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Update on GoDaddy Transfer Issues - PStamatiou
http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/12/26/godaddy-transfer-update/
======
jarin
I also ran into a problem with GoDaddy when trying to transfer a domain name
that was protected by Domains by Proxy. I first got a notification that I
needed to enter into a new agreement, so I did. Then I got a notification that
I needed to cancel my private registration, so I did. Then I got this:
"The transfer of MYDOMAIN.ME from Go Daddy to another
registrar could not be completed for the following
reason(s):
Express written objection to the transfer from the
Transfer Contact. (e.g. - email, fax, paper document or
other processes by which the Transfer Contact has
expressly and voluntarily objected through opt-in
means)."
So it looks like they're auto-rejecting domain transfers if you're using
Domains by Proxy?
~~~
gregholmberg
I transferred two domains away from GoDaddy that were protected by Domains by
Proxy. They did require that the WHOIS guard be dropped, even though both
registrars offered a WHOIS-protecting service.
It did feel like GoDaddy was moving the goalposts.
Since I had no deadline and no feeling of urgency, I just allowed the entire
process to play out naturally. There were periods when I was busier elsewhere
and didn't press the issue for a month or two at a time, but I spent the
better part of sixteen months getting both transfers completed.
Update: I bought a standard membership to DomainTools to see if the info ever
leaked. It looks like the patient approach paid off, and that the exposed
WHOIS info was not crawled during the transfers. Taking the time to make sure
both ends of the transfer were prepared was worth the effort, but I think it's
probably luck that kept the info from being picked up.
~~~
soult
Domaintools may be the best-known whois database, but it isn't the only one
and not all of them are as easy to check against.
------
samlev
Devil's advocate here: The idea that godaddy appears to be intentionally
stalling transfers is pure speculation. Not saying that they're incapable of
doing it, but that whole "don't attribute to malice" thing.
Let's not turn this into another ugly internet lynch-mob. Just move your
domains, and be done with it. Namecheap (and others) look like they're more
than happy to help out all their new customers.
~~~
bountie
What's the motive to make this process painful? Would people really say Oh
screw it, I'll just stay with GoDAddy? Ive never transferred a domain before
so I don't know what the process or delay is normally like
~~~
tgrass
This is standard practice to increase the friction of unsubscribing. How many
clicks does it take you to logout of Facebook or Google...and see if your
grandmother could even figure out how.
~~~
djeikyb
Two clicks. Google is easy: click your name, click sign out. Facebook is
slightly harder: click the menu triangle in the upper right hand corner, click
sign out.
~~~
jey
I think he meant to say "close your account" rather than "log out".
~~~
djeikyb
Oh. That makes sense. My bullshit filter kicked in before I finished
interpreting the post as a whole.
------
Sami_Lehtinen
Yup, same issue here. Transfer has been hanging over 24 hours now. Edit:
Transfer in Process - Acquiring Current Whois for Transfer Verification
~~~
msumpter
I wonder if GoDaddy's WHOIS server is just applying rate limiting. I suspect
their transfers are spiking after the SOPA aftermath. Namecheap's servers
might have been sending a fairly consistent level of WHOIS queries that would
not be anomalous but after the coupon and lots of press about Namecheap that
threshold might have been exceeded several times over.
Now GoDaddy should have cleared up the WHOIS throttles by now. But I can
understand there being a temporary issue with mass transfers like this.
------
JS_startup
Some definitive, unbiased proof of this needs to be seen before I can join the
lynch mob. I have no doubt that GoDaddy is desperate and/or inept enough to do
something like this but I also can't take their competitor's word for it.
~~~
seanp2k2
Same. I hate hate hate GoDaddy, but Namecheap assuming malice in this case
might blow up in their faces, and honesty, just for speculating (with a pretty
sure-sounding tone) that GoDaddy is doing this on purpose, I hope it DOES blow
up in their faces. This is really just dirty business.
Move to name.com instead because they don't practice this type of distasteful
PR.
~~~
ohashi
What if they are telling the truth?
~~~
seanp2k2
Then that sucks for GoDaddy, but what I'm getting at is that they should make
a call to GoDaddy engineering and say "Hey, what's up with this, are we being
throttled or something?". The risk/benefit for this type of thing just doesn't
work in favor of Namecheap. Posting what they did, if GoDaddy is indeed
dragging their feet on purpose, they'll be able to say "we told you so!" which
isn't worth much. If GoDaddy is NOT intentionally delaying this and GoDaddy
comes out against this, Namecheap gets a lot of bad PR, and rightly so.
If they just said "we're having issues with transfers in from GoDaddy right
now, we've contacted them about the issue and are waiting to hear back, and
we'll update you with any of their responses and/or progress on the matter",
I'd be much more impressed. It seems that they're trying to kick GoDaddy while
they're down instead of working to actually resolve the issue for their
clients.
~~~
commandar
Conversely, the mobs are already upset about bad behavior on GoDaddy's part.
If Namecheap is right, this story gets even bigger and makes things even worse
for GoDaddy.
If they're wrong, well, everyone is pissed at GoDaddy anyway, so this angle
fades quietly from view.
I don't see the PR downside for Namecheap here.
------
colmmacc
Just to add data to the discussion;
I kicked off migration of my only 3 GoDaddy domains to namecheap last night.
One .net, one .com and one .cc domain. None had any kind of whois protection
or anonymisation.
The .net and .com migrations went very quickly and smoothly. Within two hours
I had the confirmation e-mails from both namecheap and GoDaddy, and within 4
hours the migration was complete.
The .cc domain took a little longer, as when I started the move with namecheap
it didn't seem to want an EPP code for a .cc domain, but then later changed
its mind and asked me to enter one. I entered the code within 2 hours, and 8
hours later the migration was complete.
GoDaddy's goodbye was actually pretty professional;
===================================================================
SORRY TO SEE YOU GO. WE'LL ALWAYS WELCOME YOU BACK.
===================================================================
Dear Colm MacCarthaigh,
We're sorry you transferred your domain name(s) away from GoDaddy.com.
We are committed to providing quality services and products and hope
that we met your needs.
If you feel your transfer was in error, or if you have changed your
mind, please contact our 24/7 sales department at (480) 505-8877.
They'll assist you in transferring your domain name(s) back to us.*
Keep in mind that we continue to offer low prices and $7.49 transfer
rates on some domains.
Sincerely,
Go Daddy
P.S. Visit GoDaddy.com (http://www.godaddy.com/default.aspx?prog_id=GoDaddy&isc=gdbba1365)
and SAVE 15%* off your order of $50 or more. Just use source code
gdbba1365 when you check out to get your special savings. Start
shopping now at GoDaddy.com or order by phone at (480) 505-8821.
*Please note that ICANN's Transfer Policy may prevent you from
transferring your domain name within 60-days of a transfer.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*Not applicable to ICANN fees, taxes, shipping and handling, sale
priced domains and transfers, bulk domains and transfers, premium
domains, Sunrise/Landrush domain registrations and pre-registrations,
memberships or maintenance plans, additional disk space and bandwidth
renewals, additional email addresses, Search Engine Visibility
advertising budget, Managed Hosting, custom page layouts, brand identity
services, Go Daddy branded merchandise or gift cards. Discount
reflected in your shopping cart - cannot be used in conjunction
with any other offer, discount or promotion, or in connection with
special partnership discount programs. After the initial purchase term,
discounted products purchased with special offer discounts will renew
at the then-current renewal list price.
Copyright (C) 2011 Go Daddy All rights reserved.
------
spauka
GoDaddy has responded to the allegations from namecheap at TechChrunch, saying
that the blocks were part of standard practice to limit the volume of Whois
queries from a single IP, which is apparently common practice, unless the
registrar is notified that there may be a large number of queries. [1]
If this is indeed true, then it seems namecheap are trying to score cheap PR
points, although they have responded saying they attempted to reach out to
GoDaddy.[2]
I'm inclined to believe that namecheap did try to reach them, although I'm not
sure that they are above trying to slam more bad press onto GoDaddy....
[1] [http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/26/godaddy-responds-to-
nameche...](http://techcrunch.com/2011/12/26/godaddy-responds-to-namecheap-
accusations-removes-normal-rate-limiting-block/)
[2] [http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/12/26/godaddy-
trans...](http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/12/26/godaddy-transfer-
update/#comment-1709)
------
iSloth
Well that explains why my transfer is taking so long...
------
freejack
NC is an enom reseller, so I'd guess that all of enom would be affected as
well. Nothing on the eNom status page, so not sure...
<http://www.enom.com/registrynews.asp>
~~~
gregholmberg
Does eNom own NameCheap?
http://davezan.com/does-enom-own-namecheap.html
No, it seems they don't, but the article provides details on a longstanding
partnership.
------
j_camarena
I use godaddy to buy .com.mx and .mx domains .. PLEASE, start selling this
domains.
I really hate to give money to godaddy .. i feel like a dollar for them is a
dollar for killing-elephants-for-joy safari.
------
overshard
I finally was able to get my domains transferred to Namecheap today. It's one
of those "I never liked GoDaddy anyways" kind of things and the entire SOPA
ordeal finally pushed me to it.
------
smcnally
If the (alleged) issue is that GoDaddy is throttling WHOIS lookups, does using
[<http://help.godaddy.com/article/3681](GoDaddys> Export Lists tool) and
including WHOIS info help? Or are the "real-time" lookups required by a new
registrar?
------
Aloisius
I moved all my domains from GoDaddy and one of them had trouble doing the
whois information. I did it myself and it in fact did look different from my
others. It could have just been the difference between a .org and a .com, but
I entered in the epp auth code with the transfers and it helped it along.
------
johnpowell
I just got the e-mail from GoDaddy to ask if I wanted to allow or decline the
transfer. I'm glad that got resolved. That was my one to test that I was doing
things correctly before I moved about 20 other domains off GoDaddy.
------
aaronpk
Thanks. I noticed this too.
------
pbreit
This doesn't strike me as one of the classier communications. Does it resonate
well with other people?
------
laironald
I bet namecheap's investors are smiling right about now.
------
smackfu
I wouldn't exactly be calling my employees in over Christmas to make it easier
for customers to leave.
------
g3orge
did you know that EA games and Sony also support SOPA?
~~~
soult
Are you really surprised? Both EA and Sony are known for installing rootkits
on their customer's computers.
------
compay
A bunch of my transfers appear to have been delayed because Namecheap
themselves have not generated the initial authorization email to begin the
tranfer process. The ones for which they did generate the email (about 1/4 of
my transfers) went through fine with no delays from Godaddy. Not sure what's
going on (I sent an email to support about 4 hours ago but have no response
yet), but so far I'm a little underwhelmed by their service.
~~~
PStamatiou
That authorization email is affected by what's discussed in this blog post --
they can't send it until they get all the domain info.
~~~
spolsky
If I were a registrar, I would have rate-limiters on domain info downloads to
prevent harvesting by spammers. And those rate-limiters would be set so as not
to interfere with normal demand, but might be tripped if, say, everyone tried
to transfer out their domains all at once.
Just sayin.' Never ascribe to malice what can adequately be explained by
reasonable engineering heuristics...
~~~
seanp2k2
Hey Namecheap, since I know you're on here (Anthony?): did you try contacting
some engineering folk at GoDaddy to try to resolve this delay for your
clients? I hope you already have, and that they told you to sit on it, given
the tone of your last blog post.
If you're just slinging non-verified mud at a competitor, kicking them when
they're down instead of focusing all your effort on actually fixing this, how
are you better than GoDaddy and why would a potential new client choose you
over them if you're both shady?
~~~
eropple
Amusing that you'd hope that GoDaddy would continue screwing their (soon to be
former) customers because they don't like that a competitor thinks they're
playing dirty pool.
Unsurprising, but amusing nevertheless.
~~~
seanp2k2
....what? My point was that it seems like Namecheap is just making efforts to
blame GoDaddy instead of efforts to actually fix the problem. I hope GoDaddy
dies in a fire. I hope everyone gets away from them ASAP and I hope they get
out of the domain business after that (it'd be great to at least see ICANN
call them out on it and fine them or something.)
As I see it, the more GoDaddy fights and does stupid things, the more it
increases the Streisand effect and the more people will become aware of how
awful they are.
~~~
eropple
Publicly lighting a fire under GoDaddy's rear is probably the most effective
way to make them act right.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google sees alleged child porn in man's email, alerts police - antimora
http://www.cnet.com/news/google-sees-alleged-child-porn-in-mans-email-alerts-police/
======
ColinWright
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8128951](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8128951)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8131407](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8131407)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8125039](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8125039)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8128687](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8128687)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Don't Forget to Spell Check - bennesvig
http://meghankathleen.com/post/7304034968/community-management-faux-pas-of-the-day-the-sound-of
======
stonemetal
I worked with a guy who spelled poorly, ran spell check and shall we say
didn't verify the results. I would get the most amusing emails because you
could tell spell check had been run(all the words were spelled correctly) but
the output of spell check hadn't been semantically verified. Kind of like mad
libs or a crossword puzzle gone awry. I wonder if it would be useful to have a
spell checker that displayed definitions and parts of speech next to the
suggested spelling. That way you could know with a little more certainty which
was the correct spelling. It has gotten me in to the habit of double checking
against dictionary.com when ever I use a spelling corrector and have the
slightest doubt about the results.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Florida cops hope Amazon Alexa can solve bizarre murder case - ga-vu
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50269667
======
anigbrowl
Seems kinda superfluous, given that the suspect's explanation that _Ms Galva
broke off one of the pointy bedposts and "it ended up inside of her"_ seems
too incoherent to qualify as a 'reasonable doubt'.
On a side note, I know it's Florida but $65k bail for a murder case?! That
seems insanely low considering the rather plausible allegation that the
defendant stabbed his victim with a piece of furniture.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Freud explains why there aren't more women entrepreneurs - bpang
http://bpang.posterous.com/freud-explains-why-there-arent-more-women-ent
Fred Wilson wrote a blog a few weeks ago called "XX Combinator," commenting on Teresa's earlier blog which proposes the founding of "XX Combinator" to support women entrepreneurs. The answer is very obvious. Freud is right, sex is the ultimate driver to explain most human behaviors.
======
elbrodeur
Interesting take on things, especially from a woman. Typically, this stance:
"How can we make more women successful? Without fundamental changes in how men
and women perceive attractiveness, it will be difficult to change the status
quo. ... what about making the next "Carrie Bradshaw" a hardworking tech
entrepreneur?"
is taken by men.
I think that the "reason" that there are fewer female entrepreneurs and
hackers than men is because of this psuedo-sexist ideology.
Why must it be attractive for a female to be powerful in order for her to
succeed? Screw how good you look. Do what you love and you'll be surrounded by
people who appreciate you and what you do.
Personally, I believe the disparity lies not in social overtones of
popularity, attractiveness and potential as a mate; I believe that the
disparity is primarily due to lack of mentorship, education and people telling
women, specifically in this case, that they can excel as an entrepreneur if
they choose.
My guess, though, is that this disparity is not going to last very long.
Gender differences continue to grow smaller in other fields and instances; why
not starting companies? Or, at least, it is my very sincere hope that this is
the case. Partially because it makes me sad every time 100 guys on HN try and
figure out what's wrong with women.
~~~
kiba
I will just say the politically incorrect things:
Women are in general more interested in having babies than men.
Women are also just different than men in some way, not just physically, but
socially.
We should close gender gap where possible, but we shouldn't insist on equal
gender balance if women really don't like to go into the same career that men
goes into.
~~~
elbrodeur
What do you mean by "more interested in having babies than men"?
Do you mean that, because women are capable of carrying a child to term that
they are more interested in copulating?
Do you mean to say that women want to have and raise children more than men?
I'm not sure I understand your point.
As to "Women are also just different than men in some way, not just
physically, but socially", all I can say is this was much more true 50 years
ago than it is today, but that doesn't mean that it's not true now. What I (as
well as the author of the article) was trying to address is: Why?
"We should close gender gap where possible, but we shouldn't insist on equal
gender balance if women really don't like to go into the same career that men
goes into."
Who is advocating forcing people to do things?
~~~
kiba
_Who is advocating forcing people to do things?_
I felt like that there is an assumption of male sexist bias against women or
something. So I feel something like "assumption of female ability in all area,
regardless of reality".
I also feel the ideas of "males are sexists and evil and the like".
Then they forget that males are disproportional one of the most violent
offenders, but also overachievers.
So I spoke the truth as I see it.
Don't be so offended, I would like a hacker woman to marry and love. I wish
there were more of them around and I wish I have the skills to date them.
However, I also recognized, that women are women, and there will never be a
50% split gender tech population.
------
petercooper
I listen to a BBC medical podcast (Medical Matters - it's really good) and
recently they were at a critical injuries unit in London. The reporter asked
the head of the unit why 90% of the patients there were men. The blunt answer
given was that men take more extreme risks and are, therefore, more likely to
need emergency medical attention. I could hear the PC brigade warming up their
pens to correct that observation as sexist and not based in reality, though.
~~~
rbanffy
If the same number of women engaged in the same kind of risky activities as
the men injured in this specific hospital, the lack of women could be
explained by men being less competent in these risky activities. It would be
as sexist as the above answer. Could also be that men are more fragile.
~~~
petercooper
I agree it _could_ be any of those things. Observationally, though, I concur
with the doctor based merely on the lack of women I see running across the
road in front of my car, skateboarding, BMX biking, base jumping, or generally
pratting about in public compared to men.
~~~
rbanffy
My point is that the statement of a fact cannot be considered sexist. My own
observations confirm your observations. Among my friends who parachute there
are about 20 men and 2 women. This ratio is much higher than the overall ratio
of men to women among my friends.
More observation than ours should be made before we conclude men have a higher
probability to engage in physically dangerous forms of entertainment, but I
would say it's a good bet they do.
At least in our society.
How much of it is nature and how much is nurture is what seems controversial.
------
houseabsolute
Considering Freud's theories have never been proven to have a basis in
reality, and considering this woman is an entrepreneur and has no apparent
expertise in the field she's commenting on, I'd advise you not to give her
conjecture much weight.
~~~
Groxx
How about the unconscious mind? Psychiatric therapy?
Freud wasn't just "sexsexsexsexsex".
~~~
ZeroGravitas
The unconscious mind is a millenia old idea and psychiatric medicine is
roughly as effective as having a chat with a random untrained person.
His work on curing heroin addiction was interesting, even took the remedy
himself and found it really perked him up. Cocaine really is a wonder drug.
~~~
ahinds
I'm a psychiatrist. This statement is obviously not true. Please substantiate
with literature reference.
------
dtf
This is (pop) evolutionary psychology, not psychoanalysis. Freud's reasoning
on why men are driven to become entrepreneurs, magnates, architects, artists
is that the boy, sensing that he has been robbed of the organs required to
procreate internally, is driven to create externally to assuage his loss. It's
the male equivalent of Freud's theory of "penis envy".
------
DaniFong
It wasn't genetic change that prompted the development of civilization from
our ancestors. It was memetic change. Culture and the spread of ideas is what
makes us human.
The drive to have and raising children is a powerful force in the human
psyche. Yet surely the desire to shape and guide those children, or to spread
out thoughts and feelings and philosophies among family, friends and foes
alike, must be at least as strong -- and sometimes more so.
How else might one explain the all too common act of disowning, shaming,
beating, or even killing one's children for disobeying religious precepts,
cultural taboos against who to love or marry, for failing to fit cultural or
gender norms. Or the vast religious wars that have waged across our
continents. Or this very debate?
\---
For what it is worth, from my vantage point the number of women founding
venture backed clean/green tech companies is rapidly growing.
------
rbanffy
I don't see much of a drive for more firewomen, female dock workers or, BTW,
more male kindergarten teachers. Let's close those gaps too...
Or we can face the fact we are different and cherish it.
------
dmor
I don't ever want to take funding from something like XX Combinator, its just
insulting to think I'd be getting money because of something I have no control
over like my gender.
I want to earn my success because of the things I _can_ control and what I
create with my own mind and hands and hard work.
Btw ladies, there are men out there who admire a woman who is strong and
successful - and they're worth searching for. Some of them even work for
startups, too
~~~
saulhoward
Perhaps it's worth pointing out that Americans receiving funding are already
"getting money because of something [they] have no control over", like their
nationality.
I am assuming here that an investor would be more likely to invest in an
entrepreneur with a green card. They would certainly be saving money by doing
so.
------
satishmreddy
I don't think guys do startups to get girls. There are much easier paths to
get there. :)
------
abalashov
For the most part, overly serious psychological inquiry into this question
misses the point. At the end of the day, this kind of anecdotal testament is
the most valuable insight of all.
------
ScotterC
I feel that this it ignores the greater purpose that mankind has. Greater then
finding a mate. Creating and building. That is universal and is gender
neutral.
~~~
anamax
> I feel that this it ignores the greater purpose that mankind has. Greater
> then finding a mate. Creating and building. That is universal and is gender
> neutral.
Mankind doesn't have that purpose and may not even have any purposes. Many
people value certain things, but that's very different.
Don't confuse what survival often selects for with purpose.
~~~
ScotterC
Looks like we're headed down a path that reflects our philosophical outlook
more then anything else. To each his own.
------
hakl
Good article. But I have to admit I was a little disappointed: with Freud in
the title I was expecting, at the very least, something involving penises.
------
sprout
Curious that xkcd commented on this sort of thinking just Wednesday:
<http://www.xkcd.com/775/>
Though most of the article remains very relevant when you take it out of the
"this is the way it has been for thousands of years" mold which doesn't really
have incredibly ironclad evidence and recognize that our present society does
present these barriers for women.
But I do think that overcoming our perceptions is not a matter of overcoming
hardwired notions, but societally reinforced norms which can seem awfully
hardwired.
~~~
hakl
A Freudian explanation isn't the same as an based on "evolutionary histories".
Her last paragraph is about changing perceptions of attractiveness.
~~~
sprout
I realize her argument was not a cut-and-dry evo-psych narrative, but she came
close, and this paragraph in particular felt suspect:
>For thousands of years, men look for beautiful and young-looking women to
bear their children and women look for powerful men who can well protect
themselves and their children. Such an instinct has been imprinted into our
unconsciousness.
------
Mz
I think it boils down to the economics of having children: Most women (about
90%) have them sooner or later. It helps to have two parents to provide for
the kid(s). Lots of other stuff grows out of this basic fact, including the
typical female emphasis on "attractiveness" -- because that is (theoretically)
how you get a man.
Short version of a lot of reading I have done over the years: European women
put a lot of emphasis on getting assistance from society and government with
the burden of bearing and rearing children. This has helped narrow the gender-
gap on income, generally without pushing up the divorce rate to American
levels. But in America, women generally have taken the political position of
"Don't tread on me" and "Get the fuck out my way and I will show you what I
can do, damnit!", which is a historical American political position dating
back to the American Revolution. This works fairly well -- until you have
kids. Women who are unmarried and childless make about 98% of what men make,
given similar experience and education. But, overall, American women make
about 2/3 what men make, the same figure listed somewhere in the bible as
their difference in value (ie from about 2000 years or so ago).
Some of the most frustrated, baffled women I have known are women who thought
they could make it on a man's terms in a man's world and did quite well for
themselves -- that is _until they had children_. Then it all fell apart and
they couldn't figure out wtf happened or how the hell to fix it. I think I am
still alive and doing better than I "should" be because I never tried to make
it in a man's world on a man's terms. I followed a female path of success. So
having kids unexpectedly early derailed my immediate career plans but did not
derail my life unrecoverably.
------
rtomayko
That's fucking ridiculous and the stupidest thing I've ever heard of in my
life.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Blizzard internals from GDC Austin - siculars
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25307
======
patio11
One interesting line out of many in this article:
_[WoW runs on] over 13,250 server blades, 75,000 cpu cores, and 112.5
terabytes of blade RAM, [...] 1.3 petabytes of storage._
~~~
prakash
The RAM is the standout relative to everything else -- that's a lot of RAM.
~~~
harpastum
Not really. That's 1.5GB per core, and 8.5GB per slice. I'd say that's right
about average, especially for a gaming server.
------
nihilocrat
_Brack singled out the tools team as a critical component of this group. They
make tools not only for the developers, but for customer service as well._
Hey, this is what I do! Well, for a different company, not Blizzard. It seems
to be an afterthought for most companies so it's nice to see him point that
out in particular.
------
boredguy8
123 people on cinematics? I've played WoW since beta, and until recently have
seen all the content at all levels of the game raid-wise. This seems like a
lot of people for how few cut-scenes there are, and for the few pre-rendered
FMV scenes. Am I missing something, or wildly underestimating what it takes to
produce 3 minutes of FMV?
~~~
jeffcoat
The groups responsibilities include "machinima sequences", which I take to
include most pre-scripted in-game sequences that have NPCs doing something;
triggered, say, by ending a quest. I suspect there are a lot of those.
(I wanted to compare that number to the people writing the quests themselves
-- it still does seem high -- but that group isn't explicitly mentioned. The
keynote is definitely glossing over a lot, even at this level of detail.)
~~~
pvg
I think when he said 'cut scenes' he meant the 'machinima sequences' as
opposed to the pre-rendered cinematics. And there really aren't very many of
those, either, far fewer than you seem to think - it's a very rare quest that
ends with or contains such a sequence.
~~~
fh
Not that rare, I remember a dozen or two across Northrend. Almost every major
quest chain ends with such a sequence (and most of them involve the Lich King
taunting you). Admittedly the many many quests along the quest chain typically
don't have machinima sequences.
~~~
zyb09
Sorry what are you talking about? There's exactly one ingame cinematic in WoW
(Wrath gate) and 3 prerendered once (intro video for each addon & maingame).
That's it. The 123 people of the cinematic team at Blizzard produce videos for
all Blizzard games and are currently heavily involved in Starcraft II, which
is supposed to have an hour of ingame cinematics as well as several minutes of
prerendered videos.
~~~
pvg
The poster is talking about things like 'Lich King stands around talking shit'
and (the now defunct) 'Marshal Windsor takes an excruciatingly slow walk
through Stormwind' scripted bits. They're still quite few and can't possibly
require anything close to 123 people (Red vs Blue was done by two people,
after all and probably has more machinima in two episodes than the entirety of
WoW).
------
pvg
Another number that struck me as interesting is that the programming, art and
design departments combined add up to fewer people (120) than the cinematics
department (123).
There's probably some explanation for this, perhaps that directing "the
creation of sword replicas, statues, and other physical objects" takes a lot
more manpower than I imagine.
~~~
slyn
Even more surprising to me was this:
"Brack went on to talk about the customer support staff, a group with 2,056
game masters, 340 billing managers, and a host of other background staffers."
Programming, art and design, and cinematics adds up to maybe ~250 people.
Supporting and monetizing what they make requires about 10x the manpower. Is
that normal among all mega-corporations/projects, or is that something unique
to MMO staffings?
~~~
henning
There are about 75-125 WoW servers (parallel instances of the game all hosted
by Blizzard), each having several thousand to the low tens of thousands of
users. 2056 GMs for that puts it at about 20-30 GMs a server. 20-30 people to
police ~15,000 players seems reasonable.
If a small percentage of people are having billing issues, that's tens of
thousands of people with issues, and billing requires detailed, one-on-one
interaction from a Blizzard employee, so 340 to handle all that seems
reasonable to me.
Based on the size of the player base the numbers seem right. The support staff
will have to grow with the userbase.
~~~
pvg
<http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/realmstatus/>
That's 242 realms, US only. Probably similar number of realms in the EU and
China regions.
------
lowdown
Tom Chilton was a guildmate in UO. Great guy. It's cool to see him doing well.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Men’s Locker Room Designers Take Pity on Naked Millennials - tetraodonpuffer
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/fashion/mens-style/mens-locker-room-designers-take-pity-on-naked-millennials.html
======
CPLX
Watching old men walk around and have conversations with each other about
their wife and kids while their drooping hairy genitals flap back and forth
has been a time honored gymgoing right of passage for generations. These young
whippersnappers have no respect for tradition, clearly.
~~~
ClayM
i'm on the older side of the millennial generation (born in 1980) and since I
was 22, I've been going to one of those nicer gyms where there's lots of old
men walking around with their junk hanging out.
it bothered me for about 6 months, then i got over it.
also realized that it was an amazing place to network. putting up walls would
have been bad for my career.
------
Practicality
Can we get over the generations concept soon? Younger people are less
mature... because they are younger.
At some point the millennials will be the old generation complaining about how
we used to have to actually "text" rather than just think our ideas and have
them transcribed.
There will be something about how the process of having to conceive of grammar
and spelling made your thoughts more coherent.
But society will move on anyway, and yes, the younger generation will be less
mature, at least, until it gets older.
I never really understood why it bothers people so much that things progress.
But maybe I am just grumpy because it is Monday :)
~~~
Wintamute
Differences in attitudes between generations are interesting to think about,
and illustrative of changes to society. Are you suggesting that literally the
only differences between generations are related to maturity? The article
didn't seem overly "bothered" by the millennial attitudes it described, rather
it was simply noting them and exploring the idea that business practices may
need to change to accommodate them. The only one who seems "bothered" is you,
so maybe you are feeling grumpy! Hope you feel better soon :)
~~~
michaelt
The problem with discussions of change to society and differences between
generations is it's very tempting for people talking about those things to
extrapolate anecdotes and first-hand experiences, which measure the journalist
more than they measure society.
For example, a 25-year-old journalist might think that getting married and
having children has risen in popularity compared to 7 years ago. Is it a sign
people are recovering confidence after the 2008 economic downturn? Maybe - but
it might just mean all his/her friends from school are getting married and
having kids, and more people do that at age 25 than at age 18. Maybe society
hasn't changed at all :)
------
skywhopper
I'm surprised at the comments here. I wonder how many of you experienced
bullying in gym class over your body's appearance. The privacy of one's naked
body is pretty important thing to a lot of people, but particularly to young
teenagers, many of whom would opt out of gym class if they could, and who
often enter puberty at very different ages. Even if you are or were
comfortable walking around naked in front of others, it's cruel to force all
people to face something that just isn't necessary.
Now, I agree that "comfy couch corners" and "sexy glass escape pods" seem
silly and unrealistic (albeit typical of such NYT articles) but just basic
privacy for showers and dressing ought to be a no-brainer for locker rooms for
any age.
~~~
amyjess
Fortunately, when I was in high school (1999-2003), guys didn't get naked in
the locker room before and after PE.
I don't know what the girls did, because this was years before my transition,
but in the guys' locker room, nobody ever took off their underwear. We all
swapped our regular clothes and our gym clothes out while leaving our boxers
in place. We didn't shower, either, which is something the article mentions in
passing (with a link to a more detailed article on the subject).
The only time I ever saw people naked (as much as I tried not to) was on the
rare occasions we'd go swimming for gym class.
~~~
Tharkun
What do you mean, 'fortunately'?. Not only is it disgusting from a hygiene
point of view -- especially wrt sweaty teenagers! -- it's also a great way to
come to terms with nudity. With porn as the main source of nudity, it's no
wonder that so many teens have self-image issues.
~~~
eastbayjake
I think the 'fortunately' was in reference to OP saying she was pre-
transition, which I imagine might make a men's locker room experience anxious
and painful, and I thank OP for bringing up that perspective because I hadn't
considered it while thinking about my own locker room experiences.
I agree with you that showering after wrestling practice forced me to come to
terms with nudity, and I'm grateful for the confidence boost that comes from
seeing that most men look the same under their clothes. (But I don't think
"size anxiety", if you will, is limited to special snowflake Millennials who
haven't been naked in front of others... it seems like many men of all ages
worry about it and feed into a thriving industry of enlargement scams -- at
least judging by the contents of my spam folder!)
------
cobookman
Having more private locker rooms could have negative psychological side
effects on us. At first the naked locker room is weird. However after a while
you stop caring. Its almost like a body self empowerment.
I can see the positive & negative side of it though. However sheltering the
youth from all negative feedback is not a good thing either. People need to
grow up facing adversity.
~~~
golemotron
I agree. My first thought reading the article was "can this generation become
any more precious?"
Feelings are great, but when you put them in the driver's seat you don't get
the chance to see how they can change and how you can grow in the process.
It's the difference between being scared of flying all your life and getting
past that fear. There's pride in overcoming your fears. You feel less like a
victim.
~~~
benten10
Nope. You're conflating two _very_ unrelated trends to prove your pre-existing
'can this generation become any more precious' belief.
For example, people in India are generally opposite of what you might call
'precious'. Parents will very openly call out their kids on their body size,
their appearance, there whatever. Young men and womanly will openly (and
sometimes, far too much) discuss relative attractiveness of persons -- often
admitting that while they themselves are not that attractive, so and so is
even uglier, etcetera. They are, I would imagine, not in any sense of the word
'precious' or coddled. The South Asian cultures are also the epitome of what
might be considered 'collective' culture, versus the more American
individualistic, 'me-me-me' culture.
And yet. People never ever ever get naked. Ever. Not even when they shower. In
their private bathrooms. With no one watching. There's joke about how South
Asians don't get naked even when having sex (which, I'm told, appears to
reflect reality). You would imagine, with people so comfortable with friends
and families (note South Asian men have traditionally been verrry comfortable
being physically close to other men, including holding hands, frequent hugs,
etcetera), they would not be as shy about nudity. And yet they are.
Here's another datapoint: the Japanese, who are still culturally very family-
community centered, will get naked at a drop of a feather.
Use your 'precious generation doesn't want to get naked' theory to explain
these, and your theory will pass the basic test.
~~~
Wintamute
The difference here is we're not observing long standing cultural attitudes in
millennials, but a very short term shift that defies their parent culture.
You're criticising OP for _not_ comparing apples and oranges ~ doesn't make
sense. OP's point stands.
~~~
benten10
OP claims to explain the 'shying away from nudity' phenomena using the 'ahh
those precious young people' argument. I argue that it's not necessarily the
'precious youth' that is shy of nudity, and I present a cross-cultural proof
that shyness of nudity is not necessarily due to his presumed cause.
Comparing Apples to Oranges is exactly what's needed here. By doing so, I'm
helping isolate the variable OP suggests affects Apples is not so. Imagine
he'd claimed that Apples are suddenly brown because of 'those damn young
trees'. If I show that those darned young trees elsewhere don't have the same
issue, then there'd be a greater need on the OP's side to actually provide the
proof that it's those darned precious young people.
OP needs to provide a greater proof that it's because of those 'precious
youth'. I might argue that it's due to increased cultural influence of more
body-conservative cultures, or because (ridiculous as it may sound) online
nudity is now so common, people don't want their online versions to be
identified to offline bodies [which is VERY different from what OP argues].
------
pjc50
This is definitely improved by the "millenials" => "snake people" translator.
------
jschwartzi
I really don't think people at the gym care that much about being nude in the
locker room. This reads a lot like a paid-for ad for design services.
~~~
adrianN
Anecdotally, in my gym a lot of the younger people shower while wearing
underwear.
~~~
CPLX
Does this actually happen in real life? Underwear, like cotton things you wear
under your clothes normally, not swimwear?
~~~
adrianN
Yes, actual underwear. I assume the same one they exercized in. (Amazing life
hack: shower in your undies and save $$$ in laundry!)
It amazes me as much as you even though I see it every other day.
------
gk1
Millennials? Gyms like Equinox in NYC start at over $600 per month. I see the
described designs as adding luxury to wealthy clients, not adding privacy to
pee-shy youngins.
~~~
CPLX
> Gyms like Equinox in NYC start at over $600 per month
No, they don't. That's ridiculous.
~~~
gk1
You're right, I was thinking of the starting fee. The monthly rate is around
$200:
[http://ny.racked.com/2015/1/13/7561179/nyc-chain-gyms-
cost](http://ny.racked.com/2015/1/13/7561179/nyc-chain-gyms-cost)
~~~
wldcordeiro
That's still a lot to pay per month for a gym membership.
~~~
CPLX
It's also New York, and Equinox.
NYSC is basically the Starbucks of gyms in the city, they are middle of the
road and everywhere. Their rates are $20-30 a month now.
------
A_COMPUTER
The article didn't mention that this is also being done to short-circuit the
overwhelming opposition (using nakedness as a wedge) to trans-people in locker
rooms of their identified gender.
------
rakePerh
This was incredibly tart. Some of us younger millennials are not "subsidized"
and scrape up the extra money per month for a gym because we are concerned
about aging healthfully. I, too, bristled at the writer giving the "special
snowflake millennial" dead horse another dryfuck.
------
bryanlarsen
A large percentage of people who go to the gym go _because_ they have body
image issues. No need to make going even harder for them.
------
nsxwolf
I'm a Gen-Xer and I went to great lengths to avoid getting naked in front of
classmates. I still don't like being naked in front of strangers.
I cringe when I hear stories about swimming naked in high school in the 1950s.
------
roneesh
I suspect a part of this is due to America's losing of a Spa culture. Korea,
Russia, Germany and Scandinavian countries seem to have (comparatively)
thriving cultures, which make people more comfortable being naked around each
other.
I do agree with the common sentiment here though, what a tired, boring trope
to pillory millennials for this quirk. It's hardly ideal that they're becoming
more body conscious, but it's quite a great solace to instead appreciate how
much they're advocating for tolerance in our society.
~~~
cafard
There weren't any more spas in the US during the 1960s and 1970s, but there
certainly were common showers in the locker rooms in high schools and junior
high schools. For that matter, there were in the early 1980s, when a race I
ran in ended at a junior high school.
------
peter303
1) It started long before millennials. Gang showers pretty much disappeared in
anything built after 1990. 2) I hear the military has mostly gone private
showers too. Thats how pervasive this trend it. 3) I remember school teacher
friends complaining how smelly their students were. They just would not shower
after gym class and still dont. These days many schools are so informal that
kids just wear athletic clothes all day. 4) Other than sociological phenomena,
I dont really care.
------
amyjess
Having a private changing area is something that could be very good for trans
people.
Now if only they'd do this for women's locker rooms, too...
~~~
delecti
I had the same thought. I've hesitated to join a gym for that very reason.
------
Zikes
As usual, the older generations fear change and subsequently lash out at the
younger generations. The cycle continues.
~~~
venomsnake
I think of myself still as the young generation since I am from the so called
millennials. Generally speaking I hate dumb stuff. Giving a fuck about what
someone thinks about your body is dumb. Also in the gym - nobody does. Nobody
really even thinks you exist and everyone has something better to do. You get,
you undress, dress and get out.
Do i fear change - hardly. Privacy requires space. Space means higher rents,
which mean higher fees. I personally prefer to see/show from time to time
acknowledgment that penises exist outside of porn and giger works and keep the
gym experience cheap.
~~~
Zikes
> Giving a fuck about what someone thinks about your body is dumb.
Giving a fuck about what someone thinks about you is the natural human
condition. That's not really the point, though. Privacy isn't about having
something to hide, it's about the right to choose.
But if you personally prefer to stare at dongs all day, you'll still have the
internet and politics.
~~~
Jtsummers
> But if you personally prefer to stare at dongs all day, you'll still have
> the internet and politics.
It's easy not to stare, you literally control your eyes. You can direct them
upward. As a male (assuming heterosexual) do you find it impossible to _not_
stare at women's cleavage? If you can look away from that, and you're
attracted to it, then why would looking away from other men's genitals be
difficult when you're _not_ attracted to them?
~~~
Zikes
That was in response to "I personally prefer to see/show from time to time"
~~~
venomsnake
Compared to paying for a lot of useless waste of space ignoring a glimpse of a
dick is not a big deal.
------
joesmo
Maybe I have some natural talent (doubtful), but changing under a towel is
really easy and convenient, so I really don't see what all the fuss is about.
I first learned the "skill" on crowded beaches.
------
serge2k
> “Old-timers, guys that are 60-plus, have no problem with a gang shower and
> whatever,” Mr. Dunkelberger said. “The Gen X-ers are a little bit more
> sensitive to what they’re spending and what they’re expecting. And the
> millennials, these are the special children. They expect all the amenities.
> They grew up in families that had Y.M.C.A. or country club memberships. They
> expect certain things. Privacy, they expect.”
or maybe the naked old guy in the locker room is a common joke for a reason.
------
takk309
The concept of non-sexual nudity is very quickly disappearing in the US. I
play on a co-ed hockey team and there is one gal that has no qualms about
hopping in the shower with the guys. It is not weird because we all realize
that it is non-sexual. That being said, in the main locker room area, I do try
to minimize the amount that I expose myself to the other women that are not as
comfortable, but that is out of respect for them, not my own fears.
------
dogma1138
I wonder how would they deal with co-ed showers and sauna's in mainland Europe
where you can have a 65 year old man steaming next to a 22 year old woman both
naked and no one bats an eye.
------
flyinghamster
Wait a second. I thought that the millenials were too busy sexting one
another, or at least it seems as if that was the current moral panic. Now
they're afraid to be seen without clothes?
------
Nadya
I'm a millennial and had no issues going to a foreign country and getting
naked with complete strangers. (Japan, visiting an onsen.)
The problem is with American prudish behavior and helicopter "nudity-is-bad"
parenting. I agree with many of the comments below: no wonder people have
body/self image issues. The only nudity they see is from porn.
------
benten10
As someone's mentioned on Twitter, I'd like a browser extension that replaces
"Millennials" with 'people more youthful, more attractive, and more sexually
active than us', please!
~~~
circlefavshape
/me raises one eyebrow
Prettier != more sexually active. If you're lucky you'll find this out for
yourself, eventually
~~~
benten10
I have, unfortunately, learned this already. STILL makes one not feel better
about oneself, haha. But that's for a different day and a different thread on
a different forum. : )
Talking of nudity, to all those 'those dang young people' arguments: how does
one reconcile young people are getting more comfortable with ONLINE nudity,
but less with offline.
We ['millennials'] get hated on either way. There's news of snapchat and
sexts, and we're told 'those damn millennials, strutting about their stuffs
like they invented sex'. We get shy about nudity, and we're told 'those damn
millennials. So precious, can't even stand to be naked in front of other
people'. Give us a break, Olds.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Colo hosting cheaper than high-end VPS, so why VPS? - tworats
I've been tempted by VPS solutions, but no matter how I slice it colo hosting comes out cheaper:<p>- You can pick up a refurbished 1u server for $100-$150, for example from geeks.com . That'll get you an older processor, but often 4GB of RAM. Whatever you get will be significantly more powerful than low end VPS's, equivalent to a high-end VPS.<p>- We're hosting at a facility with excellent connectivity but little technical support. We pay ~$60 per month all in.<p>So for $200 upfront and $60/month we get the equivalent of a linode 4096, which would cost $160/month.<p>- We have a similar setup at another data center from another colo provider with semi-hot fail-over, providing both backup and BCP.<p>I can't figure out why people would go for high-end VPS instead of buying their own hardware and hosting. Is there a hidden benefit I'm missing?
======
briandoll
Rolling your own will always be cheaper when all you compare are the costs of
hardware and hosting costs. It also tends to be a huge time-suck and a big
pain in the ass. What is your time worth? I rolled my own for years too, and
then I realized I was twiddling with servers rather than building better
software. That made it a very easy reason to switch.
~~~
tworats
I thought along the same lines, but our experience has been that beyond the
initial server setup time we spend almost no time twiddling with servers.
Hardware failures are extremely rare, and in case we have a significant one
we'd just replace the entire server. Since our software deployment is
automated, it takes little effort to fire up a new server.
~~~
briandoll
And where does that new server come from? How quickly can you get one set up
at your datacenter? Automated software deployment is easy by comparison.
Hardware failures are rare until they happen. At the end of the day, you get
to decide if the value of business continuity is worth it of not. Maybe in
your case it's not.
I'm not suggesting that VPS is the answer for everyone though. Certainly an
app that has significant infrastructure almost always benefits from rolling
their own hardware, and hiring systems administrators to manage that
infrastructure.
Since you're talking about a single machine, from my perspective, a VPS is
cheaper and more reliable over the long term.
~~~
tworats
Business continuity comes from having warm/hot backup servers in different
colos, not from the speed at which we can replace servers. But your point is
taken, it is certainly much easier to have a server replacement automatically
happen than to have to buy the server, set it up, and drive to colo.
------
jread
I agree it is cheaper (I have a full cabinet of hardware co-located myself),
but at the expense of being on call 24x7x365. Although hardware is generally
reliable, it can and does fail. Do you want to be the guy dealing with the
burned out power supply at 3AM?
~~~
tworats
I definitely don't want to be the guy getting the 3AM call, but I don't see
how going with a VPS saves me from that. Our approach is to have a semi-hot
backup with semi-automated fail-over (hopefully fully automated in the
future).
Using a VPS simply gives you the ability to get a new server up and running
quickly. You'll still get the 3AM call unless you have automated fail-over.
~~~
jread
Usually a good outsourced provider will have measures in place to monitor and
pro-actively deal with hardware failures as well as maintain standbys and
replacement parts onsite. My point is simply that by outsourcing you don't
have to deal with those issues. You might still get the call, but your
provider should already be working on a fix.
------
corin_
All my company's servers are dedicated rental, we have a deal with a provider
that effectively gives us colo costs without paying the upfront server costs.
But for my personal use, there a few reasons I like VPS options:
\- Flexibility: rarely does a month go by where I don't shut down at least one
server and add at least one server, plus various resizes
\- Locations: my five current VPS servers are split over three data centres in
two continents, without any of the hassle of making three seperate
arrangements for colocation
\- Price: High-end VPSs offer worse value for money than the cheaper options,
and for server testing/developement it's handy to be able to pay ~$20/month
for a low-end option
\- Control Panels: It's surprisingly nice to be able to re-install the OS in a
couple of minutes with a single click, to have a simple web GUI to control
backups (and for that matter, the option to automatically backup the entire
server regularly), it's not something I'd need for most servers, but for
testing stuff out where I'm regularly re-installing it is very nice (I've got
my server deployment down to a 600line bash script, so any time I want to try
something new I re-install the OS, run my script, and in 5 minutes I've got my
ideal server ready to go)
~~~
tworats
Control panel keeps coming up. I haven't used one, so maybe that's what I'm
missing. You're right, single click OS install or backup would be compelling.
~~~
astrodust
Being able to dump, restore, rebuild, reimage, or do pretty much anything to
the server without fear of leaving it in some unrecoverable state is an
advantage that cannot be ignored. It's great that you can simply trash and
reinstall a server without having to be careful you won't inadvertently lock
yourself out and need to request a technician for a reboot or a manual
rebuild.
If you have a co-lo provider that gives you access to toggle power plus serial
console access, you have it nearly as good, but you still can't re-image the
machine without having it installed as such from the start.
The best hybrid approach would be to get a decent machine at a co-lo provider,
then partition it yourself using Xen.
------
fjabre
If you can avoid colo I would. It's such a pain in the ass to remotely
troubleshoot the servers when that one thing does go wrong with the hardware.
I blogged about it here:
[http://teabuzzed.com/2009/08/the-number-one-reason-my-
startu...](http://teabuzzed.com/2009/08/the-number-one-reason-my-startup-
failed/)
For the power I needed and what I could afford colo was the only way to go but
it definitely came with a price...
If/when you're big enough colo probably makes more sense but in the beginning
VPS is definitely the way to go.
------
wo
Can anyone point me to some good resources/guides for Colo information? I am
trying to get a better grasp of the pros/cons, etc. Sites or individual
articles would be greatly appreciated.
------
Daniel_Newby
Why a VPS can be better:
\- Assured hardware continuity when you depart from the project (death, buy-
out, vacation).
\- Easy temporary duplicate server for migrating database.
\- Remote console at a more affordable price.
\- Affordable geographical distribution. (Provision in London and Tokyo just
because you feel like it.)
\- Rapid scale up. And scale down if the project turns out to only need a
$15/month VPS.
\- Instantly replace bad hardware on vacation.
\- Rapid hard drive failure recovery.
\- Better hardware (SAN + premium RAID, redundant power supplies, ECC memory).
\- Better physical security (deep background checks for every person allowed
in the building).
~~~
tworats
That's a fair list. I'd argue that you can get scale-up by augmenting your
colo servers with on-demand VPS servers and still save money on the common
case (we did this not too long ago when we got an unusual traffic spike). If
the traffic is consistent, just add another colo sever.
The "replace hardware on vacation" argument is the most compelling so far.
Better hardware and better physical security I don't necessarily buy; security
is the same at a colo, and good hardware is pretty cheap these days.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Scientist at Work - Edward O. Wilson - echair
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/science/15wils.html?em&ex=1216440000&en=626b5e1816f9b318&ei=5070
======
mynameishere
I remember getting into an argument with a sociology professor (in hindsight,
probably a Marxist) who stated that there are no instinctual behaviors. I gave
a simple example--babies suckling--that just angered him more.
Obviously, all behavior is partly shaped by instinct. But the connection is so
non-deterministic that it's pretty easy to completely deny it. Sometimes the
dog goes to his foodbowl at 2:00, sometimes at 2:10. Or, sometimes he smacks
his lips, sometimes not. Ergo, the dog does not have an instintual urge to
eat. At least not in a particular way. If nothing else, you could probably
teach a dog, BF Skinner-like, to have anorexia nervosa. Behavior _can be
engineered_. No doubt about it.
The problem, of course, is that personality qualities are partly inherited
just like intelligence. This is problematic for a couple reasons:
1\. The practice of measuring intelligence is well-developed and the results
have been carefully studied. This is not the case with vague behaviors like
"hardworkingness".
