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How To Do Philosophy (2007) - HugoMelo
http://paulgraham.com/philosophy.html
======
jackson1372
(As a current Philosophy PhD Student...)
PG's essays are consistently great. Although in this case, I disagree with the
central thesis that the history of philosophy is merely a history of confused
talk. Certainly, a lot of philosophizing (especially OLD philosophy) commits
just this sin. But that's not to say that philosophy as a methodology is
inherently broken, that one has to be caught up in the muddle of confused
language. In fact, my own study of philosophy has taught me that philosophy,
at its best, clearly lays bear the ways in which language confuses us.
Philosophy, then, allows us to transcend the little confusions that pervade
our everyday language.
And what PG comes to saying, that philosophy should change people the way we
go about doing things, is essentially a reworded statement of the Pragmatist's
ideal. Peirce, James, and Dewey said the same thing a hundred years ago. PG is
right to stress this idea, but if his claim is that philosophy is not
sensitive to it, he's just wrong.
~~~
petegrif
I feel you fall into the very trap of which he speaks. Even a Philosophy
Ph.D.Student, wise in the way of the Ancients, and eager to speak plainly,
finds it impossible to not be 'caught up in the muddle of confused language.'
Your study has apparently taught you that philosophy 'lays bear' the ways
language confuses us. And that statement did indeed confuse me mightily.
Presumably it is a subtler articulation of underlying intent than the everyday
process of 'laying bare.' But perhaps I am wrong in this?
~~~
aptwebapps
That's the wordiest typo nitpick I've seen in a while.
~~~
petegrif
Precisely. LOL.
------
adrianhoward
I don't know if this is a UK/US thing - but the undergrad philosophy course pg
didn't seem to touch upon things that were happening in modern philosophy
judging by the essay.
I did a contextual course in cognitive philosophy as an undergrad back in the
late eighties (roughly equivalent to a minor in US universities) - so only
about two or three years after pg graduated.
Even in that - a minor in a narrow chunk of philosophy - we were exposed to
modern philosophers - people like Daniel Dennett
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Dennett>), Andy Clark
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Clark>) and many more. All of which were
looking at work coming from the sciences to ground their thinking - and indeed
suggest courses for further research (look at Dan Dennett's influence on
cognitive psychologists for example).
There's a _whole branch_ of Philosophy (Experimental Philosophy -
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_philosophy>) that's been going
since 2000 with antecedents long before that.
At the time pg wrote this essay experimental philosopher Joshua Knobe
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Knobe>) was being written about in the
NY Times ([http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09wwln-
idealab-t....](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/09/magazine/09wwln-
idealab-t.html?_r=0)).
(Freaky PS... in double checking roughly when pg was born to see when he would
have been doing his undergrad philosophy course - I see he was born in
Weymouth, Dorset, UK.... about half an hour from where I live now ;-)
------
gnosis
It's a grave injustice to the vast field of philosophy to judge it by one
undergraduate's impression of Plato, Aristotle, Bertrand Russell, and
Wittgenstein.
By his own admission, he didn't get much out of his experience. Should the
entire field of computer science be judged by one unenthusiastic
undergraduate's impressions of Java?
~~~
pjscott
That argument applies to more than just philosophy. And yet, if you accept
that not all religions can be true, and that most of the major ones have long
scholastic traditions, then there must be _at least_ one field of study which
is vast, majestic, and wrong.
So, what method would you propose for determining which academic fields are
worthwhile, in their current state?
(I think I just did some philosophy. Oops.)
~~~
gnosis
For a method for determining "which academic fields are worthwhile", perhaps
it might be wise to start by becoming well familiar with the fields in
question -- something that the author of the above essay did not seem to have
taken the trouble of doing.
And how much less familiar with philosophy are most of the readers of this
essay? I would venture to guess that they are not even philosophy majors, but
rather computer science majors or self-taught computer programmers. What a
shame it would be if they thought the essay's author knew what he was talking
about and dismissed all of philosophy out of hand.
All of philosophy might be "wrong", but if that's so, it's going to take a lot
more than a vague, ill-informed five page essay by a disaffected undergraduate
to convince me.
------
rogueleaderr
If you like this essay, check out <http://lesswrong.com/>
They seem focused on what PG is proposing.
~~~
pjscott
Particularly on-topic is a series of articles by Luke Muehlhauser about "how
to do philosophy when you take cognitive science seriously."
<http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Rationality_and_Philosophy>
------
martingoodson
Nice article but isn't this mostly a restatement of Wittgenstein's thoughts on
philosophy? pg gives the impression that Wittgenstein had an obvious idea that
only he bothered to put into writing. Like many great ideas, Wittgenstein's
later philosophy only seems kind of obvious after you encounter it. And its
probably not fair to suggest that Wittgenstein just shut down philosophy
instead of studying it as 'an example of reason gone wrong'. 'Studying
philosophy as an example of reason gone wrong' is basically a description of
Wittgenstein's later thought.
Similarly, its difficult to answer the question 'has (western) philosophy just
been a complete waste of time' because we don't know how much of our thinking
has absorbed wisdom that came from philosophy. I suppose you could compare our
society to another technologically-advanced and successful society which
hasn't been as exposed to it. Like China, as pg suggests. But they have that
whole totalitarian-state thing going on so perhaps they are not the best
exemplar.
------
dschiptsov
One of such useful general ideas is to know when to stop.
Pilling up meaningless words (or Java-classes, or CL macros) is not just waste
of time, it creates even more confusion and messes everything up.
When very few people trying to capture the essence of a phenomena, so to
speak) they end up with something really clever, like Plan9, or Scheme (or
Arc) vi, Emacs, etc.
So, there is a simple heuristic - as long as you saw piles upon piles of crap
(J2EE, NodeJS, Clojure, everything that comes from MS or SAP) - just avoid it.
"Perfection", as we know, is achieved not when it is nothing more to add, but
when it is nothing more to remove.) This means, for instance, that we need
less special forms (but moar small macros), less special characters (and using
them consistently - I could write a brochure, about why using ~ instead of ,
in Clojure's macroses is not just a stupid break of consistency and
familiarity, but also lack of taste - , "matches" with ` while ~ not.))
Most of the time, even a single glance at a text or source code is enough to
form a correct intuition.
------
pfortuny
If you think philosophy needs "fixing" it isbecause you see it as something
external, a problem shich is out of yourself.
The fact is philosophy is the reaction of each individual to his confrontation
with reality, language, morals and people: you cannot "fix" individuality.
And the "muddle" is as ols as Descartes... don't start me on this.
Tryng to "fix" philosophy with "science" makes me laugh: which one, maths?
physics? string theory? behavior sciences??? COME ON.
Just think by yourself and accept you may not understand other people's
thoughts before trying to 'fix' them.
------
kijin
I usually like PG's essays, but this one is nowhere near as good as his essays
usually are. His argument has more holes in it than aerogel.
> _Most philosophical debates are not merely afflicted by but driven by
> confusions over words. Do we have free will? Depends what you mean by
> "free." Do abstract ideas exist? Depends what you mean by "exist."_
Isn't that exactly why (analytic) philosophers make a great deal of effort to
clarify the sense in which they're using a word? Philosophy professors often
tell students not to quote dictionaries in their essays, because typical
definitions of English words are nearly useless when it comes to modern
philosophy. Yes, ancient philosophers got confused by words. But people do
learn from their predecessors' mistakes! Read any good paper from the last
century that deals with free will, and it won't take long before you come
across words like "P-free", "Q-free", "T-free", etc., each with its own
precise definition. Nobody cares whether we have "free will" in a fuzzy sense.
What actually matters is whether we have "ABC-free DEF-will", where "ABC-free"
and "DEF-will" each have very precise definitions.
Has America become a communist country? Depends on what you mean by
"communist". But this doesn't mean that there aren't any interesting questions
to be asked about shifts in America's ideological makeup.
> _Instead of trying to answer the question: What are the most general truths?
> let's try to answer the question: Of all the useful things we can say, which
> are the most general? The test of utility I propose is whether we cause
> people who read what we've written to do anything differently afterward._
I'm afraid a lot of people who are attracted to philosophy actually want very
much to tackle the first question, and find the second question rather
uninteresting. If you're someone who is deeply attracted to the P=NP problem
and similar topics, would you find it satisfactory to spend your life creating
the next Instagram instead?
Seriously, I want to know whether there exist any general truths. Using a
suitably precise definition of "exist", "general" and "truth", of course. I
don't give a damn whether those truths (if they exist) have any impact on
human life, although I don't deny that it would be neat if they did.
Given what's being proposed here, the title of the article should be "What to
do instead of philosophy", or at best "How to do this special kind of
philosophy", not "How to do philosophy (in general)". The same applies to the
lesswrong crowd. I don't have anything against what they're trying to achieve,
but let's call a spade a spade. Failure to do so only exacerbates the
confusion-of-words problem that PG rightly points out.
> _Knowing we have to give definite (if implicit) advice will keep us from
> straying beyond the resolution of the words we're using._
If the resolution of English words is not enough, why not try to increase the
resolution? Why give up already?
Steve Jobs gave us the Retina Display while everyone else was playing with
anti-aliasing. The pseudo-words I mentioned above are one way to do to human
languages what Steve Jobs did to mainstream computer displays. (Okay, I'm
oversimplifying. The history of high-res screens is much more complicated. But
anyway.)
Also, we already use words like "#fdfdfd" and "#fcfcfc" to increase the
resolution of words like "white".
Disclaimer: I have a Ph.D. in philosophy, so I'm probably biased.
Edit: Increased precision in some of the sentences.
~~~
mattmanser
I did Philosophy as a degree and pg's essay, which I read a while ago, was one
of crystallization, a total clarification of something that had been bugging
me for years.
I personally believe that Philosophy is the place where amateur thinkers
reside until a discipline matures and breaks off. Philosophy is thinking
without the effort of doing. First it was Physics, Law, Chemistry, Biology,
Medicine and we are now seeing Psychology and Sociology departing Philosophy,
taking morality and personal identity into the realms of actual science
instead of thought experiments. Soon Philosophy will be left with its history
and debating the meaning of words. CS and Maths have taken all the interesting
logic questions away from Philosophy for example.
I believe what pg advocates at the end has already happened, is always
happening to Philosophy. The general truths philosophy helped discover are the
sciences, it just that as we get to answering the general truth the
philosophers step aside for people who actually do.
Most previously interesting philosophical questions are now interesting
scientific questions. There's not much left for philosophers to actually talk
about.
~~~
kijin
I think you're right about mature disciplines breaking off from philosophy,
but I don't see morality and personal identity departing the realm of
philosophy any time soon.
Sociologists only tell us how human societies behave, not how they are
_supposed_ to behave. You might hold the opinion that we can somehow derive
the _ought_ from the _is_ , but if that's the view that you're trying to
advocate, then you're already doing metaethics -- a branch of philosophy.
Psychologists and neuroscientists might be able to tell us how children
acquire a sense of identity, or how patients identify themselves after massive
brain surgery. But I don't think their job description includes figuring out
what the essence of a person is, or whether there is such a thing as an
essence of a person in the first place.
As for law, it is unlikely that you will be able to settle the question, "Why
in hell should anyone obey the law?" or "If the law is unjust, should I still
obey it?" until you've settled some questions about morality. Just because a
law is (un)constitutional doesn't mean that it is (im)moral.
Guess what, you can even combine questions about morality with questions about
personal identity, and throw in some legal theory as well, to end up with some
really interesting philosophy [1].
[1] <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-ethics/>
~~~
thirdtruck
We have neurological evidence pointing to how our very sense of "self" exists
as a construction of the brain, associated with specific regions.
Drugs that induce "a sense of oneness with the universe" appear to just turn
off that "self illusion" part of the brain. Compare it to when I kill my
Gnome/KDE daemon and see the shell underneath.
In short, neuroscientists have already discovered "the essence of a person",
regardless of job description.
~~~
kijin
If identifying the brain region or drug that produces the sensation of
identity counts as discovering the essence of identity, does identifying the
brain region or drug that produces the illusion of being a cat count as
discovering the essence of feline nature? Would the illusion provide us with
accurate rules to distinguish felines from other animals?
This is exactly the kind of equivocation that contemporary philosophers
complain about nearly every time an arrogant scientist announces the end of
philosophy. Not because the scientist's answers are uncomfortable, but because
they don't even answer the same question. (Arrogant philosophers, in turn,
would say in Latin: _ignoratio elenchi_.)
Yes, we already know which binaries produce the KDE Plasma Desktop when
executed from the bash shell. We also know exactly which bits produce which
parts of the GUI. But what we really wanted to know were the conceptual,
historical, and perhaps even ethical significance of the design decisions and
system architecture that make KDE what it is. (If we replaced Qt with
something else, would it still be KDE?) You can't answer that question by
showing us a million lines of C++.
~~~
thirdtruck
_Would the illusion provide us with accurate rules to distinguish felines from
other animals?_
"Felines" as a group exist only as a cognitive shortcut. Looking at the
genetic and evolutionary data, we find a continuum where felines and other
families bleed together in a very fine gradient. We just happened to draw
boundaries in the interest of productive discussion. We will never find "the
essence of feline nature" because there is no such concrete thing as a
"feline" which would have such.
For a human example: at what point do we stop being conscious when falling
asleep?
~~~
memla
He didn't ask you whether there are accurate rules for distinguishing between
felines and other families, he specifically and precisely asked you if you can
_deduce_ those rules from the illusion! It's the same inference you were
trying to make about the nature of the self. Read more carefully.
~~~
thirdtruck
Short answer: no. Long answer: no, because we derive these distinctions from
the real world instead, changing them as necessary to better reflect new
knowledge. See "birds are dinosuars" and "the brontosaurus never existed".
------
swansong
Dilettante.
<http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3s458i/>
Just picking one of the many hilariously patronising statements in the essay,
the author says "we may be able to do better" than the great philosophers by,
in effect, making a big list of things that are true in general, and cause
people to act differently.
How do we measure truth? Who decides? What happens when the people who decide
become political? What if someone is wrong? What if an action that you thought
was true causes someone to do something morally wrong? What is morally wrong?
What if others want to talk about things that aren't on this list? Do you stop
them? Are they wasting their time if they ask other questions?
Maybe people in philosophy are looking at things now that will only make sense
to others in decades to come. That happens to be my opinion. It is worth
studying anything somebody gives their life to _very carefully_ before writing
it off as a "swamp of abstractions".
------
tylerneylon
Some commenters are defending modern philosophy, but I think there is
something legitimately wonky in the discipline. I can't figure out the best
way to describe it, but, to state it poorly, studying philosophy often feels
like filtering out a ton of BS.
I'm saying it's all BS (it's not) but that there's too much.
I don't think it has to be that way. Example ideas:
* Writing in philosophy could be improved (<http://tylerneylon.com/a/writing-about-philosophy/>)
* The attitude toward 'what is philosophy?' could be improved ([http://www.richardprice.io/post/35542139118/one-hypothesis-a...](http://www.richardprice.io/post/35542139118/one-hypothesis-about-the-role-of-philosophy))
------
goldfeld
There is one thing that I could do differently that's enormously significant:
freely undertake teleportation and mind uploading, given I live to be able to
do it; and it's in turn what's driving me just now into Philosophy (I'm
learning German even). Surprisingly for me, Graham nails that, but may not
quite explore the possibilities ensuing, when he talks about sectioning one's
brain in half, putting the other in a clone body, and trying to figure out
which person you are now.
My working line of reason is that consciousness is, as he puts it, merely an
abstract concept we get attached to and have the illusion of having. There is
no consciousness, only the awareness of a single moment--a point in time. What
we take for consciousness is nothing more than a succession of these single
moments, much as a computer's processor clocks at so many Gigahertz. With each
moment of awareness creating new memory and storing that memory back in the
brain, the subsequent moments are able to access it.
You coud think that the current moment of awareness is all that ever really
"exists", because for all the other previous ones you only have the memory,
you have no concrete evidence that it ever existed. There is no past
awareness, there is only a current awareness of what we have registered as the
past. With that decoupled thinking, you can start to realize that any given
moment of awareness that I have is as different (and as similar) from any
given moment you have as it is different from a moment I had 5 minutes ago, or
ever.
So who I "am" now is as entirely different from who I was just a second ago,
in essence, as it would be different from a clone that could be made of me.
There is nothing in my flesh ensuring I am a continuous consciousness. There
is only the memory. The reason I am closer to my 5-minute younger self than I
am to another human being is that the former and I share all the memory up to
5 minutes ago. We have a base commit to our memories in common. But a clone of
me, made now, would be exactly as close to my 5-minute younger self.
The bottom line is that I should not think that being teleported should kill
me, as that would imply that I'm dying after every moment of awareness,
birthing a new person who happens to share all my memories. Indeed I may well
be, and we have the illusion that we have a continuous life since we have all
these vivid memories of what just happened a second ago, even if it's not us
who lived through it.
And though I'm finding this train of thought increasingly alluring, I know
nothing of how philosophy ever brushed it, or it may well have tackled it head
on and I wouldn't know it.
~~~
GreyZephyr
I presume you are acquainted with Buddhist thought on this matter? One of the
central tenants of Buddhist philosophy is the idea that there is no such thing
as the self, but rather a linked series of experiences. The Chan and Zen
traditions make something of a big deal about this; the main goal of the
religious and esoteric practices associated with them is to come to the
realisation that you do not in some sense exist and are 'selfless' at this
point you are said to be enlightened. (As an aside one of the core rules for
Buddhist monastic communities is that you can't claim to be enlightened as if
you have achieved enlightenment there is no self to make the claim.) The
European philosophers came to the idea much later on, historically this would
seem to be a side effect of the notion of a soul, and in particular its
indivisible nature.
~~~
goldfeld
Buddhist philosophy did shape much of my thinking in the years I read and
meditated on the Vipassana variety. But I hadn't been aware that other
traditions took the notion of detachment as extremely--and down to it's
essence--as I'm now taking, thanks for pointing it out. I hear all of the hype
around Zen but the fetishism of Japanese culture keeps me at a distance;
though Chan sounds like a wonderful indulgement to go with my Mandarin
studies, I'll look into it.
------
knb
I was puzzled by the statement that he didn't learn much from the classes he
took in formal logic.
>(Consider "I don't know if I learned anything from them. " Footnote: 1 "In
practice formal logic is not much use,..." )
This guy has programmed massive amounts of LISP code, and written books about
LISP.
How can he say that his training in formal logic didn't take him anywhere?
------
powertower
I've always enjoyed reading this (by ― Mikhail Naimy, from - The Book of
Mirdad)...
"Logic is immaturity weaving its nets of gossamer wherewith it aims to catch
the behemoth of knowledge. Logic is a crutch for the cripple, but a burden for
the swift of foot and a greater burden still for the wise."
------
Tycho
My guide to doing philosophy: study philosophy (along with history and other
related subjects) until you're in your early twenties, then choose which
philosophy you think is right and live by it.
~~~
kijin
In fact, this is what most "professional" philosophers do. The theories they
prefer are more or less set in stone by the time they do their Master's (age
22-24). After that, it's mostly refinement and minor adjustments, and arguing
with everyone who disagrees. Of course, those minor adjustments make all the
the difference between a convincing theory and a ridiculous theory.
Some people are exceptions; that's when you hear them being referred to as
"the early Tycho", "the late Tycho", etc.
------
indubitably
Does he _ever_ get any less arrogant?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Introducing Hulu Plus: More wherever. More whenever. Than ever. - rufo
http://blog.hulu.com/2010/06/29/introducing-hulu-plus-more-wherever-more-whenever-than-ever/
======
bonkabonka
Not being able to ditch ads is quite disappointing. Especially for $10 a
month.
~~~
Aaronontheweb
That was the only thing I wanted out of Hulu Plus to be honest - I just want
an uninterrupted viewing experience. Up the damn thing to $30 a month and I'll
pay for it if I never have to see that 5 hour energy ad on Hulu again.
~~~
lukifer
The way Hulu seems to repeat ads seems a little absurd, especially given that
a web service can track identity and ad views in a way that broadcast cannot.
A couple impressions of a funny ad can have the desired effect, while 20 views
of the same ad can backfire and end up creating a negative impression of the
brand. Seems like it would be in the interest of both Hulu and advertisers to
make a better effort to mix it up, especially if they want to replace
traditional broadcast rather than merely supplement it.
------
mbreese
_has to work for all three of our customers, and those are our end users, our
advertisers, and our content suppliers_
I'm not sure how I feel about end users not being their primary customer... I
can't see the split in effort working well in the future (too much of a
difference between end users and content suppliers). However, it's nice to see
them being upfront about it.
------
powrtoch
My intuition about slogans is that I shouldn't have to read over them several
times to make sure I'm reading/parsing them correctly.
------
megaman821
I have been waiting for Hulu to gain a more Netflix like mentality to get
their service onto everything. Ten dollars a month isn't bad either especially
when stacked up to cable and satellite.
Hopefully in the future they will add more tiers of service like premium movie
channels and sports.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Americans Spend So Much on Health Care–In 12 Charts - jedwhite
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-americans-spend-so-much-on-health-carein-12-charts-1533047243
======
howard941
> Consumers, meanwhile, buoyed by insurance and tax breaks, have little idea
> how much they are really spending and little incentive to know underlying
> costs.
Almost weekly there's another post showing that consumers literally cannot
find out costs usually because the provider cannot supply it. It's time to put
a stake in the heart of the recurring blame-the-consumer trope.
~~~
JimboOmega
I don't read it as "blame the consumer" but "the system is opaque".
The consumer doesn't know _and_ can't find out. Articles have been written
for, I don't know, a decade or more decrying the opacity of the
"Chargemaster", etc, and how if you call a hospital to ask the charge for a
procedure, they probably can't give you a quote.
If you have certain kinds of insurance, you're not even incentivized to care -
you tolerate the opacity. But I don't think it's really blaming the consumer
so much as blaming a system way off the rails.
~~~
mfringel
The problem I have with the "blame the consumer" trope is that there's the
implicit "and if consumers had full pricing knowledge, The Market(tm) would
correct all of the other issues, and healthcare in the US would be fixed." I
assert this mostly through anecdotal evidence based on where these
conversations tend to go.
I also find it to be some of the most disingenuous handwaving I've seen in
recent memory. No one is going to comparison-shop when they have a ruptured
appendix. Worse, if they think they can just "tough out" the abdominal pain
because they can't afford the doctor visit _or the treatment that might result
from it_, they'll just die.
Just to head something off... if your answer to "What if people still can't
afford healthcare?" is "If you can't afford healthcare, then you're not
contributing enough to society to receive healthcare.", then I thank you for
your candor and your ideological consistency, and have you considered that you
might be a sociopath?
~~~
dsfyu404ed
>The problem I have with the "blame the consumer" trope is that there's the
implicit "and if consumers had full pricing knowledge, The Market(tm) would
correct all of the other issues, and healthcare in the US would be fixed." I
assert this mostly through anecdotal evidence based on where these
conversations tend to go.
If the consumer had full pricing knowledge beforehand then the market would
certainly correct some of the other issues, probably not all but certainly
some. Take a look at dental for example.
>I also find it to be some of the most disingenuous handwaving I've seen in
recent memory. No one is going to comparison-shop when they have a ruptured
appendix. Worse, if they think they can just "tough out" the abdominal pain
because they can't afford the doctor visit _or the treatment that might result
from it_, they'll just die.
Getting ripped of because you couldn't afford the time to shop around is par
for the course in many industries. Yes, some peoples' appendices will rupture
without warning but many more people will have conditions that give ample
warning and allow comparison shopping. I think this there is a very good
comparison to automotive repair in these scenarios (albeit higher dollar
amounts and consumers being more willing to have work done up front to avoid
more later).
> a system way off the rails.
I agree.
------
y-c-o-m-b
Healthcare costs are by far the #1 reason why I want to move out of the U.S.
as soon as possible.
I am well off, but due to recent experience I have a major anxiety about going
bankrupt from another unexpected health issue. I had emergency spine surgery
last year and despite coordinating everything I could to stay in network prior
to entering the hospital - surgeon was in network, hospital in network, etc...
- the monitoring group that was in the surgery room was NOT in network and
neither was the assisting physician. Their fees were so high, that insurance
refused to negotiate with them and so I was responsible for the charges
despite meeting my out of pocket maximum for out of network charges.
Basically out of network maximums are worthless! If it's set at 10k and the
bill comes back 100k, insurance can pay up to the 10k (if even that) and you
will be responsible for 90k afterwards. It's a mess. I did some reading on
this and it turns out to be a huge problem across the US, especially in states
like Texas where finding in-network providers and facilities is less likely.
I remember when I started working in the early 2000s at a gas station. I was
getting 100% paid medical benefits through Aetna and coverage was 90% through
the insurance. As time went on and I got better jobs (in IT), that turned into
a small monthly premium. Then the premiums just kept growing every year until
it became a significant chunk of my monthly take-home check. Starting a few
years ago, they've introduced reduced coverage all the way down to 70% as
premiums continue to climb and with huge deductibles and higher out of pocket
maximums. How long can they continue doing this before the whole system
collapses?
~~~
jcadam
> Healthcare costs are by far the #1 reason why I want to move out of the U.S.
> as soon as possible.
Hope you and your family are in perfect health if you plan to immigrate to a
country with socialized healthcare. Most such countries will reject families
with an autistic child, for example, based on the notion that said child will
be heavily dependent on govt/health services.
~~~
gremlinsinc
What is your source for this? I know people in Canada and France with autistic
kids who have never had any such issues.
~~~
improbable22
Did they move there with an already-diagnosed kid?
There was a professor in the news for leaving New Zealand (I think) recently
for exactly this reason. Because his kid was autistic (or something) the
authorities were highly reluctant to grant him residency & hence lifelong
care.
Edit: here's the story, 13-year-old stepson in fact:
[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/16/prestigious-
ac...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/16/prestigious-academic-to-
quit-new-zealand-after-autistic-son-refused-residency)
------
komali2
Do republican politicians, and others in charge of maintaining this healthcare
farce we have, have some sort of training in "convince the downtrodden to vote
for things that make their lives harder" or is it just something natural?
I say this as a Wisconsin emigrant that watched my home state shoot itself in
the face time and time and time again.
~~~
rayiner
Do democratic politicians have some sort of training in maintaining the farce
that more things should be handled by government, when governments in
Illinois, California, New York, etc.--democratic strongholds where Republicans
cannot be pointed to as the scapegoats--are on the verge of bankruptcy?
I don't think, deep down, republicans think the current system is better. They
just don't trust whatever replaces it won't be much worse. It's easy to say
"if we were just like <X European country> we could offer universal healthcare
and also save money!" But <X European country> probably has trains that are
vastly better than ours despite costing less to operate. They have schools
vastly better than ours that they spend less money on. Clearly there is more
to the equation.
~~~
intended
It doesnt matter. These are just the general American talking points.
Fortunately since this is a global forum, people can point out that the
situation in AMerica is farce.
The basic stats are just solid - every first world country does better.
You guys have the worst of all worlds, and because of America's prediliction
for everything market oriented, and the absurd partisanship - you have no
solutions, and are ok with people getting cured in the ER.
~~~
richmarr
Not to mention the fact that companies can write off insurance contributions
against tax, and individuals can recieve that benefit without paying income or
payroll tax on it. In effect that's a subsidy in favour of the middle classes
and 1% to the tune of "between $174 billion and $429 billion over a six-year
period".
[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/health/health-
insurance-t...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/07/health/health-insurance-
tax-deduction.html)
(Edited to include the missing point about income/payroll)
~~~
harryh
You say this like it's some special provision in the tax code, but it's not.
Companies pay taxes on profits, not revenue. And insurance contributions (like
many many other things) are an expense that reduces profits.
~~~
richmarr
Yep... thanks, wrote that too quickly, I'll update
~~~
harryh
Ah, I was wondering if you meant to mention that health care benefits are (in
most cases) not taxable and I see with your edit that you did. I agree with
you on that point. It's a big problem.
Interestingly, McCain proposed fixing this during the 2008 election and was
slammed for it by Obama.
------
burlesona
> The health-care industry overtook the retail sector as the nation’s largest
> employer in December, giving local economies and their workers a stake in
> the industry’s growth. Health jobs surpassed manufacturing jobs in 2008.
This seems to me the biggest source of the problem. As the saying goes it’s
hard to get someone to understand something when their salary depends on them
not understanding it.
These days healthcare jobs - technicians and clerks and so on - are the new
factory line work. Ie readily available good paying jobs that you can get (in
many cases) without a college degree. These personal care jobs are also hard
to replace with automation since the entire point is to deal with other
humans.
Thus most people agree “the system” is broken but any specific proposal made
to change it meets a big backlash of people who imagine - perhaps rightly so -
“that could cost my job!”
------
ElmntOfSurprise
The charts are not really " _Why_ Americans Spend Much on Health Care", just
"Americans Spend Much on Health Care (or More than Others and More than They
Used To, Anyway)". Believable causes that I have read being suggested are
"demographics", "lack of single payer health care", "unhealthy lifestyle",
"inefficient allocation of resources towards terminally ill patients",
"Americans pay for drug research that inhabitants of other countries get for
free", "expensive safeguards against malpractice lawsuits". Lobbying, taxation
and opacity to consumers seems like a poor explanation of why healthcare in
the US is so much more expensive than in other countries, and more expensive
than in the past.
------
tzs
I wish we didn't overpay compared to other first world countries, but although
that is very annoying it is probably sustainable. Furthermore, we have several
examples of other first world countries paying much less, using systems
ranging from full socialized medicine (the UK) to almost fully private systems
with some government regulation (Switzerland), so that fixing this is not a
matter of figuring out something that works. It is a matter of getting enough
people to agree on the same fix.
What worries me more is how the costs keep going up, and that's when measured
as a percentage of GDP, so you can't just hand wave it away as part of
everything going up over time due to inflation.
That's not sustainable.
Worse, the same thing is happening in other first world countries, with the
costs going up at similar rates as they are here, so unlike the overspending
problem this is not just a matter of getting the will to adopt one of the
known solutions.
There's a great interactive view of the data at the OECD health spending page:
[https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-
spending.htm](https://data.oecd.org/healthres/health-spending.htm)
Uncheck the "latest data available" box, and that will enable the year range
sliders. Set them to 1970-2017 and the graph will show the growth over time
for several countries. Mouse over the lines on the graph and it will give you
number.
------
esturk
Alternative link.
[https://t.co/qiNptlTJ9b?amp=1](https://t.co/qiNptlTJ9b?amp=1)
------
pettersolberg
They spend so much, because it's basically Health Business not Care.
~~~
WillPostForFood
I'd go with MoneyCaid. Health run care by big bureaucratic business deeply
intertwined with big bureaucratic government. So there's lots of money
flowing, but not as much care.
~~~
opportune
As someone who got a peak into some of the intimate details of a large Hospice
services provider, I have to agree. The fact that there are, no matter what
they call themselves, salesmen who wine and dine hospital and senior home
officials so that their employer can be made a part of their hospice pipeline
is sickening. What’s worse is when you discover how many “palliative” patients
will routinely temporarily leave care for surgeries, then cycle back on, for
years.
Not to mention that many of my relatives, and myself, have been egregiously
misbilled or convinced to purchase very expensive, extremely unnecessary
devices/treatment. I’m sure a lot of people in healthcare are good, but the
people calling the shots - including even some doctors - don’t give a shit
------
t1lthesky
Americans spend too much on nearly all government provided services. Anyone
who thinks that more government spending is the solution really doesn’t
understand the underlying issues at all.
When it costs 5x as much to build a new subway line in NYC compared to Paris
[1], spending 20% more on infrastructure isn’t going to do anything. Arguably
it will make things worse, allowing the existing inefficiencies to continue.
This problem occurs in all the areas where America lags behind other first
world countries. Education, healthcare, infrastructure - spending is equal or
greater than comparable nations, but the returns on each dollar spent is much
smaller.
People try to simplify this issue in a partisan manner to having bigger
government (Democrats) vs having more free markets (Republicans), but when you
look at each of these areas in greater depth you realize that it’s not that
simple. There are a multitude of causes unique to America that contributes to
costs being so high, as exemplified in this thread’s article. In the case of
health care, elsewhere in the world there exist both free market and
government provided solutions that deliver better outcomes than the American
system.
For a more in depth coverage on this topic, I highly recommend:
[http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/02/09/considerations-on-
cost-...](http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/02/09/considerations-on-cost-
disease/)
[1] [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-
subway-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-
construction-costs.html)
------
triangleman
Is there a printable view of this? Not that it's multiple pages but if you try
to print it, you lose all the charts after the first!
------
neonate
[http://archive.is/u9WHs](http://archive.is/u9WHs)
------
jpmonette
You can skip the paywall here (if you have a Facebook account, of course):
[http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/why...](http://facebook.com/l.php?u=https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-
americans-spend-so-much-on-health-carein-12-charts-1533047243)
~~~
esturk
You can avoid having a FB account if you just use the twitter link I posted.
------
gdaxthrowaway
I spend 0$ on healthcare in US. Government pays for everything. That's easy.
Hide your income and get a Medicaid.
------
alphabettsy
The common refrain that we will improve healthcare by keeping the government
away and relying on the free market ignores the fact that most people are
unable to shop for healthcare. Consolidation, price obscurity and immediate
need makes that impossible. Even if it were possible, will there be uniform
methods for describing the services and total price of services so that people
can shop around?
------
swarnie_
Please can someone explain the USA's lack of free healthcare to me? Every time
i see it suggested or attempted its immediately sabotaged by just about
everyone.
The NHS is one of the greatest things to come out the UK but you guys seem so
opposed to the notion.
~~~
koolba
The abridged version is that they were working on it but the head of Kaiser
convinced Nixon that private health insurance was a better option. Fast
forward a few decades and there is too much at stake for the companies
providing the care^insurance for a graceful change. Large companies also don't
give a hoot because they're able to offer corporate self-insured plans which
constitutes a competitive advantage against smaller employers.
My personal opinion is that the ACA was also complete garbage. Either go
single payer (or at least an option to _buy into_ a single payer) or don't go
at all. The half assed approach we've ended up with is the worst combination
as the individual is forced to purchase insurance in a market with perverse
incentives on all sides and no real competition.
~~~
improbable22
There are lots of other systems besides single-payer (like the NHS grandparent
mentions liking) or the US. It isn't some law of nature that anything "in-
between" is doomed to failure.
For example, read a bit about the Swiss system:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Court rules that barring high IQs for cops is not unconstitutional (2000) - tosh
https://abcnews.go.com/US/court-oks-barring-high-iqs-cops/story?id=95836
======
quicklime
> But New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27, on
> the theory that those who scored too high could get bored with police work
> and leave soon after undergoing costly training.
It's easy to think this is some weird quirk of police recruiting, but the
concept of "overqualified" candidates is common across many job roles. I've
heard plenty of hiring managers talk about candidates that they've rejected
because they thought they'd get bored quickly and move on.
It sucks for people who have had an impressive career trajectory (or in this
case high test scores) but want to shift gears a little to focus on other
things like family, hobbies, or just want to avoid burnout.
There's an implicit assumption on the part of these hiring managers that
everyone should be working at 100% of their capacity, and that flexibility
shouldn't be given to those who want a different balance in life.
~~~
deanCommie
Police work:
* Pays really well
* Requires you to solve many complex ambiguous challenges
* Requires careful nuanced interpretation of situation
* Requires a high EQ to deal with the entire spectrum of citizens, de-escalate situations, and resolve disputes
* Is civic service adding additional social-proof incentive
And we haven't even gotten to actual detective work and the complexity of
solving crimes.
On paper, all of this should be CATNIP for a wide variety of high-IQ/EQ
individuals to join, and raise the bar on the quality of the force. Yes, there
is obviously a danger/risk element, and physical requirements, both which
would lose some viable applicants. But by and large it SHOULD be a job that
attracts interest from highly intelligent members of our society.
It doesn't because of the system problems, because of the rotten nature of the
system to its core. Because of the meathead and the existing low-IQ population
dominating the forces.
It can be fixed, but it's probably a generational project.
~~~
chrisseaton
> Pays really well
How much do you think police are paid?
[https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/po-
be...](https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/po-
benefits.page)
> Starting salary: $42,500
That's in New York City. Ouch.
> may potentially earn over $100,000 per year
And that's what they're advertising as an aspirational possibility! Even a
first-year engineer will earn more than that.
You may be able to find some corner cases of some individual police officers
getting paid up to $500k. But that's just showing that the very top officers
earn about the same as a mid-level engineer at a tech company.
~~~
rayiner
New York City is an outlier in combining low pay and high cost of living.
Baltimore (Freddie Grey) officers start at $55k, in a city where a nice
townhouse costs $250,000. In Minneapolis starting salary for new officers is
$55-70k depending on qualifications. Chicago PD officers start at $72,000
after the probationary period. Generous benefits add $20k+ to that figure.
Note the median starting college graduate salary is about $50,000. Median mid-
career college graduate salary is $80,000.
~~~
lostlogin
> In Minneapolis starting salary for new officers is $55-70k depending on
> qualifications.
Wonder how their recruiting will be doing now? They will need to raise that a
lot to get reasonable candidates now.
------
jcrawfordor
The test involved is called the Wonderlic Personnel Test, and is a different
matter from IQ although the creator of the test claims comparability. A
Wonderlic score of 20 is intended to be equivalent to an IQ score of 100 (e.g.
the median), although it's questionable how well it aligns with IQ which is
tested using a pretty significantly different methodology - most
significantly, completion time is a major factor in the Wonderlic (it is
designed to be too long to complete within the short allotted time and the
number of questions the candidate completes is a major factor in scoring),
which is much less the case for IQ tests.
The use of the Wonderlic is actually surprisingly widespread if you haven't
been exposed to the world of industrial psychology. It's supposed to be a good
way to screen people for suitability for all kinds of jobs, and there is
research to show that people with higher Wonderlic scores are generally more
successful in their careers. I do not know of any research suggesting that
individuals with a "too high" Wonderlic score are more likely to turn over,
although there's certainly a strong cultural belief that this is the case.
The Wonderlic has been subject to quite a bit of criticism. First, it is
available in a set of multiple test forms and it is well-known that some of
the test forms are more difficult than others, so you cannot really compare
scores between test forms like you would expect. There are probably still
employers doing this even though the vendor now recommends against. Second,
several of the questions are specifically related to uncommon vocabulary, and
the questions further date back to the 1940s so a couple of them are somewhat
archaic. This creates a strong preference against non-native English speakers.
More generally, the Wonderlic is thought to emphasize literacy over numeracy
or other areas of intelligence.
Intelligence measurement is a complex topic as many ways have been tried to
measure intelligence and it's not always understood how they relate to each
other, as they do not necessarily correlate across people. The Wonderlic
correlates well with certain intelligence measures and poorly with others, as
is often the state of affairs.
~~~
arprocter
It's also used by the NFL during the draft
------
rayiner
"OKs" is such a terrible word to use for a court case. The court isn't ruling
on "what's okay" it's ruling on what is and is constitutional. Cheating on
your girlfriend is not OK. It's also not unconstitutional. Here, because high
intelligence people are not a protected class, courts apply something called
"rational basis scrutiny." Under this extremely lax standard, so long as the
government can articulate a plausible rational principle in support of a
policy, it passes Constitutional muster under the equal protection clause.
A better headline would be something like: "Court rules that the Constitution
does not require unelected judges to overturn the policy of a politically
accountable police department to not hire people with high IQs."
~~~
dang
Ok, I've attempted to encode that in the title above.
~~~
rayiner
Great one!
~~~
dang
I enjoy the dry de-baiting of a good double negative.
------
ALittleLight
Here's an online version of the Wonderlic test. There's a "start quiz" button
at the very bottom.
[https://beatthewonderlic.com/take-a-free-wonderlic-test-
onli...](https://beatthewonderlic.com/take-a-free-wonderlic-test-online/)
I was fairly surprised by it. I've tested well on standardized tests and IQ
tests my entire life, so I assumed I would also test well here. Especially
since I saw the test was also biased towards verbal understanding, which is my
strong suit.
Not so! My score was fairly low. The questions, individually, are trivial, but
I ran out of time fairly early on in the test. I think you'd have to be a
quick reader and good at mental calculations to score highly on this test.
~~~
Zanni
Ditto. I score 98+ percentile on SAT, GRE, etc., but only 50th percentile on
this. Ran out of time on question 34 of 50.
I didn't take advantage of scratch paper and pencil, which would have helped.
Or pay much attention to the timer. I'm sure I could get my score up, with
some work, but not _that_ much.
~~~
selimthegrim
Remember, those were recentered in 1995.
------
KarlKemp
I have a friend who is quite obviously way smarter than anyone else around. As
in: I don't usually explicitly notice how smart people are, but when I first
met him it was so plainly obvious to me like few things are.
Anyway: at some point this friend decided all he needed for happiness were
books and water, so he quit his law job and spent a year reading. Once that
got boring, he decided to hire on as a tram driver, which they were
desperately looking for at that time.
He was rejected for this very reason. They have apparently seen quite a few
people on this sort of career trajectory, and since the training is quite
extensive, it hurt them financially.
A year later, their need had grown even worse, or maybe my friend's dedication
made them change their mind. In any case, he was accepted and, after six
months of training, became a driver on his own local tram line.
Six months later, he got bored and quit.
~~~
mythrwy
That made me laugh so much. I've known people like that.
------
hristov
There is a more insidious reason why employers shun people with high IQs for
blue collar jobs. High IQ people may become natural leaders and can start
unions or organize workers against management in other ways. High IQ people
may find ways management is screwing up or quietly breaking some law or
regulation or lying to customers and may make a stink. So it is not only a
wholesome desire to keep geniuses from getting bored.
