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Ask HN: How do I get out of the procrastination abyss? - codeknight11
I have been struggling with my productivity for 8 months now. It has nothing to do with the pandemic.
It just happened slowly. I was studying and learning (programming and ML) almost daily.
But suddenly lost my pace and have been unable to go back since?<p>What can I do to get out of the rut?
======
RoboTeddy
My procrastination pretty much went away (!) when I drew a distinction between
“good” and “bad” delays.
A delay is in the “good” category if there are specific reasons that it’s
likely that there will be another time in the near future which is _better_
than right now.
For example, if the task you’re considering require mental acuity, and you’re
really tired, and it’s likely you’ll be less tired tomorrow, then it could be
good to delay.
Or, if it’s time to do a chore except you’re in flow and productive, it could
be good to delay the chore: it’s likely there’s a time in the near future
where you wouldn’t have to give up productivity to complete it.
On the other hand, if there’s unlikely to be a better time in the future, and
you should just do it immediately. (This is especially true for tasks that
actually become more work to do if you wait.)
Before drawing this distinction, I had thought the way to avoid
procrastination was just never to delay. Attempting to live up to that had
proven unrealistic/costly, so I would end up delaying a bunch for all sorts of
reasons including bad ones.
After I started drawing this distinction, I set about never procrastinating
for bad reasons, while often delaying for good ones.
------
stunt
Solutions are dead simple and they are mostly about discipline and life style.
But, you have to believe that they are going to work. Otherwise you will give
up quickly before seeing any results.
I heard so many times that writing is effective. But I couldn't believe it
until I've forced myself to try it. I think a lot of people are just waiting
for a magic course or a pill to solve this issue. But in reality solutions are
all those simple things that we've heard many times.
\- I set daily goals. I do it every night before going to sleep. I have on
average 3 daily goals(Sometimes more). You are guaranteed to achieve something
every day. And that's so rewarding that you want to do more
\- I write down my goals. It's as effective as having a good friend that keeps
you in check.
\- I have a Trello board for every side project that I do. Pretty much like a
Jira board. I have backlog, in-progress, testing, and done columns. It's like
releasing space from your mind. So you don't have to track everything in your
head and be busy thinking about them all the time. Also when you are working,
you don't have to stop and think what is the next thing to do.
\- I've created my home office. I have my own room but it doesn't have to be a
room. It's important to keep it consistent. So you train your brain to stay
focused when you are at your office. Also your family knows when you aren't
available.
\- Find healthy hobbies. I do hiking, cycling, and tennis. The time you spend
there helps your body and your health. And after a while you enjoy it so much
that you don't want to waste your time with social media or video game. I also
do it with my wife which keeps her more satisfied as we spend the time
together. Happy wife, happy life.
\- Find your big time wasting distractions and only do them as a reward for
your weekly achievements. Mine was video games and I was really good at it. I
started limiting myself to a two-hours session per week. After a while, I have
weeks that I don't want to play at all. I just enjoy spend my time playing
tennis or go for cycling.
Maintain a good lifestyle. Good food, enough sleep, enough physical activity,
rest enough, use your holidays.
------
afarrell
ADHDer here. Please steal some of the motivation-techniques I've learnt over
the years:
1\. Find a friend who is a software engineer or data analyst and cares about
you as a person. Talk about this with them. Humans evolved being able to talk
things over with their aunt or best friend. When you are perplexed by
something, a rubber duck probably won't cut it -- you should talk with a
human.
2\. Make sure you're taking care of your body and brain: exercise, good food,
good sleep (this is easier if you're getting exercise), meditation, etc.
3\. Understand what your "reward model" is. Under what conditions do you
recognize "Aha! I've made progress!"? To really understand what I'm getting at
here, watch this video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYylPRX6z4Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYylPRX6z4Q)
4\. Find internal things to strengthen your reward model's signals. Go back to
when you originally started learning ML and Re-connect to your "Why". Do you
still find those reasons compelling? If so, take some time to bring some
vividness to your picture. -- Start With Why.
5\. Find external punishments to remove. Now that you've spent 8 months
working on it, you've noticed the things which are annoying you about your
workflow.
\- After 8 months, it is totally healthy to take a week or two and improve
your development environment to sand the edges off of things that give you
friction. For a stranger's recommendation:
[https://fishshell.com/](https://fishshell.com/) has made it dramatically
easier for me to write little scripts that take away annoying tasks.
\- Maybe you feel like you've been "in the weeds" for two long and your mental
model is a bit scattered. Maybe just take some time and explain what you have
learned in order to make it fit together in your head better. I find it
helpful to pretend I'm back in university and fill an A4 sheet to prepare for
a test.
6\. Find external things to re-enforce your "reward model". In normal
programming, this is what Test-Driven-Development does. In thinking through a
hard problem, the anticipated social rewards from a person who is curiously
listening to your thoughts serve the same purpose.
------
melvinroest
> What can I do to get out of the rut?
A few ideas, not sure if they'll work. I hope it'll get you inspired!
Idea 1: do it for two hours or a bit more, and when you do it, simply ask:
what do I like about this right now? If the answer is "nothing" rephrase it
to: "what's the coolest thing about this project right now?" Be a pure
positive person. I'm a realist normally, but when it comes to becoming
motivated to something, I simply _ignore_ the negativity to the point of being
irrational about it, because the power of positivity makes me feel motivated
(and biased, but I guess that bias helps with motivation too :) ).
Idea 2: consistency is key, it's better to do it 4 days for 2 hours than 8
hours on one day. The reason for that is that you want it to slowly but surely
become the top idea in your mind (see Paul Graham's post on that [1]). You'll
also have more creative thoughts about it.
Idea 3: try to get other people involved. Heck, I'm up for a 30 min. call to
hear about what you're learning as I have a passing interest in ML and read
[http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com](http://neuralnetworksanddeeplearning.com)
and made this for fun [2].
My email is in my profile.
Good luck!
Also, some ML awesomeness for that fun hype factor :)
\-
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrIbQ0pIFOg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrIbQ0pIFOg)
\-
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSVrKK_uHoU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSVrKK_uHoU)
\-
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wn8zMRlVE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6wn8zMRlVE)
(15 min. probably in total)
[1] [http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html)
[2] [https://github.com/melvinroest/Interactive-Neural-
Networks](https://github.com/melvinroest/Interactive-Neural-Networks)
------
kleer001
What's your physical routine? Do you exercise regularly?
Regardless of the pandemic, there's still truths here to learn about the
connection between your body and mind. CGP Grey is great. :
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck)
Do you have a boredom routine? I find as a creative it's important for me to
force myself to be away from the productivity grind for a little bit each week
so I can get hungry to get back to it.
------
Trias11
Procrastination is a mental state.
Start DO-ing something that is more or less interesting.
DO-ing is physical. This will override mental state with physical energy that
will in turn re-ignite proper mental state.
------
yesenadam
It sounds like you were into those things, now you're not. No big deal. So
find something else you are now into and do that, maybe come back to those
other things later.
I'm into a lot of different things, but only 1 or 2 at a time. I can't force
myself to do something I'm not naturally into at the moment. I'm taking better
notes now (started a couple of decades late) so when I go back to a subject
months or a year later, it's all there waiting for me to continue.
You seem to be trying to force yourself, and seeing it as a problem with you
that's it's not working. Be kinder to yourself! If you were treating someone
else that way, trying to force them to focus on something they didn't want to,
day after day, you would seem very mean, wouldn't you? One thing I've learnt
is, we're taught to be nice to other people, but not to be nice to _yourself_
, which is perhaps most important, as treating others well is difficult at
best without that, and we're with ourselves 24/7\. _Treat yourself like
someone you really love._ [1] Sounds like you're blaming yourself, torturing
yourself! The Albert Ellis' classic _New Guide to Rational Living_ [2] was
also very helpful to me, to become aware of how I was treating myself, what
things I was saying to myself, and changing the negative things.
John Perry's essay on procrastination might be helpful too[0] – in short, have
such a great list of To Dos that even if you're procrastinating by doing
things much lower on the list, they still add up to an awesome life! I thought
it was genius.
Good luck!
[0]
[http://structuredprocrastination.com/](http://structuredprocrastination.com/)
[1] I think I got that from Louise Hay's _How To Love Yourself_.
[2] Also Wayne Dyer's excellent first 2 books _Your Erroneous Zones_ and
_Pulling Your Own Strings_ cover similar ground, and might be more to your
taste.
------
gadders
Read The War of Art: [https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Art-Through-Creative-
Battles/dp...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/War-Art-Through-Creative-
Battles/dp/1936891026/)
~~~
Imanari
Seconded, that book lit a fire under me.
------
gt2
Promise yourself you'll only do 15 minutes.
Do pomodoros (similar to above).
No zero days/don't break the cycle (made famous by Seinfeld).
Leave a small task to do for next time, making it easy to get into it.
Set a realistic goal/project to make with your learning rather than learning
open ended (could be the reason for your plateau, as it can be interesting to
get into something initially but hard to maintain after the low hanging fruit
is learned).
Blog about each topic/micro topic/learning.
Get peer feedback/reinforcement by announcing to someone or a community what
you are working on or learning and when you will finish.
Good luck!
~~~
neuroticfish
>Blog about each topic/micro topic/learning.
Any recommendations for this? I've always wanted to make a blog but I never
have anything to write about. What I work on is trivial so it doesn't seem
worth the time to write about. I've thought about researching interesting
topics and writing a "research paper" for each blog entry but that feels like
cheating and using another person's work.
------
radu_floricica
Many technicals answers here so I won't get into details. But I'll suggest
what worked ok for me once: take a walk. Take a long walk, and think about
what you really want in life. Accept when you walk out the door that the
outcome may not be what you expect.
In my case I realized I actually want to do what I'm doing, and the current
procrastination crisis went away. But you may also realize you want to change
some goals.
~~~
guzy
I love this answer, procrastination is commonly linked to an expected negative
emotional state associated with an activity and thus delaying. I feel this
plays into the theme of check in with yourself that you really want the
outcome so that you have a feeling of it's worth it.
I feel internal alignment of goals is the first step and then look at some of
the more direct tactics others have mentioned e.g. reward cycles and a good
mental and physically state
------
robmerki
Are you actually procrastinating? Procrastination is when you _consciously_
decide to delay some work. Perhaps you are unmotivated or burnt out?
"Just get started" is good advice sometimes, but in your case it sounds like
you're burnt out, in which case you can't get started so easily.
Rather than doing brain hacks or productivity "tips", try doing _less_.
Instead of aiming for massive bursts of productivity, try doing a tiny bit at
a time. If you miss a day, who cares.
You are under no productivity "debt". You're studying and learning, these are
creative processes that have a daily limit.
Finally, a sustainable level of motivation should feel like you're "kind of
hungry", not that you're obsessed. I have ADHD, and sometimes I fool myself
into thinking I'm no longer "passionate" about something because I'm no longer
in a hyperfocus phase. In reality, healthy long-term productivity is much less
extreme than obsessive hyperfocus.
------
ExcavateGrandMa
Your main problem is that you aren't learning programming and ML but how
become productive with these last...
and as I just read few minutes ago... "If you find it a struggling maybe it's
not for you..."
You'll never succeed without fascination for what you doing...
------
segmondy
Perhaps you over studied and need to shift gear and start building. What are
you building?
------
Imanari
Try mindfulness meditation, it is almost magical. Procrastination just kind of
went away. Am I super productive 100% of the time? No, I still watch Netflix.
But these negative thought loops and self-hate that makes procrastination feel
so nasty go away.
I use the app 'Waking Up' from Sam Harris, and I find it absolutely brilliant.
~~~
muzani
A lot of the procrastination loop is hating yourself for procrastinating and
then procrastinating as a relief from the discomfort. Meditation helps a lot
in staying rational.
------
mac01021
What do you now find yourself doing or thinking about doing instead?
------
AlDante2
I'll get back to you on that.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
“Full understand”: The new language of the Lesvos refugee camp - colinscape
https://www.newstatesman.com/2017/11/full-understand-new-language-lesvos-refugee-camp
======
Havoc
Reminds me of Fanagalo [0] - South African mines employed workers from all
over the place - tower of babel type. Fanagalo even means literally "Do-Like-
I-Do".
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanagalo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanagalo)
------
rad_gruchalski
Why is the place described in the article referred to as a prison and
detention camp? Nobody imprisoned these people and nobody sent them there as a
form of punishment.
~~~
LukeShu
They may not leave the camp. There are barb-wire fences and guards. They not
there as punishment, but they are literally being detained; hence "detention
camp".
~~~
nostromo123
They may not leave the camp to roam freely and without any documentation in
Greece -- but they are free to go back to where they came from. Not everyone
in the camps is a poor honest refugee who is fleeing war.
~~~
LukeShu
In some cases, yes, in some cases no. Many of those in the camp came from
Turkey, and they often lack a legal way to travel back to Turkey from Greece.
------
toomanybeersies
I don't like to complain about the grammar or formatting of things posted on
HN, because usually people here should be clever enough to figure out how to
read it.
But this article was really hard to read. The author needs to do a better job
of enclosing examples in quotes, it's hard to parse what's article, and what's
example quotes.
> Thus speak often does the work of say, tell and ask, as in I speak him why?
I cannot parse that sentence easily, because I struggle to understand what's
an example and what's not.
> Thus "speak" often does the work of "say", "tell" and "ask", as in "I speak
> him why?"
Now that, I can understand reasonably easily, just by adding quotes. Even
better:
> Thus "speak" often does the work of "say", "tell", and "ask". For example:
> "I speak him why?"
Change a couple of words and add some more grammar, and it's crystal clear
what the author is trying to convey.
~~~
ramy_d
very much agreed. I had to re-read several times this sentence at the very
begining:
> To commonly stands in for other prepositions such as at, in or on:
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Lie More, as a Business Model - spsaaibi
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/05/lie-more-as-a-business-model/?smid=tw-share
======
moocow01
I used to buy into the MBA mentality.
Now I really think MBA / todays managerial wisdom is slowly destroying the
world. The business climate in most corporations is plain awful and most
people don't even realize because they don't know what a healthy business
environment looks like.
It seems that these days that as long as your numbers on your spreadsheet
match up, it doesn't matter how you got them to match just as long as they
match up somehow. Lying is just one of the many unethical techniques that are
now common tools to deliver shareholders "value".
~~~
mathattack
This isn't about spreadsheet crunching, or even shareholder value. It's about
personal incentives - unlimited upside, limited downside, and no concern on
the ethics involved.
~~~
yuhong
Yea, the wrong incentives can be worse than no incentives at all.
------
leot
Don't worry, in the "long run" the laissez-faire approach to corporate
regulation will "end up" minimizing malfeasance and maximizing freedom.
Liberty just needs more time. Like, say, another year. Two, max.
~~~
anonymoushn
I'm not sure that providing subsidies to large banks and refusing to enforce
the law when they commit crimes is a laissez-faire approach to corporate
regulation.
~~~
ubernostrum
Enforcing a law? You mean a law regulating business?
_gasp_
Someone fetch the smelling salts, I think I may faint!
~~~
nuaccnt
This is the discourse equivalent of going to a party, pulling your pants down
in the living room and taking a shit on the floor.
------
shaggyfrog
The title of the linked piece is "Lie More, as a Business Model", and serves
just fine as a headline for Hacker News. Not sure why the headline was turned
into a linkbait question instead.
~~~
theorique
They lied.
------
speedracr
NPR's Planet Money has devoted a 20min episode to explain the LIBOR
manipulation - worth a listen if you want to brush up on your interbank
financial knowledge.
[http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/03/156222428/episode-...](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/03/156222428/episode-384-the-
little-lie-that-rocked-the-banks)
------
pcrh
What is probably unsurprising, but should have been expected, is that banks
and major business interests got seriously upset when they found that they
were _lying to each other_.
Clearly the earlier financial upsets, which were caused by them lying to the
public, were not _really_ their fault.
------
ebrenes
Hasn't it always been a fairly well established business model? If anything
the success of this model means we're seeing it more and more in ever more
gigantic failures. Whereas before it seemed confined to snake oil salesmen and
politics...
~~~
mey
I have a bridge I'm looking to sell.
~~~
mc32
Not to mention "snake oil" liniments and other forms of quackery.
~~~
dredmorbius
Obligatory: _real_ Chinese snake oil _is_ a valid cure.
[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=snake-
oil-s...](http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=snake-oil-salesmen-
knew-something)
The problem then (as now) was charlatans claiming similar properties from
substances which lacked the original's active ingredient: high Omega-3 oils.
I see this as the fundamental _Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance_
problem: what is quality, and how does one identify it?
~~~
wmil
And the "Snake Oil" being sold in the US wasn't quackery. It was typically a
combination of alcohol, morphine, and/or cocaine.
People weren't stupid -- it definitely made them 'feel better'.
------
MaysonL
Google "municipal bond price fixing" for another big ripoff the banks have
been running...
~~~
joezydeco
...or "Deep Capture" for another example.
------
bootload
_"... Today’s banks represent the incarnation of profit-seeking behavior taken
to its logical limits, in which the only question asked by senior staff is not
what is their duty or their responsibility, but what can they get away with.
..."_ Martin Wolf, FT.
No, as long as the money kept rolling in, a blind eye was turned to the kind
of behaviour described. Hard times has changed what is acceptable practice.
------
vwoolf
Lying is a business model for too many businesses; I'm reminded of Go Daddy's
wholly-owned subsidiary, Standard Tactics, and how the latter would register
expired domains, while Go Daddy would volunteer to "negotiate" with itself
(see the whole account here: [http://domainnamewire.com/2008/12/03/standard-
tactics-llc-ho...](http://domainnamewire.com/2008/12/03/standard-tactics-llc-
how-godaddy-profits-from-expired-domains/) ).
It's very hard to fight this sort of thing, as an individual, much like it's
hard to avoid Barclay's (or its larger competitors, like Bank of America or
Chase).
------
larrys
The press is the watchdog of things like this.
Unfortunately the press has been gutted and all the old white men with years
and years of experience have left being replaced by people like Catherine
Rampell (attractive, young, and only 5 years out of Princeton).
This is not a rant against woman (I've seen this pattern with both young men
and young woman) and it's not a rant against young people (there are some
areas where you want a young person personally I don't feel that economics
(while not brain surgery) is one of them).
<http://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinerampell>
[http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r...](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/catherine_rampell/index.html)
Here is Catherine on TV:
<http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/300818-6>
Most interesting is that she actually founded the economics blog 1 year out of
Princeton.
Edit: Not to mention the money to keep an eye (and hire experienced people) is
also not there anymore, not supported by legacy advertising monopoly.
~~~
guelo
I'm really confused by your rant on a story that is not about journalism and
is being reported by Simon Johnson who is one of the "old white men" you seem
to prefer. You use the weak link of "The press is the watchdog" and then pivot
into an ad-hominem attack against a reporter that has nothing to do with this
story and that you apparently know a lot about for some reason. It's kind of
weird.
~~~
larrys
"rant on a story that is not about journalism and is being reported by Simon
Johnson"
Johnson is the real deal I have no issue with him obviously.
Catherine Rampell is founding editor of the Economix blog.
"ad-hominem attack against a reporter" It's an attack against the New York
Times the paper of record not Catherine.
"has nothing to do with this story" afaik she decides what gets onto the blog
or not. She is the gatekeeper.
"you apparently know a lot about for some reason"
Not really. Just what I've linked to. Took a second to do the links after a
search.
"It's kind of weird."
Why?
Edit: I might add also I love people who imply someone isn't being nice to
someone "ad-hominem" by not being nice ("it's kinda weird")
------
orangethirty
I've been searching for a business co-founder for a while, and this is one of
the things that turn me off about some business people. They seem to believe
that a business is built with Hype and not a real product. Sure, that is how
you might get some funding, but its not how you build a sustainable business.
------
billrobertson42
This is not new. Fabrication was one of the factors leading to famine during
the great leap forward.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution#Great_Leap...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_Revolution#Great_Leap_Forward)
------
nerd_in_rage
hasn't lying has always been a business model?
~~~
dredmorbius
It's been a business _practice_ , certainly. And it's been part of law and
lore since the dawn of history. The code of Hammurabi includes punishment for
false witness: <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3153879?origin=JSTOR-pdf>
In Dante's _Inferno_ , the penultimate (8th) circle of hell is for the
fraudulent (the 9th and innermost is for traitors -- another form of fraud, if
you like): <http://www.wolfram.demon.co.uk/rp_dante_hell.html>
------
vibrunazo
There's a better euphonic marketing jargon for "lying". It's called
"marketing" :)
------
patrickgzill
"This way to the Egress => "
------
portentint
BECOMING a business model?
The liars tend to win, because they make the superior claims. And for whatever
reason, the customers can't give up on the idea that maybe this ONE outrageous
promise, this ONE time, is actually for real.
It's like playing the lottery: Statistically you're better off running outside
and screaming "THROW MONEY AT ME". But people still play.
~~~
jaggederest
> running outside and screaming "THROW MONEY AT ME"
On Sand Hill Road, these days, that seems to work.
------
yashchandra
You mean officially ?
------
eragnew
For large banks, it has been for a while. #justsayin
------
Spooky23
Obviously the author of this article is a socialist... The financial industry
is driving innovation by applying the principles of capitalism.
The only reason the bankers are lying is that government meddling is making
their capitalistic process illegal. Of you want bankers to be 100% truthful,
don't tie their hands behind their backs with quaint concepts like usury,
proper underwriting of loans, etc.
~~~
sophacles
The poe factor or this post approaches 1. I am either frightened or in
stitches... I'm not sure which.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
5G specs announced - perseusprime11
https://www.itu.int/md/R15-SG05-C-0040/en
======
Nokinside
\- minimum 100 MHz bandwidth all time availability
\- peak data rate downlink 20 Gbit/s
\- peak data rate uplink 10 Gbit/s
\- minimum million connected devices per 1 km^2
\- standard requirements for connection speeds from indoor hotspots (10 km/h)
to rural high speed rail 500 km/h (high-speed trains)
------
perseusprime11
tldr;
\- 20Gbps downlink and 10Gbps uplink per mobile base station \- 1 million
connected devices per square kilometre \- energy efficient \- maximum latency
of just 4ms \- download speed of 100Mbps and upload speed of 50Mbps (bummer!)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How the Wind Waker Defined Cel Shading [video] - kibwen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnxs6CR6Zrk
======
kibwen
The graphics techniques discussed in the video aren't particularly advanced,
but I was impressed at the live visualizations that update in real-time as the
author tweaks values to illustrate various effects.
| {
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Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers in (2014) - runesoerensen
http://paulgraham.com/95.html
======
runesoerensen
This essay didn't fare well when it was initially posted:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8799572](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8799572)
The discussion left me with the impression that the lack of progress in terms
of making skilled labor immigration easier wasn't just a result of
Washington's/politicians inability to get things done. That was however the
reason I would usually hear when debating immigration hurdles with friends in
the Bay Area.
It was pretty clear that keeping immigration difficult and very limited, even
for skilled people, was _also_ very much a popular position that largely
reflected many HN users (presumably US voters).
Posting again to see if anything has changed in terms of how this community
view and value foreign labor in tech?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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On "Custom XML" (Microsoft patent lawsuit) - tlrobinson
http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2009/12/22/On-Custom-XML#p-1
======
RiderOfGiraffes
See also:
<http://searchyc.com/microsoft+word?sort=by_date>
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1010543>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
China Hacks Australian Weather Bureau Computer; Breaches Government Networks - empressplay
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-02/china-blamed-for-cyber-attack-on-bureau-of-meteorology/6993278
======
empressplay
Cyber attacks on government agencies are routine and the "adversaries" range
from thrill-seeking hackers, through to criminals and foreign states.
But the ABC has been told this is a "massive" breach and one official said
there was little doubt where it came from.
"It's China," he said.
The motivation for the attack on the bureau could be commercial, strategic or
both.
The bureau is a critical national resource and another state would place a
high value on its intellectual property and scientific research.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Sam Wang Is This Year's Unsung Election Data Superhero - bilifuduo
https://www.wired.com/2016/11/2016s-election-data-hero-isnt-nate-silver-sam-wang/?mbid=social_fb
======
nanis
See also
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12897169](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12897169)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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An Exploration of ARM TrustZone Technology - 2bluesc
http://genode.org/documentation/articles/trustzone
======
Quequau
This is a really interesting article and it touches on an recurring wish of
mine that these newer, and for most part unused, security features actually
get exposed in such ways that the end user/ owner of the hardware could
routinely use them for their own purposes.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Ask HN: 120M rows Postgres – how can I speed up queries? - dbnewbie
The table is flat (no related), but many queries we make (including aggregates) take hundreds of milliseconds.<p>Forgetting the specific queries for a moment (basically all queries in this table are relatively slow):<p>How would you handle such a scenario? Shard the database?
======
rapphil
Have you checked if you are using the correct settings in order to extract the
max from your hardware?
[https://pgtune.leopard.in.ua/#/](https://pgtune.leopard.in.ua/#/)
Are you monitoring your machine to check if it is not starving on cpu?
Re the queries, we have been using pgbadger to collect metrics about the usage
of the dB and the slowest queries by type. This is helpful as it guides where
you should put your efforts.
[https://github.com/darold/pgbadger/blob/master/README.md](https://github.com/darold/pgbadger/blob/master/README.md)
This is very good ref about scaling Postgres.
[https://pyvideo.org/pycon-ca-2017/postgres-at-any-
scale.html](https://pyvideo.org/pycon-ca-2017/postgres-at-any-scale.html)
~~~
dbnewbie
Thank you an absolute ton! I’m gonna be watching that scaling video from Pycon
this afternoon!
We definitely have a decent configuration, in terms of using the hardware best
for our typical workload. We also have indexes on the fields we are using for
filtering. It’s crazy, I put this question here because I feel like this is an
inevitable thing that everybody just runs into over and over with scaling and
the only real out is sharding, so I’m glad to see you a bunch of suggestions
here and I’m going to watch that video as I mentioned. Thanks again.
------
ezekg
Check out [https://www.pgmustard.com/](https://www.pgmustard.com/) if you
haven't already. It has helped me optimize queries as much as possible when
querying large datasets.
~~~
dbnewbie
Thanks! That’s awesome. I know roughly how to understand PG query plans, but
it doesn’t ever seem to actually help me figure out a solution. This service
looks like it will help quite a bit.
------
xq3000
There is not a lot of specific details here but have you already tried and
exhausted things like analyzing execution plans, index optimizations, index
encoding, value encoding, denormalization, read replicas, and [front] caching?
~~~
dbnewbie
I have not looked into “index encoding”. In fact, I haven’t even heard of
that, thank you for the suggestion!
In terms of execution plan, the query we are doing is relatively basic even
though it includes some aggregation. The aggregation is rule (CASE) based and
very simple. It feels like there is no way to quickly (sub-50ms) retrieve
information from a database once you reach the high tens of millions of rows.
~~~
xq3000
By index encoding I just mean putting “encoded” values into the indexed column
of your table. Something like this: “city:department:sku”.
This technique is a bit advanced, borrowed from hierarchical databases, and
optimizes for _specific_ queries known upfront, so it’s cool but not very
flexible. There is a lot more to making it work. You can watch [1], if
interested.
But I’d also +1 other suggestions here on fine tuning your db engine and just
scaling up the server.
[1] [https://youtu.be/jzeKPKpucS0](https://youtu.be/jzeKPKpucS0)
Disclaimer: I’m with AWS.
~~~
dbnewbie
Interesting, that does sound like an advanced indexing technique, but also
sounds like a really good idea. It reminds me of the old flat file database
formats I read about.
------
gigatexal
Have you thought about materialized views that pre-aggregate your queries and
then updating those views with triggers? I got this idea from a forum so it’s
not mine but it works.
Sharding by month or other bucket of time could help.
We have a very similar situation except it’s billions of rows. One benefit is
it’s a bit denormalized in that we store the meat of our data in a hstore
field
~~~
dbnewbie
Thanks a ton for the help, I will take a look into what we might be able to do
in terms of adding a materialized aggregate view!
~~~
gigatexal
You’ll get the most benefit from pre-aggregating not for a specific query but
in a general way. Sum orders group by user in a view and then use triggers to
update that view. That way to get the orders for a given user it’s a simple
lookup and all the calculation is done. And this way you can build up meta
reports from these general aggregates.
~~~
dbnewbie
Ok awesome, and thanks again!
~~~
gigatexal
Just to be super clear don’t use the triggers to rebuild the view every time
but merely to add one to the sum’d account when a row matches — I wasn’t sure
I made that clear. Good luck! And do put up a blog post or something if it
works out
~~~
dbnewbie
OK that makes sense, and I’ll do a bit of reading on materialized view
functionality before actually implementing anything.
~~~
gigatexal
Again not my idea. It was suggested to me in response to the very problem
you’re having. I’m just so happy to have it as an idea that I didn’t want to
keep it to myself. Here’s the link.
[https://hashrocket.com/blog/posts/materialized-view-
strategi...](https://hashrocket.com/blog/posts/materialized-view-strategies-
using-postgresql)
------
lastofus
From my experience 7+ years ago, I saw an order of magnitude difference
running Postgres on higher end bare metal hardware (think $6k rack mounted
server w/ nice RAID controller) vs a supposed high end AWS VM w/ an EBS
volume. That was testing with spinny disks before SSDs were the norm, but if
you are on a cloud VM, it's probably worth investigating.
~~~
dbnewbie
Thank you for the suggestion. I don’t know for certain that it’s a tenable
solution, because we are using some services that would take some time to
vertically integrated if we were to go to a colo. But when we reach that scale
that will definitely be an effort worth exploring.
------
usgroup
Use c_store fdw to store your data in columns and marvel at the 10x
performance improvement without indexes.
~~~
dbnewbie
Excellent, thanks for the suggestion. I hadn’t heard of this lib until now.
And, seeing that this is developed by Citus makes it automatically 10x better.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Easy jQuery Share Buttons - chromedude
http://sharrre.com
======
latchkey
This looked excellent until I realized that the code isn't on Github. Sure, I
can download it, but I'd rather be able to fork it.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Crazy Work Hours and Lots of Cameras: a group from Silicon Valley visits China - awad
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/business/china-silicon-valley-technology.html
======
salmonfamine
This attitude of "tech for tech's sake" at the cost of everything human is so
absurd on its face that I have a hard time believing that even these SV-bubble
VC's truly believe it. But apparently they do. This is why people hate Silicon
Valley and everything tech nowadays.
Historically, technology -- even when it has caused massive disruptions -- has
generally enhanced people's lives by freeing them from a harsh constraint
imposed by nature. If you have a refrigerator and a microwave, you don't have
to worry so much about gathering food and spending all day cooking. If you
have birth control, you don't have to worry about choosing between your sex
life and your future.
Much of what Silicon Valley has produced in the past 10 years is software and
platforms that 1) actually appeal to base, primitive instincts via advertising
and 2) directly reduce human liberty by constraining privacy.
We need technology that has a purpose. It seems like the EU is the only
governing body that actually understands this.
~~~
LiterallyDoge
Respectfully dissenting on the hate comment, but otherwise very good points.
+1
~~~
carapace
"Fuck! Fuck Google!"
Literal quote from my mother when I explained Project Dragonfly to her. (She's
not a person who cusses often.)
------
kstenerud
This has amazing parallels to the panic over the Japanese manufacturing and
management methods of the 1980s. Everyone was terrified that Japan would take
over the world economically, and everyone would be working for Japanese
companies soon if we didn't adopt their ways of doing things.
Hell, it even made it into Back to the Future:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlUgBDgH1po](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlUgBDgH1po)
Seriously, this is what America was terrified of.
~~~
refurb
I can remember watching new reports of people smashing up Japanese electronics
in front of the White House. And people were really concerned about all the US
property being bought up by the Japanese.
It was the beginning of America's decline everyone thought.
It didn't turn out that way at all.
------
jasode
Semi-related video from 1999 of Jack Ma's early pitch about Alibaba's
potential to some friends in China.[0]
His quote about hard work and long hours:
_> "Second, we need to learn the hard working spirit of Silicon Valley. If we
go to work at 8am and go home at 5pm, this is not a high tech company, and
Alibaba wil never be successful."_
Apparently, of the 17 people in that room, only 1 joined/invested in Alibaba.
Intense startups are definitely not the right lifestyle for most people.
[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up9-C4_8dVo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up9-C4_8dVo)
------
katuskoti
“We’re so lazy in the U.S.!” blurted Wesley Chan, a venture capital investor,
on the first day of what would be a weeklong journey into the Chinese
technology scene.
...Yikes.
~~~
phil_folrida
yes, this only shows how not very experimented those people were, not a lot of
gray hair in this article.
~~~
nashashmi
Good Point! Burn out is real. And Eventual. Especially when you work for a
founder or have a VC who is just demeaning and sucks all around.
------
tschellenbach
I'm from Europe, living in the US, and it always frustrated me that startups
are able to do so well in the US and China, yet find very little momentum in
the EU. It's crazy, there is plenty of local talent in Europe's tech hubs.
~~~
baxtr
Why do you think it is like that? Access to risk capital? Lack of IPOs?
~~~
tdons
Fragmented European market; the culture and language differences.
~~~
baxtr
I don’t but that argument. In math you’d say that this is an “continuous
function”, wouldn’t you? Where is the break-off point? Germany for example has
80 mio people, Japan has 120 mio or so. You’d expect the same level of
activity scaled by population size. Am I wrong?
EDIT: Another example countering your point is Sweden/Stockholm. Tiny
population, high number of startups and unicorns.
~~~
adventured
That really heavily depends on the market in question. They're all so
different in terms of culture, regulation, politics, market structures,
productivity, output, wealth, etc.
Jordan for example has the same population size as Sweden, that's about where
the similarities end.
Sweden, along with Canada and Australia, are just about ideal micro US
versions in technology, in terms of potential to pull off your scaling of
activity. Good market economies, relatively robust technology societies and
technology economies, high GDP per capita and incomes, plenty of wealth and
capital to invest, stable open societies with respect for human rights,
english language use giving them global benefits (Sweden having one of the
world's highest english language adoption rates, outside of primarily english
speaking countries), and so on.
Japan has far less spending power per capita - disposable income - than the
US, and their economic output per capita is similarly far lower. Their cost of
living is not far lower to offset. US GDP per capita will be around $63,000
for 2018. Japan is down around $38,000 to $40,000. Culturally Japan has
historically not been friendly to risk taking, entrepreneurial activity. That
has shifted some over the last 10-15 years, but not immensely (it's starting
from an extreme where a long corporate career was the only acceptable path).
There's a considerable difference between Sweden and Japan on that
conservativism. Japan also is very different at a macro level, they put
themselves into a particularly bad 20+ year debt trap that has robbed their
economy of the surplus capital it needs to invest into expansion and
innovation.
Germany is doing OK, in regards to technology and tech start-ups. They've
lagged a bit in the transition from old industrial to new technology [1][2],
it appears to be a cultural problem that is acting as friction. Culturally
they're not nearly as dynamic on entrepreneurism as Sweden has become. Perhaps
it's just easier to change directions at the scale of Sweden than Germany,
with all the entrenched institutions and large conglomerates that Germany has.
[1]
[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-12/germany-n...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-12/germany-
needs-to-reengineer-to-thwart-digital-obsolescence)
[2] [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-08-16/inside-
eu...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-08-16/inside-europe-s-
struggle-to-build-a-truly-global-tech-giant)
~~~
baxtr
Ok, so you’re saying it’s not size (as single root cause)
------
exabrial
My personal experience, after working for Alibaba, is that just the appearance
of looking busy is what drives promotions, funding, and raises. Actual
progress on projects is not measured, nor is code quality via common metrics
(tests written, branch coverage, line coverage, test failures).
------
FlyingSideKick
Chinese citizens have en masse been exploited by those in power for thousands
of years. Moreover, workers and peasants weren't critical or even
overwhelmingly supportive of the cultural revolution. Now China near the
highest income inequality in the world and just like in the past those in
power have technology in place to keep the average Chinese worker the ability
to protest their working conditions. Hopefully, this will change but it is
probably unlikely.
I'd really like to ask these VC's and corporate leaders "Are 12 hour work days
6 days a week where every movement of your workers are tracked something you'd
like to see as a cultural norm?"
I think it is up to employees and entrepreneurs here in the US to push back
against this march to longer and longer work days. Our physical and emotional
health is far more important than a title or a few extra dollars. The well
balanced life is a wealthy life.
------
baybal2
I can give a first hand account. Working in a mid sized engineering consulting
company there, and been working all around consumer electronics industry since
2007. Six points for you:
1\. "American style startups" only make single digit percentage of the whole
tech industry in China. And out of those, the "cult like" make even less.
2\. "the American style startup" model is seen here with a lot of scepticism.
Some call it a model for failure, and justly so.
3\. There are not so few very well run companies in China, including,
surprise, factories! I don't know a single factory owner who is not aware how
dangerous overworked workforce can be for the bottom line. A single misplaced
component can fry a few thousand dollars TV set. A single labour action, can
end his business.
4\. Becoming "more Western" is not a success model for a Chinese company. It
became clear to me as as a rule of thumb, when a Chinese company invites "cool
American MBA boys," things begin to go wrong very fast.
_5\. So are Chinese businesses that competitive after all? Yes and no:_ Yes,
as for that the capability to outcompete American companies "fair and square"
is there. And no, for that the company that could've buried countless strong
American competitors will never take their place, never become a household
name, never list on a stock market, never own a skyscraper office, and may not
even have a website — it will forever remain a no name OEM in a grey factory
building in a dusty industrial town.
6\. "What's the trick?" The answer is: "the trick is that there are no
tricks." Whatever place under the sun Chinese companies wrestled from Western
competitors was achieved with nothing but sweat, blood, grit, and
perseverance.
The best thing China has introduced me to was an entirely different, bullshit
free work culture centred on value: contract, payment, and CAD files in the
morning — widgets ready in the evening, without any manager in the loop.
If a Western business wants to do as well as a Chinese competitor these days,
their corporate boffins should try doing that as their starting point
------
m23khan
As much as I love working in IT, if things continue down the path where you
are expected to become a labourer in 3rd World Country (mentally) and as a
consequence start suffering devastating effects such as physical illnesses,
I would strongly, STRONGLY recommend my kids to not pursue IT as a career at
all - better be a civil engineer or even a plumber or a lawyer or a family
Doctor and live a good life with good money.
~~~
nashashmi
Plumber = get hands dirty, sometimes real dirty, little respect, and work is
hard.
Civil engineer = except for the top tier branch smart people will find a
difficult community fit, moderate to modest money, too many external
influences towards the discipline, seemingly prime for disruption by the tech
world (already happening).
Lawyer and family doctor = too many hours in school and then too many hours in
work (generally).
Disclaimer: I'm a civil engineer, work alongside plumbing engineers, know zero
actual plumbers, fiancee is doctor, looking to pursue law.
~~~
sizzle
Wow a doctor looking to pursue law, very cool! Isn't law worse for work/life
balance? (Not taking into account the opportunity cost of already having
gotten past the grueling med school and residency stages). Or is it to go into
the medical side of the legal field and combine the best of both worlds, or
simply a change of heart? How do you like civil engineering? Do you see tech
disrupting your profession, or the field of medicine or law for your
significant other? For example, I know there is software that will make
paralegal work redundant eventually.
~~~
nashashmi
Whoops! Didn't mean to say fiancee is looking to pursue law. I am.
Definitely worse for the work/life balance metric. But I think it is unfair to
yourself if you seek careers based on how little or how much you work.
Sometimes you are just looking for something fulfilling. It is the problematic
misc/admin problems surrounding the cool stuff that cause you to lose your
passion. Like knowing the dismal outcome of a work beforehand, but having to
do it anyway without success because someone else said so.