2\. Traditionally, when coming up with excuses for why different groups have
different levels of intelligence, other types of behavior are brought up:
"Those Asian students spend all their time studying. Of course they succeed."
This suggests that studiousness is the prescription for fixing bad students.
But, in fact, that very studiousness is largely shaped by genetics.
Sociobiology kills off the last fantasies of Marxism.
~~~
logjam
Uh, no.
May I recommend "Guns, Germs, and Steel" to you.
That book effectively _destroys_ any idea that studiousness, or intelligence,
at the group level (like your example of "Asians", whatever the hell "Asians"
means), has _anything_ to do with genetics.
~~~
mynameishere
_has anything to do with genetics_
Well, I would never say genetics is 100 percent responsible for any products
of the mind. You seem to think that genetics is zero percent responsible. This
is an untenable position, and not one Jared Diamond would hold either, at
least not when he was researching the importance of testicle sizes of
different races [1]. (You have to actually read it to get a laugh. Anyone have
a nature login?)
I am so tired of Jared Diamond. It seems like there's always some sheister,
Stephen Jay Gould, or Diamond, or _somebody_ who propagandizes effectively
enough to come up every time a subject is raised.
[1]
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v320/n6062/abs/320488a0...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v320/n6062/abs/320488a0.html)
------
Alex3917
Scientists have been in favor of group selection since the late 1800s. I don't
see what's new about this at all. Here's a quote from 1902 that implies the
existence of group selection:
"Competition [...] is limited among animals to exception periods. [...] Better
conditions are created by the elimation of competition by means of mutual aid
and mutual support. [...] "Don't Compete" -- competition is always injurious
to the species, and you have plenty of resources to avoid it!" That is the
tendency of nature, not always realized in full, but always present. That is
the watchword which comes to us from the bush, the forest, the river, the
ocean. "Therefore combine -- practice mutual aid!" That is what nature teaches
us." -- Pter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid
------
byrneseyeview
Related: <http://isteve.blogspot.com/2008/07/save-ants.html>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Psychology of music preference - dunstad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology_of_music_preference
======
krick
This article might be quite nice example for why so many people angrily reject
calling psychology a "science". All that stuff is pretty much obvious in the
sense of "this is what one would assume about others music preferences", it's
all too ambiguous and, honestly, results of any "study" of that short may
change drastically, depending on expected results and research methods used.
The worst part of it is I very much believe there are some studies, that
"show" these results (I didn't bother to follow the links).
Of course, I haven't done any "psychological studies" on that matter, but I
dare to say that unbiased reality is much more prosaic and quite obvious for
anyone who has experience of, well, _communicating with people_. The
psychological portrait of a teenager who doesn't actually know about most of
music outside his favorite band/genre will correlate with the genre, because
he didn't really chose the genre: it is just part of subculture he belongs to,
which is obviously related to person's nature and culture of his
time/location. It doesn't have to (and probably even doesn't) depend on music
itself.
The same stays true about a person, that this teenager became after growing
up. Obviously, these guys will be majority of any study of the sorts.
Finding some relationship between music preferred and psychological portrait
_could_ be interesting among a group of individuals, who have broad knowledge
of music, and can name preferred genre, which they listen the most. These are
always a minority, and unsurprisingly, any stereotypes about relationship
between music preferences and personality just happen to be wrong to the point
of being hilarious: such big is incompatibility between "what this guy should
be listening to according to stereotypes" and "what he actually listens". Even
more often, though, anyone who has broad enough knowledge of music to _chose_
a genre, fails to _name_ a genre, because he really just has favorite _songs_
or _albums_ (for about any possible mood), not _bands_ and _genres_.
------
dunstad
I found it interesting how extraversion and openness to experience were
separate here. I've always parceled those two together, and anecdotally there
seems to be some correlation there.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Project Cybersyn: real-time computer control of a planned economy (1970-1973) - henning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersyn
======
mseebach
It's quite telling that this attempt by a Marxist government to computerise
control of the economy had it's biggest success in organising scabs during a
strike.
Also..
_It took about a year to become operational but it was never completely
finished._
and
_The software (...) was written by Chilean engineers in consultation with a
team of 12 British programmers._
12 developers for a year.. controlling the entire economy?This smells a lot
like vaporware, and it was in fact never operational, even though the article
makes it sound like the main culprit was the 1973 coup.
~~~
scotty79
It was just 500 factories. Probably any company today that has at least 500
factories has similar (modern) hierarchical system of control in place.
AI is effectively replacing free market from inside out not top down like in
government attempts to instantiate centrally planned economy.
~~~
gritzko
Exactly. Free market does not contradict planning. Both in-house and national-
level planning works quite nicely in market economies. Leontief got a Nobel
for theory and practice of the process.
------
aditya
This is an interesting problem.
I'm not an expert, but I feel like a lot of socialism depends on accurate
demand forecasting and in the past forecasting models may have failed because
of lack of real-time data collection and processing capabilities. As both
collection (sensor networks) and processing (CPU) capabilities increase
exponentially, perhaps the model can be made more accurate.
Of course, I'm sure socialism as an economic system has other, deeper flaws
:-)
~~~
dantheman
This short essay from the 1920's lays out the fundamental flaws of trying to
do economic calculations in the socialist state:
Economic Calculation In The Socialist Commonwealth:
<http://mises.org/econcalc.asp>
~~~
jacoblyles
I'm also a big fan of Hayek's "The Use of Knowledge in Society" which explains
how a capitalist system, rather than being "unplanned" as its critics often
claim, actually uses decentralized planning that makes more efficient use of
knowledge at all levels of society.
<http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/hykKnw1.html>
------
jgfoot
I really, really like that photograph of the "control room." It's like a
beautiful fusion of every fab 1960s sci-fi set I've ever seen.
~~~
effn
That's exactly what it is (Sci-fi). It was never operational, just a mockup
for propaganda reasons.
There is a very interesting video about the entire project here:
<http://vimeo.com/8000921>
~~~
jgfoot
Thanks for that link -- the video is even more fascinating.
------
plesn
I wonder how open it was, and how democratically controllable it was.
I'm not surprised by such a system, I mean, every big controlling entity
(Banks, Wall-Mart) has a something like this but much more modern. The
difficult "political" part here, is to make such a information system
_democratic_ by opening information to citizens and putting them at the basis
of decisions.
Robin Hahnel and Micheal Albert wrote things about that, an economy with
decentralized decision taking-process, "Looking Forward: Participatory
Economics in the Twenty First Century" is a good intro to that. They include
computers to ease decision making.
------
10ren
JIT inventory control + Dr. Evil
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just-in-time_(business)>
------
abalashov
It would be interesting to see where Soviet central planning might have gone
if it were possible to solve massive sets of thousands or even millions of
simultaneous equations digitally during the heyday of the whole affair.
------
Jim72
Anyone see a connection with the real world Cybersyn and the fictitious
Cyberdyne Systems from the Terminator movie?
------
1010011010
This sounds like the way that WalMart operates its stores.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Stateset - domsteil
http://stateset.io
======
domsteil
A progressive web application (PWA) that connects your CRM, Shopify and Stripe
Payments into one fast and simple interface.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Try, FormSubmit 2.0 with most advanced features - kesara9
https://formsubmit.co
======
karmakaze
I quite like the landing page. Very no nonsense with just well laid out text.
Could maybe have hand-written the HTML.
The only concern I had that wasn't clear on the landing page was some
assurance that the form endpoint wouldn't stop working. I noticed that you
have other business products and that FormSubmit could be offered and
supported this way indefinitely out of kindness, marketing, or lead
generation.
~~~
kesara9
I appreciate your concern and don't worry we never stop this service because
this is the best product of Devro LABS so far. And also we had several
acquisition requests as well. However, we decided to keep this service with
us. With FormSubmit 2.0 we introduced the sponsorship program. So you can help
us with this valuable service.
------
NoB4Mouth
Hi buddies! I like your concept and quickly tried it when i saw it on PH. My
website is still in development and when i included your link n my form i
haven't got any email from you in my box. that's it mean my website has to be
in production or online before it work?
~~~
kesara9
first thing: your form should open through a web server, FormSubmit will not
work in pages browsed as HTML files.
second thing: please don't forget to check your spam folder as well. Sometimes
FormSubmit emails get in there.
------
sharma_pradeep
What are the disadvantage of this approach?
~~~
kesara9
I can only see some advantages!
------
c1yd3i
How do you make money?
------
kaishin
Any plans to open source this?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Apple to charge $99/year to publish Safari extensions (claims developer) - UnoriginalGuy
http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/397bn6/apple_wants_me_to_pay_100_to_continue_publishing/
======
UnoriginalGuy
You can read the email Apple sent out here:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/397bn6/apple_wants_me...](http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/397bn6/apple_wants_me_to_pay_100_to_continue_publishing/cs0zx0t)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How many Mars missions have been successful? - MindGods
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-53589767
======
simonblack
About half. On those figures we can expect half of the current mission-modules
flying to Mars to fail.
We might get Perseverance to Mars perhaps, but its drone may not launch; and
similar with the other two multi-module flights on the way.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Perl 7 Announced - kamaal
https://www.facebook.com/theperlconference/posts/948010845621877
======
datanut
Non-facebook link:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23629477](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23629477)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Paul Buchheit at Startup School 08. This talk continues to inspire me - bemmu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZxP0i9ah8E
======
mdonahoe
This is a good talk, though I enjoyed watching him talk about Friendfeed
knowing now that it has been bought by Facebook. At around 17 minutes:
"Everyone says 'We`re building something different' and whatever, but then
they go and flip for 20 million dollars or something, and your like, well then
you weren't really doing something different, were you?"
"So, but we really are doing things differently."
~~~
revorad
Paul has a brilliant sense of humour.
------
rimmjob
Is this the one where he talks about how his experience at intel was analogous
to steve wozniak's experience at hp? The idea that there were people just as
smart and determined as them but weren't able to do anything interesting
because of the environment really amazes me. reminds me of the talk richard
feynman gave about the myth of some special talent or miracle that allows
scientists to understand quantum mechanics. fuck, i need to get back to work
------
aaronsw
Anyone know what the slides were?
~~~
projectileboy
We did before Google bought Omnisio and killed it. Acquisitions sure seem
swell for the founders; not so much for the users.
------
rudiger
Where are the slides?
------
smashing
Why what does he say? Can you summarize?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Can I Wear Shorts Today? - rheotron
http://shorts.today
A real world application of some interesting ML concepts. You can check out the Git repo here: https://github.com/thatjpcsguy/shorts
======
genevievepeters
21 and I can't Wear Shorts?
~~~
tempest12
Don't know about you, but that's pretty cold for me!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Different Types Of Strings In JavaScript - oscar-the-horse
http://www.horsesaysinternet.com/code/different-types-of-strings-in-javascript/
======
sodelate
they are the same
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Visualizing performance from the server logs - olegkikin
http://olegkikin.com/performance/
======
nlo
Good approach. Any chance of your sharing the code used to generate these
graphs from the %D-formatted Apache logs?
------
sarabob
Prompted me to run a quick version over our weblogs. You rapidly end up with
big black splodges if you squish the time axis. I overcame this by multiplying
the pixel colour by 0.8 for each hit to get a heatmap-style image.
Example images (first one on simple db hits; second one shows both fragment
cached and non-cached page generation):
<http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/7290/logdots2.png> and
<http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/4869/logdots1.png> (DOS at around 6pm)
Takes around 2 mins on a pentium D (!) to generate both graphs from a single
webserver's daily log, approx 1.3M log lines. I thought it would take much
longer given the read/set requirement for each dot, so I'm pleasantly
surprised.
------
jws
Very nice. Interesting how the horizontal tiers in the black are stable across
traffic changes (with one exception). I presume we are seeing several
different types of queries combined.
------
foxtrot
Nicely done, a good clean approach utilising current logs so no increase on
server overheads by running the app, that I can tell.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Next feature for prototyping tool - skaplun
Hey Everyone!<p>I decided to write here and ask for your input because we’re conflicted on our next feature and what that means for the future of our product. We’re a small team working on www.ux-app.com, a browser based mock up and prototyping tool that uses regular html elements for mock ups and a visual representation of JavaScript to create events. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished in terms of flexibility and we think what’s holding us back are more options in terms of imports & exports from the app.<p>We’ve been working all week on adjusting the html export to create production ready templates - no extra elements or classes, simple expressive Javascript to build on top of and we’re very close! I want UX-App to let you plan your mock ups in low fidelity, and gradually upgrade them (it’s just html) until they are real sites with better functionality than standard site builders.<p>I feel like this direction would really help people! But I’m not 100% sure ... so what do you guys think?
======
brudgers
Clickable: [https://www.ux-app.com/](https://www.ux-app.com/)
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)
To submit a link using the |submit| page, put it in the |url| box _and_ leave
the |text| box empty. It is ok to add a comment after the link shows up on the
HN |new| page.
Good luck.
~~~
skaplun
thanks for the input, will update :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Failure of Cambrian House - mattjung
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/12/when-crowdsourcing-fails-cambrian-house-headed-to-the-deadpool/
======
Harkins
I built (the first incarnation of) the TechCrunch job board in the summer of
2006. I started at Cambrian House a month later (worked there about 9 months)
and tried to introduce Arrington to Cambrian House's CEO to get some coverage.
Nothing ever came of it, MJ just sort of blew it off. Sad to see that this is
what finally gets them covered.
A lot of CH employees invested in the company, and I'm sorry to hear they've
lost their investments. There are also some truly excellent people in the
community I met, and I hope their experience with CH has left them with a
desire to succeed at their own ventures.
------
s_baar
I was an active community member at CH for a long time, over a year. The
problem that I could surmise from their actions and meetings they posted was
that they knew what they needed to do but were reluctant to do it.
They refused to work within the tech community and just tried to attract
anyone who had an idea. Instead of going for the people who could execute and
have ideas anyway and promoting the "contracting + equity" aspect of the
ventures, they wanted to have a hand in every project.
Also, they seemed to have a clear strategy, but just not follow it. They were
always hiring, when it probably would have been more prudent to contract out
and actually
building the site that was supposed to make them special.
They were always hiring, but no one could figure out why they weren't
improving the site like the community wanted. No one could figure out why they
looked so busy on the videos, but nothing was ever completed.
------
mattjung
I think although the crowd may produce interesting creative ideas, it needs
the energy and the determination of some few people to make a project succeed.
Your opinions?
------
joshwa
Great quote from the CEO:
> The limiting reagent in the startup equation is not ideas, but amazing
> founding teams.
Sounds rather PGish, eh?
~~~
Harkins
Note that it applies as much to Cambrian House as well as the startups it
attempts to build.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Prototype ergonomic mechanical keyboards - obrajesse
http://blog.fsck.com/2013/12/better-and-better-keyboards.html
======
unwind
That was a very inspiring project, and read. Always impressive with people
doing "all trades": from pure ergnomimcal to mechanical design, to keyboard
driver firmware, to PCB design. Awesome!
I was happy to see the author settle for KiCad, having made a micro version of
the same journey I've settled for KiCad too, it's pretty nice once you start
getting going.
I was surprised to not see any mention of OSH Park when it came to board
manufacturing, I thought they were the default for small-scale prototyping,
and they're certainly competetive when it comes to price ($5 per square inch,
for threee boards). Being in Europe the shipping delay is intensely
frustrating, but otherwise OSH Park is like a dream come true.
Keep up the good work!
~~~
obrajesse
Thanks! OSH Park isn't a great deal for keyboard production. my keyboards are
on the order of 60 square inches. Ordering from Seeed, I get 10 copies of my
board for $200 in about a week.
------
eitally
I don't know if you contacted any of the big EMS companies, but they all --
with the possible exception of Foxconn -- take small projects and prototype
runs. Generally speaking, it's as part of a DFM engagement. For example, my
employer, Sanmina, streamlined Bloom Energy's functional prototype design from
5 PCBs down to 1, and cut overall complexity (and cost) by a large fraction in
the process. Flextronics opened their Lab IX in Milpitas, CA, to focus on
hardware startup development, too. If you think you might need real
engineering help and not just "dumb manufacturing", it may be worthwhile to
consider the big guys, too.
[http://sanmina.com/end-to-end-services/design-
engineering/in...](http://sanmina.com/end-to-end-services/design-
engineering/index.php)
~~~
obrajesse
I haven't, mostly because this is all out of pocket and I've been operating
with the assumption that larger vendors aren't going to be willing to work for
peanuts for an 'unstartup'
I'd love to find out I'm wrong. If you want to point your salesfolks at me,
I'd be happy to chat. I'm jesse at keyboard.io
------
pjungwir
I would love to find an ergonomic mechanical keyboard. I tried the Truly
Ergonomic but sent it back because it hurt my wrists. I'm not sure I'd like
the Kinesis bowls; perhaps I'll try it eventually. What I'd really like is a
Microsoft Natural keyboard, but with mechanical switches. Is there anything
like that out there?
~~~
jseliger
_I 'm not sure I'd like the Kinesis bowls; perhaps I'll try it eventually_
I got a review copy of the Kinesis Advantage, tried the keyboard for a while,
wrote a review ([http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/kinesis-
advantage/](http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/kinesis-advantage/)),
sent back the review copy, and, a couple weeks later, bought the Advantage.
YMMV, but I think they have a somewhat long return period in part to assuage
people in your situation.
~~~
mtrimpe
What would you use as a pointing device with the Kinesis though?
I've grown quite attached to the RollerMouse classic over the years as the
ultimate pointing device but I'm wondering how that would work with the
Kinesis.
Hacking a trackpad in the middle also seems like an odd compromise ...
~~~
Adrock
It's a shame that the images were lost after geekhack.org was hacked, but the
most compelling solution I saw was the mod to add a trackpoint:
[http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32232.0](http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=32232.0)
You can see some attempts here:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=kinesis+trackpoint&tbm=isch](https://www.google.com/search?q=kinesis+trackpoint&tbm=isch)
When I first got my Kinesis Advantage, I secured the Adesso Smart Cat trackpad
to the middle:
[http://www.amazon.com/Adesso-Button-Glidepoint-Touchpad-
GP-4...](http://www.amazon.com/Adesso-Button-Glidepoint-Touchpad-
GP-410UB/dp/B000FVIHY0/)
It's what the other Kinesis users around me were using and it's the only wired
touchpad that could fit. It's a piece of garbage and I've given up on it. I've
fallen back on using my Evoluent Vertical Mouse, as it's the only mouse that
doesn't leave me in pain.
The real answer is that I've adapted my tools and workflow to be as keyboard
operational as possible, using a tiling window manager, Emacs, and Conkeror
for everything.
------
josh-wrale
As a sufferer of carpal tunnel syndrome, I can tell you that this palm rest
design is a bad idea. You're focusing the weight of each hand on a pressure
point which is sure to contribute to pinching the median nerve.
Also, separating the left and right hand boards from one another really helps
with joint stress. I saw one of the designs has a axle. Why not just split the
keyboard in two completely? I vote for each half of the keyboard having a
velcro strap that I can comfortably attach just above each of my knees. For
most people, this would be a very neutral posture. In fact, it may even
inspire better posture as folks would reach for the keys on their knees.. You
know.. You could call it KneeKeyboard or Keys-4-Knees. Then again, I'm sure
someone has already done it, but I'm too lazy/busy to look into it right now.
Other than those comments. Awesome stuff.
Edit: I'd like to add that the wrist pad suggests to me wrist movement is
required to reach all of the keys. Again, the carpal tunnel gnome tells me
that pivoting my wrist is painful. Why not strive for very little wrist
movement. Once you get there, the surface is it's own support, and it would
support more than just the wrist; it would support the forearm, too (see knee
keyboard suggestion above).
I also noticed one of the designs recessed the keys below the face of the
keyboard. I think that's a good way to get away from the vertical wrist
pivoting. Still, you'd need to mind the lip of the recess, so it's not a high
impact point on the wrist.
------
SmileyKeith
I've been looking to create a ErgoDox[0] which is a two part mechanical
design. Not sure I could deal with the split layout but I'm willing to try. It
looks pretty similar to the ones in this post and you build it yourself.
[0]: [http://ergodox.org/](http://ergodox.org/)
~~~
obrajesse
Yeah. That's where I started last year. (I 3D printed one before the PCBs were
done.) - blog.fsck.com/2013/01/pinkies-and-your-brain.html
~~~
SmileyKeith
Nice I really want to build one but I think I'd much rather buy the parts in a
kit than separately. I saw this wooden case[0] in a tweet and I think I'd want
to try my hand with that instead of the 3D printing.
[0]: [http://cl.ly/SvPT](http://cl.ly/SvPT)
~~~
lowboy
That's the ErgoDox, which is periodically sold in a parts kit by MassDrop
[https://www.massdrop.com/buy/ergodox](https://www.massdrop.com/buy/ergodox)
Registration is required for MassDrop, which is unfortunate - but they have to
do that to be classified as something other than a retailer so they can offer
lower prices.
I did a write-up of my year with an ErgoDox here:
[http://jjt.io/2013/11/25/why-any-developer-should-check-
out-...](http://jjt.io/2013/11/25/why-any-developer-should-check-out-the-
ergodox-keyboard/)
~~~
epsylon
Unfortunately I haven't seen it for sale on Massdrop since I've registered
months ago... Of all the mechanical keyboard designs I've seen, that's the
only one that makes sense to me ergonomically.
~~~
SmileyKeith
Yea I've been on the request list on this site for a few months as well. Would
really love it to happen.
~~~
lowboy
They _just_ finished a round a couple of weeks ago. Seems to come up every
couple of months.
Maybe you're just not getting notifications?
------
Alex_MJ
Out of curiosity, was there anything wrong with the two handed design (like
intrinsically/ergonomically, not wiring-related) that caused you to switch
back to a one-piece design after the Mark 9?
I've been wanting for years for the monitor-keyboard setup to be replaced by
something that's set up to a human body and not a table. Screen is set to your
head and not vice versa. Manual input devices are physically based on your
hands and not to a table. You don't have to lean forward to look at a screen.
You don't have to hunch over (or even tend to hunch over) to type and mouse.
Ergonomics problems vastly go out the window because you don't have to conform
your body to a machine built for compactness and manufacturability.
On the monitor front, once somebody mods the Oculus Rift for non-gaming [read:
programming etc] use, I'll dance an embarassing unskillful engineer jig and
then buy one immediately.
On the input (mouse/keyboard) front I'd love to have two devices attached to
my hands instead of having to reach forward to a keyboard (dual myo bands?
some kind of handheld gig?) so the two-handed keyboards are always intriguing
to me and I'd love to hear more about your experience with designing them.
(and in general).
Rock on!
~~~
obrajesse
The split design is..not great in my lap, which is usually where I rest my
keyboard. With better mechanical design, that could be better. But no, it's
mostly about manufacturability and simplicity for what will be my first
physical 'product'
------
analog31
I'm almost ready to say that "ergonomic keyboard" is an oxymoron.
Thinking outside the box: Some musical instruments have a small number of keys
for a large number of notes. Playing for long time periods without injury is
now part of the basic training that all musicians receive.
Maybe a model for an ergonomic keyboard would be something like a saxophone.
~~~
obrajesse
You want to look up 'chording keyboards' \- They're one of the few things from
Engelbart's 'Mother Of All Demos' that's not now a standard part of computing.
~~~
clarkm
Unfortunately, designers these days seem to hate modal interfaces because they
detract from "walkup usability", so I doubt we'll see these making a comeback.
Then again, maybe Apple's multi-touch gestures are close enough to chording
that they'll be rediscovered and become cool again.
------
pjungwir
Reading the story of your keyboard iterations was a lot of fun, and I'm very
interested in finding a mechanical keyboard that works for me. But I have to
ask: how can you possibly type with all those keys under your wrists? Am I the
only one wondering this? What am I missing?
~~~
sliverstorm
Those keys are not under the wrist, they are under the thumb. See the two
lonely rectangles, that are next to no other keys? The 2nd joint of the thumb
hovers right about there.
~~~
pjungwir
Thanks, that's reassuring! When I imagined putting my hands over the keys, I
couldn't figure out how my wrists would miss the "lonely rectangles," but
perhaps I'm visualizing it wrong.
------
daragh
I'm currently awaiting delivery of components to assemble an ErgoDox. The
later variations show here display an encouraging similarity to a lot of the
ErgoDox's features, although perhaps most interestingly a move away from
independent positioning of the two halves.
~~~
obrajesse
Actually, I _started_ from an ErgoDox. :) (
[http://blog.fsck.com/2013/01/pinkies-and-your-
brain.html](http://blog.fsck.com/2013/01/pinkies-and-your-brain.html) )
The ErgoDox is really the two halves of a Kinesis flattened.
Keyboard.IO is a little bit different. There's a splay of a few degrees
between the columns that map to each finger. A bunch of the work you do with
your pinkies on the ErgoDox or just about any other keyboard moves to your
thumbs. And yes, it ended up as a single keyboard. I really, really wanted to
do something that was two separate pieces. Between the risks it would add to
the mechanical design and the fact that I found myself intensely frustrating
that the two halves of the ErgoDox were never in quite the places I expected
them to be, we've decided to run with a single-piece unit, at least for the
Model 01.
------
brendoncrawford
"Ergonomic" has become a great buzzword. These keyboards are not ergonomic.
While they protect against ulnar deviation, they do not protect against
pronation and dorsiflexion. Note that you WILL still get RSI from using these
keyboards.
~~~
dpark
> _" Ergonomic" has become a great buzzword. These keyboards are not
> ergonomic._
"Ergonomic" is not a binary switch. A thing is not simply "ergonomic" or not.
And more importantly, what is ergonomic varies based on the user. For the
author, these keyboards are presumably more ergonomic than alternatives. For
you, they might not be.
> _Note that you WILL still get RSI from using these keyboards._
That's a rather strong claim, especially considering that many people never
get RSI even from standard keyboards.
~~~
brendoncrawford
Good points. This is a very cool project, and it will be fun to watch it
progress.
------
julianpye
As someone who has sworn by Microsoft's Natural Keyboards, you're on the right
track! Regarding the Datahand and Kinesis, which I just discovered in this
discussion - how would one be able to get their hands on them to test them?
~~~
obrajesse
It depends. Where do you live?
(And yeah, I spent a decade carrying a MS Natural Elite with me all over the
planet. I used to order 'em in four-packs.)
~~~
julianpye
Munich... I guess when I am in the US next time, I will send out a request
beforehand... But yeah, the MS Natural Elite is the keyboard that I have
ordered in bulk, too :)
------
X4
A list of all kinds of keyboards:
[http://asanisembiring.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/](http://asanisembiring.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/)
_I think the SenseBoard Keyboard is the best amongst these._
------
maheart
I wish you'd kept with Mark 8/Mark 9 style (allowing you separate the two
halves of the keyboard). I find this the one killer feature of the Kinesis
FreeStyle. Unfortunately Kinesis Freestyle does not use mechanical keys.
~~~
obrajesse
I do too! And we'll get back to it. But I know that if we tried to ship a
splittable keyboard as our first product, we'd fuck it up. And I really don't
want to fuck this up.
------
taternuts
Cool! I've never tried the ErgoDox though I've been halfway wanting one for a
year or so. I think if I didn't have to jump through geekhack groupbuy's and
assemble it myself I may have made the jump. I noticed that the Mark2 was
closer to a HHKB or 60% layout and it does look quite a bit smaller than the
next iterations - is that just the pictures or is that true? Do you find the
split ErgoDox-like layout is better than a more compact keyboard, even if you
don't suffer from wrist pain?
~~~
obrajesse
It was very close to a 60% keyboard. It just wasn't better enough than a 60%
keyboard to really be worth my while. I find the split layout to be a lot more
comfortable. And I didn't even touch-type when I fell down this rabbit hole.
------
melling
My finger tips sometimes are numb. Personally, I'd like a virtual keyboard
where I don't need to touch anything. Any advanced Leap Motions or laser
keyboards being developed?
~~~
obrajesse
If your fingertips get numb while typing, STOP TYPING AND GO SEE A DOCTOR.
Ideally a doctor who specializes in Sports Medicine. I'm not kidding. This is
_not_ something to screw around with.
And there are all sorts of reasons why zero-feedback keyboards are a bad idea,
but that's a whole separate discussion. If you REALLY want a laser keyboard,
...aw [http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/laser-keyboard-
kit-p-1638.h...](http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/laser-keyboard-
kit-p-1638.html?cPath=85_108) is out of stock. There are plenty like it,
though.
~~~
melling
Isn't the usual solution to stop doing whatever causes the pain? There isn't a
known cure (ie pill, exercise, etc). If the impact of my fingers on the
keyboard is causing the numbness then my best option Is to find a way to
minimize the impact?
~~~
obrajesse
What's actually causing the pain could be any number of things, which is why I
was shouting about going to see a doctor ;)
------
rietta
Nice! I have not made the jump to ergonomic though I do have both a Unicomp
Model M and a DAS Keyboard (Cherry Blue) that are my prefered. Though neither
keyboard is ergonomic, its use is because it allows me to place my laptop on a
stand and use a second external monitor. This and switching to the Dvorak
keyboard layout has made a huge difference to me personally in terms of hand
comfort.
------
RexRollman
I like it. It looks a bit minimalist.
This makes me wonder what the most minimalist keyboard available currently is.
The Happy Hacking keyboard, I am guessing.
~~~
TacticalCoder
The HHKB (on which I type this) is kinda minimalist but it's still a "60%"
keyboard (no numpad, no functions keys and no arrow keys for the HHKB but some
60% have dedicated arrow keys). There are people who have custom 40% keyboards
(you simply use a modifier to access the "missing" numbers row).
The most minimalist has way less keys than that and is probably the DataHand
(or something close to it, like a one-handed DataHand if such a beast exist?).
I like the look of the keyboards he realized, reminds me of the ErgoDox. Not
that contrarily to the HHKB the keyboards in the blog aren't "staggered" and
are all split. The HHKB appeals to many because it has incredible switches
(Topre) yet stays very close to traditional keyboards that people have been
using for years and years. It's not easy to adapt to a non-staggered layout
and some people are allergic to split layouts.
If you're into that sort of thing, GeekHack.org and Deskthority.net are good
places to hang out on.
~~~
obrajesse
The most minimalist thing currently in production is probably:
[http://matias.ca/halfkeyboard/](http://matias.ca/halfkeyboard/)
~~~
TacticalCoder
Hey obra,
good to see a GHer on the front page of HN... It's a nice board you made there
and I prefer your thumbs key placement than the one on the ErgoDox, which I
find to be too a bit too close one to another.
~~~
obrajesse
Thanks!
The ErgoDox layout is nearly identical to the Kinesis and Maltron layouts, so
it's not exactly without precedent, but yeah. I think we can do better :)
------
kross
How is this better or worse than the Kinesis contoured keyboard? I've been
using one for more than 10 years.
~~~
obrajesse
I think the thumb layout is more comfortable and easier to use.
Kinesis users I've put in front of my prototypes come up to speed pretty
quickly.
Non-kinesis users seem to come up to speed a lot faster than they do when
confronted with the kinesis' bowls.
Also, it's a lot more portable.
And it's really, really fully programmable.
------
samstave
Why are they flat? you have a 3d hand and a 3d printer... would a curved
cylindrical/spherical setup.
~~~
obrajesse
Manufacturability. Something curved/contoured would be better, but I would
rather make something good than fail to make something better.
------
Arelius
This is awesome, I'd love to do it. I type on a Kinesis most of the time, and
it's great.
The one thing I wish I had though, was a laptop with a split space bar. Thumb
delete is the best keyboard innovation in like 20 years.
~~~
wtallis
Meanwhile, most keyboards (especially desktop boards) have spacebars so wide
that none of the modifier keys are easily reachable by thumb. C through M
should be the widest allowable spacebar, and splitting it is great.
~~~
dsr_
I'm typing this on a Unicomp Model M-compact clone, an Ultra Classic. The
spacebar goes from C through just past M and into ,. Buckling springs and a
reasonable ($79) price.
------
tuananh
I look at some of the prototype and I don't know how exactly how i'm going to
place my hands on that.
Like this one
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3666/11330346296_f2c62e4250_c.jpg
~~~
to3m
The four keys arranged in a circle are for pressing with the tip of your
thumb. I imagine the one in the centre of the circle is for use with the base
of your thumb.
~~~
tuananh
that one in the center of the circle is what making me confused.
if i can't rest my hands on the keyboard, what's the point of ergonomic!
~~~
obrajesse
You can. If you're resting the outer sides of your palms on the keyboard and
resting the heel of your thumb on the palm keys, they won't activate. you have
to push down slightly to get them to.
------
hansstam
huge disclaimer: i work for a company that is about the be aquired by primax.
As you can see above, I'm working for a company that is currently being bought
by [http://primax.com.tw/](http://primax.com.tw/) . I went on a factory tour
of their facotry here inb China a few days ago. They are basicly the biggest
keyboard-producing factory in China/ the world. I love the mark 13, and it
would be awesome if it could be mass-produced. Primax might be the right
factory for that.
~~~
obrajesse
Have your sales folks reach out to me? jesse at keyboard.io
~~~
hansstam
Can't really do that, cause I'm new and working on the engineering side of
things. We don't usually communicate with sales people. Shoot them an email
yourself.
~~~
obrajesse
'k
------
urza
Somebody please do microsoft's Natural keyboard with Cherry MX Clear keys. And
fixed transceiver. That would solve it for me.
------
tlarkworthy
put a trackball in the middle near the thumbs, that switch to mouse control
from keyboard kills me
~~~
obrajesse
That's what the Maltron does. I don't find it all that comfortable.
I've actually got something better up my sleeve, but I'm still working on
sourcing the parts.
~~~
cgh
Which switches do you plan to use? Really like the sounds of this (I read your
entire page, sorry to hear about your printer catching on fire!).
I looked for an ergo mechanical keyboard but couldn't find one to my liking so
ended up with a Filco Majestouch 2 with Cherry Blue switches. Really love it
except for the whole lack of ergonomics thing. The Cherry Blues are fantastic.
~~~
meowface
I have the exact same keyboard (Majestouch, with Cherry Blues). Been using it
for the past few years, and I love it.
Do ergonomic keyboards allow you to type faster? Or do they just let you rest
your hands more naturally?
~~~
obrajesse
That is a matter of some debate. Even in the scientific literature. But I do
know that when it hurts less for me to type, I can type for longer stretches.
And that's way more important to me than typing faster.
------
prehkugler
And here I am, just trying to find notched Dvorak replacement key caps for my
MacBook Pro...
~~~
obrajesse
Tiny dots of Sugru.
(Alternatively, many folks recommend you _not_ relabel your keys when trying
to learn a new layout.)
------
shellehs
I think it would be very helpful to prevent twisting my wrist as QWERTY
standard keyboard.
~~~
obrajesse
Exactly.
------
fsckin
Jesse: what is your ideal retail price on these, if you had a good number of
preorders?
~~~
obrajesse
I don't have a number I'm ready to share in public. That's the big thing
that's holding up a Kickstarter. Once we've got a manufacturing partner and
know what our costs are, I'll be in a better place to give you a number.
We're working to build something that's going to work well and look gorgeous
for a really long time. It's not going to be cheap, but I don't think we could
justify charging more than Kinesis do for the Advantage.
------
DonGateley
Iteration is the child of patience. Patience is the child of passion.
------
efnx
I swear by my datahands.
~~~
daeken
I really wish Datahands were available for purchase. No one gets rid of them,
and they aren't produced anymore (I tried emailing them numerous times before
their site disappeared -- nothing). If anyone wants to sell a set, I'm buying!
~~~
ne0phyte
Good luck with that. Depending on the condition they go $1500-2000+ on eBay
these days.
------
scoofy
If you are going to spend this much time on ergo keyboards, please just learn
Dvorak. The comfort improvement alone is one reason (of many) to switch.
~~~
obrajesse
"Just" learning Dvorak isn't necessarily going to help people. For me, the
angles I need to keep my wrists at to type on a traditional keyboard are a
showstopper, no matter what layout I'm using. I've previously taught myself
Dvorak. And Colemak. Both are, indeed, clearly better than QWERTY. They're not
better enough to justify continuing to use a physical layout designed around
130 year old mechanical constraints.
Please note that I'm not saying people shouldn't ditch QWERTY. They should.
But that alone isn't enough to just declare the battle won and go home.
(While the keyboard.io prototypes are labeled in QWERTY, the firmware speaks
Dvorak and Colemak as well. As of last weekend, it also speaks Workman and a
variant of the Maltron layout.)
~~~
scoofy
I'm certainly not saying ergo keyboards aren't useful. It's just that
dedicating dozens of prototypes that will always float hands up and to the
right (to get at the vowels) seems a fools errand. Ergos are great! I just
think, in the same way a cyclist can buy a $4000 bike to save 10 lbs, when a
moderate diet would achieve the same weight reduction, that it seems a bit
misplaced resources.
~~~
sparkie
I'm a dvorak user and I agree with others that while it is useful, it's not
sufficient alone for a good typing experience. Typing x, z, f is still more
awkward than it needs to be, enter/backspace etc is difficult, and ctrl is in
a really awful position on standard keyboards. (I'm sure every emacs user will
agree.)
The difference is more like using an off-road bicycle to travel on flat roads.
It's just the wrong tool for the job. The standard keyboard layout was
designed how it is for a specific purpose: to allow physical parts to move on
old typewriters. The placement of keys serves little purpose to the typist.
In our collective madness though, we have adapted ourselves to typewriter
layouts, rather than adapting the layout to fit our hands when the requirement
for moving physical parts disappeared.
The higher price of ergo keyboards is mainly a consequence of a much smaller
market. Standard keyboards are only so cheap because they're mass produced,
and have had countless iterations to simplify the production process over the
years.
I'm in desperate need of a better ergo keyboard and I find projects like this
one fascinating. I tried designing one myself a while back, but I don't have
the skills to make it happen.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Ask HN: Accelerators – What pipeline management tools do you use? - ChrisPodlaski
======
inputcoffee
Not in one myself but the most common pipeline management tool I've seen is a
spreadsheet: either excel or google docs.
I assume airtable like tools are becoming more common.
~~~
ChrisPodlaski
It seems like that would be a lot of work to maintain. Like as soon as
companies start updating stuff (funding rounds, new products etc) your
information about them becomes useless.
~~~
inputcoffee
Yes, well there are two things to be said:
1\. The data entry problem always applies. Unless the data is already entered
somewhere in a "canonical" form, it has to be entered again.
2\. If the solution is to try to offload the work of data entry to the
companies themselves, then google docs and airtable already present a solution
since they offer an interface for that.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Realtime and Embedded Specification for Java, Version 2.0 [pdf] - pron
https://www.aicas.com/cms/sites/default/files/rtsj_10.pdf
======
bcg1
"The RTSJ should recognize the importance of 'Write Once, Run Anywhere', but
it should also recognize the difficulty of achieving WORA for realtime
programs and not attempt to increase or maintain binary portability at the
expense of predictability. Hence, the goal should be 'Write Once Carefully,
Run Anywhere Conditionally'."
or in simpler language:
#define WORA WRITE_ONCE_RUN_ANYWHERE
#ifdef RTSJ
#undef WORA
#define WORA WRITE_ONCE_CAREFULLY_RUN_ANYWHERE_CONDITIONALLY
#endif
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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There Is No Policy Proposal More Progressive Than Andrew Yang’s Freedom Dividend - 2noame
https://medium.com/basic-income/there-is-no-policy-proposal-more-progressive-than-andrew-yangs-freedom-dividend-72d3850a6245
======
pmdulaney
Paywall
| {
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More Evidence Points to China as Source of Ozone-Depleting Gas - chablent
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/03/climate/china-ozone-cfcs.html
======
sjwright
I hope nobody feels the urge to look at this issue through a nationalistic
lens. Don't get me wrong, the Chinese government has a LOT to be ashamed
about. But I don't think this is one of them.
I don't doubt that Chinese authorities _want_ to solve this problem. The
problem isn't a lack of will on the part of their Government; the problem is a
lack of established infrastructure to deal with relatively nuanced issues like
industrial chemicals. You're asking a country that is rapidly transitioning to
modernity—perhaps faster than any other large country ever in history—to get
all these things right faster than anyone else ever did.
We shouldn't stop pressuring China to do better, but the best thing we can do
is good science, good measurements and helping them to solve the problem for
themselves.
(Disclaimer: this post was written with an eye to Cunningham's Law. I'm a
total layperson and I would be interested to hear observations from someone
with expertise in this field.)
~~~
sjwright
I wrote the parent post, which has been voted up quite high given the minimal
traffic going to this topic. I'm disappointed that the post by _fleshfly_
appears to have been voted to dead. Perhaps someone could actually engage the
argument rather than anonymously declare it invalid?
~~~
NeedMoreTea
I think it's the frequently over-sensitive new account shadow ban algo that
endeadened it, as it can be vouched back to visible. Which I did. :)
------
Reason077
Carbon Tetrachloride is another ozone-depleting substance who’s atmospheric
levels have not declined as hoped, despite a global ban.
China is believed to be a significant (but not the only) source of these rogue
emissions.
[https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2018/october/carbon-
tetrachlo...](https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2018/october/carbon-
tetrachloride.html)
------
exabrial
Spend a day anywhere in China and you'll realize we've just exported the
pollution problem
------
gaius
We have a strange double standard in the West. We want our own companies to
respect workers, the environment and all that good stuff. And then we undercut
them by buying from countries that don’t give a stuff about any of that,
because it’s cheap... because they don’t incur the costs of responsibility for
workers or for the environment...
------
ced
[https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/9rlx2p/location_of...](https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/9rlx2p/location_of_large_mystery_source_of_banned_ozone/)
also has interesting information about CFC sources coming from chlor-alkali
plants.
------
mrhappyunhappy
It’s baffling how people in the roles to make decisions to change the
situation can possibly see a reason not to. Don’t people realize we are all
part of the same planet that’s going to get totally wrecked? I just don’t get
their logic.
| {
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The Prize in Economic Sciences 2016 [pdf] - dcgudeman
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economic-sciences/laureates/2016/press.pdf
======
theoneone
[sarcasm] it's a shame that Varoufakis didn't get it! It would beneficial for
the world to know how to f __* up a whole country just because you have a
fetich in drachmas!
------
forgetsusername
Time for the annual HackerNews "This isn't a _real_ Nobel Prize" dismissive
conversation!
| {
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Pong clone in JavaScript - smanuel
http://robots.thoughtbot.com/post/58506395118/pong-clone-in-javascript
======
dajbelshaw
Like this, you mean? [http://www.hackagame.org/](http://www.hackagame.org/)
| {
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Imagining features for an ObjC 3.0 - lerno
https://swiftopinions.wordpress.com/2014/10/13/objc-3-0-beyond-a-new-syntax/
======
mcmatterson
Exactly this. I'm holding off on Swift for as long as possible for many of the
reasons that others have said better than I can (in a nutshell, it's got all
of the bad parts of C++, with few of the good parts of ObjC).
The approach this article suggests would have been ideal; fix some of the
warts of Objective C, but stay firmly rooted in its spirit. As things stand
now, I'll be learning Swift out of necessity, not desire. And I'll be putting
it off as long as possible in the somewhat selfish hope that it's a flop.
~~~
lerno
Personally I went all-in on Swift. Unfortunately I found that the sceptics
were largely right about Swift:
The safety features did not make the code more safe, but caused new classes of
bugs. Runtime performance fairly random. Generics caused ten times as many
problems as they solved. Optionals simply added runtime crashes, no additional
safety.
And this was surprising, given that I regularly program Java with its
optionals, use finals everywhere, clearly annotate nullables and of course I
use its generics. (Given how poor the generics is in Java, anything would be
an improvement, right? Or so I thought)
Programming in Swift isn't _anything_ like programming in Java/C++. It adopts
a much stricter typing model - then leaves you hanging without the tools to
overcome the consequences of it. Same with generics, stricter constructor
rules etc.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Working on an "auction" site - Should I let an investor give me money? - noig3
I am working on something I call "reverse auctioning". Lame name I know but I cannot think of anything else that I could call it. I showed this to a couple of guys and they told me that they interested in giving me some money to work on the project full time. After I told them the entire details of said "reverse auctioning" idea they were very enthused and said that my idea was pretty ambitious blahdey blah. My question is this, since I do not need money (I do this in my off time), I have free colocation for the one server that everything is running on until I launch it and I am the only developer, should I take money to hire people? I am good at talking to people and I actually enjoy selling and talking about products. I do not want to be a one man band but I also do not want to hire someone that is not willing to work as hard as I have to get this to where it is at.<p>Can anyone else identify with this?
I know free advice is worth as much as I paid for it but I like this board so far.
======
kiwidrew
First of all, welcome to HN.
It sounds like you might have already answered your question, as you say you
don't need the money (yet). In general, the earlier you go out to raise
funding, the more it will cost you; when your company is nothing but an idea,
your valuation is quite low, and raising something like $10,000 at this stage
might require giving away 50% of the company. But if you wait until you have a
working prototype and a handful of users, raising that same $10,000 might only
cost 10% of the company.
In general, you should avoid raising money before you need to, and you should
avoid raising more money than you can reasonably make use of.
Of course if you turn down money that's on the table, you run the risk of
later on needing funding and not being able to get it -- perhaps the investors
changed their mind, already invested in another company, or otherwise lost
interest...
Finally, if you do decide to bring on another person, I recommend trying to
find someone who is willing to join you as a co-founder. Simply hiring an
employee, paying them a salary, and expecting them to "work as hard as [you]
have" isn't going to turn out too well, because they won't really benefit from
your company's success.
PS: As it turns out, the term "reverse auction" is in somewhat widespread use
(apparently nobody else could come up with a better name, either):
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_auction>
~~~
noig3
I have software built but I think after posting here it was a simple answer...
No.
I have been looking for a co-founder that is sharp but the two guys that I
talked to wanted to talk about Stanford and MIT more than about building
applications and businesses.
Thanks for the reply. It was insightful and I appreciate you taking the time
to respond.
------
bradleyland
Welcome to the market! I'm a founder at a company that has been in the reverse
auction services game for about three years, and I don't think it's lame at
all :)
Don't take money until you have to. We managed to self-fund our venture by
building a founder team (four of us) with different skill-sets: sales,
operations, management, and technology/development, each willing to contribute
sweat equity and our own cash to make it work. I know a lot of people will
disagree with me here, but I can only testify to what has worked for us. I
love having three other founders who I often disagree with. Technology people
often need a reality check. Refining your core algorithms doesn't necessarily
ship a product. In other words, I like having someone to push me to build what
sells, rather than what's interesting.
What type of reverse auction space are you entering? Are you building a self-
service tool? Consulting and SaaS? Our company focuses on the latter, and
we've been pretty happy with the results. We're not on course to become
another Google, but that wasn't really our goal. We'd be happy with a buy out
from a large consulting firm after a few years.
Another piece of advice would be to have a look around at the big competition:
Oracle, SAP, Ariba, etc. They've created several healthy niche markets by
building really huge products that a lot of large-mid-sized (and smaller)
can't use effectively, because they don't have the quarter-million dollar
budgets required to implement.
There is still a lot of room for new products and new providers in this
market. I think small-scope, focused purchasing facilitation tools are only
going to become more popular as time goes on. Have a look at the tools and
services that technology people use. We tie together services from at least
five different small service providers to build our technology stack. Why
can't purchasing do the same? Why must someone buy a $250k license from one of
the big guys? As more technology savvy users move in to the workplace, the
future becomes brighter for providers like us.
------
dotBen
I believe you are referring to a Dutch Auction
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_auction>).
The fact that you don't know what the technical name is of the type of auction
you are building would suggest that you probably haven't done enough research
into the area.
You've not given enough info on what you are building, and perhaps this isn't
the question you were asking, but you might want to research this some more
before launching anything/taking anyone's money.
~~~
noig3
Actually kiwidrew nailed it. But, you are right. I have not done enough
research. I actually didn't do any. I built some software and it turned into a
reverse auction site (as defined in the WP article). I guess being sick and
tired of terrible customer service helped as well. Thanks for your feedback. I
am going to do some more research now! I am not sure why that did not seem
like the thing to do when I started... Anyhow. Back to work!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
HealthCare.gov for Developers - viclou
https://www.healthcare.gov/developers/
======
dang
This post grossly broke the guidelines against editorializing titles. HN
doesn't do "TIL".
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I Eat for Free in NYC Using Python, Automation, AI, and Instagram - gumby
https://medium.com/%40chrisbuetti/how-i-eat-for-free-in-nyc-using-python-automation-artificial-intelligence-and-instagram-a5ed8a1e2a10
======
ColinWright
Dupe.
Submitted 13 days ago[0] with no discussion. Then submitted again[1] 20 hours
ago, getting nearly 200 points and 134 comments.
[0]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19447787](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19447787)
[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19554425](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19554425)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
OS News Just wants to get hits and create a sensation - adigandhi
This is regarding this article on the fromt page of HN yesterday.
http://www.osnews.com/story/27416/The_second_operating_system_hiding_in_every_mobile_phone<p>I would like to say really? I am engineer and die everyday, have major issues because of crazy security on sub systems to access memory else where, sometime even the ones allocated to the sub system. OS new guys please read http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/trustzone/index.php
======
adigandhi
I will write in detail about each of the things they have said, which are
outrageously misleading for folks not in companies making the chip! Disgrace..
