of a
grammar. In doing this, you should also take into account the size of the
grammar itself: consider the extremes of one grammar that factors out deep
regularities; versus one that is simply a choice between each instance,
verbatim (this compresses _real_ well: it just needs to encode which instance.
i.e. log2(1/N) bits, e.g. 8 bits to encode which of 256 different instances,
assuming uniform probability). Accounting for the complexity of the grammar
avoids this.
This comes down to the length of the description of the instances + the length
of the description of the grammar.
( "Model" is probably a better term than "grammar", since it doesn't imply a
sequence. )
Re: your last point, there's no theoretical reason that an extremely accurate
model _must_ be computationally expensive to execute (e.g. flocking behaviour
was simpler than expected; and Occam's Razor gives us hope) - but it might
well be computationally expensive to discover in the first place. e.g. require
many great leaps of intuition by humans. (Even if it's obvious in hindsight.)
The trailer looks a little repetitive to me - esp the yellow underwater
plants; and the trees seem to be random blocks of foliage - like minecraft
trees or github icons, just rendered nicer. I don't want to criticize, as they
probably have some cool innovations hidden away in there.
What I'd like is _gameplay-significant_ procedural generation. e.g. trees you
can climb, so their shape affects where you can reach and how. Terrain -
mountains, streams - naturally has this effect. Then, developers _have_ to
make it work right! So far, only the minecraft/dwarf fortress genres do this.
Because generation is fundamental to their concept, their gameplay, and why
people like the games, I suspect that that genre is where we'll eventually get
the hi-res breakthroughs - whereas for every other genre, including "No Man's
Sky", if their gameplay isn't 100% dependent on generation, whenever there's a
conflict between the two, generation will lose (crunch time! what _must_ be
finished to ship?). Servant of two masters etc.
FWIW I still think FarCry2 (not 3) creates the most immersive world so far.
Hopefully something even better will be done for nextgen consoles/PCs, as
opposed to just higher resolution and higher gamification.
~~~
richardjdare
One of the difficulties in creating novelty is in creating the "relationships
between symbols" as you say.
Take a sword in an RPG for example. It can be a weapon, it can be sold, it can
be used as a crutch for a wounded person. It can be used to signal to others
by reflecting the sunlight off it. Each of these aspects add new systems of
gameplay.
but these additional relationships don't seem like things you can predict
without presupposing the existence of the whole sentient world. And we've said
nothing about where the sword came from in the first place!
I agree with you on gameplay-significant procedural generation. After playing
and loving Noctis and Frontier: Elite II, I wanted to create an arty space
exploration game where you took control of a mysterious alien being who roamed
the universe in search of "knowledge". You'd do this by exploring and scanning
features of the universe with different tools that took skill to use.
For example, to scan a mountain range, you'd have to land several probes
around it, maybe in difficult conditions. "Knowledge" would be things like
"tallest mountain range","largest ocean","oxygen atmosphere","binary system
with habitable planets". I thought this was a good way of having distinct
goals, but remaining open ended and unpredictable. "biggest","tallest" etc
being things which are easy to specify but could be anywhere in the universe.
I thought you could fly a "living ship" a bit like Moia in Farscape. This ship
would develop according to how much knowledge you accumulated, along with
resources you extract from the universe.
My goal was to make the procedural world itself as something of concern for
the player, to encourage the player to actually get out there into the depths.
Maybe I'll start on it someday, I don't know. Everyone seems to be making
space games at the moment!
------
jaryd
The embedded gameplay clip has been removed from YouTube so here's an
alternative post:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2FXIf9N-yA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2FXIf9N-yA)
~~~
vignesh_vs_in
The above video has also been removed.
Use this:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNVgVl6v6YU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNVgVl6v6YU)
~~~
dirkk0
This looks awesome - Minecraft meets Dune meets Homeland?
------
rralian
When I was a kid, my parents got me a couple sci-fi encyclopedias, which were
big books of beautiful sci fi illustrations with some made-up history
explaining each painting encyclopedia-style. I loved them. This video reminds
me of those illustrations very much, which I mean to be high praise.
I just looked through my books and called my mom to see if she had them, but
no dice. They were large hardcover books with a blue cover. Anyone else
remember them? I'd love to track them down for my own kids.
~~~
redler
Maybe this one? I got it when I was a kid, and it's still right there on my
shelf:
[http://www.amazon.com/Spacecraft-2000-2100-A-D-Authority-
Han...](http://www.amazon.com/Spacecraft-2000-2100-A-D-Authority-
Handbook/dp/0890092117)
~~~
rralian
Thanks so much redler! That's totally it! I found a number of photos of the
book on flickr
([http://www.flickr.com/photos/erice/sets/72157625355578461/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/erice/sets/72157625355578461/))
and they really brought me back to my childhood. I had the first two as listed
here:
[http://www.khantazi.org/Rec/TTABooks/TTABooks.html](http://www.khantazi.org/Rec/TTABooks/TTABooks.html)
I'll have to see if I can pick up the whole series. Thanks again!
------
josteink
This looks massively impressive. Wonder if they can deliver as much as the
trailer promises?
This is the sort teaser which makes me want to try the game just because of
the "subtle" Dune-reference. Is there an Arakis anywhere there for us to
discover?
------
javajosh
I dislike this kind of news coverage very much. It is designed to tease rather
than inform. Although, I have to admit I was intrigued less by the _claim_
that the game procedurally generates every atom, and more by the _question_ it
begs of how you'd actually generate every atom.
Usually, of course, atoms don't matter. The ideal gas law, for example, is
essentially a "rule of thumb" which gives you useful ways to predict the
behavior of large ensembles of atoms; e.g. to average over the movements of
statistically significant (avagadro's number or so) individual particles -
indeed, one of the most amazing things in physics is the connection between
Newtonian physics and thermodynamics via statistical mechanics.
In any event, my naive answer to the question of what should we simulate would
be "don't simulate anything you don't have to" which means that unless you
have scanning electron microscopes _in the game_ you don't simulate atoms at
all. You mostly use approximations. In games, collisions are important so
surfaces (and their properties) tend to be important. And so those simple
geometries defines the data structure you use to define the world. In essence
mass is _defined_ in a computer program to be a volume that behaves a certain
way in the presence of acceleration. But there is no need to describe
materials as a lattice of much smaller particles. It's almost never relevant
to the simulation.
So, yeah, I don't think it's reasonable to expect a game to simulate a world
such that ad hoc chemical reactions can take place, etc. But it's not
unreasonable to expect in-game scanning electron microscopes to be able to
realistically resolve the details of any material.
~~~
Houshalter
I think they mean atom as in, the smallest unit that everything is built out
of, not the scientific atom. I.e. not a single polygon is placed by a human
artist and the sets aren't pre-designed with just some random variation.
But looking at the demo that doesn't seem to be true either.
~~~
jere
Eh, I think the more charitable reading is they meant a physical atom, but in
the sense "not a single atom has been designed by hand."
It's like if you made some algorithmic music and claimed every nanosecond was
generated automatically, even though we tend to think in terms of notes that
are orders of magnitude larger.
If they really expect anyone in the gaming community to believe they're
rendering each blade of grass with a few Octillion points or polygons, they're
absolutely insane.
------
usernew1817
This game came out of nowhere, the VGX show was basically being hyped of AAA
titles, but no one was expecting an indie title to get as much hype as it's
getting right now. I think the next gen consoles are making it much easier for
devs to develop on, though frustratingly its still far more difficult to
publish on console then mobile, mainly because you need to first be approved
into the developer program before they even consider letting you publish
games. Regardless, it seems to be moving in the right direction, although
somewhat slow.
------
xioxox
It reminds me a lot of Starglider 2. That was a great game from the 80s, which
let you fly between several different planets to complete a set of missions.
The graphics and gameplay were pretty amazing at the time on the Atari ST and
the Amiga. One minute you'd be navigating around a set of tunnels deep inside
a planet, and the next you'd be chasing whales in the outer envelope of a gas
giant. It was some stunning game design and coding. I've not seen anything
quite like it since.
------
Lavinski
Reminds me of infinity (from
[https://inovaestudios.com/](https://inovaestudios.com/)), which I've been
watching for the past few years.
------
daredevildave
There's an video interview with one of the developers here:
[http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-08-hello-games-
deb...](http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-08-hello-games-debuts-first-
person-action-adventure-no-mans-sky)
------
raingrove
Cool Video! By the way, in the video, by "Hydrogen Dioxide", I am pretty sure
they actually meant actually meant H2O - "Dihydrogen Monoxide" or simply
"Water".
------
yconst
Looks quite cool and such. But what do you actually do in this game? I mean,
in what ways do you interact with your environment?
------
bencoder
Reminds me of an old "game" I used to play called Noctis:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctis)
~~~
MrBra
Too bad Noctis programmer went through an hard time... Last time I checked his
website he had blogged about some kind of depression that arised from always
trying to be perfectionist. And you can see this if you consider he was about
to write everything from scratch for his next version of noctis. He started
coding something like a new assembler language (if I remember correclty) which
would have later be used to code the game in.
~~~
bencoder
Yeah I used to hang around the forums waiting for Noctis V.
He was developing it in Linoleum, which is his own portable assembly language
that he wrote. It's still available and an interesting experiment.
------
TulliusCicero
Neat tech, but the problem with procedurally generated games with large worlds
is that the core game mechanics are often bland or shallow, and the content
can come across as very samey.
~~~
namuol
How can you even begin to judge the gameplay from the teaser video?
~~~
alan_cx
You cant. But, the poster didn't do that at all, didn't even mention the
video. The post is short, so its not hard to see that.
My skeptical question would be: how can you set a mission in a genuinely
dynamically generated world? For example, you might not even know that a bit
of land will exist where you want the mission to begin. But, maybe I'm missing
something obvious.
~~~
PavlovsCat
Procedurally generated just means you can create lots of variety; not that you
can't generate ahead of time, save it to disk, and even put potentially useful
features in the database and then just pick from those when putting together a
mission.
------
Johnwbh
Reminds me a bit of Spore, but hopefully not so disappointing.
------
axilmar
“If you see the stars, those are real stars. They have their own planets
around them, and you can go there”
There goes my dream.
------
jheriko
good stuff. i've been waiting for a small team to do something like this for a
while... and have been planning something similar myself for when i can break
free from the shackles of full-time work.
knowing some of these guys personally - i'm quite pleased its them who are
doing it. :)
------
Yuioup
This game has an incredible potential for broken promises. I predict bad
review scores, howls of request for refunds, and the lead developer putting
out blogs in the vein of "sorry, we should do better. Expect free updates that
will fix everything soon!"
------
swayvil
The music
artist : 65 days of static
album : we were exploding anyway
song : debutante
------
yarou
Hopefully this game will be good. I've been looking for a decent spacey game
like Freelancer, but so far nothing seems remotely close to it. The Discovery
mod in particular added a dimension that most modern games lack.
------
jroes
Anyone know what engine they are using? The visuals look excellent.
EDIT: Think I found it:
[http://www.crytek.com/cryengine](http://www.crytek.com/cryengine)
~~~
Flow
Oh great, no OS X version then. :-/
~~~
booop
In my experience if you have an Apple computer and you want to play demanding
games it's better to have windows installed in a separate partition.
The performance difference for some cross platform games is huge (around 30 -
40% slower on OSX).
~~~
kayoone
true, also i find the way mouse acceleration works in OSX quite annoying for
games.
~~~
keeran
try this [http://smoothmouse.com/](http://smoothmouse.com/)
~~~
kayoone
yeah i actually have that installed, but when i enable it i get issues with
clicks not registering sometimes, which is even more annoying when playing a
game.. Dont know if its related to my mouse or something else though.
~~~
meric
Give SteelSeries ExactMouse tool a go.
------
japaget
Does anybody know what platform this game will run on? Xbox One, PS4, Wii, PC,
Mac, iOS, Android? None of the promos gave us a clue as far as I could tell.
------
otikik
I see landscapes, animals and ships, but no people.
~~~
alan_cx
Well, people do tend to ruin and scar everything. I'd leave people out
completely. Play the game as an animal!!!
~~~
gbog
Have you seen Burgundy vineyards or Longsheng rice terraces? Would you say
these are scars over the landscapes? In the old world at least, humans have
created with their hands most of the countryside landscapes and it is not
always ugly.
------
notastartup
I don't get why there's so many negative comments here.
This game looks absolutely amazing.
If anything, efforts where previous attempts have been unsuccessful, should be
lauded, and there's a lot of academic talk for a 2 minute video.
Let's wait and see but I have a good feeling about this one.
------
MrBra
Ouch.. that "it has to be funny" stylized graphics everywhere..
~~~
melloclello
I thought the aesthetic was actually kinda neat!
~~~
MrBra
You know in the angry birds era (and generally in mobile games era where all
games need to look appealing to everyone, even the most casual gamer ever) a
lot of indie devs started to think they had to create cute appealing girlie-
awe-insipiring stylized graphics even when that would not be the best fit for
a given game genre and would completely compromise player immersion.
Another reason for this is that this kind of asset is way easier to implement
than full blow realistic 3D models and environment.
In the end it's all about that, sacrifying game immersion so to be appealing
for casual gamers who are not interested in game immersion and could even be
put off by that because it contributes to let them think game is harder to
play because it's not 'just a game'.
~~~
mercurial
But not all games ask for "full blow realistic 3D models and environments".
You have plenty of indie titles (Stealth Bastard, Super Meat Boy, Hotline
Miami) for which "stylized graphics" in 2D are essential. Another example is
Apotheon [1]: even if I'm not that fond of the gameplay, I wouldn't trade
their stunning 2D graphics for any kind of 3D.
1: [http://www.apotheongame.com/](http://www.apotheongame.com/)
~~~
MrBra
Where exactly did I say all games need full blown 3D graphics?
I am just saying that for this kind of games, where the hype/fun/immersion is
all about how much fine-grained procedurally generated spatial/life details
you can get, to make it all look cartonish style it's a bit simplistic and not
up to the capability/deepness/complexity of the ecosystem engine they are
proud to market.
To me it's just a bit of riding the trend because indie devs know very well
that nowadays cute looking cartoonish indie games are well praised and boosted
by mobile app stores whose ratings are driven by casual gamers looking before
everything else for cute bleeps and rainbowish color splashes!
Anyway this is just my little opinion and I am sure it is incomplete and does
not encompass all the aspects there are to it. Just see it as a starter for a
more in-depth conversation, if you wish.
Provided you will take a 360 degrees approach to it :)
~~~
mercurial
I think it's important to distinguish between "crappy graphics" and "stylized
graphics". You can get away with a lot as long as you have great art
direction. And this won't sacrifice immersion. On the other hand, you can make
terrible-looking games with the best engines.
------
wavesounds
Procedural generation is a widely used term in the production of media; it
refers to content generated algorithmically rather than manually. Often, this
means creating content on the fly rather than prior to distribution. This is
often related to computer graphics applications and video game level design.
~~~
anonymouz
You might as well post a link to the Wikipedia article [1], when you copy its
blurb.
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I Miss My Mac - Derbasti
https://bastibe.de/2020-01-21-i-miss-my-mac.html
======
paulrpotts
I've been using Macs since 1985 and I've owned several, going back to the SE,
PowerBook Duo 230, PowerBook G4, and 2008 Mac Pro, which is still my basic
workhorse machine. I've also done a lot of development for "classic" MacOS,
MacOS X including applications and audio drivers, and the deceased Newton
platform.
As far as I'm concerned, the usability of MacOS X peaked with Snow Leopard.
That was an amazingly reliable build. My uptime was months and months without
shutting down or crashing. With that build, I recorded and mixed a number of
songs from scratch, with Logic Pro X. I imported and edited a number of
videos. And I scanned and edited hundreds of photos with Photoshop and
Aperture. I also could still run some vintage applications.
In my opinion, just about every update of MacOS X since then has made it
dumber and less usable. I loved the "vision" of what the Mac could be back
then - a "digital hub" to organize, create, and edit things from my other
devices.
The ongoing attempts to push me and all my content into the cloud and turn
everything into a scheme to extort money from me monthly is not something I've
ever liked or wanted to participate in.
I am impressed by the hardware design of the new Mac Pro, but it clearly isn't
aimed at me. I think I paid $4,000 for my 2008 Mac Pro, with the beautiful
monitor that still works. But the new Mac Pro has gone up in price far more
than inflation would justify.
I've gradually moved much of my regular writing work to a series of semi-
disposable new and used laptops running either Ubuntu MATE or Windows 10 and
all open-source workflow (NotePad++ instead of BBEdit, my favorite editor, and
Pandoc). I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my music production, Aperture,
and iTunes libraries. It's frustrating.
------
Finnucane
My favorite Mac, hardware-wise, was the B&W G3/G4 I had some 20 years ago--
even the cpu was upgradable. But I'd say Mac OS X peaked with 10.6.8, which I
kept for way longer than I should have, until I just couldn't ignore the
software update problem any longer. These days I mostly use Linux Mint, at
least at home, which I find works pretty well for me.
------
ktpsns
Used a Mac in the same time and it was gorgeous. For the sake of their mobile
OS ("unification") and for some foolish reason of abandoning OSS (like CUPS
and the like), OS X is no more the same as it used to be.
------
supernintendo
Like the author, I’m nostalgic for Macs from that era although I’ve actually
had a great time since switching to Linux as my daily driver. Fedora is
wonderfully stable and up-to-date and with KDE I can configure my desktop to
look and feel exactly how I want. There’s really nothing I used to do on macOS
that I’m not able to do on Linux. I know “year of the Linux desktop” is a meme
but it really feels like now could be that time.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
An LLVM backend for GHC: implementation and benchmarks: PDF - dons
http://www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~pls/thesis/davidt-thesis.pdf
======
yan
That paper is for a BS thesis. Some MS students in my old school would
struggle to even understand it. There were always pockets of us that did
interesting things on the side, but this would go far and beyond above the
expectations for the average student.
~~~
Locke1689
Interesting, because I initially thought it was an MS thesis and was a little
less than impressed. I will say that that was a lot of work for a BS thesis.
Porting the GHC is not a simple task!
------
jmah
Registered Nofib:
"The native code generator offers the best performance of the three but its a
fairly close race, with the LLVM back-end less then 4% percent behind and the
C code generator less then 7%. While this is slightly disappointing that LLVM
doesn’t provide a performance advantage over the NCG back-end, it is very
promising given its early stage of development that it is able to produce code
of the same level of quality as the NCG and C back-end. Both of these back-
ends benefit from years of work and optimisation, while the new LLVM back-end
has only been in development for around 3 months and only just recently
reached a usable state."
Data Parallel Haskell:
"[...] the LLVM back-end shows a very impressive performance gain for all the
tests, bringing an average reduction of 25% in the runtime of the tests. The
reasons for this are two fold. Firstly the LLVM optimiser and register
allocator simply outperform the NCG. Secondly and of far greater impact is the
use of the custom calling convention used to implement registered mode, as
outlined in section 3.3.4."
Also interesting:
"As can be seen from the table, the LLVM optimiser produces no noticeable
effect on the runtime of the program, indeed for the nofib benchmark suite it
actually slowed it down."
------
pieter
The article uses an interesting way to note speed differences, using relative
(-20%) changes rather than absolute (0.8) differences. I've not seen that
before and I'm not sure I like it.
For example, something -99% is 100x as slow as the original, while something
+100% is only twice as fast. I think especially the average is wrong. With the
above example, the average would be 0%, or 'no change', which IMHO isn't fair.
~~~
Smirlouf
He uses the geometric mean (the Nth root of the product of N numbers), which
is mathematically correct in this case.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Individualism, Self-Selection, Cultural Change During the Age of Mass Migration [pdf] - monort
https://annesofiebeckknudsen.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/thosewhostayed.pdf
======
joshe
Great paper. Some good discussion from the author (and other interesting
research links) here:
[https://twitter.com/ASBeckKnudsen](https://twitter.com/ASBeckKnudsen)
~~~
hoaw
I didn't read the entire paper. But since is it does seem to be based on
naming, did it also address the changing naming conventions of the time?
Because early 20th century is also when people stopped taking their fathers
name as a family name.
------
Bucephalus355
Regarding migrations, one clarification.
American society so far has demonstrated a tendency to alternate between mass
migrations coming in from abroad, and mass _internal_ migrations.