A forgotten rule for me: Know your [unique] strengths, Find your fit, Swing
hard at the pitches, and serve the community with what God gave you as
uniquely yours because that is your duty. But don't forget everything else you
have to do too (this causes a natural work/life balance).
------
toastking
I think one thing that seems to be missed here is none of the products they
showed were that original. It's not like WeChat was some amazing new idea. It
was chat. Their only real advantage is a captive market.
~~~
obmelvin
WeChat is a lot more than just a chat app
~~~
Markoff
agreed, it's the most successful gov surveillance tool, now even enhanced with
tracking financial movements
------
azifali
This seems to be straight out of a dystopian novel. While we do have our own -
of government snooping and excessive government oversight - the scenario
playing out of China is not sustainable in the long term.
~~~
pacala
My fear is the scenario is all too sustainable. North Korea is at the third
generation of Kim's and its political pyramid appears to be quite stable.
------
Chardok
It is extremely concerning to me how these tech executives are so enamored
with Chinas working conditions and all-pervasive data collection as if it was
the pinnacle of living in the 21st century.
What happened to the dream of letting technology do the work for us, giving us
vast leisure time and taking the burden of survival off? These executives seem
so driven towards some ever-changing unobtainable goal that I don't think they
will be ever satiated with people just... living.
~~~
21
Their goal is to be billionaires first. Then they can have the leisure life.
You won't become a billionaire by enjoying life on basic income.
~~~
alexandercrohde
I think though wanting to be a billionaire is, for lack of a better word, a
psychosis.
There's nothing that you could possibly want that costs that much. A drive for
that much money to me indicates a form of emotional damage where one no longer
has a rational relationship with a numeric self-assessment.
~~~
slededit
You think of money as a way to buy things. Others think of it for what it
really is - a way to gain influence and control.
~~~
jriot
Psychosis is still an appropriate term for people who want to gain influence
and control.
~~~
slededit
That would make the diagnosis so common as to be meaningless.
~~~
jriot
Just because a large number of people seek control, power, and influence does
not make it a worthy venture. It is a terrible trait.
------
alexandercrohde
I have always found this notion of "race" with China odd. I don't see how
other countries doing well economically does anything but help America
economically.
If anything, to me the lesson of the last century is that we've changed too
fast with too little forethought.
~~~
chapium
The "us vs them" mentality puzzles me as well. Perhaps for some they feel
economic growth is a zero sum game. However I see the potential growing for
all players.
~~~
clarry
> Perhaps for some they feel economic growth is a zero sum game.
Maybe not zero sum, but you can't have the rich without the poor.
If you lose the race, you may very well end up among the poor.
------
tommoor
I have taken part in this trip on previous years. It really was an eye-opening
experience, although less for long work hours and more for the scale that
these "small" startups operate at.
We were talking to companies only a couple of years old that had hundreds of
millions of users – and that wasn't a standout/unicorn.
~~~
Spoygg
In walled garden where you have few choices as a user it's not really a
question of quality product/service.
~~~
jpatokal
It's a walled garden with over a billion people, there's plenty of choice. If
anything there's _more_ choice since BBAT copycat each other furiously:
imagine if every time Google launched a product, Facebook, Apple, Amazon,
Netflix and Microsoft all launched their versions within weeks.
------
pmcpinto
"Then there are the work schedules. The Silicon Valley natives were introduced
to the Chinese start-up concept of 996: Work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a
week. Once they got over their shock, they had to ask: Does that punishing
schedule make sense? “I’m not worried so much about my portfolio companies not
working as hard as the Chinese companies,” said Mr. Chan, now a partner at
Felicis Ventures. “I’ll worry when they’re less creative and less efficient.”"
This is scary
------
tjbarkley
> “I’m not worried so much about my portfolio companies not working as hard as
> the Chinese companies,” said Mr. Chan, now a partner at Felicis Ventures.
> “I’ll worry when they’re less creative and less efficient.”
This seems to be a hollow fear. Working that much seems like it would do more
harm than good.
------
alismayilov
I’ve always thought that in future we are going to have 4h work days. I
thought it is a logical direction to go. However, it seems we are now proud of
longer working hours and we are heading to wrong direction.
------
andyidsinga
This is interesting - implications is that VC's may have to work 996 too to
keep up :)
> While Silicon Valley start-ups raise funding every 18 to 24 months on
> average, the group was told that the most successful Chinese companies do it
> every six months. It isn’t unusual for a hot start-up to raise funding three
> to four times a year
edit changed 669 to 996 :)
------
joshstrange
> One Chinese technology executive said he worked 14 to 15 hours a day at
> least six days a week. Another said he worked every waking hour and forced
> himself to watch movies to relax.
> The reaction from a group of Silicon Valley executives: Wow.
> “We’re so lazy in the U.S.!” blurted Wesley Chan, a venture capital
> investor, on the first day of what would be a weeklong journey into the
> Chinese technology scene.
Uh, how about not. That is the complete wrong response to that. I understand
Wesley might have just been trying to lighten the mood or be nice but let's
not encourage working yourself to death.
~~~
izzydata
Considering how little work people actually do at work we should be pushing
for a 4 day work week instead.
~~~
wycs
Much of the value is standby time. Even if workers are doing very little most
of the day, the fact that you can spin up a worker instantly (between 9 and 9)
in China can make their companies extremely efficient.
~~~
sremani
Depends on what kind of work, if you are front-line developer the value of
work is different from that of an executive. Executive game has more
perception elements to it, in such the style is as much important as
substance. Its has little or no similarities with the deep work needed from
most of the knowledge workers.
~~~
DAaaMan64
I think I now what you're saying, but can you please ELI5?
------
stevenwoo
"They found Chinese tech executives to be less reflective about the social
impact and potential misuse of their technologies." On the one hand it's hard
to find anything less reflexive than Facebook/Whatsapp acknowledging their
platform was used for a literal genocide and taking a year to actually do
something about it, on the other hand what we know about product tampering in
China for the bigger scandals with baby formula, milk and pet food seems the
anything goes for a profit should make this story's startup attitude not a
surprise to anyone paying attention to the news.
------
almost_usual
I'd prefer 6am to 6pm 6 days a week.
------
pulsarpietro
We need to be more efficient to beat them, there are not other ways.
------
asianthrowaway
I've often wondered about that. It seems we've gone backwards since the social
democratic promises of the 60s and 70s. A higher level of technology should
translate into more leisure and less work, not the opposite.
Neoliberalism?
~~~
almost_usual
Capitalism ironically. X money is never enough.
~~~
jerf
There's a lot of people here trying to blame capitalism or the right, but it
seems like trying to square that circle with the collaboration of Silicon
Valley and the Chinese Government is a bit of a stretch. History is important
and all, but even if I stipulate your theory about the past (which I don't,
but for the sake of argument let's let it go), it's SV and China doing this
_today_. Anyone who wants to try to convince me that the SV+China
collaboration is "of the right" is welcome to try but I warn you you're
basically facing Mt. Everest here. Blaming it on people who are not even
proximal to today's manifestation of the will, at best, make you briefly feel
better, but do nothing to solve the problem.
~~~
FiveSquared
What happened in the past can happen again. See, every war in human history.
~~~
jerf
What relevance does that have to what is happening _now_? Are you seriously
proposing that it's OK to not worry about what Silicon Valley and China are
doing, because someday in the past and maybe someday in the future, right-wing
people will try to squash freedom? That makes no sense.
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"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Eradication of spontaneous malignancy by local immunotherapy - bookofjoe
http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/426/eaan4488.full
======
bookofjoe
Extended analysis: [https://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/novel-
immunot...](https://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/novel-
immunotherapeutic-approach-prevents-tumors-from-reoccurring/81255619)
------
bookofjoe
Abstract:
[http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/433/eaar1916?_ga=2.4924...](http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/10/433/eaar1916?_ga=2.4924723.128737382.1522347507-1031759301.1522347507)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Australia Quiz (Sound) - gaving
https://terraaustralis.herokuapp.com/
======
gaving
Weekend(ish) project to play with React.
[https://github.com/gaving/terra](https://github.com/gaving/terra)
Related:-
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7178358](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7178358)
------
simonblack
Faulty quiz - needs work.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
EFF Launches Panopticlick 2.0 - clumsysmurf
https://panopticlick.eff.org/#2
======
dang
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10753087](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10753087)
------
newscracker
I have used the previous version several times over the years across
computers, operating systems and browsers. My worry was always about browser
fingerprinting, which meant that using a popular configuration like Windows
XP/7 with IE 6/7/8 would help "hide in the crowds and not stand out" better
than other choices would.
Even with this new version of Panopticlick and its associated help pages, it's
disturbing to know that browser fingerprinting cannot be completely defeated.
In the help page, the recommended limited effect approaches to handle browser
fingerprinting are:
1\. Use Tor - this is probably useless for most people due to the low speed of
browsing (I know everyone has to pitch in to share bandwidth with others, but
this is not an easy compromise at all).
2\. Use Privacy Badger - I do use it with Firefox and Chrome, but it's not
available for other browsers, which is not ideal for me.
3\. Use NoScript - I tried this a long time ago and found that it crippled
almost every site I regularly visited. I realized this was too heavy and
cumbersome a solution. I can easily recommend uBlock Origin and Privacy Badger
to other non-technical people, knowing that those _wouldn 't usually_ cause
issues with websites. But it's not possible to recommend NoScript to non-
technical users who just want to get things done.
My earlier conclusion on browser fingerprinting was that ironically, it
usually traps the more technical and privacy oriented people who may use more
of the unpopular solutions in order to derive privacy and security related
benefits.
I wish there were easier ways to defeat browser fingerprinting, because we may
not even know which sites are using it to track us (unlike say, cookies or
super cookies, where the evidence is usually visible).
~~~
jandrese
I use NoScript daily and while it requires a bit of interaction the first time
you visit a website it really isn't that hard to use. Just allowing the TLD
and any obvious CDNs covers about 95% of all websites. If you do run across
some website that is just horribly busted, there's always the "allow all
temporarily" button, but I find it is extremely rare that I have to resort to
that. And the times that I have I usually discover that it is in fact the
website that is broken, not my browser settings.
~~~
newscracker
> Just allowing the TLD and any obvious CDNs covers about 95% of all websites.
I know about the options NoScript provides, but I see this statement itself as
part of the problem. If we just whitelist sites that we use and see (to have
them work), we're not really stopping tracking, are we? We're just guarding
against unknown sites. Most people visit perhaps 10 major sites on a regular
basis everyday, and all the popular ones that people would whitelist use
trackers.
I'm not denying the benefit of being protected from unknown, obscure and
malicious sites that we may land in once in a while and things like XSS
protection, but that alone is not enough in this context.
What we need is either a trusted block-list for NoScript that's updated
periodically, similar to block-lists that exist for ad-blockers, or some other
mechanism that can curb the tracking potential of scripts (I don't know the
answer for the latter).
~~~
jandrese
You obviously don't whitelist google-analytics.com or facebook.net.
------
davecardwell
More information about what has changed:
[https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/panopticlick-20-launch...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/panopticlick-20-launches-
featuring-new-tracker-protection-and-fingerprinting-tests)
Some discussion yesterday:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10753087](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10753087)
------
Wingman4l7
The tool notes a browser's lack of support for analyzing compliance with "Do
Not Track" as a negative _(red X)_.
This is interesting because IMO, "Do Not Track" is basically another flavor of
Trusted Computing, which the EFF has been critical of before.
~~~
mtgx
Care to elaborate? EFF is a supporter of Do Not Track.
[https://www.eff.org/pages/understanding-effs-do-not-track-
po...](https://www.eff.org/pages/understanding-effs-do-not-track-policy-
universal-opt-out-tracking)
~~~
Wingman4l7
Yes, I understand. I just have a dim view of any sort of tracking at this
point, even if it's a voluntary "nice" kind -- and in general I don't think it
encourages a healthy privacy mentality.
------
Drdrdrq
This is another tool that might come handy:
[http://www.canyoutrackme.com/](http://www.canyoutrackme.com/)
It checks if you really lose cookies and supercookies on browser exit.
------
peteretep
> your browser has a nearly-
> unique fingerprint
Must be one of the few iPhone 6+s users in Germany O_o
~~~
VLM
"one in x browsers have this value" "6193830.0"
"User Agent" "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; FreeBSD amd64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like
Gecko) Chrome/46.0.2490.80 Safari/537.36"
OK then. I suppose this implies I was the 6193830-st person to run it from a
desktop like mine.
~~~
plank
Nope, I interpret it as: 6193829 people reached the site before you, but had
different values. Or: 2x6193830 people reached it, and one of the those had
the same value as you...
------
chromaton
Canvas fingerprinting was a new one to me:
[https://www.browserleaks.com/canvas](https://www.browserleaks.com/canvas)
"The method is based on the fact that the same canvas-code can produce
different pixels on a different web browsers, depending on the system on which
it was executed."
------
UserRights
I really like their humor - the share buttons on the results page are a
wonderful piece of satirical reality.
------
SRSposter
Do i win if i cant even turn on the test because of my addons? (noscripts,
RequestPolicy, Ublock Origin)
------
dogma1138
Is any one else not being able to complete this? Fingerprinting is stuck for
me in an endless loop, Chrome 47 custom user agent and Canvas fingerprinting
is blocked.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Large Hadron Collider scuttled by birdy baguette-bomber - amduser29
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/05/lhc_bread_bomb_dump_incident/
======
JCThoughtscream
Murphy loves French pastry, apparently. Loves it enough to share with
multibillion dollar high-energy projects.
------
gfodor
Does someone with a little more knowledge have any idea how a bird with a
baguette could have access to this part of the machine? What is stopping rain,
snow, random people, etc, from breaking things?
------
Dilpil
I find it hard to believe that a project of this magnitude has so little fault
tolerance.
~~~
dstorrs
Are you kidding? This thing is miles across, operates at temperatures colder
than space, and is _intended_ to cope with energy equivalent to two aircraft
carriers ramming into each other at flank speed. If there's a problem, they
can dump all that energy and contain it safely within a few seconds or less.
You'll never have a system this powerful that can't be fouled up
somehow...whether it's birds with bread or rats chewing the wires or just
plain bad luck. But these guys have made the system safe and built it so they
can go from "emergency shutdown" to "normal operations" in only three days.
The LHC is an amazing piece of engineering with fantastically _good_ fault
tolerance.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Silicon Valley after a Microsoft/Yahoo merger: a contrarian view - __
http://blog.pmarca.com/2008/02/silicon-valley.html
======
apathy
god bless Andreesen. As someone who actually used to use Mosaic, I feel
vaguely vindicated that he is not, in fact, a dumbass.
Disney, in particular, looks to be set to go on a rampage. Internally it's
pretty clear that some dead weight needs to go, and new talent is finally
being purchased at market price -- Pixar was the top of the slope.
As far as I can tell, Yahoo would be a very expensive albatross for Microsoft.
And I'm just fine with that. Meanwhile the rest of the field remains free to
innovate and shoot for Teh Next Google status/mindshare.
~~~
far33d
Other than Club Penguin and Pixar, has Disney done any acquisitions recently?
These are the only two substantive ones I know of, but maybe there are more on
the smaller scale?
~~~
pg
They're planning more.
~~~
far33d
[http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/new-group-at-disney-
to-...](http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/28/new-group-at-disney-to-make-
consumer-internet-acquisitions/)
Ah yes. Now I remember... It will be very interesting to see where they go
with this.
------
sanj
I found this line interesting:
"were tiny enough that Yahoo didn't even have to disclose the purchase prices"
What's that amount? Does anyone have a sense of how high an acquisition price
can be before it MUST be disclosed?
------
rams
"the best way to get bought is to not be for sale."
Worth it's weight in gold!
The startup I worked for previously was so obsessed with making the right
noises and preparing themselves to be acquired that they forgot all about
usability, reliability and making a product that actually made a difference to
the user's work flow. And they are still waiting to be acquired 4 years after
they began.
------
xirium
From the article "most startups that start with the goal of getting bought,
fail."
Hmm. Startups that aim to get bought fail before this happens. However, few
startups float. The majority are bought and the remainder stay private. So,
the best way to maximise your return is to avoid being bought, even if it is
the most likely option. That is a paradox.
------
webwright
Nice to see him doing some substantive blog posts again.
------
chaostheory
the only prob I have with the article is that it doesn't mention the open
source projects that yahoo provides with either developers, money, or both.
these projects are either important to starups now or will be in the near
future
------
dhouston
great post. i think the point about the merger being a huge distraction for
goog/msft/yhoo is also important for startups that _cough_ might be making
competitors to things large companies might also be working on :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask YC: How would you teach a Facebook Apps course? - bkrausz
A while back I was given permission to run a course at Carnegie Mellon entitled "Creating Facebook Applications". I have free reign to do what I want with the course, but from conversations with people in the industry, I have narrowed down a few specifics. Here's the info:<p>* The course will have 20-30 students in each section and will meet once a week for 80 minutes<p>* Students will work in groups of up to 3, and will develop 3 applications over the course of the semester (one sample "learn the API" application and two legit applications)<p>* There will be a product fair towards the end of the semester showing off the apps.<p>Since I'm sure most people here are pretty familiar with the past/present/future of the Facebook API, I figured I'd ask what you would like to see if you were taking such a course. Specifically:<p>- What topics would you like to see covered besides virality, monetization, and scaling?<p>- How should I measure success of an app?<p>- How much should I guide the application concepts, should I restrict one of the 3 apps to "education themed", or should I let the students run wild?<p>- Any speakers I should get in touch with to see if they'd like to give a talk (I have a few in mind already)?<p>- Is it worth inviting VCs and other influential people to the product fair? It's much further for most of them to travel than going to, for example, Stanford...<p>I'll be spending the summer preparing for the course, so any input to help direct my lectures would be greatly appreciated.
======
bjclark
Why make them create 3 apps? You want 30 super-extra-cool poke apps?
Why not make them make 1 app that actually does something? That means, no
pokes, gifts, quizzes, walls, etc.
Haven't you noticed that people HATE these apps? And that there are literally
tens of thousands of them? That's about all you're going to be able to create
in 1/3 of a semester, as a 1 day a week class, having no facebook experience.
Also, the api is not so difficult that they need to make a throw away app. You
can figure it out as you go along. It could all be covered in 80 minutes of
lecture.
Is it worth inviting VCs? No. If they make ridiculously useful apps, they'll
get attention without a VC circle jerk.
"virality, monetization, and scaling" How about you teach scaling, but only
when someone actually needs it. Monetization, I'd hope, is taught in a
business course, and virality could be covered with about a 10 minute
powerpoint. Instead, I'd talk to them about how to leverage the data and
social connections of their users, and how to use that to solve practical,
every day problems.
~~~
bkrausz
While I agree that I _hate_ those apps, the good ones do have a massive
userbase. While I do intend to discourage stupid pointless apps, I won't
explicitly ban them. Though 3 may be a little high, I may switch it to 2.
Keeping in mind that the course is meant to give a taste of something that
wouldn't normally be taught in an average course (forgot to mention that), I
think giving a taste of everything is a fair gameplan. Though talking about
leveraging the "social graph" is a good idea.
------
tlrobinson
Honestly, I don't think this is the type of course people should be taking in
college. At most it should be a component of a web technologies class.
~~~
bkrausz
It's a relatively light course, worth 1/3 the units of a regular course. It's
meant to give people a taste of something, and isn't a full-fledged course.
------
rantfoil
You should get in touch with BJ Fogg at Stanford. He taught a class recently
that was similar.
[http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/what_stanford_learned_b...](http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/what_stanford_learned_building_facebook_apps.php)
~~~
bkrausz
Already spoke to him a few weeks ago, he gave some great advice.
------
pius
I'd broaden the scope of the class to tackle the more general topic of
scalable viral applications and how to develop, integrate, and monetize them.
1\. Development. Introduce microframeworks designed for rapid development of
small footprint apps. Tackle initial product design issues with viral
applications.
2\. Integration. Show the students how to (1) integrate their apps with
Facebook and other services and (2) bridge their small apps to larger legacy
apps and other web-based services.
3\. Monetization. Here you can cover metrics, user feedback, virality, etc,
etc.
------
okeumeni
I don’t want to sound negative here. I personally don’t think Facebook itself
has any cool feature or technical challenging stuff for college student. I was
a grad student 15 years ago, I don’t think then it would have been a kick for
me.
I guess anything around the concept of Facebook and how it impact users
experience or usability stats; in short anything related to the frenzy around
Facebook will be much useful and educative to student.
To the question how much can you achieve with Facebook API? Very little
technically
------
danielrhodes
Some thoughts:
You should let the students run wild on at least one of the projects. Don't
limit their creativity. While it would be great if Facebook users were
interested in education themed apps, they are not. Just have them make apps
based on things they wish they could do on Facebook. Crazy and stupid ideas
can actually work, so mind as well not focus them in the wrong direction. The
more times they get to try these ideas, the more they will learn what works
and what does not.
Successful apps so far are all about connecting people in different ways and
allowing self-expression, so that should be emphasized. Multi-player games are
also getting big. From what I've seen, tools have not been so successful.
Since presumably not all the users will be adept at design, giving them a run
through of various interface/design elements of Facebook's design would help
in making better apps that users become comfortable with faster.
Facebook's platform has a number of different bugs and quirks (like its crazy
implementation of Javascript) which merit discussion.
Don't forget to talk about other services like OpenSocial, even if it's a
Facebook class.
------
alex_c
One subject you could explore is how the metrics given by Facebook affects the
perception of a "successful" app. The primary metric for applications is daily
active users, while Facebook itself defines an "active" user as someone who
logs in at least once a month - I always thought that distinction is
interesting. The secondary metric are total installs. Things like repeat
users, page views, pages/visit aren't as used. This has the strange effect
that large quiz apps - which tend to rise and fall in a matter of about a
month - are usually seen as more "successful" than applications with a steady
returning user base.
------
mrtron
I think success is easy to measure - the number of users for that app.
Regardless of how they do it, what it is, that is the 'success' of a facebook
app.
I wouldn't put any rules like no poke apps, if they can create a super-duper-
cool-elite-poke app that still takes off now, they are doing something right
on the marketing/viral side.
~~~
foulmouthboy
Measuring success that way is really just turning the class into a seminar on
viral marketing in facebook. If the class were for credit and one were the
competitive sort, it would be "easy" enough to send out spam mails and to
advertise the app as doing something amazing that it doesn't really do.
Rather than look for "success" metrics, I think the students might appreciate
a qualitative assessment of their efforts from bkrausz.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: QR Code Based Traveler Identity for Seamless Immigration - ajaviaad
TownChat is going to create seamless travel experience for tourists by generating Traveler Identity QR Codes for documentless identification, facilitating navigation through airports using Indoor Positioning through connectors and providing in-flight entertainment.<p>Our Patent Pending QR Code based Digital Identity will replace passports for entry and exit at borders and can also be used for Check-in and Check-out at airport lounges and hotels. It can be integrated with AML Database for KYC verification if needed.<p>QR Code based Passport ID will also allow users to scan Visa QR Code if Embassies provide one or scan Machine Readable Visa for automatically updating the visa details. On every QR scan our API will automatically check for any active PNR of user and will update QR Code with PNR so that users could scan the QR Code for getting boarding pass and later on for seamless immigration.<p>Through QR ID Landside to Airside and Airside to Landside process will take 2-3 Minutes.
======
gus_massa
You forgot the link.
How is this better than the current system in the passport that has something
like
FIRSTNAME>LASTNAME>>>>>
COUNTRY>>>NUMBER>>>>>>>
SOMETHING IMPORTANT>>>>
?
~~~
ajaviaad
It will contain all passport information and will fetch and update information
from national identity card. Upon scan visa and PNR information will also be
updated. We are using AI alogside OCR to identify fake passports on the basis
of matching patterns.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Newborn Mice’s Hearts Can Heal Themselves, Study Finds - DavidSJ
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/01/science/01obmice.html
======
QuasiPreneur
Why is this news? We know our bodies have the ability to regen but we lose it
almost immediate upon birth. We all do..every living thing has the ability to
regen and lose it at various times and in some cases like the Glass Lizard can
regen an entire limb.
And now.. with the aid of stemcells. We should be able to regen any and all
parts of the body....
Wonder what this world will be like in 50-100yrs when we have the ability to
regen any part of our body that's failing or simply needs "refreshed".
------
worldtize
Its all mind over matter. Whenever I think good about someone, a movie or a
song, within hours to a couple days, that factor comes across my life. Here is
a secret to heal your own heart, close your eyes and imagine your body to be
blue, all the red spots you see are on the image of yourself need to be
healed. Force the blue to overcome the red and then blow it out like releasing
a deep breathe, MAGIC! You have now mastered the ancient form of self healing.
Science is understanding what the mind already knows, an extraction process of
unique information.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: What do you think the successor to Flash will be? - rsnor
It seems like we are in a dark age in terms of web applets, which depending on your point of view could be great or horrible.<p>With Chrome dropping support for Flash in January, and there being no universal support for any other standard yet, I was curious to see if anyone had any guesses as to what the next might be.
======
CyberFonic
I never liked having to install Flash plug-ins. And I hated all the gunk that
was created with Flash. So I quarantined a single older notebook to run the
few Flash dependent apps that I needed to use from time to time. Ok, so much
for my bias.
Technology has moved on a great deal since Flash was first released to address
the shortcomings of the HTML standards of the day. We now have WASM, HTML5 and
ES6. For games there are both 2D, 3D canvas operations and SVG. From an
infrastructure point of view, support is far better than Flash is able to
offer in 2020. I expect that authoring tools will catch-up and surpass what
was possible with Flash tooling.
------
Shorel
The successor of Flash is JavaScript and HTML5.
------
rbrbr
There won’t be a successor.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Path(v2) fly out menu already recreated and open sourced. - jjcall
https://github.com/levey/QuadCurveMenu
======
dajobe
It is not open sourced, at least not yet. Putting something on github
generally means it can be openly distributed. The source code says "all rights
reserved" and there is no license file.
------
edvinasbartkus
This is great how really good patterns are copied and well adopted. I remember
how the "Pull to reload" feature was first used and now it is used everywere!
~~~
jjcall
Yep, the slide out menu seems to be popping up everywhere now to.
------
TylerE
Author needs to figure out a better way of doing screencapture. Using an image
that might _actually_ induce seizures isn't a very good first impression.
~~~
lukeholder
Why does he need to make a good impression? look at the code and make your
determination - build it and make a pull request with your improved video.
This is the spirit of Github: he may be an awesome coder but weak in video
production - fork and collaborate.
~~~
docgnome
s/Github/FOSS/
Fixed that for you.
~~~
docgnome
Hrm. I was trying to make a point about confusing Github with FOSS which
greatly predates it. These days it seem to be becoming a more common mistake
to make. I guess I didn't do that very well.
------
eegilbert
This is a variant of a radial menu, first seen in an application in 1969. A
beautiful variant, but a variant. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_menu>
~~~
mhd
Does this (and/or the original) work like a proper pie menu, i.e. I can
manipulate it with a drag, not just two clicks? And is the the active area
really a slice of a pie and not just the circular icon (i.e. it allows be to
drag beyond one of the icons, and it still works if I'm in its "shadow").
Edit: Just installed Path, apparently it doesn't…
------
iusable
Would love to see a HTML/CSS version of this.
~~~
dwynings
This could very easily be adapted <http://playground.mobily.pl/jquery/mobily-
blocks/demo.html>
~~~
iusable
True!
------
unfletch
Nice work! It definitely looks very similar, but if you compare the animations
closely I don't think you can say it's been recreated. (And I'd bet perfecting
the animation is one place some Path engineer and/or designer spent a lot of
time.)
Specifically I'm looking at the path (small 'p') each icon takes out of and
back into the +/x button. When they're close to the button these seem to stack
on top of each other more than those in Path, which instead almost follow each
other around. Also, something about the "bounce" at the end of the open
animation looks a bit different (easiest to see looking at the bottom-most
icon).
A nice start though. And I'm sure it looks even better in person than in that
demo animated gif.
------
betterlabs
Nice work.
I love the way the new Path app looks / works but not a big fan of the fly out
menu. It adds an additional click versus having a simple bar of the actions
appear at the bottom of the screen. Does anyone else feel the same? Just
curious.
~~~
10char
A constant bottom bar would take up screen real-estate reserved for the feed,
which is where most of the user's time will be spent (mostly consume vs create
content)
And even if there was a bottom bar, Path offers 6 different posting options.
Putting all of them on one bar, or hiding them somehow with a slider, would
make it seem awfully crowded.
~~~
sandofsky
More importantly, the bottom bar is for switching tabs, just like tabs in a
browser. It doesn't make sense for performing actions.
A tab bar would be a worthwhile replacement for the slide out left menu, which
adds friction to switching sections, and lacks discoverability. If you want
people ever visiting those sections, it's worth the screen real estate you
lose.
------
kadavy
Cool! I think I'd like for the icons to be in a rising diagonal arrangement.
Less work for the first joint of the thumb. Imagine it on the iPhone app...see
what I mean?
------
jtchang
I'm confused. Yes this is cool but it kinda looks like where Macromedia Flash
started out. Don't tell me we are so far ahead we are now going backwards.
------
llimllib
What is Path(v2)?
edit: googling suggests it's this iphone app: <https://path.com/>
~~~
jonursenbach
The second iteration of the Path iOS application.
------
joshu
Startup does something to differentiate themselves, is immediately copied.
Lame.
~~~
windsurfer
Startup does something clever but simple; competition begins quickly.
It's not the creator's fault that it's easy to reproduce and he did so in his
free time. It's now free for everyone. Maybe the startup could clone his repo
and keep part of their product updated by the community for free.
~~~
joshu
believe me: i deeply understand what's happening here; when i did del.icio.us
there were hundreds of copies. because they did not understand the core
decisions, they generally went down the wrong path.
improving upon is cool. copying is lame.
~~~
alexknowshtml
I've felt this pain deeply as well, and a non-technology company. Founding one
of the earliest successful coworking spaces, lots of other "shared offices"
have popped up and even Regus has co-opted the term coworking and the physical
attributes of a coworking space without considering the underlying decisions
or core values that we've established.
See also: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult>
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Review my Startup - Dead Simple Monitor - cracell
Dead Simple Monitor alerts you when your website is down via email, SMS and/or a phone call.<p>http://www.deadsimplemonitor.com<p>And here's a special link for you guys so you can signup to check it out without putting in a credit card http://www.deadsimplemonitor.com/signup/hackernews
======
famfam
Just curious, why did you decide to do this? I raised a similar idea a little
back on HN and I would say overall the response was negative.
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1401914>) The space is in fact, very
very very crowded, and there are already a lot of "dead simple monitors" out
there. Where do you see an opportunity? Congrats on putting this out, either
way.
~~~
cracell
Ah I missed your post, very interesting.
Honestly I don't think the space is crowded at all. When researching the space
I found that the competition is entirely disappointing. There's a host of
services that do a lot more and you pay for it. I don't need an enterprise
solution that costs $100 a month, I just need to know if my site is up.
And then you have a bunch of unprofessional and confusing small ones. That are
after the exact same customers but are doing a very poor job at it. The only
real serious competition that we found is Pingdom. Which I've used personally
for my sites and I've always hated that they make me refill SMS and that they
couldn't call my phone. I often simply ignore texts for hours or sleep through
them. Though in my research I found I'm pretty alone in wanting a website up
monitor to call me and not just text.
~~~
famfam
That's cool. I agree there are a lot of junky ones, and absurdly expensive
ones, but I did find quit a few "modern" ones like what you've implemented,
basically at the same price point, same features etc. I wish I had kept the
list, because they're hard to find through Google... since there are so many
results in this category.
Do you plan on running SEM campaigns to promote this? I'm really curious if
your CPA can get low enough to come out ahead for an offering in this price
range. The CPC doesn't seem cheap since the higher end guys charge a pretty
penny in this space. I guess it all depends on your gross per customer, which
you won't know until customers start to sign up AND then terminate after X
months.
Are you running the whole thing out of Heroku? Do you think that you're
putting the availability of your service at risk by doing so? (e.g. are you
just measuring whether or not _Heroku_ can see their website?)
~~~
cracell
Currently the service is running entirely on Heroku. We plan to run the
monitor itself in slave mode on completely separate virtual machines with a
couple different hosts. Depending on the userbase. Once that system is
finished if Heroku or EC2 for that matter went entirely down the interface
would no longer be available but the alerts would still fire. I don't see the
point of checking it from various regions around the world. When you are a
company like Amazon this makes sense but for small companies and consultants I
just can't see the use case.
We do have logic in place to ensure that it doesn't think everything is down
if it loses it's http connection.
I plan on experimenting with Search Engine Marketing but that really is a hard
game to play at this price range. I have a lot of ideas and rough plans
marketing wise but for this type of product it will definitely be an uphill
battle. I don't have any experience in marketing but have read a lot and am
excited to try it out first hand.
Long term we hope to succeed by being better and cheaper than the
alternatives. If you have happy customers using your product they recommend
others to it. But it will take a long time to build that customer base that is
recommending us to others.
------
justinchen
Clickable HN signup link: <http://www.deadsimplemonitor.com/signup/hackernews>
Just signed up. I agree with your annoyance about Pindom SMS credits -- it
makes the service much less valuable when it's only email.
I do like having it be a phone call b/c then I can program in a very ominous
ringtone.
------
nmcfarl
So just getting started looking at it - but I did notice that the "Plan and
Price" page doesn't have a call to action to sign up - or even a good link to
the signup page. I'd fix that first.
~~~
c4ncll3
Thanks, we added a link to sign up in the "Plan and Price" section.
Also added a link specific to Hacker News visitors which takes you to the
'sign up w/o a credit card' page.
------
jeffepp
very useful - already signed up and currently monitoring my app.. well done.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Near native C++ speeds with barcode scanning with WebAssembly - chkuendig
https://websdk.scandit.com/
======
chkuendig
Disclosure: I work for Scandit.
This is a project we have been working on for a while and just launched. Feel
free to ask me anything regarding barcode scanning or porting large and
optimized C++ code-bases to webassembly.
[Edit] Here's the NPM package if you want to try this out yourself:
[https://www.npmjs.com/package/scandit-
sdk](https://www.npmjs.com/package/scandit-sdk)
~~~
tuananh
can you do a blog post about the porting process?
------
xchip
Nice! You might want to check mines, in javascript and with pretty
pictures/animations
[https://github.com/aguaviva/ArtificialIntelligence](https://github.com/aguaviva/ArtificialIntelligence)
------
taf2
Mobile safari 11 doesn’t appear to work
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Arduin-o-Phone - ptorrone
https://learn.adafruit.com/arduin-o-phone-arduino-powered-diy-cellphone
======
hga
2G, T-Mobile only in the US (says AT&T is not selling 2G SIMs anymore and is
shutting down its 2G network), but otherwise looks very tasty.
~~~
yellowapple
It appears to be equivalent to a feature/dumbphone, in which context even a 2G
network is usually overkill.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What Happens If Health-Care Workers Stop Showing Up? - jseliger
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/were-failing-doctors/608662
======
jseliger
I know a lot of doctors and some other healthcare workers. This question isn't
getting enough play in the media, particularly because many hospitals aren't
doing enough to protect workers. I know a resident whose program director
ordered her to keep working even though she has COVID-19 symptoms, including
dry cough and loss of taste, but she can't get tested for COVID-19, so she's
continuing to work because she's afraid of what will happen if she doesn't.
Other doctors are bringing their own personal protection equipment (PPE) into
work and horror stories about hospital administrators ordering them to remove
unapproved PPE are being spread through Facebook groups.
And that's separate from simple incompetence, like not getting tents set up,
not separating respiratory distress patients from other patients, and so on.
Healthcare workers are not only putting themselves at risk, but also their
families and patients.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Stanford Multi-Camera Array - DanBC
http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/array/
======
DanBC
There's links to a paper here.
[http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/CameraArray/](http://graphics.stanford.edu/papers/CameraArray/)
And there's an Instructables page here: [http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-
Camera-Array-1-Computati...](http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Camera-
Array-1-Computational-Photography-Prim/) (and that author kindly links PDFs in
other places, so you don't need to register to get the PDFs)
------
beambot
IIRC, this is the same underlying technology being currently employed in the
"bugs eye" lens system that underlies Lytro -- I.e. this is the lab group that
spawned Lytro.
~~~
ryandamm
Very different applications -- Lytro does use a lens array, but behind a
traditional lens; the lens array is a microlens array covering the pixels on
the sensor. This allows the recovery of the plenoptic function
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_field](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_field))
from within the camera, which allows things like refocusing.
A large-scale array, with no front objective lens, like the one shown here --
that allows recovery of the plenoptic function _outside_ of any lens
environment, which means you can do different fancy stuff. Synthetic aperture
is one (not that interesting); holographic reconstruction is one much more
interesting possibility, though.
With holographic reconstruction, you could serve any possible perspective
behind the array to a VR headset, say, or even create a 'hologram' of the
scene incident on the array. Seriously, it's pretty cool.
I wrote at length about it here:
[http://uploadvr.com/light-fields-are-dead-long-live-
holograp...](http://uploadvr.com/light-fields-are-dead-long-live-holography/)
Awesome. And yes, the professor responsible for that group was the thesis
advisor to Ren Ng (Lytro founder), and now works at Google. His name is Marc
Levoy, and he's done amazing stuff.
~~~
beambot
I know Marc. We worked together in Google[x] for a while. ;)
------
ryandamm
This dates back to 2005; headline should reflect this.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A 1938 subway ride led to the invention of the video game console - danso
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/08/the-subway-ride-that-led-to-the-invention-of-video-games/
======
rmason
Six years after Odyssey I bought a 'pong' game that was the size of maybe the
size of two packs of cigarettes with two sets of paddles.
I was living in a singles apartment complex and one very pleasant side effect
was that within days of getting the game I had every young woman in the
building coming over to play it with me. Quite possibly the greatest
investment I ever made ;<).
~~~
jonifico
How much did you pay for it? With inflation it might be a bit tough but, an
approximate? Must've been expensive at the time!
------
lectrick
3 days earlier was this article on him
[http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-
science/ralph-...](http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-
science/ralph-h-baer-a-father-of-video-gaming-dies-
at-92/2014/12/07/a24c8964-7e6e-11e4-8882-03cf08410beb_story.html)
I see a pattern here with creative engineers:
1) Creative engineer comes up with an off-the-wall idea, it keeps bugging him,
he makes a demo using spare resources
2) Shows demo to managers and superiors, they scoff and tell him to stop
wasting his time
3) A couple of people he demoes it to, "get it"
4) Suddenly, thing catches on like wildfire
One thing he did differently is document and patent everything.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Unlock MacBook Air Using WhatsApp - nautical
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A25kCyofvRk
======
fuckedup
Set up screensaver to lock mbp
------
dkverma
Care to opensource ?
------
ForFreedom
How is it done?
~~~
nautical
Blog will be posted soon , imagine walking away from your laptop and you
forgot to lock it .... Whatsapp to your mac to lock it . Thats also possible .
~~~
ForFreedom
set a screensaver after a min to lock the mbp. But its interesting to
unlock/lock it via whatsapp.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
This is Parrot: Clean up your MVC views (Parrot vs Razor) - c0deporn
https://www.bitcast.io/v/this-is-parrot-clean-up-your-mvc-views
======
titan2782
This is a very interesting look into not only a new MVC view engine, but also
looks at what the Razor vie engine was supposed to be and where it actually
failed to meet it's goals.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
In defense of hiring based on side projects - barry-cotter
https://diff.substack.com/?r=4uveo
======
ErrantX
My take is; there is nothing wrong with looking for this stuff but relying on
it is short-sighted.
Personal experience of mine is; people who spend a lot of non-work time on
side projects and open source bring a specific energy to their work. What they
are usually _not_ good at is turning up for work, getting their head down and
diligently burning through some work. Instead they tend to be ideas people and
leaders.
All organisations need a balance of personality and experience to be
effective.