~~~
davidsmith8900
\- I would love to hear your opinion. Do you have presently own a blog that
talks about technology issues?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
In One Year, Tumblr Goes From 1 Billion Posts To 10 Billion - eokuma
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/09/tumblr-10-billion/
======
samstave
I would like to see this compared to their pageviews/impressions
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Google memo guy wants us all to acknowledge the “fun” parts of the KKK - abhi3
https://www.vox.com/identities/2017/9/20/16340168/google-memo-kkk-grand-wizard
======
gcatalfamo
He clearly hasn’t the best way of making an argument. But the Vox author
didn’t get his point at all.
That said I would never ask him to speak in my defense. Communication is not
secondary to being right no matter how you express it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Nexus S Revealed: This is the Android Phone You've Been Waiting For - iuguy
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/Nexus_S_confirmed_android_phone_youve_been_waiting_for.php
======
Estragon
I don't know. I've kind of fallen in love with the hardware keyboard on my
droid. Hard to imagine using android for the applications I do now without it.
~~~
enomar
I thought the same thing when I moved from my G1 to my Nexus One. I don't miss
the hardware keyboard at all actually.
------
foobarbazetc
Is it? Because that's what we were told about:
The G1. The N1. The Droid. The Droid X. The Galaxy S.
Etc. :)
Which one is the magical Android phone we've really been waiting for? :)
~~~
bkudria
Dude, trust me, 2011 _will_ be the year of Linux on the Desktop.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What I've Learned After 13 Years of Web Engineering - jonthepirate
https://coderwall.com/p/izxoyw
======
rdtsc
> My lack of a proper CS degree only haunts me during bullshit interviews as
> many interviewers who do have a CS degree tend to focus on CS academic
> topics rather than things a web developer would actually do during his
> tenure at the company
You don't know what you don't know. I could hurt you in other ways you just
don't know it. For example it shows when you write blogs that claim SQL joins
why there are deadlocks in your web application code. You don't have to go do
a 4 year college but not knowing the basics of O(n) notation, how relational
databases work inside, how concurrency works, different programming paradigms,
is going to hurt you.
> 2) Engineers are paid way too much
Bullshit. If you feel like you are fraud and you are paid too much, well you
might just well be. Doesn't mean everyone is.
Software engineering is qualitatively different from being a waiter. The
equivalent would be compare a software engineer with a robot maker that builds
waiter robots.
It is not about fairness. Tell someone born in a war torn country about
fairness. He'd love to swap places with any waiter in US probably.
> One of the bigger websites I worked on relied heavily on SQL joins at
> runtime.
Now I am laughing. That is a pretty broad assertion. It is like saying "don't
use C" or only use 3 space indents. Basically ignore this and use joins, use
indices, and benchmark and even better -- (gasp) hire people who have got a CS
degree and know about O notation, about concurrency, relational databases.
~~~
konstantintin
How many fresh CS grads have a strong command of database performance or
concurrency?
~~~
rdtsc
Sure as hell more than history, biology, sociology grads and high school
students.
We did have to study concurrency and a database course. They were general and
were not tied to any particular database, and good thing, because that a while
ago. But it was a good theoretical understanding.
------
debaserab2
> Avoid SQL joins in your website code
That's none sense. There is nothing wrong with SQL joins in your code so long
as you've properly indexed and understand the query execution plan. Table
joins are also not going to be a likely culprit of deadlocks either (varies
depending on database platform, but generally true)
------
ams6110
_Avoid SQL joins in your website code_
Disagree. If you need to join data, you have do do it somewhere. You think you
are going to do a better job of it than the database engine, which has
probably been optimized for years if not decades to do this very thing?
~~~
argv_empty
This response is more amusing in light of the author's first claim.
------
tudorconstantin
@OP - points 2 and 5 are opposing each other - you can't be paid too much and
demand to be treated as a King in the Bay.
Kings are known for their high incomes.
------
inovator
"For example, when I see the wait staff at a restaurant running around to
serve dinner, I feel these people as working much harder than any internet
engineer you’ll ever see"
True but being a waiter doesn't not required much skills or staying up all
night to fix a product blocker issue.
~~~
agildehaus
Most people can become an average waiter very quickly, whereas most people
hardly care to know how their computer works. The additional pay is for the
huge amounts of time we've spent learning the craft, some of us being obsessed
with it since childhood, and the mild rarity of the skill. Also because
writing some code has the possibility of affecting huge numbers of people and
bringing in a decent sum of money for a company, whereas you can only wait on
so many tables per day for an industry known for its low margins.
That's not to say that the proportions are balanced, or that all good waiters
are getting what they deserve, or that there aren't shoddy engineers who are
getting far more than they deserve. There's just a lot more money in computers
than foodservice.
~~~
altoz
I hate when people say stuff like X should get paid more or Y should get paid
less. You can't say that without explaining your moral system. You can't go
from is to ought.
------
n1ghtmare_
Wow, what a nonsense. Honestly, comparing a waiter to a software engineer ?
Really ?
You see these types of claims are usually made by someone who doesn't know
what he's talking about. I've been a "software engineer" for over 7 years now
and the amount of stuff you have to know is overwhelming. Honestly in my
current project I'm working with at least 4 different languages, a lot of
software engineering concepts, platforms, a tons of tools and I can promise
you that in my professional career there wasn't a time where I stopped
studying just trying to keep up.
Having said that, I've seen a lot of "engineers" like the OP, that think it's
all too easy until they make a huge mess and call the "real engineers" to fix
it up.
------
benjamincburns
Wait, you're a CTO?
Please don't complain about CS degrees being useless and then state some
technical rule-of-thumb which a proper theoretical background would help you
to understand is poor advice.
Ever been SCUBA diving? It's completely impossible to see your own tank. Your
peripheral vision sucks in a dive mask, and you can't turn your head that far.
Funny thing is the valve with your primary regulator connected makes an
excellent hook for things. Most divers carry knives or scissors just in case
they get some fishing line, rope, or kelp wrapped around their tank. Divers
also focus a lot on streamlining to maintain an efficient swimming profile.
Efficiency underwater means that you breathe less, which means you can stay
down longer, see more, and/or get more done. Very occasionally a diver will
get something caught on their tank, but it won't trap them. It just slows them
down. They wind up breathing through their air much quicker than the rest of
the other divers _because they 're completely unaware that something is giving
them an uneven challenge._
Or let's talk about it in a more direct sense...
Let's say you have two candidates. One has 8 years of experience. The other
has a BS in Computer Science and 8 years of experience. Otherwise they've
rated identically in your interview process. Which one are you going to hire?
Are you honestly saying that the guy or gal with 4 years of rigorous formal
training in addition to the 8 years of on-the-job experience is only just
equally qualified?
Regarding salaries, effort is in absolutely no way related to value. It's a
sad fact, but it's a fact nonetheless. Saying it "should" or "shouldn't" be
this way is a bit like passing moral judgement on the laws of physics. "This
is wrong. If I flap my arms really hard, I should be able to fly."
Further, the idea that value and effort aren't strictly coupled is a key
component of scaling a business. As someone with a C-level title, you should
understand that intuitively.
------
general_failure
> Engineers are paid way too much
Engineering skills take years to acquire. Sure it's not rocket science or a
brain surgeon which takes another level of dedication to profession. The job
of a waiter or a 711 guy or a janitor and similar does not take much skill and
hence the term 'unskilled'. The salaries merely reflect this fact.
------
digitalzombie
>> Engineers are paid way too much? Wtf is this guy a CEO or something?
This is bullshit. If other people waiting tables are working harder then why
can't every body be an engineer? Why is there are a small population of
engineer? Or a small population of doctor? It's because it's fucking hard to
acquire the skill and you should be rewarded for it. Supply and demand. If
it's overpay then the author can go ahead and take the 20k salary that is
equivalent to waiting tables. Just don't expect me to do take it, that's just
a fucking slap in the face.
The SQL joins thing is also full of it.
\---
I agree with most of the other points though.
------
johnfuller
> 2) Engineers are paid way too much
As others have commented, this is totally market, which is detached from the
actual working conditions. Can 100K really be considered overpaid in the bay
area? Or is everyone making much less than 100K just crazy to live there (I
don't live there, so I don't know how much you really need to make to survive
there.)
I think sometimes it's hard for us to see how much we really learn over time.
It seems so easy, yet have someone who has never written a line of code try to
get to the point where you are at.
------
shire
Fun read. You do have a point in that engineers are paid way too much, what we
do is actually fun and we sit and code most of the time where as the wait
staff have to deal with bad tippers and be on their feet all the time.
~~~
Gigablah
I see you haven't had to
* deal with product owners
* deal with customer service
* deal with marketing
* deal with legacy code
* deal with emergency production issues
* deal with whatever the latest buzzword is in project management
~~~
logn
* deal with re-orgs, layoffs, and acquisitions
Also, for everyone saying we're paid too much, keep in mind that it might be
just that on an individual level, you're underachieving. Being a good
programmer is very hard, and being a good engineer in a large, bureaucratic
org is even harder.
However, do make sure to tip your servers well, they deserve every dollar
you'd ever give.
------
EugeneOZ
Second point removes all value if this article. Do you think your work brings
same value to business as work of officiant? Well, then yes, you are paid too
much, but not all engineers.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Is it rude to be too early for an interview? - cwan
http://blog.scsuscholars.com/2010/04/is-it-rude-to-be-too-early.html
======
bonsaitree
Yes.
It's actually rude to show up excessively early for ANY sort of social
engagement and, despite the business context and objectives involved, an in-
person interview IS a social engagement.
Despite the professional context, you are still considered a "guest" and the
employer is considered the "host". In most cultures, the host is expected to
provide some sort of accomodations for the guest--if only acknowledgment of
arrival and a simple waiting area considered a non-public space. By showing up
excessively early, you're placing an "excess of obligation" upon the "host".
If you find that, by happenstance, you'll arrive "excessively early" for your
interview. The default behavior is bide your time in some fashion that does
not involve any obligation on the part of your "host" until just shortly prior
to the appointed time.
Depending on the circumstances of your arrival, one can try calling ahead to
ask the other party "If they would prefer, it's unexpectedly become possible
to move up your meeting". I generally don't recommend this as it can greatly
over-complicate previously agreed upon schedules and, if not handled
delicately, can convey the impression that one or both parties don't place
enough value on each other's time, attention, and prior commitments.
------
anigbrowl
Of course not. Just say traffic was lighter than expected, and produce
something you brought to read - one's choice of reading material could be a
positive factor as long as it's not just a prop.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
C database connection pool library - sovande
http://tildeslash.com/libzdb/
======
jrmg
_Can I use libzdb in my iOS or Mac OS X app?_
_Yes[...]_
Except it's GPLed, so it can't be used in any closed-source apps, or any apps
that you want to distribute on the App Store, without an explicit exception.
If you're not married to the license for philosophical reasons (which I would
respect, it's your right), I'd suggest a change to something simple like BSD.
This would, of course, allow someone to take your code, change it, and not
release their changes, but it would also make it usable to the majority of
programmers.
~~~
hauk
Author here.
>.."distribute on the App Store, without an explicit exception".
That is a good idea, thank you. I'll add such an exception so libzdb can be
used by any iOS/OSX open source app on the app store. I'm a big fan of Open
Source Projects and happy if they can find some alternative income such as
from the app store. Growl for instance seems to do good there which I'm glad
to see.
Otherwise, my goal with using GPL is to preserve the concept of copyleft with
the library. The GPL only applies if you plan to distribute libzdb to third
parties. In that case, my hope and the reason I use GPL is that any
modification done to libzdb can be contributed back so others can benefit.
Otherwise, you can do whatever you want with libzdb without any restrictions.
~~~
pygy_
Isn't there a license that requires giving back modifications without
"contaminating" the whole program?
~~~
archangel_one
LGPL would require distributors to make changes to the library available, but
not affect the licensing of any application built on top of it.
------
saurik
FWIW, I went to the website, clicked Documentation, and when nothing changed
on the site except the button I started to wonder if the site was offline or
my web browser had locked up. Then I clicked another link, noticed my
scrollbar changed size, and realized you were updating content below the
bottom of my screen due to the unusually enormous header.
~~~
tommi
I like the design with the big header, but the page could scroll page when a
section link is clicked.
------
yarpa
Showing example code on the home page is a great idea, having the small
thumbnail with the expand icon made it easy to jump in and see what their API
looks like. Going to give this library a try soon :)
------
andrewcooke
have you considered a varargs call for setting parameters with type codes? so
something like
PreparedStatement_setArgs(p, 's', "a string", 'i', 42, 'f', 3.1415926);
would set arguments 1-3. i know it's not "OO", but i have done something
similar in an internal lib for work and it's very useful and easy to use.
[edit] the number of parameters is assumed equal to the number of '?' in the
query. i also have something similar for reading results from the ResultSet,
but that required pointers and a count, and was much more likely to lead to
errors.
~~~
hauk
> have you considered a varargs call for setting parameters with type codes?
Varargs are supported when building a prepared statement, but not for setting
wildcards values. I see what you mean and how the client code can be made more
compact. Still, I believe setting one by one value by explicit type may be
better for readability, is less error prone and as you say, is more OO and
orthogonal.
~~~
andrewcooke
just trying to make it easier to use...
one more thing that i assume must work this way, but you don't seem to have
documented, is how to test for exceptions. i guess SQL_Exception (a return
value, right?) is false when there's no error?
related: do you have any examples that include all the error handling that
would be necessary in a real app? how do you display the exception details (it
seems to be an opaque type) to the user? perhaps i am missing something here
(can't even find exception in the clickable API image)?
(wish i had known about this a few months ago as it would have saved me some
work - thanks).
~~~
hauk
Thanks. The documentation for exceptions may be some clicks away, but it's
there. Here's a direct link. <http://www.tildeslash.com/libzdb/api-
docs/Exception_8h.html> Exceptions are a "true" exception implementation based
on the Except code from David Hanson's excellent CII book. This makes it
possible to write more compact code without peppering your C code with return
code tests.
------
zxoq
Look good, but does it work on Windows? It's not on the operating system list.
If it does, I might very well use this in the future.
Edit: Saw it was GPL. Well it looks good at least.
------
signa11
i have a _fundamental_ question regarding this: instead of a pool of
connections, is it possible to have an event-loop based aysnc-io in place ?
this is with little experience with db's...
------
atjoslin
Great presentation, and implementation looks good too.
------
abcd_f
Good presentation (among other things).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
OKRs aren't going to fix your communication issues - craigkerstiens
http://www.craigkerstiens.com/2019/03/29/okrs-arent-going-to-fix-your-communication/
======
Hackbraten
A definition of the acronym OKR on first mention would have been useful.
Literally never heard of it before.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Objects and Collections in pure C like Java - run4apps
https://github.com/josuemnb/SimpleC2.0
======
JPLeRouzic
I believe C++ was a preprocessor at the beginning, and I had long time ago a
book in French explaining how to do OOP with standard C. This attempt provides
probably as much I need of OOP, I always (since 1994) thought that C++ was an
ugly thing.
Thanks!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Build Your Own X - hakanderyal
https://github.com/danistefanovic/build-your-own-x
======
commandlinefan
I was expecting build your own XWindows Server.
~~~
_def
I expected the same and was gladly surprised with this interesting collection.
That being said, there's a link under "uncategorized" regarding the X window
system :)
------
ceres
Is it just me or does all these great educational content out there lead to
analysis paralysis? I mean if I wanted to just learn something new and I
chanced upon this web page I'd be stumped on where to start.
~~~
jplayer01
I agree. I’d pay for a "course" that assembled a massive list of practical
learning projects like this into something that plots real skill/knowledge
growth from beginner to advanced in a structured way.
~~~
amadeuspagel
Maybe you're interested in a platform I've built for this kind of thing -
[https://readpaths.com](https://readpaths.com). It lets people collaborate to
build something like what you describe. People can add links and other people
can add connections between these links, resulting in a dependency graph.
------
cweagans
See also:
[https://github.com/cweagans/awesome-diy-
software](https://github.com/cweagans/awesome-diy-software)
[http://aosabook.org/en/index.html](http://aosabook.org/en/index.html)
[https://github.com/tuvtran/project-based-
learning](https://github.com/tuvtran/project-based-learning)
------
rmgraham
This is a great resource. There were also some other useful links in the
comments last time:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17054419](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17054419)
------
kristianc
Is there really no option for build your own Dropbox? ;)
~~~
bra-ket
For a Linux user, you can build such a system yourself quite trivially by
getting an FTP account, mounting it locally with curlftpfs, and then using SVN
or CVS on the mounted filesystem. From Windows or Mac, this FTP account could
be accessed through built-in software.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8863)
~~~
zerr
What I find interesting that many think before dropbox the only other option
was FTP, while in fact there were other cloud based storage providers with
good integration on the desktop such as virtual disk drive on Windows, even in
late 90s. Dropbox won with PR/marketing I believe. Can anyone list what
differentiated them compared to exiting solutions, besides marketing?
~~~
kristianc
Ease of use, UX, network effects, positioning (the fact that it isn’t called
Virtual Hard Disk)
[https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-and-set-vhdx-or-
vh...](https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-and-set-vhdx-or-vhd-
windows-10)
Even if you could get the above working yourself, good luck trying to get
someone else to so you can collaborate on a project.
Developers often dismiss ‘marketing’ as though it is just a fluffy icon or
slick website, but how a product is positioned (in Dropbox case for ease of
use and the fact that the project is engineered to ‘feel like a folder’) is
absolutely marketing and critical to its success.
~~~
zerr
I meant there were (and still are?) consumer products with simple installers
(next > next) which were integrated on Windows as an extra disk - no need to
create it manually. Syncing was just that - drag & drop to that disk/folder.
------
johnmorrison
Does anybody know about something like this for hardware?
Clocks, motors, stuff like that?
~~~
xahrepap
Different than your examples. But I just finished making my own "Mostly
Printed 3D Printer". I'm a software dev but had basically no experience with
Arduino or anything else related to the project. It made me feel like when I
was a kid on Christmas with a new large Lego set. One of the most educational
and fulfilling projects I've done in recent memory.
It was good timing too because the motherboard on my 3d printer just shorted
out. I didn't want to pay the full price ($115) for a replacement board. So I
bought an open source board similar to the one I used for my MPCNC. Since I
had just put that togheter I knew what I was doing even though there was
limited help in converting my particular printer available online.
~~~
OJFord
Do you have a blog/YouTube channel or something with more details?
~~~
xahrepap
I don't. But the linked site has great, detailed instructions
------
sowbug
Mostly off-topic: anyone know how to set the github.com cookie to never
expire? All I want, usually, is to star a project. But all that gets me,
usually, is a sign-in screen. And I never seem to have my U2F key handy.
~~~
tambourine_man
Get a password manager?
~~~
kikoreis
But he mentioned 2FA?
~~~
capableweb
Add the 2FA to your password manager! At least 1Password supports this.
Although, you might not want to do this, depending on your threat model. Take
care if you do (now both password + 2FA can be obtained by having your
password manager compromised, but at least your protected if only your
password leaks from some dump)
~~~
sowbug
I don't use OTP 2FA if U2F is available. Adding a physical token to a password
manager is not an option.
Part of the problem is that GitHub is both a source code repository frontend
(calling for tighter security) and a social network (calling for minimal
security). So the cookie expiration policy makes sense for the former case but
not the latter. A compromise might be letting the user mark a specific browser
instance as trusted, so that the site can either set a longer expiration or
else not ask for the second factor from that instance.
Anyway, was hoping someone had figured out which cookie held GitHub's token
and knew a browser extension that could extend its lifetime. Not really
looking to learn about password managers, which I already use.
------
tshanmu
Is there any pointers on how to write your own DNS server? Google does not
seem to help much as it shows up mostly hosting your own bind server.
~~~
gog
Have a look at [https://jameshfisher.com/2017/08/04/golang-dns-
server/](https://jameshfisher.com/2017/08/04/golang-dns-server/)
DNS is actually pretty simple if you don't want to implement DNSSEC.
~~~
tshanmu
thanks!
------
punnerud
A good reading on why you should understand your building blocks:
[https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/on-
reasoning-b...](https://caseyhandmer.wordpress.com/2019/10/15/on-reasoning-
backwards-from-architecture-to-implicit-requirements/)
~~~
nimvlaj30
I read your article, and it's about reasoning in regard to design
requirements. I'm curious to hear what you have to say. Would you please
provide some explanation as to why programmers should understand building
blocks?
------
kstenerud
Very cool! Does anyone know of something similar for a secure network stack,
like a "build your own TLS" but very barebones?
------
ZeikJT
Happy to see nand2tetris on there, one of the most interesting projects I've
done in a long time!
------
cognitoMagneto
Is there something like this for distributed services for computation? For
example, I have a large computation job that I would like to split up across
nodes?
------
yosefzeev
Very neat link. It is true that if you cannot create it, you are simply
borrowing someone else's idea and treating it like your own.
~~~
yjftsjthsd-h
> if you cannot create it, you are simply borrowing someone else's idea and
> treating it like your own.
With the understanding, of course, that this isn't necessarily a bad thing!
Understanding is certainly useful, but if it works, then it works, regardless
of who built it. Reimplementing, say, a standard library _will_ make you a
better programmer, but if just including libraries to do the heavy lifting
produces a working system, then that has value too. There are only so many
hour in the day; there's value in knowing when to just hand-wave the giants
whose shoulders you stand on.
~~~
sriku
.. at least until the abstraction "leaks".
~~~
sabas123
I believe all abstracts leak at least a little. It all comes down to trade-
offs between what risks you want to take.
------
aredirect
shameless plug: practical/real world applications step by step
[https://github.com/xmonader/nimdays](https://github.com/xmonader/nimdays)
------
wolfpwner
Adding "Web Crawler" would be helpful
------
agumonkey
I searched for Xwindow way too long
~~~
wrboyce
There is an X Window related post at the bottom of the page under
Uncategorised.
------
h_amg
This is dope. thanks for sharing
------
sebastianconcpt
Really nice. I was hoping to find some Smalltalk examples
------
nvr219
thank u!!!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Do you donate to any charities? - trev0r
If so, which organizations are your favorite and why?
======
AmberShah
ASPCA and my local SPCA
Nothing but nets
I want to start with charity:water soon too.
The "why" is that these causes touch my heart and the organizations are
responsible. No pet deserves cruelty or starvation. Every child deserves to
live with clean water and not die of malaria. But so many causes are worthy so
it's more a matter of what problem breaks your heart.
------
frossie
Yeah, I donate to charity. I also donate to open source projects. I give to
bloggers. I buy freemium-service subscriptions even if I don't need the
features. I give to buskers.
Why? Because it feels right.
------
bjplink
If you don't have a lot of money but are interested in doing something you
might want to check out Kiva (<http://www.kiva.org>).
They give micro loans to small businesses in countries around the world. You,
over the course of months, get your money back and you can then redistribute
it back to another person somewhere else.
I've been a member for nearly four years now and in that time I've managed to
help with 14 loans.
------
marknutter
I go out of my way to avoid charities. I'd rather build up wealth and dispense
it Bill Gates style than give out a slow trickle over the course of my life.
That way I can personally make sure my money is being spent properly and be
hands on with it, rather than trust some far away bureaucracy to not waste it.
~~~
coryl
There are problems with thinking like this:
1) You may never be rich enough to have any wealth to dispense. This is
arrogance and ignorance.
2) You ignore the plight of those today. Money isn't the only way to be
charitable. Time, energy, effort, and passion can be lent to charitable
causes.
I have the same thought process as you, "oh I'll be rich one day and I'll be
generous and give everything and make happiness, that'll be my contribution.
But not now, I've got my own problems.". I think we all have a responsibility
to do something for those less fortunate, those without opportunity, those
suffering. A lot of my friends in college volunteered, and it really shamed me
a bit into how little I do for anyone else.
That said, give now, whatever it is you want to give.
~~~
_delirium
Plus, if everyone did it, you'd just multiply bureaucracy: every dot-com
millionaire will have a non-profit organization, with its own office, staff,
accountants, lawyers, fundraising office, designers, program managers, etc.,
etc. That's one reason Buffett just gave his money to the Gates Foundation
instead of setting up a self-aggrandizing but redundant Buffett Foundation.
~~~
marknutter
Well, what I should have said then was I want to give my money away Warren
Buffet style: carefully research which is the best nonprofit to donate to, and
go all in.
------
kiba
On the bitcoin forum, I started a thread to donate bitcoins, which is a kind
of cryptocurrency, to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
This is because the technology and the concept behind bitcoins is probably
something that the Electronic Frontier Foundation would probably have to
defend in the future.
------
retrogradeorbit
Yes. Amnesty International. Because I think of all the things wrong in the
world, and I think a good way to start to fix them is to work on the most
basic of human rights. From this will flow other benefits. How can we save the
planet if we can't even look after each other?
------
rdl
Yes.
Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS, www.maps.org) is
my #1 destination for donations. I think the war on some drugs has done more
to damage the US than anything else, and this seems like the most reasonable
pathway to fix this -- showing that various "evil" substances are medically
useful.
I also donate to: EFF, Gun Owners of America, NRA, Tax Foundation, the
National Cryptologic Museum, and the Singularity Institute for Artificial
Intelligence.
I'd like to donate to global, national, and local (Seattle or WA/PNW)
environmental groups which are responsible and not "Environmentalists"; buying
land privately and being responsible with it seems to be a more direct way to
accomplish this.
------
linhir
I've been resolved since I was in college to give away 10% of my income a
year. I give to two anti-human trafficking organizations that I know first-
hand spend their money wisely and vastly improve the lives of individuals who
have been victimized in a way most of us can't imagine: GEMS: Girls
Educational & Mentoring Services (<http://www.gems-girls.org/>) and Polaris
Project (www.polarisproject.org/). I also give some money to NYC arts
organizations (NY Philharmonic, etc), but that is mostly because I like the
benefits rather than out of any great philanthropic ideal.
------
fbnt
I am a blood donor, but I never really donated money to any charity. After
witnessing a huge ONG meeting (non-governative organizations) and all the
businessy-feel that accompanied the whole event and how people managing
small/middle tier charities were visibly more interested in their personal
wealth rather than the cause they were working for, I came to the conclusion
that I'm not in favour of putting my hard-earned cash in their pockets,
charity shouldn't be a job. I'm sure not all of them are like that, and maybe
one day I'll change my mind, in the meantime I stick with blood donations
only.
------
typicaljoe
My wife and I give. I think it is one of the most positive things you can do.
We give to several faith-connected charities, children's hospitals, etc. My
new "favorite" charity is charitywater.org. They have a lot of good things
going for it not the least of which is that they are about as close as it
comes to a "startup" charity in terms of innovation, marketing, etc.
------
ajdecon
Yes, mostly local organizations: humane society, anti-poverty programs, etc.
And Child's Play, every December.
------
rmc
I have frequently volunteered out in Africa with Camara
(<http://www.camara.ie>), a charity that sends second hand computers to
schools in Africa. They are taking the long view of how to help Africa develop
as a region, education is the key.
------
exline
March of Dimes, both my wife's pregnancies almost ended with premature births
( months of bed rest, hospitalization, etc.) We toured the NICU and saw babies
born months early. We say the doctors and nurses who work in this area while
staying in the hospital for 30 days.
------
_delirium
Does political stuff count? I give some money to the EFF, because with the
amount of money I'm able to spend on those issues, I feel they can spend it
more effectively than I could as an individual.
------
jeffepp
Kiva.org and Make A Wish Foundation. Both are pretty self explanatory, seeing
helpless kids with horrible circumstances breaks my heart.
------
lukevdp
yes Kiva. It seems to me to be the smartest charity and awesome way to help
people.
------
kranner
Wikipedia.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
America’s New Sex Bureaucracy - hooboy
https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-arts-and-culture/291105/americas-new-sex-bureaucracy
======
RcouF1uZ4gsC
>But after a lifetime in service of the feminist cause, she took on the case
of a friend whose son she came to believe had been wrongly convicted of rape
and won his acquittal on appeal.
This is one of the big ways in which sexism is a much more tractable problem
than racism and less potentially explosive. Women and men both have members of
the opposite sex that they genuinely love. I have heard that fathers with
daughters make for a very tough jury in rape cases. A lot of the opposition to
these title ix courts has come from mothers worried about their sons being
falsely accused.
With racism, there is a pretty good chance that in some areas, a person of one
race has virtually no one of another race that they genuinely love. This
allows racial discrimination to last longer, and has the danger that when base
emotions get appealed to by demagogues, there is less resistance.
~~~
tzs
How would bias toward gay people fit in with that? A lot of people don't know
(or at least aren't aware that they know) anyone gay, but bias toward gay
people has dramatically fallen over the last couple of decades.
There was a recent episode of "Hidden Brain" on NPR that talked about this
[1].
This part is particularly interesting:
> In a thought experiment, Mahzarin and her colleagues have extended the trend
> lines of the data to see how long it would take for bias to be entirely
> eliminated. To be clear, this isn't a prediction about what is going to
> happen. It just shows you the speed at which different biases are changing.
What they found is that this would have anti-gay bias all but eliminated in 9
more years. By contrast, it's about 60 more years for anti-black biases to be
eliminated, 140 years for skin tone biases against darker skin to go away.
Biases against the elderly and the disabled and the overweight do not go away
within the next 150 years.
Most families include the elderly and the overweight, so the idea that
familiarity breeds acceptance would predict that those biases should be going
away quicker than biases against gays.
(To reiterate, the timeframes aren't predictions of what will happen. They are
just comparisons of the rates that those biases are changing right now).
[1] [https://www.npr.org/2019/04/03/709567750/radically-normal-
ho...](https://www.npr.org/2019/04/03/709567750/radically-normal-how-gay-
rights-activists-changed-the-minds-of-their-opponents)
~~~
blotter_paper
>Most families include the elderly and the overweight, so the idea that
familiarity breeds acceptance would predict that those biases should be going
away quicker than biases against gays.
What I'm about to say is not meant to provide a justification for
discriminatory behavior, it's just an armchair-anthropologist's attempt at
explaining this discrepancy. We might have a very deep bias against old
people; if a group of animals has to decide who gets a split of food, and some
of them have a dramtically shorter life expectancy, I could imagine there
being a biological tendency to care about the young over the old. A similar
calculation might be made about the disabled, since a wounded companion is
less helpful than an able-bodied one. Weight, I have a number of ideas about.
There's a disease correlation, of course. We also might ostracize overweight
people because overweight people were more likely to be hoarding food in our
deep past, and sharing with those who don't share back is a bad strategy. Even
if the specifics of my armchair-anthropology are utter horseshit, I could see
factors similar to these out-weighing the familiarity bias without discounting
it.
~~~
everdev
The bias against overweight people is probably less about them hoarding and
more about them being unhealthy.
We probably have a bias against unhealthy people because they'd drain the time
and resources of a tribe. And they'd be less likely to help with physical
activities like hunting, gathering and war.
Obesity is a very new phenomenon but not wanting to include or associate with
people who seem sick or unhealthy is probably pretty old.
~~~
Hitton
Bias against overweight people isn't about them being unhealthy, plenty of
other unhealthy people have public sympathies, the problem is they are mostly
"voluntarily" unhealthy - they want accommodations for conditions caused by
their unhealthy habit. It's similar to drug addicts' plight in both the cause
and reaction.
------
jancsika
How in the world is the conversation not about the lack of ethics of the
teachers and faculty who agree to serve as the amateur judges/questioners in
these tribunals?
_Hello, I spent a decade of my life learning just how difficult it is to
become an expert in my very narrow field. In fact I spend most of my time
helping undergrads refine their rank speculation into tractable problems to
potentially guide them to a deeper understanding of even a tiny slice of my
narrow specialty.
What's that? You'd like me to serve on a jury for the school? No not on a
jury, but instead to serve as a kind of combination panel judge and amateur
lawyer? For what may be criminal allegations against a student? And you say
there's no actual trained judicial expert to lead and constrain the process,
but instead a handbook that will teach me in about an hour how to question a
witness?
Sorry, it's my minimal sense of civic and academic integrity calling. I really
have to take this..._
~~~
duxup
At Baylor a former investigator described believing that because it was a
religious school they expected there wouldn't be much for them to do.
I have to wonder how much life experience someone has who thinks that...
At a large public institution near me they had some lawyers review their
processes.
The resulting suggestions were pretty shocking. Things like, educating the
accused as to what the process even was. Notifying the accused that there was
an appeal (they apparently didn't do that all the time). Allowing all parties
legal representation. And more detailed recording of testimony, mostly due to
cases that involved concerns from accused students that their testimony that
was recorded was inaccurate and had only been recorded by hand written notes
taken by another student. In some cases their efforts to correct what they
said seemed to be interpreted as lying... because it conflicted with the
original notes (but not any factual conflict).
It is mind boggling that any of the suggestions were needed.
In the meantime the folks running the department investigating the reports are
also tasked with writing the rules, investigating, judging....and on their own
time advocating for various policies surrounding sexual assault.
------
oijqoiwejoiqwj
Unfortunately, I do not believe these ridiculous university tribunals will
come to an end anytime soon. In fact, I think the problem will get much, much
worse before it gets better. They are a symptom of a much larger problem.
Without distracting with any specific cases, it's very clear that the modern
world is shifting away from the presumption of innocence. This, combined with
an internet that remembers forever and a total disregard for free speech, will
have predictably disastrous results. The set of punishable behavior is growing
wider every day, whilst the standards of evidence are becoming shallower and
shallower.
It's infuriating that every major US news site is being flooded with stories
about increasing loneliness, plummetting sexual activity, increasing suicides,
etc., but seem more than happy to contribute to the new character
assassination of the day. Has it clicked for anyone yet that maybe today's
youth are becoming shut-in's because they have a brain, and they know one
mistake can ruin their entire life?
The commonly repeated reasons for this status-quo are pitiful.
Journalists aren't part of the judicial system, so it's alright if they pick a
side without physical evidence --- as if that somehow makes their claims more
likely to be true. Does not caring about science make a person's scientific
claims more valid? Why even care about the news if the news doesn't care about
the facts?
The 1st amendment applies only to the government, not private institutions ---
so what? Is having a closed mind now a desirable personality trait? I'd hope
that private individuals are working to preserve free speech as well, even if
they aren't forced to do so. Besides that, many of the private institutions
that this argument is applied to are in fact receiving special government
funding / support (universities are a prime example, large payment processors
are another). Can the government freely disregard your constitutional rights
as long as it uses a private-sector middle-man?
/rant
~~~
logicprog
This is amazing, thank you for posting this! I've been thinking along these
exact lines for a very long time (especially since I just started at a
university), but didn't want to speak up here because I was sure I'd get a
chorus of accusations of sexism. But since you put this here, I thought I'd
just give you a little encouragement.
------
mikedilger
This is a very difficult issue. Most sexual assaults happen in private, so
there is rarely any evidence a victim can use to convict the perpetrator. Most
accusations are real, but some are questionable as to whether a crime was
committed, and some accusations are false. Given there is almost never any
evidence, victims are at a severe disadvantage in the innocent until proven
guilty paradigm. I can understand why some people want to flip the tables and
"believe all women" but it's also clear that such a flipped situation has it's
own severe problems, and that IMHO there is no good solution. Knowing this I
have more empathy for everybody's view on this topic, rather than being in one
camp and demonizing the other.
~~~
dragonsngoblins
> Most accusations are real
See, I want to believe that, but I'm not sure there is a way to know whether
or not that is actually true. In much the same way that there is rarely
evidence of guilt when an accusation is true there isn't likely to be evidence
when an accusation is false. I keep seeing people say some variant of "X% of
rape accusations are false" but none of the sources I have ever seen have had
a particularly accurate way of gathering data... because one doesn't exist.
The proportion of unproven accusations that happen to be false is unknowable
in practical terms, and I get frustrated by people variously flat out stating
it is high/low.
~~~
lidHanteyk
You may borrow priors that are personal but calibrated based on reading
statistics: accusations are real at a 3/4 rate, about 1/3 of people have been
sexually assaulted ever, and in 9/10 of sexual assaults it is not the
assaulter's first time.
I personally would not say that 3/4 is "most", but I don't think any kind of
blanket statement can occur below 7/8, and usually I prefer to think in nines
or other logarithmic scales very close to certainty or uncertainty.
We need to have evidence before we can make certain reasoned decisions.
Without evidence, we need to listen, consider, and keep ourselves open to
possibilities.
~~~
abvdasker
Do you have sources for those numbers?
~~~
lidHanteyk
Thanks to Aumann's Agreement, I cannot convince you that the priors are well-
calibrated priors without infinite regress. Do you have sources for other
numbers that you would prefer be used instead?
~~~
abvdasker
I'm gonna take that as a no.
~~~
lidHanteyk
Sure. Take a step back and look at this with some perspective:
* Neither of us really know what's going on
* Both of us have done private research
* We came up with some numbers
* I shared my numbers, you didn't share yours
Your complaint is that I'm not delegating the numbers to some authority. My
complaint is that, regardless of which authority you choose, you're still
choosing an authority.
I'm not saying that I'm right; in fact, part of the point of choosing priors
is to be wrong. However, when we publicize the process of selecting priors, we
of course embarrass each other: If the priors were already well-known and
well-agreed-upon, then by Aumann's Agreement, we would have nothing to
discuss.
------
AzuraJergen
As society reaches a point where the cost of simply being accused of rape
leads more and more cases of loss of a degree, job, social relations,
imprisonment and that uncertainty over whether it happened or not forces
decisions that are not fair or just to either party. We will simply see more
and more individuals isolate themselves from the other sex to limit the risk
that they will be blamed or look down upon for something.
Folks like the current Vice-President of the US, saying that he will only meet
with a woman in the presence of others may become more prevalent and "correct"
to limit the risk of liability. In the long run, this may lead us to fall back
into segregation of sex similar to Islamic doctrine, where segregation is
needed to ensure the protection of families and society.
Most may not be thinking about it, but change can happen slowly, but sometimes
it happens abruptly like the changes we have been seen lately. I encourage
everyone to use their minds to help build an environment that better suits the
current times, before we go back in time and all we have to blame is
ourselves.
------
DisruptiveDave
In my junior year of college (very early 2000s), a senior friend was accused
of rape by a classmate. Within two days he had to hide out at my girlfriend's
house because a large group of large athletes was on the hunt for him to beat
him up. Within weeks he was expelled from school. I don't recall the police
ever being contacted.
Turns out the girl was ashamed she voluntarily slept with him. She admitted it
to friends a couple months later. That was too late, of course. She received
zero punishment. He was "lucky" that the police weren't notified on Day 1.
~~~
kenneth
We should make the punishment for falsely accusing someone of rape equivalent
to the punishment for rape. That's take care of the problem.
~~~
janetacarr
This assumes the court system is infallible though when we know it is not.
Plus, I can see something like this deterring actual victims from coming
forward.
~~~
AlexTWithBeard
_something like this deterring actual victims from coming forward_
This is also a possibility, but it's pretty much universally accepted that
it's better to let a criminal go than to punish an innocent person.
~~~
LurkersWillLurk
I don't agree. I would argue that the rise of the victims' rights movement
suggests that culturally, the United States is beginning to see the few false
reports/convictions as an acceptable casualty to the vast majority of truthful
reports.
I mean, we have Marsy's Law being added to state constitutions left and right.
One of its provisions is that the victim[1] can refuse a deposition before
trial. This obviously conflicts with the accused's right to access all the
evidence, does it not?
Another provision limits the amount of time a convicted person can seek post-
conviction relief. The goal here is to remove stress from the victim, but
again, we have seen many convicted people be exonerated due to DNA evidence,
or other evidence that arises after the fact. Again, this is a statement of
values - that the deprivation of liberty is less important than the desire of
the victim to not feel anxious about the perpetrator's possible release.
[1] I would argue that calling a complainant a victim undermines the
presumption of innocence. If you're a victim, it follows that the accused is a
perpetrator.
~~~
kenneth
Innocent until proved guilty is a fundamental principle of American values. I
don't at all see why we should throw that out the window and say that "a few
people falsly convicted is an acceptable casualty" just so we can catch more
perpetrators.
~~~
LurkersWillLurk
I mean, I agree. I'm not in favor of "acceptable casualties", I'm just saying
that the mainstream opinion is changing.
------
drewrv
The way this article conflates sex with sexual assault really creeps me out.
The first sentence states:
_Four feminist law professors at Harvard Law School have been telling some
alarming truths about the tribunals that have been adjudicating collegiate sex
for the past five years._
No tribunals "adjudicate collegiate sex". They adjudicate sexual assault.
~~~
ccday
One of the professors quoted in the article suggests otherwise:
> The system promulgated a definition of sexual misconduct so expansive that
> it “plausibly covers almost all sex students are having today,” as Gersen
> wrote in an article in the California Law Review.
~~~
gregimba
The standard at my college was any alcoholic consumption meant you could no
longer consent. If I had a beer and had sex with my girlfriend it was
considered sexual misconduct under the definition of consent the school
provided.
~~~
balfirevic
What if you both had beers? You'd both be considered to have committed an
offence?
~~~
esyir
Of course not. He would have been the offender.
------
DoreenMichele
I don't know how we get there. I'm incredibly frustrated at how much doors
remain shut in my face and I can't get traction, real respect and the money
that goes with it.
But after a lifetime of sorting my baggage in the aftermath of sexual abuse
and rape, I'm clear that one thing that must happen is women need public lives
on par with what men have and women need career options and earned income on
par with men.
A whole lot of this BS is rooted in the idea that a woman's sexuality is a
prize to be won by an "eligible" male -- ie a man who earns enough to take
care of her. There is a subtext of ownership there.
Which is part of what drives women to claim rape after a drunken hook up: It
protects their perceived purity in a world where women are still not entitled
to take ownership of their own sexuality and must hoard its use and preserve
its value to merit future ownership by some worthy man.
Ie some man who makes enough money.
It's a terrible societal poison that seeps insidiously into far too many
bedrooms.
~~~
dgzl
>A whole lot of this BS is rooted in the idea that a woman's sexuality is a
prize to be won by an "eligible" male -- ie a man who earns enough to take
care of her. There is a subtext of ownership there.
Both sides perpetuate this, but I see this coming from women much more than
men.
~~~
DoreenMichele
Perhaps that's because most women need a man's income to not be dirt poor.
I appear to be the highest ranked woman on HN. I appear to be the only woman
to ever have spent time on the leader board.
It has resulted in nearly zero professional connections. When I complain about
that, I get blown off and told that's not something I should expect from HN,
nevermind that it works that way for plenty of men.
I was homeless for nearly six years. I continue to struggle to make ends meet.
I'm currently broke.
This is an ongoing issue for me. And it is shocking and appalling to me that I
still get told after all this time that my gender isn't the issue and I'm
imagining things. I guess just to add insult to injury while I literally
starve. Again.
~~~
9HZZRfNlpR
I'm very sorry that you go through hard times but when you take a look at the
homelessness statistics you would understand men are having it in comparison
statistically speaking much harder.
~~~
DoreenMichele
It's really not that simple.
[https://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/2017/07/g...](https://sandiegohomelesssurvivalguide.blogspot.com/2017/07/gender-
and-homelessness.html)
~~~
flippinburgers
According to the article women, I guess, have it harder because:
1) Family tends to want to take care of women. Women get custody more often!
2) Women often are able to find a man willing to take care of them. 3) Peeing
in bushes is hard.
With other rich quotes like "women seem this and men seem that". At most it
simply proves that women have it easier.
------
jenkstom
Honestly I'm just glad to see this being discussed openly and honestly. It's a
difficult subject and it's been suppressed on both sides alternatively
depending on the time in history (herstory, whatever).
I'm happy that my daughter is doing so well in college and doesn't have to
worry about date rape. But I'm terrified of my sons going to college because I
know that consensual sex can destroy their lives. And honestly, they're much
less likely to even get there or finish in the first place.
------
icu
It is a sad thing to say, but the simple solution to this alarming trend of
rescinding consent after having consensual sex is to record the audio of your
interactions with the opposite sex. A voice-activated recorder that can store
months worth of conversations can be purchased on Amazon quite cheaply.
I've even heard of work situations where male managers refuse one-on-one
meetings with female employees due to fear of being falsely accused of sexual
impropriety. Again, in these work-related situations, recording the
interaction may save your career.
I realise the questionable ethics of recording someone when they don't know
they are being recorded. I also understand that there may be legal
ramifications for doing this depending on where you live.
However, if you are falsely accused of sexual assault, with an audio recording
proving consent, you can avoid the complete destruction of your life. You
still may have to face the legal repercussions of recording the conversation,
but this will be much smaller than the consequences of not being able to prove
consent.
~~~
dclusin
This is Richard Nixon level paranoia. I think that your second point is
probably occurring quite a lot, especially in tech, where empathy & people
skills aren't always high up on the list of priorities. But to walk around
with suspicion to the point of carrying around a microphone is just lunacy.
It's also an overreaction to such an unlikely outcome of being accused of
misconduct with a female employee. It affects such a small segment of the
population that your suggestion to walk around wired seems vastly excessive.
There's probably something more reasonable that can be done.
~~~
maximente
> But to walk around with suspicion to the point of carrying around a
> microphone is just lunacy
you are straw manning heavily here. OP suggested recording high stakes
interactions with the potential to turn sour at a later date, not what you've
said here about walking around wired.
what are your arguments against saving evidence for high stakes interactions
that could turn into socially and career ruining consequences later? you know
this is done in non-sexual contexts e.g. police interviews already, right?
~~~
dclusin
Conversations in the workplace happen organically. Sometimes the CEO will
approach you at the water cooler and say, hey, got a sec? What are you gonna
do? Say "brb let me grab my recording device?" Or start filming the encounter
like people film the police?
~~~
icu
I'm not talking about all out surveillance of all human interactions. I'm
talking about being in a closed office with a female employee one on one, or
when 'going out on the pull'. Basically your workplace, bars/clubs, or other
high risk situations or venues especially where alcohol is served.
I'm also talking about keeping the device in your pocket as you would your
wallet or keys... or more like a swiss army knife.
You may never need it, but if you do, you'll be glad it's there.
------
concordDance
While this is an interesting counterattack in the ongoing Culture Wars, I
don't think hackernews is an appropriate place for it.
------
hirundo
> It is a story with which the rise of Donald Trump is fatally intertwined,
> but it is in fact a story that takes precedence—both temporal and
> logical—over the anarchic and pathological rise of the demagogue occupying
> the White House.
All of the elements of this story were in full flower during the Obama
administration. Trump's role has been to politically capitalize on the
resulting resentments. This is a "this is how you got Trump" story, if just
another straw on the camel.
~~~
MFLoon
The line you're quoting literally notes that this all happened before Trumps
rise, and is logically prior to it. It claims they were "intertwined", which
is implying the relation you're asserting (Trump capitalizing on the fallout
from Title IX and other such social trends under Obama). Nothing about this is
a "This is how you got Trump" story.
------
tomc1985
All I want is a world where more people are choosing to have more sex with
more people, and as much as I support feminism and liberalism, it makes me sad
to see sex become so... formalized and regimented. It's as if people are
forgetting that sex feels great and that pleasure is good. I resent the fact
that this great country (the US) has one of the lowest rates of sexual
encounters per year per person.
------
rolltiide
If you are getting mixed signals on these topics it is because there is no
consensus.
~~~
noobermin
A lot of the downvotes here are sort of cowardly. I mean, perhaps there is
some general consensus to contradict rolltiide if we refer to the status quo
in terms of what universities have chosen to adjudicate, but it is in fact
more complicated with people with differing ideas. That isn't an attack on
your perspective, it's literally just stating an observation that makes no
moral judgement.
------
mieseratte
For the life of me I don’t understand why government funded institutions run
their own tribunals. Send it through the proper court system, if the accused
is guilty you can expel them cleanly.
~~~
Lazare
If I run a startup, and one of my employees is making other employees
uncomfortable, and he keeps getting accused of harassing other employees, and
is generally just making some of my best engineers unhappy, hurting
productivity, and ruining our carefully constructed culture...
...I can fire him. I mean, obviously I need to go through the proper HR
procedures, follow local employment law, respect the terms of his contract,
etc., but I have no obligation to keep him employed if I think he's a net
negative to my company. Arguably I have an obligation to _not_ keep him
employed. And I certainly have no requirement to wait until he has been
convicted of a crime; it's not even clear any of the above _is_ a crime.
Similarly, if I run a resort, and one of the guests is so unpleasant they're
driving away other guests, or if I run a restaurant, and one of the guests is
making other guests uncomfortable, or I run an apartment building, and one of
the tenants is behaving poorly.
A university is a business. People come and pay money in exchange for a
service, and if someone is interfering with the ability of other people to
receive that service, or making people reluctant to come and pay money, it's
perfectly fine for them to be asked to leave. If what they're doing happens to
be a crime, then by all means, _also_ report them to the police, but it's kind
of odd to suggest that you shouldn't expel students except if they've been
convicted of a crime.
That being said, I think universities are doing a terrible job here, and I
think that given the _extreme_ importance of a university education in modern
life, the disruption that being expelled entails, and the stigma that will
follow someone if they are expelled, we need to be very careful about the
process here. My local dollar store will ban you from the store if they think
you shoplifted, and I assume they get it wrong sometimes, but it's fine,
because being unjustly banned from a dollar store does not ruin your life.