The last great internal migration was the 1940’s to 1970’s as cars and
highways became widespread.
The period of mass migration from abroad coming in happens in the mid 70’s
with significant events being Vietnamese refugees in 1975 and Iranian refugees
in 1979. The end of the Cold War meant the stopping of US support to many
anti-communist dictators which also increased these numbers. I believe though
it was a change in the immigration law in 1965 that made this possible, which
reversed the quotas put in place in the mid 1920’s and established family
unification as a priority.
With that all being said though, it seems that mass migration from abroad has
become more controlversial in the US, and perhaps we are entering the next
great age of internal migrations.
~~~
joe_the_user
Actually, American geographical mobility has declined significantly in the
last twenty years with little end in sight. Obviously there are multiple
factors but the significant difficulty of renting and finding a job in most
place has to be one significant part.
This article talks about the consequences but that there has been a decline is
a given.
[https://equitablegrowth.org/the-consequences-and-causes-
of-d...](https://equitablegrowth.org/the-consequences-and-causes-of-declining-
geographic-mobility-in-the-united-states/)
~~~
Bucephalus355
I think we’re in agreement on our points?
Periods of mass external migration into the US also depress wages and make
jobs tougher to compete for, which also hinders moving.
The next phase of internal migration has begun / will begin soon but won’t be
significant or peak for another 30 years.
~~~
pulisse
> Periods of mass external migration into the US also depress wages
Empirically, this is not the case, at least in the long term[1]:
> Empirical research in recent decades suggests that [...] when measured over
> a period of more than 10 years, the impact of immigration on the wages of
> natives overall is very small.
(This is from a 2017 overview. The next few pages starting after the linked
passage summarize the currently known evidence, if you're interested.)
[1]
[https://www.nap.edu/read/23550/chapter/9#267](https://www.nap.edu/read/23550/chapter/9#267)
~~~
patrickg_zill
George Borjas has pointed out that:
Wage trends over the past half-century suggest that a 10 percent increase in
the number of workers with a particular set of skills probably lowers the wage
of that group by at least 3 percent.
Even after the economy has fully adjusted, those skill groups that received
the most immigrants will still offer lower pay relative to those that received
fewer immigrants.
[https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/trump-
clinto...](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/trump-clinton-
immigration-economy-unemployment-jobs-214216)
~~~
barrkel
Don't forget that some industries can't exist if there aren't enough workers.
Density of human capital is sometimes a prerequisite to a sustainable
business.
For example, silicon valley would be much smaller and the net value of
companies much lower if not for the global inflow of talent. Even if the
average wage was reduced (and I doubt it, I think it's only likely for
commodity labour, scale enables specialization which pays more) the total wage
is much higher. You also need to look at the displacement effect - what
happened to jobs with other sets of skills that now have fewer workers.
~~~
drpgq
Would that necessarily be true? There would be a Google equivalent and a
Facebook equivalent.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Business implications of open sourcing our framework? - EGreg
I've spent the last two years building a framework called Q, in order to enable a consistent, easy creation of social apps and everything that goes with it (realtime collaboration, mobile, addressbook integration, facebook integration, and more). I'd like to make it available to the wider internet because I believe the greatest good comes when platforms are eventually open sourced. (The web, computer languages and frameworks, etc are mostly open source.)<p>But I would like to ask about the business implications of this. My company has obtained friends+family funding of over $100k, which - together with our own bootstrapping - helped pay for this framework. We plan to make our money with the apps that we build on top of it, as well as consulting and growing the ecosystem. What are the implications of open sourcing it, and under what license?
======
EGreg
If we do it, it will cost less to connect with new developers, sysadmins etc.
and we can also identify bugs, security flaws etc. much faster. I would rather
socialize the further costs and benefits of these things to everyone.
At the same time I am worried that a company with a large userbase like Google
or Facebook is just going to take it and kill our company much like what
happens in an acqui-hire. Meaning, they have the user base and ultimately
critical mass matters when it comes to user adoption. Look for example at
Diaspora*.
You can read more about our framework and its goals here:
[http://qbix.com/blog](http://qbix.com/blog) as well as here:
[http://qbixstaging.com/QF](http://qbixstaging.com/QF) (the framework portalin
development by me.)
Currently I am thinking of testing the waters by releasing Q under an AGPL
license as it's the most toxic to large, for-profit companies. My company
however wouldnt be bound by it ourselves since we wrote the code. Is that
right? It would enable other open source projects to spring up, and then
later, when we have enough of a community behind it, we might also release
under other licenses such as BSD or Apache. Maybe even work with the Apache
foundation.
The other question is who should control the copyright of the framework
legally (and issue the license). Should it be the for-profit company Qbix, or
should a non profit foundation be set up just for managing this framework and
its community?
Any advice would be appreciated - from experienced entrepreneurs, investors,
businessmen and lawyers.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Who's Hiring? (February 2012 Edition) - nitroscott
It's a new month. Time for a new thread.<p>Please lead the post with the location of the position and make it clear if working remotely is a possibility.
======
trvlngwlbry
Lead Developer and/or Designer - Remote Bungolow (www.bungolow.com)
Bungolow is hiring. We're the first mover in the Spanish Latin American market
in our space and we're looking for developers and designers to help us be
number 1.
Check out our latest job posting at www.bungolow.com/work-with-us and join a
less stressful work environment! We’re fun, easy-going and we won’t refer to
you as a programmer, ninja, hacker, or any other overused cliche buzzwords.
We’ve got the business side locked down, so sales, marketing, management, you
don’t have to worry about that. You get to do what you do best and code.
------
mmettler
card.io (<http://card.io>)
Software engineers and our first business hire.
San Francisco, CA. Full time. H1B applicants welcome.
card.io is an early stage mobile payments start-up located in SF's Mission
District. We build SDKs for mobile app developers
(<https://www.card.io/developers/>) and a consumer app for payment processing
(like Square, but without the square: <http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/card.io-
payments/id491411426> and
<https://market.android.com/details?id=io.card.payments>).
We're backed by top-tier investors including Harrison Metal, SoftTech VC, Manu
Kumar, Omar Hamoui, and Alok Bhanot. Company founders were early employees at
AdMob, and are now building software to enable simple, low-friction
transactions on a mobile device.
We're tackling interesting, hard technical problems with immediate real world
application. We maintain a work-life balance and have fun. We have generous
comp, benefits, and vacation.
Software engineer: You should love writing code, love deleting code, and live
in the Bay Area.
Business hire: role and title are flexible for the right person, but looking
for someone to run BD, marketing, and developer evangelism.
Interested? Drop Josh (CTO) or Mike (CEO) an email at [email protected],
showing us what you've done -- a resume, a letter, a side project, an open
source project, etc.
------
bartonfink
Not a new month just yet - hold your horses.
~~~
kls
I agree, when someone post a who's hiring outside of the unofficial/official
account, the whoshiring, account it makes it more difficult to find the thread
once it leaves the new or front page.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A new firm says it can link satellites to ordinary smartphones - sohkamyung
https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/03/07/a-new-firm-says-it-can-link-satellites-to-ordinary-smartphones
======
londons_explore
Every time you see a claim like this, remember the Shannon–Hartley theorem[1].
If you want to get a decent bandwidth in aggregate for your mobile network,
you're going to need to consider:
* Maximize transmit Power: which is hard because phones are battery powered, and power is limited by law. Satellites are also battery powered.
* Maximize bandwidth: Also limited by rules and regulations.
* Maximize Directionality: If you have physically large antennas, you can direct your transmit power towards the receiver to make best use of it.
* Minimize Distance: Received signal power goes down the the square of he distance. Double the distance, and you get one quarter of the bandwidth, all other things being the same.
This proposal uses tiny existing antennas in phones, which means it must be
making other tradeoffs. My guess is it seriously sacrifices the total
throughput.
[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon%E2%80%93Hartley_theore...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon%E2%80%93Hartley_theorem)
~~~
amelius
> Satellites are also battery powered.
I thought they have solar panels.
Also, don't phones and satellites use small antenna arrays to direct power in
a certain direction?
~~~
moopling
The batteries are powered by solar panels. In either case the same arguments
apply - space is notoriously low power.
Phones can't use directional antennas, otherwise you'd have to point them at
radio towers. Using phased array antennas in which directionality is software
controlled, there's a trade off between size of antenna and how much you can
focus the beam - it wouldn't work in a phone (and would be too expensive
anyway).
~~~
Robotbeat
Space is notoriously expensive... until it isn’t. Launch costs have reduced by
an order of magnitude and may reduce by another as full reuse becomes
feasible. All of a sudden, you’re using near-commodity solar cells with a
higher capacity factor (and more consistency) than on the ground. Power is
thus not so expensive any more.
Industry rules of thumb are only good if the industry is stagnant.
~~~
new_realist
And yet SpaceX still struggles to find launch volume.
~~~
gpm
I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. That SpaceX's launch business
struggles to find enough customers, or that SpaceX's satellite business
struggles to get enough launches to orbit?
Ironically both are sort of true... and I'm not sure how either of them
respond to the post you replied to.
SpaceX has been struggling to get enough external customers recently, the
launch market has been in a bit of a slump and external customers haven't yet
substantially responded to the lowering launch costs.
SpaceX's Starlink constellation needs a huge number of launches, to the point
where it seems at best barely feasible in both cost and launch volume to
launch it on current rockets. They hope to fix this with their in-development
starship rocket which should be able to launch an order of magnitude more
satellites at a time (400 vs 60), at an order of magnitude less cost as a
result of full re-usability and easier construction of the rocket.
------
supernova87a
Having been an amateur watcher of the last 20 years of satellite ventures, I
find that going into the business of satellite internet/voice is only slightly
less profit making than starting an airline.
There's something exciting/sexy about launching satellites, which may be why
people so easily dump money into it. But from Iridium, Globalstar, Terrestar
(anyone remember that one? Seem to be quite relevant here), I don't think
anyone attempting to reach a broad consumer market has ever made big money, or
even survived long term. For some reason, the customer growth factors in their
profit models (at the offered service pricing) are always wrong by a few
hundred %, yet they keep being believed. Maybe it's because VCs think that
their desire for a strong signal on their yacht correspond's to the average
person's willingness to pay.
Maybe ventures like Elon Musk's may break the mold with a different cost
structure (while littering our outer space), but for a run of the mill
satellite, odds are you're going to fail quite soon.
The best way to make money related to satellites is to be the entity that buys
the initial satellite company after it goes bankrupt.
~~~
state_less
Your argument would be better if you had numbers to back it up. What is the
capital costs for the project? How much does the capital cost per year? How
many customers do you expect they will have?
If Starlink is a 5 or 10 billion dollar project, that's $250-500M to service
the capital. At $80 a month for service, you'd need ~500,000 subscribers to
cover that cost. I think Starlink can get at least 500k subscribers and keep
customers happy with bandwidth and latency.
Anyway, that's just napkin math, but might serve as a better foundation for
thinking how likely the business model is to succeed.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink)
------
exar0815
As far as I can gleam from this report, they want to revitalize the old "bent
pipe" model of satellite communication, where the sat only acts as a repeater
. I am still very wary of it being feasible. While the track of BS->MS is
feasible, albeit with a high transmission loss, i cannot fathom how they want
to receive the <1W signal of the MS. Conventional way to pick up a signal
below the noise level would be decorrelation, and while 3G/4G work on that
principle, there would have to be additional information exchange between BS
and Satellite. Additionally, for that to work the SATs have to be in LEO, and
as they describe them as "massive"(most probably the high-gain antennas),
there then will be massive atmospheric drag, requiring either frequent
reboosting or replacing.
~~~
bucket2015
What's "BS" and "MS" here?
~~~
imglorp
Mobile Station and Base Station. They're used widely in the GSM specs but more
general now.
[https://www.ques10.com/p/5206/gsm-network-
architecture-1/](https://www.ques10.com/p/5206/gsm-network-architecture-1/)
------
nabla9
After Looking at the company FAQ all I can say: What the hell?
\---
[https://ast-science.com/spacemobile/faqs/](https://ast-
science.com/spacemobile/faqs/)
* How does the technology work?
The technology is highly proprietary, and exactly how it works cannot be
disclosed. We can say that our engineers and space scientists have designed an
entirely new form factor and deployment method that significantly reduce the
time and costs associated with manufacturing, launching and operating
satellites. Our team also has worked – and continues to work – closely with
mobile network operators to ensure compatibility with today’s wireless
networks, including 5G.
* Do users need a satellite phone or special antenna?
No, SpaceMobile will be the first and only space-based network to work with
standard mobile phones. No separate or specialized satellite hardware is
required.
* Do you need clear line of sight to SpaceMobile satellites for connectivity?
No, our proprietary technology enables access to SpaceMobile from any location
— even inside — regardless of visibility to the satellites on orbit.
~~~
notyourday
Nah, it is just a stock pump and dump scheme for the gullible investors.
------
lgats
Experimental FCC licenses for AST & Science:
[https://fcc.report/ELS/AST-Science/0908-EX-
ST-2019](https://fcc.report/ELS/AST-Science/0908-EX-ST-2019)
2207.87500000-2208.52500000 MHz FX 10.000000 W
[https://fcc.report/ELS/AST-Science-LLC/0047-EX-
CN-2019](https://fcc.report/ELS/AST-Science-LLC/0047-EX-CN-2019)
2033.37500000-2033.62500000 MHz FX 10.000000 W 7100.000000 W P 0.00010000 %
250KG1W GMSK
2033.50000000- MHz FX 10.000000 W 7100.000000 W P 0.00010000 % 250KG1W GMSK
2207.87500000-2208.52500000 MHz FX 10.000000 W 7100.000000 W P 0.00010000 %
500KG1W GMSK
[https://fcc.report/ELS/AST-Science-LLC/0884-EX-
CN-2018](https://fcc.report/ELS/AST-Science-LLC/0884-EX-CN-2018)
New 891.50000000-894.00000000 MHz FX 3847.000000 W 3847.000000 W M 1.20000000
% 2M50FXD OFDM
New 846.50000000-849.00000000 MHz FX 3847.000000 W 3847.000000 W M 1.20000000
% 2M50FXD OFDM
------
AndrewDucker
I can see a satellite transmitting powerfully to reach a phone on the ground.
But how are they going to pick up the transmission from a phone, which is
incredibly low power and designed to be picked up from a maximum range of
70km.
The Wikipedia article also says that timing considerations give a maximum
range of 35km. Which is a lot lower than the 2,000km of Low Earth Orbit.
~~~
ellisv
> I can see a satellite transmitting powerfully to reach a phone on the
> ground.
Yes, wouldn’t this just be like GPS?
I’m also not convinced the phone->satellite is practical/feasible.
------
ficklepickle
I'm trying to reconcile the fact this sounds like BS with the fact they just
raised 110m from Vodaphone et al.
In this vodaphone press release[0] they say it's not just an investment but
also a strategic partnership.
The founder is Abel Avellan. He previously ran Emerging Markets
Communications, Inc. I can't tell if they are still in operation, but it looks
like they have folded.
I found some old paid press releases[1] claiming they were going to
revolutionize cloud computing in Africa with SpeedNet, boasting zero latency
with 100mb/s transfer speeds over existing satellite links. Best I can tell,
it was just a thin client. It is "zero" latency 100mb/s because it all runs on
the same servers. Very deceptive.
There is a whole slew of related companies. They all seem to make use of paid
press releases and similar promotional stunts.
They tend to be located in cheap rental offices in Florida, at addresses also
used by hundreds of other corps.
I'm on my phone so I didn't go deep, but there is a clear pattern. Exaggerated
announcements of technology breakthroughs, which never materializes.
I guess they upped their game and managed to put on a good enough show to get
a sizeable investment.
I imagine it's an easier technical problem when the weak transmitter is in
space, probably with a directional antenna, with no nearby sources of
interference. All very much unlike a real environment.
[0] [https://investors.vodafone.com/news-releases/news-release-
de...](https://investors.vodafone.com/news-releases/news-release-
details/vodafone-rakuten-lead-investors-spacemobile)
[1]
[https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120524005227/en/Eme...](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120524005227/en/Emerging-
Markets-Communications’-SpeedNet-Named-“Most-Transformative)
------
jpm_sd
Battery life on those phones is going to be /terrible/. Max TX power all the
time?
------
tantalor
> no escaping a mobile signal
That's a bizarre phrasing. Is it meant to be ironic?
Signal is something you want to have, not escape from.
~~~
vinniejames
Some folks like to switch off with plausible deniability
~~~
Nextgrid
Dead batteries seem like a plausible excuse.
------
est31
Are there any european companies riding the current wave of trying to build
satellite internet? Or is it US only?
~~~
steve19
I think China is also looking at building a starlink-type network, although I
don't have a link on hand.
OneWeb are partnered with Airbus although post-brexit they are no longer
headquartered within EU (London and other cities around the world).
SES, an EU firm, is developing a medium earth orbit satellite network and
would be well positioned to develop a LEO network.
------
neonate
[https://archive.md/M0b2L](https://archive.md/M0b2L)
------
kalium_xyz
A new firm lies
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How removing self-serve cancellations saved our business - duck
https://baremetrics.com/blog/self-serve-cancellations-saved-our-business
======
mindcrime
I'm sorry, but I don't care how you rationalize it, but this is "evil" to the
extent that that word makes sense in a business context to begin with. If I'm
a customer of your service and I find out I can't cancel my account with a
click, you are permanently and forever added to my mental "fuck you" bucket.
And I damn sure won't ever recommend you, your service, or anything related to
you, to anybody else.
Your business problems are not my problem. If your churn rate is too high, I
feel for you, but it's not my problem to fix that for you.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ads-free Solitaire will cost you $10 - joering2
http://gizmodo.com/if-you-want-microsoft-solitaire-ad-free-itll-cost-you-1720951270
======
melling
What's wrong with charging for software? Consumer software prices have been
driven to $0 with annoying in-app purchase schemes. Developers then come up
with crazy schemes to move to Thailand or Alaska where they can live cheaply.
Now someone else can write a Solitaire game and feel comfortable charging $10.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Carta for Public Companies - gwintrob
https://medium.com/@henrysward/carta-for-public-companies-b256e873aaa3
======
coreyoconnor
Carta is "software to help companies, investors, law firms, and employees
modernize the way they manage ownership"
The homepage is [https://carta.com/](https://carta.com/)
Or it's "Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority". ;-) I find it's
amazing how many of these type of announcements fail to provide even the
slightest into to their little bubble.
~~~
redindian
They were called eShares before. But couldn't secure the domain name...So
changed their name to something unrelated
------
deyan
>Today, we have 15–20 Carta Private companies in the pipeline preparing to go
public in 2018.
If true, this is an incredible achievement given how long they have been in
the market with this product and how few companies IPO. Kudos
~~~
kornish
Looks like last year, 160 companies IPO'd in the US and it seems that 2018 is
predicted to be an IPO-heavy year [0]. Given that Carta seems to be one of the
more mature and heavily capitalized cap table SaaS solutions, ~10% market
share doesn't sound unreasonable (and is certainly a great achievement!). If
this year is great for IPOs, congrats them on a boom time.
[0]:
[https://www.ft.com/content/ae9e6500-e69b-11e7-8b99-0191e4537...](https://www.ft.com/content/ae9e6500-e69b-11e7-8b99-0191e45377ec)
------
paxy
Why would you put an official company announcement on a medium.com domain? Is
there any way to verify that the person/blog is who they say they are?
------
bradgessler
Meanwhile they have killed off the low-end of their market (and potential flow
of new customers) by getting rid of their pricing pages and switching up to a
“call sales; request a demo” model.
I can’t stand it when SaaS companies do this. I get yield management, but when
Boeing and SpaceX have pricing pages it feels like a sleazy move. I know I
know, their list prices are high, but at least you know what you’re getting
into.
Please, if you run a SaaS company, don’t turn to the dark side by removing
prices. Increase them by a lot and change up the offering, but just keep a
list price anywhere. If you don’t then you just create an opportunity for a
new company to vacuum up all of your future business.
~~~
nedwin
I’ve been thinking about this lately and I think the challenge is that your
competitors in sales calls can reference and undercut your public pricing
easily.
This assumes your customer segment shops around and are price sensitive.
~~~
bradgessler
That’s true for very simple products, the most extreme example being a
commodity, but SaaS is very easy to differentiate via branding, features,
service offerings, product assortment, etc. Carta appears to be a very high
quality product that could command a premium over some other smaller cap table
SaaS I’ve seen out there.