So get excited about Bob because he is an Open Source advocate and regular
conference speaker. But also get excited about Alice because her experience is
right and when she interviews she is dedicated and detail-oriented.
~~~
Lammy
I know Alice and Bob are mega-classic foo/bar-style example names, but I also
feel like it brings an unnecessary implication to use gendered names as
examples when talking about hiring.
~~~
shadowmore
I can't tell satire from reality anymore.
~~~
Lammy
I'm being very sincere. It feels out of place here for the masculine example
name to be the outgoing FOSS-contributing self-driven one ("ideas people and
leaders") and the feminine example name to be the one who is good at showing
up on time, keeping her head down, and being told what to do.
~~~
pluto9
If they were reversed, you could take offense to Alice being the head-in-the-
clouds, undisciplined, and unreliable one while Bob is focused, hard-working,
and gets the job done.
Of course that would be equally silly, because an example is just an example
and there's no reason to read this sort of thing into it.
~~~
mpweiher
"It's you who's drawing all those dirty pictures"
_The Rorschach Test_
[http://bouldertherapist.com/html/humor/MentalHealthHumor/ror...](http://bouldertherapist.com/html/humor/MentalHealthHumor/rorschach.html)
------
shmel
I have started working for a big international company only recently and was
quite surprised to learn that the clause "we own all IP you produce at any
time including at home on your own equipment" is common in contracts. It is
present in my contract as well.
It affected my motivation to work on side projects a lot. How do other devs
deal with this? I'd like to write some code for fun at home at least
sometimes, but arguing with the legal department just to put it in github is
definitely not something I want to do in my free time.
~~~
s_gourichon
(I'm not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, just a forum conversation where I
tell what I believe: "as far as I know", etc.)
What country is this? Here in France, your employer may only complain if they
can argue that your activity causes them harm. Side projects, even when
benefiting from your work experience, should, as far as I know, be okay.
~~~
shmel
It is the UK. I know that probably in some jurisdictions some of these clauses
are unenforceable. I just don't want to step in a legal mess. I know a friend
of mine (in France btw) had to argue with his company about this even though
he obtained a verbal agreement beforehand. It is just that he was about to
quit and the employer decided to fuck with him as much as possible.
~~~
cnity
Are you sure? The line "in the course of your employment" is often
misinterpreted to mean "while hired here". In fact it means something like
"while doing something that is specifically required to do your job
properly"[0]
[0]: Australian site, but relevant: [https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-
business/protecting-...](https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-
business/protecting-business/ip-kit/browse-ip-topics/ownership-of-
intellectual-property-created-by-your-employees-and-contractors-or-
consultants/ownership#:~:text=As%20a%20general%20rule%2C%20an,the%20employee%2C%20not%20the%20employer).
~~~
shmel
yes. My contract clarifies clearly "whether or not during working hours,
whether or not using company's equipment". It could be difficult to enforce,
but I wouldn't want to check.
~~~
cnity
Yes, but does it say "in the course of your employment"?
The "whether or not during working hours/using company's equipment" part just
covers the case where you are working late, etc. If your contract contains the
phrase "in the course of your employment", then you can still work on a hobby
project and it remains yours, because you didn't work on the hobby project "in
the course of your employment" (you were not asked to build the hobby project)
------
_raul
It took me years to notice a flaw in this approach: it's based in the premise
that everyone has time for side projects.
From that point I think about it as a bias. Nowadays I try to assess if the
candidates with no public activity on GH and no side projects have the passion
and interest I look for, but can't take it further outside of work due to
their specific circumstances.
~~~
moron4hire
Time-in-practice is still correlated with skill. If I'm getting someone with
"4 years of experience", a person who works on side projects could have 10,000
hours in-practice, vs only 5,000 for someone who doesn't.
I understand not exclusively focusing on people who work on their own to the
exclusion of everyone else, but I definitely don't understand this modern push
to ignore it as a signal completely. People who don't work side projects are
going to need more years of experience to have the same level of practice as
those who do.
And frankly, I've been involved in a lot of hiring, and I've yet to see these
people who A) don't work on side projects, but B) are actually skilled in
their jobs. We give them interviews and it becomes clear they hid in large,
ossified, megacorporate teams. They know the one way to do things that is the
one template of work they've ever been hired to do, because that is the only
experience they have.
If that's your environment, I guess you can have them. I don't have any space
for that.
~~~
odshoifsdhfs
You do know you can also repeat the same 10 hours 1000 times right?
Side projects usually don't have the oversight where you learn and improve so
much as when you work in a team. Is like learning to play football by yourself
by kicking a ball against your house wall everyday, or play in a team with
other players and a coach. You can kick the ball for 8 hours against the wall,
but I guarantee it that 1 hour a week in a team setting you will improve much
more.
~~~
moron4hire
And the athlete who plays on a team _and_ practices at home will out-perform
their peers who don't practice at home.
I can't believe I have to say this. This is _obvious_. Every coach knows this.
It's not an exclusive-OR problem.
~~~
odshoifsdhfs
ACtually, not really! Coaches and sports scientist are actually pushing back
on that as it leads to overtraining, and except for the very top of their
field, mistakes that need correcting.
Boxing for example (sport I did and helped coaching), unless you are top of
your field, isn't recommended to do a lot of 'at home' training as you develop
bad habits without supervision (dropping the defense, telegraphing your punch
a bit) as you don't have the feedback. Thes mistakes have to be then
'corrected'
~~~
iateanapple
> Boxing for example
Boxing isn’t a good example because it’s a combat sport which means there is
far more training than competing.
When I played football the ratio was close to 1:1 - games played to hours
trained and something like 150-200:1 for when I was boxing.
------
JohnBooty
When hiring, I am a big fan of side projects as a _substitute_ for strong work
experience. If you've been working as a barista but coding in your spare time,
cool! You might have a great career ahead of you in software engineering...
maybe you're right for the team. Your portfolio matters.
(The converse is true, too. If you're been coding at work all day but pursuing
your passion for coffee at night, maybe you'll make a great barista or
roaster! Go for it!)
But.
Holding a demanding engineering job _and doing a lot of engineering on the
side_ are nearly mutually exclusive.
I've done a big side project or two, but only when I was basically
underemployed at my day job. Slumming it, really.
I've had other jobs where it took _everything I had_ just to keep up with the
demands of the job and keep up with my talented coworkers. I sure didn't have
any engineering juice left over in me at the end of the day.
Especially not if I wanted to maintain healthy relationships with other human
beings and my family. There are only so many hours in a week.
So, if you demand your hires spent time outside of work on side projects?
You're going to have a strong bias that favors people who (a) have been
slacking or underemployed (b) are not really into the whole "human
relationships" thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with living one's life
that way, but you are certainly excluding a lot of healthy and talented people
if you essentially insist upon _only_ hiring from that group.
------
cryptica
>> Hiring Based on Side Projects: Unfair, But Good For the World
I don't see how hiring based on side projects is unfair in any way. Ignoring
people's side projects is essentially a punishment for those who do invest a
lot of time in them. It's not like the side project built itself. We should
not punish people by ignoring their surplus efforts.
There are two ways to go about it:
1\. Reward people for building real stuff and improving their skills in an
area which is relevant to the position that they're applying for.
2\. Reward people for being good at taking whiteboard tests, social scheming,
rehearsing job interviews and solving pointless abstract puzzles that have
nothing to do with the position that they're applying for.
I can't imagine how anyone could justify #2 as being the better option. It's
disturbing that this article even needs to be written. Do people actually
think that the second option is even viable?
Now I understand why there are such huge social problems today. There is an
army of type 1 people who were badly hurt and who are still struggling and now
they're smarter and more determined than ever to make things right.
~~~
moron4hire
This. It's one thing to say "don't be biased against people who don't have
public GitHub profiles full of stuff they can show off". It's very clear that
there are a variety of reasons why that would be the case.
But it's an entirely different thing to say "side projects have no correlation
to job skill". Which is literally what a lot of people in the article's
referenced tweet are saying, and even what a few people here are saying.
The reality is, most of the resumes you're going to get for any particular job
posting are going to be garbage. Poor performers are over-represented in the
open job market, both because they stay in the job market a lot longer (can't
stay very long at one place) and because they need to apply to lots of places
in the hopes of playing the numbers.
The resume is completely broken. But it's all we get from "open" job
positions. If the resume is all I have to go on, most of the ones I get I have
to throw away because they have nearly zero match for the posted position. Of
the few that are left, the ones that somehow show they aren't a hot-potato are
going to the top of the stack.
If all you have is enterprise Java experience and you're applying to my VR
project in C#, and you have nothing to show, not even side projects, that you
have any experience writing C# or game code, I'm not going to even give you a
call. And _that_ sort of thing is the majority of resumes you'll receive.
If you want a particular job, you need to be able to show some kind of ability
to do it. If that's your actual, professional experience, that's the best. But
if you're trying to change industries, you gotta have something that
correlates. So what is it going to be, if it isn't a side project?
The better way of evaluating candidates is to start from referrals, but that
has its own issues of gatekeeping, either conscious or unconscious.
If we're talking about open job listings, getting nothing but a cover letter
and a resume (and you're lucky to even get a cover letter), how else are you
supposed to do it? You can't interview everyone. There _are_ people who will
be a complete waste of time.
------
jimmySixDOF
Nolan Bushnell Founder of Atari, inventor of Pong, & gave Steve Jobs a job :
*I would hire somebody who would have a really passionate, tricky hobby before I hired somebody who had a PhD in the subject. Hobbies are more important in today’s world than degrees.*
~~~
panelss
In practise, this is bullshit. Maybe back in the 70s, but now the tech
industry machination is so robotic and massive that you will never even get to
know your employer before they've already thrown you out for being under-
qualified.
------
bJGVygG7MQVF8c
It boils down to this for me:
> in the early days [of rocketry], everyone was a hobbyist
The more your company resembles "the early days of rocketry" the more it might
make sense to select for hobbyist energy, and substantive side projects are a
good signal of that.
But: Not all companies resemble or need to resemble the early days of
rocketry. They ought to design their own filters based on their needs. Read
some Hayek. A monoculture in hiring is undesirable and completely removing
bias across all possible dimensions is impossible.
For all the talk of "diversity" (read: heterogeneity) in tech, there seems to
be a strong cultural bias among engineers toward uniformity and cargo-culting
(e.g. the doctrinaire obsession with best practices over first-principles
thinking you see in some corners) and little appetite for actual
heterogeneity.
The inefficiencies emerge when every tiny startup mimics FAANG or every mid-
sized company mimics tiny startups, etc.
------
davidg109
Side projects are icing. People live under different circumstances. One person
may wish to spend their free time socializing when they’re done work. Another
person may wish to spend that time doing these side projects.
If this made the difference between being hired by a company or not, this
wouldn’t be the company I would choose to work for. I could only imagine the
24/7, always-on culture they’d have.
~~~
sokoloff
One athlete might choose to spend their free time socializing while another
works out. One med or engineering student might socialize while another hits
the books or lab.
Do we believe that the outcomes will be equal over 100s of such trials? If we
believe the outcomes will be different, why should we not consider that among
other signals we get in interviewing?
~~~
milesvp
You should look at the work of Richard Hamming. Socializing is very important
in staying relavant in a field. Similarly there’s a belief that the social
dinners of the academics in cape cod post WWII had an overwhemling effect on
that regions academic contributions.
Personally I’d bet on the socializer over the person putting in tons of extra
hours in isolation anyday.
~~~
sokoloff
True, though I would count significant socializing within your field or with a
distinctly academic bent quite differently from "crushing Bud Light cans
around a campfire". Not to say that the latter isn't also a perfectly valid
way to spend time, but it's quite different from a social dinner of academics,
IMO.
------
barry-cotter
> Barons of the Sky is a nice history of the early days of the aerospace
> industry, and it shows that in the early days, everyone was a hobbyist.
> Unlike other hobbies, like writing computer games for fun, this was a high-
> stakes pursuit. Good amateur plane designers made the front page when they
> set records, the bad ones made the obituary page instead.
...
> And since the tweet mentioned rockets, it would be wrong to ignore one of
> the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Jack Parsons, who helped
> invent modern rocketry, founded a cult, got expelled from Caltech for a bit
> of both, and died from a rocket explosion at his home lab.
> Hedge funds do this, too. At a typical stock-picking hedge fund, the
> decisive interview questions are about what stocks you like and which ones
> you hate. Some anecdotes:
> Lars Kroijer, a young MBA, scored an interview with a very good hedge fund
> in the 90s. He describes the interview in his memoir. The manager asked him
> for stock picks. He said the market was inefficient, so the manager asked
> him to leave. Ouch! Lars straightened himself out and went on to run a
> successful fund, then retired at the right time. At another fund I’ve heard
> about, the head of research liked to poll the interns and ask them if they
> thought the market was efficient. If the answer was yes, he said, they were
> fired effective immediately. Fortunately, in an efficient market it should
> be effortless to get an equally attractive job elsewhere. I’ve bombed at
> least one interview by not having any good trading pitches handy. (In
> fairness to me, it was a fund using a strategy I hadn’t ever worked on. In
> fairness to them, I knew this.)
...
> As many people point out, the norm in favor of side projects is unfair to
> anyone with limited free time. What they don’t add is that this is a
> progressive tax: there’s a positive correlation between educational
> attainment and hours worked per week, as well as between income and hours
> worked per week. This was not always the case; “The idle rich” used to be a
> statistically accurate observation, but now the rich work longer hours and
> have less leisure time than average. But the average American watches four
> and a half hours of TV per day. If your work happens to be fun, you can
> devote that leisure time to side projects. If your work is boring, you
> probably shouldn’t complain that people who like their craft more than you
> and devote more effort to it are rewarded.
> (As a friend put it a few years ago, when such pop culture references were
> relevant, “If you know what a ‘Khaleesi’ is, you had time for side
> projects.”)
~~~
pizza234
> But the average American watches four and a half hours of TV per day
This is something that always perplexed me. I don't doubt it's true, but could
somebody show me a schedule where one puts so much television in the context
of an adult, independent, life?
I have barely 3 hours free every workday, and I need to be extremely well
organized and lean, in addition to working (full time) from home.
~~~
balfirevic
> I don't doubt it's true, but could somebody show me a schedule where one
> puts so much television in the context of an adult, independent, life?
Without more information on the methodology, it might very well not be true in
a sense that they just sit and watch TV. Those four and a half hours could be
including the time people do stuff around the house while the TV is on.
If anyone has more information about how this is commonly measured please
share.
------
realtalk_sp
Something I find odd is this presumption that most software engineering roles
necessitate practice in the form of side projects. That hasn't been my
experience.
Modern-day software seems to take the form of mostly being fairly repetitive
(CRUD, front-end framework, RDBMS, AMQ, in-memory cache, object modeling,
testing, CI/CD, etc) and only quite rarely involving unique knowledge specific
to the task at hand. Once you've dealt with the fundamentals enough times,
there are rapidly diminishing marginal returns to hours spent coding, for most
practical software engineering roles.
At that point, a person's time would be _much_ better spent developing other
tangential faculties like communication, project management, and critical
thinking or simply on personal wellbeing (happy workers are more productive
workers).
So, in my opinion, unless you're trying to do something quite innovative,
you're making a mistake by selecting for coders who burn the candle at both
ends. You should instead select for smart people who can get the job done well
_without_ having to spend an excessive amount of time on side projects and who
optimize their lives outside of work in a way that leaves them happy and
energized when they come to work.
------
Nursie
This is just so much crap.
I love what I do but doing it 40 hours a week is enough. I have side projects
- doing up the house, cooking, exploring the world, spending lots of time with
friends and family etc. I occasionally have a home tech project like building
a security cam system or something, but it's not that much and not that often.
In my experience the kinds of 'obsessives' he's talking about in this post are
not only not the best at what they do, they're often pretty weird people too.
------
grogers
All the examples of extremely dedicated people with airplane building side
projects were founders. If you are looking for a founder then sure, side
projects likely have value. Not all of the employees you hire need an
outrageous energy to spend day and night doing work and more work on the side.
------
moron4hire
I get that people are reacting to companies that are saying they only consider
people with side-project portfolios. Yes, that's terrible. But the pendulum-
swing reaction to say "side project shouldn't matter" is just as bad, maybe
even worse. People who talk about "side projects shouldn't be a consideration"
don't know what they are asking for. They have either forgotten or never
experienced the history of _why_ side projects are considered in the
interviewing process today. To ask for side projects to not be a part of the
hiring decision process is to ask to set back hiring by at least 15 years. Do
you think the tech industry was _more_ equitable 15 years ago?
Considering side projects came about when people like me got our turn at being
hiring managers. When we were first entering the industry, we got told
_explicitly_ that our side projects didn't matter, that the only experience
that mattered was professional experience. We could _prove_ we could do the
job and we still were being told we would not be considered for the job. We
started considering side projects _specifically_ to be more equitable in
hiring.
I grew up in a rural town. I went to a local, state college. I graduated in
the top of my class in Computer Science and I still couldn't get a job in
programming out of college. I didn't have a dad at Microsoft to get me a
prestigious internship. I didn't have a prestigious school behind my name and
our school "only" did Java and the local companies "only" did .NET. I had been
programming in .NET for 2 years by that point, but it wasn't going to be
considered because it wasn't professional experience.
The only job I could get was entry-level QA. You didn't even need a degree to
get the job. I had to beg to get commit access to the repo to prove I could
fix the bugs that I identified. That was the only way I was able to get into
programming back then.
I spent 10 years doing web and database development at consulting companies. I
hated it. Consulting might be fine for some, but I can't stand it. I tried for
years to get out of it, only to be told that my experience in consulting
didn't matter, I had never worked in product development and it was supposedly
"soooo different" that nobody could take a chance on me. The _only_ way I was
able to get out of it was... to start a side project. I built a VR project
that got me a small amount of internet fame. Now, 5 years later, with 15 years
of professional programming experience, and 20 years of side-project
experience, I'm the head of VR at a company.
When you say that side projects shouldn't be a consideration, you're not
asking for more people to get interviews. You're asking for fewer. The only
people who are going to get interviews in that scenario are folks who went to
prestigious schools. All the people drawing up barista-cum-coding-bootcamp-
grads-who-don't-have-the-time-to-feed-themselves-and-work-side-projects-at-
the-same-time archetypes: those people aren't going to get interviews. The
only chance they have is to dig deep, build a portfolio, and hope they run
into a company that is progressive enough to look past the lack of
credentials.
------
sys_64738
You have time to do side projects outside FT employment? Does that mean you
either have no life, or were not working hard enough for your current
employer. That's how it's interpreted.
------
jcahill
The author is essentially hoping to usher in an end-times world divided solely
into middle managers and sapient jumping beans. This is a far from sensible
goal.
>I don’t mean to pick on this person; there’s no reason to be familiar with
the history of the US aerospace and rocketry industry (unless, of course,
you’re going to make an argument that hinges on claims about the industry).
Failing to grasp the broadly satirical nature of copypasta like this, then
doubling down on an i-know-more-than-you literal interpretation of the text,
is not a situation in which the author should be concerned that readers will
worry _the other guy_ is getting roasted too hard.
>Barons of the Sky is a nice history of the early days of the aerospace
industry, and it shows that in the early days, everyone was a hobbyist.
Acutely pursued hobbies with upside potential become professions! I am
shocked. This is my shocked face. :o
>At another fund I’ve heard about, the head of research liked to poll the
interns and ask them if they thought the market was efficient. If the answer
was yes, he said, they were fired effective immediately.
This example is just an nth-hand anecdote about an empirically incorrect
manager on a workplace power trip. Less shark, more dipshit. Parroting the
desired response to some manager's arbitrary psychodrama isn't relevant to
making money on money for a living. Does the manager need a date to prom, too?
>(As a friend put it a few years ago, when such pop culture references were
relevant, “If you know what a ‘Khaleesi’ is, you had time for side projects.”)
Consider the following: humans experience the same number of hours per day.
If you know what a ‘number’ is, you have time to appease me. Reexamine your
life to spend more of it appeasing me.
It's a good argument, because humans experience the same number of hours per
day. Not enough of them are spent appeasing me!
>In a field with a low marginal cost of scaling results and tournament-like
economics (for example: investing, software, writing, some kinds of hardware),
there’s a moral component as well. The better you think you are, the more it’s
your _responsibility_ to work extra hard, since the results will be
distributed so widely.
Just try to say "there is a moral component to scaling IoT toasters" with a
straight face among people you respect.
Note: The author reads HN[1] and likely crafted this blurb as bait. He should
come away from this thread more insulted by the inanity of his own writing
than grateful for the attention.
Promotion of workified mediocrity like the kind on display here is unnecessary
in an era that has already caricatured this worldview past the point of no
return with such literary works as the Student Athlete copypasta[2]. You do
not need to tamper with your inner life in the vague hope that an interviewer,
somewhere down the line, will grade you on your hobbies like all code is a
take-home test regardless of its genesis.
Stagnant real wages in the author's home country (US) further reduce the
blogpost's relevance. As do OECD data[3][4] showing no positive correlation
between average hours worked and stereotypical innovation rate at the country-
level.
[1]:
[https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart/status/1278782161559138304](https://twitter.com/ByrneHobart/status/1278782161559138304)
[2]:
[https://files.catbox.moe/2srmab.png](https://files.catbox.moe/2srmab.png)
[3]: [https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-
worked.htm](https://data.oecd.org/emp/hours-worked.htm)
[4]:
[https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS](https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
'Neopets': Inside Look at Early 2000s Internet Girl Culture - rbanffy
http://www.rollingstone.com/glixel/features/neopets-a-look-into-early-2000s-girl-culture-w509885
======
thisisfineagain
Yeh I'm a girl I was into Neopets. But I never considered it a girl thing.
What interested me about Neopets was that I flew to California when I was 13
(now 27) to visit my cousin (same age as me) and I followed her along to one
of her routine babysitting jobs, two young Asian girls 8,10. I don't know if
their parents were software developers, but they were extremely well off with
a beautiful mansion in the hills of San Juan Capistrano.
Their girls were a fraction of my age but we're on Neopets opening up wen
frameworks and coding and doing stuff I didn't understand at the time. I was
amazed at what they could do.
I think the coolest thing about Neopets was it provided a real time economic
system and allowed people to actually experiment with businesses and profit.
Furthermore, it was not easy to be rich, and I traveled far and wide for rare
items to resell. I would love to see a new game like Neopets come back again
in a more mature fashion adults could get into, merely for an to engage in
economic experimentation. I learned more about the hustle in Neopets than I
did anywhere in school until I hit the real world after college.
About every three of four years I remember Neopets and check on Lara, she's on
the brink of starvation but not quite dead yet, a small snack keeps her going
for another few years. Really low maintenance pets on the whole.
------
dragontamer
I never considered "Neopets" to be "girl culture".
Probably because I played it and I am a dude.
> nearly 60 percent of Neopets' visitors were girls
Eehhhhh, that's a really tough sell for "Neopets" to be "Girl Culture". It was
an internet game and internet community.
\--------------
This concept of "Closed Girl Space" is kind of intriguing, but seems to assign
gender to a concept that I've never considered "Gender" to be an important
distinguisher. Geocities, Homestead, and plenty of early internet "club
websites" have similar "Closed Space" concepts (including "Webrings" to join
the club). Its just how communities around the internet were built back then,
before "Search Engines" were very popular and when websites were spread by
word of mouth.
\---------------
There are some gems in this article. This is a good paragraph that greatly
describes the "feel" of the game:
> Neopets was the wireframe for a community of girls that continuously
> expanded its expressive reach. Not bound by the limitations of a traditional
> open-world game built on a console system, Neopets began a collaborative
> building exercise for those that played it. Even in the aspects of play that
> were regulated by Neopets developers, users provided input: A player could
> publish reported and researched stories or opinion pieces in the in-game
> newspaper, The Neopian Times, or build out shops that filled Neopia's
> marketplace. Players gathered in forums and in guilds – partly responsible
> for the Neopets DIY media scene – to forge relationships and share
> experiences. Communities of storytellers, artists, reporters, designers, and
> poets emerged, alongside an economy that fed off its collaborators.
Just remove the "community of girls" part, because Neopets really was a fully
inclusive culture no matter who you were.
------
bfuller
I got my start in software development by creating bots for neopets. There
were many many women involved in the cheating scene but it mostly skewed
towards males.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
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Introduction to Algorithms (2011) - ColinWright
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUl4u3cNGP61Oq3tWYp6V_F-5jb5L2iHb
======
ryeights
Related: [https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-
compu...](https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-
science/6-006-introduction-to-algorithms-fall-2011/)
------
dmh2000
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-
part1](https://www.coursera.org/learn/algorithms-part1)
------
cpursley
Can anyone recommend an algorithm Mooc with a functional programing focus
(i.e., not Java)?
~~~
miguelr2201
While i haven't find a MOOC, this list of resources for learning CS from a
functional programming perspective might help you.
[https://functionalcs.github.io/curriculum/#orgeff02fd](https://functionalcs.github.io/curriculum/#orgeff02fd)
~~~
cpursley
This is just the kind of thing that I've been looking for, thank you.
------
humble_engineer
Thank you for this, I am a self taught software engineer about 3-4 years into
my career and I've been studying lots of algorithms on my free time,
especially using HackerRank to solve the problems with Python. It's nice to
have such a complete list of lectures like this. I struggle remembering all
the operations on the data structures like percolate a tree, or some types of
graph operations.
------
ppaabbs
Thanks. Very interesting.
------
caspper69
Better than the Fall 2015 6.046J where the TA admits he's never implemented
the tree algorithm he's teaching in code. At MIT. As a graduate student.
Let that sink in.
~~~
denzil_correa
You don’t need to implement algorithms in order to teach them.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Surprisingly, Younger Users Care More About Privacy - wheels
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2009/01/11/surprisingly-younger-users-care-more-about-privacy/
======
swapspace
I don't really find it that surprising. I think average privacy concern will
be just about same for all age groups. It's just that older users don't feel
that online privacy is as important as the real world equivalent. For most
that I know, it's not even a consideration.
For younger users, on the other hand, the line between real and online is much
more muddled hence the same concerns apply to online data as well.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Your dedicated server provider is ripping you off. Here's how - lnguyen
http://blog.serversearchtool.com/are-you-getting-ripped-off-on-your-dedicated
======
ollybee
Few customers compare dedicated server providers purely on server spec and
price. If that was genuinely all you were looking at then colocation would
almost certainly be a better option. They also want extra services like
backups, firewalls, ddos protection,control panel software, extra ip's and so
on. Most people want support beyond the minimum which would be hardware
replacement and network connectivity only. In an ideal world hosting companies
would sell a server and then the customer would take complete control of the
server and hate the idea of the host logging on to their box. In reality most
dedicated server customers are people who have busy sites that have outgrown
traditional shared hosting but are not sever administrators. They want a host
they can call up to do small jobs for them and pay for more involved work.
Were the lines are drawn on this extra support varies dramatically between
providers but will make most real world difference to the majority of
customers.
~~~
lnguyen
You have to start somewhere. And right now the amount of transparency in the
dedicated server market is pretty atrocious.
How do you begin to compare one plan from another, one provider from the next?
Server spec and price gives a hard number that you can use. It's certainly not
the only number you should. But if someone is ripping you off on a commodity
part or feature, you're going to be inclined to think that they're doing that
to you in other places.
FYI I do expect people will want and factor in those extra services in their
decision. Those services should be made available with their costs, SLAs and
exact support spelled out (aka an explicit managed hosting plan). I'll
eventually work this all into the analysis of provider plans.
~~~
ollybee
I agree it's a start and having a comparison site for dedicated servers seems
like it could be a good idea , your right pricing is not at all transparent. I
would look to the financial comparison sites (a big thing in the UK) at how
they present data on products that are not like for like, for example home
insurance polices differ hugely in detail. that should give you insperation on
how to build to something useful.
As an immediate change it would nice to have a tickbox to search only for
hosts using branded hardware.
------
numair
If enough people start to use this, it could really change the dynamics of the
dedicated server market. For example, I never knew I could get a dual core
server with a 40GB SSD for $75/mo -- something tells me that box would be
tremendously faster than an EC2-based box for database activity.
~~~
lnguyen
EC2/cloud has much more buzz and perceived* transparency compared to dedicated
servers that the latter tends to get written off. But at the end of the day,
you're still just dealing with servers in a data center.
If there's better performance at a better price, wouldn't you want to know and
be able to take advantage of it?
*Because of the nature of virtual, you really don't know what kind of actual performance you'll get for your money. Depends on the physical system it's running on, how many other instances are also on that server, what their load is like, etc.
------
true_religion
This is a great solution, but you ought to add some more server providers to
the list like Choompa, Equinox, LiquidWeb, MediaTemple, StormOnDemand,
LeaseWeb, Hetzner.de
Those at least are server companies that I'm intimately familiar with.
~~~
lnguyen
I'm planning on adding more providers. I've been focused on coding and should
be getting back to collecting provider data shortly.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Unboxing a vintage gear set - mhb
https://www.evilmadscientist.com/2018/unboxing-a-vintage-gear-set/
======
jacquesm
Those look fresh as the day they were made. The real engineering is not in the
gears by the way, but in the cutting machine that cuts the spiral gears.
Cutting straight gears is hard enough, spiral drive ones are impossible
without special machinery.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT7GMUiEp7c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT7GMUiEp7c)
(never mind the audio and the intro...)
~~~
kragen
Can't you cut helical gears with a lathe and a two-axis contouring milling
cutter? Or is that not precise enough? (Or are you just saying that a lathe
with live tooling is "special machinery"?)
~~~
jacquesm
I've had a lot of tooling, including lathes, mills, plasmacutters and welders,
never had a setup that could have cut helical gears with any fidelity.
I think it is special machinery if you won't find it in 90%+ or so of well
equipped machine shops.
------
userbinator
This could be the "waxy" coating on them:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmoline](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmoline)
~~~
monochromatic
Doesn’t look like cosmoline to me, too solid. I think wax is right.
~~~
hansthehorse
Cosmoline is the bane of World War rifle collectors. It soaks into the wood
and is almost impossible to get completely out. I spent a week cleaning a
Finnish Mosin and still didn't get it all.
~~~
monochromatic
Yeah, I've done that drill myself. It's not fun, but you just have to keep
reminding yourself that the rifle would be rusted to hell without the
cosmoline.
------
blt
What is special / unusual about the splines? ("Check out those cut splines in
the middle!") It looks like normal spline drive to me.
~~~
jnellis
Nothing. I used to work in a gear shop. These are/were done with a broach, no
skill required.
------
chrisdhoover
As a certified gear head, this post brings me great joy. Along with the reddit
post where some dude proved some test wrong by modeling the gears, I’ve had a
geat week and it is only Wednesday. Now to go shift my 901 transmission some
more.
~~~
war1025
Do you have a link to the reddit post? That sounds interesting
------
fermienrico
You want to be careful about the foam padding. There is a possibility that it
could be made from Asbestos.
~~~
Aloha
That seems like an unlikely use for asbestos - asbestos was mostly used when a
heat retardant was needed.
~~~
NeedMoreTea
It had some really surprising, and quite common, uses in the war through to
70's era. Fabrics, cigarette filters, paints, fillers as it was so cheap.
Heat retardant and insulation were the headline uses.
~~~
jonhendry18
Floor tile. Used in the US into the mid 70s. Lots of it still out there.
------
SiempreViernes
Man, gear from the 50's should at most count as "retro", vintage gear to me
sounds more like something from the early 19 century. Gears are hella old!
~~~
jonhendry18
Early 19th would be "antique".
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Best SaaS for handling billing (subscription)? - fratlas
I'm trying stripe, but I'd love to have a service which has their own checkout, and can provide an API where I can detract credit-like usage from a users account etc.
======
Gammarays
[https://www.diffur.com/what-are-the-best-payment-
apis](https://www.diffur.com/what-are-the-best-payment-apis)
~~~
RikNieu
Does anybody have any experience with WorldPay? I'd love to use Stripe but
they don't offer services to my territory.
And, PayPal... I'd rather not.
------
tmnvix
I plan to use [https://www.chargebee.com/](https://www.chargebee.com/) with
stripe.
~~~
graystevens
Chargebee is something I will look at once my MVP is out the door. Their
product is compelling, and even more so by the fact that you can easily
transition from Stripe (plans, customers etc.) However, it's not cheap! Hence
it's a case of 'see how far I get with Stripe on my own'
~~~
alexgaribay
Chargebee doesn't charge you money until you make your first $50k in revenue.
[https://www.chargebee.com/pricing/](https://www.chargebee.com/pricing/)
------
drstewart
Also check out Recurly, Aria, Zuora
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Sierpinski triangle page to end most Sierpinski triangle pages - JohnHammersley
http://www.oftenpaper.net/sierpinski.htm
======
dvirsky
The Sierpinski triangle was what made me realise I have some talent as a
programmer and is part to blame for my career:
When I was about 11 (mid 80s) our school got a shining new computer lab with
original IBM 8086 PCs, and one teacher improvised a LOGO class. After a while
we were divided into two groups of more advanced kids and the rest of the
class. I was in the advanced team, and I think I was the only kid there who
didn't have a computer at home and hadn't coded before. Anyway, we were
learning about recursion, and the teacher gave us increasingly difficult
tasks.
Then one day he showed us this triangle thingie, and told us to write an
algorithm to draw it for the next class. I was shocked and stuck. Remember, I
had no interwebs or even books on the subject. I spent hours in the computer
lab banging at it, and couldn't do it. I went home, worried that I'll be the
only one in the class who failed to do it - and that I'll be taken out of the
advanced group. I was horrified, I was literally crying over it.
Then while taking a shower or something like that, the solution suddenly hit
me. I ran to the school lab (it was open after hours) wrote the code and it
worked. The joy and adrenaline rush of it was something out of this world, let
alone the relief that I wouldn't be "downgraded" from the advanced class.
The next day in class, the teacher asked us to show him our code. It turned
out I was the only kid who figured it out. It was one of the proudest moments
of my life I guess, and I've been trying to recreate that rush of solving a
hard task ever since.
~~~
nitrogen
Though I was a bit older at the time, I likewise had a lot of fun implementing
a Sierpinski triangle algorithm (the chaos game version) in junior high or
high school. I eventually wondered why not use four points, or five or more.
The four- and five-point versions looked like they had a distinguishable
pattern, but it still just looked like a mess. Eventually I tried 3D, and the
first Sierpinski pyramid I'd ever seen found its way to my screen. I felt like
I had just received some kind of revelation from abstract math itself.
~~~
dvirsky
3D! luxury! We didn't have 3D in my day, we barely had 2D :)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1by0-nkKOTs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1by0-nkKOTs)
~~~
nitrogen
My initial foray into 3D used a crude approximation based on the artistic
concept of a vanishing point, implemented in QuickBasic with 2D drawing
commands. Later a friend figured out projection using the concept of similar
triangles.
------
MichaelCrawford
I used to make 3-D Sierpinski Tetrahedra out of wooden dowels and hot glue;
after a while I found that five minute epoxy works better.
I'm going to take them up again soon as I have found a fancy furniture shop
that would like to retail them for me.
I've always wanted to make them out of pyrex glass rod however it would be
quite difficult at first. I do have some glassblowing chops though.
[http://www.warplife.com/mdc/books/schizoaffective-
disorder/v...](http://www.warplife.com/mdc/books/schizoaffective-
disorder/visions.html)
The photograph is taking looking upwards at one suspended from the ceiling. I
would wind them up then let go, gravity lead the string to unwind, quickly at
first then quite slow. It's a very pleasant phenomenon.
I may make a very large one for Burning Man this year.
------
wckronholm
I don't know. What If I took that page and divided it into <div>'s, removed
the middle one, and replaced the others with copies of the original page?
Then, I could take each of those <div>'s, break them into pieces, remove the
middle one, and replace the others with copies of the original page. Then...
~~~
baddox
Just use iframes.
------
jwecker
I enjoyed that far, far more than I expected. His intro from the index:
"So I was me and I was in math class watching paint dry it was starting to
crack when suddenly I realized there was a page for which the internet was
invented. I set out to create that page, ultimately succeeding with the
sierpinski triangle page to end most sierpinski triangle pages ™.
...
So while the sierpinski triangle page to end most sierpinski triangle pages ™
purports to be some kind of exploratory rundown of the Sierpinski triangle,
it's also a fractal expression of just how carried away I get..."
It's math like I like my music: when the author takes the subject seriously
without taking themselves too seriously.
------
aeontech
Previous discussion;
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6516114](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6516114)
I am amazed every time I come across this page again... such seemingly
effortlessly playful exploration of math and geometry...
~~~
rhodin
Comments from the author over at Wolfram Community:
[http://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/138400#_19_message...](http://community.wolfram.com/groups/-/m/t/138400#_19_message_140350)
I hope he has found a job by now!
~~~
taliesinb
I wish he would apply for a job with _us_. I don't see any contact details,
otherwise I would ask him directly.
~~~
jwecker
I was thinking the same thing. Best I could find was the developer email
listed for his calculator app:
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.projectfan...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.projectfancycorn.hudcalc)
[Edit] Which makes me realize that the submitter for the original was him:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=pr_fancycorn](https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=pr_fancycorn)
\- so that may lead to some way to contact him.
~~~
taliesinb
Ah, thank you!
------
univacky
In the mid 80s, I had (and still have) a Sperry PC, an 8088 IBM PC clone with
a crazy "hi resolution" graphics adapter that was two full length cards with a
bridging cable and more memory than the motherboard. Doing all my programming
in assembly language at the time, and not having the money for an 8087 math
coprocessor, I bought the Mark Williams Let's C compiler to have a floating
point library to draw Mandelbrot sets.
I quickly decided it was a shame to let a perfectly good compiler go to waste
and learned C.
Most 640x400 images were taking 25-32 hours to produce, depending on where
they were. I started writing a fixed-point library, and then found Fractint
and just wrote a graphics driver for the Sperry adapter. The same images
generated in only 8 minutes.
Tell that to the kids today, and they won't believe you.
------
kriro
Oh the conicidence. I'm currently reading Gleick's "Chaos..."...a little too
layman so far but a fun read nontheless, recommended.
On the site...Pascal's triangle (%2 and other mods) is particularly
fascinating to me.
~~~
bcbrown
That's the book that got me interested in fractals and mathematics back in
high school. If you want a non-layman text, check out
[http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Fractals-New-Frontiers-
Science/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Chaos-Fractals-New-Frontiers-
Science/dp/0387202293)
------
stestagg
The only thing I've discovered that's missing from this page is a variation of
the 'Chaos' pattern, but with an extra 'corner' added at the center of the
shape. This way, a square which normally looks like a grey square starts to
have some pretty interesting patterns.
There's a playground for this here:
[http://stestagg.github.io/Sierp.js/](http://stestagg.github.io/Sierp.js/) \-
chrome/ff only
~~~
stestagg
Actaully, animated rotating 3d pointclouds are quite interesting too:
[https://github.com/stestagg/Personal/tree/master/Sierp.3d/sa...](https://github.com/stestagg/Personal/tree/master/Sierp.3d/samples)
------
inDigiNeous
Very cool variations on the same theme. Surprised how deep the author went on
this subject.
If you want to play around with this kind of recursive shapes, I would suggest
to try out [http://GeoKone.NET](http://GeoKone.NET), it's an application I've
developed that let's you create this kind of formations interactively in your
browser.
Well, at least the kind of formations on the first half of the page or so.
------
devindotcom
Love this page. It's in my bookmarks as "Sierpinski WARNING" in case I forget
it basically takes over my entire machine when it loads.
------
neop
A few years ago I wrote an article explaining how the chaos game works with
high school level math, and a few couple of fun experiments that you can do
with it. If anyone's interested you can read the article here:
[http://shiftingmind.com/chaosgame/](http://shiftingmind.com/chaosgame/)
------
drostie
There are some connections which the author doesn't make which I find a little
surprisingly unsaid.
