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Facebook Blog Post on New Messaging System: See the Messages that Matter - yarapavan
https://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=452288242130
======
yarapavan
All programs evolve until they can send email ... even Facebook.
Oh, FB employees will use fb.com instead of facebook.com?
| {
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Choice of Work - gnosis
http://daniellefong.com/2008/06/26/the-choice-of-work/
======
devmonk
This was a neat post, but the word "leaderless" in the following statement
should be removed. All large, successful efforts have leaders. If there is
more than one effort, there are more than one leader:
"I intend to help grow large, leaderless, open organizations, and so I’d do
almost anything for a chance to work with Caterina Fake, or Linus Torvalds."
Even nomadic tribes have strong leaders. Look at Afghanistan.
| {
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What does an unprocessed RAW file look like? - snailletters
https://petapixel.com/2019/07/15/what-does-an-unprocessed-raw-file-look-like/
======
arriu
If you want to extract the actual raw data, dcraw doesn't really advertise the
way to do it. Many of the options for extracting the data still apply some
processing/conversion to the underlying data.
It is a pretty big mess actually. Each manufacturer has different constants
that need to be applied to the data, so the raw data from one device is not
comparable to another. Convincing dcraw that you actually want the unaltered
data is not straight forward.
Anyways, if you really do want to see the raw image, there are a few
undocumented flags you can use.
> dcraw -E -4 -T *.CR2
This will give you an unprocessed 16-bit tiff file containing the "raw" data.
What is interesting is that some camera sensors capture data slightly beyond
the image you are presented with. The camera will crop in and debayer the
image for you, as will your image editor.
See this thread for hilarious lengths people go to in order to get unaltered
data from their sensors (monochorme converting a dslr):
[https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/166334-debayering-a-
dslrs...](https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/166334-debayering-a-dslrs-bayer-
matrix/page/94/)
~~~
bufferoverflow
That thread is more about removing the physical filters from the DSLR sensors
- RGB, UV, infrared to achieve higher resolution and much higher sensitivity.
------
3JPLW
Really cool article. I'm left with just one question:
Why are the 16-bit RAW values so limited in their dynamic range? Wouldn't
sensor manufacturers want to have their pixels able to return values that
range the whole way from 0x0000 to 0xffff?
~~~
fake-name
Very few (if any) digital cameras have 16-bit ADCs.
Most cameras use 12 or 14 bit ADCs, so they only use 2^12 or 2^14 of the
available values.
Generally, the RAW files aren't actually 16 bit, but rather a packed structure
of the native ADC size. In this case, they're using 16-bit _intermediate
bitmaps_. They're not 16 bit from the RAW.
\------
Fujifilm actually has a few cameras with a sensor that can be put in 16-bit
mode, but IIRC it's not enabled in software.
~~~
buildbot
Essentially only very high end digital backs from hasselblad/phase one have 16
bit ADCs, but people disagree if it’s even required, the last two bits are
basically noise.
~~~
kurthr
If the noise is actually white, that may not be a bad thing for filtering.
~~~
tigershark
I don’t really think that it’s white noise, it’s mostly thermal noise and
“reading the sensor” noise (forgot the real name) that have very different
shape from white noise. If they were so easily filtered we’d have far superior
denoise effectiveness during raw processing.
~~~
dr_zoidberg
> “reading the sensor” noise
"dark current"?
------
dlivingston
The author notes that 'But, there is no such standard...[a]ll real-world RAW
processing programs have their own ideas of a basic default state to apply to
a fresh RAW file on load'.
While I can accept that there isn't a universal RAW -> RGB standard, it seems
strange to me that 'compute how this photo should appear' is left as an
exercise as a reader.
Photographers often view their work as a form of art, and artists are very
particular about even the smallest details of their work.
Why, then, would Nikon, Canon, and especially Leica, not have their own
definable standards of how to process RAW photos for their particular cameras?
~~~
tinus_hn
A RAW file is a description of the light captured by the sensor. What good
would such a standard do? The RAW file is not supposed to be a finished work
of art, it’s designed to be processed.
~~~
theoh
Interestingly, some major photo competitions require 'original' RAW files to
be submitted along with processed jpegs. The idea is that they can check that
the image hasn't been modified in a way that breaks the rules.
Of course, software people know that it would be tedious but technically
straightforward to concoct a fake RAW file from another 'raw' format such as a
PPM image. The stakes in these competitions can be quite high so it's a bit
disconcerting that they rely on a presumption that converting RAW files to
editable images is a one-way process.
~~~
jacobush
No - it's not straightforward. How the light strikes, sensor imperfections,
patterns unique to each camera body even, thermal noise. It's very very hard
actually. It's one thing to doctor a finished image - it's another, in a
forensic level really, to doctor a RAW file. You can make one which on its own
is syntactically correct but which does not show all the telltale signs of
being shot in actual hardware, no patterns or imperfections etc. This is
trivial.
Next level is to make it look plausible on its own, with plausible
imperfections. This is a bit more involved and tedious.
The really hard part is to make it look like it came from the exact same
individual purported camera body the photographer allegedly used. This is
really hard.
An analogy would perhaps be taking a picture of a room:
Now, build another room that would make the same picture. Make sure everything
in the room is plausible yet renders exactly the same picture as the first
room. (The room is the RAW file.)
Edit: (I'm not saying all the competitions have the time and know how to
verify a RAW file.)
~~~
theoh
The scenario I'm talking about is not synthesising a RAW file from scratch,
but being able to freely edit it and save the result back into a RAW file that
looks "original". I don't think you've made any statements that indicate that
doing that would be complex.
Again, this is not about faking a RAW file from scratch, just being able to
edit it in place.
~~~
jacobush
One potential complication just occurred to me. If, (IFF!) each sensor site
has a somewhat unique non-linearity in any way, you can't just go around in
the image and change "pixels". You have to adjust them in a way that would not
change the patterns normal to that camera for that sensor site _and_ for
neighboring sensor sites which could have been affected by the same light.
------
Causality1
Something that's fascinating to me is that at 1:1 display size, the output of
modern cameras doesn't look that much better than the pictures out of old
0.3Mpixel still cameras of nearly twenty years ago. The dynamic range is
better and the colors are more vibrant, and the noise floor is lower for dark
scenes, but on the whole it still looks pretty crappy at full resolution. Why
is that? Could we fix it by using larger CCD/CMOS sensor pixels and sticking
to lower total pixel counts?
~~~
pvg
What images are you comparing? 20 year old digital cameras were around a
Mpixel. A modern camera with a decent lense produces much better images. In
both cases you'd have to do some work to make sure the thing you're blowing up
is exactly in focus.
------
JoshMcguigan
This was really neat, but I wish the author went into similar detail for the
auto white balance step.
~~~
vortico
White-balancing is a function
f(R, G, B, T_from, T_to) -> (R, G, B)
which relies on the model of blackbody radiation and a model of the wavelength
distribution definitions behind the (R, G, B) values, i.e. the particular
color space you're working in. When working with a manufacturer's RAW format,
Auto white-balancing is finding `T_to` so that the color values are "most
balanced". It is up to the manufacturer how this is decided (and might be
proprietary secret sauce). Custom white-balancing is taking a known white or
grayscale object and finding `T_to` which would yield something close to (1,
1, 1) for pixels of that object.
~~~
vortico
I think I accidentally erased a sentence in an edit...
When working with a manufacturer's RAW format, there is a defined way to get
the values (R, G, B, T_from) as a result of demosaicing. For example, in the
author's photo post-demosaicing, the manufacturer calibrates the final data to
obtain (I'm completely making this up) T_from = 2700K. Then using that
information, you can correctly adjust the temperature to any other temperature
using `f` above.
------
cfstras
Try [https://github.com/anuejn/batic](https://github.com/anuejn/batic) \- a
shadertoy-like experiment where you can to implement a shader to convert the
bayer-pattern.
------
ggm
This reminded me of the autochrome process. I believe they did something with
coloured starch grains and lamp black.
------
bradknowles
A raw file? Well, it's really more a lump of metal, until you start putting
some teeth on it and you're ready for the tempering process.
/s
| {
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What I learned from Steve Jobs - azharb
http://azharb.tumblr.com/post/11923232684/jobs
======
arctangent
I don't think anyone's opinion changed. It's just that it's socially
conventional to try to speak well of the dead (at least for a while). Pointing
out Jobs' flaws helps us remember that he was human too, and so perhaps not
that far removed from the rest of us.
~~~
azharb
That's the thing. He was exceptional. You don't achieve repeated success like
he did without being exceptional. The point I was (also) trying to make was
that he never cared to stop and worry about what others thought of him. That's
a way of life he chose for himself and he stuck by it.
As far as opinions not changing goes, isn't it safe to say that the
biography's media coverage has already contributed to that?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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May Your City Never Become San Francisco, New York or Seattle - drewrv
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/upshot/happy-new-year-may-your-city-never-become-san-francisco-new-york-or-seattle.html
======
ziont
Worst of them all, Vancouver, with none of the economy present in other
expensive cities.
Fuck this miserable place.
~~~
StudentStuff
Vancouver BC is the San Diego of Canada, being the furthest south, West Coast
location in Canada.
San Diego has its prices propped up by this & the large amount of military
forces stationed there (plus Qualcomm somewhat).
Vancouver seems to have quite a few branch offices from the likes of Amazon
and Microsoft, plus homegrown companies like Telus and Absolute (maker of the
LoJack and Computrace embedded malware on most laptops & desktops).
~~~
ziont
well I lived here 20+ years
Our housing prices are propped up by money laundering. Our biggest industry is
real estate itself.
Our tech scene doesn't even show up on radar while Toronto does. MS doesn't
hire locals, mostly foreigners who can barely speak eglish. AMZ here is a
sweatshop according to Glassdoor reviews. Apple and facebook is here but they
dont advertise the location or hire locals.
Don't even get me started about Telus lol
When a Starbucks barista in Seattle makes more than a junior, intermediate
software engineer, your city is fucked.
yay
We do have that elusive quantumn computing company, yet to deliver any GDP
boosting product.
and thousands of me too startups with shit pay and long hours. this was
actually a selling point by the BC government: "Our workers are cheapest in
North America"
~~~
StudentStuff
Are junior software engineers really making less than $28k USD? The impression
I got from an acquaintance originally from Vancouver BC who was looking to
transfer back there (while staying with Amazon) was they pay similarly, but
the projects available to work on are much fewer at Amazon's Vancouver BC
office.
Telus, Robbers & Bhell can be pretty brutal from what I've heard, and the
IISPs are pretty limited in what they can offer due to the CRTC's tariffs.
Seattle Barista Salary: [https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/seattle-barista-
salary-SR...](https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/seattle-barista-salary-
SRCH_IL.0,7_IM781_KO8,15.htm)
| {
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Burning out on Capistrano (Jamis Buck) - swombat
http://groups.google.com/group/capistrano/msg/f5213577eaeadc47
======
petercooper
I recently had an e-mail from a Windows developer in the Ruby community who
pointed out how opaque many Ruby projects are regarding Windows. He works on
porting a number of libraries - so he's definitely putting in some hard work -
but has had issues with project owners not updating CHANGELOGs properly,
deliberately breaking Windows support, etc.
At Euruko (European Ruby conference) earlier this year, I raised the topic of
Windows and.. most of the audience couldn't care less. They were mostly of the
opinion that if Windows people wanted to use Ruby, they had to do the legwork.
(FWIW, I'm an OS X user who doesn't care too much for Windows either, but I
recognize there's a massive userbase there)
Windows is in the third-world of operating systems when it comes to Ruby - so
Jamis' standpoint is less than surprising.
~~~
rantfoil
I switched from Vista to OS X this year. I made the stupid mistake of trying
to develop Rails on a Windows machine. And it was not worth the trouble at
all. If you're going to devote your life and livelihood to building software
on Rails, do NOT do it on Windows.
I switched to OS X and I'm happier with my computer than I ever have been in
my life.
And Rails works awesome.
~~~
patio11
I write my Ruby on Windows Vista and deploy on Ubuntu. And I've run into the
usual set of headaches with doing this. Sometimes this results in me having to
make fairly simple changes to, e.g., older versions of Capistrano to get them
to work on my machine -- not too terrible because, after all, it is OSS Ruby
code.
(I'm still running Cap 1.4.2 because it only took one line to make compatible.
If I upgraded I would have to fix everything again.)
What flavor are the bugs? Usually, it ends up being a weak link in filesystem
paths, SVN integration, or SSH integration. What causes these issues? Much
respect for the folks who code them, I understand you do not owe anybody
anything, but any honest assessment points to platform chauvanism.
"I do not use Windows, nobody I know uses Windows, true Ruby hackers are too
cool to use Windows, begone ye Microsoft-infested slimeball"
The community (which I generally like and, let me note, _actively contribute
to_ ) positively _drips_ with this sentiment. DHH mentioned that 37signals
wouldn't hire a Windows programmer (though he later backed down, somewhat),
and the reasons were essentially tribal more than anything else.
And a big -1 to everyone who says that the Windows API is getting in the way
of compatibility. Really folks? The Windows API being opaque made you hard
code the path separator? The Windows API being opaque made parsing the results
of a call to ls the more obvious choice than using the built-into-the-
standard-library cross-platform way to get the contents of a directory? (To
name just two implementation choices I've seen in Ruby libraries.)
~~~
blasdel
1\. The relative quality of many new Ruby libraries is extremely low. There
are a lot of affected idiot hipsters who want to be the next DHH and think
releasing every module they write will help with that.
2\. Just run a headless VM to run your development in, since you don't have to
deploy on Windows.
~~~
rapind
Yes it couldn't be easier to just run ubuntu. Once you do, you'll never go
back to dealing with windows paths (Better for Java dev too).
<http://wubi.sourceforge.net/>
------
catch23
Although lots of comments are about the Ruby language, I think this post can
be applied to just about any open source project out there. It's always easier
to complain to the maintainer than to try to fix the problem yourself and
distribute the fix as a patch to others. Open source doesn't work well if
there's only one person who fixes all the problems. I think it could also be a
newbie developer mentality. Newbie developers are more likely to use libraries
that are completely plug-and-play; if something doesn't work right, they'll
complain rather than try to fix it themselves.
~~~
mpk
It's also a problem with Windows itself. It really is a nasty environment for
coding non-MS-based software on.
If I want to support Windows I have to setup a (virtual) machine _with a
license code_ just to have any basic functionality. As someone who doesn't
work with Windows anywhere, this is a huge hurdle. Then there's the hoops I'd
have to jump through just to get a decent shell and a compiler ready.
Oh, but the fun doesn't end there. Which _version_ of Windows are we talking
about? More than one? Ah, well, each of these will require its own machine
(virtual or otherwise). With matching keys, of course.
Supporting Windows is a pain and when it's not required for what I want to do,
I'm simply not going to do it. Period. I have better things to do with my
time.
Letting people who want this code running on Windows do it themselves and
having them submit patches upstream is a perfectly valid choice.
~~~
Maascamp
What if I'm an anything else coder and I want to support Mac? Forget license,
I need to buy a new machine. Linux is the only really painless platform to
support if you're not using it.
~~~
Niten
But if you support any sort of *nix, then you quite possibly work on OS X
already. If not, there's still probably minimal work to do.
It's not like going from Unix to Windows, where you have an entirely different
access control mechanism, system API, filesystem structure and path separator,
etc.; it's just going from one Unix to another. So the author only has to
accept a couple patches from his Mac-using colleagues, and then he's basically
set for OS X. On the other hand, debugging a Unix app on Windows can become a
full-time job, and may be more work than you can reasonably expect a few
random patch contributors to accomplish.
------
jeckel
People who receive free software really have no right to complain about it, if
it isn't working as they want it to. They didn't pay dime for it. Either
donate money to the project or scratch your own itch. It's not the job the the
original developer to spend all of his/her time fixing other people's
problems.
~~~
extension
This is a terrible attitude and one that I'm fairly certain is not shared by
the best open source developers.
If you publish some code and go around claiming it does this and that, you are
absolutely responsible for making good on those claims. Your reputation is at
stake. How much you are getting paid is irrelevant. Besides, there are plenty
of indirect ways to profit from making free software.
Also, there are implicit claims in every piece of software that doesn't say
otherwise, namely that it is secure, won't trash your data, follows best
practices, is not full of bugs, etc.
If you want to publish "as is" software, that's fine, but it should be made
explicity clear to what degree you stand behind the quality of your code.
Users have no business complaining because you won't add some feature they
came up with or your pre-release version isn't solid. But it is quite
reasonable to complain if an open source project does not live up to its own
pretenses.
~~~
silencio
I think you point it out well. Users have no business complaining because you
won't add some feature they came up with. What if that feature is something
the user believes is very important to the software, but you think it's a
complete waste of your time to even bother to add or maintain it?
That's what this whole Capistrano situation seems like to me (sadly, I didn't
even think cap worked on windows). People are irate because a project is
dropping support for a platform it never seemed to work well on to begin with.
Have the developers ever _promised_ windows support? I always thought their
main claim was that it's a tool to automate deploying (mostly rails) apps, and
I think it works well in that regard. I didn't think those promises extended
to platform support as well.
~~~
extension
Given the informal nature of software development, there are going to be a lot
of grey areas when it comes to implicit standards and best practices. But it's
the principle that matters. Some people believe that open source can do no
wrong. I think that belittles open source.
As for this case.. well, Capistrano is a Ruby lib and Ruby libs tend to work
on any platform Ruby does, unless otherwise specified. Plus, it used to be
supported, which means people invested their time, thinking it would continue
to be. It's a weak complaint but it deserves at least a little recognition.
But the attitude bothers me more than the action. Read that message again and
then look at this sunshine enema: <http://www.capify.org/>
Can you put that site online and then claim you're not beholden to anyone?
Questionable.
~~~
silencio
Maybe this is a difference in expectations, but I don't expect a platform to
be supported forever, nor do I expect support for a platform when not
specified, by _anyone_. When I looked at the "sunshine enema", I saw a tool
for a specific purpose and not much else, certainly not anything about what
platform the tool supported which could wait until I read the install/download
pages. What I read in the message was someone who was stuck doing something he
didn't like, and he was asking for people to do precisely what he did with
Capistrano: step up and scratch their own itches, something further helped by
Capistrano being an open source project with a current release that still
works fine with Windows. I didn't see someone who should have been beholden to
anyone otherwise. I also don't see that as an OSS project doing wrong, I think
it's reasonable given the situation and this certainly does not have to end
here in this way.
For what it's worth, what would bother me is if this wasn't explicitly
announced and the dev just didn't feel like working on the project anymore, or
if it was a core feature of the tool that was going to be ignored in the
future. Now that's something to complain about, and then go do something about
if it mattered that much to me.
I've personally been in a similar hellhole of a situation (who hasn't?) doing
some dev work for a nonprofit where less than 5% of the users both by number
and usage completely wasted my time trying to convince me I should bring back
support of older browsers and platforms for absolutely no legitimate reason
other than a lack of willingness to upgrade on their part, even though the
nonprofit had existing volume and discounted licenses that would effectively
make the software free for them. Make a lazy <5% happy by doing LOTS of extra
work possibly eschewing working on features for the other >95%, and still
deliver what may be a subpar experience (think windows 98 when everyone else
is running Vista) while billing them for it at the same time? No thank you.
------
dcurtis
I have an honest question: Why does anyone want Ruby to run on Windows? The
cost of switching to Ubuntu and running Ruby there is probably way, way
cheaper than rewriting all the libraries to work on Windows.
I don't understand why this is even an issue.
~~~
derefr
I want to write actual executable client software for home users, rather than
servers. Specifically, I want to write a game. I want to do it in Ruby.
However, all the "home users" that will play it, use Windows.
~~~
cglee
Can't you develop it on *nix and run it on the JRE via JRuby?
------
hopeless
I don't think RoR is _that_ bad on Windows. I've used InstantRails on Windows
quite successfully for over a year now with only occasional problems with
plugins (like Paperclip, though it's fine now).
It seems the incompatibilities come from things like capistrano which are
quite close to the metal. And that seems reasonable to me. However, expecting
new users of your language/framework to delve into the internals just to make
their basic app work isn't going to happen. Maybe it should, but it isn't.
------
gojomo
Isn't it kind of obnoxious how Google requires a login to read public group
archives? (Or am I mising a way to read these without logging in?)
------
charlesju
I don't understand why people on windows just install Wubi. It dual-boots into
Ubuntu (a MUCH better OS anyways) and the whole database is stored as a file
so you don't have to fiddle around with hard drive partitioning. Or you can
just pop VMWare on your computer and have linux running in no time flat.
If you're using Windows to develop for RoR, you're just lazy and you don't
deserve to be supported.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
KidnApp - An app that lets you create and schedule your own private kidnappings - ancarda
http://getkidnapped.com/
======
gee_totes
I'm pretty sure this is fake because most arranged (consentual) kidnappings
I've heard of have cost much more than $4.99/month.
~~~
mesozoic
Maybe it's like a lottery where 1 member a month gets a kidnapping. The idea
is super weird to me though.
~~~
gee_totes
A friend of a friend payed for college by doing kidnappings like this.
Basically, people would come to him wanting to be kidnapped, to feel a rush of
adrenaline that comes with a life threatening experience.
Paying his rates for kidnapping -- 10K and up -- was not something a rational
person would do. His clients were similar to those of the high-end dominatrix;
rich, successful, people (usually men), with deep-seated complexes. Maybe the
meaning had left their lives. Maybe a past trauma had gotten them addicted to
adrenaline and violence. Maybe they saw themselves a big kidnapping targets,
and the faux kidnappings were just training for the real thing.
Whatever the reason, people paid him to do it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Cherokee (High Performance Webserver) 1.0 is out - crad
http://summit.cherokee-project.com/the-cherokee-web-server-release-1-0-is-officially-out/
======
jonesy
Cherokee should get more attention. Its gui config might put some hardcore
users off at first, but it works well and Cherokee offers a lot of
functionality in a nicely constructed package. In addition, it appears to run
every bit as fast as nginx in my completely informal testing. Worth a look.
------
brolewis
I've worked with Apache, nginx, and Cherokee and I think that Cherokee is the
best. The authors have worked hard to make it fast and robust. I agree with
jonesy that the gui might be a putoff, but I have actually come to enjoy the
gui interface and love the elegant simplicity of it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Event-driven web development - abinoda
Came across http://nitrogenproject.com/ and thought wow cool. What are other even-driven web development frameworks and what do you think of them?
======
jokull
I hate the idea of tying front end to backend. Maybe it's prejudice.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What lookup services do you use to ID a caller? - blueatlas
As most of us are probably receiving a high number of scam, telemarketing, robocalls, what techniques or lookup services do you use to ID the caller?
======
PaulHoule
I have used this one
[https://www.everyoneapi.com/](https://www.everyoneapi.com/)
together with a whitelist of people I know plus a
[https://callerid.com/](https://callerid.com/)
I don't have the system stacked up right now but one of these days I will put
it back together.
------
mullingitover
At this point I don't even bother looking up the callers. I send anything
that's not in my address book to voicemail. If they don't leave a message, so
be it.
------
whenchamenia
Use a forwarding service, rear or virtul. Don't sell out strngers data.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Are statecharts the next big UI paradigm? - sktrdie
https://www.slideshare.net/lmatteis/are-statecharts-the-next-big-ui-paradigm
======
majormajor
My experience suggests no, because of two things:
1) Your user interface probably has more edge cases than you or your designer
anticipated, and IME the most efficient, understandable way to deal with these
is in as-simple-as-possible plain-old-code if/else business logic. The further
away you keep code like that from anything "frameworky" the less likely you
are to regret it as tech debt.
2) Many of your state transitions probably share similar helper logic. So you
want to break that stuff out into its own non-state-based organization anyway
to avoid copypasta, and at that point, similar to the above, representing
different use cases as linear code as much as possible is a low-cognitive-
overhead way to organize your biz logic. That is to say: I think your "states"
should be big and chunky - occasionally one feature's flow will transition you
into a different feature, but whenever I've tried to push that model down to
the individual screens and buttons level, it's caused self-induced pain.
If I had to reduce it to a soundbite, I'd say: your business logic is likely
to be inherently complex. Don't intermix that complexity with the technical
complexity of your application framework if you can at all avoid it.
(Where this KISS approach goes wrong in practice is you don't have enough team
discipline about organizing your biz logic code, or you try to share the wrong
things/too early, and some biz logic ends up in every layer of the UI, and you
get lots of big pull requests touching lots of files with hot spot files
frequently having merge conflicts.)
~~~
sktrdie
I'm confused because statecharts don't describe business logic - you might be
confusing them with flowcharts which are inherently very different: there's no
concept of state in flowcharts.
> the most efficient, understandable way to deal with these is in as-simple-
> as-possible plain-old-code if/else business logic. The further away you keep
> code like that from anything "frameworky" the less likely you are to regret
> it as tech debt.
A statechart is simply a JSON structure. You still have to write the code for
the figuring out what to do given the current state, and also code for
triggering events. So it's still up to you to keep them away from anything
frameworky.
> representing different use cases as linear code as much as possible is a
> low-cognitive-overhead way to organize your biz logic.
Again, you'd still write linear code with statechart.
> your business logic is likely to be inherently complex. Don't intermix that
> complexity with the technical complexity of your application framework if
> you can at all avoid it.
With statecharts your business logic is anywhere you want it to be.
Statecharts add the idea of limiting you of calling _only_ procedures that are
allowed by the current state; meaning that if you are in state "Submitting
form" and you call a `goToHomePage()` transition, nothing will happen if
there's no such outgoing arrow.
This concept of "changing state only if the current state allows it" is quite
powerful especially in the construction of UIs.
~~~
youdontknowtho
Good catch. You're right. The author confused flow charts with state charts.
------
dfabulich
Visualization is a powerful mental technique, but visual aids can only really
represent a few dozen things before they become as complicated as the thing
you were trying to understand in the first place.
And when analyzing messy state diagrams, it’s not just the states we’re trying
to visualize, but the lines connecting the states (the “edges” connecting the
“nodes,” in graph-theory terms). We can only visualize a few dozen of those,
and that typically means we can visualize only a handful of states at a time.
It looks great in a slide deck, but it only works in trivial examples where
you don't need it; it fails in complex environments where you need it the
most.
~~~
sktrdie
I disagree especially because statecharts solve this with hierarchical states.
You draw and think about a substate on its own, without all the higher-level
complexity. Then once ready you can include it in any subsequent layer - hence
it’s composable and reusable.
Take a look at the “unclustering” section of the statecharts paper.
~~~
politician
Once you get into the realm of drawing lines, grouping things, and imagining
flows you're programming. That it's graphical makes no difference.
I've tried this approach before: the charts get complex fast, then your
designers give up.
~~~
fourthark
Probably would work better if the visualization is automatically derived from
the code, so that it's a guide but it doesn't get in the way.
~~~
diroussel
Yes. I can this a self describing system. When the code or config can be used
to generate reference materials, at run time or build time, to make
understanding the system easier.
Typically you don’t need to refere to these diagrams and outputs very often,
but they are useful for: \- on boarding new people to the team \- deep
reasoning when debugging or analysing a problem \- putting on the board during
a design session
------
notduncansmith
State is typically multidimensional, so being "in" some state implies a whole
lot of context (a whole lot of variables), and most real-world situations are
so loaded with context that the only unambiguous way of determining which
real-world variables are represented within your program is reading the code
(or inversely, any unambiguous definition of which real-world variables are
relevant to your program may as well be code). This limits the value of
statecharts IMO. I think a more useful solution is something that describes
how each level of state is derived from the previous level.
~~~
sktrdie
Of course to understand how things are implemented you'll have to read the
code. With statecharts at least you have a visual bird's-eye view of the
behavior of your UI. This is important because otherwise you'll be lost with
just code to figure out how things behave.
More importantly, statecharts limit your behavior - a specific state can only
go into another state if there's an outgoing arrow. This limitation is quite
awesome because, given any state, you know that the only thing effecting
change are the transitions - nothing else!
Also I want to stress the importance of the unclustering property described in
the paper. Your high-level statechart can be a simple diagram. Then you can
"zoom in" and see the behavior of other portions of the diagram. This is quite
powerful abstraction and I don't see how "just code" can solve this -
especially because we're inherently visual creatures.
~~~
notduncansmith
I'm definitely not arguing against the statechart being higher-level than a
pile of state mutations. I think they're very low-resolution however, and I
believe there can exist code that can serve the same high-level purpose as
statecharts without discarding as much information.
I also think zoom is a very powerful visual metaphor for context, and I don't
mean to discount the value of that. I just think the contents of each node in
the zoom-context graph could be higher-fidelity.
> More importantly, statecharts limit your behavior - a specific state can
> only go into another state if there's an outgoing arrow. This limitation is
> quite awesome because, given any state, you know that the only thing
> effecting change are the transitions - nothing else!
This touches on a point that I think is important and would like to expound
upon.
One thing that makes code easier to reason about is "locality", being able to
see everything that affects what you're looking at.
One way of dealing with poor locality in code is to zoom out until you're only
looking at a web of state transitions, and then you can find the state you're
in and see where you could have come from (which offers _hints_ as to how you
got there) and where you could go (which offers _hints_ as to what might
happen next).
Another approach is to write high-locality code, code which describes the
incoming arrows so that by design, whatever you're looking at is already
revealing its composition, and fractally-organized at that. That can be hard
to do in application code with existing tools, although (shameless plug) I
wrote libraries to help make it easier in Clojure and Javascript:
[https://github.com/notduncansmith/factfold](https://github.com/notduncansmith/factfold)
------
yaantc
The Qt makers seem on the same page. Qt has support for SCXML [1][2], which is
an XML format to represent statecharts FSM. You can edit SCXML files from Qt
Creator [3], load them in your app and use them to drive your Qt GUI, or any
dynamic behavior in your app.
[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCXML](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCXML)
[2] [https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtscxml-
overview.html](https://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtscxml-overview.html) [3]
[https://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/creator-
scxml.html](https://doc.qt.io/qtcreator/creator-scxml.html)
------
adinisom
From prior experience working with non-UI statecharts:
1) State transitions are essentially "goto". Structured programming offers
abstractions that are easier to think about and less fragile to requirement
change. But in some situations small state machines can be a win.
2) Statecharts offer "structure" in the form of substates and superstates
which are much like inheritance in OOP. In my experience these are fragile to
requirement change.
3) Statecharts are advertised as being explicit and therefore easier to check
for correctness. They can be, although if there are multiple state machines
operating concurrently or even an "outside world" acting on them, the set of
possible states is no longer explicit.
------
hergin
It is a neat idea to separate the semantics and the syntax. However, for some
reason, it didn't get enough popularity.
Apache Commons has an SCXML package which parses scxml statechart format
(standard) and produces dynamic java objects but this couldn't see the
daylight and suspended at version 0.9 in 2015.
I had nice experiences with this separation logic though. It is more flexible
and extendable than regular finite state machines. There is parallelism and
timeouts built-in the standard and as mentioned in the presentation, it solves
a lot of if-else kinda structure without a hassle.
------
thechao
The syntax reminds me of Adobe’s Adam GUI specification language. Jaakko Järvi
has continued this work:
[https://github.com/HotDrink/hotdrink/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/HotDrink/hotdrink/blob/master/README.md)
It’s honestly a better way to implement GUIs.
------
drudru11
When EmberJS was young, one of the early contributors tried to make
statecharts first class in the framework.
------
doomlaser
Makes me think of a tweet from Adam Saltsman yesterday:
[https://twitter.com/ADAMATOMIC/status/936638936042082307](https://twitter.com/ADAMATOMIC/status/936638936042082307)
~~~
sktrdie
The statecharts paper provide a solution to this "state explosion", in the
form of hierarchical (nested) states which I also talk about in the slides.
------
crocal
Not the next big paradigm because it already exists for critical software and
UI [1]. For verification purposes, thinking in state charts at design level is
essential. The fact that code does not reflect easily this model is not an
issue provided you do not write this code manually, but off-load this to a
compiler front-end. It is actually the only sane way to keep state space and
performances under control.
[1] [http://www.esterel-technologies.com/products/scade-
display/](http://www.esterel-technologies.com/products/scade-display/)
~~~
icc97
It has to exist before it can become the next big thing. It's more the
transition from early adopters to mainstream.
------
d--b
Funny to hear about state charts as the "future" while we can celebrate
Grafcet's 40y anniversary.
------
dirtyaura
Using state machines in the UI layer is good idea, but problem with trying to
present everything with pure state machines is that the state space easily
explodes when you have a lot of different potential events and interdependent
systems affecting the UI.
------
fsloth
Feels like FRP. But is it isomorphic to it? I once started with a 'back of the
envelope' experiment with a frp gui system and ended up with the conclusion
that I could not do without hierarchical state charts.
So, a statechart formulation could be an 'emergent' , most simple way to
formalize a Xerox Alto-descendant GUI system.
The fact that they start from an existing deep GUI stack is a bit distracting
to the disucssion, though...
------
noen
Interesting take. I do think state-charts (and state machines) can potentially
be a huge benefit to both design and development. However, your login/auth
examples are really poor fits for this kind of solution. While you could use
statecharts, you could also just use generalizable global form validation.
There's not a lot of benefit in defining statecharts for common UI paradigms.
That said, here's an example from my own recent experience where formal
statecharts/state machines became a necessity to even move forward.
My colleague published a finite state machine for swift
([https://github.com/softwarenerd/Stately](https://github.com/softwarenerd/Stately))
that grew out of necessity from a project we worked on together.
The project ([https://news.microsoft.com/videos/cities-unlocked-a-
voyage-o...](https://news.microsoft.com/videos/cities-unlocked-a-voyage-of-
discovery/)) was creating a turn by turn navigation system for the blind.
From a workflow perspective (and UI/UX) it was never terribly complex. There
are a handful of primary actions, with a handful of intents and a single
common workflow with branching outcomes. Over time and iterations, we reduced
the workflow complexity quite a bit further as well.
But we kept having more and more functional regressions and exploding bug
counts as more and more subsystems and capabilities were integrated into the
experience. The issue was that, while workflow and UI were both simple, the
number of potential application states exploded.
For a long period we used simple if/then logic, followed by tracking
increasingly global variables to detect state conflicts/dependencies during
flows. This was messy at best and became an unmanageable nightmare.
Enter the state-chart. We followed nearly the same process as you've outlined,
with visual charts first. It gave us the initial frame to build a state
machine from, followed soon after by sub-hierarchies. It worked well for us
because the majority of our states were not many:many interdependent. Most
states had a 1:1 or 1:few correlation with others.
Statecharts likely aren't the next big UI paradigm because most applications
are driven by workflow (Line of Business apps) or by state machines that are
already well-known (form validation, auth, network graph navigation, CRUD,
etc) where those charts are already implicitly well handled by browsers,
services or existing frameworks.
I think the magic area for statecharts is in applications with many
independents or semi-linear state workflows that don't match up to visual or
experiential interaction workflows.
------
andreliem
Like this idea. Probably work well as a recommended spec/pattern for
developers and designers to follow.
------
taeric
Are we really rediscovering flowcharts? Because, this sounds like we are
rediscovering flowcharts...
~~~
sktrdie
No. A flowchart does not have any concept of state. Here's a good reading
about the difference:
[http://www.stateworks.com/active/download/TN9-Flowchart-
is-n...](http://www.stateworks.com/active/download/TN9-Flowchart-is-not-State-
Machine.pdf)
In essence: Flowcharts do not inherently have a concept of waiting for
something to happen.
~~~
taeric
Flowcharts don't have state? Certainly some simple ones don't, but diagramming
programs in flowcharts was not an uncommon method of presenting programs...
well, ever. Some of the introductory algorithms in Knuth's works use basic
flowcharts. In some of his notes on computer languages, diagrams akin to what
you are discussing were used by some smart people. So, don't take this as a
criticism saying it is a bad idea.
More, this isn't to say these aren't worth looking at again. New and old
things are always worth revisiting to see if something is different in the
idea or the environment that we are in now.
That said, the UML world had several runs at diagrams that could do this.
Activity diagrams being the more complicated ones, but what this is proposing
seems to be the standard state machine diagrams.
It was not an unfounded (well, in my opinion) view that UML over complicated
things. The problem appears to be that they were too complete in their
modeling of the problems. And, these diagrams only really work in a "simple"
sense if the viewers and the authors have a lot of shared context between
them. The more of that context you put in the diagram, the more you will
eventually remake UML's efforts. (Again, you will be in really smart company.)
------
jonas123
This reminds me of Mealy machines.
------
sigi45
no
------
lafar6502
Next big ui paradigm would be ditching all these messy JavaScript ui
frameworks and going back to real tools we had for implementing desktop
applications. At the moment we’re switching the tools every 6 months and the
next shiny ones are of course no better, just broken or incomplete in
different places. Web apps are crappy replacement for professional desktop ui
~~~
diroussel
How do I get a user to install a desktop app to complete a survey. Will they
do it to take out insurance? Is it feasible to build and test and deploy and
patch and support native apps, on multiple platforms, to rent a cement mixer
or a snow blower?
The low barrier to entry of web apps is so great we can easily put up with the
many downsides.
------
wcr3
God please no.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Is That iPad 2 Really Worth $2,000? - robg
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703696704576223242020954846.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read
======
WA
The author might be right about toys like the iPad that aren't really
necessary, but the trip to Bali for 5000$ feels way different at the age of 35
than 65 (that's at least what I assume). Saving for retirement is one thing,
but using the money to actually improve your life is an entirely different
story.
I experienced, whenever I spend money on things like vacation, travel etc., I
never regret the money I spent. It might feel like big spendings in the very
moment, but after the trip, it was totally worth it.
So, if this way of thinking works for the author, great for him. Personally, I
would evaluate the things I spend money on in different terms (do they give me
skills, experience or memories? or is it a really useful tool?) rather than
the money it could bring me in in 30 years.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
In Q1 2018, ICOs Stall as Crypto Falls - exotree
https://news.crunchbase.com/news/q1-2018-icos-stall-crypto-falls/
======
msie
Is this article from the future?
_The first quarter of 2018 brought startling losses to the crypto market.
Bitcoin has, according to Coindesk, toppled from its $19,343 December 16, 2017
high to $6,926 as of May 31, 2018_
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
NASA just launched 8 satellites from a rocket dropped from a plane at 40,000ft - andrewflnr
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/12/16/nasa_orbital_atk_cygnss_launch/
======
ucaetano
Lifting a rocket that high before firing it carries another benefit besides
the (small) altitude gain and lower fuel requirements due to drag: Max Q, the
maximum dynamic pressure that has to be sustained by the rocket usually
happens at a lower altitude than that (depending on the mission).
This means your rocket has to sustain a far lower structural load, making it
safer and lighter.
~~~
valarauca1
Max Q for the Peagus and Saturn V are actually at the exact same altitude.
~14-16km. And nearly identical pressures.
The thing is because all rockets follow the same trajectory to orbit, The
gravity curve. So you hit similar speeds at similar altitudes. If you don't,
you either aren't making it to orbit, or you're wasting fuel.
This is because the gravity curve is a straight line if you ask Einstein, just
earth's gravity makes space-time look wibbly-wobbly.
Newton calls this the derivative of the balastic arc.
There isn't a magical trajectory to orbit that is cheaper.
~~~
PhasmaFelis
I was disappointed to realize that "balastic arc" was just a typo. I thought
I'd learned a new word. :)
------
sargun
Orbital ATK has been building and launching the Pegasus XL
([https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-
vehic...](https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-
vehicles/pegasus/)) for a bit now. It is an extremely cheap platform that is
launched from an airplane.
What's neat is the User Manual is available online:
[https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-
vehic...](https://www.orbitalatk.com/flight-systems/space-launch-
vehicles/pegasus/docs/Pegasus_UsersGuide.pdf) [pdf]
~~~
greglindahl
Extremely cheap? Initially it was $6mm, now it costs almost as much as a
Falcon 9 launch.
Part of that is due to its extremely low launch rate -- this was the first
launch since 2013 -- but still.
~~~
sargun
if Orbital launched as much as SpaceX, the Pegasus cost before margin could be
20% of what it is today.
~~~
greglindahl
With Stratolaunch buying a bunch of Pegasus XL rockets, we'll know in a couple
of years.
------
planteen
I worked on the software for the star trackers in these. Glad to hear they
have already made contact. :-)
~~~
comboy
I can't get my head around how this thing works. Apart from the direct GPS
signal it's able to also receive the part of it that was reflected by the
ocean? How does the reflected signal tell anything about the wind speed?
And btw what are star trackers used for? As a fallback for GPS?
~~~
wrigby
IIRC, star trackers are used as both a position and an attitude reference. GPS
gives you only position (though more sophisticated systems can be used to
determine attitude).
While a GPS outage is a minor inconvenience for most of us, it could be pretty
catastrophic for spacecraft if they didn't have another position reference.
EDIT: See below - I was off; they're just attitude, not position
~~~
planteen
Star trackers are usually just used for attitude, not position. I've heard of
research to use them in conjunction with a camera pointed at Earth to resolve
coastlines to get position, but it's very theoretical at this point AFAIK.
~~~
phamilton
For those of us just watching, what is attitude? At first I though spellcheck
might have corrected it from altitude, but 3 times among 2 differently people
I see attitude.
~~~
andrewflnr
It's orientation, AFAIK, what direction it's facing.
~~~
planteen
Yep. Think of it like right ascension, declination, and roll from astronomy.
Given attitude, your position, and the time, you can know where you are
pointing on the Earth (lat/lon).
------
jbuild
Just an FYI, NASA live streams mosts of these launches here:
[https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public](https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/#public)
------
Animats
The Pegasus launch system has been around since 1990. First private orbital
launch system that worked.
------
velox_io
A little off topic.. I've always wondered why NASA lunched rockets from Cape
Canaveral (only 3 meters above sea level).
Granted, it's a little tricky to transport rockets, but surely it would have
made more sense to move the operations to a mountain near the equator?
How much fuel would be saved by lunching 3000 meters above sea level instead?
~~~
karkisuni
Not much at all. Low earth orbit is ~200km so the mountain is only helping by
1.5% of the needed altitude.
Altitude is not even the most difficult part of getting to orbit. Getting to
the necessary horizontal speed to stay in space takes a hell of a lot more
fuel than going straight up.
~~~
velox_io
So say a 4000m launchpad is feasible, that's 2% of the needed altitude. While
gravity will be roughly the same (yeah it's higher altitute, but there's the
mass from the mountain). There is much less atmosphere* (~50% less pressure &
1/3 less of it to get through).
Given that payload to fuel ratio is roughly 1:10, this does seem to add up to
a significant saving.
*Air pressure numbers [http://www.mide.com/pages/air-pressure-at-altitude-calculato...](http://www.mide.com/pages/air-pressure-at-altitude-calculator)
~~~
karkisuni
you're missing the point. altitude and drag losses are nothing compared to
horizontal velocity. you need to be going 7.8km/s. Per second! That takes a
lot more energy than gaining any kind of altitude or overcoming atmospheric
drag. It's not significant savings.
------
astrodust
Given how SpaceX has landed things on a drone ship, presumably they're
considering launching from a rocket that's been lifted above the bulk of the
atmosphere using a balloon of some sort.
You'd probably save a ton of fuel if you could launch from 40 or even 100K
feet.
~~~
RelaxBox
Eh, not really. It's not getting to altitude that's expensive, it's speed.
Orbit is blisteringly fast.
~~~
astrodust
It's a lot easier to get up to speed if you don't have to deal with cutting
through a heavy chunk of atmosphere on the way up. Plus, rocket designs could
vary, be less concerned about aerodynamics, if they were starting from a
launch platform already in very thin air.
A wider, shorter rocket might work better in thin air, for example, but that
would be impractical launching from sea-level as is tradition.
~~~
msandford
I have this dream that someday we'll build a SR-710 that's 10x the size and
carry a BIG payload. And then putting stuff into orbit will basically be
strapping your thing to a "big" upper stage (but small relative to a whole
rocket stack), loading it into the cargo bay and then some fancy flying.
I know it'll never happen for a variety of reasons. But it's such a cool plane
and when you think about cruising at mach 3 (2000mph+, 15% of escape velocity
([http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/sr-71/)](http://www.sr-71.org/blackbird/sr-71/\)))
it seems like it could make the rocket equation for a plane-launched rocket
much, much more forgiving.
~~~
Scramblejams
One big reason it'll never happen: The square-cube law.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square-
cube_law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square-cube_law)
~~~
msandford
Well 10x doesn't necessarily mean 10x longer, it might mean something with 10x
the total wing area and thus 10x the lifting capacity. Which might only be say
3x the length and 3x the width.
------
peteretep
This is probably a tremendously dumb question, but what are the major
impediments to literally sticking a big freaking balloon to the top of a
rocket and floating it up much of the way?
~~~
blater
Why bother with the rocket? It sounds mad, but you can actually just send the
balloon. to orbit...
[http://www.jpaerospace.com/atohandout.pdf](http://www.jpaerospace.com/atohandout.pdf)
~~~
mrfusion
Why do they need the space station part?
~~~
blater
Because the orbital ship is structurally unable to cope with higher
atmospheric density so must be assembled and maintained at altitude and never
go below the height of the station. There's a few challenges there...
------
partycoder
Well, kudos to NASA but also kudos to ISRO for taking the initiative in making
satellite launches more cost effective.
~~~
greglindahl
Pegasus XL is a private launcher (NASA is the customer), and it's not cost-
effective. It costs nearly as much as a Falcon 9 for a much smaller payload.
I'm not sure where the India reference came from? The EU and Japan both
operate smaller launchers. A couple of startups are getting close to their
first launch, too.