Being unjustly expelled from university could! Things are broken and need
fixing. But a world where you can only be expelled on conviction of a crime
makes no sense either. The discussion need to be about the correct amount of
protection needed.
~~~
klipt
In the workplace dating coworkers is generally frowned upon.
At a university, dating other students is so commonplace that a large portion
of people meet their spouses that way.
Title IX may want to treat dating at universities with the same disdain as in
the workplace, but it's not going to be an easy cultural shift.
~~~
Lazare
> In the workplace dating coworkers is generally frowned upon.
And at a restaurant, being in a relationship with a fellow patron is quite
common. Similarly, no legal or cultural ban against dating your room mate when
you rent a house (much to the relief of married couples everywhere).
Students are (mostly) not employees of the university, but they are customers
of educational services and (quite often) tenants. A university has a _number_
of relationships to students, and a number of responsibilities, both to the
(alleged) predators and to the larger student body.
I mentioned a startup situation in the hopes it would seem relevant to many
here (surely we've all had at least one co-worker that was disruptive?), but
trying to view this purely through the lens of employment law will get you
nowhere.
~~~
weberc2
Universities are paid largely by federal student loans and tax dollars. This
is not a standard business/patron agreement. Expelling a student $50K in debt
can ruin their life. The university owes them a fair trial. And there is no
excuse for the overt discrimination or other shenanigans we’re seeing.
------
lordlic
I think it's pretty clear that Title IX courts could do a much better job of
protecting the due process rights of the accused. I think it's possible to
take a nuanced position that advocates for better due process rights _while
still fundamentally respecting the advances we 've made in protecting the
interests of women and other underrepresented groups_.
...but without that last part, the position I just outlined sounds very much
like that of conservatives opposed to the whole program of social reform. The
author of this article gives the game away in his concluding paragraphs where
he throws the term "social justice" into scare quotes. He has a bigger agenda
than just protecting the due process rights of college students. And (even
assuming the facts are exactly as he portrays them) I'm not surprised that the
professors described in the article got such a frosty reception to their
position - it's a difficult one to describe without coming off as another
stealth reactionary.
~~~
_vertigo
In your comment you seem to value who someone “is” (i.e. what their label is)
more than you value what they have to say.
Your reasoning for why the non-italicized portion is not good enough is
“conservatives say that”. The reason you offer for why the professors get a
frosty reaction is “they could be mistaken for stealth reactionaries”. Perhaps
it’s less important to consider what label you can assign to someone and more
important to just consider what they’re saying.
~~~
lordlic
_Didn 't I just say_ that I agreed with the core argument of the article? I
just wanted to make sure we all understood that this isn't a case of a "woke"
(for lack of a better term) person concerned about moderating the worst
excesses of the movement, it's a case of someone who wants to dismantle the
whole thing.
And it's absolutely relevant what a person "is." If NRA TV uploaded a special
report on gun control, it _matters_ that you know it was produced by NRA TV. I
can't believe I'm even having to argue this point.
Finally, I didn't defend students/academia reacting incorrectly to the
professors, I just said I understood. A lot of people are (rightfully, I
think) sick of neoliberalism's "free marketplace of ideas" approach to
permitting right-wing toxicity, and can get carried away when they think
that's what a speaker is relying on. That doesn't make them automatically
right.
~~~
_vertigo
I don’t necessarily disagree that it _matters_, but why does it matter, and
how much? Why can’t you believe that you’re having to defend the point? What
bearing does who someone is have on the actual _substance_ of an argument?
Personally I think that who someone is is absolutely useful information
because it can contextualize the intent of an argument and provide a hint as
to the biases of the person making the argument, which is a useful tool for
thinking critically about the argument. However, when weighing the merit of
the argument, it doesn’t matter who is making the argument.
That’s why I took issue - you said that the reason the italicized portion was
needed was because without it you sound a lot like a conservative. That’s
weighing the merit of the argument based on what kind of person makes it
rather than the substance of the argument itself.
------
eli_gottlieb
Flagged as irrelevant to Hacker News' core purpose, and somewhat inflammatory
to boot for those not marinating in campus culture wars all the time.
~~~
alexithym
This is much less irrelevant to HN's core purpose than the plethora of other
random articles that can be found at any given time.
Personally, I fail to see how the article was inflammatory. The author clearly
took pains to avoid demonizing either side of the discussion that was being
highlighted, something which is markedly rarer in the current day and age.
~~~
seppin
> HN's core purpose
You can only read about new backend frameworks so often, this is interesting..
------
strenholme
Three generations ago, we had a framework in place which minimized these gray
areas where, while a reasonable person would infer there was consent to have
sex, the partner actually was not consenting to sex.
The framework was this: If the relationship was not a lifetime monogamous
commitment, then the sex was not OK.
I have observed, in the majority of these cases (Caleb Warner, etc.), the
issue was that two people had sex with each other without first having an
established relationship with each other. It’s a simple observation that one
can generally avoid a false rape accusation by making sure to only have sex in
a monogamous committed relationship.
~~~
krapp
You do realize that sexual assault and rape can occur even within the
framework of marriage, right?
This framework only "minimizes grey areas" in the sense that a patriarchal
society assumes sex to be the the duty of the wife to the husband, and that,
therefore a womans' right to deny consent is nullified under the contract of
marriage. But this isn't actually the case. A relationship is not a guarantee
of perpetual sexual consent.
~~~
strenholme
That’s a real strawman there. There is a difference between “a majority” and
“all”; I did not at any point say that there is “never marital rape”, nor did
I say that there is “never rape in an established relationship”. I certainly
did _not_ say that “martial rape is OK”.
However, in all of the campus sexual assault accusations I have seen, not a
single one was one where the two people were married to each other.
In the real world, not everything is black and white. There are gray areas.
It’s _much less likely_ a sexual assault accusation will happen in a marriage.
This does not mean it will never happen; don’t pretend that I said something I
never said.
~~~
krapp
It's not a strawman. Marriage has no effect whatsoever on consent.
>It’s much less likely a sexual assault accusation will happen in a marriage.
Do you have data to back this up?
~~~
strenholme
Two out of three sexual assault allegations involve incidents when the person
was not in an established intimate relationship with the person:
[https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/sexual-assault-
victims/](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/sexual-assault-victims/)
Again, when did I ever say that “marital rape is OK”? I did not, and it’s a
strawman to claim that I did.
~~~
krapp
I didn't think you were claiming marital rape was OK, I thought you were
claiming it didn't exist, which is an unfortunately common belief. I
misinterpreted your intent and I apologize.
~~~
strenholme
Thank you for the apology. This is a complex topic which a Ycombinator thread
can not do justice to, so I present this link:
[https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/victims-and-
perpetrators](https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/victims-and-perpetrators)
------
rayiner
Meh. This is the second sexual revolution. The first go around resulted in
rules and around causal sex in college that favor men and encode male
expectations. Women are making clear that those rules don’t work for them and
are demanding a change. If you don’t push the line on consent you have nothing
to worry about.
~~~
mirimir
I get what you're saying. But the "second sexual revolution" actually happened
in the 80s-90s. I remember it distinctly. You always paused, and clearly
asked, at each stage.
But this is different. Now there is no such thing as "consent". Or rather,
consent can be withdrawn _retroactively_.
I've never been accused of rape, as far as I know. But many years ago, one
girlfriend told me that she had thought I was wealthy. With the implication
that we wouldn't be having sex, if she had known that I wasn't. Today, that
might well become an accusation of rape. In that I had tricked her.
~~~
klipt
One way to prevent these things from going too far is to make the standards
gender neutral. If men start accusing women of rape by trickery too, I imagine
feminists will very quickly back down.
The main problem is when it's all in one direction: when people think that
defining more things as rape makes them more feminist, more supportive of
women, and more deserving of social brownie points, then they have incentive
to keep going well beyond the borders of common sense.
~~~
mirimir
I don't have any direct (or indirect) experience. So what happens now if a man
accuses a woman of "raping" him? I'm guessing that he'd be ignored. And I
don't think the standards will become gender-neutral any faster than they'll
become just.
I do wonder, though, whether young men are becoming more cautious about who
they have sex with. And if there's any way to protect oneself against future
rape accusations. Perhaps some sort of witnessed contractual agreement? Maybe
something like Islamic "temporary marriage"? With penalties for changing ones
mind later.
Edit: Another thread cites an article about a guy who, paranoid after a
"drunken hookup", filed a Title IX complaint.[0] So maybe that's the workable
strategy. Have sex, and then be first to file. And research the process ahead
of time, so there's no delay.
0) [https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/06/title-
ix-i...](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/06/title-ix-is-too-
easy-to-abuse/561650/)
~~~
gm678
" So what happens now if a man accuses a woman of "raping" him? I'm guessing
that he'd be ignored. "
I do think there is currently a double standard, and I think that misogyny and
the view of women as "passive" participants in sex contributes to that. The
CDC estimates that 1 in 71 men will be raped in their lifetime, and an
analysis by Scientific American found that 79 percent of male victims of rape
reported it to police, but unfortunately I cannot find information on how many
of those reports led to a trial and potentially a conviction.
I think that while some men are likely ignored, and we definitely have a
problem with the way we imagine sexual assault as a society, the relatively
high reporting rate suggests that many cases are also taken seriously.
I'm also not really sure what "strategy" you're referring to; a strategy to
protect yourself from Title IX complaints? I really think that what rayiner
said is all you need to do: "Don't take advantage of marginal situations;
don't toe the line. Don't do anything you can't defend later."
[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sexual-
victimizat...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/sexual-
victimization-by-women-is-more-common-than-previously-known/)
~~~
0xcraft
My experience relating being raped to friends was generally not a positive
one. I found women tended to be more open to believing my story. Men were
pretty skeptical. Of course, sharing my experience didn't happen for many
years. In the mid 1980s the idea that men even could be raped by a woman was a
bit farfetched both socially and legally.
~~~
mirimir
As a guy, I can't quite imagine being raped by a woman. Unless she was
wielding a suitable device, anyway.
But I have, after wild parties, found myself in bed with women who, in
retrospect, I didn't find all that appealing. And yes, I know, that's a
cliché.
Even so, I'd never make a big deal about it. We all do stupid things when
we're intoxicated. "Así fue ... son las cosas de la vida".
~~~
mirimir
Sorry. I am dense. Maybe you were raped by a man.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Con Man: A New Comedy from Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion - tamagokun
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/con-man
======
thret
I'm kind of surprised they're not offering a 50k or 100k reward. Get in quick
people, they're selling out.
------
yaddayadda
"Because Convention Man doesn't sound as cool." :-)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Drive (Courtesy of Marc Andreessen) - brett1211
http://timetogetstarted.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/happy-new-years-get-after-it/
======
warwick
Link to original post: <http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/12/drive.html>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
New AI algorithm summarizes text amazingly well - astdb
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/607828/an-algorithm-summarizes-lengthy-text-surprisingly-well/
======
bahjoite
Some detail of the algo: [https://einstein.ai/research/your-tldr-by-an-ai-a-
deep-reinf...](https://einstein.ai/research/your-tldr-by-an-ai-a-deep-
reinforced-model-for-abstractive-summarization)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Whats the Whiteboard Solution - donaldyc
I'm going to develop a remote tutoring class room application which need a whiteboard.<p>I searched for a virtual whiteboard solution on the web, and found most of them are web based written in js. Whats more, most of them can only run on desktop, or android,or ios, and few can run on the three.<p>So I'm puzzled at<p>1) Is it much difficult to adapt the desktop version to android or ios ?<p>2) If I choose QT to develep desktop client, flutter( or java & swift) for mobile app, how can I integrate a js whiteboard sdk to the application ?<p>3) Is it an option to run the js in webview, how about its performence ?<p>Can anyone give me some advice ?
======
austincheney
Testing code on interfaces that lack a physical keyboard is generally a pain
the ass. That plus the expenses of App Store lock in are why there are no
convenient solutions for touch screens. The reason why everything else is
either QT or JavaScript comes down to a single cross platform solution.
As a full time JavaScript developer performance for JavaScript based
applications is completely hit or miss. If the developer knows what they are
doing they can write productivity software that, in most cases, performs
faster than some desktop applications. Unfortunately most JavaScript
developers don’t know what they are doing and many JavaScript based
applications are slow.
------
caryd
If you want it to work across platforms then js is the way to go.
It could be written in a few hours
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Please review Twollars - eisokant
Dear HN Members,<p>I've been here on HN for almost a year now and time and time again I see the most valuable comments come by on Ask HN Review posts. To be honest, they are by far my favorites.<p>I am very happy to now be posting my own. Last month my co-founder and I launched Twollars. Twollars is a Twitter thank you currency. Simply by tweeting "Give 5 Twollars @username" - there is no registration - you can send Twollars to someone. (You can also use any of the other commands - here is a list on our Wiki with all the commands we are experimenting with: http://thinktank.twollars.com/wiki/71163)<p>Where we hope to do a lot of good is by allowing people to donate their Twollars to a charity. The charity in turn is sponsored by a company who pledges to donate the real amount in hard currency.<p>We are also very close to launching multi-currencies. Which will allow anyone on Twitter to start their own currency. The thoughts behind this are to allow people to setup their own community currency (similar to many open money concepts that are being tried).<p>URL: http://Twollars.com<p>Any feedback is really appreciated!<p>Thank you so much,<p>Eiso & Mac
======
SingAlong
Eiso,
Twollars is a cool idea. How do you bridge the thing? Real money vs Twollar
money. I mean, do you actually donate money when someone donates money? or is
it just a service where you allow others collect donations?
P.S: I've been noticing you've been using using Twollars a lot yourself. Did
you launch it from a cafe? I think I saw a pic of you in a green shirt and a
laptop :) I've been spying on Twollars for a while LOL :)
~~~
eisokant
Hey Akash,
The way it works is that companies who are interested in donation money to a
charity and getting visibility on Twitter can chose to sponsor a charity. So
then if for example a 1000 Twollars are donated, the company sponsoring the
charity will donate a $1000 Dollars.
Yup, I had launched it from a netbook in a hotel lobby/restaurant in London
since I was traveling at the time and we really wanted to get it out there
(someone posted a Twitpic of that). It was a great experience and got to meet
up with some great people via Twitter. One guy even found a problem in the
code and averted disaster.
All the best,
Eiso
~~~
Angostura
OK, so the actual transaction here, isn't Twitter users donating to the
charity, it's Twitter users donating publicity to a company which is donating
to charity - correct?
------
Tichy
Cool - I recently thought about the same thing, when I wondered what happened
to "kudos". Hope it works out for you - the idea with the charities is great!
------
michaelfidler
Eiso mentioned you but I never made the connection. It's a great idea! I work
with a few charities who are looking to leverage social media to help them
through these tough times. I need to talk with one of you about this more. BTW
I know I don't comment here often, but I read you posts regularly and share
your link's as well. Congrats, I have a feeling this is going to take off.
~~~
eisokant
Sounds great! Just drop me a mail at [email protected]
~~~
michaelfidler
I will in a couple of days. I would love to be able to mention it at their
next meeting. I'll fill you in with all the details! BTW, I love this blog
------
vaksel
whats stopping the Charity-Water to make a fake twitter account and do Give
1000000 Twollars @username.
Also, you need to give an incentive for the businesses to use this, instead of
sending the $$$ directly. For that you'll need to build up your core group of
users, and then tweet stuff like "IBM has donated $15,000USD to _____ Charity
thanks to your efforts"
~~~
eisokant
Every Twitter account has a starting balance of 50 Twollars. So if you would
tweet that - you would get a message saying you don't have sufficient balance.
The incentive for the businesses is exactly what you're mentioning - the
visibility on Twitter.
------
chiffonade
You're using the @ symbol incorrectly.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: $10k in cryptos stolen off my desktop from an encrypted folder, how? - kbenzle
I kept 500 Ether, 1,000 Litecoin and 500 PPC (and a little btc) in cold wallets in a password protected .rar file on my desktop, when I happened to check my watch address yesterday all the balances were emptied two days ago.
I made two mistakes (1) I download a lot from Torrent sites, (2) I kept ALL my "cold" storage paper wallets in one encrypted WinRar file with a 12 character password. I thought this security was enough and am still at a loss as to what happened.
The other day I noticed a program running in the Task Manager called, "Wool Department", there was no google results for it, so I closed it but it kept coming back up (on Windows). Next I got an e-mail from Microsoft about verification, then a few other sites I have not used for a long time. My email was hacked years ago, so I changed my password and did not connect the two events at all.
<i>My Ether address: 0xea13bae3f4d94b43d2224bb8a1abb0f4e7e0e24d </i>My Litecoin address: LhfSd3ZzJMrWawrFimQcTnCx8rYQ3XYiVG *My PPC address: PPM4tkGmx9f4LMchhCqQAn6j843KDU3ELk
I assume I will never see any of it again, but would like to offer 1/2 of any recovered funds as a reward to anyone that can help to find the criminal(s) responsible/return the funds.
======
Obi_Juan_Kenobi
How are they cold storage paper wallets?
They certainly aren't paper. They also aren't cold, being on a networked
computer.
I don't like victim-blaming, especially because this is really a usability
issue for crypto, but I have never heard anyone say that a pw protected .rar
file is appropriate security. If you're going to make a significant investment
into crypto, I just don't understand how you can ignore all the security
advice.
~~~
brianwawok
Which is one reason I could never see my parents using a cryptocurrency. So
many things can go wrong.
~~~
bbcbasic
It's the reason I don't (seriously) use it. I have 3 bitcoins or so floating
about somewhere.
------
cloudjacker
a) thats not how cold wallets work, they weren't supposed to be on a networked
computer at all.
b) check Teamviewer and remote desktop viewers. Especially the ports those
programs would typically use. It is a common attack vector to come in through
those and view your machine, install key loggers as you, etc. Which leads to
the next part:
c) How was the 12 character password stored? Only in your head? In a password
manager? in gmail? used in other areas?
------
jbmorgado
This story illustrates perfectly one of the big reasons why Bitcoin and
company aren't and will probably never be used by the general population for
anything really.
If even someone that is technical savvy (I don't know much about the OP but
someone that uses RAR, knows how to make crypto wallets and knows how to check
the processes running in his computer is much ahead of the average person in
terms of IT knowledge) can't be safe with their Crypto coins, you really can't
expect that the average person ever trusts Bitcoin and company for anything.
I'm sorry for your loss, but there is nothing you can do really. Try and
contact Poloniex for the Ether, but unless you have some prof those coins
actually belong to you, it will be next to impossible to have them do
anything.
~~~
bobbygoodlatte
Coinbase 2-factor auth plus their long-term Vault storage is plenty secure for
the general population.
~~~
bbcbasic
Or even better a checking account.
~~~
ThisIs_MyName
Yeah, if you're ok with a third part like Coinbase holding your money, just
use a bank. That's what banks are meant for!
------
beaker52
My best guesses:
a) Your machine was already compromised when you made the rar
b) The attacker logged your password, either when you entered the archive or
into another service which shares the same password
c) perhaps WinRAR encrypted archives have a cyptographic flaw making them
easily broken by software
d) perhaps the attacker has been bruteforcing for a while
------
irl_zebra
"Wool Department"? Sounds like you got fleeced.
------
howtofixthis
Well I'd start by sweeping out whatever is left. Your ether address still has
5 ether left in it...
Just following the transactions I can see that 125 ether were sent to Poloniex
so I'd contact them to see if they can help you.
------
orf
Yeah... The moment you see a windows process called "Wool department" that
restarts itself you unplug your computer and rebuild it from scratch.
------
gesman
Keylogger likely was installed on your computer and everything you was doing
been monitored.
Culprit: >> (1) I download a lot from Torrent sites
Solution:
1\. Wipe out computer / reinstall everything from clean sources.
2\. Don't download crap!
------
kristianp
Was your password based on a phrase that's in a book TV show or movie? It
could have been guessed by a dictionary attack. Even a phrase from urban
dictionary could be guessed for example.
------
curiousgal
I could to relate to you doing all of what you mentioned (torrents, "cold"
wallets", hacked email) up until you mentioned Windows.
------
philip142au
What if you had an anti-virus? Do you think that would have helped?
------
tenismyanswer
This is shocking. Let's all donate to the above addresses to try and get this
fella back on track
~~~
stephenr
Are you serious?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why solve puzzle to get BTC, How about contribute to TOR - mko_io
In the meanwhile in China, All the google's service, has been banned by GFW(national firewall in China) for a about month, And even Dropbox is banned today. People in China live in a miserable live. someplace VPN is also not useable, all the developer in China are using ShadowSock as their way to access the world.<p>I have an idea, since I'm a big fan of Bitcoin. Why change solving math puzzle to get BTC, to contribute to be a node to redirect traffic, and get reward from it, something like(TOR).<p>Hopefully the brilliant hackers group can come up an revolution way to make the internet a true free world without boundary.
======
chatmasta
I'm working with a couple of other researchers on this exact concept. We're
calling it TorCoin. I submitted it to HN a few weeks ago and it was at #1 on
the front page. You can read the paper here [1] and the HN discussion here
[2].
[1]
[http://dedis.cs.yale.edu/dissent/papers/hotpets14-torpath.pd...](http://dedis.cs.yale.edu/dissent/papers/hotpets14-torpath.pdf)
[2]
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7r4osQgWVqKTHdxTlowUVpsVmJ...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7r4osQgWVqKTHdxTlowUVpsVmJRcjF3Y3dtcTVscFhEaW5F)
------
mko_io
@chatmasta, Thanks very much for your links, I'm so exciting to check it out.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Physics of the Railgun - ChrisAntaki
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/the-physics-of-the-railgun/
======
madaxe_again
Railguns are fun to build as a hobby project. All you need are a pair of
rails, and a conductive slug. Ball bearings work well.
The tricky bit is reducing arcing between the rails and the slug, as you can
end up with it either welding onto the rails, or carbonising and ending up
with "dead patches", sapping your power. Main trick was to go for gobs of
current with as low a voltage as we could manage.
We used big capacitors re-purposed from a tesla coil (cider jars!), and copper
plumbing pipe filled with gravity-fed circulating mineral oil to keep the
temperature manageable.
Think it was 1.5m long or so, and we were using a 10mm ball bearing... and it
happily disappeared deep into a brick wall never to be seen again.
Fun times, but lethal if you're not careful.
------
daveslash
It would not surprise me if, given time, we see smaller versions of these
being produced for individuals. Given the controversy over gun-control (what
exactly _defines_ a gun?), I wonder how this will play out. In this comment, I
take no side in the gun-control discussion; I'm curious how the national
discussion will change.
Edit: This is in the context of U.S. gun control discussion.
~~~
trhway
airguns can be pretty powerful too. In Russia, for example, the law limits the
muzzle velocity and kinetic energy of projectile. The laser guns is different
issue though :) And there is also various nonlethal weaponry like 96GHz
directed energy devices
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Denial_System))
which i suppose will get to be miniaturized soon.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Interslavic Language - platform
http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/introduction.html
======
strenholme
As someone who has followed the constructed language and international
auxiliary language community for a couple of decades, and as someone with an
undergraduate degree in linguistics, I do not see a constructed language
catching on with the mainstream public any time soon.
A constructed language is a language that someone sits down and creates; this
is different from a natural language which just forms as people communicate
with each other. There are many constructed languages: Klingon in Star Trek is
an actual constructed language, as is the language the Elves spoke in The Lord
of the Rings.
Esperanto, and Interslavic, are examples of _International Auxiliary
Languages_ (IAL), languages specially made to be easy to learn to facilitate
international communication. We have had those languages for well over a
century, and none of them have caught on.
The reason why an IAL has not caught on is because people are motivated to
learn a language when it has prestige, not because it’s easier to learn. Right
now, for better or for worse, English is that language (with all of its warts:
Auxiliary words to carry tense, the rather strange tense/lax vowel
distinction, etc.) right now.
I would love to see an IAL to catch on, but there’s a serious marketing issue,
especially since a lot of people just don’t have the mind to learn a new
language as an adult, no matter how easy the language is to learn.
~~~
asveikau
I'm curious what you would think of the history of Standard Italian or Modern
Hebrew. In both cases, there was no such thing as a native speaker 300 years
ago, but they were revived from historical literary sources to coincide with a
new political identity or state, and today millions of people count them as
their native language.
It seems awfully like the story of a constructed language with high state,
political and cultural support, that succeeds and grabs a foothold. Seems like
it can work if it captures a particular zeitgeist.
I am sure that stories like this exist elsewhere, these are just 2 cases I
happened to have read about and come to mind.
~~~
azernik
The Israeli case is illustrative for two reasons:
* Most of the people involved had some familiarity with written and liturgical Hebrew already.
* The revival was kicked off with a seed population of self-selected, ideologically-motivated Zionists in-country.
* When that seed of fluent speakers spread it to larger waves of immigration, there was no alternative lingua franca.
Italy was also a case where there was no alternative lingua franca, and it
_was_ in fact a dialect which was both mutually-intelligible with extant
dialects, and was in fact made official in many Italian states well before
unification.
More generally, these both are exactly in line with GP's point: "people are
motivated to learn a language when it has prestige". Both languages were
absolutely high prestige at the time.
~~~
asveikau
> and it _was_ in fact a dialect
Based on Tuscan dialect, but my understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is it
was not 100% the same as that dialect and drew from historical written forms.
The fact that mutual intelligibility exists with other dialects certainly
helps. But the same is attempted here to bridge Slavic languages.
But yes. My two examples are high prestige, emerging at the right time
alongside a new national identity. It has better chances than some Slavic
language bufs on the internet. Just trying to say that the line between
"constructed" language and a real native tongue is sometimes blurry. Failure
of these attempts is not inevitable, given the right circumstances.
~~~
azernik
These were absolutely not constructed. The Italian case was a process of
making official a register that had evolved naturally over 700 years; as it
had been in continuous use in modern states, updating was not necessary.
In the Hebrew case, the language had been in continuous literary use for
thousands of years; the only changes required to make it into a spoken
everyday language were to add vocabulary. If that's a constructed language,
then French is "constructed" every time the Academie decides on a word to
replace an English loanword!
------
yeellow
Very interesting. I've tried to read some texts and I could easily understand
them (as a native Polish speaker). I wonder if it is as easy for other Slavic
nationalities. If so, it could be a nice intermediary language, if only for
written texts. Unfortunately I guess almost nobody would learn to write or
speak it but it is still funny to have a passive ability to read and
understand and I guess all Slavic languages could be automatically translated
to this interslavic version. It could be tried in museums, restaurants, etc.
~~~
jwr
I am a native Polish speaker as well, and I can understand the texts very
well, but I think they might be more difficult for younger readers, who did
not learn any Russian. It seems to me that Polish has drifted away from most
other Slavic languages.
As an example, without learning any Russian you have no chance to understand
"govorju" which is like the Russian verb "govorit'", which is "mówić" in
Polish.
One thing I found interesting is that the cyrillic versions are actually
easier to read, as many Slavic sounds can more easily be represented (like "ч"
or "щ").
~~~
rimliu
To anecdotally confirm this point: I am not a native Russian speaker, but I am
fluent and Russian, and I am also very familiar with Polish (it's
complicated). Those texts are very readable to me, so knowing Russian and
Polish is likely to cover the widest base.
------
orbital-decay
There's also another language designed to be understandable by most Slavic
speakers [0]. For some reason, the authors of both seem to hate each other.
[1]
[0] [http://www.slovio.com/](http://www.slovio.com/)
[1]
[http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/introduction.html#disclaime...](http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/introduction.html#disclaimer)
~~~
viach
> For some reason, the authors of both seem to hate each other.
Not surprising if they visit each others web pages too often.
~~~
gpvos
So to reduce hate we should stop people visiting websites? It might actually
work. (Yes, I'll get my coat.)
------
aasasd
A sorta-weird thing about Slavic languages is, they evolved different meanings
from the same roots—though related. So you constantly have your recognition of
words misfiring.
E.g. Old East Slavic ‘недѣлꙗ’ (‘nedělja’), meaning ‘Sunday’, somehow come to
mean ‘a week’ with Russian ‘неделя’, while even close Belarusian and Ukrainian
have ‘нядзеля’ and ‘неділя’ for Sunday, same with Bulgarian ‘неделя’ or Czech
‘neděle’.
~~~
xixixao
Also for non-slavic speakers' interest: “ne” is No, and “dělat" is Work, so
Sunday is literally the day of "Nowork".
~~~
mv4
I am Russian, and you just blew my mind with that piece of info.
~~~
p1esk
Same! :)
------
hugh4life
There's a defunct auxlang project called Lingula that aimed to focus on
comprehension between romance speakers.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Lingula/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Lingula/)
I don't think an international auxiliary language besides english would ever
be able to take hold, but I think something like Interlingua that just focused
on romance languages and used a simplified romance grammar rather than
simplifying it further would have been very interesting.
I think esperanto would have had a better shot had it adopted Zamenhof's early
reform.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Esperanto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Esperanto)
~~~
aasasd
Can't speak from my experience here, but others say if you know one Romance
language, you begin to easily understand words in other ones. So I guess any
one of them would work as an international language, but Castellano seems to
have a large headstart.
~~~
rodgerd
I'm learning French (B1 level) and was surprised how much I could pick out of
a Romanian movie (the tremendously enjoyable
[https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/christchurch/the-
whistlers/](https://www.nziff.co.nz/2019/christchurch/the-whistlers/)).
------
babuskov
Very cool. I'm Serbian and I can understand this text:
[http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/umetny_ili_prirodny.html](http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/umetny_ili_prirodny.html)
I have to read it much slower than regular Serbian text, but there were only a
few words I couldn't make out of. If speakers of other Slavic languages can
read it on the same level, it's awesome.
~~~
isbvhodnvemrwvn
I'm Polish, I'm having more difficulties. I have to read stuff twice and guess
a lot.
~~~
oppositelock
+1. Native Polish speaker here, and I can eventually figure it out, but it's a
struggle. Still, cool, though, since I can piece it together without a
dictionary.
------
0xBABAD00C
It's near-100% intelligible for a Russian speaker:
[http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/selo.html](http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/selo.html)
> кде мы знајемо всих и јесмо знајеми од всих
Funny enough, this reads like "old Slavic" to me, rather than "new Slavic" :)
~~~
fishnchips
Kinda makes sense, no? Looking for similarities you inadvertently go back to
the common root, and you end up with something that reads like Old Church
Slavonic.
~~~
0ld
it's actually the other way round.
interslavic is deliberately based on osl [0].
it is basically "modernized" osl with simplified grammar and lexicon
"averaged" from the existing slavic languages.
and, btw, osl is no way the "common root", it's absolutely not proto-slavic,
just old bulgarian (from the 9th century) which happened to be the orthodox
church liturgical language and thus had very significant influence on many
slavic languages.
[0] [http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/](http://steen.free.fr/interslavic/)
------
michalu
A friend once told me that you need to know 3 slavic languages to understand
all of them very well. I learned that to be true from my own experience.
If you're born in a slavic country, learning second and third slavic language
can be a matter of few months.
Perhaps, the value such language comes in that it could be designed to cut
this process down to simply learning one additional language.
The point is, you don't need another language to speak with other slavs. Most
slavs can understand each other you just need put effort into it.
Such language can perhaps broaden your ability to understand each other while
speaking your native slavic language, instead of being a replacement language
for all.
That's where it could work in my opinion.
------
ivanhoe
My impression (as being Slav myself and speaking Serbian/Croatian as a mother
tongue, and a bit of Russian that I've learned in school) is that Slavs can
understand each others fairly well when everyone is simply just speaking in
their own language. I really see no point in making the artificial language,
as while understanding it is probably not hard, learning a language like this
would be super hard because of how close, but still different it is to the
existing languages. So you end up with a language that everyone understands,
but no one is able to speak it...
------
objplant
This is interesting and would be rather useful (also sort of cool) to have a
common language shared by so many people living rather near each other (except
for far-away regions of Russia). Unfortunately, it doesn't look easy at all: 7
cases and 10 plus 6 extra declensions for example. However, in reality such a
common language already exists and it's English, especially among young-enough
speakers. In my experience, others often prefer to switch to English rather
than pursue the fun of trying to connect the foreign words of a similar
language with their meaning.
~~~
jwieczorek
Ludwig Wittgenstein: _the borders of my language are the borders of my world_.
English is a language many young Slavs learn in preparation to or in the
course of their professional life as in the world of the Pax Americana it
quite simply has become an economical necessity to know it well. However, the
English language cannot naturally transmit any of the linguistic
particularities (proverbs, turns of phrases) and, generally, cultural notions
and historical familiarities that to a certain extent are shared by the
various Slavic peoples. English for Slavs is a _foreign_ language in the true
sense of the word, whereas a language like Russian is much closer
linguistically and culturally. There's the heritage of the Soviet Union which
makes Russian the trans-national language of choice for the generations
educated in the Soviet times. And indeed that could be the very same reason
why these days it's rather unpopular among the young people in, say, Poland.
Which is a real shame because as a trans-Slavic language IMO it does a great
job and is a very beautiful language as well.
I am Polish and when speaking to a fellow Slav, I much prefer to try to get us
to speak in our own languages, even if it requires effort. Otherwise, I prefer
to speak Russian if the person I'm communicating with knows it too. I find it
very, very awkward using English in those situations, i.e. in conversations
with a Serb or a Czech (but not with a German or a Swede).
~~~
p1esk
I think it depends on the fluency of your Russian vs fluency of your English.
I’m Russian and I’m fluent in English so if I sensed you don’t quite
understand what I’m saying in Russian I’d immediately try English. I’d have
probably ended up mixing the two.
~~~
villedepommes
> I’d immediately try English.
Unless it's a literal matter of life and death to understand what the other
person is saying without too much of a delay, it's a pretty _asshole-y_ thing
to do:
a) The other person will "immediately" know that you think that their Russian
is not up to snuff. b) They'll know their well intended effort isn't
appreciated.
~~~
tasogare
I'm living in a foreign country and speak fluently 3 languages, and known a
few things in a forth one. Deciding which language to use with which person is
a taxing effort in itself, especially in a group setting. There is no such
thing as "asshole-y thing" to use English because each communication setting
is different. Sometime the most important thing is to be understood quickly,
then using English if there is any friction makes sense. On the other hand, if
the goal is to build some emotional rapport, trying harder in the other
person's native language is worth doing.
~~~
villedepommes
> There is no such thing as "asshole-y thing" to use English because each
> communication setting is different
Exactly because each communication setting is _different_ , in a number of
them, switching to English _unconditionally,_ which is what the parent was
suggesting, is indeed an "asshole-y" thing to do.
> Sometime the most important thing is to be understood quickly
Isn't this exactly what I said, "Unless it's a literal matter of life and
death to understand what the other person is saying without too much of a
delay?"
> Deciding which language to use with which person is a taxing effort in
> itself, especially in a group setting
In a group -- yes. Else, you just sound lazy at best and like a person who
doesn't give a duck at worst.
> On the other hand, if the goal is to build some emotional rapport, trying
> harder in the other person's native language is worth doing.
The goal is to just be a decent human-being who is at least sometimes
considerate of others' wants.
~~~
p1esk
It heavily depends on the goals of conversation, imo. If someone tells me he
wants to practice his Russian, I have no problem with that. If I'm talking to
a girl in a romantic setting, and she wants me to speak Russian to her,
regardless of her understanding of it, sure. But if the goal is to actually
exchange information, and their English is more suitable, then I don't see why
they would be offended.
Also, there are a couple of nuances:
\- sometimes people assume that if I'm Russian I always prefer speaking in
Russian. I don't see why I shouldn't let them know when it is to the contrary.
\- even if for some reason they want me to speak Russian when the goal of the
conversation would be better served by using English, how should I speak to
them? The way I normally speak to my Russian friends, or artificially slowing
down my speech and choosing simple phrases? Which one is more offensive?
p.s. I see your point though (i.e. not appreciating the effort). I've heard
it's common in some parts of France, where people don't want to you speak
French if you don't speak it perfectly. Agreed on the "asshole'iness" of that
:)
------
olah_1
There was recently a video posted of Interslavic being used with a Bulgarian,
a Polish and a Croatian.
[https://youtu.be/NztgXMLwv4A](https://youtu.be/NztgXMLwv4A)
------
gpvos
Interesting! I have been thinking about a similar "average Germanic" language,
but I don't really have enough linguistics background to pull that off yet.
Also, I have _very_ roughly compared the Slavic languages to see which one I
could learn to be able to communicate with people of most Slavic languages[0]
and decided that Slovak was the most "average" language so I am planning to
learn that. Too bad there's no Slovak Duolingo yet.
[0] Not "most people of Slavic languages", which would obviously mean Russian.
~~~
henrikschroder
What would that Germanic language cover? German, Dutch, Flemish? That's it,
right? English is out, because that's half French, and the Scandinavian
languages have drifted too far from German to be even half-assed mutually
intelligible, no?
~~~
gpvos
It would also cover the Scandinavian languages. I'd like it to include English
as well, but not use any of the English-only Romance vocabulary; but there's a
large chance that that would not result in anything that's useful for
interacting with English-speakers. The grammar would be almost entirely based
on German and Dutch with maybe one or two Scandinavianisms thrown in to make
them feel a bit more at home, but for word choice all languages would take
part. Non-Germanic words used in most of those modern languages would be
included (like restaurant or station).
About mutual intelligibility with Scandinavian: quite a few basic words are
identical in pronunciation between e.g. Swedish and Dutch, and many are
similar enough that when speaking slowly you can get reasonably far, I would
think, although I haven't tried that much since in practice you fall back on
English all the time. When you look into the dialects there's even more you
can find that's very similar.
~~~
tom_mellior
There are some attempts at Pan-Germanic listed at
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-
Germanic_language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan-Germanic_language)
Of the two that have their own Wikipedia pages linked from there (Tutonish and
Folkspraak) I can just about understand almost all of the examples given,
though they are very short and selection bias may be at play. Also I speak
English, German, and Norwegian, so I guess I have an advantage over speakers
of only one Germanic language.
Especially when learning Norwegian I noticed that many words are obviously
cognages with _either_ German or English, but not both. For this reason I'm
skeptical about the possibility of one vocabulary that is understandable to
speakers from all branches. I don't know any Slavic language but know French
and some Italian, and the Pan-Romance languages listed elsewhere in this
thread seem much more readable to me than these Pan-Germanic ones because
their vocabularies are more similar, I think.
~~~
henrikschroder
> Especially when learning Norwegian I noticed that many words are obviously
> cognages with either German or English, but not both.
There's some extra hilarity there because it's not like all three Scandinavian
languages have chosen the same cognates as each other. Swedish more often
picked the German version of a word instead of the Old Norse that Norwegian
and Danish picked.
"window" is "vindue" in da/no, but "fönster" in se, from "fenster" in ge.
"question" is "spørsmål" in da/no, but "fråga" in se, from "frage" in ge. (Oh
look, English picked the French word here!)
There's probably examples of the opposite where Swedish picked the Old Norse
word, and Danish or Norwegian picked something from German instead, but I
can't think of any right now.
------
kazinator
From tutorial:
> Neoslavonic has 7 grammatical cases.
Fascinating. The vocative case has disappeared from Slovak (but not Czech). It
exists historically, and is still available for ironic contexts, but scholars
consider it dead.
Historically, for instance in the Lord's Prayer: _Otče náš, ktorý si na
nebesiach, ..._ (Our Father who art in Heaven ...). This "otče" is the
vocative case of "otec" (father), something a modern speaker wouldn't use to
address his or her father.
Ironically, in phrases like _chlapče môj ..._ (my dear fellow/boy ...),
vocative of "chlapec" (boy).
------
cpursley
Isn't Bulgarian a better candidate as it's simpler than Russian, for example
(fewer cases, less gender-specific things).
~~~
axegon
Native Bulgarian here. Better candidate: yes. Good candidate: no. Yes, it is
considerably simpler but it is also vastly different from the larger Slavic
languages: I have friends from other Slavic countries and I've observed that
Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and Ukrainians for instance have far less difficulties
understanding each other than understanding me. I would assume it's the same
story with Russian but I have almost 0 interaction with Russians. And even for
me, it took me days in Poland to start picking up on words, phrases and
sentences. Then again I can understand over 70% of Serbo-Croatian without even
trying but again, those make up for a very small number of the total Slavic
population.
------
mancerayder
Did anyone see the strange disclaimer at the bottom? It reminds one of ancient
BBS or online flamewars.
------
knolax
I wonder what's the benefit of this versus learning whatever the common
ancestor of the Slavic languages is.
~~~
aasasd
A sane alphabet. Cyrillic before the 20th century had some freaky things and
weird use of letters that we still have. Aficionados say that ‘ѣ’ and ‘ъ’
could be properly used only by people who memorized all the words with them.
(Which is not how modern Slavic languages work, even though English-speakers
wouldn't bat an eye at that inconvenience, hur hur.)
~~~
eequah9L
In Czech, some "y" vs. "i" can't be deduced. Schoolchildren need to drill the
words that use "y". Similarly to what "ѣ" had with бѣдный блѣдный бѣлый бѣсъ,
except our thing doesn't even rhyme :) (Not that I'm complaining. As you note,
English is vastly worse in this regard.)
------
kwhitefoot
Please make the page readable without Javascript. It looks fine in Firefox
Reader mode.
------
konart
>Alphabet extensions
So... all those "Ś ś" and "Ć ć" instead of using Cyrillic? Yeah, no.
~~~
p1esk
It seems like they support both Latin and Cyrillic transliterations.
~~~
kemitchell
Came for the orthography fight. Disappointed.
But progress?
------
rezmason
Interslavic vocabulary, vocabulary, interslavic
Don't you tell me to usměhati You stick around, I'll make it zasluženy
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
3 Reasons behind Alibaba's success - balainiceland
http://startupiceland.com/2014/10/28/3-reasons-behind-alibabas-success/
======
muyuu
I haven't followed anything about the IPO, but if it was about their early
success in China, it was all about:
\- the rampant piracy and counterfeit market
\- cheap novelty gadgets made on Asian sweatshops (+ knock-offs)
\- abuse of duty evasion ("gifts", "samples"), abuse of complimentary
transnational shipping
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Excuse Me While I Kiss This Guy: The Science of Misheard Song Lyrics - benbreen
http://www.newyorker.com/science/maria-konnikova/science-misheard-lyrics-mondegreens
======
brianstorms
Jon Carroll at SF Chronicle has written a lot about mondegreens both in the
pages of the Chronicle and in topics on The WELL for years.
Here are some of his classic pieces on mondegreens:
[http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-
CARR...](http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-CARROLL-
Mondegreen-And-Loving-It-3319390.php)
[http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-
CARR...](http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-CARROLL-Zen-
and-the-Art-Of-Mondegreens-3330389.php)
[http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-
CARR...](http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-CARROLL-I-m-
Not-Blue-I-m-Mondegreen-3320697.php)
[http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-
CARR...](http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/carroll/article/JON-CARROLL-
Mystery-Mondegreens-And-So-Much-3330750.php)
------
LeoPanthera
My favourite example of this has always been "Lock the Taskbar":
[http://youtu.be/WEWG6kSYqlY](http://youtu.be/WEWG6kSYqlY)
~~~
soylentcola
I still sing this when I've got to click that on a Windows PC at work.
------
caseysoftware
At Clarify.io we're working in the automatic speech recognition space and the
stuff the systems come up with are _hilarious_. There are so many sets of
syllables that make sense different ways. It's amazing that it doesn't happen
to humans even more.
~~~
smartscience
Like
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ZnPE3G_YY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ZnPE3G_YY)
? Matches the lip reading too.
------
stevenspasbo
Jimi actually replaced the actual lyrics with that a few times, one of which
can be heard on the Jimi Hendrix Experience Box Set. Spotify link:
spotify:track:5YxfZTUX7sZ5JyYvEsesxB
~~~
lalos
Alternative spotify link
[http://open.spotify.com/track/5YxfZTUX7sZ5JyYvEsesxB](http://open.spotify.com/track/5YxfZTUX7sZ5JyYvEsesxB)
------
mpthrapp
I've always liked "Wrapped up like a douche" (Revved up like a deuce) in
Blinded by the Light.
~~~
tokenadult
I always heard it as "ripped off like a douche," which sounded very indecent,
even though it makes no sense at all. Yes, "Blinded by the Light" as performed
by Manfred Mann's Earth Band is my all-time longest-misheard song. I finally
looked up the lyrics. "Revved up like a deuce" doesn't mean anything to me,
which is why I never heard the song that way, but now at least I know what the
songwriter (Bruce Springsteen) intended.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinded_by_the_Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinded_by_the_Light)
~~~
saretired
A "deuce" was a two-seater hot rod (cf. "Little Deuce Coupe" by the Beach
Boys). I suppose it's now archaic slang. But I'm still puzzled, because
Springsteen's original lyric is "cut loose like a deuce" and I have no idea
what that means.
------
michaelchisari
I still can't hear "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift without hearing "Starbucks
lovers" instead of "list of ex-lovers".
~~~
sreyaNotfilc
I just listened to this song on Youtube. Never heard it before, so I tried
listening very carefully. I still cannot make out "list of ex-lovers". So
strange that I cannot make out the correct phrase even after listening to that
part over and over again.
------
TallGuyShort
I always misheard Fallout Boy's "Going Down". They say "a loaded God complex,
cock it and pull it", but I always heard "loaded gun complex", due to the
context of cocking a firearm and then pulling the trigger.
~~~
KeytarHero
You're certainly not the only one to mishear the lyrics of that song
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvx0ncTxxL0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvx0ncTxxL0)
------
TrainedMonkey
Best misheard lyrics I've heard is Wishmaster by Nightwish -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg5_mlQOsUQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg5_mlQOsUQ)
~~~
breakingcups
Or, the world-famous Llama song
([http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/llama](http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/llama))
------
dredmorbius
My personal favorite isn't quite a mondegreen, but a lyrics shift. I've long
swapped "Waking Up is Hard to Do" for the original "Breaking Up is Hard to Do"
in Neil Sedaka's song. Years later on NPR's "Wait Wait", he said that he'd
rewritten the song with the same words for his grandchildren.
[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1270438...](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127043815)
~~~
ScottBurson
The interesting thing to me about this one is a line from the chorus that I
always heard as "Comma comma down dooby-do down down", which of course makes
no sense whatsoever. Somewhere along the way I saw an alternative
transcription, "Come-a come-a down...", which I thought was much more
plausible, as "comedown" is a word that would make sense here. But I just
checked a couple of the lyrics sites, and they say "Comma comma"!
------
lotsofmangos
Rathergood mined this ground well. I particularly like Destiny's Child meat
dependency - [http://www.rathergood.com/alf](http://www.rathergood.com/alf)
and Pavarotti's deep love of elephants -
[http://www.rathergood.com/elephants](http://www.rathergood.com/elephants)
------
Rusky
Similarly, lyrics in a language you don't know. Someone did this to the entire
Duck Tales theme song in Finish:
[http://youtu.be/Xm8WmiKj5go](http://youtu.be/Xm8WmiKj5go)
"your school's stupid, your school's bwaha"
------
cottonseed
My favorite is Alanis Morissette: "Of the cross eyed bear that you gave me".
------
RobertKerans
This horrible song, 'A Donkey', by Cheryl Cole:
[http://youtu.be/HJ7LsLEERkE](http://youtu.be/HJ7LsLEERkE) She seems to be
really excited about that donkey for some reason.
------
jsnk
This is basically where half the traffic for ytmnd used to come from back in
the day ([http://dew.ytmnd.com/](http://dew.ytmnd.com/)).
------
te_platt
I lived a couple of years in Brazil and a couple of years in Chile and counted
myself fluent in the language when I could comfortably understand the songs on
the radio. This article makes me think the difference between fluent and
native speaker is being able to make good sense out of misheard lyrics.
------
thret
I think this is the best youtube compilation of misheard lyrics (there are a
lot to choose from).
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nVvRwrgsGU](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nVvRwrgsGU)
Personal favourite: I got string on my face, the smell of fat chicks just put
my spine out of place.
------
mrlyc
My sister always sang "But I'm only a cross-eyed octopus" instead of cockeyed
optimist.
------
smoyer
My sister produced my all-time favorite - "I flew the bat-plane" by The
Eagles.
------
RoboTeddy
"how to wreck a nice beach you sing calm incense"
puzzle: the above is the title of an academic paper. figure out what the
thesis of the paper is!
solution: [http://goo.gl/4Gx7da](http://goo.gl/4Gx7da)
~~~
girvo
I got the first part, but the latter half didn't fit for me, that's just an
artifact of my accent however, "calm" and "com-" are very different for me :)
------
johnmaguire2013
I knew someone who, years ago, while singing along to "Boulevard of Broken
Dreams" proclaimed "I wish someone would pillow fight me" instead of "I wish
someone up there would find me"
------
dev360
Theres an interesting story about Bob Dylan offering the song Lay Lady Lay to
the band Everly Brothers, but they misheard the part where he sings 'lay
across my big brass bed' and rejected the song.
------
hluska
"You say that ironing was the shackles of youth ah ha."
Deciphering Michael Stipe's voice was a huge part of my first forays online. I
can't imagine what I would have done with a site like Genius.
------
Groxx
Personal favorite is "Oh Canada, we stand on cars and freeze!"