Also, sophisticated buyers that are not price sensitive will shop around to
get the best terms. Very large organizations with big budgets will run through
an RFP process where the price comes out anyway.
At the end of the day a price isn’t a secret. Hiding it just makes figuring it
out more of a pain in the neck for a person evaluating a product.
------
skybrian
How would the CEO know the customers for stock purchased through a brokerage?
Wouldn't they just know that X shares of stock are being held by an unknown
number of people at the brokerage? Or does the information pass through?
------
ikeboy
>Hostile takeovers and LBOs don’t exist.
Why not? A group of shareholders can team up to get rid of the founder and
force a sale.
~~~
toomuchtodo
They’re selling to founders. You can still arrange a consortium to acquire
majority interest to perform a takeover.
------
pryelluw
Reads like a sales pitch to would be acquirers. Not A bad thing. Just curious.
------
visarga
Hey, article author, please spend a few words at the beginning defining your
product. I shouldn't have to read multiple screens or Google search to find
out.
So, WTF is Carta? Could be a software, could be the name of a new bill, could
be a company, maybe it's just a nice Italian lunch menu, a shopping cart brand
(physical or virtual), or a competitor for Google Books? A modern day peace
treaty?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What's your biggest struggle with Microservices? - mymmaster
I'm working on a book about microservices and want to know what questions and topics you'd like to see covered.<p>What were your biggest hurdles when first adopting microservices? Was it hard for your team to determine service boundaries? Did you struggle with developing and managing them?
======
BjoernKW
Convincing people that microservices are not a cure-all but just another
design pattern.
You have to start out with a monolith and only if you realise along the way
that some components might work better as a service (micro or not) you should
extract those. Until then, commonplace modularisation will serve you just
fine.
Once you have more than 1 microservice running infrastructure becomes a huge
problem. There's no real turnkey solution for deploying and running internal /
on-premises microservices yet. You basically have to build monitoring,
orchestration and logging infrastructure yourself.
~~~
JamesBarney
One rules of thumb is "one team one service". If you have multiple teams
working on a service then it _might_ start making sense to migrate to multiple
microservices.
~~~
klodolph
That's a nice rule of thumb but it's radically different from the team I work
on. We run half of one logical service (visible to users outside the team),
but that logical service is implemented with a dozen or more microservices
internally. We have user-facing services which need high priority, different
flavors of batch jobs which need to be orchestrated and prioritized, and
various other pieces of infrastructure.
The number of different services is close to the number of people on the team.
This is working very well for us, and it provides us with some welcome
isolation when there are problems with one of the microservices. Maybe we can
go into read-only mode or stop processing batch jobs for a while, depending on
what services have problems.
But we also have good infrastructure support, which makes this a lot easier.
~~~
JamesBarney
Yeah I could totally see how if you have very strict uptime requirements and
you want to allow different pieces of the infrastructure to be able go down at
different times then it's an exception to the rule.
Just for every team that I see that has a good use case for micro services,
and does the hard work of instrumentation and deployment, I see 8 teams that
go with microservices because they think it's a magic bullet. Then they don't
spend the time and effort necessary to get instrumentation and orchestration
up and running. They don't aggregate logs, they don't spend the time to create
defined contracts between the services, they don't make services robust to the
failure of other services. They just complicate their debugging, deployment,
uptime, and performance scenario without getting any of the benefits.
~~~
klodolph
In this case, we don't have strict uptime requirements. But there are enough
times where our integration tests don't catch some kind of error, and it's
nice that the service doesn't have to go completely down for that.
It's also a lot easier to prioritize process scheduling than it is to
prioritize thread scheduling.
------
dionian
Our org made all the right decisions at the top, invented their own
microservice fabric stuff with way too much tech debt, end result was a very
bad (inefficient and painful) development experience with way more technical
debt than the monolith we replaced.
There was so much fragmentation between each autonomous team that we were
forced to standardize on a common framework (think of build/integration
pipelines and common modules) which could almost never be changed or
refactored.
The upside was that there was way more automated testing and flexibility in
deployment, so overall it was a net gain.
Still, the actual ergonomics of working with the build/release system was so
painful it made me leave to work somewhere where I could do actual innovation.
There was so much waste that was already 'baked into the system' and the other
teams finished their work so if _you_ had struggles with it it was your
problem
~~~
mattmanser
Overall a net gain, but it made you leave?
That definitely does not sound like an overall net gain.
~~~
dionian
It was a net gain for them..
They were doing even worse before. They upgraded to a CD style pipeline to AWS
instead of monolithic java apps. It was better but nobody realized there were
deep and very wrong tech debt. The complacency around this was a big factor in
causing me to seek new challenges.
The biggest pain points were always not the OSS stuff that was adopted, it was
all the “NIH” innovations that were developed because the OSS stuff wasn’t
quite right, stuff that “worked” but had no support or allowances for
improvement.
------
seaknoll
Integration testing, dev environments, and data sharing.
When we started switching over to microservices, originally we were going to
have some sort of standardized message format, which would include all of the
info that service would need to do its job.
However, there were too many people building it too quickly, and it's since
devolved into a spaghetti pile where almost every microservice has about 3-4
others on which it is dependent (and a handful on which those are dependent) -
to query for some bit of data, set off an async task, etc. This obviously
complicates the development environment significantly.
When I want to add a feature to a service it can take hours trying to bring up
the correct dependencies, update their configuration, fix the errors that
they're returning due to their dependencies being down, and set up the
necessary databases and ssh tunnels.
------
pwm
Testing and debugging inter-service concerns. These, in my opinion, are
inherently difficult to do when working with this architecture. In other words
a lot of ugly real-world complexity hides in the space between the neatly
maintained gardens that is the inside of a single service giving a somewhat
false view that the problem has been successfully chopped up into small,
compose and manageable pieces.
~~~
sp527
This is interesting. Can you provide an example - where it wouldn't have made
sense to collapse two such interacting services into one? My understanding is
that an important litmus test for carving up microservice boundaries is
ensuring 'true' isolation/separation of concerns. Admittedly, I don't have
enough practical experience to know if this is a misguided assumption.
~~~
takeda
Someone here mentioned a great rule of thumb that addresses most of issues
here: one team = one service.
~~~
he0001
This is kind of weird rule since a MS is said to contain 1k loc. And having a
full team (other than one guy) for 1k loc is... well how can you screw up so
little code? The hard part isn't the teams. The hard part is to know what a MS
should contain and still be useful.
------
anonacct37
My biggest struggle is people want to use them. I can't tell you how many
junior devs I've ran into who dream of every single function call becoming a
distributed read/write in the message bus.
It's tough to fit this in a small comment, but I would say avoid microservices
until you know they are the right solution. They are often the right solution
when you have multiple teams with independent development schedules. They are
often the right solution if you have daemons that have fundamentally different
characteristics (web server vs message consumer).
They are often not the right solution when you decide you need another module
in your app.
Distributed systems are moving parts. Moving parts break. You shouldn't have
more than necessary. Deciding what "necessary" is is a pretty tough task.
------
avenoir
We started with a monolith which made determining service boundaries that much
easier. What we struggled with the most is the concept of sharing data between
services. We started off with publish/subscribe method which quickly became
very strenuous to maintain. Ended up switching to plain service-to-service
communication over HTTP/S. This allowed us to focus on resiliency and
performance of each micro-service more so than before. And so far it's been
paying off great. Other things like having an overall view of the health of
the entire system and having a way to consume and analyze logs in one place is
absolutely detrimental to success in this type of architecture.
~~~
kenoyer130
detrimental?
~~~
avenoir
instrumental is the right word lol :)
------
williamstein
For us, it was managing them, in all senses (development, logging, secure
communcation between, etc.). Kubernetes and (Calico for networking) help
dramatically to address these problems. I finally really see the value in
microservices; before we started using Kubernetes, all my attempts with a
microservices approach made me hate them.
------
geekjock
One of my biggest hurdles was trying to figure out if microservices were right
for us (a small distributed team) and then communicating/selling the benefit
of them to my team and bosses.
This involved creating a mutually agreed upon definition of what we actually
meant by "microservices". I literally repurposed paragraphs out of Sam
Newman's book to do this.
As a small team, I also didn't have examples to support my argument that
microservices would benefit us.
~~~
skewart
What did you end up deciding? And what were you thinking the benefit might be?
My sense is that for a small team a microservices architecture might be more
trouble than it's worth, but I can definitely see how some kinds of
applications - or even kinds of teams - it could be a good fit.
------
twblalock
Integration testing. Unit tests are not enough. You need to test the
interactions between microservices at runtime because there are a lot of
things outside of the code that can break, such as version incompatibilities,
caching problems, timeouts, etc.
------
fosk
Running microservices is like running a city: you need roads, highways, police
departments, fire departments, and so on.
Without an abstraction layer and proper planning, different teams will start
building microservices with lots of common functionality like security,
authentication, logging, transformations that over time will increase the
complexity and the fragmentation of the entire system. Ideally you would want
services to simply receive a network request, serve a response, and delegate
all the complimentary middleware execution somewhere else, like an API
gateway.
Traditionally API gateways in a pre-container world were centralized in front
of an API, but modern API gateways can also run in a decentralized way
alongside your server process, to reduce latency.
Then once you have everything in place, you end up with a bunch of
microservices that your developers (maybe belonging to different departments)
will have to use. You will need to fix discoverability, documentation and on-
boarding. Some of these services may be also opened up to partners, so there's
that too. Traditionally developer portals were only being used for external
developers, but they are becoming a requirement for internal teams as well.
Finally, you need to carefully monitor and scale your services. Without a
proper analytics and monitoring solution in place it will be impossible to
detect anomalies, scale horizontally each service independently, and having an
idea of the state of your infrastructure.
Generally speaking running microservices can be split in two parts:
1\. Building the actual microservice.
2\. Centralizing common functionality, documentation/on-boarding and
analytics/monitoring.
Most of the developers or project managers I regularly speak to tend to forget
the second part.
Disclaimer: I am a core committer at Kong[1]
[1] [https://github.com/Mashape/kong](https://github.com/Mashape/kong)
~~~
dexterbt1
This. I really like the analogy that of running a city. There are just so many
concerns in and around building and running microservice architectured
systems: security, logging/analytics, failure modes/recovery/detection/self-
healing, message protocol versioning, data persistence, capacity scaling and
many more. Much of these are easy to defer/overlook early in dev't stage but
will later become very hard, if not impossible to incorporate in.
Btw, we thank you and your team as we are Kong users as well. :)
------
yellowbeard
Development environment becomes somewhere between extremely hard and
impossible to set up. Resign yourself to running tests locally with staging as
the only place to test your services talking to each other. This is my
experience at a medium size public company on the bay area.
~~~
joshuahutt
This is common, but it shouldn't be. If you have setup scripts to run each
service, or if they're containerized, it's just a little additional work to
get to where you can spin them up with a single command.
------
yodon
Orchestration: Keeping track of what versions of what services need to be
live, where services should find the correct versions of the other services
they need to talk to, spinning up staging, production, and test versions of
services, feature flagging services, etc.
------
cygned
On a technical note, distributed transactions are tough to get right.
------
nickhalfasleep
Authentication / Authorization. If you end up with a round trip to your big
iron anyway, the benefits get muted.
------
mamcx
Micro-services must be under the same mantra as bomb defusers:
1- You first mistake is wanna to (be a bomb defuser) use micro-services.
Don't
2- You second mistake is (getting close to the bomb) start building a micro-
service infrastructure.
Not.
3- You third and worst mistake is believe (you can defuse the bomb safely) you
can build a microservice solution correctly.
The only reason to (be a bomb-defuser) use microservices is (you are part of
the police or army and somebody must do this) you ALREADY HAVE SOLVED THE MAIN
THINGS FOR YOUR APP and now are in the hostile territory where micro-service
truly make sense. You are facebook-alike.
~~~
_m4r
Totally agreed. Few months ago we started building micro-services
infrastructure. We were waiting with that for a bunch of years until things
started to get harder and harder to maintain within one app. This is really
costly at the beginning if you want to do that correctly.
------
falcolas
Convincing people that "stateless" really does mean "stateless", and if you
hold state, you're going to have a bad day when your service is stopped.
Latency is another big one - the communication latency between any two points
is miniscule, but throw together even 4 services, and suddenly the time
required to encode, route, transmit, receive, and decode adds up quickly. If
you want to keep round trips to under 100ms in your own code, each
microservice you add could easily subtract 10ms from that budget.
------
Yhippa
I'm privately skeptical about starting with microservices-first for new
application development. I have seen a lot of literature about starting off
with a monolith and then breaking that down as you see fit. This makes more
sense to me than introducing a ton of complexity up front.
Or is it better to deal with that complexity up front and then adding new
services/functionality will be easy as time goes on?
~~~
trumpeta
I'd recommend starting with a monolith, but pay extreme attention to properly
separating modules and hiding them behind a small, well-defined API. Then it
will become easier to separate these modules out as necessary.
~~~
troebr
Whether you work with a monolith or microservices, decoupling is the key, and
the best way to ensure decoupling is using the proper abstractions and APIs.
------
purans
Each services need to communicate with each other. And, 100 things can go
wrong in that and lot of effort and fail-safe mechanisms has to be put in
order for it to scale. Having said that there are lots of solutions out there
but does require good amount of understanding and work
------
tex0
Just some topics, can elaborate on those later, if you want: \- Development
Setup (e.g. minikube) \- Circuit Breakers \- Managing Backpressure \- Service
Discovery \- Encryption \- Monitoring / Metrics \- Domain Translation \- Load
balancing / Fail over / retry
------
nradov
The biggest struggle is dealing with the dependency chain when you need to
update multiple microservices in order to deliver a major new feature to
customers. You have to get everyone to agree on changes to the service APIs,
then change the lower level services, deploy them, then move up a level and
repeat. This is especially problematic if different developers are responsible
for each service; lots of opportunities for delay and misunderstandings. It
seems counterintuitive, but if you need to move quickly then a single
monolithic application can actually allow for more rapid changes.
------
cpx86
One big challenge I've found is the balance between standardization vs
autonomy. E.g. monitoring, log formats, deployment, service discovery, etc are
things that can benefit from being standardized across all services, but
implementing it can be tricky. Too much autonomy and you end up reinventing
the wheel (inevitably with variations) - too much standardization (e.g. by
providing centralized libraries) can make development slower and create
dependency hell.
------
foodie_
I haven't seen anyone mention developer skill yet. We tried microservices
where I work, but the developers skill in debugging async code proved to be
problematic.
------
patothon
Long term ownership of services is always a problem.
------
kfk
In enterprise you might end up with different gate keepers, each maintaining a
differe service... getting changed or added is impossible
------
masta
Architecture, Architecture, Architecture.
The easiness to develop a single service makes many engineers loose focus on
the big picture. Without an proper architecture and governance in place,
larger microservice projects tend to fail pretty fast and in horrible ways.
------
olalonde
I'm still not quite sure how to think about and code for eventual consistency.
------
sidcool
Segregation and service discovery. How to avoid multiple jumps between
networks that separate Microservices. Also distributed transactions.
Reliability is a huge problem with network separated Microservices.
------
mbfg
testing infrastructure: we have a bunch of teams that now need to run jenkins
full suite tests, that comprise many servers, so there is an explosion of
servers X branches that makes managing all of that very difficult.
------
mvk80
Doing microservice right with proper data isolation is a challenge. Once you
do that the next challenge awaits - strategy and infrastructure to replicate
the right data set to other domains
------
cbaleanu
From my experience, there are several issues that were mostly touched by the
other commenters:
* auth / authorization: easy to grasp, tough to implement,
opens a world of architectural wtfs
* service configuration files / variables
* understanding that more microservices can run on
the same host
* system entry point, credential based, jumpbox
And the most important issue I keep seeing across the systems I work with is
documentation and speed of onboarding new staff.
Happy to chat more, I am definitely not an expert on the domain but for what
is worth I was technical lead (whatever that means to you) on an AWS Case
Study project.
~~~
samstave
Well, I'd like more info...
What was the case-study? Can you link to it?
What has been your best resource to support/inform any of your arch design
considerations?
~~~
cbaleanu
Sure, the case study would be this [https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-
studies/rozetta-techno...](https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-
studies/rozetta-technologies/)
For architecture debates ( yes there were some :) ) the resources used would
vary depending on the level of the issue at hand.
For inter-service communication we had a standardized API interface that would
need to be exposed and most of the discussions would circle around how does
the service solve a problem and what API does it expose to the outside world.
For general system workflow issues we would resort to diagrams or good old
fashioned whiteboarding whose artifacts would also get converted into
diagrams.
A general rule-of-thumb that I pushed was that every single service would be
documented starting with the design process and ending with support info.
Hope that makes any sense :)
------
thescribe
I've worked at least one place that did Microservice as a trendy tech salad.
How do you write microservices without lots of lock in?
------
samstave
Can you please do an intro that is an ELI5 on Microservices,
how/why/when/where they are used etc...
------
forgottenpass
Determining the difference between a service boundary and a library boundary.
------
ryancouto
New docs / APIs / terminology / versioning
------
notamy
Management/orchestration. It's really convenient to be able to deploy things
in different docker containers, and isolation, and etc., but the actual
orchestration seems to be unnecessarily painful. In no particular order:
* k8s is apparently ridiculously hard to set up if you want to use something that isn't AWS / GCE / GAE / non-"big-cloud"-provider-here.
* Many of these have questionable (IMO) default authentication choices. I can understand if it's running on an internal network or something, but if you can't set up an internal / private network to hide the management interface (ex Marathon, k8s dashboard, ...) inside, you're SOL it seems. Ex. Openshift Origin having a login UI, but the default allowing logging in with basically anything you want.
* Rancher seems nice, but between the internal DNS service randomly failing all DNS queries until a full restart and rancher-server's internal MySQL server writing to the disk at 500Mbps, it's... iffy. At least it's a nice UI/UX otherwise and supports lots of authentication options out of the box.
* Straight-up not working. For example, I tried running Openshift Origin on stock Debian and Ubuntu installations, and it couldn't even finish starting up before it crashed and burned. I did file an issue against openshift/origin about this, but so far it's been unresolved. Another example with Openshift, after figuring out how to work around it failing to even start up, it can't even create pods/containers. This is apparently a known bug that's been around for a while (~4 months) with seemingly no resolution.
* Weird docker version requirements. I can get that things like k8s would want to pin to LTS versions of docker. That's fine. But if I can't even import the signing key to install the LTS docker version because it doesn't even exist in the keyservers anymore, that sounds like an issue to me.
Maybe this would be different if I was using one of the Big Cloud (TM)
providers. Who knows. But with my budget of "poor college student," OSS
offerings are all I can do when my entire budget is consumed by server bills -
and I can't cheap out here; a few TB of bandwidth and maxing up to 16 CPU
cores isn't cheap :( - and it just seems like the "state of the art" is pretty
terrible, at least from the UX perspective. I spend enough time staring at
text and delving into the CLI and whatnot when I'm writing software. Why is it
seemingly so hard to get even a simple UI to cover the basic functionality -
create a master node, add slave nodes, deploy containers, and scale them up?
Rancher seems to cover this use-case the best, but I've run into enough issues
with it that I'm starting to seriously consider figuring out how to write my
own orchestrator. I'd rather not, since it'd be a lot of work, but setting up
these "standard" tools is a ridiculous Herculean task if you don't have a
massive budget, it seems.
Ninja-edit: For a bit of perspective, I'm talking about a spare-time project
that ended up gaining far more users than I ever expected. I'm the only person
working on it, so trying to figure out all the development, ops, etc. on my
own has been a huge struggle since so many of these tools just have a god-
awful UX.
------
firefoxNX11
Handling common concerns in each microservice such as authentication and
authorization, building resiliency in each µservice, managing each µservice
configurations. This causes duplicated effort in each µservice. Need to look
at service mesh (istio, linkerd).
Handling service discovery, API gateway in ever-changing kubernetes ecosystem.