~~~
partycoder
I see. I made the wrong assumption then that sending 8 satellites from a
rocket that gets some help from a plane (requiring less propellant/size) was
more cost-effective. Thanks for clarifying.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebook Newsfeed experiencing issues in various regions - izelnakri
http://www.dignited.com/7488/facebook-newsfeed-experiencing-issues-various-regions/
======
shankysingh
Facing similar issues here in India too. Only able to comment on a friends
status, who ironically wrote about this timeline-disruption.
------
oquidave
Yes indeed there was a failure in the Facebook Newsfeed in Uganda but several
reported in South Africa, Greece, South Africa, Malaysia
------
rtp
Had similar problems in Sweden this morning. Seems to be working properly now
though.
------
bad_alloc
Same thing happened in Germany too, issue seems to be fixed as of 13:00 CEST.
------
jgrahamc
Who cares?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Taking the Law Online: Judge.me’s plan to build the future of legal systems. - zader
http://www.radicalsocialentreps.org/2012/05/taking-the-law-online-judge-mes-plan-to-build-the-future-of-legal-systems/
======
ColinWright
Much discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4015142>
~~~
improvisations
Cool! This is a new interview with the founder though.
~~~
ColinWright
Agreed, it's just that there has already been a great deal of discussion, and
it would be a shame to repeat it all here, wasting time and effort.
~~~
improvisations
Fair enough (:
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Zeroqode will usher us into a codeless future - levonterteryan
https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/11/zeroqode-will-usher-us-into-a-codeless-future/
======
swinto
We need more references of successful commercial products being done without
code for people to start noticing it. That's a great example of such a case.
~~~
levonterteryan
agree
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: I think I'm being stalked by a hacker. What should I do? - leavemealone
I think someone who is very knowledgeable about security vulnerabilities might be stalking me. I don't have any hard evidence, but we've been "coincidentally" running into each other a little too often in the past few weeks.<p>I work as a dev myself, but I don't know a lot about security. Aside from the obvious things, like changing my passwords and keeping records in case I need to get the police involved, what should I be doing to protect myself?
======
saluki
Is this person dangerous or threatening? If so you could meet with the police,
give them a heads up and ask for extra patrols in your neighborhood.
Be on guard when you're leaving coming home any place you're alone.
Resetting all passwords is a good idea, enable 2 factor auth.
I would leave your existing home router up as a distraction, purchase a new
one with new generic ssid and strong password and use that one.
You could also try using personal hot spot for a week depending on how much
bandwidth you use.
If you don't think they are a threat just snooping to make chance encounters
happen. You could try setting up honey pot plans one by one (gCal, email, sms,
from laptop, from phone browser, etc) to try to see if there is a pattern to
how they are tracking you.
Swap phones with a friend for an afternoon with someone that knows them or
what they look like, see if they run in to them.
They could be in to any or everything though digitally.
Or maybe nothing and they just know places you go so they go there often to
increase chance meetings.
Try to distance your self from them, give them the cold shoulder when you do
run in to each other, maybe they'll be the hint.
Good luck, be safe.
------
2close4comfort
Are these meetings something that you have only discussed online (setting up
to meet others and "the person" shows up too)? You could look at setting up
something and see if they show up? If that happens I would reset my phone and
computer at home. email is in my profile should you have any additional
questions that you might not be comfortable dropping here.
~~~
leavemealone
Mostly, but not exclusively. Not sure if the other times were from something
like phone location data, old-fashioned analog stalking, or actual
coincidence.
Would a phone/computer reset, plus changing passwords, cover pretty much
everything? Should I change my home wifi password (or even network name?) too?
~~~
2close4comfort
It should really if there was an exploit used to get access to a browser and a
social media account. But be EXTRA vigilant with links in email from now on
and this should lower your risk of reinfection (only open if you HAVE to!).
And that is a BIG yes on the wifi password and network name that would stop
any drive by access to your home network.
------
ramtatatam
Are you using google calendar to plan your meetings?
~~~
leavemealone
I do use Google Calendar, but I didn't include the location for any of those
incidents. Is a private Google Calendar a security concern, though?
~~~
breakingcups
Go here:
[https://myaccount.google.com/security?pli=1](https://myaccount.google.com/security?pli=1)
This page allows you to review your security settings. Most importantly, have
a look at linked apps (I'm on a different language so I don't know the exact
terminology, scroll down bit and you should see it). Revoke access to any app
that you don't know / doesn't feel right.
Definitely enable 2 factor authentication on your Google account. Change your
password. Review your security questions and answers as well.
Also have a look at
[https://security.google.com/settings/security/activity](https://security.google.com/settings/security/activity)
This page shows you on which devices you've been signed in, and where they are
from. If you notice anything suspicious, click the link at the top of the
page.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Don't worry about Qt, The KDE Free Qt Foundation is here since 1998 - moondowner
http://www.kde.org/community/whatiskde/kdefreeqtfoundation.php
======
limmeau
So if Nokia decides to abandon Qt, the KDE foundation may release Qt under BSD
license instead of LGPL? Does that comfort anyone?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
'Very, very pink' tap water in Alberta town - chris_chan_
http://www.citynews.ca/2017/03/08/pink-tap-water-residents-alberta-town-tizzy/
======
zzazzdsa
A lot of the posts here seem to be missing something important: permanganate
is an EXTREMELY vividly colored ion in solution. The bright colors of the
water in the pictures is about in line with what a 20 ppm permanganate
solution looks like. Considering manganese is an essential trace mineral
(although it is neurotoxic above a certain point, the amounts in the water are
minimal), I doubt there is any real toxic effect caused by drinking the water.
Permanganate is a very strong oxidizer, but it is not much stronger than the
commonly used chlorine and chlorine dioxide to be of concern (and it's weaker
than ozone anyways).
The whole reason permanganate is added in the first place is twofold: it
oxidizes simple organics all the way to carbon dioxide (think nail polish
remover, denatured alcohol), and it oxidizes soluble ferrous iron to insoluble
ferric iron. The byproduct of the oxidation, manganese dioxide, is insoluble
and if balanced correctly the treatment does not increase manganese levels in
the water.
~~~
sametmax
There is probably not "any real toxic effect" with a small dose taken over a
few months in an isolated study.
But what about a small dose taken over years, and interacting with the
thousands of small doses of synthetic chemicals we have in our body because of
processed food, hygiene products, clothes, surface treatments and medicine ?
This we have no way to know.
There are already so many reasons to get in contact with synthetic chemicals.
I think it's sane policy to limit them a much as we can when we can,
especially in something as ubiquitous as water.
Yes having drinkable water is essential, but some cities manage to have it
with much less additives. It should be the default goal for anything related
to public health.
~~~
literallycancer
>There are already so many reasons to get in contact with synthetic chemicals.
Such a pointless distinction. There are many chemicals that occur naturally
and will kill you.
~~~
sametmax
Anything can kill you. You can kill somebody with a piece of wood, a nuclear
device, gaz, light, shock waves, a baby, a golden coin...
And any matter is a chemical. Using "synthetic" as a qualifier allow me to
distinguish "fructose" from "paracetamol". You will less likely see important
traces of cobra venom in the water.
It's not perfect, but I fail to find a better term.
------
mudil
I love potassium permanganate. Growing up in Soviet Union, we used to add
potassium permanganate to bath, supposedly to clean your skin. But I love it
for its oxidizing properties. Mix potassium permanganate with magnesium
shavings, and you have a pretty powerful explosive mixture. Put a drop or two
of glycerine into potassium permanganate and glycerine spontaneously burns.
There are tons of interesting experiments you could do with potassium
permanganate... So many wonderful memories...
~~~
zzazzdsa
When mixed with sulfuric acid, it forms manganese heptoxide, which does lovely
things like ignite paper on contact and detonate if heated above 50 C!
------
Bockit
We used to gargle water mixed with potassium permanganate as children after
cleaning our teeth to see if we did a good enough job. It would colour plaque
pink, so it was very obvious if you hadn't cleaned properly!
~~~
huhtenberg
A shot of its stronger solution was also routinely used as an anti-diarrhea
remedy back when I was a kid. Tasted awful.
------
refurb
Not the end of the world. You can buy potassium permanganate tablets to purify
drinking water.
~~~
gpm
What's the concentration of that vs the concentration here. Note that we also
use chlorine to treat drinking water (e.g. on canoe trips), but you don't want
to be drinking that unless it's very low concentration.
A quick google search suggests that they are used to "improve water clarity"
[0], so at a guess you don't use enough of it to turn the water pink.
There's also the fact that they think it's concentrated enough that you should
avoid bathing in it if you have sensitive skin. That certainly doesn't inspire
confidence that you should drink it (exposing some very important skin, that's
usually more sensitive).
[0] [http://www.livestrong.com/article/71333-use-potassium-
perman...](http://www.livestrong.com/article/71333-use-potassium-permanganate-
water-treatment/)
~~~
stagbeetle
I would not use livestrong as a source.
If the pictures are true to the situation, the concentrations are tiny. You
can look up videos of people putting less than a teaspoon into water to get
the same result.
IIRC, PP can be a precursor to chlorine. But, you're comparing two different
chemicals here and what applies to one likely doesn't apply to another.
There is a chance your skin will feel like it's burning if it's not fully
dissolved in water. I wouldn't advise touching the dry powder. The shards will
embed into your skin and it will feel like an open wound filled with Tabasco
for a long time.
Fun-fact: If you mix it with glycerol it combusts, so don't use any lotions
with it if you get some on your skin.
ETA: I don't know what's going on, but there's a lot of low-effort responses
in this thread. Is it the hours?
~~~
jcranmer
> IIRC, PP can be a precursor to chlorine.
Converting KMnO₄ to Cl¯ would require a nuclear reaction. Chlorides are
generally soluble, so it's not going to cause an insoluble salt to slowly
dissolve as a permanganate salt precipitates instead. It does appear to be a
stronger oxidizing agent than Cl₂ (and Cl¯ and ClO¯ and ClO₂¯), but there are
likely better reducing agents in most water than dissolved chlorine ions.
~~~
zzazzdsa
For what it's worth, permanganate is an extremely strong oxidizer (probably
the second strongest stable solid oxidant known, after persulfate), but at
neutral pH it is unable to oxidize chloride to hypochlorite and beyond. (The
electrode potentials are too close, and anyways the maganese dioxide byproduct
turns hypochlorite to chloride and oxygen.) Instead of reacting with a
reducing agent in water, (the main possibilities are simple organics and
ferrous iron, and these turn to carbon dioxide or insoluble ferric oxide
[sidenote: this is why permanganate is added to water in the first place])
permanganate tends to break down to oxygen and manganese dioxide, which
settles out.
------
askvictor
Almost completely unrelated, except for the pink water bit:
[http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/lake-in-melbournes-
westgat...](http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/lake-in-melbournes-westgate-
park-turns-bright-pink-20170308-gutp26.html)
~~~
beedogs
Happens literally every year, and someone writes some clickbaity news article
about it every year.
------
mirimir
Not a big deal. But it does underline the need to trust public water systems.
Worse mistakes have been made.
------
squozzer
At least it's not phenolphthalein --
[https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/phenolphthalein](https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/phenolphthalein)
------
cypherpunks01
"She said the water is clear coming out of her cold water taps, but not the
hot water taps."
Do people really not know where their hot water comes from?
~~~
evandev
They said "adding property owners may need to run their water for a few
minutes to clear their service lines." I would think that their hot water tank
got some of the pink water into it and unlike the cold line the pink will
slowly dissipate.
------
random3
> “Could the town have done a better job of communicating what was going on
> yesterday to our community? Absolutely, without a doubt,”
This must be from Zootopia =))
------
jguimont
Am I the only one thinking about the slime river under NYC in Ghostbuster 2 ?
Same colour, but not the same texture
------
JohnStrange
It's because of the electrolytes. It has electrolytes in it, which is good.
------
sunnyhacker
I have always wanted to buy a countertop water distiller for home use. Guess I
found another reason to justify the purchase =)
~~~
asafira
Piggybacking on this a bit: does anyone have a good recommendation for
learning more about home water distillers and RO systems? Both for just
certain faucets and maybe even the whole household? I know filtering all the
water at home is likely overkill (in most places!), but I'm curious.
~~~
wanderr
Under sink RO is not a big deal, you can buy a system for relatively cheap at
Sams or probably Costco, and there's not much that you have to know, just
change the prefilters when you are supposed to. Depending on the bladder and
how much usage the RO system gets, it can take a while to fill a glass, 15-20s
maybe? Filling a pot of water is infuriatingly slow.
RO systems waste water as that is how they work, expect your water usage to go
up (how much depends on a lot of factors, for us it did not impact our water
bill).
Whole house RO systems are probably a non-starter, keeping the water pressure
up high enough seems like it would be very expensive.
------
senectus1
Yikes! Apparently its been used (Vaginally) to cause abortions...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_permanganate#Other_u...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_permanganate#Other_uses)
~~~
Coincoin
From your link: "These incidents only result in damage to the vagina from the
corrosive action of the chemical, since _potassium permanganate was proven to
be ineffective in producing abortions._ "
~~~
quakeguy
Yikes, what the hell?!?
~~~
sdenton4
Basically a textbook reason for having abortion services available for all...
~~~
quietmonkey
Or just... education?
~~~
Fomite
"Don't try to flush out your vagina with potassium permanganate" is...very
specific education. And horrific folk remedies like this show up all the time
where abortion isn't legalized - "educating" would be a game of whack-a-mole.
------
quakeguy
It will regulate itself, as always. Right? Right?!?
------
NumberCruncher
Have you seen the other articles on this site? It should be called
dailymisery.com. Who reads trash like this?
------
booleandilemma
If they did it for International Women's Day they were a little early.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Code-Pointer Integrity - jcr
http://dslab.epfl.ch/proj/cpi/
======
vezzy-fnord
Ostensibly, "control flow hijack attacks" is a recently coined umbrella term
for the various standard non-managed memory corruption vulnerabilities like
buffer, heap overflows and uncontrolled format strings.
The main target for so-called CPI then appears to be LLVM's SafeStack:
[http://clang.llvm.org/docs/SafeStack.html](http://clang.llvm.org/docs/SafeStack.html)
~~~
nickpsecurity
At one point, most of the research focused on the memory safety property as a
whole or many tactics for protecting memory/pointeres in narrow ways. The
first had too much of a performance hit or required different hardware. The
second wasn't good enough because, like you said, a whole umbrella of attacks
existed that achieved same goal. Eventually, this paper [1] coined "Control
Flow Integrity" as the property of protecting control flow rather than all
memory issues. It cites lots of other work that specifically tries to protect
control flow. The general idea seems to be that stopping code injection is
highest priority and methods that focus just on that might have less
performance hit than full memory safety. Plus, if you focus on preserving a
property in all situations, then the individual ways to exploit a lack of that
property no longer matter. Unless they're things that destroy your whole
model. ;)
At least, that's the impression I received from reading most of the papers. A
few were clever enough to use segments like the old high assurance A1 systems
did. CPI enforces a similar property on pointers with an interesting design
and segments in its strongest form. Resulting performance penalty is
negligible despite a large number of attacks stopped by it. This field is rife
with failures so it wouldn't surprise me if more issues are found. Yet,
combined with the bug bounty, the weaker SFI model used in Chrome has worked
well enough. The stronger, CPI might deliver after enough analysis and fixes.
Note: While looking that up, I found a recent CFI scheme [2] by Criswell et al
that builds on their SVA-OS scheme. It supports my assertion about why CFI
exists with this claim:
"Where comparable numbers are available, the overheads of KCoFI are far lower
than heavyweight memory-safety techniques."
[1]
[http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/64250/ccs05.pdf](http://research.microsoft.com/pubs/64250/ccs05.pdf)
[2] [http://sva.cs.illinois.edu/pubs/KCoFI-
Oakland-2014.pdf](http://sva.cs.illinois.edu/pubs/KCoFI-Oakland-2014.pdf)
------
nickpsecurity
This is pretty neat research that replaces prior SFI work with a mechanism
that enforces a stronger, verified security claim. I especially endorsed the
segment method as it was less likely to have an easy bypass. I posted it on
Schneier's blog and elsewhere as an example of good research that tries to
solve a root problem (i.e. enforcing invariant) rather than tactically
countering every manifestation of it. I'd like to see more review of and
enhancements to it by the types of people that broke prior, SFI schemes.
Remember that this method can be combined with other techniques to reduce
overall risk. For instance, this combined with interface protection for input
and a separation kernel approach for small TCB would give the attackers less
to work with. Critical algorithms on data pointers might be proven with
Astree. And so on.
~~~
cvwright
Very cool work.
> I'd like to see more review of and enhancements to it by the types of people
> that broke prior, SFI schemes.
I only glanced at the abstract so far, but it looks like they don't protect
against non-control data attacks [1]. For example, the adversary might still
be able to whack the int that stores the userid and change it to some more-
privileged value.
[1] [https://www.usenix.org/conference/14th-usenix-security-
sympo...](https://www.usenix.org/conference/14th-usenix-security-
symposium/non-control-data-attacks-are-realistic-threats)
~~~
nickpsecurity
I agree. It's a major risk area. It's why most of my work and evangelism is on
stronger stuff, esp in hardware. Any of these CFI type things are taking in
risk to try to make stuff fast enough to be adopted on legacy systems. Thanks
for the paper as I'm sure it will come in handy in a future discussion on this
stuff.
Here's a more thorough solution with the kind of performance hit I talk about:
[http://www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/papers/pldi09_softbound.pdf](http://www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/papers/pldi09_softbound.pdf)
Better than predecessors I read about, though. On hardware side, the SAFE team
(crash-safe.org) have enforced several policies simultaneously on their
modified processor. Was quite a performance hit but unoptimized and with many
protections. Burroughs B5000 (below) had a bit for pointer protection, a bit
for code vs data separation, type checks in hardware for procedure calls,
array bounds-checking in hardware, and much applied by compiler from HLL to
binary. I'm sure most of that could be implemented with simple hardware on
modern processes. Finally, I've seen a taint-checking approach that only took
two bits, had under 10% performance hit, and was Linux compatible IIRC. So,
there's methods with high promise if you ditch the legacy system but people
don't want to do that...
[http://www.smecc.org/The%20Architecture%20%20of%20the%20Burr...](http://www.smecc.org/The%20Architecture%20%20of%20the%20Burroughs%20B-5000.htm)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Fundamental Algorithms III - tu7001
http://lion137.blogspot.com/2019/02/fundamental-algorithms-iii.html
======
atoko
I would appreciate better naming on the variables. Some of this is hard to
read through with single letter names
~~~
derekp7
For me this really depends on the context. For example in a small for loop I
entirely expect to see the variable "i" used (i = "index" or "iterator"). In
three nested loops, I also expect "i", "j", and "k" used for each loop level.
This is mostly because it is common enough convention that I don't have to
think about it. Same reason I would rather see "2 + 3 * 7", vs "two plus three
times seven", the information just gets in my brain faster that way without
filler.
Other cases include the comparison function for a sort algorithm, where I
expect "l" and "r" for left and right, and the sort function itself I expect
to see "a" for array, "c" for comparison function, "s" for swap function.
But when the variables don't really make much sense, or there is no existing
convention, then there should at least be a key present for what each variable
means.
~~~
mtsr
I've always used ii, jj and kk, etc. These are just as easy, but allow
languages/editors without variable renaming to do a useful search/replace on
them, because you just know you will at some point.
~~~
jstimpfle
Most editors have at least regex search / replace. Most regex flavours allow
you to do '\<i\>' or similar to specifiy word boundaries.
------
SiebenHeaven
Are these as performant/optimised in terms of time and space complexity as
they can be?
~~~
tu7001
Thanks, complexity, I'm gonna going through that, and adjust.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Apple Watch: $17,000 smartwatch is obsolete after latest update - ValentineC
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-watch-update-latest-edition-watchos-5-expensive-out-of-date-obsolete-a8385291.html
======
forgottenpass
Of course it is. $16k of the cost of that watch goes towards showing others
you have $17k to piss away on a watch.
The market segment that buys a $17k watch only wants a new and improved model
if everyone with the previous model is transformed into looking like a penny-
pinching try-hard that doesn't quite fit in.
------
Rjevski
When Apple Watch was announced I remember reading somewhere that there would
be an upgrade program for these “premium” models to either trade them in for
store credit towards a new one or directly replace its hardware with updated
stuff.
Anyone knows if this ever happened?
------
foobarbazetc
Everyone knows you never buy an Apple V1. :)
~~~
valuearb
My Series Zero is still going strong! Has been a delightful purchase, almost
as good as my AirPods.
Don’t understand the issue over the original Edition watch. Obviously, like
any computer, it wasn’t getting updated forever. The only reason to get one
was perceived prestige, it was the closest thing to a Veblen good in consumer
electronics.
And it should be cheap and easy to replace an Editions guts with series 3
parts, too.
~~~
Rjevski
Series 3 is actually thicker than Series 0 I believe.
You would have better luck putting Series 2 hardware in there.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google Cloud Vision API changes the way applications understand images - ghosh
http://googlecloudplatform.blogspot.com/2015/12/Google-Cloud-Vision-API-changes-the-way-applications-understand-images.html?m=1
======
pavornyoh
On the front page -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10664554](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10664554)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How much money do you make from freelance client projects? - cod3boy
I am trying to figure out how to price my new product. Can you please help by letting me know how much you make by doing freelance client projects on the side or full time?<p>I am building a freelancer platform on SaaS model instead of the % like Upwork. Leads, Client onboarding and management, NDAs & Agreements, Communications, Invoicing, and Payments.<p>We only build all tools to power your business and not be the face of your freelance business. Fixed monthly fee, all features included.
======
fakeElonMusk
I have used or looked into past and existing services that attempted some or
all of these features. Every client project is different and a client
typically already has their own preferred stack for communication, onboarding
and payments. As a freelancer, I already use services like Gusto and Harvest
and don't want to consolidate into a single platform (they do what they do
very well).
So the only thing you can really offer that freelancers would pay for is
really good leads. IMO that will be very hard to package as a SaaS service.
Look at LinkedIn Pro Finder - it takes a "client" 2 minutes to fill out a
project request and about the same for a freelancer to respond. Most people
are just messing around, very few are serious or have a real budget or
project.
I know people who pay individuals (also freelancers) to find leads and
generate business. You could do that but how do you scale it? If you charge a
monthly fee then how long will people stay signed up without any leads? If you
charge a percentage based on a project, how do you verify the cost of the
project? What if it's hourly for an indeterminate period?
As far as how much we make it varies from small projects in the 20-30k range
to over 100k for bigger projects.
------
BjoernKW
I had a look at Sieve. I like your vision and I'm eager to see what you'll be
to able to contribute to make that vision a reality.
For my business in particular, such an all-in-one product doesn't make sense
because I already have tools and processes in place for covering the various
aspects of the business:
\- website
\- proposal management
\- requirements engineering
\- accounting
\- CRM
\- document management
\- process automation (via Zapier, mostly)
I like to see this as a more UNIX kind of approach with specific tools for
specific jobs that communicate with each other if needed. Even if I were to
forego this approach in favour of a single tool or product that product would
have to be better by at least an order of magnitude compared to my current
setup. For what essentially still amounts to a process and management tool
that's quite a tall order.
Freelancing / consulting isn't a one-size-fits-all, cookie cutter kind of
business. Therefore, a unified product that tries to cover every aspect of the
business probably isn't going to cut it, at least for those who've already
been in the business for some time. However, they're likely also the most
interesting audience for a product such as yours because they tend to have
more revenue than businesses that just start out.
There's an admittedly - and unfortunately - quite large group of freelancers
though your product might be very useful to: Those that don't do any kind of
marketing (i.e. they often don't even have a website) and mostly rely on
manual processes and middlemen to do their marketing for them.
------
mpetkevicius
I pretty much stopped freelancing once oDesk and Elance merged into Upwork,
but back then I could probably earn between 10k and 20k USD annually before
taxes. Admittedly, I'm a lazy programmer. Good luck with your project!
------
goatherders
Free until you get me my first paid project.
99$ month after.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Political Science Became Irrelevant - hhs
https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Political-Science-Became/245777
======
inflatableDodo
"That increasing tendency to embrace methods and models for their own sake
rather than because they can help us answer substantively important questions
is, I believe, a misstep for the field. This trend is in part the result of
the otherwise normal and productive workings of science, but it is also
reinforced by less legitimate motives, particularly organizational self-
interest and the particularities of our intellectual culture."
Perhaps they are becoming another tribe of the Econ, as described by Dr.
Leijonhufvud is his 1973 essay 'Life among the Econ' \-
[https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1465-7295....](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1973.tb01065.x)
edit - here's the full text, unpaywalled -
[https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/05/ax...](https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2007/05/axel_leijonhufv.html)
------
jMyles
I received my political science degree from SUNY New Paltz (which has a killer
polysci program) in 2008. And I knew then (as did most of my theory,
comparative, and American professors I think) what the Chronicle of Higher Ed
seems to just be discovering:
> The problem, in a nutshell, is that scholars increasingly privilege rigor
> over relevance.
I distinctly remember (and often retell the story) of Jeff Miller responding
to a pragmatic observation by saying: "I understand how it works in practice -
what I want to know is how it works _in theory_ " \- and while he was
intentionally being funny, he wasn't kidding.
Now let me ask this - and I think it's notable that the article doesn't answer
this - even if a focus on rigor makes "the Beltway" less interested in
academic political science, how does that make the discipline "less relevant?"
Can you imagine a similar observation being made about another classic liberal
art (philosophy, psychology, music, art, physics, biology, etc)?
How did The Chronicle, of all publications, come to believe that relevance of
an academic field is to be gauged by government? And by one particular
government?
The whole point of liberal arts is to develop a capacity for independent and
critical thinking. If people are graduating with degrees in a liberal arts
field and complaining that they can't find a job in their field (let alone a
_government_ job in their field) then I want to suggest that they got into the
discipline for the wrong reasons.
As our species embarks on this beautiful and bizarre transition into life with
the internet, surely we need to accept that the impetus to seek education
purely for self improvement and happiness is ever _more_ relevant.
I don't particularly give a hoot what the US Government thinks about my
degree. In fact, if this ageing and increasingly useless entity thinks that my
field of study is less relevant, that is perhaps evidence that I'm on to
something.
~~~
ddingus
You are. (And apparently are not alone. My conversations with poly-sci peers
has trodden similar ground.)
The field is as relevant as it ever has been. IMHO, money in politics, coupled
with mass media consolidation has created an environment where emphasis on
models is treated like a currency of sorts. Self reinforcing, regardless of
outcome.
Actually, outside observers keen on understanding this dynamic better will see
outcomes that do not align with models framed as "threats to Democracy" and
often conflated with other "bad elements."
From the insular point of view, in the beltway, that is a true statement.
In general, it is a "truthy" statement in the sense of control being validated
by models, actions planned and executed successfully then confirmed by outcome
and models, is breaking down.
(Whether that is a threat or more ordinary advancement in the body politic is
a matter of ones perspective.)
That all worked, until it didn't, and it didn't about the time digital natives
came of age and simply behaved differently. They are not the only ones, just
an easy to point to example.
Pre-Internet and post Internet politics are fascinating!
Sorry to ramble. Yeah, you are entirely relevant. This is a matter of not
being in the club, and said club panicking over what it sees as a serious and
growing threat to it's base political power of legitimacy, and relevancy as
more of the body politic becomes more distributed and difficult to manage.
>surely we need to accept that the impetus to seek education purely for self
improvement and happiness is ever more relevant.
Absolutely. And that is increasingly possible for people to do, either through
formal study to obtain a degree, or on their own terms as amateurs.
That clash is as interesting as the traditional politicking vs what I can only
describe as neo-politicking, increasingly seen with rapid adoption of Internet
and aging in of people native to it.
------
rrggrr
Former political scientist here to simply say that Game Theory is immensely
useful in the real world IF you couple the calculus with real world
understanding of power politics and realpolitik. It's just that outside if
certain government and think tank circles the skills, underlying data, and
Intel product aren't there. For this reason the larger group of practicing
folks are flying blind and useless.
------
reilly3000
How is the ‘scientific method’ that I was tough in grade school apply to
political science? Like, how do you conduct experiments when public policy
doesn’t really have room for control groups? Or is the reality of the practice
of poli-sci relegated to theory and modeling?
The concept of canary deployments in legal realm sounds fascinating to unpack.
~~~
bcbrown
That's one thing that the concept of federalism addresses. The ability for
cities and states to experiment with different policies allows the federal
government to wait and see which experiments bear fruit before rolling them
out nationwide.
~~~
reilly3000
That leaves a tremendous amount of variables to account for, but you make a
great point.
------
cs702
TL;DR: As the discipline has become more and more rigorous, formal, and
mathematical in the academic world, it has become less and less relevant in
the real world.
Key quote: > When political scientists seek rigor, they increasingly conflate
it with the use of particular methods such as statistics or formal modeling...
The sociologist Leslie A. White captured that ethos as early as 1943: "We may
thus gauge the 'scientific-ness' of a study by observing the extent to which
it employs mathematics — the more mathematics the more scientific the study.
Physics is the most mature of the sciences, and it is also the most
mathematical. Sociology is the least mature of the sciences and uses very
little mathematics. To make sociology scientific, therefore, we should make it
mathematical. Relevance, in contrast, is gauged by whether scholarship
contributes to the making of policy decisions.
------
codesushi42
Honest question, what does one do with a Political Science degree anyway?
~~~
tdeck
Looks like it's pretty mixed; many go into finance:
[https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/majors/p...](https://www.vpul.upenn.edu/careerservices/undergrad/majors/psci.php)
~~~
akhilcacharya
This says more about Penn than it does about Political Science graduates as a
whole...
~~~
tdeck
Sure, but it was the first survey I could find after poking around for a bit.
I'd be interested in seeing something more extensive if you can find it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
This 15 year old is making 500K a year in the babysitting business - riaface
http://mashable.com/2015/02/26/babysitting-entrepreneur/
======
jakobegger
Impressive. This is a perfect example of how hard work alone doesn't make you
rich; you also need a cut from other people's hard work to make lots of money.
Pretty amazing to realize this at age 15.
------
riaface
This makes me feel like the fictional Babysitters Club didn't have a solid
enough business plan.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
EFF Supports Microsoft in Seeking to Make it Easier to Invalidate Patents - there
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/eff-supports-microsoft-seeking-make-it-easier
======
fendrak
You know, I'm always impressed with the clarity that the EFF posts explain
their situations and how they affect them/us. If every group took such trouble
to explain their cause, they'd have more supporters by the simple virtue that
people could actually understand what they're saying, rather than wading
though mountains of misdirection and propaganda.
Or maybe I'm just so used to wading through the EFF's particular brand of
misdirection and propaganda that I don't notice it anymore...
~~~
wtallis
EFF has a conceptually simple mission, and the things are trying to accomplish
are generally good for the public at large, so they have nothing to hide
behind doublespeak. Most "special interests" would be harmed by a large
portion of the general public understanding the full implications of their
goals, but the EFF is really in it for the good of normal individuals.
------
bpm140
I know we're probably going to see a lot of "Wha? Microsoft are a bunch of
hypocrites!" in this thread and I urge everyone to just think of how great
things would be going forward if we can see some changes like this.
We can't change the past, but we can sure as hell change the future. Glad to
see MS trying to lend a hand.
~~~
frisco
This is Microsoft trying to invalidate a patent they don't like, not them
"trying to lend a hand". It just happens to overlap with our interests. Which
is exactly what they _should_ be doing, as a corporation.
~~~
InclinedPlane
Microsoft doesn't have a history of patent lawsuit trolling. To the degree
that Microsoft does seek software patents it is generally as a matter of
defense against other large corporations.
I think the possibility that MS might be trying to do the right thing here,
for everybody not just themselves, is reasonably high and shouldn't be
dismissed. At the end of the day MS is a developer centric company, they pride
themselves on the ability to make things, and patents are an annoying side
show to that.
~~~
TwoSheds
There were at least these cases which seem trollish:
MS vs. TomTom
[http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/chewing-the-fat-in-
the-m...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/chewing-the-fat-in-the-
microsoft-vs-tomtom-case/2241)
MS vs. Salesforce
[http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2341-microsoft-patent-
trolls-...](http://37signals.com/svn/posts/2341-microsoft-patent-trolls-
salesforce)
~~~
nene
Indeed... Believing Microsoft won't patent-troll is like believing Oracle when
they say'd they're against Software Patents. It's just a matter of time when
some CEO will notice a good opportunity to make money with patents.
But I digress... Currently Microsoft isn't doing anything evil. Making
software patents harder to get is clearly a step in the right direction.
But it's far from Microsoft saving us all from software patents.
~~~
praptak
_"Currently Microsoft isn't doing anything evil."_
Heh, heh:
[http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2...](http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_on_the_issues/archive/2010/10/01/microsoft-
sues-motorola-over-android-patent-infringements.aspx)
No longer true.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Intuition for Bayes Theorem - phinance99
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fyudkowsky.net%2Frational%2Fbayes&ei=4ddPU_GVLsPMsQS104GYAw&usg=AFQjCNEgk7tlIdlNuASuzXh66BZLktkJOQ&sig2=AvNzwFTWfCH7Ac4SEymvTg&bvm=bv.64764171,d.cWc
======
abledon
this is another less painful explanation:
[http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-bayes-
theo...](http://betterexplained.com/articles/understanding-bayes-theorem-with-
ratios/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Coinbase – Ethereum Sends Delayed - smaili
https://status.coinbase.com/incidents/wvhcfrftmdlx
======
SCAQTony
Thank you... I have Ethereum at Coinbase. Disturbing. Hopefully accounts were
not hacked. This is the downside of digital currency: all transactions are
final whether you instigated them or not. Would be nice if you could yank your
money back if can prove you got ripped off.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
5 Grammar Mistakes that Make You Sound Like a Chimp - TheElder
http://www.copyblogger.com/grammar-chimpanzee/
======
DanielStraight
Half these things are common usage and basically considered proper by everyone
who isn't a nazi. The others are so rare it isn't worth mentioning them.
------
jporter
I recall a more interesting article on commonly misused words..
Eg. Bemused means confused only. Not "confusingly amused" as it typically is
used.
Peruse means to examine in great detail, despite the fact that perusal time in
college usually means skimming over the paper quickly.
I forget them all, but I think pristine and ironic were on the list.
------
sharpn
Hmmm, this smells like opinion presented as fact to me. For example, 'an
historic' is good English (in England, not sure about US-English convention)
in the same way as you _can_ say 'an honour' or 'an hour'; ie. because the 'h'
is pronounced softly.
------
hellotoby
Wow. An article about grammar that uses incorrect grammar. Certainly makes the
author sound like a chimp.
For example:
_Here's a typical incorrect use:
'The committee will consist of Bob, Mr. Parsons, and myself.'
In this circumstance, 'me' is the right choice. In general, 'myself' is a word
you shouldn’t find much use for, so if you’re using it a lot, you’re probably
using it wrong. 'Myself' should only be used reflexively, to refer back to the
subject._
Unfortunately his proposed correct useage is incorrect.
The correct usage in this case would be:
'The committee will consist of Bob, Mr. Parsons, and I.'
~~~
cema
No, it should indeed be "me". The reason is the verb "consist" requires that
its objects are in the objective case.
Native English speakers often have a problem with noun and pronoun cases
because this grammatical feature has all but disappeared from the language,
only its weak remnants remain. This is one place, perhaps the most well known
place, where it still appears.
------
callmeed
The "an historic" one is a major pet peeve of mine. I've had college
professors insist that usage.
------
ScottWhigham
Actually contains non-common stuff
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Remote Kubernetes Development with Garden – The Best of Both Worlds - alexellisuk
https://medium.com/garden-io/remote-kubernetes-development-with-garden-the-best-of-both-worlds-b60c7fab4f27
======
mrkeen
examples/garden/examples/demo-project$ garden deploy
Deploy
Error validating project (/garden.yml): key "outputs" is not allowed at path [outputs]
Well, the user experience is certainly on par with other server software.
~~~
eysi
Thanks for pointing this out! I'm affiliated with the project and we've merged
the fix.
This issue is that our example projects are bundled with the main project and
they can fall out of sync from the latest stable release. We also version the
examples and point to those in our docs but of course the `master` version is
always what the users see first on GitHub. We should add a note on this in our
main GitHub readme.
And I do feel your pain when it comes to (some) software geared towards other
developers. I think UX (and especially UI) tend to take second place to just
pure functionality. We try and put a lot of effort into the developer
experience but of course we slip up every now and then :)
I hope you'll give it a second chance, now that it's been fixed.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Entropy as Disorder: History of a Misconception - Anon84
https://aapt.scitation.org/doi/10.1119/1.5126822
======
panic
I was looking for more information on the oil/vinegar situation and found this
explanation at
[https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Bo...](https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/General_Chemistry/Book%3A_CLUE_\(Cooper_and_Klymkowsky\)/6%3A_Solutions/6.3%3A_Hydrogen_Bonding_Interactions_and_Solubility/6.3.1%3A_Entropy_and_Solubility%3A_Why_Don’t_Oil_and_Water_Mix%3F):
_> When hydrocarbon molecules are dispersed in water, the water molecules
rearrange to maximize the number of H-bonds they make with one another. They
form a cage-like structure around each hydrocarbon molecule. This cage of
water molecules around each hydrocarbon molecule is a more ordered arrangement
than that found in pure water, particularly when we count up and add together
all of the individual cages! It is rather like the arrangement of water
molecules in ice, although restricted to regions around the hydrocarbon
molecule. This more ordered arrangement results in a decrease in entropy. The
more oil molecules disperse in the water, the larger the decrease in entropy.
On the other hand, when the oil molecules clump together, the area of “ordered
water” is reduced; fewer water molecules are affected. Therefore, there is an
increase in entropy associated with the clumping of oil molecules —a totally
counterintuitive idea!_
~~~
cma
What about with heavy gases and light ones like helium? Do they eventually mix
completely in large atmospheres under a big gravity gradient?
I would think a mixture should gain kinetic energy as the heavier one settles
more on the bottom, releasing photons from the heat which increases total
entropy, but in a closed system where the photons are reflected back it would
hit some equilibrium with heavier stuff at the bottom, but more kinectic and
photonic energy which maybe both together give more degrees of freedom than a
more evenly mixed mixture with less kinetic energy and higher gravitational
potential energy.
~~~
kgwgk
> I would think a mixture should gain kinetic energy as the heavier one
> settles more on the bottom,
But this is not what happens, or there would only be CO2 (and a small ammount
of the heavier atoms and molecules) in the lower part of our atmosphere.
> I would think a mixture should gain kinetic energy as the heavier one
> settles more on the bottom,
But this is not what happens, or there would only be CO2 (and a small ammount
of the heavier atoms and molecules) in the lower part of our atmosphere.
Edit: Maybe you know this already, but in equilibrium the mixture does indeed
have more kinetic energy (per unit of volume) as you go down because even
though the temperature remains constant the pressure increases.
~~~
cma
This is not the enclosed system case, but light gases do escape easier and
heavier gases do accumulate more predominately towards the ground:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#Stratifi...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth#Stratification)
At extreme elevations you find much higher concentrations of H and He.
It doesn’t fully separate like you might see with liquids, but there are
tendencies.
~~~
kgwgk
You’re right, the atmosphere is much more complex and dynamic than in these
idealized models. But assuming the system is closed and in thermal equilibrium
and that these are ideal non-reacting gases then gravity has an effect on the
density and pressure but not on the composition.
~~~
cma
I disagree. Assume it is a closed box reflecting all photons back inwards and
perfectly bouncing the gas particles. Now assume here are only two gas
particles in the box, a heavy atom and a light one. Assume the box is tall
enough that in the presence of gravity there is not enough total energy in the
system for either particle to reach the top of the box.
The light one will move faster than the heavier one on average when they come
into contact, and in the presence of gravity it will have a higher average
height. The same will hold as you add more particles, but there is a curve to
it.
It is true hat the atmosphere is more complex, and has things like ozone layer
causing temperature inversion due to different absorption characteristics,
etc., but the general reasons that H and He are so much more prevalent in the
upper layers is largely due to this kind of explanation using gravity.
~~~
kgwgk
It’s true, I don’t know what I was thinking. The barometric formula that gives
the density gradient for each (ideal) gas depends on the molecular mass so the
profile will be different and the composition of the mixture will vary with
height.
------
ScottBurson
Slightly OT, but I just saw this last night and thought it was hilarious:
_You should call it "entropy", for two reasons. In the first place your
uncertainty function has been used in statistical mechanics under that name,
so it already has a name. In the second place, and more important, no one
really knows what entropy really is, so in a debate you will always have the
advantage._ — John von Neumann, suggesting to Claude Shannon a name for his
new uncertainty function, as quoted in Scientific American Vol. 225 No. 3,
(1971), p. 180.
~~~
hcs
Schrödinger used the term "negentropy".
And there's a story that Norbert Wiener used to wander around MIT telling
anyone who would listen that information is negative entropy, including
Shannon. (I'm having trouble finding it, will edit if I track it down)
Edit: ah, it was Fano who told that story (quoted in "The Cybernetics
Moment"):
> Electrical engineer Robert Fano at MIT, recalled that sometime in 1947,
> Wiener "walked into my office ... announced 'information is entropy' and
> then walks out again. No explanation, no elaboration."
More about Wiener's approach and another recounting of the story here:
[http://news.mit.edu/2011/timeline-
wiener-0119](http://news.mit.edu/2011/timeline-wiener-0119)
------
foxes
The definition of entropy from a statistical mechanics perspective, is roughly
a count of the number of different (microscopic) configurations, \Omega, of a
system. When all the configurations are equally probable, you get the formula
S ~ log(\Omega)
I don't think you see this definition in a physics education until you do a
course on statistical mechanics? I feel like I certainly had teachers say
"disorder". I think the connection being that if there are more configurations
it's more "disordered" which isn't really a precise thing.
Looking back, I think rambling about ideal gases/pressure/volumes is a boring
way to teach this subject (at least at late high school/first year uni). You
should probably introduce it by talking about configurations and information.
You can think of some very clear examples (configurations of a list of objects
for example, it doesn't necessarily have to be "physical"). Then maybe you
would go on to show that this is connected to macroscopic physical properties.
~~~
rstuart4133
> I don't think you see this definition in a physics education until you do a
> course on statistical mechanics?
I'm over 60, and I only recent discovered the definition of entropy recently
thanks to Leonard Susskind youtube videos. For 60 bloody years I only got the
dumbed down version about "disorder" and it made absolutely no sense to me
whatsoever. Now I see the same confusion in others - like here on HN were to
people where duking it out over whether one arrangement of a pack of cards
(all individually identifiable of course) had more entropy than the other.
This dumbing down does nobody any favors whatsoever. It certainly doesn't
promote understanding of the basic principles.
------
dvt
So it's an article on entropy (as disorder) without one mention of Shannon[1]?
This seems like a pretty big oversight.
In the context of information theory, entropy is _absolutely_ a decay of
information. I understand that this is physics (not math -- although the
formulae are virtually identical), but there's a very clear, accurate, and
formal use of "entropy" to mean exactly what the author purports it _doesn 't_
mean: chaos.
[1] [https://heliosphan.org/shannon-
entropy.html](https://heliosphan.org/shannon-entropy.html)
~~~
dr_dshiv
I don't think it's an oversight. Shannon entropy, Von Neumann entropy and
other information theory entropies are useful, but not physically fundamental
in the sense of the second law of thermodynamics.
That said, I don't under whether Gibbs entropy or Boltzmann entropy is
fundamental-- ?
~~~
dvt
> Shannon entropy, Von Neumann entropy and other information theory entropies
> are useful, but not physically fundamental...
I have to disagree, especially given that one of the great mysteries of our
generation (the Black Hole Information Paradox) hinges on what happens to
_information_ \-- sure, it's information about particles, whatever that might
mean. But Jacob Bekenstein (among others) argues that Thermodynamic entropy is
analogous to information (Shannon) entropy[1].
[1]
[http://webhome.phy.duke.edu/~mkruse/Phy255/255S06_Joyce_Copp...](http://webhome.phy.duke.edu/~mkruse/Phy255/255S06_Joyce_Coppock_bh.pdf)
~~~
kgwgk
[http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2019/08/how-do-black-
holes-...](http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2019/08/how-do-black-holes-
destroy-information.html)
“As you have probably noticed, I didn’t say anything about information. That’s
because really the reference to information in “black hole information loss”
is entirely unnecessary and just causes confusion. The problem of black hole
“information loss” really has nothing to do with just exactly what you mean by
information. It’s just a term that loosely speaking says you can’t tell from
the final state what was the exact initial state.“
~~~
abdullahkhalids
This is not the consensus opinion in the physics community. Many physicists
consider information as fundamental to this "paradox".
~~~
kgwgk
Right. The other view isn’t the consensus either. I was just presenting an
alternative exposition.
------
dr_dshiv
I liked this article. Really clear. I found some of my own misconceptions. For
instance, that uniformity and gradients are ways of characterising entropy.
The example of oil and water is great. While they are separated with a
gradient, there is no latent tendency to flow together and mix.
But, it's only gravity that makes the oil and water issue hard to understand.
With no gravity, they would not be evenly divided.
We still don't understand gravity, as it relates to entropy. Usually entropy
makes things spread out, but gravity makes things come together. Weird.
~~~
Florin_Andrei
I dunno. I always thought "entropy = disorder" was a big simplification,
almost in the realm of lies to children. Entropy is what it is; the pattern
detection algorithms in our heads are not always very good at judging global
properties such as order.
I do have a degree in Physics, so perhaps that's the source of this belief
I've held - probably from countless impromptu discussions with fellow physics
geeks. You wanna know the entropy of this system? Calculate it, don't eyeball
it.