Although I shouldn't badmouth those high IQ exclusionary policies. They saved
me a lot of grief back when I was young and dumb. You see, once I actually
ended up in a Navy recruitment office. Luckily I was not too dumb and "failed"
the IQ test upwards.
~~~
rubber_duck
> High IQ people may become natural leaders and can start unions or organize
> workers against management in other ways.
Maybe you should take the dogma goggles off ? Public sector unions are pretty
common without the "genius leaders" and from what I see police unions are
often reported covering for the police officers caught in despicable
wrongdoing and obstructing disciplinary measures - they are pretty much the
worst example of a union you want to support, along with prison unions
lobbying for more incarceration and so on.
------
Simulacra
During my ARMY service, my Sargent told me there are two types of people:
hardworking and dumb, or smart and lazy. He said the ARMY wants its officers
to be smart and lazy so they'll get the job done in the least amount of
effort, but they want the grunts to be dumb and hard working so they won't
question.
~~~
BorisTheBrave
Sounds like a paraphrase of this classic adage:
> The German World War II general Erich von Manstein is said to have
> categorized his officers into four types. The first type, he said, is lazy
> and stupid. His advice was to leave them alone because they don’t do any
> harm. The second type is hard-working and clever. He said that they make
> great officers because they ensure everything runs smoothly. The third group
> is composed of hardworking idiots. Von Manstein claims that you must
> immediately get rid of these, as they force everyone around them to perform
> pointless tasks. The fourth category are officers who are lazy and clever.
> These, he says, should be your generals.
------
throwaway_pdp09
First and foremost, I have a very high regard for the british coppa.
Right. Onwards. I don't know how coppers think. I appreciate they are engines
of the law and officially can't pick and choose (though in fact they can and
do, when they can, quite wisely IME). But I could not do a job where I believe
arresting someone for something harmless like various drug-takings is causing
more harm than not arresting them.
A bad law causes damage by being bad. I could not enforce that. Ergo I could
not do that job.
I use drug taking as an example and of course it's not a simple situation, but
another one which is perhaps even simpler is - going back quite a few years -
institutionalised legal discrimination against gays.
This isn't about drugs or gays, but about enforcing bad laws against your own
conscience. I don't accept the view that it's the law so it must be enforced.
Until we get better laws this friction must exist. So how do brit cops deal
with it? Any here to illuminate?
~~~
danpalmer
This is an article about the US. The British police forces do not to my
knowledge discriminate based on a higher than average IQ.
------
ape4
He should have been smart enough to get some questions wrong
------
brianwawok
Is IQ even the right test to decide if someone would be good for a career in
law enforcement?
~~~
joejerryronnie
Probably high EQ, superb communication skills, and indicators for independent
thinking would be better.
~~~
barry-cotter
EQ is bullshit.
> Some historical and scientific issues related to research on emotional
> intelligence
> In the past decade, the concept of emotional intelligence (EI) has emerged
> as a potential new construct for explaining behavioral variance not
> accounted for by traditional measures of general academic intelligence or
> personality. EI researchers credit E. L. Thorndike as the first to propose
> such a construct when he suggested that social intelligence is independent
> of abstract or academic intelligence. The current paper traces the
> historical roots of social intelligence and the current scientific status of
> emotional intelligence. It appears that emotional intelligence, as a concept
> related to occupational success, exists outside the typical scientific
> domain. Much of the data necessary for demonstrating the unique association
> between EI and work‐related behavior appears to reside in proprietary
> databases, preventing rigorous tests of the measurement devices or of their
> unique predictive value. For those reasons, any claims for the value of EI
> in the work setting cannot be made under the scientific mantle.
[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/job.317](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/job.317)
~~~
dehrmann
>> Much of the data necessary for demonstrating the unique association between
EI and work‐related behavior appears to reside in proprietary databases
Most of your claim rests on that. That's not saying it's BS, it's saying it's
understudied.
------
supernova87a
The problem is not generally IQ. It's that police officers in the US are such
a poorly-trained bunch while simultaneously being equipped with deadly force
as a nearly default option. They do not get practice at what they would have
to do if they didn't have the weapon, or if their weapon were ineffective at
dealing with the problem.
Any new / uncertain situation is to be approached with the technique "pull
trigger until thing in front of you falls on ground". Which produces the
exactly the stupid result that you think it would. Combine it with the lack of
experience (and _fear_ ) of most officers in any really serious situation =
the first time ends up being their last.
If you look at police officers who are selected from soldiers who returned
from Iraq/Afghanistan, where they've seen some real shit, they don't default
to opening fire nearly so often as with suburban never-seen-anything officers.
Funny how people who've been to war are _less_ twitchy than someone who's only
sat in a car all day for the last year. [1,2,3]. Of course, there are opposing
observations / opinions also [4].
Even in other countries, when officers are trained to finally shoot someone
(and maybe never have to do it in the end), they do it in a targeted way,
stop, see what happened, and decide whether another shot is needed to control
the situation.
The problem is not IQ. It's practice.
[1]
[https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/Publicatio...](https://bja.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh186/files/Publications/IACPEmployingReturningVets.pdf)
[2] [https://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504718239/military-trained-
po...](https://www.npr.org/2016/12/08/504718239/military-trained-police-may-
be-slower-to-shoot-but-that-got-this-vet-fired)
[3] [https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/08/17/how-can-
pol...](https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2016/08/17/how-can-police-do-a-
better-job-of-recruiting-officers/military-vets-can-bring-much-needed-
sensitivity-training-to-police-departments)
[4]
[https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/asking-...](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/01/asking-
our-soldiers-to-do-police-work-why-it-can-lead-to-disaster/251380/)
------
andarleen
Shouldnt the UN condemn what is going on in the US? Police ramming protesters,
shooting people filming from their own property, and so on reminds a lot about
HK protests. Rohynga, Uyghurs, Black Americans, Native Americans are tortured
in these 3rd world countries and the UN does NOTHING.
------
mnm1
I always suspected police hiring in America targeted idiots, likely idiots
with a penchant for violence. Now we have undeniable proof. I wonder where
else such anti intellectualism is codified into law.
~~~
swimfar
"New London police interviewed only candidates who scored 20 to 27", and "The
average score nationally for police officers is 21 to 22, the equivalent of an
IQ of 104, or just a little above average."
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How to Usability Test your Start-up for Free - crxnamja
http://okdork.com/2008/09/16/how-to-usability-test-your-site-for-free/
======
timcederman
Hah, I always love the reaction of people doing user testing for the first
time. It's universally (as per the article) "I never really did this before
and was AMAZED how people use the site vs. what I expected"
Some problems with the article.
1\. Craigslist is fine but it will bias the users. If you ask people to do it
for free, you're getting one subset of users (who are actually usually pretty
decent). If you pay people, you open it up to a much wider, more motivated
pool -- but you get "professional" test subjects.
2\. Going to a random public place and asking people to try it is good for a
shotgun approach, but if you're trying to get coverage for your target
audience (particular if there is a certain demographic you need for
monetization) this is a no-go.
As to the rest of the article's content... well, I don't want to rain on the
guy's new-found usability evangalism, but this is pretty basic, heavily skewed
stuff. It seems like he's passing on what his 'mentor' has told him completely
uncritically. Particularly the Nielsen stuff. Ugh.
For people who do want to do free user testing for their site, I highly
recommend ethnio.com. This allows you to target your existing site users and
works great.
------
crxnamja
tim, totally good call. its insane to watch people. i remember at facebook
people would click a certain link to do something and i yelled at them. why
are you not doing this? i dont understand!!!
1\. know what you mean about sample set. its hard to get exactly the right
person but close enough is good for me. 2\. for the public places, i have seen
a few people on sports sites and go up to them. (we built a new sports site)
i've seen ethnio.com, good call. in terms of being an evangelist, im not at
all. the real issue is that most startups NEVER do this, i wanted to document
what i've done and if people want to use/benefit then good. if not, sucks for
them.
~~~
timcederman
I definitely appreciate the effort you've gone to. Unfortunately user testing
without careful evaluation can wind up hindering or hurting a product. If you
look at a site like 37signals (hah, had to make sure I got the capitalization
correct - [http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1088-how-not-to-apply-
for...](http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1088-how-not-to-apply-for-a-job)),
they do a great job without it, and manage to upset the great Donald Norman
while they're at it (<http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/why_is_37signals_so_1.html>).
I do agree that startups should be doing more. You have done a good job of
giving some steps to get started, so kudos.
~~~
maxklein
37signals sucks. Like really badly. But we're just so used to being blind that
we follow the guy with one eye everywhere.
------
fdb
On Mac there's a nice new application called Silverback that can record the
screen + the image and audio from the webcam.
<http://silverbackapp.com/>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
10-year Treasury yield plunges below 0.5% - shreyshrey
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/09/10-year-treasury-yield-plunges.html
======
mdorazio
It’s getting increasingly difficult to say we’re not entering a recession.
Pretty much every leading indicator is flashing red now. I’m expecting Q1
earnings reports and forecasts in a month to be the nail in the coffin.
~~~
war1025
Doesn't seem like something that should catch anyone by surprise.
That said, it seems like this recession could have a significantly different
flavor to it than the others in recent memory.
As they say: All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in
its own way.
(Credited to Tolstoy where I looked it up just now.)
~~~
H8crilA
This has got to be the best telegraphed recession of all times. I cannot
believe that anyone having skin in the economic game didn't know that it is
likely coming. Come on, don't be ridiculous.
~~~
war1025
I really don't understand what it is you're replying about since the first
line of my comment was:
> Doesn't seem like something that should catch anyone by surprise.
------
awillen
Things are definitely looking bad, but given how optimistic the market has
seemed over the past months even with lots of bad news coming out, I wouldn't
be surprised if there's a pretty sharp recovery once Covid-19 is contained.
~~~
dforrestwilson
When and how do you see it being contained?
~~~
badrabbit
Doesn't matter if it is contained. If people accept it as normal (i.e.: full
global spread) that's enough. There are bigger pandemics people have adopted
to (AIDS,flu,etc...) a vaccine would help too.
The market fears are not a result of being afraid people will die. It's mostly
around consumer spending,containment/quarantine efforts and supply chain
stability.
This by itself is a very recoverable crisis, you don't need bailouts and
mergers like in 2008. Nothing has collapsed (yet), which means everyone is
trying to "buy low" as soon as any sign of long term recovery is seen. The
only big fear is how politicians might throw gas into the fire for certain
political ends.
~~~
blaser-waffle
Not sure why this is being downvoted. This is generally correct:
> The market fears are not a result of being afraid people will die. It's
> mostly around consumer spending,containment/quarantine efforts and supply
> chain stability.
It's a nasty virus, but this isn't the Spanish Flu devastating the post-WW1
landscape. It is absolutely going to screw up productions schedules and
messing with the supply chain. Turns out if millions of people have to miss
work the economy suffers, go figure.
~~~
badrabbit
Probably because of the last bit about politics, that was just me expressing a
paranoia but to many their politics is like a religion to them and they assume
I meant their side in my comment (I just meant politicians in general,plenty
act in bad faith)
------
gvhst
This isn't only because of COVID-19. The OPEC+ union between Russia and Saudi
Arabia broke down yesterday. The Saudi's are now flooding the market with
crude and are likely going to increase production to record levels. Crude is
down 30% as of 3/9 1AM EST. This uncertainty (plus people moving out of energy
bonds into treasuries) is also driving the flight to safety.
------
fragsworth
There are three solutions:
1) Government makes more treasuries, sells them to the fed, and spends the
money on infrastructure. That increases government debt, but improves our
deflation situation and shrinks the loan bubble a bit. Preventing a
deleveraging.
2) Government literally prints money, and gives it to people. That will
rapidly increase inflation, which will increase corporate profits, shrinking
the loan bubble a bit, preventing a deleveraging.
3) Don't do 1 or 2 because it basically redistributes wealth. Wait for rich
people to spend their massive wealth on CPI-style goods and services, causing
poor people to eventually have and spend more money. This takes aeons.
As far as I can tell, the powers that be have decided that #3 is the solution,
and absolutely refuse to have a stable monetary system that involves giving
anything to poor people.
~~~
JMTQp8lwXL
In the economically prosperous portions of our nation, inflation is doing just
fine. Housing prices have performed phenomenally in the past decade. The
overall CPI understates inflation because there's a great number of areas that
aren't economically relevant in the U.S. and consequently haven't experienced
the accompanying inflation.
------
ddavis
Jeez, this really isn't the best time to start the process of getting my first
job post grad school.
~~~
H8crilA
This too shall pass.
Also a recession is a cleansing thing (Austrian school). A lot of unproductive
people will be fired and a lot of stupid projects will be shut down, creating
space for new ventures. You should take risks exactly during the time of a
recession, not during the time of market & general confidence all time highs.
Same with young age - take risks when you're young and your downside is small.
But it ain't going to be easy.
(contingent on the recession actually materializing).
~~~
__s
For a novel that romanticizes this idea that recessions are the time to take
risks, see _The Driver_ by Garet Garrett
~~~
H8crilA
Ahh, the times of bimetallism. Bimetallism was the Bitcoin of the times,
railroads were the "tech" of the times. Robert Shiller has a very entertaining
comparative research between Bitcoin and bimetallism in his book Narrative
Economics: [https://youtu.be/QV0JrMV5nnc](https://youtu.be/QV0JrMV5nnc)
------
lgleason
Every year the flu kills 640,000 people world wide. Right now we are at 3648
from coronavirus. Also there is a lot of evidence to suggest that the actual
number of infections is much larger than the reported numbers. This means that
the actual death rate is much lower than what is reported.
All of this smells like a massive over-reaction to the coronavirus.
There has been a correction to world markets going on for a while with the US
being a possible exception. What actually shakes out it tough to say. Sadly,
the markets are controlled just as much by sentiment as by actual hard data
so...
~~~
cjbprime
> Every year the flu kills 640,000 people world wide. Right now we are at 3648
> from coronavirus.
Great. How many people will die if coronavirus infections spread as widely as
flu infections?
~~~
JMTQp8lwXL
The lack of a reputable statistic is concerning. I found the number 480,000
deaths (only U.S., not a global figure) circulating on sites including Daily
Mail, Business Insider, /r/China_Flu, and abc14news.com, a domain registered
in late 2018 and may or may not have any relation to ABC News the company.
~~~
jml7c5
Answer: it does not. Pretty skeevy, since they're clearly hoping people will
confuse it with a local ABC broadcaster.
[https://abc14news.com/about-us/](https://abc14news.com/about-us/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Memorado Hackweek: 4 apps for refugees in 4 days - igor_filippov
https://medium.com/@Memorado/day-3-4-memorado-hackweek15-41474f5af452
======
igor_filippov
Day 1: [https://goo.gl/x0xlKU](https://goo.gl/x0xlKU) Day 2:
[https://goo.gl/2Hz1gY](https://goo.gl/2Hz1gY)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Googler’s Critique of Google Performance Reviews - smalter
http://blog.idonethis.com/google-performance-reviews/
======
Smudge
The issue I have with ranking/review systems is that, more often than not,
they become self-fulfilling prophecies.
A negative mark will change the way a manager perceives an employee. The
employee's positive contributions will suddenly be subject to greater
scrutiny, and slip-ups will serve only to reinforce the manager's confirmation
bias. Similarly, an employee's confidence and sense of self-worth can be
shattered by a negative review. It's suddenly very easy to feel like no matter
how hard you work you won't be valued by your managers and peers. All of this
leads to a negative spiral of career-choking doom. I've seen it happen to
friends and coworkers, and it's very sad to watch.
If you're going to evaluate your employees based on their relative
performance, it's critical that they have the freedom to change their
situation, without repercussion. Allow them to change teams or roles freely,
until they find a role that really amplifies their individual strengths.
(After all, you hired them for some reason, right?) I've seen companies make
the mistake preventing an employee from changing teams until they demonstrate
they can improve their performance. _Of course_ they can improve their
performance, but only if you let them move to a better role!
Instead of treating poor-performing employees like cogs that simply need to
spin faster, I wish more companies recognized how varied and diverse their
employees are, and how a productive workforce needs to be cultivated and
maintained, not bought and hired.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Machine Level Java (2014) - smee0815
http://www.jembryos.org/inline.html
======
th3iedkid
due to some reason this page redirects to another site : From google cache :
[http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qwRe934...](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:qwRe934uDdEJ:www.jembryos.org/inline.html)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Belgian mindreader scares people through NSA(-like) knowledge - pjan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7pYHN9iC9I
"Nothing to hide" or "None of your business".
======
pjan
Or what every pro-PRISM person should be shown & aware of: even if you have
"nothing to hide", it can be used against you...
------
schiffern
It's a nice touch that the hackers are wearing ski-masks and frantically
typing beneath a flickering light. Cute.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
With a single wiretap order, US authorities listened in on 3.3M phone calls - petethomas
http://www.zdnet.com/article/one-federal-wiretap-order-recorded-millions-phone-calls/
======
jMyles
"...supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
As technologists, one of the most important innovations we can work on for the
civility of the information age is a framework for the proper application of
that clause and others like it.
When data is digital, how do we develop an understanding of this sort of
particularization such the right to be free from capricious intrusion is
preserved?
~~~
CamperBob2
Ultimately, as long as our judges insist on rubber-stamping legal atrocities
like this, no technological solution will be possible.
------
oblib
"The order was signed to help authorities track 26 individuals"
"The federal wiretap resulted in the interception of 3,292,385 cell phone
conversations or messages over 60 days"
3,292,385 / 26 / 60 = 2110.5 calls/messages per person per day.
That wasn't really explained in the article but I'd be interested in knowing
how that could happen.
~~~
luhn
It wasn't 26 people being surveilled, it was many people (hundreds or
thousands) being surveilled in an attempt to track the 26 individuals.
~~~
mjevans
It sounds like they stingrayed or otherwise captured an entire node (on some
system / a few systems covering a specific area) and then attempted to sieve
out what they were actually looking for... instead of actually going after a
surgically targeted filter.
Even in the Jason Borne movies they didn't slurp up this much data!
~~~
oogali
The directors and script writers weren't nearly imaginative enough (or clued
in?) to dream up the surveillance infrastructure the US has been deploying and
iterating on for decades.
------
pcunite
Around the year 2000 or so I was on a contract to help a small phone company
improve their internet infrastructure. I was shocked to learn how easy any
technician could listen in on a call.
Imagine a world in which everything is IoT.
~~~
empath75
Yeah i worked at a voip company around 2003 or so and we captured and saved
every call for two weeks for troubleshooting purposes.
And we had a contract at at least one embassy.
------
rurban
702 is still in order, so they unconstitutionally and illegally still do a
fulltake of everything electronic without any minimalization or filtering.
TB's per day. This article is just a small distraction from the real problem.
Trump should have stopped 702 by long already.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Episerver to Acquire Optimizely - freddier
https://news.crunchbase.com/news/episerver-to-acquire-optimizely/
======
mtmail
170 comments yesterday in
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24365479](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24365479)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: how do I save a HN story? - dewiz
Hi,<p>I found this fantastic thing in my profile that is "saved stories" (http://news.ycombinator.com/saved?id=yourNick) and I hoped that that was the list of all upvoted stories... but it is not.<p>I have no idea how I "saved" some stories and I could really use a list of upvoted stories as a sort of local bookmark. I often find cool articles which I need to go back weeks/months later, but they're almost impossible to find.<p>Any help appreciated, thanks!
======
Mz
You aren't the only person having problems:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3885839>
~~~
dewiz
Thank you mz. Looking at the other thread I wondered if perhaps all the
stories I upvoted were killed, but that's highly improbable. Either it's a bug
or I don't have enough karma to use this feature ?
~~~
myyra
Same thing happening here. I have only 23 saved storied, latest is 28 days ago
and I sure have clicked alot more stories, also thinking I have saved them for
further reading. Also would like to know if its a bug or karma thing.
[edit: 28 days ago]
------
SuperChihuahua
I think there's a difference between a story you want to save and a story you
voted for.
------
benologist
Any story you upvote goes on that list.
~~~
dewiz
I upvoted dozens of stories, however the list only shows 10 stories which are
also very old, none of recent voted stories appear on this page.
~~~
benologist
<http://news.ycombinator.com/saved?id=dewiz>
That _should_ have all the stories you voted on + a more link at the bottom to
browse older ones.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Lyft is rolling out a new 30-day ride subscription for $299 - LrnByTeach
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/lyft-is-rolling-out-a-new-30-day-ride-subscription-for-299.html
======
samstave
What i would like to see from Lyft:
Round-trip-single-click: "Pick me up from X take me to Y, then take me back to
X when I click again"
Commute Subscription: Similar to this 30-day for $300 deal - but specific to
my commute path; "Pick me up from hom and take me to BART/Work & Back at the
end of the day" \-- but if I take other rides in the middle of the day, dont
deduct from that commute-path ride-set.
Easylist of common places I go for single-click rides from "pick me up and
take me home"
"Emergency I am stuck pick me up" ride stored. Say I have lost my
phone/wallet/stranded-some-how allow me to have an emergency ride stored for a
pickup and drop-off to my house/parents/police if needed. Allow me to make the
request outside of the app.
Round up my purchases of things to the nearest dollar, placing that money into
a Lyft Ride Account. Allow me to donate these rides/assign them to child
accounts as desired.
Let me run analytics on my ride data - or get analytic reports of my choosin
about my rides.
Work vs Personal address list of places.
Ride-billing or Ride-providing to employees
Several others come to mind, but this is a simple list...
~~~
LrnByTeach
These are all very good points. I am sure Lyft & Uber must be working on these
features.
In the year 2000, everybody has their own server at the web hosting provider
and everybody spent hours installing software patches every week on their own
servers. The situation with hosting servers in the year 2000 is "equivalent"
to "everybody owning a car in 2018" where everybody spending time in oil
changes, repairs, searching for parking lots etc.
Personal transportation that equivalent to "cloud servers in 2018" will come
in year 2022 with $400/month subscription for 1000 miles
------
LrnByTeach
Instead of paying $450 for those 30 rides, Lyft charges $299. Any extra rides
bill separately at a 5 percent discount.
Here is what I envision:
By 2022 Electric on-demand fleet car 1000 miles/month subscription will be
$400/month from Google, Uber, Lyft
By 2025, Self-driving Electric fleet car same 1000 miles/month subscription
$250/month (sharing rides with other passengers)
At this point in 2025, car manufactures Toyota, Renault, Volkswagon etc. are
forced to run their own fleet in order to stay in business. At this point,
Google will supply Self-driving OS software to all on-demand ride-hailing
fleets and pull out of the business of running fleets.
~~~
tedmiston
My understanding from the Lyft blog post [1] is that you get 30 rides _up to_
the cost of $450 (up to $15 per ride only) for $299.
> With an All-Access Plan, you get 30 rides (up to $15 each) when you pay one
> price of $299 every 30 days.
So if you take 30x $6 rides (~the minimum for a normal ride for short
distances where I live) = $180, you lose money (-$119) on the subscription
assuming my understanding is accurate.
It would be more appealing if there were rollover and the credit were not
capped to a particular # of rides. It seems weird that major concerns like
this didn't get addressed in advance in the post / press.
[1]: [https://blog.lyft.com/posts/subscribe-and-save-with-the-
all-...](https://blog.lyft.com/posts/subscribe-and-save-with-the-all-access-
plan)
~~~
LrnByTeach
30x $6 rides = $180 that is one way, you need to come back home that is
another 30 rides.
what I posted was $400/month subscription for 1000 miles per month. You can
use 1000 miles/month in as many rides as you like. 1000 miles /month is the
USA car owner average driving.
------
drgoodvibe
Chauffeur as a service in the near future with autonomous fleets.
Through an app request a Tesla to come pick you up, take you where you need to
go, then drop you off and serve someone else after. Once you're ready to head
back use your app and request a Tesla or your Tesla to come pick you up again.
Pay as you go or monthly subscription like ZipCar.
You could potentially own the car, and let it be a revenue source picking up
others while you're not using and Tesla manages the fleet and infrastructure.
Or you might not own the vehicle at all and it's a Taxi.
~~~
LrnByTeach
'Chauffeur as a service' will work ONLY for the next five years till the time
self-driving cars adoption starts.
When the government agrees to license Level 5 autonomous cars, it will come up
with so many restrictions and regulations only a big business can afford to
satisfy those regulations. For individual owners to satisfy all those
regulatory requirements, the cost of the car becomes prohibitively expensive.
So the above mentioned solution is the long-term solution.
By 2025, Self-driving Electric fleet car same 1000 miles/month subscription
$250/month (sharing rides with other passengers)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: WishBin – Superpowered wishlists for Amazon - williamle8300
http://www.wishbin.co/_hello
======
Meltdown
This isn't something I'd use myself -- but I just wanted to say 'great job'
with the onboarding, I immediately got the use-case after looking at the
'How's it work' instructions.
I wish more sites would do that.
Regards Melt
~~~
williamle8300
Thanks for the feedback Melt! Really appreciate the positive criticism.
Just as a note if you want to follow the dicussion, the HN moderators asked me
to repost at:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9198724](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9198724)
Thanks again.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Yahoo Had a Party - jackgavigan
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/yahoo-had-a-party
======
bko
There was a great article in the NYT talking about the troubles at Yahoo. On
Mayer's tenure:
> She paid about $3 billion for acquisitions of companies you’ve mostly never
> heard of, like Aviate, Polyvore and Distill (and one company you may have
> heard of, Tumblr). She spent $9.4 billion on stock buybacks; over the last
> two years, when the stock was trading higher, the buybacks have been a $2.5
> billion money-losing trade. About $365 million of compensation went to Ms.
> Mayer herself, assuming she stays for an additional year and a half. And
> $109 million to an executive she hired to be her chief operating officer,
> who was then summarily fired 15 months later. An estimated $450 million on
> free food for the staff. And, depending on whom you believe, double-digit
> millions of dollars on parties and events, including a “Great Gatsby”-themed
> holiday party several weeks ago that was held with no apparent irony.
[0]
[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/dealbook/diagnosi...](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/15/business/dealbook/diagnosing-
yahoos-ills-ugly-math-in-mayers-reign.html)
~~~
usefulcat
Just to give those numbers some context, the stock market currently values
Yahoo's core business at around $1.7B:
[http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yahoo-is-
lo...](http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-12-02/yahoo-is-looking-for-
a-new-way-around-alibaba-taxes)
------
calbear81
It appears the author doesn't really know enough about the neighborhoods to
call the Dogpatch "no-man's land". Tales of being potentially stranded at Pier
70 are nonsense. There's a thriving food/bar/climbing scene a block away on
3rd not to mention the Muni T-rail runs down 3rd all the way into Downtown and
22nd St. Caltrain Station is a few blocks west of the pier.
~~~
Apocryphon
Dogwatch is like a newly-gentrified expensive hotspot. I question the author's
knowledge of SF, as well.
~~~
vidoc
to be honest, if the guy lives in russian hill, the dogpatch with its handful
of wannabee hipster places _is_ a no man's land.
and the T line -> haha
------
jazzyk
If I were a Yahoo shareholder, I would throw a hissy fit.
Total lack of judgement on M. Mayer's part - whether it is lavishly spending
money or the Queen-like outfit/pose/setting. I am sure it made Yahoo's
employees day to have a picture with her </s>.
BTW, I am not saying companies should not have holiday parties - just exercise
better judgement, in particular when they are in dire straits as Yahoo is.
~~~
samfisher83
The core business generates about a billion dollars in cash. They aren't in
that dire straights.They might not be growing, but they aren't dying.
~~~
tryitnow
It's more about the "optics" as they say. A celebration of this sort is
warranted when you're at the top of your game, not when you're a well-known
mediocrity.
And frankly speaking, a billion in cash is a lot less than one would expect
from a top Internet brand.
Relatively speaking, they are in dire straights.
~~~
dajohnson89
Holiday parties are often seen as good for morale.
------
willow9886
Best of all, I found this article on....Yahoo.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Simple query parameter to blank pages with Facebook comments - intranation
http://www.darknerd.co.uk/fun-with-facebook/
======
changcommaalex
This is working as designed. The author of the article didn't fully
investigate why he was getting users with the fragment and if he alters his
code, will negatively affect page performance on his page.
In order to do cross domain communication, Facebook iframes the current page
with the fragment. When Facebook's javascript library in the iframe detects
the parameter, it blanks the page to reduce the render time that it takes for
the iframe to complete so that it can generate the cross domain communication
channel faster.
Originally, Facebook had developers upload a file to act as the cross domain
script but became a problem for some people who couldn't do this so for the
most part. This is still doable, but most people don't read the documentation
clearly and Facebook doesn't want to complicate it's message of a simple
install(
[http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/javascript/FB....](http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/javascript/FB.init/)
).
------
nbpoole
<http://forum.developers.facebook.net/viewtopic.php?id=60571>
<http://bugs.developers.facebook.net/show_bug.cgi?id=9777#c66>
So, the problem is framebusting code not playing well with iframes. ;-)
~~~
changcommaalex
Facebook doesn't want people to enable cross domain authentications/spoofing.
If Facebook enabled their plugins to work inside iframes external to the
Facebook environment, it'd be easy to maliciously authenticate users to give
data to a fourth party.
------
pavel_lishin
I wonder how they discovered this, and whether this is truly a problem - when
would someone come into a site with that hanging on their url?
~~~
jreposa
I found out about this issue when a few users complained. It turns out google
was indexing the pages, so sometimes those types of URLs would appear on a
search page.
The simplest way to combat it is to have google ignore that parameter in
google webmaster tools. Then it won't ever get indexed.
------
waterside81
Looking at it through Chrome, it triggers a bunch of JS errors in the Facebook
javascript plugin.
~~~
changcommaalex
It's generating the errors because it's not detecting a parent container
(cross domain iframe communication).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
“Why did you shoot me? The new warrior cop is out of control (2013) - tangue
http://www.salon.com/2013/07/07/“why_did_you_shoot_me_i_was_reading_a_book_the_new_warrior_cop_is_out_of_control/
======
germinalphrase
"Cities Under Siege" by Stephen Graham is a good reference if you're
interested in reading more deeply about the modern history of police
militarism in the United States.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Applying Predictive Analytics to Flight Delays - ccpoirier
https://engineering.upside.com/applying-predictive-analytics-to-flight-delays-85413ca4939f
======
jph00
There used to be a terrific company called FlightCaster that did exactly this.
They had a mobile app that would tell you much more reliably than airlines
when your flight was likely to depart. It was fantastic for getting ahead of
the queue for re-booking when there were flight delays. I hope someone makes a
clone!
[https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/flightcaster](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/flightcaster)
------
ccpoirier
Flight Delay Predictor from Upside Business Travel is a machine learning based
product that attempts to predict the likelihood your flight is to be delayed.
The algorithm is trained on historical flight delay information from the FAA
and factors in both historical and forecasted weather and the current state of
the National Airspace System. Happy to answer any questions here on how we
built it! Check it out at labs.upside.com/delay
~~~
ankityagi
Predicting flight delays has been a favorite topic of research in the Air
Traffic Management (ATM) community. There has been ongoing research on this
topic even before Machine Learning gained traction. Accurate predictions of
far out delays is of course impressive but refining these predictions to a
point of making a product that someone will actually pay for is going to be
steep challenge. The primary challenge is to account for airline operations
through publicly available data e.g., airlines usually pad schedules to
account for delays, flight arriving at the end of the day are more likely to
get delayed, flights between hubs are less likely to be delayed - data
features that can model these do not exist in public data. Instances that
cause the most disruption (mechanical failure, staff shortage etc.) are
impossible to predict with just schedule data and this is where people would
be willing to pay of such an app.
~~~
iancassidy6
Thanks for your feedback! We are planning on using our predictive model to
help our customers make informed decisions about whether they should consider
taking an earlier flight or an alternate route to get to their destination on
time. If you book your travel on Upside, our customer support team will be
notified if we believe a flight has a high likelihood of being delayed (or we
get a notification that it has already been delayed) and will help you change
your flight!
------
schnirz
I'm not sure I understand why you felt that you need to remove seasonality if
you already have weather information as features for your model. Isn't season
usually just used as a proxy for weather? If you have all the weather data you
need (temperature, precipitation rate, type of precipitation, etc.), it seems
a little weird that you subsequently only train the model on short time series
to "remove the effect of seasonality".
~~~
iancassidy6
Yes, you make very good points here about seasonality and weather. We have
looked at training the model on a small window of flight dates vs randomly
sampling across all dates and the former performed better in testing. We
wanted to limit our modeling complexity to random forest and gradient boosting
as an initial proof of concept here. Our plan is to retrain the current
weather model weekly while monitoring performance, store the data, and then
maybe look to using a more complex model like a neural net to train a model
using data across all dates.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What does a disciplined programmer look like? - muzani
Paul Graham says that willfulness and discipline needs to be balanced:<p>http://www.paulgraham.com/determination.html<p>But what counts as discipline? Morning routines? Or some strict way of working like XP programming?
======
twobyfour
Discipline is about being aware of your own counterproductive tendencies and
being willing to do things that aren't entirely comfortable or natural to you
in order to be productive.
For instance, I have one colleague who has a tendency to perfectionism, and
will spend months tracking down every tiny possible corner case that we're
never going to hit, in a small low-priority feature in a CRUD app that
wouldn't destroy anyone's lives if it went down for a week. For him,
discipline means checking himself frequently and asking what the actual ROI is
of where he's about to spend his time.
I have another coworker who loves to start new projects but getting him to
finish them is worse than pulling teeth. For him, discipline is about follow-
through.
My own job happens to include a lot of responsibilities other than
programming. For me, some days discipline is about letting the Slack
conversations around the other projects that I'm responsible for and anxious
about slide for an hour or two so I can get in a little flow time with the
code. Other days it's about putting down the fun coding project so I can make
sure someone else's project doesn't go off the rails.
Discipline is different for each person, and it starts with self-awareness -
which is the sort of trait that will serve you well in other ways - both in
life in general and in any career.
------
trcollinson
When I think of disciplined programmers, I think of Fabrice Bellard.[1] In
fact, I think of him so much that he is the person who I have modeled my own
practices after.
Here is a short list of a few of his accomplishments:
1) He won the IOCCC twice.
2) He built the TinyCC boot loader.
3) He wrote a fast pi calculator that won a World Record on commodity
hardware.
4) He wrote QEMU and FFmpeg.
The list just goes on and on. He is not productive because he has a specific
morning routine. I don't know if he follows specific XP practices, but I would
doubt that he follows most of them. But I have noticed a number of things he
does do:
1) He is relatively paced in his timing. He generally doesn't give crazy time
estimates and is very realistic about how long his work will take him.
2) He sticks with similar technologies and has Mastered them. Just like a
Master sushi chef can't easily make french pastries and wouldn't bill himself
as a pastry chef, a software programmer who has completely Mastered a language
like C shouldn't just bill themselves as a Master at Lisp.
3) He is always learning and expanding his Master of his knowledge. It's
incremental but very impressive.
4) He has no problem taking calculated risks in his development, and often he
can make them pay off.
I would say he has definite patterns. He works and works hard constantly. But
I don't think he ascribes to any particular methodology.
[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Bellard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabrice_Bellard)
------
AnimalMuppet
Discipline means thinking about the error paths in your code, not just the
happy path.
Discipline means regular testing.
Discipline means documentation.
Discipline means fixing the bugs - not just the "bad" ones, but the annoying
little ones. (Not _every_ bug, though - some bugs truly are not worth fixing.)
Discipline means communicating with your coworkers (including those annoying
bosses and managers). It means making estimates, and taking enough time
thinking them through that they're actually something close to accurate.
Discipline means thinking about the design _before_ you start coding. (This
does not mean that you can't explore before deciding on a design. It also does
not mean that you can't iterate the design after discovering some issues with
it implementation. In fact...)
Discipline means refactoring the design and code so that changes fit, rather
than just being hacked in somehow.
Maybe a summary: Discipline means working like the code is going to be used
for the next twenty years, rather than like it's going to be used only for the
next week.
~~~
muzani
But a common theme in PG's writing is to hack... it literally is to be used
for next week. Productivity is measured in lines of code. Technical debt is
acceptable; as a lot of the code will be erased anyway in an early stage of a
startup.
Besides the designing before coding part, I don't think this was quite his
intent when saying discipline.
------
demygale
One aspect of discipline that I think is underrated, is to take notes as you
work. What you were thinking, what you tried, what worked and what didn't. It
helps with reflection even if you never go back and read the notes.
~~~
luckydude
This is a good one, I forgot that one. How I do it is I type up the notes at
the end of my day, I always put them in a file called "STATE" in whatever
directory I'm working in.
I document what I was trying to do, how far I had gotten, what I think I need
to do next.
I can't tell you the number of times that as I'm writing up the notes I go
"ahhhhh, that's it!" and off I go for another few hours and actually finish.
And in the times where I leave it, it's so much faster to get up to speed the
next day after reading the STATE file.
And my coworkers at the time knew that I did this and would do stuff like
$ cd /home/bk/lm
$ find . -name STATE -mtime -1
to see what I was working on. Not saying that's a good way to communicate, but
it worked for us at the time.
------
mtmail
Regardless if you put in one hour or eight (or unhealthy 16) hours per day
into your project/startup a disciplined programmer works on the most important
task. That might be the one leading to most growth, profit or just avoiding
damage to the business. That task might be utterly boring, and there's 100
other task that are easier, faster to implement or more fun. Discipline in my
opinion means you choose that boring task.
------
luckydude
Docs and tests are good one. Lots of people like the fun part of coding, which
is getting some new thing to work. I've taught myself to like docs and tests,
to the point that when I'm reviewing a changeset I look to see if there are
docs and tests and just push back right away if there are not.
If you get into that groove, write the docs first. When you have to explain
your feature, write out the command line options, all of that, you have to
sort of imagine it all in your head, you start to think about is this the way
other commands work, am I being consistent, etc. I find that when I do the
docs first I do a better job on the code, especially the UI parts or where it
fits with other code.
And tests, regression tests. When I started BitKeeper we did regression tests
with every command. So frigging pleasant. It got to a point where you
basically couldn't break BK if you passed the tests, or at least you had to be
really sneaky.
I agree with twobyfour that it's different for different people, his/her
comment that you need to be self aware is a really good point.
------
Jugurtha
I have a polar star / meta kind of rule and chunk down from there:
me[i+1] > me[i]
`i` can be time but is not specified so it can work with any granularity you
like: year, month, day, hour, minute. It also works for space: the me in a
place needs to be better than the me in another place.
Discipline not being discouraged. One of my favorite sayings since I was a
child is "Ad augusta per angusta". At one point I was reading about two to
three books or equivalent per day. Now I can't do that and it's discouraging.
Discipline to push through that and read during commute what amounts to a book
or two per week. Pales in comparison, but it takes discipline not to be
discouraged by the disparity.
Discipline also to think more about what I read: from compulsive consumption
to pondering and trying to learn from what I read to serve my day to day life,
instead of merely getting high on "knowledge acquisition". Wisdom vs
knowledge, if you will. A great slogan is Wharton's "Knowledge for action". I
like that.
Discipline in outsmarting myself. I'm writing code and I know that I'm not as
smart as I am, so I leave a trail of thoughts in the comments to take my
future self by the hand on why something was written the way it was, and where
to go from there. Plenty of TODO detailing the reasons (so they may be changed
if the reasons became invalid). My future self loves my past self for being so
thoughtful and prescient and patient with him.
Discipline to avoid shortcuts. "Move fast and break things" is bullshitese to
me. It's bullshit and I think people who live by that aren't the one fixing
the broken pieces. Shitty code is seldom clever and those who shit it seldom
refactor it. Discipline to acknowledge the fact that if I think I'm moving
faster by skimping on variable names, I'm being a moron and others may pay the
price.
Discipline in trying to think hard about my code and constantly refactor it,
unbeknownst to my employer who tells me the code is good as it is and not to
break it by refactoring it, to which I retort it's as good as it is (or not as
bad as it was) _because_ I constantly refactor it. It means writing
documentation for imaginary code beforehand and how I would use it, it means
once written getting _non-programmers_ to try to follow the docs for an API so
if a _non-programmer_ who's never written a line of code can get it to work
easily, future maintainers won't have too much trouble. It means to learn new
tools to make better docs. Discipline in taking care to write good exception
messages that when raised communicate I'm on top so at least the user doesn't
panic and knows if there is a detailed message for it, it's okay. A message
that explains why it happened and what to do about it (even giving a list of
Linux commands to run to narrow down the scope or fix it).
Discipline in consistently trying to learn more about how the mind works
(Hebb, Ebbinghaus, LTP, and how these beautiful tentacular beasts we have in
our skulls work). It is about triggering a break-point when I have a good idea
and dumping the context to know why and how I had it, trying to go as far back
as I can. It also works on bad ideas. Discipline in having a pen with me. It's
having a pen and a notepad on my bedside so I can note my thoughts right when
I'm about to sleep: ever had a great idea right before you gave in to Morpheus
and were glad because you'll implement it "tomorrow" only to wake up having
forgotten about it? It's happened to me but I know better than to count on
myself remembering it.
Discipline in being intellectually honest and not bullshit someone who knows
less than me on a tiny specific point. This includes myself (I have a check:
do I know what I'm telling myself or am I just bullshitting myself? Can I
prove to myself I know what I'm talking about and what are my arguments? Do I
at least have a starting point to get the factually correct information? If
yes, what am I waiting for to get it?).