------
craptocurrency
Is Building Microservices book not enough? Hope to see no overlap of ideas and
topics in the new book.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing? (1981) [pdf] - reedwolf
http://www.stafforini.com/existence/Nozick%20-%20Why%20is%20there%20something%20rather%20than%20nothing.pdf
======
scastiel
Ricky Gervais gave a very satisfying answer to this exact question:
[https://youtu.be/P5ZOwNK6n9U?t=70](https://youtu.be/P5ZOwNK6n9U?t=70)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How to get started writing as a programmer? - Nib
Hi, I'm a programmer. Like most of us are.<p>There are a number of people, programmers, if not very good programmers, but yeah, programmers who are great writers, like for example Pual Graham, Aaron Swartz, Quinn Norton and others in the line.<p>But my simple question is, how and where do I get started writing ? I mean, how do I "get" to my audience ? And how do I tell people I write ?
...
======
techjuice
The best way to get started is to do it. It is just like moving up the
developer ladder from journeyman (not knowing anything about it and working
with junior or above developers to learn the ropes) to becoming a senior or
master developer. Starting small is the best way to get started, just as with
everything in life so you gain experience with each project without being
overwhelmed and have time to do things the write way. You can start by writing
a nice 150 page book on going over your workflow on creating an app, from no
code to fully functional code, encourage no copy and pasting and include
pictures of the finished product at the end of each code section. Spend some
time working on a theme, front and back cover and insure you have the copy
proofread by professionals.
------
brudgers
Writers write because that's what they do. Paul Graham has been at for more
than 20 years...there was a PhD dissertation and then two books on Lisp before
all the essays. Joel Spolsky and Dave Weiner developed a following because
they wrote something interesting...regularly without worrying about audience.
What they focused on was writing.
There's no such thing as writing in your head. If it's not written its not
writing. So start a journal for yourself. Start a blog. Write. Everyday. If
it's reasonably good, a few people may care.
Good luck.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebook iPhone Dev Quits Project Over Apple Tyranny - vulpes
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/11/11/joe-hewitt-developer-of-facebooks-massively-popular-iphone-app-quits-the-project/
======
evgen
I find the irony of a developer working for one of the biggest walled gardens
on the internet complaining about walls around someone else's garden to be
very deep into the pot/kettle/black territory...
~~~
madair
Ummm, Facebook's wall is quite a bit less ominous than Apple's. You may want
to return that irony to the store, they cheated you and watered it down.
~~~
evgen
The walls are still there. Facebook is still a roach motel for data and now
they are going to be spanking platform developers whose apps are proving to be
detrimental to Facebook's reputation and user experience. Same tune, different
band.
~~~
tel
It's not really surprising in either case I feel. For Facebook, their social
network is their greatest value. For Apple, it's their experience.
It takes more courage than I can imagine to put your golden egg on a pedestal
for anyone to touch, study, steal.
Sucks for developers, sure, but at some point devs start to sound kind of
greedy. In both cases, you're getting the privilege to play in a very, very
market. At the very least, you should respect the risk these companies take.
~~~
sjs
Resigning to the fact that you're a sharecropper[1] is implicit in developing
on Apple platforms.
[1] [http://weblog.raganwald.com/2004/11/sharecropping-in-
orchard...](http://weblog.raganwald.com/2004/11/sharecropping-in-orchard.html)
------
nolanbrown23
He's also the developer behind the three20 project which Apple has recently
been rejecting apps using three20 because it was supposedly using private
APIs.
I can see how that can be frustrating to put in all that work in to develop a
very valuable and powerful library and with the flick of a switch Apple makes
your work almost useless.
~~~
jzting
more information regarding app store rejections:
[http://groups.google.com/group/three20/browse_thread/thread/...](http://groups.google.com/group/three20/browse_thread/thread/c442af6e39a918b0/2375e7a158ee9d1b)
app store safe fork: <http://github.com/uprise78/three20-P31>
------
nailer
If he'd like to work on a much more open app platform (where market update
time is less than 24 hours) Facebook's Android app needs some love.
------
wmeredith
This is really too bad. I use Facebook via the iPhone app more than the web
interface. I can't wait to see what he does next.
~~~
bkbleikamp
The iPhone app is continuing, if it sucks he can always walk over to the desk
of whoever is working on it and tell them why it sucks :)
~~~
numair
You assume he works in the office...
~~~
cakesy
and that he can still walk.
~~~
numair
Thanks for the useless remark. From what I know, Joe does a lot of work from
home.
(Note to self: HN is starting to get filled with the same sort of know-
nothing, smart-ass comments that cause me to avoid places like TechCrunch)
------
jasongullickson
Smartphones, PDA's and other mobile-computing-platforms have been around for
years (more than a decade). Almost all of them have provided third-party
developers with a means of producing software for the platform. While some
were more successful in this regard than others, none of them enjoyed the
third-party-developer support that the iPhone now has, whether you measure
that by number, quality or market share.
What's the difference? Were these other platforms made from inferior
technology, relative to the state-of-the-art at the time? Did they have
inferior marketing? Was cost-of-entry too high for most developers?
The app store approval process is one of the major differences between the
iPhone and all preceding platforms. Is this just a coincidence?
If you find Apple's process unacceptable there are many (ie, all) other
platforms that offer similar devices on which to distribute your work without
oversight by their creators. If you want to develop for a successful platform
then you'll need to learn to appreciate the traits that make it so, and while
not perfect, the App Store approval process is a key factor in that success.
------
dpapathanasiou
The TC boys need a sense of perspective; while the App Store review process is
terrible, it doesn't come close to being " _tyranny_ ".
~~~
maukdaddy
Came here to say the same thing. Author needs to go live somewhere where they
can experience true tyranny.
~~~
pavlov
Relax -- it's just a metaphor. The iTunes App Store may not be under tyranny,
but that's like saying it's not an ecosystem because binaries are nothing like
living creatures (nor is it a platform because it's not a flat physical
object, etc. ad absurdum).
------
jsz0
Ideology in the work place is tricky. It's something most people should be
very careful about. Most of us cannot opt out of a platform/technology we
dislike personally. Even if you can it may be hard to rationalize their
existence when you deposit your paycheck. I hope it works out for him.
~~~
jimmybot
Nice, I literally read "philosophy" as "ideology" as well:
"however I am _[ideologically]_ opposed to the existence of their review
process."
(I wouldn't take ideology in necessarily a negative way)
------
colbyolson
I personally dont find the app very well made. Interesting outcome for the
developer nonetheless.
~~~
ivankirigin
It is the most popular free iphone app. That wouldn't be the case if it
weren't well made.
What don't you like?
~~~
scottjackson
> It is the most popular free iphone app. That wouldn't be the case if it
> weren't well made.
I believe iFart was fairly popular for a time (where popular is defined as
"downloaded many times"), and it even cost money, putting a financial barrier
to entry in front of potential users. Does that make iFart a well-made app
though? I don't think so (though maybe you or others do).
I think the Facebook app's popularity just comes from the popularity of
Facebook the service.
~~~
ivankirigin
As far as farting simulation applications go, iFart was top notch.
------
amichail
Aside from obvious quality benefits, the review process is a good thing
because it results in users having more trust in apps developed by relatively
unknown developers/companies.
~~~
madair
I'm not sure all of us see the quality benefits quite so obviously. Are you
implying that dictionaries with censored words are better quality?
~~~
teej
I challenge you to find a popular dicionary that isn't carefully curated. You
can't just call up Webster and get a word added to the dictionary, there's a
vetting process it has to go through.
~~~
madair
Curated != Censored.
------
marram
Maybe he just burnt-out and wants to move on to something else?
------
weegee
crybaby
------
indranil
I can't believe that it's been a year and Apple still has the weird ass review
process!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
And man made life: Artificial life, stuff of dreams and nightmares, has arrived - yan
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=16163154&fsrc=rss
======
jacquesm
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1364553>
~~~
swombat
I prefer the Economist coverage myself, but agreed that we only need one on
the front page.
~~~
jacquesm
It's a pretty balanced view, even if it could have done without the
'terrorist' mention, that's just too obvious.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Best Supply Chain Management Books? - Red_Tarsius
Since I struggle to understand the logistics and distribution side of product management, I'm very reluctant to try out quite a few business ideas.<p>There are many SCM books out there, but I don't know where to start, nor do I have the time to read each and every review.<p>Help me, Hacker News: what are the most basic and complete resources on SCM?
======
akg_67
Supply Chain Management is typically a specialization in MBA. You may want to
consider reaching out to a local Business School SCM professor to get
recommendation or look up the syllabus and recommended text for SCM courses.
Also, most business schools has continuing education/professional
development/certificate courses in SCM, consider those courses.
As /u/bengali3 mentioned, The Goal is a very good quasi-fiction book weaving
SCM in the storyline.
------
tmoullet
Finally an HN question that I can respond to!
I would recommend reading this book for a very good, but broad and high level
intro:
[http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Materials-Management-
Tony...](http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Materials-Management-Tony-
Arnold/dp/0131376705)
This will cover topics like BOMs, MOQ, Safety Stock, Inventory strategy,
warehousing etc.
Next I would recommend reading up on the following phrases: "product
development" and "new product introduction" / "NPI"
[http://www.amazon.com/Best-Practices-New-Product-
Introductio...](http://www.amazon.com/Best-Practices-New-Product-
Introductions-ebook/dp/B005M8V1Q2)
[http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Product-Development-Flow-
Ge...](http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Product-Development-Flow-
Generation/dp/1935401009)
Lean training/reading never hurts either. Note: this is supply chain lean vs
"lean start up".
[http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Dummies-Natalie-J-
Sayer/dp/111811...](http://www.amazon.com/Lean-Dummies-Natalie-J-
Sayer/dp/1118117565)
------
schappim
Tim Cook apparently swears by (and gives to new hires): "Competing Against
Time: How Time-Based Competition is Reshaping Global Markets."
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0743253418/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0743253418/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1426328031&sr=1-1&keywords=George+Stalk)
------
bengali3
not my area, but for basics of resource flows, check out The Goal by Goldratt,
a quick read.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliyahu_M._Goldratt#Writings](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliyahu_M._Goldratt#Writings)
~~~
joegosse
The Goal is a great introduction to the concepts that underlie thinking about
supply chain problems and should be considered a must-read.
------
micky_25
Free online course from MIT [https://www.edx.org/course/supply-chain-
logistics-fundamenta...](https://www.edx.org/course/supply-chain-logistics-
fundamentals-mitx-ctl-sc1x#.VQDqUo7LfXo)
------
axxxxr
I don't know about books, but this 1factory platform is a cool saas for SCM -
1factory.com
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Climatologist Judith Curry leaves academia over field's politicization - fedups
https://judithcurry.com/2017/01/03/jc-in-transition/
======
woodandsteel
Could someone explain what is her overall position on global climate change
is? Of the various positions I have seen advocated by skeptics, is it:
We can be certain the climate is not getting warmer.
The climate might or might not be getting warmer.
The climate is getting warmer, but it definitely has some other cause than
human action.
The climate is getting warmer, and it might or might not be due to human
actions.
The climate is getting warmer, and it is due at least to a considerable extent
to human actions, but this will be on the whole good for the human race.
The climate is getting warmer, but it will have no overall impact on human
well-being.
The climate is getting warmer, and it will be harmful, but it ought to be
dealt with by free enterprise with little or no government action.
Or several other positions I have not mentioned.
Also, what does she think of those who hold one of the positions above that
she does not hold--does she think they are irrational and ill-informed?
~~~
tropo
Skeptics might not be saying what they really believe. Some beliefs do not
make for good sound bites in the political arena. For example:
The climate is probably getting warmer, and humans probably are causing this.
This will help some people while hurting others, and we are more fond of the
people who might benefit from warming. (compare Canada with Saudi Arabia, or
Alaska with Hawaii) We can't do anything to prevent climate change without
devastating our economy; the climate change is probably less harmful, at least
to us. Whatever we do to reduce fossil fuel usage will reduce the global price
of fossil fuel, thus encouraging fossil fuel use in other countries that would
like an economic advantage over us. Other countries will cheat on any
agreements we make. If the climate situation becomes really bad, the best-
prepared countries will be the ones with the strongest economies. In
conclusion, we won't do a damn thing.
That sure doesn't play well in a sound bite, does it? OK, plan B is to deny
the issue.
It doesn't even have to be intentional. When people find potential conclusions
unacceptable, they seek alternate facts until an acceptable conclusion is
reached. That's just how the human mind works.
------
jaclaz
Extremely interesting, and - I believe - extending to the whole academic
world, not only climatology.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Understanding Regular Expressions 2: Groups and Captures - liquidise
http://blog.benroux.me/understanding-regular-expressions-2-groups-and-captures/
======
junto
Python and .NET also have named groups/captures. I find that particularly
useful when dealing with more complex expressions.
[http://www.regular-expressions.info/named.html](http://www.regular-
expressions.info/named.html)
~~~
liquidise
Very true. I plan on writing about those in a coming post, along with zero-
widths and look aheads/behinds. It has been a challenge trying to distill such
a powerful tool into its logical building blocks, without biting off too much
in any individual post.
------
zo1
Comment on a tangent.
I often find people absolutely baffled, and at the same time amazed at regular
expressions. I am, of course, referring to my coworkers, whom I try to
convince to at least _attempt_ at using regular expressions. Unfortunately, no
matter how many cheat-sheets I print and handout, or how many times I wow them
with simple yet powerful regular expressions, they resort to using the
proverbial brute-force hammer that they know.
Has anyone had any positive luck with convincing/converting coworkers into
using more regular expressions?
~~~
leeoniya
just show them the equivalent amount of code that includes the lexer/parser
and validation logic that can be summarized by even a simple regex.
aversion to regex is like aversion to SQL. sometimes declarative saves
literally hundreds of lines of hard-to-understand, poorly optimized code.
~~~
liquidise
i used to try this, but young programmers especially tend to just leave
thinking "regex is so powerful but i don't know it", which was likely their
mindset going in anyway.
------
georgiecasey
RegexBuddy is the best €30 I spent for speeding up and testing expressions.
Pity it doesn't support OBjC though.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A wireframe kit for Google Drawings and 4 reasons it beats Omnigraffle and Visio - mortenjust
http://mortenjust.com/2010/04/19/a-wireframe-kit-for-google-drawings/
======
hammerdr
I use Mockingbird for wireframing. <http://gomockingbird.com>
It doesn't allow collaboration but it is entirely focused on wire framing
(unlike GDrawings, OmniGraffle and Visio). It provides a great experience.
For everything else, I use OmniGraffle.
~~~
saikat
And we should be getting collaboration soon - I'm going to start working on it
tomorrow.
------
alextgordon
I use paper and pencil for my mockups. They've got the unique property of not
making you think about details, but allowing you to put them in at any level.
You don't need any skill either. It works even if your drawings consist of
lopsided rectangles.
~~~
nailer
> They've got the unique property of not making you think about details
Paper and pen is good too, but it makes me think about details like:
* Whether a line is straight
* Whether my writing is legible
* Whether my writing fits in the container
etc. I don't have to think about these when using a drawing app. Also I can
send my render to an XML slicing service. On the other hand, connections are
much easier to draw on paper.
------
ramanujan
Omnigraffle is a lot better than this for really making pretty diagrams,
because it's connection aware and can do graph layout. Also, if you learn the
Keyboard Shortcuts you can be really fast. It's one of the few applications I
use as much as emacs, and it's worth learning.
People in this thread have been saying pen and paper, but it's (obviously) a
pain to scan a bunch of pen/paper sheets for search later or remote
collaboration.
FWIW, a new solution I've been using with some success just over the past few
days is Penultimate, a really simple/nice IPad _notebook_ app -- as distinct
from a sketching app.
<http://ipad.maccreate.com/2010/04/16/penultimate-ipad-app/>
Use that with a $15 Pogo Sketch (you can get it in the Apple Store) and a $11
pair of fingerless cloth gloves from Hot Topic
([http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/Accessories/GlovesArmwarmer...](http://www.hottopic.com/hottopic/Accessories/GlovesArmwarmers/Gun-
Fingerless-Gloves-135608.jsp))
The gloves are really handy as they turn off palm detection, so you can rest
your hand on the Ipad surface while you use the stylus, just like a normal
sheet of paper.
~~~
tvon
I'm far too entertained by the fingerless gloves. Clever setup, though.
------
hailpixel
OmniGraffle has been circling the drain in my work-flow for a while now; pen
and paper easily beating it out most of the time. Wire-framing should be fast,
quick, and recyclable. I've been impressed with Google drawings: it's not
bloated (unlike onmingraffle) and it's visually clean (unlike balsamiq).
------
jsankey
I see five reasons, and they are all advantages of being cloud-based, rather
than a desktop application. There isn't much about _drawing_ itself.
~~~
steadicat
And there are plenty of disadvantages related to the drawing.
Most annoyingly, the fact that you can't alt+drag or alt+nudge (arrow keys) to
duplicate an object. For me that's the single biggest time-saver when doing
wireframes and mockups. Otherwise you spend a lot of time repositioning and
realigning pasted objects.
Most desktop apps get it right. I've yet to find a web-based app that does.
------
harisenbon
I've been looking for something like this. Lately it seems that we're doing
more and more wireframing at my work, and having to pull out illustrator, and
then deal with large files and passing them all around into SVN and whatnot
has gotten to be a huge pain.
I'm going to check this out.
I'm also curious how their flowchart handing is. I've still never found a
decent flowcharting program made for coders. It was getting to the point where
I was actually considering making one to fill my need...
~~~
glymor
You could use latex; either directly or using dot2tex.
<http://www.texample.net/tikz/examples/simple-flow-chart/>
------
mijoro
The only "advantages" here have nothing to do with wireframing, they're just
the advantages of any hosted service. When it comes down to it, Omnigraffle is
better than Drawings for doing wireframes, because that's what it's meant to
do.
On the other hand, how about <http://www.gomockingbird.com>?
------
oomkiller
Google Drawings have a long way to go. First, they need to add the ability to
"connect" lines. This is a very basic ability and I was astonished when I
discovered it was missing. Then they need to add some REAL way to make
stencils and reuse them. Stencil gallery anyone?
------
sssparkkk
Nice. Just the other day I was contemplating the use of a specialized webapp
that allows me to easily create mockups of new user-interface designs.
However, Google Drawings now seems extensive enough to be able to fulfill most
of my needs with regard to UI prototyping.
I believe I read about Balsamiq on HN a while ago; it must be tough for a
small company to operate in an area that intersects with areas google might
be(come) active in.
~~~
wizard_2
I think Balsamiq saw this coming, in the past two months or so they've been
publicly progressing with their development. Templates with inheritance,
online saving, and components (so you can say design the footer and headers
for several pages and have them be the same element reused.) are all on their
way.
My point is, even if you're now competing with a team from Google, you're not
over and out yet.
------
noibl
I used to use Etherpad and Dabbleboard for rough collaborative specs and mocks
because they're realtime. Now Google Docs will do nicely.
------
nadan
Um....can anyone tell me how to use these? Do I have to slice them up?
~~~
va_coder
Just copy them using File -> Copy
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Religion vs Science - shliachtx
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2827/jewish/The-Torah-Science-Debates.htm
======
shliachtx
This is really about Judaism (Torah) vs. science, but I think it applies to
the general religion vs science debate.
------
moocowduckquack
_We want to retain some kind of Jewish institution, a synagogue or temple, if
only because the Gentiles have their churches and look with suspicion on the
unchurched._
Eh? I can tell I am not the intended audience, but perhaps a little bit more
nuance wouldn't go amiss here.
~~~
shliachtx
As you pointed out, the intended audience is Jews, but I think the point made
in that line is obvious - not so much that _if only because the Gentiles have
their churches and look with suspicion on the unchurched_ , rather read _we
feel that the Gentiles have their churches and look with suspicion on the
unchurched_. I.e. the point is in the psychology of the Jew, not to determine
what everyone else is thinking (as that would be pretty ridiculous).
~~~
moocowduckquack
I think I get you, I did take the more ridiculous meaning first time round.
I still think the second version is still a bit ridiculous, as most gentiles
don't have churches. It seems like this is maybe a specific use of the term
gentile. I dunno, about the only thing I know of the word is it means someone
who isn't jewish, which is a very wide range of people, so I find it hard to
believe that jewish people in general are worrying that gentiles in general
are looking with suspicion on the unchurched, I mean, what about all the
buddhists, for instance? They aren't going to care, and there's loads of them.
edit - I do agree with him that there is no general problem between having
articles of faith on the one hand and following processes of knowledge on the
other, there can sometimes be specific instances that create problems of
course, such as if you believe the universe to be younger than the rocks you
are studying. That said, I am not religious by inclination, but I do not think
that religion and science are exclusive subjects so I have much I agree with
him on. I just found some of the tone of the writing a bit odd and thought it
seemed maybe a little shuttered.