~~~
novaRom
How to define disorder? I always struggle to understand that. Less
compressible state?
~~~
dr_dshiv
More potential for free energy flow across a gradient. That's what I still
associate with entropy
------
tullatulla
The author seems to mix up Gibbs free energy with entropy. The remark that
thermal equilibrium equals maximum entropy is simply wrong. All examples can
be explained with minimization of the free energy:
dG = dH - TdS
dH == internal energy (chemical bonds) + pV dS == Entropy term T ==
Temperature
Where entropy is the number of different states the system can be in for a
given internal energy. A thermodynamic system in equilibrium will always tend
to a state of lowest free energy.
Example: a perfect crystal would be a totally ordered state (and with the
lowest entropy), with the internal energy minimized due to the highest number
of chemical bonds. For T -> 0, this would be the thermodynamically most stable
configuration (however not always kinetically accessible, e.g. supercooled
water). As Temperature goes up, the Gibbs free energy of a more disordered
phase (e.g. crystal defects or a liquid/gas phase) becomes lower and will
eventually lead to the melting of the crystal.
For the oil/water example, the separated state minimizes the free energy since
polar water molecules can form hydrogen bonds with themselves (lowering the
internal energy), and push out the oil molecules, even though the entropy is
lower than for a totally mixed state. At higher temperatures, this will change
theoretically and the mixed-phase becomes favorable thermodynamically.
From this point of view, seeing higher entropy as more disorder seems
absolutely fine, where more disorder is "lower chance of guessing the exact
configuration of all molecules in the system".
~~~
kgwgk
Entropy is maximized for an isolated system (constant energy), free energy is
minimized for a system in thermal equilibrium with a heat bath (can exchange
energy with the environment). Gibbs free energy is minimized at constant
pression and temperature, Helmholtz free energy is minimized at constant
volume and temperature.
If you put now the oil/water system into a isolated container the equilibrium
state won't change substantially. It remains separated in two phases and
that's now the maximum entropy state.
------
trhway
Typical fallacy in entropy considerations is to consider system as isolated in
the model while it is strongly connected to the environment in reality. The
oil/vinegar (similar to the pennies and dimes mentioned in the article - when
shaken in a jar would "magically" separate with pennies on top) has exported
the entropy to the environment through the work of gravitational force in full
accordance with the 2nd law - the system transitions following the gradient
and thus increasing total entropy of the whole system. A similar mistake for
example is when "life" is stated to be "anti-entropic" in any sense while it
is a really a form of matter organization which generates even more entropy
than the same amount of dead matter would.
------
szemet
Isn't this a too narrow definition of entopy? Ok. Pure physical entropy was
the first and original usage, but now informational entropy can be used at
higher level, and it correlates well with disorder at that level.
If I sort an array its entropy will be lower - while due to thermodynamics the
total entropy of the world will be increased.
So there is the only the high level component I'm interested in: I see less
macrostate in a sorted array(one) than in an undordered(n factorial) even if
the microstates in the world have increased(I don't care).
Same goes for the article examples, for me subjectively an ice statue can have
many different forms (macrostates), if it melts it will have one form (a
puddle) - so I see the entropy to decrease - of course the puddle have more
microstates than the ice statue - just I do not differentiate between them...
True: in the sbove examples things became more ordered at high level (entropy
have decreased), meanwhile physical entropy have increased - but that increase
was global and in our local point of interest it is still can be said
(according to modern usage) that entropy have decreased!
Of course the total sum have to be positive - that's the basis of how for
example the Landauer principle is calculated, wich connects the above high
level informational view with physical entropy...
~~~
kgwgk
Note that this is an article for physics teachers and the conclusion is “we
can warn our students that this is not the meaning of the word “entropy” in
physics.”
------
kgwgk
A couple of related articles from Lambert
([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_L._Lambert](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_L._Lambert)):
Shuffled Cards, Messy Desks, and Disorderly Dorm Rooms — Examples of Entropy
Increase? Nonsense!
[http://entropysite.oxy.edu/shuffled_cards.html](http://entropysite.oxy.edu/shuffled_cards.html)
Disorder — A Cracked Crutch For Supporting Entropy Discussions
[http://entropysite.oxy.edu/cracked_crutch.html](http://entropysite.oxy.edu/cracked_crutch.html)
------
bonoboTP
I would say, in itself the oil being separated from and being above the
Italian salad is something that in itself decreases the entropy (for now I
assume we can think of this as two gases of different density). However! It is
overcompensated by other factors and in total the entropy is lowest in this
case.
What factors? Imagine you could place the particles as you wished, and being
encouraged by my first sentence you decide to mix it all up to achieve higher
entropy. To make it all mixed up, you'd have to move the heavier, denser
material towards the top, increasing the total potential energy. This would
need the introduction of external energy into the system. We cannot do that
with a closed system. We could only take the energy as heat from the salad,
making it all colder. However, in making it colder, the motion of the
particles becomes less uncertain, leading to a _decrease_ in entropy.
Ultimately the method of mixing it up fails to increase the entropy, showing
that the separated configuration is indeed lower entropy.
However it is not because of the separation, but in a certain sense despite
it. The separation helps bring the particles into a higher inner-energy state,
because the potential energy decreases as the denser material moves down.
Without paying attention to the micro situation the effect wouldn't make
sense.
~~~
kgwgk
> (for now I assume we can think of this as two gases of different density)
What does that mean? If they were gases they would mix (as the atmosphere,
where you don’t see layers of gasses of different densities but an essentially
homogeneous mixture).
~~~
bonoboTP
That could be wrong.
I think the point still stands that the separation contributes to a decrease
in entropy, however it enables another effect which increases entropy even
more.
If we were allowed to mix it up evenly by adding energy from the outside to
lift the heavier material up (constant temperature), then we'd get an even
higher entropy, agree?
~~~
kgwgk
I don’t understand what point you are trying to make. If you assume that’s the
equilibrium state and therefore the highest entropy state given the
constraints on the system then of course the entropy cannot spontaneously
increase. And if it’s the highest entropy state despite looking “low entropy”
under the flawed criteria of “looks ordered” then it’s obvious there is
something else we’re missing that explains why the entropy is indeed maximal.
Anyway, to increase the entropy you don’t just need to add energy, it has to
be in the form of heat (something you can’t extract work from later). If you
move the “heavy” layer on top of the “light” layer the (potential) energy has
increased but if the temperature remains constant the entropy doesn’t change.
~~~
bonoboTP
I'm sorry, it is difficult to express my thought, although it is a simple
thought that may be trivial to you.
I mean that ceteris paribus the layering (separation of materials) causes a
decrease in entropy. However, the system still does this, because it gains
more entropy through a different "channel".
If we could destroy the layering, thereby evenly mixing things up, but not
changing anything else that affects entropy, we could increase the entropy. So
it show that the layered version is lower entropy as long as all else is the
same. The catch is, this would require adding extra energy into the system,
because the mixed version has more potential energy. We could also imagine a
mixed up configuration that has the same total energy, but then the
temperature would be lower since more of the energy would be used up as
potential energy, leaving less for heat. In that case the entropy would be
lower.
Main point: the layering, just the fact that it is layered, this property, if
we know nothing else, is still something that is a low entropy thing. So our
intuition is not broken that order corresponds to low entropy.
~~~
kgwgk
> I mean that ceteris paribus the layering (separation of materials) causes a
> decrease in entropy.
But it doesn’t, which is the reason why it happens. Because that intuition of
“oh, there are two phases, this means order and entropy is disorder so the
entropy is lower” doesn’t correspond to the reality of the physical concept of
entropy (the thing that is maximized for a thermodynamic system In
equilibrium). That’s the point of the article.
Note that the discussion about potential energy is a red herring, phase
separation does also happen in absence of gravity (you get droplets which
don’t coalesce as easily, but it happens nevertheless).
~~~
bonoboTP
That's why I tried to shift focus to density based layering rather than the
more complicated oil water interaction.
And the reason it happens is because it doesn't magically get the
corresponding external energy. However if we artificially, like gods, arranged
everything to be non layered but the same temperature, the entropy would be
higher than if layered and same temperature.
~~~
kgwgk
No, the entropy would be lower and the phases would separate spontaneously
because that would increase the entropy. The only reason you get layers in the
first place is that oil and water don’t mix! Water and alcohol also have
different densities.
------
codesushi42
The best book on the subject:
[https://www.amazon.com/Entropy-Demystified-Second-Reduced-
Re...](https://www.amazon.com/Entropy-Demystified-Second-Reduced-
Revised/dp/9812832254/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Kali Linux 2.0 Released - kriro
https://www.kali.org/releases/kali-linux-20-released/
======
finnn
Their site is down. Can someone post the magnet link?
EDIT found the link on reddit:
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:66fc47bf95d1aa5eca358f12c70af3ba5c7e8f9a&tr=udp://tracker.kali.org:6969/announce&tr=[http://tracker.kali.org:6969/announce](http://tracker.kali.org:6969/announce)
(torrent at [http://images.kali.org/kali-
linux-2.0-amd64.torrent](http://images.kali.org/kali-linux-2.0-amd64.torrent))
~~~
timboslice
Site is back up but cheers for the magnet!
------
vmorgulis
> At the request of Rapid7, we have removed the Metasploit Community / Pro
> package from Kali Linux and now host the open-source metasploit-framework
> package only...
> In addition, the Rapid7 team no longer maintains the Metasploit package in
> Kali...
Seems they had a problem with metasploit company.
~~~
kkl
It is likely in response to this:
[https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2015/...](https://community.rapid7.com/community/metasploit/blog/2015/06/05/availability-
of-metasploit-community-metasploit-pro-trials-outside-us-canada)
------
kolev
"Kali Linux is Now a Rolling Distribution" \- finally!
~~~
Shank
I seriously thought that was the goal when they changed names from Backtrack
to Kail in the first place. Oh well, good that it's now one at least.
------
tacone
TL;DR Kali Linux is now a rolling distribution, which pulls packages from
Debian testing.
------
resonanttoe
Anyone else getting a weird sha1sum on the Torrent?
I've downloaded twice and I'm getting a34527e9178e7185eebbca0730d825a7c78fcca4
Kali's website (and sha1 file) says aaeb89a78f155377282f81a785aa1b38ee5f8ba0
I'm getting from http now, but its slow as sin.
------
digitalzombie
It took awhile to figure out what happen to backtrack seeing this Kali Linux I
was curious about Backtrack.
Kali Linux is the successor of Backtrack but on Debian.
Interesting, they should have kept the brand sheesh.
------
noobie
What is about Kali that sets it apart from other Linux distributions?
~~~
jonesetc
It is a distro built specifically for pen testing.
~~~
noobie
What exactly do you mean by " _built_ "? I mean if it's, like other users
said, just a bundle of pre-installed tools, how does it differ from Ubuntu?
~~~
brightball
I believe every network protocol and outside connection is disabled by
default. It's supposed to be setup so that it can be booted invisibly, on an
existing system via live USB so that you can simulate a real intrusion.
~~~
UserRights
You should doublecheck this with wireshark yourself before finding yourself in
a potentially bad situation. Kali is not so silent as advertised.
~~~
brightball
Good to know.
------
richm44
Has anyone seen a list of what tools have been added in this release?
~~~
at-fates-hands
Here you go: [https://www.kali.org/releases/kali-
linux-20-released/](https://www.kali.org/releases/kali-linux-20-released/)
They've added a ton of stuff as well as removed metasploit pro package due to
Rapid7 asking them to remove it.
------
Cyberis
kali.org's SSL cert shows as invalid due to a subject mismatch. Is that on
purpose?
------
phuckkali
Kali is a pretty poor distro. Merely a fork of debian for no other purpose
than to create clickable icons/menu items for cli applications that require
sudo. So 99% of the security apps they install are presented in an unusable
form. Nothing you can't do with debian and a few runs of apt-get.
~~~
antsar
Doesn't Kali default to having you login as "root", for pretty much this exact
reason?
~~~
phuckkali
So run everything else as root. Real secure. "Make everything setuid 0!"
~~~
Sanddancer
Running as root in a lot of ways is to further nail home that this is a tool
that is not for your day to day computer usage. You'll pull it out for
testing, use it, and then toss the environment. With the environment as
disposable as it is, running as a regular user gains you nothing, except a
potential case of carpal tunnel from typing sudo over and over again.
~~~
ryanlol
Kali is much less of a live CD than backtrack was.
Also, most of the people Kali is targeted towards would use it every day.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Making ISPs common carriers? Congress, the FCC, and public interest - FluidDjango
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/making-isps-common-carriers-just-a-simple-error-correction.ars
======
ShabbyDoo
The critical issue to me is that my local government has granted a duopoly to
my telephone and cable providers to provide broadband to my house. One could
argue that I also get 3G coverage and the possibility of high latency
satellite, but, for practical purposes, I have two options.
I'm a small L libertarian and would have no problem with network providers
"innovating" by moving to a back-end revenue model except that this is not a
free market situation. My local government has granted this companies near
exclusive rights to shake me down. And now, thanks to this most recent court
ruling, they can sell premium access to my house (Edit: meaning that they can
sell others, like Disney, the semi-exclusive right to deliver high-bandwidth
content).
I actually blame my local government for this. I believe the contracts with
the phone/cable companies require local approval of rate plans, but I doubt
they place stipulations on access discrimination as a revenue model. Perhaps I
should lobby my local councilperson and not my congressman?
------
hoop
What effect would moving "information services" back into "telecommunication
services" have on smaller companies? What about WISPs, will they be counted?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Berlin’s Futuristic Airport Became a $6B Embarrassment - adventured
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-07-23/how-berlin-s-futuristic-airport-became-a-6-billion-embarrassment
======
germanier
They seem to completely miss the story about Imtech's involvement that broke
this week which sheds some lights on this catastrophe and is a tale of
corruption: [http://www.zeit.de/2015/29/imtech-flughafen-berlin-ber-
verzo...](http://www.zeit.de/2015/29/imtech-flughafen-berlin-ber-
verzoegerung/komplettansicht)
Unfortunately I'm unable to find an English-language article on that at all.
There is only this Imtech response:
[http://imtech.com/EN/corporate/Newsroom/Highlights/Imtech-
re...](http://imtech.com/EN/corporate/Newsroom/Highlights/Imtech-response-to-
media-attention-on-16-July-2015-about-legacy-issues.html)
~~~
giarc
Can you provide an English summary?
~~~
germanier
I try but don't hold me accountable for any inaccuracies.
At the moment three public prosecutors independently investigate that
companies practices which is rare in Germany: 1) A gigantic adventure park in
Poland which was never supposed to be built 2) A cartel which allowed them to
build two power plants 3) Falsification of balance sheets.
Imtech is responsible for parts of the airport's construction – including the
two parts which created most problems: the smoke extractor and the cabling. As
the airport was close to be finished, opening date just days away, Imtech send
fraudulent invoices they knew nobody would double-check. This is a practice
that seems really common with such projects.
Similar things happened a few years earlier: When the planning agency went
bankrupt and it was known that due to regulatory changes the plans needed to
be fixed they nonetheless went on to built the (now obsolete) parts – knowing
they will be the company that will be called to fix it again. Additionally the
work was done sloppily: Among the quoted examples were control boxes build too
close together that you couldn't open their doors.
What was really important for the company was that all invoices should be paid
by the end of 2012 to include them in that years balance sheet – while
delaying paying their workers until January. As time was running out they
resorted to a bribe: In December 2012 an employee of Imtech gave an employee
of the Berlin airport an envelope with 150 000 € at the side of the highway.
Airport employees spend overtime during the christmas holidays so that all
payments of 65 Mio. € could be processed.
The article then goes on the describe the involvement of top management which
indicate that this is done systematically. They also describe the two other
projects from above. They also suggest that these projects look like a Ponzi
scheme: A project's loss is paid by doing even crazier projects.
~~~
protomyth
"Imtech send fraudulent invoices they knew nobody would double-check. This is
a practice that seems really common with such projects."
Yeah, this is a bit too typical and happens in the USA also. If you ever have
to deal with building something, check every invoice as if it was from Snidely
Whiplash.
~~~
germanier
The article specially mentions a one-page invoice with items like "overhead
costs" and "disturbances while building" amounting to millions – billed at a
time where they still had 5000 other invoices to check.
~~~
protomyth
That would be the time to try to slip something through. Also, its not like
the accounting department knowns what the invoices mean. This is why a lot of
places require work orders / purchase orders to match each invoice. No WO or
PO #, no pay invoice.
------
therobot24
> "Professor, let me understand this," Loge said. "You are talking about
> having 800 people wearing orange vests, sitting on camping stools, holding
> thermoses filled with coffee, and shouting into their cell phones, 'Open the
> fire door'?" Loge refused the airport an operating license. Schwarz stood up
> and walked out without another word.
Easily the best part of the article.
~~~
troymc
I got a good chuckle out of the sentence:
"Then they turned to the fire prevention system. Smoke now channels upward
through chimneys, in accordance with the laws of physics."
~~~
detaro
Yeah, some politician got some "duh, stupid engineers" points out of that
sentence. Completely ignoring the fact that the original design also pulled
smoke down and was considered to be fine. Since these systems are active and
suck the smoke out up or down doesn't matter all that much.
~~~
chipotle_coyote
From the third paragraph: "Smoke evacuation canals designed to suck out smoke
and replace it with fresh air failed to do either. In an actual fire, the
inspectors determined, the main smoke vent might well implode." Assuming the
inspectors were correct, the original design, at least as implemented, didn't
work.
While the "in accordance with the laws of physics" may be overly catty, a bit
of searching around suggests that smoke evacuation dampers are generally
placed on the ceiling, and it's not unreasonable to think that's because,
well, smoke rises, isn't it?
~~~
detaro
AFAIK the smoke was pulled in at the ceiling of the floors. And then sent
downwards and vented out somewhere on the side instead of on top of the
building.
The original design was never tested, because the building as originally
designed never existed.
_Each addition ordered up by Schwarz required shifting passenger flows
through the terminal. That meant rebuilding walls, exits, emergency lights,
ventilation systems, windows, elevators, and staircases. At one point, in
2009, outside controllers urged Schwarz and his engineering chief to shut down
construction for half a year to give the architects and contractors time to
coordinate efforts._
That never happened, so there never was a complete design for the changed
building, and the fire system wasn't properly replanned for the new situation.
Which lead to issues like the collapsing pipes: They fitted stronger fans, but
no-one realized that the pipes can't hold the higher pressure difference.
~~~
spathi_fwiffo
IDKSAS, but wouldn't a system like this (electrically powered venting) be
prone to failure in an actual fire? If power fails with side/down venting, the
smoke would have no where to go.
~~~
hn9780470248775
It does sound like a situation where "excessive cleverness" is being applied
to an engineering problem, where a simple/robust/passive/failsafe solution may
be available.
~~~
x0054
Having owned several German sports cars, I must say that "excessive
cleverness" just might be a German trademark. When compared to the Corvette,
the only American sports car I had, excessive, and largely unnecessary
cleverness is very much prevalent in german designs.
------
bluecalm
There is a joke in my country (Poland) about every little town needing:
-an airport
-an aquapark
-a huge sport stadion
All of them as a way to transfer some state/town money to political cronies.
The sad part is that some of those make sense as an infrastructure improvement
(most doesn't though, at least here) so it's easier to sell the idea to
people. The way the business is done is to just pay 30%-50% more than it
should cost and pocket the difference.
~~~
raverbashing
That's for the Amateurs, Professionals do a whole World Cup
~~~
ubernostrum
And to get into the hall of fame, you do an Olympics.
~~~
hkmurakami
Look no further than the $2.5 billion debacle that is the new Tokyo Olympic
stadium.
A rather lavish expenditure for a country that is deep in debt.
~~~
_delirium
Another example among many: Greece hosting the 2004 Olympics turned out not to
be a great financial decision.
------
jandrese
This is exactly what you expect to happen when you're redesigning the building
in the middle of construction. If the project manager can't say no then it's
pretty much guaranteed to be a disaster.
On the plus side, it seems like they've finally found someone competent to fix
the mess and move the project forward.
~~~
JimboOmega
What I don't quite get is that the problem keeping things from being fixed
seems to be entirely related to the fire system.
Meanwhile all the other issues like heavy equipment breaking tiles... none of
that seems to be slowing it from opening.
So how did all the other systems wind up being more or less ready?
~~~
detaro
The fire system was the thing that forced them to admit the delays and has
gotten the biggest publicity, because failing the fire certification forbids
them from doing anything except construction work. I don't think anyone had
(or even has now) a clue if the other things actually were completely ready.
Stuff like power lines in the wrong cable channels makes one suspect they
weren't...
------
schoen
When I last visited Berlin, I heard a joke about the airport's problems that I
thought was very funny:
"Niemand hat die Absicht, einen Flughafen zu errichten!"
('Nobody has the intention to build an airport!')
Context:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall#Construction_begin...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall#Construction_begins.2C_1961)
~~~
mrich
The other popular joke, after all these years and billions spent: "Let's just
move Berlin to a functioning airport"
~~~
hn9780470248775
My favorite Berlin airport joke:
"Did you hear about the new grammar reform? It includes a new tense, Futur
III, to allow us to speak of the completion of Berlin/Brandenburg airport."
[http://www.der-postillon.com/2012/08/neue-zeitform-futur-
iii...](http://www.der-postillon.com/2012/08/neue-zeitform-futur-iii-
eingefuhrt-um.html)
------
nsns
But is it only BER? As mentioned int the article - what about Stuttgart 21
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart_21](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart_21))
etc.?
It is possible that these sites exist as new financial "loopholes",
transferring tax-money from the government to private contractors without much
oversight.
~~~
CurtHagenlocher
The complexity of that project is extremely high. My cousin is a civil
engineer in Stuttgart, and he showed me a cross-sectional diagram of the
affected area and the number of considerations seemed intractably high to me.
But more generally, these kinds of megaprojects go over budget in nearly every
part of the world -- especially when tunneling is involved. Here in the United
States, two examples are Boston's "Big Dig" and Seattle's viaduct replacement.
~~~
blakeyrat
In the interests of being pedantic, and local pride: Seattle's viaduct
replacement isn't over budget-- _yet_.
It's extremely likely to go over budget, but don't count the chickens before
they've hatched. The last budget review came to the conclusion that it's still
possible to finish the project as budgeted and scheduled.
[http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/04/23/ber...](http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/seattle/2015/04/23/bertha-
project-expert-review-report/26222949/)
~~~
icelancer
>The last budget review came to the conclusion that it's still possible to
finish the project as budgeted and scheduled.
They should open a betting market on these types of lines. I'd love to see the
fair odds. I'd take out a second mortgage if I could bet "This project will go
over budget" if it was even odds.
------
stffndtz
I am a german living in Berlin - and let me tell you, I feel deeply ashamed.
Not because I am german, but because I have the impression that a lot of
people involved, especially our once-so-admired former mayor Klaus Wowereit,
are obsessed with money, and got caught in a swamp of corruption and were
misleading the public.
A year ago or so, it turned out that the folks responsible for all the mess
(none of the board of course) we not to be found, because they were supporting
a system were a subcontractor could hire another subcontractor and so forth,
making it impossible for anyone to get a grip on what is going on. And that is
not what I would expect from a billion dollar project run by some of the most
trusted politicians and executives in our country.
I flew home from Budapest a couple of weeks ago, and I was surprised to see
that we were using the actual airstrip of BER. The flight was supposed to go
to SXF (Berlin Schönefeld), but instead we landed on the new airstrip, driving
by the not-yet-finished new airport. Can anyone tell me why?
There's more to it though - starting with corruption [1] and going all the way
to REBULDING the whole thing [2].
I'll stop here now - but I hope that there will be a lot more of critique
towards those who made this a completely embarassing desaster.
[sorry guys, links are in german. I'll try to find english ones] [1]
[http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/berlin-schoenefeld-
korrupt...](http://www.tagesspiegel.de/berlin/berlin-schoenefeld-korruption-
am-flughafen-ber-die-akte-imtech/11464662.html) [2]
[http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/acht-milliarden-
euro-b...](http://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/acht-milliarden-euro-
baukosten-fuer-flughafen-ber-erwartet-12873893.html)
~~~
germanier
> I was surprised to see that we were using the actual airstrip of BER. The
> flight was supposed to go to SXF (Berlin Schönefeld), but instead we landed
> on the new airstrip, driving by the not-yet-finished new airport. Can anyone
> tell me why?
They repurposed the south airstrip of SXF as the north airstrip of BER. As the
north airstrip of SXF was dismantled for a highway this is the only remaining
airstrip at SXF. For BER they built another additional one.
Here's a map: [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Karte-
_F...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Karte-
_Flughafen_Berlin-Schönefeld_SXF.png)
~~~
stffndtz
I wasn't aware of that - but did they increase the number of planes starting
and landing on SXF? It wasn't until a couple of months ago since they started
taxi'ing around the building, or am I wrong?
~~~
CrLf
I visited Berlin in 2012, and I remember taxiing near the BER terminal.
------
sillygeese
If you're in a position to hand out $5B of other people's money, do you think
some people _might_ want to bribe you to get it?
What if you can only hand out $1M? Will someone still want to bribe you? -Of
course, but he'll be a "smaller player" then.
All public spending involves _some_ sort of "corruption" [1] because it's
always other people's money being spent, and there's always someone in charge
of spending it.
If you could pay $10 to get $100, wouldn't you do it? A bribe is an
_investment_ , and the tax money received in exchange is the ROI.
[1] I put "corruption" in quotes because it's just the system working as
intended. If the system were actually corrupted, it would somehow start
working for the masses' benefit instead.
Think about it. How do _you_ benefit from someone else spending your money
_for you_? Your money serves a means towards an end for whoever spends it,
meaning he will be trying to benefit from spending it.
~~~
D_Alex
> If you could pay $10 to get $100, wouldn't you do it?
Certainly not, if the $10 is a bribe. Would you?
> A bribe is an investment...
No, it is a criminal offence, in most places. And for good reason. Corruption
does horrible things to the economy.
~~~
sillygeese
> _Certainly not, if the $10 is a bribe. Would you?_
Probably not, even if only because I'm not the kind of person who'd even get
into a position to bribe someone for personal gain.
But there's this thing called "psychopaths", and _they do_ seek out bribing
opportunities and they don't have any problem whatsoever with paying bribes
too.
> _No, it is a criminal offence, in most places. And for good reason._
Sure, but the people _taking_ the bribes are part of the organization that's
supposed to punish people for taking bribes (i.e. "criminal offenses"). See a
problem there?
------
CurtHagenlocher
"At the very moment Merkel and her allies are hectoring the Greeks about their
profligacy, the airport’s cost, borne by taxpayers, has tripled to €5.4
billion."
So, which country does Germany want to borrow money from in order to cover the
wasteful spending?
~~~
c_lebesgue
German EUR bonds have the second lowest yields globally, with Switzerland
being the leader. Also their ratings are higher than f. eg. the US bonds. So
the German government does not really have to worry about borrowing money.
~~~
coob
Japan's are lower than Germany's.
------
Jean-Philipe
As somebody from Berlin, I'm always happy when my hometown is on HN! Makes me
feel proud.
~~~
_ak
Yep, the proud feeling about Berlin's grandiose track record when it comes to
corruption and incompetence in major construction projects.
~~~
TillE
Aside from the airport, I don't think Berlin is worse than any other major
city. There are huge construction debacles for various reasons everywhere.
~~~
_ak
No, there's been a concentration of construction-related scandals with
corruption, bribery, etc. in Berlin over the last 40 to 50 years.
------
ghshephard
I realize that higher standards of fire and other safety measures make these
systems more complicated, but you would think that with all the technology we
have today for planning, engineering, communication, documentation, modeling
and simulation - that these types of fiascos would become rarer and rarer.
I wonder if anyone has looked at large scale projects like these over the last
100 years and determined what implications (if any) technology has had in
reducing these issues.
~~~
wlesieutre
We have a lot of powerful software for building design these days, Autodesk's
Revit suite being the big one. But as in software development, better tools
just ends up meaning that clients demand things faster and cheaper, rather
than better.
There are some classes of problems that it definitely helps solve, like
keeping the structural engineer and HVAC engineer from design conflicts where
a beam and a duct go through each other. But everything needs to be done
yesterday, so I'm not surprised that problems that can't be automatically
identified are able to slip through.
> “The people responsible for technical oversight were saying, ‘We cannot do
> this within this amount of time,’ and Schwarz would answer, ‘I don’t care,’
> ” he says.
Pretty much sums it up.
EDIT: There's no excuse for the exposed high voltage wiring alongside the low
voltage alarm systems though, that sounds like a contractor screwed up. I
don't know the German electrical code, but generally in the US anything over
60V is classified as "class 1" wiring and it goes in a conduit. Typically this
is a grounded metal tube so that you can't accidentally pound a nail through
it, and if anything shorts to the conduit there's a safe path to ground until
overcurrent protection trips.
And if for some reason you have lower voltage "class 2" wiring running in the
same conduit, those wires (and whatever else they split off to) are now
considered class 1, even if they're only low current 24V signal wires or
similar. They can no longer leave conduit and go anywhere else, on the off
chance that it shorts to the line voltage wires it's sharing conduit with.
~~~
anigbrowl
_But as in software development, better tools just ends up meaning that
clients demand things faster and cheaper, rather than better._
Exact same thing in the arts field - not all clients of course, and I can't
think of a recent equivalent to a fiasco of this scale, but the general trend
is that clients feel when the cost of technology goes down so should other
costs.
~~~
wlesieutre
Swear to god, I've had inquiries come in that sat dead for _years_ and
suddenly it's "Please revise. I need the updated version tomorrow."
Since email is 1000 times faster than shipping drawings back and forth, that
means _everything_ I do takes 1000th the time that it used to. Apparently.
------
philfrasty
One of the current running gags in Germany :) Simply make a reference to that
airport and something that will never work and you are good to go.
Edit: one of my favorite articles on that topic (German) [http://www.der-
postillon.com/2012/08/neue-zeitform-futur-iii...](http://www.der-
postillon.com/2012/08/neue-zeitform-futur-iii-eingefuhrt-um.html)
------
coldcode
Building an airport always is. Often it takes more money and a few decades to
appreciate it. D/FW airport was a nightmare when it was built but it's pretty
nice today. Denver's airport had tons of issues as well.
Then again this seems on a much higher level of disaster, but should be
familiar to anyone building large government software systems.
~~~
hvs
Denver still has the issue that it's a 20 mile drive from downtown out of some
misguided belief that the city was just going to instantly grow out to it.
~~~
koenigdavidmj
When you build an airport near the city, it becomes impossible to expand. San
Diego is a good example of this, a single-runway airport that's surrounded by
the bay, I-5, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, and a residential neighborhood.
It's running near capacity and impossible to expand. There's simply nowhere to
go.
~~~
peterfirefly
They can expand into the water, adding an extra East-West strip.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Artificial_island_air...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Artificial_island_airports)
~~~
koenigdavidmj
Ordinarily yes, but the bay might not be wide enough to fill in part of it,
especially when you're trying to fit aircraft carriers through it.
------
smhg
This reminds me of the immer funny David Zuelke explaining the difference
between "North Germany" and "South Germany" to a group of non-Germans. It was
at an after-phpDay drink a few years ago.
According to him, you can find the famous German Gründlichkeit in The South,
with The North being the exact opposite. He used the Berlin airport as an
example: "it was an endless failure". This was in 2011 or 2012. I wonder how
strong opinionated South-Germans like him look at this today.
I think for non-Germans the difference in Gründlichkeit is probably not
noticeable :)
~~~
leroy_masochist
Thank you -- I don't speak German, and have just added Gründlichkeit to the
list of German words I love. It joins Fingerspitzengefühl, Fremdschämen,
Weltschmertz, Sitzpinkler, and Fernweh.
I really need to learn your language.
~~~
orkoden
Gemütlichkeit is another word to learn.
If you come to Germany you can take part in any conversations just knowing
genau and ach so.
Genau - Exactly, I understand, I agree. Used to express agreement. Germans
like to agree. Use freely in any conversation at any time. Ach so - really, I
see. Can be used to express agreement, astonishment, realization,
understanding, questioning depending on intonation and stress. Na - hello, how
are you, hey. Can be used at any time to start or avoid a conversation.
------
qwtel
Bent Flyvbjerg studies these "megaprojects" and offers various explanations
why a) they are being conducted in the first place despite the fact that b)
they are usually any combination of over budget, behind schedule or below
expectations in terms of their benefits.
Here is an interview with him on EconTalk about the subject:
[http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/05/bent_flyvbjerg.html](http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/05/bent_flyvbjerg.html)
------
codeshaman
Bribe the inspectors and open up on time - then somehow patch the problem
later. Everyone wins. That's what they would do in a lot of places in the
world.
If a German airport, with a huge budget, has 150.000 defects of which 85k are
serious, then what about airports in other countries, which don't make use of
the world-famous german high quality standards ?
What about airports in countries were things are solved with a bribe, a
handshake and an evil smile ?
~~~
slowmotiony
World-famous german high quality standards were a thing fifty years ago, from
my experience this is often not the case any more.
~~~
k__
No, at least not in consumer products.
But I heard, big machines and weaponry are still export hits
------
mschuster91
All I do is remembering EDDM, Munich's airport, which was finished on the day
it was supposed to - and even better, they moved the entire technology of the
old airport in a single night
([https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flughafen_M%C3%BCnchen#Inbetri...](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flughafen_M%C3%BCnchen#Inbetriebnahme)).
------
venomsnake
I wonder what kind of austerity will be imposed on the poor Berliners for
wasting so much money /s
~~~
Xylakant
It's a bit more complicated since the airport is a joint venture between
Berlin, Brandenburg and the Federal Government which all hold roughly a third
of the shares. And while it's an embarrassing waste of money the german
constitution stipulates in Art. 109 Abs. 3 Satz 1 GG that starting 2016 the
federal government cannot exceed 0.35% of the GDP in new debts and and
starting 2020 the state governments are not allowed to take on new debts at
all. So we'll have the austerity you're asking for soon enough.
~~~
venomsnake
Well ... enjoy the show :( Too bad that this stupidity persists so much.
------
frik
I saw a ZDF TV docu about Berlin Airport last year. Very low-ceilinged halls
and rooms means the cannot integrate gas purge and fire safety pipes and
equipment. It seems so serious that an international experts in the docu
suggested to rebuild parts of the airport buildings. And it seems weird that
the airport will be already too small for the passenger traffic in 2017. Given
that it should replace the former largest airport in the world Berlin
Tempelhof and two other airports near Berlin. Several politicans have already
been replaced because of scandals and multi-year delays. Shop space was
already leased in ~2011 and employees already waited to begin their new work.
It seems really a lot has gone wrong with BER. It would probably be cheaper to
blow up the already too small buildings and build completely new ones or
reactivate Tempelhof.
------
jkldotio
Also the guy who designed the smoke extractor system wasn't actually an
engineer. Stern broke the story last year.[1]
My German is pretty basic, but "Geschasster BER-Planer war nur technischer
Zeichner ... Doch di Mauro ist kein Ingenieur, wie angenommen wurde" amounts
to "Ousted BER-Planner was only a technical draftsman ... but di Mauro is not
an engineer, as was thought".
[1] [German] [http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/stern-exklusiv-
geschasst...](http://www.stern.de/wirtschaft/news/stern-exklusiv-geschasster-
ber-planer-war-nur-technischer-zeichner-3184142.html)
------
netcan
Why do airports always need to be so ambitious? Usually the simple airports
are best anyway.
~~~
Kliment
The worst thing about BER is that it's designed to replace Tegel, which is
easily the most sensibly built major airport in Germany. Space-efficient,
cheap to operate, high-throughput, built very quickly with limited resources
to solve a specific problem.
~~~
cmarschner
Tegel has the charm of an old bus station, but efficient it is. My record was
Berlin Schönhauser Allee to Munich East in 3 hours and 20 minutes. It can only
get worse from there. The commute to BER alone will be at least 30-40 minutes
longer.
~~~
Kliment
Who gives a shit about "charm". Last year I had a connection that due to
delays on the incoming flight left me with 8 minutes from the time we got
shuttled into the terminal to the time my outgoing flight gate closed, and it
wasn't even in the same terminal. I ran over to the other terminal, went
through the insecurity controls, and made the flight, with several minutes of
time to spare. I know of no other airport where something like that would be
possible.
------
lazyant
More embarrassing is to build an airport with no demand and have it abandoned
several years afterwards without any flights.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellón–Costa_Azahar_Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellón–Costa_Azahar_Airport)
------
Kenji
I don't understand why the state funds airports. If people want airports,
there is a demand, and that demand is either big enough to fund an airport and
is satisfied, or it isn't because people don't want to spend that kind of
money. Seems to me like something the state shouldn't be involved in.
~~~
cmarschner
Airports are shared infrastructure, just like roads. As such they are serving
a common purpose, and don't have to make money by themselves (rather
indirectly through enabling business). That's exactly where the government
should be involved in. E.g. It makes more sense to have a single airport
rather than several competing ones, airports shouldn't go bancrupt and be
closed, and building them might require changing laws or evicting/relocating
1000s of people. These are all in the sphere of public responsibility.
~~~
Kenji
There, I turned your statement around to show you how flawed your reasoning
is:
The internet is a shared infrastructure, just like roads. As such it is
serving a common purpose, and doesn't have to make money by itself (rather
indirectly through enabling business). That's exactly where the government
should be involved in. E.g. It makes more sense to have a single provider
rather than several competing ones, providers shouldn't go bancrupt and be
closed, and establishing them might require changing laws or
evicting/relocating 1000s of people. These are all in the sphere of public
responsibility.
Absolutely there should be competition, it's the main driver behind efficiency
and quality!
~~~
justthistime_
I think you see for yourself where your example falls apart.
------
nomailing
Good to hear that the pirate party member Martin Delius is the head of the
parliamentary committee leading the investigation. I'm wondering if we would
be that informed if a member of another political party would be in charge,
because one of the main programmatic points of the pirate party is
transparency.
------
ChrisArchitect
some discussion about this a few months ago
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9658581](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9658581)
and this: [http://istderberschonfertig.de/](http://istderberschonfertig.de/)
------
Tomte
My favorite feature of BER is that they have to run ghost trains through the
subway tunnel underneath the airport.
Because if nothing moves inside, no air circulates and they get a mold
problem.
------
anishkothari
I didn't read the article (too long and it's late) but something caught my
eye.
If you keep scrolling down, you hit the next article and the URL changes. How
did they do that? Kudos
~~~
manarth
It's a HTML5/JS thing - 'pushState'. If you search for that, you'll find
plenty of resources explaining it in better detail than I can.
~~~
anishkothari
Great, thank you!
------
x0rg
This is what happens with many software projects following crazy customers and
waterfall approaches. Clearly we never speak about 6 billion, but hey, shit
happens...
~~~
philippnagel
Can you develop a big infrastructure project using agile methodologies?
~~~
x0rg
I don't know anything about building an airport, but I guess you could try
something. We tried to compare software to buildings for many years, maybe in
a case like this the learnings from failing software projects can be somehow
useful.
~~~
kzhahou
I'm not sure there's any evidence that "agile," in any of its many forms, had
a high success rate for very complex projects.
~~~
germanier
For what it's worth, after the original monolithic plan for the Berlin airport
needed to be changed there was no other grand plan but rather small teams each
independently and locally applying changes on-the-go. Let's say as we see it
didn't go too well.
------
a3n
Given our various economic and political systems, is it just not possible to
build something this large and complex, and have it all ready to go on the
same day (whether on time or late)?
I wonder if it would be better to build and contract these things in stages,
in blocks of usefulness.
------
unreal37
I love that there's 150,000 defects, 80,000 of them considered serious.
~~~
bsimpson
I don't know how you even count that high, unless it's through extrapolation:
"this nail was pounded incorrectly and there's 10 nails in a board and 1000
boards in this area, so 10,000 defects."
------
agumonkey
Ridiculing Spain stillborn airports.
<... and in the end Germany wins>
------
wahsd
What people have to understand, for context, is that this project is kind of a
pinnacle of failure and corruption that was born and fostered in the post-
unification "reconstruction" of the formerly East German territories.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Experts Share Top Blogging Tips for Beginners - ochyketa
http://www.breatheweb.com/blogging-tips/
======
smacktoward
Step 1: Build a time machine and go back to 2006
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I quit social media, TV, movies, series, newspapers and video games - aliveornothing
https://medium.com/@aliveornothing/i-took-a-step-away-from-modern-society-heres-what-happened-25d1c9b60c29
======
aliveornothing
if anyone has any questions ask away
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Who successfully transitioned from freelancing to product owner? - softwareqrafter
How did you go from freelancing to building a profitable product?
======
muzani
I did. It's probably the easiest transition.
You just do it. You have the skills. You hear all the latest ideas. You
sometimes end up in weeks long talks with a client who decides not to do a
project that you're excited about. In fact, you can do those things without
requiring funding.
It's a lot easier for freelancers to pivot too. In my case, I was just solving
my own problem in trying to eat healthy.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Curated list of blog posts complaining about Go not being good - scarhill
https://github.com/ksimka/go-is-not-good
======
yomism
When reading the list of problems from each article in that page it reminded
me of the famous phrase by Rob Malda (Slashdot's creator) when the iPod
launched:
"No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame"
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
AWS Cloudfront DNS Issue with British Telecom (see 128-Lee-Armstrong) - sajal83
https://pulse.turbobytes.com/results/55db339fecbe400bf800143f/
======
sajal83
Checkout result from "128-Lee-Armstrong" . BT DNS servers respond with NOERROR
but dont include an answer.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Endgame: how Australian preppers are bugging out and hunkering down - gpresot
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/29/end-game-how-australian-preppers-are-bugging-out-and-hunkering-down
======
radoslawc
> Earlier this year the hands of the Doomsday Clock moved to two minutes to
> midnight, as atomic scientists announced that the world is closer to
> annihilation than it has been in decades.
> As global anxiety takes hold, an increasing number of people are preparing
> for the worst-case scenario
Am I the only one not in the loop whith this?
And if we're really facing 'global nuclear annihilation' I don't think grownup
men running around the bush with plastic compass and god damn bow, roleplaying
Metro 2033 are solution to this.
~~~
lolc
Prepping is an individual solution to the threat of societal collapse. In the
grander scheme of things, it can be seen as an anti-solution. It gives some
people the idea that they've got an escape hatch. If you think you can run
away, you'll be less inclined to fight for a solution that avoids collapse.
Luckily, the article differentiates here and doesn't feature hardcore
fatalists only. And in my view, just thinking about what living outside modern
society encompasses will actually help people understand what they got. And
why they should fight for it.
Personally, I need insulin. So I'm committed anyway. I can't just go hide in a
bush for years on-end.
~~~
dsfyu404ed
>In the grander scheme of things, it can be seen as an anti-solution. It gives
some people the idea that they've got an escape hatch. If you think you can
run away, you'll be less inclined to fight for a solution that avoids
collapse.
It comes off like you're saying "well if shit really goes south I'm screwed so
these people should be too". A few thousand preppers who are too busy prepping
to "fight for a solution" isn't gonna make the difference between shit going
south or not.
Not to be an ass but the kind of people I picture saying something like that
are stuffy politicians who likes to use phrases like "antisocial behavior",
"community norms" and "if you're not part of the solution you're part of the
problem" and who is completely out of touch with what shapes the decisions of
everyday people.
If someone wants to prep for something that's highly unlikely to happen then I
see no problem with that. If anything their prepping stands to be useful in a
hurricane Katrina type situation. What's the problem with that?
~~~
s_kilk
> It comes off like you're saying "well if shit really goes south I'm screwed
> so these people should be too"
I think it's more a recognition that we are social creatures, and that the
minimum-viable unit of social reproduction is the village cluster, not the
lone-wolf individual.
The notion that these folk are going to "survive" in any meaningful sense is a
fantasy.
------
scotty79
> “We live in an era that, within 15 minutes’ notice, nuclear weapons could be
> crossing the continents bringing about great devastation. Yet we deny this,
> go about our business.
Also every person you pass on the street can end your life in minutes or less
with few dollars worth of steel. Yet we go about our business.
That possibility is just the cost of living near people. With nukes "near"
means "on the same planet".
~~~
gumby
And the irony is that though in theory your local _n_ is smaller than that of
the entire globe, in reality the number of people who _could_ launch an ICBM
is miniscule while, as you point you, you typically are in proximity to quite
a few on a given day (even in Australia).
------
bentona
I am completely unprepared for any degree of civilization collapse.
Articles like this, however, make me wonder if there is a strategy that will
leave me more prepared than the average person, but not involve devoting my
entire life & pool of resources to a bomb shelter in the outback. We insure
against other unlikely but catastrophic events through various types of
insurance - are there any demi-preppers out there?
~~~
czechdeveloper
I still believe that this is 90% of "preppers". They study it for a week, make
some arrangements an then just let it go. Revisit those arrangements once a
year or so and you are golden.
Generally you aim at basics.
* About 3 weeks worth of food (2000 kcal/person/day)
* Week of water (gallon/person/day), some basic water filtration (Sawyer squeeze)
* Some preps may be more in line with local climate (backup heating for cold environments)
* Evacuation bags are very common and are also known as BOBs (but most are garbage with lots of guns and no water). Still good to make some with copies of important documents, some water and spare clothes. Just get your old spare bag and unused clothes, no need to overthink it.