Discipline in observation. I'm fortunate to have a wide range of interests
(but even that is a fruit of discipline: maintaining the interest I had as a
child and not letting it die). Observe other fields and get inspired, borrow
things, mindsets, tools, practices, etc.
Discipline in catching myself when I think something is "obvious". Is it
really? During sophomore year in college we had a course in Strength of
Materials. A very counter-intuitive and beautiful thing is why a pull-up bar
is hollow (a tube) and not full. Discipline to have a magnifying glass on
"intuition" and guard myself against thinking something is "trivial" because
things rarely are.
Discipline to ask why someone wrote a line of code the way they did. It's easy
to think we're smarter than the next guy, it's easy to change a weird line of
code, but it takes discipline to figure out _why_ it was written the way it
was. Chesterton's fence and what not.
Discipline in asking people questions, asking them to explain to me what they
do and why they do it. Whether a banker, a shepherd, a soldier, a surgeon, a
dentist, a mechanic, an author, an illegal taxi driver.. I care about process,
motivations and incentives: what do people do, and why they do it.
Discipline in seeking universal truths. I have a feeling I'm about to have a
great insight about something, I don't know which. It's akin to feeling a
presence in the dark, you don't know what it is and _if_ there's anything
there in the first place..
PS: If you have that universal truth about mind mastery, economics, and
happiness.. Please share your secret here. I accept panaceas and silver
bullets.
~~~
muzani
Thank you for the detailed reply. It's a very good one, and I think it does
boil down into doing the harder thing instead of the lazy one, especially
really tempting things like lying to yourself.
------
peterchon
consistency.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Where would one go to get professional tech career advice? - allsystemsgo
Many "coaches" or career counselors don't have the technical knowledge to offer accurate career feedback. I would be really interested in employing a career coach to help me get to where I want to be.
======
salimmadjd
First you should ask yourself why is it you want to be in the tech industry?
Second you should be self aware and better understand what you really enjoy
doing and if there is something you have natural knack for.
Most successful people in tech didn't come up with a career plan and path-and
as trite as it sounds-they just did what they loved doing.
Lastly, tech career could mean anything, from hardware to software to product
management, etc. and each have a slight different trajectory to them.
~~~
allsystemsgo
I'm an IT auditor. Looking at what my career path could look like. I'm
particularly interested in product management.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facts About the Minimum Wage – Pew Research Center - PcMojo
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/01/04/5-facts-about-the-minimum-wage/
======
masonic
(January 2017, using August 2016 data)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Schoolchildren in China work overnight to produce Amazon Alexa devices - jg23
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/aug/08/schoolchildren-in-china-work-overnight-to-produce-amazon-alexa-devices
======
inxdz
>Leaked documents show children as young as 16 recruited by Amazon supplier
Foxconn work gruelling and illegal hours
16 is a legal age to work in many places of Europe, including my very own
country. What exactly am I missing here?
Also isn't it a bit manipulative to call a 16 year old teenager a
"schoolchild"?
~~~
Cenk
Are they in school?
~~~
seanmcdirmid
They are in a trade school, the work was setup by the school (and was probably
“required”) as is common practice in China (whether that is a moral thing or
not).
~~~
inxdz
Which is also legal in some places of Europe, it's called "practicing" or
whatever.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
I think the system in Europe is more about practicing skilled trade than just
doing unskilled factory work. If this story was about kids apprenticing to be
plumbers, then I think there would be much less outrage.
~~~
dragonelite
Depends on the course, same practical internship are pretty much of the level
of unskilled work. Still not okay without at least a decent pay if you ask me.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
I don’t think 16 and a half kuai is very decent, but these kids are mostly
from rural areas so it might seem like a good deal to them.
------
croh
The company said in a statement: “We have doubled the oversight and monitoring
of the internship program with each relevant partner school to ensure that,
under no circumstances, will interns [be] allowed to work overtime or nights."
My dear Chinese friends, does Chinese govt bother to punish FoxConn for this
or overtime is just norm in industry ?
~~~
yfzhou
I’d say it’s very likely considering China has all but admitted that its
previous policy of favoring Taiwanese companies to push for economic
unification has backfired. I think it’s a matter of time before China finds an
excuse to kick every Taiwanese company out.
------
Josh379
Sure, they don’t sleep yet they are able to assemble complex electrical
equipment. Perfect reasonable, no need to question. I’ve also always believed
it when told there are people who work three full time jobs. What amazing
people!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Mobile taking market share from the desktop - DavidBishop
http://blog.cedowin.com/2011/01/mobile-future-taking-market-share-from.html
======
tzm
Also related... Morgan Stanley: "Mobile Internet Market Will Be Twice The Size
of Desktop Internet"
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2092317>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Got a dream but no cash? The Internet can help - tjr
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5834QZ20090904
======
skushch
Wow, there are some real gems on that site.
[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/felipekurc/they-
don%C2%B...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/felipekurc/they-
don%C2%B4t-wanna-be-tall-they-wanna-fly-0)
------
electronslave
This caught my eye for two reasons: 1) Kickstarter got a mention on a wire
service and 2) the hilarious internet-anthropomorphizing trend I noticed in
older Russians ("can you ask the internet x for me?") is now a mass-media
tendency.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Hacker New UI issue with comment voting - wastedbrains
I accidentally voted up on a comment I meant to vote down, then voting disappeared and I don't have a way to correct the problem. Could the voting links just fade a bit allowing you to change votes? Or a user thread that shows all votes a user has made with the ability to change your mind. That could also be useful if someone convinces you of a new point of view.
======
Zak
You bring up two separate issues, and I think they need to be addressed
separately. I agree that votes should be reversible to correct mistakes. Votes
are, I think intended to be more of a quality filter than an expression of
agreement. Changing your vote because you now agree with a comment is a Bad
Thing.
~~~
jsnx
Voting because you agree or disagree is a Bad Thing for a quality filter.
Unfortunately, though, all these sites start off with a quality filter and end
up with a demoralizing popularity contest. Voting should cost you something.
~~~
rms
I agree!
~~~
jsnx
Well, just don't vote me up for it...
------
walesmd
People actually use the votes?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Mac DeMarco on Anxiety, Alcoholism and the Mitski controversy - kikitee
https://www.huckmag.com/shorthand_story/mac-demarco-cowboy-mitski-interview-nobody/
======
locusofself
I love Mac's music. The single/album name clash sounds like a huge waste of
time, can't believe anyone even mentioned it.
~~~
fokinsean
We live in an age of outrage, people will always find ways to make something
out of nothing.
~~~
vonseel
Spot on. This controversy doesn’t surprise me at all.
I am a little surprised Mac wasn’t aware of her album, though. You would think
the Mac world and Mitski world are relatively close circles in indie rock.
What I really wanna hear, is some of those Mac/Anderson Paak jams.
------
lghh
I didn't realize there was a Mitski controversy. I knew the songs had the same
name, but it's just a single word that can represent a few different emotions.
It's not like it was a super-specific title.
~~~
zerocrates
I only knew of the Mitski album until just this moment.
Clearly cowboys are now in.
I was all prepared to denounce the social-media hordes for yet again
descending to defend the honor of someone who didn't ask for that... but all
the mention I can find of the "controversy" is a few articles quoting the same
handful of pretty tame (if wrongheaded) tweets. Maybe I should be denouncing
the bloggers instead.
------
mishingo
Leave Mac DeMarco alone, dude is chill and playing some tunes that aren't
trying to fuck with anyone.
~~~
brootstrap
Yup. I think this dude has earthbound playing on the video screen at his
shows. He aint lying about listening to video game music!
------
oldstrangers
Am I missing something? Why is this here.
~~~
mtinkerhess
This was submitted by a user that only submits articles from the same site,
almost none of which are really on topic for HN. Flagged.
------
0x8BADF00D
Surprisingly, they don’t mention his association with Freemasonry in his
younger years. It may have helped him develop healthy coping mechanisms, being
involved in a group larger than himself.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The /bin/true Command and Copyright - MatthewPhillips
http://trillian.mit.edu/~jc/humor/ATT_Copyright_true.html
======
andos
Alas, this is almost off-topic but I'll mention it anyway. This is part of the
"Reporting Bugs" section of the GNU /bin/false command:
REPORTING BUGS
Report false bugs to [email protected]
I love commands with pesky names.
------
yesbabyyes
While looking for the GNU true source code I found that raganwald has blogged
about this earlier. His conclusion seems sound:
[http://weblog.raganwald.com/2008/02/recursive-
implementation...](http://weblog.raganwald.com/2008/02/recursive-
implementation-of-bintrue.html)
The source code is in this Daily WTF thread:
<http://forums.thedailywtf.com/forums/t/3779.aspx>
------
tzs
There are two things that should be note about copyright, which would have
prevented AT&T or anyone else from actually enforcing any copyright on such
simple files.
First, copyright does not protect ideas--it only protects the way an author
expressed the idea. The closer the expression is to the minimal way to express
the idea, the less likely it is to be copyrightable. In the case of the simple
implementations of /bin/true and /bin/false, they are pretty darned close to
minimal.
Second, if you have author X who produces a copyrightable work, and author Y
who later independently produces a work that happens to be identical to X's
work, but Y did not copy elements from X, Y is not infringing X's copyright.
This second case doesn't happen often. If someone were to decide to write a
novel about boy wizards, and produced something identical to the first Harry
Potter book, no one would believe that they did this without copying from
Rowling. However, if the work is small enough, an identical independent work
is believable.
In the case of the simple /bin/true and /bin/false, a defense that you didn't
copy from AT&T would be believable. Even if you admitted you looked at the
AT&T source or had it described to you, it would be believable that you
produced your own expression of the idea of "a do nothing shell script" and a
"shell script that exits with status 255".
------
wazoox
For comparison, here is /usr/bin/false from my Solaris box:
$ cat /usr/bin/false
#!/usr/bin/sh
# Copyright (c) 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989 AT&T
# All Rights Reserved
# THIS IS UNPUBLISHED PROPRIETARY SOURCE CODE OF AT&T
# The copyright notice above does not evidence any
# actual or intended publication of such source code.
#ident "@(#)false.sh 1.6 93/01/11 SMI" /* SVr4.0 1.3 */
exit 255
You'll notice the slight difference with `true`.
------
rplnt
Did AT&T actually tried to enforce this copyright? Because what I see is auto-
generated header that is put to every shell script present on the system.
Entertaining nonetheless.
~~~
fsniper
Yes your are surely right. But what about GNU guys' bint/true implementations
copyright message? :)
~~~
derleth
The GNU /bin/true is almost certainly complex enough to qualify for copyright.
~~~
clarkevans
This is GNU's _Appropriate Legal Notices_ as required by section 5d of the
GPLv3:
An interactive user interface displays "Appropriate Legal Notices"
to the extent that it includes a convenient and prominently visible
feature that (1) displays an appropriate copyright notice, and (2)
tells the user that there is no warranty for the work (except to the
extent that warranties are provided), that licensees may convey the
work under this License, and how to view a copy of this License. If
the interface presents a list of user commands or options, such as a
menu, a prominent item in the list meets this criterion.
------
babarock
Reminds me of Oracle licensing the Java Hello World:
[http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/getStarted/applicatio...](http://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/getStarted/application/examples/HelloWorldApp.java)
~~~
sarnowski
# (c) 2012 me
#
# The following comment is tried to be copyrighted
# by me. Do not misue!
#
awesome
~~~
babarock
# Can I use derived works?
Yeah, super awesome!!
------
ChuckMcM
A couple of things,
As many know the #ident tag in 'C' code was used with SCCS (pre-cursor to
git/svn/cvs/etc) to create a string in the 'binary' which identified the code.
In shell scripts it just sat there.
The change in the ident string where it gets the 'SMI' is when the version was
from 'Sun Microsystems Inc' (aka SMI).
The reason Solaris included it was because it was part of the 'merge' between
SunOS and System V and Sun had permission to all of the AT&T copyrights with
respect to UNIX once they became 'partners' (AT&T invested essentially a
billion dollars in Sun).
------
wglb
This is an interesting idea. If John Cage composes a song that is all silence,
can't that be copyrighted?
But in reality, couldn't one argue that the copyright covers the name
'/bin/true' and the empty file contents?
Or that the whole work is copyrighted, with a stamp on each file to remind you
of that fact?
------
raintrees
I think I remember an engineer I worked with in the past gleefully pointing to
a preface page in an Intel handbook for a chip Intel designed that Intel had
copyrighted the lowercase letter i.
(f recall correctly...)
------
antirez
Idea for GNU's /bin/true new option: --false, that would make it exiting with
1.
~~~
gnosis
That might be a little too confusing. But --true and --false options would be
right at home in a /bin/bool command.
------
sayler
"So if you use blank lines in any of your files, you are in blatant violation
of AT&T's copyright claim."
WRONG!
------
jballanc
For fun, if you are running OS X 10.7:
codesign -d -v /usr/bin/true
~~~
dvanduzer
Aha, that helps explain the discrepancy of OS X 10.7:
$ ls -la /usr/bin/true /usr/bin/false
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 34240 Jul 20 2011 /usr/bin/false
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 34240 Jul 20 2011 /usr/bin/true
$ cmp -l /usr/bin/true /usr/bin/false |wc
8194 24582 114716
and CentOS 6:
$ ls -la /bin/true /bin/false
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 25144 Dec 7 14:51 /bin/false
-rwxr-xr-x. 1 root root 25144 Dec 7 14:51 /bin/true
$ cmp -l /bin/true /bin/false |wc
355 1065 4970
The signature size explains (part of) the larger delta on OS X, but left me
wondering, so:
~/coreutils/src]$ ls -alrth true.c false.c
-rw-r--r-- 1 dvd staff 2.2K Jan 30 09:31 true.c
-rw-r--r-- 1 dvd staff 51B Jan 30 09:31 false.c
Curious!
~/coreutils/src]$ cat false.c
#define EXIT_STATUS EXIT_FAILURE
#include "true.c"
And figuring out why that still results in such a large binary delta is over
my head.
~~~
danieldk
_And figuring out why that still results in such a large binary delta is over
my head._
On OS X these binaries are fat binaries:
$ file /usr/bin/true
/usr/bin/true: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures
/usr/bin/true (for architecture x86_64): Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
/usr/bin/true (for architecture i386): Mach-O executable i386
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Hyperlocal Mesh Networks - andreyf
http://avc.com/2014/08/hyperlocal-mesh-networks/
======
hristov
They use mostly Ubiquiti radios, antennas, routers and wifi access points.
Ubiquiti Networks is quietly revolutionizing the internet around the world.
They may actually turn the internet into the all-encompassing democratic
communication tool it was supposed to be.
They also use the commotion
([https://commotionwireless.net/](https://commotionwireless.net/)), an open
source software project that runs on commercially available wifi access points
and routers and creates the mesh network.
~~~
d136o
Over the past year or so I have watched from afar as wireless tech is
highlighted sporadically. I have to wonder if it's only comes to my attention
when someone makes a marketing push. I'm not dismissing it as pure hype, as
it's definitely captivating from just an engineering viewpoint. Whether it's
hype or not, this type of cheaper decentralized wireless networking seems very
cool and possibly ripe for motivating new business models. There are a few of
companies (and their founders) making noise and at least one interesting
acquisition not too long ago:
\+ Ubiquiti (founded by Robert J. Pera, hn might appreciate his
entrepreneurial background, look him up) \+ Artemis (founded by Steve Perlman,
another hacker/entrepreneur ) \+ Meraki (aquired by Cisco in late 2012, seems
like this one did actual mesh networking in MIT and SF)
It seems like there is a lot of noise around these wireless technologies, what
is holding back adoption?
~~~
krakensden
If you want fast access to the general internet, mesh networks are never going
to be particularly competitive with telcos. This is what most people want, as
well.
Community networking over community networks could be a thing, but
bootstrapping is hard, and it can be hard to see the point. "Buy this thing
and set it up and you can talk to people within shouting distance with your
pc/phone" isn't super exciting.
~~~
AnthonyMouse
It seems like the problem is that it's easier to make the normal internet
produce the same behavior than to actually make a mesh network fast and
reliable. If all your neighbors have normal internet with NAT-PMP supporting
gateways then you can create a "community network" entirely in software.
Maybe the problem is they're doing it from the wrong angle. Don't create a
mesh network independent of the internet, create a mesh network integrated
with the internet. Then use whichever interface has the best performing route
and use them to back each other. So if your wireless goes down you can still
use Comcast and if your Comcast goes down then you can seamlessly use your
neighbor's Verizon.
------
walterbell
[http://Guifi.net](http://Guifi.net) in Spain has 20K+ nodes in their mesh
network,
[http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2013/12/11/guifi-n...](http://rising.globalvoicesonline.org/blog/2013/12/11/guifi-
net-spains-wildly-successful-diy-wireless-network/)
"guifi.net [es] is a user-owned, open and neutral network in which a growing
community of volunteers can connect their computers to form a sort of intranet
and, at the same time, share an Internet connection. The non-profit network is
free, minus any individual costs for networking equipment, and anyone is
allowed to join and use it how they want."
More details:
[https://lists.thefnf.org/pipermail/discuss/2014-March/001672...](https://lists.thefnf.org/pipermail/discuss/2014-March/001672.html)
Edit: may be coming to the US, [https://thefnf.org](https://thefnf.org)
------
deanclatworthy
Every time I see these posts pop up about mesh networking I'm more and more
intrigued of the idea of a local neighbourhood network. I live on a small
island of a few 1000 people. It would be brilliant to extend the sense of
community with basic services like a marketplace, events etc. It kind of
reminds me of using CB radios in the UK in the early 90s, communicating with
local people only.
Is there any defacto hardware out there that one can buy to start the mesh,
without a huge setup, that I could then set up for a couple of neighbours
without hassle who then automatically join the mesh? For something like this
to take off it'll need to be as simple as picking up a router off the shelf
and reading a few lines of a manual.
------
jasonlbaptiste
What are the best resources to learn more about mesh networking? I've been
fascinated with it and trying to soak up as much information as possible.
I'm trying to understand what advances there have been in reduction of speed
over multi hop networks. That's the biggest issue I see, is that people want
high speeds, but mesh networks at a large scale might make that difficult.
Multi-frequency radios can only go so far.
~~~
MichaelAO
Wireless Networking in the Developing World was a good read:
[http://www.wndw.net/](http://www.wndw.net/)
The Free Network Foundation has aggregated a lot of practical info:
[https://commons.thefnf.org/index.php/Portal:Education](https://commons.thefnf.org/index.php/Portal:Education)
A link from the FNF on multi-hop optimization:
[http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/3982/1/Comparison_o...](http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/3982/1/Comparison_of_Routing_Protocols.pdf))
The motherboard documentary about the FNF is a must watch for any mesh network
enthusiast:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx93WJPCCGs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx93WJPCCGs)
------
gordjw
So if mesh networks take off, and replace mobile internet for many people, are
we going to see an increase in satellite and "traditional" mobile networking
(3G, 4G, etc) prices?
How is that going to affect folks outside major metropolitan areas, since
their coverage is effectively subsidised by the volume of city users?
~~~
fleitz
Likely a decrease, 3G is cheap, mesh networks would merely highlight the bad
deal most telcos provide.
------
hoggle
More internet connected local mesh networks like this please! We've got
something similar here in Austria as well -
[http://www.funkfeuer.at](http://www.funkfeuer.at) has been growing constantly
for more than 10 years.
Voice of America article: [http://www.voanews.com/content/austria-programmers-
build-fre...](http://www.voanews.com/content/austria-programmers-build-free-
bridge-to-internet/1499507.html)
"A group of computer programmers and hackers in Austria is creating a low-cost
way of spreading Internet access across communities. _FunkFeuer_ which means
_network fire_ in German, uses everyday technology to create a wireless
network, called a _mesh,_ that can transmit data from person to person,
without involving companies or governments."
------
3rd3
Wasn’t the problem with mesh networks that the amount of meta data needed
eventually becomes too big?
~~~
lazylizard
yah, this is really curious too! i thought the amount of 'mesh' traffic goes
up with the number of mesh nodes..
~~~
peterwwillis
It's not a traffic [bandwidth] problem, really. You have two basic kinds of
wireless mesh networks: infrastructure mesh, and ad-hoc mesh. With the former,
you can design the network so that each directly-connected node has a
dedicated channel and you preserve full bandwidth across the spectrum. You
also have only a few gateway nodes so your network updates are very few. With
the latter you might be using one channel in half duplex to communicate with
whatever nodes are closest to you and propagate joins/parts throughout the
network. That will have less bandwidth and be slower to communicate as you add
nodes, partly due to number of additional hops.
If the number of nodes who deal with routing increases, that's more nodes that
need to be informed of each join/part, so technically it takes longer to
update the network. But if the joins/parts are few and the signal is strong,
this is a rare event. More nodes can make the whole system faster, or it can
make the whole system slower. It depends on the implementation. But there's
not a constant flow of mesh routing data that multiplies with nodes; that
bandwidth used is tiny.
~~~
3rd3
Are the networks you talk about tamper-proof? I vaguely remeber that any
attempts at making ad-hoc mesh network temper-proof didn’t succeed.
~~~
peterwwillis
I've never heard of a tamper-proof network. If you've got a network, I can
tamper with it.
~~~
3rd3
Ok, not proof but reasonably resistant.
------
fiatjaf
Can these mesh networks be easily joined with other mesh networks to build a
global mesh?
------
diafygi
Would pCells work in public spectrum?
~~~
3rd3
> Will it work for WiFi as well? It's protocol agnostic, so it could work in
> unlicensed spectrum as well. The issue is that you don't have complete
> control over all the other transmitters, so you can't coordinate them.
[http://akbars.net/how-steve-perlmans-revolutionary-
wireless-...](http://akbars.net/how-steve-perlmans-revolutionary-wireless-
technology-works-and-why-its-a-bigger-deal-than-anyone-realizes.html)
------
jMyles
I think mesh networking is a hugely important tech.
------
jasonlfunk
From the article:
"Most mesh networks are connected to the public Internet, but if that
connection goes down, the local mesh continues to work. In Red Hook that means
that you could make voice calls (over IP) from your housing project to the
local hardware store to see if its open. Or you could email a friend who lives
in the neighborhood."
I don't know VOIP very well so this may certainly be possible, but I very much
doubt that without an external internet connection you'd be able to email
anyone.
~~~
fleitz
Email works on a single server, it's pretty easy to get an email system
working that doesn't involve the Internet.
~~~
technofiend
It actually works across multiple servers as well and e-mail exchange predates
the "always on" internet everyone's used to. It is feasible RHI is running
their own DNS and if they really want to go old school could always support
UUCP.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Sensor protein TMC1 is responsible for hearing and balance - 5rest
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/08/hearing-protein/
======
purpleidea
Some more information of the protein can be found here:
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4945579/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4945579/)
Unfortunately, I'd love to see a 3d structure or even some x-ray
crystallography, but perhaps we'll have to wait for that.
~~~
jerven
Yeah, there is not even a good model. The UniProt entry could use an update
(Human,
[https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q8TDI8](https://www.uniprot.org/uniprot/Q8TDI8)),
I will pass it on to my colleagues.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
4 Ways to Reduce Stress at Work - rbanffy
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashiraprossack1/2018/02/28/four-ways-to-reduce-stress-at-work/
======
5_minutes
Quite a filler article for something like Forbes. Nothing to see here.
I thought it was a bit of a quality outlet? This is very mediocre.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google SketchUp - kosofalla
http://sketchup.google.com/spectrum.html
======
andrewljohnson
The title sucks... any moderators out there?
The link is fairly interesting... about an offshoot of Google SketchUp
intended for autistic people, called Spectrum.
Maybe the title could be something like "Google SketchUp Helps Autistic People
Express Themselves"
~~~
ErrantX
wow, yes. Mod the title someone! I clicked through and "confirmed" it was just
a link to Sketchup - totally missing that it wasn't.
------
GiraffeNecktie
Interesting link. I have an older relative with Asperger's syndrome who is a
complete frickin' genius at three dimensional thinking. He supported his
family for years by selling specialized machine parts for flowing and binding
fabric through industrial sewing machines. The guy is completely self taught.
He's also pretty good at measuring to the millimetre by eyesight, identifying
screw threads at a glance etc.
~~~
wmeredith
Wow, that sounds really interesting. Is there anywhere I can read about
this/his story? Blog, portfolio, etc...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Taking a peek at the experts’ genetic secrets - bootload
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/us/20gene.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
======
ilamont
I read this, and the Wired article on PGP that came out earlier this year.
I think it's great that researchers want to improve access to genetic data
correlated with behavior, habits, illness and other traits, but I have to ask:
Why not just keep the subects' names obscured? It doesn't matter to most
researchers if they are looking at the results from subject #098352 vs. John
Smith, either as a single record or in aggregate. Tacking on the other part of
the project -- seeing how subjects' benefit/suffer from the release of their
personal information -- may be an interesting experiment on its own, but it
could have some very negative impacts on participants and skew the data toward
people with a different set of values and lifestyles than the population at
large.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Etymap – interactive visualization of Wiktionary words and etymologies - zifeo
https://github.com/zifeo/Etymap
======
based2
[https://www.reddit.com/r/etymologymaps/comments/7oasca/inter...](https://www.reddit.com/r/etymologymaps/comments/7oasca/interactive_etymology_map_for_wiktionary_words_oc)
------
KenanSulayman
Very interesting!
Is this (wiktionary) also where google gets their etymology graphs displayed
in search from? I’m always amazed by these graphs, showing the history of
words all the way back to Latin
------
stevula
I’ll have to check this out on my computer later, since it’s unreadable on my
iPhone 7 (left half of screen is solid grey). Looks cool though.
------
lucb1e
This is really cool. The demo website is fast, and the graphs are intuitive,
pretty, and tell you exactly what you want to know.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Winklevoss-backed hukkster.com shuts down - ecaron
http://m.hollywoodreporter.com/entry/view/id/405510
======
joni1803
Seems like [http://Shoptagr.com](http://Shoptagr.com) is still standing :-)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Node.js Fundamentals: Web Server Without Dependencies - bloomca
https://blog.bloomca.me/2018/12/22/writing-a-web-server-node.html
======
jpalomaki
IMHO articles like this played a major role in Node's initial success. After
years of working with ever-growing frameworks with huge learning curves, it
was so refreshing to get your first thing running in few seconds. Felt like
basic in the 1980s or PHP in the late 1990s.
~~~
hardwaresofton
IIRC before nodejs+express the req/resp/next paradigm and middleware paradigm
had never been so accessible. Other frameworks had it of course, but it was
often hidden behind layers of abstraction or little quibbly bits. Express gave
you just what you needed for both middleware _and_ handlers:
app.get('/', function(req, res, next) {
res.send('hello world');
})
For comparison, flask:
@app.route("/", method='GET')
def hello():
return "Hello World!"
It's really close, but I find the NodeJS approach even simpler and easier to
understand. Need to access the request? use `req`. Need to access the response
to set headers or something? use `res`. Is your function actually a
middleware? use `next`. It doesn't get much simpler, assuming you understand
node's semantics well (as in "return"ing a value doesn't mean it gets sent).
Django/Rails required whole project scaffolds and usually a separate routes
and handlers files and knowing a whole bunch of stuff. I'm not even going to
get into what frameworks like Spring/Struts required.
NodeJS made it _dead simple_ to get a HTTP server up and running in something
like <10 lines of code.
People shit on JS and NodeJS every chance they get, but innovations like the
amazing standard library (and express), along with npm's ease of use really
pushed the field forward IMO. While I'm praising node I might as well say that
node got decent bolt-on (gradual) type system support way faster than the
other popular dynamic languages as well, but they got there through
transpiling which also looked (is?) ridiculous the first time it became well-
known. I find Typescript much more approachable than typed python[0]. Is typed
ruby even a thing[1]? I don't keep up with ruby so I'm not sure.
[0]:
[https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html](https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html)
[1]: [https://bugs.ruby-lang.org/issues/9999](https://bugs.ruby-
lang.org/issues/9999)
~~~
devxpy
>Need to access the request? use `req`
Well, I don't see what's especially difficult about this?
from flask import request
@app.route('/login', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
def login():
if request.method == 'POST':
return do_the_login()
else:
return show_the_login_form()
I would actually argue that this is better, since I have to type "request"
only once.
Although I have to admitt, the middleware thing looks quite composable.
~~~
Y7ZCQtNo39
I'm not a huge fan of decorators since they obfuscate the state of the
runtime. What exactly does the call stack look like when login gets invoked?
What variables are in scope? I find it difficult to reason about.
I understand that this function will execute when the HTTP server receives a
GET or POST request at `/login`. The semantics of the decorator is clear-- I
don't particularly take issue with that.
But the second my assumptions about the decorator break down (e.g., I think
I've defined a decorator properly, but I have not), all bets are off on how to
make it function properly. It's not as simple as going to the source code for
the module and see what API's I'm calling.
~~~
devxpy
Well, You'll be happy to know that a decorator is literally just a function
that takes another function as its first argument.
@app.route(...)
def login():
...
Is literally the same thing as -
def login():
...
login = app.route(login, ...)
Hopefully that clears up the air a bit?
~~~
Y7ZCQtNo39
It clears it up but personally, I'd rather just write `app.route(login, ...)`.
Isn't a lot clearer to use more conventional language features? What exactly
is this buying me?
I don't know if me saying 'Just, why?' is a good enough reason to throw my
arms up and say it's an idea I'm not a fan of. I'm willing to say that it's a
rather subjective attitude.
I guess my retort is that, it's far more confusing to have that syntax, then
explain what it meant, when I could've just used the conventional syntax.
It's not like it's offering me something substantially simpler. For example,
the spread operator that was introduced. It actually allows you to write
clearer JavaScript code. This syntax isn't intuitively clear like the rest
operator is.
------
mirekrusin
Not 100% related to the article but koa with its maybe 300 LoC is hardly a
dependency. However in general nodejs projects definitely suffer from
dependency bloat. I encourage anybody to try for themselves to go through
node_modules in their own projects, it’s quite englightning to see the scale
of the unnecessary, duplicated, reimplementated in different ways crap there.
Conscious aim at shallow, minimal or no dependency in packages and end apps is
definitely something good; less than 5s installs, code audits, more healthy
projects in general. I’m not saying it’s always possible or better to trim the
code fat, but if you’re aware of dependency tree single root dep introduces
you’re usually able to cut it down a lot.
~~~
asien
Koa is appreciated to it's true value by the community.
Express was the most popular at the start and after StrongLoop got acquired by
IBM it made sense for everyone that express was the foundation of Node.JS.
It's sad knowing how much bloated express is and every single Node.js library
uses it from Next to GraphQL server etc...
------
Vanit
I still write little http servlets like this sometimes, especially for
something like gluing IoT services together.
------
lioeters
Great article. Anyone working with Node.js should be familiar with these
fundamentals. It also demonstrates the simplicity (and dare I say "elegance",
though that's subjective..) of Node.js and its concepts.
These days my favorite library for writing an HTTP server is micro [0] (and a
few middlewares). I like how it provides a minimal, functional layer of
abstraction.
[0] [https://github.com/zeit/micro](https://github.com/zeit/micro)
------
brod
There are _a lot_ of gotcha's when rolling your own web server based on the
http and https packages and I think the conclusion of the article could have
gone further in addressing what they are and in what context they might
matter. I recently wrote a little zero-dependency NodeJs http/s server[1] with
an equally dumb router for some dev tools which could benefit from a simple,
promise based api, for most other use cases I'd just pull in express or
something more mature.
[1][https://github.com/8eecf0d2/decade](https://github.com/8eecf0d2/decade)
------
gyrgtyn
Love this. There was this project along the same lines, from the olden days of
node:
[https://github.com/Raynos/http-framework](https://github.com/Raynos/http-
framework)
------
tofflos
It's nice to get away from frameworks from time to time. If anyone is
interested in something similar written in Java I recently created a couple of
examples based on Undertow. They are available at
[https://github.com/tofflos/undertow-
examples](https://github.com/tofflos/undertow-examples).
------
craftoman
Performance is also a major advantage. Express is extremely slow compared to a
basic "native" API without dependencies. If you check out the results in
numbers, you'll be amazed.
~~~
tozeur
Please post some citations to back up your performance claims. I haven’t found
strong numbers online.
~~~
asien
> Please post some citations to back up your performance claims.
According to TechEmpower benchmark[0],Node.js-MySQL is two time faster than
express-mysql.
Others benchmarks of TechEmpower tend to point exactly the same result in
terms of performance for express.
[0]
[https://www.techempower.com/benchmarks/#section=data-r17&hw=...](https://www.techempower.com/benchmarks/#section=data-r17&hw=ph&test=query)
------
partycoder
The crimes of these kinds tutorials:
\- Downplaying the role of error handling
\- Treating the subjects they cover as a black box
\- Not warning that the code examples are not suitable for production
------
nurettin
you can do the same (except loading certs) with python3 these days thanks to
asyncio.
------
keketi
But can it left pad a string?
~~~
GordonS
JavaScript has come a long way in recent years, but the lack of a
comprehensive standard library is still absolutely mind boggling.
~~~
emilfihlman
This is really pretty sad. A standard library is paramount to a stable and
easy to develop ecosystem.
~~~
hombre_fatal
It may be, but this is a weird thread to bring that up since Javascript has
padStart, and TFA is about building a web server with only the standard
library.
~~~
nurettin
the OP was referring to this incident [https://github.com/stevemao/left-
pad/issues/4](https://github.com/stevemao/left-pad/issues/4)
where a very basic package everyone depended on was yanked from npmjs.
azer's original post:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11340510](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11340510)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Automatically turn your blog posts into emails for your readers - fiiv
https://blogsend.io/?ref=hackernews
======
darrenwestall
Have you considered the recruitment use case? Many staffing agencies advertise
jobs on their website but don’t have the job alert functionality a job board
would offer. If you turn this into a “alert me”, the next time they post a job
matching the criteria you’ll email candidates for them. Same technology, just
a different niche - one that I think will be more profitable.
~~~
juoemeka
t's not the same technology. Job page doesn't have RSS. It will be hard to
read and get an update from different agencies/company career page.
~~~
darrenwestall
That’s an easy one to solve by running it through fetchrss or feedity.
------
fiiv
Hi HN! I made Blogsend.io.
It's a way for blog owners to handle emailing their readers automatically
whenever they make a post. I built this because I actually needed it first,
but decided to try it out as a product as well.
Technically it's not terribly complicated – it has a widget which collects
emails of your subscribers and it listens to your RSS feed and emails those
people when you post. The goal is to make it as hands-off and hassle-free as
possible to email out your content to your readers.
Built it in Node.js and Postgres, with Bulma providing the CSS defaults. I
vowed to move fast in this project and to that end I decided to stay away from
frontend frameworks and build the old fashioned way, with <form> tags! It was
actually super fun. I've had my hands on React, Vue, Angular and Ember before,
and in all of them I actually never really felt as if it felt as natural as
this approach.
Anyways, I'd love to hear any feedback you might have :)
~~~
catchmeifyoucan
Do you store the list of emails per blog?
~~~
fiiv
Yes, I do! At present they're not exportable though. I think one part of the
product that's nice in that way is that as a subscriber, you know you don't
need to think about your email getting spammed - communicating with
subscribers is only done as a post is published.
~~~
vincentmarle
> At present they're not exportable though.
You may want to think this one more through. As a publisher, I would
definitely be in the market for your product but the mailing list is the most
valuable (and expensive) data set I will be working on for years, and to have
it not exportable in the case that you might go out of business or if I decide
to use another product is a definite showstopper for me.
~~~
fiiv
That makes sense!
Just out of curiosity, what size is your blog?
I spoke to several blog owners of various sizes. The smaller ones tended to
not care about this, but indeed the bigger ones took more of an interest in
the actual emails they collect. Just wondering if you'd fall into one of these
categories.
------
Johnny555
Not to detract from the project, but is there much demand for this? Anything
that's emailed to me is generally lost in my mailbox or purposely ignored...
when I want to read a blog, I'll go to the blog.... I don't want more emails.
~~~
wingerlang
Why don't you clean your inbox and setup some filters? I'd say 99% of the
emails I get is relevant. Blog posts from blogs I actually signed up for is
great to get. And if you start to dislike it it's 1 click to unsubscribe.
------
creative_ape
Here is our version of this concept, except it also works with your social
media accounts: [https://www.gibbonwire.com](https://www.gibbonwire.com)
plus we take privacy very seriously, which is an added bonus.
edit: here is a link to our FAQ:
[https://www.gibbonwire.com/about/faq/](https://www.gibbonwire.com/about/faq/)
and our privacy policy:
[https://www.gibbonwire.com/about/privacy/](https://www.gibbonwire.com/about/privacy/)
~~~
fiiv
Good luck :)
------
aaronarduino
Doesn't WordPress already do this? Not sure this is very helpful for WordPress
users. Although, I do see the use for static blogs and those that do not
already send emails when posts are published.
~~~
fiiv
You're right, WP does have several plugins that do this, the most popular
being from providers like ConstantContact and Mailchimp. I think I'd expect a
few WP users but you're right, my target are probably people that are using
something like Jekyll.
------
nate
Dig it! But I'm clicking on Preview and getting a I need to subscribe?
[https://cl.ly/709c92e9ca7b/Image%202018-11-20%20at%2011.12.4...](https://cl.ly/709c92e9ca7b/Image%202018-11-20%20at%2011.12.45%20AM.png)
Get this:
[https://cl.ly/eac5828099c5/Image%202018-11-20%20at%2011.13.2...](https://cl.ly/eac5828099c5/Image%202018-11-20%20at%2011.13.22%20AM.png)
~~~
fiiv
Oh no! I'll check it out! Could you message [email protected] and I can check
out the problem!
------
philistine
My blog is obviously published as an RSS feed but I also have a JSON feed
([https://jsonfeed.org](https://jsonfeed.org)). Don't laugh, there are dozens
of us. Dozens!
Considering you've already done the hard work of parsing RSS, do you plan to
support JSON feeds at some point?
~~~
fiiv
Hello!
Looking at the spec, it appears to differ from RSS/Atom in very small ways
(besides being in a different data format). It would be pretty trivial to
build in support for this.
It's difficult to find usage stats since searching for "json feed"
unfortunately gives a whole lot of unrelated things!
I think if I can find a paying client that wants it, I will build this in.
Wanna be the first? ;)
------
AndrewOMartin
Does it also do emails to blog posts? I have a number of carefully considered
emails I'd like to publish.
~~~
Alex3917
We have a site to do that,
[https://www.fwdeveryone.com](https://www.fwdeveryone.com)
In addition to sharing on social, it also supports embedding email threads
directly within Reddit threads, Medium posts, etc., e.g.:
[https://medium.com/to-the-best-of-our-knowledge/were-not-
ok-...](https://medium.com/to-the-best-of-our-knowledge/were-not-
ok-2b87b413dee2)
Here are some video tutorials showing more functionality:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJAEYmnEjIu4--
bpq5LSK...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJAEYmnEjIu4--
bpq5LSKZ9LS44po_NUx)
And we'll have a Gmail add-on submitted to Google within the next couple
weeks, so hopefully that will be live by the end of the year. (Since I know a
lot of HN folks have reservations about OAuth and have been asking for another
way to upload content.)
------
StavrosK
Nice project! I currently do the same with Mailchimp, I have a mailing list
and they support creating newsletters from RSS. Does your project have
advantages over that?
~~~
fiiv
Yes indeed, MC does this pretty decently. I tried it myself, but I found the
product is very much catering to marketers. Which is fine, of course, but for
people that only want this functionality, it seems like overkill.
Blogsend is meant as a much simpler, more focused alternative. This is all it
does, and the features to be added in the roadmap are almost exclusively to
help bloggers, not marketers or a general audience.
~~~
StavrosK
I see, that makes sense, thanks!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Evernote also started recommending Chrome or Safari - bprasanna
https://imgur.com/gallery/lzaWAtB
======
clintonb
This seems to have been an issue since October 2018:
[https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/116509-firefox-
support...](https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/116509-firefox-support-for-
new-web-version-updates/).
------
anfilt
Change your user agent. I would not be surprised if everything works fine.
Although I dont use evernote
------
h0p3
Dump Evernote, embrace Tiddlywiki. Only emacs and nvim ever make me think
otherwise (and they can be integrated into your workflow). Here's mine:
[https://philosopher.life/](https://philosopher.life/)
~~~
pova
Spent 30 minutes on your site. Feel pretty shitty about myself as a result.
Thanks.
~~~
h0p3
I'm sorry. I am free to talk
([https://philosopher.life/#Contact%20h0p3](https://philosopher.life/#Contact%20h0p3)).
Tiddlywiki is an awesome tool! It's fun and productive.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Linus Torvalds creates G+ page for Linux release announcements - davidhollander
https://plus.google.com/109995262342451767357/posts
======
haakon
The best part is the person lecturing Linus about saying "GNU/Linux" instead
of "Linux" in his Linux kernel announcements.
~~~
swixmix
Agreed -- because GNU refers to the OS and Linux refers to the kernel. Linus
only releases the kernel.
~~~
sp332
Well Windows is just the OS but we don't lecture people for saying "I use
Windows" when they really mean "I use MS Word" or "I play HALO".
------
mikemoka
In an alternate timeline he would have done it on Diaspora.
------
armitage
Who gives a shit
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Y Combinator Will Now Accept Late Applications - pg
http://ycombinator.posterous.com/y-combinator-will-now-accept-late-application
======
skennedy
Does this also mean that applications that do not get accepted under the
initial deadline can re-apply with a new idea? If so, will the submission
process be able to recognize this as "new" so it is given a fresh review by YC
rather than viewing it as an "update" to an existing application?