------
ioseph
Personal favourite: (some language factors at play) Is it Reebok or Nike?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4c54rCJ_k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4c54rCJ_k)
------
antisuji
My most recent one was Maroon 5's "you got to lose that jacket / you got to
lose that jacket / you got to lo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo-ose that jacket".
------
jws
cdza has a "History of Misheard Lyrics".
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6jRICTGmnM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6jRICTGmnM)
For those unfamiliar with cdza, they film musical experiments, frequently
humorous in a distinctive "in studio" style, generally as a single shot.
------
thatswrong0
"Like a rhin like a rhino! I'm not easily offended." Actually "Like a riot,
like a riot, oh!"
I don't really understand half of the things in Phoenix songs.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJDNw7o6so](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BJDNw7o6so)
I also somehow thought "Baby you're a firework!" was "Baby you're a ferris
wheel!" for a while. No idea how my brain did that.
------
pwenzel
I see the bad moon rising
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightnin'
I see bad times today
Don't go around tonight
Well, it's bound to take your life
There's the bathroom on right.
~~~
NDizzle
My wife, word for word. At the top of her lungs.
------
otikik
On the same alley, but in a different level, is bad lip reading. My favorite
is Russian Unicorn.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjaZNYSt7o0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjaZNYSt7o0)
------
Rolpa
Lock the catbox!
------
davidw
I can't get no sadist faction.
~~~
tokenadult
Do you pronounce "sadist" with a first vowel as in the word "saddest"? I
usually hear the word "sadist" pronounced with the first vowel of the word
"latest," but I've actually never looked it up.
[http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/engl...](http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/sadist)
[http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-
engli...](http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/american-
english/sadist)
[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120201061147A...](https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120201061147AAa9X9E)
~~~
davidw
Well, they're British - maybe that's the way they say it?
------
calhoun137
"A dead head sticking off a cadillac" -from boys of summer
------
o0-0o
"I wanna fuck you like Superman"
------
mswift42
Metallica, One: Doctors impersonate me.
[http://www.kissthisguy.com/doctors-impersonate-me-
metallica-...](http://www.kissthisguy.com/doctors-impersonate-me-metallica-
misheard-3974.htm)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Top YUI training videos for new developers - liqud
http://www.wappworks.com/2012/02/24/top-yui-training-videos-for-new-developers/
======
dalke
You know, it's annoying to see people that post in order to promote their own
web site. Rather, since "wappworks" all you've ever commented on, I assume
you're connected with it somehow.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Platform Aware URL Shortener - different site for each device - chrismaddern
http://trgt.us
Send a user to a different website based on the device their using - distribute it in a short URL.
======
chrismaddern
:)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Comcast could mandate a monthly data cap on all customers in the next five years - perrylaj
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/14/5718746/comcast-says-it-could-bring-data-caps-to-home-internet-service-for-all
======
nhilma
I lived in Australia in the past where data cap is the norm. Even "unlimited"
broadband plans mean a 20GB download limit.
I don't think data cap is controversial, in fact it makes a lot of sense
doesn't it? You pay for what you use
~~~
cromulentarian
Yes, but it is a little bit annoying when the same company is arguing at the
same time that it should be entitled to more money from content providers
(such as Netflix) by killing Net Neutrality. These increased content costs
would just get passed along to customers. We would pay more at both ends of
the pipe.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
No Morsel Too Minuscule for All-Consuming N.S.A. - 001sky
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/03/world/no-morsel-too-minuscule-for-all-consuming-nsa.html
======
spodek
If our elected officials don't reign in the NSA and its peers while they can,
they will find themselves the ones being governed.
The NSA is supposed to spy only on foreigners, not on domestic targets. It
seems to have transformed foreign and domestic to mean outside and inside _the
NSA_. Without accountability elected officials, why would they stop?
Our would-be leaders aren't leading. They are being led by their agencies, who
are developing more and more power. It would seem the task falls on us to lead
our elected officials if we hope to avoid a point of no return of NSA usurping
power if we haven't already.
Americans have led its leaders to desired outcomes before -- civil rights, for
example -- but results took generations and many jobs remain unfinished. Let's
hope we have the fortitude on this one.
~~~
nonchalance
The difference between this circumstance and the civil rights circumstance is
that there is no party that is strictly better off with the NSA limited.
African americans are strictly better off when having the right to vote as
opposed to not having the right to vote. Same argument applies for women.
The terrorist threat argument cannot be ignored, and it's plausible to believe
that many threats against american assets are hatched in the US and
communicated in the US. Likewise, the privacy argument cannot be ignored. So
in this case, we have a classic tradeoff.
To put it differently: are you better off dead or with the NSA?
~~~
giardini
" it's plausible to believe that many threats against american assets are
hatched in the US and communicated in the US."
Where's the beef? There is none. If the NSA does not justify it's existence in
an open forum then we must dismantle it.
And it is not enough to prove that the NSA intercepted an operation; it must
be proven that, in the absence of the NSA, the same interception would not
have occurred and that consequently something significantly evil would have
occurred. There are plenty of other federal, state and local agencies that
collect information in a legal and constitutionally-mandated manner and they
have proven very effective.
"To put it differently: are you better off dead or with the NSA?"
Nonsensical scare-mongering.
~~~
saraid216
> If the NSA does not justify it's existence in an open forum then we must
> dismantle it.
Wow. Please justify your existence or face dismantlement.
~~~
DanTheManPR
If a government agency cannot justify it's existence, then why NOT dismantle
it?
------
a3n
> “Sigint professionals must hold the moral high ground, even as terrorists or
> dictators seek to exploit our freedoms,” the plan declares. “Some of our
> adversaries will say or do anything to advance their cause; we will not.”
Torture-cough-cough. Accept women and children as collateral killings in drone
strikes-cough-cough. Violate our own Constitution-cough-cough.
Anything? Maybe not. Enough to be close enough.
It's easy to do anything when God is on your side.
~~~
conover
True believers are scary -- on any side.
------
revelation
The Guardian should not have given that data to the NYT.
Can you count the number of important revelations they just casually released
here? Just because it fit into their writing style of "making no definite
statements, ever"?
It's essentially a raw data dump transmogrified into the annoying, inefficient
writing of last centuries journalism. Give us the facts, give us the
information, not your pointless hunches about "suspected terrorists".
------
csandreasen
Bravo to the New York Times for putting out an article on the NSA that doesn't
fall into the hype trap that Glenn Greenwald/The Guardian/Washington Post/etc.
have all fallen into. All we've had up until now are documents showing how the
NSA is collecting information and theorizing that the same technology is being
used to collect on everyone. The only thing that does is stir up hype, fear
and distrust of the government.
This is the kind of information that the public needs to ask informed
questions on the NSA's activities, like: Is the collection actually valuable
to national security? Is it of diplomatic value? Does that value outweigh the
diplomatic costs when the collection is revealed? What are the financial costs
of the collection? Are those costs worth it? What about all of the collection
that is never analyzed? What aspects of the NSA's
collection/funding/bureaucratic processes need to be changed to best fit the
public interest?
~~~
csandreasen
I'll try to clarify since I'm being downmodded...
I've argued for some time that _how_ the NSA is collecting is not nearly as
important as _who_ and _why_. The initial disclosure about the cell phone
metadata was a legitimate call for concern - I agree with everyone on that.
The cause for concern there wasn't _how_ they were gathering the data, it was
that they were collecting on US citizens and we didn't know _why_. They left
those questions to be answered by the administration, who has published a good
deal of detail on the Section 215 collection program[1]. If their explanation
is innacurate, then the ball is back in the media's court to pull evidence
showing so from that collection of 50,000 documents that Snowden gave them.
Meanwhile, Congress is continuing to debate this collection now.
My issue is with most of the other reporting. Most of the other leaks so far
have revealed _how_ \- PRISM, XKeyScore, the Google/Yahoo collection, etc.
What the media outlets have failed to do is show evidence linking this back to
collection against ordinary citizens. Articles that would be more accurately
titled something like "The NSA collects vast amounts of data using X" instead
are presented as "The NSA collects vast amounts of Americans' data using X".
They conflate collection authorities and present it as fact to the audience.
For example, the NSA is permitted by law (under certain interpretations - the
EFF is looking to challenge this in court) to collect American cell phone
metadata under Section 215, but is expressly forbidden from collecting
American data under FAA 702 authorities. Leaked slides show that the PRISM
program is their mechanism for collecting FAA 702 data. Any article claiming
that the NSA is collecting such-and-such data against Americans but then goes
on to cite PRISM as evidence is conflating the evidence.
The _how_ matters to the people being targeted. The _who_ and _why_ matters to
everyone regardless of targeting. If there is evidence linking these other
programs back to collection against ordinary citizens, we need to know. If we
are being targeted, we need to know the how to protect ourselves. What we've
been getting, though, is descriptions of collection programs with "they're
probably using this to collect on everyone!" sprinkled into the description.
If these programs are only used to target legitimate foreign intelligence
targets, then what have we ordinary citizens gained by knowing how? In
revealing this, what have those being targeted learned and how does that
affect national security, diplomacy, etc.?
If you read through the whole 7 pages of this article, they talk a good deal
about who is being targeted and why; discuss the successes and failures, hint
at what intelligence has had valuable impact and what hasn't; talk about the
immense funding and bureaucratic stumbling blocks that has led to an excess of
collection that has never been and may never be analyzed; etc., and do so in a
manner that the administration says will not affect ongoing operations. I
stand by my statement that this is important information that the public needs
in order to ask informed questions to their elected representatives. I would
ask why it took this many months to surface, and why it didn't come from The
Guardian or the Washington Post, who have had this information for much
longer.
If you disagree with me, I invite you to state your reasons why and continue
with the conversation rather than downvote.
[1] [https://www.eff.org/document/administration-white-paper-
sect...](https://www.eff.org/document/administration-white-paper-
section-215-patriot-act)
------
ihatehandles
Brings us back again to: "Were we foolish for expecting any privacy at all
online?"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6668273](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6668273)
------
asparagui
quote: “There’s no question that from a capability standpoint we probably
dwarf everybody on the planet, just about, with perhaps the exception of
Russia and China,”
Russia and China are the usual bugbears for the DoD. Over there, they spend
roughly ~140 billion combined to the the DoD's ~750. What are the odds the
ratio is similar with spying as well?
~~~
philwelch
Russia and China have political systems that can bear orders of magnitude more
casualties than ours. China could probably lose 10,000 soldiers in a war and
face less political upheaval than the US would face losing 1,000 soldiers.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Raytracer in Excel - pinche2
https://github.com/s0lly/Raytracer-In-Excel
======
CharlesDodgson
Wow, that's some good excel wizardry!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: ianal, a npm license checker - franciscop
https://github.com/franciscop/ianal
======
eizch
"'npm' is not in the npm registry" when trying to install it.
~~~
franciscop
Because I was installing it from local I completely forgot to publish it,
thanks for the tip! Published now
~~~
eizch
Thanks I will try it
------
lorenzobr
sorry to go OT but...isn't the name a bit awkward?! apart from that, nice tiny
tool ;)
~~~
franciscop
I guess it depends on the background, I wanted to keep the spirit of I Am Not
A Lawyer that I have seen so many times on forums, but I guess if you haven't
seen it before it _does_ look awkward.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Real (and Hidden) Cost of Serverless Architecture - matthewhogan
https://blog.twintech.io/2016/04/20/the-real-and-hidden-cost-of-serverless-architecture/
======
stephenr
Please stop calling them "server less" apps.
An app that is developed as front end code only and relies 100% on an existing
"platform" for hosting/compute/storage etc is "server less" in the same way
that I am an "oxygen less" human.
I absolutely require it, but I don't provide it myself.
~~~
matthewhogan
Fair point - I hate the term, too. As much as I hate that Amazon TMed the term
Lambda. However, for better or worse, it is the term that as been settled on.
I need a way to describe it to tell people to steer clear of it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Estimated $64M loss as SF street conditions and costs drive out Oracle OpenWorld - antoncohen
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/oracle-openworld-las-vegas-convention-14898734.php
======
bahro
Unlike what the headline suggests, and how I'm sure this will be spun, the
main reason for this was cost. San Francisco has some of the most expensive
hotel inventory in the country.
_Perhaps_ this is related to the very low number of hotel rooms in San
Francisco -- 1/3 the number that exist in Atlanta, and 1/2 of the number in
Phoenix. San Francisco makes it as hard as possible to add new inventory to
this market.
~~~
wahern
1/3 compared to _metro_ Atlanta. Metro Atlanta is 8,376 square miles, while
San Francisco is a mere 49 square miles.
San Francisco is throwing up plenty of hotels. For example, almost 200 new
rooms are coming with a new 800-foot tower that has just started construction:
[https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/new-skyscraper-to-rise-in-
ci...](https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/new-skyscraper-to-rise-in-citys-
skyline/)
There's a concerted media effort by conservative outlets to paint SF in a bad
light. We have plenty of problems; plenty of self-made problems. But outsiders
literally conspiring to harangue us says more about them than it does us.
Sources:
* 97,500 rooms in metro Atlanta. [https://www.ajc.com/business/metro-atlanta-add-more-than-000...](https://www.ajc.com/business/metro-atlanta-add-more-than-000-hotel-rooms-2017/UAa2uqpfQnUcJkWmGfwUmL/)
* 34,000 rooms in San Francisco. [https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Like-r...](https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/Like-rents-S-F-hotel-room-rates-going-through-6224193.php#)
* 8,376 sq mi in Metro Atlanta. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area)
------
mrkstu
> _" The doctors group told the San Francisco delegation that while they loved
> the city, postconvention surveys showed their members were afraid to walk
> amid the open drug use, threatening behavior and mental illness that are
> common on the streets," the San Francisco Chronicle reported._
> _" Last year, a UC Berkeley researcher found that some parts of San
> Francisco were "more unsanitary than many of the dwellings in impoverished,
> developing countries." A survey of 158 city blocks encountered more than 300
> piles of feces and 100-plus improperly discarded needles._
It isn't some right wing conspiracy to make SF look bad, its SF doing it to
itself. San Francisco is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, but
the choices it has been making has led to its current reality.
If any city can take the loss of the revenue that is going away it is SF, but
the reality is that this is an ongoing problem that is getting worse, rather
than better, and heads sticking into sand doesn't help anything. Doing _more_
of what hasn't worked isn't a viable solution and helps no one- not the
homeless, not the residents, not the tourists. SF needs to live up to its
values rather than snipe at imagined enemies- it has resources galore and full
power of the law to propose and dispose policy- excuses are not viable.
------
rubbingalcohol
The far-right is already seizing on this story as proof that San Francisco is
just like Venezuela.
~~~
masonic
You're characterizing SFgate and CNBC (the quoted source) as "far-right"?
------
Gibbon1
Wow the poop on the sidewalk trick worked.
------
duelingjello
This smacks of poverty porn and blaming the most vulnerable victims of decades
of the elites of both flavors, neoliberals and neoconservatives, stripping
social services and underfunding proper mental healthcare that JFK left
unfinished and was obliterated by subsequent figures, especially Reagan. The
knee-jerk reaction hasn't been housing or humanity, but arrests, tossing
property away randomly, disdain, ostensible sympathy and occasional hate.
That's the reality and there's no quick fix, but to me, single-point-of-
contact, unified delivery, involved social workers who care + housing + mental
healthcare + drug treatment + investing in those who can work is a lot better
than letting people waste away in squalor. It's embarrassing!
~~~
masonic
obliterated by subsequent figures, especially Reagan
State mental health spending was higher under Reagan than his predecessor.
The increase in mentally ill on the streets came from Court verdicts severely
limiting institutions' power to keep custody of adults against their will.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Anyone have experience with Parellel Python? - shaddi
I found what seems to be an awesome Python parallelization library which gets around the GIL by using processes and IPC. The same mechanism lets it support distributing jobs to clusters across a local network or the Internet, with dynamic load balancing.<p>Sounds pretty great, right? However, I haven't heard of it before, nor have I been able to find much (recent) buzz or reviews about it. Any of you all have any experience with this library?<p>(link: http://www.parallelpython.com/)
======
bayareaguy
I stopped doing much with python about the time I first heard of it. It has
been mentioned here before:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=654842>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=223972>
<http://apps.ycombinator.com/item?id=147614>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=107221>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=81707>
Perhaps there's less need for it since a similar module (multiprocessing) is
now part of the python standard library.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Walking through doorways causes forgetting (2016) - stefap2
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17470218.2015.1101478?journalCode=qjpd
======
crazygringo
Completely true. And funny, because any actor who memorizes lines could tell
you that.
Seriously -- if you memorize lines in your apartment and you've got them down
pat, then you show up to your class/theater/set/audition and suddenly you have
difficulty remembering them.
Because -- and this is common knowledge in acting -- your brain has
subconsciously associated the lines with your apartment.
Which is why, once you've memorized the lines at home, you then take a walk
and practice and re-memorize them again. Then while you're on the subway you
practice and fix them again. And when you show up early to your
class/theater/set/audition you spend 10 minutes practicing them _again_ , to
associate them with the space where you're performing.
You just have to. It's how memorization works. For whatever reason, it's
associated with your mental location.
Same reason that when plays are on tour, they try to have a full rehearsal
run-through in each new theater before a performance. You need to associate
your memory with the new theater and fix your mistakes during rehearsal, not
during performance.
~~~
BLKNSLVR
Is there a way to hack around this?
I'm (involuntarily) great at remembering passwords when I'm at my desk at
home, or a PIN when paying for petrol, but at other times in the "wrong"
context, I'm totally blank. I read something a while back about methods for
subconscious recollection based on an individuals location / state of mind
context.
Just now, I forcefully remembered a password by picturing myself at my desk at
home. But now maybe I've re-contextualized the memory and I'll struggle to
recall it when I actually need it.
~~~
em-bee
something that helps is to block out as much external stimuli as possible. for
example, when memorizing a pin, i focus on the grid of numbers. for a
password, i focus on my computer, or something abstract related to the service
i am signing on to.
i have the benefit of traveling a lot, so my computer becomes an always
available item of focus, whereas the surroundings turn into a blur because
they always change
~~~
perl4ever
"for a password, i focus on my computer"
I'm not sure what that means. When I have a password that is completely
random, but well memorized and I typically use it on a desktop or laptop
keyboard, I tend to find it impossible at first to enter it on a phone,
because it seems to be essentially all in muscle memory that isn't applicable
to typing on the phone.
~~~
em-bee
it means i ignore the room i am in. i pretend the room does not exist. there
is only me and a laptop.
that way, i get the same feeling of the situation no matter where i actually
am.
~~~
perl4ever
Ah. But for me, there is only me and the _keyboard_. And different kinds of
keyboards may not have anything in common.
~~~
em-bee
pretty much the same thing :-)
------
w0mbat
I think this is a cheap optimization the brain uses. Every time our location
changes, it clears short term memory to have a fresh slate and be aware in the
new situation. Think of it as setting up a new stack frame.
I think it evolved so that a caveman could exit the cave and immediately
forget what he was thinking about before and be fully aware, watching for
predators and looking for food. He can start climbing a tree and suddenly the
whole word is that tree and that task.
Nowadays that's why we walk into another room and can't remember why we went
there, or we open the fridge door and can't remember what we wanted. I turn on
my phone to do something, but somehow the phone itself is a new context and I
end up doing something else.
------
JoeAltmaier
Lots of brain connections work with one sense controlling how another is
processed. In a car you can talk to a passenger all day and drive fine. But
answer your phone, and suddenly you're absent and distracted.
I experimented to find out why. When I was talking to a friend in the
passenger seat, I held up a card to prevent myself from seeing the passenger
out of the corner of my eye - and suddenly I was absent and distracted.
Maybe its because when we don't see someone we're conversing with, we have to
create a mental model of them to compensate. Because we're built to see the
people we interact with, and our brains may just work that way. And the work
of creating the mental model interferes with driving (prevents processing of
the alternate mental model of the road situation?)
Anyway, for what its worth.
------
7373737373
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus)
------
vagab0nd
Somewhat off-topic: I have this weird problem that if I close my eyes and
imagine walking towards a doorway and going through it, I can't. I can get
pretty close to the door, but just can't go through it. It's like the brain
doesn't compute for some reason.
------
contingencies
This is why some people swear by more screens. I think it helps them keep
mental context.
~~~
perl4ever
One of the most annoying things about computers these days is the number of
applications that put everything in tabs, and/or modal dialogs. The whole
point of a GUI, to me, is that you can view information from multiple places
side by side, not just swap between them. In the mid-80s, Apple wrote copious
documentation about why modes, and modal dialogs, are bad, and tabs were not a
standard part of the interface either.
As far as multiple screens go, it's not just viewing things side by side, but
having boundaries to snap to. Maybe it would be handy to kind of divide very
large monitors into subscreens...
~~~
contingencies
A project for perl/tk? :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Where to buy Reverse DNS lookup database from? - xstartup
======
tony-allan
You can look it up yourself, but watch out for CDN's and other third-party
services and be aware that not every IP address has a reverse DNS entry. On
MacOS:
\---------------------------------------------
Note that the IP address bytes are reversed in the following command to lookup
18.9.25.15
host -a 15.25.9.18.in-addr.arpa
;; ANSWER SECTION:
15.25.9.18.in-addr.arpa. 1800 IN PTR dmz-mailsec-scanner-4.mit.edu.
\---------------------------------------------
host -a dmz-mailsec-scanner-4.mit.edu
;; ANSWER SECTION:
dmz-mailsec-scanner-4.mit.edu. 1800 IN A 18.9.25.15
dmz-mailsec-scanner-4.mit.edu. 1800 IN HINFO "VMWARE/VM" "LINUX"
------
ParameterOne
[https://www.digwebinterface.com/](https://www.digwebinterface.com/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What's the best API documentation you've ever used? - mwetzler
======
gansai
Java API documentation. <http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/>
~~~
mwetzler
the aesthetic certainly leaves something to be desired O_O
~~~
logn
I guess it's just personal preference but Java has always been my favorite. I
don't need a fancy design and word clouds etc. Furthermore, the Java
documentation has a very high level of completeness, consistency, and all-
around quality.
------
cnipb
Cool one with readily usable code snippets & data, esp if you are logged in:
[https://apidocs.chargebee.com/docs/api/subscriptions?lang=cu...](https://apidocs.chargebee.com/docs/api/subscriptions?lang=curl#create_a_subscription)
~~~
mwetzler
ooo I like this. definitely going to be building usable code snippets
customized for logged-in users! thanks!!
------
hansy
Stripe's is pretty clean and easy to follow: <https://stripe.com/docs>
Also I like Mailgun's: <http://documentation.mailgun.net/>
------
stewie2
Qt is the best: <http://qt-project.org/doc/qt-5.0/qtdoc/index.html>
~~~
professorTuring
Totally agree.
------
drstewart
Github's is great: <http://developer.github.com/v3/>
------
toutouastro
python official docs and flask docs
------
limeblack
Mathematica's documentation. It has live editable examples built in similar to
the man pages.
------
Donito
MSDN
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google now shows JS documentation snippets in SERPs... from w3schools - raquo
http://i.imgur.com/3QG0yji.png
======
aeykie
DuckDuckGo shows something similar but using the MDN instead.
------
spleeder
Fake.
~~~
raquo
If you don't see the same, it doesn't mean it's fake. Google routinely tests
new features on a small subset of users before gradually rolling them out to
everyone.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Sealed Rust Update - csomar
https://ferrous-systems.com/blog/sealed-rust-the-plan/
======
xvilka
I am surprised they didn't mention Iris[1] and RustBelt[2] projects. Iris
works on creating the formalization framework based on separation logic and
Coq. They have the Rust code model specifically[3].
[1] [https://iris-project.org/](https://iris-project.org/)
[2] [https://plv.mpi-sws.org/rustbelt/](https://plv.mpi-sws.org/rustbelt/)
[3] [https://gitlab.mpi-sws.org/iris/lambda-rust](https://gitlab.mpi-
sws.org/iris/lambda-rust)
~~~
Argorak
This is mainly a lapse. Thanks for highlighting them, they do awesome work!
They are also not quite what Sealed Rust is about. RustBelt is about formally
verifying Rust and improving the understanding of the language.
Sealed Rust is mainly about the industrial adoption process. It's not meant as
a replacement or competing project, quite the contrary: RustBelt existing is a
huge motivator and a major stepping stone to build on.
We are also personally in touch through the Rust project.
------
_bxg1
This is an important effort, but it's weird (disconcerting?) to me that
something so fundamental as a formal language specification (for a language
that advertises safety as a key feature) is being bootstrapped not by the core
team, but by a third party. It doesn't feel like that's something you only
need "collaboration with" the core team about. I can't think of anything
that's _more_ "core".
The rest of it makes sense as an auxiliary effort: working directly with
relatively niche industries on certification, narrowing down a fully-safe
subset of the language, etc. But I don't see how Rust can ever come into its
own in the space that it's targeting without having a real specification
outside of the compiler.
~~~
chrismorgan
Speaking bluntly:
Almost everyone using the language at present is getting by just fine without
this. As a normal Rust developer, I don’t particularly care about a formal
language specification existing. It’s a _long_ way down my list of nice-to-
haves—yeah, it would be nice to have, but there are quite a few other things
that would be _more_ nice to have.
The core team are compiler and language developers. I’d much rather have them
working on the language, rather than a formalisation of the language that
isn’t going to benefit me particularly for many years. If there are other
people that _are_ interested in doing that work, good on ’em; it’ll be
interesting to see what happens, but I don’t want the core developers
distracted with this sort of speculative work—for this is a heavily
experimental area. This is _absolutely_ a place for only a collaboration,
rather than having it being managed by the core team. If the core team were
focusing on this, everything would collapse in a heap. The core team is a very
finite resource that does not specialise in this sort of thing in any way.
~~~
saurik
I think the argument is that if you said that about C++ everyone would be
"yeah: this is just a useful tool, so why do I care?"... but Rust is about
safety, and if you don't have a formal model of the language by what reasoning
could you possibly have to _know_ it is safe? (And, in fact, every now and
then--much less often these days, but still--someone finds a soundness issue
in Rust itself, something you would hope to have been able to disprove at the
outset using a proof over a formal model.)
~~~
chrismorgan
I care about Rust’s safety. It’s what let me confidently use Rust instead of
Python or JavaScript, where I had never felt comfortable with C or C++.
But the safety that Rust has already is good enough for me. I know that
soundness holes exist (c.f. [https://github.com/rust-
lang/rust/labels/I-unsound%20%F0%9F%...](https://github.com/rust-
lang/rust/labels/I-unsound%20%F0%9F%92%A5)), but they are very few, and if
they’re realistic (most of those are _possible_ but difficult to trigger and
very unlikely to be encountered by real code) they get knocked down very
quickly.
Frankly I think you’re overhyping the benefits of a formal model (in practice
I believe it’s normally only certain subsets of popular compilers that are
ever formally verified), underestimating the pernicious presence of bugs even
with formal verification, and overvaluing the significance of the remaining
0.00000001% of safety to a working programmer.
In line with what mikekchar says, I care about performance and such things
more than I care about _formal verification_ of Rust’s safety.
I’m happy to hear about this stuff, but I don’t expect it to personally affect
me, for the better _or_ for the worse.
------
sliken
The working URL [https://ferrous-systems.com/blog/sealed-rust-the-
plan/](https://ferrous-systems.com/blog/sealed-rust-the-plan/)
------
analognoise
I don't get why there is so much love for Rust but so little love for Ada?
~~~
sgift
Did Ada - or rather its proponents - make any effort to get people to learn
it? If I google for "Ada programming language" I do not even find what could
be an official site? I thought it could be adacore.com, but that's a
commercial offering. Wiki tells me it could also be adaic.org, which errors
out with "SSL_ERROR_UNSUPPORTED_VERSION" in current Firefox. Even if I could
access the site: Would I find tutorials? Other supporting material?
Explanations why I should use Ada?
If you want people to use your language you have a to put in work. Even more
for a language with the reputation of Ada (the sibling comment by pjmlp gives
a good overview).
~~~
synack
Agreed, Ada's documentation is sparse and hard to find. Unfortunately, the
best resource I've found for learning it from the ground up is the textbook
"Programming in Ada 2012" by John Barnes. It's a bit pricey, but the core of
the language hasn't really changed since Ada 95, so a used copy of an old
edition will get you started.
AdaCore's got some decent learn-by-example stuff here, but it doesn't cover
every aspect of the language. [https://learn.adacore.com/courses/intro-to-
ada/index.html](https://learn.adacore.com/courses/intro-to-ada/index.html)
Wikibooks has a pretty comprehensive book on Ada Programming, but there are
still a lot of missing pages.
[https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ada_Programming](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ada_Programming)
Finally, the language reference covers everything, but it's formatted in the
most unusable and difficult to search way I've ever seen. The source files for
the reference are maintained by a single editor who invented his own markup
language and parser for converting that into HTML and PDF. That may have been
acceptable in 1995, but it provides a significant barrier to adoption today.
I've made a few attempts at coercing these sources into docbook, but so far
I've found I'm not clever enough to untangle this mess. [http://www.ada-
auth.org/standards/ada12.html](http://www.ada-auth.org/standards/ada12.html)
So yeah, just buy the textbook... Skip the first few chapters, they're
basically just advertising that tells you how great the thing you're about to
learn is, which I find to be in poor taste.
------
jnordwick
I want much more runtime performance out of rust more than anything else.
Faster builds are second on the list. This probably doesn't even make top 10.
Who is this aimed at? And I would hate for those top goals to be subverted for
this.
~~~
banana_smoothie
From the previous blog post ("Part 1: The Pitch"[1]):
> We hope that the Sealed Rust effort would be applicable to any developers
> working in safety critical software domains, such as:
> Automotive (under safety standard ISO26262)
> Industrial (under safety standard IEC61508)
> Robotics (under a number of safety standards deriving from IEC61508)
> Medical Devices (under safety standard IEC62304)
> Avionics (under safety standard DO-178)
[1]: [https://ferrous-systems.com/blog/sealed-rust-the-
pitch/](https://ferrous-systems.com/blog/sealed-rust-the-pitch/)
~~~
sriram_sun
I work in medical devices and out-of-the-box rust would be a much better
option than the C++ systems we build!
There is competition in this space from qnx as well.
Take a look at the medical device alarms standard IEC 60601-1-8. It's possible
to provide a very generic implementation of the standard for high, low and
medium priority alarms. Could act as a trojan horse to introduce your back end
messaging, logging, shared memory infrastructure - all developed according to
ISO 62304 (of course)!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Pop culture unites us as Americans. Will streaming services change that? - Reedx
https://www.vox.com/2019/11/8/20955451/disney-plus-apple-hbo-peacock-streaming-today-explained
======
Qwertystop
Eh. US Pop culture was a lot more unified before Netflix (and especially
before VCRs, and before the number of channels got so big). I'm told there was
a time when _everyone_ watched whichever current sitcom, or the Simpsons, to a
much greater degree than the article's "everybody watched the _Game of
Thrones_ finale". Even if we had another manned Moon mission, or even a manned
Mars mission, I doubt it would have as many people watching as the later
Apollo missions (much less viewed than 11).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Experiment on the effect of body-worn cameras on police use-of-force (2013) [pdf] - cmsefton
http://www.policefoundation.org/sites/g/files/g798246/f/201303/The%20Effect%20of%20Body-Worn%20Cameras%20on%20Police%20Use-of-Force.pdf
======
harlanlewis
There's a petition for officers to wear cameras on petitions.whitehouse.gov
that's rapidly approaching the required signature count:
[https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/mike-brown-law-
req...](https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/mike-brown-law-requires-all-
state-county-and-local-police-wear-camera/8tlS5czf)
It will be interesting to see how some of the access / privacy details are
worked out. For example, the mike Brown shooting happened on a public street,
but what if it had happened in a private residence? Would the police recording
be publicly available?
Edit: There are also innumerable instances of police providing damaged,
incorrect, or no footage at all even of events that were filmed. The Ferguson
police, after beating a handcuffed man in a jail cell and then charging him
for destruction of property for getting blood on their uniforms (no link, easy
to google), submitted jail footage that was a) 12x speed, rendering it
useless, and b) of a different time than the incident. Simply capturing video
is not enough, it must be stored and later provisioned by a 3rd party.
~~~
kasey_junk
I'm no constitutional expert, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how the
federal government could possibly have the authority this sort of law would
require.
~~~
dragonwriter
> I'm no constitutional expert, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how
> the federal government could possibly have the authority this sort of law
> would require.
Requirements to make and keep records which demonstrate compliance with legal
restrictions are a routine and essential part of the enforceability of many
laws, so, to the extent that the Constitution explicitly imposes restrictions
on the States and explicitly authorizes Congress to enforce those restrictions
through "appropriate legislation" (especially in light of the necessary and
proper clause), Congressionally-imposed recordkeeping requirements to
demonstrate compliance would seem to be within the scope of the Congressional
power thus granted.
This is relevant because the 14th Amendment commands that "No State shall
[...] deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws" and provides that "The Congress shall have power to enforce, by
appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article".
Even with the way the Supreme Court has limited the authorization clause of
the 14th Amendment to (unlike identical language elsewhere) only authorize
_corrective_ legislation, so that it might not be possible for Congress to
impose a general and unconditional requirement, Congress could still impose a
requirement on _particular_ states as a consequences of past violation of
Constitutional due process or equal protection occurring under the power of
those states.
(It could also do it by making it a prerequisite for, say, federal law
enforcement assistance funding, or access to federal law enforcement
databases, etc. -- and it could do both in parallel, so it would be required
_both_ for states found to have past violations for which it serves as a
remedy, _and_ for states wishing to federal assistance for law enforcement.)
~~~
kasey_junk
"(It could also do it by making it a prerequisite for, say, federal law
enforcement assistance funding, or access to federal law enforcement
databases, etc. -- and it could do both in parallel, so it would be required
both for states found to have past violations for which it serves as a remedy,
and for states wishing to federal assistance for law enforcement.)"
This is a much more likely to work approach (but not what the petition is
asking for).
That said, the political realities of police cameras are going to make this a
fight that will not be won on the federal level (especially not in the current
environment where getting anything done seems to be seen as treason).
Local laws on the other hand could be easily implemented.
~~~
dragonwriter
> This is a much more likely to work approach (but not what the petition is
> asking for).
Petitions aren't generally detailed legislative proposals, and their
relationship to concrete legislation is similar to the relation between the
first draft of requirements for complex computing system and the concrete
implementation.
> That said, the political realities of police cameras are going to make this
> a fight that will not be won on the federal level
Probably not; OTOH, issues like this that make any progress are rarely pushed
exclusively in one venue, and even if they aren't _won_ at the federal level,
attention there can be a key factor in driving media attention to efforts and
driving public awareness. (Plus, heck, the white house petition site has
plenty of people petitioning for changes in policies of particular private
corporations, so something that's a legitimate public policy issue where the
federal government could plausibly do something close to what is requested,
even if it would be exactly identical and is unlikely in the current political
climate, is actually fairly reasonable.)
------
JshWright
The cops in my town wear cameras. I also happen to be a firefighter/paramedic
in my town.
This has given me a reason to ponder these cameras quite a bit...
It's not uncommon for me to be in someone's house, while they are in some sort
state that they would probably not want to have recorded (if someone is having
a heart attack at 2 in the morning, they are not generally concerned about the
fact that they sleep naked). Now you have a situation where a cop with a
camera is walking into the room... Most folks don't even realize it's there
(it's black, and blends in with their uniform pretty well).
Should the LEO disclose he's wearing a camera? "Hey, I notice you just fell in
the shower and are naked, soaking wet, and in an awkward position. Just FYI...
I'm wearing a camera."
This doesn't even begin to cover the HIPAA implications...
In general, I'm very much in favor of cameras on cops. I think it helps keep
everyone on their best behavior in potentially confrontational situations.
That being said... I have been in situations where the presence of the camera
has made me very uncomfortable.
~~~
mabbo
It's not like the police take the cameras, and immediately post them to
youtube. If complaints are made, video can be reviewed by those who need to
review it. If it needs to go to court, censoring can be added.
I do see your point. I would counter with: if we are to claim we're free to
record the actions of the police while they work, surely they have the right
to record what goes on as well.
~~~
JshWright
Sure... my point is just that the issue is more complicated than it seems to
be on the face of it...
Law enforcement officers end up coming into contact with everyday people in
very compromising positions, often through no fault of their own, and in their
own homes.
Like I said, I fall on the 'pro-camera' side of the debate, but there are a
lot of often overlooked implications that I feel need to be part of the
discussion.
~~~
sitkack
I think you are in the weeds at this point.
~~~
JshWright
Perhaps I am. I was simply trying to relate a personal experience with these
cameras, and the fact that they have made me feel uncomfortable at times (for
the sake of the folks I'm caring for). It seemed germane to the conversation.
Maybe someday it'll be routine enough that it doesn't enter my mind. For right
now, it's frankly a bit of a distraction (in situations where a distraction
can literally be fatal).
~~~
sitkack
I understand that. The petitions state in intent of direction and action, I
don't put much weight in specifics at this level. And in your case, there
should be some exemptions for doctor patient privilege. You need the trust of
the person you are serving to know how to treat them. If they mixed drugs or
took a drug they didn't have a prescription for you need to know. But if they
think the camera will testify against them, they won't seek the help they
need.
This is why there should be a federal standard about the collection of
signals. I would _absolutely_ like to know that when I see a camera on an
officer that the event is being recorded and accessible during discovery
later. Even if I don't know the officer in question and that the audio, video,
etc won't be prevented from being archived or be altered. Cryptographic
signatures and one way encryption are key in this regard.
The cameras should be treated as a trusted third party, not an optional tool
under the purview of the officer. There should be a public ledger that is
subject to review of who requested unencrypted access to recorded signals.
------
BrandonMarc
Relevant, from Schenier:
[https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/04/police_disabl...](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2014/04/police_disablin.html)
TL;DR - Voice recorders installed in police cars, and after a time it was
found that a significant number of the recorders were missing or tampered
with. Go figure.
Playing devils' advocate, though ... it's far too easy to criticize in
hindsight what happens in a split second, both sides potentially fueled by a
combination of fear and adrenaline.
~~~
ricree
One could just as easily say that about a great many crimes.
------
TDL
A simple law mandating that all officers wear body cams is probably not going
to be all that effective. As another commentor mentioned, it's not real clear
how this could be handled at the federal level. The threat of these cams being
turned off is real and there will need to be laws to mete out punishment if it
happens (which will be incredibly difficult.) All that being said, this is
probably a good step in raising awareness of the usefulness of body cams.
[http://www.fox8live.com/story/26283883/officer-involved-
in-m...](http://www.fox8live.com/story/26283883/officer-involved-in-monday-
shooting-had-body-cam-turned-off)
------
dang
Url changed from [http://www.scribd.com/doc/130767873/Self-awareness-to-
being-...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/130767873/Self-awareness-to-being-
watched-and-socially-desirable-behavior-A-field-experiment-on-the-effect-of-
body-worn-cameras-on-police-use-of-force).
A related article that fell through the cracks on HN last year:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-
ca...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/business/wearable-video-cameras-for-
police-officers.html?pagewanted=all).
------
justizin
"Importantly, there are still somewhat similar cases taking place, despite
efforts to stop such behavior through better training and prosecution of rogue
officers."
Is this an Onion University study?
Anyway, seriously, while I love the idea of body worn cameras for police
officers, in practice they are in control of whether the camera is recording
or not, and tend to 'forget' to turn their cameras on more often than not.
~~~
conkrete
I would think with current technology, an always-recording system could be put
into place at a fairly low cost. Certainly an interesting idea for anyone
looking for a new starup idea involving cameras and bullet proof vests.
~~~
harlanlewis
Indeed. The Ferguson police in fact have a couple dashboard cameras and body
cameras for officers to wear, however none have been installed due to the
$3k/per expense (no link, easy to google).
It's staggering how low accountability is on law enforcement's priority list,
especially given the amount of money available for "crowd control" military
hardware.
~~~
thaumasiotes
> It's staggering how low accountability is on law enforcement's priority list
Huh? Why would they want to be accountable? Accountability would be a priority
of the _populace_.
~~~
harlanlewis
Priorities can be mandated. Dealing with externally-set priorities is a fairly
regular subject on this very forum (damn you, marketing!).
No government agency should be solely responsible for selecting what is and is
not its job.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Statement on Mt. Gox - trendspotter
http://antonopoulos.com/2014/02/25/statement-on-mt-gox/
======
crystaln
"Some exchanges were in fact completely unaffected, revealing as false Gox’s
claims that this was a bug in bitcoin."
This reveals a lack of objectivity here. There IS a bug in bitcoin. There are
workarounds, and some exchanges implemented those properly.
Of course, MtGox should have followed best practices and implemented a
workaround, but the above sentence is - on its face - flawed and biased. The
fact that some exchanges were immune to the bug does NOT mean that bitcoin
bears no fault or that Gox's claims are false. This was and is, in fact, an
acknowledged and widely known bug in bitcoin.
~~~
davidw
I'm inclined to agree with cperciva, who is no slouch with security stuff:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7289273](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7289273)
~~~
crystaln
The statement is inherently flawed, regardless of its source. Because _some_
exchanges were unaffected does not mean that MtGox was not affected, and the
statement itself implies that other exchanges were affected which would be
evidence in MtGox' favor.
I'm not saying MtGox was not incredibly incompetent, however nobody is helped
by this false defensiveness over a very serious and clear bug in bitcoin that
seems to have affected at least a few exchanges.
Regardless of MtGox' incompetence, this IS a serious bug in bitcoin for which
a workaround is required, and without which a bitcoin theft is possible.
~~~
eliasmacpherson
If this implementation is bugged:
[http://blog.magicaltux.net/2010/06/27/php-can-do-anything-
wh...](http://blog.magicaltux.net/2010/06/27/php-can-do-anything-what-about-
some-ssh/)
then is ssh broken?
~~~
crystaln
Please state your point rather than providing just a link. I don't know what
you are trying to say.
~~~
seabee
That a bug in one implementation does not imply a bug in the protocol.
~~~
crystaln
I didn't say there was a bug in the protocol.
There is a bug in the REFERENCE implementation, which is used by almost every
exchange. And one criticism of MtGox was that they used a custom version of
the reference implementation, and should have used the standard one. You can't
have it both ways.
~~~
eliasmacpherson
Is there a reference implementation for SSH? I don't think so.
By your standards then SSH is broken, which is false. I don't want to have it
both ways. I think if you are running a money service that you should not rely
on variables that were known to be malleable since 2011. There's even a wiki
page about it, on a site the guy owned, since Jan 2013. Either they run
someone elses code and made sure it worked, or run their own code and made
sure it worked - and by worked I meant worked the way they needed it to, not
the way they expected it to.
~~~
crystaln
As I said, they are definitely incompetent.
However, it's quite clear that this is a bug, and it could have affected them,
and they could be telling the truth, contrary to what the original article
says.
------
mindstab
A little regulation and over sight might have prevented all this. And with out
it going forward all anyone can do is advise best practices, and then watch as
some ignore them and also have their money stolen. Very wild west. Totally
something I'll be staying well back from
~~~
argumentum
It's unfortunate that many people lost money (and some might have lost a lot),
but if the ecosystem can recover from this without _governmental_ regulation
(as I expect it will), we have the first evidence (ever) that there is no need
for a central authority to conduct oversight and ensure a robust currency.
It looks likely that the free market, which _includes_ the self-regulating
actions by Coinbase, Blockchain and others (as well as customer reactions),
will punish the bad actors and reward "good" (well managed) companies. It will
also create _better consumers_ , who will now be more diligent in evaluating
relevant services before they sign up.
You write that you'll be staying away for now, that is your right as a
potential participant in the market. We are already seeing the major players
(like Coinbase) react to your sentiment by increasing transparency to bolster
confidence in their services.
1\. _This is what we want._ 2\. When have you seen the existing financial
system react so rapidly and thoroughly to the many flaws and disasters
incumbent within?
Yes, "a little regulation and oversight might have prevented all this", but it
also might have prevented crypto currency from being able to prove its value
(or fail to) in the free market.
~~~
aggronn
> we have the first evidence (ever) that there is no need for a central
> authority to conduct oversight and ensure a robust currency.
No one has ever doubted that this was possible. 'Robust' currency has existed
without a central monetary authority in the past (for millenia!). The reason
the Fed exists is because its believe that it takes an existing 'robust'
currency and makes it better.
~~~
argumentum
""The Federal Reserve System (also known as the Federal Reserve, and
informally as the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It
was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve
Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a
severe panic in 1907"" \-
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_System)
The common argument is that the modern, global economy is too complex to
govern itself, and prone to disasters.
~~~
aggronn
I'm not sure how this relates to my comment. Its not a binary issue of whether
a currency can or cannot function on its own. Currencies functioned on their
own okay before, and after the Fed, they've arguable done better. Whether you
believe it or not is immaterial to my point--we have a wealth of evidence that
robust currency can exist without a central authority. Just because bitcoin
rebounds after some period of time doesn't mean that a) it wouldn't have been
worse if there was central authority and regulation, b) that the rebound is
translatable to other currencies, or to other crises, c) that the rebound was
a result of anything other than exogenous increases in demand.
------
xdarnold
Under the presumption that it is true that ~750k BTC has been stolen, has
anyone considered the possibility of orchestrating a 51% attack on the
attacker(s)?
Gox probably has logs of withdrawal requests. It might be daunting but
feasible to sift the tx-MAL withdrawals from legitimate ones, then work with
major pools and exchanges to double-spend stolen coins back to Gox.
Gox could then be forced (by the same 51% majority) to pay legitimate requests
for reimbursement by vendors or 3rd parties holding stolen coins they
transacted for goods or services, given reasonable documentation. Leaving us
with some but not unacceptable collateral damage.
~~~
MichaelGG
That really undermines Bitcoin overall.
Also, that makes it more attractive to act maliciously, as an exchange. Either
you make off with your stolen BTC (win), or the community fixes things for you
(not really a loss).
What _would_ help is some equivalent of FDIC. A group of Bitcoin "banks" that
handle your deposits, with some pro-BTC group guaranteeing your deposit up to
100 BTC or something. Getting the insurance would of course require all sorts
of intense auditing and oversight. And somehow, someone's gotta pay for it all
(perhaps the same group of Bitcoin companies pay in). But that's... very far
removed from the current state of affairs.
~~~
xdarnold
100% agreed - this would certainly undermine the movement. The open question
is whether it would do so more or less than the loss of half a billion dollars
held by the community. I'm not sure what the answer is, but shouldn't every
option be on the table?
------
diegocg
It puts all the blame on Mt. Gox, assuming that their lack of good management
is to blame. But I still see the lack of reversibility of transactions (one of
bitcoin's strengths) as the major problem here. We live in civilized in a
world where there are laws and polices and judges and banks and governments,
but bitcoin tries to workaround them for no good reason.
I'm still hoping that banks will take what to me is the bitcoin's biggest
feature (multiple wallet addresses and the ability to easily make cash
transfers to other wallet address) but without pretending that centuries of
legal and financial traditions somehow don't matter.
~~~
sigil
> But I still see the lack of reversibility of transactions (one of bitcoin's
> strengths) as the major problem here.
"Stop Saying Bitcoin Transactions Aren't Reversible"
[http://elidourado.com/blog/bitcoin-
arbitration/](http://elidourado.com/blog/bitcoin-arbitration/)
The n-of-m multisignature facilities described in that article are the future
of Bitcoin. You probably don't need multisig arbitration when you buy a coffee
or a stick of gum, but you probably do when you're transferring large sums. Of
course, there was no multisig protection in sight in the MtGox case, but then
there was no blockchain in sight either. Far worse errors of judgement were
made there.
Bitcoin makes the use of arbitration services optional, _and_ it makes the
actual mechanics of arbitration services safer and more efficient. The arbiter
in a 2-of-3 multisig transaction can't freeze or seize funds in transit --
hello PayPal! -- and takes zero action in the vast majority of cases, where
there is no dispute.
Banks, credit card companies, and existing payment systems like PayPal can't
easily, optionally disintermediate themselves. They must play arbiter. And we
must pay for it.
> bitcoin tries to workaround them for no good reason.
There's a good reason. Why do businesses today pay transaction fees when you
use your card to buy that coffee?
I'll just quote the opening paragraph of the original Bitcoin paper:
"Commerce on the Internet has come to rely almost exclusively on financial
institutions serving as trusted third parties to process electronic payments.
While the system works well enough for most transactions, it still suffers
from the inherent weaknesses of the trust based model. Completely non-
reversible transactions are not really possible, since financial institutions
cannot avoid mediating disputes. The cost of mediation increases transaction
costs, limiting the minimum practical transaction size and cutting off the
possibility for small casual transactions, and there is a broader cost in the
loss of ability to make non-reversible payments for non-reversible services.
With the possibility of reversal, the need for trust spreads. Merchants must
be wary of their customers, hassling them for more information than they would
otherwise need. A certain percentage of fraud is accepted as unavoidable.
These costs and payment uncertainties can be avoided in person by using
physical currency, but no mechanism exists to make payments over a
communications channel without a trusted party."
[https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf)
------
panarky
“Cold storage” does not “leak”. The idea that the funds were stolen,
unnoticed, from cold storage, due to Transaction Malleability,
strains the credulity of even the most gullible observers.