* Think about having more first aid material and skills
* Hygiene can be pain once your toilet does not flush anymore and you can't wash your hands, make some arrangements for that too (ie. bucket and plastic bags are way better than nothing)
* I'd also consider tools, such as headlamp per person, other depends on location and needs. Axe can be useful even in city in case of earthquake. Fixed blade knife is probably most versatile tool and Morakniv companion for 15 USD is usually sufficient. But I would suggest some practice here too, you don't want to get cut during temporary service disruption.
Good luck. As German governmental pamphlet states "Germany is ready, when
every German is ready". Replace with your own country :).
~~~
SlowRobotAhead
I don’t care about the overly sensitive downvotes because HN has been turning
more into Reddit anyhow but - you left out firearm.
In any “without rule of law” scenario you need a real means of protection.
While this may be a shocker to some people if you try and fight with a knife,
even if you have edged weapons training, there is a great chance you are going
to bleed as well.
I hope people who have had the state tell them they don’t need a firearm never
have to figure out that should have been their own choice to make.
~~~
3chelon
And this is the problem with preppers in general. I don't know if it's too
much Walking Dead or just a mindset they have to start with, but as someone
else pointed out they seem to be far more obsessed with guns than with clean
water, sanitation and heating.
Guns aren't very common in my country so I'm not worried about gun-toting
locals rampaging around. Sure, a few might raid a military base or a farmer's
shotgun cabinet, but statistically I think my family would be under _far_ more
threat from hypothermia, cholera or an infected scratch.
~~~
SlowRobotAhead
What is it you think happens to your police and government guns when there is
no rule of law?
I’ll give you a hint, there’s a reason the Taliban was walking around with
Soviet era AK-47s, and Isis was walking around with US-made M-16s.
~~~
pjc50
I'm going to post this elsewhere in the thread, but a comment on Metafilter
from someone who survived the siege of Sarajevo:
[https://www.metafilter.com/78669/What-if-things-just-keep-
ge...](https://www.metafilter.com/78669/What-if-things-just-keep-getting-
worse#2430771)
"Guns and weapons helped no one directly and were even of little to no use in
the defense of Sarajevo, since they were toys compared to the shells, bombs
and high-powered armaments of the attacking forces."
~~~
manfredo
There's a broad category of social turmoil that is life threatening but not
quite the magnitude of "professional military starts attacking citizens." Say
bands of political extremists of whatever flavor start attacking towns, or
other smaller-scale (in comparison to outright civil war) acts of violence
erupt. I don't dispute your anecdotes from the Balkans, but using it as
blanket proof to say that firearms won't ever be of benefit in times of civil
unrest is not effective.
~~~
3chelon
You are right, but that's not really an apocalypse but a localised civil war.
Admittedly, it would be good to be prepared for that, but I think leaving the
area altogether would be a more optimal solution than grabbing weapons.
~~~
manfredo
Sure, but leaving the area means abandoning a place of shelter, community, and
potentially a decent chunk of supplies. I agree, plenty of disasters wouldn't
warrant use of firearms, but having them and not needing them is considerably
better than needing them and not having them. Seems like one is strictly
better than the other. I suppose possession of unnecessary firarms could risk
having them stolen or otherwise ending up in the hands of people doing harm -
but seeing as 30-40% of US households possess firearms, this is a moot point.
------
dudul
A blog post I ran into a while ago and found very sensible:
[http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/prep/](http://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/prep/)
You don't have to be a nutcase to prepare for disasters.
------
georgeecollins
The irony of this is that what I have seen from modern societies in collapse*
is that people band together more with their neighbors or tribe and there is
less place for individuals. So maybe it is not going to be you running around
in the woods with a bow, but instead a big group from a nearby camp (or a
wandering tribe) dragging you out of the woods to pump water or prepare food.
Collapse may be disappointing for prepers.
* I am thinking Katrina, Iraq, Syria-- modern places where things have really fallen apart.
~~~
pgruenbacher
yea if you want to prepare for a doomsday, #1 priority is meet and know your
neighbor.
------
SagelyGuru
Well, there is some sense to this. Supposing TSHTF event happens and it is a
nuclear war, there is a good chance that Western Australia will be passed over
in everyone's haste to kill off more threatening enemy targets first.
------
ThinkingGuy
"He acknowledges there might be stigma attached to the word 'prepper' but
stresses it is just about being prepared – whether that is for the armageddon
or just for a flat tyre is up to the individual."
In the US, at least, I recall the term 'prepper' coming along relatively
recently, as a softer, more friendly-sounding replacement for the previous
term, "survivalist," which had acquired a connotation of "irrational, paranoid
gun hoarder type."
Is this a case of the "euphamism treadmill" in action?
~~~
manfredo
I guess one should reserve whatever connotation that comes with the word
"prepper" until after hearing about the event for which this person is
preparing. Preparing for many natural disasters (earthquake, tornado,
hurricane) is very sensible for people who live in said areas. Some man made
situations (infrastructure failures, fires, etc.) as well.
I don't know if it's a case of euphemism treadmill. The older term,
"survivalist" doesn't seem to have the same negative connotation (but does
have the different connotation of focusing more on survival in nature rather
than survivng disasters in society).
------
gumby
The nice thing about urban preppers is _that 's_ the place to go in a
doomsday. They have a ready supply of water, canned goods, and ammo.
I am sure some preppers will in fact be ready, guns loaded, and should not be
approached. These are also likely to be the ones avoiding urban areas anyway.
But the ones I know (fortunately none of whom read HN AFAIK) well enough to
know their prep...are unlikely to actually have their guns readily available.
------
esotericn
Everyone has a hobby. This seems like a pretty bloody useful one.
------
rdiddly
I hear people say they're ready to survive off the land in a remote location,
and I wonder why they don't just move there now & start doing it.
~~~
3chelon
What's more, how are they going to make it out of the city on clogged
highways? Especially when the ICBMs are already airborne?
I live in the country already. We have chickens, and a well. We won't get
murdered in the urban panic. We will probably last a few months... and then
die of disease or starvation like the rest.
~~~
briffle
I used to live in the country, and had to re-assess my assumptions when we had
a several day power outage due to a blizzard. We had propane at the old
farmhouse, but with no power to run the furnace/blower, I could only run the
range (and a small portable propane heater with some spare tanks). There was
no power for the well either. After that, every time the power would go out,
Wife or I would immediately fill up the bathtub with all the water that was in
the pressure tanks. We looked into solar, but the power spikes needed to start
a well pump (or furnace fan) can be pretty high, and need quite a bit of
amperage to get going.
~~~
3chelon
Yes, electricity is a massive problem. You need solar or a wind turbine, and a
lot of car batteries too.
------
edoo
A government report estimated 90% die off after 1 year if the lights go out
due to solar flare or EMP. You can get a basic 1 year supply of food that will
last 20 years in cool storage for under $1000 shipped. That is 3 months for a
family of 4, cheap insurance and peace of mind.
~~~
adrianN
You also need a cool place to store that food, which probably costs a lot more
over twenty years than the food.
~~~
TeMPOraL
And enough people skills and/or guns, ammo and training to protect that food.
After all, all that 90% of people aren't going to just lie down and die.
~~~
edoo
To each his own. Just because someone doesn't believe in guns or defending
their own property doesn't mean it isn't prudent to have a small emergency
stash of food.
~~~
t1540825608
But also, just because some people don't believe in guns, doesn't mean we
should avoid mentioning it. Defense is still an important part of preparation,
and guns are the best tools to accomplish that. If someone wants to reject
that form of defense on philosophical grounds, they're welcome to, but it's
still worth mentioning them as resources for people who may not have such
fixed philosophies.
------
gcb0
didn't expect theguardian to report on oddballs as if they're the norm for
something bigger. everyone have hobbies
------
sambull
The preppers hunker down the un preppered become migrant caravans / climate
based migration is already happening
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Where can one turn for design help/critiques? - austenallred
If you have a product design and you want some honest design critiques, is there a place to get those?
======
roh26it
Dribbble and Behance have proved to be great networks. Forrst is being revived
again so thats where. I've seen most people turn to their social networks to
get feedback and critique though.
I built something for private feedback which we just posted to HN in fact.
(Lucky to see this post!)
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5862176](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5862176)
~~~
digitalengineer
Dribbe and behance is for designers. The way I read this, it's a client
looking for feedback from work done by designers. One thing: if you are
looking for feedback make sure to also post the brief and the budget.
Otherwise you'll receive feedback with no context.
------
basdevries
Dribbble.com
~~~
austenallred
We hired a designer, just not sure if the design is quite _there_ yet, so I
don't know if we can post his work to dribbble/behance
~~~
basdevries
Dribbble isn't about showing off (well, not just). The people there can help
you, and the least thing you want to do is find yourself working too much
hours on a design.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
NVDIA fanboy murders AMD fan - rmason
http://www.tweaktown.com/news/56324/russian-nvidia-fanboy-murders-amd-fan/index.html
======
superkuh
Here's a mirror that works with javascript turned off:
[http://archive.is/nE8xx](http://archive.is/nE8xx)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Focus for Startup Ideas: White House Grand Challenge Request for Information - CoryOndrejka
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/grand-challenges-request-information
======
adrianscott
Good resource sink for startup talent.
------
fnid2
_Responses to this RFI should be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April
15, 2010_
Tax day. Hilarious!@ Not only do they want to take 50% of our hard earned
dollars, they want to take our knowledge for free!
Here's an idea, stop wasting our brainwaves with your ridiculous tax forms.
~~~
kgrin
Because no one ever shares knowledge for free? I'm glad pg and every other
successful person in the world didn't take that point of view.
And when was the last time anyone in the US paid 50% of income in taxes? The
highest marginal income tax rate is 35%; FICA (SS/Medicare) is on top of that,
but only income up to a certain amount is subject to FICA.
~~~
fnid2
My micro economics teacher said that nearly everyone pays about 50% of their
income in taxes, either through property taxes, sales taxes, vehicle taxes,
etc.
------
DaniFong
Heck, I can do one of those.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Arduino-Based Snail Mail Alert for Your Smartphone - vamsee
http://hacknmod.com/hack/arduino-based-snail-mail-alert-for-your-smartphone
======
iwwr
Great hack. You can also use this to make a pressure sensor for your doormat
to warn you of intruders at night.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
China collecting Apple iCloud data - tchalla
https://en.greatfire.org/blog/2014/oct/china-collecting-apple-icloud-data-attack-coincides-launch-new-iphone
======
dmix
China's surveillance is always so blatant and public, they don't bother trying
to hide it like America (which is analogous to political corruption in both
countries).
When the artist Ai Weiwei had his email account compromised by the state, they
simply logged into his email webmail UI and forwarded a copy of his emails to
a 3rd party email address. They didn't even bother intercepting his email at
the network or service provider level.
Edit: > "Apple increased the encryption aspects on the phone allegedly to
prevent snooping from the NSA. However, this increased encryption would also
prevent the Chinese authorities from snooping on Apple user data."
It's a shame articles keep confusing Apple's harddisk encryption with network
data encryption. :\
~~~
owenmarshall
> China's surveillance is always so blatant and public, they don't bother
> trying to hide it like America.
I'm a little shocked - they've surely got the ability to do a proper MITM.
CNNIC is a root CA for plenty of browsers. Saving it up for when they really
need it, maybe?
~~~
cnphil
They've got like tons of CAs.
In China, it's very common for websites to ask people to trust their self-
issued certificates. If you want to buy train tickets in China, you end up
with this page ([https://kyfw.12306.cn/otn](https://kyfw.12306.cn/otn)) which
asks you to trust its own cert.
~~~
owenmarshall
Ah, so there's an expectation amongst Chinese users that a self-signed cert is
sufficient? Well.
~~~
sillysaurus3
I mean, what would you do? If you want the train ticket, you have to accept
those terms. And you need the train ticket.
~~~
larrys
Billions of people. For sure.
This AM electrician comes over, guy in his early 30's (not an old timer) has a
new iphone doesn't know how to sync and get the old stuff to the new iphone.
Doesn't even know that Apple can help him with that. For computer things
relies on his brother in law "the computer guy". Thinks Dell makes great
"computers". "Don't they?" he says to me. Doesn't even really understand the
difference between Mac OS and Windows. [1]
Point being there are tons of people out there that you could get to do
practically anything. And they don't know the difference between one warning
dialog box and another. It's just all a mashup to them.
[1] Add: By that I mean isn't aware that there is even a difference more than
Coke vs. Pepsi is different.
~~~
mogomump
This AM, a software developer comes over to fix my computer he had just bought
a new dimmer for his living room lights. Doesn't even realize that you can't
use a conventional dimmer with compact fluorescent lights. "They are the same,
right?"[1]
[1] Add: By that, I mean he isn't aware of the things he isn't aware of.
Ease up on the geek rhetoric until you walk in his shoes.
~~~
hueving
Way to miss the point. There is no time where we are expected to understand
the subtle differences of dimmers. Users of computers are quite frequently
expected to know which operating system they have when following instructions
just for operating a computer. They will also encounter certificate errors in
day-to-day operations.
~~~
LLWM
They shouldn't be expected to know that though. The problem is that software
developers haven't managed to figure that out and just make things work for
their customers the way electricians have. Can you imagine if you went to the
store to pick up a replacement light bulb and you had to look up whether your
house used AC or DC? It's such a basic difference, everyone should know,
right?
------
ryan-c
I've done some analysis on 360 secure browser's SSL handling in the past. I
don't have my notes handy, but it can easily be taken advantage of by anyone,
not just the Chinese government. I'm somewhat confused by this, as it would
not be difficult to just bundle MitM CAs with this browser.
It's also not as popular as frequently reported. It is widely installed
because many orgs are required to have the security software that bundles it,
but when I was researching it the consensus I got from several Chinese people
was that few people actually used it - "only old people who don't know
computers use it".
~~~
ximeng
Interesting, thanks. How can you measure the popularity? "Several" doesn't
make much of a dent in the Chinese population.
~~~
ryan-c
Yes, that is true, it's a limited sample size, but it agrees with what I've
seen from various sites that measure browser popularity. Having better numbers
would be good.
------
dewiz
"They should also enable two-step verification for their iCloud accounts. This
will protect iCloud accounts from attackers even if the account password is
compromised."
I wonder if 2FA is really that safe in a country like that, they have all the
means to intercept the second channel, it just requires knowledge about the
account owner or some not to complex synchronization to detect auth codes sent
via text messages.
~~~
dwild
That's why I don't like 2FA with SMS. How can you trust a password that's send
in clear through multiple carrier.
A good 2FA doesn't require anything else than the local time to generate the
current password.
~~~
smtddr
_> >That's why I don't like 2FA with SMS. How can you trust a password that's
send in clear through multiple carrier._
Hmm, maybe websites should allow people to select an "encryption" format for
the SMS. Something not too complicated, like a ROT13'ish type of thing:
_" We'll txt you the code, but every 3 char should be ignored... or every 4th
number should be multipled by 3"_
~~~
DasIch
The general assumption in cryptography that the algorithm used for encryption
is known. Even if you relax that restriction and assume you know which
algorithms a user can choose but not which one she chose, you could still just
try all of them, if they are "not too complicated".
~~~
esrauch
If 3 login attempts invalidate the OTP then you only need a manageable number
of different "known modifications" to tell the user through the secure channel
to keep this safe. If they can arbitrary brute force you OTP anyway then the
OTP isn't really going to be all that useful at 10k possibilities.
That said, hardly any user would be willing to take on such complexity without
very strong reason.
------
hiraki9
Does this only occur when the user logs into iCloud using the web, or does it
happen on the device as well?
Does anyone know if iOS uses certificate pinning when connecting to iCloud
services, and if so if that is sufficient to prevent against this type of
attack?
~~~
preek
It's a classic MITM which includes switching of the SSL certificate. In
regular browsers the user would need either to confirm that they know what
they are doing (Firefox) or not get to the page at all (Chrome).
I'm not an iOS dev, but I do not think that the iOS SDK would allow for
invalid certificates. Then Apple could just go ahead and not use any
encryption at all.
The 'hack' in the article works, because users ignore security warnings or
even use a browser that is clearly made to easily snoop on people.
~~~
daturkel
Minor correction: on Chrome you can still get to the page if the browser
doesn't trust the CA, the option is just hidden.
------
cnphil
iCloud is not the only victim here. Google's IPv6 access has been suffering
the same attack since September. (IPv4 access has been blocked entirely for 5
months)
It's not a shocking news, however. Apple has already moved [1] some of its
storage servers to Beijing. The attack could just be the authorities making
sure that Chinese users' iCloud data is actually stored in China.
[1] [http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/15/apple-taps-china-telecom-
as...](http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/15/apple-taps-china-telecom-as-icloud-
storage-provider-for-customers-in-china/)
~~~
higherpurpose
So China is double-dipping? I was hoping that post-Snowden, this kind of
request from some countries that companies need to store data locally, to make
sure the data isn't taken by the US government, would encourage companies to
encrypt the data end-to-end (client-side), before they get it into their
clouds. Then nobody could complain about the data not being safe from the US
government. It should be safe since even the company shouldn't have access to
it.
I realize this isn't the _real_ reason why China told Apple to build a
datacenter there, but that's the one they used publicly, and as long as the
company itself can get access to that data, then the argument is a pretty
plausible one, even from China. Apple, Google and others could _weaken_ this
argument by adopting end-to-end encryption for their services.
Unfortunately, it seems the companies decided to keep the data as is, but
build the data centers in Russia, China and wherever else they might ask them
to do it.
~~~
pjc50
Apple implemented not-exactly-end-to-end encryption on phones and the _FBI_
publicly complained. Implementing effective encryption would most likely
result in threats of a ban by the Chinese government. See
[http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/11/blackberry-
in...](http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-07/11/blackberry-india)
Ultimately there's only so far you can go against the wishes of the Chinese
government when your factories are there, or against the US government when
your HQ is there.
~~~
aroch
Apple products are already banned for Gov usage.
[http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/06/us-china-apple-
idU...](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/06/us-china-apple-
idUSKBN0G60JQ20140806)
------
zaroth
Would HSTS have helped in this situation?
HSTS is mainly to prevent SSL-stripping. But I think part of HSTS could also
note that the certificate was trusted, and then having an HSTS header could
entirely prevent any later connection with the self-signed certificate,
without clearing the HSTS history.
You may not need to even store the extra bit, it's enough to say if you have
HSTS then by default the connection must not just be encrypted, but it must be
trusted.
Do current browsers entirely prevent a connection to untrusted certs when HSTS
is set? Or is it just the same error you get when connecting to any self-
signed cert?
~~~
acebarry
> Do current browsers entirely prevent a connection to untrusted certs when
> HSTS is set? Yes. HSTS would not do much to prevent active MiTM. HSTS just
> tells the browser that it should only connect to the site over HTTPS. It
> does not mention which certificates are trusted.
It seems like you are hinting towards certificate pinning
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security#Certi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security#Certificate_pinning)).
Pinning would prevent rouge CA's from signing bad certificates, but pinning is
hard to do on the web. It is mainly used with mobile applications from what I
have seen.
Edit: Here is a list of pinned sites in Chrome, if you are curious.
([https://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/net/http/tr...](https://src.chromium.org/viewvc/chrome/trunk/src/net/http/transport_security_state_static.json))
------
logotype
I've seen warnings about Google certs also, when not connected via VPN.
------
blinkingled
So Cert Pinning won't help in this case? Or may be not doing stuff like cert
pinning is one of many (may be even lawful) requisites of doing business in
China?
~~~
zymhan
You don't need certificate pinning to prevent this issue, you just need a
modern browser with up-to-date trusted certificates. Certificate pinning would
only help if the certificate the government is presenting matched the site's
URL.
~~~
blinkingled
> Certificate pinning would only help if the certificate the government is
> presenting matched the site's URL.
And what prevents the government from doing that? Certificate pinning will
address MITM no matter what - if the certificate the browser receives is not
the one it pinned, it will refuse to connect even if the cert was signed by
another trusted authority.
Although it's unclear from the article as to what really is happening - is it
that Apple trusts whatever Chinese CA is used to forge the certificate for
iCloud.com but others like Mozilla and Google don't? In any case I don't see
how pinning won't help here.
~~~
iancarroll
No, nobody trusts this certificate - it I'd identical to the one you generate
yourself with OpenSSL. Certificate pinning would be nice but its simply not
the issue or fix at hand here...
If China were to misuse the root I believe their academics dept has, it would
be instantly banned. There was a bugzilla bug about removing it @ Mozilla and
a LOT of people supported it, but it won't be removed unless there is abuse.
------
smaili
Slightly off topic but does anyone here have any personal VPN recommendations?
From personal experience is preferable.
~~~
tjohns
Assuming you just need it while traveling, running a VPN server at home is a
cheap and effective option. In particular, both DD-WRT and RouterOS have
OpenVPN support.
~~~
Viper007Bond
I run a native one off my Synology NAS. Works great. GUI and everything.
------
tn13
I am using Nokia 1100. No government can possibly extract any of my key
information like emails, photos as so on.
~~~
wy
Totally unrelated to the topic.
~~~
tn13
Thanks for the informative comment.
------
preek
TL;DR - China likes to spy on everyones data and can do so, because they own
their country. This incident is on iCloud, but is only in alignment with their
greater strategy and not Apples fault.
~~~
selmnoo
Of course, just as America likes to spy on everyone as well. But let's not
completely pardon Apple, they can always do _something more_ to strengthen
their systems to be more and more resilient to these attacks. It might well be
a cat and mouse game, but they should at least try and play rather than just
give up. They're sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars, they get hundreds
from many of us, the least they can do is look out for us a little more.
~~~
preek
I'm not saying security is not an important issue. Inherently it is.
The problem is that Apple is using the industry standard for encryption here
(SSL). China cracks that security by giving their folks a browser that allows
them to easily swap the certificate out and send all the data to them before
sending it to Apple. This is called a MITM (Man In The Middle Attack).
Personally, I'm a big fan of privacy - also I'm the CTO of a web-company, so
I'm concerned with security for webapps, too.
When users are ignore warnings of their browsers (what Firefox would do in
such an event) or even install a "trojan browser" by a mean government - well,
then there is little you can do as a company.
Just wanted to give a short TL;DR on the article to prevent an icloud
shitstorm on HN, because the article is really on how mean China is. Not
saying or implying at all that other governments are better.
Also not saying that Apple is perfect in terms of security. Btw, as developer
and sysadmin I'm using Debian stable - my Mac is for convenience and
productivity. Just saying that to disqualify myself as the regular fanboy(;
------
kathrinekennley
This attack will come as a surprise to Apple. In the past, the company has had
a bromance with the authorities and have blindly acquiesced when asked to
remove apps from the China app store.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Would you still start a Medium.com publication today? - anon1094
I see popular publications like HackerNoon.com and freeCodeCamp.org actively moving away from Medium.com into their own platforms.<p>If you wanted to start a publication would you still recommend Medium? If not, what's another option?
======
lmiller1990
I started on Medium way back (2-3 years ago) since it was easy and the UX was
relatively clean. The main benefit I continue to enjoy is a large audience;
lots of people find my articles who might not otherwise have. I think it's
best to maintain your own personal blog, but crosspost to medium (maybe a week
after, with a backlink to your original post on your own blog).
------
digital_voodoo
There is a large choice of publication platforms.
I'm not tech-savvy enough and mostly don't have enough free time to fiddle
with the installation of Ghost, Hugo and Co. But at least I know they exist.
For the time being, I've installed Wordpress on my own hosting and with my own
domain name. It's not ideal, but I considered Medium when setting up my
professional blog, and decided against it for the above-mentioned reasons.
------
mindcrime
I wouldn't have started a publication on Medium yesterday, still wouldn't
today, and won't tomorrow. Say "no" to closed/walled-garden ecosystems, for
the love of FSM.
Other option? Self-host using Apache Roller or something. It's not like there
aren't 12,000 F/OSS blog/CMS/wiki/etc. systems out there one could use for
this sort of thing.
------
soulchild37
No, always own your platform, Medium has shit UX (forced popup that ask user
to sign up, plus top sticky banner sometimes). And now Medium has started to
put paywall on articles, and the profit sometimes doesn't go to the author.
You can use Jekyll / Hugo to generate your blog staticly and host in on Github
Pages or your own server. If these are too much effort, simply sign up for a
wordpress blog , it works well too.
[https://www.alwaysownyourplatform.com](https://www.alwaysownyourplatform.com)
~~~
ElFitz
They also apparently (would love confirmation) are now blocking mobile users
from reading from their browser :/
At least they did it to me ^^'
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21133799](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21133799)
------
softwaredoug
Absolutely not.
I want to own my content as much as possible. Tech startups like Medium seem
to have a habit of silently changing TOS and eroding my rights.
Jekyll / Wordpress are not THAT hard to use, and there’s a lot of free options
these days.
If you care about your publication I fee it behooves you to learn a system
that you have under your control - not opt into a pseudo social media site
like medium. (Face it, they’re going to end up a “blogging as social media”
platform)
------
Jefro118
No, because you don't have full control. I've just started using Ghost and
it's pretty good. The self hosted version was extremely easy to set up on
DigitalOcean, or you can go with the hosted version and get a few advantages
from that.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Paddy Power offering markets on video games tournaments - corin_
http://www.paddypower.com/bet/esports/electronic-sports-world-cup
======
corin_
For the record I do work for the company that Paddy Power hired for
consultancy, but I'm 99.9% sure no-one on HN would look to bet on it, didn't
submit for that reason.
In my opinion it's pretty interesting that such a huge gambling company (300
shops across Great Britain and massive online site) has taken an interest in
competitive gaming (esports) and is actually treating it as a real sport.
In case anyone's interested, that event is the Electronic Sports World Cup,
one of two major annual world cup styled events (the other is World Cyber
Games, by a different organisation) - and is offering over $200,000 in cash
prizes to gamers this year. <http://www.eswc.com/>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why we shut down Achoo - casca
http://blog.achoo.co/post/40100239754/closing-achoo-or-how-we-learned-that-its-all-about
======
alexro
Looking just at the blog design I'd say the team has no clue of what people
generally like.
------
laander
I'm curious as to what Achoo actually did? What service did they provide?
Their homepage simply links to the blog post which doesn't really state
anything about their product
~~~
itafroma
I found a brief blurb on TechCrunch[1]:
> Their say: Socially accepted bragging: crisp profiles for freelancers,
> consultants and hustlers. Freelancers & consultants have to spend too much
> time to make sure their online profile is up-to-date and professional
> looking – to the extent some can’t be bothered. Achoo makes it very easy to
> spread your achievements and lessons learned which make up a crisp-looking
> profile. In addition there are networking features added to make sure
> opportunities find you.
> Our take: Alas there are a lot of profile page startups but worth kicking
> the tyres on this one.
Sounds like About.me for LinkedIn.
[1]: [http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/19/20-startups-demo-and-
launch...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/19/20-startups-demo-and-launch-at-
london-web-summit/)
------
JacobAldridge
Sounds familiar - we shelved our business (Every Daydream Holiday) this week
for similar reasons, having found we couldn't put in the necessary time to
deliver a great product AND build a business. Being in separate cities didn't
help either. Or, as Achoo put it so nicely, _"And though we put in lots of
hours, too many of them were evening hours away from each other."_
Congrats on making the decision.
------
jonathanjaeger
13542 unique visitors and 1000+ signups -- I'm curious as to why the servers
kept crashing under the load. I assume the uniques aren't concurrent users and
are per month (or over the whole 18 month period?). $8/month hosting?
~~~
alekseyk
I'm pretty sure he was being sarcastic.
~~~
jonathanjaeger
Oh, my bad. He wrote "we wish :)" after -- my sarcasm detector is off this
morning. I really thought the coffee hit the spot..
------
cmbaus
I've never heard of Achoo, but the LinkedIn user experience has gone down hill
recently. There must be room for competitors.
------
Major_Grooves
Wow reading that is like you've written a warning to me... except I don't have
a co-founder (yet). Thanks for sharing.
------
sdfjkl
Bless you! (SCNR)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
SpaceX’s Big Fucking Rocket – The Full Story - bergie
http://waitbutwhy.com/2016/09/spacexs-big-fking-rocket-the-full-story.html
======
boznz
Easy to understand summary from a BFF (Big F* Fanboy)
Seriously it must be priceless for Elon to have people like this on board with
his dream. Which fingers crossed becomes a reality.
------
caseymarquis
I can't imagine there would actually be much trade between the planets. I'd
think the two would develop separately. The monetary factor which allows it to
get started is that people simply want to go, but it's hard to imagine it
costing less to purchase something from Mars in the next century.
~~~
caio1982
If sending stuff around, even if it takes a long time, is cheap enough, they
could say trade seeds and minerals between each planet and have a constant
flow of small cheap cargos each way. Think about the old trading routes in Age
of Empires.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
User tracking without cookies, localstorage, etc. - ochronus
http://ochronus.com/tracking-without-cookies/
======
ronaldx
An effective implementation that works as it says: thanks for demonstrating
this.
~~~
ochronus
Thanks for the kind words
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Packet Capturing MySQL with Rust - gbuehler
http://www.agildata.com/packet-capturing-mysql-with-rust/
======
burntsushi
> Enter regex macros! While it is presently slower, and requires a Rust
> nightly, it has the very appealing property that if your regex is not a
> correct expression, your program won’t compile!
To be clear, it's not just slower, it's _much_ slower. See the benchmark
comparison here:
[https://gist.github.com/b0f6a17744dd1df60752b6e8ced47afd](https://gist.github.com/b0f6a17744dd1df60752b6e8ced47afd)
<\-- That's why the `regex!` macro isn't even in the docs any more.
It looks like `regex!` is the only thing preventing your project from
compiling on stable Rust, right? FWIW, the Clippy lint tool will check your
`Regex::new` calls at compile time for you (assuming it's a string literal,
which it is in your case).
Also, I'd recommend not using `*` as a version constraint in your
`Cargo.toml`. You do have a `Cargo.lock` so it's not as bad, but with better
version constraints, you'll be able to run `cargo update` and get semver
compatible updates.
~~~
placrosse
Both good suggestions for improvement, Andrew. I saw the performance notes,
and admit I was a little torn. Quite simply, the regex! macro was interesting
for the reason stated, and I left it in there for the purpose of showcasing
something (a little bit) unique in Rust.
Regarding the asterisk for versioning in Cargo.toml, I also agree. When
quickly putting things together, I usually start with it just to see if the
default version pulled works. The great utility of Cargo.lock, effectively
storing the working versions of all the crates, allows scraping the versions
out of there at any time, and putting them into the .toml.
I hope you noticed the extensive links in the post, as one of the goals was to
bring more people into the Rust ecosystem. The Spyglass utility does work
quite well. None of us claimed it has reached a state of absolute perfection,
so your comments are appreciated (and pull requests will be as well)!
Thank you.
~~~
burntsushi
No worries! And yes, regex! is a pretty cool thing to showcase---it's a pity
that it is so slow. :-( Very nice project though! :-)
------
jsnell
I feel kind of uncomfortable with that regular expression for scrubbing data.
It seems to be fail-open rather than fail-close and does clearly not cover the
full lexical structure (e.g. hex numbers or MySQL's disgusting hex-encoded
strings, including the numeric digits, are not caught by any of those cases,
and thus would leak in ful. Or there's the possibility of string escaping with
backslashes being turned off with a config setting, which would screw up the
escape handling in the regular expression).
Am I missing some subtlety that makes it safe?
~~~
placrosse
I have no doubt that there are some cases which won't match. This particular
utility does not need to be 100% on for every possible corner case, to produce
the desired result. That said, all improvements, whether pull request or
posted suggestions, are much appreciated.
My comments regarding the regex was the very high number of cases that _are_
correctly handled, with such a small amount of code.
Thank you for your comments. I appreciate it.
------
sciurus
VividCortex has an agent that works similarly, which I believe they've written
in Go using libpcap. It would be nice if they open-sourced it.
[https://www.vividcortex.com/resources/network-analyzer-
for-m...](https://www.vividcortex.com/resources/network-analyzer-for-mysql)
------
Arcsech
Interesting - I hadn't seen libpnet before. I was recently working on an
experiemental project doing deep packet inspection in Rust using libpcap,
which doesn't have very mature Rust bindings yet - the basics work, but it's a
bit rough around the edges. libpnet looks like it has a much nicer Rust
interface, and does some more things for you as compared to libpcap, which
gives and takes &[u8]s and nothing else.
However, libpnet doesn't have two very useful things, as far as I can see:
Reading/writing packet capture files, and the ability to use BPF filters. The
first in this case might be useful mainly for testing, but the latter seems
like it might simplify a fair amount of their code.
~~~
Roxxik
I was just thinking about writing a minimal traffic-analyzer and libpnet looks
way more suitable for this task than libpcap.
And adding the functionality for a pcap like fileformat doesn't seem that
difficult.
The filters are a major pain point, I don't know how libpcap handles this, but
at least it says it won't copy packets from kernel- to userspace that are not
matching. Thus avoiding alot of overhead, maybe it's possible to introduce
some rusty kind of filtering in libpnet, too.
Going to log into Github now and see if I can do something.
EDIT: fixed spelling
~~~
ffk
If you want to avoid libpnet or libpcap, you can use socket and recv directly.
Here's a quick example demonstrating socket & recv capturing all packets on
all interfaces.
[https://gist.github.com/fkautz/0104084fd79cee5608d8e3fc6e729...](https://gist.github.com/fkautz/0104084fd79cee5608d8e3fc6e729a0f)
------
Roxxik
> To run Spyglass, you need extra permissions above that of a normal user in
> order to capture network traffic at the data-link layer, below IP, and
> without having to alter or interfere with the regular data flow between the
> client app and database servers. We recommend running it using “sudo.”
Wouldn't it be better to use some kind of privilege separation? I think there
is a reason WireShark does this... And even saying Rust is a safe Language
won't save you from programming errors, it just makes them more diffcult.
~~~
placrosse
Thank you for the suggestion. Spyglass went from concept to a working product
which met the project goals, in a little over 5 weeks.
And, you're correct it won't save you from all programming errors. It does,
however, make it far more difficult to accidentally encounter whole classes of
them which constitute, on average, quite a high percentage of debug time in
other systems languages.
------
scurvy
Why are you not encrypting your MySQL connections with SSL? If you're in the
cloud, you absolutely should be encrypting. Even if you're in your own colos,
you should be encrypting (in the chance of inter-colo queries). Seriously, why
aren't you encrypting this traffic? Query intelligence isn't an valid excuse.
Turn on query logs instead. Percona has shown that the logging impact is very
minimal (even if the link is 7 years old now) [0].
[0] [https://www.percona.com/blog/2009/02/10/impact-of-logging-
on...](https://www.percona.com/blog/2009/02/10/impact-of-logging-on-
mysql%E2%80%99s-performance/)
------
gtirloni
I hope to one day understand how a post, with 4 points only, by a newly
created account, gets promoted to the front page.
~~~
dang
Please don't post comments like this. If you're worried about voting on a
story, send an email to [email protected] and we'll look into it. (In this
case, the voting looks largely legit. Rust is popular on HN these days, so
that may be why.)
Oh, and nothing is wrong about posts by new accounts making the front page. We
welcome new users!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Drone Pilot Fights for Right to Profit in the Unmanned Skies - 0cool
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/10/drones-at-a-crossroads/
======
JshWright
I've been exploring the idea of using a multirotor 'drone' to improve the
situational awareness of the command and operations officers on the scene of
events like house fires.
Listen to the radio traffic from a typical residential house fire, and you'll
find a non-trivial amount of the traffic is simply people trying to explain
what they're seeing from their vantage point (e.g. changing smoke/fire
conditions on the rear of the structure, imminent collapse of a portion of the
roof, etc).
A multirotor with a gimbeled camera orbiting a few dozen meters above the
scene could dramatically improve the chief officer's visibility of the event,
increasing safety, and allowing for better tactical decisions.
This article lays out some of the largest issues I've run into.
~~~
aray
This is exactly the sort of thing I hope the FAA regulates. Multirotors now
still have a very bad track record for long-term reliability, and even any-
formfactor remotely operated air systems have been advised not to fly around
densely populated areas for fear of harming someone.
And you want to fly these vehicles not only in densely populated (residential)
areas, but in and around disaster and emergency situations?
I can see it being used as a tool by emergency response, but if I was a first
responder and someone did that on my site I'd do what I could to get it down
and stopping endangering everyone present.
~~~
JshWright
I am a first responder. This would obviously require buy-in from the agency
involved (that's the whole point... to provide the guy wearing the white
helmet with a live view from a vantage point he can't see while sitting in his
SUV across the street).
------
headShrinker
I'm a photographer and programmer in NYC. I have been building multicopters
and flying them for the past two years. Now I'm starting to amass some more
expensive camera equipment, gimbals and transmitters, which leads me to the
question of were I can go with this professionally. Currently we hobbyists are
legally prohibited from charging for aerial video or even still photography.
The technology is getting to the point were when UAVs are setup and used
properly are very stable, and the footage is second to none. Here is the best
examples I have seen. [http://vimeo.com/66036452](http://vimeo.com/66036452)
The recent NYC drone crash brings the major issues right to the surface;
safety. Unfortunately, it's only going to get worse without regulation. I wish
that weren't the case. A license that isn't to hard to get should be required
within city limits.
All that said the next issue that comes up is privacy. It's too early to know
how bad this issue will become. On top of all the technical hurdles to flying,
there is no way around the fact that drones are noisy. Most of the time, I am
flying a multicopter in public people come over and talk to me about them.
After they get over the sheer amusement of watching it fly, one of the first
things they want to express is the potential for this thing to violate their
privacy. Ironically, the government is actively running an extensive spying
program on them, but their fears seem targeted on little Timmy down the street
flying out side their window. This is obviously irrational.
------
vermontdevil
I hope he prevails. There's room for commercialization of drones.
Remember the Internet was not allowed to engage in commerce which was
understandable as it was in research development back then. Took an Act of
Congress to move it along.
I can see this happening hopefully but within a reasonable regulatory
framework. How reasonable remains to be seen.
~~~
aray
I hope we commercializes drones, but I also hope he is cited for endangering
the public. Those videos are basically how-to's for what NOT to do with
responsibly operating a civilian drone.
------
modfodder
I wonder what happens if the IRS categorizes your filmmaking as a hobby as
they can with documentary filmmakers? Does that cancel out the FAA's
categorizing a filmmaker as a commercial interest (or vice versa)?
More a rhetorical question concerning stupid policies from two separate
government agencies.
ref:
[http://www.indiewire.com/article/ida_issues_amicus_brief_on_...](http://www.indiewire.com/article/ida_issues_amicus_brief_on_behalf_of_audited_documentary_filmmaker)
------
mattfff
Unfortunately the guy suing the FAA in this case has a pretty bad rep in the
hobby, he's the same guy that was flying a delta-wing (same Ritewing platform
discussed in the article) in a super busy helicopter corridor in NYC a couple
years ago, while claiming that he had "notified the authorities". However, the
only agency he failed to notify was in fact the only one with jurisdiction,
the FAA. He seems hell-bent on being allowed to do whatever he wants to do,
however reckless, which is going to cause long term harm to this industry and
hobby.
I have a commercial-grade (several $k) multirotor designed for large cameras
as well as two couple gopro-scale helis and fixed wing platforms, and I have
to admit that based on some hardware failures (not pilot error, I can admit
those) that I've experienced, I've gotten pretty leery of flying in some of
the situations that people seem to want to use these most: sporting events,
parades, concerts, weddings, etc. They simply aren't that reliable yet, and
beyond that pilot skill is highly variable. Just because you can scrape
together $1k to buy or build a multirotor doesn't mean you're fit to fly one
anywhere near another human.
I've also flown full-scale aircraft, and while I tend to be suspicious of
regulation, I do believe that some degree of oversight is necessary to do this
safely, and that has been demonstrated in commercial aviation. Some type of
demonstrated proficiency and equipment standards would go a long way towards
making sure that this can be done safely. If we don't do something like that,
I'm afraid that a few bad incidents are going to make this something that
could become entirely illegal at any kind of small scale (i.e. nothing smaller
than a Predator fielded by a well-connected corporation), which would be a
terrible loss.
Privacy is a whole different issue, and something that I think has been blown
out of proportion in comparison to the safety aspects, which are my main
concern...
------
0cool
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UEJd8_7Nyw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UEJd8_7Nyw)
~~~
Mithaldu
Wow, if that's the guy talked about the in the article then i'm not surprised
they're being legislated against. They're doing some really dangerous stuff
there; like flying over a bridge with dense traffic on it, then swooping down
between the lanes; or doing a high-speed approach on a traffic intersection
with people on it, then accelerating towards a glass front building and
pulling up with little time to spare.
------
acomjean
I think there needs to be some regulations in place. As a photographer I love
the idea of getting a drone and taking arial shots. The gps enabled, easy to
fly, set to hover in place is very cool. but...
They can be dangerous and can fall out of the sky with disastrous and fatal
results.
[http://gothamist.com/2013/09/06/teen_killed_by_remote_contro...](http://gothamist.com/2013/09/06/teen_killed_by_remote_control_chopp.php)
~~~
ugexe
This is a stunt RC helicopter doing stunts, has carbon fiber blades, was being
flown wrecklessly, etc.
~~~
njharman
Which are all the types of things regulations regulate.
60years ago fatal crashes happened in cars without crumple zones, poor
firewalls, and no over shoulder seatbelts, etc. Regulation has mandated
changes in those areas.
~~~
ugexe
It was clarification for those who might think that accident was caused by
UAVs (as most of us think of them anyway), not a cry for no regulation.
------
malandrew
Out of curiosity, how many drone accidents are there per year that don't
involve the drone pilot?
I have never heard of a single accident, yet everyone wants to regulate them
heavily, even in situations where only the participants in their usage are at
risk, like the boat video linked in that article.
They really only need to worry about defining privacy limitations. It should
be okay to film in public spaces or private spaces where you are authorized to
film.
------
angersock
For anyone curious about an example of this being done, check out this behind-
the-scenes footage:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_711646...](http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_711646&feature=iv&index=1&list=PL84DB158CAABE4E07&src_vid=rNm6qGwx5kI&v=3bCSxwZf4-k)
They use a drone in lieu of the crazy camera crane and gantry thingies, and
get some pretty awesome shots.
I suspect that drones are going to really transform the way we make low- to
mid- budget shoots.
I'm loathe to allow the FAA more authority over the little guys--this sort of
anti-drone stuff really will only impact hobbyists and makers. The rest of the
folks, the ones who can actually profit off of mass surveillance and whatnot,
the .gov's and BigCos, they are going to do it anyway.
~~~
modfodder
There's quite a few small companies and individuals out there making money
flying drones for productions. I worked on a large production for an American
car co. that used drones for product flyovers late last year (this was on a
multi-million dollar shoot that could have easily afforded a crane or
chopper). It's so comparatively cheap and easy. They will transform not only
the low to mid range, they'll be used extensively on high end as well. The
logistics favor a drone over hiring a helicopter or a huge crane on most
occasions (although they won't work for everything).
------
tzs
One of the uses they mention for commercial drones is monitoring things on
large farms.
If the drone takes off from the farm, lands on the farm, and in between stays
within the boundary of the farm and stays low enough to not intrude on the
airspace where manned planes can legally fly, is it still subject to FAA
regulation?
~~~
ckvamme
If it stays below 500ft, and is controlled by someone with line of sight (who
is also the owner of the property, or has consent from the owner) then it is
allowed under FAA reg.
~~~
mattfff
Nope, wrong, not if it's being used in commercial application. The FAA regs
that exempt model aviation specifically restrict it to non-commercial
activities. When you are in open air and are any distance from the ground, you
are in FAA airspace.
------
negativity
I would rather be on a flight, where I know that the pilots dies with me,
should they fail in their appointed task of controlling the aircraft strapped
to their bodies.
Similarly, if an aircraft suddenly falls from the sky and lands on my head, my
death would be a slightly happier affair for my family, so long as they know
the person charged with it's stewardship was also killed (or at least injured)
by the accident.
Even though a robot, or hybrid system of remote and autonomous flight control
might prove to be statistically more reliable, I find it preferable when the
burden of having lives hang in the balance is shared equally among all
participants, even when the human in control might be feeling drunk and
slightly suicidal on some grey Monday morning, perhaps after a recently
emerging from a messy, dehumanizing divorce.
Am I alone in feeling oddly reassured by this grim social contract?
~~~
JshWright
I don't know if you're alone, but you're certainly 180 degrees opposite of how
I feel...
That's not really the point of the article though. The article is (mostly)
talking about small (a few kg) battery operated machines that even in the
hands of a seriously irresponsible operator are unlikely to cause any mass
carnage.
~~~
negativity
Here's my line of thinking: Right now, we're essentially conditioned to the
premise that when something is sailing through the air, the general gut
instinct for what that UFO might be is usually limited and pretty reliable.
There's a certain predictability to mere birds, baseballs, kites, balloons, et
c...
When it isn't one of those ordinary things, that certain predictability pretty
much goes out the window. I don't find the idea of adding remote control
aircraft to my list of normative conditioned responses to flying things
particularly appealing.
In my gut, I have an instinct to smash mysterious flying things that I
perceive as threatening, regardless of how rational that perception is. When a
bug flies too close to me (and especially my ears), my reptilian brain takes
over, and demands swift, brutal action. It's that same sort of fear that
Hitchcock tapped into with _The Birds_.
I grew up around farm fields with crop dusters, and those didn't bother me
growing up, because I could see the guy inside the bubble dome cockpit, and
wave to him, and he'd wave back sometimes, right before dive-bombing potato
beetles with insecticide.
But take away the pilot from that equation, and I don't feel the same. The
degree of investment from my conscience changes, and the air craft enters a
new realm of human perception. It's private property, sure, but it's set in
motion with uncertain intent.