~~~
pg
Hrm, I should have known you lot would think of unanticipated ways to use this
option. That wasn't the original intention, and if everyone did that we'd be
so swamped with repeat applications that we probably wouldn't be able to read
them all. How about if I add a feature for people to update an application
that was submitted by the deadline, and we'll make a pass through those too?
~~~
skennedy
Sounds like another time consuming commitment on top of your ever growing list
of commitments. How far do you scale?
~~~
pg
Actually all I have to do is change the software. Harj is going to monitor the
late applications.
<http://ycombinator.posterous.com/welcome-harj>
~~~
jackowayed
To better get the "seriously, apply on time if at all possible" idea across,
I'd emphasize that harj is monitoring late apps.
"If you apply on time, all 4 YC partners will definitely read your
application. If you apply late, our employee will skim through it to see if it
looks promising, and only if he thinks it does will any of us even see it."
~~~
ErrantX
For some that might actually be an advantage.
Think: you _know_ who will initially vet your application (as opposed to the
normal process) so you can think how to hook him in. And if you successfully
do so your now "recommended" to one of the partners.
Could be an advantage for a smart thinking founder :)
~~~
rottencupcakes
pg could correct me on this if i'm wrong, but i get the impression that harj
is already vetting all the applications.
~~~
Harj
no, everyone on the team reviews the apps. i'm just contacting groups that
seem interesting but i want to have some more information about. if you
applied early you had a higher chance of being contacted, which is an
advantage since you have an extra opportunity to impress.
~~~
chrischen
I'm just wondering, if we don't get contacted and we applied early, is that a
bad sign?
~~~
Harj
no don't read anything into it, there are only so many applicants I can reach
out to. there's almost certainly far more that I haven't looked at yet than
ones I've looked at and decided not to contact.
~~~
nlabs
Whew. I got really upset when I heard another group that has my same idea was
contacted by you and I wasnt. Thanks for clarifying.
------
johnrob
I think what you've really done here is change the deadline from March 3rd to
"right before the program starts". Sure, applying earlier is better than
later, but that was already the case.
~~~
pg
I wouldn't want people to think that. Actually it is going to be much harder
to get a late application accepted. We'll dutifully process all the regular
applications in batch as usual, whereas we probably won't look that closely at
late applications unless we see something exceptional.
------
gprisament
Does this mean that by pushing the deadline earlier they: \- Didn't get enough
applications? \- Didn't get enough quality applications?
Or am I reading too much into this?
~~~
pg
No, the number of applications doesn't seem to have decreased. We decided to
do this back in Jan when we moved the application deadline earlier, because
there's now a 3 month gap between the application deadline and when the cycle
starts, and we know from experience that when people start startups, they
don't always know they're going to 3 months beforehand.
~~~
m0th87
Why not just have more than two cycles per year? Is it because there's a lot
of work that has to be done during off-seasons, or is it arbitrary?
~~~
pg
We've thought about it. We may one day. But there is some stuff that usually
happens between cycles, like organizing Startup School. Plus we need some time
off. During the YC cycle we are very busy, like the startups themselves are,
because time is so compressed.
------
fizx
I assume that the bar will be (much?) higher for late applicants. I think this
is a way to make sure that YC doesn't miss out on the next Facebook. When the
bulk of returns are made on the outliers, this makes sense.
------
cwilson
It's also curious that the iPad application RFS was released 3 days ago and
presented an extremely tight deadline on applying with that in mind. Now there
is plenty of time to apply if you've got the iPad in mind for YComb.
------
maxklein
Someone take this idea and apply: iPad Software that mums can use to do some
elementary diagnoses on the various illnesses that their children can get, get
to talk to other people about it and recommend doctors/medicines.
Or how about this: iPad software that contains the instruction manuals for
like every electronic device ever (TVs etc).
Or the simplest, yet best of all: iPad software that, after you weigh
yourself, you tap once on it to say how much you weigh. Over the course of the
day, it tells you when to stop eating to reduce weight. After a meal, you tap
what you just ate (chicken wings) and it adds to your calories.
If I were applying for YC I'd go for that 3rd one. Feel free to use these
ideas, I'm not going to make them myself.
~~~
kirubakaran
Why can't these be webapps? Are there any advantages in making these as native
iPad apps?
~~~
cj
Not everyone lives at their computer. It's more convienent to tap in what you
eat at the kitchen table with the iPad rather than walk to a computer.
~~~
icey
HTML 5 is supported on the iPad, you can install an application that looks
pretty native (including local storage) that doesn't have to go through the
crazy Apple approval process. Neven Mrgan made a game in HTML5 that
illustrates how well this works: <http://mrgan.tumblr.com/post/257187093/pie-
guy>
------
DanielBMarkham
Very interesting, Paul. Hope the experiment works.
Staging all the funding opps is a great idea, but as you point out, it sucks
to have to wait six months. I hope this makes for a good compromise for
everybody concerned.
------
pmjordan
This is a pretty interesting development. I'm wondering how YC will handle
rejections now - when you know you want to interview someone, that's pretty
straightforward. There are probably plenty of definite "no"s, too. Not having
the hard deadline will surely tempt you into watching the progress of startups
that you're undecided on for a while before making a decision, a bit like the
"big" VC courting ritual. (though considering PG's past comments on the VC
funding process, I'm assuming it won't be as frustrating for the applicants)
~~~
pg
We're not organized enough to watch the progress of so many applicants. If
we're slow to respond it will probably just be old fashioned slackness.
------
SandB0x
I want a smart alarm clock that knows that where I've got to be in the morning
and wakes me up earlier if the roads are blocked or there are major delays on
the train.
~~~
speek
<http://getzazu.com> :-)
~~~
AaronGerry
That sounds like a great app. I'd definitely use it!
------
nitrogen
I wish I would've seen that the application window was opened sooner, so I
wouldn't be one of those last-minute applications. That's what I get for
thinking the HN front page would keep me up to date on YC activities ;). I'll
be subscribing to the YC blog RSS feed now...
------
rubyrescue
Is there a correlation between number of follow-up questions and on-site
interviews? Is there a time window (just before/just after the deadline) where
more follow-up questions are typically asked?
edit - clarity
------
Roridge
Does the 13th of March still stand for all those who made the deadline?
~~~
pg
Yes.
~~~
Roridge
Cool, thanks PG... roll on next Saturday :)
------
JimBastard
I really wanted to apply for this, but the project I'm working on doesn't
really require any funding at this point. Also, I'm based in NYC.
~~~
JoshTriplett
If you have an Internet-based business and don't have any particular emphasis
on your location ("helps you navigate the local subway"), then "based in NYC"
means very little; you could always relocate for at least a summer.
As for "doesn't really require any funding", the money represents the least
important reason to work with Y Combinator. We didn't apply because we thought
$17k would make the difference between our business succeeding or failing. We
applied because we want the business guidance, connections, meetings,
resources, investor days, and the opportunity to work on our project full-time
distraction-free.
So, really, apply. :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Gnome removed solid-color backgrounds based on what developer's friends use - torstenvl
https://www.reddit.com/r/gnome/comments/dayto8/can_someone_point_me_to_the_train_of/f2214ql/
======
ken
GNOME, 2020:
> The entire backgrounds panel was rewritten from scratch, so technically
> every single feature that it had was momentarily removed and then most were
> subsequently re-added as entirely new implementations.
jwz, 2003:
> I report bugs; they go unread for a year, sometimes two; and then
> (surprise!) that module is rewritten from scratch -- and the new maintainer
> can't be bothered to check whether his new version has actually solved any
> of the known problems that existed in the previous version. [...] It hardly
> seems worth even having a bug system if the frequency of from-scratch
> rewrites always outstrips the pace of bug fixing.
------
Jonnax
Reading the thread, including the parent post the OP omitted, it looks like
they rewrote the background picker. And decided that this wasn't worth the
time to reimplement.
Well it's not as if people are paying for GNOME.
Is there something on the issue tracker to add it back?
Rather than creating some drama or calling out a GNOME developer, why not see
if you can implement the feature?
The odds are they'd welcome the contribution.
Edit:
Looks like it's not part of the "design vision" of GNOME.
However gotta say there seems to be a lot of hostility generated.
[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-
center/-/issues...](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-
center/-/issues/717)
The ability to change the background is apparently still available via cli:
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri ''
$ gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background primary-color '#123456'
~~~
torstenvl
Wow... discussion locked by the same dev who made the initial call...
~~~
floatingatoll
I’m glad to see they locked it so rapidly once the pile-on began. I don’t
agree with their position, but the comments over the past couple weeks have
all the hallmarks of Internet mob behavior: “It’s been months since you made
your decision and I’ve decided to stir up controversy about it again”. I’m not
sure where this was posted about three weeks ago, but that led to the pile-on
beginning here:
[https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-
center/-/issues...](https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-
center/-/issues/717#note_787127)
And now we’re here having a dramatic outrage over it too. It’s not a great
decision, but linking to this Reddit post was far less effective than linking
to a blog post about this controversy would have been.
I wish we could have read a proper written story posted to HN about this,
rather than being expected to sort through a haphazard pile of user comments
without context. Is this only interesting because it’s disagreeable? Is the
survey methodology the focus? Why did this matter to whoever posted it? Tell
us a better story next time, OP.
------
varbhat
Why is Gnome forgetting that Gnome is being used by many newcomers.
It has lot of defaults non-appealing to many(no minimize, maximum window
buttons, trackpad defaults to MacOS style controls, etc.). Also bar on left is
non intuitive to many. Due to these reasons,bany extensions are necessary.
That's the reason why i think that Mate and KDE Plasma are better alternative
DEs for beginners.
------
tsar9x
Well, this is how Gnome works, their way or highway. It's funny when they
emphasize community importance, but most of the time few people are calling
the shots.
------
bjoli
I tried to find it today! I ended up making a solid blackish image instead.
Reidiculous.
~~~
taeric
I think I had to do that with my phone one time. Did feel silly.
~~~
mikelward
Years ago, on my Android phone, I took a photo of my finger covering the lens,
so I could have a black wallpaper. That way, I could save battery, and easily
see all my icons.
------
silverreads
This is why people call it open sores. You have no idea what feature you need
will be removed tomorrow. Software perfection is not achieved with constant
churn, so I'm not really sure what they are aiming for. Fresh code? Rat wheel.
Good thing mate exists and is maintained.
------
t-writescode
Doesn’t Gtk provide a color picker component they could just shove on a tab
and use?
[https://developer.gnome.org/libgnomeui/stable/GnomeColorPick...](https://developer.gnome.org/libgnomeui/stable/GnomeColorPicker.html)
?
------
Minor49er
I don't use Gnome because of this kind of attitude they take toward its
development (XFCE and Cinnamon are my jam). But for people who do use Gnome,
do you expect these kinds of changes and welcome them? Or do you stick to a
particular version?
------
russellbeattie
It's nice to read stuff like this. I'd hate to think I moved to Mac a decade
ago only for Linux's most popular GUI to get it's head out of it's ass
afterwards.
Gnome being Gnome gives me a deep sense of a decision well made.
~~~
schwartzworld
Yeah Apple never removes popular basic features from their devices...
------
Borlands
Gnome devs don’t really like solid background colours. the cli is so much more
practical, user friendly, and follows headless ui system guidelines.
Also you can call to your inner geekness when discovering this easter egg. All
fun!
~~~
amberj8
I'm really not sure if you're being sarcastic or genuine.
Obviously, if you're being genuine, you shouldn't ever wonder why no one uses
Gnome.
And if you're being sarcastic, well then... carry on! :)
~~~
Borlands
Thanks, I’m afraid my Sarcastic level was on extra-high mode :/
I loved gnome, but since moved on to xfce.
Edit: I still love gnome, just bring the goddamn solid background colours back
------
pjmlp
Add that to the great idea of using JavaScript everywhere because it is more
"welcoming" for new developer members.
And this is why I ended up using XFCE instead.
------
DiJu519
I've had my backgroumd as pure black on every machine I've ever used... Even
my phones.
~~~
MR4D
Dark gray for me.
Save memory too.
This decision seems dab to me, as the feature had to pretty simple to keep in.
~~~
inetknght
> _This decision seems dab to me_
What does that mean?
~~~
MR4D
Crazy autocorrect issue. I typed “dumb”. Weird.
~~~
olliej
Autocorrect is always ducking amazing :D
------
rurban
It's simply a huge memory regression, thus a bug. Low memory devices cannot
use gnome then. Maybe they do care about low memory devices, but I doubt so.
------
smabie
Does xsetroot not work? I just set my background in my .xinitrc file with:
xsetroot -solid grey25
But in general, unless you're a novice user, I've never understood the need
for the heavyweight DEs like gnome or kde. A terminal and a window manager
with no border decorations is a lot more pleasant.
~~~
olliej
... yes, because everyone should know how to do that? That’s obviously a core
part of learning to use a windowing system.
------
plerpin
Ah, the science of UX.
------
dpc_pw
Setting solid background is... Super niche. Good idea to just not bother.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Serious bug found in Excel 2007 ::: 850*77.1 = 100,000 and not 65535 - nickb
http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.excel/browse_thread/thread/2bcad1a1a4861879/2f8806d5400dfe22?hl=en&#
======
savrajsingh
somebody pointed out that Excel is storing the value correctly as 65535, but
is setting the text as "100,000". Here's how to test. type the equation in
cell A1. Hit Alt+F11, then CTRL+G to get to the "VBA Immediate Window". Type
print Range("A1").Value and hit enter. You'll get 65535. If you do .Text
instead, you'll get 100000.
Even better, If you make Cell A2 =A1*2, you get 131070. A3 =A1+1 yields
100001. Hmm. ;)
~~~
oditogre
[http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=307215&cid=207394...](http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=307215&cid=20739457)
That seems like the most plausible theory I've seen so far.
------
drm237
Is it really "Serious" though? I mean, this isn't exactly devastating. Office
2007 has been out for almost a year and this being the first time we've heard
about it seems to imply that not many users have run into this issue. It's
poor that this got by their internal testing, but I'm not sure it's Serious.
~~~
nickb
Well, how many have actually gone undetected? There are quite a few papers out
there that show that Excel-induced accounting/financial errors are a lot more
common than previously thought. Some financial services have gone as so far to
prohibit the use of Excel in their financial planning and forecasting.
Check out some of the papers on Google Scholar for bibliography:
[http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&safe=off...](http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=excel+bug&btnG=Search)
~~~
mojuba
I guess Microsoft's valuation of Facebook was done in Excel. Can anybody check
if 6,553,500,000 gives 10,000,000,000 ?
~~~
hello_moto
"Microsoft in recent weeks approached Facebook with proposals to invest in the
startup that could value the fast-growing site at $10 billion or higher, said
people familiar with the matter."
Who puts the valuation for Facebook? was it MS or WSJ assumption?
------
mojuba
Funny thing is, 65,536 is 200,000 octal. They can't even make elegant
mistakes.
~~~
henning
Somehow I don't think the idea of an elegant mistake would go over very well
with Ballmer. God damn philistine business people.
------
Xichekolas
Uh, hello?!, this is a feature... somehow...
~~~
breck
Not just a feature--it's my favorite feature! I charge clients $850 per day
and make sure each contract lasts 77.1 days. Then I have them compute the
total in Excel themselves(so they can be sure the amount is correct) and write
me a check for $100,000. It's a feature!!
------
mynameishere
Microsoft calc.exe gets the answer right.
~~~
nailer
OpenOffice calc gets it right too.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Apple Watch Review - happyscrappy
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9381/the-apple-watch-review
======
danmatte
This is the first disclosure on the S1's CPU and several other things, for
those interested.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
More on Postgres Trigger Performance - samaysharma
https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/more-on-postgres-trigger-performance/
======
samaysharma
Part 1 of the blog post here: [https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/are-
triggers-really-t...](https://www.cybertec-postgresql.com/en/are-triggers-
really-that-slow-in-postgres/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Brief History of BitBacker, A Startup - dowskitest
http://blog.extracheese.org/2009/07/a-brief-history-of-bitbacker-a-startup.html
======
jrnkntl
For our startup it was the other way around, by releasing too early there was
an extreme pressure on us. Not only by the users and their complaints/feature
requests/etc but also by all the things we still needed to fix/develop/polish.
Looking back I think we were way better off when we would have released a 1.0
that was thoroughly tested and worked as advertised instead of a 0.2 alpha
ready to be used by the public and introducing all kinds of extra stuff that
slowed down actual development and introduced a sh*tload of other problems.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Is Microsoft’s Edge browser really faster than Google’s Chrome? - xfiler
http://cd-rw.org/t/is-microsofts-edge-browser-really-faster-than-googles-chrome/35
======
BinaryIdiot
> For the Edge browser Microsoft has again decided to develop their own
> rendering engine, instead of relying on open source alternatives (Blink,
> Gecko, WebKit). I have to doubt their decision as a browser engine is a big
> development effort and they need to be updating it from now to eternity.
Um, why would they move when they already have an engine? Sure you can argue
they should have moved to WebKit or Gecko or even Opera's rendering engine
years ago but Trident has been improved significantly over the years. Don't
forget Edge is based on Trident (so it's not entirely new or anything as
implied in the post; it provided a good base to rip legacy support out of and
to improve other things).
Beyond that though it seemed fine just kinda felt like the author had a bias
against Microsoft from that first statement where he / she questioned their
rendering engine decisions. I'm also not entirely convinced they tuned
explicitly for the benchmarks they called out; sure they may have but I don't
know that I believe they necessarily would have had to.
~~~
Klathmon
I sincerely hope they NEVER use another engine. Diversity is our friend, and
having multiple engines all on similar terms means that bugs won't end up as
"correct" and it helps push everyone forward.
~~~
giancarlostoro
If they used an open source engine, I would hope it would be that they would
open source their own engine. That would be nice to see. Considering Microsoft
open sourcing other projects, and this particular product they give out
somewhat freely already. Would also allow a community to build up around it,
and report as well as possibly contribute bug fixes.
------
ctvo
After sadly verifying Microsoft's claims, author goes on to find third party
benchmarks where they'd lose to make the point he initially wanted to make.
~~~
theg2
"Well these tests don't meet my expectations so lets keep testing using other
benchmarks until I'm validated".
~~~
Gys
Authors explanation:
'It seems like Microsoft has been targeting their optimization effort for the
competitor benchmarks in order to show impressive results for their new
product. When it comes to more intensive and complex HTML5 benchmarks they are
still miles behind the competition.'
Reasonable explanation to me.
~~~
Joeri
I think instead they worked in JavaScript performance, so in js benchmarks
like sunspider and octane they do well. Meanwhile their page loading was not
as optimized, so benchmarks that test loading whole pages such as peacekeeper
don't perform as well.
~~~
Gys
Peacekeeper itself says they focus on js.
[http://peacekeeper.futuremark.com/faq.action](http://peacekeeper.futuremark.com/faq.action):
Peacekeeper measures your browser's performance by testing its JavaScript
functionality. JavaScript is a widely used programming language used in the
creation of modern websites to provide features such as animation, navigation,
forms and other common requirements. By measuring a browser’s ability to
handle commonly used JavaScript functions Peacekeeper can evaluate its
performance.
------
Klathmon
It all depends on your workload.
I'm working on a web app that uses typed arrays heavily.
Chrome runs my test case in 2.7 seconds, Firefox in 3.2, and IE Edge in 23
seconds... (ie 11 in 30+)
Now to be fair i developed "for" firefox, checking that it worked in IE and
chrome the whole way, but that is a pretty large performance difference.
Plus i've always hated benchmarks. They are so easy to "game" without real
improvements in actual code. They are great for development and regression
testing, but when used to compare engines i've found they are nearly useless.
All that being said, I applaud the IE team for really sticking to their
promise of improving the browser and it seems they are going to give Chrome
and FF a run for their money soon.
~~~
thekingshorses
> Chrome runs my test case in 2.7 seconds, Firefox in 3.2, and IE Edge in 23
> seconds... (ie 11 in 30+)
I think you are doing something wrong. I have a light app and very heavy SPA
(written really badly with almost 5mb of code, D3 + Highcharts). Still, both
app loads in less than 4 seconds in IE 11, FF, Chrome and Safari.
~~~
Klathmon
It's not page load, its the actual application running.
It does some fairly heavy image manipulation in web workers using typed
arrays. The app loads a little faster in IE (the code comes in just under
1mb), but the runtime of my few test cases are magnitudes slower.
------
harigov
I read it as - the browser is fast at its core but still needs to optimize for
the advanced HTML5 features. I guess it will get better over time. This is a
good start. No matter what people think, this is a great step forward. Web as
a platform is only as open as the variety of rendering engines providing
standards compliant features are. If all the browsers are standardizing on the
same rendering engine, it's not the web platform that is standard but that
particular rendering engine. Even if it is open source, having multiple
competing implementations supporting the same standard is a good thing.
Especially when companies would like to push for features that benefit them at
the expense of overall community.
------
calvin
Issue #1: performance claims based on tests from one device configuration. The
best performance data is gathered from as many sources as possible. In the
spectrum of statistics, one data point is not enough.
Issue #2: "Personally I have found the Peacekeeper results to be a reliable
measurement of web browsers performance." Is there data to back up this claim?
~~~
pcwalton
I doubt Peacekeeper is representative of real Web pages. It primarily
benchmarks things that are easy to measure. Peacekeeper also has several bugs:
* It accidentally benchmarks setTimeout clamping. [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=610077](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=610077) is a dependency of peacekeeper. [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=608648](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=608648) is an example in which setTimeout clamping affects the score a lot.
* Its benchmark of array.splice() is extremely strange: [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=592786](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=592786)
* Its layout benchmarks do not really stress layout and instead either stress basic painting operations or DOM accessors. Most pages do not sit there calling style.top in a loop over and over.
* It sets MozTransform only in Firefox without setting values in Chrome: [https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=920659](https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=920659)
And so on.
There is no reason to think that Peacekeeper's JS benchmarks are particularly
better than V8's; in fact, they're probably worse, due to the proliferation of
microbenchmarks. You'd get about the same effect by going to jsperf.com and
clicking around.
------
jamespacileo
I believe that Peacekeeper/Browsermark give a lot of weight to WebGL and
related computations, which aren't currently optimised in Edge.
Octane and SunSpider give more weight to the rest.
It'd be very impressive if Edge was faster all round.
------
bithead
_" Also note out previous tests with Linux Mint vs Windows 10 which suggest
that Chrome actually runs faster on Linux than it does on Windows."_
Honestly, _any_ test between a microsoft product and a competitor run on
microsoft's operating system has to be viewed with a grain of salt. What's
interesting here is the degree of trust given to a vendor that has tried to
rig/break even hardware to lock out competition:
[http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/...](http://antitrust.slated.org/www.iowaconsumercase.org/011607/3000/PX03020.pdf)
And yes, bg still has a lot of swing at microsoft:
[http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-is-back-at-
microso...](http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-is-back-at-microsoft-
big-time-2014-10)
Worse below, there are people simultaneously believing in a vendor that has
long track record establishing their "rig the game" overarching corporate
strategy and dissing the blog author for doubting the vendor's claims, even to
the extent of accusing the author, who checked only two HTML5 benchmarks, of
going on a witch hunt to find benchmarks that disadvantaged the vendor.
~~~
pmelendez
From the text:
> "If seems unfortunate if we do this work and get our partners to do the work
> and the result is that Linux works great without having to do the work."
Maybe I'm being too naive, but this sounds more like he is concerned about
giving away the work rather than locking people in.
I would prefer if these kind of initiative are open source but in my opinion
each company have the right to release as they please the technology they
develop. In my mind, this is the same case that Apple with the Thunderbolt,
and I think is fair that if Apple decide to keep its technology as private
they should be able to do so.
------
pbiggar
The SunSpider benchmark is bullshit, and you shouldn't take anything from it.
In particular, Chrome stopped optimizing for SunSpider with their last JIT, as
they optimized for longer running apps (such as ones you'd find on the web)
but took a hit on SunSpider.
But SunSpider is a really bad benchmark anyway. All benchmarks are bad and
suffer real problems, but SunSpider more than most.
------
coldtea
> _I have to doubt their decision as a browser engine is a big development
> effort and they need to be updating it from now to eternity._
I have to doubt his judgement. Microsoft is a huge software companie, the
biggest in the world. Much more than Apple or Google.
Not only they can do that, but they also need to be in control of their stack.
------
threeseed
Not sure what the point of this is. Microsoft never argued that Edge is faster
than Chrome at everything. They specifically said it was faster for certain
benchmarks.
But the author is upset because it isn't faster for the specific benchmarks he
prefers. If it's slower at Peacekeeper does that specifically mean that the
browser is now slow ?
And then weirdly Mint/Linux comes into the argument as though it has any
relevance to Edge. Nobody is switching operating systems because of browser
microbenchmarks.
~~~
StedeBonnet
Why so negative?
The post 1st validates Microsoft claims whether they hold. His tests show that
Edge is faster on SunSpider/Octane, but not by the margin that Microsoft
suggested. The article also points out that old HW is used as the test bench
and that HW will make a difference.
Then the article expands the scope to other benchmarks, and there is a
(subjective opinion) that Peacekeepers results hold in real world.
I can't see where the author is upset. Rather I see a typical geek hobbyist
experiment and the results posted to a FORUM community - not to a professional
or scientific publication.
------
Trombone12
Absent from both the original blog post and the OP is Mozillas kraken test, is
firefox simply dismissed as slow these days, and their benchmark just
discarded to the annals of time?
From arewefastyet.com they seem to be doing ok, (even if they keep testing
some really slow chrome version for some reason) and so it seems strange they
are being left out.
~~~
21echoes
Yeah it seems rather ridiculous to me that Firefox isn't mentioned here --
Firefox consistently beats Chrome on the three major benchmarks (SunSpider,
Octane, and Kraken).
------
kmfrk
I really hope browser races doesn’t get boiled down to performance, but also
things like resource-hogging, which has made it practically impossible for me
to use Chrome on my MacBook.
If Edge can be to Windows 10 what Safari is to OS X, I’ll try to do what I can
to move my browser workflow to Edge as much as possible.
------
zobzu
In use on common webpages edge feels very snappy. At least as much as firefox
and chrome. Good enough for me.
------
ricklancee
i'd rather they implement more stuff
[http://caniuse.com/#compare=ie+10,ie+11,ie+Edge,firefox+39,c...](http://caniuse.com/#compare=ie+10,ie+11,ie+Edge,firefox+39,chrome+43,safari+8)
------
FriedrichNahme
Security, privacy and usability are much more important to me than raw
performance.
~~~
lern_too_spel
For those three and web standards support, things look even worse for Edge.
~~~
calvin
Based on what evidence?
IE11 has pretty solid web standards support:
[https://status.modern.ie/?iestatuses=implemented&browserstat...](https://status.modern.ie/?iestatuses=implemented&browserstatuses=&browsers=chrome,firefox,opera,safari&ieversion=11)
And Edge promises a lot more.
~~~
lern_too_spel
It's significantly worse than Safari, and that's saying a lot.
[http://html5test.com/results/desktop.html](http://html5test.com/results/desktop.html)
------
borplk
First thing I thought was the law of headlines
~~~
eli
Except in this case the answer is somewhere between "yes" and "sometimes"
------
thisjepisje
Betteridge's law of headlines hehe
------
mythz
TL;DR
> What to make of these results? It seems like Microsoft has been targeting
> their optimization effort for the competitor benchmarks in order to show
> impressive results for their new product. When it comes to more intensive
> and complex HTML5 benchmarks they are still miles behind the competition.
~~~
theg2
As I posted on another comment, the TL;DR is more like this:
"Well these tests don't meet my expectations so lets keep testing using other
benchmarks until I'm validated".
~~~
mythz
His conclusion stands, he's got 1/2 of the claimed perf gains from the using
the benchmarks the Edge Team advertised, but when tested against other
Independent benchmarks Edge's performance falls dramatically short, making it
reasonable to deduce Edge is optimized around the benchmarks the PR team is
advertising.
~~~
heinrich5991
It's unclear how these additional tests were selected. If the criterium was to
find a benchmark where Chrome performs better, then you can't conclude much
from this.
~~~
sp332
The IE team has said that they prioritize features based on how they are used
on the most popular websites. I'd like to see a benchmark that was just the
wall-clock time to load the Alexa Top 1,000.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Is the secret of productivity really just doing what you enjoy? - quantisan
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/oct/05/secret-of-productivity-time-management-theory
======
throwaway5250
I don't know whether this is really an implementable method (at least for most
of us), but I want it to be true.
It reminds me of the Grazing Principle, from _Beyond Success and Failure_
(Beecher):
"The Grazing Principle is at the root of all great discoveries, and it is the
path of our enlightenment. It might be called 'horse sense', since every horse
is a fine exponent of the principle. If you turn him loose on a roadside, he
begins to graze immediately. He sees a clump of grass and starts to eat. While
he is nibbling this clump, he sees another not more than a half-step away. He
reaches for it, and as he is cropping it, his eye falls on yet another clump
just a short step ahead of him. And that is all he does all day! But by
nightfall, he is miles away from where he started. Without any thought of
'getting ahead in life', he has moved into new grazing areas continuously. And
most of all, he has enjoyed every moment of the process. No fuss or anxiety.
No need for rewards or recognition outside himself."
------
lost_at_sea
No, the secret is doing what you find compelling. Sometimes that's what you
enjoy but often it's difficult but worthwhile.
------
notjtrig
I was reading today, the key to productivity is doing what you do not enjoy.
Instead of working on projects you would like to be doing, pick the ones you
don't want to do and get them out of the way.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: In a hyper conformist world, will you raise your child as a free thinker? - spacewhale
======
spacewhale
If the world you live requires you to be a hyper conformist, to lead a peace
full, happy life, will you raise your children as a free thinker?
For example, will you encourage the child to question you and talk back when
you ask him/her to do something, if encouraging it might cause them
problems/conflicts later in life?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Grasp2Vec: Learning Object Representations from Self-Supervised Grasping - rbanffy
https://ai.googleblog.com/2018/12/grasp2vec-learning-object.html
======
ericjang
I'm one of the authors of the paper. Many folks from our lab (including
myself) are super bullish on "using robots to supervise representation
learning and using representation learning to supervise robots". Happy to
answer any questions!
~~~
yazr
Why is everyone turning to a xxx2vec representation?
Obviously, NN work well with one-hot and other vector relations. But I keep
wondering why some sort of higher-order-input graph-network (Kipf,etc) is not
more popular.
What has been your experience ?
~~~
mlthoughts2018
It begs the question of creating something like “2vec2vec”, a vectorization
model that takes vectorization models as input and embeds them in a vector
space that encodes representational semantics of vectorization models into
linear operations in a vector space.
Of course then you just run 2vec2vec through itself and get the vectorized
representation of a vectorized representation model of vectorized
representations.
~~~
sjg007
This would define an AI that classifies if something has jumped the shark or
not.
------
hideo
It's linked from above - putting it here for anyone else looking for videos.
I found more content at
[https://sites.google.com/site/grasp2vec/](https://sites.google.com/site/grasp2vec/)
And this video
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z1q7zSQERrm_tgboGGoG8MHewj1...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z1q7zSQERrm_tgboGGoG8MHewj1bV76i/view)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Something about IR Optimization - sctb
https://brrt-to-the-future.blogspot.com/2019/03/something-about-ir-optimization.html
======
slavapestov
Every JIT that starts out by generating code directly from expression trees or
bytecode eventually grows an ad-hoc optimizer and IR. I think its probably
better to avoid all the dead ends and lower directly to an SSA IR. You can
then implement tried-and-true optimizations from compiler textbooks, and
concerns such as "optimizing across expression boundaries" or "my expression
tree is actually a DAG" are defined away completely.
~~~
brrt
Hi! Author here. Honest question, because I don't know all the facts:
\- Given that in this IR, every value has a single definition, and every use
must reference that value, I'd argue that this is already SSA form.
\- In fact, the concept of 'variable' is mostly missing, there's only a
repeated reference to the same value. I think that simplifies things a lot,
but maybe too much.
\- Optimizing across expression boundaries is in fact very much the point, if
we can keep the semantics the same.
Thanks for your interest!
~~~
comex
Well... one thing that's usually done as part of converting something to SSA
form is computing the dominator tree. If you did that, you could relatively
cheaply solve this:
> But it also means that the property we're interested in - a value is
> computed before it is used in, in all possible code flow paths - isn't
> really expressible by the IR.
...since you could verify that the blocks a value is used in are dominated by
the block it's computed in.
------
matt0987
Just a note that this IR sounds a lot like the Testarossa Trees IR:
[https://github.com/eclipse/omr/blob/master/doc/compiler/il/I...](https://github.com/eclipse/omr/blob/master/doc/compiler/il/IntroToTrees.md)
In that IR the rule is that sharing cannot pass basic-block boundaries because
of the exact kind of bug you indicate.
~~~
brrt
Thank you for that link! That does look like it is a very similar IR structure
indeed. Very interesting.
------
UncleEntity
> For instance, if two branches of a conditional expression both refer to the
> same value (represented by name $foo) then the code generator will only emit
> code to compute its value when it encounters the first reference. When the
> code generator encounters $foo for the second time in the other branch, no
> code will be emitted.
Isn't that what phi nodes were designed to fix?
~~~
ridiculous_fish
I don't think so - phi nodes solve the "problem" of expressing a value in SSA
one-definition form, when that value is control-flow dependent. But this is
really an artifact of SSA form.
This seems like a much weirder problem, in which the optimizer is unaware of
control flow and so will allow a value to reference an instruction that does
not dominate it.
LLVM's IR verifier ensures that instructions dominate all of their uses, which
simply means that all users of an instruction must provably execute after that
instruction. This verification step seems to be what's missing.
~~~
brrt
Hi! Author here. I think you hit the nail on the head here. The optimizer _is_
unaware of the control flow, because the control flow is _added_ by the code
generator.(And with it, the distinction between computing a value and
referencing it). It's a control-flow-less IR, sort of.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Rise of the ‘Unicorns’ - CapitalistCartr
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/01/business/dealbook/The-Rise-of-the-Unicorns.html
======
washedup
I was impressed to see how little venture capital SpaceX has taken over the
years. Of course there was a lot of funding from Musk (is this the seed
funding in '06?), but very impressed to see them build out very successful and
complicated products with only a few hundred million before 2015. Looks like
they are now confident enough in their process and goals to begin accepting
lot's of venture capital.
It also seems to me that SpaceX should not be in this list. Being a company
that focuses on physical technologies, it is almost a different beast
altogether than the rest of the software-based group. Hard to compare it's
company and funding structure to the others when it involves a much more
complicated logistical chain, development period, and roll out.
EDIT: SpaceX has received almost $1 billion in funding from NASA over the
years. It's unclear to me, however, how this funding works. Is it an up-front
payment for future launches, or purely award money?
~~~
mycroft-holmes
Serious question: do they count government money as VC money? Haven't they
received a considerable amount of money through NASA?
~~~
bhauer
NASA isn't _investing_ in SpaceX, though, right? They're just paying SpaceX
for services rendered.
~~~
rhino369
It's not technically investment but it sort of is. The government pays for
development of a product that might not even work.
But it's par for the course in that industry.
------
corford
I know Evan Spiegel's a seriously smart guy but I can't shake the feeling that
Snapchat is the Myspace of the current batch of unicorns and he's going to
eventually regret not selling to FB or Google back in 2013.
Though I thought FB stock would slip and permanently stay under $30 after the
IPO so what do I know :)
From this NYtimes list, my two favourites are SpaceX and Stripe.
~~~
imjk
Serious question, in what ways is Snapchat similar to MySpace? Poor UI and
disregard for user experience? Buggy code? Bloated executive team?
Bureaucratic management? The only parallel I see is that it's a trendy
technology among a younger cohort that tends to be very fickle.
~~~
corford
The last one is the obvious one and I think it's big enough to kill them.
Unlike, say, Whatsapp, Snapchat's demographic is extremely teen & early
twenties heavy. That's the worst demographic to be in if you're a hip
app/product/service looking for longevity (and your only real party trick is
messages sent through your service are ephemeral). Users in this demographic
are also terrible for monetising (unless you're a game :) ).
Having said all that, I'm judging it from anecdotal evidence available to me.
None of my friends use snapchat (all late twenties and early thirties) but
they do use twitter, fb, vine (on occasion), whatsapp etc. The only people I
know that have snapchat on their phone and use it regularly are all < 23 yrs
old. Of course, could simply be my friends and I are totally out of touch!
Edit: interestingly, just realised none of my friends (female or male) use
pinterest either (which, from what I've read, has a wider demographic). So
maybe we're just a bunch of luddite weirdos...
~~~
the_watcher
I'm 26, one year ahead of Spiegel in school (my brother was his year at
Stanford), and I don't use Snapchat (I have an account, I download it maybe
every other month to see what's changed, but have never been able to get into
it). I'm an outlier in my social circles. All my friends use it. Also, a few
weeks ago, Bill Simmons (Grantland creator) used it while at Wrestlemania. One
year ago, he would have tweeted it from @GrantlandLive. Grantland has been
really good at leveraging social technology, and were ahead of the curve on
livestreaming, so to me, the fact that basically everyone I know my age and
younger uses Snapchat, and that an organization that's done a great job using
social tools is starting to try and figure it out tells me that its here to
stay for at least the near future.
------
lifeisstillgood
I really find SpaceX fundamentally _unfair_. It's as if The USA politically is
jammed, but the administration just kind of ignores this and goes around
making killer long term investments in everything from NASA to biotech. And
it's not like this is SpaceX getting the fat from the US - they deserve it,
it's just that it's an American thing - no other nation is even close to
"let's fund private capital to learn from public investment" on this scale.
Never mind the also-rans like Uber or airbnb, who frankly are just playing
fast and loose with the rules, and never mind the companies like square or
stripe or Dropbox who are using new technology to solve old problems, the real
reveal in this list (and my poor knowledge of the other (70!) billion dollar
unicorns, is that American public investments made decades ago are paying real
dividends in private capital even today.
And the UK? We don't even have an aircraft carrier. The last time we landed
something on Mars, it was not the result of a pipeline of funded missions, it
was a one time try out.
Damn it. We are going to have to go European if we want to go toe to toe with
US, India and China.
And those investments start today, and trust me, our politics is too jammed up
to make them.
So who has been making yours? Can we borrow them?
Edit: just to clarify, _yes_ SpaceX / Musk really took risks and deserves the
rewards. _yes_ , they are "just" borrowing NASA technology. And that's the
point. Only the US has the technology to borrow and the willingness to hand it
over to the private sector. That's kind of the unfair bit
------
AlexMuir
Snapchat and pinterest are the two anomalies in that list. The rest are real
businesses with meaningful revenue.
------
mhartl
A couple of quick observations:
* Three of the ten unicorns (Airbnb, Dropbox, and Stripe) were funded by Y Combinator, while a fourth (Pinterest) was founded by two-time YC alum Ben Silbermann.
* All of the unicorns are headquartered in California. Eight are in "Silicon Valley" (i.e., the actual physical valley plus San Francisco), and two (Snapchat and SpaceX) are in Los Angeles.
~~~
gitah
The list didn't include Xiaomi (not in California) which is the biggest
unicorn of them all at a 45M valuation.
But it also missed a lot of other Californian unicorns like Theranos.
~~~
mhartl
You mean $45 billion?
------
venomsnake
Has any of these Unicorns been in the black?
~~~
corford
At a guess, Stripe probably is or has been. SpaceX maybe too if you count the
NASA cash as advance purchase for future service.
------
peter303
It was Fortune Magazine that started this meme of billion dollar startup
companies a few issues ago. A Unicorn might be "too good to be real".
~~~
gitah
Incredible how fast the term "unicorn" got popularized. Word of the year of
2015 for sure.
I'm also betting on the term "uberpreneur" to blow up soon, which refers to
people making a living off the on-demand economy.
------
kraig911
Uber kind of seemed over valued to me compared to the likes of SpaceX, DropBox
etc. Is it really worth that much?
~~~
sremani
Uber is not over valued. They are about to re-define, the transportation and
logistics of the whole world. Of course they are lot of rough edges and they
are facing bureaucratic walls and demonstrated some old Microsoft style Evil
Empire style tactics, the company reeks of Domination mentality and they have
enough traction. Where Lyft et al. try cultural things to attract, Uber is an
efficiency monster. Their coverage is bigger and better in terms of both Areas
of the Cities (esp. DFW) and platforms (including Windows Phone). There is lot
of potential increasing the taxi market share as well as expanding into other
markets/services like delivery etc and/or making fleet arrangements with
Cities or Companies. of course the futuristic self-driving cars and de-
coupling transportation from car ownership is a vision Uber rightly fits into.
If I can buy Stock, I will bet my House on Uber.
~~~
washedup
Uber will be in a great spot if they are thinking about integrating the
technology with self-driving cars. That's how the landscape will most likely
look in 5-10 years. Uber + Car Sharing + Driverless cars.
~~~
mark-r
I think your time line for driverless cars is unrealistically short. It will
be a very long time before we trust the technology enough to allow a car where
there's no driver to take over in an unanticipated event.
~~~
CPLX
And even longer still before it's __economically __more rational to do so,
versus paying one of the many low skilled workers handling the job now.
~~~
rhino369
If we had cheap self driving cars, it would be immediately economical. Those
cheap low skilled workers are still taking 80% of the revenue.