~~~
shliachtx
Well, you have a lot to learn about a Jewish mentality :-).
I hope no one takes this offensively (as I am a "Chassidic" Jew), but Jewish
people do (and I am generalizing here) have a certain inferiority complex
about being accepted by people around them. This probably has a lot to do with
being such a minority, and the fact that they have been persecuted many times
over the generations, from the Cossack pogroms to Nazi Germany.
I think, again, that you can take the point about churches per se in context,
that is many Jews have lived in mostly Christian countries for most of recent
history, so the church is just an illustration as far as the article is
concerned.
Concerning the age of the universe, it would seem that an honest person can
take a theoretical approach, where science remains in the lab, and religion
affects one's personal life. Science is after all, the study of truth. It
would be paradoxical for someone to claim to be a scientist, while imparting a
religious bias on everything he studies. I think that is the point the article
is trying to make.
~~~
moocowduckquack
I am always happy to learn. I find belief fascinating, especially since I
normally don't stretch much further with faith than expecting the sun to rise
tomorrow, although even that in itself is a bit of a shot in the dark,
especially if you try and take a long view.
I get what you are saying about the use of gentile in this context. I guess
the guy is used to living around non-secular Christians in the US, so is
presumably using the word to mean the non-Jewish culture local to him, rather
than all non-Jews. I just found it a bit jarring because I was relating it
back to my own experiences in the UK, where church going is something of a
rarity, even among those who class themselves as Christian.
I know very little about Chassidic Jews, indeed I only just realised after
looking it up that it is apparently the same thingy as Hasidic, which I also
know very little about, though I at least knew the term Hasidic and now also
now know one more thing about that, namely that it is apparently the same as
Chassidic. I also think it might have something to do with big fluffy hats,
and everyone likes big fluffy hats. I should probably seek to expand my
knowledge in this area as it is a little bit sparse. :)
Back on the article subject, I think that for me one of the best examples of
the religious scientist has to be Georges Lemaître, who really should have a
space telescope named after him at some point, given that he came up with the
Hubble constant before Hubble did. His arguments with Pope Pius XII over Pius'
use of Georges' cosmology to try and provide justification for Catholic
theology seem to be astute, especially his point that it is a very bad idea to
tie your faith to a scientific theory that may yet be disproved, especially
when you are the leader of that faith.
I actually had an argument about all this very recently with a mate of mine,
who does not study science, but likes to take its side (I am not sure science
cares for sides though). He takes the view that science and religion are
rationally incompatible and that anyone who says they practice both is lying
or mad. On the other hand, I take the view that anyone who says they are
completely rational is either lying or mad anyway and that it is far from
unusual to be immersed in religion as a faith and science as process. One is
to do with your feelings towards the things you cannot discern and the other
is a method of discovery for the things that you can.
The nearest I get towards spirituality is the distinct feeling that many of
the complex archetypes have some deeper pattern and existence, though I
strongly suspect that nobody on the planet has ever got close to working out
what those patterns actually are or what they represent and I certainly see no
reason to regard them as conscious, at least not in any kind of way that we
know how to use the term. Then again, perhaps Philip K. Dick is right and some
kind of alien-god is communicating with sci-fi authors using beams of light. I
would probably bet strongly against that last one though.
~~~
shliachtx
Concerning Chassidism, yes it is the the same thing as Hasidism. The Hebrew
alphabet has a letter called "khet" which can probably best be transliterated
as "kh". It is sometimes interchanged with "h" when writing in English, e.g.
"Chanukah" vs "Hannukah", etc.
I am not trying to proselytize in any way (Judaism discourages proselytizing),
but you mentioned that you would like to learn more about Chassidism.
Chabad.org ([http://www.chabad.org](http://www.chabad.org), the website the
article is posted on) is the website of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement (an
"implementation" of Chassidus) and has a huge amount of content (disclaimer -
I interned there this summer as a developer :-)) that can explain more about
Judaism, Chassidus, and Chabad in particular.
Concerning the furry hats, chassidim do wear hats when praying (besides a
skullcap (Yarmulkah/Kippah) worn all day), but Chabad chassidim generally
(myself included), wear fedoras. Sorry if I disappointed you :-).
~~~
moocowduckquack
Don't worry, I am almost impossible to proselytize to anyway.
I will have a bit of a dig though Chabad and see what I find interesting. Is
about time I went and had a bit of a study on Judaism, given it has had such a
major influence on our world and my knowledge is evidently so poor. Thanks for
the heads-up and may your fedora always be secure in a strong wind :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Twindr – Tinder for Cleaning Up Your Twitter Feed - rubencodes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/twindr-clean-up-your-twitter/id955230393?ls=1&mt=8
======
whistlerbrk
Cool. I have aggressively unfollowed companies in the past couple of weeks
since New Years, but my follow list was never so large that I would need an
app for it --- for others I'm sure it'll help.
I'm going to throw something else out there --- what I'm beginning to learn is
follow _people_ not companies. So many times I might want to unfollow the
guardian, for example, but follow their reporters or photographers. After all
the point I reckon is to get away from the noise and closer to the signal.
~~~
rubencodes
Same! That's also what I've found over the years...I've unfollowed so many
brands and official accounts in favor of reporters and other individuals.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
MS OS/2 SDK Document Dump - eaguyhn
http://www.os2museum.com/wp/ms-os-2-sdk-document-dump/
======
zxcvbn4038
I love to see projects like this. I’ve always lamented that my father threw
away his set of System 360 manuals while cleaning out the garage. He also had
boxes of early computer science books - nothing like them today, first half of
the books were always dedicated to explaining the professor’s particular
diagraming style and symbology, second half of the book was the actual
computer science content. I’m always on the lookout for books like that when I
hit the used book stores but have never found any.
------
dcbriccetti
Oh boy, what fun memories! I paid $3,000 in 1987 for the SDK and to go to the
developers conference. Steve Ballmer shouted, “OS/2 is the operating system
for the next ten years!” He was about right.
------
pravda
Ah OS/2! You could use the computer even while formatting a floppy.
As I recall, IBM would send you OS/2 for free, on a bunch of the new-style
3.5" floppies. I think it was about two dozen floppies.
~~~
pjmlp
Surely not in early 90's Portugal, where OS/2 was only available in IBM PS/2
PC with MCA architecture, with a tax of additional 500 € (more than one month
salary minimum wage) versus the 386SX/DX OEM PCs.
~~~
lproven
There was a widespread belief that it needed a PS/2 and MCA, but it didn't.
I ran it on Librex laptops and several generic clones. No version ever
_needed_ MCA.
It's just one of many things that doomed it. :-(
~~~
pjmlp
Might have been the case, but on my small town buying such IBM model was the
only way to get OS/2.
No one was selling it on OEM clones, and buying a PC clone was already
expensive enough, to even think about trying to get an additional alternative
OS at IBM prices.
------
bluedino
I never got to actually use OS/2\. However, when I was a kid I filled out one
of those survey cards from a computer magazine, and I started getting all
kinds of catalogs and stuff.
One of those catalogs was from Indelible Blue. It was basically a catalog full
of OS/2 software. REXX scripting always fascinated me.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=kzoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA89-IA1&l...](https://books.google.com/books?id=kzoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA89-IA1&lpg=PA89-IA1&dq=indelible+blue+os/2&source=bl&ots=HDaNEQVISj&sig=ACfU3U1FB2P6MWu4iB2cRCPYzJW6cXKn3w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjf5NfQhevmAhVCa80KHeWVDi8Q6AEwBHoECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=indelible%20blue%20os%2F2&f=false)
------
rnd0
It's great that it's being preserved instead of thrown away. I'm curious -is
there plans for mirroring it on bitsavers too?
~~~
zozbot234
Should probably be mirrored on the Internet Archive as well.
------
phendrenad2
These old docs are always interesting. I also love old books on archaic
programming languages and operating systems. But there's usually just so much
stuff to read through. It makes me wish for modern books that boil down the
complexity of the old systems into a condensed manual. Something like The New
Apple II User's Guide.
------
deith
That is actually fucking great. I don't know if that Necasek guy reads HN, but
thanks!
------
agumonkey
Scan quality is great
------
hkai
Useful, thanks
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Startup Slack Simulator, result of 2 day game jam - hurricaneSlider
https://free-lives-jam-may-2018.now.sh
======
eat_veggies
Woah, this is a really cool idea. I'm a huge fan of games like these--stuff
like Life is Strange, Coming Out Simulator [1], and Bury me, my Love [2].
This also has great potential for Silicon Valley-esque (the show) commentary
on the tech landscape. I loved the pretend stack, how OverReact was released
two weeks ago, and how the entire game is a Slack workspace!
Are you planning on turning this concept into a full game?
[1] [https://ncase.itch.io/coming-out-
simulator-2014](https://ncase.itch.io/coming-out-simulator-2014)
[2] [http://burymemylove.arte.tv/](http://burymemylove.arte.tv/)
~~~
hurricaneSlider
Thanks eat_veggies! May incorporate some of the ideas into a slightly larger
game. Will have to see if they fit.
------
gitgud
This is pretty cool, is that a react stack?
~~~
hurricaneSlider
It is using Reason React.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
ūñįčødįńg - pyrotechnick
https://github.com/feisty/unicoding
======
richo
I'm confused, is this intended as the next zen coding, or do you intend to
actually parse the symbols, like APL[1]
[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APL_(programming_language)>
~~~
pyrotechnick
It's merely a guide to "unicoding".
~~~
richo
What is unicoding? I feel like I should probably know, having read it but I
really have no idea what you mean.
~~~
pyrotechnick
Morpheus: Fortunately, no one can be told what unicoding is. You have to write
it for yourself.
~~~
moreati
Mystery and theatrics are fun, but please stop. If you're goal is to attract
users/developers to this library (cause?) you'll get more response with a with
a clear explanation and description.
~~~
pyrotechnick
*your
~~~
richo
For the love of the FSM please stop.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Seth's Blog: The problem with positive thinking - qeek
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/09/the-problem-with-positive-thinking.html
======
gruseom
This piece is surprisingly profound. Here is the key insight:
_Negative thinking feels good._
I think this is exactly right.
A compounding factor is habit. Once you've being doing the same thing over and
over, it feels good to keep doing it and uncomfortable not to.
Another reason why negative thinking feels good is that it's passive, and it's
easier to be passive than active.
~~~
ektimo
Negative thinking feels bad. Maybe he's never actually experienced it. A
better explanation is needed.
~~~
gruseom
The statements "negative thinking feels bad" and "negative thinking feels
good" are not contradictory at all, though they may appear so. The way in
which it feels bad is obvious, but the way in which it feels good is not, and
takes self-observation and honesty to detect. The effort is well worth it,
though, because it provides a way out of the conundrum. If I'm only aware of
how they feel bad, then negative thoughts are something that _happens_ to me;
but once I become aware that they also feel good, I see them as something that
I'm _doing_ (or at least acceding to), and I can withdraw that participation.
My experience has been that one has to persist with this concept until the
initial indignation ("how dare you say that I'm enjoying this pain") dies
down. Then a whole new array of psychological options opens up. It's
fascinating. But challenging.
~~~
ektimo
Still the people who never do that are, in honesty, feeling bad not good.
I hypothesize the reason humans perform worse after failing a hard question
versus passing an easy question is that by keeping yourself down, you avoid
getting into trouble claiming a higher status in the tribe than you can pull
off if it comes to a confrontation. But you feel bad so that you keep looking
for an opportunity to claim the higher status/more resources position. Perhaps
explaining this (if it is true) and that this doesn't confer any benefit in
our current environment would be just as effective.
------
charlesju
In regards to running a startup I have found that analyzing the worst case
scenario (negative thinking) has helped shape smart decisions a lot more than
positive thinking. I find that this is especially true with entrepreneurs
where positive thinking has frequently been the downfall of many great
companies (ie. build products -> make free -> ??? -> make money)
~~~
gruseom
You're not talking about the same thing. It's entirely possible to analyze
worst-case scenarios without feeling overwhelmed, miserable, or doomed. Indeed
the analysis will be better that way.
~~~
charlesju
I never said negative thinking is overwhelming. I think it's exactly the
opposite. Once you can come to terms with your worst-case scenario (ie.
quitting and getting a job again when it fails), it frees a lot of burden and
helps you work harder.
~~~
gruseom
There is no issue here, merely semantic confusion: we're using the phrase
"negative thinking" to mean different things.
~~~
trjordan
Think of it this way: planning for negative scenarios is generally implies
that you're willing to deal with them. To be willing to deal with them, you
probably think that you're capable of dealing with them.
Even though dealing with negative situations isn't kittens-and-puppies happy,
it is solidly optimistic. That's the kind of positive thinking that helps you.
~~~
DougBTX
Good summary.
------
jdavidson
Any one have links to the evidence mentioned for the effect of positive
thinking on performance?
~~~
Alex3917
Most of the research on this comes from the field of educational psychology.
The specific term that you would search is 'self-efficacy'.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-efficacy>
~~~
stse
Also "Performance Psychology" which as its origin in sports.
~~~
jdavidson
Thanks!
------
stse
This is a great post and should almost be a sticky here on Hacker News. I've
been involved in some performance oriented activities both in school,
business, sports and the military. I have never seen anyone succeed by
focusing on the problems.
When focusing on problems or prematurely on the solution, you'll get anxious
and start seeing problems everywhere. The planning process will get more
important then the actual implementation and you'll focus on the smallest
problems. Even things that will go away by themselves.
Then without knowing it you'll be one of those people who asks "why?" instead
of "how?". And I, like most, don't want to be around a person like that.
------
bkovitz
What is "positive thinking"?
~~~
radioactive21
it is thinking positive.
~~~
bkovitz
The term is just so damned vague. If I buy a stock and think the price will go
down, is that "negative thinking"? If I'm miserable where I work, would it be
"positive thinking" to tell myself that I like it there?
My current understanding is that "positive thinking" is a lot like "having an
open mind": social gamesmanship where you say "I disagree with you" but in a
way designed to make the other person look bad, at least in the eyes of people
who don't both to find out what the words are supposed to mean.
------
onreact-com
Positive thinking is a good start but positive acting is even better. For
instance it works perfect in raising children. See Triple P
<http://www.gov.mb.ca/triplep/>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Status of every startup incubated by Y Combinator and other seed accelerators - treyp
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AkkhSN3vaY4jdF90b1l1Vnl5NmZjaTBNQWlJYVozMEE&hl=en
======
mixmax
Doing some numbers:
When you add the acquisitions together you get $56 mill. Assuming that YC has
an average stake of 7% they've made $3.9 mill from the acquisitions so far.
If you assume the expenditures to be $10.000 per startup that's $1.74 mill,
since there are 174 companies in the spreadsheet. Also, since the YC guys need
to get paid there's probably an overhead of $500.000 a year for five years.
That's $2.5 mill. Adding the two numbers give you $4.24. mill.
So if you include a nice wage for the four YC founders they're not making a
profit yet, actually they're down $340.000. Of course these numbers are wildly
inaccurate, and don't include future acquisitions, etc.
~~~
rokhayakebe
I assume Dropbox and Loopt will change these numbers drastically. It is almost
certain YC will have one 100M + exit from its pool of startups.
~~~
rms
And Justin.tv is a UFC pay-per-view deal away from validating an entire
industry... it is probably going to take them a while though, the UFC guy
acted really angry at the congressional hearings on the subject of online live
streaming video.
~~~
jolan
They already do pay-per-view online. They use silverlight for the smoothhd
capability.
justin.tv/ustream are used to pirate UFC pay-per-views.
~~~
rms
I meant that justin.tv may in the future negotiate a deal for them to sell
legitimate, non-pirated UFC pay-per-view.
------
jedc
Hey, everyone. I'm the guy who originally put this spreadsheet together.
Couple things:
\- I welcome corrections!
\- Acquisition prices are likely _wildly_ wrong since they're just my guesses.
(Again, I welcome guidance/corrections)
\- This list is not exhaustive, though I'm trying to make it complete. I
started it to help in my analysis of seed accelerators I did for my MBA
thesis. (Insert MBA stereotypes here) I keep it going because I find it
interesting and hoped people might find it useful.
~~~
paul9290
Hmmm you previously had links to various companies. Did you remove such for a
reason?
~~~
jedc
I haven't removed any links that I remember... which ones are you talking
about?
------
ivankirigin
There are so many on the list that I know will continue as apps but
essentially aren't companies anymore. Those kinds of transitions don't come
with a press release. So don't trust any math about those that have not
exited.
Further, the really important stat for YC is the number of big wins. They
still have not idea how many there will be.
------
niekmaas
The topic poster makes it pretty sure that he is NOT the author/editor. So
stop posting missing info! If you think data should be added, e-mail
[email protected]
~~~
daleharvey
I have emailed the author pointing him to this thread for corrections.
------
treyp
it should be noted that even though i submitted this, i'm not its creator or
editor. for corrections, you can email Jed Christiansen as detailed on the
first sheet.
------
steveklabnik
You're missing the third and fourth classes of the program I went through
(AlphaLab) as well as an exit from one of the companies, and some deaths.
------
paraschopra
Hey, how do you estimate the acquisition price?
------
qaexl
OT: That was interesting, watching Google Docs report anonymous users logging
in to read the document.
~~~
aw3c2
How is that possible? All I get is a login page.
------
erikstarck
In Denmark there is also Startup Bootcamp: <http://startupbootcamp.dk/>
------
niravs
Would've been nice if this was editable.
------
daleharvey
Sad to have to point out that Kublax recently had to shut down their service,
wish the best to the guys.
~~~
daleharvey
also the url for hypernumbers is hypernumbers.com
------
rodyancy
<http://www.betaspring.com/> is missing.
~~~
tsondermann
I can speak to the specifics of last summers class at Betaspring (our first
class), if anyone here is interested. tsondermann at betaspring
------
abraham
<http://www.sproutbox.com/> is missing.
------
Aetius
Weddingbook was acquired (fbFund). Not sure of the price.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What is some great fiction you've read? - lalmalang
Read Labyrinths by Borges, and found it to be fantastic, the kind of stuff that leaves you a different person. So, HN, any good fiction you've read of late that I may have missed?
======
lmm
Yukikaze. I wouldn't go so far as saying it left me a different person, but I
certainly felt like one while I was reading it. I think it captures a feeling
of alienation, of being a human doing something normal people can't comprehend
that's intimately caught up with machines that are slowly taking over, that's
very relevant to the tech industry.
------
FreebytesSector
Fight Club and Children of Men are two books that I truly enjoyed.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
JPA-based JUnit Test Best Practices - mlaccetti
This is a bit of an odd question, but it has been bothering me for a few months now. I have built a JPA-based web application using Wicket + Hibernate (built with Maven), and want to test the DAO layer directly. I created a specific src/test/resources/META-INF/persistence.xml file that I used for testing, but have been running into conflicts with WTP and the like. To get around these issues, I created a separate test project where the unit tests live. Is there a better way to manage unit tests for a JPA project without having duels between persistence files?
======
noss
How about asking at stackoverflow.com?
~~~
mlaccetti
Yeah, that's the next stop. :) Thanks.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Assumption Pile - natarius
http://natari.us/post/27924050604/the-assumption-pile
======
sftueni
Socks for Fish exist. And in the mobile carrier world, people still believe
that fish would need them - and while we're at it, gloves as well.
Funny that you mentioned iPhones. I remember from anecdotes of a former
colleague, the discussions between Steve Jobs & the CEO of the biggest
international mobile carrier group when negotiating the exclusive distribution
rights for the 1st iPhone (the carrier did not get the iPhone at the end).
CEO: The iPhone lacks features. It can't send multi media messages (MMS).
Steve: Every thing MMS does, Email can do better. What's the delivery rate of
an MMS between networks? 60% at best? Email has 100%. So why would you want
MMS, a service that doesn't work?
CEO: But the iPhone also lacks IM (trying to push the carrier's internal IM
solution).
Steve: Why do you need IM? You have the best IM service in the world; it's
called SMS.
This conversation happened 2007.