When people make sport of these unmanned flying things (and they certainly
have: [http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/18/colorado-
town-p...](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/18/colorado-town-ponders-
drone-bounty)), I understand the sentiment of that stance. It's something
mysterious flying over your head, and at a personal level, that taps into some
specific emotions that aren't easy to part with.
~~~
alan_cx
You are right, take our fellow man out of the equation, and it all feels very
different, regardless off the reasons/excuses given.
This is also helps explain why drone attacks (missiles too) to kill
terrorists, and so on, are so hated and seen as cowardly. If such people are
killed like Bin Laden was, then that feels more acceptable than a drone
strike, because in that sort of scenario, there is a man on man thing. There
is a sort of honor to it.
I personally very much dislike US incursion in to foreign countries to kill
people. However, when OBL was killed, I did think, well at least men on the
ground got their hand dirty and took personal risk to do it. Much more honor
to that than some drone jockey sitting safely in a bunker thousands of miles
away risking nothing what so ever, like a kid playing some console game.
Something else. Many find it more irritating to be caught speeding by a speed
camera than a police man in a police car. Similar sort of thing.
Bottom line: electronics, robots and automated system are superior to us,
which is why they are used. Very simply, it is not fair. There is no sporting
chance for us second rate humans.
------
gaius
From the headline, I assumed this would be about drone strike pilots demanding
flight pay.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Stop losing your bash history: sudo chattr +a .bash_history - heyrhett
======
drv
Since I had to look it up, I might as well share:
chattr +a sets the "append only" attribute on a file
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
45% discount on Practical Data Science with R - jmount
http://www.win-vector.com/blog/2014/05/save-45-on-practical-data-science-with-r-expires-may-21-2013/
======
jmount
Just an explanation/apology, I did read the submission guidelines (
[http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
) before posting this. I didn't see a blanket anti-promotion policy. I
obviously have a big vested interest here, but I also think my book and a
discount on my book will be of some interest to many on hacker news (given how
important data analysis is to many startups).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
My Visual Resume - ajaimk
http://www.ajaimk.com/blog/2009/7/3/my-visual-resume.html
======
seanstickle
Ajai, I really like the idea of creating a resume based on the Toyota
Production System A3 report
(<http://www.coe.montana.edu/IE/faculty/sobek/A3/report.htm>). I'm not sure if
that's what you meant to do, but the idea certainly is striking.
Specific comments, clockwise from the top left:
\--------------------------------------------------
The chart of effort over time
\--------------------------------------------------
* The axes are unlabeled, which makes for an unclear chart. Although it seems that the horizontal axis is time, I don't know what the vertical axis is; the name of the chart implies that the vertical axis is "effort", but I'm not sure how to read that (eg, what are the units of effort that you are using here?)
* The third dimension of the chart clearly does not add any informational value, and in my opinion does not add any aesthetic value.
* The grid lines make the words inside the chart harder to read, and do not contribute to an easier understanding of the data.
* I think you were going for a stacked area chart, which would be a pretty good choice for this, but I would clean it up: drop the third dimension, remove the grid lines, clarify the axes and units.
* The scattering of achievements underneath the chart use colors in the stars that match colors in the chart above, but do not seem to have any real connection to the information in the chart. In addition, I think the achievements would be more powerful presented in a separate timeline chart.
\--------------------------------------------------
The chart of drivers
\--------------------------------------------------
* The meters are a little dark, and hard to read.
* The numbers on each meter go up to 100, which seems to imply a percentage. Ie, 40% driven by money, 70% driven by coffee. But, since the numbers don't total to 100%, my interpretation is wrong, or the chart is misleading. Either way, the meaning of the numbers you are using should be cleared up: what are the units, and what is the relation between the different meters?
* The chart also implies that deadlines are more effective at driving you than money is, which makes me think that if I give you a lot of deadlines, I don't have to pay you very much. Is this your intent?
* Overall, I think the use of meters here does not do well to communicate what I think you are trying to get across: that you are driven by interest in the material, by the importance of delivering a product, and only then by the money. I get that, but it takes awhile to unpack the meaning.
\--------------------------------------------------
The tag cloud
\--------------------------------------------------
* This is essentially just a bunch of words of various sizes. On a website, I can see the purpose: indicating the relative appearance of the words in twitter posts, or in tags used to describe a set of blog posts, etc. In this context, I think you're trying to communicate the relative strength of your interests on various topics. Not a bad idea. I'd make the difference between the sizes of the words a little stronger, make the big ones bigger, and the small ones smaller. Right now, they are all sort of the same size. The things you want to make more prominent should be really obvious.
\--------------------------------------------------
The chart of desired careers
\--------------------------------------------------
* I don't know what information the colors are supposed to communicate to me. Maybe you just wanted to use some color in the chart, but it seems like the colors want to be telling me something. But there is no key to the colors, so I end up confused as to the purpose of the colors.
* No units on the chart. Maybe this is, again, a relative measure of your desire. If so, that needs to be a little clearer. At any rate, should I be reading this as your desire for a career in coding is 1/9th your desire for a career in entrepreneurship?
* That's a lot of space taken up to tell me not a whole lot of information.
\--------------------------------------------------
The binder clipped note
\--------------------------------------------------
* Is this telling me that your resume is licensed under the creative commons, or something else? I am not at all clear what this block is trying to tell me.
\--------------------------------------------------
The yellow sticky note
\--------------------------------------------------
* No notes here. The information is clear.
\--------------------------------------------------
The chart of skills in various categories
\--------------------------------------------------
* The categories are never named, leaving the reader to infer the categories from the items in each pie chart. You should list the categories over each pie chart.
* The last pie chart doesn't make any sense to me. Pie charts are for showing relative values between multiple things. A pie chart with 100% of something doesn't tell me anything, unless there is a list of other things that are not in the pie chart. Like, 100% on people and networking skills, 0% on animal training skills, 0% on sewing and crocheting skills. Otherwise, what does that pie chart communicate?
\--------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
\--------------------------------------------------
Overall, I think the idea is very smart. A3 reports are a great way to
communicate a lot of complicated and important information in a confined
space, forcing the report writer to analyze and summarize for the benefit of
other people.
I'm far less concerned than other people as to the beauty of this resume; A3
reports are not known for their aesthetic merits, and I've seen a lot of ugly
but invaluable A3 reports.
This is a solid start, but it needs a lot of work to clean it up, emphasize
the important information, and remove the unnecessary graphical cruft. The
chart in the upper left (effort over time) is a good anchor for the rest of
the resume; cleaned up and simplified, it could be a powerful and clear way to
represent your work over the last few years.
~~~
ajaimk
Thanks a lot Sean. Wow. You sure did put a lot of time on this. It was indeed
the most helpful one of the lot and I agree with most of your observations if
not all. The next one should look better.
~~~
seanstickle
It was time well spent if I could help a fellow HackerNewsian.
------
brk
As a hiring manager, I can honestly say if that crossed my desk I would
probably pitch it. Way too busy and takes too much time to get the desired
info out of it, especially for someone who claims "UI Design".
I will also tell you from my own experience, that I'm a more than a tad
hesitant about college students and recent graduates who are heavy-handed with
the "CEO, co-founder, and entrepreneur" titles and interests on their resumes.
Not to be too harsh, but since when does a "society", which in most cases is
just a loose grouping of people with similar interests, have or need a "CEO".
Get some actual experience under your belt and list some bona-fide measurable
accomplishments on your resume (this is generic advice, not just targeted at
you). There are many people who are legends in their own mind, but if you list
bottom-line things you have actually done, that will come through on your
resume. There is no benefit, IMO, to over-hyping glorified titles.
Much of the data on here tells me very little. You appear to have more OSX
skills than linux skills, but relative to what? Linus Torvalds, or my
grandmother?
I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like over the same period of time you put as
much effort into "Firewall" as you did "classes". Were you a slacker in class,
or are you good at managing your time such that you could handle both.
The resume format may be considered stale and dated, but from a hiring
perspective I can tell you that it the best way to try and make impartial
comparisons of people in regards to work experience, education, and other
factors. This format is highly devoid of content that I could use to make a
decision about your applicability for a job, which is not a good idea for a
resume.
------
thisduck
While I understand the "creative" aspects of designing a resume like this, I
find that they end up giving me a headache. Firstly, because the overuse of
colour. And secondly, because I'm not sure where to get the information I want
to get.
In the end, I end up being more frustrated with resumes like this. I think
using certain bits (like the pie charts) in a regular resume would yield
better results in terms of usability.
------
andrewljohnson
I don't want to see a tag cloud on your blog, much less your resume.
Actually, I don't want to see a tag cloud on your resume in particular. On
your blog, it shows the jumble of stuff you write about. But your resume
should not look like a haphazard jumble - it should be customized and laser
focused to get a particular job.
~~~
falsestprophet
The tag cloud is understandable: one of his interests is "Cloud" after all.
------
hectorir
I thought it was a neat concept. If he were actually sending this to an
employer, it would need some refining to properly target the intended job
opening.
But dont worry Ajai, just wait a day or two and everyone else will start
copying you.
I think you should look into making a program that can generate this type of
resume, I'm sure Visual CV or another company would show some interest in
acquiring that kind of work.
------
tedunangst
I'd think I'd leave off the desired career chart. A little too honest for most
employers.
~~~
troels
I don't know. It tells that he has a sense of individualism and confidence.
Even if you can't keep him for a long time, an employer might still be able to
benefit from such a personality. Also, honesty is a pretty bold statement to
make.
~~~
jackchristopher
He should also do it to disqualify _others_. I'm sure some will like it and
some won't.
If he does it, hopefully his bold statement reflects the real him — it's not
just an experiment. It's a great strategy when executed well.
------
thingie
I don't understand it. There are some "factoids" floating around, and many
gauges and pie charts and diagrams. But nowhere it is explained what does they
mean. Pie chart with HTML part, what does it tell about your HTML skills? That
they are roughly one third of something, while C is one tenth? Of what? That
big diagram in upper left corner, it's in hours every month?
I really don't like when vague feelings and rough estimates are presented like
they are serious comparable measuers. I don't think this resume is an
appropriate way to present information that a resume is expected to present.
------
DannoHung
Cute, but hokey.
I think the Pie chart section is actually fairly informative, a rare feat for
pie charts.
------
die_sekte
No whitespace. Gimmicky fake post-its. Random design elements. Strange charts
and graphs. Clutter. My eyes are burning.
(And some of the charts, eg. the pie chart, make absolutely no sense.)
------
yan
I generally agree with the negative feedback here. The idea can potentially
work, but not as it is done right now. Also, Java is not an acronym. While
those pie-charts are effective at introducing keywords, they say nothing about
what you can actually do with these technologies. What does a small sliver for
"C" mean? Or even, what does a large sliver for RoR mean?
It's just very messy also. What would you think if someone sent in one of
these?
------
davetufts
This is an interesting idea that might work nicely as a supplement to a normal
resume and coverletter.
In terms of design quality, this execution seems a bit amateurish due to all
the colors and typography.
The gold standard for personal information graphics is Nicholas Felton who
publishes an annual report of his life at <http://feltron.com>
------
edw519
Creativity: 10
Content: 4
If you could find a way to answer the reader's questions immediately using
your presentation, you'd have a great resume.
As it stands, it's not easy to find out what I want to know. But one thing's
for sure: you will not be easily forgotten.
~~~
gojomo
I think he'd be best served to put this as a cover sheet atop a traditional
resume. Certain people would love this; anyone who prefers a traditional
presentation could just turn the page.
~~~
hack_edu
Don't forget to write a _real_ cover letter!
------
dejan
well, I got to say that I like your idea. It explores the other possibilities
of representing self and own achievements, as well personal attitudes and
interests. I am not sure if this is the right form, it is not mine to judge,
but you are on to something. The CV/resume needs a significant change and
should be rethought of. It needs to be highly personalized, but yet to have a
somewhat standardized form.
I see that your interests are in UI and you found out the perfect one that has
not been altered in almost a century. All kudos for initiating the focus on
this topic. Just remember that people really do not want to figure out your
resume. They just want to quickly compare (main purpose of CVs/resumes), and
if that quickly isn't there, you might only end up quickly in the trash
unfortunately.
However, I am also thinking of how to re-implement the CV/resume so that it
reflects the creative capabilities of people on www.aleveo.com. In this case,
I want it dynamic and involving ideas and public ratings. Currently I am
playing with timelines and weighted image scaling for ideas to reach a
functional form.
If you are interested drop in the idea of visual resume on aleveo.com?
Anyway I encourage you to explore it further, finding balance between written
and visual form.
Cheers!
------
mgenzel
Frankly, hiring managers and recruiters have little time to decipher the
resume. Standard formats improve the speed of cognitive processing. Even if
you're the candidate of their dreams, they'll curse you for making them spend
more time understanding that. And "remembering the candidate" is not
necessarily a good thing: I still remember the resume from 1999 whose
objective read: "Want to become the expert in Peoplesoft in 5 years", but not
for flattering reasons, of course.
------
joez
In writing a resume, you want to put your strongest points first. What I see
is too cluttered. I see how you spent your time all over the place but time
doesn't always equivocate with something amazing, a blockbuster on your
resume. An example could be the a business course you took on entrepreneurship
that was three hours a week but made the most significant impact on you in
college and a discussion point you want an interviewer to bring up.
------
avner
Immoderately cluttered and labyrinthine to mensurate.
------
michaelawill
I think this resume stands out perfectly for the type of job he's trying to
land. Sure this resume falls flat for a company looking for specific skills
but I think this is more geared towards a company and position where they
aren't sure what they want until they see it.
I'd definitely spend the time to figure the whole thing out if I got a resume
like this on my desk.
------
jpwagner
I love the concept, but...
I dislike the big chart on the top left. It's difficult to read and there's
the disorganized star array underneath that gives me a headache. (Not to
mention the content, are you applying to grad school?)
(The tag cloud is contrived right? (ie not from any data))
The "Skills" section is by far the most inspiring.
~~~
sosuke
The skills section is where my focus when immediately but I'm thrown off by
the groupings. How are InDesign and Dreamweaver in the same category? How is
HTML next too C and Ruby? Why even mention these skills if you look at the
right columns and see he has almost no interest in coding?
~~~
jpwagner
_Why even mention these skills if you look at the right columns and see he has
almost no interest in coding?_
Great point.
In my comment I was suggesting that the idea was inspiring to personally reuse
or suggest :)
------
yaj
It is the same concept posted in Deviantart. The image was posted in 2007
[http://dizzia.deviantart.com/art/Curriculum-Vitae-
PDF-690509...](http://dizzia.deviantart.com/art/Curriculum-Vitae-PDF-69050981)
The idea of a "visual resume" is really good especially if you are targeting a
data visualization job
------
amelim
While this isn't exactly related to your Visual Resume, it seems the majority
of your interests lay within the business/entrepreneurial realm, however you
are a Computer Science major. Having coding as the lowest of your desired
careers, yet majoring in CS is a bit confounding to say the least...
------
ajaimk
Thanks to everyone for the critique. It sure helps me in the direction I want
to go towards improving this. As for some of the comments, I do plan to have
this with a traditional resume so that those who are not interested can go to
what they are comfortable.
------
LargeWu
If Edward Tufte were dead, he'd be rolling in his grave. The only thing I
learned about the author here is his lack of taste.
~~~
edw519
1\. Why would Edward Tufte be rolling in his grave? Back up your hypotheses
with a little data please.
2\. Stepwise refinement is an acceptable development process, even here on hn.
What you perceive as "lack of taste", I see as one of the steps.
3\. OP is obviously experimenting, seeking feedback, and deploying it. Your
feedback adds little. After spending so much time with boring corporate
drones, I _love_ posts like this where someone actually has the balls to push
the envelope. Cut him a break.
4\. If you only learn one thing about _anything_ , I suggest you go back a try
to learn something else. Enquiring hackers want to know.
~~~
philwelch
On the Tufte note: for example, the pie charts are askew in some 3D angle,
distorting the proportions of the slices. This looks cool but is
uninformative.
------
there
this reminded me of nicholas felton's annual reports:
<http://feltron.com/index.php>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Facebook Reminds Publishers That It Is in Complete Control of Their Livelihood - exolymph
http://babylonbee.com/news/facebook-sends-warm-reminder-publishers-complete-control-livelihood/
======
Digory
For some context, Babylon Bee is a satire site, best described as the Onion
for Evangelicals.
The publisher of the Bee has tweeted a warning from Facebook, threatening to
throttle traffic to the site, because Snopes.com says obvious satire isn't
true.
[https://twitter.com/Adam4d/status/969405110324523008](https://twitter.com/Adam4d/status/969405110324523008)
------
bradhe
Thank god this is Satire.
But that said, I've worked on/at many (many, many, many) projects/companies
that are dependent on someone else's ecosystem to be viable. Sometimes it's
about traffic. Sometimes it's about behavior (e.g. they change an API without
giving you a heads up). There's money to be made in those ecosystems and often
times the owners of that ecosystem care a lot about their partner
network...until they don't.
Worst of all, they _really_ aren't beholden to keeping your lights on and you
should realize that when entering a (often implicit) relationship with them.
It's just the way it works.
~~~
imron
> Thank god this is Satire.
The best satire has a grain of truth to it.
See also:
[http://www.businessinsider.com/littlethings-online-
publisher...](http://www.businessinsider.com/littlethings-online-publisher-
shuts-down-and-blames-facebook-algorithm-2018-2)
------
mikestew
On the plus side, Babylon Bee has at least _one_ new reader because of this.
The CNN story was a little lame, but they grabbed me with "Calvinist Dog
Corrects Owner: ‘No One Is A Good Boy'".
On the downside, really, Facebook? You sending warnings to The Onion, too?
------
daodedickinson
I worry that next Amazon is going to start denying affiliate links to
political opponents and many blogs will be faced with a desperate existential
threat. The politics of Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter are so narrow
and similar and yet they by themselves can choke any video maker or writer to
death.
~~~
fooey
The social media bigs aren't attacking political opponents, they're attacking
hate groups.
If your political ideology is hate, then you should expect to be increasingly
ostracized and driven away into the shadows.
~~~
zombieprocesses
> The social media bigs aren't attacking political opponents, they're
> attacking hate groups.
Who defines what is a hate group? So if saudi arabia labels atheist groups as
hate groups, should social media ban atheists? If china labels democracy
groups as hate groups, should social media ban democracy groups?
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16506887](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16506887)
What about political groups who hate trump? Should they be banned from social
media? What about socialists who hate capitalism? When russia labeled lgbt
groups as hate groups, you agree with them banning lgbt groups from social
media?
> If your political ideology is hate, then you should expect to be
> increasingly ostracized and driven away into the shadows.
Wouldn't you want to shine the light on hate groups? Isn't that the last thing
you want to do? To push hate groups into the shadows where they can fester?
What happened to liberalism? It's something every college student learned
about when I went to school. Free speech and why it is fundamental to defend
"hate speech" or ideology/speech you find offensive or disgusting in order to
protect free speech. It's philosophy 101. Is logic and philosophy no longer
taught in schools anymore? This is basic stuff.
~~~
tensor_rank_0
> Wouldn't you want to shine the light on hate groups? Isn't that the last
> thing you want to do? To push hate groups into the shadows where they can
> fester?
thank you for saying this, as it seems to be often forgotten these days. you
want "bad" sites to be out in the open like trash collectors so law
enforcement can use them as honeypots.
------
erikig
"When done right, satire is virtually indistinguishable from truth" \- erikig
------
navjack27
Satire
~~~
Nuance
[https://youtu.be/ntICHMV-WMA](https://youtu.be/ntICHMV-WMA)
| {
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Freelancer.com acquires Warrior Forum - rajeemcariazo
http://press.freelancer.com.s3.amazonaws.com/20140415%20Freelancer.com%20acquires%20Warrior%20Forum,%20the%20world%E2%80%99s%20largest%20Internet%20marketing%20marketplace%20&%20community.pdf
======
DigitalSea
Seems like a rather weird acquisition, but good on Warrior Forum for selling.
Freelancer.com seems to be becoming a rather big company, they've been buying
a lot of companies and expanding of late it seems.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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A podcast C++0x with scott Meyer - smallhands
http://www.se-radio.net/podcast/2010-04/episode-159-c0x-scott-meyers
conversation with Scott Meyers about the upcoming C++0x standard. We talk a bit about the reasons for creating this new standard and then cover the most important new features, including support for concurrency, implicitly-typed variables, move semantics, variadic templates, lambda ...
======
icey
Shouldn't this be called C++1x now?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Ask HN: Why am I still writing server-side code? - adamcharnock
This may be a crazy question, but I'm getting an increasing feeling that every time I write a new web app, I am writing the same server-side code over and over again. On the other hand, the JavaScript-heavy client-side needs careful control to get the interactions just right.<p>So, why do I still have to write server-side code?<p>Isn't there some service out there which I can spit data at from the client, and then read data back? Perhaps set some kind of data integrity rules? Some basic built in user auth system and permission control would be good.<p>Does this not already exist? If not, why? How hard can it be?<p>If it doesn't exist, and is possible, lets build it!
======
aespinoza
Have you looked at Backend as a Service providers? What a BaaS platform
provides is a way to avoid writing a lot of the server-side code. Which might
be what you are looking for.
We are currently in beta testing right now. You might want to check it out:
* iKnode (<http://iknode.com>)
If you like an invite, just signup here: <http://iknode.com/register/>
If what iKnode offer doesn't match what you are looking for, don't dismiss the
idea of a Backend as a Service just yet. Try the following as well:
* Parse (<http://parse.com>)
* Kinvey (<http://kinvey.com>)
* Stackmob (<http://stackmob.com>)
Among others...
EDIT: Fixed the Kinvey Link.
~~~
adamcharnock
Ah, that seems to be pretty much what I am after. There seems to be a definite
slant towards mobile backends though, but that is the place to be I suppose.
I've signed up for iknode - it would be great to check it out!
~~~
kls
Technically if it relies on HTTP symantics like REST or JSON-RPC a JavaScript
client can consume it just as easily. They probably market to mobile more
heavily because that is a hot market but generally mobile and JavaScript
clients rely on the same back end, which is usually some form of REST, JSON-
RPC, document literal XML or SOAP, the last two being less common.
~~~
aespinoza
Yes I know. Parse and Kinvey are extremely focused on Mobile right now, even
thought their technology could easily be used in Web apps. They use REST and
JSON just like we do.
In the case of iKnode, we are focusing mostly on web sites. I have to be
honest. We don't particularly like the mobile environment so much, specially
because it feels like a step backwards for standards. We believe firmly in the
Web. So we do support mobile environments, but we are pushing for the web to
be successful. Even if mobile is hot right now.
------
Arelius
On the same note, why do we keep writing the same client-side code over and
over again, Isn't there some sort of system that can take arbitrary data from
the server, and display it for user input/modification? Perhaps some
layout/templating and simple data interaction rules.
Also, I'm not really being sarcastic or the like. But overall, data
presentation has always been pretty trivial IMO. For the bsaic set of data-
munging apps that so many tend to build, I can't imagine a 90% solution can't
exist as a simple set of basic data definitions and rules.
In fact, aren't we both just talking about something like Filemaker on
steroids?
~~~
AznHisoka
to take it even a step further, why do we keep writing the same web app over
and over again? that should be a machine that autogenerates web apps given a
template with the name of the app, url, and purpose.
------
ericktai
StackMob has that prebuilt backend that you're talking about. It has the REST
API and datastore/schema generation built already so that you can just start
connecting and saving right away. By the way I do work at StackMob, so in the
interest of full disclosure I ought to mention that! But I'm here as a fellow
frontend developer.
I had to make a site for my fiancee and I's wedding, and I realized I could
whip one up really quick and just stick it on StackMob - backend, hosting,
everything.
An example saving/fetching data to/from StackMob via the StackMob JS SDK
(built on Backbone.js):
var user = new StackMob.User({ username: 'ericktai', password: 'opensesame',
..}); user.create(); //this saves your user to the datastore on StackMob's
servers in the background via AJAX
var users = new StackMob.Users(); //notice plural users.fetch(); //this
fetches all users
var user = new StackMob.User({ username: 'ericktai'}); //notice singular
user.fetch(); //this fetches my user from StackMob
Sounds like you're writing a JS web app, so you can also try our JS SDK that
lets you connect to StackMob's backend - it's your datastore already built on
servers. Here's a tutorial I wrote up to give you an idea of what that
actually means programatically.
<http://www.stackmob.com/devcenter/docs/JS-SDK-Tutorial>
To make sure you don't run into any cross domain AJAX call issues, we host
your html app also. This relieves you of having to worry about whether
browsers support cross-origin headers or not.
Good luck to you developing! It's great that there are so many tools out there
nowadays like aespinoza mentioned! Find the tool that works best for you :)
~~~
kls
I don't want to diverge too far of topic but do you know if there is a way to
support Clojure on StackMob? You guys are definitely the closest to what I am
looking for, but I would really like to use a Lisp for my logic. Given that
custom logic is added via a user supplied jar, can the user supply the Clojure
jar in their environment and get "unsupported" Clojure support on StackMob?
~~~
_jrwest
If you are looking to implement your server-side logic in Clojure, our Custom
Code feature does support it as well as Java and Scala. Let us know if you
have any questions: support.stackmob.com
~~~
kls
Thanks for the info, I assumed that the Clojure jar could just be added but I
thought I would clarify, thanks I will check it out.
------
peterwwillis
Well. If you wanted to be really annoying about it you could make a web
service which just gets and sets keys and values according to an authorization
ruleset.
You'd still need _something_ to handle transactions which can not be allowed
to be performed by a user, such as credit card transactions, web service
account-linking authorizations, etc. You could have an app on your iPhone
written in JavaScript that just queries for transactions to process and does
all the heavy lifting, in effect being the "backend" on your phone. But again,
that would be really annoying.
We have frameworks and libraries for a reason: to make writing the monotonous
backend quicker and easier. When you utilize the right tools it shouldn't be
too much work. But yes, you could probably offset a lot of crap on the server
with simple key/value sets sent from the client. Whether or not that's a good
thing i'll leave up to the users to decide.
~~~
kls
_You'd still need something to handle transactions which can not be allowed to
be performed by a user, such as credit card transactions_
This was the issue I had with Parse when looking at it, while I think it is a
great service, we need more than just a data store, there has to be some way
to perform logic behind the REST service, because it is just not an operation
that you can trust the client to do. You may be able to get away with a mobile
device to card authorization but a JavaScript client should not be trusted to
orchestrate it. So for me, with these services that look like a data store
there is a core piece missing and that is the ability to perform business
computation and orchestration that the client should not be responsible for.
~~~
aespinoza
We have that in iKnode. You can create your own logic and access it through
the REST service. You can even upload your own assemblies as well.
You can see the screenshot here:
* Editor: <http://iknode.com/images/tour/appeditor.png>
* Assembly Upload: <http://iknode.com/images/tour/asmupload.png>
You can create your application that becomes a service endpoint and then just
call your logic.
You can call your application using a REST POST like this:
[https://api.iknode.com/Applications/execute/<application...](https://api.iknode.com/Applications/execute/<application_name>/<application_method/)
And in the body just put your parameters:
{ parameters: "{ myParam1: myValue1, myParam2: myValue2 }" }
~~~
kls
Do you support any .NET language or just C#? I am personally looking for
something that can support a lisp, there is a lisp for the .NET VM but I don't
know how active the community is for it.
~~~
aespinoza
Right now we only support C# in the Editor, but assemblies can be implemented
in any language as long as it is CLS Complaint.
We are planning to support IronPython and IronRuby in the future. In the case
of Lisp, we looked at Clojure, which can run on top of the CLR. But we have no
plans for it so far.
------
devs1010
If simple CRUD functionality in a web service is all you need, you are right
that you shouldn't be writing this and you don't need to if you choose the
right rapid application dev framework. I currently do Java dev and even for
the bad rap it gets as far as rapid dev, I have used Spring Roo, which is sort
of a Java-Spring knock off of Ruby on Rails and it can generate JSON web
services for you for your model layer. You can then implement custom
validators, etc but the boilerplate services, etc are all done for you. I
believe other languages have similar frameworks that can do this as well
------
mullr
Depending on your requirements, CouchDB may be useful to you. I'm frankly a
little bit leery about sticking my database straight on the Internet without
something in between to mediate access, but at least in principle CouchDB has
a user authentication mechanism that you can you for your application.
See also the somewhat passé <http://couchapp.org/> (how quickly we tire of
such things)
------
Piskvorrr
"How hard can it be?" is a double-edged red flag - both the spark at the base
of many wonderful inventions, and the most common last words.
Who would own that super-backend-service? Who would own the data submitted? Oh
and btw, single point of failure (see the recent debacle inflicted upon
jotform)?
------
canterburry
Have you asked yourself if you are putting business logic that belongs server
side in your front-end?
| {
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Networks, Crowds, and Markets (free book) - psawaya
http://www.cs.cornell.edu/home/kleinber/networks-book/networks-book.pdf
======
RobLach
This covers quite a bit very thoroughly. Good to have in your collection.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google Exec Quit His Job To Work In China – And He's Been Totally Blown Away - ableal
http://www.businessinsider.com/what-the-chinese-tech-industry-is-like-2014-1
======
krob
Very interesting, makes you wonder how much longer before this kind of world
starts to majorly influence american culture & laws. Much of what we do in the
united states is also replicated directly across the pond in the Europe. But
the reverse is true with china, they do everything on an incredibly different
scale, and much of what they do is difficult to replicate because people in
most of Europe and USA don't speak Chinese like they do English.
| {
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Btrfs Coming to Fedora 33 is in my opinion for the hackers in the world - Dcaptjack
In my opinion ext4 is more secure and it is boring but I have faith in it... btrfs opens A WHOLE SYSTEM IF COMPROMISED...easily hacked.<p>Fedora would have been better to go ZFS and root it...YES?<p>I was a convert to Fedora until 33 RAWHIDE for hackers......no faith in it now as REDHAT doesn't use btrfs as it is buggy and loses data.
======
Dcaptjack
Hackers use tigerVNC to hack Fedora....to get snapshots under a btrfs system.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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World's biggest meat company linked to 'brutal massacre' in Amazon - vanusa
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/mar/03/worlds-biggest-meat-company-linked-to-brutal-massacre-in-amazon
======
reificator
Can we please change the title to "World's biggest meat company linked to
'brutal massacre' in Amazon rainforest"?
Since Amazon the company is one of the most commonly discussed topics on this
site I think the extra word will help to avoid derailing the conversation.
~~~
samatman
...that's your problem with this headline?
As far as I can gather from reading the article, a fair headline would be
"World's biggest meat company probably bought laundered cattle from a farmer
who staunchly denies involvement in 'brutal massacre' in Amazon rainforest".
I'm opposed to turning the Amazon into a cattle farm, so if slandering people
puts more pressure on these companies to clean up their act, so be it. I
guess.
But the actual content of this article is garbage, so: saved y'all a click.
------
IXxXI
Zero mention of the palm oil industry & other contributing causes.
| {
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Microsoft and Yahoo Reach Agreement on Search - helloworld
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/technology/companies/30soft.html
======
oneplusone
Here is the article for those that don't want to hunt down a login:
Microsoft Corporation and Yahoo announced on Wednesday that they had agreed to
collaborate on Internet search and online advertising, a deal that should
create a more formidable to Google Inc.
In a statement, the companies said that Microsoft will now power Yahoo search
while Yahoo will become the relationship sales force for both companies’
premium search advertisers.
Under the deal, Microsoft will get a 10-year license for Yahoo’s “core search
technologies,” and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo search
technologies into its existing search platforms;
Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search, the companies said
in a statement.
------
jsz0
Probably a good deal for both companies. Microsoft wasn't going to organically
grow their search platform fast enough without a marketshare buy. Yahoo can
focus on the other services they own and maybe figure out how to make them
more a more cohesive offering. There was way too much redundancy between the
two companies for a straight buyout to ever make sense. I don't think Google
will have much to worry about either way. People are set in their ways. A
competitor that as "just as good" isn't enough. Google's biggest competitive
burden is simply not screwing up.
~~~
misterbwong
I agree-looks mutually beneficial. Yahoo's strength hasn't been search for a
long time and MS is trying to break into that market. Sounds like MS gets more
traffic to search and Yahoo gets more traffic to sites where they actually
have strength (e.g. yahoo finance, yahoo sports, etc).
If I've learned anything about MS over the years it's that they don't break
new ground very well but they do a helluva job coming in after the fact and
muscling their way up (eg Windows, Xbox, now search...)
------
vijayr
I guess this is a good deal. Bing is at least as good as Yahoo search, if not
better. If MS had bought yahoo last year, they may not have released bing at
all. Now they can merge the strengths of both bing and yahoo search, and
hopefully come up with a strong contender to G. Overall this is good for
users.
EDIT: it is also better than last year's failed deal because Yahoo can still
stay alive, instead of being swallowed by MS completely.
------
TrevorJ
Read: MS can't get traction, Yahoo devolved their homepage away from usability
years ago and now neither of them is strong enough to be a player by
themselves.
~~~
teej
Really? To me, it seems like Microsoft finally has a compelling search product
and they're trying to ramp up usage as much as possible. Nothing indicates
that Bing "can't get traction".
~~~
TrevorJ
I guess my point is that MS hasn't been able to make much of a dent in
Google's hold on search, working on it pretty hard for the last few years.
~~~
teej
Rome wasn't built in a day. The big difference this time around is that
-people like Bing-. You'll have to give Microsoft more than two months to put
a dent in Google, but I'm positive they will.
------
tarkin2
Their logic is two substandard search technologies and systems combined will
beat google?
If the core essence of both technologies were magically complementary, then
perhaps.
But trying to beat a company, google, known for its simplicity by combining
two known for their complexity seems a somewhat poor strategy.
~~~
raganwald
> Their logic is two substandard search technologies and systems combined will
> beat google?
IIRC, Fake Steve Jobs described it as taking the number two and number three
runners in a race and having them try to beat number one by running three-
legged.
It was one of those similes that had the tears of laughter coursing down my
cheeks as I nodded in complete agreement with the expected result.
~~~
vijayr
neither MS nor Yahoo can beat Google on their own. That _is sure_. so what is
wrong in them trying together? there is at least a chance, however _small_ it
is.
its more like merging the strengths of second and third contestants, helping
the resultant runner run faster than making a three legged runner.
~~~
raganwald
I agree that when #2 and #3 pool their efforts the _goal_ is to merge their
strengths. But all too often the _result_ is to merge their weaknesses as
infighting, politics, and the inevitable friction of trying to get two
disparate cultures working together smoothly takes over.
------
kitcar
and here is the press release, right from "the horse's mouth":
[http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/jul09/07-29rel...](http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2009/jul09/07-29release.mspx?rss_fdn=Press%20Releases)
------
calambrac
_Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, said in an interview that Ms.
Bartz had driven a hard bargain. “Look,” he said, "she got 88 percent of the
revenue and none of the cost.”_
I can't help but read this like Ballmer's trying not to bust out laughing
while he's saying it. Is it possible to say something like this at all
sincerely?
------
gojomo
A sad day for whatever remnants of Inktomi, AltaVista, FAST (the part bought
by Overture in 2003, not the part bought by Microsoft in 2008), and Overture
still exist inside Yahoo.
------
drhowarddrfine
Dinosaurs mating.
~~~
evgen
Perhaps, but one result of dinosaurs mating was this new thing called a
"mammal" that ended up working out pretty well...
------
datums
I'm asking myself what will search look like in 10 years ? I think the MSFT vs
GOOGLE battle is going to get ugly soon. So MSFT will license Yahoo Search
Technology (?????), I'm not sure what that means , sounds like an exchange of
$$$$.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bitcoinica now the second largest Bitcoin trading platform - apsec112
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=42680.0
======
tptacek
_You service is great, however, I am trying to withdrawal 246.00 USD and I am
getting an Error._
_Not Good._
How is it that this guy's Bitcoin thingy has hit the front page of HN 3 times
in the past 3 days?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How some animals use the Earth’s magnetic field to navigate - NicoJuicy
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/09/25/how-some-animals-use-the-earths-magnetic-field-to-navigate
======
everdev
If the magnetic field flipped 780k years ago [0] and animals do rely on it for
survival (like migrations), wouldn't we see mass extinctions around those
magnetic flips? Or maybe magnetic field navigation is a weak signal out of
many?
[0] [https://www.livescience.com/18426-earth-magnetic-poles-
flip....](https://www.livescience.com/18426-earth-magnetic-poles-flip.html)
~~~
TeMPOraL
If animals learn where to migrate from their parents/flock, then it would be
reasonable to assume they learn the relation between where they should be
going and what their magnetosense is telling them. The article implies that
even during transition, the magnetic field is pretty much constant within a
lifetime of any individual animal.
Now a tangential question I have is: how the hell do animals know where they
should migrate? Is this learned from observation, or do they have some innate
idea of where they should go?
~~~
notduncansmith
I recently learned that salmon find their way back to their birth stream
partly by smell: [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-
spawning-f...](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-spawning-
fish-navigate-back/)
------
partycoder
Cows face north-south when grazing.
~~~
jacquesm
That was one of the most interesting applications of Google maps that I know
of.
------
pwaivers
So this is pretty incredible. We know that animals can detect magnetic fields,
but we don't know how they sense it!
I hope one day humans can have the same sense.
~~~
AstralStorm
We actually kind of have a few putative mechanisms.
Certain proteins in eyes of some birds are magnetosensitive.
[https://www.sciencealert.com/birds-see-magnetic-fields-
crypt...](https://www.sciencealert.com/birds-see-magnetic-fields-cryptochrome-
cry4-photoreceptor-2018)
Pigeons apparently may have magnetosensitive balance sense for some reason.
[https://www.nature.com/news/pigeons-may-hear-magnetic-
fields...](https://www.nature.com/news/pigeons-may-hear-magnetic-
fields-1.10540)
------
tartuffe78
Answer: We don't know yet.
~~~
glandium
Do we really not know, though? "Birds can see Earth's magnetic fields because
of cryptochromes in their eyes"
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16823201](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16823201)
~~~
AstralStorm
It's a putative mechanism not a fully explored one.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Quantum Satellite Links Extend More Than 1k Kilometers - samizdis
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/aerospace/satellites/entangled-satellite
======
samizdis
Research paper cited in article:
Entanglement-based secure quantum cryptography over 1,120 kilometres - Nature
[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2401-y](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2401-y)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Spreadsheet of all TED talks - kirubakaran
http://spreadsheets.google.com/lv?key=pjGlYH-8AK8ffDa6o2bYlXg&toomany=true
======
robotrout
I was a little disturbed by this. Maybe this is common knowledge to everybody
else, but I wasn't aware that I was exposing my gmail id by viewing a google
spreadsheet.
If you go to "spreadsheet view", there's a drop down list of all the people
who are viewing the spreadsheet now. Those are their gmail id's, for all to
see.
Since I personally try to protect my gmail id, I thought this was worth
mentioning.
~~~
brown9-2
I think this might be innocent on Google's part since they probably intend for
the "sharing" feature to be used for colloboration, not necessarily for
publishing to random visitors.
------
fogus
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=805853>
------
brown9-2
_Viewing in simple list mode due to high traffic to this document._
I didn't realize Google Docs throttled you when sharing documents...?
edit: thanks for sharing this, found some new videos to watch today
------
metachris
it would be great to have a web-app where you could mark single talks as more
interesting than others (for yourself), and perhaps as already viewed...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
New phone includes web, email, translator, coffee maker, and harmonica - TechStuff
http://www.pomegranatephone.com
It's bold, it's funny, it's not real, but I want one anyway.
======
ianbishop
It should probably be noted that this is not a real phone but rather some sort
of abstract promotion for Nova Scotia, Canada.
~~~
zaatar
More info:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate_(phone)>
<http://www.pomegranatephone.com/novascotia.html>
------
adambard
Nova Scotia: Where you can purchase coffee makers, razors and harmonicas.
I guess you'd be proud of those things if you were next to New Brunswick too.
------
Ye-Ha
LOL - it's a cute commercial - probably meant to become viral.
~~~
cubicle67
It did, sort of, about a year ago
~~~
TechStuff
Yes, it's an old link. I didn't see it then. Mea culpa!
------
raheemm
I like the harmonica feature! LOL!
------
clistctrl
I was really excited for the coffee maker before I thought more about it. If
i'm in a place where there is clean drinking water, chances are there's
already a coffee maker there. None the less I would buy this phone if it was
in the market, and I would pay great sums of money for it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Quick-sort with Hungarian folk dance - savinos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywWBy6J5gz8
======
ColinWright
This and many similar videos have been discussed many times in the past.
Here's a search to help you find them:
[http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=title%3Asor...](http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/all&q=title%3Asort+dance)
They're mostly all old, so if you want to add anything to the already
extensive discussions, you'll need to do it here.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Linus Torvalds responds to what killed the Linux desktop - netsmashers
https://plus.google.com/115250422803614415116/posts/hMT5kW8LKJk
======
haberman
What users actually depend on Linux's iron-clad promise to never break binary
compatibility? It's curious to me that this issue is considered so sacred and
yet I rarely hear the rationale or actual user stories of people who want to
run 20-year-old userland on a new kernel.
In particular, note that the promise of kernel binary compatibility does _not_
guarantee that an old binary will run on a modern Linux distro unless the
binary is statically linked. Most user-space libraries bump their major
version number every so often, so it's unlikely that the required .so's for a
very old binary will be present on a new system.
~~~
DeepDuh
You raise a good point. Why are most open source programs dynamically linked
again?
Static linking is one of the nice things about the OSX ecosystem. If only
Apple wouldn't unnecessarily break their runtime environment every few
releases.
~~~
haberman
> Why are most open source programs dynamically linked again?
Probably because dynamically-linked binaries are smaller, use less memory (by
avoiding duplication), and can get fixes or security updates without
rebuilding or re-deploying. When you're a distro it hardly makes sense to ship
a copy of libc inside every single binary. Any fix/update to libc would
require re-downloading basically the whole system!
~~~
mibbitier
Bandwidth is cheap. Memory and disk space are cheap.
I think the days when it mattered are really coming to an end personally.
The amount of space (memory/disk/bandwidth) taken up by binary code is
minuscule compared with data/video/streaming/games/etc etc
~~~
option_greek
Not on every system. Not even on most systems. Embedded, mobile etc still
benefit from low distro size.
------
f4stjack
has linux desktop failed? Really? Correct me if I am wrong but we are talking
about a concept which has spawned thousands of distros used in millions of
computers still.
And main argument is rotten as heck: backward compatibility out of the box? On
Mac? Please! You have to install Rosetta for that, without it you have no
chance of running that escape velocity on your shiny macbook pro. Windows 7
make you feel like it can do backward compatibility jig, until you meet
ultrahyperfast running software. And no I am not talking about some console
application but the second incarnation of Saints Row.
I mean I would have understood if he simply said "I have started using Mac Os
insert-cat-name-here and liked it" nobody would have any problems. I really
can't understand the need to declare previously used software dead, bad or
other derogatory terms. You use Mac, I use linux and it's still alive and
kicking, considering I got security updates this morning.
~~~
flyinRyan
>has linux desktop failed? Really? Correct me if I am wrong but we are talking
about a concept which has spawned thousands of distros used in millions of
computers still.
Desktop linux has utterly failed, yes, clearly. OSX grew to over 10%. Linux
desktop continues to remain statistical line noise. That doesn't mean that
literally no one on the planet uses it, just that a very small number of
people use it.
------
richardk
I personally felt that the "What killed the Linux Desktop" article was
completely irrelevant.
It seems there's always going to be some people who complain that GNU/Linux
isn't 'good enough' or whatever, and as a community we should simply ignore
these people.
------
conradfr
I don't really get the problem.
The desktop never really needed Linux, and Linux never really needed the
desktop.
People seemed to like Ubuntu some years ago though.
~~~
learc83
>The desktop never really needed Linux
That depends on how far Microsoft and Apple go with the tabletization of
Windows and OS X in the next few years.
I've been a mac user for years, but after playing with mountain lion, I could
see the writing on the wall. It was time for a new laptop, so I went with a
thinkpad with Arch Linux.
I don't think that Microsoft will ever manage to completely force the app
store on everyone--solely because of enterprise customers--unless maybe they
force you to use it on home/basic and make it optional on business/enterprise.
However, I do think that's what they and Apple eventually want. I also think
that's probably what the average consumer wants.
We need Linux as a third (and 4th, 5th...) option for all of us edge cases
that don't fit the standard consumer mold.
~~~
klodolph
It's funny you switch to Arch Linux, because Arch Linux is exactly the worst
example of broken userland that Linus is talking about in the post. Arch Linux
values "bleeding edge" over all things including basic usability, and they
willfully break compatibility with all other distros even when there is no
conceivable benefit.
The best example of this is the Arch mishandling of Python 3. Remember when
they decided that "python" was now Python 3? If you are a Python dev, then
alarm bells should already be ringing in your head. This is a BAD decision
with no excuses.
Python is wonderful because it is very portable. I can write Python scripts on
my Mac and run them on Linux or even Windows without significant changes.
Python 2 and Python 3 are incompatible, and I usually target Python 2 for
anything I want to be portable, since Python 2 ships default on OS X and on
lots of Linux distros. This is reality.
My Python 2 scripts begin with a shebang, "#!/usr/bin/env python" which
launches the Python 2 executable, wherever it is installed, on OS X or Linux.
Unless you are running Arch Linux, in which case you need to go in and
manually change the script to point to "python2" instead of "python". Except
"python2" is essentially unique to Arch, it doesn't exist on Debian or Fedora
or OS X or whatever. So no portable script is EVER going to point to
"python2".