~~~
dougabug
The Uber drivers are paying for the cost of the car, gas, maintenance,
parking/garage, most of the insurance, etc. plus supplying the labor, while
Uber takes probably around 80% of the profit. Getting rid of the driver means
that Uber would have to spend ~$50B to put a million self driving cars on the
road, which would immediately start depreciating. Plus it will need thousands
of well situated facilities necessary to garage, maintain, and dispatch them.
------
eli_gottlieb
Look, if you start re-using the term for "thing that's impossible to find
because it doesn't exist, but people go around looking for it nonetheless" for
"many really large Silicon Valley companies", I think it's time to declare a
bubble has inflated.
~~~
gdubs
One must allow for some poetic license...
Most startups tank. The reason they're calling these companies unicorns is
because of how rare success is, especially at this scale. They don't mean
literally that these companies are imaginary.
------
synaesthesisx
"Venture capital" valuations ≠ real money. Bubble burst in 3...2..
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Samsung accidentally sends 'Find My Mobile' notifications to Galaxy phones - xarpus
https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-accidentally-sends-out-find-my-mobile-push-notification-galaxy-phones-worldwide
======
totalZero
This notification comes from an app that is designed to tell a remote user
where you are located. That was enough to spook me.
I dismissed the notification, deleted as much data from Samsung apps as
possible, and turned my phone off.
Rough moment to be a Samsung executive. They're just about the only top
smartphone manufacturer that doesn't manufacture the vast majority of their
handsets in China so presumably they are in position to take some market share
from the competition. Yet today we are seeing some fear about contagion in SK,
and this very strange notification that -- benign or not -- is going to scare
some users (e.g. me). I for one would like to see a formal statement made to
the public.
~~~
mbag
This spooked me as well. I never used any of the Samsung apps on my phone and
never created the Samsung account. Since apps come pre-installed, it was in
the back of my head that Samsung could access the data anyway, but I dismissed
it as company suicide to do something like this.
Since so many people received notification, it could be that some "Samsung God
mode" exists.
~~~
totalZero
On the idea that taking and sharing your personal data without an opt-in would
be company suicide:
Samsung has already hit this sort of scandal with its smart televisions and
nobody really cared.
[https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-
rec...](https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-
living-room-chatter/)
The expectation that the free market will keep companies from spying on
us...well, it would be nice, but increasingly it seems to be wishful thinking.
------
retSava
I don't know the best way to handle customer worries after sth like this, but
I'm sure "a samsung care ambassador replied on page 22" is not the best way.
At the very least, ensure that a google/bing/ddg/... search ends up in that
thread, where a pinned note explains it.
------
withinrafael
Here's a screenshot I took of what it looks like
[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ERM8lVvUwAA9kSl?format=jpg&name=...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ERM8lVvUwAA9kSl?format=jpg&name=large)
Not touching it.
~~~
tartrate
If you touch it it goes away.
------
alexmorley
From a Samsung Care Abassador on page 22 of comments:
> Hey everyone,
> From what I can tell, this is a some test on Samsung's end to assure
> services are working. U expect Samsung will make an official statement
> explaining but I want to mention it now to hopefully put some of you at
> ease.
> I hope this helps.
~~~
jsjddbbwj
Samsung Care Ambassador sounds like someone who answers questions in that
forum and doesn't get paid
~~~
dastx
Exactly and it sounds like they don't know why it happened either.
------
beatgammit
Linux phones can't come soon enough. I don't need many features, I just need
calls, texts, a web browser, and an SSH utility. I'm willing to give up a lot
of features just to have control over my phone.
Is it too much to ask for me to have exclusive control over my devices?
~~~
doublerabbit
A symbian phone from the 90’s could do all of this. Blackberry phones could do
this.
I miss the days where different manufacturers actually created their own phone
Firmware/OS.
------
markosaric
Happened to me too this morning! Spooky! I had to figure out how to delete
this app as it's not possible to do using normal interface:
In "About Phone" tap 7 times on the "Build Number" to enable "Developer
Options"
In "Developer Options" enable "USB Debugging"
Connect your phone to your laptop with your USB cable
Install "adb" (android-tools) on your computer
In a terminal type: adb devices
Then type: adb shell
Then type: pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.samsung.android.fmm
"FMM" is what they call "Find My Mobile"
You can remove other bloat too. Search for example for all Samsung apps using:
pm list packages | grep 'samsung'
That's it. Worked fine for me. Phone still works without any issues. Hopefully
I now get better battery too!
------
yumraj
Genuinely curious who comes up with titles like: Samsung _Care Ambassador_
~~~
jlgaddis
I wouldn't be surprised if that's one of those unpaid / volunteer things --
you know, where the company _allows_ one to provide free support to other
customers for, um, the "prestige" or "recognition" or something. Dell used to
do that with their forums and such, not sure if they still do.
Kinda like how years ago [0] folks who wanted you to design a web site for
them for free would try to bullshit you into believing that "the exposure"
would be worth _waaaaaaay_ more than any money that they might pay you.
\---
[0]: I'm assuming enough people finally said "FYPM" that this doesn't happen
so much anymore but I would not be shocked to find out I'm wrong.
------
BossingAround
This also freaked me out in the morning. Right after that, I randomly heard
about Google accusing Samsung of increasing the attack vector on their phones
[1].
[1] [https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-to-samsung-stop-
messing...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/google-to-samsung-stop-messing-with-
linux-kernel-code-its-hurting-android-security/)
------
wjd2030
Either a dev was playing around and oopsied or they got hacked.
~~~
thecatspaw
and this is the reason why all my tests are reasonable sane strings which
customers could see and not something like "fuck 1", "fuck 2", etc
~~~
RL_Quine
On the other hand I'd say that having them be that is more incentive to keep
things safe.
------
me551ah
Samsung phones have only gotten worse over the years with the additional
bloatware that they preinstall on phones. All Android phones get 'Find my
Device' which is a service provided by google which works well. There is no
reason for Samsung to install an app which can remotely track location data on
it's phones and send data to it's own servers.
Another prime example of it is the preinstalled bloatware 'Samsung pay mini'
that they bundle with all phones. My phone has samsung pay mini installed and
I cannot remove or uninstall it. It is a persistent and annoying bar which
sits at the bottom of my launcher screen so it's always visible. Force
stopping it only makes it restart in a few minutes. I am never buying a
Samsung again
~~~
Lapz
There actually is a reason for find my Samsung. It works better than Google's
find my Android [1]. The pay mini thing can also be disabled from within the
Samsung pay settings [2].
[1]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/f4wq35/i_lost_my_d...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/f4wq35/i_lost_my_device_recently_i_found_out_that/)
[2] [https://imgur.com/a/H9ht808](https://imgur.com/a/H9ht808)
~~~
antongribok
On my S10+ the option to disable Pay Mini seems to be called: "Use Favorite
Cards" (not "Quick Access").
------
superbrane
For sure someone at Samsung is now called "No. 1 Developer" :)
------
kbumsik
I'm not an Android dev, but isn't it nothing about privacy or remote control
(apart from sending the notification) contrary to the reactions in the
comments?
AFAIK, Android/iOS push notifications works quite independently from the app
itself. Even if the app is not running in the background the app server can
send a message to Google/Apple (not to Samsung) and Google/Apple send the
message to the device to show the message. Correct me if I'm wrong.
~~~
londons_explore
On Android the app needs code to receive the push message and post a
notification.
On IOS, the app developer has less control.
------
kbumsik
Samsung officially announced (at least in Korea region) that it was an
accident during internal app testing and there is no effect on the device.
(The link is from a korean forum)
[https://clien.net/service/board/park/14612726](https://clien.net/service/board/park/14612726)
------
undebuggable
Just noticed the notification today morning and was wondering which bloatware
app I missed when uninstalling them all and accidentally bricking the device
couple of times. Meantime I'm still not able to set up properly the
notifications for WhatsApp, RSS client, and email client to let me know when
email/message/call is arriving, just random notification sounds and no clue
what happened and where... all I know is that "the phone needs attention".
Bring back the 3.5mm audio jack to the iPhone and I'm buying it instantly.
------
balena
I'm starting to think Samsung is running a social experiment instead
------
rdiddly
That's hilarious, this happened to me right before I saw this was my top
story. (I use the hide feature a lot.)
Anyway I guess no one's targeting me personally, so I'll just wait for the
post mortem.
------
teekert
These companies have an insane amount of control, power and insight into our
lifes via our telephones. When we see but a sliver of said power, we freak
out.
------
teekert
At least LineageOS's notification (2018) that they were going to use your
phone to mine some custom crypto currency turned out to be a joke and not an
error :) [0] Also freaked me out btw.
[0] [https://www.androidauthority.com/lineageos-april-
fools-85270...](https://www.androidauthority.com/lineageos-april-
fools-852705/)
------
amaccuish
As someone who was once "all Samsung", Samsung are really bad at software.
Their apps crashed all the time, their websites frequently errored out, they
managed to make using Android painful, SmartThings is a fiasco etc.
I wouldn't trust them with any of my personal data.
------
z3t4
While remote tracking, bricking, etc is very useful, I do not trust any
company to make it secure enough, so the features becomes moot. It would be
better if I could create a encryption key myself to be sure that only I had
access to those features.
------
Benjamin_Dobell
Wow, is there an article for this yet? Just happened to me. Not good.
~~~
whalesalad
A bunch of people got the single digit 1 as a notification.
Sounds pretty benign to me. I can think of a half dozen ways to accidentally
do that (assuming an environment without adequate safeguards)
~~~
Taniwha
They just obtained the location of EVERY phone - you don't think that wasn't
an invasion of privacy
~~~
masonic
There's no evidence of that.
I got the '1' on one of my Samsung Galaxys before I saw this. I tried using
FMP from another device on the same Samsung account. I got separate
notifications regarding that it reported my location and reported nearby WiFi
servers it could find.
The '1' notification indicated no such detail.
------
enitihas
I am thinking of buying a new android device, but it seems all manufacturers
include loads of bloatware. Is there any manufacturer apart from Google who
offer lean android devices?
~~~
ailideex
I think any AndroidOne phone should. A major issue for me is that there is
almost no Android phone that is not quite bad. I had a Nokia 7 Plus which ran
AnroidOne and it was probably one of the worst phones I ever had. I bought a
Samsung afterwards because the Nokia was not usable and while the Samsung was
also quite horrible it was at least usable. Motorola also offers the Motorola
One Vision but I can't vouch for their quality and I would guess it is also
rather bad.
~~~
jtylr
What were your issues with the Nokia? I've had mine sitting around for several
months now with a broken charging port, a persistent smudge down the left side
of the screen and it likes to restart when fast charging.
Other than that, it was a great budget phone. For now, I'm using the Motorola
One Vision and have found it to be great for the price too.
------
totetsu
99pi just released an episode about that font.
([https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-i...](https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-
id/383390iB4B1509B1DC9C547?v=1.0) )
[https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/fraktur/](https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/fraktur/)
------
A-Train
Same here. I saw it literally 1 minute ago and there is already a hackernews
article.
------
kumarvvr
Just saw it.
It said
" 1 1 "
------
poushkar
+1 here
------
sir_brickalot
Question:
I never ever created an account with Samsung. Can I still ask for all their
collected data under GDPR for my phone ID (MAC address, IMEI)? I'm guessing
something in that phone is probably calling home, right?
------
antongribok
A better article perhaps:
[https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-accidentally-sends-
ou...](https://www.androidcentral.com/samsung-accidentally-sends-out-find-my-
mobile-push-notification-galaxy-phones-worldwide)
~~~
dang
Ok, we've changed to that from
[https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Note10/Find-my-mobile-
se...](https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Note10/Find-my-mobile-sending-
notifications/td-p/1113744). Thanks!
------
willis936
Why was the title changed? This is a samsung specific issue and the loss of
specificity detracts from the title.
~~~
dang
_If the title includes the name of the site, please take it out, because the
site name will be displayed after the link._
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
(this will be moot shortly, because I'm going to change the URL)
------
DanAtC
I’d say “you get what you pay for” but it’s Samsung; I don’t know what you’re
paying for.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Recruiter says that I've interviewed but I haven't. What do I do? - beyleaf
Recently, I applied for a position at Scribd through Hacker News thread.<p>Recruiter: Thanks for applying to Scribd, we appreciate the time and effort it takes to apply. We have received your application and will review it right away. We do our best to respond within 1 business day but you will get a response either way.<p>~ After few days ~<p>Me: Any updates?<p>Recruiter: Hi, you applied and interviewed last month so we considered your application a duplicate and I don't generally send rejection emails to duplicates.<p>Me: There's a high probability that you confused me with some other person. Because I have never interviewed with your company.<p>Recruiter: You have. I have your application and my notes from our phone call. Our ATS tracks by email, you have 100% applied.<p>Me: Can you please share the notes or the emails?<p>~ Haven't heard back from her yet ~<p>I am 100% sure that I haven't interviewed with them. Has anything like this happened to you ever?
======
unavida
I would bypass the recruiter and email or call the engineering team.
~~~
beyleaf
I'm thinking of doing the same.
~~~
romanovcode
Then just do it. Recruiter will have absolutely no say if engineering will
decide to hire you.
------
wesnerm2
Use a different email.
------
meric
I wonder if someone saved interview notes with another candidate under your
name.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Mozilla boss Brendan Eich resigns after gay marriage storm - pierre-renaux
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26868536
======
betterunix
This is just sad. Gay marriage has literally _nothing_ to do with Mozilla's
work or mission, and there has not been any evidence that Eich was using his
position at Mozilla to advance some kind of anti-gay agenda. This is basically
the definition of thoughtcrime -- Eich did nothing wrong other than to have an
opinion and donate a bit of his own money to a cause he supports.
It was not all that long ago that taking a pro-gay-rights position might have
led to this kind of retaliation. If you are one of the people who rallied
against Mozilla, just remember that political winds can shift and that in a
few decades you might be the one receiving this treatment.
~~~
benched
Today, I learned just how trivial people believe gay rights are. I'm actually
surprised by it. That's much sadder to me.
~~~
tptacek
See, this comment is why we need to do a better job of keeping stories like
this off the front page. There's nothing in the comment you replied to that
indicates any cavalierness about "gay rights", and yet, there it is: the nasty
comment accusing another HN user of bad faith. Right on cue.
~~~
enko
> There's nothing in the comment you replied to that indicates any
> cavalierness about "gay rights"
You missed the point. The GP's comment, by dismissing gay right's relevance to
mozilla, implicitly treated the matter in a "cavalier" manner.
Let's do a little find/replace to prove the point. Eich donated $1000 to the
KKK. The GP notes that lynching niggers has nothing to do with the day to day
operations of Mozilla, so what's the big deal. The parent is dismayed by how
trivial black person's rights are considered by HN. What's your comment,
tptacek?
~~~
tptacek
You don't even know if you disagree with this person about marriage equality,
but here we are talking about the KKK.
~~~
enko
My opinion is irrelevant. And if your point had any validity, it would
transfer right across.
You're changing the topic - you know I'm right. Take it to heart, please.
These things are important.
------
adrusi
On the one hand I'm happy, because it will end the political controversy that
has resulted in a blow against Mozilla, but on the other, I feel kind of bad.
I mean sure, the guy is a massive prick for donating to support Prop 8, but
that honestly is no where near as relevant to his position as CEO of a
nonprofit software company as it was made to be. The guy has contributed a lot
to his field, and based on my impressions, has been very valuable to Mozilla
as an employee in the past. I fully believe that he would have been capable of
moving Mozilla in the right direction had it not been for this scandal. With
his resignation, Mozilla could end up with a CEO who hinders them instead.
~~~
ps4fanboy
Why does being against gay marriage make you a "massive prick". If people for
gay marriage wasnt a minority it would be legal already, are you saying that
the majority of the population are massive pricks, and should be ostracized
from their jobs?
EDIT: here comes the leftist downvote brigade, the sad thing is I support gay
marriage, you people should really grow a backbone.
~~~
fennecfoxen
FYI, the radical American left's approach to public policy is that you should
wage total warfare on everyone who disagrees with you, and attempt to punish
them in any way possible. Deny them business, deny any notion that they are
intelligent or decent human beings, et cetera. There is no room for pluralism,
and intellectual honesty is of secondary importance at best.
In this case, Brendan Eich is a bad person. Clearly his donation means that he
is incapable of interacting with anyone who is gay or any of his political
enemies in a civil manner, and will go out of his way to marginalize their
contributions to Mozilla. Therefore we should attempt to punish him by kicking
him out of his job.
Postscript. No representations are herein made about the non-radical American
left, other lefts, the American right, other rights, the existence or
nonexistence of a radical center, the merits of any policy proposal of any
group including the left (radical or otherwise), et cetera.
Post-postscript: See also this comment, wherein a HN user argues that we
should start boycotting any company who employs anyone who voted for Prop 8.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7470443](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7470443)
~~~
saryant
I've been on the receiving end of this due to who my father is. When I was a
kid, he was in charge of PR at a Bay Area oil refinery.
\- Activists attacking him during city council meetings and pushing for his
termination
\- An orthodontist refused to take my brother and I on as patients because he
disagreed with my father's job
\- Various, err, _packages_ left on our doorstep
\- Unprofessionalism amongst some teachers, except when they needed a donation
from the refinery. More than one snide comment.
Ironically, one of my best friends was the daughter of a lead activist in
town. That led to some awkward moments getting dropped off to hang out.
~~~
stcredzero
_\- An orthodontist refused to take my brother and I on as patients because he
disagreed with my father 's job_
Sounds a lot like things some in the religious right do that the left objects
to.
------
ludicast
I'd like to reiterate that Obama was against gay marriage during 2008 and
California, the most liberal state ever, voted against it. A lot changes in 6
years(1).
I'm a democrat in support of gay marriage because citizenship, benefits, and
filing taxes jointly should be granted regardless of sexuality.
But this witchhunt is ridiculous. However, a shitty language like js being
necessary to deal with every day, that is unforgivable.
1 - The male-born transgender Fallon Fox is hailed as a gay hero for fighting
again natural-born women. I don't agree with this (male bone structure, went
through puberty as a male), and I definitely can't see this happening in 2008
for sure.
------
ps4fanboy
I believe in gay marriage but I also believe in peoples right to oppose it,
this whole thing is shameful.
~~~
batiudrami
I don't think that at any point Eich did not have the right to hold his
opinion, just as people and companies have the right to choose not to
associate with those who hold those views. Mozilla, and those (internal and
external to Mozilla) who are calling for his resignation are not the
government are not opressing him in any way.
Whether or not this is the right call for Mozilla is up for debate, but
whether his rights were infringed certainly is not.
~~~
ben336
"people and companies have the right to choose not to associate with those who
hold those views" If his beliefs are religiously motivated, actually companies
do not have the right to discriminate based on that. And imagine a modified
version of that statement used to justify forcing out a gay CEO: "people and
companies have the right to choose not to associate with people who believe in
and act upon homosexual beliefs"
~~~
batiudrami
Fair agument, I did not think that through. Mozilla is, of course, required to
comply with any and all anti-discriminiation laws which apply.
However, would I be correct in saying that his rights are not being infringed
by having people (both internal and external to Mozilla) call for his
resignation because of his beliefs, and his contributions to causes which are
actively damaging to some of those in the community? Especially in the case of
Mozilla, who rely heavily on volunteers, the opinions of those connected but
not necessarily employed by Mozilla should be important.
------
dmur
Thread for the announcement has been buried for some reason, but it's here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7526619](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7526619)
------
reuven
I think that it's a shame that Eich had to resign. And I say this as someone
who is very happy to see the winds changing in the US (and elsewhere), and who
thinks that it's a good thing that gay marriage is becoming the norm and
accepted law.
Mozilla is a non-profit. It's normal and expected for a non-profit to have
officers and directors who agree with the stance of the non-profit. I would
expect the head of a vegetarian organization to be a vegetarian. I would
expect the member of a religious organization to be an observant member of
that religion. And I would expect that the head of a labor union patronize
union shops more than non-union ones.
So if Eich had taken a public stand against open-source software, or against
Web standards, then it would be totally and utterly reasonable for him to
resign, or to be forced out.
But Eich didn't take a stand against things that are at the core of Mozilla's
mission. Rather, he had a personal opinion -- one which I don't share -- that
used to be mainstream, and is increasingly seen as out of the mainstream, at
least in large portions of the US and many other liberal democracies.
I think that it's unfair, and even a bit dangerous, for him to be forced out
because of a personal political opinion.
If the next head of Mozilla gets up and says that he thinks it's OK for women
to have abortions, would it be reasonable for them to be forced out? After
all, there are many millions of people who feel that abortion is murder. (I
don't concur with this opinion, but I know that it exists.)
If the next head of Mozilla donates money to anti-Obamacare ads, saying that
things should go back to the way they were a few years ago, you could make a
pretty good argument in favor of saying that this opinion will effectively
condemn many people to death, or perhaps crippling poverty.
I don't think that we want this to happen. We don't want CEOs to be ousted
because they have political opinions which reflect a minority.
I've often engaged in political discussions and debates with clients, some of
whom hold opinions that I find completely and utterly wrong-headed, and
perhaps even dangerous. But I'm not going to stop working with them because
they hold different opinions. Rather, I'm going to be professional and work
with them -- and perhaps even continue to debate them, so that they'll see my
side of the argument.
Eich believes that gay marriage is wrong. I believe that he's wrong about
that, and history is increasingly against his opinion. But his opinion doesn't
have to do with Mozilla's mission.
By capitulating to public opinion over Eich's personal politics, Mozilla has
opened Pandora's box. I worry that people who want to become the heads of
major companies and organizations will keep their opinions and donations to
themselves, for fear of eventually being condemned for those opinions. And
that can only be bad for democracy and openness.
~~~
Jugurtha
Amen to that. I think it's a real shame, too. I'm really pissed about it in
the sense that here we are in an era where you are not allowed to have your
opinions on anything anymore.
You are anti-gay ? You're a homophobic biggot and you should die. That's the
gist of the message this sends. What if he is homophobic ? Who cares and what
does that have anything to do with Mozilla ?
People demanding his head with the argument that it's intolerable not to
tolerate difference don't know the disservice they did to their movements,
because after all, they were intolerant for his difference too.
Now, you are not allowed to be "anti-gay". You are not even allowed not to be
"pro-gay". You're not pro-gay ? What an ignorant biggot.
You're not even allowed to be without an opinion and not give a fuck about
what people do with their bodies. Nooo ! You _have_ to agree, or else you're
homophobic.
Is this freedom of expression ? Is this the liberty these people are calling
for ?
And this climate pushes you to say things like what you said, as a disclaimer,
that you have gay friends, that you're not against it. It tells you a lot
about the violence of their opinion.
What did he do that was illegal ? There was a project that some people
supported and some were against. The pro-gay marriage lobbied and the anti-gay
lobbied, or don't they have that right ?
Pro-gay donated money, too, and shook hands, and pulled strings, etc.
This is akin to (an online debate isn't one until Hitler is brought up) ban
Mein Kampf under the argument that Hitler did what he did. What if I fucking
want to read it ? Am I a Nazi for that ? What if I like his paintings ? Are we
not allowed to think on our own, or are people shareholders of our very own,
deepest beliefs ?
It's sad.
That's also like that Abercrombie and Fitch CEO who was attacked for what he
did and say. What if I'm the CEO of a clothes company and I don't fat people
to wear my shoes ? What the ____do you care ! Don 't buy my clothes and case
closed ! And the only reason you'd be pissed off is if you were fat, in which
case you wouldn't be able to buy the frigging clothes in the first place, and
you wouldn't buy them if they issued fat sized clothes anyway, so why the
fuss.
It's a really pathetic moment, people.
~~~
ryanwhitney
What? No one is talking about any restrictions of free speech. Nor any
statements you've mentioned.
You're allowed to take any of those stances. Equally as you're allowed to
bitch on the internet regarding the fact that he paid to revoke the rights of
others. (And yes, they were deemed "constitutional rights" before being
revoked.)
Unfortunately for Eich, his opinions currently seem to be on the wrong side of
history.
------
vain
If OKCupid are so against Brendan for his stance on gay marriage, they need to
stop using javascript, for Brendan Eich invented javascript.
~~~
nathancahill
Let's play a game called Name that Fallacy!
------
foolinaround
from his earlier interview, it definitely seems like he was forced out, and
resigning was just to save face. Values and ideas may change, but seems like
the witch-hunt will be around to stay... Will he continue to be CTO at
Mozilla?
~~~
kylec
No, he's leaving Mozilla [https://brendaneich.com/2014/04/the-next-
mission/](https://brendaneich.com/2014/04/the-next-mission/)
------
jonah
Mob rule wins the day. Sigh.
------
ielshareef
Would there be such outrage over Eich's resignation had he donated to KKK or
an anti-Semite group? Just curious.
------
cessor
People change. I believe that he could be a good person in a role for Mozilla,
despite being against gay marriage. The fact that he steps back from this
important role both shows that either Mozilla or Brendan himself are sensitive
to the topic. I would like to believe that Brendan has changed (some people
tend to do that over the years) and resings as a sign of admitting that he was
wrong about the gay marriage thing. This makes the whole situation kind of
paradox - him stepping back indicates a kind of sensitivity that I would like
in a leader for an organisation like this.
~~~
hellbanTHIS
I'm getting the feeling he really did voluntarily step down to save the
company. But if he wanted to fight it he might have a good case, as per
California Labor Code - Section 1101:
>No employer shall make, adopt, or enforce any rule, regulation, or policy:
>(a) Forbidding or preventing employees from engaging or participating in
politics or from becoming candidates for public office.
>(b) Controlling or directing, or tending to control or direct the political
activities or affiliations of employees.
>\- See more at:
[http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/LAB/1/d2/3/5/s1101#sthash...](http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/cacode/LAB/1/d2/3/5/s1101#sthash.uT6Lmptj.dpuf)
The other paradox is that this might do more damage to Mozilla than if he
stayed, the reaction is pretty split but a lot of people see this as an act of
cowardice on Mozilla's part. I'm personally finding it hard to respect how
they handled it.
~~~
stcredzero
But what the precedent of this event does, is drag our society one step deeper
into the idea that groups pressuring companies to do (b) is "just how things
are" in the US.
~~~
hellbanTHIS
It's even worse than that, this isn't like Bill Maher getting fired from ABC
for something he said on the air during a time of hysteria. This was something
Eich did in private six years ago which he may or may not regret, depending on
how you interpret his blog post. The precedent this sets is truly awful.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
IPhone for Kids: Baby's First App Download - amahadik
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608504576208913914470344.html?mod=e2fb
======
amahadik
Any thoughts on what the expected adoption rate would be if an app is targeted
at pre-K to 6th grade consumers?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Plain Exchange Has Been Rejected by the Apple App Store - lastspurt17
https://medium.com/plain-exchange-team/plain-exchange-has-been-rejected-by-the-apple-app-store-49cd6b9df50b#.x4ddsadjj
======
bobinator6060
so, if Uber and airbnb are facilitation in-person illegal transportation and
illegal house sharing, shouldn't they be banned as well?
~~~
lastspurt17
exactly. thanks for your comment bobinator
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Small Company's Response to Monster Cable Patent Infringement Claims - chaostheory
http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/blue-jeans-strikes-back
======
naish
He really appears to have relished flexing his legal muscle in crafting his
response. His rebuttal only improves with each paragraph. Nice for a lawyer to
be one of the good guys...
------
sah
Best quote, near the end: "Not only am I unintimidated by litigation; I
sometimes rather miss it."
------
jeroen
A nice bit of PR for Monster:
"I assume that Monster Cable International, Ltd., in Bermuda, listed on these
patents, is an IP holding company and that Monster Cable's principal US entity
pays licensing fees to the Bermuda corporation in order to shift income out of
the United States and thereby avoid paying United States federal income tax on
those portions of its income;"
I don't think this is going the way Monster expected it to go.
------
clzcyclone
Ooohhh, ouch! That is a brilliant response. One can't help but feel a little
uplifted after seeing a small company stand up for its rights against a
behemoth who attempts to persuade solely via its size and financial resources.
------
dcurtis
He should use this opportunity to hire someone competent to design the Blue
Jeans Cables website, and then convert the amazing publicity he's generating
into sales.
Perhaps he could turn this into the tipping point for his company. Right now,
the site is so hideous, I wouldn't trust it with my credit card information.
~~~
mechanical_fish
Um, because the most important quality in audio equipment is whether or not it
comes from a pretty website?
You _do_ realize that putting cheap crap into fancy boxes is how Monster Cable
makes enough money to afford their team of shyster lawyers...
~~~
dcurtis
There's a difference between "fancy boxes" and a reputable website design.
You think the current website is sufficient for the company to gain
significant online purchases? It's not.
They don't have to overdo it, just make it usable.
------
LogicHoleFlaw
Brilliant. Blue Jeans Cables is a plucky company. I've regarded them quite
well in the past, and now even more so. I think I know where I'm buying my
next set of cables from :)
~~~
SwellJoe
If it's for digital devices, your next set of cables ought to be the cheapest
ones you can find that meet the spec that you'd like them to support. It is
pointless to buy fancy cables--in digital, it either meets the spec and works,
or it doesn't meet the spec and fails to work. More than 10 bucks for pretty
much any short-run cable would be nuts. HDMI 1.3 spec (the kind that'll carry
1080p and even higher) cables can easily be found for under 10 bucks.
Even in analog signals, a quality pure copper cable of sufficient gauge with
quality connectors put together correctly, is all that matters. All of the BS
from Monster Cables (and other "boutique" cable vendors) has clouded the
market with ridiculous nonsense. Blue Jeans Cables appears to eschew that
nonsense, and build quality "normal" cables. They are a little pricey, but not
terrible, I guess...maybe two to six times the price I'd pay, vs. the 10 to
100 times Monster charges. What amuses me is that if you were to buy one of
the "low end" Monster cables (which are relatively small gauge), it would
perform measurably worse than bulk 10 or 12 gauge copper cabling from an
electronic parts outlet and cost significantly more.
| {
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The Post Money Value: A Good Way to Get Rolling - Sample first pass series A term email from a VC - brett
http://ricksegal.typepad.com/pmv/2007/04/a_good_way_to_g.html
======
BitGeek
Isn't that some amazing nerve? The Rick is offering the founder shares in his
own company as compensation for not taking a salary!
The inherent assumption behind this asinine perspective is that "Preferred"
shares are for VCs only... but the reality is that VCs offer nothing to
warrant such preferences. Everyone who has put sweat equity into the company
is just as much an investor, and is generally taking on more risk... but the
VC expects to be given preferences because such terms are common, and they are
common because too many startups cave because they are addicted to the cash.
Love that the liquidation preference is "only" 1X. The reality is that it is
screwing over all the other investors in the company by saying that the VC
goes to the front of the line, gets all their money back, and _then_ gets the
percentage of anything left over comensurate with their percentage ownership
of the company. The implication being that employees have not actually
invested in the company and if there's anything left over, then the employees
and founders get some.
This is particularly insulting given that the liklihood of this preference
being relevant is increased by taking VC money-- which in this day and age
means forgoing almost certain profitability for a higher risk shot at hitting
it out of the ballpark.
And the price for putting a bomb under your company and lighting the fuse?
They get to be first in line when it explodes and the company is liquidated
for much less than it would have gotten if it was a viable business.
An employee that puts in $100k worth of labor a year for five years and gets
$50k in salary has invested $250k just as much as an investor who puts in
$250k in cash.
The arrogance of preferences boggles the mind.
Nobody in YC should be looking for this kind of investment. Stick with angels.
Give everyone common- recognize that investors who are only putting in money
are fairly compensated by getting shares at a fair valuation. If they want
liduidation preferences, they should pay for it- and thus be investing at a
multiple of the valuation that common gets.
VC funding was made obsolete in 2000. You no longer need to have that kind of
a burn rate.
------
brett
One part that surprised me: "You have not taken a salary in two years.
Typically, founders doing that have kept records and get paid in shares."
I sorta figured working for free (or close to) for a while was just part of
the deal if you want to keep burn rate down (or simply don't have cash).
Interesting to note that you can get paid for it later. How common is this?
~~~
joshwa
I've seen this before in business plans and such... the being paid in
preferred shares part is new to me; I've seen it as deferred compensation
accumulating as a liability for the company to be paid in cash at some later
date. I suppose being paid in preferred shares makes sense if you are
expecting acquisition or a later VC rounds, whereas deferred cash comp. makes
sense in a cash-only organic growth situation, and gets factored into your
break-even calcs.
------
nickb
They made a pretty good deal, on the financial side. No participation!
Board structure is awful! I'd shop around for a better deal.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Open source MySQL data transfer/replication tool - kevinbin
https://github.com/actiontech/dtle
======
collyw
What does it do that the standard tools don't? Docs appear to be in a language
that I can't read.
~~~
kevinbin
English document will coming soon.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Meetup.com Alternative in the Works - felicianotech
http://melitix.com/
======
grizzles
I'm a paying Meetup.com customer. I'm not a huge fan of it, but it solves my
#1 issue of growing a meetup that I'm interested in without me having to do
any outbound marketing, like you would have to do with a FB group.
How much do you like the name melitix? It's kinda hard to remember. I'd be
happy to give feedback / other brand ideas. Email in my profile.
~~~
felicianotech
Thank you for the feedback. I'm not attached to the name at the moment, just
the concept. I'll send you an email.
------
felicianotech
Am I the only one frustrated with Meetup.com? Melitix is being created out of
that frustration. We're building a better, modern meetup platform and looking
for feedback from people interested in helping get it right.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
This week in startups: Episode 1 - hwijaya
http://thisweekinstartups.com/2009/05/twist-episode-01/
======
ctingom
In my humble opinion, watching an interview by Charlie Rose is a better use of
time.
~~~
chaosmachine
I thought it would be pretty bad based on the first few minutes, but Brian
Alvey saves it. He talks about a lot of really interesting stuff (CMS
technology, project management..)
------
ralph
Skip at least the first five minutes. There's zero content. I gave up watching
then so YMMV on the sixth minute onwards.
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"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Ask HN: What's the best way to learn about project management? - puffl
I've just started a new job, which involves a lot of project management. This is something new to me, but I understand enough to know there's a lot more to managing a project than software (and to know this doesn't really come naturally to me).<p>Where can I learn about the true art and science of good project management? I'm looking for both practical tips, and also details about learning the processes used by major public and private institutions.
======
imp
One good way to learn is to watch others manage a project. I worked at GE for
two years, and project management is pretty much built into the culture. I got
to improve a lot in my own work by watching how more experienced people
managed projects.
Here are some general PM thoughts that I picked up. Managing software has it's
own issues of course, but these are a good start:
* Err on the side of over communicating. Don't assume anything.
* Get organized. It's impossible to be too organized.
* Make sure everyone is aware of the project's overall progress.
* If something can go wrong (or be delayed) it will.
* Be a friendly, flexible person to work with. It'll help you when you need favors later. One manager sent the local DHL office a bouquet of flowers at Christmas because shipping things timely was important to his projects.
* Trust the people you work with.
* If something goes wrong, it's probably your fault because you didn't communicate clearly/thoroughly enough.
------
mrlyc
I think the main parts of project management are to take the heat from upper
management and remove roadblocks so my people can do their work.
The best information I've found is David Maister's "Managing Professionals" at
<http://davidmaister.com/podcasts.archives/3/>
He's more practical than Drucker, Harvey-Jones and Heller. They say what to
do; Maister says how to do it.
------
hga
[http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Technical-Leader-Problem-
Solv...](http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Technical-Leader-Problem-Solving-
Approach/dp/0932633021/)
You may want to buy it directly: <http://www.dorsethouse.com/books/btl.html>
------
wgj
As far as I know, PMI is the most widely known certification for project
management. Even if you don't intend to do their certification, their
resources section should still be useful to you.
<http://www.pmi.org/>
------
pramit
Lessons from Scott Berkun's Art of project management
[http://bighow.com/news/lessons-from-the-art-of-project-
manag...](http://bighow.com/news/lessons-from-the-art-of-project-management)
| {
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Chronic Boredom May Be a Sign of Poor Health - RougeFemme
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=chronic-boredom-may-be-sign-poor-health
======
sp332
Most of this article is not accessible without a subscription.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Uber fined $649M for saying drivers aren't employees - bookofjoe
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/nyregion/uber-new-jersey-drivers.html
======
freewilly1040
How much does Uber make in the state of NJ? This seems like a massive fine
that would cause them to stop operating there
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What Exactly Is Adult Content? Google Forces Ning Onto A Slippery Slope. - dell9000
http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/12/04/what-exactly-is-adult-content-google-forces-ning-onto-a-slippery-slope/
======
frankfurter
_Is a transgender social network mature content? seems like it is to me._
The word "mature" in "mature content" is a bit of a puzzle whenever it occurs.
Surely most intellectual content is "mature" as opposed to "immature"? A
really bad term for a complex concept.
~~~
jrp
Calvin wonders why movies are rated R for Adult Situations, eg paying bills,
going to work, etc.
------
jwilliams
Just an opportunity for someone else I guess... I'm willing to bet niche adult
social networking sites are capable of generating good revenue.
~~~
aston
Adult Friend Finder?
~~~
jwilliams
I was figuring the adult sites on Ning were differentiated from Adult Friend
Finder in one (or many) ways.
------
robertk
"turned YouTube PG."
Too much YC...I was scratching my head; what does Paul Graham have to do with
YouTube?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Great memory? - sdiq
https://www.facebook.com/NBCLittleBigShots/videos/1583221311990122/
======
sdiq
A five year old who can square a three digit number of the top of his head.
Incredible.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Let's not get carried away about Twitter's role in Iran's demonstrations. - timr
http://www.slate.com/id/2220736/
======
JimmyL
What I found to be equally interesting was the effect Twitter (and the themes
created by watching it) had on the Western portrayal of the protests. For a
newsman, Tweeting Iranians were their perfect subject - people who were (by
and large) young, computer-literate, English-speaking, active, social, and in
large cities. That kind of person is the easiest one to base a story around,
since everything is provided - no need for translation or going to visit some
backwater Iranian town (which they weren't allowed to do, anyways) to get the
story.
So as the protests went on, you could see that the media was using these
Iranians as the center of their stories (and in some cases, meta-stories about
Twitter itself) since _it was so damn easy_. They could simply reports on
Tweets that were communally agreed to be "right", get a few file photos and
stills off Twitpic, and package it all up as an update.
The problem, of course, is that Twitter is only embraced by a small subset of
Iranians (much like it's only embraced by a smaller subset of Ameriancans). So
as Twitter grew in prominence as a source, CNN (and many commentators on the
Internet) started to see Iran through Tweet-colored glasses, to use a terrible
phrase. They weren't getting much information about what older people were
doing. They weren't getting much information about poorer people were doing.
They weren't getting much information about what people outside of the main
cities were doing. And as a result, they showed us a whole lot more
"revolution" than there may have actually been.
------
TrevorJ
Good point. I remember that during the first gulf war, a lot of ground-level
info was available on IRC chatrooms. The ability to share text remotely from
anyplace in the world has been around for a long time, way before Twitter.
~~~
calcnerd256
However, it wasn't as easy as it is now. As far as I know, most IRC servers
don't let you send and receive SMS.
~~~
buugs
It wasn't at a point in time where sms was even available
~~~
calcnerd256
That's a big part of my point. Each distinct interface for a given share is
resistance in parallel. The fact that IRC then was (and now is) a single point
of contact --you have to be on a network that both supports the only protocol
that IRC uses and reaches from you to the server-- means sharing text remotely
from anywhere in the world via IRC is more difficult than a heterogeneous
system like Twitter because there is only one resistor in parallel here: the
network from your computer (if you have a computer and are connected to such a
network) to the IRC server.
------
MicahWedemeyer
The OP makes an excellent point about the quality of the reporting that comes
via Twitter. There was an article in the NYT this week about a handful of
celebrities (Jeff Goldblum, Lindsay Lohan, etc.) that "died" via Twitter
during the mania surrounding Michael Jackson's death.
All it takes is: "RIP Jeff Goldblum...plz retweet...kthxbye!!!" Soon enough, a
couple thousand have retweeted it, and that makes it news, so CNN reports it
immediately with no fact checking.
~~~
calcnerd256
I think the "with no fact checking" part is CNN's fault. They wouldn't walk
into the street and take credit for some random hobo's ravings without fact
checking them first, would they? I realize there's a difference between one
voice on the street and a buzzing conversation, but the journalists are still
supposed to be journalists.
~~~
MicahWedemeyer
Agreed. I guess I should say: Don't believe anything you read on Twitter, or
anything a "reputable" news agency reports that is sourced from Twitter.
------
onreact-com
Also the question remains: Who exactly used Twitter to tweet about the
demonstrations? Why did the state department want Twitter to postpone the
their scheduled downtime?
Most of the people tweeting were seemingly new users with very similar English
language avatars. I didn't see the Iranians I knew with green avatars.
It looked very staged and not spontaneous. They could have been US government
agents. The Bush administration acknowledged long ago that it is trying to
destabilize the Iranian government from within.
Also take note that the green "opposition movement" is supportive of the old
clerical power elite that has been in power before the current one.
~~~
berntb
A conspiracy theorist on HN!
Wasn't there a news story a few weeks ago that intelligence and rationality
weren't that correlated? :-)
Edit: This and parent seems to be quite fun/strange examples of jumping
up/down in votes over the minutes.