------
Jagannath
I love it. It's always best to list all assumptions one is making and try to
test them to narrow the liability. Great blog article!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Maroon on Techstars - immad
http://mattmaroon.com/?p=327
======
rrival
There's a lot of money in Boulder - far more than the random towns Matt
mentions. As far as quality of life goes, it's utopian and not very expensive
(4br house in a great part of town for $2200/month). The pace is a bit on the
slow side, but I can't speak to the pace in the bay area. I'm headed to a tech
event in Boulder in early Feb to get a better feel for the size of the startup
community there - I know a number of people out there are working to improve
the community. Could TS help? The stats on the TC article are good - 80%
funded? It's not Silicon Valley, of course, but if the community there is
enough and the access to additional funding rounds is enough and this
recession hits it's a beautiful place to weather the storm.
~~~
mattmaroon
I was obviously joking about Boulder being behind Sheboygan, but it's so
distantly behind SV that it's essentially worthless.
Also, that 80% stat means nothing. Who funded them, for how much, with what
terms. Getting some funding is trivial, getting good funding is not.
~~~
immad
Also I believe the stat from techcrunch was 80% received either funding, are
profitable or received acquisition offers.
Being profitable at such an early stage and if you aren't drawing salary is a
bit meaningless. Acquisition offers are almost completely meaningless without
an actual acquisition. Also agree with matt, raising $500 from your parents
might be "funding"
------
davidw
I think YC is better than Techstars, but between Techstars and "just move to
the valley", I'm not sure that the latter is better. It depends on what sort
of connections the Techstars guys can provide you with.
And I'm not so sure Boulder really is _that_ bad, either - there are a lot of
guys who made their cash in the valley and then wanted to live somewhere
that's not an armpit who have moved out there.
------
bfioca
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I suppose. It'll be interesting
to see how they compare to YC. My guess is either they'll not fare as well in
the long term, or there will be no difference. If the former, then that means
that SV and PG really are super extra valuable. If the latter, then maybe it's
just the seed funding + advice that pushes companies over the edge to success.
Personally, though, I'm super glad I'm part of YC and not TechStars...
------
eusman
at some extent i agree with you. My reaction when i saw they copied the form
was pretty much the same.
Although most people here agree that implemention and execution matters more
Why should someone trust their ideas with them if they copy so open without a
note and lets be serious good ideas dont come knocking the door unless you
really cope for.
However lets dont trash them just yet. i dont know even how is life in colorado so i cant comment on that except that it really doesnt matter because you wont have a life during start up anyways but i am pretty sure for someone not living in US anywhere would be just fine plus you could easilly relocate after you get traction and investors which they seem they can get you
~~~
daniel-cussen
Yeah, they're not setting a good precedent of respecting (often vulnerable) IP
by copying YC.
------
far33d
There doesn't seem to be any reason to fuel the fires of any intended or
unintended conflict here. You know - high road and all.
~~~
rokhayakebe
You are absolutely right. Some people still think that yc funding has little
value to startups, but most of us here believe the opposite. Let's give
techstar some room and if we can't support, let's not throw stones at anyone
who is trying to fill a void.
------
rokhayakebe
Frankly this whole startup hub crap just gots to be over with. I mean we are
talking about tech companies and we still can't overcome location. Like we are
real estate agents. Boulder has to start somewhere and I think they should
push it. There will be a time (soon) when hubs won't exist anymore. Startups
won't need to move, even after acquistion.
~~~
skmurphy
Face to face communication is still the best. One of the reasons that Silicon
Valley works so well is that it is so small. Many industries develop from hubs
and it's not surprising that web technology companies would be any different
from automobiles (Detroit), insurance (London and Hartford CT), or movies
(Hollywood and Bollywood (Mumbai)) to name three other examples.
For some background on Silicon Valley see
Anna Lee Saxenian's "Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon
Valley and Route 128" [http://www.amazon.com/Regional-Advantage-Culture-
Competition...](http://www.amazon.com/Regional-Advantage-Culture-Competition-
Silicon/dp/0674753402)
"Clusters and the New Economics of Competition" by Michael E. Porter in the
November-December 1998 Harvard Business Review
[http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/...](http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b02/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?id=98609)
~~~
rokhayakebe
see i think if we all sit down and say SV is the IT and fold our arms it won't
work. there needs to be some of us who say "it can be another way". people and
money, no matter how abundant in SV, are resources that can and should be
distributed in a better manner. before bollywood, first came hollywood. now
what if Indians said "we can't compete with the billions of dollars and
actors, and connections in CA?" it all starts with "what if?"
~~~
skmurphy
I believe that Silicon Valley will be a startup hub for at least another ten
years. I believe that many successful technology startups will thrive in other
parts of the world. I don't think these two statements are contradictory.
Silicon Valley doesn't have to fail for you to succeed somewhere else.
Especially if you are bootstrapping.
As far as I can tell, Bollywood formed around India's domestic market, a
market that Hollywood was doing very little to serve. I think the primary
barrier to establishing other Silicon Valley equivalent hubs around the world
is finding a local culture that doesn't punish failure. It needs not just to
tolerate but to celebrate the level of prudent risk taking defines
entrepreneurship.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: JSON/REST API browsing tool - pzxc
http://stray.io/tools/api-browser.aspx
======
andrewstuart
We built an api browser. Demo starts 1:30 into the video.
A strange and pointless idea but nevertheless something appealing about being
about to write 10 lines of javaScript to browse any API.
[http://youtu.be/yuSDU0JiI2c](http://youtu.be/yuSDU0JiI2c)
------
bennyp101
Looks good, personally I'd like something like postman for chrome wrapped up
in node webkit rather than having to have a browser open. (I say that rather
than native, because then I can tweak if needed easily)
------
pzxc
Hacked this up in a day or so to let me explore APIs more easily (and to test
my own APIs). Whatcha think?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Rust async-await status report 2 - fanf2
http://smallcultfollowing.com/babysteps/blog/2019/07/08/async-await-status-report-2/
======
spinningslate
Genuine question: can anyone comment on which alternatives to async/await were
considered? And if so why they were rejected?
It’s proliferation puzzles me: c#, python, node, rust and no doubt others. Yet
it seems like a poor abstraction.
1\. The cognitive overhead. Whilst the example might be intended to show off
power, that function signature is not at all easy to parse mentally. Even
allowing for generics it’s still a lot more difficult to think of a function
that returns a future that will return the result at some point (as opposed to
a function that returns a result synchronously).
2\. It’s declared at the call site - not by the caller. As the writer of a
function, how am I supposed to know whether the majority of callers will get
sufficient benefit to offset the increased cognitive overhead? It can also
have viral tendencies: a function that calls an async function is async
itself, and so on. (Not sure if that’s mandatory in all language
implementations). I’ve seen more than one code base where async was like a
virulent rash.
Personally I find Actor model concurrency so much easier to deal with (e.g.
Erlang). The rules seem significantly more straightforward and easier to deal
with mentally.
Data flow concurrency (e.g. FRP) also seems much easier to reason about.
Async/await by comparison seems like a poor substitute. So I’m puzzled but
intrigued by its growing popularity.
I can imagine it’s easier to implement in the language (compiler/runtime),
which might be key for rust. I can also see that it’s an incremental step for
procedural languages. But then surely it’s a wise investment to build good
abstractions in the language - even if it’s (a lot) harder - rather than
burden the programmer with more complexity?
What am I missing?
~~~
steveklabnik
_Everything_ was considered. This has been the most discussed Rust feature to
date, but a serious margin.
I'll try to give you some answers from my perspective; I am not on the
language team, nor have I done any of this work myself, but this is what I
remember, and see from the outside.
The short answer is: it's the only way to accomplish the task that fits into
Rust's requirements. The top relevant ones are speed, lack of required runtime
for non-async code, and zero-cost C interoperability. It sounds to me like
you're coming at this from a "what is the simplest thing for a programmer to
use" angle. That's a totally valid angle, but Rust is focused on ease of use
_only within the context of other requirements_. Notably, Erlang's model,
while it has excellent properties, falls down on all three of these other
requirements. That's totally okay in the context of Erlang, but is not
acceptable in the context of Rust.
~~~
spinningslate
Thanks. I suspected run-time constraints might be a reason so that makes a lot
of sense.
> Notably, Erlang's model, while it has excellent properties, falls down on
> all three of these other requirements.
Being nitpicky, but I'd argue Erlang only falls down on speed where it's
computationally bound. Where it's IO bound (e.g. a prototypical chat server)
Erlang has excellent speed characteristics - where speed is measured in
concurrency and latency.
But I absolutely get that's not the interpretation of "speed" you meant.
Appreciate the explanation.
~~~
steveklabnik
While it is true that I'm mostly talking about computation speed, that's not
the only thing. It _is_ true that Erlang is good at this, but I'd like to see
some real numbers here. In benchmarks, this is almost never the case. For
example, if you take a look at techempower's plaintext benchmark, which should
purely be about IO:
[https://www.techempower.com/benchmarks/#section=data-r18&hw=...](https://www.techempower.com/benchmarks/#section=data-r18&hw=ph&test=plaintext)
Phoenix, which is in Elixir, does 2.7% of the requests of the Rust frameworks.
Chicago Boss, in Erlang, does 0.2%. Is this a realistic benchmark? I don't
know; I can't say if the code for either of these implementation is good or
not. But if it's a silly error, I think it would be good for Elixir/Erlang
advocates to fix this. Early Rust implementations had _extremely_ poor
showings too.
I tend to think of Erlang as being extremely _reliable_ , with acceptable
performance, rather than being the fastest IO language in the West.
~~~
di4na
As an admin of the elixir slack, i have to handle that one a lot.
It is not really realistic at all no. But mostly because the benchmark is not
realistic of a production load. That said we should do better.
The main reason it is not fixed is that the few members of the community that
tried to fix it had a really bad experience interacting with the repo and
getting feedback of impact and simply lost interest. And we have not have
people motivated enough so far because they do not really care about the
benchmark.
Ofc it matters to people that are _not_ in the community but well...
That said, yes we would never be close to Rust anyway (probably) but we could
probably have a far better standard deviation than Rust. Something that tend
to matter in production a lot but people forget reading benchmark is the
spread of the response time vs the average one.
We should also perform better in a noisy environment like the "cloud" one.
There are hopes that the recent EEF marketing group could help find volunteers
or finance someone to fix it.
~~~
steveklabnik
Yep, that makes perfect sense. I've had good experiences contributing, but it
can be tough...
It's also 100% true that benchmarks are not representative of production
loads. Sadly, it's also 100% true that programmers make decisions based on
benchmarks that aren't representative of production loads. It's a real
catch-22 situation.
------
ngrilly
I really appreciate the progress here!
But I'm wondering if the return type of the function in the code example is
not introducing too much complexity for a Rust novice trying to develop a
simple highly concurrent HTTP service:
async fn process(data: TcpStream) -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>>
Update: I read that one can simplify this using for example the Hyper library:
async fn serve_req(_req: Request<Body>) -> Result<Response<Body>, hyper::Error>
~~~
tiniuclx
Would a novice to the language implement a highly concurrent HTTP service as
their first ever task? I don't think so, most people start with "Hello world"
programs.
To understand the entirety of that first signature you need to grasp is:
1\. The Result type, which returns the result of a successful computation or
an error.
2\. The Box container, which is basically just a safe pointer to some memory
3\. Rust's way of doing polymorphism.
These are indeed some complex topics but I doubt most people start at that
level. Sure, an absolute beginner would be dumbfounded by this, but working
through even the first few chapters of the Rust book gives you enough
knowledge of Result and Box to let you figure out what is going on.
~~~
jedisct1
> Would a novice to the language implement a highly concurrent HTTP service as
> their first ever task?
Why not?
With Node or Go, this is trivial.
~~~
empath75
Nothing is trivial with rust.
~~~
Dowwie
Many things aren't trivial, but some things are! For instance, the following
is a program that uses a well-defined, user-friendly api for regex pattern
matching.
extern crate regex; // 1.1.8
fn main() {
let pattern = regex::Regex::new("(?i)resource not found").unwrap();
let msg = "resource not found".to_string(); // didn't have to convert to String as &str suffices
if pattern.is_match(&msg) {
println!("found pattern in msg");
} else {
println!("did not find pattern in msg");
}
}
Clearly, this is an easy example and when used in the wild, you'll have to
account for error handling. However, whatever isn't trivial exists for a good
reason. Trivial comes at a cost. One thing I like about Rust is that it lets a
programmer decide what costs to assume.
~~~
hu3
Perhaps we have different definitions of trivial but I don't find it trivial
to cast a string to a string in variable declarations:
let msg = "resource not found".to_string();
Is it necessary?
~~~
steveklabnik
You're not casting a string to a string, you're casting a &str to a String.
> Is it necessary?
In this code, it's not actually necessary, your parent converts it back to a
&str later, when passing it to is_match.
In other cases, it's very necessary; they're two different types, with
different properties.
~~~
hu3
Thanks for explaining steve. I guess these things become second nature with
practice.
~~~
steveklabnik
Yep!
Rust has a few "rules of three" that appear again and again. This is an
instance of there being three kinds of types: T, &T, and &mut T. That is,
owned, borrowed, and mutably borrowed. In most examples of this, "T" is the
same thing in all places, that is, i32, &i32, &mut i32, but in this case,
"str" is built into the language. So you have String, &str, and &mut str. The
naming is _slightly_ off, because you're coming into the conflict of String
being a standard library type, and str being a language type. We almost
unified them before 1.0, but there wasn't a ton of benefit.
The point is, yes, it is a bit confusing at first, you're totally right. I
actually re-did the entire table of contents of The Rust Programming Language
to re-focus them on strings due to this. But you're also right that after some
practice, it's a non-issue that you never really spend mental effort on.
The trick is, how many people will be willing to spend that time? Can we
reduce that time? Time will tell :)
------
Dowwie
It's a great milestone, and hopefully async methods not far behind in the
pipeline. I _might_ be able to port my work to async-await syntax with the
first release to stable in ~1.38 but I may wait longer until async methods are
addressed. I want to encapsulate state with async behavior.
Updated (as per Steve): inherent methods will be avail and may address my reqs
~~~
steveklabnik
Note that async _inherent_ methods will be part of the MVP; it's trait methods
that are much harder and won't. Not sure if that fits your requirements or
not!
~~~
Dowwie
oh in that case, it might!
------
randyrand
This has been asked already, but what are the benefits to declaring async in
the function definition and not at the call site?
~~~
steveklabnik
I'm not sure why you would do it that way. How would you know which functions
can be async and which ones cannot?
------
krircc
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20402082](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20402082)
------
samirm
Thanks for the update, but why do you have to repeat yourself so much in the
post? :/
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: A full-featured public spreadsheet you can share and forget - fiatjaf
http://sheets.alhur.es/s/z6nric
======
osullivj
Where does the computation happen? Is it all handled by JS in the browser, or
is any done on the server side?
~~~
fiatjaf
All on the client side. If you look at the network tab, you'll see that the
sheet information is just just a JSON file fetched directly from S3.
------
fiatjaf
Any feedback is appreciated.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Salesforce, for Engineers - refrigerator
https://tryretool.com/blog/salesforce-for-engineers/
======
troydavis
Please stop deleting and re-submitting this. Continuing to do so will probably
have a different outcome than the one you desire.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why did a Train Carrying Biofuel Cross the Border 24 Times and Never Unload? - pebb
http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Why-did-a-Train-Carrying-Biofuel-Cross-the-Border-24-Times-and-Never-Unload.html
======
icambron
Lot of assumptions on this thread. The company involved here is claiming that
hasn't committed a crime, which isn't a very interesting claim. The agency
that's launched and investigation hasn't gotten a chance to, you know, conduct
that investigation yet. There's also a possibility that this was all a mistake
that just needs sorted out. So before we all jump on the incentives-gone-wrong
and government-is-inefficient trains, maybe give the government a chance?
But if we are going to speculate--and let's face it, we are--let's at least
have a gander at the relevant regulations. IANAL, etc, but from my reading
Title 40 Part 80 Subpart M [1] it seems _really unlikely_ that assigning the
same volume of fuel different RINs is legal. There's a bunch there about
assigning specific numbers to specific volumes of fuel, but there's also the
super specific:
> (5) Importers shall not generate RINs for renewable fuel that has already
> been assigned RINs by a registered foreign producer.[2]
Sounds pretty clear.
[1] [http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?c=ecfr&SID=27e92597...](http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?c=ecfr&SID=27e92597791f3c5cb9d729f136e9782d&rgn=div6&view=text&node=40:17.0.1.1.9.13)
[2] [http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?c=ecfr&SID=27e92597...](http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-
idx?c=ecfr&SID=27e92597791f3c5cb9d729f136e9782d&rgn=div6&view=text&node=40:17.0.1.1.9.13&idno=40#40:17.0.1.1.9.13.93.16)
------
EwanToo
To me this reads like pretty standard fraud, along the lines of carousel
fraud[1] which was very common a few years ago.
If nobody is arrested or punished for it, then that's more like weak
enforcement than clever use of the system.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_trader_fraud#Carousel_f...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_trader_fraud#Carousel_fraud)
~~~
bdunbar
> To me this reads like pretty standard fraud
I assume the companies ran this by legal before going forward with the plan.
Loopholes aren't illegal, they're just exploits.
~~~
calinet6
However, by all accounts, this one appears to be illegal.
From post below (soon hopefully to be 'above'):
"> (5) Importers shall not generate RINs for renewable fuel that has already
been assigned RINs by a registered foreign producer.[2]"
------
coopdog
As much as I dislike the idea of new government departments, it sounds like
they do need some kind of 'evil' department who's only job is to think up ways
to abuse proposed new laws and regulations before they go into effect.
Similar to how generals have the intelligence section of their staff put on
only the enemy hat and poke holes in their plans.
~~~
rndmize
I don't think you need a new department for that. Take the tax code. Who knows
how to exploit the tax code the best? The accountants at the IRS. Have the IRS
give an employee a bonus each time they find an exploit and write a report on
how it works and recommendations on fixing it. It shouldn't be that different
from the way major software vendors pay rewards for reported bugs/exploits.
You could provide similar incentives for reports on efficiency improvements
(and to prevent exploitation of a system like this, you could have the bonus
provided only if the improvement/fix is actually implemented, or based on how
significant it is, or something.) Prize and crowd-sourcing systems have worked
pretty well when it comes to a lot of things, so why not apply them to
improving government bureaucracy?
As it stands, our system does the opposite - it rewards people for finding and
abusing exploits in the system instead of fixing them (see - every corporate
scandal and stock market crash ever.)
~~~
ams6110
So "exploit" == legal way to keep MY money. Interesting.
~~~
mtgx
Sure, you can see it that way, but that also means that you consider _all_
taxes to be _taking your money_ \- i.e. taxes are illegitimate. Otherwise, if
you think taxes have their purpose, then everyone should play by the same
rules, and not try to "cheat the system".
~~~
simonh
That argument works for individuals who are only responsible for their own
finances and moral conduct, but companies have legal obligations to their
shareholders to maximise shareholder value. Arguably that means if they find a
legal way to reduce their tax costs they are obligated to do so. It's an
interesting and non-trivial ethical question.
~~~
GauntletWizard
I wish we'd stop that. There's the concept of a [Benefit
Corporation](<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benefit_corporation>) which is
sadly underused. It's a corporation that, while not non-profit, exists to
create something other than pure wealth/shareholder profit.
More immediately, I'd like to see several rulings at once that state that
future sustainable profits are more important than immediate ones, and that
the suing shareholders can be held liable for court fees and damages for
negative press if they sue the company/board an lose. Companies and their
executives should be allowed fairly broad strokes to make a company valuable,
including value of goodwill and paying attention to/not exploiting loopholes
in the law.
------
aresant
A fun sci-fi read would be about a futuristic government that "subsidizes" an
Industry for much-debated, but ultimately politically driven reasons.
Rather than simply making cash-handouts, however, the Government & the
Industry conspire to hide these handouts by creating new by-products for sale
to consumers.
The Industry grows and rejoices, extending its products into as far ranging
lines as sweeteners, fuels, and plastics.
To drive adoption they interrupt the free market through price manipulation
and straight forward mandate from their "Environmental" agency.
Despite overwhelming evidence that consumers are being harmed by these by-
products - record obesity, less efficient engines, and environmental damage -
the subsidies only grow.
I'd like to see how the protagonist would drive change as presently my best
solution is to rage via comment board into the echo chamber.