For example, of course you find the Sierpinski pattern under disjointness.
Here's some LiveScript to handle disjointness with integers representing
bitwise vectors of "x is in the set" (1) or "x is not in the set" (0):
fmt = (x) -> if x then 'o' else ' '
display = console.log . (.join '\n') . (.map (.join '')) . (.map (.map fmt))
display [[(x .&. y) == 0 for y from 0 to 63] for x from 0 to 63]
This displays the 64x64 Sierpinski just fine. Why does it do that? Recursion.
Look at the (x, y) pairs when we go from size 2^n to 2^(n + 1): there are four
quadrants corresponding to the original (x, y) pairs:
(x, y) (x + 2^n, y)
(x, y + 2^n) (x + 2^n, y + 2^n)
But this is just adding one more bit to our bitmask: clearly the pattern we
see in the first three quadrants is simply the pattern we had before; the
pattern in the last is blank. It's that recursion which does Sierpinski
recursion.
Now, of _course_ if you find a Sierpinski triangle under the is_disjoint_from
relation, you find it under the is_subset_of operation -- because A is
disjoint from B if and only if B is a subset of the set-complement of A. So as
long as your picture "mirrors" in one axis under set complements, of course
you're going to see the same pattern for subsets as for disjoints.
The same thing happens when the author says, "The binary operation I found in
our little binary binomial table was NOTing n, ANDing the result with k, and
then NOTing that: ¬(¬n∧k) = n∨¬k." If you have had a logic course, this result
"either A or not-B" should look like the expression for "A implies B", a
statement that in all the possibilities that we are thinking about, knowing
that you are in a situation where A is true means that you know that you're in
a situation where B is also true.
Or, put a different way, the situations where B is true _are a subset of_ the
situations where A is true. So you can take the subset-of relation and
immediately turn it into that binary formula; and conversely this explains why
the author complains, "I had to list the subsets in precisely this order to
get the right result" \-- basically, you have to count in binary to get the
right result. (To go the other way you just need the "all true" value -- that
is, this formula "A or not B" must hold for all circumstances, so subset-of
would in the above code look like `63 == (x .|. 63 - y)`.)
------
Demiurge
Seems like a deep exploration of visualizing math. However, I'm not able to
quickly deduce whether any of this is useful to real world problems. Does
anyone know?
------
kzrdude
Wow, this is cool. Should I get Mathematica? Is it fundamentally ahead of open
source systems like SAGE for example?
------
lmm
> What do you get when you methodically build a Lisp on top of symbolic
> replacement semantics?
TCL? :P
------
snogglethorpe
Well, it's certainly the Sierpinski triangle page to end my browser.... ><
------
tempodox
What's the language of the sources?
~~~
drodgers
Wolfram Mathematica. It's very high-level language for doing maths. In some
ways it's more like a software package with a text interface than a general
programming language.
------
vinceguidry
This is how I want to spend old age.
~~~
dsfsdfd
yup. If only I had the time :)
------
keikun17
Most briliant explanation i've ever read on how to triforce.
------
oklok
jesus so confusiong
------
oklok
hello
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Psychological Cost of Boring Buildings - whocansay
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/04/the-psychological-cost-of-boring-buildings.html
======
rjett
"So the trick, it seems, is to design a world that excites but doesn’t overly
assault our faculties with a constant barrage of information"
I just got back from my first trip to Chicago. I've been to quite a few
cities, but the variety of architecture and juxtoposition of certain styles
throughout the city made for a very enjoyable experience. Not every single
building in the city is pretty either. But taken as a whole and hearing how
history, art, architecture, and engineering shaped the city was fascinating. I
actually did the architectural river tour, which I found to be one of the most
enthralling guided tours I've ever been on. Highly recommended.
~~~
hugs
This is one of the "secret" reasons I left the Bay Area to return to Chicago -
downtown Chicago (aka The Loop) is beautiful. Please help keep it a secret so
everyone doesn't move here and drive the price of everything up. ;)
~~~
tptacek
You're joking, I know, but just to point out: Chicago is gigantic. Bring it
on, Google and Facebook and Apple. We've got more than enough space. :)
~~~
tachyonbeam
The bay area has more than enough space too. It spreads over 100 kilometers
south of San Francisco. It covers more than the surface area of NYC in total.
The real issue is that the bay area refuses to grow. The population is only
about 5 millions IIRC. The density is really low.
IMO, in order to accomodate more people, and deal with the insane rents, the
bay area needs to start growing vertically. Every other urban area I've been
to has towers, apartment complexes. Here everything is flat. Most apartment
buildings are only two floors high, rarely more than three.
I won't get into the politics of all of this, but politics are the real
problem. Many of the suburbanites around here want their suburbs to remain
suburbs. The law of offer and demand should mean that apartment towers are
getting built and rents go down as competition increase, but the regulations
in place prevent this. Many swanky new condos are being built, but these are
still flat buildings, not making efficient use of the available space.
~~~
tptacek
Chicago has a dense transit infrastructure that spreads across the whole city,
and pretty decent transit throughout the whole metro area.
Obviously, San Francisco is hemmed in by geography, but even if you compare
the metro areas, Chicago is better suited to hosting large-scale companies
than SFBA.
------
jfindley
I read an interesting study a while back about architecture in London, taken
with a sample of professional architects and a sample of general population,
all based in London. All the architects in the study hated the old Edwardian
terraces, and pitied people who lived in them. All the non-architects loved
the old Edwardian terraces, and hated the majority of the buildings the
architects loved.
You could easily make an argument from the point of view of the architects in
that study that a row of Edwardian terraces are dull and boring, but most
Londoners would love to live in them.
With that in mind, I'm a bit wary of this - there are certainly plenty of
horrible buildings around - 60's brutalist concrete would be an example of a
style I particularly dislike - but how do we decide what's bland and what's
attractive?
~~~
Spooky23
Architects are in the same bind that the craftsmen whose work they now despise
were.
With modern materials, the scut work and routine labor that master masons and
carpenters cut their teeth on is gone -- they mostly assemble. So there's no
skilled tradesmen at the level that you could find 100 years ago. When my
local cathedral did a rehab, they shipped in Italian stonemasons and paid them
$150/hr.
Enter the architect. With prefabrication and computerization, tens of
thousands of man-hours of architect time has been vaporized. So at the low
end, they pay the bills with cheap templated crap that wins bids and looks
bland. At the high end, they produce stuff that is "unique" and often
completely non-functional and/or visually offensive. (But looks good in the
portfolio)
In the meantime, most lay people are attracted to more classic architecture
that has been perfected over centuries.
~~~
Scoundreller
My hypothesis is that increasingly complex building codes makes it
increasingly economic to rebuild the same stock of housing multiple times.
It's a bit unusual, what could have increased the workload of architects as
design requirements became more complex instead lead to their downfall.
------
Huhuh
I really enjoyed the book 'A Pattern Language' by Christopher Alexander. It
looks at architecture from the level of the ordinary person and has some
brilliant insight into what makes a building pleasant to live in. I applied
some ideas from the book when I renovated my house and it has been a huge
success.
~~~
dang
What specific ideas did you apply?
One that I got from that book and have found to be rock solid is that a room
feels more alive when it has a window on more than one side.
------
egjerlow
This is something I have thought about often, living in Norway. Seemed like
there must have been some period in the 50s-60s when building the most mind-
crushing office buildings / hospitals / apartment blocks was the goal. Maybe
the psychological effect of buildings vary over years? I.e. in the 50s-60s
boring, 'efficient' buildings were seen as modern and progressive, and thus,
gave a morale boost?
Exhibit A: [http://borghoytrykk.no/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/Vaskhøyblo...](http://borghoytrykk.no/wp-
content/uploads/2012/07/VaskhøyblokkOslo1.jpg)
~~~
ghaff
There was a period of modernist architecture up through maybe the mid-70s--
including but not limited to Brutalism--that has aged particularly badly for
the most part. Even examples that were presumably designed to stand out, like
Boston City Hall and the Boston Public Library addition (to the original
beautiful Beaux Arts structure) look simply awful today.
~~~
douche
Boston City Hall is quite possibly the ugliest building I've ever seen. The
soot-belching, ash-caked, grease-grimed, wood-burning power plant that I
worked in summers in college was more beautiful.
~~~
Analemma_
It really is hideous. I grew up in the Boston area, and even as a little kid I
distinctly remember thinking, "This has got to be the ugliest building in the
world". Then when I got older I thought, "Well, the world is a big place and I
haven't seen much of it, so I don't have much of a frame of reference. I'm
sure there are uglier buildings somewhere." And then when I got a little older
still, it was kind of satisfying to see multiple articles and polls saying
that no, it is indeed one of the ugliest buildings in the entire world.
It's not even that I think Brutalism is inherently bad. I think there are some
really nice examples, like the AT&T building in NYC:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street#/media/File:A...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street#/media/File:AT%26T_Long_Lines_building.jpg).
But Boston City Hall is Brutalism at its absolute worst.
~~~
ghaff
I once read a humorous column that described it as an attempt to give any
visiting Soviets an inferiority complex by out Soviet-ing Soviet architecture.
There are some decent brutalist buildings on the MIT campus including the MIT
Student Center--which has a lot of interesting funky angles and is a rather
useful space--and a number of IM Pei buildings (at least I think the latter
are considered brutalist). There's also the Christian Science Plaza that I'd
go so far as to call quite attractive.
------
sp332
While there's room for improvement, I don't think the building looks bad. All
the glass makes it seem airy and full of light. The windows probably make it a
nice place to be inside as well. Its only problem is being too big, so that it
becomes monotonous. But how would you fix that? Design parts of the building
in different styles?
~~~
guard-of-terra
Expose something nice in those windows instead of making them blind mirrors.
~~~
sp332
There's too much sunlight coming in. Your options are to cook/blind everyone
inside, put something opaque (and visible to the street) inside the windows
while blocking the view, or dim the windows and let the occupants see the
street.
~~~
guard-of-terra
You can put something interesting behind the window, then erect a wall, then
your regular space goes. Some stores do that.
~~~
sp332
Is this different from the second option I mentioned? The wall would still
block the view of the people inside, right?
~~~
guard-of-terra
You can make inner wall translucent perhaps?
------
Kliment
As an example of how even the most pedestrian industrial function can be in a
beautiful building, here is a waste incineration plant in Vienna:
[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:M%C3%BCllverbren...](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:M%C3%BCllverbrennungsanlage_Spittelau?uselang=de#/media/File:M%C3%BCllverbrennungsanlage_Spittelau.jpg)
~~~
cm2187
The problem with "beautiful" is that it is very subjective. This picture is my
definition of ugly. Unless you were sarcastic.
~~~
wozniacki
Seconded.
There are these avant-gardes who wouldn't think twice about turning any public
building project they could lay their hands into massive brutist absurdist sea
of concrete gray from their dreams [1], if given a chance.
Add to that a couple of behemoth art pieces [2] strewn somewhere on the
premises that will no doubt one day pulverize some poor souls.
Alas, the tyranny of the stroppy and vengeful minority.
[1]
[https://lebbeuswoods.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/fic-2.jpg](https://lebbeuswoods.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/fic-2.jpg)
[http://www.artspace.com/filip_dujardin/untitled_2007_boxes](http://www.artspace.com/filip_dujardin/untitled_2007_boxes)
[2]
[http://art-nerd.com/sanfrancisco/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/...](http://art-
nerd.com/sanfrancisco/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2013/12/Richard-Serra-
Ballast-1.jpg)
[http://art-nerd.com/sanfrancisco/ballast-by-richard-serra/](http://art-
nerd.com/sanfrancisco/ballast-by-richard-serra/)
~~~
squeaky-clean
I actually really love the look of your first link. Though I think it only
works as a piece of art, the Escher-esque impossible shape as well as the
empty naturalness of the surroundings. You'd never see such a dense building
all by itself in isolation.
I was interested in a print until I found out it was $3,500 for an Inkjet
print.
------
dewyatt
FEMA's Brooke Road Facility (BRF - "the barf") is quite the eye sore [1].
Luckily it's not in a super visible/residential area, but I always found it
depressing that people actually work there.
The outside is bad enough, but the inside is even worse. They're all stuffed
into cubicles, no windows that I recall, dirty/decrepit bathroom, just a
depressing place overall, hard to explain.
[1]
[https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1989182,-78.1524764,3a,75y,1...](https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1989182,-78.1524764,3a,75y,111.34h,87.31t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sq-4pH3muktEMb0sl1J7dwg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1)
~~~
Xophmeister
It looks like someone welded some shipping containers together in a car park.
~~~
david-given
That's doing shipping containers a disservice --- you can make some quite
interesting structures by welding shipping containers together:
[http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02210/CONTAINERC...](http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02210/CONTAINERCITY_2210000b.jpg)
Making something as awful as the Brooke Road Facility takes real skill and a
lot of work.
------
eric_h
I live in a newly constructed apartment building in a neighborhood in queens
that's mostly houses.
I typically guide the taxi driver to it by saying "it's the big, ugly building
on the corner"
------
jgalt212
These boring buildings are a micro aggression against my highly evolved and
sensitive sense of aesthetics.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How to teach my five-year old electronics? - fastbeef
Starting next month I'm going to have a 30 hour work week. I want to take this extra time and spend with my family and one of the things I would like to do is to encourage my five-year old sons interest in electricity and electronics.<p>I've chosen to not go down the Arduino/Raspberry Pi road (computers will come later), nor the Mindstorms road (to pricey and I'm afraid he will treat it as just another Lego kit).<p>What's the best way of introducing power source, lamps, resistors and capacitors? Are there good kits available? Should I make my own kits? I'm guessing a prototype board and an assortment of components would be cost effective but some kind of guidance would be nice as well.
======
brudgers
Battery, bulb, wire, fingers?
It's not about the knowledge. It's about the time together.
Good luck.
~~~
perilunar
Yes!
Also motors — kids love moving toys and a couple of small motors means you can
make cars and fans and stuff.
------
tarr11
I think like devnonymous says, SnapCircuits are a good choice. They aren't
breakable and can be quite fun to play with.
But, to be honest, 5 is pretty young for them to grok a whole lot. Most of
this at this age is really about building something with you. You'll be doing
most of the work, and they'll just be mastering the physical aspects of it.
Don't try and explain or expect too much as it can be very frustrating to
them.
Mindstorms isn't really going to help much and Arduino / pi should wait until
7 or 8.
Another good choice is Minecraft Redstone Circuits. Most kids love it and it
provides an immersive way for you to build electronic systems together.
(I run a program teaching kids coding + robotics in the bay area, happy to
answer more questions if you have them! contact info is in my profile)
------
devnonymous
A friend of mine got something like this for her daughter, who seemed to have
loved it:
[http://www.snapcircuits.net](http://www.snapcircuits.net)
I'm not sure about the current state of littlebits, but I remember it being
very promising :
[https://littlebits.cc](https://littlebits.cc)
------
mcgrath_sh
It is awesome that your son has an interest in this stuff! What in particular
fascinates him? I have always found it is easiest to have kids learn when it
not just something they are theoretically interested in, but also has a
practical application. Does he find flashlights cool? If so, build your own.
Find a way to apply what he is learning and see if he can use it to solve a
"problem" around the house (is a door open that shouldn't be, or make a signal
his chore is complete or needs to be done).
------
b_emery
My son got pretty excited about these very simple projects after we somehow
got onto a string of youtube videos about 'hacking' toy cars. For example:
How to Make a Solar Powered Toy Car at Home - YouTube
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_an8AlywBrQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_an8AlywBrQ)
There are many others out there with just a motor, a few wires and a battery.
I try to explain how things work as we go along.
------
artur_makly
This will teach him electronics AND the core fundamentals of programming.
i just ordered it for my 5yr old.
[https://www.primotoys.com/](https://www.primotoys.com/)
------
tmaly
I have a 4 year old and I second snap electronics kits. It is much easier to
let them help you snap together pieces than it is to deal with a bread board.
I plan on teaching bread board a little later in life.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Unlike Babies, the Best Managers Come with Instructions - vinnyglennon
https://torch.io/unlike-babies-the-best-managers-come-with-instructions/?hss_channel=tw-983379969773420544
======
PragmaticPulp
Manager READMEs start out with good intentions, but every example I've seen is
flawed for multiple reasons:
1) It's manager-centric. Why would you give employees a guide to their manager
when you could give them an "Employee README" that is focused on the new
employee? When I join a company, I want to know what's expected of me so I can
succeed. If the company delivers this in a form of a manager README then I'll
still be missing the big picture goals of the company. Managers - Focus on
your employees, not yourself.
2) Manager READMEs become an aspirational target. Describing yourself in text
is challenging for the ego. I've seen too many manager READMEs that read like
a picture-perfect version of what the manager aspires to be, rather than a
description of how the person actually operates.
3) The self-promotion aspect. When managers post their README all over
internal company chat, public Twitter, their LinkedIn profiles, Medium think
pieces, and the company blog (like this article), the document becomes a
brand-building exercise. This puts even more pressure on managers to only
write down their most perfect, idealized vision for what they want to be. Or
they spin their flaws as some sort of superpower with creative wording. I once
read a public manager README that was nothing like that person's actual
management style, but it read as if that person was a textbook-perfect
manager.
My recommendation: Skip the manager README fad and focus on your employees.
Write an "Employee README" onboarding guide for each of your employees, that
you customize with individual expectations and information for each employee
before they join the company. Keep it in a shared document that you can update
over time to include an up-to-date job description, list of responsibilities,
and key expectations for that employee. Don't try to make management all about
the manager's personal brand.
~~~
blowski
> Why would you give employees a guide to their manager when you could give
> them an "Employee README" that is focused on the new employee?
Why not do both? "Hey folks, here's my README, I'd encourage you to write
something similar and share it with everybody."
~~~
PragmaticPulp
> Why not do both? "Hey folks, here's my README, I'd encourage you to write
> something similar and share it with everybody."
When it comes to team building, I think it's much more valuable to say "this
is how we operate" instead of having everyone write down "this is how _I_
operate". The former is a mutual guidebook for everyone to work together,
while the latter feels like an edict that everyone else needs to work around
you.
~~~
lonelappde
How do you handle the case where two people operate differently but need to
interoperate?
~~~
PragmaticPulp
De-escalate any tension between the two people
Check for any overtly abusive behavior that requires correction. Usually rare,
but worth checking.
Provide basic coaching and suggestions for working together in a healthy
manner.
And most importantly: Let them know that they're expected to figure out how to
operate together on their own like professionals. Managers can't be mediators
for every impedance mismatch between employees.
------
jghn
IMO the best managers learn to change their behaviors based on each report's
needs and doesn't request that their reports conform to the manager's needs.
~~~
troymc
I had to read this sentence twice before understanding that a "report" is a
person. Maybe that has become accepted terminology in some circles. I hope
not. It's terribly dehumanizing.
~~~
jghn
What word would you prefer to use for "person whom a manager manages"? If one
just uses "person" it is unclear if it's any arbitrary person or a person
under a manager's umbrella
~~~
yepthatsreality
“Directs” is another common word I hear used by managers.
~~~
jghn
Which makes sense as the formal phrase is "direct report".
While it was unintentional in my original post, "report" seems to work better
than "direct" here as IMO my statement holds for a manager's indirect reports
as well and thus "report" covers both direct and indirect. But now I'm just
amusing myself with word games :)
------
exactchange
Unpopular opinion:
In Silicon Valley, people managers can easily be a waste of time and money,
and can cause unnecessary drama on your team. Think about the kind of so-
called developer who would rather manage people than write code.
We still need founders, executives, directors, advisors, etc. don't get me
wrong. But has anyone ever come across an engineering manager worth their
salt? Why did we start deploying people managers en masse to engineering
teams? I miss the holy trinity setup: Dev, designer, PM. It worked well IMO.
Our industry is shooting itself in the foot with Engineering Managers. The
ones I've come across are self-obsessed, as evidenced in these cringeworthy
READMEs and this article that was written.
~~~
mharroun
Without (competent) engineering leadership.
\- Whos going to push back and sales and marketing for harassing you directly
or taking direct blame for failures?
\- Who will represent the engineering team in leadship meetings to make sure
policies/decisions are made with their needs in mind?
\- Who's going to fight for your raises and promotions?
\- Who's going to make sure that there is budget for what engineering needs to
do and keeps a proper record to keep finance happy?
Please thing about it... any company that grows to 30-50 people (even
startups) need to have management and processes that eventually lead to (even
unintentional) politics. The other departments will have leaders/managers
defending/supporting them... its foolish to not understand or respect
competent leaders.
~~~
dchichkov
The examples that you've given are political (represent, push back, take
blame, fight), except for the example of keeping records (which is
management).
Managements role, technical leadership role and politician role are different
roles. The required skill sets and experience are different. The outcome of
grabbing a wrong role is usually poor. Not confusing politician, technical
leader and manager roles is probably a good idea to improve outcomes. As
checking for required experience, to take the role.
~~~
mharroun
Management is full of politics... sorry but its true. A true leader must have
all the skills needed to properly benefit and support the team.
You look at my examples as negatives... its the wrong way to look at it...
thoes other managers of other departments? Are the bad people? No... but they
have a job and responsibility to represent their departments and do from their
point of view whats best for their team and the company.
I feel like there is a segment of workers in engineering has this weird self
damaging hatred for leaders/managers other departments do not have... then
thoes same people get pissed when they dont have a leader and their department
is glossed over because no one represents them when/where some of the most
important decisions are made.
~~~
dchichkov
Notice, there was nothing said about roles being bad. There was nothing said
about impossibility of combining multiple roles.
------
nlh
To build on what another commenter said, the idea of manager READMEs made
perfect sense when they started out a few years ago - here are my quirks,
here’s how I operate, etc.
The problem is they’ve turned into something that justifies bad behavior more
often than not. So many of them have this undercurrent of “I’m an asshole -
don’t take it personally!” which is just totally not OK. The solution isn’t to
proudly broadcast and justify that you’re an asshole and expect others to
adapt — the solution is to not be an asshole.
That being said, things like “I tend to work late so if I email you on the
weekend, I don’t expect you to reply until Monday” are totally reasonable and
I think, on the whole, a good thing.
~~~
freedomben
Very much agree with your analysis here. It's like many, many good ideas that
have come up in SV (agile/scrum, OKRs, etc), when looked at as a useful tool
for the individual that should be utilized on an individualized basis, they
are incredibly useful. When made standard and forced into use-cases and
personality types they don't work for, they can be mediocre or even counter-
productive. They will also be used in ways not entirely desired, such as for
self-promotion, self-justification, gaming things, etc. Managers also tend to
get overly prescriptive about how to use the tool (usually a sentence that
starts with, "here's how we do $TOOL at $COMPANY" is often heading there).
I've used OKRs, Kanban/agile and many other tools for me at an individual
level and loved them. I've had the exact same tools at companies become a
waste of time, a point of contention, and only be a "value add" for
management.
------
mharroun
Ugh as someone with 12 years of experience and about 8 ish in a teach
lead/management role. This seems super weird to me.
An Engineering Manger/Director/VP/CTO's main job is 2 things.
\- To be the over arching intermediate between engineering and other business
units (note: this does not mean walling off engineering, engineers SHOULD
understand and work with business units when it makes sense).
\- To support, mentor, shield, and basically do what ever is necessary for
their team/department/org to be as successful as possible.
This sounds VERY self centered and I honestly believe product and engineering
managers need to be to most selfless people possible to actually be effective.
I would call it backwards even... a leader/manager needs to tailor himself and
his approach to both his people and his cross-department equals in order to be
the most successful.
------
astura
This is the silliest, most ridiculous, and self absorbed thing I've read in a
while. So much so that I suspect it's actually satire. If it's not then
silicon valley sounds like another planet, in my 2+ decades of employment I've
never had any sort of issues with management. If I have any questions, I ask,
if I have any feedback, I give it. That clears up any ambiguity.
~~~
kingbirdy
> in my 2+ decades of employment I've never had any sort of issues with
> management
Then you're incredibly fortunate. I've had to deal with management issues at
multiple companies in a shorter span of time.
~~~
astura
Sure, but a README doesn't magically fix shitty management, if anything it
just a justification for it.
Not to mention people are just horrifying bad at seeing themselves as others
see them. I think of the scene in A Christmas Story when the kid expects to
get a glowing review of his paper but instead got a D grade. It actually
reminded me of a family member of mine who got called into his boss's office.
He was bragging that he was going to get a bonus or promotion and instead he
got a demotion due to poor performance and bad work ethic.
I've had five software jobs and five unskilled jobs.
~~~
kingbirdy
Oh, certainly. I think a README could've been helpful from good managers, but
it could just as easily make bad managers worse.
------
teddyh
See also _The Manager FAQ_ by Peter Seebach:
[http://www.seebs.net/faqs/manager.html](http://www.seebs.net/faqs/manager.html)
~~~
sihox
Thanks for this one! Reading his Hacker Faq already...
------
11thEarlOfMar
I wrote one for myself that is yet to be published. Will give it a 2nd
thought.
The reason I thought it would be helpful is that I am not a high feedback
person. I seldom praise (need to work on that), I am not expressive, I've been
told I 'play my cards close to the vest.' by someone who directly reported to
me. That really got me thinking that maybe the circumstances where I am not
getting what I want is because my staff really cannot figure out what I'm
looking for in general. So I wrote up a 'read me', before I knew there was
this trend.
I included self-deprecating statements about things like assigning a task to
multiple people because I forgot it had already been assigned 'Don't take it
personally, just let me know and I'll fix it.' And, if they need me to attend
a meeting, make sure it's on my calendar, or, no chance I'll remember.
In the end, it's only going to be as helpful as it is 'correct' and clearly
described. That depends on each manager's level of self-awareness, combined
with their sense of self confidence. You'd hope managers would have both
qualities, but if not, this can really be a red herring, or even be used as a
dark pattern.
~~~
munchbunny
> The reason I thought it would be helpful is that I am not a high feedback
> person. I seldom praise (need to work on that)
The reason I would be afraid to standardize manager READMEs is specifically
that I do not trust the average manager to publicly acknowledge and privately
work on flaws like that. For managers who do that, I’m not that concerned
about the exercise because it’s more likely to produce something useful for
the employees. For the other type of manager, I’d be afraid of accidentally
creating the expectation that the employee needs to adopt the manager’s style,
which I would privately recommend to any employee, but which I would
vehemently oppose as anything resembling an official expectation.
------
Zenst
Tangent here - saw Torch and nostalgia of
[http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1039/Torch-
Computers-...](http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/1039/Torch-Computers-
Ltd/) came a flooding.
------
sysbin
I'm wondering if anyone has been in a manager-less team. I would like to think
that's possible and if so what was the experience like?
~~~
convolvatron
it works fine as long as everyone is extremely reasonable, and everyone's
primary motivation is the success of the project.
unfortunately, this is very unlikely to be true. and increasingly less so as
the team size increases.
one confounding factor here is the heavy use of religion to guide technical
decisions. the decisions we make now about the direction of the product and
the attributes of the codebase are largely subjective. there are arguments on
all sides of a position.
a good team, properly enculturated, understands the process. when the issue is
important enough to justify digging in and when its just a personal bias. a
good team helps all of its members stay on the path and not end up in giant
ratholes. a good team uses its experience to inform future decisions rather
than create artificial strictures. a good team has enough time and maturity to
interact constructively with the rest of the business and the customers.
I shouldn't say 'good' team, I should say 'perfect'
good management greases all of these points of potential friction. but I think
at the end of the day management is there to address the last point. its
natural and expected for engineers to keep a narrow focus on the technical
aspects of the project itself. someone's got to make sure its evolving in a
direction that's meaningful in an external context.
~~~
lonelappde
Yes, teams don't need managers unless they have people that need managing.
Also, teams don't need developers if they don't have any code that needs
writing. Ignorant dismissal of the value of other kinds of work besides their
own, combined with a lashing out against suggestion that they might not be
perfect, is one of (a vocal portion of? HN's nasty vices.
------
aj7
This started out well.
------
jasoncartwright
Perhaps it's cultural (I'm from the UK), but I can't imagine writing something
so painfully self-absorbed - and then expecting people to read it.
~~~
pnine
When I read the hn title I thought the direct reports wrote a readme about the
manager. That made a whole lot more sense to me. How many coffees does
(he/she) need to drink before it’s ok to approach their desk. How much detail
do they require when explaining an issue. These are the features I’d like
documented for new hires.
------
Havoc
IT people really love these kind of forced parallels. Can't really think of
another sector that does this. Maybe it's all that "Uber/Airbnb but for X"
thinking.
Unless your surname is .exe I don't think you need a readme file. You could do
the human thing though and discuss expectations with your team though...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Suspect jailed indefinitely for refusing to decrypt hard drives - hvo
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2016/04/child-porn-suspect-jailed-for-7-months-for-refusing-to-decrypt-hard-drives/
======
sandworm101
Those Americans who believe that persons cannot be held without trial are
completely naive and need to spend time watching what goes on at an actual
courthouse or police station. There are countless persons held without any
allegation let alone formal charges. Material witnesses top the list. Jail (as
opposed to prison) isn't about punishment. It is about the state holding
people it deems useful to hold.
As a lawyer, my advice is always to stay as far away from police as possible.
Do not volunteer anything. Do not participate. Online, always work under the
assumption that you are the target of an investigation. Encrypt everything.
Use VPNs, preferably overseas VPNs by default and Tor where necessary. If
asked, never speak to any investigator without first talking to an attorney.
Do no rely on some lay interpretation of a constitution. That document is not
the friend people make it out to be.
~~~
afarrell
What should folks who are the victim or witness to a violent crime do?
~~~
relaytheurgency
Hire him.
~~~
sandworm101
Lol. I'm the wrong type of lawyer. I'd send you to a friend who deals with
criminal matters on a daily basis.
------
noonespecial
That's not a slippery slope. That's a cliff. If all it takes is a forensic
experts "guess" that there might child porn on there somewhere to access
everything you've got _without even filing charges_ then kiddie-porn is just
the quick way to say that the 5th has been repealed.
~~~
maxerickson
The guess is slightly more compelling when considered together with the
testimony of the sister that she viewed images of abuse on the computer.
Like, the line of questioning could be, did you find any images on the
computer, did you find any evidence of techniques used to obscure information
on the computer, could the images that so and so observed be stored using
those techniques. It isn't confirmation that the images are there, but it is
more than guessing out of thin air that there might be images there.
~~~
luso_brazilian
The government doesn't have a case with that evidence alone, that's why they
are trying to compel the defendant to decrypt the hard drive. Here is how
that's an end run around the 5th amendment:
_> State: you are under arrest on suspicious of possession of child
pornography. You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and
will be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand your rights?_
_> Defendant: yes_
_> Witness: I saw what he has it in that computer_
_> State: now reveal the password_
_> Defendant: I invoke the right to remain silent. Have charges been pressed
or am I free to go?_
_> State: no charges pressed, you are detained until you reveal the password_
Here is how that could play differently in the future:
_> State: you are under arrest on suspicious of murder. You have the right to
remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law. Do you understand your rights?_
_> Defendant: yes_
_> Witness: I saw what he did to the victim_
_> State: now reveal the whereabouts of the body_
_> Defendant: I invoke the right to remain silent. Have charges been pressed
or am I free to go?_
_> State: no charges pressed, you are detained until you reveal it_
If the All Writs Act allows the government to do the first it also allow the
government to do the second.
~~~
philovivero
I'm not in the legal profession, but I don't see those two as equivalent at
all. Are you sure those are legally equivalent?
The first case allows police to make a search they couldn't make before.
The second is... I don't even know what. I would expect if you wanted them to
be equivalent, you'd make the second more like: "We know you hid the body in
your yard. Unlock your gate so we can enter and find it."
~~~
pyrophane
The key difference between the two is what is revealed by the disclosure that
they are trying to compel.
In the case of the hard drives, providing the decryption key establishes only
that the drives belong to him or that he at least has access to the
information they contain.
In the second case showing the police where a body is located is in itself
strong evidence that he was involved in the crime.
~~~
oarsinsync
Having access to information contained on disks that is considered illegal to
access is strong evidence that he was involved in the crime.
------
infogulch
If they can jail someone for not decrypting data, what stops law enforcement
from piping /dev/random into kiddie_porn.tc and getting some 'expert' to
'guess' that it contains illegal images as an excuse to jail some inconvenient
individual forever?
~~~
maxerickson
Procedure and integrity. Which are in play in almost every aspect of law
enforcement anyway.
The thing to be concerned about here is the ever more complicated legal
theories being tested against really old laws.
~~~
toolz
>Procedure and integrity. Which are in play in almost every aspect of law
enforcement anyway.
Procedure and integrity are in play in almost every aspect in life. The
problem is that when you give absolute power, the ones who aim to use it the
most are the minority who seek to abuse the power.
~~~
rhino369
Why bother framing you. They can just take you out back and shoot you.
~~~
umanwizard
Although I agree that we're heading this direction at a scary rate, it's an
exaggeration to claim that the U.S. is already a place where this is routinely
possible.
~~~
AnimalMuppet
The U.S. is a place where this is currently routinely _possible_. It is not (I
believe) a place where this is currently routinely _done_.
~~~
mdpopescu
Most people did not believe, pre-Snowden, that intercepting everyone's
communications was something that was routinely done (though they might have
believed it was possible).
------
jordanb
The courts have always held the power to compel disclosure of evidence, and to
hold those who refuse in contempt.
What this shows is that encryption does not lock justice out and that it's
really no different than papers in a safe in a person's house. If prosecutors
have a valid reason to access the information they can go to a judge, get a
lawful court order and serve it against the person who owns the safe.
Encryption backdoors aren't about justice. They're about the government's
ability to conduct fishing expeditions: to surveil massive numbers of citizens
without their knowledge and without their right to a day in court.
~~~
Veratyr
> What this shows is that encryption does not lock justice out and that it's
> really no different than papers in a safe in a person's house. If
> prosecutors have a valid reason to access the information they can go to a
> judge, get a lawful court order and serve it against the person who owns the
> safe.
This situation has actually come up before and it was ruled that while a
person can be compelled to unlock a box with a physical key, a person cannot
be compelled to provide the combination to a safe. [0] goes into a lot of
depth on this.
[0] [http://www.uclalawreview.org/the-fifth-amendment-
encryption-...](http://www.uclalawreview.org/the-fifth-amendment-encryption-
and-the-forgotten-state-interest/)
~~~
derefr
A stronger analogy, falling between the two scenarios, would be: presuming the
original key for a lock has been destroyed, but you have memorized the
particular key-cutting metrics that would be required to produce a working
duplicate, could you be compelled to reveal those metrics so such a key could
be created?
------
seibelj
This means that anyone who uses freenet can have a warrant against them. I
would attack the warrant itself. From what I remember about freenet (it's been
many years since I looked into it), plausible deniability is given because
each node is requesting keys that another node requested. For instance, if
node A wants file X, then A will request X from B, C, and D, who will in turn
request it from more nodes, and no one knows who the original requester was.
So every person on freenet is holding a cache of data that other nodes have
requested, and has no idea what was requested, and are themselves requesting
files on behalf of other nodes which they have no idea about.
In summary, if you are on freenet, you are not only requesting your own files,
but files on behalf of others, some of which could potentially be illegal
material.
If being on freenet and requesting a key (even for someone else) is enough to
get a warrant, _all people using freenet from a traceable IP should
immediately get off freenet_.
I don't know anyone who uses it, I thought tor superseded it, but this sets a
very dangerous precedent. The defense should be reaching out to a computer
scientist who can explain the fundamentals to the court.
------
esoteric_nonces
Can a rational argument be made, that addresses the emotions involved, for
repealing laws that criminalize the existence or transfer of information?
The best argument I can come up with is that digital security simply isn't
understood well enough for us to have solid evidence trails.
It's far too simple for an attacker (not necessarily law enforcement, a
frustrated savvy neighbour is enough) to target someone and the consequences
are so dire.
The War on Drugs criminalized the possession and transfer of physical objects,
in the process providing convenient mechanisms by which to persecute
undesirable individuals.
Laws against the transfer of information seem to provide the same loophole,
but in a digital space. To me, that's far more worrisome.
~~~
philovivero
Best comment on this story thus far.
------
qq66
This means that forgetting one's passphrase could be a life-ending mistake.
~~~
anotheryou
Or just trying truecrypt once and typing
"asdfdlcwgnvldtrobiaedtpaeoaeuodtrn1234567hgr" as the passphrase, leaving the
container in your tmp folder. I really hope (and guess) there is more evidence
here about the probable contents.
------
Joof
Child porn is pretty messed up, but also one of those scary things because
it's so easy to move data into any computer without consent. Then it's an easy
claim to make against anyone whether or not it's true.
~~~
Paul_S
Not much different from any other way of planting evidence. It happens.
~~~
dkopi
This isn't just planting evidence of a crime. This is planting the crime
itself (Possession of child porn).
~~~
Paul_S
I don't follow. How does it differ from planting drugs?
~~~
ikeboy
Drug possession is not strict liability, child porn is. That means you don't
need to have intention; if I email you a file and you open it, then the feds
break down your door, you have committed a crime. Or rather, as long as it's
on your computer (say a website downloaded it in the background), you're
liable. Even if you have 100% solid proof that it wasn't your fault, you're
guilty.
With drugs, you can at least sometimes get off with proof that you didn't have
intent.
~~~
DanBC
> Or rather, as long as it's on your computer (say a website downloaded it in
> the background), you're liable. Even if you have 100% solid proof that it
> wasn't your fault, you're guilty.
Do you have a cite for the law? What you say isn't true for the England; I
doubt it's true for the US.
EDIT: Here's the English law.
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/1/crosshead...](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/42/part/1/crossheading/indecent-
photographs-of-children)
[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/part/XI/crosshea...](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/33/part/XI/crossheading/possession-
of-indecent-photograph-of-child)
> Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1) above, it
> shall be a defence for him to prove—
> (a)that he had a legitimate reason for having the photograph [F5or pseudo-
> photograph] in his possession; or
> (b)that he had not himself seen the photograph [F5or pseudo-photograph] and
> did not know, nor had any cause to suspect, it to be indecent; or
> (c)that the photograph [F5or pseudo-photograph] was sent to him without any
> prior request made by him or on his behalf and that he did not keep it for
> an unreasonable time.
~~~
oarsinsync
> (c)that the photograph [F5or pseudo-photograph] was sent to him without any
> prior request made by him or on his behalf and that he did not keep it for
> an unreasonable time.
I can't find the citation, but there was a case brought up in my uni it
ethics/law module that noted that visiting a website that then downloaded
something like that in the background was sufficient to disqualify that
condition from applying, as there was a prior request to visit the webpage
that delivered the image. even if the website wasn't visited with the
intention of the image.
and the person involved was jailed. they may have gotten out on appeal mind,
but again, i can't remember more details than that to verify
------
joesmo
One way or another, it looks like we'll find out if the 5th Amendment still
holds any water in this country. My guess is probably not, but it all depends
on how much money this guy has, I imagine.
~~~
Joof
I wonder if the EFF is bold enough / has the resources to help. Encryption
really should fall under the fifth.
In this case he isn't charged with anything, so I'm not sure the fifth
applies? I want a lawyer friend lol.
~~~
mjevans
If he's not charged with anything, then why do they need to know what's on his
encrypted drives (which he may or may not be able to access anyway).
~~~
justinlardinois
They have a warrant for the contents of his drives.
~~~
Zigurd
They have the content of his drives. The content is indistinguishable from
random numbers. Same as if they found printed cyphertext in his home.
~~~
justinlardinois
You're ignoring the context of the comment I replied to.
~~~
Zigurd
How so? Had they found printed cyphertext in his house, would he be in jail?
Or, more cogently, one sheaf of random numbers and one of cyphertext?