~~~
onreact-com
This is no conspiracy theory whatsoever, this is just politics as usual. To
believe that the US does NOT engage in covert actions in Iran is more of a
conspiracy theory. They readily admitted it several times. Check this out
e.g.: [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552784/Bush-
sanct...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1552784/Bush-sanctions-
black-ops-against-Iran.html)
When people can't say anything of value they resort to the conspiracy theory
shut up technique and attack others on a personal level.
~~~
berntb
You mean it is not a conspiracy theory to imply that US agents faked twitter
discussions to make the world think the Iranians was protesting? :-)
>> It looked very staged and not spontaneous. They could have been US
government agents
I am sorry, but that is just not _sane_.
Edit: Like this, then. It is well documented that Iranians were protesting
until shut down by violence. Can you give a _reason_ why anyone would have an
advantage to fake that the well documented protesters would fake twitter
discussions about it?! It _do_ sound like a classic Middle East conspiracy
(and USA/Israel are the evil behind it!)
I really hope you're a troll.
~~~
onreact-com
Come on, how old are you? What do you think government agents working in Iran
get paid for? Hang out in bars? In this case they most probably amplified the
information the world wants to hear "evil Iranian governments attacks poor
righteous Iranian dissidents". They always did that, long before Twitter. I
want to see the US State Department caring for protests in the US but how come
I don't read much about those?
I don't say that the Iranian government are shiny happy people but the
primitive binary opposition evil Iranian government, good US government does
not work, not even with a nice and friendly Obama in charge.
Just beacuse you don't have a clue about politics does not mean you can call
me "insane". I didn't know that this is a flame wars forum.
When you get older you hopefully will start to discern shades of grey.
Apparently you still believe in fairy tales.
~~~
berntb
Do I HAVE to write this?
You argue the US government would take large risks to get egg on their face
just to emphasize what is well documented anyway.
If you're not trolling, you're a conspiracy nut. Think about _motivation_ and
_risk_.
Everyone asks the questions: What is the cost, what can you earn, what do you
risk?
Arguably, the risk of getting caught is high, the payoff trivial and getting
caught would _really_ help the wrong people. The CIA etc can just sit and
watch this clusterfuck play out, without taking over twitter...
I find it amusing that you assume anyone thinking you're spouting nonsense
thinks of the world in black and white. Your history explains that.
~~~
onreact-com
Stop offending me pal. The case that you can't accept some simple facts of
foreign policy doesn't mean you can flame here.
You're the troll.
Stop shouting pal. Just because you're shouting your ignorance doesn't become
more accurate. I even cited a source where you can look it up what you decided
to ignore.
~~~
berntb
>Stop offending me pal.
That will be hard, considering your comment history where you've been
repeatedly downmodded to whitespace for politicizing everything.
>Just because you're shouting your ignorance doesn't become more accurate.
It _is_ trivial logic that astroturfing twitter doesn't have a good
cost/benefit ratio here. (A short win in the daily news to bring home a point
already well known -- against total propaganda failure.)
You prefer to argue a conspiracy theory that anything bad happening to Iran's
regime comes from USA.
I'm sorry, but my considered opinion is that I hope you're a troll, because
the alternative is depressing.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Racket? Why Lisp? - alokrai
https://beautifulracket.com/appendix/why-racket-why-lisp.html
======
civility
I think one of the most amazing parts of Racket, and one of the reasons
someone should try it out if they haven't, is that the source code and
evaluator support images and not just text. The following link shows one
aspect of this:
[https://docs.racket-lang.org/quick/](https://docs.racket-lang.org/quick/)
Just being able to put an image in a comment explaining your algorithm into
your code would be huge improvement over the traditional syntax colored ascii
you get with most languages and editors. There are many times I've written an
algorithm which is difficult to understand without the associated diagram I
drew on the whiteboard or in an image editor. Racket lets you insert that
image or photo directly into your source, and I think this is a significant
improvement over putting a link to that image in a comment.
Racket also goes a step beyond that by letting images be values which can be
assigned to variables or returned from functions. The link above shows this
clearly. I'm sure there is some value in this as a teaching aid, and I think
that's why they did it, but you can also return mathematical plots from your
functions and so on. This feature is similar to the various interactive
notebooks people use for Mathematica or Python, so it's not really specific to
Racket, but it is interesting to play with.
Obviously there are downsides to putting images in your source. After you do
that, your code is no longer ascii, and it won't be something you can edit
with vi, emacs, or any non-Racket IDE. Also I doubt it will play nicely with
git any time soon. However, it's a neat feature of Racket whereas many of the
other benefits in the article apply to any Scheme (Chez, Gambit, Chicken,
Guile, etc...) or lisp.
I wish there was some reasonable standard (like a better version of Rich Text)
that was commonly adopted so other languages could put graphical pictures in
the source code.
~~~
dbcurtis
> I wish there was some reasonable standard (like a better version of Rich
> Text) that was commonly adopted so other languages could put graphical
> pictures in the source code.
I have felt exactly the same for many years. It would need to be something
that was totally open (to achieve wide adoption), and reasonably easy to
support in IDE's for edit and preview. And git-friendly. Belly-flopping on an
existing standard is probably the easiest way to make that happen.
One thought is to presume a block comment with a language-specific marker, and
make the contents a restricted subset of Postscript. a) You get one or two
open-source fonts. Deal with it. b) The rendering area is strictly limited, c)
the operator subset is limited to something reasonable -- like just enough to
do a monochrome version of 80% of the kind of graphics that PowerPoint-ish
programs give you.
Of course, you would never want to write Postscript by hand (although it isn't
hard) but an IDE should be able to support a graphical editor plug-in. Or in a
pinch you could even use another tool that left the rest of the code alone,
and just edited the graphical block comments.
~~~
pjc50
You mean like the 'pic' language?
[http://floppsie.comp.glam.ac.uk/Glamorgan/gaius/web/pic-20.h...](http://floppsie.comp.glam.ac.uk/Glamorgan/gaius/web/pic-20.html#20.%20Some%20Larger%20Examples)
Developed in 1982. Present on almost every UNIX-like system and integrated
into the manpage generator.
Probably the main reason we've not seen things like this achieve wide adoption
is the small but very influential subset of programmers who refuse to use
anything that isn't a pure text terminal for development.
~~~
civility
Interesting. I'm not familiar with "pic", but I'll check it out. I've never
seen a manpage with that in it.
A terminal with graphics in it would be nice too. Maybe if Tek4014 (and the
Tek emulation in xterm) had graphics and _useful_ text simultaneously it
would've been more popular than the modal approach. I've also heard of Sixel,
but never seen it live.
------
mark_l_watson
I have written books on Common Lisp and Scheme. Their power feature to me is
the combination of functional programming (functions without side effects) and
how these small functions can be built bottom-up in an interactive repl. Other
languages like Python and Ruby also support repl style development, but aren't
sufficiently functional. A little off topic, but I am working on a commercial
product (KGcreator, a tool for generating graph data for knowledge graphs) and
started prototyping in both Racket and Haskell. It was a tough call but I
chose Haskell. I think of Haskell as being another Lisp language that also
supports repl style development.
~~~
soapdog
Tell us more about your books. I'm addicted to scheme books :-)
Also, what made you choose Haskell for your project? Can you share some of the
reasoning?
~~~
mark_l_watson
I think the deployment story for Haskell is better than Racket. It is easy
enough make standalone Racket executables but with stack and cabal it is baked
in to easily build multiple executables, separate libraries, keep everything
tidy.
Racket is much better to get something done and working quickly. Same comment
for Common Lisp.
Haskell has great support for strongly types web services (servant) and lots
of great libraries. Racket has a very rich ecosystem of libraries, custom
languages (like Typed Racket). Both are great.
EDIT: It takes me longer to get to working code in Haskell but once written
the code has higher value to me because it is so much faster/easier to
refactor, change APIs, reuse in other projects, etc. I just did a major
refactoring/code-tidying this morning, and it was very simple to do.
------
ken
> If __ are so great, then it should be possible to summarize their benefits
> in concise, practical terms. It should be possible to demonstrate the
> power of __ in one hour, not 100. If __ advocates refuse to do this, then
> we shouldn’t be surprised when __ remain stuck near the bottom of the
> charts.
This paragraph seems like it would be equally true for almost any subject you
filled in the blanks with.
As someone who had to learn a foreign (natural) language in school, I can see
the benefit now, but there's no way I could explain it, and certainly not in
an hour. It's a type of learning which causes a change in how you organize
things you already know. How do you sell that?
(No, I don't believe "so you can talk to people in that language" is a
realistic benefit. I don't think even my school thought that. The selection of
languages offered is simply not useful. I've never met anyone this side of
Stuttgart with which to use my German. Of the top 10 non-English languages
spoken in my state, only 1 was offered as a class at my school. It almost
looked like they went out of their way to find teachers in less common
languages.)
(BTW, that's also the same answer as "If Lisp is so great why isn't anyone
using it?" It works for any subject. If trig is so great, why aren't you using
it? If music is so great, why did you stop playing after you graduated, and
were no longer required?)
I'm not trying to downplay the importance. It's a real problem, for many
fields. As a Lisp programmer, it's my nature to try to sell everyone on
learning Lisp even if they won't use it, and also to over-generalize problems
to nearly the point of absurdity.
How do you get someone to want to learn something when it may have no
immediate and apparent practical value to them? Especially today when their
whole "learning" slice is competing with Netflix and Facebook and all the
rest. I guess the trendy answer right now is something in the neighborhood of
"freemium gamification" and for reasons I can't explain that makes me sad.
~~~
gameswithgo
The problem of people failing top provide empirical evidence for claims of
things is indeed universal and common. But it is possible to do so, sometimes
it requires a ton of work, but if we want to know things, we have to do that
work. Until we do, we don't know things.
------
cracauer
In my mind there is one killer feature in Lisp, and that is Compile-Time-
Computing.
You have a macro system that isn't some lameass additional language with
severe limitations like the C preprocessor or C++ templates. You have _all_
the language available both at compile time and at run time. You can even use
functions you already have (and tested) in both places.
This allows you to leave every single assumption you make during programming
in one place. You don't have to splatter uncertainty about what the program is
supposed to do into multiple places because you language isn't expressive
enough, e.g. you cannot just redefine control structures to express an
assumption. That is what leads to "changeable software", not just "readable
software".
My writings on the subject: [https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/a-gentle-
introduction-to-...](https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/a-gentle-introduction-
to-compile-time-computing-part-1-d4d96099cea0)
[https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/a-gentle-introduction-
to-...](https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/a-gentle-introduction-to-compile-
time-computing-part-2-cb0a46f6cfe8)
Example - using scientific units attached to literals in source code, but keep
them at compile time and don't slow down runtime with unit checking:
[https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/a-gentle-introduction-
to-...](https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/a-gentle-introduction-to-compile-
time-computing-part-3-scientific-units-8e41d8a727ca)
And speaking about early or late (static/dynamic) type checking. If you have
compile-time computing you don't have to choose. How silly would it be to make
a programming language that can only do one or the other.
[https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/static-type-checking-
in-t...](https://medium.com/@MartinCracauer/static-type-checking-in-the-
programmable-programming-language-lisp-79bb79eb068a)
Finally, there is turnaround time during development:
[https://hackernoon.com/software-development-
at-1-hz-5530bb58...](https://hackernoon.com/software-development-
at-1-hz-5530bb58fc0e)
~~~
benji_is_me
You should check out Zig. Here's the part of the documentation concerning
compile-time code.
[https://ziglang.org/documentation/master/#comptime](https://ziglang.org/documentation/master/#comptime)
------
geokon
I've done some elisp (and a tiny bit of racket) and some Clojure and honestly
I struggle to see why I would ever pick a racket/scheme/elisp over Clojure
unless I desperately needed to do a ton of C ffi. Clojure is much more
opinionated but I never find myself feeling like it's constraining or a
straightjacket
When do people say to themselves "screw this, I need a more flexible tool like
Racket"? Is it when you get super deep in the macro magic? (I'm not reallt
sure how the Clojure macro system compares to the Scheme one)
~~~
dmos62
I've done way more Clojure than any other Lisp, and I'm now transitioning to
Racket. Primarily, because I want to get away from the JVM. One thing about
Clojure that is not easy to put into words, and that I miss, is just how
"smooth" working on it is. The Clojurisms, as they come to be known, are very
well thought out, and the whole language fits together like a perfect puzzle,
or at least in my experience. To come back to the JVM thing, I find that
Clojure is applicable only serverside, where you can have the slow starting
hundreds-of-megabytes JVM running non-stop, or in the browser, through
ClojureScript, and it's really perfect for those environments. Though as I
shifted more towards non-server environments, and I need to use FFIs, Racket
is the right blend of expression and performance.
~~~
dorfsmay
Have you played with the different schemes or just jumped on racket? If the
former, I'd be interested to know why racket over gambit or chicken?
~~~
dmos62
No, Racket is my first Scheme.
------
leetrout
That’s a longer read than I expected but there are some good, frank points
like non programmers seeing some of the praise for Lisp called
“unsubstantiated hoodoo”.
I like that the author addresses the “what’s in it for me” head on as well.
Makes it a bit more clear what some of the immediate benefits are.
------
sleibrock
I've been using Racket for a few years now as my main "fun" toy language and I
can't stop using it or trying to come up with new ideas for it. I'm currently
writing my new website's publishing code in Racket, using Racket programs to
create my static pages.
For anyone who enjoys programming language dives, I recommend Racket fully.
It's simple and powerful in various ways.
~~~
abhiyerra
I'm wondering if combining Racket with AWS Lambda
([https://github.com/kpiljoong/aws-lambda-
racket](https://github.com/kpiljoong/aws-lambda-racket)) would be a good way
to play with Racket and do cool things with it. I've done a bunch with Emacs
Lisp but always felt weird writing a server application with elnode.
------
i_am_proteus
I've read this article a few times and every time he takes beef with Python:
x + (if is_true(): 1 else: 2)
I think he just got he syntax wrong, it's supposed to be:
x + (1 if is_true() else 2)
And basically can't follow the rest of the argument. I have yet to learn a
Lisp. Honestly, what am I missing?
~~~
jbotz
The point of the "if" example is that there is a difference between
expressions and statements... yes, Python has a conditional expression (since
Python 2.5, before it didn't), but it _had_ to be a different syntax for that
reason; the "if" expression is a completely different thing than the "if"
statement (it's what's sometimes called a "ternary conditional") it just
happens to use the same keywords (but without the ":"). In LISP everything is
an expression, the syntax is totally uniform.
~~~
i_am_proteus
Interesting, and thank you for the explanation!
------
gaze
More lines of prose praising lisp are being written than lines of lisp these
days it seems.
I recently asked how to write a tree shaker in #sbcl because I thought it’d be
cool. All I got was a “why would you do that?” and “ok fine your time to
waste” and no substantial answers. The Common Lisp community is small and
curmudgeonly. Who needs this?
~~~
rayiner
Some things, like tree shaking, trigger some, in my opinion justifiable,
bitterness in the Lisp community. People said Lisp couldn’t take off unless it
competed with C for speed and image size. Tons of resources were invested on
that front, building tree shakers and type inference engines. Then, JavaScript
comes along and proves that none of that was necessary. Individual web pages
are as big as some Lisp’s entire core images. The language spec might as well
have been written in crayon. While Lisps were developing sophisticated numeric
towers, JS does not even distinguishing between integers and floats! Dynamic
typing languages won, with a language that was inferior in every way to Lisp,
except popularity.
~~~
debug-desperado
It's a bit anachronistic to compare Lisp's goals from 40 years ago to current
JS situation. The latter we're stuck with for political reasons, while the
former really did need to overcome hardware limitations to be successful in
that era.
Also with Typescript being adopted by most major JS projects, I wouldn't say
that dynamic typing "won."
~~~
gaze
Python is also really really popular these days. Maybe they haven't so much
won but they've definitely become extremely significant, and they haven't
lost.
~~~
anoncake
Python has an optional type checker these days so you can write fairly
statically typed Python if you want.
------
todd8
One of the benefits of Lisp based languages is that they usually come with
powerful macro based meta-programming facilities.
I've use macro systems quite often in more or less complicated ways: as a
professional assembly language programmer, in school when studying Lisp DSLs,
when using my favorite editor Emacs and its elisp, in systems I've built
similar to Moores TRAC programming language, M4, my extensive use of TeX and
LaTeX for decades, C++ STL, sendmail configurations, etc.
Over the years, I've lost my enthusiasm for powerful meta-programming
facilities like Lisp macros. The underlying languages are Turing complete and
don't strictly need meta-programming, and most modern languages aren't lacking
in abstraction mechanisms available to programming without meta-linguistic
alterations.
Like operator overloading, sophisticated macro systems change the semantics of
program source code in ways that are not obvious. They allow new variants of
the programming language to be created willy nilly placing demands on me the
reader, maintainer, or user of a programming language package to fully
understand the implementation of the meta-linguistic features. Powerful macro
systems encourage a thick frosting of magic to be applied on the
implementation of complex systems.
Some systems, like Lisp or Scheme or TeX, would be difficult to use without
macro extensions, but it seems to me that identifying a good set of built-in
abstractions for writing programs and building the language around them is a
better approach. I am so grateful for the TicZ graphics package for LaTeX,
it's all built out of TeX's crazy flexible macro system, but I'm even more
grateful that I've never had to touch the source for it. Take a peek at: [1].
[1] [https://github.com/pgf-tikz](https://github.com/pgf-tikz)
~~~
wtetzner
I think it all comes down to what kind of programs you're writing.
For example, without a powerful macro system, something like the nanopass
framework [1] would not have been possible.
Sure, you could write an external code generator, but at that point you've
just implemented a bad macro system.
[1] [https://github.com/nanopass/nanopass-framework-
scheme](https://github.com/nanopass/nanopass-framework-scheme)
------
scotty79
I only learn new languages to be able to do something new. I learned BASIC to
make my atari do what I want. Then 6502 assembler and ACTION to make it do it
faster. Then Pascal to have complete flexibility of data structures. I learned
C++ as a Pascal with dumb syntax but never used it before Pascal went
completely out of style because there was nothing new C++ could do for me.
Then I learned Java because you could do applets with that. Then HTML because
you could make the browser display what you want. Then PHP and SQL because you
could build websites with that. Then Python because PHP sucked for console
programs and JS because you could make things happen without bothering the
server. Then some XML and XSLT because that could process a lot of data fast
on client side. Then C# because that was the comfiest way to make desktop apps
since Delphi kicked the bucket. Then I learned Ruby because I was assigned to
project written in it, but promptly forgot it since then because it could do
only the things Python could already do. Then I got back to Java since you
could make your phone do what you want with that but Java is (was then?) worst
language I know so it was short lived. I still retain it though for occasional
utiliy, like extrnding Solr or playing with Apache NiFi.
The only language that kind of breaks away from this pattern of necessary
imediate empowerment was CoffeeScript. It just exactly mirrors my way of
thinking and was just an inch away from pseudo code I used for my notes since
primary school. But then ES6 came and gave me enough CoffeeScript to almost be
fine without it. Final nail was TypeScript that gave me stuff I wanted, smart,
fast code completion and typechecking for places where I wanted types. Now if
I could just have an editor that could display curly braces as indented blocks
(python and coffee style) I'd be perfectly happy with state of browser coding.
I tried Go, Elm, Haskel, Scala but nothing stuck or even went beyond simple
programs. Nim was interesting because allowed you to run code at compile time
to transform code (like Racket macros). I might use it for console programs
that need speed (although I'll probably just dust off C++).
Rust so far has the biggest potential because it allows you to have code
running concurently without crazy bugs by forcing you to specifically track
who owns what and for how long. That might be useful for me to make programs
faster at some point since multicore is now firmly a thing.
------
namelosw
I love Scheme and Racket. Personally, I prefer Scheme over Clojure and Common
Lisp. It supports multiple paradigms well but not too bloated as Common Lisp,
having a really good optional gradual type system, really easy to use reader
macro system, etc.
I always wanted to use Racket in a bigger project to have a deeper
understanding of macro/language creating. I always believe to achieve real
'domain driven design' is to create a layer of real business language which
could interpret to a software system.
However, every time I want to do this I found Clojure is actually a much
better choice. I guess to be fully practical is not #1 priority for Racket
right now. But I really hope Racket can improve some of the following:
1\. Encourage efficient data structures by default. I know lists are the soul
of lisp but it's not good to use lists for everything. Clojure by default let
you use highly optimized persistent data structures -- namely vectors and hash
maps. These two data structures are highly practical, performant in most of
the cases.
On the other hand, lists are more like write-heavy data structure, with really
bad reading performance. This is like, a plain file system writes faster than
databases, but most of the websites use a database because most of the
business has much more reads than writes.
2\. ClojureScript. JavaScript is a big thing until WASM fully arrives. Clojure
has several really solid ClojureScript workflow, which makes me feel
ClojureScript is really a first-class citizen.
3\. IDE and debugging. I use Emacs + Geiser for editing, but Drracket for
debugging. Drracket is really good, but still not great for editing hundreds
of files. For Clojure, Cider and Cursive are IDEs makes me feel solid and
complete.
4\. Frameworks. I guess if the other 3 points are really good there would be
many good frameworks come out every day.
~~~
neilv
I have to type this as a quick stream right now.
> _1\. Encourage efficient data structures by default. I know lists are the
> soul of lisp but it 's not good to use lists for everything. Clojure by
> default let you use highly optimized persistent data structures -- namely
> vectors and hash maps. These two data structures are highly practical,
> performant in most of the cases._
Scheme has vectors, and Racket adds hash tables and structs:
[https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/vectors.html](https://docs.racket-
lang.org/guide/vectors.html) [https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/hash-
tables.html](https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/hash-tables.html)
[https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/define-struct.html](https://docs.racket-
lang.org/guide/define-struct.html)
There's also some work on matrices and arrays (beyond Scheme vectors):
[https://docs.racket-lang.org/math/index.html](https://docs.racket-
lang.org/math/index.html)
There are some older libraries where lists (or alists) are used, when today
you'd probably use hashes or structs. We could consider this an educational
opportunity: there are still times when knowing how to do old-school list-
processing is exactly what you need, and it's pretty fundamental data
structures (e.g., singly-linked lists, trees), so we could consider it
practice. :)
BTW, one difference between modern Racket lists and Scheme's is that Racket's
default pairs are immutable. This turns out to be useful for optimizations, as
well as encourage a healthy amount of functional programming.
Regarding #2, good point. I raised the WASM issue a couple years ago, and my
thinking then (and now) is to build it for the forthcoming Chez backend, while
getting plugged into the WASM standards work in the meantime. There are
various ways to do JS with Racket (a big HTML5 Offline app of mine does it by
generating JS and HTML from Racket), but WASM seems most promising.
Regarding #3, if Geiser works for you, great. You might also take a look at
Greg Hendershott's racket-mode for Emacs:
[https://github.com/greghendershott/racket-
mode](https://github.com/greghendershott/racket-mode)
I appreciate that DrRacket's student-emphasizing IDE is very different than
most IDEs, and it's missing some things I'd like, for editing many modules at
once. If you're up to adding some features you'd like, there's an extension
mechanism, and you can also do git pull requests to the DrRacket source
itself. [https://docs.racket-lang.org/drracket/extending-
drracket.htm...](https://docs.racket-lang.org/drracket/extending-
drracket.html) [https://docs.racket-
lang.org/framework/index.html](https://docs.racket-
lang.org/framework/index.html)
Regarding #4, there are Web frameworks, and the main Racket Web Server (which
you don't have to use; you can also do things like SCGI or proxy another HTTP
server implementation), and you can also whip up your own frameworks very
rapidly in Racket unlike many languages. I'm hoping a couple startups use
Racket to get to launch, and release the light frameworks that they make along
the way.
Regarding reader extensions, Racket has those, as well as a ton of great
syntax extension mechanisms: [https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/hash-
reader.html](https://docs.racket-lang.org/guide/hash-reader.html)
~~~
no_identd
An addendum to point 3:
Racket has an AMAZING debug instrumentation & tracing library, which,
unfortunately, most people don't know about:
First, there's Medic:
Source:
[https://github.com/lixiangqi/medic](https://github.com/lixiangqi/medic)
Docs: [https://docs.racket-lang.org/medic/index.html](https://docs.racket-
lang.org/medic/index.html)
Demos:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_U7i0VKF_mh7Vh3o2Yyt...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_U7i0VKF_mh7Vh3o2YyteoTL1tErHY64)
Paper:
[https://www.cs.utah.edu/plt/publications/fpw15-lf.pdf](https://www.cs.utah.edu/plt/publications/fpw15-lf.pdf)
Li, Xiangqi; Flatt, Matthew - Medic: Metaprogramming and Trace-Oriented
Debugging (2015)
Building on top of Medic, but unfortunately still not packaged (unlike Medic),
Li & Flatt developed (the somewhat ill-named, due to that name overlapping
with something from the cryptocurrency crowd) 'Ripple', which makes debugging
Domain specific languages a lot slicker:
[http://www.cs.utah.edu/plt/publications/sle17-lf.pdf](http://www.cs.utah.edu/plt/publications/sle17-lf.pdf)
Li, Xiangqi; Flatt, Matthew - Debugging with domain-specific events via macros
(2017)
There's a YouTube demo here:
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_U7i0VKF_mjF_SMiPbz-...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_U7i0VKF_mjF_SMiPbz-
P_vUkNGHHjm8)
The published version of the above paper sits behind an ACM paywall, however,
the download of the 'artifact' is open/free…:
[https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3136014.3136019](https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3136014.3136019)
…and currently unfortunately represents the only way one can acquire the
Ripple source code - and the artifact consists of a 2.4GB VM! :| (I understand
why, and I consider it good scientific praxis - but I'd still appreciate a
public repository in addition.)
Direct link to the artifact, for the impatient:
[https://dl.acm.org/ft_gateway.cfm?id=3136019&type=zip&path=%...](https://dl.acm.org/ft_gateway.cfm?id=3136019&type=zip&path=%2F3140000%2F3136019%2Fsupp%2Fsle17%2Dsle17main7%2Daux%2Ezip&supp=1&dwn=1)
Note that the artifact actually contains two very slightly different versions
of the Ripple source code, a diff of which I posted over here on Github:
[https://github.com/vygr/ChrysaLisp/issues/5#issuecomment-424...](https://github.com/vygr/ChrysaLisp/issues/5#issuecomment-424144727)
(it's a two line difference in main.rkt)
If you do any of the in Racket, I can most highly recommend giving Medic (and
Ripple, if you need it.) a try!
------
soapdog
I really recommend that book, not just this section. I really enjoyed it and
it was crucial for me in creating a talk I gave after reading it about the fun
in creating little languages.
------
revskill
As i understand, the beauty of languages like LISP and Racket, is that, you
can easily compose functions. Basically, as i read source code, i'm reading a
"programming composition sheet", just like music sheet.
The only annoying thing, is how to reduce brackets ( and ) from distracting
content from its layout.
Of course Python is not the answer (due to its strict identation on
space/tabs)
If i could teach newscomer about programming, i would say: Programming =
composition of functions.
------
sctb
A couple prior discussions:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9268904](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9268904)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8206038](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8206038)
------
hzhou321
> 1\. Everything is an expression.
I am not sure this argument is given.
Immediately, I see there is a mismatch between what I want to program -- an
objective, an algorithm, a procedure, a series of side effects that is outside
the axioms of the programming language can support -- a mismatch between these
objectives and this confinement of everything being an expression. An
expression is a value. So to program in a language where everything is an
expression is to map our idea into a (list of) value. This may be natural for
programs that is seeking a value, but often not so. Even for programs that is
seeking a value, the bulk of the program is to control the process of finding
this value. There is no easy way or even correct way to map a process and side
effects into a value. Math is logic or equivalency. To establish equivalency
is to discard the effect of path or side effects. Therefore, to map the
desired process and side effects into value, we have to add back the implicit
knowledge of how these values are actually transformed. In stead of directly
stating the transformation of values -- an imperative programming style -- we
express that with dependency and relying on the understanding how these
dependency is being resolved. The latter is very hard.
Of course, in practice, we have to give up on the fine control of our program
to some extent and relying on the compiler implementation giving us desired
result (the path and its side effects), then we only need worry about the
value. When it works, it works great; when it does not work, we need either
lower our expectations or give up the language, or transfer the burden/blame
to compilers.
The argument for everything being an expression is the composability(although
I thought the reason was ease and flexibility of writing compilers for it).
This is similar to the argument that: if every object is a lego piece, then
building something is easy. Well, it depends. First we need accept that lego
pieces are all what we have. Second, we have to contend that what lego pieces
can build is good for our needs. There are amazing lego projects, but they are
nowhere I would find easy.
~~~
lispm
Well, in languages like Scheme and Lisp, expressions are returning a value.
But they can also be control structures. For example IF forms are an
expression, but IF is also a control structure:
(if (rocket-engine-running?)
(start-rocket)
(start-engine))
~~~
hzhou321
When expression is not pure value -- they also can be control structures --
the arguments for "everything is an expression" is being defeated, right? A
control structure is for defining the path -- control flow. The values in a
control structure is a side effect just as the control-flow is a side effect
in an expression language. When control flow is the center of logic, won't a
control-flow oriented language -- imperative programming -- be more straight
forward?
In your example, after you started the engine, don't you still need `start-
rocket`? The bug sneaks in due to discrepancy that while the syntax is all
about values, the semantics is all about flows.
~~~
lispm
It gives us as a developer the freedom to decide: do I want control flow,
return values or both?
------
strangattractor
Racket is great and fun. I find it truly amazing that after all these many
years people are still trying to justify Lisp. Frankly - if it was going to be
adopted in mass it would have happened by now and no amount of explaining is
going to change that. There are many reasons why languages get adopted and
"logic" is not the primary one. Take JS for example - it would have been in
the dust bin if not for the fact it is the only language that runs in
browsers.
------
yepguy
Does Racket have a nice DSL for wrapping web APIs? I have a hard time
believing it doesn't, but I can't find it. I'm thinking of something like API-
Wrap.el
([https://github.com/vermiculus/apiwrap.el](https://github.com/vermiculus/apiwrap.el)),
but any approach that drastically reduces the boilerplate is fine by me.
~~~
xrayspec
Riposte?
[https://docs.racket-lang.org/riposte/](https://docs.racket-lang.org/riposte/)
~~~
yepguy
Riposte doesn't look all that useful outside of a test framework. I want to be
able to use REST APIs in a full Racket program, which seems impossible in a
DSL without control flow or functions.
------
truth_seeker
Nice write-up.
Waiting for Racket-on-Chez effort to come with more optimizations and multi-
core access
~~~
xfer
Just to be clear: multi-core already works with racket places(basically
running a separate racket vm thread) :).
Chez-scheme has a pthread-style interface to OS threads, which has it's own
set of problems with respect to concurrency(knowing which operators are thread
safe). Not sure how racket would expose this.
------
bitmadness
Beautifully written post.
------
craftinator
I've long stayed away from Lisps, precisely because of what the author
describes in the first section, that there is a huge amount of praise over all
of it's wonders, without ever specifying what those wonders are or how they
are actually good things. I've had similar issues with the cargo-cult
following of Rust; yes I have heard it is great, but WHY!? Great article, it
de-mystifies these vague praises and addresses them clearly and specifically.
I'm gonna try Racket this afternoon =D
~~~
Gene_Parmesan
I'm no 'rustacean,' but rust's benefits have always seemed fairly
straightforward. The borrow checker provides static guarantees for thread- and
memory-safety, and allows for safe, performant low-level systems code without
the need for a GC.
~~~
craftinator
Now that is some good straightforward information! Much more clear than most
other comments I've read, and a better aggregate of features than Rust
documentation offers. Thanks for chiming in!
------
crimsonalucard
This guy makes some statements about python that are completely and utterly
wrong.
He implies python doesn't have an "if" expression. It does.
He specifically claims this is invalid in python implying that "if"
expressions don't exist in python:
x + (if is_true(): 1 else: 2)
The following is written in python and is correct syntax:
x + (1 if is_true() else 2)
Although it's not "pythonic" to use python functionally, Python is a multi-
paradigm language and has the facilities to be used as a very powerful
functional language. It's not just a "functional" library. Functional is built
into python syntax. The following is correct python syntax that will pass a
type checker process as well.
#List comprehensions using map and filter:
x: List[int] = [i+2 for i in range(100) if i%2 == 0]
#anonymous functions:
x: Callable[[int], int] = lambda a: a + 2
With mypy, type annotations or any other external type checker, python
approaches the power and correctness of typed functional programming languages
like haskell or Ocaml, though it is missing many features.
~~~
jbotz
The OP isn't trying to criticize Python... he was just trying to give an
example of what it means for everything (in LISP) to be an expression. He
didn't say that Python doesn't have an "if expression"... just that you can't
use the if statement in an expression context.
~~~
crimsonalucard
OP literally says this:
_In Python, an if conditional is a statement, and can only be used in
certain positions._
This is categorically wrong. In python the if conditional exists in statement
form and expression form. The if-expression also basically exists in every
other imperative language out there, usually in this form:
x + (is_true() ? 1 : 2)
I know he's not trying to criticize python. Just want to correct his mistake
and emphasize that python has intrinsic design features that can make it very
very functional.
~~~
hencq
I think you just misinterpreted the point he's making. Yes, Python has an
expression form for if, but it's a separate form. You can definitely write
functional Python, but the point he makes is that Python differentiates
between expressions and statements.
~~~
crimsonalucard
No I made no mistake. I get his point. Look at my reference. I literally
posted the statement that is categorically wrong. He literally says that in
python the if-conditional is a statement. This is False.
I also offer some proof as to why python is a bad choice for his examples
because python is actually a highly functional language. It's like trying to
use haskell to prove racket is more expressive. It's a bad choice.
Sometimes I don't understand people. I literally posted just factual errors,
no opinions on his article and then people misinterpret everything I said as
opinion and proceed to tell me I misinterpreted things, then vote me down.
Seriously.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Improve React.js Server-Side Rendering by 150% with GraalVM - lukasLansky
https://medium.com/graalvm/improve-react-js-server-side-rendering-by-150-with-graalvm-58a06ccb45df
======
alex_duf
This is a really good read, I'm surprised by how little the code needed to be
adapted. Is it because they aren't using AoT compilation and therefore the
classes can still be dynamically loaded?
Does that mean the JavaScript essentially gets compiled to a Jar?
How does graalvm bundles non jvm dependencies when your using the JIT
compiler?
------
marcusarmstrong
150% vs Nashorn is an important caveat here. At {employer} we started our
SSRing via Nashorn and later moved to a separately deployed Node service for
performance reasons... and saw a 4x drop in time per request for rendering
tasks.
~~~
SubjectToChange
Nashorn is deprecated though, and GraalVM is its intended replacement. So why
even evaluate Nashorn for new projects?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebook bows to campaign groups over 'hate speech' - 1337biz
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22701082
======
cfesta9
Facebook should review the way youtube handles comments.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Do Not Follow JavaScript Trends - nikolalsvk
https://pragmaticpineapple.com/do-not-follow-javascript-trends/
======
andrewl-hn
I vividly remember 2016. I was doing backend programming at the time, but no
one I knew were using Angular.js at that time for new codebases.
React emerged in 2013, by 2014 the hype was at full swing, and by 2015 React
"won" the framework battle.
It's been 5+ years since then, and React JavaScript world was remarkably
stable. Fashion changes were largely superficial: React.createClass vs ES
classes, Heavy use of Decorators vs not using them, and now Hooks. These were
mostly cosmetic choices, and if your team picked the wrong side they could
migrate over relatively painlessly or straight up ignore the issues for years.
On the other side of spectrum we have Ember that maintained backward
compatibility and ease of upgrades since ~2013, Angular 2+ is doing the same
for many years, too.
The whole "JavaScript fatigue" meme has to go.
~~~
ehnto
You make it sound like we're all using React and that's all there is to it.
That's not quite true, and it's just one of the choices you have to make. So
you've decided on React, but what about state management, transpilation, do
you use GraphQL? What am I doing for styles, should I write them in Javascript
too now? Oh no! Webpack isn't for me! Can I use modules yet? Ah bugger, we
need SSR, suppose I should have managed state the "Right Way (v28.6)", doh!
~~~
wzy
I even got fatigued reading your list of choices and you even missed critical
choice such as flavor of SSR.
------
mxschumacher
A good way to not be completely overwhelmed by all the new tooling and
frameworks is to have a strong grasp of the fundamentals, here are three
foundational resources:
"You don't know JS": [https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-
JS](https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS)
"How browsers work":
[https://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/internals/howbrowser...](https://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/internals/howbrowserswork/)
"High performance browser networking": [https://hpbn.co/](https://hpbn.co/)
~~~
recursivedoubts
Agreed. I think a lot of folks suffer from not understanding how web 1.0
worked and really groking REST/HATEOAS (which has since been hijacked for JSON
APIs, which is complete nonsense.)
Sometimes I jokingly call htmx "web 1.1 tech", but increasingly I wonder if
I'm really joking.
~~~
thanatropism
In 1996-1998 as a teen I "made some websites" for local businesses. The one I
made for my parents even had a search function (in PHP) in a CSV with their
products (which were like 100). The CSV was generated by taking whatever Lotus
Approach (their desktop DB) generated and transforming it with some custom
Haskell code (I was a teen, what did I know). They clicked an icon to pull the
data and another to run a FTP batch file.
Fast forward, I understand _nothing_ of the website being developed in React
for my startup. The othe technical cofounder does grok it, but I could _not_
lend a hand and can barely even supervise the outside help we brought. I like
to think of myself as well-versed in a generalist manner. I can hack a custom
sparse matrix (with a very particular structure I was able to prove an
iteration for) inversion algorithm, but I understand _nothing_ about painting
the background the correct shade of blue!
~~~
recursivedoubts
I have something for you:
[https://htmx.org](https://htmx.org)
~~~
thanatropism
Yow. I have an application growing out of control in Streamlit
([https://streamlit.io](https://streamlit.io)), which is a rshiny-type
interactive dashboard gizmo. I'm now able to consider rewriting it with a
proper front-end.
It's like a whole world I had been sealed off from has reopened.
~~~
randyzwitch
(Note: I'm Head of Developer Relations at Streamlit)
Out of curiosity, which features are you looking for in a "proper" front-end?
Flexibility?
~~~
thanatropism
Streamlit is _magic_ and I don't want this to come off as a dismissal, but it
can be unpredictably unreliable. I keep having this issue if I run > 0.58:
[https://github.com/streamlit/streamlit/issues/1440](https://github.com/streamlit/streamlit/issues/1440)
It's over a month old now, with multiple people reporting the same bug and
iterating on the problem with no apparent narrowing towards a reason for why
this happens, let alone a solution.
~~~
randyzwitch
Thanks for clarifying. Since HN isn't the right place for a detailed
discussion, I would invite you to comment on that issue and try to help us
work through it.
As one of our engineers mentions in the linked issue, this bug is hard to
trigger (as is the nature of many bugs), and she is working on a solution[1].
This issue has also been reported here[2], with the solution of adding
time.sleep(1) inside the loop usually resolving that problem.
[1]
[https://github.com/streamlit/streamlit/pull/1494](https://github.com/streamlit/streamlit/pull/1494)
[2] [https://discuss.streamlit.io/t/displaying-images-from-
opencv...](https://discuss.streamlit.io/t/displaying-images-from-opencv/3014)
~~~
thanatropism
Yeah. What I should have added here, but didn't want to sound brash and rude,
is that Streamlit should focus on having a reliable working product before
spreading out as an org with a Dev Relations department.
I know this is a complicated problem domain ( _because it 's the web_,
Mathematica did this well with complex graphs in the mid-90s), but as it
stands now my project has an input on which the graphic depends and a default
value; the image breaks before the input control is touched. And it's not a
slider, it's a dropdown that makes the app query a db first... I mean, I think
I can do this in plain Ajax if I get my story right about sending images. But
it's a hobby project meant to explore mathematical ideas...
If you can't do sliders reliably, they should be moved to a beta branch.
Streamlit overpromises and underdelivers. But it's a great project, I don't
want to be too negative about it.
~~~
randyzwitch
I see you've both commented here and on GitHub, so I'll make my last comment
here and then we can address the specifics on your ticket (I didn't realize I
referred you to your own GitHub issue).
As I mentioned, there is a pull request already created for this issue; our
head of engineering/founder says its being held up by a lack of tests before
merging. This problem isn't a slider issue, but a race condition in our
session state manager.
Regardless, one month is a pretty trivial amount of time as far as open-source
projects go, as well as in the history of Streamlit (project became public Oct
2019). Like all projects, we try and address things in the order of severity,
and as far as this issue goes, it's a pretty isolated one, not an indication
that the library is unreliable or somehow reflects that our engineers can't
design at an early-90s level of engineering.
------
duxup
I'm a little lost on the examples.
There are reasons to use fetch and hooks, and the article seems to relegate
them to being unnecessary 'trends' without doing what it suggests, actually
evaluating what value they might have...
In React you can use hooks with a class heavy application and still be just
fine / get the benefits of hooks in a given component(s).
If you want to use fetch, that also is hardly an ordeal to do / should not be
a big cognitive load for anyone.
I get it, resume driven development bad, we get it, we hear it in opinion
pieces all the time. Also you should think about it before rewriting an entire
application. Yup, that makes sense.
But here we have examples of small changes that are pretty light weight... and
no effort is made to do exactly what it suggests, evaluate those choices.
~~~
runawaybottle
But do we get it? If we get it, why is frontend churn so prevalent?
I don’t think we get it.
~~~
christophilus
Is front end churn really so prevalent? I hear this opinion all the time, but
React is 7 years old. I've been using it for around 5 years, I think. Redux is
5 years old. How old does the most popular web framework need to be before we
consider it to be low churn?