This part of the story still doesn't make sense.
One possible explanation that I haven't seen anywhere else is that MtGox lost
control of the private keys to their cold storage.
How else could 744,000 BTC disappear, without anyone noticing, from cold
storage?
------
aresant
Two important items:
a) Adreas is the Chief Security Officer of Blockchain and a well known /
respected digital currency personality.
b) The most interesting part of the article was a link to another post
reviewing Coinbase's security practices (1) where he concludes "it appears
that the Coinbase system contains the expected funds and their cold storage
system and process appear to be operating according to security best
practices."
(1) [http://antonopoulos.com/2014/02/25/coinbase-
review/](http://antonopoulos.com/2014/02/25/coinbase-review/)
~~~
smtddr
If anyone has 38mins to burn...
[http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/17/foundation-brian-
armstrong-...](http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/17/foundation-brian-armstrong-on-
coinbase-and-bitcoin-security/)
A Google Ventures video about coinbase security with Kevin Rose(from old Digg)
asking a bunch of questions with Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong.
Sounds very legit to me.... but... you _still_ shouldn't leave huge amounts of
bitcoin in any exchange! Make[1] your own btc-address + private key and keep
the coins there. And note that bitaddress.org can be git clone'd and ran on a
computer without internet access.
1\. [https://www.bitaddress.org](https://www.bitaddress.org)
~~~
argumentum
Coinbase isn't really an exchange (though it works as such for US dollars).
It's mainly a hosted wallet service that provides apps, and merchant and
developer tools to make it easier to engage with the bitcoin ecosystem.
------
smtddr
_> >I was part of the team helping to coordinate between the other exchanges
to ensure that they could quickly resume operations which they did no more
than 48 hours later. Some exchanges were in fact completely unaffected,
revealing as false Gox’s claims that this was a bug in bitcoin._
I don't think that reveals anything about what happened in MtGox. Also, don't
know if anyone's noticed... but mtgox.com has a message now.
[http://i.imgur.com/YDONE4d.png](http://i.imgur.com/YDONE4d.png)
And note the word "DONE" in that imgurl URL. Ominous...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google Stock Goes Up +6.25% - ishener
http://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:GOOG
======
habbuman
why?
~~~
leishulang
because you can google why.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Slack-like discussion channels connect websites with mutual topics - DerKobe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkRhhtazZjM
======
DerKobe
Full disclosure: I posted the app (back then version 1.0) on HN a few months
ago. It haven't had much attention so I changed quite a bit about how it works
(1.0: website based channels => 2.0 topic based channels connected to multiple
websites). I'm aware that browser extensions are still not that attractive.
Because of this and because how the 2.0 version works, I'm working on a site-
integratable version (like Disqus) for single channels. The difference to
Disqus is that the channels can be integrated into multiple sites and therefor
form a connection between those sites.
The whole thing is still very early and I would be glad to hear some thoughts
on this or what use cases you come up with.
Btw the backend is written in Elixir/Phoenix which is just a blast and you
should try it out if you're a web developer :-)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Chrome passes IE in browser share - Mitt
http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Chrome-passes-IE-in-browser-share-1580620.html
======
harrywye
Although this has been partly helped by MS's resistance to innovation (e.g.,
with regards to HTML5), Chrome's rise for the last few years has been truly
amazing nonetheless. Chrome is not just for developers any more. I see more
and more IE9 commercials these days, but would it really help to reverse or
slow down Chrome's momentum at this point?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Can't find job, should I beg/employ empathy? - coralreef
I taught myself iPhone development and the last few years have been shipping apps and making a living as an indie developer. I also did a 6-course certificate program at a local university (CS1 & CS2, Unix, etc.). I've shipped millions of downloads, had a small acquisition event, etc.<p>I've done about 5 in-person interviews so far, all rejections. There are only so many iOS roles in my city (Toronto) left to apply to.<p>It could be that I'm bad at technical interviewing/whiteboard programming (although I have prepared quite a bit by doing HackerRank and such). But even with easy interviews, I'm getting passed on. I'm beginning to suspect that when I'm being compared to the competition in the market, hirers are going with the safer bets (CS degrees, internships, previous corporate experience).<p>My thought now is that maybe I need to get an internship or junior role, but I'm almost 30. I'm not sure conventional application processes will work for me, I may need to hack this by emailing founders directly and basically "begging" to prove myself.<p>Does anyone have advice on what I should do?<p>Thanks
======
52-6F-62
I work and live in Toronto. I can provide some anecdotal support, I think.
I was, like you, previously working independently doing mostly simple websites
for small businesses (and volunteering with the UN online service[0]) after
leaving a job I really didn't like. (Though I'll add, I'm capable beyond that)
It took me months of pursuing, piping out applications and receiving no word
back in order to get a job. Ultimately I was hired by a very large company for
a developer position in media. It's not my dream role, but it's great for
learning, getting a feel for a corporate environment, and good for the old
resume.
From my experiences I would say that if you have had 5 interviews in and
around the city, you're doing pretty well as it is.
Just keep applying, and do so in a variety of ways. If you can get ahold of a
person, then try writing them but don't grovel. Try out other services, too.
Hired[1] operates within the city, and they seem to have a healthy pool. Get
on LinkedIn as well. While it might seem a little hokey or geared toward
corporate lifers rather than tech professionals, you'll find Toronto seems to
still lean heavily on it and as such there are a lot of recruiters on there
constantly head-hunting. I say this and I very rarely use it.
edit: I'll add if you've been solely focused on tech companies, then try
branching out. The big banks are always hiring iOS devs. So are companies in
media and many other places. Thomson Reuters labs operates here, Amazon
operates here now, there are so many and they're all hiring. Granted, you'll
see a salary lower than what's expected for the same roles in the US, but it's
a starting point at least.\\\
edit no 2: I'm also without a CS degree. Completely self taught, started when
I was a kid.
[0]
[https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en](https://www.onlinevolunteering.org/en)
[1] [https://hired.ca/](https://hired.ca/)
------
byoung2
_I 'm beginning to suspect that when I'm being compared to the competition in
the market, hirers are going with the safer bets (CS degrees, internships,
previous corporate experience)._
If this were true, you wouldn't make it to the interview. How did you think
you did during these interviews? If you thought it went well, but they passed,
maybe it's just a matter of cultural fit. Keep trying and you'll find
something.
~~~
coralreef
The interviews with algorithms questions I probably don't do as well.
But there were a few without those, and I felt I did good. One thing I might
be answering poorly on is process experience "Are you familiar with Agile? Do
you write unit tests? What's your experience working in teams?".
------
twobyfour
FWIW, a mid-level developer with success working independently or freelance is
typically a great fit for a startup willing to hire remote workers. Your
background may be less appealing for a typical corporate job at a larger
company.
And remember that junior/senior titles don't refer to age. They refer to level
of experience or skill. And experience isn't just about churning out code.
It's also about working on a team and within a formal (yes, that includes
agile) software process. A title is just a title. Take a position where you
can learn the things you need to learn to take the next steps in your career.
------
JPLeRouzic
May be you should try to know the companies where you want to be hired and
adapt your proposal for each of them. For example:
\- A big company would prefer to play safe, no degree, no job (similar to
"nobody will be fired for buying IBM").
\- A startup has certainly totaly unreasonable expectations (too new in HR...)
\- Are you assertive/ambitious enough? HR might be suspicious , you know
everybody lies during interviews... I have seen CVs proposed by subcontractors
that were redacted and look at the current inflation in qualifiers
"extraordinary coder" etc...
------
eternalban
Consider more interviews (5 is nothing), remote jobs, stretching beyond iOS,
etc. before begging. Be positive.
~~~
coralreef
I agree 5 isn't much, but I've applied to so many more. There aren't too many
job listings left that I haven't applied to.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
TiltFS: The user space file system based on Tilt - sh19910711
https://github.com/sh19910711/ruby-tilt-fs
======
sh19910711
short demo:
[https://showterm.io/380e8ddab5c8c058fbd27#fast](https://showterm.io/380e8ddab5c8c058fbd27#fast)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The New 95 (2017) - jeffreyrogers
https://www.1517fund.com/post/the-new-95
======
cs702
The authors make many valid points, but nonetheless, for me, this essay comes
across as... _ideological_. Consider: The essay offers only criticism, making
zero practical suggestions. The focus is exclusive on the Humanities; there is
zero mention of Math and the Hard Sciences -- you know, fields in which
persevering on homework exercises and interacting with others who are much
more knowledgeable is actually necessary or useful for true learning. The
examples in the essay are cherry-picked; there are numerous people who have
benefited from attending college in the US; the essay mentions zero. I'd give
the essay a C+, maybe a B-.
~~~
ARandomerDude
I think it's intended to be ideological. Recall that Luther was a theologian
who initiated what became the Protestant Reformation.
Ideology isn't inherently bad. We all have one, and it guides our behavior.
------
floren
I think they could have said something more profound if they hadn't been so
obsessed with hitting 95. Martin Luther's 95 theses were organized, clear, and
consistent. This, on the other hand, is disjointed, rambling, at times obtuse,
and overall not nearly as complimentary to their institution as they had
perhaps imagined.
~~~
ska
There is truth in this, like many "top ten lists" that have 7 solid entries,
or "101 reasons to..." which run out of steam after 30.
It's a shame really to invite, even demand, comparison with Luther's text by
this formula - and then fall so short of it.
Perhaps a bad stylistic choice?
------
Animats
A good analysis of how to reduce college administrative costs to 1980s levels
would be helpful. I occasionally point out that Stanford has a Redwood City
"campus" for lesser administrative functions. It has more administrators than
Stanford has professors.
(On the other hand, having been through Stanford CS for a Masters back in the
1980s, back then they really did need more administration. CS used to be in
Arts and Sciences, run by a rotating chairmanship, and just wasn't well
organized. It was a bunch of professors each doing their own thing, without
much of an overall plan. When CS opened an undergrad program, the department
was transferred to Engineering, which had deans and associate deans to put
together a curriculum and schedule.)
~~~
floren
I'd really like to see a thorough analysis of college budgets. Pick a few
schools and look at what they were spending on in every decade since the 1950s
(which I'd argue was the beginning of the modern college paradigm, thanks to
the GI Bill?). If there's a good, _sourced_ analysis along these lines
somewhere, I'd appreciate a link!
~~~
CawCawCaw
Not sure if it matches what you seek directly, but Graeber in "Bullshit Jobs"
did have a section doing this sort of analysis.
------
zitterbewegung
So what have they done in 3 years?
Not to be dismissive I tried looking through their portfolio.
[https://www.1517fund.com/portfolio](https://www.1517fund.com/portfolio)
~~~
dmitrybrant
I'm sure they're doing good work, but the names of those companies look like
randomly generated parodies.
------
bJGVygG7MQVF8c
> Jay Z, Kanye, Drake.
Is that supposed to be substantive?
~~~
jasonmp85
It's not even _correct_. It follows a list of people who had "no college", yet
Kanye went to an Art Institute for painting before transferring to an English
degree in a state school and ultimately dropping out at the age of _twenty_.
I'd hardly call that "no college".
~~~
perl4ever
But it's not a list of college dropouts either...
And listing Jane Austen is odd - how would she have been able to, and why
would one assume she wouldn't have benefitted? Why not list other people who
weren't white males and didn't go to college in the 1700s? I mean, it
obviously wouldn't feel right in support of the thesis, but why did _these_
lists seem to make sense to the author?
Edit: I was thinking maybe this is some sort of parody or satire or gotcha,
and then I decided to check out the main page and I read:
"We helped launch and run the Thiel Fellowship, working alongside Peter Thiel
to identify and work with young founders building new technology"
Which instantly repositioned the theses as validation in my mind of the
general dislike of him that some people have. He may not be directly
responsible, but I can't help feeling that if this is the sort of people who
like him...
~~~
notahacker
The irony is that few highly successful companies have been as closely linked
with universities as Thiel's Paypal and its many senior recruits from his alma
mater or his big investment in the Harvard Facebook. Outside that particular
bubble, it wouldn't occur to anyone that investing in the person who doesn't
have the Ivy League degree is Reformation-level radicalism. I looked at the
bio of one of the GPs and chuckled as I spotted 'lectured at Stanford' and
'started Oxford PhD' alongside working with Thiel in the career highlights.
------
desc
88\. If the signaling value of a college degree is its most valuable part,
then we are creating a society that values the appearance of success more than
actual success.
Someone might be a bit confused about where the causality arrow is pointing.
~~~
ARandomerDude
Can you elaborate?
~~~
desc
I meant that 'creating' is rather the wrong tense, and that this is probably a
symptom that it's pretty well entrenched by now.
~~~
ARandomerDude
Ah, got it, thank you.
------
dwheeler
So what is the proposed alternative? It's fine to complain about a system, but
it's not helpful unless you have a workable alternative instead.
------
l0b0
95% less slogans and soundbites might've made this an interesting read.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Making a Fortune Telling Machine (2016) - gisely
http://lea.zone/blog/making-of-fortunes/
======
Jun8
This was absolutely marvelous! Apart from it being the best wedding present
ever, the write up is superb: generally with build projects the focus is on
HW, however, the most intriguing aspect of this one was the design of the
cards and fortune generation. The fact that people could affect the fortune
being generated by manipulating cards was an ingenious touch. When people have
an input in the generation they’ll be more apt to believe in the generated
fortune.
The references to folktales and automatic plot generation are great. Something
like Llull’s Ars Magna wheels could also have been used for random, rather
than deterministic generation perhaps.
I looked at other projects done by the author, they are fascinating. You can
read a good interview with her here:
[https://web.archive.org/web/20160507041048/https://femhype.c...](https://web.archive.org/web/20160507041048/https://femhype.com/2016/05/06/blanket-
fort-chats-game-making-with-lea-albaugh/)
------
runj__
Amazing execution! I love fortunes and the tarot data set linked looks
amazing.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
X to close - viclou
https://medium.com/solve-for-x/x-to-close-417936dfc0dc
======
bhauer
As an Atari ST user from 1985 to roughly 1993, I wasn't expecting the author
would actually mention GEM/TOS. I was pleasantly surprised when I scrolled
down and, lo, there it is.
That said, since the "X" in this case is white on a black background, I always
interpreted the icon as four arrows pointing inward to indicate a
shrinking/disappearing motion. In fact, when you closed a window, GEM would
play an (inelegant) animation akin to the Macintosh of the time, composed of a
sequence of boxes first shrinking from the size of the window to a small box
and then shuffling that off to the top left of the screen.
As bemmu points out, the maximize button (at the top right in a GEM/TOS
window) is four arrows pointing outward. Incidentally, GEM did not have a
notion of "minimize."
Put another way, although I find the Japanese inspiration argument
interesting, I don't think there's a whole lot to it. I think it's a fun
coincidence.
In any event, thank you for the trip down memory lane and for the fun screen
grabs!
~~~
ekianjo
I don't think there is much relevance in the Japanese argument. One funny
detail is that Sony actually inverted in their games the meaning of Round and
X for western markets -> making X act as "validate" and Round as
"Back/Cancel", the exact opposite of what they do in Japan.
As for "X being a true icon", I don't know. For me, it could stand as well as
an abbreviation for "eXit" -> X.
The AmigaOS Workbench used (and still uses) a dot instead of a X. It's just a
matter of conventions.
~~~
Bahamut
Was this true in all of their games? I know early PlayStation games did use O
for confirm and X for cancel - even a few years into its lifetime, this was
the case as Final Fantasy VII is an obvious example.
~~~
ekianjo
Are you talking about the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VII or the western
version ? I have the Japanese version at home, I can check quickly if needed.
~~~
simias
Both versions use O to accept and X to cancel. In the european FFVIII hovewer
it was switched around. I think only early and rushed ports of japanese titles
used O to accept on the playstation.
It's still true today, for instance dark souls on the ps3 uses O to accept on
the japanese version and X on the western.
I'm still not sure why Sony did that by the way. While I'm willing to believe
that X strongly means "bad/false" in japanese, I don't feel like it really
means "accept" in western cultures as far as I know. When the playstation came
out I don't think I would have had a lot of trouble accepting O for accept and
X for cancel.
~~~
tragic
I think in FFVIII it was Triangle to cancel. (O was the menu button.) They
completely jumbled it all up for some reason.
~~~
mhurron
Triangle was the menu button, O for cancel, X to accept/action, Square to play
Triple Triad.
~~~
eropple
I believe I had to remap 'menu' back to Triangle when I played through it on
my Vita last month. Could be misremembering though.
------
pwg
Another old example.
WordStar: Used "X" to Exit to system in its main menu
([https://www.flickr.com/photos/markgregory/6946218793/?rb=1](https://www.flickr.com/photos/markgregory/6946218793/?rb=1))
- I do not know the revision shown in the screen shot.
According to Wikipedia
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar))
WordStar was released in 1978. Which moves the date back to at least 1978 to
use X for exit.
However, there is possibly a very simple explanation that the blog posting
overlooked. In text menu's, such as WordStar's, which were quite common for a
lot of software from that era, using the word "Exit" to mean "leave this
program/application" was also common. When one goes looking for a single
character memonic for "Exit" to build in as a keystroke to activate the "Exit"
command from the menu, one has four choices: [e] [x] [i] [t]
Since [x] is an uncommon letter, while e, i, t, are more common, and therefore
more likely to be used for triggering other commands in the menu(s), choosing
[x] to mean exit meant that the same character could likely be used as a
universal "leave this menu" command key across all the menus.
Which would then lead to the common _F_ile->E_x_it command accelerators in
drop down style menus (whether in a GUI or in a text menuing system). [x] was
unlikely to have been used for the keyboard accelerator for other entries in
the "file" menu, so picking e[x]it was a safe choice.
It is not a far reach from _F_ile->E_x_it using [x] as its accelerator key to
labeling the title bar button that performs the same function with an X as
well, to take advantage of whatever familiarity users might have with the drop
down menu accelerators
~~~
crb3
In WordStar it's a little more nuanced than that.
First, it's properly ^K X, as the ^K prefix subcommands block/file actions, as
written by Rob Barnaby into all the WordStar versions starting with CP/M.
Second, ^KX as 'exit' means to save the latest revisions out to file before
quitting, while ^KQ, 'quit', means to abandon the revisions. You might get a
confirmation dialog and a chance to change your mind before you're dumped back
to the commandline.
Current-convention iconic close-window behavior more closely emulates the
latter.
~~~
pwg
Correct on the commands while editing a document, but I was specifically
referring to the WordStar start screen before one begins editing a document
(check the flickr link) where it has "X EXIT to system" (the all caps is also
in the screen shot).
On WordStar 7.0a for dos, the main start screen menu selection is "X exit
WordStar".
------
glurgh
[http://toastytech.com/guis/ns08.html](http://toastytech.com/guis/ns08.html)
NextStep 0.8, '88 vintage.
~~~
reedlaw
Good find. That's clearly an [X] in the upper-right corner.
~~~
ekianjo
Yeah, but still more recent than Atari's Gem.
~~~
glurgh
The Atari Gem thing is not an X, it's actually supposed to be a gem. It's just
confusing because of the low-res image. Take a look at
[http://toastytech.com/guis/gem11menu.png](http://toastytech.com/guis/gem11menu.png)
~~~
empressplay
That's not GEMTOS, that's GEM for DOS... big difference...
~~~
glurgh
I was looking at the wrong end of the window, to boot.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_TOS#mediaviewer/File:ST_D...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_TOS#mediaviewer/File:ST_Desktop.png)
Looks pretty X-like. It seems GEM itself was licensed from Digital Research
but their GEM didn't use X.
Edit: Fixed DEC to DR, as pointed out by reply comment below.
~~~
ahy1
I doubt DEC had anything to do with GEM. It was a product of Digital Research
(same company that gave us CP/M, MP/M and DR-DOS)
~~~
glurgh
They didn't, I just brainfarted. You know,
[http://vt100.net/dec/alpha_era_logo_small.png](http://vt100.net/dec/alpha_era_logo_small.png)
and all that.
------
sbw1
Interesting, but the connection to symbols from Japan seems a bit dubious (or
at least not very recent). The term "cross out", and hence the use of an "x"
to indicate negating something, seems to have been in common use in English
since at least the 1920s:
[https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cross+out](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cross+out)
~~~
gnarbarian
A few counterpoints.
"X marks the spot"
Checking a box to indictate your selection on a form or ballot.
I can't think of any more off the top of my head.
~~~
pjlegato
Checkmarks (positive, accepted item) are quite often opposed to X marks
(negative, undesired item).
------
lunchbox
It can also be thought of as a pun -- when you want to "exit" an application,
you "X it".
~~~
baliex
I'd describe that as "verbing" it rather than "punning" it. The verb makes
sense too, when you take keyboard short cuts into account. A very common short
cut to exit a program (in Windows at least) is File->Exit, which translates to
`Alt+F, X` so you do, in fact, "X it".
------
itazula
Wow, I had always thought the "X" was like an elevator close button. Sort of
like a greater-than sign and a less-than sign put together: ><.
~~~
seszett
That's interesting... is the latin alphabet your native script?
~~~
itazula
Yes, English is my first language. I don't know why I internalized that symbol
the way I did. And looking at the Atari TOS screenshot, I would have said the
symbol in the upper right corner looked like an elevator "open" symbol,
something like <>. But thinking more deeply, >< and <> are in only one
dimension. They are good for expressing the idea of "close" and "open"
respectively, but they fail to acknowledge the two-dimensional character of a
window. So, I like what some of the other posters have said about four
arrowheads pointing in and out respectively. That said, the symbol of two
diagonal, outward-pointing arrows in the upper right corner of Mac OS X
windows now strikes me as brilliant; in a minimal way, the idea of maximizing
in two dimensions is expressed.
------
kybernetikos
The Acorn Arthur operating system, a precursor to Risc OS used a sort of fat X
icon to close windows in 1987
[http://www.mjpye.org.uk/images/screens/arthur2.gif](http://www.mjpye.org.uk/images/screens/arthur2.gif)
~~~
aembleton
I never used Acorn Arthur but I did use RiscOS 3 whilst at primary school
circa '91, and this had an X in the corner:
[http://www.mjpye.org.uk/images/screens/riscos-02.gif](http://www.mjpye.org.uk/images/screens/riscos-02.gif)
I'm sure the GUI design of RiscOS 3 helped to inspire Windows 95.
~~~
ianetaylor
I don't remember where the [X] came from specifically but there were a bunch
of Brits on the Windows team at the time (myself included) and we had a number
of Archimedes machines around. A _lot_ of Lemmings was played.
I remember there was nearly endless debate about where the [X] should go so
people wouldn't accidentally. I think the desire to make it visually distinct
was a big factor.
~~~
kybernetikos
Interesting. That surprises me - I'd always assumed that the UK scene didn't
have much influence on the US technology world.
~~~
ianetaylor
At the time Microsoft's Languages Division was run by a Welsh guy (David
Jones) and he liked to hire fellow Brits.
------
lotsofmangos
RiscOS had the x as well in the late 1980s
edit - Here's Arthur, the precursor to RiscOS in ~ 1986 -
[http://www.rougol.jellybaby.net/meetings/2012/PaulFellows/10...](http://www.rougol.jellybaby.net/meetings/2012/PaulFellows/1024/IMG_8131.jpg)
\- It has nice x icons.
~~~
LeoPanthera
Here's a cleaner shot:
[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Risc_OS_311_De...](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Risc_OS_311_Desktop.png)
Until the NewLook sprite set, it looks more like a weird flower shape than an
X.
Here it is with NewLook:
[http://www.guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/desktop/full/riscos...](http://www.guidebookgallery.org/pics/gui/desktop/full/riscos37.png)
Clearly now an X.
~~~
gpvos
That's RISC OS 3, which is several years later. Arthur already had the X in
1987, see for example [http://mobile.osnews.com/story.php/18941/mobile-opt-
out.php](http://mobile.osnews.com/story.php/18941/mobile-opt-out.php) . (Later
than the 1985 find in Atari OS of the original article, but still
interesting.)
As far as I know, Acorn's RISC OS also pioneered the icon bar and the context
menu.
~~~
LeoPanthera
I see that, but it's the same symbol as pre-NewLook RO3, and is only
charitably described as an "X". It's more of a splat.
------
literalusername
_In this early demo (Codename: Chicago), the minimize and maximize buttons
have been redesigned, but the close button remains the same, and to the left
as before._
I wonder where the author got the idea that the [-] button at the top-left was
a close icon. It was the "Control Box", a menu icon. AFAIK it's still there,
just invisible -- hit alt+space to open it.
Disclaimer: I'm currently unable to test that.
~~~
bcoates
If you double-click it, it closes the application. It was converted from a
picture of a spacebar to the application's icon, but still functions the same
way.
~~~
hamstergene
Some time ago I was stunned discovering how many Windows users had no idea
that double-clicking [-] closes the window. I bet that was the main reason for
introducing separate close button.
~~~
dysfunction
As someone who used Windows 3.1 for years and now uses Powershell on Windows 7
every day at work, I'm ashamed to admit I had no idea.
------
kabdib
I worked at Atari, on the Atari ST (writing a bunch of systems-level code). My
cow-orkers were working closely with DRI to port GEM to the ST hardware. GEM
wasn't done yet, and much of the engineering effort there was helping DRI
finish it up. A lot of stuff was done on the Atari side of the fence that
never made it back to the DRI sources.
I can categorically state that there wasn't any Japanese influence on that
"X".
If anything, it was programmer art. We Atari folks were mostly video-game
programmers, with _some_ sense of design, and a lot of the stuff that was
coming out of DRI was pretty ugly. So it probably got tweaked late a night
until it "looked pretty" and wasn't revisited (the ST was started and shipped
in about 10 months, so we were in kind of a hurry).
------
iachimoe
As the article shows, the close button on MacOS classic was basically an empty
box, but on mousing down on that box, it transformed into something that looks
a bit like an x. I'm basing this on what I can see from using [1], but from my
possibly inaccurate recollection of using the real thing in the 80s and 90s,
some versions of MacOS had an even more "x like" mouse down image on the close
button.
[1] [http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/](http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/)
~~~
lstamour
Yeah, I was remembering this too. Of course, it also kind of felt like you'd
"selected" the box. In fact, I think early checkboxes had x in them on Mac,
didn't they? So it might have been a bit of a coincidence ... or an
inspiration.
------
lwh
The delete/rubout key on many old terminals had an X on it. Like this:
[http://www.cosam.org/images/vt220/keyboard.jpg](http://www.cosam.org/images/vt220/keyboard.jpg)
~~~
boobsbr
The backspace key on my Lenovo keyboard is identical. And if I remember
correctly, it was the same key on an electrical typewriter I used in the 90s.
~~~
DanBC
On typewriters you would backspace and then overtype an X. Those keyboards
tend to just use the word "backspace" or a back arrow symbol.
So typewriters use this symbol when they automate the overstrike or they moved
to correction tape.
------
batiudrami
I always found it interesting that Sony swapped the X and O buttons for the
western Playstation market. In Japan X (batsu) does mean "back" or "no",
whereas elsewhere it is reversed.
~~~
gurkendoktor
Reminds me of how I use [x] to tick boxes in paper forms in Europe, but I was
told in Asia (Taiwan) that I should use a check-mark instead. x is no.
~~~
_delirium
I think check-for-yes, x-for-no is a fairly common convention in English as
well, just not in tick-box forms. You do see it in feature-comparisons grids a
lot, often with the check-mark colored green and the x colored red, to mix in
another convention. Example:
[http://prezi.com/pricing/](http://prezi.com/pricing/)
------
spacesword
They mention X and O on the PS controller but usually in games O is for no and
X is for yes. Completely opposite of the batsu/maru, incorrent/correct they
were discussing.
~~~
ntSean
In Japanese variants, he is correct. When Sony westernized the playstation
controller, the O and X functionality was flipped. Sony is yet to comment on
the reasons why.
~~~
teamonkey
It might be because of Sega's consoles, which were more popular in the US than
they were in Japan, where Nintendo ruled.
The Genesis' button layout was A,B,C arranged in a diagonal from bottom-left
to top-right. A was usually 'accept'. The Dreamcast had a diamond with A at
the bottom and B to the right.
Nintendo's Famicom buttons read A,B from right-to-left, and that trend
continued with the Super Famicom's diamond, which had A to the right and B at
te bottom. The N64 had a weird layout, but again B was to the left of A.
Sony probably focus tested the pad in the US and found that players were more
used to Sega's layout.
~~~
ANTSANTS
As I said in another comment, almost every Megadrive game I've played lets you
use both A and C for accept in menus, so you could use whichever orientation
you were more comfortable with. I think anyone who started with Nintendo
consoles would instinctually rest their thumb between B and C.
My guess is that Sony thought that X and O wouldn't have as obvious
connotations outside of Japan, and figured that people would assume the button
closest to the player (X) would be the OK button. In practice, I have found
that people with very little exposure to Japanese culture still have the same
association with X and O in their heads and get confused when using
Playstations ("you press X to accept???"), so I'll curse Sony forever for this
stupid regional change.
~~~
teamonkey
This is almost certainly a result of intense focus testing, so I don't think
it would be a design choice by Sony based on cultural differences so much as
an observation of user comfort and expectations.
That's not to say that those expectations weren't due to cultural differences.
------
nwp90
No 'x' to close vi? Was that not always there? I've certainly been using it as
long as I can remember; that's not to say it's always been there though - does
anyone know when it was first available?
Edit: seems Wordstar used X too, probably starting in 1978.
~~~
atsaloli
Well, that's different. You are talking about an "x" that you type in, as
opposed to an "x" you can click on.
To answer your question, "x" (short for eXit) was available in vi from the
beginning:
ZZ Exits the editor. (Same as :xCR)
Source: Bill Joy's "An Introduction to Display Editing with Vi"
[http://www.verticalsysadmin.com/vi/vi_editor__bill_joy.pdf](http://www.verticalsysadmin.com/vi/vi_editor__bill_joy.pdf)
~~~
nwp90
Yes, it's different, but the article was trying argue that since "X" wasn't
used in that context at the time it was introduced as a GUI element, the GUI
element couldn't possibly be referencing the letter as a way of closing a
program. While I agree that it's unlikely that the GUI "X" refers to a letter
"X", that's not a valid argument for that position.
Edit: and thanks for the vi ref.
~~~
atsaloli
Understood, and you're welcome!
------
jzzskijj
Too bad, that popular Windows applications like Skype and Spotify have gone
against this and made "X to minimize". And their making of Alt+F4 also to
minimize drives me nuts.
~~~
antihero
X closes the _window_ not the _application_. The only intuition you need is to
realise that window !== application.
~~~
david927
That's not standard. If it's a one-window app, such as Skype, it should close
the app. BareTorrent is also sort of a daemon process (where you often want it
to live in the systray), and it follows standards. Minimize will put it in the
system tray and close actually closes it. It's standard and feels intuitive.
~~~
antihero
I don't think so - I find this very subjective - I've always assumed that X
just closes the window, even if it's a single window app. This is consistent,
just some applications happen to also run in the background.
~~~
coldtea
> _I 've always assumed that X just closes the window_
That was one of the old differences between Windows and OS X behavior (or app-
centric vs window-centric).
If you're reffering to Windows, then X usually closed the app too.
~~~
coldpie
> If you're reffering to Windows, then X usually closed the app too.
I think his point is the X closes the window, and many, but not all, Windows
applications also choose to quit when their (last) window is closed.
------
bluthru
What about crossing out dates or tasks?
[http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/88203236-calendar-with-
date...](http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/88203236-calendar-with-dates-
crossed-out-
gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=35VXefqbfky52bmcKHRgj0npKe9jkjCibt1WYq781dM%3D)
Or crossing-out an item to "delete" it on the page?
------
quux
NeXT had X buttons to close windows before windows 95, with a very similar
look to to win 95 window button styles too. I think NeXTStep 1.0 was in 1989
or thereabouts.
------
panzi
It's not X, it's ❌. (90° angle of the two lines) I always hate it when someone
actually uses an X. Looks ugly.
------
kentosi
I recall being mildly shocked when Windows 95 came out with the the [x]
button. I don't know why, but I thought that it was somewhat dangerous to
allow users to quickly exit an application like this.
Maybe it's because I was used to Windows 3.11, where you had to actually
double-click the [-] button to exit an application.
~~~
mnw21cam
Agreed. But more to the point, I'd like to know what idiot decided it would be
great to put a close button _right next to_ the maximise and minimise buttons.
It's a disaster just waiting for a mis-click. Since Win95, everyone else has
copied this particular feature.
First thing I do whenever I do a new Linux install is put the close button on
its own on the left where it belongs.
~~~
atrilumen
On Linux I always eliminate window decoration. I don't even like to have
borders, let alone buttons I never use.
I really wish I could do the same on Mac.
~~~
mnw21cam
That's actually not such a bad idea. I have just a single pixel border around
the left/right/bottom at the moment, just so I can see the edge of overlapping
terminal windows. I have to say I wouldn't miss the titlebar much either.
------
bemmu
In the Atari TOS screenshots, other icons such as arrows are black on white
background.
If the icons in upper left and right are also like that, then the upper left
icon is actually four little triangles pointing inwards and not an X. The one
on the right is four little triangles pointing outwards.
(Or it could be an X)
~~~
empressplay
Atari ST users seemed to see it as an X -- so whether or not it was
intentional on the part of the designer, it's not that hard to see how one of
these users could have then translated that misconception to the Windows 95
GUI. It's all about perception...
------
riveteye
UPDATED:
So this little article has travelled pretty far! There were a lot of good
tips, comments and insights into the origin of [x] but none as good as this
email that I received from Windows 95 team member Daniel Oran.
“Hi Lauren,
A friend forwarded me your Medium piece, “X to Close.” He remembered that I
had worked on Windows 95 at Microsoft — I created the Start Button and Taskbar
— and thought I’d be amused. I was! :-)
It’s fun to see how history gets written when you actually lived those long-
ago events. I joined Microsoft in 1992 as a program manager for the user
interface of “Chicago,” which was the code name for what eventually became
Windows 95.
So, who was responsible for this last minute change? As far as I can tell,
this person is responsible for the proliferation and widespread use of [x] in
UI design today.
It wasn’t a last-minute change. During 1993, we considered many variations of
the close-button design. And the source wasn’t Atari. It was NeXT, which had
an X close button in the upper right, along with the grayscale faux-3D look
that we borrowed for Windows 95.
I wanted to put the Windows X close button in the upper left, but that
conflicted with the existing Windows Alt-spacebar menu and also a new program
icon, which we borrowed fromOS/2, on which Microsoft had originally partnered
with IBM.
Attached is the earliest Chicago bitmap I could find that includes an X close
button. It’s dated 9/22/1993\. (In attaching the file to this email, I just
realized that it’s so old that it has only an eight-character name. Before
Windows 95, that was the limit.)
Thanks for your very entertaining essay!
Best,
Danny”
I guess you could say case [x]ed.
Thanks again to everyone who helped track down earlier examples of GUIs and
early text editors that used [x] to close as well. Fascinating!
------
BorisMelnik
Windows 95 was the first time I remember using it, and I have been using PC's
since TRS model 80. It makes sense, X means "stop" in most cases and stop
essentially means close or terminate a process / app.
~~~
kalleboo
> It makes sense, X means "stop" in most cases
I'm trying to think of any cases where this is true. Stop signs aren't
crosses, they have a special shape.
------
pjmlp
Windows versions prior to Windows 95 lacked an "X" button, but double clicking
on the left menu icon would close the window.
A behavior still present in modern versions.
------
pjlegato
The use of the X symbol to mean "cancel, close" isn't nearly so mysterious as
the author claims. "Cross off" and "cross out" are common phrases in English,
and traditionally denoted by an X symbol (the "cross").
There is no reason to suppose that the GUI usage was inspired in any way by
exotic Japan. The X as "cancel symbol" has been quite common in the west and
indeed worldwide for millenia.
------
crystaln
If I recall, clicking on the X on old Macs added an X inside the square, so I
think there's a step missing from this article.
~~~
scelerat
It wasn't really an X, more "stretch marks" to visually indicate the mouse-
down event.
~~~
crystaln
Odd they didn't use such stretch marks anywhere else.... except perhaps check
boxes.
------
markmontymark
"Vi, vim, emacs or edlin?
No [x] to close these 1980's text editors either. X was commonly used to
delete characters in-line, but not to close the program."
Hmm... I've used :x to write+quit in Vim for years. And, :X is to
encrypt+quit. Don't have a year when that was added though. Could be fun to
try and dig that up.
~~~
oftenwrong
>Hmm... I've used :x to write+quit in Vim for years. And, :X is to
encrypt+quit. Don't have a year when that was added though. Could be fun to
try and dig that up.
:x (short for :xit) was in the original ex written by Bill Joy in 1976.
According to Joy[1], ex pulled together ideas from a few different places:
1\. em from QMC, written by George Coulouris[2]
2\. a modified version of ed from UCLA
3\. An early version of ex written by Charles Haley based on the em source in
1976
4\. Bill Joy himself
em uses 'x' for its interactive find-and-replace mode ("e __x __change "), so
it didn't originate there. That leaves 2, 3, and 4 as possible origins. I
can't find anything on the UCLA ed. If the origins are in 3 or 4, :x is from
1976.
[1]
[http://roguelife.org/~fujita/COOKIES/HISTORY/1BSD/exrefm.pdf](http://roguelife.org/~fujita/COOKIES/HISTORY/1BSD/exrefm.pdf)
[2]
[http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~gc/history/](http://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~gc/history/)
------
bane
Wow great article. I don't agree with his conclusion that it came from Japan.
But it's as good a reason as any I suppose.
One quick thing, IIR Windows 2.0 and 3.0, the '-' button in the upper left
wasn't "close". It was a small menu that happened to have close as an option.
~~~
Sharlin
You could double-click it to close, though. And of course the menu (and the
double-click-to-close functionality) is still there, it's just that the [-]
icon was replaced with the application's own icon. So contrary to the article,
the close button was _added_ in Win95, all the other elements are still there.
------
mambodog
If you want to see the UI of GEM for yourself, here's an in browser emulator
of an Atari ST with GEM:
[http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/atari-st/](http://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-
js/atari-st/)
------
baq
OS/2 gets pretty close with a [ / ]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/2#mediaviewer/File:Os2W4.png](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/2#mediaviewer/File:Os2W4.png)
~~~
wolfgke
This is a screenshot from OS/2 Warp 4, which was released after Windows 95
(source:
[http://www.os2museum.com/wp/?page_id=132](http://www.os2museum.com/wp/?page_id=132)).
OS/2 Warp 3 that came before Windows 95 had the following set of Window
buttons:
[http://www.guidebookgallery.org/screenshots/os2warp3](http://www.guidebookgallery.org/screenshots/os2warp3)
------
kentaromiura
IIRC on windows 3.1 keyboard navigation X was always the key for exiting, as E
was already used for other things.
I clearly remember that for closing windows one could do alt+f4 (which was
itself a shortcut to Close) or open the file menu (Alt+F) and select eXit.
I can't check but I believe it was the same for Write and notepad as well and
any other programs that had the Exit option.
So maybe that's where the windows 95 developer took inspiration for the X icon
------
lukeh
Also: NEXTSTEP.
------
rangibaby
I had a non-technical friend who insisted it was an x because you used it to
"x it"
------
samdb
Someone in our office insists on calling closing a window 'crossing it off'.
------
brador
When we have completed a todo task we "cross it" to mark it done. i would say
the x to close is intended to represent a "crossing out" not the letter x. It
is pressed to signify a task has been completed.
~~~
klazutin
My thoughts exactly. Not being from exactly a Western culture (I'm Russian) I
always saw the X not as a letter but rather as a cross (Russians say "click
the cross to close the window"), a sign of deleting or cancelling something by
crossing it out. It made perfect sense so I never even thought there could be
other explanations. All because in our language there is no X-exit connection.
------
mschuster91
Lots of banner ads make the close symbol e.g. the second from right (swap
maximize and close) or swap the functions... thus exploiting muscle memory of
people to open the ad :/
------
EGreg
I think I remember that hitting the "close" button on early, black-and-white
macs would make a star appear in the square, signifying the press. Almost like
the X...
------
webkike
Perhaps it's not an icon, and was meant to indicate eXit. I know must use 'q'
for quit, but I've seen a few programs that use 'x'
------
edpichler
I'm not icon designer, but I just finished the hackdesign.org course (I
recommend it) and now I understand a little bit of it and now I always try to
think as one.
The [X] icon in graphic windows software (not in WordStar, Vim, etc), and not
thinking as a letter of the alphabet (remember that maximize and minimize
don't are also) but just as picture, it remembers me something collapsing.
Like something bigger in a normal state with the borders collapsing to a
center till disappear. As when you turn off and old CRT television (or an
Android powered cell phone).
~~~
edpichler
I'm still thinking on this... in design you don't think in one part alone, all
the context is important. The minimize represents the future state of the
window in the bottom bar, and the maximize represents the window occupying all
the available area.
I conclude these three icons are really good and well designed.
------
autokad
This is a great story, and I enjoyed the look back at all the different OS.
sadly if it happened today the x to close would have been patented.
------
jimmaswell
I'd always thought of it like the "crossing out" kind of gesture such as
drawing an X over something on paper.
------
boobsbr
What about using CTRL-X to exit DOS programs?
------
colmmacc
'X' always seemed fitting for another, more poetic, reason: The kiss of death
(X also represents a kiss). I wonder if it was in the designers mind.
------
enesunal
Well what you know about `windows` in GUI? What is the first appearence of the
`windows` based-GUI?
------
mjcohenw
I misinterpreted the title as "X Windows consortium to close."
~~~
arethuza
I'm glad I'm not the only person to think that (mind you this was over
breakfast and before much coffee).
I did think very briefly that it was something to do with X, then thought X
was a variable as in "$X to close".
------
Dewie
Mouse-wheel to scroll (to intro).
------
msie
For me, the pinnacle of Windows UI design has always been Windows 95.
~~~
MrBuddyCasino
The best windows UI imho was Win2000. Best UI overall would still be OSX, also
imho.
------
minusSeven
Mind telling us why this is so important !
~~~
fit2rule
Because it is a design artifact that has survived decades, and here on HN
there are a significant number of people who are designing artifacts that they
hope will survive decades. Context is everything - for those people, this
article provides a little context. Yesterday's "X" to close is today's 'swipe
to close', and tomorrow's [___?___]. Solve for [___?___].
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Google Bubble - prakash
http://www.blyon.com/blog/index.php/2009/08/02/the-google-bubble/
======
haseman
Keyword advertising isn't like the housing bubble at all. Housing prices were
driven up by loose lending practices and very cheap/easy credit explicitly FOR
housing. There is no such subsidy market for search words. While there may be
a google bubble, it has nothing to do with how the housing bubble was created
and sustained.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Linux touchpad: preliminary project funding, survey results - wbharding
https://bill.harding.blog/2020/05/17/linux-touchpad-preliminary-project-funding-survey-results/
======
eth0up
Perhaps the only thing other than a certain leviathan that I loathe in Linux,
is the touchpad. I have butchered laptops as a result of touchpad induced
madness. I've tried synclient and other tweaks to no sufferable avail. My
present laptop has the touchpad removed by pliers. I used the term "madness"
sincerely. I think the present situation might be eligible for a place in the
wiki for Unethical Human Experimentation. Of course, Linux is not entirely to
blame; the physical quality has declined immensely for most touch/clickpads.
Perhaps someday I'll experience playing go without a mouse and risk of
hypertension.
I'm typically not one to use the term - but godspeed, in this case!
~~~
the8472
> My present laptop has the touchpad removed by pliers.
Under which circumstances is disabling it on a software level insufficient?
~~~
eth0up
An emotional one.
~~~
the_af
I like your honest answer.
I can't stand laptop touchpads on any OS (except Apple trackpads, which I
admit are usable, but I don't own a macbook so this point is moot). I can't
stand most laptop _keyboards_ either. I use an external keyboard and mouse in
every laptop, making them effectively "portable computers".
------
viseztrance
I can hardly tell the difference between my razer stealth linux touchpad and
my workprovided macbook.
Even based on the feedback, it seems that most people are okay with their
touchpad experience and are more interested in advanced features like
multitouch.
Having this said, for myself this is a tough sell. I'm concerned that I would
donate and I won't be able to tell the difference between this and some
placebo drivers.
~~~
WalterGR
_I can hardly tell the difference between my razer stealth linux touchpad and
my workprovided macbook._
How much of the surface of the Linux touchpad is clickable? I.e. how much of
it depresses when you press on it, vs. the MacBook?
I’ve never seen a non-Apple touchpad that didn’t have a big dead zone in the
back (closest to the display) 1/4 to 1/3 of the surface.
~~~
ubercow13
That's a physical limitation because the touchpad hinges from the back. No new
touchpad driver is going to fix that.
~~~
duskwuff
And the Apple touchpad doesn't hinge at all! The "click" reaction you get when
you press it is simulated by a set of force sensors and an actuator that
vibrates the trackpad to simulate a click.
~~~
dsego
Apple trackpads used to hinge 10 years ago.
~~~
saagarjha
Actually, they used to sell a trackpad that did that until last year!
~~~
chacha2
iPad pro still does.
~~~
shadowfacts
The trackpad on the Magic Keyboard doesn't have a hinge at the back, there's a
single button under the center and a lever that runs under the sides which
actuates the button and makes the physical click movement:
[https://www.ifixit.com/News/41291/dang-the-ipad-pro-magic-
ke...](https://www.ifixit.com/News/41291/dang-the-ipad-pro-magic-keyboard-
looks-cool-in-x-rays)
------
myself248
This is still the most frustrating thing about Linux for me. I have two
Thinkpads, a T460 running Windows from my employer, and a T560 running Ubuntu
as my personal. Their touchpad hardware is, of course, identical. The
experiences couldn't be more different.
When I first got the machine, I spent weeks fighting with the driver, trying
to figure out how a single number can represent four lines on two dimensions
to define a region where palm-touch should be ignored. I still haven't gotten
pointer precision where I'd like it; I simply know that getting within ten
pixels is the best I can hope for without infuriatingly slow rocking and
coaxing my finger around. It's disappointing to say the least.
Honestly what I'd like most, is a WINE-like shim to simply let me run the
Windows driver in some sort of sandbox and take its mouse-events to the Linux
input system. Synaptics has clearly done the work to make the thing behave the
way I'd like, and it would be the coolest thing if identical settings were
equivalent and portable between machines.
~~~
segfaultbuserr
Am I the only one who finds the Synaptics trackpads on many laptops are simply
a nightmare in itself regardless of the operating system due to the physical
design? Not all Synaptics trackpads are created equal, on some machines, the
surface friction just doesn't feel correct, making the pointer acceleration
difficult to control. _I know I was probably using it wrong and I should 've
spent an hour tweaking the parameters in the Synaptics Windows Driver, but I
don't really know what's the best for me._ Even worse, some Synaptics
trackpads have cheap plastic that worn out after a year or so, creating an
uneven friction, making the navigation a difficult experience. I know I could
replace it, but making the touchpad as a consumable item is not a good design.
Also, on many ultralight machines, the available space is simply too small to
have an adequate space for plamrest.
Finally, as a matter of personal preference, I found clicking the button on
the touchpad is never a good experience - the pad is clickable, but only on
its edge, or you could touch-click, but you need to constantly lifting your
finger. The touch gestures are confusing as well, to this day I never figured
out any of the gesture I could use. The device driver really should come with
an animated tutorial. The only feature I found was scrolling at the edge or
double-finger scrolling, but it's only useful if you want to scroll a few
lines, rolling the entire page is a tiresome experience (unlike the middle-
button scrolling on a TrackPoint).
As a result, I only use the TrackPoint on Thinkpad laptops. Although the
TrackPoint is not completely free from the pointer acceleration issue in
general on Linux (although I never found it to be an issue for me), the
overall usability is much better because it doesn't have the physical design
issues.
~~~
emmelaich
The trackpad on Macs is one of the major reasons I stick with Mac laptops.
~~~
spacephysics
Same, despite the overheating issue with my model, and the copious amount of
OS issues with the more recent releases, I’ve yet to find a laptop that comes
close to Apple’s track pad.
To a point where sometimes I prefer the track pad over a mouse.
~~~
neal_jones
You’ve probably already heard about this, but there has been a large
discussion about how charging from the traditional left side of 15” (and I
believe 16”) MBPs results in heat and fan issues. A lot of people have had
improved results just by switching power to the right.
~~~
api
That is just ridiculous.
~~~
teruakohatu
Not more than the previous keyboards which can't handle a spec of dust under
the keys.
------
phoe-krk
> _There 's currently a gaping chasm between the 35 sponsors who have
> supported the project on GitHub so far (thank you!!!) and the 309 poll
> respondents who indicated they would donate to this cause._
~~~
BiteCode_dev
I answered the poll, and said I would pay $50 for this, but never received any
follow up (and I think I provided my email, I usually do in polls if they give
the option).
Now I just realized that there is a github sponsor link, but it's recurring. I
don't want recurring. I want to send $50 once.
~~~
forbiddenlake
You can sign up, pay once, then cancel.
~~~
grawprog
Why should the onus be on me to make sure I don't pay more money than I want?
I can't stand this 'just subscribe then cancel' mentality. I would like the
option for a one time payment for things without having to fuck around
starting and cancelling subscriptions. It's just ridiculous.