The point is, the whole "lock" analogy is wrong. Encryption is not an
unbreakable lock, nor is it a game-changer. It's been there for hundreds of
years at least, as long as there have been cyphers.
------
dkopi
So if he ends up forgetting his password while in prison, he's facing a life
sentence?
~~~
tjohns
Not likely, but he'd be there for a very long time.
Generally speaking, when being held in jail for contempt charges, you can be
held indefinitely, so long as you remain in disobedience to a court order.
That last part is important, since the idea is you "hold the keys" to your own
release.
However, if it's physically impossible for you to comply with said court
order, you no longer hold those "keys", and can no longer be held in contempt.
That said... they're not going to believe you just "forgot" your password. The
courts don't look favorably at folks who try to game the system like that, and
you'd have a hard time proving otherwise.
See Chadwick v. Janecka, where a man was held in contempt for 14 years (!) for
refusing to disclose where he allegedly hid funds from an overseas bank
account during a divorce proceeding. They eventually let him go after they
decided that being held in jail had lost its coercive effect... but again,
that took 14 years.
~~~
mordocai
The problem is that it is actually possible that someone no longer knows the
password to some piece of encrypted data. If the government can just hold you
indefinitely because they don't believe you then that is a huge issue.
~~~
dllthomas
If they can show that you've been using the password regularly, recently, for
a while, then not believing a claim to have forgotten seems, if not
_necessarily_ correct, at least not absurd.
If they can't show that, and the file might not have been accessed since it
was created years ago, then I think it's unquestionably wrong to ignore the
fallibility of human memory.
~~~
mordocai
Good luck showing that in many cases. Especially if it is an encrypted
external drive. I think in most cases they aren't going to be able to show
"beyond reasonable doubt" that a person definitely still knows the password.
~~~
dllthomas
I don't disagree, but I don't think that is a sufficient reason to bear the
kind of risk of indefinitely jailing innocents entailed by not requiring such
a showing.
~~~
mordocai
Necroing this, but the proper thing to do is just don't indefinitely jail
people without proof of something rather than "requiring" such a showing(you
can't really require it since, barring torture/some kind of mind probe, the
person can always sit in jail indefinitely and refuse).
------
peeters
> The other was a forensic examiner who testified that it was his "best guess"
> that child pornography was on the drives
I'm curious how on Earth one arrives at that "guess" for an encrypted drive
other than reasoning "why else would he not decrypt them?" In which case his
expertise as a forensic examiner is irrelevant.
Edit: I'd love to see the original testimony, but I haven't been able to find
it. This article has more information though:
[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160428/07395434297/so-
mu...](https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160428/07395434297/so-much-fifth-
amendment-man-jailed-seven-months-not-turning-over-password.shtml)
> The government’s second witness was Detective Christopher Tankelewicz, a
> forensic examiner with the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office. He
> testified only that it was his “best guess” child pornography would be found
> on the hard drives. (Ex. J at 346). According to Tankelewicz’s understanding
> of the Freenet online network (in which he admits having no training), there
> were signs on an Apple Mac Pro computer seized with the hard drives of a
> user accessing or trying to access message boards with names suggestive of
> child pornography. (Ex. J at 306, 311-312, 339-340). In rather ambiguous
> testimony, Tankelewicz did not appear to say this meant any image traded
> over these boards was on the hard drives. (See Ex. J at 303-317, 336-340,
> 345-350). Instead, he identified a single image he believed there to be a
> “possibility” was on the drives. (Ex. J at 308-309)
However this appears to be the testimony in which the All Writs order
([https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2783581/Granting-...](https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/2783581/Granting-
All-Writs.pdf)) establishes the following:
> Here, the Affidavit of Special Agent David Bottalico, supporting the
> application for a Search Warrant, establishes that (1) the Government has
> custody of the electronic devices; (2) prior to the Government's seizure,
> Mr. Rawls possessed, accessed and owned all the electronic devices; and (3)
> there are images on the electronic devices that constitute child
> pornography. (Affidavit iii! 13-31.) Therefore, under the "foregone
> conclusion" doctrine, requiring Mr. Rawls to assist in the decrypting of
> those devices does not violate his privilege against selfincrimination.
In other words (in my understanding), under the foregone conclusion doctrine,
the government needs to show that they know the document exists and what it
contains. In this case I believe that would mean that they have to provide
evidence that they know there is child pornography on the devices. And the
testimony above seems to be the only thing they are putting forward as
evidence to invoke the doctrine.
One of those cases where you kind of want the government to look inside the
hard drive _in this case_ (since the accused is only objecting under Fifth
Amendment grounds, meaning there probably is legitimate evidence against him
on those hard drives), but I can't support it because of the precedent it
sets.
~~~
vkjv
My guess would be in data found on unencrypted drives that reference files on
the encrypted drive. For example, you might have filenames that hint at child
pornography in metadata (itunes, WMP, etc.) or CLI history.
Sure, the file might be unfortunately named, but, in this case maybe it was
enough evidence to hold him?
~~~
LyndsySimon
I'm no lawyer, but I think that's what they usually call "evidence". If they
have evidence of what's on the drive, then he can be compelled to open it
under current law.
There was a case a while back of a guy crossing a border. The LEO who
inspected the laptop claims he saw CP, and somehow it was turned off before it
could be preserved. In that case, they ruled that it wasn't protected by the
5th because it wasn't a search - they "knew" the evidence was there, they just
couldn't access it.
------
esbranson
Here are the court case identifiers and PACER dockets:
USA v. APPLE MACPRO COMPUTER, et al. (E.D. Pa., case 2:15-mj-00850)
[http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/2nurkco28/pennsylvania-
east...](http://www.plainsite.org/dockets/2nurkco28/pennsylvania-eastern-
district-court/usa-v-apple-macpro-computer-apple-mac-mini-computer-apple-
iphone-6-plus-cellular-telephone-weste/)
USA v. APPLE MACPRO COMPUTER, et al. (3d Cir., case 15-3537) ????
------
dudifordMann
so... if a prosecutor has evidence has been gathered where a defendant has a
drive with +n files that are encrypted. then the prosecutor has their
evidence. However, if the files are when decrypted, then they have +n' -n
files, which were not gathered during the initial investigation.
I recognize that the contempt is prior to formal charging, and thus "during"
evidence gathering. but I feel like this is equivalent to the government
saying: "hey, so we have no proof you did anything, but we have these
107374182400 items that might prove something. So, we want you to produce
107374182400 completely different items that might incriminate you because,
well.... we cant". seems weird.
this is obviously not the first case that this has happened in[1][2]. each
invoking the 5th, but it still seems strange.
[1]
[http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2012/01/decryp...](http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2012/01/decrypt.pdf)
[2][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_re_Boucher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_re_Boucher)
~~~
dudifordMann
wow... the grammar... what on earth did i write...
------
cmdrfred
>"The other was a forensic examiner who testified that it was his "best guess"
that child pornography was on the drives."
This guy needs to be fired. How in the hell can you tell that it's even images
or video let alone children if it's encrypted? I'd love to see a technical
explanation of how he came to that conclusion. Can the defendant sue for such
a statement given that it's almost entirely fabricated?
~~~
knodi123
I'm not saying this is what happened, (and from what I've read, it's as absurd
as you think).
However, an expert could hypothetically have all sorts of clue about the
contents of an encrypted drive. Keep in mind that encrypted files still
probably have a "last modified date" maintained by the OS, and that many
viewer/player apps keep a timestamped list of recent files. If they see that
realplayer claims to have played "nude_12_year_old.avi" on a "z:\" drive on a
certain date, and that an encryption app opened an encrypted file a little
while before that.... You can't _know_ , but an expert could, hypothetically,
make an educated guess.
Again, not saying that's what the expert did here. Just saying that this sort
of conclusion is theoretically possible in some cases.
------
tn13
I the defense lawyer is unable to demolish this "best guess" evidence in court
I think quality of law schools in the country is sh __t.
If the judge cant see what is wrong with this "best guess" evidence, the
judiciary has lost its marbles.
If the members of jury don't find it wrong, as society we have probably lost
compassion and empathy and sense.
As marijuana legalization is probably foregone conclusion I think government
is going to start with "war on sex" that will have same effects on society.
New Hampshire recently passed laws that would make sex traffickers out of
totally innocent people.
~~~
oh_sigh
What laws are you talking about re sex trafficking?
~~~
tn13
[http://reason.com/blog/2016/04/23/how-new-hampshire-plans-
to...](http://reason.com/blog/2016/04/23/how-new-hampshire-plans-to-spike-its-
sex)
------
blubb-fish
If a judge within a formally correct legal processing decided that the disk
content is to be investigated then that person is obliged to cooperate and if
s/he fails to do that then the state has to act forceful.
There's nothing bad about it.
Another question is whether the established legal system allowing for such
measures is more harmful than beneficial.
------
LeoNatan25
My "guess" is the "forensic" "examiner" watched CSI Cyber or NCIS the night
before, an episode where the show's forensic "sees" patterns in Matrix-style
flow of data.
------
tdkl
Ah CP, the modern day witch hunt and where all the reason falls through.
------
TazeTSchnitzel
Appropriate the URL is .co.uk. Here in the UK, this is actually explicit law.
If you refuse to decrypt, you can be chucked in jail.
------
godgod
And if he really truly honestly forgot his password...then what? You go to
jail for your entire life because you can't recall a series of cryptic letters
and numbers that will be used to convict you? This is no longer America.
Innocent until PROVEN guilty is a lie.
------
derptron
Held without charges and without evidence on the suspicion that the drives
contain something relevant.
So if his protection against self-incrimination is upheld by courts, can he
turn around and sue for this blatant violation of his constitutional rights?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
I want to share my design assets I created during last years (royalty-free) - miacod
https://gumroad.com/l/uziui/?design
======
herbst
Looks exactly like
[http://qrohlf.com/trianglify/](http://qrohlf.com/trianglify/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: SQLSite – serve simple websites, APIs and files directly from SQLite - j4mie
https://github.com/j4mie/sqlsite
======
CyberFonic
I too wrote something similar in Python a couple of years ago. BUT that's not
the point. Your contribution is well documented and effectively shared with
whomever might want to use it. That is of value to our community.
------
h3rald
Similar to my own LiteStore project ;)
Project Page: [https://h3rald.com/litestore/](https://h3rald.com/litestore/)
User Guide:
[https://h3rald.com/litestore/LiteStore_UserGuide.htm](https://h3rald.com/litestore/LiteStore_UserGuide.htm)
------
captn3m0
Looks fairly interesting. I have a lot of static data heavy sites where I
struggle with Static site generators.
This might be a good alternative.
Suggestion: First class serverless/S3 support perhaps?
This also reminds me of how crt.sh runs primarily off Postgres:
[https://github.com/crtsh](https://github.com/crtsh)
------
tracker1
A few years ago, worked on something similar with Node, Redis and Cassandra...
depending on the type of data a given site/resource was, it would either
deliver the static content, or run a given node module/version to process and
deliver the request... worked very well at scale.
------
eismcc
Cool! I was thinking doing something similar.
Question: why not put everything into the SQLite DB as opposed to files next
to the db in an archive?
~~~
j4mie
That's exactly what it does do! Everything is served from the sqlar table
inside the database. Is there a bit of the documentation that doesn't make
that clear?
------
ngcc_hk
Interesting
------
paparush
Maybe I'm missing something. I built a website and hand-rolled cms ten years
ago leveraging PhP and SQLite that stores and serves the site and certainly
allows full CRUD operations.
~~~
pests
This a Show HN where people post things they built. There doesn't need to be
more than that. You too can post that cms you mentioned if you want.
~~~
paparush
Thank you for reminding me of that. I'll try to keep that in mind and hold my
judgements.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
DigitalGlobe satellite imagery launch for OpenStreetMap - bhousel
http://blog.digitalglobe.com/news/digitalglobe-satellite-imagery-launch-for-openstreetmap/
======
niftich
The blog post is... not so much misleading, but it doesn't clearly communicate
the impact of this. It's a press release that's light on facts and is worded
such that the reader will assume the best.
A better source is the OpenStreetMap Wiki page on DigitalGlobe [1], which is
linked from the article, and has been updated by DigitalGlobe with new info.
_As of May 9th 2017, DigitalGlobe has just announced availability of
satellite imagery directly through a newly launched imagery
service.[http://blog.digitalglobe.com/news/digitalglobe-satellite-
ima...](http://blog.digitalglobe.com/news/digitalglobe-satellite-imagery-
launch-for-openstreetmap)
DigitalGlobe-Premium is a mosaic composed of DigitalGlobe basemap with select
regions filled with +Vivid or custom area of interest imagery, 50cm resolution
or better, and refreshed more frequently with ongoing updates DigitalGlobe-
Standard is a curated set of imagery covering 86% of the earth's landmass,
with 30-60cm or resolution where available, backfilled by Landsat. Average age
is 2.31 years, with some areas updated 2x year._
_DigitalGlobe Satellite EULA: DigitalGlobe, Inc. is pleased to provide its
high resolution satellite imagery to OpenStreetMap in support of its mapping
initiatives. By using our imagery in the OSM editor, you understand and agree
that you may only use our imagery to trace, and validate edits that must be
contributed back to OSM. You cannot download our imagery or use our imagery
for any other purpose. We retain all right, title and interest in and to our
imagery. We provide our imagery “as is,” with all faults and as available; we
disclaim all warranties, express or implied, to the extent permitted by
applicable law. You can recover from us only direct damages up to an amount
equal to the fees you have paid to us to use our imagery on OSM, if any. We
are not liable for any other damages, including consequential, lost profits,
special, indirect, incidental or punitive damages. Happy mapping!_
Still, this is beautiful and recent imagery and will help greatly for
OpenStreetMap contributors to trace up-to-date features.
[1]
[https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/DigitalGlobe](https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/DigitalGlobe)
~~~
Ajedi32
I wonder if, now that the costs of satellite launches are starting to come
down and camera-equipped drones are commonplace, it might be feasible in the
near future to start building up a truly open collection of satellite and
aerial imagery for use in projects like OpenStreetMap.
~~~
mschuster91
> and camera-equipped drones are commonplace
In Germany, flying drones over occupied areas is expressly forbidden by law to
protect the occupants' privacy.
There are already too many idiots and creeps flying around with drones, we
don't need to add Internet publication to the mix.
~~~
vurpo
How high up does the drone need to fly before taking pictures and publishing
them is acceptable? I mean that's basically what these mapping satellites are:
very high-flying drones taking pictures of the ground to be published online.
~~~
londons_explore
Person taking a photo out of an airplane: Allowed.
Person remote controlling a camera on an airplane: Not allowed.
We shouldn't be making laws saying a human can do something but a machine
cannot. That leads to humans having pointless jobs simply because laws prevent
the use of automation.
------
yellowbkpk
As a long time contributor to OpenStreetMap, this is hugely appreciated.
Getting direct support from Digital Globe is important and hopefully helps
signal that OSM is worthy of people's time and contributions.
~~~
kbullock
love this feedback, thanks! At DigitalGlobe, and many other tech companies we
work with, there is a growing understanding of the value and importance of
OSM. It's a database of the Earth's features and nobody should "own" that.
------
cryptarch
At first I thought it was a data donation, but it seems like it's only API
integration with support.
Still pretty cool as an alternative to Bing satellite data, I guess it's
pretty unlikely we'll have open-licensed satellite data in the near future.
~~~
tomarr
Most of the EU satellite stuff is open licensed, lookup Sentinel II. Various
wavelengths and new data every 5 days (so if it's cloudy you can try again).
It's not the most user-friendly though, you have to download large swathes at
a time.
~~~
kbullock
NASA Landsat program is a great example of Open Data. It's important to
remember that US taxpayers funded the creation, launch and operation of the
satellites. EU Sentinel is similar. So the imagery is paid for, as users we
just don't have to pay twice.
~~~
kevin_thibedeau
DigitalGlobe's GeoEye-1 was also partially funded with taxpayer money in
exchange for unlimited military access and exclusive use of the highest
resolutions. It is time the general public got to reap the benefits too.
------
c0nsumer
Darn... Doesn't look like this is in a JOSM [1] release yet. Really, really
looking forward to this. (Mapping areas near my house, especially parks, is
something that I find to be a great way to relax in the evenings.)
[1] [https://josm.openstreetmap.de/](https://josm.openstreetmap.de/)
~~~
kbullock
yes, coming to JOSM soon. I have been working with the JOSM developer team.
Stay tuned.
~~~
c0nsumer
Excellent; thank you! JOSM / OSM is the basis for a lot of mountain bike trail
mapping work that I do. Another source of imagery will just be cake. (GPS
traces only go so far...)
------
Mediterraneo10
This will make a big difference for the rural area I moved to. I was able to
trace many of the houses around the outskirts of my village from aerial
imagery. However, on the day that both Bing Maps and Mapbox shot their
imagery, a massive cloud blanked out the center, the place where most
outsiders would be bound for and where most of the POIs are located.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What subscriptions have you kept paying for during lockdown? - louisblythe
======
runawaybottle
Sadly, WeWork. They make you have to call in to cancel your subscription (I
have the cheapest possible one to squat a office every now and then).
Wish they’d just put a simple ‘Cancel’ button, being a ‘tech’ company and all.
------
joe_the_user
I haven't changed my meetup.com subscription. Meetup is a fantastic site for
in-person events and I really want to see the service survive the Covid events
even though all my meetups are on hiatus.
------
mortivore
Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Crunchyroll, HBO Now(considering
dropping this), Audible(picked this back up for long walks during pandemic)
------
ZinnZirconium
I opened a new bank account specifically to pay Scaleway even though they
announced during lockdown that ARM servers are discontinued.
------
muzani
VPN, Netflix, Spotify, Pluralsight, Jetbrains.
------
deanmoriarty
I have no subscriptions at all, so nothing changed for me. My only recurring
monthly expenses are rent and utilities.
~~~
muzani
Is this because you don't have anything to subscribe to or to conserve money
in some way?
~~~
deanmoriarty
I am a pretty frugal person, but the real reason is that I don’t have anything
to subscribe, I find the free options good enough for my needs.
~~~
giantg2
Similar here. Netflix is my only subscription and I'm considering dropping
that in favor a regular TV (antenna) and free services like Popcorn Flix and
Crackle.
------
scarface74
Netflix ($5 through T-mobile), R#, Hulu Live Tv (mostly for my wife), Disney+
(for my son), Amazon Prime and BackBlaze.
I get free
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Just Eat's Business Model (2014) - nns
http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/opinion/1291205/just-eat-id-rather-not-says-luke-johnson/
======
richmarr
I think Just Eat are going to have trouble competing with Deliveroo, who are
in a position to offer a far better customer experience.
That's going to drive their margin (and share price) downwards, nullifying
this critic's argument and replacing it with another one.
In case you're not familiar, Deliveroo is like JustEat & HungryHouse except
that Deliveroo provides the entire delivery service, so is able to provide
food from restaurants that don't want to get into delivery themselves. This
means that (a) Deliveroo are enlarging the market and entirely owning the new
segment (b) since Deliveroo know where every driver is the customer experience
is better; they call you to tell you the food will be late, rather than you
calling them to ask them where the food is.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ashley Madison hack is not only real, it’s worse than we thought - ghosh
http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/08/ashley-madison-hack-is-not-only-real-its-worse-than-we-thought/
======
willtheperson
Doesn't reporting stats from this leak imply you have the data or access to
it? I was under the impression that it was illegal to have this.
~~~
dottrap
The press is generally protected. The Pentagon Papers of 1971, Edward Snowden,
the recent Sony hacks.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Rebuilding Civilization from Scratch? - perfmode
A long time ago, I came across a set of resources intended for use in the event of collapse of civilization. It consisted of farming, engineering, blacksmithing, construction technique, etc.<p>Is there such a guide for the bootstrapping of computation from first principles?
======
greenyoda
To have computers that are anything close to what you'd recognize as a
computer today, you'd need to have an electronics industry that's capable of
manufacturing semiconductors, disk drives, CRTs, etc. These rely on many
different raw materials which take complex industrial processes to produce.
You will probably have to rebuild most of modern civilization (power plants,
mines, factories, vehicles, roads, etc.) before you can even think of building
computers.
Yes, you could build computers out of relays or vacuum tubes, but their
computational power would be very limited. You're not going to be able to run
Unix on hardware like that. That technology was very slow and had to be
repaired frequently (if you have thousands of vacuum tubes, one would burn out
every few hours).
------
sgillen
This is an interesting question. As another poster said, to do this we would
probably have to rebuild most of modern civilization. Leaving instructions to
do that seem almost impossible.
I honestly think though that leaving behind a detailed record of what is
possible and how things used to be would be very valuable in this situation
though. Just letting people know computers did exist and did require
electricity and what electricity was and that we used to burn something called
coal to make it would for sure speed up a future civilizations research
dramatically.
------
tannerbrockwell
I'm interested in what anyone else finds. These are projects i'm aware of that
are periphery to your request and valuable in their own right.
[https://www.opensourceecology.org/gvcs/](https://www.opensourceecology.org/gvcs/)
[http://digitarworld.uw.hu/ttlcpu.html](http://digitarworld.uw.hu/ttlcpu.html)
[https://monster6502.com/](https://monster6502.com/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How to structure coaching/mentoring for best results - meta_AU
I've been asked to provide some coaching to a junior developer to increase their proficiency in a couple of languages (I am external to the developer's company). While we could just sit down once a fortnight and pair program solutions to tasks they are assigned at work, I'm not convinced that is always going to make the best use of the limited time we have available.<p>Are there any well thought out learning plans for things like this? Or any other resources that would assist?
======
avitzurel
This is 100% the way to go. (from experience) Pick a task off the backlog,
pair program, rinse and repeat.
I recently streamed a session like this @ my company (Trip.com) with one of
the junior developers
Part1:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYsuclajEBc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYsuclajEBc)
Part2:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-z7M4h3EzQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-z7M4h3EzQ)
This was his task and we just built it together while I am teaching/asking
questions/explaining.
Important things to focus on
1\. Thought process - cannot stress this enough, it is the most important
thing to explain. Why are you doing X and just talk out what you think in your
head 2\. Explain everything 3\. Leave a lot of time for questions and make
sure you aren't impatient when a question is "basic". Make sure the engineer
knows he/she can ask anything, nothing is too stupid or too basic.
Worst thing to do IMHO is just do "something cool". Just do the work inside
the context of the environment you/him/she knows.
My 2 cents
------
quintes
Picking the language and then the specifics of what you want to improve
knowledge of is next. specific e.g in Python use OOP to build a x using (flask
or bottle and JavaScript flavor of the month here).
Phase things as well, don't try build a monolith in 4 weeks using 50 different
stacks. They'll lose the plot and end up trying 3 different JavaScript
frameworks and 6 different ways of nearly anything.
measure what it means to have achieved the goal, example a flask backend using
a user and customer model connected to a postgres db by Date.
Have courses, books and websites available for learning. Checkin on progress
and help them bring it back into order when they go off the path.
Then using the goal, the date and the measure of success, evaluate the
knowledge gained with them
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How to use py2exe and py2app - adammichaelc
http://warp.byu.edu/site/node/151
======
cturner
I have more success with pyinstaller than py2exe because it's not targeted at
a particular target platform. There is a complication where you need to
configure pyinstaller itself for the target platform and then build the app. I
scripted this though and now it builds seamlessly every time I need my app
(which uses wxpython as well) to support a new platform.
I found this more practical than having different packaging systems for each
platform. With those scripts I can now package even for systems I have zero
experience with but which python runs on (e.g. AIX, HPUX, QNX).
------
DenisM
I wish there was a way to use python to program the iPhone...
~~~
palish
Write a Python interpreter. :)
~~~
river_styx
Not allowed. :(
~~~
palish
Wait -- what? Seriously? Wow. I wonder what their reasoning is.
~~~
allenbrunson
to avoid apps that look like one thing, then mutate into something altogether
different, through scripts it downloaded from the internet.
since apple approves all apps that get into the app store, they don't want
apps that substantially change their own nature.
~~~
palish
So is all data banned? (E.g. files.) Because _any_ data can be used for that
purpose.
Can Apple view the Objective-C source code of apps they're about to
approve/deny, to see whether you were trying to do something shady like that?
~~~
allenbrunson
no, i don't think "any data" could be used for that purpose. they were
thinking of scenarios like this: developer writes app that can be extended
substantially with scripts. somebody else writes a script that extends that
app into a combination phishing scheme and porn viewer.
and no, apple does not review an app's source code, just the finished binary.
a little surprising, because it seems like it would be far easier to detect
malicious apps by looking at the source. i guess they decided that would be
going a little too far.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Tesla sales 'misleading' says Audi blog post - arepb
http://www.audiusanews.com/progress/blog.do;jsessionid=1CB391A6F1EDD976E0F71A0199B241E0?id=254&p=entry
======
tptacek
They're right, of course, but I'm not sure this is a great marketing move,
because it dignifies the metric Tesla has chosen as their strongest. The fact
that Tesla can even mount an argument that they're in a horse race with Audi,
let alone outselling them, is a gigantic coup for a car company that's just a
few years old.
~~~
ChuckMcM
This was what I was thinking, which basically said this was a big mistake on
Audi's part. Rather than instill doubt in me that Tesla is an untested company
I came away feeling better about them as an actual competitor to the likes of
Audi. Time will tell of course.
------
byoung2
The fact that Audi had to write this says that they feel threatened. And while
Tesla does only sell one model at a time, they are able to produce cheaper
models and sell more of them. As for the question posed by USA Today:
_There are questions, too, about whether it can keep its order books full, or
whether the number of people who crave electric cars is limited._
With the new financing offer, a Tesla is within reach for many people, but I
think we'll see a tipping point once they can get below $50k.
~~~
beat
Shorter Audi: Tesla may be outselling us at our flagship range, but since they
don't sell cars that cost half as much, we're better, and we're not going to
talk about what happens when they start selling cars that cost half as much...
------
michaelfeathers
For kicks, re-read the article as something written 4+ years ago substituting
"Apple" for "Tesla" and any other cellphone manufacturer for "Audi."
_“Tesla has to show it can be consistently profitable with a single product
that is priced so high that most buyers can’t afford it,”_
Indeed.
~~~
adestefan
They are in no way comparable.
I make a pretty damn good living and can easily afford a $400-$500 phone, but
there is no way I'll be buying a $60,000 car from either Tesla or Audi.
~~~
simonh
There are people who do buy $60k cars. It's a market that actually exists,
just as there was a market for $500+ phones before the iPhone, which at it's
introduction actually wasn't the most expensive phone on the market. Just
because you're not part of the market for a car in that range is no more
relevant than the fact there are plenty of people who would, or could never
pay $500+ for a phone is to the success of Apple.
~~~
ianstormtaylor
Another way to think about it is that if someone told me I would be paying
$500 for a phone before the iPhone came out I probably would have laughed at
them. In fact, before the iPhone I don't think anyone in my family ever bought
a phone that was more expensive than the 1 cent models that came with
contracts. Now we buy the $200 models that come with contracts.
------
beat
Now here's an interesting question, or maybe some interrelated questions.
First, will Tesla be able to manufacture profitably in the sub-$50k range
(competing with the Audi/BMW/MB low end), with a car that is range-comparable
to the S? In other words, can they build a genuinely useful electric
drivetrain for about the same price as an internal combustion drivetrain?
Next, as they start spinning up long-term reliability figures (real people
driving real Teslas in real conditions for the 100k+ miles we expect today),
will costs remain comparable?
Third, how long will it take Audi/BMW/Lexus/etc to develop fully electric cars
of their own that are performance-comparable and compatible with whatever
public charging systems start to develop?
~~~
tomkarlo
Or, how long until one of them buys Tesla and combines its expertise with
their existing infrastructure for mass production?
~~~
r00fus
I'm pretty smart finance folks have learned from GOOG stock structuring and
the like to prevent LBOs/corporate takeover threats. I'm reasonably sure some
of them work for Tesla.
~~~
tomkarlo
Why would you assume it would be hostile? Ultimately either someone's going to
buy Tesla, or Tesla's going to buy a legacy automaker that's in trouble.
Setting aside dealership issues in the US, it doesn't make sense to rebuild an
entire worldwide distribution system from scratch when the innovation is the
car, primarily. Either that, or license the Tesla tech to a major car
manufacturer and let them serve the downmarket while protecting the Tesla
brand as high-end and innovative. I don't think Tesla wants to become Honda.
------
smackfu
The CNN headline is definitely misleading:
“Tesla sales beating Mercedes, BMW and Audi.”
No one would guess they are talking about "per model sales" vs "per
manufacturer sales", since they are naming manufacturers. It's just linkbait.
Tesla really is the new Apple!
~~~
notatoad
"No one would guess"
really? because my first assumption was that they were comparing sales of
Tesla's only model to sales of Mercedes, BMW, and Audi's equivalent models.
that is, comparing the sales of one high-end luxury car with the sales of
other high-end luxury cars. it seems blindingly obvious that the Model S isn't
selling more units than Mercedes' entire range.
~~~
jedmeyers
But they did not say "Model S vs A8", they had said "Tesla vs Audi" - which
does not mean "Model S vs A8".
~~~
notatoad
they actually did say it. there was a whole article, including a clearly
labeled graph, underneath that headline. They didn't say it in the headline,
but that's the reason articles exists instead of just headlines - sometimes
they have stuff in them.
[http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/autos/tesla-sales-bmw-
merced...](http://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/autos/tesla-sales-bmw-mercedes-
audi/index.html)
~~~
jedmeyers
So because the article exists it is now OK to lie in the headlines?
------
drawkbox
This is the old guard problem. You need a new company to come along once in a
while and push through a new industry or new industry focus with real effort.
Current car companies, to protect their current products, they didn't put the
full force behind electric, that is why they saw less demand and their looks
and cars weren't pretty. Audi could benefit if they would have had the same
focus and get news that tips in their favor like Tesla, people rooting for
them. It costs money to start new product lines, eventually they won't be as
expensive when the technology is refined and then other car companies will be
behind. It wouldn't be surprising to me if Tesla was later the tech that helps
other car companies succeed. If Tesla does succeed the others will be caught
on their heels.
This is why older companies can't innovate as much, protecting the main
source/bottom line. The only company that has really attacked their own
product lines with new innovative products is Apple with the iPad (which
directly hit their other models, but also hit their competitors bottom line
harder). Other companies follow or start too late when they are comfy on their
big bottom line cushion.
All that money Audi has and they are essentially losing the PR battle. Maybe
make an investment in Tesla or compete with it then, stop crying that they'll
get more focus. People want electric cars to succeed and will be more
forgiving when it is done right. Audi your PR just backfired, you look
threatened.
------
jagermo
Its interesting to see how they try to cover it up. Especially BMW has
researched alternative fuels, mainly hydrogen, but stopped its test fleet in
2009 [0]. Only one super expensive image car, a BMW 7, remains [1]. Audi and
VW also dabbled in alternative energies, but none of them really got into it.
Hopefully, Tesla can breath some new live into this area. We live in the 21st
century, I demand vehicles fueled by anything other than oil.
[0] [http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/alternative-antriebe-
bmw-...](http://www.spiegel.de/auto/aktuell/alternative-antriebe-bmw-stellt-
wasserstoff-testflotte-ein-a-665549.html) (german, Google Translate here:
[http://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=...](http://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fauto%2Faktuell%2Falternative-
antriebe-bmw-stellt-wasserstoff-testflotte-ein-a-665549.html))
[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_Hydrogen_7>
~~~
foobarqux
> We live in the 21st century, I demand vehicles fueled by anything other than
> oil.
Why? (Of course there are many valid reasons, just want to get an idea of
which ones people are interested in.)
~~~
byoung2
I am a fan of electric cars because electricity is a buffer against volatile
(no pun intended) gas prices. A gallon of gas cost $1.20 just a decade ago,
compared to $4 today, a jump of over 200%, compared to a maybe 20% increase in
electricity costs. As various fuel sources experience price fluctuations, it
will be easier to change the mix of power plants than to change which fuel
cars use.
------
rosser
Wow, defensive. And I say that as a certified Audi fanboy (I'm on my 2nd
S4...)
~~~
wglb
No S5 for you?
------
schiffern
Audi's blog post said the headline was misleading, not "Tesla sales". Could
someone edit HN's headline?
------
xpose2000
I thought it was implied in the original article that Tesla was beating the
other car makers for their specific high-end models only.
It's pretty obvious that Tesla cannot beat Mercedes, BMW, and Audi in ALL
models.
Still, its funny to see a car company write a blog post like this. They are
all scurrying about trying to make sure Tesla can't operate in all states
because they want to sell directly instead of through dealerships.
The car industry is being disrupted.
------
pvnick
Well at this point I would much rather own a Tesla car than an Audi car so
suck it Audi. Then again it's hard to envision making those kinds of
purchasing decisions with the depressing state of my bank account.
------
sixQuarks
They're grasping at straws
------
noonespecial
Wow. Already 3/4 of the way down the "first they ignore you..." continuum. Go
Tesla.
------
InclinedPlane
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you
win.
There are a lot of interesting aspects to electric-only cars, especially from
a manufacturing aspect. There are lots of parts that you just don't need in an
electric car, which can lead to efficiencies of mass production. Now that
electric cars are no longer either improbably futuristic nor merely the butt
of jokes a lot of people are finding it easier to have an electric car be a
part of their lives, and that's a pretty big deal. I don't know how things
will go, but it'll be nice to get a lot more R&D into electric vehicles for a
while.
------
marvin
Wow, I can't believe Audi is actually scared of Tesla and practically admits
it on their blog...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How do you use a database when prototyping a web application? - networked
I wonder how other HN users approach data storage when iterating on a web application product early in its development. Please share your approach here.<p>To elaborate on the question in the title:<p>* Do you use a "traditional" SQL database like Postgres or MySQL and deal with schema migrations from the start? Do you keep your data denormalized (e.g., as JSON in Postgres) until a certain point in the development process?<p>* Do you use a NoSQL database like Mongo? If so, do you then keep it or do you migrate to SQL?<p>* Do you go with a BaaS?<p>* Do you avoid a database altogether and store your data as flat files?
======
hardwaresofton
tldr; I use a nosql db because you don't need to worry about schema which
should give you an initial iteration speed boost, but the database type should
be decided based on the data. In the SQL case, you should decide on a
migration technology sooner rather than later. Either way, keep good schema
documentation (if it's not already in code).
DISCLAIMER: I'm highly partial to rethinkdb
([http://rethinkdb.com/](http://rethinkdb.com/)), though I think I have good
reasons
\- Since I find document stores a little easier to setup/work with (especially
when they have nice convenient web UIs built in) I've often started with
those. The obvious benefit is letting your schema change while you prototype
the application. You could easily do this also with JSON in Postgres
obviously, but I find the web interface/ease of use that databases like
rethinkdb ([http://rethinkdb.com/](http://rethinkdb.com/)) offer to be
refreshing.
\- When you decide what database you should use in production, it should be
based on the data. Note that most document stores are not actually "schema-
less", it's just up to you to properly interact with the tens of schemas that
are true at any one point in time. A sane set up will often have the schema
documented somewhere.
I find myself writing documentation in files like SCHEMA.md (sometimes in it's
own folder with a file for each actual model/collection), if I use a NoSQL
database.
If you find that a relational model fits your data best (if your data is
highly relational, and very inter-connected -- a lot can be said about when
you should use a relational db vs a non-relational one), then I would still
suggest documenting your schema, and picking a migration strategy BEFORE you
start. Find what technology you're going to use to migrate your database, and
start using it from day 1.
\- If you you are rapidly prototyping, it might slow you down to add a BaaS.
At least I've found that it's really easy for me to download the binary for a
database I want to use, run the binary, connect to it in code.
\- Many frameworks start you out with using an on-disk SQLite database
(django, rails). If you mean like an actual flat text file, it really depends
on the guarantees you want out of your database. If you are writing a highly
functionally-minded app, and know that you are going to essentially keep a
append-only log of what's happening, a flat file might be all you need (and of
course, you'll need some locking if you want to do more than one thing at a
time to the file)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Physicists planning to build powerful lasers that could rip apart empty space - ohjeez
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/physicists-are-planning-build-lasers-so-powerful-they-could-rip-apart-empty-space
======
eggy
Don't have sufficient background, but could a chain reaction of electron-
positron splitting and gamma rays radiation occur?
I played with lasers, but whenever I read something more in depth like this, I
am awed by the nature of light and photons. I especially like the bit of
diffracting the laser beam to not damage the amplifier, and then bringing it
back to together again - no damaged amplifier, but a high energy beam!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Get .bot - lotkowskim
https://amazonregistry.com/bot
======
zebraflask
$3,750 per year?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Darpa robotics challenge - organicelephan
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/12/8768871/darpa-robotics-challenge-2015-winners
======
melling
We need a consumer robot where Apple, Google, and Microsoft can throw their
vast resources into future development.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bodycams improperly used after woman shot near Yale - mindgam3
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new-haven-police-shooting-bodycams-improperly-used-shooting-near-yale-n997201
======
HarryHirsch
How come that police bodycams even have an off-switch? They somehow are always
off when things get heated. The argument that you hear is that police should
be able to shit without anyone watching, but the concerns about excessive
violence outweigh the privacy argument. Pilots don't get to switch off the
cockpit voice recorder either, they just behave in the cockpit.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Media Temple Hacked? - mdink
What is it with all the hosting companies get assaulted? Or maybe it was something they did (have not searched extensively). Anyways just wanted to throw this out there in case anyone has to do damage control (like me..)<p>www.mediatemple.net
======
antidaily
Media Temple grid server has awful uptime. It's always down for some reason or
another. Stay away, folks.
~~~
calebhicks
I've actually heard the opposite. I was planning on moving from BlueHost to
Media Temple Grid Server. I know neither are top-of-the-line-or-even-close
services. But I don't have any 24/7 mission critical projects either.
~~~
tnorthcutt
Do make sure you leave Bluehost. They denied some stuff about a big malware
attack and generally acted ridiculous:
[http://blog.sucuri.net/2010/06/bluehost-talks-down-
malware-p...](http://blog.sucuri.net/2010/06/bluehost-talks-down-malware-
percentages.html)
------
chime
Their DNS is down.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Linux Foundation Unites the JavaScript Community for Open Web Development - fagnerbrack
https://js.foundation/announcements/2016/10/17/Linux-Foundation-Unites-JavaScript-Community-Open-Web-Development/
======
ysavir
I thought this was interesting at first. An effort to push the JS environment
towards standardization is a much needed initiative.
Then I saw the "initial projects" list.
"Appium, contributed by Sauce Labs, is an open source Node.js server..."
"Interledger.js, contributed by Ripple, enables instant payments and
micropayments in any currency..."
"JerryScript, contributed by Samsung, is a lightweight, fully-featured
JavaScript engine for Internet of Things..."
"Node-RED, contributed by IBM, is a flow-based programming environment built
on Node.js..."
This made it very clear that the founding members of the "JS Foundation" are
not interested in developing and promoting the best open source tools, those
tools which are most deserving of broad adaption. To them, this is a way to
promote _their own_ tools. They aren't doing this for the good of the of JS
ecosystem, they are doing it to push their own brands on developers.
~~~
spraak
Though nice to see moment and webpack
~~~
Pigo
Agreed, at least with webpack. My number one gripe with moment is that I have
to shim it in when using webpack. It still expects to be added to global
scope, just like jquery. I'd really like to find a modular version, or another
project that has as much functionality.
~~~
tracker1
I haven't had any problem with `require('moment')` doesn't leak into my global
scope. jQuery is a different story, given how plugins tend to work.
------
ggregoire
Not sure why this announce is so upvoted (maybe because the title is full of
buzzwords?).
If we look at this announce:
* the jQuery foundation (jQuery + jQuery UI) becomes the JS foundation (jQuery + jQuery UI + IBM + Samsung + unknown companies)
* the list of founding members is awkward. IBM to unite the JavaScript community? IBM is the company who creates things like JSONx [1]. These founders have done nothing for the web, for JavaScript or for the open source community. Where are the main actors like Facebook, Google, Microsoft or Netflix?