[Edit: Also, anecdote: before JS, I was mostly a C# developer, and the churn
there was at least as bad, maybe worse in my personal experience. Over 15
years of my career, I had to learn ASP, then ASP.NET, and in the Windows app
world, we went from WinForms to XAML, then .NET Core came out, and things
shifted again... See Rails' history for more examples of churn. It's not like
every other platform is a paragon of stability. Clojure is a bulwark of
stability compared to just about anything else, but it's hardly fair to hold
the front-end community up against that gold standard...]
~~~
quxbar
JS has always been relevant as an ecosystem because it incorporates new ideas.
I liked jQuery more than what came before it, and I like React more than
jQuery. They make the task of translating an idea into a work app much easier
for me, and other programmers I work with also benefit from more readable
code.
I wouldn't re-write an existing app to use fetch or hooks, but now that I've
taken the time to learn, I'm happy I did. The vast majority of the mental work
was done by other people, and I get to reap the benefits. The alternative to
this is stagnation, and relegation to legacy systems... I guess the author
wishes they could work in COBOL?
------
joshribakoff
I find it interesting the blog post mentioned Kent Dodds article recommending
everyone rewrite fetch. I just argued adamantly against Redux docs about
writing tests being switched off of Enzyme to his library because it’s “more
trendy”.
[https://github.com/reduxjs/redux/pull/3708](https://github.com/reduxjs/redux/pull/3708)
Unfortunately, the community overruled me and the docs no longer show how to
test Redux apps with enzyme. It only shows Kent’s “react testing library”. The
library authors are complicit in this. Rather than showing the pros and cons
of both, the trends are being pushed, leading people to falsely believe they
must rewrite their whole code base in my experience.
The troubling part for me is often those creating these trends may be working
on a very different type of app. When you’re writing something complicated,
and the ecosystem is dominated by patterns (also preached by Kent) that work
best in simpler apps like “only write integration tests” it can be
frustrating.
If Kent thought enzyme promoted anti patterns he could have technically made a
docs PR or just written a thin layer on top of enzyme. Now we have yet another
divisive issue. Getting him early access to new react apis and officially
recommending RTL in the react docs (while he sells his training videos) make
it sit worse with me. It doesn’t feel like the trends are always based on the
merits, it feels more like “not invented here” and “nepotism” driving some of
these trends for sure.
~~~
acemarke
As I said in that issue, I'm not completely against having Enzyme info in that
page. However, we're not obligated to have the Redux docs show information on
_every_ other tool that exists in the ecosystem, and our own recommendations
may change over time.
Right now, we have an entire docs page on how to use Immutable.js with Redux
[0]. That page was submitted by a user who cared about Immutable.js. They took
the time and effort to write it, and the information is useful.
However, at this point we now actively recommend _against_ using Immutable.js
[1], and _do_ recommend using Immer [2]. So, that docs page will be removed in
the near future, because it now goes against our recommendations.
As I said in that thread, I personally would not recommend Enzyme at this
point. Doesn't mean it's useless, or that people shouldn't use it at all, but
it's not something I would use or tell people to use. Given the focus of that
specific Redux testing docs page, I also don't see a _need_ to show both
methods at once.
I agree that the ecosystem shouldn't just chase new shiny, but there's also a
lot to be said for actually keeping docs and recommendations up to date. I
understand your concern in this particular case, but it also feels like you're
extrapolating rather broadly from one specific issue.
It's also the case that sometimes creating _new_ tools is the right answer.
Yarn's release forced NPM to wake up from stagnation. There were dozens of
Flux libraries when Redux came out. In the case of RTL, Kent created something
because he saw a need, the community has seen that it's useful, and he's well
within his rights to promote the tool that he created.
[0] [https://redux.js.org/recipes/using-immutablejs-with-
redux](https://redux.js.org/recipes/using-immutablejs-with-redux)
[1] [https://redux.js.org/style-guide/style-guide#use-plain-
javas...](https://redux.js.org/style-guide/style-guide#use-plain-javascript-
objects-for-state)
[2] [https://redux.js.org/style-guide/style-guide#use-immer-
for-w...](https://redux.js.org/style-guide/style-guide#use-immer-for-writing-
immutable-updates)
~~~
joshribakoff
Really all I want is instructions on wrapping the component under test in the
redux provider that don’t presume I’m using Kent’s library. It should show how
to wrap, not how to call RTLs proprietary helper function.
I’m not arguing that you’re violating anyone’s “rights” here, I’m arguing some
of these trends feel like nepotism. The fact Redux and React are seemingly
abandoning official support of Enzyme, after years of recommending it, after
some of its users have written 100s of thousands of tests, is my issue, and I
feel like is directly related the article about "trends" OP posted about.
~~~
mchandler06
You've been on this crusade for over a year. There's a thread on reddit
between you and @acemarke from May 21, 2019 on this exact topic.
In that time, have you stopped to consider that perhaps the incredibly narrow
"legacy maintenance" use case you've been bandying about (which isn't enough
to justify dedicated documentation space in a project that isn't enzyme) and
your overly insulting insinuations about the authors of popular libraries are
not a winning combination?
------
memexy
Shiny new thing (SNT) comes along, sales people and thought leaders get
excited about SNT because they can sell it, everyone piles on as SNT picks up
more and more hype, SNT falls apart as soon as it hits real world use cases,
sales people and thought leaders start looking for new SNT and the cycle
repeats.
I can not stop the cycle. You can not stop the cycle. All we can do is notice
it and let it pass and hope some SNT will eventually be useful instead of pure
hype. Oh, and also, avoid joining any cults:
[https://www.infoworld.com/article/3440104/10-software-
develo...](https://www.infoworld.com/article/3440104/10-software-development-
cults-to-join.html).
~~~
ChrisMarshallNY
That is a great article!
Thanks!
BTW: I did write a bit about this phenomenon, here:
[https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/concrete-
galoshes-a5798a5...](https://medium.com/chrismarshallny/concrete-
galoshes-a5798a55af2a) _(Scroll down to "It's Not An Either/Or Choice")_
------
mxschumacher
From a developer perspective, changes in frontend web development have been
pretty dramatic: CSS Grid / Flexbox, React, WASM, extensions to the web API,
lots of new JS features, countless frameworks, plugins and build tools more
homogeneity between browsers. There is always lots of change and excitement.
I wonder how much of that "innovation" really makes a difference to users. As
a programmer, I get a bit cynical about having 50 ways to do the exact same
thing. What is possible today that was very hard to do 10 years ago in web dev
land?
If we think about users first, maybe we can feel a bit less guilty of not
having deployed React Hooks to prod yet?
~~~
phailhaus
> What is possible today that was very hard to do 10 years ago in web dev
> land?
Declaratively writing components and reusing behavior (e.g., hooks) across
components/applications was basically impossible with the tools of 10 years
ago. The benefit to the user is more stable interfaces and a faster release
rate.
~~~
dahfizz
> benefit to the user is more stable interfaces
Doubt. Websites are _constantly_ redesigning their interfaces so that they can
use the latest trendy technology.
~~~
phailhaus
Is that the fault of the frameworks for existing? That's like saying we'd be
better off if we didn't have so many programming languages.
------
underbluewaters
As a software developer I consider the most important part of my job to be
evaluating new tools and techniques. This craft is in its infancy and our
profession borders on complete incompetence when it comes to predictably
building usable tools at a reasonable budget. Nobody can afford to miss out on
productivity enhancements and that means following trends, but with a critical
eye. If someone is "tired" of this process it might be time to consider
another profession.
~~~
mtts
> As a software developer I consider the most important part of my job to be
> evaluating new tools and techniques.
Really? I would argue it’s building software.
> This craft is in its infancy
We’ve been building software since ... dunno ... 1950s? 1960s?
> our profession borders on complete incompetence when it comes to predictably
> building usable tools at a reasonable budget
This is probably true, but I suspect chasing new tools isn’t the solution.
I’ve seen a lot of very much with it development teams fail at building stuff
because they couldn’t get their shiny new stuff to work predictably.
> If someone is "tired" of this process it might be time to consider another
> profession.
On the front end, yes, it’s probably par for the course. I suspect it’s
because front end development is even more removed from rigorous engineering
practice than back end development.
On the back end, however, lots of stuff is still built in Java and C(++) and
it all works reasonably well.
It’s just not very exciting.
------
furstenheim
The user does care. At a previous company we started migrating from angular to
vue. Vue was so fast that those parts would be completely rendered and the
rest would be white. It was also snappy.
Of course, one has to be mindful about the transition. You cannot stop
business, but you can take a little extra time whenever there's need to modify
a section to improve quality (both code and ui). Actually that's why we chose
vue, it allowed to a progressive migration out of angular.
BTW, someone had the "great" idea of not using a framework for an internal
admin portal. It turned immediately into a huge ball of mud.
~~~
kqr
> BTW, someone had the "great" idea of not using a framework for an internal
> admin portal. It turned immediately into a huge ball of mud.
It's never the case that you "don't use a framework" for something like that.
You'll use a framework, alright. The choice is between using something well-
built based on best practises as we know them, or... building it yourself.
Other than in very rare circumstances, I fail to see the point of reinventing
that wheel. UI frameworks (web front-end or not) are a quagmire of edge cases
and other infinite time sinks.
------
erwinh
On the react bandwagon for almost 5 years now and haven’t regretted it a
single day. Started using it because it allowed me to build d3-type data
visualisations but with way more flexibility in terms of hierarchy and
grouping of DOM elements in what for me felt like a very intuitive format of
components and JSX. So I would say thrust your own judgement when considering
which tools! Not all trends are pure hype, there might be something real
behind it :)
~~~
yen223
In my opinion, React is one of the few libraries out there where the gains
from using it is much larger than the effort needed to learn it. It has a
relatively small API, more so now that you can get a lot done with just
function components. In return, once you grok the whole "components as a
function of state" concept, designing data models and designing app components
becomes very simple.
I really like react, and I'm glad to see other environments adopting a React-
like approach to UI development (Apple's SwiftUI and Android's Jetpack
Compose, to name two)
------
lmilcin
Almost every time it is better to invest in learning your framework well and
learning patterns to work around framework's issues rather than learning a new
framework.
First, it is naive to think the new framework does not have any problems.
Marketing would like you to think everything is perfect but if that ever
happened, why do we have new frameworks all the time?
Second, you will pay with decreased productivity while you are learning the
new framework and you are not guaranteed to be more productive than with the
old framework.
Third, due to decreased initial productivity, even if you potentially get more
productive with new framework, it is going to take time to realize any
benefits. If you are switching the framework too frequently you are cutting
yourself off from the benefits.
~~~
lmilcin
I forgot to mention there is actually one reason to learn new frameworks and
it is to educate yourself on the tools that are available. If you do it
correctly you can get 90% benefits with 10% effort.
Just don't decide to build your new production application with a framework
that you don't know or did little more than hello world.
------
Tade0
I feel like these problems are endemic to React and the surrounding ecosystem.
Since its introduction in late 2016 Angular 2+ has had no major changes on the
scale of hooks and is unlikely to introduce them, because its target audience
- large companies making large-scale applications is fairly conservative.
Vue I think had one measurably large syntax shift around v2.5(or 2.6) and will
have another one with 3.0, but that's about it.
Meanwhile in React every year there's this new convention that isn't
explicitly mandatory, but for some reason "cooler" than the previous one.
All this won't matter once the next gen compiler-frameworks reach maturity. My
take is that hooks are React's swan song.
~~~
mark_and_sweep
> Since its introduction in late 2016 Angular 2+ has had no major changes
As someone who has used Angular 2 since beta, I can tell you, it's been a
bumpy ride nonetheless.
> its target audience - large companies making large-scale applications - is
> fairly conservative
React was built for Facebook, which is a large company building a large-scale
application.
> All this won't matter once the next gen compiler-frameworks reach maturity.
And here I am using HTML and CSS with tiny sprinkles of JS for most websites,
and it's working just fine, and has been for many years.
Personally, I hope that server-side rendering will be the new ~old~ trend.
~~~
Tade0
> As someone who has used Angular 2 since beta, I can tell you, it's been a
> bumpy ride nonetheless.
Oh yeah. I remember the "let's just apply the good parts of AngularJS here and
there" in v4-6.
"React was built for Facebook, which is a large company building a large-scale
application."
_One_ large scale application, which is not enough to create stable
conventions that are badly needed in a framework that's supposed to be used in
multiple such projects done by very different organisations.
_Personally, I hope that server-side rendering will be the new ~old~ trend._
Users don't tolerate the inherent delays caused by this approach anymore.
All those hoops current frameworks are jumping through so that we can eat the
cake and have it too are there because of this.
~~~
yxhuvud
> Users don't tolerate the inherent delays caused by this approach anymore.
Well, I certainly also do not tolerate the delays in contemporary React sites
either. Take Reddit for example, which used to be lightning fast when it was
mostly serverside, which now is painfully slow, especially on mobile.
~~~
tfleming
Yep, I agree. Was just talking to my wife about Reddit. It's so slow now,
especially on mobile. The page constantly crashes on my Android phone and they
always recommend the app. No thanks.
~~~
nefitty
Today is the day I decided to switch to old reddit... My Mac can run
garageband and vsc and 40 chrome tabs at once, but as soon as I click a front
page Reddit link, that modal is like pouring sludge into my computer.
------
ChrisMarshallNY
Not just JS. JS is an enormous ecosystem, so it shows this issue, but pretty
much all tech (and other industries, as well), have the same problems.
We can have problems when folks start suddenly painting "The New Thing™" over
classic designs and architectures.
In my experience, that's even worse than rewriting everything.
Also, it can become a requirement for hiring, because some manager, or their
"top tech," have suddenly latched onto a technique/technology they encountered
at a conference.
I remember applying at a company, and they gave me a "take-home" test.
Fair 'nuff. I like these better than the silly "draw spunky" tests that are so
_en vogue_ , these days.
They said I needed to use a certain third-party library, and use MVVM, or PM.
That made no sense to me. It would result in the dependency being "married" to
the application.
In my response, I used dependency injection to add the third-party library
they wanted me to use. I wrote the app in about three hours, and incorporated
the library (which is a great library, but one I had never used before). I
delivered an app that met their specs -very quickly-, and of remarkably high
quality. It also featured the ability to easily "swap out" the dependency
(which is a huge reason for using dependency injection).
Dependency Injection is not a new thing. I think the name may be a bit new,
but it's a fairly classic pattern that is a great way to encapsulate
dependencies (which is something I always do).
It Freaked. Them. Out. I have no idea why. They literally shredded my résumé,
at that point.
I have my suspicions why. I think they found out something else about me
during the process (my age), and that may have been a contributing factor.
~~~
memexy
I once worked with a group of people that were afraid of makefiles. I doubt it
was your age. People are always afraid of things that are unfamiliar. This
applies to snakes and spiders just as much as it applies to programming
languages and associated technologies.
~~~
ChrisMarshallNY
_> I doubt it was your age._
Wish I could share your confidence, but I have run face-first into this
phenomenon.
_[...removed some stuff that I don 't feel like backing up...]_
We are an unpopular bunch. It used to get me quite upset, but I’ve learned to
make it quite clear that I am no youngster; right up front. Avoids stuff like
what I mentioned.
~~~
memexy
Really? Do you have specific examples. In my experience hacker news tends to
be much more friendly and sympathetic towards older programmers.
~~~
ChrisMarshallNY
I'll withdraw the post (rather than spend a bunch of time, hunting down
comments that just get me depressed), but the tide may be turning.
Now that the VC money may not be as easy to get as it once was, there may be a
bit of a demand for software that _ships_ , as opposed to glossy slide decks.
Us old farts ain't so bad at that.
~~~
memexy
Indeed. Focus on fundamentals never hurts.
------
wereHamster
Let me make the argument against axios.
Even if you are happy, your users may not. Axios (btw still on version 0.x
despite being one of the older javascript packages, means it can introduce
breaking changes without any warning, think about that) adds 4.4kB
(minified+gzipped) to your bundle. Do that a few times and you have hundreds
of kB of additional code your users don't need to download (and execute!). If
all you need to GET or POST, without any special needs, the w3c fetch function
is definitely better for your users.
~~~
heipei
My argument for using axios is developer ergonomics. There are a few libraries
that I use both in the frontend and the backend, for which I gladly accept the
increased bundle size: axios, lodash, moment, Q. My users get the benefit in
me being able to ship features faster because I don't have to constantly keep
up with which feature ships in which browser version etc. I also found the
fetch API horrendous to use. It's a tradeoff I'm willing to make.
~~~
whycombagator
Do you take on the entire of Lodash as a dependency?
If so, do you use any of the Lodash features not described here?[0]
If you use more than described, or if a specific Lodash feature is more
performant, you can selectively import[1].
[0] [https://github.com/you-dont-need/You-Dont-Need-Lodash-
Unders...](https://github.com/you-dont-need/You-Dont-Need-Lodash-Underscore)
[1] [https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=keywords:lodash-
modularized](https://www.npmjs.com/search?q=keywords:lodash-modularized)
------
ctvo
No one I know has moved away from React as the base of their front-end UI for
the last three years.
Maybe I'm out of touch? It doesn't seem like the churn is as much of an issue.
------
gitgud
The underlying problems are mainly psychological in my opinion. FOMO (fear of
missing out) and attaching your identity to a language or tech stack.
People get so religiously tied to their technology sometimes that they cannot
change without changing themselves.
It's the same case with the fractured ecosystem of Linux distros, there's
tonnes of them! From the outside it looks overwhelming as all these projects
are concurrently developing similar things. But the benefits are a rich and
diverse ecosystem meeting a range of needs.
Imagine if everyone used one language like Java and never created new
packages... and simply maintained existing libraries... that's not a world I'd
like developing in...
------
chadcmulligan
I agree totally with this - but if you want to get a new job, you have no
choice but to follow the latest javascript framework, because thats who's
hiring. They want to build their new doodad in the latest doodad - react, Vue,
...., because thats what their google turned up thats the latest and greatest.
Further if you're looking at getting your next job, you'll make your next
project using the latest doodad, because thats who's hiring when you finish
this project (as long as your project doesn't take to long and you miss the
boat - you can probably quit midway, I suppose)
------
recursivedoubts
Javascript has always gone through hype cycles.
Interestingly, it appears to be somewhat correlated with market manias and
peaks near the tops of markets.
Generally, following industry trends appears to be good for individual careers
but bad for code bases (on average, but with occasional big payoffs.)
~~~
User23
Since I own my career but signed away all rights to the code I write as a
condition of employment I'm OK with this trade-off.
------
tsdlts
Agreed entirely. Now all you have to do is convince my team of this without
being bombarded with the platitude of "don't reinvent the wheel."
------
jaeming
Have followed the trends and I now know Ember, Angular(both legacy and new),
Vue(with and without typescript), and React(both classes and hooks). I've also
used Svelte, and Stencil JS in my personal projects. In addition, I've also
dived headfirst into GraphQL and Typescript pretty heavily lately.
Do I regret investing time in learning any of those frameworks or
technologies?
Not at all. It was fun and interesting at the time I learned something
different from each of them. Perhaps the most valuable thing I learned was
that it is worthwhile to evaluate new technologies and to continue learning
new things.
Does it devalue me as an Engineer to learn many things as opposed to becoming
an expert in a single tech stack?
Much the opposite. A lot of the underlying principles and architecture remain
the same and yet, I find each framework offers something new. Whether it's
questioning some convention, or approaching a problem with a different
paradigm, or just being heavily opinionated, I feel like I gained some value
from each of these and had fun while doing so.
~~~
koheripbal
The downside probably being that an employer paid you during that time of
learning and didn't get much work product out of it.
Learning for the sake of learning is an infinite endeavour.
I try to practice strategic learning - learning skills/frameworks/topics that
will have a high likelihood of being used in the course of my _current_
project.
There's just so so much out there... focus is everything.
~~~
jaeming
I am actually paid by my employer to do 5 hours of training per week. It's
required and I am allowed to study anything I want, whether it's a new
framework or a self-improvement book.
I usually spend that time studying something that I think may be useful or
related to my job but I have been encouraged to explore. My employer is a big
believer that innovation comes from exploration.
As you pointed out, it is an infinite endeavor. I'm okay with that. If I just
stuck with the current technologies that were used when I first came in, we'd
probably still be using jQuery and .ERB templates. Instead I personally pushed
for using new technologies and my team is personally responsible for
introducing Vue, Typescript, and GraphQL to our stack among other
technologies.
------
dpix
One problem I have with that hype cycle diagram is that it appears to show
that all technologies that get a lot of hype will eventually even out and get
good adoption once they go through some growing pains.
Realistically though a lot of new tech will get into the hype stage and then
everyone will realise that is in fact no good or just disappear for some other
reason.
People see that diagram and think it doesn't matter if you jump in at the hype
stage because _eventually_ this tech will become mainstream, when a lot of the
time that graph just drops to zero after the hype stage.
------
codingdave
Agreed. I approach it more from a "Draw a line in the sand" perspective.
We start a project, pick our stack, pick framework versions and features to
use. And then we code for a year using those decisions. We do watch to see
what new things come up over the course of a year. We also learn lessons from
our choices. When our year is over, we talk about new things, evaluate them,
decide what we want to adopt, and move the line in the sand to include the
changes that make sense. Then... for another year, stay where we are.
------
WA
One thing that is, unfortunately, a bit neglected in the post: dependencies
deprecate and JS has a lot of them.
One npm audit shows a lot of vulnerabilities for the long trail of
dependencies in my Angular 4 app. My web app uses Hapi 17 and many plugins
have changed APIs in the more recent version.
This fact alone leads to many heavy refactorings and even rewrites.
As a solo dev, I can only try to reduce dependencies (taking a massive hit on
productivity) or keep up with the newest way to write stuff in my former
self’s framework of choice.
------
DoubleGlazing
This lustrates a problem I've encountered on a few recent projects - we are
suffering an embarrassment of riches when it comes to front end technology.
I found myself slipping in the architect role on a few recent projects with
various employers and being forced to make the call on which front end
framework to use. The problem is that there are so many to choose from and it
very hard to predict what you will need in terms of features from your chosen
framework six months or longer after making your decision.
Plus, your fellow devs will probably be arguing with you over which one is
better based on their experience. All the emails and messages pointing me to
various websites claiming React/Vue/Angular etc is best with stats and graphs
I really don't have to the time to get my head around.
It's that fear of making the wrong choice that bothers me. The idea a year
down the line the front end seems a bit sluggish and someone then points out
that {other_framework} would be flying with the same workload.
Don't get me wrong choice is good, but with so much going on in the world of
front-end right now coupled with all the hype and shouts about which is best
it is hard to just pick one and run with it. Especially in the metric driven
world we live in where a manager who doesn't get tech will berate you for
choosing the wrong framework or wonder why you aren't buying in the latest
hyped up framework.
That being said my preference is to use a framework to prototype and then
convert to plain old JS where possible.
------
sdfhbdf
I think Software Engineers' role is to pick the right tool for the job -
taking into account all the advantages and drawbacks of each one. Following
the trends is a good way of knowing if any of the drawbacks of the previous
tools were alleviated in the new ones. Of course the refactoring time must
also be a deciding factor in a switch - most of the times it won't be worth
it. I think what the author meant was don't follow the JS treds _blindly_.
------
Aissen
Let's reverse the question: if you didn't follow the trends, were a decision
maker, and wanted to bet on a frontend "framework" for the next 10+ years for
a greenfield (or full rewrite) project. What would you chose in 2020 ?
From where I stand, it seems vue or react aren't going away anytime soon. But
the same could be said of angular, ember, and probably many others. What would
you chose and why ?
------
diffrinse
The problem to me isn't so much hype trains for this or that framework but
that, as a Front-Ender myself, many Front-End Devs don't know how to do
anything without a framework; the person I report to, the Front-End Manager,
had been mucking about with jQuery for 15 years straight and didn't know about
CSS animations.
I was able to work alongside a very saavy consultant for a year when I started
out who I feel pointed me in the right direction wrt coding 'from the problem
itself', if you will, but they'd have me do interviews and I'd be astounded at
what applicants didn't know or grasp who'd been doin this front-end thing much
longer than I.
If there were better solution design pedagogy instead of React's original
marketing of "We know better about efficient DOM updates than you" I think
you'd see substantially less reliance on these types of things, and probably a
lot less unmaintainable code disguised as maintainable because it uses "a
framework".
------
k__
I'm teaching frontend development to designers right now and after almost a
semester, I have the feeling I have to cut out much more concepts.
There are just too many ways to do things to teach a beginner in one semester
and they just should be able to create basic prototypes anyway.
~~~
itronitron
Serious question, why do they need to know anything about creating prototypes?
~~~
k__
The argumentation went like:
We did design projects for companies and showed them our ideas as mock images
and they didn't like them.
We then implemented the exact same designs as prototypical apps, they clicked
around in it and loved it.
~~~
robjan
You can mock user interactions in Sketch and Figma.
~~~
k__
I don't use these apps.
It were design teachers that hired me, so I guess they knew and still wanted
their students to learn a bit programming.
------
dpweb
I think either vanilla js, or the other route, a full blown batteries
included, like Visual Basic 6 was for windows development. Either abstract
away nothing, or everything.
In the middle, is developing with a framework. The problem is you have to know
the language + the peculiarities of the framework. New frameworks and
"features" happen on too short a timeframe. And, frankly, it costs too little
to just invent a new framework. So, 10000 frameworks.
There is a mental cost that increases exponentially with every layer of
abstraction. When people have to post questions about why they can't
understand such "features" of panacea x , that's the problem.
~~~
worik
Been a while for me, but I agree
But when I spent a year doing Javascript I found that in JQuery there were a
lot of shortcuts I was writing my self to lower the RSI from typing long
Javascript statements.
Beyond that there is nothing useful in JS frame works. They make simple things
easy and the complicated stuff (which is design and logic) stays hard.
------
thesuitonym
I just wish more developers would stop trying to improve their products by
chasing the newest, coolest standard, and instead work on fixing bugs. But
that's not en vogue these days.
------
seph-reed
I don't use frameworks, and have found more efficient, better organized, more
native ways of doing everything that frameworks do.
It took a lot of time and effort and being a stick in the mud, but the trick
was ultimately an algorithm/abstraction I call source derivation (SDx).
Here's a simple example of the algorithm:
[https://codepen.io/SephReed/pen/gOaeQLv](https://codepen.io/SephReed/pen/gOaeQLv)
------
nsonha
Unfortunately we work with others and sometimes powerless in this. I worked in
2 front-end teams both using redux inherited from the early stage of the
projects. In both cases the marority of the team don't like it but we're too
deep in it to get out without affecting our roadmap. Another case I had to
talk a college into not using graphql just because he could, felt like a jerk.
------
dilandau
I remember having a coworker who was "learning clojure". That guy did more
damage than could even be imagined.
------
atum47
this is a fight a developer alone cannot win. my first job after college was
in a company that created a software to manage industrial production. they
were on their third refactor of their frontend. first was polymer?, then
angular and now they were trying vue. I spent a lot of time and energy trying
to convince them to write they own framework, if they like frameworks so bad.
funny story, that's how I built FOS, the framework I use on my website.
anyway, I was hired by some other company and don't know the end of the story
there, but I'll bet they went with vue, just to rewrite the whole thing in
react in a couple of months
------
mattwad
I recently started a new app using Material UI, after doing web dev since pre-
CSS days. I'm trying to grok CSS-in-JS, and it's only been a few weeks but it
still feels so completely unneccessary.
------
jchook
tl;dr: use TypeScript, but don't worry so much about hooks.
\---
I recently switched my JS + PureComponent mobile app to TypeScript and FC
Hooks. I felt motivated to do so because:
\- You cannot use hooks in PureComponent render(). The two modalities do not
play nice together.
\- Many of the libraries I use like react-spring and react-navigation have
fully embraced hooks, sometimes without an HOC equivalent. So I felt forced to
also embrace hooks or write complicated wrappers to facilitate them, for
example new component lifecycle methods (e.g. componentDidFocus).
Some things I noticed...
1\. TypeScript is amazing. Combined with Intellisense it has given me coding
superpowers. I can write code faster and with dramatically more confidence.
2\. You can incrementally shift your JS app to use TypeScript. You can even
write type declarations for your JS code without rewriting it in TS. Most of
your favorite libraries already have such type definitions (see
DefinitelyTyped).
3\. Hooks require a significantly different mental model than PureComponent.
It feels horribly wasteful at first but apparently relies heavily on JS
interpreter optimizations and memoization to achieve superior FMP
performance[1]. My app feels noticeably snappier now, but it took a good bit
of tuning to correct issues introduced during the port.
4\. It IS indeed possible to write a functional wrapper that provides
otherwise unavailable hook support for your Component or PureComponent. The
tricky part is that you need to use a ref to invoke lifecycle methods on your
wrapped component[2].
In retrospect I think I would recommend _against_ porting an existing React
project to hooks. However I would absolutely recommend porting to TypeScript,
even if you do so slowly and incrementally.
1\. [https://medium.com/@dan_abramov/this-benchmark-is-indeed-
fla...](https://medium.com/@dan_abramov/this-benchmark-is-indeed-
flawed-c3d6b5b6f97f)
2\. [https://medium.com/reactnative/custom-lifecycle-methods-
in-r...](https://medium.com/reactnative/custom-lifecycle-methods-in-react-
native-f84c7257eaa6)
~~~
BossingAround
I was initially kind of worried about TS. It has kind of a high barrier to
entry with linter settings, typescript-specific setting, solving how to
compile your code easily, learning the new syntax, etc. etc.
I literally spent like an hour reading up on it and learning it, and I
realized I never want to go back to a plain old JS. TS feels way closer to
Java than to JavaScript, with its own quirks and way of functioning of course.
The barrier of entry seems perceived, but not really that big of a deal.
I wonder what are the cons of TS.
~~~
reificator
> _TS feels way closer to Java than to JavaScript_
You and I clearly have different understandings of Java, JS, and/or TS.
Typescript's structural typing feels like the opposite end of the spectrum
from Java's nominal types.
~~~
BossingAround
> Typescript's structural typing feels like the opposite end of the spectrum
> from Java's nominal types.
Be that as it may, I said nothing about type systems. I said that TS feels
closer to Java than it does to JS. Seeing as JS has no type system, I fail to
see your argument.
~~~
reificator
> _Be that as it may, I said nothing about type systems._
Typescript is nothing more and nothing less than a language that adds static
typing to Javascript. Any discussion about how Typescript changes the feel of
Javascript is a discussion about type systems.
> _Seeing as JS has no type system, I fail to see your argument._
Javascript absolutely has a type system. It's not static, and there are lots
and lots and lots and frankly too many ways to automatically coerce types, but
it definitely has a type system.
------
darepublic
I remember 2016 as the year my peers started telling me that jquery was evil.
Also a year of switching from angular to React/redux
------
jaquers
Didn't read. Follow JavaScript trends that make sense for you and your team.
Ignore the noise, get shit done.
You know what I hate more than "JS fatigue" \- it's ppl complaining about "JS
fatigue". Software evolves, and I'm always looking to bring a better
experience for my users - and then means replacing components sometimes when
there are clearly better alternatives, whether that is for developer
experience, smaller bundle sizes, etc.
~~~
worik
Depends if you want your code to be maintainable into the future with other
teams.
If you do not care about the future (which os OK in some contexts) then you
are correct
------
mot0rola
Stay curious, try new things! Party of being a developer is exploration and
discovery. Do not discourage!
------
awirth
Some days I miss using prototype.js and script.aculo.us
------
pldr1234
Article very empty of any real, tangible advice.
------
nsonha
What do these have to do with managing fads?
------
0az
A while back, I got tired of dealing with the mess of Gatsby, Next.js, and
Vuepress, so I made my own static site generator in Python.
I don't want a GraphQL database for my static site. I just want something to
template out my site's boilerplate, and I don't want to deal with Webpack
speed, or lack thereof. One file, ~200 loc, and I understand all of it.
The tentatively named Zhi works fast enough for full rebuilds triggered by
fswatch. It does one thing and does it well:
fswatch -0 -e .venv -e out . | xargs -0 zhi build
If there's interest in a simple, understandable Jinja-based static site
generator, I can clean it up and release it:
[https://github.com/0az/zhi](https://github.com/0az/zhi) (empty repo).
~~~
BossingAround
If you didn't like Gatsby, why not simply use one of the tens of simpler
static generators? Hugo is extremely popular, but also just Jekyll or
something similar. You won't understand the whole codebase, most likely, but
on a user level, it's literally just a "put a markdown file in this directory"
type of a thing for most of these generators...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Diversity Crisis in AI, 2017 edition - rmeertens
http://www.fast.ai/2017/08/16/diversity-crisis/
======
anasayubi
I don't see how you plan on targeting diversity within AI by hosting classes
in a concrete location (that too in the US). You want diversity? Send your
employees abroad to 3rd world countries. I lead a university society in
Pakistan that focuses on raising awareness and expertise in AI. We're in dire
need of mentors and experts.
------
DarkKomunalec
> guess what the diversity stats of the Google Brain team is? It is ~94% male
> with 44 men and just 3 women and over 70% White.
She has a point complaining about the 94% males, but as the US is 72.4% white,
I don't see what's wrong with "over 70% White".
> just 3% of Google’s technical employees are Black or Latino
Heh, Asians are once again not diverse enough to even mention.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Microsoft: I'm a PC, and Kinect open-source drivers were my idea - Garbage
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/20/microsoft-im-a-pc-and-kinect-open-source-drivers-were-my-idea/
======
wccrawford
If they -really- wanted people to take advantage of the Kinect on PCs, they
wouldn't have just failed to protect it. They'd have written and released
official drivers. They obviously weren't hard to make.
Edit: That isn't to downplay the accomplishment of those who made the drivers.
But if someone could do it in days without any idea of the official design,
someone with that design could do it even quicker and better.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Any Workspaces for Windows 10 with keyboard support? - cvs268
After holding out for last couple of years, i finally switched to Windows 10 (from Windows 7) this Christmas! :-)<p>While the upgrade went through without any issues, and all my tools seem to be working properly, i have lost one MAJOR feature - multiple desktops/workspaces.<p>I used to use Dexpot on Windows 7, which has intermittent issues after upgrading to Windows 10.<p>Any suggestion for customizing the built-in workspaces feature in Windows 10, or any 3rd-party utilities for Windows 10, that support <i>keyboard-shortcuts</i> like:<p><pre><code> - moving active window between workspaces.
- switching to specific workspace (without cycling through all).</code></pre>
======
cvs268
After experimenting with a few free tools i could find online, have settled on
using "Better Desktop Tool" on Windows 10.
- Its free for personal use.
- Supports customizable keyboard shortcuts for virtual-desktops / workspaces.
[http://www.betterdesktoptool.com/features.html](http://www.betterdesktoptool.com/features.html)
------
mistermithras
It's built-in for Windows 10. Check this link:
[https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/help/4028538/windows-10-...](https://support.microsoft.com/en-
us/help/4028538/windows-10-multiple-desktops)
~~~
cvs268
Tried it.
Without keyboard-shortcuts for common flows like moving windows between
workspaces, i found it too slow/cumbersome to use.
Hence wondering whether there's some Windows tweak to enable keyboard-
shortcuts (especially moving windows between workspaces), or some 3rd-party
utility that works on Windows 10.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Making money on domain names: dirty business or brilliant strategy? | Venture Itch - sigma3dz
http://www.ventureitch.com/?p=161
======
Psyonic
Interesting article. The business definitely seems a bit dirty, and now that
registrars themselves are getting into it, I imagine it will get out of hand.
They really need to repeal the 2 or 3 day trial period; I think that would
take care of a lot of the speculative purchasing going on.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: textfac.es - A minimal website for text faces ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - defaultnamehere
http://tetxfac.es
======
sbarg
Typo in the link. Nice site, though...
~~~
gus_massa
Correct link: <http://textfac.es/>
Idea: Can I upvote/star /heart a face? With this you will get more data about
which faces people like and sort them. Creating a full account for this site
is too much, so perhaps you can store the upvotes in a cookie and add a
minimal multiple upvote filter.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
14 Things Successful People Do in the First Hour of the Workday - samaysharma
http://www.businessinsider.in/14-Things-Successful-People-Do-In-The-First-Hour-Of-The-Workday/articleshow/45694883.cms
======
MichaelCrawford
"They relax. This one is difficult for most people, but successful individuals
understand the importance of creating a few minutes of peace before jumping
in. "It helps you better approach the issues at hand," Taylor says. Taking a
moment to stretch and breathe will help you make better decisions during this
chaotic time of day."
In general, I've done the best when I start my day by reading the newspaper -
not software industry news, but the local dead-tree paper - over breakfast in
a cafe, before I go to work.
Lately I haven't been doing so well. I attribute this to where I presently
live; there is only one place where I can walk to where I could read the paper
over breakfast. Rather than going there every single day, some days I stay at
home with the intention of getting right to work. Quite commonly the days that
I stay home are quite unproductive.
Being self-employed, I do a lot better if I get out of the house.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Developer productivity: The art of saying no - cj
https://localizejs.com/blog/startup/developer-productivity-saying-no
======
bshimmin
This post is almost comically ridiculous if you try and apply any of it
outside of the context of (I imagine) a small team that doesn't really do
anything externally.
How do I tell my clients that I only do meetings on Thursdays? If they happen
to be unavailable one Thursday, do they have to wait a fortnight before I
deign to speak to them again?
Is this guy seriously suggesting that the way to stop being overwhelmed by
inbox zero is by using Slack?
And honestly, doing one thing a day - really? How in the world does that work?
Sure, doing one thing well is better than doing nothing or half-doing a bunch
of things, but surely your goal should be actually doing a reasonable amount
of things that reflect a solid day's work - and figuring out a strategy for
reliably making that happen.
Perhaps I'm just a grouch today, but it feels like this post is either satire
or written from a completely different universe, utterly unrelated to the one
I inhabit and work in.
~~~
cj
Coworker of the OP here. To elaborate a bit:
> How do I tell my clients that I only do meetings on Thursdays?
I generally do 10-15 customer meetings per week. When I get a meeting request,
I ask if they're available on the following Tuesday or Thursday with a 90% hit
rate. Meetings are almost always not urgent, so fitting them into Tues and
Thurs, instead of spreading them randomly througout the week, has worked
really well for me.
> How in the world does [doing 1 thing per day] work? [...] surely your goal
> should be actually doing a reasonable amount of things
In the context of software development, doing a large number of things usually
doesn't push the product forward as much as doing 1 big 2-4 hour project.
Personally I still have 30+ things on my TODO list at any given time, but I
try to center my days around getting one "big" thing done, and fill the rest
of the day with smaller day-to-day tasks.
~~~
bshimmin
So you do meetings on Tuesday or Thursdays, and rather than doing one thing a
day, in fact you do one big task a day and many small tasks. That's all fine
and good, but 1) it's not really what the OP's post says, and 2) it's not
really very revolutionary at all.
I'm glad it works for you guys, but I'm often irritated by these preachy posts
which seem to say that developers should be treated as delicate flowers and
suggest all manner of strategies to preserve their preferred ways of working,
many of which, if you actually applied them to the real world, would result in
clients saying, "Wow, these guys are hard to work with, can we please find
someone else?"
~~~
GFischer
I've been told that customers actually respect companies that say "no" to them
more than the ones that always say "yes" to everything (as long as the
rationale is explained and reasonable).
~~~
kyllo
Just like you respect a romantic partner who is firm with you and has
boundaries, more than you respect one who's a total doormat and lets you
trample all over them.
------
AstroChimpHam
A lot of the commenters are understanding this post as the author putting down
unbreakable commandments and then demonstrating that there are exceptions to
the rules, and thus the author is wrong, or bad at his job, or whatever. We
programmers have really got to learn to take stuff less rigidly.
OP can correct me if I'm wrong, but I read this more as "here's the ideal I'm
working towards, and I follow it as much as I can unless there's a good reason
to break it." Read it that way, and there's actually a lot of good advice in
there. I've never met a programmer that didn't need to be in the zone to get
big projects done well, and everything mentioned here is good advice towards
finding time to get into the zone more often. As a start-up founder, I have a
ton of little things I constantly need to do, and following advice like this
to get those little things into manageable clusters that allow for less
context-switching has been incredibly helpful in getting stuff done.
I'd never heard of some of the tools the author mentioned, and I sometimes
forget some of the strategies, and a refresher is always nice. Thanks for the
post!
------
unoti
This reminds me of a type of professional that I see far too often. The
professional who specializes in not doing their job. It happens with
programmers, as well as many other specialties. You've probably seen them:
\- Software developers who as soon as you tell them what you need, they tell
you why it's impossible.
\- Network administrators who apparently specialize in making machines not
talk to each other, because things worked better before their first day
\- DBA's whose first priority is keeping you from accessing the data
\- Engineers who think it's their job to make things more difficult
Saying NO to all the things is better than getting nothing done, sure. But
having the skill to say yes to the things that are needed is better.
~~~
Bahamut
It's all about what you say no to. For example, if it is something that will
cause a lot of technical debt, as a developer, I push back until I get a
concession where I have the opportunity to undo the damage afterwards.
Otherwise the debt will increase stress, lower developer happiness, and
potentially prevent the business from growing in the long term as developer
retention becomes more difficult the longer it lasts.
If you're going to ask for something unreasonable from someone with domain
expertise, expect to make a concession if you want it done since that person
has a high likelihood of understanding the true costs of the request. It is
all too common to see developers experience burnout from 60+ hour weeks in
order to attempt to meet a deadline because managers were awful at planning.