~~~
lostlogin
Am i missing the joke? Whats sci-fi about this? And how many industries are
like this? Meat, diary, cars, arms, power, oil, medical, prisons. And these
are just the ones that come to read from stories I have read recently.
~~~
uvdiv
He's bitter about corn subsidies in the US.
" _sweeteners, fuels, and plastics_ " -- high fructose corn syrup, corn
ethanol, corn ethanol-derived polyethylene
" _price manipulation and straight forward mandate from their "Environmental"
agency._ " -- corn ethanol subsidies, corn ethanol mandates
etc.
------
exabrial
Good lord... The companies here are dirty, but lets not forget the EPA for
creating the problem in the first place!
~~~
rayiner
Yes, let's blame the government for people abusing regulations. Except the
regulations we like, of course. We'll call it "arbitrage" when we abuse
regulations we don't like, and "fraud" when we abuse regulations we do like
(like property).
~~~
ianstallings
They made a gigantic mistake and we shouldn't blame them? I disagree
completely. They should be blamed for this asinine regulation yes. Because it
really _is_ their fault. Good intentions don't cut it when it comes to fiscal
accountability.
~~~
rayiner
I find it deeply amusing that tech people are always so forgiving of bugs in
software, but seem to go out of their way to blame the government for bugs in
regulation just because it's the government. Newsflash: everything is
imperfect, and the operation of this whole complex world we live in requires a
certain amount of good faith on the part of everyone.
I agree the regulation is asinine, but for reasons completely unrelated to the
incident. From the article: "Each time the loaded train crossed the border the
cargo earned its owner a certain amount of Renewable Identification Numbers
(RINs), which were awarded by the US EPA to “promote and track production and
importation of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.” The RINs were
supposed to be retired each time the shipment passed the border, but due to a
glitch not all of them were."
The mechanism in question was reasonable, and it looks like there was a bug in
the implementation. While that's definitely a mistake, I don't think it rises
to the level of "asinine" and I don't think that gets the importer off the
hook any more than it gets a cracker off the hook when he exploits an OS bug
to steal credit card numbers.
~~~
rhizome
Implementation bugs are design flaws are tax loopholes are human failings that
the technocrat decries as solvable even though it's people originating all of
it.
~~~
rayiner
Lots of human failings are solvable through regulation. Have you been killed
and eaten recently? _Boom_ a common flaw of human society solved by
government.
------
z_
CBC article: [http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/12/19/mystery-
biodi...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/12/19/mystery-biodiesel-
train-credits.html)
------
bmuon
This is a typical case of how incentives have a tendency to go wrong. I
recommend you to listen to this Freakonomics Radio podcast which tells a
series of stories about incentive failure, for example an indian town which
started farming cobras when a ruler started giving out money for each cobra
head after an infestation.
[http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/10/11/the-cobra-effect-a-
ne...](http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/10/11/the-cobra-effect-a-new-
freakonomics-radio-podcast/)
------
Steko
[http://www.mnn.com/green-
tech/transportation/stories/solved-...](http://www.mnn.com/green-
tech/transportation/stories/solved-the-mystery-of-the-biofuel-filled-train-
that-kept-crossing\\)
_The companies maintain that this practice was legal. Another company,
Northern Biodiesel, appears to have been put out of business by the practice.
The EPA has investigated several other cases of RIN fraud, including one
against Jeffrey David Gunselman, the CEO of Absolute Fuels who was arrested in
July, accused of selling more than $50 million in fake RIN credits._
So yeah, keep telling yourself that this is another case of the dum dum
gubmint who needs to stay out of our way and how no one ever goes bankrupt
after defrauding the gubmint because I mean, it all sounded great when Rush
said it right?
~~~
SoftwareMaven
I don't understand what you are saying (aside from trolling, which is heavily
frowned upon). It reads to me like the government is either creating perverse
incentives, failing to implement correctly or failing to monitor. If it is the
first, we'd be better off without the interference. If it is the second, what
is wrong with the government that it can't implement it's policies correctly
(perhaps too complex)? If it is the last, then why is the government not
policing the policies better?
And finally, do RIN credits provide better incentives than no credits? That is
the real question that should be asked with regard to the government being
involved. The government's track-record isn't great.
~~~
Steko
"I don't understand what you are saying "
The assumption that this is a legal loophole is mistaken.
"It reads to me like the government is either creating perverse incentives,
failing to implement correctly or failing to monitor"
Because someone committed fraud and they're now being investigated for fraud
by the government?
"If it is the first, we'd be better off without the interference"
If only we were omniscient and knew which incentives were perverse.
"If it is the second, what is wrong with the government that it can't
implement it's policies correctly (perhaps too complex)?"
If only the government could always put it's policies into effect perfectly
like the free market. Wait, what?
"If it is the last, then why is the government not policing the policies
better?"
Because justice isn't instant? Because 30+ years of one party pushing
deregulation takes it's toll? It sounds like your solution to the latter is
more deregulation.
"And finally, do RIN credits provide better incentives than no credits? That
is the real question that should be asked with regard to the government being
involved."
If only there were some way for the public to comment on future government
rules.
"The government's track-record isn't great."
The track record for successful modern societies without pesky governments is
stunningly less great.
------
johnpmayer
> The RINs were supposed to be retired each time the shipment passed the
> border, but due to a glitch not all of them were.
Inside job? Sounds like the type of "glitch" that was in Office Space.
But probably not (Hanlon)
------
SideburnsOfDoom
TL;DR: export fraud.
~~~
gvb
TL;DR: Attempting to indirectly manipulate human (corporate) behavior via tax
incentives gets hammered by the law of unintended consequences.
Again.
~~~
woof
TL;DR: fraud
------
gsibble
Hilarious. Sounds legal and I doubt they would have done it otherwise. Good
example of why most regulation is ridiculous because it's generally easy to
find and exploit loopholes.
~~~
eagsalazar2
Good god libertarians make me sick.
~~~
jrs235
I identify as a libertarian... But all these folks blaming the government in
this case without truly knowing what took place but just jumping to the
regulations are to blame conclusion, make me ill.
Yes the law of unintended consequences often occurs with regulations however
blatantly taking advantage of someone or something is wrong, legal or illegal.
This is where we need a jury of peers to determine whether we want to
encourage or discourage the behavior that this company took part in. I'd find
this company guilty in a heart beat.
It's like jury nullification in reverse.
All it takes for evil to triumph is good men to do nothing.
~~~
emiliobumachar
The law of unintended consequences may well apply to such "jury nullification
in reverse", by creating jurisprudence. This partcular case seems like very
clear-cut fraud to my layman's mind, though.
------
gojomo
If Bioversal/Verdaso employees who cooked this up ever apply to YC, they have
a good answer for the "Tell us about the time you most successfully hacked
some (non-computer) system to your advantage?" question.
~~~
dsr_
It won't be successful if the company pays more in fines than it earned in
profit.
~~~
ryguytilidie
If the US government is involved in the prosecution, we can pretty much
guarantee that we will make it worth their while. It's usually something like
"oh you made 500m profit from fraud? How about 50m fine, any bigger might make
you go out of business, like you would have without committing fraud."
~~~
ianstallings
Well, maybe. Uncle Sam tends to look the other way when it's not him being
fleeced. But when it is him, holy crap watch out. He'll break you up and sell
you for pieces.
------
eagsalazar2
Sometimes I am dazzled, again, by what total dicks some people are.
------
kunle
Seems like a classic case of the law of unintended consequences at work.
------
ck2
And no-one will serve a day in prison because it's white-collar crime.
------
wayne_h
... to get to the other side... waw-waw-waaaaah....
------
frere
Nice arbitrage!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
On the Auction Site Swoopo, Paying to Place Each Bid - mjfern
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/technology/internet/17shop.html
======
dotcoma
it's basically a scam, isn't it?
~~~
gjm11
Sure looks like it.
I'm not generally a fan of Jeff Atwood, but
<http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001196.html> gets this one pretty
much right: "about as close to pure, distilled evil in a business plan as I've
ever seen".
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Tell HN: Please make this - hpvic03
I want a plugin to Gmail that will automatically re-send an email if no response is received after a few days. I would pay for this.<p>It seems nowadays that about half of people only respond to the second email you send them, so this would be a huge time-saver.
======
pook
<http://www.followup.cc/faq.php> looks like it'll work, but not for in-browser
use.
Edit: <http://mail.google.com/mail/help/autopilot/index.html> if only...
Edit2: this may be what exactly what you're looking for:
[http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-an-automatic-email-
respo...](http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/create-an-automatic-email-response-
with-gmails-new-filter/)
------
mdoerschlag
You could set a FollowUp.cc reminder on your emails in the Bcc field, and then
it would remind you to FollowUp with them (or set up a filter to automatically
Cc or Bcc FollowUp), but to automatically send on your befhalf, any software
would need access to your inbox. Not sure if you're willing to give that info
out.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I don't hire unlucky people (2012) - shawndumas
http://braythwayt.com/posterous/2014/10/04/i-dont-hire-unlucky-people.html
======
PhantomGremlin
See link at end. 271 HN comments await, from about 1078 days ago.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Urthecast – APIs for Earth Observation - sconxu
https://www.urthecast.com/developers
======
sinzone
which api proxy you guys use to do the management?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Lobsters must be comfortably numb before cooking, rules Swiss government - owens99
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/10/lobsters-must-comfortably-numb-cooking-rules-swiss-government/
======
WheelsAtLarge
I totally agree with this. We forget that animals are living beings, not
rocks. We've evolved to eating animals but as "Intelligent beings" we need to
understand that animals have rights too and should do what we can to minimise
the pain we cause them.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
You’ll Never Guess What’s Actually in Your Supplements… - xvirk
http://blog.exoprotein.com/youll-never-guess-whats-actually-supplements/
======
teilo
A supplement company trashing other supplement companies.
------
LoSboccacc
the trainers hate him?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Catching a Real Ball in Virtual Reality - prawn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxu_y8ABajQ&app=desktop
======
DrScump
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13917155](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13917155)
The original site has the full set of materials, including original videos.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
OrderAhead claiming business listings on Google - dswiese
http://www.geekwire.com/2015/orderahead-restaurant-website-deception-includes-widespread-violations-of-google-terms-of-service/
======
blaincate
need to be raised to google
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
PyTorch – Internal Architecture Tour - perone
http://blog.christianperone.com/2018/03/pytorch-internal-architecture-tour/
======
adamnemecek
“For that reason, the statement a = 200; b = 200; a is b will be True, while
the statement a = 300; b = 300; a is b will be False.”
This is kinda funny.
~~~
pedrosorio
Same thing happens in Java - Integer objects are the same between -128 and
127.
~~~
detaro
Another common trick along those lines is _pointer tagging_ , where you use
some of the bits in a pointer/reference to store flags and if those are set,
put data in there directly.
E.g. you could on a 32-bit machine reserve the least significant bit to mark
an integer, and if it is set the high 31 bits are treated as a 31-bit integer
instead of a pointer. Since your objects are likely bigger than a byte, you
don't actually need all 32 bits for addresses and thus don't even loose
addressable memory space. On 64bit machines you can do it even more, since
they are far from being able to use all bits for actual memory, and you might
even fit a short string or other more complex type in there.
~~~
saagarjha
Here's an interesting case study by Mike Ash on how the Objective-C runtime
does tagged pointers for strings: [https://mikeash.com/pyblog/friday-
qa-2015-07-31-tagged-point...](https://mikeash.com/pyblog/friday-
qa-2015-07-31-tagged-pointer-strings.html)
------
kbumsik
Great. I am wondering which tools he used to draw object diagrams. It looks
neat.
~~~
perone
I used Sketch ([https://www.sketchapp.com/](https://www.sketchapp.com/)), the
graphs of the objects are actually from a built-in template for iOS
notifications lol, but it worked well for that purpose.
~~~
danieldk
Awesome. Off-topic: this reminds me of Stardock's Galactic Civilizations:
_I bought a book “Teach Yourself C in 21 days” and “OS /2 2.0 PM programming”
Because I couldn’t afford anything more, everything in the game I created,
Galactic Civilizations, could be found in those 2 books. [...] Let me give you
an example – in GalCiv on OS/2, each star ship is actually a full blown window
that is of style SS_ICON. So when you move a ship in the game, I’m just using
WinSetWindowPos to move the ship X,Y coordinates. There’s no “graphics” in the
game per se, just all icons being moved around. That’s because I couldn’t
afford any more books than those two and they didn’t cover graphics
programming, just icons and window movement._
Source:
[https://www.stardock.com/stardock/articles/article_sdos2.htm...](https://www.stardock.com/stardock/articles/article_sdos2.html)
By the way, OmniGraffle is also great for drawing graphs on the Mac.
~~~
perone
haha nice, in the end, we squeeze what we know. Didn't know about OmniGraffle,
will take a look.
------
saagarjha
> auto array = (PyArrayObject* )obj;
Why not reinterpret_cast<PyArrayObject * > here?
(extra spaces are so Hacker News doesn't make this italics)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
LaunchNotes raise 1.8M and makes public release notes platform free for all - tylerdavis
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/26/launchnotes-raises-a-1-8m-seed-round-to-help-companies-communicate-their-software-updates/
======
ewittman
Phenomenal product that solves some serious pain with the communications
process around releases. Great team building another great product. Congrats
LaunchNotes team!
~~~
jakebrereton
Thanks a ton for your praise and support, @ewittman!
------
tmoyal
Awesome product! Great way to ensure seamless internal and external
communications around anything product release / launch related. Congrats!
~~~
jakebrereton
Thanks so much, @tmoyal!
------
jschumacher
We've been looking for an easy and affordable way to share "what's new" with
our customers. Finally a pricing that doesn't make this prohibitive for
smaller startups.
~~~
jakebrereton
Awesome this fits the bill, @jschumacher. We'd love for you to give it a try!
------
mfkp
Congrats to the LaunchNotes team. Been following the product for a few months
now, looks like a solid product. Nice that they made embeds work on the free
accounts!
~~~
jakebrereton
Yes! We're super pumped about the embeds, @mfkp. We're also seeing a ton of
user traction on them. Excited to make them free today!
------
chuparkoff
Congrats, LaunchNotes! I'm really loving this for release information sharing
so far! It's changed how I keep my teams informed. Keep up the great work!
~~~
jakebrereton
Thanks, @chuparkoff! We couldn't have gotten this far without your support
along the way. Really appreciate it!
------
patrickt010
Looks like a solid product. Tired of always having to duct tape this together
everyplace I've worked.
------
tnachen
Nice to finally have something that helps a problem I see in every team
~~~
jakebrereton
Hopefully our new free tier is just what all of those teams need, @tnachen.
Please let us know what they think!
------
amandarobs
Rocketship company right here
~~~
jakebrereton
To infinity... and beyond!
------
scootklein
great team and problem hits really close to home. congrats to them!
~~~
jakebrereton
Thanks a ton for the support, @scootklein!
------
cowboyvc
incredible team solving a real pain point
~~~
jakebrereton
Thanks, @cowboyvc. Onward and upward!
------
jsilvers
Congrats, guys!
~~~
jakebrereton
Thanks so much, @jsilvers!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why My Mom Gets Path Over Founders and VC's - rxl
http://blog.ryanshea.org/post/19000605105/why-my-mom-gets-path-over-founders-and-vcs
======
muneeb
Yeah, my parents bought an iPad just to talk to me over Skype (I still need to
take out time and get on Skype for that though). I do think parents will do
anything to better stay in touch with their kids. If Path or any other service
can solve that problem for them, it can be a winner in the long run.
------
arman
Well put, Ryan! Path is about intimacy & great for family. p/s: my dad
actually also uses Twitter just to see what I'm up to :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Biz owners – What problems do you have using/accepting cryptocurrency? - evbots
I'm guessing it's mostly tax, regulatory, and operational issues but would love to hear specifics.
======
itamarst
What's my motivation for accepting cryptocurrency in the first place? Real
money is much easier to deal with.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Tonido: A Dropbox alternative for SMBs - markshepard
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/itdojo/tonido-a-dropbox-alternative-for-smbs/3966?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
======
explorigin
As the owner of a TonidoPlug2, the wifi doesn't stay connected (proprietary
kernel module crashes). Also the web interface software is slow and dated (but
capable). It would be awesome to have OwnCloud on the TonidoPlug hardware.
------
wanghq
What does SMB stand for?
~~~
tteam
Small and Medium Business
~~~
wanghq
Thanks. Thought it's Samba, but doesn't make any sense
------
pacomerh
I'd recommend wuala, free 5gb with encryption. <http://www.wuala.com/>
------
zdw
And this is superior to decentralized solutions like git-annex (for devs) or
owncloud (for non-devs) how?
~~~
tteam
Tonido is self hosted solution like git-annex and owncloud. It is much
simpler, more nature and comprehensive support for all mobile platforms
------
aristidb
What's wrong with Dropbox again?
~~~
minm
There are many reasons:
1\. Security 2\. Dropbox is not suitable for professionals like Lawyers,
Accountants, Tax professionals and Healthcare providers 3\. EU and Canada Data
privacy laws require certain companies to store data inside the country 4.You
cannot brand dropbox for your business. You can brand Tonido. 5.You cannot run
dropbox in your domain. With Tonido you can.
Do you want more reasons?
~~~
avree
At least 50% of your comments/submissions are plugging Tonido.
Do you work for them?
~~~
minm
I am stating the facts here. If you have anything to refute the facts let us
talk about that. So what is your interest in Dropbox?
~~~
lubos
No, this is not how we roll here. If you have any association with the
company, you put it in disclaimer to reveal bias.
~~~
jimktrains2
Alternativly you could just point out where he is wrong or show that Tonido
isn't a unique player in the market.
I agree, biases should be revealed, but just berating him and not his argument
doesn't move anything forward.
------
provokeme
Jungle disk FTW
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Robocalls: How to stop your phone from getting them - ihsoj
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-stop-robocalls-to-cell-phone-explained-2018-5
======
tonyquart
I have signed up to the DNC list. I have also used some call blockers since
years ago. However, I think it's not completely stop these robocalls. They are
never getting tired of trying to harass our privacy life. Now I choose to just
ignore those calls. I have also read an article that might be useful for
anyone who get multiple robocalls, especially from legit businesses at
[https://www.whycall.me/news/consumer-wins-
massive-229500-rob...](https://www.whycall.me/news/consumer-wins-
massive-229500-robocall-lawsuit-against-time-warner-cable/). Hope this helps.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Disrupting the roaming mobile data market - tensafefrogs
http://blog.deconcept.com/2012/01/30/disrupting-the-roaming-mobile-data-market/
======
tensafefrogs
Dreamhost is having a "major network outage" right now. If you can't get to
it, try again later.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Your favorite IRC/Freenode channels? - codegeek
Where do you hang out ?
======
EKSolutions
I usually hang out on Espernet in channels that are dedicated to software
topics or discussions that I want to be part of.
Their #Coders channel is a nice place to ask for advice when programming too.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Is there any relation between number of users and ad revenue? - ajaxguy
Just to understand more of an app revenues.
Say, a simple mobile utility app or game is used by certain number of users. How would that be related to the revenue from that app. I am not looking for any social side of the app to generate more revenue.
I am only looking for ads that display on the app while users are interacting with the app. Can we guess something like if the app has 100K users, it will have revenues like 100bucks per month? I know this is a very dumb calculation, but want to know the criteria that derives ad revenue. Here are couple of things pop out from me.
Is it the number of users?
Is it the amount of time users interact with your app?
Is it the frequency of users that come back to app in a day?
Any others?<p>If so, how much weightage can be given to each of these?
======
gyardley
Different advertising providers pay according to different schemes. Some pay
every time an ad is shown to a user. This is the cost-per-impression model.
Some pay every time an ad is clicked. This is the cost-per-click model. And
some pay every time an ad is clicked and then an action occurs (like a signup
or a purchase). This is the cost-per-action model.
Here's some criteria you could use to estimate ad revenue: number of users,
number of times an ad is shown to a user per session, number of sessions per
user, the model your advertising provider's using, the average cost-per-
impression, cost-per-click, or cost-per-action, the click rate on your ads (if
it's a cost-per-click or cost-per-action model), the conversion rate on the
advertiser's site (if it's a cost-per-action model), the fill rate (you're not
likely to get ads 100% of the time you ask for one, primarily due to users
being located somewhere underserved by your ad provider), and so on.