This new partnership is an attempt to gain visibility by companies that are
non-existent in the JavaScript community.
To be clear: the JS foundation will not make the JavaScript ecosystem finally
less fragmented and more standardized (the common complaints on Hacker News).
[1]
[https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SS9H2Y_7.5.0/com...](https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SS9H2Y_7.5.0/com.ibm.dp.doc/json_jsonxconversionexample.html)
~~~
na85
>Where are the main actors like Facebook, Google, Microsoft or Netflix?
I'd argue that the main actors (and others) have driven the web backwards, not
forwards. They've done this by the push towards capturing consumers in a
walled garden, the rejection of open standards, the embrace of DRM, the
selling of user private data for profit, etc.
You listed companies I'd invite to sit on the board of some kind of User
Tracking Foundation, but not anything to do with open web development.
~~~
shadowfox
> I'd argue that the main actors (and others) have driven the web backwards,
> not forwards. They've done this by the push towards capturing consumers in a
> walled garden, the rejection of open standards, the embrace of DRM, the
> selling of user private data for profit, etc
That could well be. I just don't quite see what that has to do with moving
Javascript forward.
~~~
wodencafe
It doesn't, it's about Javascript being driven backwards by big $.
~~~
ben_jones
That just opens a pedantic conversation on what "forwards" is, which is mostly
relative. A PM will think "forward" is faster development, an engineer might
view "forward" as better best practices and better mean software quality.
"Forwards" to Facebook is more ad impressions.
The real answer is probably a combination of all the above, which qualifies
for GP's comment.
------
kowdermeister
I don't see the need for this to cherry pick a few project and push them with
the Linux brand. The JS landscape is fragmented for a good reason and I don't
see that as problem in fact, rather as a feature. With NPM and YARN we already
have a good enough package management system and their platform can help me
evaluate if a package is community supported enough. I'm talking about the
stats that I can just check: number of stars, contributors and open/closed
issue ratios.
If someone understood it better than me please add your thoughts.
I also don't see faces here:
[https://js.foundation/members/](https://js.foundation/members/) Who runs the
show?
~~~
omegote
How can you find the js fragmentation a feature and not a stinking pile of
shit? Seriously.
~~~
kowdermeister
First the term. By fragmentation I mean two things: 1) we have many libraries
doing the same thing. 2) the implementation is JS is not the same in every
environment.
If you are spending most of your time writing other languages which have a
standard library, I can understand your opinion.
However, I see fragmentation as:
1) It introduces the opportunity everyone on the planet to give a shot at
implementing something that may or may not be better than we consider today
the best. For example I used a datepicker in my latest project but in the
current it failed and I could replace it in 15 minutes rather than spending
hours finding the issue with the "standard one". I'm not really experienced in
the C++ world, but I guess people would call me crazy if I proposed a new
stdio lib. Maybe there could be better libraries, who knows. It's a settled
game there. See jQuery in JS land, it was for many years, "the golden tool".
Now we have alternatives for more specialized workflows. Not everybody wears
the same hat all the time.
2) EcmaScript is constantly evolving, that causes another fragmentation, but
this also allows the dev community to propose changes, implement new features
and create a really vibrant feedback loop. If you stick to the latest stable
(currently ES5) you are safe to build whatever you like with great stability.
~~~
inimino
The fact that people can contribute is great, the fact that it is impossible
to get started in modern JS development without making dozens of seemingly
inscrutable choices is not.
~~~
kowdermeister
That's because "modern javascript" is not there yet, it's still in an
experimental phase, we need transpilers and other stuff to use features that
are not in a finished state. It will get better with time.
~~~
monocasa
So when is Javascript not going to be in an experimental phase? A couple of
years ago it would have been 'when browsers support ES6'. Now it's 'when
browsers support ES7'. Next year it's going to be 'when browsers support ES8'.
~~~
irrational
To be fair, ES6 was huge. ES7, and probably ES8, are tiny by comparison with
only a few new features. Once browser creators get caught up on ES6 it
_shouldn't_ be too hard to stay caught up after that point.
But, most of experimentation isn't around the core ECMA features. The
experimentation is happening around the toolchain, the libraries, the
frameworks, etc. which are separate from stuff like ES6.
------
mixonic
Expanding the jQuery foundation in this way is an exciting change, and one I'm
interested to follow and learn from. Ember.js for example has taken some tips
from how jQuery grew and managed itself, however we've also avoided what we
think were some missteps.
I hope the organizers of JSF can share what works and doesn't with the wider
community. If they want to solve fragmentation in JavaScript projects, no one
organization will do that. The need to share their ideas where they work well.
I asked a few questions on Twitter yesterday to this end, and if there is a
JSF member around I would really appreciate some thoughts:
* What does the "mentorship program" look like? It is mentioned several times but not with much detail. ([https://twitter.com/mixonic/status/788046983437037568](https://twitter.com/mixonic/status/788046983437037568))
* Can provide context re: "Today the JS Foundation touts a new open, technical governance structure"? What are the changes, and what led to them? [https://twitter.com/mixonic/status/788038708364587008](https://twitter.com/mixonic/status/788038708364587008)
* What are the motivations for moving to Apache 2.0 as a default license? I expect something about IBM and the patent clause. Does adopting this license attract more corporate participation?
Thank you!
------
opendomain
A few years ago, some high profile organizations (W3C, Adobe, Facebook,
Google, Hp, Intel, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera) came together to try to
help standardize the web platform [1](Javascript, CSS, HTML). That was a HUGE
failure - because it was driven by business rather than developers. How will
the "Javascript foundation" do better?
[1] [http://webplatform.com](http://webplatform.com)
~~~
pags
Developers can't be trusted to make good decisions about the tools they use
either.
~~~
Twirrim
We're all just pretty much screwed :D
------
gerbal
From my perspective the main benefit of this is there is now a non profit that
can take over administration of JS projects the community values but the
original developers want to abandon.
~~~
adrianratnapala
Has such an argangment ever worked in practice? I have read here on HN about
how the Apache brand is used as a dumping ground for zombie projects. Why
would it be different for the Linux Foundation?
~~~
k__
Isnt CouchDB an Apache project?
Seems to me like it get's updated
~~~
gtirloni
~45% of the releases listed on the Apache website are older than a year (900
out of 1961).
Source:
[https://projects.apache.org/releases.html](https://projects.apache.org/releases.html)
------
Dowwie
Shocking how the javascript community has done just fine before this group of
well funded enterprises organized and nominated itself as leader of that
community.
This is an attempted capture of a major open source community by commercial
interests.
~~~
Pigo
If that is the case, I say good luck to them. They might as well try to hold
on to a handful of sand.
------
Semiapies
_We 're uniting the community by...declaring that we're uniting the
community!_
------
davidgerard
"founding members include Bocoup, IBM, Ripple, Samsung, Sauce Labs, Sense
Tecnic Systems, SitePen, StackPath, University of Westminster and
WebsiteSetup."
There's a name missing there I would have expected to see. Starts with M.
Mo... mo ... something.
~~~
cwyers
That's a really odd list of founding members, period.
And yeah, managing to do this without having ONE of:
* Mozilla * Google * Microsoft * Apple * Adobe * Facebook * eBay
Is just... weird. But they have IBM and Samsung.
~~~
opendomain
* Mozilla * Google * Microsoft * Adobe *Facebook
DID work together to try to help standardize the web platform [1] a few years
ago.
Unfortunately, it failed, mostly because of politics.
[1] [http://WebPlatform.Com](http://WebPlatform.Com)
~~~
minitech
It looked like documentation and had no clear benefit over MDN. If it wasn’t
just documentation, a terrible job was done in communicating that.
------
cdnsteve
"aims to drive broad adoption and ongoing development of key JavaScript
solutions and related technologies and to facilitate collaboration within the
JavaScript development community to ensure those projects maintain the quality
and diverse contribution bases that provide for long-term sustainability."
Does this mean this new foundation will be offering funding for projects?
------
thrillgore
As confusing as this appears (are they going to handle new ECMAScript
specifications? I am so confused), I am glad that they're supporting
Moment.js. It has become one of my default libs, like jQuery, when working on
a new project.
~~~
pluma
The JS Foundation is just the rebranded jQuery Foundation. Despite its name
the jQuery Foundation already had a much broader scope than just jQuery (e.g.
also Dojo).
The JS Foundation is not related to TC39, the organization in charge of new
ECMAScript editions. I guess they might sponsor a TC39 member eventually and
engage in JS advocacy beyond merely supporting JS open source projects --
similar to what the PSF and its affiliates do for Python.
------
mcs_
I'm OK with foundations or even companies that want to attract folk with
opensource.
Will see in 3 or 5 years the results but looking at recent Facebook activity
this strategy works fine.
------
CoryG89
Does anyone know if this will affect the licensing of these projects? Linux
uses GPL, but I believe most of these projects use MIT.
~~~
ghaff
The Linux Foundation already has a wide variety of projects besides Linux
which are covered by a number of different licenses depending upon the
project.
[https://www.linuxfoundation.org/projects](https://www.linuxfoundation.org/projects)
~~~
k__
Also, they say "open web" not "free web" so we're probably save.
------
stpapa
Interested to hear - what kind of effect will this have on the fragmentation
we see in the JavaScript ecosystem?
~~~
pluma
Most likely? None at all. But it might ensure the long-term survival of some
popular libraries that could otherwise eventually die off (kinda like Apache).
Case in point: [https://medium.com/webpack/sustaining-webpack-for-the-
future...](https://medium.com/webpack/sustaining-webpack-for-the-future-
part-2-7055282d7864)
------
jabinaro
Anyone use JerryScript? I found it to be incomplete.
------
themihai
And when I thought we are about to get ride of JS(though wasm)... Still
doesn't make any sense to me.
------
sebringj
NPM actually did that.
------
dylanks2
Here's my take on all of this:
[https://www.sitepen.com/blog/2016/10/17/announcing-the-js-
fo...](https://www.sitepen.com/blog/2016/10/17/announcing-the-js-foundation/)
The feedback is interesting, but I think it helps to understand more of the
history to get that most of the negative feedback here is overreaction. Some
thoughts:
* No, the foundation isn't trying to dominate or tell people what to do. It's trying to support open source projects through their lifecycle. Running a project can be a rather lonely and frustrating experience at times, but can also be very rewarding
* Open source foundations provide legal protection to individuals and corporations that contribute and use open source software, and help ensure that one company or person doesn't turn evil and try to pull the carpet out from under the community (which has happened many times in the history of OSS)
* Regarding standardization, the foundation has members on TC39, W3C TAG, etc. Helping with standards is time consuming (and something I personally don't want to spend any time on), but it does help to gather ideas and have a way to contribute in a smaller way to the process
* As a foundation, we don't require any project to merge or conform with another. We have 3 testing tools (Intern, Mocha, and QUnit) which all have different philosophical approaches. But there are certainly things we could collaborate on, inside or outside the foundation.
* The foundation is not a place for projects to go to die. For example, many think of Dojo 1.x as old (because it's been under active use and development since 2004), but if you look at the work being done on Dojo 2 ( [http://github.com/dojo/meta](http://github.com/dojo/meta) ), you'll see that it's on its way to reinventing itself as a modern TypeScript based approach to building web apps.
* Over the years we've worked with many large companies, and it's important to remember that companies are made of individuals. These companies have behaved on the OSS front in a very helpful manner (and I'm a huge skeptic in general). IBM has contributed as much over the years to JS OSS as anyone out there. The amount of help they provided in a11y and i18n is second to none, and they've helped Dojo, jQuery, PhoneGap/Cordova and others in significant ways.
* The list of founding members is smaller than we would have liked, but many times, you need to put something out there before people will join (it's more difficult to convince someone to sponsor something not yet announced than something fully baked). And just because you haven't heard of a company doesn't mean they don't do interesting and important things. The goal was not to just get a bunch of large companies to push their logos, but to get a group of people that care about the open web involved.
Overall it seems like the community loves to hate on things out of FUD
(nothing new), but really we're just a group of people that create OSS that
solves problems we have as developers. Really we just want to help, and a
foundation is just one way to encourage collaboration.
------
kowdermeister
#927 :)
------
revelation
Wow can you say "scope creep"
~~~
pluma
Why?
The Linux Foundation is not specific to Linux and already includes the Node
Foundation which maintains Node.js.
The JS Foundation is just the rebranded jQuery Foundation which already
included projects not related to jQuery (e.g. Dojo or Grunt).
Neither foundation has changed its scope with this announcement.
------
hoorayimhelping
I don't have a ton of experience with the Linux Foundation, but publishing a
list of "official" JavaScript libraries to seems like a step in the right
direction. One of the largest complaints about the JS ecosystem today is the
huge number of choices in libraries available. Maybe this provides a good
starting point for a lot of people who feel lost. Or maybe it's just one more
library that we all have to understand and make a decision about.
~~~
StreamBright
I am not sure if anybody can pick the right library for a company other than
the technical leadership, though.
~~~
hoorayimhelping
Very true. Hopefully this provides a good starting point to get the the
discussion going, especially for things where there are multiple options.
momentjs is a good example - I don't think there's a better library for
dealing with time in JavaScript. But Mocha might be contentious - some people
love the Jasmine/Mocha/Jest family, other people prefer the Tap/Tape/Ava
lineage. Here's to hoping this makes the discussions easier to have.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Centrist Blueprint for Immigration Reform - whack
https://outlookzen.com/2019/03/20/a-centrist-blueprint-for-immigration-reform/
======
masonic
we should strive to emulate early 1900s immigration levels
That would mean a 65% _reduction_ from present levels.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
How 'horrendous failure' led to Rock Band - UsNThem
http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/03/smallbusiness/harmonix_rock_band_startup_story/?postversion=2009090304
======
ezy
Since when do you _make_ music with Rock Band? Their PR may say otherwise, but
I think they kind of lost the plot on the way to finger-DDR.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Google Analytics Realtime down for me - the-dude
Is anybody else seeing this too?
======
sankalp_sans
Yes, it is down indeed.
[https://twitter.com/googleanalytics/status/77375324625492787...](https://twitter.com/googleanalytics/status/773753246254927873)
~~~
the-dude
Ah, thanks. I did not know that!
edit: suggestion does not work however, I threw out all cookies, still seeing
the problem.
------
jeffmould
Been down for me since yesterday morning. It started out as it would connect
and disconnect continuously, then finally just inaccessible. Tried their
resolutions with no success, even tried from a different network, still
nothing. Not really a big deal for us, but was a little disappointed they
didn't update their apps status dash. It still shows as no issues there.
[https://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=status](https://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en&v=status)
------
3princip
Can't say about Google Analytics, but a whole host of sites are down for me at
the moment (I'm in Europe).
Twitter being a high profile example, but lots of services timing out across
the board as well. That may just be my ISP however.
------
GarethX
Down for me - it still works in their iPhone app though.
------
valerian253
Confirm Android mobile still working.
------
machtesh
Yes, but it works on mobile
------
minhoryang
+1 at Seoul, South Korea.
------
lsiunsuex
Down for me as well.
------
PerfectElement
+1
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Lightning fast left-right movement in Vim - alexfreska
https://github.com/unblevable/quick-scope
======
zander312
This looks like a faster, less intrusive alternative to EasyMotion!
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Fix this stupid fucking issue already - azeirah
http://martijnbrekelmans.com/fix.html
======
zck
Isn't Dropbox or similar programs a solution for this issue? You don't have to
do anything after installation, it works cross-device, and you have the
history.
It doesn't have the "my phone is the server" feature, but neither does it have
the never-requested "I just dropped my server in the toilet" feature.
~~~
geoelectric
How else are you supposed to flush the cache?
------
frio
Using the phone as a permanent store is an interesting concept. I'm excited to
see tools like ipfs, Camlistore and others emerging in this space, because
this is a problem I have too :).
Syncthing ([https://syncthing.net/](https://syncthing.net/)) is neat, but
lacks support for iOS.
------
riffic
wait, wait.. You want to use your phone as your portable home directory?
Does anyone else see why this is a potentially horrible idea?
------
ljw1001
how many shitloads in a fuckton? i forget
~~~
deeviant
Let's see here.
* 1 shitload = 1.68 shitslugs
* 68.5 shitslugs = 1 fuckton
So, there are about 40.77 shitloads in a fuckton.
Just don't ask me to convert to metric shitloads, that gets hairy.
~~~
junto
> Just don't ask me to convert to metric shitloads, that gets hairy.
You should never mix hairy and shitloads. That one fuckton of clagnuts.
------
serve_yay
Sounds simple, you should do it!
:)
~~~
azeirah
I can't. I don't have the discipline to finish anything.
------
Nadya
Er.... Gulp tasks & local hosted Git?
~~~
azeirah
This fixes nothing.
> I don't want to make a fucking github repo to sync everything
> The learning experience here is that people DO OR CAN NOT ALWAYS BACKUP.
> Even seasoned people can be in a hurry sometimes.
With that I meant, do not always have the time. It should be fully
transparent, no setup required.
~~~
__david__
He said he doesn't want a github repo. A local git repo is one "git init"
away. That's easier to do than getting a remote file system mounted. Pushing
and pulling from local computers is also dead simple (do people really not
have ssh set up?).
~~~
NeutronBoy
It sounds easy, but try doing that across my Ubuntu laptop, Windows desktop,
Android phone, and iPad. Not going to happen. I mean, do you set up a
scheduled task to commit and pull every 5 mins? What happens when you get
conflicts? Can you even do that on an iPad?
The closest I've gotten to this nirvana is setting up OwnCloud on my own
server, as a personal Dropbox. Can access it locally, or remotely over my VPN
~~~
db48x
could git annex assistant, it does all that for you.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What happens when you introduce 29 reindeer to an isolated island? - FiReaNG3L
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/3246/201102stmatthewisland.png
======
pg
While a touching parable, this is not a story about resources so much as the
size of herd you need for a species to survive a disaster that kills off most
of them, and perhaps also the value of predators.
~~~
FiReaNG3L
I take it as the total inability of most living species to plan resources on
the long term for the best of everyone. Given the look of the population graph
and non-renewable resources since 1900, its hard not to make the parallel with
us.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Supreme Court Rules for American Express in Swipe-Fee Antitrust Case - sidhanthp
https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-court-rules-for-american-express-in-swipe-fee-antitrust-case-1529936932
======
mikece
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17394019](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17394019)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
98.6 Degrees Fahrenheit Isn’t the Average Anymore - lunchbreak
https://www.wsj.com/articles/98-6-degrees-fahrenheit-isnt-the-average-any-more-11579257001
======
dredmorbius
Unpaywalled alternate: [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/human-body-
tempera...](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/human-body-temperature-
getting-cooler-study-finds-180974006/)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Changing San Francisco is foreseen as a haven for wealthy and childless (1981) - raldi
http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/09/us/changing-san-francisco-is-foreseen-as-a-haven-for-wealthy-and-childless.html?l=0
======
ucaetano
San Francisco has 50% more land area than Manhattan, 15% more area than Paris.
It has half the population of Manhattan, and roughly 1/3 of Paris. SF is
mostly low-density houses, with a small mid-density area in the east 1/3\. It
could be easily converted to a mid-density city with widespread public
transportation by opening west of Van Ness for development, while charging
development fees to fund expansion of public transportation.
But there are way too many entrenched interests preventing that. Guess that
the only way out is to wait for the next big one.
~~~
nugget
The market always corrects itself. San Francisco's high prices will continue
to create an exodus of young talent which should help support a second Silicon
Valley type nexus, whether that be in Seattle, Austin, New York, or elsewhere.
It was interesting to hear Yelp call out high developer salaries on their last
earnings call. Companies are starting to invest in satellite offices and this
will have long term consequences.
~~~
raldi
_> The market always corrects itself._
"In the long run, we're all dead." -Keynes
It took generations for a second Motor City to emerge outside of Detroit. New
York is still the unchallenged capital of the finance and fashion worlds.
There's no "Second Hollywood" in the United States. There's a Reno and an
Atlantic City, but neither holds a candle to Las Vegas.
What makes you so certain tech will have an exodus from San Francisco between
now and the year of your retirement?
~~~
Encosia
> There's no "Second Hollywood" in the United States.
Look into what's been going on in Georgia for the past few years. Not a
replacement for Hollywood yet, but it's a good example of how quickly
alternatives can take off due almost entirely to geographic differences in the
cost of doing business.
~~~
jacobolus
Where by “geographic differences in the cost of doing business” you mean
“desperate politicians in a race to the bottom competing over who can waive
the most taxes”.
[http://www.georgia.org/industries/entertainment/production-i...](http://www.georgia.org/industries/entertainment/production-
incentives/)
~~~
echelon
My rent for a two bedroom apartment in Inman Park is $700.
The costs of doing business in Atlanta are significantly less than other
regions.
------
tzs
I was curious and looked up the current rents for apartments that I used to
live in.
Pasadena, CA: $500 in 1988, $1100 now (1 bedroom, 1 bath) (2.96% increase per
year)
Cupertino, CA: $765 in 1988, $2600 now (1 bedroom, 1 bath, 750 sq ft) (4.64%
increase per year) Seattle, WA: $515 in 1992, $1180 now (1 bedroom, 1 bath,
600 sq ft) (3.67% increase pr year)
Silverdale, WA: $705 in 2007, $1200-$1500 now (1 bedroom, 1 bath, 600 sq ft)
(4.95%-7.10% per year)
(And now house, Kitsap County WA, 1400 sq ft on 1/5 acre lot, $1300/month
mortgage, taxes, insurance)
While looking this up, I noticed that Los Angeles and surrounding cities have
a lot of 1 bed/1 bath apartments in OK places for under $800/month. I don't
know why more tech companies aren't heading to Southern California. Good
weather, good rental rates, plenty of first class schools pumping out STEM
people to hire (Caltech, UCLA, Harvey Mudd, USC for instance), diverse
art/cultural attractions, good food city. Commuting isn't bad by car if you
have some flexibility in hours so you can avoid rush hours.
------
pbreit
This whole meme is tired. The whole south, southwest and west 3/4 of the city
are family friendly, less expensive and devoid of dot commers. And for the
most part, very livable.
~~~
raldi
It's true; the more-affordable housing corresponds with the empty areas of
this map:
[http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/105/2/4/San_Francisco...](http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/105/2/4/San_Francisco_subway_map_by_qweqwe321.png)
I think techies just have a stronger desire to live near transit than the
previous generation of San Franciscans did.
~~~
boulos
Proximity to transit options raises prices, which when you need "at least two"
bedrooms is a sizable increase. Like pbreit said above, there are much less
expensive parts of the city, but people mostly decide to leave once they feel
they "must" have a 3 bedroom place or a private yard.
~~~
raldi
I think it's more that they _must_ have proximity to transit, and the ones who
can't afford that figure that if they're going to be forced to live a car-
centric lifestyle, they might as well move out to the suburbs where the prices
are somewhat cheaper than SF's transit-poor neighborhoods.
~~~
tsotha
That's a good observation. For me it's an either/or thing: Either I'm going to
live in an area with good public transit, or I'm going to live in an area
where I can drive a car to work in less than half an hour with convenient,
free parking on both ends.
Transit-poor SF neighborhoods are the worst of both worlds.
------
notacoward
Seems apropos:
"The Uberfication of everything is turning San Francisco into an assisted
living community for the young."
[https://twitter.com/startupljackson/status/40813723253330329...](https://twitter.com/startupljackson/status/408137232533303296)
~~~
raldi
Why just the young? I don't remember there being an age limit to sign up for
Uber.
~~~
notacoward
Probably because the majority of people who can afford to use all those
services all the time are young techies. But then, it's not my tweet.
~~~
raldi
That's not really true, though.
~~~
notacoward
What do you base that on? Who do you think uses these "gig economy" services?
First, people with high disposable income - i.e. not the poor or those with
families. Second, people who are so comfortable with their smartphone apps
that they'll use them to replace _very small_ amounts of time doing the same
things in more traditional ways - i.e. not a lot of old people. Sure, there
are _some_ outliers, but "young techie" pretty well captures the core
demographic here.
~~~
raldi
You're backpedaling. Earlier you said only young people _can afford_ to use
these services. Now you're saying only young people _choose_ to use these
services.
The latter may be true; the former certainly isn't.
When the horseless carriage came out, or electric light, or the radio,
traditonal-minded folk chose not to buy them. But I don't think anyone would
say those inventions made the world into an assisted-living facility for the
young.
~~~
notacoward
I'm not backpedaling; you're moving the goalposts. I said _all of those
services_ _all the time_. In other words, not occasional but habitual use, and
that demographic is dominated by the young Google/Facebook/VC techno-elite.
You don't like where that thought leads, or how the conclusion reflects on
you? Too bad. The facts are the facts.
~~~
raldi
You haven't established any facts about young San Franciscans supposedly
having more money than older ones. The evidence suggests the opposite:
[http://www.sfrealtors.com/US/Neighborhood/CA/San-
Francisco-D...](http://www.sfrealtors.com/US/Neighborhood/CA/San-Francisco-
Demographics.html)
And anecdotally, I've noticed that my neighbors who happen to own two or three
cars tend to be older, and the ones with one or none tend to be younger. The
San Franciscans I know with a second home somewhere tend to be older; the ones
who can barely _dream_ of ever owning a home tend to be younger. Go to the
opera or look at the nice seats at AT&T Park, and see who's sitting there. By
and large, you're not going to see many young people.
Anyway, you didn't answer my other question: when things like dishwashers and
refrigerators were invented, would you characterize their impact on the world
to be turning it into an assisted-living facility for the young?
~~~
notacoward
Seriously, do you not know the difference between total income and disposable
income? Figures for one don't refute a point about the other.
------
SQL2219
[http://www.jobdensity.com/QueryGrid.aspx?q=936&t=Software%20...](http://www.jobdensity.com/QueryGrid.aspx?q=936&t=Software%20Engineer&qt=6/29/2015%208:51:25%20PM)
------
inguinalhernia
Same as it ever was. Boom, bust, boom, bust.
Booming now, when's the bust?
~~~
raldi
There have been short-term booms and busts, but the long-term trend looks like
this:
[http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/54aadb0df92ea1558800c86...](http://cdn.cstatic.net/images/gridfs/54aadb0df92ea1558800c86a/Case-
Shiller_Simpl-Percentages.jpg)
Imagine a version of yourself in 1987 waiting for the bubble to burst.
------
beatpanda
Are y'all finished with denying your role in destroying the city yet or are
you still in denial?
~~~
raldi
By "y'all" are you referring to the people who moved to San Francisco in 1981
and "destroyed" the city by making all the changes this article describes?
Or are you referring to the gays and hippies who did the same a decade
earlier?
Or do you mean all the civilians who destroyed what used to be a nice military
town?
Or do you mean the soldiers who ruined a nice Gold Rush town?
Or do you mean the 49ers who destroyed a Mexican ranching and missionary
outpost?
Or the Mexicans who spoiled a charming Ohlone village?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Wasting time on things that really don't matter - Sam_Odio
http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2007/06/wasting-time-on-things-that-really-dont.html
======
dpapathanasiou
So tempting to comment on the irony that this is posted by someone who seems
to spend every waking hour on news.yc ;)
~~~
juwo
yes!
my comment on the blog post:
well, most of the comments at news.YC and other 'non-technical' newsgroups
debate things that "dont really matter";
However, it's the process of debating the silly stuff that creates social
friction, so that our gears may slough off grit, interlock and start working
together. Now THAT's important!
------
ced
"Maybe that's fun if you don't have anything better to do, but when you're
actually trying to accomplish something it can be deadly."
Doesn't that also apply to, eg.: reading Structure and Interpretation of
Computer Programs? Surely, when you're doing a startup, it's a waste of time,
but at any other moment, it is worthwhile.
I find that reading arguments about these simple problems is _not_ fun, but
it's sometimes highly enligthening. If there are hard technical reasons for
preferring A over B, I would like to know.
------
aston
The tricky part is figuring out when you're wasting time on things that really
don't matter. The string comparison deal is an obviously easy example, but
there's a lot of gray area out there.
------
abstractbill
Definitely true. See also <http://www.bikeshed.com>
------
mynameishere
This is best:
Utility.isEmpty(s);
------
awt
The tactic paul mentioned for avoiding time-wasting seems like a good
approach. I tried a similar approach yesterday, however, and failed. It helps
to have a very clear conception of what your top problems are.
------
chwolfe
Amen.
For a much broader view on things that don't really matter, check out:
<http://www.paulgraham.com/procrastination.html>
~~~
brlewis
PG's essay is an interesting, broader view, but I like Buchheit's focus on
what the next action is to kill the problem. Having a prioritized list of
issues and keeping it prominent is key. It's different from the to-do list PG
says to avoid, in that to-do lists don't have to be aggressively prioritized.
They get filled with random schleps.
------
staunch
It's only wasting time if the time would have otherwise been spent doing
useful work. I also think there _can_ be value in debating minor details. A
lot of thinking goes on when you're forced to defend your decision and
rational in debate form.
------
lkozma
This problem of wasting time on things is not important either :)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Using the big freeze to deny climate change stupidity or cynicism? - pseudolus
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/02/using-the-big-freeze-to-deny-climate-change-stupidity-or-cynicism
======
vivekd
To be fair this kind of thing goes both ways. Things like tornados and heat
waves are being increasingly blamed on global warming. The author of the
article even falls into the very fallacy he's decrying by suggesting that the
polar vortex may have broken down because of global warming. People don't seem
to understand that weather and climate are different things. The global
temperature has risen .8 degrees since the late 1800s. To claim that we can
feel that at the level of weather is ridiculous.
~~~
super-serial
I agree in general weather and climate are different. But concerning the polar
vortex - the jet stream has become more wavy (north & south instead of west &
east) due to climate change.
That's why we get -20F a couple days in Chicago, then a few days later it's
45F. Shifts like that never used to happen. The only reason it does now is
because the jet stream is changed due to climate change.
------
shard972
This title is bizarre and makes no logical sense. If you accept there are
climate events such as a big freeze, then how can you deny the climate
changes?
These rags like the guardian just seem to be yelling at the wind these days.
~~~
Arnt
Most of the people who deny climate change seem to think "climate change"
means "2.00°C warmer every day in every place" or something slightly less
constrained. One can hardly discuss with such absurdly constrained notions
without saying something bizarre.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Aspell and Hunspell: A Tale of Two Spell Checkers - djsumdog
http://penguindreams.org/blog/aspell-and-hunspell-a-tale-of-two-spell-checkers/
======
tiff
I'm using the open source LanguageTool for my spell checking service
[https://www.spellboy.com/check_spelling/](https://www.spellboy.com/check_spelling/)
Unlike aspell and hunspell it is capable of finding grammar mistakes.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Q&A with Aaron Levie - dwaxe
http://www.themacro.com/articles/2016/07/aaron-levie/
======
doctorpangloss
> startups with zero baggage
Well, a megalomaniacal founder who wants to hire 10,000 people and run a huge
company has the exact same baggage as his large competitors. The baggage is
just cultural, rather than business baggage or technical baggage. I think
investors like Aaron Levie, who's all around a brilliant and highly
accommodating guy, don't recognize that cultural baggage exists at day 0.
> Don’t hedge your bets.
That makes sense from the point of view of an investment portfolio manager,
where you would want all of your companies to do the thing you actually
invested in them to do in order to achieve diversity. But from a business
point of view, bifurcating strategy could make a ton of sense.
Maybe we're talking about different companies. I really admire places like
Valve, which definitely regard culture as their main source of enterprise
value (rather than some notion of legacy-free competitiveness) and bifurcation
(game development and store management) as successful. You could find lots of
people who wouldn't care to found a Box.net. But who wouldn't want to found
Valve?
~~~
manigandham
> You could find lots of people who wouldn't care to found a Box.net. But who
> wouldn't want to found Valve?
How'd you come up with this? I'd much rather build Box than Valve. What's so
special about Valve other than making some games? Business != culture.
~~~
sockgrant
Whaaaat? Maybe you're not that into video games. Valve helped define a
generation of gaming. You can't tell the history of video games without
devoting some time to them.
Box is a great company but I don't think it's as impactful.
~~~
nl
There are a lot of people who view games as pretty much the same as Hollywood:
no doubt it has a lot of impact, but ultimately it is "just" entertainment.
Personally I'm just not very interested in gaming.
------
tacon
>Ten years from now, how have you improved yourself? > >The list is pretty
much endless. To name a few: I wish I were better at chess, I wish I could
juggle five balls instead of barely four, I wish I were better at piano, I
wish I were a speed reader, and I wish I could sleep fewer hours.
This is a very disappointing list. He is the CEO of a major corporation, but
everything he wants to improve has nothing to do with how he interacts with
other human beings, be they family, employees, customers, or anyone else.
~~~
cocktailpeanuts
I would have been disappointed if he said something out of your playbook.
Those are very cliche feel-good PR comments that anyone can say. It's almost
like those people at conferences asking questions they're not even curious
about (but for the sake of getting attention).
He's just another normal human being and is being genuine about it.
------
misiti3780
Am I the only one here who has never heard of the book Blue Ocean Strategy ?
~~~
cocktailpeanuts
Maybe not the only one but I don't think it's something to be proud of. It's a
great book and I'm sure a lot of people are aware of the concept even though
they haven't actually read the book.
~~~
misiti3780
im not proud of it - i love reading im surprised i have never heard of it - as
i have read everything else on his list
------
cocktailpeanuts
Lame answer to "What do you believe that few people agree with you on?". I
don't think "few" people think that think AI will create more jobs than
destroy. This type of controversy has existed every time there was any type of
technological innovation throughout the history.
------
Aelinsaar
I generally agree with UntilHellbanned, but I think the closing point about
spending time with, and getting to know your customers makes it all worth it.
Too many people lose sight of that, or worse, develop adversarial
relationships with their customers.
------
untilHellbanned
Fairly useless platitude-fest/groupthink. Kinda surprised.
~~~
exolymph
I had the opposite reaction — I found previous entries in this series pretty
lackluster, but enjoyed this one. Maybe that's because I was previously biased
to like Levie due to his entertaining Twitter presence...
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
India locates lander lost on final approach to moon - oblib
https://apnews.com/8533918d2dd348d6819057968182c6f4
======
dang
All: please don't take this thread, or any other HN thread, into nationalistic
flamewar. It breaks the site guidelines and is off topic here.
If your comment might contain flamebait, please edit it until it clearly
doesn't.
~~~
pattisapu
Thank you for consistently and tirelessly following through on these
guidelines throughout.
It is hard work and we (well, many of us) appreciate it.
------
hu3
More information on the video here:
[https://www.indiatoday.in/science/chandrayaan-2-mission/vide...](https://www.indiatoday.in/science/chandrayaan-2-mission/video/chandrayaan2-orbiter-
locates-lander-vikram-on-moon-yet-to-establish-contact-1596866-2019-09-08)
It was located via thermal image which I find interesting for something that
far away.
~~~
z92
It was spotted from the satellite which carried it there and is now orbiting
the moon. Not too far I guess.
~~~
droithomme
That's actually a pretty great accomplishment to find it so quickly. When
Apollo 11's Eagle was on the moon no one could figure out where it was. The
orbiter couldn't spot it and mission control had all these detailed maps and
telemetry and couldn't get the right spot based on data and descriptions from
the astronauts of what they were looking at. Seeing something on the moon is
hard.
~~~
rjsw
Something designed as an unmanned orbiter will have better sensors than a "man
in a can" like the Apollo Command Module.
~~~
z92
Also the 50 years factor. Digital camera that we use today started to sell in
the market at around year 2000. And then those were only VGA resolution
640x480 pixel.
------
woodandsteel
Landing on extraterrestrial objects is really difficult. Even the US, which is
the champion at this, has had a number of failures. I trust the Indian
engineers will figure out what went wrong, keep trying, and eventually
succeed, maybe on the very next mission.
Also, the mission includes an orbiter with a number of scientific instruments
for studying the Moon which is still going strong.
------
kerng
What a bummer. Would be cool if it survived. Let's see, hope they can figure
out details and share learnings.
------
thewhitetulip
They are going to try to connect with the rover for 15days.
------
qubex
“It must’ve been a hard landing.”
~~~
raverbashing
According to this video
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xKJG00-S_c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xKJG00-S_c),
end velocity was probably around 100m/s (also that the lander started tumbling
at the end stage)
I have the impression that would leave a big mark
~~~
rkagerer
Love Scott Manley's videos. Wonder how long 'till we get a re-enactment in
KSP.
------
brij0102
Any chance the rover might have survived? Also I wish it was more a ball than
a shape that could tip over!
------
ralusek
After seeing the way the Pakistani minister of science was tweeting about
this, then the negative comments like the one in this very thread by an
account created 6 minutes ago, I can't help but assume that the enemies of
India must represent the majority of the negative sentiment about this
attempt.
ISRO should be very proud of their accomplishments. The people saying that
India should worry about their starving population first and foremost don't
understand that:
a.) populations feed themselves, there is no government on Earth that has ever
successfully fed its population
b.) ISRO has been able to recover a large part of its costs by launching
foreign payloads
c.) ISRO provides non-bureaucratic pencil pushing jobs for Indians, in
particular the sorts of jobs for some of the brightest Indians who would
otherwise be very likely to leave the country for better prospects
d.) We all benefit from the sort of science being done here, today
~~~
negamax
Actually it's not as much as enemies of India. I have seen fairly negative
comments about India's accomplishments from neutral folks.
My own understanding is that India's rise makes people uncomfortable because
they can no longer think that there's this mass of people who's worse off than
them. India's accomplishments challenge their worldview and their place in it.
I have indeed noticed this trend amongst people who aren't well off
themselves. They are extra vocal and vicious in their attacks.
Earlier, this used to affect me. And I would try to correct them, even have
arguments. But I have accepted this now. India and others should just ignore
them as it's not really a constructive criticism and double down on all growth
attempts
~~~
SomeOldThrow
There may also be bad sentiment leaking over from the media blackout and
ethnic cleansing in Kashmir. FWIW I think that’s silly and stupid to take it
out on the space agency, but it’s also human.
~~~
infiniteseeker
As per guidelines.."Please don't use HN for racial or national or religious or
ethnic or any other kind of flamebait. This is all off topic for HN, and we
ban accounts that post like this repeatedly."
Im gonna say it because Dang apparently isnt (to this comment)
~~~
birdyrooster
Thank you. I want to add an aside here: I have chronically abused the rules of
this site in the past. I was ignorant as to the mission of Hacker News and how
it can help me! I realized that my ideas are worth having a slow, measured
conversation punctuated by facts and understanding of other views just as well
as my own. I was falling into a trap of politicizing truth and losing my way
in the process.
I’m thankful dang gave me the opportunity to change.
------
known
I think something gone wrong in estimating
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitation_of_the_Moon)
and/or
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_of_the_Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_field_of_the_Moon)
And I suspect ISRO compromised on critical aspects during simulation due to
cost cutting.
~~~
LyndsySimon
Do you have any evidence to support your assertions of this being a likely
cause, or that cost cutting could be to blame?
~~~
userbinator
One of the prominent claims about the mission is its low cost, which makes
that a reasonable hypothesis.
~~~
nitinreddy88
This implies nothing. We have more man power with low pays compared to US.
We have launched many more successful launches which cost nothing compared to
NASA
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Java is just fine for your online service startup development - ppolsinelli
http://pietro.open-lab.com/2009/12/05/java-is-just-fine-for-your-online-service-startup-development/
======
raju
Good advice. If you know a technology well, then run with it. Focusing on
actually delivering value vs. bragging rights to the latest and greatest
dynamic language/framework.