~~~
m463
> Why should the onus be on me to make sure I don't pay more money than I
> want?
follow the money. :)
------
ghostpepper
Off topic but did anyone else notice that this entire blog post is actually
hosted on a site called amplenote? With uMatrix enabled, the wordpress blog
just shows an empty post with a broken iframe. Is this a common architecture?
What's the purpose?
~~~
bArray
On my system the iframe is really small but the content is in there. I've seen
a bunch of sites doing this recently and it's quite annoying.
~~~
ghostpepper
Just to be clear my settings deliberately block iframes by default until I
allow them. I just thought it was odd that the whole Wordpress blog is
literally window dressing.
------
kevincox
I've used a mac occasionally and there are really only two features I miss
from the trackpad level: \- Add a finger to click. This is very useful to be
able to click without stopping dragging your finger. \- The acceleration curve
for pointing feels more natural. This was surprising to me because I use Linux
primarily but I feel like I hit targets slightly more on MacOS.
With libinput I have found that multi-touch gestures work really well we are
just missing application support. It seems that this project doesn't aim to
work on applications at all so for me it seems like they are barking up the
wrong tree. For example I would love to have Firefox wired up to linux three-
finger swipe gestures for forward/back (and I bind down -> Scroll To Top and
up -> Close tab).
------
noobermin
I guess it helps not to get used to "better experiences" just judging by the
comments here. I bought a laptop and and have dual boot but use linux
primarily. Every time I'd have to use Windows, it would be a serious
frustrating pain in the ass. A lot of these things I am 999% convinced are
just based on familiarity than actual ergonomics.
~~~
kochthesecond
Well, the Mac trackpad is an absolute joy to use..
The quality of trackpads outside of Macs used to annoy me to no end, but my
2018 zenbook with libinput isn't that bad. It's like 80% of the way there for
a quarter of the price.
------
dmix
Looks like the number of contributors have doubled since this post hit the
frontpage.
That's great, this is one of the few things left that held back Linux desktop,
and it wasn't even that bad with some tweaking but it shouldn't need tweaking.
Gnome has made drastic improvements in recent years as well.
Now if only companies would fund proper open source graphics drivers then
there would be no reason for developers to not use Linux. Otherwise you need
to buy a laptop with Linux in mind and you'll be fine.
~~~
peatmoss
Re GPU: Running a desktop with a shiny new AMD 5700-xt, and it has been pretty
excellent. Only nit to pick is that I had to add a small bit of configuration
to enable FreeSync support with my monitor.
Performance in various Steam games (native as well as emulated via Proton) has
not been a disappointment.
That said, previously had an NVidia card that worked okay with Ubuntu, but
required enabling some proprietary drivers. It worked fine, but was an extra
hoop to jump, and using proprietary drivers sticks in my craw.
If I did anything on my desktop that relied on CUDA, I suspect I’d be stuck
with using the proprietary NVidia drivers.
------
gertrunde
I'm faintly curious, how does the MacOS "Touchpad Experience" referenced in
question #1 differ from the Windows one? (Or any other OS?)
(Background to my ignorance: While I do (very) occasionaly use MacOS, I
usually default to the terminal as it's more familiar... and probably spend
most (60-70%) of my time connected to linux or unix-like systems via
cli/ssh... from a Windows system.)
Are we talking touch gestures or something? Or multi-finger things? Are they
really that massively different? Surely a touchpad is a touchpad? (Not
counting those awful things without proper buttons).
~~~
sethhochberg
You'd think "surely a touchpad is a touchpad", but the reality for most heavy
users is that Apple really does have an experience substantially better than
most in this area.
Large tracking surface. No dead zones, which can't be touched or tapped.
Fantastic palm rejection. Gestures that work reliably, and never over or
under-detect fingers.
Its not really to say that the Apple trackpads are better at their best than
the other vendors, as much as it is that the other vendors often behave in
unpredictable ways. I used to have a Thinkpad which worked every bit as well
as my current Macbook trackpad when it worked right, but which would
frequently fail to recognize a finger during a scrolling gesture, couldn't be
clicked on the portion closest to the keyboard, and occasionally the palm
rejection just wouldn't work. The minor annoyances over time add up to a much
more frustrating experience.
~~~
aarmenaa
I've noticed that two-finger scrolling, which should be one of the easiest
things to get right, is wrong on basically anything that's not MacOS. Windows
and Linux arbitrarily insist on 3-line scrolling in a lot of apps. Even when
pixel scrolling is technically available, it works poorly. It appears small
movements are ignored, and then once you've hit some sort of distance
threshold the scroll "jumps" to register the whole movement. There's weird
delays where you need to "un-touch" the pad before you can transition from
moving the cursor to scrolling. The scroll gets "dropped" after a while even
though I still have two fingers on the pad.
I've seen all this across many laptops running Linux and Windows, including
Macs, which leads me to believe that that the issue software.
~~~
wbkang
Actually on Windows, 3 line scrolling is a configurable default in the control
panel. On X/Linux, on the other hand, is where it's hard-coded to 1 line and
there is no way to change it to 3 without having undesired side effects (such
as scroll events being fired 3 times).
~~~
myself248
But no matter what you set it to, an inch of scroll motion on the trackpad
results in a different number of screen-inches of window movement, between
different apps.
In Ubuntu right now: Firefox seems pretty intuitive, one trackpad-height worth
of finger movement results in roughly one screen-height worth of window
movement. That's great.
But LibreOffice Calc, for the same amount of finger movement in the upward
direction, scrolls about 3 screenfulls up. And bizarrely, for the same amount
of finger movement in the downward direction, scrolls about half a screen.
Discord desktop app (which I assume is Electron like everything else), scrolls
about 1.5 screens per touchpad-worth of finger movement. That's acceptably
close to Firefox and not disorienting.
Gedit scrolls about 2 screens per touchpad.
Arduino IDE scrolls about 2 screens per touchpad.
How on earth can these be different? And how do you even start to fix that?
~~~
floriol
They all use different UI toolkits, some are gtk, some are java UIs, some are
electron-based apps. So that's why - it's a higher level problem that is
unfortunately inherent to desktop fragmentation which is hard to avoid on
linux.
------
pmontra
I've been using Ubuntu since 2009, two HP laptops and zero problems with the
touchpad. I used the first one with Windows for two years and the touchpad
behaved better with Ubuntu than with Windows. I think the improvement was two
finger scrolling instead of sliding on the right edge. I used only Ubuntu on
the second laptop so I can't do any comparison but I never felt anything wrong
with the touchpad. HP nc8430 and ZBook 15 first gen.
------
tadfisher
After using a Steam Controller for a couple of years, I would love to use its
trackball-emulation feature with my laptop touchpad. Would anyone else like to
see this feature experimented with?
------
rcthompson
I'm a little unclear on how close to the funding goal this is. As far as I can
tell, the goal is $10k total, but the current funding level shown is per
month. Does it just mean that work can't begin until the accrued balance
reaches $10k?
Also, is there a way to make a one-time donation rather than an ongoing
monthly pledge?
------
bubblethink
I just hope that libinput matches the xorg synaptics driver before it is
deprecated. On every major OS release, I try the live cd to check if the
touchpad with libinput is on par with synaptics, but it isn't there yet.
~~~
floatboth
libinput has been far ahead of xorg synaptics since forever.
------
sandov
As a touchpad-ignorant person (I have not used Macbook touchpad, so I don't
know what I'm missing) Linux touchpad support had always seemed fine to me
until distros started using libinput by default.
Last time I tried libinput, I couldn't disable acceleration on touchpads.
"Flat" acceleration profile still had acceleration.
~~~
bschwindHN
If you're happy with the current state on linux...don't ever use a macbook
trackpad. It'll ruin you.
------
cmeacham98
Interestingly, I seem to have had the opposite experience of many people in
this thread. On windows, the touchpad driver uses this annoying tray
application, defaults to "tap = click" (does anybody seriously like this
behavior on trackpads with physical buttons?), and also includes some easy to
trigger gestures I often hit causing my windows to do something stupid. On
linux the drivers have always "just worked", felt like similar mouse
movement/scrolling to windows, and didn't come with tap to click or gestures I
never used.
------
bchociej
Color me stunned that people are so dissatisfied with their touchpads in
Linux. 0-3 lines of options in my config have made me perfectly content with
every touchpad I've ever used in Linux.
~~~
rurban
Care to share? Would be really appreciated
~~~
bchociej
I am away from my laptop for the time being, unfortunately. But it's generally
a bit of pointer acceleration and enabling two finger scrolling, if I have to
configure anything at all.
------
odiroot
My god. I hope Ubuntu is not going to jump on this quickly. My current setup
with Synaptics and just two manual tweaks is perfect for me.
The way MacBook touchpads work always irked me, always felt off. But maybe
it's necessary for MacBooks with their enormous tachpad surfaces.
------
seltzered_
The donation link seems fairly buried under the comments, but here it is
again:
[https://github.com/sponsors/gitclear](https://github.com/sponsors/gitclear)
------
_ZeD_
So am I the only one that really _hate_ multitouch.
The really thing I want is * left click on the left side of the touchpad *
right click on the right side of the touchpad * right and bottom area to
scroll (with ONE DAMN FINGER)
~~~
seph-reed
Of course not. But as much as you hate it, I love it, and it turns out most of
the work needed to have things our own way is shared.
As a person who just wants the MacOs experience, I'll gladly support the fact
that you should be able to make it work the way you want too.
------
wbharding
This project is now up to 75 supporters and $800 monthly sponsor estimate,
which should be a good enough starting point to start talking to devs. Thanks
a bunch, HN!
------
ZeroCool2u
As one of the people that said I'd donate to this cause and setup my first
GitHub sponsorship for this project, I'm very excited!
------
blendergeek
Honestly, I hate the Apple touchpad experience. I love Linux touchpad
experience, except for when there are multiple drivers available and depending
on which one is being used, my settings change.
Oh, and, 'tap to click' should be default.
~~~
ThePowerOfFuet
>I hate the Apple touchpad experience
You're definitely in the minority on that.
> Oh, and, 'tap to click' should be default.
Okay, now you're just trolling.
~~~
blendergeek
I really do like tap-to-click. I may be in the minority. After checking the
numbers again, I'm definitely in the minority on HN. But, no, I'm not
trolling. Tap-to-click is sooooooo nice. I can use all touch pads the same
whether or not they can be clicked all over. I don't have to click (which
makes a sound). I know that sound may not annoy everybody, but i was once
recording audio, and every file started with a 'click' sound ... until i
enabled tap-to-click. And i have never looked back.
The one thing i love about Apple touch pads is 'natural scrolling'. What a
beauty.
------
squid_demon
Will Linux fix their mouse support as part of this project?
~~~
nitrogen
Came here to say the same thing. Every Linux distro release the mouse finds a
new way to break -- different acceleration profile, impossibly slow followed
by impossibly fast, etc. -- and I have to update my _fix_mouse.sh_ autorun
script to scan for whatever the new _xinput_ parameter names are.
It's unfortunately distressingly common in software, but especially Linux
GUIs, to fix one thing by breaking three others instead of identifying a
better framework to fix the root cause. The Linux kernel does seem to be good
at that last part, but not the desktop projects.
~~~
techntoke
Never had an issue before. What distro and window manager are you using? I'm
running Arch with Sway and no issues whatsoever with the mouse.
~~~
nitrogen
Kububtu with a Logitech G500s set to ~2000dpi and a 250Hz or 500Hz report
rate. I had similar issues with other DEs and login managers in the past.
I keep meaning to try KDE Neon or switch back to Mint or something, but I have
very little desire to mess with my OS these days.
------
yencabulator
Q3 bars go 2 1 3 4 5.
------
fortran77
No multitouch!?
~~~
boudin
Yeah, didn't get that. Multitouch is definitely there. Not all gestures
though.
~~~
skykooler
It very much depends on what hardware you have currently.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Python Cheat Sheet for Work - kusanagiblade
http://www.build2master.com/technology/python-cheat-sheet-for-work
======
sago
I was a bit bemused by this, sorry. eg.
`(a += b) == a + b` is not true, a += b is not an expression.
`str.is_digit()` doesn't 'check number', it checks if the string is entirely
composed of unicode digit codepoints.
`dict(col)` doesn't work for a general collection `dict([1,2,3])` for example.
Are these really the things people forget the most coming from another
language? Not try/raise/except/finally? Negative indices?
If it works, it works, good on you for making it (and making it look good),
but in general, it seems to be a bit insubstantial.
~~~
noobie
> _`str.is_digit()` doesn 't 'check number', it checks if the string is
> entirely composed of unicode digit codepoints._
What do you mean?
~~~
epidemian
I'm not really sure. Maybe that:
>>> u'0١߂३৪੫૬୭௮౯'.isdigit()
True
So it's not equivalent to matching [0-9]+, which some people might expect.
It's quite nice i think, because apparently int() supports Unicode numeric
characters too (i didn't know this):
>>> int(u'0١߂३৪੫૬୭௮౯')
123456789
~~~
sago
Right - `isdigit` checks for membership in unicode class Nd. So the other
decimal digits you quote work. Similarly `int()` supports the same values.
`isdigit` doesn't support Nl or No class digits (not even ones corresponding
to decimal digits, like Ⅳ).
I don't know if it is possible to construct an example where `isdigit` would
return True but `int` would fail. It wouldn't surprise me, either way, but at
the least the failure case isn't obvious.
The real problem is the converse `"1.23".isdigit()` returns False, where 1.23
is a number, so it doesn't 'check number'. And `int("-23")` works, but
`"-23".isdigit()` is False. You could argue it 'checks non-negative integer'.
I happened upon a stack exchange answer a while back, accepted, that failed
because of this bug.
In general the Python way to check if one thing can be converted into another
is to try, and trap the error.
def isnumber(text):
try:
float(text)
except ValueError:
return False
else:
return True
------
jake-low
Imagine you're interviewing someone for an intro-level full stack position,
where they'd be writing JavaScript and Python.
You ask them a whiteboard coding question -- something about manipulating
strings or implementing simple searching. Let's ignore the debate of whether
this is a productive technique for interviews for now. You ask for Python in
this question since you've already covered JavaScript.
The candidate can't remember what the "str" type is called, or how to find
substrings in a string, or the difference between "==" and "is" for objects.
They ask you to remind them if "join" is a method on sequences or on strings.
They write "length()" when they mean "len()".
We've discussed at length on HN the challenges of whiteboard coding. "Nobody's
favorite IDE is their conference room whiteboard".
But I feel that, even through the flawed medium of the whiteboard, I'm seeing
symptoms of the candidate not really "knowing" Python to the degree I would
expect of someone who applied for a job writing it.
None of the people I work with who write Python would ever forget one of these
basics. I think they recognize that the ultimate "efficiency" isn't a cheat
sheet on your wall, but rather learning and internalizing these tools by
repeatedly using them.
Forgive me for setting up what I recognize to be a straw-man argument. Not
everyone who writes Python was hired for their ability to do it. Maybe the
candidate is a _stellar_ JavaScript developer, and their only Python
weaknesses are with the syntax and standard library. Perhaps a cheat sheet is
an effective way to bridge the gap between "learning" and "internalizing" a
language's features.
Nonetheless, I'd like to hear people's thoughts on the hypothetical situation
above (or another better one, if you feel the one I've chosen is biased or
misses the point).
~~~
WoodenChair
I definitely get what you're saying, but it really depends on whether you're
hiring someone to be a Python expert, or someone to be a great software
developer. If you need a Python expert (someone who knows the ins and outs of
the language right off the bat), you're absolutely right. If you need more
generally just a great software developer though, as long as they can show
they're a great programmer in a couple different languages and paradigms,
whether or not they remember the specifics of how to do String operations in
Python, is irrelevant. They can learn that pretty easily.
It also depends on whether or not the job in question asked for tons of Python
experience as a requirement, or if software development experience was
required but only familiarity with Python specifically.
------
ADSSDA
I'm hoping this is some sort of late april fools post? This cheat sheet is
stuff no python programmer would need to look up, and even then, manages to
get a few things wrong.
------
alialkhatib
While the author of the post makes it clear that this is for developers, I
think this kind of cheat sheet has some value for non-developers. Stuff like
recognizing how to run a python script, how to enter the python shell, etc...
all sounds like really trivial stuff that we should all know, but if I gave a
crash course in Python to someone who primarily used Excel to do data analysis
and parsing and whatnot, then this cheat sheet would be useful (I think). It's
the little reminders that act as bridges between the gap of learning and
internalizing something, as jake-low mentions.
I probably wouldn't give them this PDF, but I imagine I would give them a
markdown file that illustrates many of these same reminders with examples and
caveats.
It's confusing that the author specifically says that the startup works with
Python and Django, because I agree that a Python developer shouldn't need a
reminder that `python <file.py>` runs the python script (and in fact in that
space I would have instead made a note about `python`/`python3`) but I want to
try to take the value from this, rather than pile on with the crowd deriding
it.
------
japhyr
If anyone is new to Python and looking for a more complete set of cheat
sheets, I recently developed a set aimed at beginners. Rather than simply list
syntax, there's a brief summary of many core concepts in Python. I thought
this might be more helpful to true beginners than a set of sheets that focus
purely on syntax.
Overview of cheat sheets, and links to individual cheat sheets:
\-
[http://ehmatthes.github.io/pcc/cheatsheets/README.html](http://ehmatthes.github.io/pcc/cheatsheets/README.html)
All cheat sheets in the set, in one pdf:
\-
[https://github.com/ehmatthes/pcc/raw/master/cheat_sheets/beg...](https://github.com/ehmatthes/pcc/raw/master/cheat_sheets/beginners_python_cheat_sheet_pcc_all.pdf)
~~~
flashm
These are excellent.
I don't use Python that often so something like this is perfect to refresh
each time and to avoid doing anything unidiomatic.
'Learn X in Y' is also a useful site for this sort of thing.
------
nvader
I feel like the author is missing something fundamental about the
appropriateness of "cheat sheets" to certain domains of knowledge.
The poll on that page shows an overwhelming majority (>75%) of people are
ambivalent or skeptical of a Python cheat sheet.
------
noobie
I am not even at an intermediate level of Python and I knew all of the
content, either I am better than I thought I am or this cheat sheet is a joke.
I'd say it's the latter.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Interactively Explore 120M Flight Records with GPUs - tmostak
http://www.mapd.com/blog/2016/04/21/flying-through-flights-data-with-mapd/
======
mrdatabase
The demo is nice. The other thing is that a mapd server with 8 nvidia k40s for
3000 dollars each costs around 30000 (with CPU and main memory). For 30000 you
can also buy a 4 socket server with a terabyte of main memory. Even though the
GPUs can access their 300gb of memory much faster and have more cores, that
won't help you because database workloads (filtering, grouping, joining) is
not compute-intensive enough to give the GPU an advantage over CPU cores.
My bet is that a main memory database optimized for modern CPUs will do better
on even larger datasets at the same server costs.
~~~
tmostak
OP here. The demo is running off of the equivalent of a single K40. We can use
8 K80s to scale to billions of records with the same response time in
milliseconds.
And database workloads are often heavily memory bound so the terabytes per
second of memory bandwidth you can get on a GPU server can give you a huge
speed up, and of course you have the prodigious compute power of the GPUs on
tap if needed.
------
bmh100
Has anyone actually been able to contact MapD? I've emailed, called, and left
voicemails without any response. I'm not sure what is going on, but it's
strange for a potential customer to have such difficulty getting in touch with
sales.
~~~
tmostak
We're very sorry to hear that - did you email info at mapd dot com or sales at
mapd dot com?
------
noisy_boy
The Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines data seems odd - thousands of
negative delays?
~~~
smackfu
Most of their inter-island flights are every hour all day and I wouldn't be
surprised if they take off early if they have all the passengers on-board.
~~~
fapjacks
Bingo! I commuted weekly for years and that's exactly right. Island style
departures.
------
jlgaddis
Sounds like a fun dataset to play around with. I'll have to go look for it.
------
hntw1
The whitepaper link doesn't work for me.
~~~
tmostak
We tried and it seemed to be working fine. Please email us at info at mapd dot
com and we'll make sure to send you one. Also would be good to know what steps
you went through so we can fix if necessary.
------
chromedude
The demo is broken :/
~~~
tmostak
It looks to be working ok for us. Can you let us know what browser you are
using?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Trump orders colleges to back free speech or lose funding - mudil
https://apnews.com/7b50a833699d4ccbae38450fff9c1524
======
Chazprime
Colleges are already bound to uphold free speech by the First Amendment, so
I’m a little unclear what distinguishes this.
Having said that, I do think that today’s students are a bit too sensitive to
ideas that they don’t agree with, so perhaps we need to reinforce that ideas
we don’t agree with aren’t tantamount to fascism.
~~~
greenyoda
Only colleges run by state and local governments, to which the Bill of Rights
applies (due to the 14th Amendment), are bound by the First Amendment. Private
colleges are not.
------
drallison
"The new order directs federal agencies to ensure that any college or
university receiving research grants agrees to promote free speech and the
exchange of ideas, and to follow federal rules guiding free expression." Non-
compliance means loss of grant funding. The problem is: who decides when a
college or university is not in compliance?
~~~
RikNieu
> The problem is: who decides when a college or university is not in
> compliance?
The "federal rules guiding free expression"?
------
foobarbazetc
“Free speech”
------
krapp
Huh.
To me it seems like "Trump threatens to punish colleges which challenge
conservative or Christian views."
I'm sure I'm reading too much into it, though.
It's not like his party considers academia to be a cesspool of Marxists,
liberals and radical feminists that needs to be purged for the good of
American culture or anything.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US - peapod91
https://twitter.com/bchesky/status/825517729251684352
======
paulsutter
AirBNB might want to adjust their offer since the majority of the world
population are not allowed in the US. Visas are limited by country and can be
an arduous process.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_St...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_States)
Only visitors from the few countries in blue or green are permitted entry
automatically:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Visa_policy_of_the_USA....](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Visa_policy_of_the_USA.png)
I mention this without any advocacy for any position, but because some
commenters seem to expect that borders are normally open. Every country has
similar restrictions. Many countries don't admit US citizens without a visa.
Edit: Rayiner, I'm in favor of more and easier travel generally, I'm referring
to the wording of Brian's tweet.
~~~
exodust
I thought this too, but looking a bit further there's already refugees living
in the US in motels and so on, burning through their 'welcome cash'. Not sure
about numbers, I just looked at one example of a family from Afghanistan who
arrived just before the ban. So the housing offered by Airbnb hosts in the US
would be, I presume, for people like this who are living in motels currently.
I wonder what these refugees who made it to the US typically do for housing
once their motel money runs out? Are they on a waiting list for government
housing or something? I guess they would receive welfare payments to cover
rent, or just need to find work.
------
rhapsodic
All of the virtue signaling and moral feather preening surrounding this issue
is something to behold.
It seems we're entering a new era where businesses engage in political
activism as well as simple commerce.
If that's the case, it's only fair that other groups, whose politics may
differ from the activist-businesses', start using politics to weaken those
businesses and counter their influence.
For example, it's well known that Airbnb operates under the radar of housing
regulations in many localities.
Perhaps people who disagree with Airbnb's politics should organize and bring
about legislation that will eliminate or severely curtail Airbnb's ability to
do business in their town, county or state.
Or perhaps the Republicans, though new federal liability laws, should render
Airbnb's business model non-viable at the national level.
The left has been engaging in total war against the right for about a decade.
They seek to impose social and economic penalties on those who hold political
views different than their own. And they've done this, fairly secure in the
knowledge that there would be few or no repercussions against them.
But I have a feeling that's starting to change.
~~~
acjohnson55
> The left has been engaging in total war against the right for about a
> decade.
Funny, I see it as almost the exact opposite. The backlash against Obama was a
weaponization of politics on a scale not seen since the Civil Rights and anti-
Vietnam War movements. I'd characterize the corporate response as businesses
trying to operate in a cosmopolitan market, in a climate of nativist politics.
And your viewpoint feels especially ironic when a common
conservative/libertarian argument against government interventions to advance
civil rights is that the market will work it out. It seems we see how serious
folks actually are about that idea, in these rare instances when it plays
itself out in reality. Because let's also not pretend that this represents
some type of long-term investment in social justice.
And is doubly ironic that you seem to be advocating that the government punish
a private entity for stances that seem well within its rights.
~~~
rhapsodic
_> And is doubly ironic that you seem to be advocating that the government
punish a private entity for stances that seem well within its rights._
It is ironic, I'll admit.
But in total war, there are no rules. You inflict suffering on your enemy by
whatever means are available.
The left gleefully destroyed a family-run pizza joint because of the answer
one of the family members gave to a reporter. They made an example of this
family for the rest of the country to learn from: "Publicly express a
political opinion we disagree with, and run the risk of being destroyed."
It's only fair that Ben Chesky and Airbnb incur a similar risk for their
forays into the political arena. And they're very rich, powerful and well-
connected people, who are backed by other rich, powerful and well-connected
people. It would take something as powerful as a Republican-controlled federal
government to do them some serious damage.
And if that happens, I'm certainly not to rush to their defense.
~~~
grzm
_The left gleefully destroyed a family-run pizza joint_
Would you elaborate on this? What are you referring to?
~~~
rhapsodic
Memories Pizza. Google it.
~~~
grzm
Thanks! If you're going to bring up Memories Pizza, I think it's fair to
compare this to Pizzagate.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizzagate_conspiracy_theory)
The idea that we have no further recourse other than total war is very
troubling. I don't think a lot of people are willing to give up trying to work
together quite yet.
~~~
caminante
The only common denominator appears to be pizza.
Memories Pizza's owners were interviewed about Indiana's Religious Freedom
Restoration Act [0] and answered a hypothetical question by saying they
wouldn't cater a gay wedding, but they'd serve anyone. The reporter ran a
headline, "RFRA: First Michiana business to publicly deny same-sex service."
This was false on numerous levels, but went viral, triggering a backlash.
Pizzagate is a human trafficking conspiracy with different mechanics. I guess
Comet Ping Pong employees got backlash for allegations, but the similarities
end there.
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Restoration_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_Freedom_Restoration_Act_\(Indiana\)#Impact)
~~~
grzm
Pizzagate similarly went viral across social media. Is the meaningful
distinction you'd like to make is that it was reported in a newspaper? In this
case, Michael Flynn, then part of Trump's transition team, tweeted vague
insinuations of child sex crimes which surely did nothing to dampen
suspicions.
_U decide - NYPD Blows Whistle on New Hillary Emails: Money Laundering, Sex
Crimes w Children, etc...MUST READ!_
Even after the shooting, Flynn's son tweeted explicitly:
_Until #Pizzagate proven to be false, it 'll remain a story. The left seems
to forget #PodestaEmails and the many 'coincidences' tied to it._
Here on HN there were plenty of comments if not actively promoting the
Pizzagate conspiracy theory, entertaining the possibility that it was legit.
The employees of Comet Ping Pong and nearby businesses received backlash,
including death threats. This escalated to a shooting by someone who took it
upon himself it investigate the matter personally. Fortunately no one was
shot. Pizzagate was false on numerous levels.
Both of them are misrepresentations that went viral, supported by people
driven by partisan issues. I think both of them are atrocious and shouldn't be
excused. They are unfortunately a symptom of the terrible state of current
political discourse.
I'm genuinely interested in the distinction you draw between them.
~~~
caminante
Both of them are misrepresentations that went viral, supported
by people driven by partisan issues.
Though, I agree this criteria applies to both stories, it's also too general.
Respectfully, this criteria fits ANY news event.
A key distinction I'd draw is that the Memories Pizza saga began due to a
singular mistake in reporting that spun out of control. Had that one mistake
not happened, Memories Pizza likely wouldn't have blown up. Whereas, Pizzagate
became the label for an inter-related network of human trafficking
conspiracies that had already gained critical mass. People that started piling
on, weren't necessarily piling on false-hoods. Instead, they were piling on
unverified conspiracies.
~~~
grzm
Agreed on the "too general" part. Not sure if it's useful to narrow it down,
as I don't think that definition is doing any more work for the discussion.
_People that started piling on, weren 't necessarily piling on false-hoods.
Instead, they were piling on unverified conspiracies._
What's the distinction here? That on the one hand they're saying "I'm not
sure, but it sure looks suspicious!" and on the other "Look what they did!" Is
that a meaningful distinction?
Why the focus on a singular mistake in reporting?
At the end of it all, adding weight to Memories Pizza with a statement like
_The left gleefully destroyed a family-run pizza joint because of the answer
one of the family members gave to a reporter._
while dismissing Pizzagate which was arguably fueled in part explicitly by the
Trump campaign (as opposed to some amorphous "left") seems grossly unfair.
I don't think I have anything to add to this. It looks as empty and partisan
as the original comment, unfortunately. I commend you for stepping up and
taking the time to discuss this with me. I honestly appreciate it. I'd have
liked to have heard from 'rhapsodic as well.
------
lllllll
I'm reading around here that Airbnb's contribution in this matter is limited
to providing the infrastructure to volunteer hosts for free, which is still
good. My question is: do they also provide insurance to these hosts? I mean if
one of the volunteer hosts suffers damages in her/his property of 10'000$
hosting refugees, will airbnb cover it? Genuinely curious, not judging here.
~~~
greggh
Right here:
[https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee](https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee)
The $1,000,000 Host Guarantee
------
rhapsodic
The tweet should have said, "Airbnb is helping people to provide free housing
to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US."
------
wyager
Are they planning to force people on the platform to host refugees (paid,
obviously)? I can see several practical problems with that; taking people from
their home to a place where they do not speak the language or know the local
culture and just dropping them off in standard residential housing can't end
well for anybody. This also can't help AirBnB's case when it comes to
NIMBYism.
~~~
nollbit
Why would it be more of a problem with refugees than other, paying guests?
Afaik, most US citizens staying at Japanese AirBnB's (for example) do not
speak Japanese nor know the local culture. Do you think that's a problem as
well? When I stayed at an AirBnB in Italy I knew nothing about the local
culture nor spoke the language, nobody thought that was an issue.
Or is this just, you know, racism?
~~~
ordinary
Tourists do not commonly suffer from PTSD and a host of other mental problems.
There are real, valid reasons why you don't just dump them in a random suburb
and let them fend for themselves.
Incidentally, insulting people is not conducive to healthy debate. Please
consider whether calling your opponent (or their actions) racist will increase
our ability to persuade them to change their position, or just make them
entrench their position (even against more persuasive arguments).
------
edoceo
Stunt or Stand? So much noise right now it's hard to tell. Hope Time
demonstrates this as a genuine move. BigCo with lots of PR weight can really
keep the story at the top (or push it over the top)
~~~
chandsie
I'm an employee, so for what it's worth, this isn't something out of the blue.
Airbnb has a disaster response program that gets activated all the time for
natural disasters and other tragedies - [https://www.airbnb.com/disaster-
response](https://www.airbnb.com/disaster-response)
We're choosing to activate it in response to the executive order because it
goes directly against our company mission to let people belong anywhere. I'm
sure PR was part of the decision but if it helps people, I'd take it at face
value.
~~~
cronjobber
Stunt, then, as AirBNB isn't providing any free housing. You're just going to
browbeat people who offered _" housing to displaced neighbors and relief
workers"_ to underwrite "your" provision of housing to people who are neither
neighbors nor relief workers.
~~~
petervandijck
Let's be clear: if you are taking a public stand against the president of the
United State who is known to be vindictive, you are taking a stand. ALL OF
THEM. It is never just a stunt, because a stunt means there's no risk.
~~~
bogomipz
>"It is never just a stunt, because a stunt means there's no risk."
I'm sorry I fail to see what risk has now been assumed by AirBnB by having a
cofounder send out a Tweet.
~~~
moonka
You say that as if nothing important happens on twitter, but as we have seen
recently, the president pays a lot of attention to twitter.
~~~
bogomipz
Its not a comment on the importance of Twitter. But rather composing a tweet
requires no considerable effort. Its the same as when people change their FB
profile pic and considerate it action.
An action that involved real effort would have been a twee that contained a
link to the AirBnB's program to help alleviate the problems faced by refugees.
The President of the US is an odd example because that runs counter to your
point I believe. Trump Tweets are the ultimate symbol of vacuousness, vanity
and impulse.
------
Neliquat
No they are not. Please correct the title.
~~~
exodust
Surely the tweet means that Airbnb are paying the fee that otherwise would be
paid by guests? We only have the tweet to go on, so what makes you think
otherwise?
~~~
icebraining
An employee on this thread linked to their Disasters Program, where this even
will appear, and which works like that.
~~~
sokoloff
No, it doesn't.
Airbnb waives the airbnb fees, but does not pay the host for accommodations
offered under the program. To me, that is not "Airbnb is providing free
housing".
~~~
icebraining
Sorry, I wasn't clear. By "like that", I meant not paying the host :)
------
coldtea
Translation: "AirBnB looks for cheap positive publicity".
------
known
Illegal immigrant? [http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/01/29/indian-american-
who-...](http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/01/29/indian-american-who-inspired-
swades-detained-questioned-about-i/)
------
icebraining
So to be clear, Airbnb is helping volunteering hosts to provide their houses
for free, right? If so, this tweet is misleading, from its wording I expected
Airbnb was compensating the hosts.
~~~
exodust
They should take it a step further and pay the hosts double to accommodate
refugees. After all, if any guests are the sort to hang around the house all
day instead of seeing the sights, it's refugees. They don't have sight-seeing
money, and they have more luggage than normal guests. They're kind of stressed
out too, due to being refugees.
------
camus2
Airbnb IS NOT providing free housing. Airbnb isn't paying for housing
refugees. Potential hosts can offer free housing, which just makes Airbnb like
Couchsurfing. So Airbnb isn't paying for anything here or even giving anything
for free.
People who really want to help can use CouchSurfing web site instead of
promoting a for profit business.
If Airbnb offered free housing it would mean they would actually pay the host
to house refugees, they are not.
~~~
exodust
How do you know this?
------
ssijak
Why have not you done that before for existing homeless people or other people
in need? This just smells like ugly marketing scheme.
I mean, it is good if someone in need is helped, but why now and why that
wording and scope to only refugees?
~~~
ivan_gammel
That's dumb argument, sorry. Disaster relief is temporary and help is provided
to people who suffer from external circumstances. Housing for homeless is a
daily job for the government and it is different, significantly bigger
problem, for which the solution is not affordable for any single private
organization or person. Private organizations have limited resources and they
have the right to choose whom to support first. Moreover, here the main
support comes not from Airbnb, but from the hosts who offer their houses for
free. Airbnb contribution here is to provide a web service for hosts and
people in the need and not to take money for that.
~~~
ssijak
Well, US gov (Clinton and Obama) created this refugees in the first place.
They are all coming from the areas that this administrations ruined in one way
or another.
~~~
devb
There's a small eight year gap in your list there.
~~~
ssijak
yeah I forgot him, just wanted to say that it is not new politics or just
Obama but many recent presidents
------
f137
Nice test.
I wonder how many of the people protesting the entry ban will offer their
flats for free to the refugees?
------
savvyraccoon
Airbnb's investors are happy :)
------
Dorothy1989
For unemployed people who have lost their homes and live on the streets or for
thousands of homeless poor Americans, AirBn(another Soros backed company) was
never so sensitive. But for refugees who can afford the 1000+ $ trip to the
States, Airbn is so humane. Please, my mind hurts.
------
return0
Unfortunately this will look like a PR move. Why can't ordinary people step in
to host the people affected for this short period?
~~~
petervandijck
Good idea too, but that's harder to organize (on a practical level and at
scale).
------
flashman
Airbnb should run a promotion for free nights at hosts who live within a mile
of a Trump property. He'd notice if someone was trying to take business off
him, even nominally.
~~~
forgetsusername
> _Airbnb should run a promotion for free nights at hosts who live within a
> mile of a Trump property._
How much longer do you think AirBnB's regulation flouting would last if they
went to war with the President?
~~~
kristianc
Given that the benefits of renting ones house out on Airbnb accrue almost
exclusively to coastal 'liberals' the regulation flouting is possibly not long
for this world anyway.
------
Tulip68
Excellent news on an otherwise pretty terrible day.
Brian Chesky and the entire Airbnb team are showing America at its very best:
forward-looking, innovative, diverse, multicultural and. The contrast with the
Trump-type people -- primarily angry, insular, bitter old people who are
terrified of brown people and still live within 10 minutes of their high
school -- could not be more striking.
~~~
lllllll
I dont think such generalizations will help much. You are displaying yourself
as angry, insular and bitter. Consider the option of trying to understand ppl
with different opinions, however disgusting Trump's speeches are - IMHO they
are.
------
akjainaj
If you do this please then release the % of users who've been told "you've
been chosen to host a Muslim refugee" and have accepted ;^}
It's easy to pretend you're hospitable and generous when you're not paying the
toll of your actions. You're not providing "free housing", the actual owners
of the houses are. This is a unilateral announcement because you don't know if
hosts will accept.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Court says aquitted man must tell police if he is going to have sex - chippy
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/jan/23/court-man-must-tell-police-if-he-is-going-to-have-sex
======
hiram112
Rape, along with paedophilia and drunken driving, has turned into the latest
refer madness.
Is it a problem? Yes, of course, just like child pornography, DUIs, etc. are
known societal taboos for good reason. But because absolutely no one can come
out and speak rationally about these subjects, lest they appear in support of
it, the authorities use it to push more and more unjust laws in the name of
'protecting the women and children', keeping us safe from terrorists, etc.
DUI has been used to eviscerate the Bill of Rights, specifically the 4th
Amendment. Fishing road-blocks are a common sight in almost all US states,
now. I'm no conspiriacy theorist, but I'm starting to wonder if the continued
lowering of BAC w/ regard to DUI and also anti-smoking laws are actually being
used to limit the plebs ability to congregate together and discuss issues.
Instead, we're all being led to isolation at home.
Highest commented article on Slashdot right now relates to Utah's law
requiring IT workers to report child porn, and child support laws are now
being used to effectively bring back indentured servitude and restrict freedom
of travel, almost exclusively for men.
On college campuses, the feds have forced institutions to enforce their own
version of SJW law when related to rape, where all common American (from
British) forms of jurisprudence have been tossed aside.
~~~
Mz
In the absence of a constructive means to actually empower women, you can
assume this trend will continue.
I am a woman. Every single time I try to talk about what women can do to take
control of their lives in a world that will never be entirely without risk, I
get attacked as "a rape apologist" and/or I get accused of "blaming the
victim."
As long as the world as a whole sees sex as a male prerogative and male
privilege and not something a good woman would actually want, we shall have no
constructive path forward. As long as women who get laid are automatically
viewed as servicing a man, being taken advantage of, etc. we shall have no
constructive path forward.
If women want equal rights and equal opportunities, they need to start taking
more responsibility for their own lives and stop playing the victim card, the
helpless damsel in distress and so on. They need to quit screeching about how
_men_ need to behave better. They need to figure out what is within their own
power to act upon and put their focus there.
~~~
apnonsat
I agree with you.
My take on this sort of activism is this: How Dare You. How dare you take away
my agency to make my own choices as a human being. So what if I am 'female'? I
make my own decisions. Who my lovers are (if I have any). Where I work (my own
choice). What schooling I pursue (my own choice).
I will NOT list my traumas or gender or race or disadvantages as some sort of
sick measuring stick of worthiness of my right to speech. I will only list my
species: Homo Sapiens.
If I come across people who are not like myself, my gender, my culture, etc, I
approach them with genuine curiosity and openness, and allow myself to be
approached. I ask questions. I answer questions. I DO NOT JUDGE. If someone
won't talk to me, I will ask someone else, and answer someone else. "No" IS a
complete sentence, for all people of all types. So is "YES". Don't infantilize
me.
Do not try to protect me 'For My Own Good'. Let me make mistakes, let me
learn, let me grow. Do not try to batter down holes in institutions to make
space for me. Let me earn them. Let me find my own way. You shove me where I
am 'needed' as a 'token' anything, and I will suffer the worst imposter
syndrome ever. I can't even cheat at card games. Why are you forcing me to
cheat at life?
If we apply 'For Your Own Good' Code of Conducts, we destroy open and honest
discourse between people and replace it with a sick sort of Kafkaesque
reality. This sort of 'Righteous Thinking' has given us Residential Schools
and Dukhubour child camps in Canada, Magdalene Laundries in the UK, The
Spanish Inquisition, The Salem Witch Trials, Zero Tolerance School
Administrations, the School to Prison Pipelines, and Minimum Sentencing
Policies in the USA, among so many other examples. The one thread in all these
things? 'Guilty if you are Suspected in the First Place' thinking, and the
invariable 'Punishment of the Innocent'. Collateral damage, anyone?
Michele, I admire you, your hard work, your contributions to the world, (and
they are many, large and small!) I also admire your candour, and the fact that
you have opinions that are not mine. I cannot live in an echo chamber. Show me
new thoughts, new views and new perspectives. I only ask the same of all other
people as well. ALL PEOPLE. If we're always safe, we're weak and untried for
the true tribulations of the world.
With Eternal Kindness, -Anna Vit
~~~
Mz
Thank you. I was mostly away from keyboard yesterday. I just saw this today.
Thank you for saying it.
------
chris_wot
I'm not sure I'm following: on what grounds can they apply this order? The man
was acquitted of rape... If he's not a rapist then how can they restrict him?
~~~
DanBC
Rape is a criminal charge and requires the jury to be persuaded beyond all
reasonable doubt that he did it. English juries tend not to convict people for
rape. These orders protect vulnerable people (usually children or people with
learning disability[1]) from harm. They're granted by magistrates, in court,
so in theory the police can't just impose them whenever they want. The fact
that the law has been in place over two years and this is the first case
that's made the news is somewhat reassuring, although we'd probably be better
off without laws like this.
Here's the old law, which has been updated:
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/2/crosshead...](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/2/crossheading/risk-
of-sexual-harm-orders)
And here's the press release for the tighter controls:
[https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-for-tighter-
re...](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-for-tighter-restrictions-
on-sex-offenders)
Here's the discussion document:
[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachm...](https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/251341/27__28_sexual_offences_and_VOO_fact_sheet.pdf)
~~~
EdwardDiego
> English juries tend not to convict people for rape.
[Citation needed]
~~~
DanBC
Rape convictions in England have dropped.
[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27726280](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27726280)
[http://www.channel4.com/news/rape-convictions-myths-why-
so-l...](http://www.channel4.com/news/rape-convictions-myths-why-so-low-
england)
Rape convictions in England are lower than the rest of Europe.
Rape is a very serious criminal offence in England.
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/1/crosshead...](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/1/crossheading/rape/section/1)
There's a potential life sentence for rape. The minimum recommended sentence
for rape (if the victim is over 16; if the offender doesn't ejaculate or make
the victim ejaculate; if infection or pregnancy is avoided; if it was a single
instance of rape; if there was no other violence) is 5 years.
[http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/s1_rape...](http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/s_to_u/sentencing_manual/s1_rape/)
[http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/...](http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/p_to_r/rape_and_sexual_offences/sentencing/)
We have little bits of research showing juries are reluctant to sentence
someone to 5 years if the victim was drunk, and if the victim and offender
knew each other.
From the above guidelines:
> Mitigating:
> Victim engaged in consensual sexual activity with the offender on the same
> occasion and immediately before the offence
The bits of research we have show that it's very hard to prosecute this type
of rape and that juries are reluctant to convict. Everybody agrees that sexual
activity happened, but they disagree about consent. Perhaps the victim and
offender were both drunk.
Asking jurors questions about the trial they were involved in is not legal in
England, so jury research is tricky. Some people have run fake trials, and
asked those fake jurors. Even in the fake trials they saw jurors didn't want
to convict some rapists if the victim and offender knew each other and there
was no other violence.
~~~
marcoperaza
It's because it's on the periphery of the Law's effective reach. It's very
hard to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, what happened between two people
behind closed doors. Especially when the only evidence is the allegation
itself. Rape kits have helped with this problem, but they often can only show
that some sexual interaction happened, not indicate whether it was consensual
or not. It's even harder to convict when the charges are brought years after
the alleged crime, as is often the case.
------
paulddraper
"The civil order was introduced in English and Welsh law last year and can be
handed down by magistrates at the request of police where it is believed that
a person who has not been convicted of a sexual crime nevertheless poses a
risk to someone else."
Why bother with pretense? Just throw acquitted guilty people in jail.
------
CompuHacker
"Any female." "Any phone."
Something's wrong with this.
~~~
bitwize
It's pretty much the same justification for the sex offender registry.
Everybody knows that all people who commit sex crimes are not fully human, but
vicious monsters incapable of feeling guilt or remorse [citation needed, but
don't expect one forthcoming] so for public safety purposes we must deny their
freedoms, keep them on a very tight leash, and effectively prevent them from
functioning normally in society again. SORs have stood up to Eighth Amendment
scrutiny because the courts understand them not as _punishments_ but as
_public safety measures_ like mandatory muzzles for pit bulls.
This is the same thing, except without that pesky conviction. Convictions for
rape are hard to acquire, so as a prophylactic measure we'll put him on the
leash anyway. You only need a conviction to _punish_ someone but this is a
_public safety measure_.
------
rocky1138
Court ordered boner kill.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google bans tethering app from Android Market - abennett
http://www.itworld.com/mobile-amp-wireless/65504/google-bans-tethering-app-android-market
A developer is reporting that Google has banned his tethering application from the Android Market, one of the first hints that the store may not be as open as Google has promised.
======
BenFeldman
Of course, you could just go download the APK from somewhere else.
I doubt many people (myself included) would have -any- issues with the App
Store's restrictions if, like the Android Market, it wasn't the exclusive and
only way for distributing applications, and you could distribute the binary
like you can distribute an EXE or DMG.
~~~
swapspace
Exactly. There's also slideme.org, an open alternative to android market.
------
catz
> The application lets users connect their G1 Android phones via Wi-Fi to
> their laptops and then access the Internet from the laptop using the phone's
> cellular connection.
This is stupid. So T-Mobile has a problem with using their paid-for service
more?
I access my internet from a phone - this is just stupid. Why would they have a
problem with something that gives them extra revenue?
Connecting your phone to your computer as a modem is a standard feature for
all other phones.
~~~
jonknee
> Why would they have a problem with something that gives them extra revenue?
Because the data plan isn't metered. Tethering will cost them capacity they
aren't billing to anyone. Sort of how like you can get in trouble for using a
residential cable modem in a business--consumers get a price break and power
users pay more.
> Connecting your phone to your computer as a modem is a standard feature for
> all other phones.
Not totally true, the iPhone is just now getting this in the upcoming 3.0
release for example. Many times tethering requires a more expensive data plan
with the carrier and that may turn out to be the case with both Android and
iPhone.
~~~
catz
> Because the data plan isn't metered.
Fair enough. In my country it is (I did not think that there was a country
that did not charge for its data).I use a SIM with pre-paid on it which is
nice (no contracts, nothing).
> Sort of how like you can get in trouble for using a residential cable modem
> in a business--consumers get a price break and power users pay more.
This is actually just a devious scheme to rip companies off.
> Not totally true, the iPhone is just now getting this in the upcoming 3.0
> release for example.
Maybe. I only personally know of one person with an iPhone (again, it is more
popular in the states). Most newish (e.g. last 4 years) phones (from Nokia or
Samsung) have 3G built-in (when compared to iPhone's EDGE).
Also, connecting to the Internet using these phones' modems is straight
forward and the majority of them accept micro-USB (through which it also
charges).
~~~
jonknee
> Fair enough. In my country it is (I did not think that there was a country
> that did not charge for its data).I use a SIM with pre-paid on it which is
> nice (no contracts, nothing).
In the US it's common to require unlimited data packages for smartphones. The
G1 and iPhone are examples of that. It's also common with BlackBerry. It's
uncommon to pay by the megabyte here, you either don't have internet access or
have unlimited (well, "unlimited") access.
~~~
seren6ipity
It may be uncommon but there are limited data plan options where you pay by
megabytes. (T-Mobile has a couple)
~~~
jonknee
But those options are not available on all phones. The G1 for example requires
T-Mobile's unlimited data plan which costs $24.99/month. (FWIW the iPhone is
the same way, but AT&t's plan is more expensive.)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What does Apple's entry into mobile payments mean for Visa/MC? - dy
Hey guys - just curious on what people think Apple's entry into the mobile payments space means for incumbents like Visa/MC (the networks), online payment portals like Paypal etc.<p>Does Apple have enough clout to change the landscape? Will Apple and Google dominate this space through a consortium?
======
ericmsimons
I see a few issues with this.
Problem 1 - A majority of the population doesn't own a smartphone.
Problem 2 - Assuming the that problem 1 doesn't matter, Apple doesn't have
enough "smart" devices to hold enough clout. Even Google + Apple's smart
devices wouldn't hold enough clout. You would have to get Nokia, RIM, WP7,
Android, and iPhone on board before vendors would want to invest in new
payment technologies.
What may happen is that an open standard will be set for all smart devices
which let us connect to our already existing Visa, MasterCard, or PayPal
accounts. It simply doesn't make sense to create an entirely new payment
system when there are already tons of them out there...but I could be very
very wrong. Apple is known for creating clutch products that everyone thought
was impossible :)
------
kylelibra
I'm sure the sentiment among these companies is similar to how traditional
mobile companies felt when Apple announced the iPhone. Something along the
lines of "this could be really bad for us if this thing catches on."