But there's no real benefit to making "python" into Python 3. Anyone targeting
Python 3 will write "python3", which works wherever Python 3 is installed,
including Arch Linux. This is the decision the upstream made, and it's a good
decision. Anyone targeting Python 2 writes "python", which works everywhere
except Arch, and on Arch you have to edit your scripts. Who wants to keep a
separate copy of your scripts for Arch? What if they're not your scripts? Do
you write a shell script that runs "sed" to fix them? What if you keep your
Python scripts in Git or SVN, and don't want to change them every damn time
you check out a fresh copy on Arch?
Worse yet, lots of Python devs want to install and test with specific versions
of Python -- say, the Python version that their servers run. Arch sabotages
this, because as soon as you put "python" in your $PATH, a ton of Arch
programs break if they target Python 3. And they wouldn't have broken if they
just said "python3" in the shebang to begin with.
The result is that Arch has to maintain a fork of EVERY Python script in their
repository. For what? No real reason. The only conceivable benefit of this
terrible change is that a user can type "python" in the terminal and get
Python 3 instead of Python 2. I've been doing this for years with an alias in
my .bashrc, and it doesn't break every Python package in the repository.
So in short, the Arch Linux developers promise a new world in which not only
is binary compatibility impossible, but source compatibility for SCRIPTING
LANGUAGES is impossible as well. They have taken a bad idea and stuck to it,
dismissing anyone who disagrees with them by suggesting that they use "sed" to
fix the user's "broken" scripts, in such a way that it would break
compatibility with every distribution besides Arch.
And I have further rants about Arch with respect to (1) their dismissal of bug
reports of serious security vulnerabilities in default configurations (2) the
dismal performance and general usability of their package manager (3) the
inability of their maintainers to create a correct package for something as
simple as a font (4) the terrible average quality of advice on their wiki,
which is often gives advice that simply doesn't work for well-documented and
easy-to-discover reasons.
Gawd, use anything else. Gentoo, even.
Okay, I want to rant more.
(1) Security vulnerabilities are dismissed with the kind of reasoning like
"users who run this package know what they are doing, and don't run the
application on untrusted networks." Considering any (non-virtual) network
secure is almost certainly a sign of incompetence in your sysop.
(3) Install "terminus-font", it won't work. You have to manually "xset fp" the
path to it.
(4) See #3, and then look up the Wiki advice for it. It just doesn't work if
you run e.g. GDM, which doesn't run ~/.xinit.
~~~
tmhedberg
I don't really understand the fuss about the Python thing.
`#!/usr/bin/python2` should work on pretty much any system, not just an Arch
Linux system. Whatever happened to "explicit is better than implicit"?
If the Python community eventually wants Python 3 to become the default, they
will all have to deal with this issue sooner or later; Arch is just opting for
"sooner", as that's in line with the way Arch approaches all changes. The real
problem is that there are two incompatible versions of Python, and most Python
developers give too little thought to forward compatibility to include an
extra '2' in their shebang lines in order to disambiguate their intentions.
Just because python == python2 on most systems today does not mean the status
quo will forever be the same, nor that it ought to be.
In any case, there is no problem making Python scripts work on Arch, even if
they use the ambiguous shebang. All of the official packages work out of the
box with no problem, of course, and anything unofficial (i.e. AUR packages)
just needs a single, trivial sed command added to the PKGBUILD. Arch is not
"maintaining a separate fork of each Python package". This is the opposite of
true; in fact Arch packages are, on the whole, far _closer_ to their upstream
counterparts than the same packages from other distros, where it is common for
huge divergences to be made from the upstream defaults. Hardly worth ranting
about.
You come across as if the Arch developers viciously attacked your family or
something. Maybe it's just a distro with different values than yours, man!
Relax, there are lots of other choices! It's not supposed to appeal to
everyone, but for those of us who align well with the Arch "philosophy", it's
fantastic.
~~~
klodolph
There is a serious problem when "pretty much any system" excludes both Debian
and Mac OS X, and I don't know which others. The "python2" symlink is
frighteningly recent in the Python world, and some of us like to support
systems other than the bleeding edge. It makes me kind of skeptical that you
read my post, because this was the main point of my complaint.
My point is not that it's hard to get Python scripts to run on Arch, my point
is that I shouldn't have to do any work at all.
You can see a summary: <http://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0394/> (note it's
not yet been accepted)
"Until the conventions described in this PEP are more widely adopted, having
python invoke python2 will remain the recommended option."
"This feature [python2 symlink] will first appear in the default installation
process in CPython 2.7.3."
Python 2.7.3 was released in August 9, 2012, slightly over one month ago. That
means that if you are running a Python 2 that is more than one month old, you
won't have the symlink unless you make it yourself, or your distribution
provides one for you.
------
babarock
I'm a little confused. Are Linus (and Alan, Ingo and even Ted Ts'o) arguing
that the GNOME team experiences breakages because they ignored the kernel team
practices and used internal interfaces instead of the public ones?
Also why do they refer to GNOME as a "research" project?
~~~
microtherion
No, they're arguing that the GNOME team defends breaking (GNOME) public APIs
by arguing that the kernel team does not hesitate to break _internal_ APIs,
instead of recognising that actual public Linux APIs are highly stable.
~~~
recoiledsnake
It's a bit more nuanced than that. Miguel(the founder of Gnome but was
uninvolved since 5 years) said that the culture of Linux was to break
things(see driver ABI) and then use the fact that the driver source is
available for most drivers to get around that and just recompile them with
changes. And that the userland adopted that practice(see autoconf) and led to
fragmentation of the software platform with library hell, leading to
commercial software staying away for the most part.
As you say, others responded with external vs. internal interfaces, but what
is an external and internal interface for things like Gnome or KDE? They have
only one API that's used by both their other libraries/applications and
application writers.
~~~
jlgreco
_"They have only one API that's used by both their other
libraries/applications and application writers."_
Which is a problem they without doubt did not inherit from the kernel team.
There is little doubt that the GNOME guys have been using kernel practices to
justify their actions. The point being made here is that they are wrong to do
so.
~~~
recoiledsnake
>Which is a problem they without doubt did not inherit from the kernel team.
Interesting point, Windows, OS X, iOS etc. get derided for having internal
private APIs that they try to prevent external devs from using, and not doing
the same thing is now a 'problem' for GNOME and KDE? Isn't the whole point of
Linux for developers, freedom to use it as you see fit?
~~~
CodeMage
_Isn't the whole point of Linux for developers, freedom to use it as you see
fit?_
I've yet to hear of a philosophy that allows you to both 1) use everything as
you see fit, even things marked as "internal" or "private" and 2) give you the
right to complain about your software getting broken because you relied on
things marked as "internal" or "private".
In other words, you can either restrict yourself to the published APIs and
demand compatibility or you can use the guts of the system and have no
expectations of stability when the guts change.
~~~
wamatt
Allowing the public to use API calls marked as private, with the understanding
it may change at short notice, actually seems like a good compromise.
~~~
recoiledsnake
How many things can you mark as private in an application GUI toolkit like
Gnome or KDE/Qt and make them available to your own applications?
Private/public API doesn't really make sense for GUI or sound libraries.
------
mcot2
I don't really consider the Linux desktop "dead". Besides Android, it just has
a marginal market share because you mostly need to be tech oriented to use it
or install it.
I think the risk for the future is that the idea that the traditional desktop
is dying out. In some respects the touch capable tablet UI's are much more
user friendly. On the other side, the lightweight web-only interfaces (Chrome
OS) are becoming increasingly more powerful/useful.
Windows and Mac have already moved to hybrid designs.
------
gokhan
Off topic. App.Net says it is "a real-time social feed without the ads". This
G+ page is quite on topic with some heavy participants, design looks good, and
clear from ads. Why would I want to pay App.Net?
~~~
mmahemoff
For one thing, G+ doesn't have a serious API yet, whereas App.Net already has
Android and iPhone apps by third-parties using its API.
But overall, I've found it interesting how little G+ comes up in discussions
about Twitter and App.Net. I happen to think it's an absolutely excellent
product and find it much more engaging than Twitter. Most people I see
complaining about it have made hardly any posts and haven't taken the time to
build up a network.
~~~
msbarnett
> But overall, I've found it interesting how little G+ comes up in discussions
> about Twitter and App.Net.
Probably because it's completely Apples-to-Oranges. Twitter/App.net is for
_short status updates_. I deeply value the enforced brevity. G+ posts tend
toward blog-style bloviating; the use cases really don't overlap.
~~~
mmahemoff
Fair point. I've noticed G+ doesn't work at all for live event updates, so
expecting them to build a Facebook-like "heartbeat" thing on the side at some
stage.
At the same time, I can say I've moved a lot of link sharing to G+, so for
that use case, it's a fairly direct substitute. The rich embedding is better
and I can say what I want without having to cram it. It's like that Pascal
quote about not having time to make it concise...G+ just lets you write a
couple of sentences, or more on whim, without having to then manicure it into
140 characters.
------
mmahemoff
OT - Now would be a really good time for Google Plus to permalink comments
(like Slashdot and others have done since ancient history).
------
vacipr
At times like this I wonder why am I even trying to read discussions on G+.
<http://i.imm.io/D7zA.png>
~~~
ronnier
I don't enjoy it either. The tampering of the scrollbar and having the text
stuffed into some sort of frame ruins the experience. Those two problems make
it difficult to read on G+ so I usually just avoid it.
------
antirez
Reading this discussion is hard for me without thinking, what would have
happened if the whole Linux ecosystem was BSD-licensed?
~~~
recoiledsnake
That's easy,some BigCo would've co-opted it, paid developers to go the last
mile and polish it to make it usable, and make it incompatible with everything
out there and sold it. Perhaps Sun or IBM or even Oracle. E.g See OS X and to
a lesser extent, Linspire/Lindows.
~~~
protomyth
Hasn't happened to PostgreSQL and I doubt it would have happened to Linux. The
leader and community are pretty strong with Linux and that is not about the
GPL. I would imagine some folks would fork it, but that always is a losing
game from a business point of view (paying for a fork vs. patching and getting
everyone to pay). Having BSD licensed kernel at that point in history during
the AT&T BSD lawsuit would have been seriously interesting.
~~~
jiggy2011
Maintaining a fork isn't a big issue if you have enough resources, considering
that if Linux was BSD licensed they would still have had their proprietary
fork mirror it "close enough" to pull in at least some of the big changes from
the main Linux tree. Android seems to work in this manor to a certain extent
(although they open source patches back when they have to because of GPL).
You would most likely have ended up with a bleeding edge open source version
and several more conservative closed ports.
Bear in mind that a lot of the reason Linux development is strong is because
many of it's developers are paid to work on it and then contribute back (again
because of GPL). If a company could gain a competitive advantage by paying the
same people to work on a closed fork..
~~~
protomyth
I think the problem with maintaining the fork is the speed of development of
the community, and let's face it, it is much easier to monetize hardware than
software in the open source world. The fear of being left behind and weird
vendor specific errors should not be discounted.
I agree though, someone would try. I just think Linux would have done just as
well with a BSD license being released at the time it was. The people and the
timing deserve more credit than the license.
------
sciurus
This is essentially a duplicate of
<https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4467653> from one day before.
~~~
mindstab
Except this is the actual thread that's still evolving while the other was
some cut up quote filled "news" post.
The conversation here may parallel the other but I think this link is more
valuable.
------
corkill
Here's a few places it falls short with reaching mainstream consumers, I
realize many people may not care about that, but I think it could be a viable
alternative to windows or OSX for many people if it were easier to get started
with and use.
1\. Not clear how easy it is to dual boot install with windows for non tech
users. e.g. difficult to get started.
2\. Make it faster, latest ubuntu is sluggish. The UI gets non tech users
excited, a few minutes of using it and they are going to bounce.
3\. Make installing programs easier, I know how to get them running, I still
don't know how to get them properly installed. Average Joe has no chance.
4\. Support all common user tasks out of the box, for example viewing videos
online.
To me it feels like Ubuntu is 90% of the way there, just a few things stop it
from being a good alternative (these things of course are probably not trivial
to fix, but I would say they are critical).
------
autophil
Epic thread. I haven't used Linux much since early 2000, but all the giants of
Linux I remember from my Linux hacking days are there. Interesting read!
------
stevewilhelm
I has been a while since I stopped using a Linux desktop. The reasoned I
stopped:
a. there were at least two of everything: GNOME, KDE, vi, emac, gedit,
Firefox, Opera, kasablanca, ftpcube ...
b. crap device support: graphics cards, printers, cameras, thumb drives ...
c. highly variable levels of application quality and support
------
grandalf
I think this flamewar is just a viral marketing strategy for Google+
~~~
pooriaazimi
I don't think so. It's so hideously designed [1] that the more people _don't_
use it (and have a feeling that it's great, as they've heard others like it),
the better for them. Now I'm trained to _not_ open G+ posts unless I'm
absolutely sure there's something I will enjoy/learn from. YMMV.
[1]: That stupid "Join G+" black bar, the absolutely unnecessary chrome around
the content that takes up more than 83% of screen real state on my 15" MBP, no
links to comments
------
andyl
IMHO, Gnome2 was great, but since then its all gone downhill. Still cursing
Ubuntu for Unity.
~~~
gitarr
FUD, Unity is great and you know it. People bashing Unity have not really
tried it yet.
~~~
danielweber
I've been using it for a few months and becoming more and more upset with it.
I have very high inertia and so I've stuck with it to give it a chance, but
the deal-breaker is probably going to be that sliding my mouse to a new window
ought to result in me _immediately_ being able to type in the new window.
~~~
Evbn
I can't get my Gnome2 with Compiz to do focus follows mouse either. How?
~~~
jeltz
I do not remember how but I am almost 100% sure I at one point ran
Gnome2+Compiz with focus follows mouse. Maybe you need to install the advanced
configuration manager for Compiz.
------
batgaijin
The Linux desktop will never succeed as long as nobody can profit from it. As
long as Microsoft prevents the distribution of Linux through tithes or threats
of patent litigation, why would anyone spend a penny making the desktop look
better?
edit: sources
[http://www.informationweek.com/windows/microsoft-
news/micros...](http://www.informationweek.com/windows/microsoft-
news/microsofts-new-cash-cows-linux-and-andro/231601809)
<http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20090619161307529>
<http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2331462,00.asp>
~~~
recoiledsnake
That's an extremely opinionated point and doesn't add to the discussion and
comes off being on a witch hunt. MS couldn't stop Samsung, HTC, Lenovo etc.
from shipping Android devices, nor all of them plus Acer, Dell, and hundred
other OEMs etc. from shipping Android tablets. What about HP and WebOS? Dell
still ships Ubuntu laptops. And almost all the big OEMs have a big Linux
division beside their Windows server division on their server pages.
<http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-servers>
[http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/byos/linuxservers...](http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/byos/linuxservers.html)
Where are the lawsuits against System76? If there really was demand, you think
a company wouldn't start up and offer Linux? In fact there have been OEMs
shipping Linux, but stopped or hid their offerings after the high rate of
returns from people buying and returning them. And the tech savvy people who
are the real customers can buy ANY PC out there and throw Linux on it(or just
get a Macbook Air). There's not much money in it for the OEMs except high
support costs, return rates and a whole toolchain to get Linux images(hard on
thin margins).
If there is real mass consumer demand, a company can ship Linux profitably, MS
won't care about them till they start making hundreds of millions a quarter,
at which point successfully fighting a lawsuit based on antitrust case
precedent on PCs or paying a low amount per PC won't really hurt the
manufacturer. So, stop painting MS as the bogeyman in this discussion,
Windows' and Office dominance(due to Open/LibreOffice not being up to par due
to various reasons including Office compatibility) is a well known reason.
~~~
batgaijin
1). Yes, companies ship Android devices, but if you read any of the articles
you would have seen that those companies pay $8-15 for a Windows Mobile
license for each phone.
2). You are right about Microsoft not trying to litigate for Linux servers,
but I'd take a guess that is because most companies already have a
heterogeneous environment, and if push came to shove I would assume that most
companies would consider a full switch to Linux if Microsoft forced their
hand.
3). HP and Facebook are the two main companies defending Linux atm, you are
right about that:
[http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/20/facebook_hp_and_open...](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/20/facebook_hp_and_openstack_join_open_invention_network/)
4). Dell does not currently distribute any consumer laptop with Linux as an
option, at least not when I tried the top 10 popular laptops on their site.
5). They don't profit from putting System76 out of business, and in fact would
probably cause much more financial harm in terms of what it would do their
image as picking on the little guy.
6). You are absolutely right about the low consumer demand. However, don't you
think it's weird that NOBODY is pushing it? Not even as an experiment? No
smartbook running Android? Why is the Asus Transformer the closest attack we
see?
~~~
recoiledsnake
> Dell does not currently distribute any consumer laptop with Linux as an
> option, >However, don't you think it's weird that NOBODY is pushing it? Not
> even as an experiment? No smartbook running Android?
Wrong. It's funny you're commenting on this so vehemently with so much anger
against MS in this and previous threads and you haven't even heard of Dell's
Sputnik?
[http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/259229/dells_u...](http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/259229/dells_ubuntu_laptop_program_enters_beta_blows_away_expectations.html)
They do sell in places where there's more demand, and the Windows tax is high
in relative cost of living terms.
[http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/06/ubuntu-dell-laptops-go-
on...](http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2012/06/ubuntu-dell-laptops-go-on-sale-in-
india)
They did try a while ago in the US and they didn't sell well and now they're
making a dev ultrabook.
[http://arstechnica.com/information-
technology/2012/07/dell-l...](http://arstechnica.com/information-
technology/2012/07/dell-launching-sputnik-the-ubuntu-developer-laptop-this-
year/)
[http://www.zdnet.com/dell-re-enters-high-end-linux-laptop-
ma...](http://www.zdnet.com/dell-re-enters-high-end-linux-laptop-market-with-
red-hat-enterprise-linux-7000001583/)
Microsoft is plenty evil, but there's no need to make up things.
Edit: How many would buy Dell's laptop? Most devs would prefer their own
choice, perhaps a Macbook Air or throw Linux on a Thinkpad. How does Dell get
a leg up on Lenovo(with Windows) here without making 20 laptops with Linux?
~~~
batgaijin
Can you buy a Sputnik laptop? No, it's not for sale. Until you can, it's just
another Linux laptop that gets press and mysteriously never gets released; see
every smartbook (aside from the recent Chromebooks, which corps. still have to
pay to suppress patent litigation) [http://www.techradar.com/us/news/phone-
and-communications/mo...](http://www.techradar.com/us/news/phone-and-
communications/mobile-phones/patent-deal-exposes-lg-chromebook-plans-1054281).
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Critical vulnerability Pork Explosion cripples security on some Android phones - aroch
http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/10/12/critical-vulnerability-pork-explosion-revealed-by-jcase-cripples-security-on-some-phones/
======
Piskvorrr
Yet another case of Binary Blobs Are Evil And Wrong.
Now, I wonder what would happen if someone were to issue the special fastboot
command on an unaffected device?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How Do I Create And Publish My First Ruby Gem? - mmayernick
http://rubylearning.com/blog/how-do-i-create-and-publish-my-first-ruby-gem/
======
nfm
I'd highly recommend using `bundle gem #{your_gem_name}` to generate a
template for a new gem. This will create sensible directory structures, stub
out a gemspec, create a .gitignore, and add some rake tasks for building and
pushing to rubygems.org.
------
catch23
I would recommend using newgem from DrNic. It's gem template generator that
comes with nice defaults.
<http://newgem.rubyforge.org/>
------
Joakal
You no longer need approval to create a gem project?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
An Explanation of Cricket (2009) - Bud
https://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/hosking/cricket/explanation.htm?
======
bmsleight_
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in. Each man that's in the
side that's in goes out, and when he's out he comes in and the next man goes
in until he's out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in and the
side thats been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out. Sometimes
you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when
he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two
men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men
who are in are out. When both sides have been in and all the men have been
out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in,
including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
~~~
CuttlefishXXX
Does anyone know of a good audio recording of this quote?
~~~
cam-
It used to be on tea towels that you could buy for a dollar when you were on
vacation in Foster-Tuncurry.
------
bvm
Test cricket (international matches played over five days) is a truly
wonderful experience that I urge everyone to try and watch* at least once.
When you try and explain that the most engaging of matches can end in a draw,
after all that time, you rarely succeed on winning over sceptics, but find a
friend that is willing to sit and watch for a few days and try it out.
*or listen to, it's equally at home on the radio, where you can keep up in a state of semi-aware engagement. Test cricket doesn't require complete concentration, just a willingness to know what is going on.
~~~
Someone
For those who don't know it: in cricket, a draw is different from a tie. A tie
means both teams are equally strong, a draw that no conclusion could be
reached because time ran out, either because the weaker team managed to
postpone defeat long enough or because of the weather (playing in bad light or
in rain makes the game too dangerous, so play can get stopped, even when one
team is on the brink of victory. Watching the weather forecast is very
important in test cricket)
Draws can be very interestng even if the teams involved have widely different
strengths.
Ties in test cricket are extremely rare. There were 2 in over 2000 tests since
1877.([https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tied_Test](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tied_Test))
~~~
notahacker
Only us Brits would invent a game decided largely by the weather.
Quite apart from rescuing a side in a desperate position by raining for two
whole days, even slight changes in atmospheric conditions significantly affect
the difficulty of batting for reasonably evenly matched professional sides.
------
king_magic
So... pretty much this:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo),
right? ;)
------
praneshp
> "The most infamous event in cricket was the 1932-33 English tour of
> Australia "
Many fans of the game would likely disagree; personally, a couple of match
fixing scandals and the underarm delivery vs New Zealand were worse.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQRERykq5M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkQRERykq5M)
~~~
danieltillett
I have always wondered why we have not had a repeat of the underarm delivery
[1], but just done by bowling overarm very, very slowly. As far as I know
there is no rule in how fast the ball has to be bowled and if you bowled very
slowly the ball would reach the batsman rolling along the ground.
1\. For those that don't know the history of the underarm delivery, in a match
between Australia and New Zealand the final ball was bowled underarm so the
batsman had no chance of hitting the ball over the fence for 6. This was the
only way NZ could win. For historical reasons bowling underarm had been
allowed, but it had not been used for more than 100 years.
Edit. There have been some changes to the rules so you can't let a ball bounce
more than twice now [2]. You should be able to bowl very slowly though.
2\.
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_ball](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_ball)
~~~
notahacker
A very slow ball with no spin is very easy to hit for six, especially if
you're delivering the ball with an unnatural movement so the batsman knows
your intention from your arm movement.
Fast bowlers bowling towards the end of limited overs cricket and facing
aggressive attacking shots actually do bowl occasional "slower balls" using
their normal delivery stride to try to catch out opponents who tend to mistime
shots when the ball arrives slightly later at ~70mph rather than the expected
~85mph. But you're not going to catch them out with a gentle 30mph lob down
the pitch, just like a decent tennis player will not have difficulty returning
an attempted drop shot serve
~~~
stevetrewick
>just like a decent tennis player will not have difficulty returning an
attempted drop shot serve.
County champ tennis player and LTA coach here. You might not see this much
from tour players (though Razzano had a crack at it in Paris this year [0])
but I can assure you a well executed 'drop shot' serve will befuddle even the
most experienced player. So much so that it is considered unsporting [1]. In
fact, 'under hand' serving is allowed in tennis but it is conventional -
though not a rule - to inform your opponent that you are doing so for this
very reason.
For a quick take on why, your expectation (long serve) will be violated. While
you're getting over that you'll need to be running up court (getting on for
12m depending on where you were standing to receive) starting from a stance
that was balanced to go left or right. By the time you get there, you're
likely going to be hitting the ball on the drop with an over extended racquet
which limits your shot selection quite drastically, and the whole back of the
court is now open, rendering you vulnerable to a lob or passing shot - the
very things that make drop shots such an effective weapon.
I know a few players who are constantly working on their drop serves, but it
is a super hard shot to play well, which is at least one of the reasons you
won't see it much at pro tournaments, another being that spectators will
literally boo you.
(edit: balance parens)
[0] [http://m.tennis.com/photos-video/2015/05/videos-razzano-
late...](http://m.tennis.com/photos-video/2015/05/videos-razzano-latest-
unleash-underhand-serve-roland-garros-twice/55013/#.Ve_vh9l4XCR) [1]
[http://m.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/07/gentlemans-
disagreement...](http://m.tennis.com/pro-game/2014/07/gentlemans-
disagreement/52156/#.Ve_tvdl4XCR)
------
vermooten
I came to the UK aged 10 from (the mighty) USA. Forced to play cricket at
school. No f*cker told me the rules. I wish I'd' had this page back then.
~~~
praneshp
Did you bat or bowl? For batting: 'See ball, hit ball'. 'The faster it comes,
the harder you hit' For bowling: never figured it out :(
------
trequartista
This is like Cricket 101 - a wonderful introduction to the rules of cricket.
However, this is from 2009 and as such slightly dated. Recent years have seen
the explosion of Twenty20 (20 over games - shorter and supposedly more
entertaining) as well as other innovations like Batting and Bowling powerplays
and so on.
~~~
bjackman
The writer is probably one of the games many purists! I love Twenty20 but I
have to agree with whoever said "it's not cricket, it's a form of
entertainment performed using cricket equipment".
------
j_lev
Cricket is a great example of where disruption created a larger pie for the
incumbent. Kerry Packer popularised the One Day International at a time where
the (five day) Tests were on their last legs, which in turn re-ignighted
interest in the Tests.
Cricket has experienced no other disruption prior or since.
~~~
redindian75
what about the latest craze T20? It's a multibillion dollar industry! Tho I am
too much of a purist to watch it often, Its far more monetarily successful
than the last disruption. Its tailor made for 2000s generation who dont want
to sit thro a whole day to enjoy cricket
~~~
j_lev
incremental improvement
~~~
notahacker
It pays vastly more than Test and One Day cricket, has radically shifted the
balance between batting attack and defence (including in the One Day Cricket
played today) by making strike rates matter more than batting averages, has
made superstars of players that would have previously been considered severely
lacking in defensive technique, encouraged athletic fielding and made Indian
franchises an attractive and lucrative destination for overseas players. And
probably made generations of kids grow up not wanting to be bowlers! That's a
pretty radical set of changes.
~~~
j_lev
I agree with all points regarding the impact.
The reason Twenty20 was incremental was because it took an entrepreneur like
Packer, with connections and money, to prove that cricket could even be
changed in the first place.
------
bluesmoon
The MCC is a good resource for the laws of cricket:
[https://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-
cricket/laws/](https://www.lords.org/mcc/laws-of-cricket/laws/)
------
ilitirit
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRAzmaq5x0](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBRAzmaq5x0)
Gotta love a game that has fielding positions "Silly Point", "Deep Square
Leg", "Cow Corner" and "Short Third Man".
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Cricketf...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Cricketfieldingpositions.jpg)
Cricket is to me one of those sports that I hated _the idea_ of playing and
watching, but I always enjoyed it when I did.
------
Grazester
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEH4ahCCrJo)
I would leave this here since its most relevant.
I grew up playing cricket.I recently broke my foot playing after not having
played for 15 years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to
my crease to backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out).
Go West Indies(we sure aren't what we use to be)!!
~~~
mitchty
> I recently broke my foot playing after not having played for 15
> years(collided with an idiot that ran across the pitch close to my crease to
> backup the wicket in an attempt to run me out).
I feel like cousin avi from snatch here, that or rick in that it appears like
you're just shuffling english words together in a sentence.
------
Xophmeister
Just to right the last section: England currently holds the Ashes after this
summer's series.
~~~
socceroos
shhhhh.
------
willhsiung
Was in London last month and toured Lord's Cricket Ground. That experience got
me to watch some test and ODI matches between England and Australia on
ESPN3.com. Strange for an American with no Commonwealth ties!
------
afhammad
Reg Explains Cricket
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83oa1S0x9zI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83oa1S0x9zI)
------
zem
[http://www.dangermouse.net/cricket/](http://www.dangermouse.net/cricket/) is
good too
------
gcb0
i almost understood cricket one time ... then a bunch of badgers came out from
the floor and i was completely lost again
------
fake44637
I was hoping to see this when I clicked:
[http://cricket.csail.mit.edu/](http://cricket.csail.mit.edu/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Weekly curated security newsletter - dietervds
https://securitynewsletter.co/
======
dietervds
I love curated newsletters as a primary source of information, but I couldn't
find one about security news that I enjoyed, so I created this one. It's
inspired heavily by newsletters like Saas Weekly, Devops Weekly and
Cron.weekly.
A bit over 300 subscribers so far, 3 months in. Open rates have been
consistent around 60-70%. From all the projects I've done, I'm enjoying this
one the most by far. The newsletter is sent with the service Curated, which
I'm very pleased with.
Let me know what you guys think, I'd appreciate any feedback.
~~~
brudgers
Looking at the archive there does not appear to be a clear editorial opinion
about what security news _is_. Some articles are useless in terms of security
practice, e.g. the Ashley Madison settlement which is legal news and
titillation but there are no lessons or reasons to change security practice.
Good luck.
~~~
dietervds
Thanks for the feedback!
You are right, the filter of what makes news is something that I'm calibrating
as I write more issues and learn more. I generally try and share only
educational articles, like you said. In the case of Ashley Madison I found it
to be an interesting story about accountability for lack of security.
But sometimes I'll just share something because it, well, made the news, and
got a lot of attention that week, as I feel that's what many subscribers want.
Or just something funny.
I do try to stay away from politics, privacy-only news (one can start a
separate newsletter on that), and non-actionable news about a small exploit
that was found and patched, that helps no one who reads it.
------
rami
Similar: [http://workhack.com/security](http://workhack.com/security)
~~~
dietervds
Thanks for the link. I wouldn't necessarily call them similar though. One is a
handy list of RSS feeds, the other a newsletter that summarizes selected
articles. Still though, bookmarked :-)
------
bradknowles
Looks interesting enough that I am happy to check it out.
Thanks!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Startups have a sexism problem - thejteam
http://money.cnn.com/2013/03/25/technology/innovation/sexism-startup/index.html
======
setrofim_
Sad to see CNN give further validity to this non-story. Especially since it
has already been established that there was no actual sexism involved.
------
acangiano
It's as if they intentionally tried to write the worst possible article on the
issue.
------
nugget
Startups are one of the LEAST discriminatory environments I have ever worked
in.
In corporate america, you can usually find some subtle undercurrents of
discrimination wherever you work. But in a startup company, everyone has so
much vested in the success of the venture. If you can code, or sell clients,
or recruit partners effectively, or fill some other critical function, then
most entrepreneurs will move heaven and earth to hire you, their teams will
welcome you with open arms, and you will be heartily thanked and celebrated
when you deliver. When everyone's money and future is on the line the bullshit
evaporates pretty quickly, as it should.
------
mackem
Why is no one in these stories even questioning the concept of whether any
joke about sex or sexual innuendo is inherently sexist?
Whilst not my personal comedic cup of tea, sexual innuendo is just a pun. Puns
might be uninspired non-comedy, but a sexual pun is no more inherently sexist
than a non-sexual pun.
Is the idea that because it was a woman who felt uncomfortable about a sexual
innuendo, it was an inherently sexist act? People feel uncomfortable and
offended with jokes all the time, that doesn't define their sexism or lack
thereof.
This whole thing smacks of artificial controversy. It's a shame two people had
to lose their jobs over what appears to be a total non-issue.
If this is the most blatant example of sexism in the tech industry / "start
ups", one might think there are other more important things to focus on and
get people fired for.
------
dragonbonheur
Of course I'm nobody but if I had to say something to women it would be this:
real geeks don't care if you're women, just code or hack hardware. Go create.
Nobody in his right mind would question the worth of geniuses like Jeri
Ellsworth, Jessica Mah of InDinero or Tan Le of Emotiv. These three just went
and created stuff. Women don't need approval or permission to be great and
real geeks don't care that they're women.
However, and I mean that for men as for women, gay or straight, of any color
or race, don't take offense when people are talking among themselves about
things which do not concern you in any way. Chances are you heard wrong. Don't
eavesdrop on people's conversations with the ambition to become "modern Joan
of Arcs".
Otherwise, welcome to our family.
------
yarrel
"What's hard is she isn't the first person to get fired for speaking out, and
she won't be the last."
No, she wasn't the first person to get fired.
------
leeoniya
the sad thing is, the whole PyCon situation is not even a representative
example of sexism.
if you're a woman planning to walk into a men's restroom, don't complain about
what you hear and see - their comments were not targeted towards her, nor
towards women. the whole thing makes about as much sense as some guy going to
a largely-female yoga class and outraged about two women making jokes about
breast sizes.
~~~
setrofim_
> if you're a woman planning to walk into a men's restroom, don't complain
> about what you hear and see
Are you trying to imply that PyCon is a "boys club" and that women have no
right to expect to feel comfortable being there?
~~~
leeoniya
nothing of the sort is implied, but the fact that it's currently 95% boys is a
reality that will not change overnight. if you're someone who's easily
offended by immature jokes of any sort, then you should expect to feel
uncomfortable around any group of people who tend to make immature jokes.
...and programmers/techies make _a lot_ of immature jokes :P
------
dictum
CNN has a pageviews problem.
Don't worry, they're working on it.
------
moron4hire
Why are self-espoused feminists so sex-negative?
~~~
illuminate
To give a sincere response, "sex-negative" doesn't mean embracing sexual
behavior and discussion in every possible context.
~~~
mackem
Nor does it imply the exclusion of sexual behaviour/discussion in every
possible context. (assuming here you meant to say "sex-positive")
This conference was a big event with lots of people and lots of talking. I
think it would be odd if in all those countless discussions someone didn't
mention something sexual just by accident.
Whilst I don't think sexual innuendo's are particularly witty, I would hardly
count 2 of them in a conference with hundreds of people as a grotesque and
unnecessary insertion of sexuality into a non-sexual context.
This incident does reek of sex-negativity. If this was any other form of joke
someone didn't find funny, it would be a non-issue. But peoples
uncomfortability with anything remotely sexual means it gets perceived as
sexist. I mean, sex kind sounds like sexist right?
~~~
illuminate
"assuming here you meant to say 'sex-positive'"
Yep.
"This incident does reek of sex-negativity."
Again, it's all about context. Feeling negative about sexual discussion at
work and at conferences does not mean that you can not promote positive
attitudes in your private life and among your friends.
I don't find the specific example that all this originated the best
representative of the attitude, but you do not have to be okay with every
childish/naive dirty joke in every environment to have a healthy attitude
towards sex.
~~~
moron4hire
I'm sorry, but I fundamentally disagree with your core premise.
------
largesse
It's funny to see how this story migrated from being about the tech industry
to being about startups. Are the two synonymous now to people outside the
industry?
~~~
neya
It's about pageviews my friend. You know, writing anything controversial and
attaching it to a broad evergreen topic like 'Start-ups' will result in more
pageviews. Which means more money for the site. Fuck these shitty media sites.
Infact, this is a very poor reporting on the incident and has so many un-
related knots.
------
lignuist
Feminists start up a problem.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Social Media Algorithm: Hacker News - start_dzh
http://9.douban.com/site/entry/88439079/?from=mb-110571421
我发现 Hacker News 是因为 reddit 的缘故。Hacker News 所属的 Y Combinator 是 reddit 的种子投资公司，后来 reddit 卖给了 Condé Nast，两个团队都赚了一票。<p>Y Combinator 只关注于最早期的创业团队，在创业团队的起步阶段介入并提供相应的帮助。Y Combinator 会定期举行 Funding Application 的活动，接受创业团队提交的项目资料。项目如果评审通过的话，Y Combinator 会提供一种“$5000 + $5000n”模式的投资，其中 n 指的是愿意参与此项目投资的 Y Combinator 合伙人的人数。比如，如果有 2 个合伙人愿意投资，那么最终的投资额度是 $15000；如果有 3 个的话就是 $20000。作为回报，Y Combinator 将占有创业团队 2% 到 10% 的股份，通常是 6%。钱虽然不多，但在现今创业公司大量使用 open source，AWS 或者 GAE 的情况下，这些钱也确实够展开工作了。<p>据说 Y Combinator 已经累计投资了 80 多个创业项目，除 reddit 之外，我还算熟悉的另外一个是 Scribd ——“YouTube for Documents”。Y Combinator 最初总共为 Scribd 提供了 $12000 的投资。Scribd 在 2007 年 5 月正式上线，随即就是飞速地增长，上线一个月之后就完成了 $3.5 million 的 A 轮融资，2008 年 12 月又完成了 $9 million 的 B 轮融资，发展得很是不错。一个有意思的事情，Scribd 有一个超级 NB 的用户，Barack Obama，对，现任美国总统！<p>在 Y Combinator 的合伙人中，我个人比较关注的是 Paul Graham。他写过一篇流传很广的文章，How to Start a Startup。Paul 在 Anti Spam 方面颇有造诣，以前我在研究相关问题时，从他这里学到了很多东西。Paul 是 Lisp 的大牛，另外还是 Arc 语言的设计者，Hacker News 应该就是用 Arc 语言开发的。Paul 始终称自己是一名 programmer，相比于当前乌泱乌泱的架构师，很是洒脱。<p>下面言归正传，看看 Hacker News 使用了怎么样的算法。<p>Hacker News 所使用的公式非常简单，<p><pre><code> (p - 1) / (t + 2)^1.5
</code></pre>
其中，
1）p 表示文章得到的投票数，之所以要使用 (p - 1)，应该是想去掉文章提交者的那一票。
2）(t + 2)^1.5， 这个是时间因子。t 表示当前时间与文章提交时间间隔的小时数。但为什么要加 2 之后再取 1.5 的幂，似乎就没什么道理可言了，也许是个 trial-and-error 的结果吧。<p>总体来讲，Hacker News 的公式不像 reddit 设计的那么巧妙。但是与 reddit 相比，Hacker News 的用户群比较集中，提交的文章更 Focus，质量也相对更高一些，因此实际的效果并不差。其实某些时候，解决问题就是这样，够用就好。
======
start_dzh
Test for the system
------
RiderOfGiraffes
In Chinese?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Deloitte Joins Adobe and Accenture in Dumping Performance Reviews - steffenmaier
http://blog.impraise.com/360-feedback/deloitte-joins-adobe-and-accenture-in-dumping-performance-reviews-360-feedback
======
DaveWalk
This is a corporate blog post. The title reads like a news headline, but the
writing has a tint of marketing in it. Worst is the last section, which is
simply an ad for its service.
Is there any better source for this?
~~~
yeahmuffins
[https://hbr.org/2015/04/reinventing-performance-
management](https://hbr.org/2015/04/reinventing-performance-management)
------
timdellinger
No mention in article about the worst part of corporate performance reviews:
stack ranking, in which employees are ranked against each other, and only a
certain number of employees can be given top marks (and top salaries), and a
certain number are required to get low marks (and low salaries), force-fitting
employees into categories that don't reflect reality, but that look good on
paper.
------
hardwaresofton
Can anyone summarize what the performance reviews will be replaced with?
I admire the intentions, but I'm a little cautious about what comes after.
Tried to read the article, but got tired of the words/marketing slant, and the
hbr link posted in a different comments wasn't working when I tried it.
~~~
HelloMcFly
I can confidently say this: I'm highly knowledgeable of what several big-name
companies are doing, and it's not as big of a difference as they market it to
be. For one, there are still ratings behind the scenes so it's actually just
making the process less transparent than before. For the other (one of which
is named in the title of this post), they haven't figured out what they'll be
doing instead, which means it may just be lipstick on a pig.
~~~
steve-howard
Here's another company that overhauled its reviews not so long ago:
[http://blogs.seattletimes.com/microsoftpri0/2013/11/12/micro...](http://blogs.seattletimes.com/microsoftpri0/2013/11/12/microsoft-
gets-rid-of-stacking-ranking-review-system/)
I have as little insight into the process as before. We get to do performance
paperwork more often, but the process that turns that into money is as opaque
as it ever was.
------
knughit
This is a strong of BS PR items from a single company promoting itself by
getting past-their-prime big companies to let it use their name, in exchange
for them appearing to be trendsetters in hopes of attracting talent getting
vacuumed up by Amazon/Google/Facebook
| {
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HTML5 and DRM - Keverw
http://kevinwhitman.com/2012/02/05/html5-and-drm/
======
Chris_Newton
A few observations, from someone whose business is making decisions about this
stuff right now:
1\. It's easy for a consumer to say DRM is evil or to claim that it doesn't
work anyway. It's a lot harder to literally bank on those things by
irrevocably giving away the content your start-up has spent much time and
money building.
2\. It's easy to assume that any protection will be cracked eventually, and
for mass market content like Hollywood movies and pop music it probably will.
But many smaller companies are both producing niche content for smaller
audiences, making them rather less likely to be cracked, and aiming for rather
more modest profits, meaning that if someone rips their stuff and puts it
somewhere Google can find there is a real danger of catastrophic actual
losses.
3\. It's easy to say that HTML5 video is the future and Flash needs to die.
Apple and Google would be more credible when making such claims if their own
browsers weren't riddled with bugs and limitations in this area and if they
gave straight answers about exactly which video formats they support.
4\. Open Source software that doesn't support locked up content or formats
_will_ give an inferior user experience for the foreseeable future. Whether
that loss is acceptable to the users and developers of such software is
something only they can decide.
Just to be clear: I am not a fan of excessive copyright protections, certainly
not a fan of DRM, generally in favour of openness, and sincerely hoping that
we can find a viable model for our business that fits with those beliefs. I
should also add that I'm not writing on behalf of anyone but myself in a
personal capacity here.
But from a realistic point of view as a businessman, those arguing for
unrestricted HTML5 video vs. DRM/Flash need a _far_ stronger case than they
typically make today before their arguments are going to be as convincing as
they would like.
~~~
jasonlotito
1\. Literally giving away your content has nothing to do with DRM, but rather,
your business model. If you elect to give away your content for free, that's
your choice. Others have already proven that giving away DRM-free content can
lead to making a tidy profit. See the humble-bundles and Louis CK's recent
experiment as demonstrations. Look at Bandcamp.com, and the countless artists
selling DRM free content. I've spent more money there the past year then
anything the labels have produced.
2\. Less likely to be cracked? That's wishful thinking at best. It's already
been shown countless times that smaller companies content will be cracked just
as readily as larger companies. It's not as if they are using some other form
of DRM.
3\. Which bugs afflict you in the video playing department? I've found that
playing videos without Flash is fairly simple. Granted, you need to provide 2
videos, but you'll what you need. Are you referring to lack of DRM support in
these browsers? In fact, I'm not really sure what you are referring to here.
4\. That's not true. Rather, content that includes extras like DRM will
provide an inferior user experience. I'm sorry, but even Valve, who I love,
doesn't have as great an experience as I can get if they'd remove the DRM. And
it's because of the DRM they use. If you attach DRM to your content, you are
degrading the UX. There is no argument against that. It's simply the way it
is. Even if you simply put your content in a membership area, I have to log in
rather than simply see that content. If I have to install some 3rd party
software to read that content, it's a degraded experience. I'm sorry, but it's
the content providers that choose to degrade the experience. At least man up
and take ownership.
Finally, you claim people like me need a far stronger argument. I guess that's
fair. We could all use stronger arguments. But at the same time, the arguments
for DRM aren't strong either. The only argument in favor of DRM that I can get
behind is: "It's my content, I can do what I want with it." Yes, you can, and
I support that. Beyond that, not much more can be said.
~~~
Chris_Newton
1\. Please note that I'm not suggesting that serving DRM-free content _can't_
make a decent profit. Personally, I really hope it would for us as well and
that we will be able to do exactly that. But I have to separate my desire to
run that kind of company from the commercial reality that in contrast to the
humble bundles and Louis CK, we are highly unlikely to wind up with vast
amounts of Internet coverage on high volume web sites that reach a lot of our
target audience who are likely to look upon us favourably precisely because we
are making a point of not using DRM.
2\. If you've got any serious data to share on this point, I'd appreciate
links. I've been researching the real effects of copyright, infringement, DRM,
etc. for a long time, and I've found few studies with anything resembling a
sound methodology and unbiased reporting, and even fewer that consider
anything but mass-market Big Media operations.
3\. I'm not sure this is a good place to enumerate every likely browser bug
we're currently tracking, but I'll give a few examples:
\- Some browsers are not detecting the end of a video properly (no JS event
fires/can't replay -- not really much doubt that this is a bug).
\- Some smartphones play videos fullscreen whether you like it or not
(unhelpful if there are other controls beyond the universal video ones that
users should be able to reach with one touch -- this is an active choice, but
limits the quality of the experience we can offer to users).
\- Several mobile devices reportedly support H.264 at a certain profile and
level, but in practice seem to require more specific settings (which don't
always seem to be clearly documented in the guidelines published by the
browser/OS developers -- this may or may not be down to bugs, but without
clear specs and completely standardised formats it's in any case a significant
drain on resources just investigating and testing across a wide field of
devices).
I'm not referring to DRM at all here, just the problems of using HTML5
technology that isn't sufficiently standardised yet relative to the one-size-
fits-all-except-iOS of Flash.
4\. In our tests, H.264 in an MP4 file (using the features that are supported
in browsers) gets modestly better quality at a given bit rate than a WebM
stack and completely outclasses Ogg/Theora/Vorbis. If you have a browser like
Firefox that for cultural/legal/whatever reasons won't support H.264, then the
best result is that Firefox users will see lower-quality video or need more
bandwidth to see the same quality. There's not really anything ambiguous about
this.