On a side-note, I will say this - I am a Java developer (at my day job), and
Java-land boasts some of the best tool support there is out there. On the flip
side, the refactoring argument does not hold much water. These days almost
everything in Java, especially when using any kind of framework means a lot of
configuration and wiring using XML, Annotations and other syntaxes (EL -
Expression Language comes to mind). Most tools don't see these as live code,
so refactoring essentially boils down to a lot of text search and replace.
Java-land is learning a lot from the other communities and products out there.
I have been told the Play Framework (<http://www.playframework.org/>) has some
potential but haven't looked at it yet.
~~~
bad_user
About refactoring ... even if a project is pure-Java, the refactoring-tools
are too simple, boiling down to rename class/method/var, extract method/class
and things like that which are just too simple for real-world needs (and in
practice, kind of useless ... since I've been doing these same ops in dynamic
languages with a combination of find / grep / sed / emacs macros... with unit-
tests as guard).
When you want to radically change the architecture, as it happens when you've
got the business/workflow model wrong, these refactoring tools won't help you.
My opinion about Java ... the JVM and the available tools kick ass, but the
language is a PITA and this shows in the design of many Java-libraries. Things
like PlayFramework are a wonder and it takes discipline and perseverance to
build things like that (not to mention having the will to break every best
practice set out by the community).
------
old-gregg
If you are a Java expert and know nothing else, roll with it: learning
something significantly different from scratch to a degree comparable with
your today's Java expertise will take a long time. That part he got right.
But if your toolbox is bigger to begin with, I see very little advantages in
using Java and his arguments aren't persuading: Java is a memory hog (which
matters more than CPU cycles in the era of VPS), Java starts slow - it won't
allow fluid workflows like Python/Ruby do. Java doesn't interface well with
UNIX or anybody else for that matter.
Java-centric libraries and frameworks, while numerous, are tedious to work
with: they tend to be over-engineered, overly-relying on XML to an unhealthy
degree, hard to navigate and verbose to use.
I am coming from Microsoft/.NET and Ruby/Rails background and even after a
year of adjusting, everything in JVM-centric world feels overly complex, slow
and "rigid". Java people seem to swim in their own definition of object
oriented programming and oh my... they stick with it. Even interviewing "Java-
minded" people is painful.
All in all, I am 100% with the anonymous poster he quoted in the beginning of
his post: _"Its great for consultants because it means more billable hours"_
Not in a sense that it takes a lot of typing, but simply because there're lots
of excuses to bill more for.
~~~
Tobias42
> Java is a memory hog
Tomcat with a simple app installed uses about 60 MB when it's idle and not
much more with dozens of parallel requests. With Rails you need about 40 MB
_per instance_ for a very simple application.
Edit: And Java is lightning fast. An old project of mine running on a tomcat
on a crappy VPS with 192 MB RAM serves the home page in about 100 ms, and
without any manual caching, although it executes 7 queries to a postgres-db.
A simple rails app which I deployed on a VPS with twice as much RAM takes at
least ten times as long to deliver the home page. And the only "dynamic" thing
that happens on the home page is the formatting of a date. There is no
database involved.
~~~
davidw
Honest question (I've never done Java web stuff): what does that 60MB actually
buy you? Rails gives you a whole lot of tools in that space.
~~~
old-gregg
It's hard to compare but Tomcat is functionally equivalent to something like
Passenger, Paster or Mongrel. And last time I looked, it actually ate 80MB. It
doesn't make sense to compare empty application servers: it is your running
application you should be concerned with.
JVM is fine if you're running only a single instance of it: just use threads
instead of processes. The problem with JVM is that you often can't afford to
have several of them running: in Java world everything is measured in hundreds
of megabytes, that's the smallest unit of measurement they use (often
supplemented with references to 32GB servers, "they're so cheap now"). Check
out Batik Java library for rendering SVG. A single 45Kb SVG file, when fully
parsed, eats up 150MB right here on my laptop. After serveral repeated test
runs, JVM memory usage grew to a sweet 540MB, where it stopped because I
capped it there via -Xmx. For comparison: Inkscape, which is an entire SVG IDE
powerhouse, not just a parser, consumes only 3MB more when I open the same
file in it, so that's like 50x less, plus it doesn't grow.
See, unlike CLR or Python/Perl/Ruby, JVM truly _is a virtual computer_ , i.e.
running a WAR file under Tomcat is kind of like running an Office 2008 inside
of an invisible VMWare image with Windows pre-configured to occupy either
500MB or 1GB or comparable number. I just don't get why Java people are so
damn proud of it. Moreover, they find nothing strange about this bizarre
arrangement because they're completely absorbed by that JVM instance.
To demonstrate why Java doesn't belong on UNIX I invite you to implement find,
grep, less and sort as Java programs, pipe them all together in a bash console
and enjoy the show. :-)
In the end, there is nothing with Java that can't be dealt with by paying a
few extra $ for hosting. The main issue is that JVM is an OS, a much more
corporate, boring, uptight and over-engineered (and much less fun) than UNIX
is.
I also want to address some of Tobias42 comments: for the most part I
absolutely agree with him, except I don't follow his comparisons to Rails: we
are comparing platforms here, not languages or frameworks. JVM is a memory hog
compared to UNIX, and if he wants to compare Rails, I'd recommend loading his
Rails app into JVM via JRuby/Tomcat and seeing what happens to his 192MB VPS
box. Moreover, I wouldn't call 100ms/page (i.e. just 10 requests/second)
"lightning fast", which makes his next comment about "Rails taking 10x longer"
sound a bit strange: how hard does one need to try to build a web application
with 1 request/second performance?
~~~
bad_user
> _100ms/page (i.e. just 10 requests/second)_
If a page takes 100ms, that doesn't mean you only have 10 requests/second.
With a little care you can have thousands of requests per second, especially
on top the JVM.
> _A single 45Kb SVG file, when fully parsed, eats up 150MB right here on my
> laptop._
That's not the fault of the JVM, although I do agree that many Java-libraries
are memory-hogs.
The only difference between the JVM and CLR/Python/Perl/Ruby is that the JVM
doesn't return the used memory to the OS. This means that if the JVM reaches 1
GB of used memory, it will remain there even if the GC kicks. Also, when
allocating memory, the JVM has to allocate more memory than it needs because
it needs space to degragment the heap. But on the other hand compared to
CPython / Ruby MRI / Perl ... the JVM's GC is generational and heap-
compacting, making it much more efficient memory-wise for long-running
processes ... allocation is cheaper, deallocation is smarter and you won't
end-up with a heap that looks like swiss cheese.
------
dasil003
_And of course the point is that there is nothing in the nature of the
language and tools that forces you to use complex solutions._
While it is definitely true that there is nothing in the nature of Java that
forces you to use _the kind of complex solutions often foisted on Java
programmers_ , there definitely _is_ something in the nature of Java that
leads to needlessly complex code and heavyweight patterns that are not needed
at all in more powerful languages.
To me this article just seems like a justification to use Java where none is
needed. You can do a startup in any language, and the best one is the one your
dev team is most proficient with. Java is the 500-lb gorilla these days and
doesn't need any advocacy.
------
aarongough
"We should all be grateful to the dynamic language communities, that with
their repeated successes have shown that the "king is naked" and self-
referential practices of formal code quality or blind following of
methodologies valid for over-ruled corporations are useless advice in many
environments, and that a more socially oriented testing and user interface
design is what wins for creating online services. But I believe the
development language involved is accidental."
It's possible that English is not the OP's first language, but even with this
in mind nothing in this article makes any sense.
~~~
efsavage
Actually it makes alot of sense. He's saying that the quality and innovation
of what you're building is what is important, not the fact that you're using
the newest framework. By using a mature language/environment/community you'll
be able to spend more time on your real problem and less on reinventing the
wheel.
~~~
MikeMacMan
It's a good point. Frameworks like Rails have had a big influence on the Java
ecosystem (Spring MVC, Grails, AppFuse), which goes to show you that it's not
Java -the language- that would prevent a startup from considering Java, but
rather the enterprisey, overengineered Java frameworks that haven't evolved.
------
ivenkys
This is quite a well-argued post with decent examples. A point well worth
repeating.
Mature language and tools, stable and "fast execution", clean interaction with
popular services. Its not sexy but if you are competent enough - it can get
the job done and get it done fast.
~~~
samuel
Wasn't it obvious? I mean, this is applicable for almost any language, let it
be C++, ASP, TCL or whatever isn't considered trendy anymore but it's proven
and stable, and isn't completely unsuited for the task(COBOL, 4GL, RPG...)
Takes at the very least a year to became proficient in any language, and
spending that time learning about your tools, that's is a luxury a startup
doesn't have. Wasn't it pure common sense?
------
rbanffy
Isn't this based on the questionable assumption one can be as productive with
Java web frameworks as they would be with, say, Rails or Django?
Wouldn't the cost of learning a more productive (assuming the initial
supposition is incorrect and that there is a difference of productivity
between technologies) framework be diluted in the total lifetime of the
product?
If all you have in your toolbox is a blunt axe, wouldn't it make sense to get
a sharper one before you attack the forest?
In the end, it all depends on the lifetime of the product. If it's a one
iteration release, then go with whatever you already know that solves the
problem. If the lifetime of the product tends to infinity, go with the
language that expresses the product in the most concise way and manage to
learn it well. The vast gray area between these points is where you can place
all those fancy languages and frameworks wherever your expertise and product
dictate.
------
hello_moto
One common theme I learned when working with Java developers is that there are
vast amount of information out there regarding:
* Design Patterns (GoF + newer patterns) * OOAD/OOP * Refactoring * TDD, Agile, and XP * "Reusable", "Generalization", "Framework"
that Java developers read the topics lightly and apply immediately without
taking the time to understand them and when to use them. This doesn't happen
much in other programming language communities because I rarely see someone
writing design pattern tutorial in Perl. I won't be surprised that we will see
these issues again in Ruby...
~~~
minalecs
well, this generalization is a little out of left field, I suggest you go read
Zed Shaw's post about rails is a ghetto
<http://www.zedshaw.com/rants/rails_is_a_ghetto.html>
although there are improvements, its still relevant
------
bham
_but this is history, boring, and by now not very interesting_
So it is in the past, boring, and in the past and boring. OK.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask YC: Rigorous CS curriculum with dedicated students? - s_baar
I am beginning my college search and it seems that the most important thing (in the long run) for a college experience is a wide, rigorous curriculum and an involved student body. I am looking for a school that has demanding courses as well as at least the option to learn newer technologies (AJAX, stuff used in web startups). As for the students, I'd like for them to be dedicated and entrepreneurial, and basically be people who read news.yc.<p>If you think that other things are more important for a CS student, please let me know, as I'm shooting in the dark here and the above paragraph was basically a response to trying to avoid what I would not like.<p>So far, Stanford seems like my first choice. I appreciate any of your suggestions.
======
bkrausz
Stanford and UIUC probably win in terms of startups just because of number of
grads in the startup world, but I'm perfectly happy here at Carnegie
Mellon...the job fairs are full of all the big-name software companies as well
as some startups, we have a Google office literally next to campus, and the
school is diverse enough that if you ever tire of the CS personality there are
plenty of liberal arts folks, as well as a whole city full of college
students. Granted, the weather isn't that great, but the classes are
challenging, the professors are great, and the people are nerdy.
Of course, most everyone here is going to be pushing their alma mater, so my
advice is to visit as many of the major CS schools as you can. You get a
comparable education at all of them, I doubt one is that much better than the
rest, so go with whichever one feels right. Ask random students walking to
class about the best and worst thing about the school, ask about the courses
and workload, and most importantly see if you like the area: distance from
home, climate, how big-city it is. You're going to need to live there for
4(ish) years, you want somewhere that you'll enjoy living in so that you don't
lock yourself in your room and burn out.
Oh, and if you're visiting CMU drop me a line, I'll show you around (current
student).
------
aston
I would not choose my undergraduate university based on what types of
technologies they teach in their courses. Any schools that make a big deal
about teaching you stuff you can use _tomorrow_ are not programs aiming at
future-proofing their graduates.
Which is to say, prefer that your first programming class is in Scheme, not
AJAX.
------
jorgeortiz85
Stanford has an excellent computer _science_ department. A degree in computer
science at Stanford will expose you to functional and object-oriented
programming; it will give you a solid grounding in discrete mathematics,
automata theory, and the design and analysis of algorithms; it will teach you
the fundamentals of compiler and operating system design and implementation;
you can also choose to take classes in computer security, networking,
programming languages, artificial intelligence, robotics, computer vision,
graphics, databases, human-computer interaction, and computational genomics,
among other subjects.
"Newer technologies" are offered, particularly in the CS193 classes. I
wouldn't waste my time on them though; you can learn as much by reading
documentation online. (The exception is the class on Objective-C and Cocoa.
Final projects are presented to Apple engineers, and Apple does a fair amount
of hiring from that class. If that's your thing...)
Like I said, though, it's a computer science curriculum, not a "programming"
or "web startup" curriculum. Everything you need to create a successful web
startup you can probably teach yourself (c.f. Zuckerberg).
------
sanj
"as well as at least the option to learn newer technologies (AJAX, stuff used
in web startups)"
Don't bother. Learn to program, don't learn a language or a technology.
You can (and should!) do AJAX+RoR on your own. Learn how to _think_ about
programming.
I loved MIT. But I also went XVI (aero eng) because I've always felt that a
direct approach is a mistake. I got to learn about rockets and aircraft and
learn how to apply CS by taking all of those classes too.
------
jacobolus
Harvard's CS department seems pretty decent (dedicated, interesting students;
a variety of challenging courses; etc) to me, though as a non-CS-concentrator
myself, I'm probably not the best one for advice. :) Also, I'm not sure
whether you'll find much in the way of Ajax or similar technologies, but I'm
far from convinced that you really want to take courses in that sort of thing.
I was somewhat unimpressed with the intro theory course--would have been
better to walk down the street and take Sipser's course at MIT.
As you mentioned, one big thing to consider is what you are interested in
besides CS, what other types of students you want to hang out with, etc.
College, at least at good American schools, is generally less about
preparation for a career, and more about personal growth and exploration.
Finally, I imagine Stanford has somewhat better weather than Boston. :)
------
vikas5678
I am currently studying as a grad student in the Computer Science dept of the
San Jose State University, and I came here looking for the same things you
are...am a little disappointed I have to say :(. I say check to see more about
the community you will find at the universities than the curriculum aspect
IMHO.
------
pius
MIT, though the CS students are probably somewhat less entrepreneurial than
Stanford students on average.
------
cdr
From my experiences, I would discount most CS programs. Software Engineering
may be a better fit for what you're describing, especially the entrepreneurial
part.
I attend the Rochester Institute of Technology, and the Software Engineering
curriculum here is top-notch. I would not hesitate to recommend it.
------
wallflower
Brown University
~~~
s_baar
Any particular reason?
~~~
wallflower
No particular reasons...one of my siblings went there. I was never smart
enough to even think of applying to this Ivy...
The CS program has a reputation
Brown attracts a very, diverse interesting intellectual student body (and
liberal)
Randy Pausch, who delivered a brilliant lecture about living life,
(<http://tinyurl.com/38zo2k>) met his mentor there.
Most schools are liberal only in the term 'Liberal Arts' for the course
catalog. Brown is so liberal they even protest against the computer system not
allowing them register for classes whenever they want. See:
[http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/july/august_2007/a_course...](http://www.brownalumnimagazine.com/july/august_2007/a_course_change.html)
Thayer Street (the main campus drag) is a wonder.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Do coding interviews accurately assess candidates? - unclebucknasty
Is asking applicants to write code to solve a random problem while the interviewer watches a good way to assess the applicant's abilites?
======
davismwfl
Yes and no.
Yes it can help understand where a candidate is confident or weak, but no it
doesn't tell you if the candidate is qualified usually. I have had people flub
the most basic of questions because of nerves or a stupid mental block etc. So
I don't think this is a productive way of learning if the person is quality or
not.
But even a slight twist of making it mainly interactive can lead to many more
interesting discoveries. Recognizing people might be nervous and giving them
some helpful hints and working collaboratively with them to come up with
ideas/solutions and letting them lead you where they feel is the right place
helps you learn far more. This doesn't mean that you aren't pushing them to
learn the extent of their capabilities, it just means you are doing it in a
way in which you are hopefully getting the best/most from the person.
I have also found that even when you need to say no to those that can't make
the cut, if you followed the basic collaboration pattern they will generally
spread good comments about the process and over a little time that helps you
get better applicants.
------
gt565k
It's better to give them a coding assignment with a deadline of say 24 or 48
hours. That way they can use resources available to them, just as they would
at the workplace. Have them submit it to github as a pull request, and you can
inspect the quality of the code.
Follow up with a phone call to discuss the code and ask questions about it.
That way you know the candidate actually wrote the code and you can be
confident the quality of it represents the candidate's skills.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: You $10,000 to Invest into 1 CryptoCurrency, What would it be? - acob
======
fujipadam
hmm none! The Cryptocurrency market is very unstable right now. This is
different from usual stock market instability. When stock indices fall, given
enough time they will bounce back. However, Crypto's very viability is in
question so it is a very risky gamble.
That said, it all depends on your investment profile. Are you a big risk big
reward person? Even if that is the case crypto's don't really offer high
rewards for the high risk at this point in history
------
ToFab123
XRP
------
cft
Grin
------
mhkool
keepItInMyOwnPocketCoin
------
acob
That's a good point, but that being said, wouldn't it be based on what
Protocol you felt the most strongly about?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Social sharing service Buffer has been hacked, pauses all shares temporarily - uladzislau
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2013/10/26/social-sharing-service-buffer-hacked-pauses-shares-temporarily/
======
kmfrk
Already discussed here:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6618915](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6618915).
~~~
scribu
Erm... you posted a link to the current story, not to a different one.
~~~
pyre
Probably meant this one:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6618689](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6618689)
------
abuehrle
I don't have any experience with Buffer, but it's refreshing to see the HN
community react (mostly) with concern and support.
I hope you guys recover fully.
------
xwowsersx
I'm confused. I should be revoking access for both Twitter and FB or...? (I
haven't had any spam posts...yet)
~~~
morgante
At this point, they've disabled all sharing so you're probably okay. Just be
extra vigilant until the issue is fully resolved.
------
morgante
Definitely feel sorry for the Buffer team. They're great guys and built a
great service—getting social media security right is hard.
Though this does confirm that there's some value in my latest project of
making your social media profiles more secure:
[http://socialsecurity.io](http://socialsecurity.io)
------
ivanbrussik
thank god it was spam, and not pr0n. also thank god I use hootsuite.
------
OoTheNigerian
I got an email stating.
All updates have been paused.
Passwords and payment information have NOT been compromised.
\--
It would be sorted out in a bit.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
The Dukes: 7 years of Russian cyber-espionage - isido
https://labsblog.f-secure.com/2015/09/17/the-dukes-7-years-of-russian-cyber-espionage/
======
djhn
Where can one read more on government cyber-espionage on a level above popular
journalism/non-fiction targeted at a lay-audience?
~~~
agopaul
I ordered this a few days ago after seeing plenty of good reviews:
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-
ze...](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-zero-day)
It covers the Stuxnet worm, which was allegedly built by the US and the
Israeli government to target the Iranian nuclear program.
------
NickHaflinger
No serious security researcher used 'cyber' in a sentence ..
~~~
cxromos
no serious commenter would say that for f-secure.
~~~
toothbrush
No True Scotsman would, ... wait, what were we talking about?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bitcoin Payments by Pedophiles Frustrate Child Porn Fight - T-A
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-09/bitcoin-payments-by-pedophiles-frustrate-child-porn-fight.html
======
anonbanker
Classic anti-$TOPIC hitpiece; link $TOPIC to pedophilia, then discuss the
"controversy" of $TOPIC afterwards.
What a surprise, a pro-banking website tries to discredit a technology that
can kill banks. Perhaps we should ask Monsanto what they think about organic
farming and heirloom seeds?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
[PDF] Exploiting Coroutines to Attack the “Killer Nanoseconds” - matt_d
http://www.vldb.org/pvldb/vol11/p1702-jonathan.pdf
======
wahern
> This requirement renders many existing multithreading techniques useless,
> including light-weight, user-mode threads, known as fibers [4] or stackful
> coroutines
A fiber is not the same thing as a stackful coroutine. That makes their claim
that "Stackful coroutines are up to 93% slower than stackless coroutines on
Windows" grossly misleading.
A stackful coroutine is a concept. A fiber is usually a concrete
implementation of a light-weight thread. A fiber typically includes machinery
and interfaces for general purpose scheduling. That machinery can be quite
heavy weight--such as calling into the kernel to change a signal mask--and is
above and beyond what either a stackful or stackless coroutine needs.
Like a stackless coroutine, a stackful coroutine could be implemented with
just a single jump. How you end up implementing these concepts depends on your
ABI, language semantics, and myriad other considerations. C++ chose stackless
coroutines because of its peculiar restrictions--need for backwards
compatibility with native OS ABIs, and in particular inability to change how
"the stack" is normally managed.
But at least people are beginning to appreciate how coroutines (of any
variety) are powerful concepts that can not only simplify code but make it
easier to optimize code.
~~~
srean
Are there authoritative definitions of fibres, green threads and coroutines ?
I would really love getting a pointer to that. I see a lot of these defined
intechangeably
~~~
wahern
The best and most careful description of all these concepts in a single source
is the Project Loom proposal:
[http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~rpressler/loom/Loom-
Proposal.htm...](http://cr.openjdk.java.net/~rpressler/loom/Loom-
Proposal.html)
Other than this paper, [http://www.inf.puc-
rio.br/~roberto/docs/corosblp.pdf](http://www.inf.puc-
rio.br/~roberto/docs/corosblp.pdf), which revived interest in coroutines, I
don't have links handy for authoritative sources in the academic literature
regarding nomenclature. "Stackful" and "stackless" are relatively recent
descriptions and not too long ago they could have meant the complete opposite
--Stackless Python
([http://www.stackless.com/spcpaper.htm](http://www.stackless.com/spcpaper.htm))
implements what would now be called stackful coroutines.[1] But I think it's
fair to say that today there's a relatively fixed nomenclature about the
concepts. But people still create unnecessary confusion by conflating
implementation details (often coincidental or accidental) with the abstract
concepts.
[1] The Stackless Python website talks about microthreads and tasklets, but
the original paper begins the discussion with continuations, generators, and
coroutines, and builds up from there.
~~~
srean
I see. Thanks for the links. I would have thought standardization in
terminology goes back much further in history than Java, like PDP-9~11 back.
But better late than never.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Free placeholder logos for side projects - vsax
http://thelogo.site
======
mtmail
"This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Zero License. This
means you can download and use or modify and use the logos for free, without
asking permission or providing attribution. Just don't sell them."
The CC0 license allows reselling.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_license#Types...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_license#Types_of_licenses)
~~~
vsax
My apologies. I had attribution license before but changed it to CC0 later and
then forgot to take out the don't sell phrase. Should be all set now.
~~~
SingAlong
I love some of those logos. I find that once I love the style of a few of
someone's work, I tend to like their future work too. I'm not a designer, so
I'm not sure if there's a vocabulary to describe the "style" I'm attempting to
refer to.
Is there a way I can contact you when I (or someone I know), need some art
work in the future? Your email or website is not listed on your profile.
~~~
vsax
Hey, thanks. I just tend to make anything random at night after a long day of
work. Glad you like it. I just put up a contact me button on top right.
------
grardb
"If you came looking for free designer logos, we suggest you look in the
directory next to free engineers."
I love this! Thanks for building this site.
------
jipy9
This is good stuff. Thanks for making. :)
~~~
vsax
Thanks. We will making more regularly so keep checking back or subscribe so
they come to you.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
McCarthy leads GOP charge against Silicon Valley - rhapsodic
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/404642-mccarthy-leads-gop-charge-against-silicon-valley#.W41kDP-75FA.twitter
======
api
Looks like someone grafted half a headline from the 1950s onto a modern one.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Google's dropping H.264 from Chrome a step backward for openness - mycroftiv
http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2011/01/googles-dropping-h264-from-chrome-a-step-backward-for-openness.ars/
======
mycroftiv
I personally disagree with the thesis of the article, but this is still the
best commentary I have seen written on the issue. As usual, a lot of the
argument seems to boil down to different definitions of the word "open".
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: How much of Techcrunch's reporting is just re-blogs of stories from HN? - nighthawk
Is it just me or are other people noticing that a lot of TechCrunch's content showed up on HN several hours before it shows up on TechCrunch?<p>Which leads me to wonder, how much longer will mainstream media outlets be relevant? And is TechCrunch really that much different / better than a "content farm" like ehow, which they seem to dislike so much?
======
benologist
You can't really expect much from them, their job is to move ad inventory and
HN is willing to throw large amounts of traffic at them for many things. I
think their days are numbered for two main reasons:
1) At some point (if not already) it will be more beneficial to launch your
startup here directly and get 100% of the HN traffic instead of losing most of
it on a TC page.
2) There's no space on TC for startups who don't have an a-list cast of
founders and/or investors.
HN is probably going to be what makes TC irrelevant which is ironic because
they pour so much energy into securing this audience.
Are they better or worse than a content farm? I think the line is blurred a
little but in TC's favor. They write news, some of it's pretty mediocre and a
lot of it makes you wonder when they'll come out and admit they're Engadget
and Tuaw's ugly green bastard child, but it's news and it's now, not generic
content tailored to suck search engine traffic for years.
------
xuki
It's actually 2 ways street. I've seen many articles from TechCrunch on HN.
------
glimcat
The net echoes.
------
petervandijck
16.8%
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
“I'm not smart enough.” - acoleman616
https://yourfirst.io/im-smart-enough/
======
hedgew
Many people are genuinely not "smart" enough. Saying they are, is likely to
cause suffering and waste resources, on both personal and societal levels.
It's also insulting towards the intellectually disabled.
"I'm not smart enough" is not always a cop-out, or "a (lame) excuse". It can
be a sign of maturity, and a cause of significant respite. Knowing your limits
allows those who are intellectually limited to pursue tasks suitable to them,
and still be satisfied with life (even though they haven't created Facebook or
Pinterest).
Even for the more gifted of us, knowing your limits might lead to a happier
life..
~~~
toddan
Exactly people are different, some are smarter than others. Otherwise
everybody would be an engineer or medical doctor or some other high status
high paying job.
This whole mentality that everybody are born equal in mental capacity is a
likely cause of stress and depression among many people today.
People are born tall, small, fat, skinny, smart, supid. Just find your level
and optimize your own happiness.
------
steven777400
The thing is, there are definitely different levels of persistence required
and that's obvious to most people who struggle. When I was school, I almost
never studied, and even skipped class with some regularity. Still got good
grades. It just wasn't hard. It didn't take persistence.
Fast forward. Now my wife is in school and she studies like crazy hours every
day and still doesn't absorb the material well. It takes her tremendous
persistence and she is frustrated by people in her class who, like me, could
just roll in having glanced over the material and do well.
That said, I agree with the meat of the article. I used to say "I'm not smart
enough" to do things like work at "Big Software Corp" or invent novel
algorithms, etc. Now I'm more honest and I'll admit "I'm too lazy" to do those
things.
~~~
innguest
> Now I'm more honest and I'll admit "I'm too lazy" to do those things.
I used to think that too. "I'm just too lazy". But in comparison to what? The
protestant work ethic? Are you really "too lazy" or is it just that you're
happy with who you are but like everyone else are still bullied by societal
pressure into feeling guilty for not wanting "more" or having more ambitions?
------
joeblau
When I go to places, I just tell people I'm a garbage man or "waste disposal
engineer." That's usually a super quick conversation.
But to your point, engineering is just persistent and consistent effort. Most
people don't want to put the time and effort to really learn the science.
------
serve_yay
It is a copout. But, the next step is realizing that this is one way people
prevent change from occurring, change is uncomfortable and scary. I don't
think it's particularly empathetic to get upset at people's common thought
processes, even when they are bad. Try to remember we're all humans and life
is hard and everyone is already trying.
Also keep in mind that the person saying it may mean it more as flattery -
i.e., it may be a polite lie and they don't really think that. And of course,
"I'm not smart enough to do that" is more polite to say than "that sounds
boring and I'm super not interested".
------
jackmaney
When I tell people of my background in mathematics, the second most common
reaction is along the lines of "I'm not smart enough" (the most common is the
old canard of "I hate math! My old math teacher, Mr. So-and-so, dropped my
older sister into a wood-chipper! Feet first!" etc, etc, etc). In a lot of
these cases, "I'm not smart enough to do math" was really just a proxy for "I
hate math and am uncomfortable talking about it".
It wouldn't surprise me if that was the case for at least some of the people
described by the author.
------
wspeirs
"I'm not smart enough" is, I think, 50% "I'm too intimidated by what I don't
know" and 50% "I don't care enough to overcome the initial learning curve."
~~~
exodust
Jeez, maybe they're just not smart enough as they say. Why complicate matters
by denying what is actually a sound conclusion?
Or are we so politically correct now we can't acknowledge variation in mental
capacity - particularly working with numbers and logic.
I think it's maybe 10% intimidated, 10% lack of motivation, 80% not smart
enough.
------
kefka
Precisely. Programming relies heavily on using others' talents and code and
abilities.
For example, I wouldn't know how to do face recognition quickly. But thanks to
OpenCV and QT, I was able to make
[https://github.com/jwcrawley/uWho](https://github.com/jwcrawley/uWho)
I leveraged the code that was written to allow me to go a tiny bit further.
------
CmonDev
Thomas Edison was not in a position to judge geniuses, but yes, Tesla did work
hard.
------
jimkri
I get this all the time. People ask me what I am doing in school and I tell
them I am majoring in Business Management with a Computer Science minor.
All people hear is the Computer Science part and every conversation people
say, "Oh you must be smart," or "I could never do that."
My response is always, "Nope I am not crazy smart. I just really love
computers and I keep at it." People always associate CS with being a genius, I
am no genius. I am just a hard headed guy who loves computers, and will always
keep trying to get better at whatever I am doing no matter how many times I
fail.
------
sarciszewski
Conversely to the article, I am _certainly_ not smart enough to tell someone
how to build their own Facebook or Pinterest. That requires more than
programming skill; a combination of marketing, business sense, and user
experience.
I'm a backend/appsec guy. No way in hell would I do that. It would be arrogant
and end in disaster.
That's what teams are for.
------
pianowow
The Venn diagram in this article really bothers me. Venn diagrams aren't meant
to show the makeup of a whole. This should be a pie chart. The diagrams
implies that there are more persistent people than inspired people, not that
you need more persistence than inspiration.
------
strathmeyer
Some are persistent at programming, not looking for programming jobs or
kissing up to bad people.
------
fjcarrero
I say, If you really want it, you go and you get it, period
------
Dewie
If they don't feel smart enough, that is just going to be compounded by
joining a programming community. _Smartness_ is the status symbol to these
(us?) people, so get ready for a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle comparisons
of people's academic record, what tier of university they went to, what
inherent _hardness_ of problem's they have worked on, whether or not they
started programming before they could talk, who is working with a
language/ecosystem that are seen as intellectually inferior/lazy, whether they
are part of the mythical "10X" ũbermensch[1] develeopr, whether or not school-
work came _effortlessly_ to them, and so on. No, of course the tone is not as
obvious as "I'm smarter than you, or I'm less smart because X, Y, Z". But the
underlying tone is clear enough. The best way in these communities is to
compliment their smarts, or imply that they are smarter than you. The perfect
way to insult them is to insult their intelligence. The common currency is
_brains_.
If they don't feel _smart enough_ , maybe what they mean is that they expect
to end up on the bottom of the status hierarchy. And that might be a bit too
rough to want to go through with. Especially if you have other interests,
aptitude or talents.
[1] Yeah, umlaut-fail.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Show HN: Discussions everywhere - discusi
http://discusi.co/?utm_content=link&utm_medium=social&utm_source=HN&utm_campaign=submit2
======
discusi
This is early prototype. I think what that system can join the audience of the
sites and extension/bookmarklet users. You can write something on page and all
visitors (with extension or bookmark) can view its.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Can helplines survive our growing fear of the phone call? - wjossey
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2018/nov/19/helplines-advice-survive-fear-phone-calls-samaritans-childline
======
clavalle
Characterizing the dwindling preference for phone calls as 'fear' is taking it
a few steps too far.
It just turns out that phone calls have a new niche. Other forms of
communication are used when their advantages outweigh a phone call...which
isn't hard.
Phone calls are really only needed when there is a need for synchronous,
immediate, communication that requires a high fidelity and require the bulk of
each party's attention.
Urgent, important help where the problem and possible solutions are not
clearly defined qualify. But anything less than that can likely be handled
over some sort of textual, asynchronous interface. And beyond just being more
convenient, they also offer their own advantages like archivability and
searchability.
~~~
Spooky23
In the general case, yes, "fear" is a bit dramatic. The average Joe isn't
fearful of talking to a banking call center.
But when you're talking about mostly kids who are mentally in a fragile place,
it's a context that is important.
Generally speaking, there's a continuum of intimacy or engagement ranging from
a physical presence at various levels to high latency written communication
like a letter or postcard. It's always better to do complex interactions in
person, but a less expressive medium is going to be superior to nothing.
------
logfromblammo
I think they will survive, but will diminish to a shadow of their former use,
being eclipsed by asynchronous communications methods.
Helplines for anxiety-related issues will diminish more than others. When
putting the phone to one's ear is itself a source of anxiety, people will
definitely seek out and use other options for getting help that present less
friction for them.
I have personally hated phone conversations since long before it was possible
to avoid them entirely. I'm glad I don't have to suffer through them as much
now. It isn't really fear. I just feel like they are a colossal waste of time.
Few people write up a script, agenda, or talking points for their calls. Most
just wing it. And they end up meandering, babbling, or inserting priority-
retaining nulls, made all the worse by having no physical cues from the other
person. Holding the phone up to one's ear also precludes the use of that hand
for any other purpose. And the synchronous nature of the call sometimes means
that I don't have time to formulate a concise topical response without the
other person breaking in with "are you still there?" so I also have to babble
or insert PRNs as a means of conveying "please wait while I assemble an answer
to your question." But for a long time, it was the only tool in the toolbox
for fast communication, so people had to use it when other means that would
have been more appropriate had not been invented yet, or not yet reached a
critical level of adoption.
Now that legacy can be retired. And good riddance.
Online community message boards where people with the same problems support
one another--moderated by professionals to control spam and abuse--are likely
to grow, in my opinion. These will likely have mobile companion apps to
simplify interaction through small screens.
~~~
monksy
> Online community message boards where people with the same problems support
> one another
Yes, that's what reddit does.
> \--moderated by professionals to control spam and abuse--are likely to grow,
> in my opinion. These will likely have mobile companion apps to simplify
> interaction through small screens.
Nope. Two things wrong with that.
1\. Moderation won't and will not pay. People don't value paying for that.
Advertisements put a question in conflicts of interest. Professionals require
payment to survive.
2\. Mobile companion apps: In general mobile apps are terrible due to physical
limitations. They limit conversation and kill the context of what's going on.
Also, again improvements to the apps cost money to develop and research.
~~~
logfromblammo
People are currently being paid to answer phone calls. Clearly, people value
paying for that. The salaries are paid from donations and state payments to
the nonprofit company.
Is there not a similar value proposition in having someone around to keep "You
should kill yourself" messages off the suicide prevention message board, along
with the scams and sales pitches?
Instead of paying someone to answer the phone at 1-800-DONT-DIE, you pay the
same amount to moderate suicideprevention.org/board . Don't know where you got
the idea of it being ad-supported, but you are correct that it's a horrible
idea.
Not everyone is going to be in front of a full-sized computer in the middle of
a crisis, but they are likely to have a phone. You at least need to have a
mobile-friendly web interface for your support resources.
------
thanatropism
I volunteer at 7cups.com. It's much easier to have a chat app open over lunch
than spend time with people on the phone; it's also lower quality attention, I
figure.
~~~
msla
> it's also lower quality attention, I figure.
I'm not sure you can make that a blanket statement.
It's entirely possible to multi-task with a phone in your ear, especially with
headphones, and it's also possible to focus completely on a series of text
messages. You might be able to say that videoconferencing is necessarily
higher-quality attention, but I wouldn't put chicanery past some
organizations.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
A Message About Vanguard From Our Security and Privacy Teams - houzi
https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/a-message-about-vanguard-from-our-security-privacy-teams
======
smoyer
Explaining your rationale doesn't change the fact that gamers (many
unwittingly) are potentially giving the keys to their computer kingdom to
Riot. This behavior on a console would be completely acceptable but unless
you're running a dedicated PC for gaming, I wouldn't install this software.
As a thought experiment, I wonder what happens when the FISA court orders Riot
to install a modified version on a suspected terrorist's computer. No need for
privilege escalation when you can just ask the user to install it at ring-0.
~~~
devit
All software that you install on the main desktop operating systems is given
the "keys to their computer kingdom": there is no privilege separation or
sandboxing, except for the "user vs root" division, which can be trivially
bypassed in countless ways (and anyway, most installers require root
privileges).
And yes, obviously you need to have a dedicated gaming PC and certainly not
install any games or any software that isn't strictly necessary on the
systems/VMs with important data.
~~~
smoyer
To some degree that's true. I keep an eye out for programs that insist on
running as root. And if someone breaches my account, they've still got to put
the work in to escalate their privilege through one of these programs.
I've also been installing more and more software into ~/bin rather than the
more traditional /opt and /usr/local/bin. I think that the trend towards
usermode software will take over in the next five years.
~~~
enitihas
Usermode software might be far more dangerous though. Any software you run on
your machine can change the files in ~/bin, and you won't know the difference.
------
haunter
>we wouldn’t work here if we didn’t deeply care about player trust and privacy
Bold message from a chinese company. People freak out about Huawei but Tencent
is 1000% worse. And here they are installing a kernel driver on your PC.
~~~
hellcow
This is being downvoted, but this is an important point. The Chinese
government has repeatedly shown they'll work with Chinese companies to carry
out the government's agenda.
Do you really think that after 100M people install this kernel driver that the
Chinese government won't lean on Tencent to gain access, or use it beyond its
original purpose?
~~~
sbarre
So let me ask you a question then..
Do you feel the same way about Microsoft and Apple, and every other company
that provides a hardware driver for a modern computer, and whether state
governments (USA included) put pressure on them to let them advance their
agenda by using back doors in their drivers or software?
Why is Riot special in all this? What, in your view, makes them more likely to
be so secretly and so deeply corrupted in the manner you suggest?
Note I'm not asking you if you run MacOS or Windows.
~~~
hellcow
Your argument boils down to, "If one country has access, then every country
should have access."
I don't agree with that.
It's clear the US has backdoors. That doesn't mean it's wise to invite China
to add backdoors as well.
~~~
sbarre
I am not arguing anything, and would never say anything that ridiculous.
I just find it tedious and irrational to see people up in arms about this
contrived and unlikely scenario (a video game company is going to spy on you -
a random nobody - for a big bad foreign power), while _not_ being up in arms
about the much bigger and more likely vectors of compromise they are exposed
to constantly (like your operating system or cell phone).
But of course protecting yourself from those possibilities would require real
sacrifice and inconvenience, so let's not talk about it.
~~~
hellcow
You've thrown out two, new arguments:
1\. "Nobody playing this game is important enough to be spied upon."
It might surprise you to learn that some people in the military, congress, the
DoD, and even important individuals in significant companies play video games.
2\. "Some vulnerabilities exist, therefore any new vulnerabilities should be
ignored or not discussed."
All vulnerabilities should be considered, especially new ones that will affect
10s or 100s of millions of people. That's why we're discussing it. Since you
find it tedious, you're free not to participate.
~~~
sbarre
I'm not sure if you lack comprehension, or if you are just really paranoid and
can only see things in absolutes, or if I'm writing poorly. But yet again
you've taken what I've written and somehow twisted it into something
ridiculous.