There's so many variables, whatever estimate you get is likely to be a wild-
ass guess - and not valid for long, since mobile advertising is a fast-
developing industry and rates aren't always stable. (To complicate matters,
advertising in general is very seasonal.)
It might be easier to just ask some developers you know with ad-supported apps
for a rough revenue per user number, and take the average. Or talk to a rep at
an advertising provider and try and get an honest guess out of him.
~~~
ajaxguy
Thanks for your response and got to know somethings like cost-per-xxxxxx
models. When you say advertising providers here, can you name some them in
mobile space. What are the other many variables you were mentioning above,
name some of them at least. I agree it is probably more appropriate to check
some other developers who has done this kind of stuff to get real picture.
~~~
tstegart
There is a thread discussing i-Ad revenue here:
<http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1022402>
There are a lot of mobile advertising networks. A lot of the analytics
companies have ad networks connected with them (Flurry, Mobclix), a lot just
are ad networks (Ad Mob, In Mobi). There are tons of advertising providers.
Tons. Ask around, see who has used what and how they like them.
~~~
ajaxguy
good, that has enough information what I was looking for initially.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Driverless cars are going to spy on us. All the time - chapulin
http://fusion.net/story/108336/driverless-cars-need-to-be-spy-machines-so-they-dont-kill-you/
======
MollyR
I think people are willing to sacrifice privacy for convenience. They did with
smartphones,cloud data, etc, but maybe the average person simply isn't aware
of the implications.
------
simas
Driverless cars booming => more paranoid articles incoming..
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebook In Free-Fall: Stock At All-Time Low After Swinging To Q2 Loss - cooldeal
http://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2012/07/26/facebook-in-free-fall-stock-at-all-time-after-swinging-to-q2-loss/?partner=yahootix
======
cooldeal
10% down and testing $24.00 at this point (4:35PM Eastern).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What will happen when Clock Speeds stop increasing? - jonnytran
http://glomek.blogspot.com/2008/09/when-clock-speeds-stop-increasing.html
======
iigs
I agree with the sentiment (wouldn't it be nice to not treat computers,
particularly full of nasty chemicals, as items meant to be thrown away every
other year).
Unfortunately you will find that this isn't the way it works. Manufacturers
will keep rebundling the same general parts in slightly different
arrangements, with fresh design, and sell it to the disposable-product loving
public. Even beyond the core processor, a PC is made up of a ton of little
accessories that require drivers, and these are going to keep shifting around
for the next couple decades. Linux is arguably better than Windows at
supporting old outdated hardware, but good luck finding current OS support for
anything but the most popular 1993 (now() - interval 15 year) products in the
latest kernels.
In my opinion the precedent was set by the auto industry. Sure there are a few
people who collect any given type of car and daily drive it 40 years later,
but for every one of those there are hundreds of people who keep their old car
only as a curiosity (i.e. show car), and for every one of _those_ there are
probably hundreds of cars that are trashed and sitting in junkyards or have
been recycled into new ones.
~~~
nihilocrat
A more positive way of expressing the sentiment might be "manufacturers will
find a way of improving performance, though the gains might be harder to
capitalize on than clock speeds or core count". Either way, given that the
industry can't survive selling old products, they will find a way of selling
us more stuff. We can only hope that we actually get some benefit out of the
new products.
On the plus side, notice that today, with a computer that is 5 or so years
old, you can get on the internet, watch flash video, play music, etc. etc.
Compare that to using a 5 year old PC in 2000, or even worse, a 5 year old PC
in 1995.
~~~
DabAsteroid
_"manufacturers will find a way of improving performance, though the gains
might be harder to capitalize on than clock speeds or core count"._
Don't count cores out. Intel isn't.
[http://www.ciol.com/Intel/CP-Intel-CIO-Update/Future-
Intel-d...](http://www.ciol.com/Intel/CP-Intel-CIO-Update/Future-Intel-design-
codenamed-Larrabee/8908110053/0/)
_Larrabee is expected to kick start an industry-wide effort to create and
optimize software for the dozens, hundreds and thousands of cores expected to
power future computers._
------
scott_s
We haven't had a significant clock speed increase in a while; it's pretty much
already happened.
~~~
technoguyrob
Will I ever be able to buy a 10Ghz CPU?
Someone please comfort me.
~~~
jfoutz
No, i don't think so. there are 10ghz transistors, but the're gallium arsenide
rather than silicon. I'm going to pretend that i know (i don't), if you try to
go much faster than 5ghz with silicon you have to use smaller electron bundles
-- lower votage -- because the chips will melt if the voltage is upped to
much. because the signal is less clear, undetected/uncorrected errors start
happening all the time. remember, at 10ghz 1 in a billion mistakes is
terrifying.
_hugs_
~~~
Retric
I thought some of the ALU's where double pumped in p4 and newer cpu's. If
that's the case we are already running some part's of the CPU at 3.7 * 2 =
7.2Ghz.
Edit: Yea, the integer ALU's operate at twice clock speed. I think the move to
64bit CPU's slowed down the clock speed race as did adding more cores and
insane amounts of L2 cache due to heat issues. As a side note when I picked up
my quad core CPU at 2.4 GHz it crushed my old 1.8Ghz 32bit cpu so I think they
are making some wise tadeoffs due to system buss limitations. Plus the old
P4's seemed to trade off a lot of effective for pure clock speed. So after we
get back on track we might see a new clock speed race when we have 8 - 32
cores.
~~~
scott_s
You put the carriage in front of the horse: we're moving to multiple cores
_because_ we can't increase the clock speed. The number of transistors we can
fit on a chip is still following Moore's Law, we're just using them in a
different way.
We were squeezing more and more performance out of single cores by lengthening
the instruction pipeline, which increased the amount of instruction
parallelism processor's could exploit at runtime. The difficulty is that as
this pipeline is increased, it takes longer to send information across it. As
we decrease cycle time (same as increasing the clock speed), it becomes harder
and harder to communicate from one end of the pipeline to the other in a
single clock cycle.
------
MoeDrippins
Parallelization + horizontal scaling is my guess. If you can't scale up, scale
out.
------
akeefer
The author definitely makes a mistake in equating slow programs with poorly-
written programs. Yes, it's true that people who write horrible code often
also write horribly non-performant code, and that rushing a product to market
without performance testing is far too common in our industry. But in my
experience (and I've done a lot of performance tuning), making something
perform generally requires selectively damaging the code by making it less
understandable and by breaking rules about encapsulation and separation
between layers. There's a reason why that whole "premature optimization is the
root of all evil" saying is so popular. Performance tuning is also incredibly
time-consuming and labor intensive. It might make you feel more hardcore to do
it, and it certainly be a useful intellectual exercise, but it's still time
that could well be spent on other types of product improvement.
The increase in clock speeds has been a primary driver behind the ability of
people to use higher-level languages, as well as the ability for people to
write larger and more complicated applications. So assuming that a stop to the
increase in clockspeeds will lead to better software is flat-out wrong; if
anything it'll help to essentially halt certain kinds of progress in language
and framework development by preventing people from using higher-level
abstractions that don't perform as well.
------
drinian
There will always be new uses for more power, ones that we can't see today.
It's silly to say you'd be happy to see that go away.
And, yes, I think a lot of the gains in future computing power will be in
parallelization, but that wasn't the point of this article.
------
ars
No more singularity is the most obvious effect.
I don't see people talking about this, but the exponential curve broke.
Sure you can add cores, but you could do that 5 years ago (or earlier) too -
and you don't see AI made even by well funded organizations.
It's over - don't wait for it.
~~~
hugh
Relax. Even if we had the hardware today we'd still have no idea how to write
passable AI software. By the time somebody figures that out, maybe the
hardware will have caught up.
~~~
Herring
We do know how to write AI, problem is it stops being AI just as soon as we've
written it.
------
speek
Asynchronous processors will be here soon!
~~~
jfoutz
nope. coders have to figure out threads first. once there's a nice model you
can teach a good EE student, we get to use fewer transistors on clocks.
------
zandorg
I wrote software that finds textual graphics in a bitmap. I parallelised it by
running, say, 4 (or any number of) threads, each handling 1/4 of the bitmap.
It works really well, and there's no overlap.
~~~
queensnake
That's called an 'embarrassingly parallel' problem, it's not the general case.
I guess, just like 'big O', people have to take a class to appreciate the
space of what it's possible to parallelize and how much it buys you.
~~~
zandorg
At University we used to refer to big O as Roy Orbison. Just an example of our
kind of smalltown humour.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: If you were to make HN today, which platform/framework would you use? - krat0sprakhar
I was thinking of making my own version of HN and wanted to decide upon which platform would be best(if any) for such a project. I'm sure this can be accomplished using any of the numerous frameworks/technologies out there, but is there something specific which comes to mind?
======
user24
to my mind, it's less about the language and much more about the server
architecture. Squid caching proxies, memcache, which db to use (mySQL, noSQL
etc), etc. The actual dev framework is just a matter of taste and experience.
It's the server architecture that's going to be responsible for
performance/uptime issues.
------
there
cobol on cogs
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Launch it like Google - Chirag
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/01/launch-it-like-google.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fsethsmainblog+%28Seth%27s+Blog%29
======
swombat
Uninformed. Paypal did not launch in obscurity - see Max Levchin's account in
Founders At Work.
~~~
trustfundbaby
You should elaborate, so that we don't have to read a whole book just to
disagree with you :D
~~~
swombat
PayPal had a big demo day where they invited the press to demonstrate their
cool new technology: PDA-to-PDA money transfer. They made a big case of the
fact that their investment was transferred using PayPal's technology.
Then, later, they found out that people found the web-based money transfers a
lot more interesting than the PDA stuff. But they had their big launch day -
before their product was even really completely conceived.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Ask HN: Living in NYC - blah123
I'm completely new to NYC. I got a job offer in Manhattan recently. Des anybody have any suggestion of where to live for a family of two? Also, what salary range I should be expected to live comfortable in NYC?<p>Thanks
======
gyardley
Comfy depends on your version of comfy. I'd want to make at least $100K,
myself, but I'm softer than some.
Depending on where you'll be working in Manhattan, you may want to also
consider Hoboken, New Jersey. It's a walkable city and for the same amount of
rent, the commute on the PATH train is often much shorter than the equivalent
subway commute from the boroughs. The PATH train's a fair bit nicer, too.
Don't live anywhere that feels sketchy in order to save on rent. Not because
it's unsafe - NYC is pretty safe these days - but because it's another source
of stress when you're adjusting, especially if you're moving with a partner
who doesn't have a job yet. New city + iffy-feeling neighborhood + no job =
hard on a relationship.
Wherever you live, you're likely to pay more money for less space and less
amenities than you had before. My advice: immediately start taking advantage
of services like Fresh Direct and your local wash-and-fold. Dragging laundry
to the laundromat and shopping in tiny, crowded supermarkets can bring a lot
of new arrivals down. Especially, again, if these tasks are being done by a
partner with no job yet.
~~~
blah123
Thanks for you thorough answer. Like you said I definitely wouldn't rent a
shady place for a cheaper price. Most of my co-workers are from New Jerseys so
I could look around in NJ too. In "Fresh Direct and your local wash-and-fold"
do you mean out source the laundry? Thanks again
------
strmpnk
Hard to say but you should definitely check out realistic rent prices. You
should be making at least 40 times rent per year (and use more than craigslist
to get price ranges — streeteasy.com has pretty real prices). I know that was
a tough one being self employed for my first time here in NYC as they usually
require proof that you make that amount in some form before signing a lease,
or a guarantor. While I personally make more than some of the numbers I hear
people throw out from time to time, it's not always an immediate increase in
quality of life or affordability here, so it's worth considering that. You
might fall in love with the city (as I did) which makes the sacrifice well
worth it but not all people stick around.
Anyway, if you ask me, risks are worth taking from time to time. NYC was one I
took and never looked back. Things change with families so you should decide
what risk fits in with that lifestyle.
------
aonic
Look into places to rent in Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island (closer to the
bridge, the better). Most people commute into Manhattan from the boroughs as
rent in Manhattan is pretty high compared to what you can get with a 30-45m
commute from the boroughs
I'd say 75K+ should be comfortable for two people
------
sigil
An interactive map of income distribution by NYC neighborhood:
<http://envisioningdevelopment.net/map>
------
hogu
where is your work? do you have a partner and where would they work?
~~~
blah123
I'll be working pretty close to the Financial district. I wouldn't expect my
pregnant wife to work anytime soon though. It could be tough I know. But I
hope I could get more network with great entrepreneur minds in NYC. Cheers
| {
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How to effectively build and manage a remote development team - Evrone
https://evrone.com/remote-teams-management
======
onlyhackergirl
Thanks for the article! Very useful tips considering the current situation
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Why Media Monetisation Won't Work - CM30
https://medium.com/@CM30/why-media-monetisation-will-never-work-605022a2ba19
======
luckylion
If your work can be replaced by anybody with a blog the moment you ask for
money, maybe you're just not creating something that is special enough to be
monetized.
~~~
CM30
To be fair, a lot of existing media are in that situation right now too. It's
why for example gaming magazines and strategy guides mostly died out;
perfectly adequate (and often better) equivalents are available for free
online. Same with a lot of other hobby magazines and what not. They don't
offer anyone someone with a blog can't provide, and mostly only made money
because it was difficult to get things published.
| {
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GitHub Status – Incident on 2019-03-12 - fniephaus
https://www.githubstatus.com/incidents/tj58y1kx7tqy
======
msghacq
I’ve been hearing from friends at GitHub and MS that things are on fire
internally. The GitHub employees are in semi-revolt because they think Nat is
integrating too fast with MS. Many people have quit or are being pushed out.
It may actually be for the best because the post-founder/pre-buyout team was
pretty mediocre. Nat is also trying to crack down on some of the more overt
activism in the company. They do “eq” screenings for political fit during the
interview process and he’s trying to get them to stop. They also have a brand
new head of product and engineering. Product was taken from Jason Warner about
two months ago and placed directly under Nat. Sounds really bad and I don’t
expect much turn around.
~~~
ambulancechaser
> They do “eq” screenings for political fit during the interview process and
> he’s trying to get them to stop.
This sounds crazy to me. My last company would freak out if the dev team got
together and discussed the person's politics and if we thought they should be
hired or not based on that. I hope they do stop this.
The more i think about this the crazier it sounds. Imagine a Houston oil
consultancy firm discussing a candidate who applied and asking "when we talked
about lowering taxes, did the inflection in his voice sound real or feigned?".
This is what an "old boys club" looks like.
~~~
debt
"the person's politics"
I interpreted it as a how a person deals with internal politics not what their
political views are. the latter would most definitely be illegal.
~~~
extra88
I don't think the latter* is illegal because it's not discrimination against a
member of a protected class. That doesn't make it okay or that it couldn't
lead to other trouble.
~~~
zephharben
California law provides some protection from discrimination by employers based
on political affiliation or activities. NY state and Washington DC have
similar statutes.
~~~
delinka
But it’s not “affiliation” nor “activities.” It’s “is their stance on topic X
compatible with ours?”
Still terrible. Still not illegal.
------
justinjlynn
Update 1: Info.
Update 2: Same info Again.
Update 3: The same info again phrased differently.
What's the point of giving regular "updates" when you don't add any
information? Is it just to tick a managerial box somewhere?
~~~
jressey
If you're on a flight, do you not appreciate when the pilot updates you, even
if he says "We are still investigating the maintenance issue?"
~~~
gerardnll
It's funny because if you think it carefully it's like you think they look at
the problem for a while and stop until you ask again for updates. haha Like
you need to keep asking for them to work on it. Sounds like an oldschool boss
expecting you to be on your chair even if that doesn't mean you're working.
------
Legogris
This could be just a coincidence, but just now I also noticed HN was down as
well as several global services (non-tech related stuff) we integrate with
that are all timing out. Some deeper infrastructure issues at hand?
------
mcrider
Odd side effect -- I've received three duplicate 'Github Explore' emails about
every hour this morning.
------
rinchik
Yep. Can't view newly open PRs, also random GH related failures in CI
------
Vervious
Travis CI git clone over http is borked as a result.
[https://www.traviscistatus.com/](https://www.traviscistatus.com/)
------
honopu
I wasn't getting 2fa notifications either, haven't tried lately but switched
to google authenticator as a precaution against this happening in the future.
------
MuffinFlavored
Does anybody else feel GH has a much higher than normal incident rate?
~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
Unless they under-report, we shouldn't need to feel anything; we can just
check
[https://www.githubstatus.com/history](https://www.githubstatus.com/history)
and objectively look at frequency. Of course, some services _do_ under-report;
dunno if GH does or not.
~~~
zenexer
The overwhelming majority seem to under-report these days. I can’t tell you
how many conversations I’ve had that go like this:
—
Me: We’re having issues on our site, and we’ve narrowed it down to your
service. Can you confirm that you’ve had a partial outage for the last three
hours?
Them: Yes, about 25% of API calls are failing.
Me: Why is your status page green?
Them: Our team has decided it doesn’t warrant a status update.
—
When this happens, we tend to switch services providers fairly quickly. If
you’re not going to be honest with us, we’re stuck wasting our time
troubleshooting. We don’t care if you have occasional outages—it happens;
that’s why we have fallback providers. But you need to tell us when you’re
down.
tl;dr: Your status page is not an advertisement for your “amazing” uptime.
It’s to make my life easier and save me time/money. Use it for its intended
purpose.
------
zilian
Deploy to github pages delayed for more than an hour here
------
elesbao
that's a shitty incident report and a sad thread if there's this kind of
activism internally while shit is on fire.
------
lhorak
Seem working alright... hmmm
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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How to Talk to Little Girls - mshafrir
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/how-to-talk-to-little-gir_b_882510.html
======
bluekeybox
On the other side of the spectrum -- as an attractive young man who first
bought into this philosophy that "looks don't matter" -- I realized only in
the relatively old age of 26 that I could control other people's first
reaction upon meeting me by controlling my appearance. Then it came to me that
control of one's appearance is a far more sophisticated and deep skill than
most people realize -- almost akin to programming. Caring about looks is just
as much advertising your complexion as it is advertising the fact that you
possess enough intelligence to have mastered the relatively complex skill of
controlling one's appearance.
There is much more to knowing how to present oneself than the shallow mindset
most people ascribe to those who are good at it. For as long as humans
existed, people have been equally idolizing and denigrating that which they
don't possess.
I do not mean to encourage talking to young girls in terms of their appearance
-- as a matter of fact I support gender-ambivalent parenting. It's just that
the author's attitude strikes me as hateful.
------
cafard
"and twenty-five percent of young American women would rather win America's
Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize."
I'd rather win the Boston Marathon than the ACM Turing Award. I'm no danger of
winning either, so the priority could switch next week. Or maybe they look at
the 2009 winner and figure they'd rather aim for something that requires work.
"Even bright, successful college women say they'd rather be hot than smart."
OK, but I've heard this before this author was born.(I suspect.)
I don't tell little girls they're pretty, and I don't tell children they're
smart. I talk to them, when I do, without condescension, and we seem to get
along fine.
------
jasontraff
Interesting article; so unfortunate that it looks so bad in my browser history
------
Alex3917
If you're dating someone then I think it's ok to tell them or otherwise let
them know that you think they're smart or attractive every six months or so.
Less often than that and they get insecure, more often than that and either it
becomes part of their identity (bad) or else it influences the power balance
and relationship dynamic in other negative ways.
~~~
pavel_lishin
So... you only compliment your significant other's looks twice a year?
~~~
mattdeboard
Well you wouldn't want to throw off the delicate power dynamic in the
relationship by having her feel attractive to you.
~~~
Alex3917
You obviously want your partner to know that they're attractive to you, but
there are healthy and unhealthy ways of letting them know that. Doing things
that let your significant other know that you find them attractive is good,
but I don't think that explicitly telling your them that they are hot on a
daily basis is necessarily conducive to a healthy longterm relationship. (It
could be I suppose, but it depends how it's done.)
~~~
pavel_lishin
Honest question - have you been in a serious, long-term relationship?
~~~
Alex3917
Two plus years? I find it amusing that what I'm saying is so controversial.
All I'm saying is basically the same thing that Carol Dweck keeps saying about
kids:
<http://nymag.com/news/features/27840/>
Is there really any reason to believe that the same thing wouldn't apply (at
some level) to adults?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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