As for DRM, if it ever interferes noticeably with legitimate users, that's
obviously a bad thing. Again, my personal line is that any technology we do
decide to use to protect our content in any way should be transparent to
someone using our service legitimately. But if we're talking about someone
visiting a web page to watch a video, why does the user care what technology
is being used to achieve that as long as it looks and sounds as it should? If
in some alternate reality I could use a plug-in on iOS smartphones to provide
a better user interface instead of relying on Apple's compulsory full-screen
presentation, or if we decided to produce an iPhone app for the same reason,
would you still object to requiring 3rd party software so a customer could use
our service more easily?
> But at the same time, the arguments for DRM aren't strong either.
The argument for some form of transparent DRM in our internal discussions is
simple and compelling: either it works and we potentially make more sales to
legal customers at the expense of pirates, or it doesn't work and we're
probably no worse off than we would have been anyway. Unless either the
implementation costs are high or we're at risk of losing significant numbers
of legitimate customers for some reason, it's essentially a plan with no
drawbacks other than the bad taste it leaves in the mouth.
Once again, I feel I should stress that I'm writing personally here and not in
any official capacity. I should also be clear that I am playing devil's
advocate to some extent, as are other people when we debate this in-house. No-
one is evangelising DRM here, we're just not buying the anti-DRM arguments
without reading the full brochure either.
> The only argument in favor of DRM that I can get behind is: "It's my
> content, I can do what I want with it."
Well, yes, and to the extent that "I can do what I want with it" means "I can
run a viable business that helps my paying customers" and "People who don't
pay us for it don't get to have it" I don't think anyone here has much of a
problem with that.
If genuine users have even the slightest problem because of any technological
content protection measures, that's a serious issue for me.
If it costs us a lot of time and/or money to implement those measures and they
don't generate a worthwhile return, that's also a serious issue.
However, being nice to people who are blatantly trying to rip us off rather
than paying a price that, frankly, almost anyone in our target market can
easily afford is... not a priority, let's say.
------
shmerl
DRM shouldn't be promoted, period.
~~~
gurkendoktor
I'd usually agree, but for one-time video watching, I don't see the harm.
There is nothing that might break for legal customers in the future because
there _is no future_ , unlike with a purchased item.
I never watch series episodes twice, and I'd rather pay small money to see
them once than to buy DRM-free video files. Statistically, I must be the
minority because Apple stopped offering series rentals. :(
~~~
Keverw
Yeah. I don't have a problem with it for one time viewing but still don't want
to force flash. Maybe give the studio a option... But still don't care for
flash myself.
------
rachelbythebay
Apparently I need to turn on Javascript on my Mobile Safari to view this
page... even though I'm running Firefox on an actual computer. How odd.
(And kicking the two divs which hold that warning out of the way with Firefox
10's web inspector and a "display: none" gives a perfectly reasonable page.
Why not just show that all the time?)
------
pmjordan
Interestingly, Webkit on iOS devices CAN play back DRMd content via the HTML5
video tag. As far as I can tell, the web server can request a special Apple-
signed client SSL certificate. With this, either the whole video can be
streamed via SSL, or you can gate access to the keys used to encrypt the video
(via Apple's HTTP live streaming encryption).
The latter is of course nonstandard, but cooperative browser vendors could
easily implement the pure SSL authentication. I can't imagine Flash or
Silverlight video is any more secure than that. There's of course no way a
truly open source browser would be trusted in this way; the certificate would
have to be hard to extract.
(This comment might make me sound pro-DRM. I'm not, just making some technical
observations)
------
pornel
Since open DRM is a logical impossibility, adding DRM to HTML5 video would
mean going back to square one: playback would require some kind of closed-
source binary blob developed in secrecy by a single vendor.
Adoption of such DRM would be at mercy of PHBs from big media, so they
wouldn't choose a vendor that values openness and end-user freedoms.
In that case just use Flash or Silverlight, as "HTML5 DRM" won't be any
better: you won't see it in FOSS browsers (due to licensing/goals), Apple
devices (Apple has their own DRM already and market power to keep it that way)
or niche platforms that aren't "commercially-viable".
------
geuis
Getting an error like this from CloudFlare seriously casts doubt on their
ability to operate. One of the big things they claim is being a solution to
exactly this problem.
------
Thomaschaaf
So your startup will basically do what videojs.com (<http://videojs.com/>)
does + DRM? I guess it could work but maybe very easy to duplicate. At least
from how I understand your approach.
P.S.: Bing Cache works
~~~
Keverw
No. It's a video on demand service. Also planning on doing live channels and
some other stuff. Right now our plan is to serve content in HTML5 but it
doesn't really have DRM. So I think that will limit the content we can get
from studios.
~~~
dmethvin
Absolutely it will limit what studios allow--as in the major studios will
allow nothing. HTML5 video only supports standard HTTP download of a single
unencrypted stream, and I'm not clear on how a token scheme will provide any
real security for that unencrypted stream.
There are the bandwidth-divining problems since you'll want a higher quality
stream on a fast connection than a slow one and HTML5 video has no built-in
way to do that. On iOS you can use HTTP Live Streaming via Safari, but if you
depend on that you're locked into a single platform.
What is driving your startup to use HTML5 video? Are you trying to avoid
licensing fees for DRM technologies? A lot of these problems can be overcome
if you build an app, perhaps it's possible to use a hybrid approach in
PhoneGap so you can maintain a HTML UI but play video via a proprietary video
library that supports DRM.
------
Thomaschaaf
Website is down. No Google Cache.
~~~
quink
I don't know if this will work, didn't last time, but here goes:
[Bing
Cache]([http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=691260178405&w=1e1573b4...](http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?d=691260178405&w=1e1573b4,3d02e81f))
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How Can I Take My Coding Skills from Intermediate to Expert? - JoHawth31
I started coding about 4 years ago but I feel like I'm in a bit of a rut lately. I understand the basic building blocks perfectly, but higher level concepts, for example, abstracting the database away through an interface layer so that we may achieve proper unit testing in Go, are much harder for me to figure out. I understand WHY I need to do this, and I understand what is going on on a high level, but I get a bit lost when it comes time to implement. All the unit testing examples out there show examples of how to unit test a function that squares an integer. That has zero real world benefit to me. How would I unit test an http handler func that is the entry point for a RESTful API? I need to do authentication, database access, and return some JSON data. How do I keep the test as one "unit" when I need to do all of these things?<p>I feel like there are some intermediary steps or knowledge that I am lacking, where a more senior engineer would be able to figure out how to do unit testing in a real world app based on the squaring function alone. Again, this is just a singular example, but the theme is pretty consistent across any higher level programming challenge I come across.<p>There are plenty of tutorials out there about how to learn PHP (yuck) or JavaScript for newbies, but there are surprisingly few resources for people interested in becoming experts. I'm the only technical person at my job currently, so asking senior engineers for help really isn't an option. Where do I go to fill these gaps in my knowledge? Are there other engineers out there that felt the existence of a "skills chasm" that they had to cross? How did you do it?
======
hluska
First, I find the inclusion of "PHP (yuck)" to be in extremely poor taste. You
would be surprised by what you could learn from that community that would
apply to every other problem you would face in whatever language you like
more. If your goal is expertise (whatever that is), don't close yourself off
to other languages or their learning resources. In general, don't close
yourself off to any opportunity to learn anything.
Second, expertise in our field comes from years and years of practice.
Mentorship helps to an extent, but you'll still have to put in the time.
Third, read as much code as you can.
~~~
wasd884
I agree.
OP, when you stop saying things like "PHP (yuck)" and start to appreciate each
language for the one (or more) things it got right, you'll be well on the way
to taking your coding skills to expert.
------
gt2
Build many things.
While you are building them, do it however you can make it work (you may learn
some things noone else has done).
But look up things you get stuck on.
Use the things you build. So build things you want to see happen.
While you use them, you will make them more reliable and see the pain points.
In future projects you will avoid those/have solutions you instinctively go to
because you experienced it.
Write some libraries along the way to help with the pain points you solved
yourself. You will learn what makes a good interface and documentation for 3rd
party libs which you will probably be using a lot of, even if it's just the
main framework or standard lib of the language you are using.
Lastly, all of this will help guide you in your evaluation of new languages,
frameworks, and libraries, which you will be doing a lot of during your career
when you build/rebuild/extend.
Good luck!
------
tmaly
Have you considered contributing to an open source project that you respect?
Picking a side project is a great way to learn and grow.
If you learn from books, I would recommend Test Driven Development by Kent
Beck, Clean Code by Robert Martin, The Philosophy of Software Development
------
kat
I find high level abstractions more practical, and easier to understand, when
I work on larger projects. I would recommend looking at larger open source
products or picking up a few books on enterprise software design. You can skim
through the academic theory, if you're already familiar with it, and
concentrate on extending their code examples.
Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture - by Martin Fowler Domain
Driven Design - by Eric Evans
------
JoHawth31
Thank you for the responses ladies and gents. At the risk of upsetting some of
you further, I fully stand behind my PHP comments. I'm only kidding (sort of).
Thanks again.
------
rc-1140
Hi OP, I had the same problem you're having, still do to an extent. I was the
only dev at my first job and had no one in the real world to turn to. I
learned several things from a friend who was already in the industry for years
before I got into it when I was searching for my second job, and I'd like to
share them because your question will get slathered in the typical HN well-
meaning yet empty responses:
> How would I unit test an http handler func that is the entry point for a
> RESTful API? I need to do authentication, database access, and return some
> JSON data. How do I keep the test as one "unit" when I need to do all of
> these things?
At this point, you're ready to ask "real" questions on places like
StackOverflow, Reddit boards, and chat rooms (Discord, Slack, Gitter, IRC,
etc). You have enough understanding of the technical jargon to postulate
questions to the community at large. I asked a question on SO about how unit
testing in Android works because I was getting a NullReferenceException - you
know, the type of problem that gets badgered with the standard and huge SO
answer about NullReferenceExceptions[1] - and I got a really nice answer that
taught me a fair bit about the Android ecosystem. Put enough thought into your
question, include code and links to stuff you've done, and most of these
resources will bear fruit for you.
Another benefit of joining these communities is if you get into the chat room
ones and become a known face, people will genuinely want to help you. I
learned about the history of delegates and how to write extension methods
because I was chatting about going through "C# 6.0 and the .NET 4.6 Framework"
and had some questions about delegates, and one of the members set aside some
time over a few days to give me a small challenge for writing an extension
method, explaining delegates along the way.
> Again, this is just a singular example, but the theme is pretty consistent
> across any higher level programming challenge I come across.
This is the time where you can also start reading books like Code Complete and
get something out of reading it. Pick up some of the usual suspects like Clean
Code, Code Complete, Working Effectively With Legacy Code, etc. and get
crackin'. You can treat Code Complete sort of like a manual that you peruse
the chapter list and see if it has a relevant chapter to your problems and
give it a read, or go through it cover to cover.
> "skills chasm"
I know I just told you to spend money on books, but a resource that was REALLY
good for building skills was Pluralsight. For me, since I was working in C#, I
perused the C# Path and learned about equality, LINQ, etc. Some of the courses
get really specific and deep into it; for even more depth, you might have to
turn to books. Actually, there's an intermediate course on Pluralsight called
"Creating Well-tested Applications in Go" which might benefit you immediately
but YMMV.
It's the go-to that just works for building skills so everyone spits it out
immediately, but yeah, as much as I dislike people who just go "projects help
you grow!" and drop the mic, projects are gonna help you out a lot. If you
can't do big things because of work or time constraints, do small things. An
example I can provide was learning about reading/querying .sdf files, which
meant I had to do some digging into deprecated libraries and tech. I did a
little playing around with some sdf files in LINQpad by connecting to it and
simply reading some values. Small things build up.
[1] [https://stackoverflow.com/a/4660186](https://stackoverflow.com/a/4660186)
| {
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Create a RESTful Services Using Slim PHP Framework - arunnallamayan
http://https403.blogspot.com/2014/12/blog-post.html
======
kumararun
www.9lessons.info
| {
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Meet the husbands who fly first class – while their wives travel in economy - miloshadzic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/husbands-who-always-fly-business-class-while-wives-travel-in-economy/
======
Cypher
avoid soft paywall
| {
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Is Lisp still useful in today's world? (2011) - cpleppert
http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/55284/is-lisp-still-useful-in-todays-world-which-version-is-most-used
======
mindstab
Learning to program in lisp (specifically reading Practical Common Lisp
[<http://www.gigamonkeys.com/book/]>) has made me a better programmer in all
other languages even if I don't really use Lisp. Even my friends/coworkers
have noticed it when coding together. My style is forever improved.
Learning Lisp just seems to promote better ways of tackling programming
problems that is transferable to other languages where it's not as encouraged
naturally even if superior.
~~~
monkeyfacebag
Completely agree that learning functional programming has improved my thinking
and code. The one difficulty I continue to encounter is switching back and
forth between recursive and iterative thinking. From a computational
perspective they may be equivalent, but from a cognitive perspective they
aren't (at least in my case). I don't know how many times, for example, I've
been bitten by a stack overflow when jumping into Python from Haskell (or
equivalently, jumping directly into the ST Monad because I want to iterate
through some lists).
~~~
pavelludiq
I've been using Common Lisp for two years now, I've written exactly _ONE_
recursive function that wasn't an exercise or an example. Functional
interfaces to functions with local state in loops? What exactly is wrong with
that?
For example it is my opinion that this function is in no ways inferior to a
recursive equivalent:
(defun range (end &key (start 0) (step 1))
(loop for i from start to end by step
collect i))
~~~
betterunix
Personally, I find that traversing data structures recursively is more
straightforward than iterative approaches, at least for most of the data
structures I deal with. This sort of thing, for example:
(defun search (tree val)
(cond
((null tree) nil)
((= (car tree) val) tree)
((< (car tree) val) (search (cadr tree) val))
((> (car tree) val) (search (cddr tree) val))
)
)
I write this sort of code all the time for more complicated structures;
iterative solutions would involve keeping track of a bunch of local variables,
which only makes the code more difficult to deal with.
~~~
baddox
The Little Schemer is the book that got me thinking about data structures
recursively (starting with linked lists), and that was later furthered by
SICP.
[http://www.amazon.com/Little-Schemer-Daniel-P-
Friedman/dp/02...](http://www.amazon.com/Little-Schemer-Daniel-P-
Friedman/dp/0262560992)
<http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/full-text/book/book.html>
------
duaneb
THe only thing that really distinguishes lisp these days (IMHO) is its macros.
However, I think there are better languages out there to learn any particular
paradigm-Python/Java for OO, Haskell/Erlang for functional, C for procedural,
Ruby/Python for dynamic & duck typing, etc.
Lisp is great if you need a compiler tomorrow. If you have the time, though, I
think that other languages are better when there's more time to invest.
EDIT: To actually answer the question, of course it's still relevant and
useful, but perhaps other languages have caught up. It's still used in
industry (Google uses it via ITA, IIRC).
~~~
pjungwir
I'm not a Lisp guy, but the amazing thing I see in Lisp that is missing from
other languages is that due to the extremely simple syntax, code is data and
data is code. That lets you do some amazing things (Cf. SICP).
On the other hand, isn't one lesson from modern computing that treating data
as code is really dangerous? I have yet to see this addressed by Lisp
advocates.
~~~
pavelludiq
Define dangerous? Are you concerned with security? In which case, don't eval
untrusted code, and you're fine.
Maintainability? If done right "code is data" could improve the
maintainability, or decrease it drastically, just like any other feature. If
you have 80 lines of comments for every 10 lines of code, you've decreased
your maintainability, comments are dangerous by that logic.
~~~
pjungwir
Yes, by "dangerous" I mean prone to security exploits. I've got nothing
against Lisp--I think it's a beautiful language, and I've dabbled in CL,
Scheme, and Clojure--but whenever I hear about using data as code I get a
warning tingle in the back of my head. One of the lessons of the recent Ruby
YAML debacle is that an executable data format will get used for untrusted
input eventually somewhere or other. (Edit: For example I can totally imagine
the digital circuits simulator from SICP 3.3.4 saving/reading Lisp code as an
input document.)
Maybe the power of Lisp's data-as-code is worth the risk. We don't stop using
string concatenation because of SQL injection. It's just that I've never even
read so much as a warning about this feature, and I'm curious what Lisp users
have to say about it.
~~~
pavelludiq
eval("dangerous python code here")
As I pointed out, it is a problem in any language that has eval. The way you
deal with it, is you never eval anything untrusted, which is actually
extremely easy to do. I don't believe I've ever used eval ever.
In CL specifically, because the reader can evaluate code as well, every time
you use the read function, you should know these two things: 1) never use it
for user input. 2) bind _read-eval_ to nil. You'll be fine, or more
accurately, no worse than anybody else :)
On the other hand macros, and having a json style serialization format that is
much more powerful and actually extensible is a big plus :)
~~~
sdkmvx
Is it actually dangerous to use read for user input?
(defun read-data ()
(let ((data (let ((*read-eval* 'nil)) (read))))
(mapcar
(lambda (x) (format 't "~a: ~a~%" (car x) (cdr x)))
data)))
Then I can
(read-data)
(("a" . 1) ("b" . 2) ("c" . (funcall (lambda () (princ "I ran code!")))))
And the following will print.
a: 1
b: 2
c: (FUNCALL (LAMBDA () (PRINC I ran code!)))
But of course unless I eval the code, arbitrary code will not run (assuming I
haven't forgotten some aspect of the reader).
------
richeyrw
Is Plato still useful in today's world? I think if you answer that then you
should be able to give a a minimum a qualified "yes" to the question about
Lisp.
~~~
IvyMike
I was introduced to both Lisp and PLATO in 1992 at UIUC. I was very confused
by statement until I realized you meant Plato, not PLATO, which has very
little use in today's world.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PLATO_(computer_system)>
------
base698
If you are a JavaScript, Ruby, Python programmer it will teach you where
first, rest, map, reduce, partial, apply, and a slew of other methods came and
what functional programming is. It also has the side effect of teaching you
how machines work at a low level (if you follow the SICP) with "environments"
and frames. If you are a Java or .NET developer you'll pick up functional
techniques and understand the origins of the object model. That's not even
getting into macros, which basically are runtime code that writes code. I'm
not aware of another language that has lisp style macros.
Ultimately it will help you be a better programmer even if you don't at first
see the benefit.
------
gre
* Most raw code written
So there are 20,000+ red-black binary tree implementations in Scheme. Great?
------
graycat
Sorry, but my view of what is really "useful in today's world" is what the
language has that makes it easy to get at, i.e., make use of, other software,
e.g., TCP/IP, device drivers, operating system services, authentication
services, APIs, something old written in Algol, Cobol, Folderol, Fortran,
C/C++, etc.
Actually there is a theme that a language can be interpretive and, really,
still fast enough if mostly it is used just as thin glue to connect other,
efficient software where nearly all the time goes. E.g., IBM's in-house
mainframes on their VNET were long run heavily with just their interpretive
language Rexx: VNET was a little like the Internet except the network was less
smart and the computers also played the role of routers. At one time IBM had
3600 such mainframes around the world. I've been using Rexx on Windows as a
scripting language and want to convert to PowerShell due to the better access
to Windows services.
------
rdmckenzie
Speaking as a Lisper, I have to admit that this is an open question for me. On
the one hand, the needs of parallel systems and state management offered by
functional languages stands to bring Lisps (Clojure, Common Lisp etc) and
other languages like Erlang ever more attention as we programmers attempt to
manage the complexities of multicore design and distributed systems.
As a systems programming language I think that lisp has utterly failed. The
Lisp machines are dead for various reasons (which I'm researching right now as
a side-project) and to the best of my knowledge compiled lisp has clearly not
taken the place of C in building operating systems (although I hope to do
exactly that as does the author of [<http://www.loper-os.org/]>).
All of this comes down to an individual's definition of utility. Lisp is by
definition of Turing Completeness just as capable as any other language you
may wish to name, but with the usual Turing Tarpit or small language warning
that you may have to roll your own. My perception, and one which several posts
here on HN has affirmed is that traditionally Lisp was used by lone AI
researchers who needed the power to roll their own anything quickly and
efficiently. As a result of this "roll my own" mentality and simple lack of
the internet (it was early and mid 1980s or so) libraries and SDKs as we know
them were never built for Lisp systems.
Another difficulty is that as several other comments note there is no "one
true" standard for Lisp. There is Scheme (which has official specs), there is
ANSI Common Lisp which is a spec upon which several implementations have been
based, and then there are countless other DIY and nonstandard lisps which
elect to use different function names and otherwise make code non-trivially
portable between lisp implementations. Not having a clear standard didn't help
the lack of a library ecosystem at all, but some dialects such as Common Lisp
and Clojure seem to be developing workable community library ecosystems. Of
late Common Lisp has grown a library structure via ASDF code loading tool and
the Quicklisp package manager, but Clojure is the only lisp I've ever
encountered that really made any effort at all in the direction of providing
native support for packaged libraries. The Clojure language includes syntax
designed for allowing one file to explicitly state and "require" code in other
files or even other libraries: a feature which is lacking from the Common Lisp
standard. Thanks to technomancy's Leiningen tool and the clojars repository
Clojure has a user-created system similar to Quicklisp + ASDF but trading
ASDF's search path idiosyncrasies for a search path structure which should be
familiar (or at least unsurprising) to Java developers.
TL;DR / Conclusion
If your boss comes to you and asks you to write a webpage, Lisp is probably
not what you turn to. Could you? Sure, <shamelessplug> my blog is built in
Clojure [<http://arrdem.com>].</shamelessplug> [<http://refheap.com>] is built
in Clojure. [<http://www.chris-granger.com/>] is (presumably) Clojure. I know
I've seen blogs in Common Lisp and other dialects but URLs escape me. Your
boss says "Access the database", there are Clojure (okay fine Java but there
is no real difference) libraries for SQL, MongoDB, Cassandra and more. Common
Lisp also has SQL and MongoDB libraries. In short, while there is value in
Lisp it is (for the time) not practically greater than the value of any other
language despite the elegance of the functional approach and the power of the
macro system. Hence its failure thus far to take over the world. However that
same value proposition is improving as the CL and Clojure communities create
and publish ever more libraries leading me to hope that Lisp may indeed take
over the world one day.
------
dschiptsov
This. Very. Site.
~~~
chc
I'm not so sure that's a good example. It seems to me that PG had a Lisp he'd
created for his own gratification and Hacker News was a good chance to try it
out in the real world. It's hard to imagine Hacker News would have suffered if
Arc hadn't been ready yet and he'd been forced to use Django or something. I
think HN helped Arc more than vice-versa.
~~~
nialo
PG says in several of the Arc essays that HN exists because he found that
programming languages turned out better when their creators worked on the
language and some problem being solved in that language together. HN exists
because he needed an application to force Arc to be better.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Facebowl - daveambrose
http://facebowl.us/index.php?sms_ss=hackernews&at_xt=4d4dc8a6fe933de3%2C0
======
nbd
Very nice. I have to ask, though, aren't you concerned at all about the NFL
taking issue with this? They're pretty agressive at policing their trademarks.
Using the term "Super Bowl" and images of the teams' helmets is probably a no-
no, even if you're not making money off of this.
~~~
OstiaAntica
The domain in this context also violates Facebook's trademark and their rules
about naming FB apps. Maybe also their ToS on promotions:
<http://www.facebook.com/promotions_guidelines.php>
------
corbett3000
Just a fun little experiment we built in a couple days.
~~~
techiferous
Cool! Here's some helpful feedback.
The text box that begins "We want to know..." is the most important text on
the whole page and you need to fix the typography.
First and foremost, increase the contrast between the foreground and
background so that the text is readable. The text weight is much lighter in
Google Chrome than in Firefox. Here is how it looks for me:
<http://imgur.com/DP9d0>
To increase the contrast, darken the background of the entire text box, not
just the edges.
Also, courier is not one of the most readable fonts. Save the fonts with
"personality" for your headers and opt for a more readable font for the core
text. I would suggest Georgia, since it's a font that was specifically
designed for the screen and it's a serif font which contrasts nicely with the
sans serif header. It will also make the page look more professional.
~~~
linesandwaves
Thanks, techiferous! Great call on the on the main text box. It's fixed to be
more legible now. Learning that good looking slab-serif stacks are pretty much
non-existent without font embedding :)
~~~
techiferous
Rockwell is a nice slab serif font. If you're looking for a good @font-face
compatible slab serif font, check out Museo Slab:
<http://www.fontspring.com/fonts/exljbris/museo-slab> (the 500 weight is free)
(That is, if you felt like spending your time messing around with fonts. ;)
------
CapitalistCartr
Fewest votes, rather than least votes, in the main block of text.
------
solipsist
Now this is a perfect example of leveraging the Facebook Like button a unique
and viral way. Good job!
------
endlessvoid94
DAMN. Wish I had thought of this! Very well done. Seems like it's already
taking off...
------
tonyshili
Looks very clean and simple, love it!
------
udfalkso
Brilliant. Good luck with it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Why calling C in mainstream scripting languages is not so simple? - gorer
This is how Newlisp http://www.newlisp.org imports and calls C printf function from libc library.<p><pre><code> (set 'library "/usr/lib/libc-2.24.so")
(import library "printf")
(printf "%s\n" "hello world")
</code></pre>
The question is why is it no so simple in other scripting languages??
======
enkiv2
Consider what needs to be done in order to implement a general purpose FFI for
calling C from a scripting language:
1) You must provide mechanisms for converting types used in the scripting
language into C types (as a simple example, strings -- usually pascal-style
length-prefixed fat strings in scripting languages -- must be easy to convert
into zero-terminated character arrays; where most scripting languages have A
numeric type with a complex underlying structure to represent everything from
small integers to imaginary numbers with large irrational fractional
coefficients, the FFI must decide how to convert arbitrary numbers into some
numeric type), and furthermore the FFI must wrap C pointers as some new
script-native type.
2) C types, even in pretty clean standard library code, are often misleading:
functions that return single characters are often specced to return short ints
for historical reasons, char arrays are often byte arrays rather than strings,
void pointers are used all over the place to refer to basically any type that
isn't built-in, and rules about what to expect are part of folk understanding
rather than being properly notated. Any scripting language that expects to
determine types of even common standard library functions must have a huge
list of rules specific to particular functions.
3) Many C libraries won't have exported symbols. Your FFI must either know how
to parse C header files (in other words, include a complete C preprocessor) or
must require the user to write out the declarations in some special DSL that
duplicates some of the behavior of a C preprocessor. In other words, writing
an FFI for arbitrary C libraries really means writing an extra programming
language interpreter or compiler.
4) C++ adds name mangling rules, which can be complex, plus its own
complicated object system rules. If you want C++ support, it probably won't
"just work" by any stretch of the imagination. In some cases, if you have a
working C FFI, you can expect the user to determine what the appropriate name
mangling is and write the code to interface with it, but this won't work well
for methods -- only for public static functions. You're also going to need
some operation to dereference pointers or create a pointer out of an arbitrary
object, if you want to be able to use any of this stuff.
5) Usually, a scripting language will have a clean and well-defined mechanism
for adding functions written in C or some other language -- a mechanism that
sidesteps all of the above concerns by having an array of methods for casting
C types to specific language-native types, and for registering these functions
with the language engine. You'll often have a mechanism for loading binaries
of this type, which will include a convention for module initialization
functions to be called after load. Since writing wrappers in C for most
languages is straightforward and packages like scons exist for making this
easier, why bother with writing an FFI that only allows users to write in a
crappier version of C within the scripting language?
That said, I think the idea that mainstream scripting languages mostly lack
this facility is false. Several implementations of Python have an FFI like the
one described; so does LuaJit and Julia. I don't know for sure if Perl does,
but I'd be shocked if it didn't, given Perl's userbase and habits. Mainstream
languages that lack it often do so for very reasonable security reasons: if
Javascript had this facility, imagine how awful that would be for literally
every web browser!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
SOPA-Supporting News Outlets Aren't Covering SOPA - antoviaque
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/sopa-supporting_news_outlets_arent_covering_sopa_s.php
======
walru
This is why we're left with a 'Vocal Minority' as Lamar Smith stated when
pressed about the opposition. What he should have called us was the
'conscious' and 'educated'. With a near media blank out, he thought this was
going to be a walk in the park.
More people would be outraged if they only knew about the bill, or once they
were told about it believed in the power that it wields.
I tried to educate my family over the X-mas holiday about the recent poison
legislation being put through our government, but it was met with blank
stares, followed by, "our government would never do that". In a way I don't
blame them, because this all sounds so crack pot. A simple personal can't
fathom why the media would be in cahoots with government and not cover
something that could change the foundation of the rights this nation was
founded on.
The 'Vocal Minority' must begin to educate, the media will never do it for us.
Sadly you can't just throw a book at someone, or a wall of text to do it
either. Many on Reddit have had the right idea by creating memes and such, but
the real power needs to come from the Google and those who oppose it. Put it
front and center in the masses faces. They need to show them what a post-SOPA
world looks like, and they need to do it before they get back into session to
vote again.
------
ck2
Start asking on all their twitter and facebook feeds why they aren't covering
SOPA
Cover both the channel and all their anchors. Be polite.
MSNBC constantly proclaims how progressive they are but they sure don't act
like it.
------
wrath
I was talking to my father over the holidays about SOPA. He's an avid FOX news
and CNN viewer. He had no idea what I was talking about. After our
conversation he took it upon himself to search Google on the subject to
educate himself on it. I'm from Canada so all I can do is keep an eye on this
at the moment, but it goes to show you that everyone in the US need to spread
the word.
~~~
orenmazor
your dad would be the first canadian I've heard of that is an avid FOX news
fan. how can you even catch fox news up here? (I dont have cable, but when I
did I dont think we had the news…)
~~~
nitrogen
Hypothetically, if you're close enough to the border, you can pay for e.g. a
DISH Network subscription at a US address and bring the equipment across. I'm
neither Canadian nor a border patrol officer, so I can't say how common or
effective this strategy would be.
------
pivotal
This is precisely why a blackout day of major web sites is necessary. If
Google, Yahoo, Bing and Facebook are all down for the day, not only would the
users be made more aware of the issue, but the media would be forced to cover
the blackout and subsequently SOPA, lest they appear completely out of touch
with the world.
------
thebigshane
I've read the bill at least twice now and I still don't see the doomsday
scenario described many times here on HN.
I get the slippery-slope argument, that SOPA is just one step closer to true
censorship and control over the internet, but I don't think that is enough to
get so upset about (its a very small step, with obvious workarounds)
Somebody please point out to me:
1) Where it says that Youtube, Facebook, Google are affected by this bill. --
It looks to me like it only affects sites on foreign domains or foreign
servers. They explicitly say that these popular sites are not affected.
2) Where it says that ISP's, hosting companies, domain registrars or even
sites focused on user-generated content are required to actively monitor their
data and their customers' data for infringing content and are held liable if
they fail to monitor. -- It appears to me that the bill specifically says they
DON'T have to do this; that they only have to make reasonable attempts at
prevention and then are required to take data down when given a take-down
request.
3) How tor would be made illegal under this bill. -- It looks like only tools
designed or marketed for the primary purpose of circumventing _this bill_ are
made illegal. That means DeSOPA and MAFIAAfire, but tor seems to be out of
reach.
Back on topic of the article, perhaps there isn't a conspiracy here, perhaps
media outlets genuinely don't see what the big deal is.
I agree that the bill is mostly useless and mostly supported by an aging
industry, and I don't support it. But I don't see the big deal either. So,
somebody please enlighten me because the sensational fog is obstructing my
view.
~~~
sp332
SOPA doesn't require sites to monitor their users. The complaints I've heard:
1\. It requires sites to be removed from DNS if a copyright complaint is made
against them. Specifically, the removal avoids due process. The copyright
holder doesn't need a court order to have the offending site taken down.
2\. Sites are held responsible for content their users upload. So e.g.
Mediafire would be taken down because of content the users uploaded.
~~~
thebigshane
Regarding your #1: My interpretation (which may very well be wrong of course,
IANAL), is that the copyright holder DOES need either a court order or
Attorney General intervention to remove a site from DNS.
Regarding your #2: Again, my interpretation is that this only applies to
foreign sites (either foreign domains or foreign servers)
~~~
dissident
I wouldn't use "there isn't enough due process" to describe why SOPA is a
terrible bill, or any similar legal argument. Besides, many of those problems
have been fixed in the Manager's amendment.
DNS blacklisting as a concept is simply unacceptable. The way it is applied in
SOPA requires that a certain classification of DNS caching servers must
pretend like a website does not exist, which reduces trust in domestic caching
servers and stifles DNSSEC.
If people move to foreign DNS (or local caching servers), which is incredibly
easy, the entire thing is circumvented. But a tricky side-effect takes place:
the system is now balkanized. Servers in the U.S. believe the naming system to
resolve to one IP, and servers everywhere else resolve to something completely
different.
This balkanizing effect can break the effectiveness of CDNs, can congest
Internet traffic, and overall reduces the credibility of the naming system.
Passing SOPA would mean other countries would follow in the same footsteps.
Once every country believes the delegation chain can resolve to whatever they
want to, what is the point in an international naming system?
These are only some of the problems with DNS blacklisting -- nevermind the
security problems -- which are not worth it especially considering it is so
easily circumvented.
Additional problems with the bill, such as the vague wording which may
consider Tor a tool for "circumventing" DNS blacklists and, therefore,
illegal, demonstrate a huge lack of forward thinking and an unsustainable
approach to copyright enforcement.
The doomsday scenario is that government sticks its foot in Internet policy
and communication and pretends it actually has the reasonable capability to
prevent piracy. It will _never_ have that capability without large-scale
violations of privacy.
There are also a good amount of talks regarding the precedent SOPA may have
for general purpose computing and a whole host of other sensitive topics. I
don't think it's responsible to just point at provisions in the bill and say
"well it seems to add enough oversight".
Besides, the bill encourages preemptive takedowns by providing immunity. The
tech industry behaviors that will result would be devastating.
~~~
thebigshane
I think you have great points but I don't believe they sufficiently support
the doomsday freak-out I'm witnessing.
DNS blacklisting is already happening in the US and all over the world (ICE:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_En...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Immigration_and_Customs_Enforcement#Intellectual_Property)
and DNSBL: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNSBL>). I admit we are already on a
slippery slope here with blacklisting, but I think most of your DNS comments
could be attributed to failures in the design of DNS (and CDNs) themselves. If
you want trust, security, and prevention from censorship (as I do too), DNS is
not your answer. I hope namecoin better address these issues
(<https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Namecoin>).
If you are scared of censorship, don't rely on infrastructure that is owned by
parties you don't trust.
SOPA supporters must know this will not _stop_ piracy (the bill is
contradictorily named, I know), but surely, it would minimize the piracy and
counterfeiting that effects the non-tech-savvy American masses. And I truly
believe that is their intent.
Personally, I don't think we should be legislating the Internet at all, but
we've already started, and although future legislation on this slippery slope
could be devastating, _this_ bill seems to be fairly neutered. Good issues are
being brought up with the discussion of SOPA, but SOPA itself is _not_ the end
of the internet.
~~~
dissident
Couldn't be more wrong, sorry.
The ICE seizures are perfectly fine because they target the delegation chain
directly -- they are _actually_ seizing the domain from a registrar or TLD
authority with control over it within the chain. They are _not_ a DNS
blacklist and it does not interfere with caching servers.
SOPA attempts to target names which are not within U.S. jurisdiction by asking
caching servers maintained by ISPs to refuse resolution of names where the
delegation chain does not cede authority to entities within U.S. jurisdiction.
This is an unprecedented technique for censoring content online.
DNSBL is absolutely not what you think it is, I'd recommend reading that
wikipedia article more carefully. It is a voluntary blacklist which is
implemented by IRC servers and mail software, but does not force cache servers
to resolve names differently or anything close to what you're suggesting. It's
just a list of names "you shouldn't trust" but not a censorship/redirection
system.
There are no design flaws in the way CDNs work either, I don't know where
you're getting that. SOPA harms CDNs by removing the efficiency achieved
through geotargetted name resolution (something provided by caching servers).
~~~
thebigshane
I didn't realize the process used by ICE was different than what SOPA
suggests, but that makes sense now that you've explained it.
I don't understand how DNSBL is different though for the end user. I realize
DNSBL is voluntary and SOPA would mandate/force, but I don't see how the
effects are different. For a DNS server that uses a DNSBL, does it regard a
blacklisted domain name through DNSBL differently than one that blacklisted
through SOPA?
Regarding CDNs, for a user initiating request for a non-blacklisted site, why
would the CDN be now less efficient in its response?
I have no idea if there is a design flaw in DNS or CDNs. My point is that if
DNS and CDNs become drastically inefficient by having to ignore certain names,
then it sounds like it could have been designed better to handle such cases.
~~~
dissident
> I realize DNSBL is voluntary and SOPA would mandate/force, but I don't see
> how the effects are different. For a DNS server
Bam, stop right there. DNS servers do not use DNSBL. There's your answer.
DNSBL is used in circumstances like this: You're connecting to an IRC server.
It does some tests to make sure you're not spoofing your host, like using
reverse DNS (PTR records). IRC servers will also try to prevent spammers and
flooders by denying access to hosts that are in a DNSBL -- likely open
proxies.
Here's some IRC software which does specifically that:
<http://www.blitzed.org/proxy/>
I am running some mail servers which are having trouble delivering mail to
gmail right now. gmail is returning back this error:
The IP you're using to send mail is not authorized to
send email directly to our servers. Please use the SMTP relay your
service provider instead.
Turns out, it's because the IPs I've been allocated are in Spamhaus, which is
an implementation of DNSBL that specifically targets spammers.
Again, this is an action by the server software itself. It is not a mandate,
and is not actually a restriction on DNS. It is nothing like blacklisting
cache servers. The name has confused you.
> Regarding CDNs, for a user initiating request for a non-blacklisted site,
> why would the CDN be now less efficient in its response?
If you're trying to access Google, their nameservers may give your ISP's
caching servers a different resolution if you're in California rather than in
the UK, usually to resolve to closer servers. This is only effective because
nameservers can target cache servers which are specific to geographic areas,
and is a great side-effect of the current structure of the naming system and
of the Internet.
By forcing people away from domestic nameservers, this targeted effect fails.
A foreign cache server will return inefficient resolutions to queries compared
to a domestic one operated by an ISP.
Aside from being terrible for the end user, it also begins to put stress and
congest different areas of the global Internet unexpectedly. Though
arrangements can be made to compensate, it's pretty annoying and will never be
as efficient as before.
> My point is that if DNS and CDNs become drastically inefficient by having to
> ignore certain names, then it sounds like it could have been designed better
> to handle such cases.
The only real "design flaw" in DNS is the inflated trust in cache servers.
DNSSEC tries to resolve this by attaching a chain of authentication alongside
the delegation chain which can be verified. SOPA breaks DNSSEC entirely
because it cannot return these authenticated messages (it is resolving
incorrectly or lying about the delegation chain).
DNS was not designed to be censored in the way proposed by SOPA; it is not a
design flaw in SOPA, it's a flaw in the legislation.
~~~
thebigshane
This is a fantastic response and I'm glad you took the time to write it. I'm
sorry I misinterpreted DNSBL, I guess I read "either as a zone file that can
be used by DNS server software" and assumed they meant the main DNS servers
really _do_ use them.
Final question for you: Do you believe that if SOPA passes, it would really
have drastic effects to the internet functionally? So, besides censorship and
liability, do you think there would be a noticeable difference for tech-savvy
internet users and website operators in regards to things you mentioned above
(or perhaps haven't mentioned yet)?
~~~
dissident
> Do you believe that if SOPA passes, it would really have drastic effects to
> the internet functionally?
Yes. Things would have to shift around the compensate, but the real problem
begins when SOPA justifies similar legislation in other countries, especially
ones being bound by trade agreements which call for this type of stuff.
In the U.S. they claim "oh, but we're just going to target people who violate
the law. You know, copyright infringement." Even if that were true, other
countries have a long history of applying _their_ laws, which usually suck and
go much further to stifle speech.
SOPA legitimizes this method of blacklisting, thus leading to a balkanization
of the naming system. People begin to move away from the cache servers,
causing slowdowns in resolution and CDNs. Once this proves ineffective, the
U.S. will want to censor any DNS server that resolves an IP to something they
don't want. Then we have deep packet inspection.
It really will not end unless we force it to end. SOPA takes a drastic step
that even the DMCA didn't do. DMCA targeted activities under U.S.
jurisdiction. The next chapter in the global censorship game is the attack on
websites outside jurisdiction, which is not feasible without immense privacy
encroachments.
I don't want to see us going down that path. We need to go the complete
opposite direction when it comes to copyright. SOPA also places way too much
of a legal and logistical burden on companies within the U.S., which is going
to lead a lot of people toward countries with progressive outlooks on
copyright, like in some places in Europe.
------
smokeyj
It seems as if our representative government only represents money. Yet again,
the profit motive prevails.
------
bediger
Ben Bagdikian called. He wants his truth back. [http://www.amazon.com/New-
Media-Monopoly-Completely-Chapters...](http://www.amazon.com/New-Media-
Monopoly-Completely-
Chapters/dp/0807061875/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325861031&sr=8-1)
------
warmfuzzykitten
Clicking on the "developing apps" link gets to a reference to a "NoSOPA"
chrome app. I installed it and went to Lamar Smith's website. Nothing. Went to
Kirsten Gillibrand's. Nothing. NoSOPA noWorka. But it did have access to all
my web content. Uninstalled.
------
jaequery
The same goes for Ron Paul. Google for "Ron Paul ignored by media". US does
the exact same thing the China, N.Korea does to brainwash their civilians, and
yet, they accuse the others for doing so.
~~~
jaylevitt
Ron Paul's been on the front page of the Washington Post web site nearly every
day. And they're kinda mainstream.
------
jader201
I wonder if they will continue to remain silent if this happens:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3429145>
------
InclinedPlane
They aren't covering NDAA either. Or the Mexican civil war.
It's not necessarily because of a conflict of interest, I think it's more down
to failure of competence.
~~~
jjackson21
There is a clear agenda, the only failure is journalistic integrity.
They have to keep the masses ignorant of SOPA, Patriot Act, and NDAA, wouldn't
want people to be upset with the destruction of the Constitution.
They are expecting the worst and so are now preparing for the worst. I am
scared of things to come.
~~~
InclinedPlane
You imagine that the media takes its purported role of keeping the public
informed on the most important news of the day seriously. That hasn't been
true even moderately for the last decade at the least.
It's infotainment. There is no fundamental difference between CBS, ABC, NBC,
CNN, and techcrunch, or TMZ. The biggest differences are primarily stylistic.
------
tomelders
Freedom of the press... to do whatever the fuck they want.
I propose they lose that freedom and instead we burden them with the
"Responsibility of the press".
That should grant them the same privileges and protection, but also makes them
accountable when they pull crap like this.
~~~
cellis
I propose you should be _downvoted_ for promoting the same type of
authoritarianism that you claim to hate. Instead of trying to enforce some
highly subjective rule, why not just start your own new disruptive news
services?
~~~
tomelders
I propose you think before you type and stop looking for things that aren't
there. You're the tyrant here.
~~~
cellis
How about instead of snide remarks and name calling, you actually give a
decent rebuttal to my argument?
How on earth would a "responsibility of the press" law make things any better?
By reporting on things tomelders likes to hear about? It sounds like an
authoritarian lockdown and your cavalier suggestion of it implies you haven't
done much research on _why_ freedom of the press actually works.
~~~
tomelders
I refer back to my original rebuttal that was down voted. I never mentioned
anything about creating a new "Law". You made that up and inserted it to suit
your own agenda.
As far as I'm aware, there is no definition of a "Freedom of the press" law
here in the UK, or in the US. It's often assumed that Freedom of Speech (or
the first amendment) ensures Freedom of the press, with a few other laws and
rights tacked on specific to publications and journalisms. Which implies you
yourself haven't done much research. I'd go as far to say that you've not a
single buttery fuck of a clue what you're talking about if I'm honest.
But let's take a look at what Freedom of the press actually means, and
hopefully you'll learn something. It originated with John Milton in 17th
Century britain who argued that the individual is capable of using reason and
also distinguishing between right and wrong, good and bad. In order to be able
to exercise this ration right, the individual must have unlimited access to
the ideas of his fellow men in “a free and open encounter."
That, you ignoramus, is Freedom of the press in a nutshell. Note that it
implies a burden of responsibility when it mentions "Free and open" encounter.
Such things don't simply magic themselves into existence. This is not a fairy
tale world we live in. People actually have to work hard at breathing life
into such things.
But no one can say that this "free and open" exchange of ideas and information
is taking place in this day and age. This entire comment thread is dedicated
to the very fact that news organisations are wilfully and nefariously stifling
the "free and open exchange" of information to suit their own individual needs
and goals. They are wilfully abandoning their own responsibility to report the
news and will undoubtedly use a "freedom of the press" argument to defend
their indefensible actions. All while slack jawed brain donors such as
yourself argue to your blue in the face in defence this "Freedom". A freedom
unlike any other. A freedom which yields hitherto unheard of powers of
influence, but requires not one jot of responsibility or decency in order to
maintain. We should expect those which shield themselves with such a freedom
to be held to higher standard, and for a time they were. But today? I fear
they are not.
It's also worth noting that it took some 200 years from John Miltons campaign
against government censorship until "The Truth" became an admissible defence
against accusations of libel (hence the phrase, "The bigger the truth, the
bigger the libel"). To think that we have somehow managed to strike the
perfect balance between an individuals right to privacy, the publics right to
know and the press's right to report as they see fit stinks of both arrogance
and laziness on your part. There's work still to be done and I propose you
pick up the mantle by responding to every news organisations wail of "Freedom
of the Press!! Freedom of the press" with the counter question, "What about
the Responsibility of the press!?".