I often take a more neutral stance through explaining that it would take [X]
amount of time to build solid & tested pieces of functionality as designed,
and then let the product managers assess the information to come to a decision
to either scale back or if it is still pushed for, then push back for a
concession. It doesn't have to be a Yes or No proposition, it is like
bartering - you want to get to a mutual agreement so all parties are
satisfied.
~~~
redler
_It is all too common to see developers experience burnout from 60+ hour weeks
in order to attempt to meet a deadline because managers were awful at
planning._
Another pattern I've seen is the dreaded "artificial deadline" from on high. A
project is structured to meet a tight deadline, resources are reallocated,
nights and weekends are worked, stress ripples through the team. At great
emotional expense the deadline is met, and the team submits the project,
victorious.
And then nothing is heard for several days. No feedback from the heavens.
Inquiries are made, and it's discovered that, well, no, in fact there was no
particular reason this project had to be finished by that particular date.
Managers have moved on, checkboxes have been checked. Because the project was
nominally successful, the episode is used to further confirm the management
theory that "the dev team needs deadlines, even arbitrary ones, or things
don't get done." The project size and time frame is now baked into
management's institutional memory as the new baseline.
------
ryandrake
A strategy of communication avoidance might work if you're a one-person
company with no managers and no customers, but in the real world, it's
necessary to periodically come out of our hidey-holes and talk to people. The
need to communicate regularly grows as the project's size and complexity
grows, as deadlines approach, as requirements change.
The idea of the Lone Wolf Developer sitting uninterrupted in his office 24/7,
building the software in a vacuum, gloriously emerging after three months, on
time, with software that perfectly conforms to the requirements, that
miraculously works exactly according to the customer's needs, is a myth--
incompatible with the reality of professional software development.
~~~
BurningFrog
Having meetings every Thursday is exactly "periodically come out of our hidey-
holes and talk to people".
~~~
cssmoo
I operate a "if you can't be bothered to structure your thoughts in a well-
written email, you can bugger off" process. Meetings Thursday is a no go area
for me.
This works well once everyone understands it.
Unfortunately for it to work, you tend to have to serve as an internal
consultant to a company, write good replies and maintain a lot of
documentation and technical standards.
------
S4M
Am I the only person who hates daily morning stand ups here? Not everybody on
the team arrives at the same time, so if you arrive early it will become
aninterruption in your workflow. Sometimes I can't do what I planned to do and
most of the time I don't care about what others are plamning to do.
Also in my previous companies members of my team had the tendency to talk _a
lot_ in the daily standup, making it last sometimes 20 minutes.
~~~
mavdi
20 minutes? We have a technical architect who alone babbles nonsense for half
hour in each standup. Some people confuse stand ups with their counselling
sessions.
~~~
dakotaben
Then whoever is running the stand up.... sucks. This is not a stand up.
------
fein
The pendulum always swings to one extreme; it never seems to find a resting
place in the middle.
Productivity is all about balance, which is a word that never appears in this
article. A blog providing polarizing advice won't be any sort of silver
bullet, as the definition of "productive" will, quite often, change
completely. One day it may be fielding calls, having meetings, and talking to
clients. Another day it may mean sitting in a dark room for ten hours with a
coffeemaker, a laptop, and yourself, just banging out bugfixes and feature
requests.
This is the kind of concept that should be felt out on a project by project /
week by week basis, not with a rigid "WE NEVER DEVIATE!" attitude.
------
lettergram
It's kind of strange, but I came up with the same (more-or-less) rules while I
worked.
Especially interesting, was that I worked at a place that "required" meetings
pretty much every day. I just decided to start skipping them, all of them.
Absurdly, nothing happened. I was able to complete all of my work by Tuesday
afternoon (skipping the 3 monday meetings).
Then I would meet one-on-one with my boss (who agreed that I could try this
out), show him what I did, and by wednesday I started something new. Within a
month I convinced three of the teams (3 - 8 people) to start doing this. It
was pretty awesome it was to improve productivity by just trying to skip
meetings I didn't want to attend anyways.
~~~
civilian
Yup :) I also get a morale boost from feeling rebellious and anti-bureaucratic
when I skip meetings. "Fuck y'all, I've got _code_ to write, your words don't
mean anything to me. If it's important my project manager will give me the
lowdown."
------
dpcan
Their key points here were:
-Inbox Pause
-Thursday Meetings
-and Do 1 Thing a Day.
I personally use:
-Archive Everything
-Never have meetings... ever.
-and Prioritize
My email is like Chat unfortunately, so much back and forth on projects I
really can't afford to only chime in once a day or nothing would ever get
done. But everything gets archived unless I'm working on it actively, or I
still need to reply.
Meetings... I never meet in person now. The time suck is just horrible awful
miserable. I will occasionally have a phone meeting, but they aren't much
better, but at least I don't have to take time to shave and drive.
1 thing a day would be nice unless your world consists of 200 little tiny
things. So, I prioritize and block out hours to get things done. Then I DO
apply 1-thing-a-day to my side-projects so they stay fresh.
To each their own.
~~~
karinnielsen
Not having meetings or conf calls might work for you but I would be very
surprised if it works for your customers and/or peers (assuming you have any).
If there is one thing I have learned it's that the quality of communication in
a team usually makes or breaks the project. The quality of communication with
a customer makes or breaks the relationship.
It's important to remember that humans have been communicating for thousands
of years without email, chat servers or telephones. Our brains are hard-wired
to respond to facial expression, tone of voice and body language.
All of this is lost with computer-mediated communication channels. Your post
prompted me to look at this study which you may also find interesting:
[http://www.academia.edu/538403/Face-to-
face_Versus_Computer-...](http://www.academia.edu/538403/Face-to-
face_Versus_Computer-
mediated_Communication_Exploring_Employees_Preference_of_Effective_Employee_Communication_Channel)
Don't get me wrong, meetings for the sake of meetings are a waste of time but
that's not to say that they do not have their place.
~~~
1123581321
I find maker-vs-manager a bit brittle as well. A company I'm very familiar
with has people going into and out of immersive "modes" that involve creative
work as well as communication about that work. So, someone might spend all
week in "ABC mode" and have 4-8 meetings about ABC as well as shipping a few
features or solutions. Others might advance a few large features and be
interrupted by 2-3 meetings, but because they are connected, the immersion is
not broken.
------
droopyEyelids
We all make fun of "One weird trick to lose belly fat" but how many articles
have you read about pomodoroing, closed offices, meeting refusal, and the
like?
The market is ripe for The Secret to Developer Productivity, a product that
talks about all the common strategies in a happy but "we all know they don't
work" style, while promising to let you in to the True Secret after you break
out the credit card.
~~~
tbrake
> We all make fun of "One weird trick to lose belly fat" but how many articles
> have you read about pomodoroing, closed offices, meeting refusal, and the
> like?
I've been reading them for years. I'm sure there are vets who have been
reading them for longer.
I'm also sure a good portion of management - at all levels - have read it, or
heard about it, or attended a conference etc.
So then why does it persist? I'm sure it's not down to just one reason. There
are three that instantly spring to mind -
One slightly cynical one could be that management simply views the eroded
productivity as an acceptable cost of getting things their way in regards to
meetings, agendas, stopping by to bother you and so on.
Another, more self-critical one, is that we as developers just aren't
assertive enough in demanding change in the workplace. Maybe we do need
unions. I don't know.
A third is that for every one company that "gets it" there are hundreds (if
not more) of companies that don't. Most of them not even in your
field/industry, but if you want them as clients then external pressure to
conform to their way overrides the ability to operate how we want.
I'm sure there's lots of other good reasons it happens and probably plenty of
bad ones. I haven't _completely_ given up hope things could change throughout
the industry but it's not something I'd cling to.
------
bbody
Very interesting article, something every manager who manages developers
should read.
However I think a lot of developers (Particularly startup ones) have multiple
roles, so interruptions and changing flow is a part of the job. How do you
suggest to get around that? My only solution would be to split your day up
into chunks for the different roles, minimizing context switching.
~~~
bluedino
>> However I think a lot of developers (Particularly startup ones) have
multiple roles, so interruptions and changing flow is a part of the job.
That's how my last job was. Tasks varied as followed:
* Work on upcoming project X (release date in the future)
* Feature request on project Y (need done somewhat soon for a client on an already operating project)
* Bugfix needs done NOW on existing project Z
* Ops issue with servers, database, etc
------
kull
I disagree with many haters in the comments. Of course, it works differently
for different people and different businesses. But the ideas in the article
make me willing to try some tweaks to my workflow. I will just try less
hardcore implementation of those things (eg. limit meetings and calls to 3
days a week and see how it goes).
------
EliRivers
_Weekly sprint planning. 30 min over Monday lunch._
I'm happy to eat on company time if you like, but if I'm working it doesn't
come out of my lunch break :)
~~~
mattxxx
Also, I don't get how you can plan a sprint while eating. Sprint planning is
like the most important time to be _actively_ in discussion.
------
Flemlord
My favorite developer productivity trick is office hours. Post times you are
available on your door/cube and most people will respect it.
------
YorkianTones
I like the idea of holding personal email and then bulk delivering to my inbox
at specific times during the day. However, the tool recommended by the linked
post, "Inbox Pause", seems to just use a toggle button and doesn't have a
scheduling mechanism. Anyone know of a tool that does? Maybe the folks over at
SaneBox should add this.
~~~
mkopinsky
How about Ctrl-W to just close the Gmail tab?
~~~
jonathanpeterwu
That's actually a great point.
------
corysama
Anyone here who has not read "The Power of a Positive No" really should get to
it. It's about how to say No constantly without being an ass. It's practically
tailored around devs negotiating with customers.
I the whole world read Ury's "Getting to Yes" trilogy, the whole world would
be a much nicer place to be.
------
itsbits
Meetings only on thursdays!!...Working in a startup I can say that those kind
of enforcements is quite tough to keep on Clients...You know there is lot of
competition every where...if your client is unhappy, they will find another
one...
~~~
frostmatthew
> Working in a startup I can say that those kind of enforcements is quite
> tough to keep on Clients
The post is titled "Developer Productivity..." \- _most_ developers
(regardless of startup or megacorp) aren't having meetings with clients.
------
mattxxx
It'd be nice, but the article comes off like a small-sized engineering team,
telling much bigger businesses how to be efficient.
The reality is that the meeting is about communication, and that's almost-as-
important-as coding for bigger teams.
------
tschellenbach
Love it, great read
------
callesgg
sounds awfully boring.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The trouble with Linux: it's just not sexy - theandym
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/the-trouble-with-linux-it-s-just-not-sexy-679859
======
retube
I'm not sure Windows is especially sexy either, altho Apple clearly is.
Linux will struggle for years to come in the corporate desktop market: as the
article suggests, the of cost of change is just too high. Secondly, Office has
not yet been matched by OO or similar. OO simply does not cut it for
enterprise. As much as I hate M$ and love Linux, if I'm doing heavy duty
spreadsheet work it has to be Excel.
In the personal desktop market Linux stands a better chance, but not much
more. It suffers from a lack of marketing. E.g. Apple wins hands-down with a
technically inferior product because it looks nice and they spend a bomb
sexing it up. And of course Windows is so ubiquitous Linux gets only a
fraction of the shelf space.
------
allenp
I'd say JoliCloud is probably the nicest linux I've seen:
<http://www.jolicloud.com/product/features>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What do you use for Fuzzing (generation and mutation) Peach Fuzzer - ianceicys
http://www.peachfuzzer.com/
======
ianceicys
I'm looking into solution for fuzz testing and I'm wondering if folks are
using peachfuzzer or just using PREFAST, and FXCop. What are the pros and cons
of peachfuzzer?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why Bitcoin Isn't Worth More Than Gold - pratap103
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-12/and-a-bitcoin-is-now-worth
======
billions
The units have no correlation
~~~
paulddraper
I'll trade you a pound of gold for a pound of Bitcoin.
------
PhrosTT
My takeaway is 1 BTC will eventually worth $347,000. :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Buzzwords around HN community - psingh
http://www.hnbuzz.com/
======
psingh
This is my experimental site where I love to categorize the important
information people share on HN. Your feedbacks are most welcome!
------
psingh
btw I'm not smart in webdev. the page may look different to you as compared
with other websites developers have created. I love to hear if someone can
help me in this front. thank you!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Sign Into Websites Directly From Your Browser - joeyespo
http://identity.mozilla.com/post/8841090082/sign-into-websites-directly-from-your-browser
======
vthunder
Ah, yes, silly title. I meant to add "toolbar" at the end of that title, which
makes it make a lot more sense. Will fix that shortly on the blog.
As for the viewing area, There is one point where the menu goes off to the
left side, so I couldn't crop it further (I wanted to keep the window in the
center of the video, as well).
Anyway, let us know what you all think of the API we are proposing! We really
want to see this take off.
(I'm the author of the blog post/video btw, in case that wasnt clear!)
------
mtogo
Sign into websites from my browser!? That sounds awesome!
Hilariously bad title aside, BrowserID and this extension look quite cool and
i'm interested to see how they turn out.
------
montibbalt
I can already press ctrl+enter in Opera to sign into any of my accounts after
I do it once. So I guess this is a more complex but also more secure way of
doing that?
------
blackboxxx
I'll bet Firefox's plump user base has shriveled up like a raisin since
starting this updating schedule to version 7. Using Firefox is annoying.
Simply activating the browser becomes this big update/check your plugins song
and dance production. Now many of the plugins don't work, and Firefox is still
slower than Chrome or Opera.
I hope the new login feature makes Firefox worth using again!
------
drdaeman
Overall direction is _really_ good, but I strongly dislike "email as an
identity" idea. This suffers from all the problems OpenID has.
I've already wrote about this before:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2836754>
------
sorbus
That's one of the worst headlines I've seen recently. It says absolutely
nothing about the content of the article, as well as raising many questions -
how else would you sign into a website, if not through your browser?
That said, BrowserID is, in theory, a cool project, and I wish it well.
------
benatkin
I hope it's not an experiment in the same sense jonathanscard is. It would be
nice if they said that even if it fails to catch on they plan on keeping the
BrowserID server going for a long while!
------
RyanKearney
Why is it so hard for people recording screencasts to have the window fill the
entire viewing area? Was it necessary to see so much of the guys background?
------
gcb
what's next? click on links directly from your browser?
------
Gullanian
I can already sign into a website from my browser
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: MiniHack - Practical Hacker News Client for iOS - minihack
http://42mini.co/minihack
Hi all,<p>This is my first iOS app, a Hacker News client for iOS with login support and many sharing options. (Universal App)<p>Features Highlight:<p>- Login to vote, flag, reply and view your profile page.<p>- Support almost all the pages including Home Page, Newest, Ask, Jobs, Active,
Classic, Best Stories, Best Comments (more coming).<p>- Share via Twitter, Facebook, Email, SMS.<p>- Read Later via Instapaper, Readability, Pocket.<p>- Bookmarking via Pinboard, Kippt, Delicious.<p>- Uncluttered reading with Readability Web Mobilizer.<p>- Gray out read stories.<p>- Smart Gestures<p>Currently not all the features of HN supported, but it's 1.0, and I will continue working on it and polish the hell of it. My goals is to make an full-featured HN client for iOS with some nice and powerful extension features and yet keep it simple and practical. (Hopefully I have the chance)<p>So I need your feedbacks and supports to keep making it better, any feedbacks appreciated.<p>iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minihack-practical-hacker/id631108846?mt=8<p>Email: [email protected]<p>Twitter: http://twitter.com/minihackapp<p>Website: http://42mini.co/minihack
======
minihack
Hi all,
This is my first iOS app, a Hacker News client for iOS with login support and
many sharing options. (Universal App)
Features Highlight:
\- Login to vote, flag, reply and view your profile page.
\- Support almost all the pages including Home Page, Newest, Ask, Jobs,
Active, Classic, Best Stories, Best Comments (more coming).
\- Share via Twitter, Facebook, Email, SMS.
\- Read Later via Instapaper, Readability, Pocket.
\- Bookmarking via Pinboard, Kippt, Delicious.
\- Uncluttered reading with Readability Web Mobilizer.
\- Gray out read stories.
\- Smart Gestures
Currently not all the features of HN supported, but it's 1.0, and I will
continue working on it and polish the hell of it. My goals is to make an full-
featured HN client for iOS with some nice and powerful extension features and
yet keep it simple and practical. (Hopefully I have the chance)
So I need your feedbacks and supports to keep making it better, any feedbacks
appreciated.
iTunes: [https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minihack-practical-
hacker/id...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minihack-practical-
hacker/id631108846?mt=8)
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: <http://twitter.com/minihackapp>
Website: <http://42mini.co/minihack>
------
phreanix
Being relatively satisfied with the mobile safari version, this seems a bit
overpriced for a v1 that you admit doesn't have all the features supported.
Why not a free version first to test drive?
------
anonozc
"This item is currently being modified. Please try again later."
~~~
easonchan42
I changed the price to $1.99! (65% off)
According to this [http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/17/item-is-currently-
bein...](http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/17/item-is-currently-being-
modified/), the error may show up when the app store propagate the price
change.
Sorray about that, but now it's fine, the price changed.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Put order on your ElasticSearch and save money with VRR - ruggerotonelli
https://looking4q.blogspot.com/2018/09/level-up-logs-and-elk-introduction.html?rgr4alberto
======
ruggerotonelli
A friend of mine wrote this article serie to prove the VRR strategy is good
both for Dev and for Ops. It's cost saving and puts order in Elastic when used
for logging...
~~~
seclabor
Good PoV, +1 for the ORDER and for OPS!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Do people use Bookmarklets? - nathantross
A very simple question with a lot of answers I'm sure. But what I'm wondering do people in general use Bookmarklets, or continue using them?<p>Here are a few examples:<p>http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/20-useful-bookmarklets.html
======
sorghum
I was wondering the same thing recently, so I made a little Javascript library
that can detect bookmarklet usage, which could then be hooked up to something
like Google Analytics: <http://github.com/quadule/trackmarks>
I don't have a high-traffic site to test it on, but if anyone else does I'd
love to hear about it.
------
privacychoice
I use them for faster searches -- like going from the current page to a
traffic estimate of that page on compete.com, or domaintools information for
the site. Really speeds things up.
------
jjchiw
I just "published" one, I use bookmarklets: google bookmark, google calendar,
hacker news, google reader, and now "taskme"
------
thigbee
I use the Hootsuite and Buffer bookmarklets.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What Facebook Should Steal From Microsoft’s Playbook - edw519
http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/15/facebook-microsoft-playbook/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
======
brudgers
Word, Excel, Powerpoint were applications which could be used by business to
benefit the bottom line through increased productivity. Scrabulous in
particular and Facebook in general tend to have exactly the opposite effect.
Instead of following Microsoft, Facebook is quite logically following the
Google model - collect data on hundreds of millions of individuals and then
sell that data.
------
smiler
This is a terrible article in my opinion. He says the app eco system on
facebook is not thriving. Is there any data behind this statement? Has
facebook seen a drop off in facebook games or facebook game activity?
He talks about news feeds and gaming activity in there - fb explicity moved
away from this because everyone was complaining about fb games in news feeds,
but I think that people are playing the games?
In local supermarkets here in the UK, they are selling fb gift cards,
specifically branded by game, so things must be going ok?
This article is mere speculation
~~~
chailatte
"This article is mere speculation"...."so things must be going ok?"
"This is a terrible article in my opinion"..."Has facebook seen a drop off in
facebook games or facebook game activity?"
I must make absolute statement. I must also follow up with wishy-washiness.
~~~
smiler
I was saying that the article did not answer the question if there was a drop
off in facebook games and facebook game activity. I assume that only fb can
answer these questions.
I put them out there in case anyone did know the answers. The fact I've seen
facebook gift cards in stores with Mafia Wars branding seems to me that there
a fair few people still playing these games.
------
gsivil
"Instead, Facebook is increasingly looking like Yahoo!—it does everything from
Photos and Chat to Email and Places. It provides just enough features to be
functional but leaves much to be desired, and increasingly depends on
advertising as the revenue model."
I could not agree more. I guess(just a guess) that for more than 350 million
people (facebook minus myspace users) it will always be the first social
network but its luck of modularity, its reluctance to protect its users
privacy in a user-friendly manner will be the first things to make it
eventually irrelevant.
~~~
mscarborough
Techcrunch definitely never lets an opportunity slip to slag on Yahoo!. The
irony of this critique coming from an AOL-owned blog dependent on advertising
revenue is kind of cute.
------
rickmode
The Microsoft versus Facebook comparison is not apt.
Facebook takes something like a 50% cut of the money made by Zynga with their
Facebook app.
Microsoft did not create a walled garden so did not have the opportunity to
charge for running on their platform.
Software as a service and (to a lesser extent) the various app stores are
different. The incentives are not the same.
~~~
sewerhorse
Facebook takes a 30% cut of Facebook Credits transactions. I believe that
Zynga has negotiated that cut to be slightly smaller.
------
xentronium
Looks like everyone (and their dog) knows what facebook should do, except
facebook.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Humanized Weblog: No More More Pages? - nirmal
http://humanized.com/weblog/2006/04/25/no_more_more_pages/
======
mechanical_fish
This blog entry, by the way, is _very_ annoying. It outlines the problem and
then stops dead. "We'll debut the answer this week!". But no description of
the answer.
The irony of a page that complains about "More..." links but _leaves you
wanting more_ was not lost on me.
So I clicked on the link marked "the answer" and I got... a page that neither
discussed the problem nor demonstrated the answer.
I came _this_ close to just clicking away forever, in complete annoyance...
but I finally decided to click the link to Humanized, where I found the
feature in question. I agree that it's kind of disorienting, but I might get
used to it. It's an interesting idea that's worth trying out.
------
aasarava
Very, very interesting. Though it does have the drawback of not allowing any
bottom-of-page content (Ads / About / ToS / Contact links, etc.) It also
brings up the question of how much data you can fit into one browser window.
(Anyone know?)
Still, slick idea. And definitely nice to see someone taking a different
approach -- those Google page numbers really are pointless.
------
gojomo
Maybe I'll get used to it, but so far I find apps that change the scale/range
of the vertical-scrollbar while I'm scrolling (like this Humanized Reader and
Google Reader) annoying and a little disorienting.
~~~
omouse
What if there were no vertical bar? What if there were an up and down arrow
that would appear only if there was more to see in that direction?
I agree though, it is disorienting.
~~~
gojomo
Just arrows is often seen in custom Flash scrolling UIs. I find it even more
annoying. Some you have to click repeatedly, others you hold down (and the
rate-of-scroll is always too slow or too fast), they vary in positioning and
appearance. Standard, predictable scrollbars are _good_.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Technology Brief for Apple's Grand Central Multicore Paradigm [pdf] - nickb
http://images.apple.com/macosx/technology/docs/GrandCentral_TB_brief_20090608.pdf
======
swannodette
While all the Apple hardware announcements look great, I think this is
possibly an even more significant announcement. C/Objective-C/C++ gets lambdas
and closures! It looks like Apple has a very interesting single machine
concurrency story here.
Right now I'm really enjoying Clojure- it's lockless approach to single
machine concurrency is plenty, plenty fun. Unfortunately the downside of
learning Clojure is that many other popular languages look downright archaic
to me in this regard now. Now reading over this document, whodathunk,
concurrency programming might be as fun in C as it is in Clojure!
~~~
Gary_W_Longsine
Related to this is another key performance technology in Snow Leopard, OpenCL:
[http://images.apple.com/macosx/technology/docs/OpenCL_TB_bri...](http://images.apple.com/macosx/technology/docs/OpenCL_TB_brief_20090608.pdf)
.
------
jmtulloss
First of all, this is awesome.
I am missing some details though. Are these true closures? What are the
scoping rules? Can you read data declared outside of your block? Can you alter
it? Is the only way to keep alterations safe to use a private queue? I guess
time (or a closer reading) will tell.
~~~
swannodette
More information about the implementation of blocks here:
[http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/cfe-
dev/2008-August/00267...](http://lists.cs.uiuc.edu/pipermail/cfe-
dev/2008-August/002670.html)
------
perneto
This sounds inspired by SEDA (Staged Event-Driven Architecture).
<http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~mdw/proj/seda/> It was about time someone made
good use of it, too!
Is there more info available? The white paper is nice, but not too packed with
detail.
------
gchpaco
This encourages a very different style of multicore programming than is common
on desktops today, closer to that of grid systems. Very interesting to see how
this develops.
~~~
Gary_W_Longsine
Apple may have been inspired in part by their experience with XGrid
[<http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/technology/xgrid.html>], based on the
NeXTSTEP application Zilla [[http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/archive/macosx-
talk/2000-Se...](http://www.omnigroup.com/mailman/archive/macosx-
talk/2000-September/028352.html)], and perhaps by PDO (Portable Distributed
Objects) [<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NeXTSTEP>]. I mention these somewhat
obscure influences in response to your grid observation. Obviously there are
several other (probably more immediate) influences on GCD and OpenCL as well
(LLVM, OpenGL, various academic research on parallelized programming, etc.)
------
agocke
I wonder how this will affect the legacy methods of concurrency in OS X --
specifically POSIX threads. I know I wrote a number of C apps using POSIX
threads that worked well in OS X and in Linux. While this is nice and
interesting for Mac only programs, I hope that I don't have to rewrite my
cross platform apps to take advantage of the API.
~~~
wmf
Obviously pthread support won't be removed; pthread programs just won't play
as nice with each other as Grand Central programs.
~~~
agocke
Well I didn't really mean to suggest that it would be removed, mainly about
what kind of performance hit I would take by using pthreads instead of Grand
Central. In addition, how well will pthread programs and GC programs work
together. Normally, the threading is handled by the scheduler in a
straightforward model, but if the GC model modifies the scheduler model, I'm
not really sure what the results will be.
~~~
Gary_W_Longsine
You won't "take a hit", but you will "fail to utilize the hardware as
efficiently as you could". Both GCD and OpenCL have their roots in open
extensions to C. Both offer potentially significant performance gains for
certain types of tasks. If enough developers find it advantageous to use
either blocks or OpenCL, these technologies will likely show up on other
platforms.
Regarding the scheduler, I'm not sure enough details are known outside of
Apple at this point to know what the results would be on Snow Leopard. Your
milage would obviously vary when porting to some other OS. It's easy to
imagine that running a PThreads app might hog some cores, or be punished
inappropriately by the scheduler. These things can happen when running more
than one threaded app on a system today, without GCD. This behavior, even if
not documented, should be relatively easy to explore with some simple demo
apps, though, without porting your entire app.
And, uhm... you will need to refactor your application to take advantage of
the new API. (Was that a trick question?) Apple's guidance indicates that you
can make modest changes for big gains by focusing the refactoring effort on
the parts of the app that do the most computationally. For some apps this can
be a small amount of work for a large gain, particularly if you can take
advantage of OpenCL as well as GCD.
------
miratom
A Job Queue is a great thing to have, especially when it provided for you, but
it's hardly "revolutionary."
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google drops Reader for mobile - gasull
http://m.google.com/reader
======
dchest
<http://www.google.com/reader/i/> works
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Review of children’s book pretending it’s about the network utility ‘Ping’ - tomek_zemla
http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2016/03/14/funny-amazon-ping-review/
======
tobiaswright
Original review:
[http://www.amazon.com/review/R2VDKZ4X1F992Q](http://www.amazon.com/review/R2VDKZ4X1F992Q)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bluetooth 4.2 includes IPv6 support - cek
http://www.bluetooth.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/4-2/bluetooth4-2.aspx#control
======
kstrauser
OK, I'm pretty dumb about Bluetooth so feel free to laugh:
Why does BT know or care about IPv6? It have thought it was a physical layer,
like Ethernet, that you could pass IPv4, IPv6, PPP-over-ATM, or whatever thing
you wanted to over it. My home network switch doesn't support or not support
IPv6. Why would Bluetooth?
~~~
tw04
They want it to compete with other internet of things technologies like
z-wave.
------
teraflop
I wish they provided enough actual technical details to see what's new here.
As far as I'm aware, the usual way to do IP-over-Bluetooth encapsulation is
using the Personal Area Networking profile [1], which has required support for
IPv6 support since 2001. (I've never tested it on real hardware with anything
other than IPv4, so maybe it was specified but never implemented? Regardless,
it seems odd that a mechanism that tunnels Ethernet packets would have to care
about higher levels of the protocol stack.)
[1]: [http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/15/Bluetooth/PAN-
Profile....](http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/15/Bluetooth/PAN-Profile.pdf)
~~~
rwg
I'm guessing it's related to IPv6 over Bluetooth Low Energy, which is
currently working its way through the bowels of the IETF:
[https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-6lo-
btle](https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-6lo-btle)
Basically, they saw what a glorious success 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over 802.15.4) has
been (</sarcasm>), realized BLE/L2CAP has a fair bit in common with 802.15.4
(focus on minimizing power consumption, low data rates, crazy small per-packet
payload sizes), and decided to reuse 6LoWPAN's IPv6 header compression (RFC
6282) in this IPv6-over-BLE standard.
~~~
teacup50
To be fair, 6lowpan has suffered in no small part due to 802.15.4 itself
having no real deployment outside of use for proprietary mesh network
protocols.
BTLE has far, far, far wider hardware deployment.
------
0x0
Will this require updated hardware, or is it enough to update the software
stack for devices with 4.0 hardware? The FAQ wasn't clear.
(The FAQ did go on for lengths about branding "bluetooth 4.2" vs "bluetooth
smart" vs "bluetooth smart ready" vs "bluetooth". Have they learnt nothing
from the "HD Ready" silliness? Also it's weird to see that "bluetooth low
energy is an optional part of the specification". Sounds like a "fun" spec to
implement)
------
cyberjunkie
I don't know. I kinda chuckled at the last image on the page. I thought it
looked like some sort of mission control for an interstellar space launch,
with a random tourist couple in lab coats at the helm, with no clue of what is
going on in the screens.
------
gonzo
[http://www.iij-ii.co.jp/lab/seminars/slides/iijlab-
seminar-2...](http://www.iij-ii.co.jp/lab/seminars/slides/iijlab-
seminar-20130807.pdf)
------
th0br0
This is awesome. OTOH, I wonder whether 4.3 will then introduce a HW-based
firewall approach to the IoT devices running 4.2 ... (which we might have by
... 2028?)
------
twrkit
Pardon my hardware ignorance (I'm one of those 'software guys'), but could
something like this be used for a close-proximity meshnet?
------
cek
Imagine when an OpenSSL like bug is found in the firmware in all these IPv6
over BT lightbulbs?
~~~
mey
My biggest fear of the "Internet of things"
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things#Security](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_Things#Security)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bloomberg's guide to success: “Don't take a lunch break or go to the bathroom” - shalmanese
https://twitter.com/ZaidJilani/status/1227664578659717120
======
bigmit37
Now I see why Jeff Bezos called him to run for president. Jeff also doesn’t
believe in employees having bathroom breaks.
------
shalmanese
Full quote because it was too long for the title:
Michael Bloomberg's guide to success.
"Make sure you're the first one in there every day and the last one to leave.
Don't ever take a lunch break or go to the bathroom. You keep working."
~~~
downerending
Honestly, if you want to be up for raises and promotions in a corporate
environment, this isn't bad advice at all. All other things being equal,
someone who comes in earlier will be seen as a harder worker than someone who
comes in later. It's a pretty easy win.
(Myself, I'm more of a slacker...)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
ICFP Programming Contest 2014 - thoughtpolice
http://icfpcontest.org/specification.html
======
kenjackson
While I'm a fan of the ICFP, I do feel as if the questions are a bit too full
of themselves (for lack of a better term).
While I'm sure they are trying to remove ambiguity, but the way they are
couched and their length make them a lot less approachable than they should
be. I feel like in about 1/10 the wording and narrative complexity they could
create an equally interesting programming challenge.
~~~
clamprecht
I agree, but I think that's part of the challenge - boiling down the problem
to its essentials, and ignoring the unnecessary stuff.
~~~
drdaeman
No me, nothing beats ICFPC'07 ([http://save-endo.cs.uu.nl/](http://save-
endo.cs.uu.nl/))
The whole task was just formulated as "save Endo". A spec of Fuun DNA (a
virtual machine), Endo's DNA and a two pictures were provided. That's about
all contestants were told. Then, we had to discover Endo's DNA contained loads
of fun things inside.
Oh, ICFPC'06 was incredibly cool, too, but I didn't participated at that time
and only took the task years after that. Don't want to sound whining but other
years are more conventional (a complex, but mostly well-defined task) so less
fun in my opinion.
------
thoughtpolice
In the interest of promoting friends/coworkers: The contest this year is a
really cool challenge, and was set up by one of my partners in crime, Duncan.
(Of course, ICFP is always a cool challenge and is always set up by good
people :)
Get a team together and start competing!
~~~
eru
> (Of course, ICFP is always a cool challenge and is always set up by good
> people :)
I agree in general. Only that car engine / fuel challenge a few years ago was
really obtuse. (And when I met the guys who set it up, they were so happy
about it. ;o)
Lambda the Ultimate and the satelites were really cool!
------
agumonkey
Enjoyed a lot watching teams live streaming their work on youtube. High value
time spender.
~~~
lucvh
Do you know if any teams will be doing the same this year? Would love to
watch.
~~~
agumonkey
I don't even remember how I got to follow them. Maybe through reddit
[http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/2bngvp/the_icfp...](http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/2bngvp/the_icfp_programming_contest_starts_friday_1200/)
[http://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/2blpt6/icfp_contest...](http://www.reddit.com/r/haskell/comments/2blpt6/icfp_contest_starts_in_less_than_24h/)
------
owlish
So... what does ICFP stand for? I've looked on their site, Twitter, and
GitHub, but maybe I'm missing something obvious?
~~~
akavel
One level up, at: [http://icfpcontest.org/](http://icfpcontest.org/)
_[The ICFP Programming Contest 2014 is the 17th instance of the annual
programming contest series sponsored by The ACM SIGPLAN] International
Conference on Functional Programming._
~~~
owlish
Ah, missed that in the wall of text. Thanks!
------
personZ
So the strategy for the GCC (the Lambda-man controller) is that you actually
build a compiler/pre-processor for it in some other tool, versus just
logically solving the problem with the given instruction set?
The details on the ghosts are dramatically clearer than the details on the
Lambda man.
------
Fando
The only thing I know about functional programming is that I know nothing
about it.
------
keenerd
(Posted about the contest an hour earlier, only got two votes. Oh well.)
If I am reading the problem correctly, there is no interactive component this
year? You get one submission and don't get to test it against anything else.
> It is not essential that the judges be able to run your code
So is this a beauty pageant?
~~~
thedufer
> We request (but do not strictly require) that you include in your
> .tar.gz/.zip various additional material
That's the part they don't have to be able to run. They won't even try unless
your entry is in the running, it seems.
The .ghc and .gcc (the actual submission) does have to run, since that's
what's being scored.
~~~
keenerd
It makes a little more sense if you don't think about the game as an assembly
of parts, which isn't really explained anywhere. For example there is some
strategy with trying to make the ghosts be as bad as possible, so they are in
a nice neat line immediately after a power pill.
As usual, kudos to the team for making a puzzle with so many layers.
------
btczeus
For the love of Zeus use logarithmic graphs for the price!
[http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/bitstampUSD#rg60zczsg2012-01...](http://bitcoincharts.com/charts/bitstampUSD#rg60zczsg2012-01-01zeg2014-07-25ztgWzm1g10zm2g25zl)
It does a lot more sense, doesn't it?
~~~
ska
It probably makes even more sense in the right comment thread...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Philae's comet may host alien 'life': astronomers - DanielBMarkham
http://news.yahoo.com/philaes-comet-may-host-alien-life-astronomers-135219939.html
======
dalke
Quoting clearf from the previous link to this, which was only 5 hours ago:
"The rebuttal: [http://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-
universe/2015/...](http://www.theguardian.com/science/across-the-
universe/2015/jul/06/no-alien-life-on-philae-comet")
That ends with:
> Planetary scientist Professor Dave Rothery of the Open University posted in
> a comment on Facebook, “The Guardian and the RAS disgraced themselves today
> with the ‘top scientists’ argue case for life on comet’ piece today. I’ve
> just sat through the talk behind the press release and I think it fair to
> say that the audience was polite but entirely unconvinced. Diatoms [a type
> of micro-organism] in comets, my arse!”
Moreover, that rebuttal link was submitted on HN 14 hours ago, at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9842364](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9842364).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Risks from Daily Low-Dose Aspirin Outweigh Benefits for Healthy Seniors - xref
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/09/16/647415462/study-a-daily-baby-aspirin-has-no-benefit-for-healthy-older-people
======
oldmancoyote
According to a study I read in the NY Times, I thought low dose aspirin was
already shown to be useless, but regular aspirin was effective.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Getting Real: Free Book by 37signals - keesj
http://gettingreal.37signals.com/
======
simon
This is a great book. All of the advice in t is either excellent or at least
thought-provoking. Highly recommended.
Now, that being said, I did order a dead tree version through the Lulu.com
store (very nice store, by the way) and while I love the construction and
print quality of the book, the internal page layout and typography were awful.
And the choice of a glossy black cover shows annoying fingerprints after just
a few minutes.
I'm glad that I've read this book because it has given me motivation to start
something. I'm trying out a couple of ideas right now to see which one I like
and will run with.
So, thanks to the guys at 37Signals, but have someone who knows what they're
doing, help you with layout next time!
------
drop19
The best part of this book in my opinion is the section where they describe
every step they have to take when implementing a new feature. It clarifies the
advice they give about saying 'no' to new requests initially (because even a
seemingly-tiny feature can involve a lot of work to make sure it launches
successfully, you have to focus on the most important, most requested
features).
You can see that principle at work on this site. Over time they'll know what
the most important features to add are based on how we use it.
------
jamiequint
I really enjoyed this book too, you can feel the passion they have coming
through in the writing and its contagious.
------
python_kiss
> Getting Real is staying small and being agile.
I couldn't agree with this more. Businesses that give up control, gain in
mobility what they lose in command. And mobility is the key to innovation in
any startup.
------
bootload
Worth the read. Don't confuse 'simplicity' with lack of features. Read
Simplicity[0] by Joel for an explanation why.
[0] http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/12/09.html
------
yaacovtp
Control + minus a dozen times makes reading the online version so much
easier/faster.
------
theoutlander
I owe my perseverance to this book and the team at 37Signals.com !!!
------
tyohn
Insightful ~
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Alleged Massive Technical Trading Fraud At Goldman - tptacek
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1192-FLASH-Goldman-Code-Theft-BOMBSHELL.html
======
tptacek
Gotta say right now, Karl Denninger, Certified Crazy Person. I don't buy this
story.
But hey this is definitely Hacker News. What do you think?
~~~
khafra
I think the author has the subtlety and clarity of the Timecube guy, but I
can't wait to see a Matasano writeup of NYSE protocols and security.
~~~
tptacek
And you'll get it, coming to you LIVE, on SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY (plus 3 days),
LIVE AT VEGAS, with a SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE by _TRUCKASAURUS_ , and LIVE
MUSIC by Kip Z'Nuff of Enuff Z'Nuff and WARRANT tribute band _CHERRY PIE_.
[http://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-usa-09/bh-
usa-09-speakers.ht...](http://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-usa-09/bh-
usa-09-speakers.html#Ptacek)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Apply HN: ATM – Making ads interesting and worth watching - ramakanthgade
Problems: Three major problems with commercial ads:
1) Most of the ads are ignored or just skipped
2) A tv channel or a broadcasting network gets to keep billions of dollars while consumers who are actually watching ads are left with nothing
3) Companies are spending those billions without consumers actually watching or retaining their ad.<p>Idea: ATM (Ad Triva Money) could solve all those three problems by creating trivia on commercial ads and passing on 80% of advertising revenue to consumers who answer trivia correctly. This makes watching ads interesting and fun, increases retention and provides financial benefit to the end user.<p>I know it might sound crazy but I would like to know your honest feedback regarding the idea. Do you think building such an app is even possible as most of the mobile advertising is now automated and generated through code?<p>Note: I am a solo founder with no technical skills (a major drawback) and have been trying to find a technical co-founder without any luck. Do you think it's better if I learn coding myself?<p>Any little feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks a lot for your time!
======
nahushrk
Google is already doing this for a while now. Instead of Ads they get feedback
about products and services.
Why ask about Ads when you really want to know consumer's thoughts on
products??
They decided to make this distinct (at-least from user's perspective) from
AdWords/AdSense, which is an awesome idea. And you get play store credits for
answers!
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.paidtasks)
Free Advise: Coding doesn't solve any problem by itself. Business models do.
------
bestattack
Wow, kind of a crazy idea. I don't know how you get started on this. I do
recommend learning to code yourself; at a very minimum, showing progress on
learning to code will help you attract a technical cofounder.
How much money can I make for answering trivia correctly?
What is the history of trivia in advertising? I think it would be engaging,
but I have never seen it (that I recall) on mainstream tv, so I can't imagine
how I would react. Basically, why is nobody doing this already?
------
slosh
It's always better if you learn coding yourself. Also hulu has trivia ads.
what do you plan to do differently?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ikea has bought TaskRabbit - radley
https://www.recode.net/2017/9/28/16377528/ikea-acquisition-taskrabbit-shopping-home-contract-labor
======
elaineo
I always thought it odd that the most common TaskRabbit job was assembling
Ikea furniture. Do people really need to outsource that job?
Amazing that the company lasted so long.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
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