------
dy
Also curious what that means for terminal companies like Verifone and CMT.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Lieutenant Uhura Is Boarding NASA's Airplane Observatory Today - ohjeez
http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/a17340/lieutenant-uhura-is-boarding-nasas-telescope-plane-today/
======
informatimago
She was promoted commander in 2285! (And apocryphaly, even up to admiral in
the 24th century!)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What to do when your banks have negative interest rates? - quotz
The country where I live in has its own currency, and has introduced a negative interest rate policy. Negative interest rates mean that the banks charge you money in order to deposit your money at the bank. A friend of mine told me that if I would be able to create a solution for the problem the depositors are facing, he would invest in the idea, and pitch it to his network. Any ideas coming to mind?
======
PaulHoule
This is the central bank telling you that bank deposits are socially harmful
and you should do something else.
Too many people and institutions want to make a risk free investment, but
those risk free investments do not actually exist in the economy. Banks get
pressured to loan to Greece or subprime home owners or subprime car loans or
African dictators or whatever the bubble of the day is.
People will tell you they have "no alternative" (we're a pension fund, think
of the widows and orphans, etc...) but the money you put in the bank will not
be there in 20 years if the problem persists. It might be there formally, but
between inflation, deflation, defaults, immisseration of some people at the
expense of others, it will have degraded spending power or be offset by damage
done to the economy at large.
Spend the money now on consumption or spend the money on a productive
investment. Building a house may be a good idea, but buying an existing house
or buying land to hold it is being part of the problem not part of the
solution.
------
airbreather
Spend everything you earn on enjoyable activities and experiences,
hyperinflation may be next.
(somewhat sarcastic, but it is possible to make yourself miserable saving for
a future that never arrives, so in practice some balance should be applied)
------
nabla9
Keep as little money as possible in the demand deposit accounts. Use cash or
credit cards as much as possible.
Any extra you spend withing a year should be put into money market, or
government bonds. Choose the maturity correctly.
~~~
quotz
But how to make a business out of it?
------
spacedog11
Invest your money in real estate instead of keeping it in the bank.
~~~
quotz
Hmm I need to research more about the real estate market here
------
chewz
The solution is safe vault at home.
~~~
quotz
But how to make a business out of it? Make a giant super secure vault of some
kind?
~~~
chewz
No just keep selling personal vaults. Maybe add an open to open it or manage
your finances ;-) With bluetooth.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Linux is not attracting young developers - r11t
http://www.jfplayhouse.com/2010/04/why-linux-is-not-attracting-young.html
======
jrockway
The author (and his commenters) have clearly never worked on any open source
project. There is plenty of ego to be had for things like webcam drivers.
Plus, if you have that webcam, it goes from non-working to working, and you
can share that with everyone else in the world. Pretty fun.
Thinking about all the software I use regularly, I know pretty much all the
authors. Some of them I have even met in person, and they have gotten free
beer as a result.
I guess if you are outside the community, it doesn't seem very exciting, but
if you are in the community, it is exciting. Kind of the opposite of high
school cliques...
~~~
kingkilr
Can't agree with you more (except I can't buy people beer in the US...). Open
source is fun! I've made tons of friends through it, participate in a podcast,
and every conference I have awesome people to hang out with.
------
fleitz
Linux is not attracting young developers because most young developers don't
have problems that need solving in the kernel.
The amount of change an individual developer can effect on a project is
inversely proportional to the amount of code already written.
~~~
_delirium
The age of a project matters too, I think. If you got into Linux kernel
development in 1995, you had no experience, but not many other people did
either. If you start becoming active in 2010, you're 15 years behind, and
there's no possible way to catch up to someone like Alan Cox or Andrew Morton
in influence.
~~~
rbanffy
You know both will, someday, retire.
------
CoreDumpling
It sounds like the author is reacting to the flood of ooh-shiny iPhone app
kiddies that have captured a lot of media attention lately, but I don't think
these are the people who would have been attracted to Linux anyway. And I
don't think it's fair to lump all this together into an amorphous concept of
"Linux" when the problem is a bit more nuanced.
Linux, as a kernel and as a platform, has matured, but there's still plenty of
opportunity for new people to explore new territory. Some of it may be
extending the existing "boring" infrastructure, which the author seems to
blame for turning developers away, but nobody should feel restricted to
working on those things. There's still a lot of exciting application
development to be done, and as an added bonus, if the platform needs
improvements to support your application, you're encouraged to contribute
those as well.
Also, if you want a counterpoint, the Arch Linux developers page certainly
makes me feel old already: <http://www.archlinux.org/developers/>
~~~
vegai
>Also, if you want a counterpoint, the Arch Linux developers page certainly
makes me feel old already: <http://www.archlinux.org/developers/>
Thanks for making me feel young at 30.
~~~
btilly
The same list made me feel old at 40. :-(
------
corbet
As the person alleged to having made the initial remark: nobody at the
Collaboration Summit panel said that Linux is not attracting younger
developers. Every three-month cycle gets contributions from over 1000
developers, many of whom are new to the process. Attracting developers is not
the problem.
The thing I was concerned about was the ageing of the core group of subsystem
maintainers - who have been doing the same thing for a long time - and whether
there was room at the upper levels for up-and-coming hackers. A real concern
(though not a huge problem, yet), but a different one.
------
rbanffy
Is the iPhone to kernel developer comparison really sensible? It's two very,
very different skill-sets we are talking about.
------
manish
I think it is because the learning curve for a kernel is so steep that you
will have to spend a lot of time and energy learning the kernel before you can
do any significant development. It would have been more meaningful if the
author had compared linux attraction to that of any bsd clones. Comparing to
iphone is kind of misleading.
------
icefox
At least for KDE it feels like they are on the 3rd or 4th generation of
developers. I am not sure how many of the developers from 10 years ago are
still around.
~~~
wheels
Visible, and amusing example of this: last time I went to FOSDEM, a couple
years back, they tried to sell me a KDE t-shirt at the booth. (For those
outside of the community, icefox and I think both showed up on the KDE radar
about a decade ago.)
Though, with the graph that papachito it got me wondering what "active" means.
I've done 9 commits in the last year (whereas I used to do several hundred)
and suspect I thusly get counted as "active". It might be more interesting to
see things computed as something like people above one standard deviation
below the mean...
------
metamemetics
Writing drivers is a less appealing than writing small apps regardless of
platform.
------
sliverstorm
I've wanted to get involved sometimes, but I always hear only the best
developers get actual commits, and I know I am not an amazing programmer so I
haven't bothered :(
~~~
jrockway
Your conception is largely false. I can't think of any project I work on
regularly that won't give a commit bit to anyone who asks.
But keep in mind, for best success, the order of operations is "step 1. write
code. Step 2. ask for commit bit". Sometimes it works the other way, but not
as often.
~~~
sliverstorm
Of course. It's not that commit access is my goal, it's that I'd want my work
to stand a chance of being integrated into the kernel instead of rejected out
of hand, and I've never been sure just how much that happens w/ no-names. If
it's horrible code, then yes reject it, but besides esoteric drivers it's
always seemed like a bit of an old-boys-club to this outsider.
------
njharman
I'm surprised no one here has mentioned what I see as pretty obvious.
Startups are __perceived __as the quick way to fame and fortune.
There are not a lot of apparent Startup opportunities in the kernel space.
------
kunjaan
I don't checkout Linux source because I don't have the skills to ...ooo look
at that shiny app.
------
papachito
He's comparing KDE and Gnome core components (window management) and the linux
kernel with developing iPhone apps. That's a bad comparaison in my opinion.
Hacking on an operating system kernel or a window manager requires great
skills that most kids (and adult devs) do not have.
A fair comparison would be iPhone apps Vs KDE or Gnome apps. And here KDE and
Gnome get tons of new contributers each months, check how active is
<http://kde-apps.org> for example, or the Ubuntu developer activities. Tasks
that require less skills will always attract more developers or cooks or
whatever in all professions.
Here's a Graph of KDE contributers [http://dot.kde.org/2009/07/14/growth-
metrics-kde-contributor...](http://dot.kde.org/2009/07/14/growth-metrics-kde-
contributors) up to July 2009. As a KDE dev that follows the mailing list, I
can tell you the list of contributers is still groing well. Not to mention all
the people that build KDE apps without being official KDE devs.
~~~
blasdel
Bingo — to me the stereotypical KDE app developer is a 15-year-old boy from
somewhere in Europe.
~~~
jff
Well that would explain some things...
------
fuxx0r
Without reading the article i can say that the following reasons are not
attractive for young developers:
1\. They have to read tons of documentation and cant use a 2 lines tutorial
2\. They have to know byte compiled languages 3\. They have to know lot of
internal stuff to use linux the good way
The point is, everything which is hard to understand and cant be learned
within 8 hours sucks... thats the way most younger people think about
developement because they have no motivation at all to be a part of a long
growing environment.
Hate me now ;)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Learning C++ or Python - pydox
I am noob to programming. I don't know much about computer science, or say nothing. What should I learn C++ or Python, and why?
======
kotrunga
I guess it depends on what you want to do, and what your goals are.
\- Are you going into a school, and want to do CS, and both of those languages
are in the curriculum? \- Do you want to do game development for a specific
platform? \- etc...
If you want to learn about computer science, what it's all about, see if you
like it, I would say Python over C++. As others have mentioned, it's
definitely a more gentle introduction than C++ for a beginner. However, I
would definitely recommend trying to learn/build/do something that you're
interested in, especially if you're testing the "waters" of CS. Python is
pretty cool, because there's so much you can do with it. Anything from game
design to full stack dev- python can do it. Not that C++ can't do those things
either, but it will be a much simpler start using Python.
However... if you know you want to program for the rest of your career, and
you want to settle in for the long haul, then I would do as twobyfour
recommended. I would start with either Python, or C (not C++). C will help you
learn the underlying concepts of CS and how stuff works, so when you are using
different data types in Python, you actually know what the heck is going on.
In the end, it depends on what you want to do. Whatever you decide, stick to
it. Have a goal- like, I'll read through this Python book. Or, I'll make a
breakout clone. Or something like that- once you complete the goal, decide if
you want to pick another. It's all too easy to start and stop, not get
anything really completed, and have an incomplete understanding. Check this
out: [http://norvig.com/21-days.html](http://norvig.com/21-days.html)
And most of all, have fun. Don't do it if you'll be miserable. Programming
should be an adventure; especially when you're learning. (hint: you're always
learning)
------
twobyfour
Python in order to understand the core concepts of programming, because it's
easy to pick up.
C (not C++) to understand the underlying principles of how software runs - the
stuff a modern language like Python abstracts away (memory allocation,
pointers, strings as arrays, etc.) C is a much simpler language than C++ -
easier to master and with fewer distractions from the fundamentals that one
would choose such a language in order to learn.
C++ used to be a superset of C, but my understanding is that it no longer
strictly is. However, you'll likely find C++ easier to understand once you
have a solid grasp of the low-level programming principles C will teach you.
------
auxym
I think the important question here is, why do you want to learn? That will
have a great effect on the answer.
As others have said though, if you have never-ever programmed, python will be
a gentle an introduction as they come.
------
shortoncash
You can learn C++ if you want, but don't get frustrated if you don't
understand everything. Baby steps. You will be refining your knowledge for
years.
------
slap_shot
Python. The most important part of leaning to program is to start building
things. You can build your first thing in an afternoon with Python.
------
sasa_buklijas
Python [http://buklijas.info/blog/2017/02/01/automate-the-boring-
stu...](http://buklijas.info/blog/2017/02/01/automate-the-boring-stuff-with-
python-book-review/)
------
Davidbrcz
Definitively Python for a learning programming. C++ is a huge language, full
of traps and pitfalls. It is an expert friendly language.
------
IpV8
Python. Then you can make snake puns whenever you can't come up with good
variable names.
------
azimsai
Python
------
crash_bucket
C++ and Python are the two languages I am most experienced with because they
were both a part of my undergrad CS curriculum. Full disclosure, I actually
prefer programming in C++. I like compiled languages and strongly-typed
languages. But forget that I said that. For your first programming language, I
would hands-down recommend learning Python.
Python was the first programming language I learned and it was also the
language that was used to introduce me to a lot of key ideas in programming.
It is much easier to understand than most programming languages for an
inexperienced person. What's more is that Python is also widely used in a
variety of academic and industry applications and no one will scoff at a cool
Python project. I have used it in everything from building failure-tolerant
distributed file systems to working in natural language processing.
Bonus Unsolicited advice- Don't worry too much about which language you should
learn after Python for now. Once you have gotten your programming basics down
with Python, then I would revisit which languages and/or libraries are worth
pursuing next based on what areas of CS you're finding yourself interested in.
The skills and tools worth mastering are whichever ones allow you to work on
projects that you're excited about. If you happen to be more excited about
making money than anything else, then simply look up what languages are very
popular with companies that are hiring. Not my style, but if it's yours then
so be it.
Good Luck! Have fun!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Thinking Critically About Social Justice - ThomPete
http://quillette.com/2018/02/17/thinking-critically-social-justice/
======
stcredzero
_There’s something missing from the social justice narrative though,
demonstrated by the situation in Silicon Valley and those other fields I
mentioned: it doesn’t take into account the power and oppression it exerts
itself. In a society where social justice advocates are outside the dominant
power structure—as was the case when these ideas were originally
articulated—this doesn’t matter much, since their power is negligible. That’s
increasingly no longer the case, as social justice advocates have come to
exert major influence over central areas of society, and consequently have
also gained substantial power over society as a whole. Clearly, an accurate
model of societal power must include social justice ideology and its
advocates._
I grew up in a part of the country that voted Trump in 2016. When I was a
child, we had to drive almost 50 miles to visit friends who were also "brown
people" of vaguely the same ethnic group.
In what I've seen of Social Justice advocates both online, and in my various
run-ins with them in person, I've noted the eerie similarity between them and
the bigoted people who used to racially bash me and my sister when we were
children. There's a sort of "seeking" going on. There's far too much "witch-
hunting" and threatening conformity in it. There's a hatred, and a glee in
being superior. There's a similar clinging to image and a similar rejection of
logic.
I was once an ally of Social Justice, and would be still, but I've seen the
underlying morality of it play out both online and in my face and in person.
Unless Social Justice starts loudly calling out the injustice done in its
name, then my "lived experience" of it speaks loudly that today's Social
Justice is malevolent.
Please Listen and Believe.
(Another data point: This thoughtful and well considered Quillette link was
flagged and had to be unflagged. Ask yourself who is behaving in a censorious
fashion and trying to suppress real discourse. That side is generally not the
"good guys" as much as they might try to convince themselves otherwise.)
~~~
qbaqbaqba
>When I was a child, we had to drive almost 50 miles to visit friends who were
also "brown people" of vaguely the same ethnic group.
Excuse my ignorance (I'm European and don't know the American perspective) but
what is the context of this sentence? You had no friends with different skin
colour or heritage?
~~~
stcredzero
_You had no friends with different skin colour or heritage?_
Actually, I had a number of childhood friends and playmates who would fall
into the politically incorrect category of "white trash" \-- even though my
father was a physician and would supposedly have high status. Not being white
automatically reduced our status by a significant amount. My parents were
refused membership to the local country club for quite a long time. I also had
middle class friends who were of Finnish, Polish, and Irish heritage.
~~~
Mithaldu
Another european here: Everytime i've heard any american talk about country
clubs they were utterly awful places full of awful and ignorant people role-
playing what they believe to be high status life in a very boring manner.
Why did your family care about not getting in there?
~~~
stcredzero
_Everytime i 've heard any american talk about country clubs they were utterly
awful places full of awful and ignorant people role-playing what they believe
to be high status life in a very boring manner._
Thanks for trading in stereotypes and rendering judgements on that basis. My
sister and I went there to use the pool in the summertime, and though he went
for decades being the doctor who works so much, he never played golf, my
father very much got into golf in his 60's. He even eventually became awarded
as the most improved and developed a circle of good friends there. At one
point, he did some social justice activism and shamed his friends for saying
bigoted things, and at that point he was respected enough that they listened
to him.
I think a bit of golf was well deserved by my father, as an immigrant who
worked hard to accomplish the American Dream, and as a man who was once a
child who lived through both the horrors of war and the horrors of foreign
occupation.
As for why it's important to gain access to the places of high status: This is
something which is regarded as important across many Asian cultures. Just who
are you, precisely, to judge my culture? Also, stopping the exclusion of
people from clubs on the basis of ethnicity was a result of Social Justice in
decades past. Look up accounts of Jewish people being excluded from
"restricted" clubs. This is also the present pursuit of social justice:
gaining entrance for qualified people who were otherwise excluded on the basis
of irrelevant immutable characteristics. So long as there is _equality of
opportunity_ on the basis of merit, this is a worthy goal.
~~~
Mithaldu
> Thanks for trading in stereotypes and rendering judgements on that basis.
I can understand why you'd feel that way, but uh, next time keep that stuff
for when the person you're responding to isn't asking, but only making claims.
I gave you the views i had been given (and it's not like i can go personally
to verify) so you'd have something to contrast on while answering my question,
instead of having nothing.
And, thanks for the details. They are educational.
~~~
stcredzero
Whether the 1st sentence of your 1st paragraph and your 2nd paragraph are
sincere could only be judged by your further thoughts and communications based
on the "details" you just received. That is for you to know for yourself.
------
bem94
This is an excellent expression of the kinds of conversations I want to be
able to have with conservatives and liberals without being called one by the
other.
We need more nuanced discussions like this. I hope to have, hear and see more
of them.
Good luck HN.
~~~
gizmo686
Leave us liberals out of this. /s
This is one of those areas where liberal and leftist diverge. As the author
identifies, this aspect of social justice thinking is decidedly anti-liberal.
I actually think this is one of the bigger issues we are seeing with the
current debate. Historically, we have had a liberal/leftist coalition in our
culture. Now that this is starting to break apart, us liberals are having to
come to terms with our leftist allies not actually being liberals; while the
leftists are coming to terms with us liberals not actually being leftists.
Because of how inconceivable this divide is to many people, there is a lot of
strawmaning of positions. So if a leftist sees a liberal argue for the liberal
position in this debate, they see it as arguing against the leftist position;
and since leftist==liberal, they must be arguing for the right/conservative
posisition.
Since this issue is so politized, I don't think many liberals see the left as
arguing for a right/conservative posistion; but many do see them as arguing
for an authoritarian posistion, which has historically been associated with
the right. As a result, I think that many liberals are simply confused about
what is going on since, without the liberal/left distinction, all they see is
"their" side going "crazy"; when, in reality, there simply is not (and never
was) the common ground that both sides thought there was.
(Obviously, any reference to "historically" refers to the recent history. One
does not need to go back that far to find major examples of widely accepted
leftist-authoritarians, but those are more in the history books, then in the
public perception).
~~~
ytoi
I disagree. As a European "leftist", which I guess counts as the "far left"
people like to blame things on, I think almost all these issues being
discussed are right wing issues. To the point were you have to explain to
people in Europe, that have been reading US articles, that the things they are
opposing doesn't exist here. Overall European leftist doesn't want company
policies, affirmative action or even large immigration. They want powerful
unions, fair admissions to university, daycare, protection of employment and
other concrete things that the US consider socialism. This entire "social
justice" situation is because liberals in the US doesn't want to give up their
privileges of private social insurance, good schools districts, rising housing
markets, lobbying etc. So the result is the predictably a shallow shouting
match, which people are uncomfortable with after the fact.
~~~
closeparen
There are many people who identify as liberal while basking in their rising
home value and exclusive school districts, but they typically do so quietly,
not under the banner of liberalism. The closest example of people doing this
openly and proudly under a left-wing banner is San Francisco's Progressivism,
which is more closely aligned with what we're calling leftism here than what
we're calling liberalism. Overall, the various shades of the left are still
pretty aligned on concrete policy at the national level. Liberals are pretty
reliably in favor of single payer, education funding, minimum wage, family
leave, etc.
Where you start to see the fissure is around how universities should handle
controversial material in the classroom and accusations of sexual misconduct
in their student populations. The Christakis incident at Yale [0] is one of
the best test cases. In particular,
>...if you don’t like a costume someone is wearing, look away, or tell them
you are offended. Talk to each other. Free speech and the ability to tolerate
offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society.
is one of those flash-point statements that separates liberals from leftists.
This incident has been picked up as a rallying cry by the far-right so there's
a lot of FUD flying around, but just to prove I'm not the only Democrat who
would agree wholeheartedly, here's Obama [1]:
> I think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you
> disagree with, you should have an argument with ‘em. But you shouldn’t
> silence them by saying, "You can’t come because I'm too sensitive to hear
> what you have to say." That’s not the way we learn either.
I would call Obama and has allies "liberals" here, and the protesters and
their allies "leftists." Happy to be convinced otherwise on terminology, but
it shows that there are at least two very distinct value systems going on
here, which may be aligned on policy only by accident.
[0][https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-
per...](https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/the-peril-of-
writing-a-provocative-email-at-yale/484418/)
[1][https://www.vox.com/2015/9/14/9326965/obama-political-
correc...](https://www.vox.com/2015/9/14/9326965/obama-political-correctness)
~~~
ytoi
I just think it is inaccurate to call that leftism. There are certainly
leftist in the US and there are also similarities between socialism and social
liberalism, but the game being played in the US isn't a leftist one. It isn't
about state intervention, union power or even legislation. That private
individuals, institutions or companies should be able to do and say whatever
they want is even a right wing positions in the first place. Just that it
originally was about teaching about god, excluding gay people and firing union
organizers. So if anything, people that want precedence for their opinions are
right of liberal and not left. The left position is that important institution
shouldn't be private (or at least not privately funded) in the first place
and/or primarily be accountable to the state rather than individuals.
------
hprotagonist
_Including values in our power analysis makes it clear there can be no such
thing as simply removing power, because it takes power to remove power.
Consequently, power doesn’t disappear, it redirects. In order to remove what
they perceive as oppression—say by class, or race, or gender—social justice
advocates have to erect their own power structure. They reshape morality, the
culture, the language, and the legal system to make people do what they
otherwise wouldn’t. And the more they try to eliminate those other forms of
oppression, the more tightly they have to oppress people’s values. To increase
freedom on one dimension, one must remove it on another._
One of the central paradoxes of christian doctrine is the notion of "the power
of powerlessness", though the idea exists elsewhere (and the phrase is, i
think, Havel's).
It is not a coincidence, I think, that the people who put their bodies and
lives on the line for their commitment to social justice tend to know this and
try to live it. It demands an almost inhuman level of awareness and humility.
I am thinking of historical figures like Day and King and Ghandi here, as well
as people who span generations, like John Lewis.
Breaking the cycle of power-replaces-power is basically impossible to do,
totally, but it's a windmill worth tilting at and at a minimum, the existence
of the cycle needs to be kept in mind.
------
mattzito
This article lost a lot of credibility with me when in the early framing of
the issue, Harris writes:
> Following the release of the NLRB memo, a number of scientists on Twitter
> expressed alarm at the justifications provided within the memo, _which
> appeared to relegate the discussion of sex differences outside the realm of
> constitutionally protected speech._
(emphasis mine)
The NLRB letter says nothing of the kind. It says that the memo contained both
protected and unprotected speech, and that Damore was terminated for the
unprotected form. You have very few first amendment protections in the
workplace, and employees can be fired for saying almost anything. Sex
differences, in particular, have never been a protected class of speech in a
workplace, and to claim that this letter somehow changes the landscape of the
workplace is disingenuous at best.
~~~
gizmo686
From the memo:
>The Charging Party’s use of stereotypes based on purported biological
differences between women and men should not be treated differently than the
types of conduct the Board found unprotected in these cases. Statements about
immutable traits linked to sex—such as women’s heightened neuroticism and
men’s prevalence at the top of the IQ distribution—were discriminatory and
constituted sexual harassment, notwithstandingeffort to cloakcomments with
“scientific” references and analysis, and notwithstanding “not all women”
disclaimers. [0]
[0] [https://www.scribd.com/document/371689055/NLRB-Damore-v-
Goog...](https://www.scribd.com/document/371689055/NLRB-Damore-v-Google-
Advice-Memorandum-1-16-2018)
------
tomlock
The author seems to rest on "critical theory" and come to a stop. I feel like
the author is using critical theory as a ten dollar word because claiming it
is central to social justice topics is a gross oversimplification.
Additionally, references to it peaked in the 70s and have been declining
since.
~~~
stcredzero
_references to it peaked in the 70s and have been declining since._
But has it peaked as an ideological foundation of the ideologies of recent
campus activists? It doesn't seem that way to me.
~~~
tomlock
I can only speak as an ex-postgrad philosophy major and Australian left-wing
political activist, but I haven't heard anyone mention critical theory in an
activist context for years.
~~~
barrkel
Do you think that, say, "cultural appropriation", as a term owes anything to
critical theory?
~~~
tomlock
I think broadly, many movements on the left and right owe some of their
language, some of their terminology - to critical theory. For example, media
scepticism and the idea of education-as-propaganda were further developed by
critical theorists.
So do I think cultural appropriation as a term owes anything to critical
theory? Yes.
Do I think a broad swathe of terms used across the political spectrum owe
anything to critical theory? Yes.
Do I think a critique of critical theory necessarily undermines any of these
other terms? No.
------
arkades
This was a very thoughtful and well-reasoned criticism of a political stance I
generally sympathize with. Kudos.
------
oneshot908
I am torn between seeing the SJWs as the emerging tea party of the left and
minding my own business because I'm an old GenX fart who needs to get out of
the way of whatever the millennials are cooking up to remake society in their
own image. I do not agree with the firing of James Damore because I believe
Google acted as an enabler here by allowing the existence of a forum entitled
"Politically Correct Considered Harmful."
James Damore's plausibly deniable implication that he had a Ph.D. OTOH alone
should have been grounds for his termination. But again, IMO the Boomers made
a mess, GenX built on the mess, and now it's up to the Millennials to decide
what they're going to do with the place.
~~~
psyc
I’m also old, and my main objection to the present “SJW” movement is their
strong preference for a fight fire with fire approach, in contrast with the
fight fire with water approach encouraged by Ghandi and King. For example,
they have reinterpreted the “respectability politics” concept to mean they can
be as rude and mean-spirited as they please. In the civil rights movement,
that term meant something quite different.
~~~
oneshot908
Agreed, they're well-intentioned, but the minute they're OK with a few
innocent victims in their pursuit of the guilty, I'm no longer on board.
~~~
psyc
It’s so absurd to me. Like, I agree with them on every actual issue, but I
want nothing to do with their activism because they appear to be raging,
absolutist jerks to everyone including other liberals.
~~~
tomlock
I think we see it through a lens of what gets upvoted and shared, and the
actual irl people involved in these movements and the activism aren't the
caricatures we see online.
~~~
stcredzero
What happened to James Damore and the surrounding events read just like other
over the top SJW shenanigans.
~~~
tomlock
Sure, but the over the top SJW shenanigans are shared and upvoted somewhere,
amirite?
Or is this all based on SJWs you know in real life?
~~~
stcredzero
_Or is this all based on SJWs you know in real life?_
This is based on what I've seen online and what has happened to me,
personally.
~~~
tomlock
What happened to you?
~~~
stcredzero
I know what it means to be _targeted_. That's what happened to me.
------
Miner49er
A true believer in absolute freedom and the free market (a libertarian)
wouldn't be against James Domore's firing. It was the free market at work. The
article says that libertarians and other conservatives are becoming oppressed,
but the means of their oppression is something they support. They are being
oppressed by the free market and by other people's free speech.
~~~
ThomPete
It's not about absolute freedom or free market it's about free speech thats a
very different thing.
Your logic is opening up for the ability for anyone to discriminate other
people alone for their opinions, that's a box I don't think benefit anyone.
~~~
Miner49er
But libertarians and true believers of free speech support the right of people
to discriminate with their speech. For example, from the article, "Anyone
doing so would be met by a unified front of academics, journalists, and
cultural figures expressing their moral outrage, wrapped up in sophisticated
words and scientific-sounding terminology like xenophobia." A true Libertarian
would support their right to do and say this. One can disagree with it, but
it's them using their freedom of speech.
~~~
ThomPete
I don't know what you mean with "discriminate with their speech" what does
that mean? The point of free speech is to get the ideas out in the open so we
can debate them.
~~~
Miner49er
The article says that SJWs are labeling holder's of certain beliefs as "bad
people". I'm saying that is them using their free speech.
~~~
ThomPete
They aren't just labeling them, they are bullying them. Calling them alt-right
to NOT have to debate them. Using Hecklers Veto tactics. That's not using free
speech that's refusing to engage different views.
~~~
Miner49er
I'm saying isn't bullying and the Heckler's veto forms of free speech/the free
market? As long as the government isn't involved in it?
~~~
stcredzero
It's a free market of propagandistic image-mongering and name-calling. It's
not a free market of _ideas_ worthy of the name.
_As long as the government isn 't involved in it?_
No, free speech also requires people follow the spirit of the law, not just
the letter of it. What if the mafia went around a poor neighborhood and
intimidated everyone to vote for their candidate, or else, and they lied so
convincingly about being able to tell how everyone voted, basically everyone
followed their instructions? Would this be "free speech/the free market?"
~~~
Miner49er
Yeah that's a good point, although, that involves the threat of violence. What
the article says SJWs do is threaten moral condemnation "and when someone does
say something, they are met with a wave of sophisticated terminology backed by
academic credentials that they have no way of parsing." Those both aren't
violence, but I guess you can say the first one is bullying people into not
speaking. However, I believe the only examples that the author provided of
that was the firing of James Damore and the survey of Silicon Valley employees
that showed conservatives are afraid to be themselves and reports in the
survey that they are being purged from companies like Apple. I'd say that in a
free market you can hire and fire anyone you like at your business. So the
conservatives and libertarians that are supposedly being oppressed by SJWs are
being suppressed by a system they support.
~~~
stcredzero
_Yeah that 's a good point, although, that involves the threat of violence._
The threat of losing your job, or effectively being "un-personed" in your
career isn't so great. That's basically the level of coercion which Harvey
Weinstein stooped to.
_What the article says SJWs do is threaten moral condemnation_
It's moral condemnation in bad faith. If there were principles at stake, then
there would be room for discourse. This isn't that. It's coercion in the
interest of power.
_So the conservatives and libertarians that are supposedly being oppressed by
SJWs are being suppressed by a system they support._
By actors in bad faith. It's much like democracies that elect governments that
end up being totalitarian or theocratic. Short circuiting free speech itself
is fundamentally the ultimate form of bad faith in a democracy. That one side
thinks such a thing is in reach is a sign that they wish to shut down dissent
and act as authoritarians. It was true of the right in the 60's. It's true now
of the left in the 20-teens.
------
gizmo686
The NLRB memo: [https://www.scribd.com/document/371689055/NLRB-Damore-v-
Goog...](https://www.scribd.com/document/371689055/NLRB-Damore-v-Google-
Advice-Memorandum-1-16-2018)
------
zbyte64
> In those parts of society, values like equality, liberation, and
> cosmopolitanism aren’t just treated as values—organisations of society that
> different people prefer to different degrees—they’re considered moral.
So is equality a value you share or not?
~~~
stcredzero
Equality of opportunity is foundational. It's a good definition of fairness.
Equality of outcomes is insanity. The presumption that it is how things are
supposed to be has basically been used to justify anything, up to and
including rape and genocide. "Equality of outcomes" is basically Marxian
ideology dressed up as a virus to be injected into a democratic society. It
throws out meritocracy. Is it any wonder that many ideologies which espouse it
also seek to throw out logic itself?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPnUOcsjqgA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPnUOcsjqgA)
~~~
asteli
Do people actually argue in favor of equality of outcomes? Can't say I've ever
seen this done, but then again I haven't seen everything.
The fundamental issue that I see addressed in social justice is that
opportunity is deeply and currently inextricably affected by your
circumstances in life. Taking steps to address this, is, as you said,
foundational.
~~~
stcredzero
_Do people actually argue in favor of equality of outcomes?_
When people presume that a 50/50 gender distribution is the goal, and that
falling short of that is evidence of discrimination, then yes, they are
arguing for equality of outcome. Equality of opportunity would allow for skews
in various fields to work themselves out naturally.
~~~
asteli
But that isn't how equality works. A heavily skewed field, tech for example,
isn't going to self-correct. Even with the diversity efforts, tech remains
hostile to underrepresented populations.
Ask a woman in tech, or a black man in tech what their experience is. Often
there's an unstated assumption that they don't belong, or that they're at a
lower level. I'm south asian, and when I visit my work's offices on the east
coast, I get pegged as an electrical technician rather than an engineer. /And
I'm in the in-group generally/.
I'd also argue that 50% is a _much_ better goal for gender diversity in
engineering than the ~10% representation women have currently, especially
considering that the gender equilibrium point for engineering is currently
unknowable due to the massive systemic discrimination/opportunity problems.
~~~
arkades
I don’t agree with you, but I am upvoting you because you are contributing
meaningfully to the conversation with earnest discussion and a valid, if IMO
incorrect, viewpoint.
I am disheartened to see your post greying out.
~~~
gizmo686
Sometimes people do not downvote individual comments, but rather a sequence of
comments. More specifically, there might be behavior that is only apparent
when looking at multiple comments that justifies the downvoting, even if the
actual downvote happens to be applied to an individual comment.
In this case, in the span of two comments, the poster went from:
>Do people actually argue in favor of equality of outcomes? Can't say I've
ever seen this done, but then again I haven't seen everything.
to arguing in favor of equality of outcomes.
Individually, both of these posts are fine; but together are problematic.
~~~
stcredzero
_Individually, both of these posts are fine; but together are problematic._
So either this is a troll, or it's an example of someone so "ideologically
possessed" they think they're justified to lie in pursuit of their goals.
~~~
asteli
I'm disappointed that you've marked me as someone with an ulterior motive. If
I have a logical inconsistency, feel free to point that out without making
assumptions about my intentions.
~~~
stcredzero
Okay, sorry, I left out the possibility that you're just mistaken. So you're
mistaken. There, fixed it for people who actually read carefully.
~~~
sctb
We need you to dial back the thorniness, please. These tit-for-tats are
unfortunately activating for the (very few) participants and noise for
everyone else.
------
maxerickson
Could a better student of communist Russia go ahead and assure me that the
authoritarianism was not an accident of their power analysis?
Thanks.
------
pmoriarty
It's unfortunate that this article provides an analysis and critique of the
roots of left-leaning "social justice" but absolutely zero analysis or
critique of the roots of right-leaning conservatism or libertarianism.
The latter have a long history of their own victimization rhetoric, which they
use for political ends, and an adherence to many conspiracy theories. Neither
is even indirectly alluded to, much less analyzed or critiqued despite being
directly relevant to the views expressed in the article.
~~~
Slansitartop
> It's unfortunate that this article provides an analysis and critique of the
> roots of left-leaning "social justice" but absolutely zero analysis or
> critique of the roots of right-leaning conservatism or libertarianism.
Why would an article about social justice ideology do that? It would be
rightly viewed as a digression that should be edited out or turned into an
independent article.
~~~
pmoriarty
_" Why would an article about social justice ideology do that?"_
Because it provides context for the very conservative complaints the article
provides a platform for.
~~~
Slansitartop
But what you were asking for wasn't context, it was:
> analysis or critique of the roots of right-leaning conservatism or
> libertarianism
That's a full article in itself.
Basically, it seems you are unhappy about the article's topic and focus, and
wish an article about something else that's more tailored to your
predilections. I'm sure you can find want you want elsewhere, given the
current political climate and the fact that conservatism and libertarianism
are far older and have been widespread for far longer than the relatively
novel "social justice ideology" discussed here.
------
sklivvz1971
A mish-mash of good ideas, uninspiring references to Marxism and clearly
xenophobic traits--who according to the author can't be said because it's
discriminatory, ye ye ye.
I mean, he totally lost me when he started saying "immigration raises crime
rates" and other xenophobic propaganda, which is clearly, pardon my French,
bovine excrement that people should feel ashamed of.
~~~
lerno
Except for the fact that he was talking in context of Europe where this is -
unfortunately - verifiably true.
------
dgudkov
>Some of the most explicitly social justice-oriented societies ever to exist
were the communist regimes of the 20th century.
This is exactly my sentiment. SJWs are the new bolsheviks.
------
skookumchuck
The more forcefully and loudly people try to suppress certain ideas, the more
they are afraid those ideas might be right.
For example, nobody is trying to suppress astrology, because nobody is afraid
it might be true. The same goes for phrenology, ancient astronauts, flat
earthers, 9/11 conspiracies, etc.
~~~
asteli
What ideas are being suppressed because of fear that they could be correct? To
be US centric for a moment, I can see examples of attempted suppression of
ideas by conservatives - defunding climate change research and the refusal to
allow CDC research into gun control, for example.
I'm racking my brain trying to think of counterexamples of suppression from
the left. Suppression of white supremacist thought? Anti-gay sentiment? The
value of diversity? Who on the left is genuinely (if secretly) afraid that
whites are the master race, or that the gays are destroying family values?
~~~
skookumchuck
Nobody would actually admit they are afraid that the ideas may be correct.
Free speech kills bad ideas. The nazis, for example, have free speech in the
US. They get nowhere.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Garmin Acquired Firstbeat Analytics - sradman
https://www.firstbeat.com/en/news/firstbeat-technologies-renews-focus-on-corporate-wellness-and-sports-as-firstbeat-licensing-business-is-acquired-by-garmin/
======
sradman
Firstbeat Analytics provides algorithms to Garmin and other Smart/Fitness-
Watch makers. For example, they provide the algorithm that predicts Sleep
Cycles from Heart Rate Variability [1].
[1] (PDF)
[https://assets.firstbeat.com/firstbeat/uploads/2019/11/First...](https://assets.firstbeat.com/firstbeat/uploads/2019/11/Firstbeat-
Sleep-Solution_white-paper_short.pdf)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Evolution of the Transistor: Shockley, Bardeen and Brattain - rbanffy
http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2017/04/03/transistor-shockley-bardeen-brattain-modern-electronics/id=79427/#.WPFXhgK9L0c.linkedin
======
ajross
The article somewhat misrepresents the Lilienfeld transistor, IMHO. He was
awarded a patent for a device that would operate essentially like a MOSFET.
But he did not have a handle on the theory behind how such a device would work
(no one did yet), and critically he never actually managed to build one (as
far as anyone can tell).
FETs are very simple devices to explain, they're very complicated devices to
model from first principles, and even harder to manufacture. Simply drawing
some pictures of one and filing a patent doesn't really count for much in my
book. Though maybe that's not surprising given that the source is a rag called
"ipwatchdog"...
~~~
Nomentatus
If the idea is novel and not something an ordinary mechanic can come up with,
that's eminently patentable; Watt didn't have to build a working two-chamber
steam engine to get his patent, I don't believe. All the rest of what it takes
to actually build it is patentable too, if it isn't obvious. That opportunity
isn't lost.
~~~
ajross
I was quibbling more with the idea that the patent represents an "invention"
of the transistor than whether it was valid.
I mean, da Vinci drew something like a glider once. Did he invent air travel?
~~~
Nomentatus
He invented the glider, IF he was first (but this is unlikey, the paper
airplane may extend nearly as far back as paper, as toy hot air ballons do -
in China.) Nobody invented all transistors, nor all aircraft, but it's
reasonable to give the Wrights special attention.
------
itchyjunk
Do we have contenders to challenge integrated circuits? 3D transistor[0] or
graphine transistors[1]?
I just hope the next revolutionary step happens in my lifetime. Not
complaining about all the stuff already happening, just want more!
Edit: [3]
\------------------------
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multigate_device](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multigate_device)
[1] [https://phys.org/news/2016-05-graphene-based-transistor-
cloc...](https://phys.org/news/2016-05-graphene-based-transistor-clock-
processors.html)
[3] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_field-
effect_transistor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunnel_field-
effect_transistor)
~~~
deepnotderp
The problem is that everything useful has either showed or stopped scaling.
For example, at 10nm (7nm for TSMC) we're getting an ungodly number of logic
gates, but sram cell size scaling and Dennard scaling, two things we actually
care about have slowed. Similarly, the cost of data movement hasn't come down
much.
So 3d transistors and graphene transistors won't help all too much. And
besides, FinFET s are basically a form of 3d transistors.
~~~
smaddox
Logic cell density is still increasing approximately exponentially [1].
[1] [https://newsroom.intel.com/newsroom/wp-
content/uploads/sites...](https://newsroom.intel.com/newsroom/wp-
content/uploads/sites/11/2017/03/Kaizad-Mistry-2017-Manufacturing.pdf)
~~~
deepnotderp
Exactly! And that's what we _don 't_ care about.
~~~
smaddox
Okay, fine, logic and SRAM cell density are still shrinking (at Intel). Now
are you happy? Just read the report.
------
Lotus123
The book
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovators_(book)](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovators_\(book\))
is worth reading for all the drama and boudoir and history of the invention
------
aftbit
Is this bit nonsense or am I just sorely misinformed?
> [...] theory of superconductivity, an important technological aspect
> underpinning supercomputers.
What does superconductivity have to do with supercomputers?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Doctored video of sinister Mark Zuckerberg puts Facebook to the test - kawera
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/jun/11/deepfake-zuckerberg-instagram-facebook
======
hhmartin
It's an interesting concept, but anything that would be effective has to be
believable and appeal to a wide audience. I think people can tell this is
fake, so it doesn't really work.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bach's Holy Dread - tintinnabula
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/02/bachs-holy-dread
======
anjc
The depth of devotion evident in Bach's music would almost drive you towards
being more religious. It's powerful.
There's an _excellent_ site which I've looked at periodically for years which
goes through every prelude and fugue in the WTC and gives an interpretation of
them, along with religious interpretations where applicable for structures and
phrases and voices and so on. It also lets you play single bars and things.
It's very good:
[http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/tas3/wtc.html](http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/tas3/wtc.html)
Here's my favorite lament, the C#m fugue, which is relevant given the article:
[http://bach.nau.edu/clavier/nature/fugues/Fugue04.html](http://bach.nau.edu/clavier/nature/fugues/Fugue04.html)
~~~
cocochanel
Thank you for this amazing link!
~~~
anjc
You're welcome!
------
michaelsbradley
I've been attending a traditional Catholic parish for several years now, and
over the last year got involved (for the first time in my life) with my
church's choir. I've always loved music and could already read a bit of
Western notation (owing to piano lessons at a young age – thanks, mom!), but
really didn't (and don't) know that much about it, with respect to both theory
and performance. The journey to the "production" side of sacred music has been
an interesting one (still very much ongoing), and I feel quite enriched by
what I've learned and experienced over the last few months. I encourage
everyone to step out of their comfort zone and learn a bit more about music ~
it's rich history and the joy it can bring to so many. Listen to music from 3
centuries past, from 100 and 1,500 years ago!
At Midnight Mass 2016, just a few days ago, we offered Michael Haydn's
(1737–1806)[1] _Missa Sancti Gabrielis_ [2]. The younger Hadyn was a teenager
when Bach died, and his music was shaped in and shaping the period following
the _Baroque_ era (Bach's era), which we identify today as the _Classical_
period.
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Haydn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Haydn)
[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sEDzrkIM4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sEDzrkIM4)
~~~
fiatjaf
So, despite not knowing any music from the production side, you manage to
easily enter and sing on the choir? I wanted to do something, but my voice
seems very out of tune for that I despite various efforts I can't get it much
better.
Advise me, please.
~~~
jabv
A decent voice teacher can help with that. Not everyone can be Frank Sinatra,
but you can learn to sing well enough to join an amateur choir if you desire.
To find an inexpensive voice teacher, look up the information for a voice
professor at the nearest college, and ask for a referral to one of their
students (don't shy away from an undergraduate, and be clear you're a total
beginner).
------
graycat
I deeply, profoundly, bitterly hate and despise the mainstream media (MSM)
but: Here, with the OP, thank you HN, the Internet, and _The New Yorker_ ,
there is, infinitely welcome as a grand exception, something very worthwhile
-- candidate for one of the crown jewels of civilization!
Thank you Bach, BBC, PROMS, Kathryn Knight, Internet, Google, and YouTube: As
I type this, I'm listening to a good performance, at
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTm_KdxqPPk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTm_KdxqPPk)
Now how to get the rest of the MSM to clean up their act, up their game, and
start to catch up to even 10% of the OP!
~~~
telesilla
For the St. Matthews Passion, this is considered one of the great recordings -
directed by the great Philipp Herreweghe. Truly exquisite. I bought this on CD
a long time ago and had it on repeat for the entire first month.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78XgYWGXDjw&list=PLiJnN4bTWJ...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78XgYWGXDjw&list=PLiJnN4bTWJ116Nifmxsd_BoAZ-
mTpQvuT)
[https://smile.amazon.com/Bach-Matthaus-Passion-Bostridge-
Col...](https://smile.amazon.com/Bach-Matthaus-Passion-Bostridge-Collegium-
Herreweghe/dp/B00002R0ZL?ie=UTF8&redirect=true)
~~~
nicolast
FWIW, it's very interesting to take the various recordings (or recordings of
performances) Herreweghe did over the last 30 years, with various ensembles
(though many with Collegium Vocale of course), and compare the interpretations
(tempo, vocals, dynamics,...). Worth some time.
~~~
telesilla
Do you have a particular favourite?
------
tetraodonpuffer
when I read (excellent) music articles like this I just wish they came with a
sidebar with the music excerpts that are being discussed.
~~~
fiatjaf
Well, I think you're supposed to know the music beforehand. What would you do
if the article was a comment on some piece of literature?
~~~
Nullabillity
Then, presumably, it would quote the applicable segments. Or it would, at the
very least, contain a link to the whole article.
~~~
fiatjaf
Quote the entire book, you mean? A comment about a book may not be a comment
about specific segments, but to the entire thing.
------
Keyserlingk
Following through that link from anjc leads to this:
[http://bach.nau.edu](http://bach.nau.edu)
Interactive St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor there, plus the Goldberg
Variations and Well-Tempered Clavier
------
lochland
Another excellent book on this subject, which examines Bach's counterpoint and
its varied meanings to his contemporary society, including religious meanings,
is "Bach and the meanings of counterpoint" by David Yearsley. A terrific read
full of examples for those interested.
------
ilaksh
It almost seems as if some people believe that music hasn't really evolved in
the last century.
I have been binging 'Mozart in the Jungle' and remeber one part where they
were trying to tie into contemporary composition. They just stuck a loop of
some random keyboarding by 'the maestro' into a fairly simple extremely loud
EDM track that mainly expressed violence.
Such subtle evaluation of 18th century sounds with no serious effort to
integrate or bridge the gap with contemporary tools and audiences.
Its a pretentious, irrelevant, backwards-looking fantasy world.
------
Ericson2314
Ah, finally an art essay in the New Yorker on something that I'm knowledgeable
about.
------
gardano
Folks… despite the 'dreadful' link baiting in the title, this is a pretty
great article.
~~~
_petronius
Nothing linkbaity about it. "Dread" as in "fear of God" is a common theme in
western Christianity, especially around Bach's time (and still is in some
cases today, cf. the Rastafarian dreadlocks being a symbol of respect for the
power of God). And in this sense, "fear" is meant less as "scary haunted
house" kind of fear, and more as respect and obedience to the divine power.
Also of interest: the etymology of the word "dread"[0]; Fear-God Barebone, the
brother of the more famous Praise-God Barebone, for whom the "Barbone's
Parliament" during the English Commonwealth takes its name[1][2]; and the
theological theory behind the idea of the fear of God[3].
[0]:
[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&searc...](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=dread)
[1]: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise-
God_Barebone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praise-God_Barebone)
[2]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barebone's_Parliament](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barebone's_Parliament)
[3]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_of_God)
~~~
defen
Puritans had the best names. Praise-God's son was named "Nicholas If-Jesus-
Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-Hadst-Been-Damned Barebone"
~~~
_petronius
Ah, fantastic. Some cultures still do names like that: I once met a woman from
Zimbabwe whose name translated as "Merciful Lord", which I thought was pretty
cool.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Concern About Global Warming Among Americans Spikes, Report Says - QuickToBan
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/22/687487496/concern-about-global-warming-among-americans-spikes-report-says
======
throwaway5752
It is rapidly getting worse than expected, so that is a rational response:
[https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/04/new-climate-
models-p...](https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/04/new-climate-models-
predict-warming-surge)
It is interesting to look at the relative insanity of the last 5 years as a
kind of collective Kübler-Ross model progression.
------
pat2man
I think the Cape Town water crisis is a good example of how we are likely to
deal with global warming. Everyone knew it was an issue, and people didn't
want to act. But eventually catastrophic felt inevitable and people finally
did what was necessary to curb water consumption.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town_water_crisis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town_water_crisis)
~~~
temp1827
The current water crisis in Chennai feels even more severe, no?
~~~
rosser
I don't think the severity of the crisis necessarily is the most relevant
characteristic. We're in uncharted territory here. Any example of how to
weather something like what either city — or any of the dozens more to come —
has suffered can be instructive in how to deal better with the next one.
------
temp1827
It's stomach churning to think that temperatures was relatively stable even
into the 1980s, when millennials were born e.g. not that long ago!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
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