But if you want the ultimate example of why Freedom of the press is bullhunky
and Responsibility of the press os sorely lacking, consider this. Michael
Jackson died on June 25th 2009. Tell me, what was happening the day before
Wacko Jackco popped his rhinestone encrusted moon walking clogs?
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jun/24/iran-crisis>
That news story all but disappeared the second the King of Pop breathed his
last. Lot's of people died. Iran seized the opportunity and while no one was
looking, it violently crushed the opposition and no body cared.
Freedom of the press? I wouldn't wipe my arse with it. Hows that for a fucking
rebuttal.
~~~
cellis
Got to this late, but you raise some points I'd like to address. And thanks
for the history lesson. But, you can't keep calling your opponents names and
expect to retain legitimacy. As to your accusation that I'm creating a "law"
strawman of "responsibility of the press", please refute it. Once you start
defining constructs that others must abide by, you're well on your way to
creating laws.
The key you're forgetting about freedom of the press is that it cuts both
ways.
The contract the press has with the public is "Sure, you're allowed to print
whatever you wish, but don't expect us to BELIEVE you once you've exhausted
all your credibility (and we don't believe you by default)". Likewise, if you
continuously deliver relevant information and editorial you will be rewarded
with higher readership/viewership and _trust_. No, this isn't perfect, but it
beats the bejeesus out of a state controlled news service (which, btw, we DO
have , it's called CSPAN and NPR but the masses here in the U.S. can't be
bothered). What I'm saying is essentially to let the free market do it's job.
It won't always be perfect, but at least if you hate it you can try to change
it without cutting through loads of bureaucratic tape.
Now on to this _law_. What? Yes you want a law. You want to _force_ the
"press" to abide by a subjective regulation of reporting on the "truth".
Leaving aside the obvious axioms of math and physics, "truth" is different to
many people. My truths may not be your truths, so I'd like "truth" presented
in a way that reflects my bias. And that is all the press is doing.
------
4tacos
"There's no conspiracy" he said sarcastically. Screw the "International
Banker" Media. Think for yourself!!!!!!!!
------
davehod
No surprises here
------
the_tubes
I want to call my representatives but I feel they will give me a hard time and
use that politician improve skill to make it seem like I don't know what I am
talking about. Give me good ideas on what to say when I don't support SOPA and
PIPA that they can't fight back. Ideas why I don't like it while playing
devil's advocate
+policing my web site to a point I can't manage it.
-well your website can't be controlled and needs to be shut down
+Small time businesses use user created content to advertise cheaply and won't
be able to when these sites shut down or big business shuts you down with the excuse
of violating their IP
-Sites and small businesses will only be taken down when they are obviously
designed to infringe on others IP
+The security of the internet will crumble with DNS blocking from other countries
-How?
I want wording to the point where they say, "Well, damn! I guess you're
right."
~~~
mr_luc
I agree with you, it's hard to explain. Here's a sketch of how to frame the
discussion, just for fun:
WHAT WILL SOPA DO TO THE INTERNET?
The Internet is the Goose That Lays the Golden Eggs, and this bill wants to
let Hollywood perform surgery on it. Every tech expert and internet company
agree that this would be a drastic, disruptive shift. I say, the Internet's
been working pretty good for [country] so far. Don't break it by putting more
paperwork and gatekeepers in there.
HOW, IN LAYMAN'S TERMS, IS SOPA HARMFUL?
Imagine you're an entrepreneur. Your small business is disruptive and
different and successful.
But your big, slow, powerful competitors get worried, and suddenly, your
shop's lights and water are turned off. Crazier still, your shop is physically
relocated back away from the street, with no signs and no way for people to
find you. Your bank has closed your account and frozen your funds.
This is all because of a letter, not a court order. Your providers and
suppliers and utilities, they got a letter that claims that you're infringing
on other company's trade secrets. And the law says that they're _guaranteed
legal immunity_ , only if they stop doing business with you.
Most people would say that could never happen in this country. It'd be crazy!
But _every_ reputable Internet expert, and _every_ Internet company agree that
this is what SOPA will do to the Internet.
SOPA provides incentives to service providers to shut down businesses based on
unsubstantiated claims. And it could bring free-market innovation on the
Internet -- the one thing America still does well, the one thing pulling the
economy forward -- to a screeching halt.
WHY IS SOPA BAD FOR THE ECONOMY?
Making new internet businesses vulnerable to immediate and brutal closure
(usually, for their user's actions, not their own!) unless they work out deals
with Big Content in advance would be a terrible drag on innovation.
WHY WOULD THEY WRITE SUCH A BILL?
Because SOPA and PIPA are actually industry-wide power-grabs, a power-play by
the Content Industry Dinosaurs to give themselves the keys to the tech kingdom
under the guise of 'fighting piracy'. This is backed up by how google, Amazon,
Facebook, Tumblr, Youtube and Twitter are all banding together with the Net
Coalition. But the new, growing sectors of the economy aren't as good at
gaming politics as the old, stagnant sectors.
The old sectors see disruption in their future, and this bill would give them
the upper hand in negotiations for how people consume content. In the process,
they would make themselves kingmakers and protection-money-collectors of
startups and services that let users interact and connect in ways that could
be claimed to be 'infringement'. Like sharing a link, or posting a youtube
video.
WHY IS THE BILL SO WELL-SUPPORTED?
It's got scary, bipartisan support, because Big Traditional Business is for it
on the Right, and Big Hollywood Labor is for it on the Left.
...
Just a sketch. ;) This is just for fun -- but if you want to explain it to
someone, I think the shopkeeper-gets-shut-down analogy is a powerful one. Ever
since Rick's Cafe getting shut down in Casablanca, or Jimmy Stewart's S&L,
it's resonated.
------
maeon3
In case you didn't already know, all news stations are agenda driven
propaganda machines, that means they get paid to cause people to have certain
opinions, desires, fears and knowledge. It is a brainwashing engine that takes
every measure to make sure it doesn't look like that. The same can be found in
China, Russia, Iran, Japan. stations that install complete fabrications of
reality in the viewers minds for profit.
Getting fox news to report sopa is a lost cause. Even if we were to riot and
set half the country on fire against sopa... All news stations would have
their own narratives and spin the hell out of it to make it seem like the
terrorists are winning because there isn't enough censorship.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
3 reasons why tech valuations aren't as outrageous as some think - ibsathish
http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/?p=15768&preview=true
======
stormqloud
Funny how there is no disclaimer that the writer stands to benefit by saying
that.
""Scott Kupor is the managing partner and chief operating officer at
Andreessen Horowitz,""
CNN this is what we call sales literature or propoganda.
This isn;t some kid of balanced article that is randomly presented.
The more insane the valuation the less real work Kupor has to do and the
earlier he can retire.
It's naked self interest not economics.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Don’t Hire Anyone Over 30: Ageism in Silicon Valley - majc2
http://anewdomain.net/2014/12/11/dont-hire-anyone-30-ageism-silicon-valley/
======
jqm
I'm 43.
This article hit a very strong point. I remember being told point blank at 32
(by a boomer company owner) that even though I was doing the job and had the
capabilities, I simply wasn't old enough to be high level management yet. So a
short time later I offered my resignation, and he responded by trying to give
me a substantial share of the company with the option to buy out the rest over
the next decade.....
Hilarious.
At any rate, I'm not threatened by companies that won't hire people my age.
I've seen plenty of people my age that have grown fat and grey and are burnt
out and lazy with the spark gone out of their eyes. But I've also seen enough
to know that time keeps marching on, and the foolish and trivial is shaken out
before very long. Many of these types of companies won't be around long enough
for the law to take action. Those that do last will find they are soon enough
full of... fat grey middle aged people protecting their jobs and going to
meetings....
I happen to agree that young people are on average smarter. (As in mentally
faster). But if one is exceptionally mentally fast to begin with, another
person does not automatically become mentally faster by virtue of youth alone.
And as for bad judgement and a misunderstanding of how the world works....
well, that's a subject for another post...
~~~
IndianAstronaut
I work with a 62 year old that puts me and everyone around him to shame. He is
very productive in the company, readily picks up new technologies, is an open
source contributor, and also manages to bike to work. Age doesn't have to
equal stagnation.
------
hawkice
The reason age discrimination isn't included in the diversity mea culpas is
because they have no plan to change. The economics of manipulating young
professionals is too compelling to be changed by (mere) outrage.
------
mkempe
Here is Sam Altman on Twitter, in April 2014, during a YC interview period:
"it's a little creepy when someone has a 35 year old looking face and 70 year
old looking hands" [1]
[1]
[https://twitter.com/sama/status/460215704302534657](https://twitter.com/sama/status/460215704302534657)
------
wcummings
>The head of the most prominent start-up incubator told The New York Times
that most venture capitalists in the Valley won’t take a pitch from anyone
over 32.
I have a really hard time taking this seriously
~~~
majc2
I went back and looked and you're right, that paraphrasing doesn't appear in
the NY times article that they're using as a source.
Also, the gawker article used as the source for the Buzz feed comments doesn't
read as being about age at all.
Given the two strikes at the first two things I've looked at it just calls
into credibility the whole article - which is a shame, as there probably a
good conversation about age to be had.
~~~
mkempe
The original NYT quote is pretty easy to find. May 2013, Paul Graham: "The
cutoff in investors’ heads is 32." [1]
Still in denial mode?
[1] [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/magazine/y-combinator-
sili...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/magazine/y-combinator-silicon-
valleys-start-up-machine.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0)
~~~
majc2
Well thats not what they linked to though is it.
Suggesting I'm in denial mode is unhelpful - as I've already said there is a
good conversation about age to be had.
~~~
mkempe
It's just factual. You're both denigrating the value of the linked article
based on not knowing about Paul Graham's NYT quote.
Even if there were no such specific, personally identifiable quote -- should
we deny that there are v.high-level players in SV who indulge in and
(apparently) support ageism?
------
joshbaptiste
In this day and age when a person can create value from their bedroom
developing applications (especially mobile), who cares about not being hired
to build someone else's dream, just build your own.
------
geebee
I generally prefer to use the phrase "age-related employment difficulties"
rather than flat out "age discrimination" when talking about silicon valley. I
absolutely do not doubt that there is plenty the latter, but a bigger issue is
the general culture that, as the article puts it, "might as well be
scientifically designed in order to make adults with kids and a mortgage run
away screaming".
I do think these sorts of articles and stories about the experience of being
middle aged win silicon valley re important, because young people do need a
counterpoint to the almost relentless message that there is a shortage of
software developers and that what the US really needs is more young people
going into CS.
What they need to hear is that in San Jose, registered nurses earn a bit more
than software developers (122k/yr median vs 116k), and dental hygienists in SF
earn only a bit less. Lawyers in San Jose, in spite of all the talk of a glut,
earn a median of 185K a year.
No, it isn't paradise in these fields, the grass is never totally and
perfectly green on the other side. But we need to understand how rational the
aversion to software development careers really is when you consider the
options available to highly educated, focused, intelligent young people.
Of course, plenty of people still do ok as they cross the 40, 50, 60 year
threshold. However, in many fields, there is nothing remarkable about this.
Lawyers and dental hygienists don't tell stories on job boards about they guy
over 40 they know who managed to stay relevant. Many young people considering
a career or college major are increasingly aware of what goes on, this is yet
another reason why they avoid this field or abandon it quickly and early in
their careers.
------
chrisbennet
The article mentions that silicon valley hasn't had a net increase in jobs
since 1998 and links to this article:
[http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/531726/technol...](http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/531726/technology-
and-inequality/)
"According to Chris Benner, a regional economist at the University of
California, Davis, there has been no net increase in jobs in Silicon Valley
since 1998; digital technologies inevitably mean you can generate billions of
dollars from a low employment base."
------
blisterpeanuts
The linked article is not exactly the pinnacle of journalistic quality
(referring to generic alleged age discriminators as "jerks", for example), but
the topic is timely and relevant.
As a 50-something IT guy, of course, I'm painfully aware of age screening in
the hiring process, and I've reluctantly acquiesced in recent years to others'
advice to shorten my lengthy resume to include only the past 10-15 years'
worth of experience.
But, I'm not about to go out and sue somebody. First of all, I'm not into
suing potential employers; it tends to burn bridges, waste money, and just
make things worse overall.
Secondly, go prove it. I mean, I've applied for hundreds of jobs over the
years, and most of them either never answer, or interview me then decline to
offer, or sometimes put me on hold and a few months later ask me to come fill
a different position. Who am I to conclude that it's all about age?
There are so many factors involved that isolating age as _the_ main reason for
being passed over is difficult if not impossible. Of course, companies
sometimes do settle out of court just to avoid the expense and bad press
associated with defending themselves, but that just feeds the lawsuit beast
and I'm really against frivolous lawsuits and the horrific effect they've had
on our society.
Thirdly, why would I, at my current stage in life, want to be an employee of a
company run by and full of 20-somethings who are young enough to be my sons
(or, occasionally, daughters ;)? I have been there, and I find myself cringing
to watch Junior say and do silly things. The father in me tells me to let him
go ahead and make his mistakes because that's part of growing up. The
politician in me tells me to keep my mouth shut and look for something better.
Nope, although I'm quite fortunate right now to have a work-from-home full
time job designing and writing web apps and mobile apps for a living, if I
found myself out of work I'd probably try to start my own consulting business
or otherwise try to make it free-lancing and partnering with other app writers
and designers rather than go and try to be a code monkey at a 20-something
start-up. Or try to start my own start-up, for that matter.
The 20-somethings (except for a few cool, mature-beyond-their-years ones)
don't relate to me, because they're young and inexperienced. I can relate to
them, however, but I have already been through that awkward phase of life and
have little interest in reliving it!
Frankly I'm surprised that so many 40-somethings and 50-somethings really want
to work in such an environment. A friend of mine in SV complains about his
manager who is half his age, who said "convert this script from Python to
Java; it shouldn't take you more than half an hour" and in fact it took my
friend two weeks. Come on, if it takes half an hour then do it yourself,
hotshot. On the other hand I have a manager who is 20+ years my junior, and
he's very cool, mature beyond his years, very focused on business.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
End the DRY obsession - paulsilver
http://joelabrahamsson.com/entry/the-dry-obsession
======
div
"I also remember being taught that a good way to ensure DRYness was to use
inheritance..."
DRY has nothing to do with inheritance per se. Sure you get some functionality
for free when extending something, but that's more of a nice side-effect.
As someone already pointed out in the comments, favoring composition over
inheritance is likely to solve most of the problems the author is talking
about.
Railing against DRY is just wrong if you consider the alternative. I'd rather
have a list of static utility methods (what's wrong with those anyway) then
the same line(s) of code copy pasted all over the place.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Swift's Abstract Syntax Tree - aciid
http://ankit.im/swift/2016/02/29/swift-abstract-syntax-tree/
======
yjgyhj
After learning lisp, I just feel like every other language is a weird set of
macros. Looking at this AST confirms that.
Wish I could live the rest of my life in Sexp-land.
~~~
chriswarbo
Seeing this "dump AST" option for Swift is truly refreshing.
I've come to the opinion that when sending data in or out of software, it
should always preserve as much structure as possible in an easily parseable
form accessible to off-the-shelf parsers; e.g. s-expressions, JSON or, if it
can't be avoided, XML. Even thrown-together debugging messages. Basically I
should be able to reconstruct all of the structure in basically any
programming language with something like one module import and a function call
(or equivalent); I shouldn't have to define my own parsing rules, no matter
how simple their author thinks they are.
Not only this, but any format which, for some reason, cannot be represented in
this way, e.g. programs in languages which consciously avoid s-expressoins,
should pass through a layer which _does_ convert to a structured form, and
this form should be obtainable, e.g. by setting an environment variable or a
commandline flag. That's why I commend this "dump AST" flag.
It's basically the opposite of the many "Lisp-on-top-of-X" approaches. Instead
of being able to write s-exprs which translate to some underlying language,
like Swift, I should be able to translate any Swift into s-exprs to be
manipulated. Why? Because there will always be strictly less code written in a
Lispy language than there will be for the underlying platform as a whole. For
example, there will always be less code written in Clojure than code written
for the JVM.
The benefits of s-expressions (and accessible AST structures in general) is
that they can be inspected, transformed, manipulated, pulled apart,
recombined, etc. This is of some use when programming, e.g. having macros
manipulate our Clojure ASTs, but not a huge amount; after all, we could write
our code in a different way which didn't need the macros (we could even, in
principle, write it in Java!).
In contrast, being able to manipulate code which _isn 't_ ours is much more
useful; since we _don 't_ have the option of writing it a different way (since
we didn't write it at all!).
~~~
westoncb
Interesting. I've been thinking about an alternate way of structuring
programming tools that's along these lines. I've written about it here:
[http://westoncb.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-to-make-view-
indepe...](http://westoncb.blogspot.com/2015/06/how-to-make-view-independent-
program.html)
~~~
chriswarbo
Very interesting, especially tracing a path through the grammar; I saw "path"
and was expecting something more unwieldy like an infinite trie of all valid
programs.
Whilst I agree that the visual and on-disk representations of programs are too
tightly-coupled, there are many structure-based IDE experiments out there, but
few see much adoption due to the immense momentum of existing infrastructure,
and the subtlety of integrating nicely with things like version control.
It's a less drastic change to make existing language compilers/interpreters
more modular, so that we can use them for things like parsing, type-checking,
optimisation, etc. in a "standalone" way, without having to reinvent
everything from scratch each time we want to do something the implementors
didn't consider.
~~~
westoncb
Hey Chris, thanks for checking it out.
The way I see it, the fact that our programming tools operate on huge
character sequences is historical accident. Rather than coming up with a
particular editor, I'm trying to think of what a more 'correct' structure for
representing programs in general would be, as a replacement for character
sequences.
Of course this is essentially suggesting a paradigm shift, and as you say
(approximately), the current paradigm has lots of momentum.
It feels like this might be closer to describing planetary orbits with the
more natural ellipses rather than circles—but maybe I'm just suggesting
triangles or something :)
------
vmorgulis
It would be useful to add a command line tool with a linq/jquery-like syntax
over that.
I've discovered few weeks ago the same feature (a bit hidden) in GCC:
gcc -fdump-translation-unit=ast.txt file.c
It gives the AST in a flat map (parent/child with ids).
~~~
yjgyhj
Well since it is s-expresssions (those paren things, looks like lisp), it is
also very similar to JSON objects or XML elements.
If you want to convert it to HTML you could do pretty easily. Use the car &
cdr functions in lisp, and transform every car into a string like this `"<" \+
symbol + ">"`. Convert the closing paren to `"</" \+ symbol + ">"`. In the
middle you put the result of cdr.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAR_and_CDR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAR_and_CDR)
Writing LISP is basically writing the AST without hiding it behind a textual
syntax. The only textual syntax is the paren symbols that delimit the nodes in
the syntax tree. It's a simpler way to live.
------
Kinnard
That looks like lisp?
~~~
chumich1
You are right! Lisp is homoiconic which basically means that the language
mirrors the AST
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoiconicity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homoiconicity)
~~~
Kinnard
Hmmm, I am learning a lisp now I've been reluctant to dive in but this makes
me all the more willing
~~~
yjgyhj
It's simpler than it seems, and how strange people make it out to be held me
off for a long time.
There are cons cells. A cons cell is basically an untyped tuple. The syntax
for a cons cell containing a number look like this: (1 nil) (where nil is the
zero byte (I think, please correct me if I'm wrong)).
You can nest them, like this: (1 (2 (3 nil))).
Because nobody can be bothered to type those parens, the part of the
compiler/interpreter called the Reader compiles syntax like this
(1 2 3)
to this
(1 (2 (3 nil))).
After being parsed by "the reader" (you could also call it "parser"), those
nested tuples/cons cells are sent to eval function. The eval function takes
the first element of the list (aka `car` in lisp-speak. My mnemonic is that a
is to the left of the keyboard, therefore means first element). That first
element is being regarded as the function, and the second element in the cons
cell is the argument to the function.
The function to get the second item in the cons cell is `cdr`. I remember that
by having `d` being to the right on my keyboard. (car 1 2) => 1\. (cdr 1 2) =>
2\. (cdr 1 (2 (3 nil))) => (2 (3 nil)). That is how things are nested.
I digress. The eval function evaluates every symbol (aka atom) in these nested
cons cells, and looks up the corresponding meaning of them in a big table of
defined symbols. So the + symbol might match an addition function, the string-
join symbol might match to a function for joining strings.
What is returned from eval you could say is the true AST, which still looks
pretty darn similar to the lisp syntax. The function is then sent to the apply
function, which applies the argument to the function. Remember that the
argument can be a nested set of cons cell, so it can nest infinitely.
That's it! I'm no lisp expert, so if someone is, please correct me. But that's
the gist of it. Syntax is read by the read function, the symbols are
interpreted (lookup in a big key-value object) by the eval function, these
function gets apply-ed with their argument. Very few primitives are needed by
build a system from that. Here is a list of the primitives needed - these can
be implemented in binary, C, assembly, Java, Javascript or whatever:
[http://stackoverflow.com/a/3482883](http://stackoverflow.com/a/3482883).
BONUS SYNTAX:
If you want a eval to skip over a cons cell (and of course it's children), you
can prepend it with a `'` symbol. So (cdr 1 '(this is never going to be
evaled, but is just a list)) => (this is never going to be evaled, but is just
a list)
This is called a 'quote'. Any Javascript array is basically working like a
quoted list. If the first item in a javascript array was a function, and you
applied the cdr of that array as argument to that funciton, it would be like
using lisp with an not-quoted list.
BONUS VIDEO:
This is just lovely. I'm not American, and do not have a CS degree, so I feel
like attending a place like this is a far dream. But happy to be able to enjoy
it over the interwebs. Incredibly thankful to the giants of computing on whose
shoulders we can stand
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Op3QLzMgSY&list=PLF4E3E1B72...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Op3QLzMgSY&list=PLF4E3E1B72A58B492)
~~~
dragonwriter
A note on notation:
The standard notation for a cons cell with car "x" and cdr "y" is (x . y), not
(x y). The latter is a list, equivalent of (x . (y . nil)).
So (1 2 3) is equivalent to (1 . (2 . (3 . nil)), _not_ (1 (2 (3 nil))). The
latter is a nested _list_ , which is equivalent to (1 . ((2 . ((3 . (nil .
nil)) . nil)) . nil))
~~~
yjgyhj
Good catch, thank you.
To anyone who wants to play around with lisp, I recommend downloading the
emacs text editor. Just open it, navigate around with the arrow keys. Type an
s-expression, and place the point after the ")". Then type Ctrl-x Ctrl-e, and
the expression will be sent thru read -> eval -> apply. Fun to just play
around with.
(+ 1 2)_ ;; _ means the cursor, ";" means a comment
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Draw Something: 5 week old app with 20 million downloads - wr1472
http://www.businessinsider.com/omg-5-week-old-app-draw-something-hits-20-million-downloads-and-generates-6-figures-per-day-2012-3
======
ashconway
Wow. Staggering results. Fantastic news for the team.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Applying a Social Computing Strategy to the Entire Product Lifecycle - nreece
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2007/09/12/web-strategy-advanced-applying-a-social-computing-strategy-to-the-entire-product-lifecycle/
======
dappelbaum
Read this if you geek on geeking out about socialness.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
List of Paradoxes - peter_d_sherman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_paradoxes
======
peter_d_sherman
Here be dragons...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Manufacturing Jobs Aren’t Coming Back - SQL2219
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602869/manufacturing-jobs-arent-coming-back/
======
a2tech
Yup. This is what I was just arguing with my family about-they voted Trump
because they want manufacturing jobs back. I pointed out that if the US
imposes trade tariff's high enough to make manufacturing things like steel
cost effective again in the US the people that build the plants will simply
put in these kinds of robots-not people. Robots work Saturday and Sunday for
the same cost as a week day and with far less bitching.
~~~
Inconel
It is my feeling that at least some of the anger being expressed isn't so much
about jobs being displaced by robots today or in the near future, although
these are serious concerns as well, but instead the steady hollowing out of
these manufacturing jobs through offshoring over a period of 20-30 years were
the overwhelming financial benefits have gone to a very small portion of the
American population, namely those occupying high positions within
multinational corporations.
~~~
6502nerdface
Arguably the overwhelming benefits have gone to a very _large_ portion of the
American population, so large that it's hard for individuals to trace and see.
Think of the cascade of effects of all these manufacturing outputs being
created more efficiently/cheaply, which in turn are inputs to other products,
and the opportunity savings of which flow into other endeavors all around us.
However, I do generally agree with your diagnosis that the anger isn't so much
about automation per se, as about changes in post-war economic structures
finally starting to reach some tipping point, whether perceived rightly or
not.
~~~
cmdrfred
Do you have any data for that position?
Wage growth for example has been flat overall:
[https://frbatlanta.org/chcs/wage-growth-
tracker/?panel=1](https://frbatlanta.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker/?panel=1)
Half of Americans make under 30k a year:
[http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/10/goodbye-middle-
class-...](http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2015/10/goodbye-middle-
class-51-percent-of-all-american-workers-make-less-than-30000-dollars-a-
year.html)
Yet the cost of goods has been increasing steadily:
[http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-
infla...](http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-
rates/)
~~~
yummyfajitas
Wage growth has been flat because compensation has shifted from wages to
benefits. Real compensation per hour has done nothing but increase.
[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/COMPRNFB)
~~~
cmdrfred
98 dollars in 2004 to 105 dollars now is a downward trend once you factor
inflation.
~~~
yummyfajitas
The data I cited already takes inflation into account. You can tell from the
word "real" in the title of the series.
~~~
cmdrfred
My mistake. Still how much of this growth is hitting the poor and middle class
as opposed to executives? My data excludes salaries above 100k.
------
GFischer
A family member that works with industrial assembly lines purchased one, and
it has been a huge boon for him, especially since he doesn't have to
subcontract a welder so much.
He does need a person to watch over the robot for theft and most especially
sabotage, but even then, it's much cheaper than a trained welder (and welds
more cleanly).
The construction syndicate here in Uruguay is very big and very radicalized,
making construction costs ridiculously expensive compared to average wages, I
fear for the first person to bring the bricklaying robot here:
[http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a22082/wat...](http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/robots/a22082/watch-
this-bricklaying-robot-build-a-house-in-two-days/)
Edit: the robot I'm talking about is a robotic orbital welder, something like
this one:
[https://www.robots.com/articles/viewing/a-round-the-edge-
orb...](https://www.robots.com/articles/viewing/a-round-the-edge-orbital-
welding)
------
noahmbarr
As much as I support higher minimal wages, I can't help but conclude that this
will only accelerate capital expendures in human-replacing automation
~~~
lisivka
Automation is good. Eventually, it will lead to shorter working day (e.g. 6 or
even 4 hours), shorter working week (e.g. 4 days, or even 3.5 days), to longer
vacations, to better health care, earlier retirement, and so on.
~~~
throwaway7767
It would be great if that were the result. But it remains to be seen. The
requirement is that humans decide to change their economic system.
If we don't do that (and human society is really good at staying on autopilot
until problems have gotten truly severe), we'll just end up with a mostly-
automated society where the robot owners have everything and everyone else
lives in a ghetto.
~~~
GarvielLoken
See the Roman Empire economy for references. Massive farms powered by slaves,
plebs living on minimum welfare in poverty. Rich aristocrats spending their
time on propaganda and schemes.
~~~
lisivka
Horror story about society without automation. However, North beat South, so
it is gone.
------
matt_s
Does the US really have a problem with unemployment? Nationally it is at its
lowest since like 2000 - around 5% now. Yes averages are not good to use,
there are areas where it might be 0.5% and some where it is 10%.
Bringing back things we used to do is looking in the rear view mirror. There
should be investments in technology, education geared towards that and
visionary things for us to accomplish for the future.
~~~
fixxer
No, we have a problem with wage growth.
That isn't to say that the types of jobs have a huge impact. If McD paid
$25/hr with full benefits, nobody would give a shit. Kind of hard to make that
sustainable without clawing back real jobs from the 3rd world.
Germany seems to do a fine job with their auto industry, robots and all. I
think this article is very flawed as that $8 task is but one of many and also
one of the few perfect for a robot. "Spot welding isn't coming back to human
manufacturing" is more accurate.
~~~
moyta
And a problem with workers rights, our citizens are not fighting for a better
working environment.
~~~
fixxer
Examples?
~~~
antisthenes
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_Sta...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States)
Here's a good start.
~~~
fixxer
Nope, that isn't a good start. I'm looking for examples that show the US has a
bad working environment. You providing a wiki link to "unions in the USA" does
not address the question.
What is bad about our labor environment and why? And compared to whom?
------
rabboRubble
Question for fellow Hackernewsers... my family is from middle America. One of
my younger female relatives is going into the welding trade. She's one of the
more talented young welders out there blending skill and artistry.
My question is this: what would you suggest as a way to "robot proof" herself
from the inevitable automation of the welding trade while staying true to her
craft?
~~~
FiatLuxDave
Suggestion: Learn to do welding of vacuum chambers. Think A&N corp, Kurt J.
Lesker, etc. The welds have to be done on the inside of the chamber, then
cleaned, and I have yet to see a good robot for this. The market is small
enough that it may cost more to develop a good robot than it is worth. It also
pays higher than standard welding.
/used to hire a vacuum welder
~~~
rabboRubble
Thanks FlatLuxDave! I'll pass this along.
------
WalterBright
One way is to lower the expense of hiring people in the US. An obvious one
would be lowering payroll taxes for certain types of jobs. Another way is to
simply lower the corporate tax rate, which would have the additional benefit
of repatriating tons of money that is sitting offshore because of American tax
rates.
~~~
Inconel
I've never run a company so this may be naive or uninformed on my part, but I
get the impression that hiring and firing people, at least here in California,
can be a costly process with regards to unemployment insurance, litigation for
wrongful termination, etc. Again, I may be overestimating this burden on
businesses so please correct me if I'm wrong.
One thing I've noticed over the years is that despite how good your
interview/hiring process may be, you always end up with some hires that don't
work out which lead me to believe that you probably turn away a near equal
amount of applicants that would have been great employees. It's just very
difficult to evaluate someone over the course of a few interviews. For entry
level positions this is even harder since you may not have much professional
experience or reputation to go by.
I've always thought it would be interesting if companies would run a kind of
tryout phase of employment, say 1-3 months, paid of course, at the end of
which the top performers would be given permanent employment. This way a
company might be willing to take on more marginal applicants with the
knowledge that it will be very easy to terminate them. I'm sure there are
negative aspects of such a system that I'm not considering, but as a person
working in aerospace doing manufacturing/skilled labor and without any formal
education beyond high school to fall back on, I always thought such a system
might be a good way for someone like me to get their foot in the door.
~~~
WalterBright
It is true that lowering the employment "friction" (i.e. cost of hiring and
firing) means that employers will be more willing to take risks on new hires.
Some european countries make it difficult to fire people, with the unintended
consequence that companies become very reluctant to hire in the first place.
------
kaa2102
I like to tinker and build things. I still go to humans for value-added sheet-
metal work and welding. However, downstream, mature manufacturing processes
are ripe for replacement by automation.
------
maxerickson
The plummeting cost of capital plant!
Which to me raises an important question. Why aren't these huge cost
reductions showing up in the prices of products from competitive industries
like autos?
~~~
GFischer
Cars ARE cheaper. However, as a sibling commenter mentions, consumers demand
more features, so they're spending about the same (inflation adjusted).
I took the time to investigate a few months ago and came up with this (UK-
centric) example:
_Let 's take a cheap car from the 1960s, an Austin Mini Cooper.
A 1960s Mini Cooper was about 500 pounds. That's 10.000 pounds in today's
money.
Today you can buy a Dacia Sandero for 6.000 pounds. That's almost half of a
Mini Cooper._
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12551017](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12551017)
[http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2232885/Top-...](http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-2232885/Top-5-cheapest-
brand-new-cars-buy-Britain.html)
~~~
nommm-nommm
>consumers demand more features
I don't think customers demand more features as much as governments mandate
more [safety] features. Well, maybe some features are mostly market driven
like power windows replacing crank windows and keyless entry. But I believe
car companies would build bargain basement death machines if they were legally
allowed to.
Here's some inflation adjusted average car prices for the US -
[http://whnt.com/2016/04/25/the-average-car-now-
costs-25449-h...](http://whnt.com/2016/04/25/the-average-car-now-
costs-25449-how-much-was-a-car-the-year-you-were-born/) Cars were the cheapest
in the early 70s.
~~~
GFischer
Interesting graph :) .
To be honest, we have some "bargain basement death machines" on the road here
in Uruguay... but they sure beat the alternative (unsafe motorbikes).
In particular, the Chery QQ (cost in China about U$ 4000) is huge here.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery_QQ3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chery_QQ3)
------
Mc_Big_G
Haha, yeah I said as much in a FB post to my Trump supporting friends. Do you
really think Trump can stop self-driving cars from taking away your truck
driving job? I doubt it.
------
iamgopal
With all being said, can a country without export or import can grow in terms
of quality of live indefinitely??
------
sfifs
The question is what does $8 per Hour look like when factoring in capital
costs, maintenance and flexibility and that's not addressed by the article.
It's interesting that Apple and others closed ultra modern robotics factory in
the US and now essentially assemble most stuff by hand in China.
It argues that robotics is not always a no brainer choice under many
circumstances (which admittedly would be difficult to create in the US)
~~~
zimpenfish
[http://atomicdelights.com/blog/why-your-next-iphone-wont-
be-...](http://atomicdelights.com/blog/why-your-next-iphone-wont-be-ceramic)
(and other blog posts on the same blog) seems to disagree that Apple
"essentially assembles most stuff by hand" \- e.g.
> Apple is the world's largest owner of CNC milling machines and swiss style
> lathes.
~~~
Inconel
You're correct in that Apple is one of, if not the largest owner of CNC
machines, and that those machines are responsible for a large portion of their
total manufacturing work, but I believe they still use a tremendous amount of
human labor for final assembly.
------
alyeulra
Technology should enhance quality of life of people. when it replaces people,
chaos ensue !
~~~
andrewclunn
So no more dishwasher machines, forget self driving cars, bring back elevator
operators, and have more laws like requiring gas station attendants in New
Jersey... What a horrible notion that impeding progress to give people
pointless work, which makes things less convenient and efficient, is somehow a
fix. The population has gone from 1 to near 7 billion people in just over a
hundred years. Economic incentives against just having more unskilled labor is
not a flaw that needs fixing, it's or economic and environmental necessities
coming into alignment, telling us that having 4+ kids is a bad idea in a world
as overpopulated as this, and instead to have smaller families with more
resources put into educating the one or two kids we do have
~~~
ethanbond
I don't see how this addresses the point that millions of people are suffering
due to automation. Are you saying only the well off should be able to have
kids?
~~~
andrewclunn
I'm saying that the solution to this problem won't come from creating fake
work to trick people into thinking that they're productive members of society.
And honestly everyone should be having fewer kids, but the well off already
are. Turns out that evolutionary and economic forces of selection don't favor
people reproducing beyond their means. People can mistake this emergent
property for a planned eugenics program and blame the messenger whenever
somebody speaks the truth, but better to realize that wanting all human life
to have some intrinsic market value does not make it so and plan accordingly.
~~~
ethanbond
"everyone should be having fewer kids, but the well of already are" seems
directly contradictory to "evolutionary and economic forces don't favor people
reproducing beyond their means."
------
thro32
> _it costs barely $8 an hour to use a robot for spot welding in the auto
> industry, compared to $25 for a worker—and the gap is only going to widen._
This is just wrong. Author does not know much about welding or car
manufacturing.
\- Car welding is a best case for robots. Single task repeated many times
exactly the same way. Try different case and you get $1M/hour.
\- $25/hour human cost is too low. With pauses, errors, delays... $100/hour
would be more reasonable.
\- Germany is exactly in this situation, but does not have problem with
unemployment.
~~~
maxerickson
It's quite likely they are quoting the actual costs from 2 different car
plants.
(that would make them highly task specific, but it would reflect the
difference in welding costs for producing cars on a high volume line)
~~~
thro32
I checked linked study:
> _A human welder today earns around $25 per hour (including benefits), while
> the equivalent operating cost per hour for a robot is around $8 when
> installation, maintenance, and the operating costs of all hardware,
> software, and peripherals are amortized over a five-year depreciation
> period._
So human cost does not include total cost, just labour. Comparable cost would
be around $100
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Square Kilometre Array: Radio silence for most powerful telescope in history - bart42_0
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/17/the-square-kilometre-array-radio-silence-in-western-australia-for-most-powerful-telescope-in-history
======
naich
Some of the prototype designs for the aerials are currently being made by a
bloke called Pete, in the room next to me. He keeps his bike locked to a table
and it gets in everyone's way, so we let his tyres down occasionally. They
don't tell you that sort of thing in articles like this.
~~~
Trombone12
They also don't tell you that the SKA is in south africa, with portions built
in australia.
~~~
Someone
Don't they?
_" Once the project is properly under way – with arrays at this site and
another in a remote area of South Africa – it will in effect make up the
biggest radio telescope the world has seen. At Murchison alone there will be
130,000 radio antennas in the first phase, and maybe a million in the second,
taking care of the lower frequency end of the project"_
------
hacker_9
"The telescope will be perhaps 10,000 times more powerful than any we
currently have"
"Right now we can spot planets circling around distant stars. The SKA will be
able to spot the equivalent of an airport radar system on one of those very,
very distant planets."
"visitors must be prepared for, scheduled in and accounted for when looking at
the data this place produces. Long before you get to Boolardy, the
346,000-hectare pastoral station on which the Murchison observatory stands,
the radio-quiet restrictions start. Anyone approaching is asked to turn off
all electronic devices."
Incredible that the age we live in, we section off large swaths of land just
so we can read radio waves from planets so distant we will likely never visit
them. I'm glad the Australian government is getting behind something like this
and look forward to seeing what they uncover.
On a side note, the actual writing of the article irked me a bit as the
reporter is clearly non-technical, and when I saw Moores overquoted Law get a
mention it did make me reconsider the accuracy of other statements made by the
writer.
~~~
onion2k
_Incredible that the age we live in, we section off large swaths of land just
so we can read radio waves from planets so distant we will likely never visit
them._
We're not looking for places to visit. The reason we do space science (and
lots of other fields of science) is that the more fundamental knowledge we
have about the universe, the closer we can get to understanding how the
universe is the way it is, and that makes it more likely that we'll be able to
solve problems we have here on Earth.
Ignoring the fundamentals, the desire to do astronomy has lead to more than a
few useful inventions. Figuring out how the sun works is the basis for our
research in to fusion, which could lead to solving humanity's energy problems
forever. The charge-coupled device in every camera in every smartphone was
originally developed for astronomy. GPS only works because we can use
satellites to track deep space objects. Aperture synthesis in MRI scanners
(combining several images in to one image the size of all the cameras
combined) came from combining the results from telescopes together.
A big field in Australia is a _tiny_ price to pay for what the SKA could come
up with.
~~~
steve19
Many things result in technology being developed. War, for example, creates
vast amounts of technology (including rocket technology, satellite etc) , but
that is not a good reason to engage in warfare.
~~~
onion2k
That's not the same thing at all. The benefits of a destructive pursuit don't
make it a more attractive thing to do. They're in opposition to the negatives
of the original action. The side effects of a constructive pursuit _do_ make
it a more attractive thing to do because they are _in addition_ to the already
positive result of the original action.
~~~
steve19
I don't disagree! In fact I firmly believe that the ends never justifies the
means.
But I wonder how many people would consider a major war to be beneficial if it
lead to real fusion ie. limitless clean energy for the world, the end of
energy poverty, of nuclear fission, and end of global warming.
------
kenny-log_ins
The technical challenges posed by the SKA really are astoundingly huge. The
data generated by these dishes will require much higher data throuput than
even the fastest optical links between CERN and its tier 1 sites (40 Gb/s),
and they will be in the middle of a remote desert. Then there is the scale of
compute and storage needed to analyse the data, which would be totally
unfeasible with the tech we have today. It's an exciting time to be working in
scientific computing!!
~~~
CHY872
Well, that's as much because CERN doesn't need additional throughput than
anything else; technically it's a solved problem, which makes it one of the
easier ones to do something about :)
We can quite easily send 40Gb/s over a single fibre (I feel like I've seen
over a terabit done...), and the undersea cables (more inhospitable than the
remote desert) are far, far higher bandwidth.
Consuming the data in a timely manner may be tricky, though!
~~~
kenny-log_ins
The optical private network from CERN to the tier 1 site where I work was
upgraded from 10 Gb to 40 Gb between the first and second runs of the LHC.
depending on what goes on during the second run that might need to be
increased again. Building high bandwidth infrastructure for use by lots of
(paying!) customers is probably more viable for large corporations than it is
for science, where you have a budget at the start rather than having things
pay for themselves over time
The storage will need to constantly increase in that time, too.
~~~
CHY872
Yes, of course, but this seems to be a problem where the solution is easily
costed, is commercially available etc, whereas I'd imagine that the rest of
the project is filled with a whole load of world-firsts.
------
hhandoko
So excited that this is happening in my backyard :)
FYI, there are quite a few openings to support the SKA:
[http://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-
wa/#keywords=csiro&location=3...](http://www.seek.com.au/jobs/in-
wa/#keywords=csiro&location=3107)
1. Service Manager, Pawsey Supercomputing Centre
2. Murchison Radio-Astronomy Observatory (MRO) Support Officer
3. Senior Software Engineer / Architect
4. Head of Supercomputing
5. Australia Telescope National Facility (ANTF) Head of Engineering Operations
------
saghul
They have some interesting stuff in their GitHub repo:
[https://github.com/ska-sa](https://github.com/ska-sa)
Slides about one of the projects to assist scientists with simulations:
[https://speakerdeck.com/gijzelaerr/rodrigues](https://speakerdeck.com/gijzelaerr/rodrigues)
(Gijs gave the talk yesterday at the Python Amsterdam Meetup)
------
teh_klev
There was discussion here a few weeks back about the US National Radio Quiet
Zone which folks may be interested in as well:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9569718](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9569718)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Radio_Q...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_National_Radio_Quiet_Zone)
------
robbiep
Could someone with some knowledge please elaborate on the potential
implications on a project such as this, for example, if we found ourselves
with clusters of low earth satellites streaming high-bandwith internet to the
entire planet?
~~~
TeMPOraL
An educated guess, but I suppose LEO is far enough for them to be able to
filter out the signal in software.
~~~
robbiep
Kind of would block out a whole range of frequencies though, right? Dozens of
transiting satellites, transmitting at a fairly constant volume, but of random
data?
~~~
TeMPOraL
Not necessarily. From what I heard, with an array antenna you can actually
separate the scalar and vector (directional) component of incoming signals and
ignore those coming from particular direction. So you could either track (in
software) and ignore signals from particular points (satellite), or pretty
much configure your array to be directional.
~~~
robbiep
That's fascinating. But then also makes you wonder why they have gone to such
extents to extinguish any radio signals in the vicinity of the project
~~~
TeMPOraL
If I were to guess, here are several reasons:
\- radio signal power goes down with square of the distance, so closer sources
are much stronger than far ones
\- any (be it software or hardware) filtering is not perfect, so a strong
enough signal will probably still drown the weak ones
\- it may be tad more difficult to filter out a close source because you can't
assume it radiates in parallel lines, which to some extent you can with far
ones (like for most practical purposes here on Earth we assume that sun rays
are parallel)
\- strong signals close to the ground means lots of reflections, which means
more strong signals coming from random directions
\- it's probably cheaper to make an exclusion zone in the middle of a desert
rather than shielding yourself and upgrading the tech even more to filter out
all the surrounding RF noise
------
raus22
Is the area a no fly zone?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Could new Israeli research allow humans to choose their children's sex? - Vaslo
https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Could-new-Israeli-research-allow-humans-to-choose-their-childrens-sex-594249
======
danschumann
Would dairy people make heffers only?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What are the implications of a company Not having a strongly defined culture? - rocskipper
Culture in the Silicon Valley treatment of how to build a company is considered important from an early stage. The media has reported how companies have failed to address toxic cultures from early stages and how that toxicity can remain pervasive as a company scales. Surely there are some companies that DO NOT have a well-defined culture, even from an early-stage. Does NOT having culture create implications with scaling? Does this matter from a people perspective (hiring/retaining talent) if compensation and benefits are good? Can being "mission-driven" make up for the lack of apparent culture at a company?
======
uberdru
It's interesting to speculate about how 'cultural fit' supplanted 'doing your
job'. By its nature, a so-called strongly defined culture is exclusionary, and
has more than a few Orwellian undertones. On the one hand, there are rules of
HR. That's fine of course. Social guardrails for the workplace. On the other
hand, there are true individuals and eccentrics. Even HBR has tolled the death
knell for 'culture fit'.
[https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-to-hire](https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-to-hire)
------
archevel
An organisation always has some kind of culture. If it is "defined" (I
interpret that as something being written down) or not doesn't really matter.
Whatever is defined in that sense is not really the culture of that
organisation. You can define your culture in any way you want with whatever
value statements you desire an organisation to embody, but most likely those
will not reflect the actual culture in the org.
That's not to say that trying to be explicit with the culture you want in an
organisation is bad. It is just recognising that the words are not the
culture. The people, the way they interact and the atmosphere in the company
and what drives it is what creates the company culture.
------
kwillets
I grew up in Silicon Valley, and I realized at an early age that it has no
culture.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Reddit users now say “search” more than “Google” - mwc
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/reddit-ngram/?keyword=google.search&start=20071015&end=20150831&smoothing=30
======
randycupertino
Yeah but how often do they say Bing? Probably mostly only in the porn threads.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
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