> It might surprise you to learn that some people in the military, congress,
> the DoD, and even important individuals in significant companies play video
> games.
Anyone in this scenario who is using the same computer to run _any_ untrusted
software (like all games) as they are using for their national security work
is already compromising themselves.
> "Some vulnerabilities exist, therefore any new vulnerabilities should be
> ignored or not discussed."
This would be a more productive conversation if you addressed my points at
face value, and made your own without twisting my words into whatever
convenient position you want to argue against. That's the part I find tedious.
Everything is degrees.. you seem to only be willing to consider extremes.
Of course if you work in a sensitive position or are a likely target of
foreign spying, you should take many more precautions. But that's not most
people, in fact that's _almost no one_ , statistically speaking. So if we're
going to discuss _likely_ compromise scenarios, the risk-reward on using a
high-profile video game company as a vehicle for APT state-level actions
starts to fall into "movie plot" territory, in my opinion.
And I never said that new vulnerabilities should be ignored or not discussed .
Again, possible <> plausible.
In fact, you are basically contradicting yourself at this point because I
first brought up _way more plausible_ vulnerability scenarios (your underlying
operating system being compromised) and you dismissed that in favour of some
narrow and much more implausible scenario (a US-based video game company as a
deep-state plant for a foreign government).
Keep moving those goal posts..
------
TrueDuality
> ...some of you want to know more about the tech behind Vanguard. We can’t
> get too deep into the technical specifics without potentially compromising
> Vanguard...
That in itself tells me enough about the efficacy of the system. Security
through obscurity is only a hand wave of security. Making the trade off of all
the security architecture put in place over the past decades for something
that needs to be hidden to remain secure is a really poor value statement.
I understand why they want this in place, it does raise the level of effort on
cheating but there are other ways this can be accomplished without
compromising a user's security.
------
ds
The inherent issue with anti cheats as compared to anti-virus software is user
intention.
A user who installs a anti virus program wants that program to do its job and
find bad actors. The virus on the other hand is completely unwanted by both
the user and the software- Its existence is threatened by all fronts.
However, a anti-cheat lives in a extremely adversarial environment. The
cheater (and the cheat) wants the cheat on its computer. As such, the user
will be willing to do extra steps to assist the cheat. This makes the anti-
cheat software in this case, the 'un-wanted' virus, so it has to exist in the
most hostile of environments and somehow detect programs which have higher
privileges than itself.
That said, Cheating is something that will not go away. Years and years ago, I
developed with a friend of mine a completely undetectable cheat for all games
on the HL2 platform. It involved a second computer, which man-in-the-middled
all network data to the client computer. This second computer then would
display a 'radar' of where enemies were. As the anti cheat would have no
possible way of knowing the existence of this second computer, there was not
much they could do.
If you wanted to get more aggressive with the system above, you could have
that second computer modify outbound requests as well. So if you shoot your
gun and it would have hit the ground, it will now instead shoot a enemy in the
head- as such even something like a aimbot is entirely possible with this
setup.
However, there is indeed a anti cheat which can detect all known cheats and
its basically what Valve did/does for CS:GO - Allow users to report suspected
cheaters and then have the community analyze the reports. This catches all
blatant cheats, but unfortunately will never get rid of radar/esp cheaters,
only aimbots and the like.
Honestly, it sounds to me like there is a business model in the above. Years
ago we had companies like evenbalance/punkbuster, easy anticheat, etc.. which
provided software based anti-cheat systems. As you would expect, most would by
bypassed and a daily cat and mouse game would ensue. The solution imo is to
create a SaaS where you essentially provide a reporting + monitoring tool.
Users of your game can report suspected cheaters (which includes the demo file
/ vod / replay / whatever) and your trained wet-ware staff would review all
reports and take action where necessary. No invasive software necessary.
Actually, no software on the end users computer at all would be necessary- It
is all done on another users PC.
In fact, if someone is interested in doing the above, hit me up. Sounds like a
easy win.
~~~
lol768
> Years and years ago, I developed with a friend of mine a completely
> undetectable cheat for all games on the HL2 platform.
> It involved a second computer, which man-in-the-middled all network data to
> the client computer.
Out of interest, was there no transport level encryption to deal with here? Or
did you need to do something special to capture keys on the client?
~~~
ruialmeida
In order for your game to render other players you have to know their
position, so the game server has to send them to all players.
As an example, for CSGO in the past, the server always sent all player
positions from anywhere, so it was possible to create cheats to draw players
anywhere in the map. They changed the way it's done, coordinates are only sent
when other players are nearly visible, although distant, or close by. This
limited the way that wallhacks work, it's not possible to see where players
are from far away :)
What needs to be done is reverse engineer the communication protocol. If
encryption is made, some kind of key to decrypt has to be somewhere in your
game client. Then you can convert 3D coordinates to 2D and even draw a radar
on your smartphone if you make an app.
~~~
gpderetta
>In order for your game to render other players you have to know their
position, so the game server has to send them to all players
I know nothing about game engines, but I have always wondered why is that the
case. The server could compute visibility and only send the opponent position
if there is a chance the player might see it. Computing visibility server side
is not cheap, but it would still be significantly cheaper than fully rendering
a scene, right?
~~~
belltaco
Riot's Fog of War for Valorant does exactly what you describe.
[https://technology.riotgames.com/news/demolishing-
wallhacks-...](https://technology.riotgames.com/news/demolishing-wallhacks-
valorants-fog-war)
------
SpaceManNabs
I skimmed, but it seems none of this addressed why the service (edit) runs at
boot-time? Also, expecting a service to not not look at your data if they have
access is not security.
If Valve can mitigate hacking in CSGO without such an intrusive service, I am
sure Riot can. I, myself, did a very, very, very poor job with an autoencoder
to detect anomalous matches in Dota and caught a large amount of players
abusing the system. As far as I know, CSGO anti cheat does involve an ML
component.
My point is that a non-intrusive anti cheat, advanced analytics, and tracking
of user feedback goes a long way.
Ofc, none of this matters. If the playerbase actually cared, they'd boycott or
stay away. And I cannot remember the last time gamers ran a successful boycott
campaign.
edit: Also read that uninstalling the game will not always uninstall the ring
0 anti cheat. I can't verify since I would never install this on my system,
but for what it is worth: That is terrible IF true.
~~~
houzi
Hackers in standard CSGO games are rampant from what I understand.
Serious players pay extra to queue up in a dedicated service for high tickrate
servers and anti-cheats which I believe are rootkits as well.. not sure about
any of this though.
~~~
SpaceManNabs
rampant years ago. It took a long time to get where it is now. There are still
cheaters here and there, but that is to be expected, and relatively rare in my
experience.
~~~
Draiken
It is absolutely still rampant. I could count at least 5 cheater encounters in
the last 30 days (blatant cheaters, btw).
They try their best to isolate cheaters with a "trust factor" system but the
reality is, unless you pay an external service with their own anti-cheat
software (that's probably as bad as Valorant's) you will get a high amount of
cheaters.
Given they have zero transparency on the trust factor system, I could have a
lower factor than you (I definitely rage too much), so because of it I see
them more often. But there's no way to know if I'm in the cheater bubble, or
you're in the no-cheater bubble.
~~~
SpaceManNabs
I agree that it could be more transparent. I haven't faced a single suspicious
player in quite some time (and similar with my friends that I talked to about
this since this came up). Sorry that your experience is worse. Player
"toxicity" should not be involved in this since it might be used as a proxy.
------
swiley
League of legends is a real pain in the ass to play even when you’re doing
everything right. Personally I don’t even like the game, it’s just popular so
I played it to hang out with friends. The way their launcher handles updates
is crazy inefficient and so it always takes _hours_ to launch if it launches
at all. It also runs terribly in wine.
~~~
danaris
...Hours? The longest update I've ever had for League of Legends (in the ~6
years I've been playing casually) is about 20 minutes. And I'm on Mac—not
exactly the high-priority platform for them.
Since they changed their launcher system a few months ago, it's been unusual
to have to wait more than ~2 minutes for a new patch.
~~~
swiley
That's true if you update often.
If you're like me and only played occasionally the updates would build up and
take very long.
------
quezzle
Whenever I hear/read lots of words about how secure something is and how
strong their commitment to security I think “they don’t know what they don’t
know”.
~~~
smoyer
We should all admit that we don't know what we don't know. But the default
behavior afterwards should be to assume that the software/system is insecure,
fixing the defects we can find and surrounding in by rings of moats (defense-
in-depth). When you don't know what you don't know and then declare it to be
secure, there's an extra layer of indirection and perhaps a bit of hubris.
------
davidw
I was concerned about the index funds for a moment...
------
ruialmeida
This will always be a cat and mouse game. There are some anti-cheat software
more intrusive than others. Even Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) which is considered by
many to not be very intrusive, used to intercept DNS queries to detect
communication with paid cheats DRM.
Most anti-cheats also scan all processeses memory and even files to detect
know cheat signatures. They tend to run with high privileges and some take in-
game screenshots for analysis. Basically they have permissions to do anything
and receive silent updates.
I wonder if statistical methods to detect cheaters result in too many false
positives.
~~~
blattimwind
> Even Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) which is considered by many to not be very
> intrusive, used to intercept DNS queries to detect communication with paid
> cheats DRM.
I was surprised hearing this. It seems like what they actually did was if VAC
already found something, it checked the hashes of the contents of the DNS
cache against a list as a second check. That's quite a bit different from
"intercepting DNS queries".
Overall VAC always made a reasonable impression on me as far as privacy and
security are concerned (no SYSTEM services, no kernel driver, no screenshots,
no scanning and uploading random files etc.), although this non-intrusive
approach naturally limits the kinds of cheats it is able to discover. I feel
like the approach taken by Vale is, on the whole, well balanced.
Source: [https://www.pcgameshardware.de/Steam-
Software-69900/Specials...](https://www.pcgameshardware.de/Steam-
Software-69900/Specials/Steam-VAC-soll-DNS-Cache-ausspionieren-1109977/)
~~~
ruialmeida
Yes, thanks for clearing up the intercept part, I didn't remember how they did
it exactly. They do make right decisions in my opinion to balance
security/privacy issues at the cost of less ability to detect cheats. I think
they also have a pretty good record of not banning inocent people.
------
dsr_
If people want to play games in anti-cheat environments, the only sensible
solution I can see involves the reinvention of the cartridge.
In this case, make the cartridge a bootable SSD which entirely avoids touching
any other disk in the system (perhaps with the exception of an SD card or USB
storage stick for saves.)
The downsides include:
\- the game company now has to ship a complete OS and do hardware support.
They nearly have to do that anyway, so whatever.
\- you'll need to reboot your computer for each game.
The upsides, I think, are obvious.
~~~
sbarre
The other option that is touted a lot is cloud gaming, with services like
Stadia.
There are outstanding issues to resolve there, like input lag and visual
fidelity, but it certainly removes the ability to cheat at the system level by
hooking into game processes and memory.
Aimbots would be still be theoretically possible through MITM video feed
analysis (as has been speculated) but that would also work in your cartridge
scenario.
------
maallooc
yeah, a chinese company will gain root of your pc to stop you from tampering
with memory but it's totally fine guys don't worry
------
emagdnim2100
Potentially dumb question: how do cheats even work in a game like LOL? I
understand aimbots in a FPS and how they can give a pure mechanical advantage,
but the LOL equivalent isn’t obvious to me. Does the client have access to
data that’s not supposed to be exposed to the player?
~~~
kleinsch
Aimbots work in LoL too, there are champs that are balanced around lots of
skill shots (Xerath) who you’d see hitting every single shot all game. There’s
also a lot of scripting, both for account leveling or just to automate boring
parts of the game. You’d see people afk playing their lane for 20 mins and not
responding to anything happening in the game, then suddenly running into the
other team for a big fight.
------
Youden
As someone who mainly deals with web services, this all seems really weird to
me. I was told from very early on "never trust the client". There was a lot of
emphasis on server-side validation; client-side validation was only ever for
UX, e.g. highlighting the field in red instead of making the user submit the
form first.
Reading through this, it seems the game development world is doing the exact
opposite and pushing all the "security" measures to the client. Is that
incorrect? If it's correct, does anybody have any idea why?
~~~
banachtarski
You’re a bit out of your depth. Of course “trust the server” is preferred but
many forms of cheats are purely client side. For example an aimbot that
steadies your cursor on someone’s head or dodges automatically when a
projectile is inbound. Maybe the client hijacks the UI to hide terrain and
walls.
I’m not saying what valorant has done here is right, there are other things
you can do. But you’re oversimplifying the problem.
~~~
Youden
I understand that but it feels like there's a lot of focus on client-side
anti-cheat while cheats that should be trivially detected server-side still
exist (like flying through the air in a game where that shouldn't be
possible).
Plus, there seems to be a lot of focus on client-side anti-cheat when a lot of
it could be addressed server-side:
> For example an aimbot that steadies your cursor on someone’s head or dodges
> automatically when a projectile is inbound.
This sounds like a similar problem to "like" fraud and things like that.
Couldn't it be addressed by measuring the number of incidents? If someone is
able to headshot or dodge at an abnormal/superhuman level, that can be
detected server-side and the user banned (or flagged for human review).
> Maybe the client hijacks the UI to hide terrain and walls.
Someone mentioned a solution for this elsewhere in the thread: don't send
positions of important resources to the client if it doesn't need them. Keep
the client about as blind as the player.
And again, you should be able to detect this server-side. If somebody has an
abnormally high kill-rate for enemies coming around a corner, flag them for
review.
~~~
banachtarski
Humans can and do in fact do all the things you suggest. False positives are
generally to be avoided, and mitigations for reverse engineering are still
required (anti debuggers, anti dll injection measures).
All the stuff mentioned like not sending positions of people who aren’t
visible are typically already done, but sometimes the position is needed for
reasons you don’t understand. Like some gameplay ability to suddenly see
through walls, etc.
This thread just has a lot of backseat programming.
I think I would find your post a little less irksome if you approached it from
a neutral questioning tone as opposed to “what about these obvious things
every junior engineer learns” :/
~~~
Youden
I'm not trying to condescend or be a backseat programmer, I apologize if my
tone suggested otherwise. I know that I have no idea what I'm talking about
and I know that there are plenty of competent game developers in the industry.
The problem is that I don't know what I don't know, so I can't directly ask
it. The best thing I can do is to present the flawed results of my current
understanding so that somebody more knowledgeable (such as yourself) can tear
them apart and show me what it is that I'm missing.
> False positives are generally to be avoided
This sounds like the biggest difference to me. Generally in my limited
experience in handling abuse on web platforms, the value of a single user is
so low that a false positive doesn't really matter too much.
I suppose when it comes to games, each user represents a ~$60 investment and
potentially a lot of time and emotional investment, so a false positive can't
be so easily tolerated and there's an incentive to go to extreme ends (like
intense client-side validation) that wouldn't make sense for say Twitter
likes.
------
kerng
Also worth highlighting, Riot Games belongs to Tencent.
------
butz
Considering that client will always find a way to cheat, isn't it more logical
to do all anti-cheat detection on server side? Gather data from trusted
players during closed beta test and after launch just look for abnormalities
on data coming from clients.
------
lidHanteyk
Folks should build alternative clients for Riot's games. Riot has demonstrated
that they should not be trusted to write clients.
~~~
sk0g
That is a lot more effort than re-building the game, isn't it?
At that point, just make your own game, or easier yet, play another one.
~~~
learc83
I don't think it's a feasible plan, but there's probably some demand for that
specific solution--people have friends who play riot games, so they want the
ability to play those those specific games without the invasive anti-cheating
software.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Jest – Painless JavaScript Testing - huan9huan
http://facebook.github.io/jest/
======
orta
I'm a big fan of Jest - if you're using Jest with Visual Studios Code, I'd
recommend looking at my extension that gives you a mode IDE-like experience.
[https://github.com/orta/vscode-jest](https://github.com/orta/vscode-jest)
~~~
badthingfactory
Thank you for this! I've been patiently waiting for someone more motivated and
intelligent than myself to create a free inline test runner. You are my hero.
Keep the project open source, free, and plop a donations button on the page
and I'll be quick to open my wallet.
------
rileyt
Jest used to have a lot of problems and was poorly maintained.
Over the past few months, that has changed entirely. Improved speed, lots of
bug fixes, snapshot tests and general ease of setup with React projects have
all really helped.
Jest is now the test framework I would suggest for anyone starting a new React
project.
~~~
endisukaj
Has the documentation improved? Last time I checked it (about a year or so
ago) it was terrible.
~~~
shaneos
It's but a click away (and yes it has :-))
[http://facebook.github.io/jest/docs/getting-
started.html](http://facebook.github.io/jest/docs/getting-started.html)
------
wwalser
I have a strange history with JS test libraries. Of the 4 that I've used, I've
fixed bugs in 3 of them within a week of first picking it up. QUnit, Sinon and
Jest.
This isn't commentary on the quality of Jest. After turning off auto-mocking
and instead only using the mocking when I really needed it, I ended up using
it for a moderately successful side project and enjoyed the experience.
~~~
cel1ne
I switched to tape (the "Test anything protocol" from 1987) and never looked
back: [https://medium.com/javascript-scene/why-i-use-tape-
instead-o...](https://medium.com/javascript-scene/why-i-use-tape-instead-of-
mocha-so-should-you-6aa105d8eaf4)
I use faucet for pretty-printing the output.
~~~
chriswarbo
After discovering TAP a while back I switched a bunch of tests to output in
that format, but found that it can't actually be consumed by anything, other
than pretty printers (too trivial to bother) or smolder (Web server; too much
overkill).
I think there's definitely space for some local commands which graph, analyse,
etc. a bunch of TAP, but I haven't found anything like that :(
~~~
cel1ne
I never had the need to process the output, I just liked the simple structure
of my tests and the plan/count/end system.
------
jcoffland
There's no such thing as painless testing.
~~~
rpastuszak
But it hurts so good.
As opposed to the alternative, which is dealing with technical dept,
spaghetti, legacy code, etc...
~~~
amelius
Testing and technical debt/spaghetti code/legacy code are not mutually
exclusive.
~~~
shados
you're right. But testing bad code is really really hard. So usually tested
code is somewhat better overall, just because it's the easiest way to do it.
------
haney
I've been working on a React Native project and I really enjoy how easy jest
is to use. It's hard to tell from this post though, is there something
new/specific about it? Or are we all just agreeing that it's awesome?
------
franciscop
I just migrated a project[1] to Jest. Now I totally think that Jest is
AWESOME.
Before I was mangling with Grunt and PhantomJS, but due to PhantomJS version
being back ages I couldn't really test ES6 so I had to do a hybrid and running
mocha in an actual browser, and the rest of the dev stack in grunt. Now I am
able to do it all automatically. Not only that, but jest includes a browser by
default which supports ES6 and an assertion library, so just with 'jest' I am
doing the same that I did before with mocha, chai and PhantomJS (+ the pain of
installing PhantomJS separately).
I am not _so much_ into React, but I just fell in love with Jest. Testing will
be something totally different from now on, thank you Facebook.
[1]
[http://github.com/franciscop/superdom.js](http://github.com/franciscop/superdom.js)
PS, it was a bit more difficult to integrate Jest into Grunt and I get it
without the colors, but I'm sure I'll find a solution soon-ish.
------
wildpeaks
Jest sounds good on paper, it's great it exists and it definitely has
potential and even improved a lot recently (and I usually try every new
version that come up), however I have two pain points with it that prevent me
from switching to Jest for now:
\- it uses regexes instead of globs, so you can't just give it the list of
tests like you would with Mocha or electron-mocha (e.g. something like "jest
src/* * /*.tests.js")
\- it excludes paths that include "node_modules" and it's not just a default
(which would be fine), it's hardcoded, so you can forget about local modules,
or dependencies that use local modules
Fortunately, there are already open issues for both, so that might improve in
the future :)
\---
Edit: I had to add extra spaces in the glob example (so it's slightly
incorrect) because HN formatting seems to prevent using "double star".
~~~
cpojer
I work on Jest at FB.
* I agree regexes suck but that's all we had five years ago when it was started. Would love to move to a glob system incrementally but most of that will have to come from the community. I'm also still concerned about performance. We match things against tens of thousands of files a lot and regex seems strictly faster to me but I'm happy to be proven wrong or shown that it won't be relevant. * There is one minor issue with create-react-app's recommended use of node_modules to split up things. I would recommend lerna for multi-package development ( [https://github.com/lerna/lerna](https://github.com/lerna/lerna) ) and we are hoping to put whatever fix in place here that will work well. There are workarounds but they aren't great.
~~~
kybernetikos
node-glob was released in 2010
~~~
cpojer
Thanks! That's great. Maybe you can help us upgrade then? Jest is fun to
contribute to.
------
BJanecke
This might be a bit frivolous.
But
Jest has gotten a whole lot better over the last few months. It used to be
slow, cryptic and dogmatic. Now it's fast, transparent and open to debate.
Great job Jest team!
I would qualify that but I started this comment saying it was going to be
frivolous. If enough people care however I'll expand on this.
------
misiti3780
I have used jest and i have used mocha. I use mocha because I got sick of
having to "unmock" everything in jest tests. People have complained that jest
is slow, that was never a problem I encountered.
The unmock becomes very annoying after a while.
~~~
Lazare
When jest was first released, it was incredibly, glacially slow, buggy, poorly
documented, and seemed to be largely unmaintained. Critical features were
broken and stayed broken for months. I was an early adopter and I got burned
hard, having to rewrite everything in Mocha.
Since then, apparently, it has changed hugely, and is now fast, reliable, and
pleasant to use. Or so I've heard; I have no particular reason to change back
to jest, since mocha is fine.
But if you're wondering why you've heard about it being slow, it's because for
many, many months jest was absurdly, unbelievably slow; simple "hello world"
tests would take seconds, and even a medium projects would take minutes. And
there was no watch mode, nor any ability to re-run failing tests, or re-run
tests on changed files. It was absurd.
Edit: See, eg,
[https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/116](https://github.com/facebook/jest/issues/116)
opened 8 Aug 2014, and finally closed 17 Feb 2016. Quite a run.
Also, there were tons of bugs with the mocking and, especially, the
`dontMock()` methods; many things could cause attempts to turn mocking off to
silently, invisibly fail (or even more fun, to cause an attempt to disable
mocking on one item to cause it to be silently, invisibly disabled on all
items). It's amazingly hard to track down a failing test when a bug triggered
by code in another test can cause items that should be mocked to not be
mocked, and visa versa.
------
spraak
Two questions:
1\. What good books (or repos) that use JS can you recommend for writing good
tests?
2\. What advantages does Jest have over Jasmine?
~~~
aj0strow
RE: 2. Jest bundles Jasmine. It's primarily a test runner (like karma[1]) more
than a framework. Jest includes mocking capabilities at the function level
(like sinon[2]) and module level (like rewire[3]). It supports parallel
execution, custom source code transpiling, file extension mocks (for webpack
requires) and file watching. It favors large ES6 projects -- takes a second to
start up.
[1]: [https://github.com/karma-runner/karma](https://github.com/karma-
runner/karma) [2]: [http://sinonjs.org/](http://sinonjs.org/) [3]:
[https://github.com/jhnns/rewire](https://github.com/jhnns/rewire)
------
CoryG89
We use usually use a mocha/chai/sinon combo for our testing. Can anyone that
has used this make a comparison with that?
Looks like jest tries to cover all three.
~~~
aj0strow
I was using that too, and switched over to Jest + Chai Assert. It was too
difficult for me to replicate features like file watching, run only tests with
changes for faster feedback loop, transpiling typescript and es6 in the same
project, asset mocking, starting and stopping timers, etc. I only really used
sinon.spy() so traded it for jest.fn().
------
batmansmk
The last versions are for us better than the other tool. The snapshot feature
is pretty neat.
------
efrafa
Are you forced to use expect().to... or you can plugin any assert library ? (I
get the benefits of expect but I still prefer assert style)
~~~
ville
You can use any assertion library and it will just work. At one point I was
using Jest with Chai when migrating a codebase that happened to use Chai for
assertions.
------
petetnt
Jest has taken great steps forward in the oast year and I see the momentum
only going up. Kudos to the whole team!
------
kybernetikos
Snapshot testing overconstrains your tests, and encourages people who see
tests breaking just to rerun the snapshot without thinking too much.
The painlessness comes with a cost.
~~~
cpojer
Hi! I work on JavaScript Tools at FB.
There is a fantastic post by Ben McCormick about the up and downsides of this
system: [http://benmccormick.org/2016/09/19/testing-with-jest-
snapsho...](http://benmccormick.org/2016/09/19/testing-with-jest-snapshots-
first-impressions/)
Snapshots aren't the only feature of Jest; it is simply one assertion in our
assertion library. There is a ton of other stuff in the framework that makes
setting up a test environment and writing tests easier.
My philosophy for building a test framework is to build a good feature set to
help you out in any situation but the user should be in total control. This
allows you to find the best way to test your code which I've found to be
extremely subjective. The choice of test framework and test methodology seems
almost religious at times and I've deliberately tried to stay away from these
conversations.
~~~
kybernetikos
Indeed, I'm not criticising Jest which most of our developers really like,
merely criticising snapshot testing, which is one of the ways we are using
jest.
The Ben McCormick post does cover some of the issues with snapshot testing,
particularly around lack of communication of developer intent.
If you wrote a unit test that asserted that a tree of data looked exactly a
particular way, when the only correctness/incorrectness criteria was whether
or not a particular prop was present on one of the branches, then you've
written a bad test.
Using a snapshot means that your test fails when your code changes in ways
that are still correct. It's a test that invites lots of false negatives, and
the reason that is considered acceptable is because it makes it easy to update
the test when it predictably gives you the false negative.
Normally writing tests that depend on the exact implementation details of the
code under test is considered a bad thing. I can't help but think that there
are better solutions to this problem.
Almost immediately after one of our teams started using snapshot testing, we
had test breakages because an entirely different component that we used in an
ancillary way had a semver minor change (added a new prop that was defaulted)
and that broke tests (but not the app) in our component. Perhaps we're doing
it wrong, but adding tests to packages that can trivially be incorrectly
broken by your dependencies changing is fairly painful (and makes a mockery of
semver).
~~~
kentaromiura
I implemented the snapshot functionality in Jest and I work on Jest at FB.
> Almost immediately after one of our teams started using snapshot testing, we
> had test breakages because an entirely different component that we used in
> an ancillary way had a semver minor change (added a new prop that was
> defaulted) and that broke tests (but not the app) in our component. Perhaps
> we're doing it wrong, but adding tests to packages that can trivially be
> incorrectly broken by your dependencies changing is fairly painful (and
> makes a mockery of semver).
Snapshots should make you more confident when making changes.
In the case you just described they correctly caught that something changed.
Imagine a minor semver update that works in 99% of the cases but has a very
tricky edge case scenario they didn't consider when bumping to the new
version, and you're super lucky and you have that scenario in your codebase,
but only in a single page of your app under a certain condition.
Snapshot failures highlights subtle dependencies between seemingly unrelated
components, making you aware of it. I think at snapshot failures as warnings:
those are potential breakages and I can now check that everything works, and
with a good coverage I know exactly what changed and where, so I can go and
check case by case. Once I'm absolutely sure everything is fine I can safely
update the snapshots, which as you correctly stated is easy to do, I've just
to pass a `-u` flag.
~~~
kybernetikos
I realise that it can occasionally be useful to have a canary that says
'something has changed' as long as its easy to reset. Personally, I'd rather
such a canary operated on the visual representation plus interactions, since
that is what the user experiences, rather than error on tree differences that
produce no effective difference to the end user.
I do think though that neither of these should replace tests that test the
actual postconditions of your code, and that the preponderance of false
negatives and ease of resetting the canary discourages developers from
spending the effort required to properly understand what is going on.
Almost all programming is about erecting firewalls to contain changes, so that
as they ripple out from the change site, they hit boundaries beyond which
things no longer need to be modified. As part of that, modules document what
you can and cannot rely on. If you have a test that breaks because it's
relying on some feature of a modules output that is not considered public
behaviour, the bug is in your test, not the module that causes the failure.
> In the case you just described they correctly caught that something changed.
It is not the job of tests to tell you that something changed, but that
something broke.
Perhaps I'd have less problem if people talked about them as canaries rather
than as tests. 'Test' implies that there's something wrong if you fail.
------
Nitramp
This doesn't do browser testing (like Karma), it's just an alternative to
mocha, right?
~~~
BJanecke
It comes with jsDom baked into it for browser behaviour. Using a full headless
browser to test with is not ideal, however I trust that you have a good reason
to want that. If that is a requirement for you, you can tie jest up to karma
:), but I beseech you to have a very good reason to test against a headless
browser first :)
~~~
Nitramp
Depends on what you want to test, I guess. If you want to test UI widget
behaviour (not just business logic), then jsDom probably isn't the right tool
and you need a browser. E.g. if you need CSS measurements or more tricky DOM
behaviour.
It's not entirely clear to me why you'd want a headless browser though. Once
you're already running a browser, you might as well run a full one, and also
get the debugging capabilities.
------
aikah
Still sticking to Jasmine. Simple and efficient and no need for nodejs to run
tests.
------
krrkrrmjao
do we really need MORE testing frameworks? the devs should join jasmine
instead
------
gondo
i'm surprised this does not use Yarn
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
What If We Put Warnings on IoT Devices? - robin_reala
https://www.troyhunt.com/what-would-it-look-like-if-we-put-warnings-on-iot-devices-like-we-do-cigarette-packets/
======
seanmcdirmid
In California, there is a law that basically everywhere (e.g. all apartment
complexes) must have a sign that specifies that the compounds used on site can
cause cancer or birth defects or whatever. But because the signs are
pervasive, they are basically useless.
This feels kind of like that.
~~~
freehunter
The problem I've always found with the California warnings is that they're so
damn generic. There's nothing forcing companies to tell you what compound is
harmful, where it is, or what it's used for..
A fishing sinker made from lead is pretty obvious when you see that warning.
There's only one ingredient, lead, and it's obvious why it's harmful. But when
you buy a complex product that says "this product contains chemicals known by
the State of California to cause cancer or birth defects", the first thing I
want to know is what the chemical is, the second is where it is in the
product, and the third is why it's there. Nothing in the warnings makes
manufacturers tell you any useful information.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
Even if they did, would it matter? It would be some chemical term, like the
one you see in an ingedient list, that is meaningless to most people.
And these are places, not products...with gardens. Even if they use organic
pesticides, they probably still have to put up the warning.
~~~
jstanley
> that is meaningless to most people.
Therefore no people should be allowed to know?
For what it's worth, I'm not in favour of California's labelling requirements
either. But just because something is meaningless to the majority of the
population doesn't mean it's meaningless to the entire population. And it is
specifically the population that is interested in knowing it that finds it
_least_ meaningless!
~~~
seanmcdirmid
I didn't say allowed or not. Sure, you should know that there are 15 ug of
theomacrotasium among a hundred other things in your environment, but then
what? Information overload means our decisions can get worse, not better, when
presented with more of it.
What would be more meaningful: certifications that act as abstractions for
complex problems. Organic kind of acts like this already, and of course there
are multiple federal certs for electronics. Having a functioning regulatory
system as well as a working civil law system also help.
~~~
freehunter
How about a warning that says "The battery in this cell phone contains an
amount of theomacrotasium known to cause cancer if ingested."
That's a completely actionable warning. Don't eat the contents of the battery
of your cell phone.
Or how about "This carpet contains formeldahyde, which is known to cause birth
defects in pregnant women. Limit exposure to this carpet for a few days after
installation."
That's a good warning. That tells me what I need to know, what the risks are,
and how to mitigate it.
~~~
seanmcdirmid
Hey, if it's just one thing, great! Now, how do you do that for a hundred
things? Again, warnings work great for very small numbers of N.
We have to find a middle ground between "has chemicals that may cause cancer"
and "a hundred specific chemicals in X quantities that may cause cancer."
Abstraction is very necessary as a pragmatic solution, even if full disclosure
makes sense as an ideal.
Heck, most places are just doing CYA, they have no idea what specific lists of
chemicals their contractors use. For the IoT case, no one has any idea how
their devices can be exploited, and merely admit the possibility of
exploitation. But that is another issue.
~~~
kaybe
Well, information on how to migitate the cancer risk is already a step
forward.
If it is only harmful if ingested you know not to give it to your toddler. If
it gives off toxic fumes while burning, well, stay away if you made a fire
mistake. etc. The warning itself is pretty useless as it is.
------
EvanAnderson
I'm of the opinion that products which require a separate service to perform
their advertised functions (i.e. a "cloud" service-- be it "free" with the
product or subscription-based) should be clearly labeled as such. I know that
I don't actually own anything that I can't self-host (or pay whoever I want to
host it), but it's clear that most people don't. Public education on this
front seems valuable to me (but, then, I'm one of those crazy people who
believes in standards-based protocols and commodity hosting service).
~~~
FabHK
Yes. There's this doorbell (400-1500 USD) that connects via internet to a
central host, and then notifies you on your smartphone. Seems sort of a neat
idea, but a house lasts several decades - is that startup and its server going
to be around that long?
[http://www.doorbird.com](http://www.doorbird.com)
~~~
659087
It also notifies that central host every time someone visits your home, and
provides them with video and audio of that person. That doesn't seem like a
"neat idea" at all.
"By visiting my front door, you agree to Doorbird's privacy policy"
~~~
finnn
Couldn't the same be said about all the other shitty cloud-connected
surveillance cameras? Not saying that justifies it, just that this is a bigger
problem then just those awful internet of doorbells
~~~
TeMPOraL
Of course it can be. It's all shitty engineering - making roundtrip through
cloud with data that should only ever touch your personal devices.
------
jacquesm
Simple rule: I buy it, I own it and it should not need an external service to
operate. If it does then I'm not buying it.
None of those grafted on services for me, I really have yet to see anything
that was so compelling that I would give up and consent to essentially renting
a device and having an account with some service to make it useful.
That way you also don't need to warn anybody about the lousy security, I'm
100% convinced that those companies that are exploited are merely the tip of
the iceberg, that for each of these there are a vast multiple that were
exploited but never found out and that the remainder _also_ isn't as secure as
they should be.
Running a secure service with devices in the field is hard, harder than I give
most companies credit for and those companies that could pull it off (Amazon,
Apple, Google, Microsoft and a couple of others) are usually the ones that I
would trust even less with my data because of their ability to add it to the
pile they already have.
~~~
krapp
> Simple rule: I buy it, I own it and it should not need an external service
> to operate. If it does then I'm not buying it.
That's a good rule, but good luck opting out once most manufacturers no longer
give you an option.
~~~
JustSomeNobody
> That's a good rule, but good luck opting out once most manufacturers no
> longer give you an option.
The irony is that this is Hacker News and so many people building those things
hang out here. If we want to make a difference, we have to start making a
difference.
~~~
TeMPOraL
Well, I strongly hope those many people involved in these things can feel the
peer pressure here, and subsequently push for changes at their workplaces.
------
murftown
A little ironic: I tried to share this article on the #offbeat Slack channel
at my work, but the automatic preview image Slack generated for it (from the
top cover image of the article, which you can't really see most of, unless you
view the image separately) is a (pretty NSFW) fake front-of-the-box for a "We-
Vibe" IoT vibrator: "We can see how kinky you are". Not what I was planning to
share with my coworkers. I'd recommend the author to change the cover image,
or at least feature the whole image prominently front-and-center if that's
really what they want to do, so people don't accidentally share it
inappropriately like I did.
Good article though, and I definitely agree that these issues with IoT devices
should be made more prominent.
~~~
Bartweiss
I sort of wish Slack had a way to disable the preview image feature; I've run
into this several times where a reasonable, work-safe article was processed
into a picture not-so-suitable for Slack.
It mostly seems to be cases like this one, where the first image is concealed
or contextualized in the article but treated like a normal header image by
Slack. I think one that got me worst was a piece responding to someone else's
content. Slack simply pulled the quoted text and picture at the top - which
looked like sharing the original article, instead of a response to it.
~~~
scott_karana
An X shows up next to the preview/unfold when hovering, and allows you to
delete the preview, at least in the full desktop app.
------
michaelfeathers
It would be interesting to have a word for devices that is sort of like
'organic' for food.
It would indicate that the device is self-contained and has no connectivity.
~~~
npsimons
> It would be interesting to have a word for devices that is sort of like
> 'organic' for food.
> It would indicate that the device is self-contained and has no connectivity.
"Well-designed"?
~~~
jaclaz
>"Well-designed"?
Very good one.
A good candidate would have been "smart", but unfortunately it is already
taken to mean the opposite.
~~~
fmx
I use "dumb". Sure, it sounds negative, but when used in context it's easy to
understand for anyone that knows about "smart devices".
------
trimtab
Z-wave and encrypted ZigBee controlled products work pretty well for in-home
automation. Communication is encrypted between devices.
The problem can be the Z-wave/ZigBee controller which may very well require
Internet and Cloud access to "phone home."
I avoid using IoT devices that I can't re-program or if nothing is available
except some proprietary/cloud driven device I isolate them into their own
little network space, so they can't attack the rest of the network or "phone
home" unless I let them. Sometimes, that isn't possible and that's when 30 day
return privileges come in real handy.
The ability to trace the packets coming off of most IoT devices is fascinating
and sometimes scary. A lot of devices are like the recent OnePlus smartphones
that record and send most everything to their "true master" the manufacturer
of the device. At least, with a Oneplus you can fix that, by reflashing the
phone.... which is not true of most IoT devices being sold today.
Have you noticed that BestBuy seems to only sell IoT devices that will "phone
home?"
~~~
firefoxd
You gotta have a link for what you said about the OnePlus.
~~~
alexland
There was a post on /r/Android about it [1], but it seems like you can toggle
this off by disabling device analytics in the settings.
[1]:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/75ev0z/oxygenos_is...](https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/75ev0z/oxygenos_is_collecting_a_lot_of_personal_info/?utm_content=comments&utm_medium=browse&utm_source=reddit&utm_name=Android)
------
0xfffff
I read about proposal to prominently put expiration dates IoT devices, to show
how long it will be servered with security updates. That could be interesting
and also raise awareness.
~~~
DarronWyke
Not really. Don't forget that for the longest time home routers shipped
broadcasting the default SSID with no password. Now they come preconfigured
with a locked-down SSID and password (though the management interface is still
usually behind admin/admin or an equivalent). Security isn't on most people's
minds -- it has to be built into the product from the get-go to get the
largest reach.
------
DarronWyke
It wouldn't change a thing, at least not in any meaningful fashion. People
want the latest whiz-bang thing and these devices are marketed to those who
have the barest understanding of technology.
------
NKosmatos
Interesting idea. I wonder how this would look like on commercial software
packages :-) Yeah I'm an oldschooler that remembers buying software and games
in actual physical boxes!!!
~~~
rootlocus
I sometimes buy hard copies of games simply because I dreamed of having a
PlayStation or a gaming PC as a kid, but my parents couldn't afford either, so
I never got the chance of collecting anything related to PC games.
Unfortunately, most of them only come with a small piece of paper inside with
a steam activation code written on it. I remember when games contained entire
manuals in the box.
------
vannevar
If there is such a warning, it should be along the lines of:
"This device is inherently insecure and could be remotely operated by persons
unknown anywhere in the world."
~~~
TeMPOraL
Also: "This device collects data to be processed by the vendor and possibly
resold to third parties."
Also maybe they should be honest and just write: "This device will stop
working at any time the company behind it gets bought and/or decides to
abandon the product line."
------
DonHopkins
WARNINGS:
WARNING: This product warps space and time in its vicinity.
WARNING: This product attracts every other piece of matter in the universe,
including the products of other manufacturers, with a force proportional to
the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the distance between
them.
CAUTION: The mass of this product contains the energy equivalent of 85 million
tons of TNT per net ounce of weight.
HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE: This product contains minute electrically charged
particles moving at velocities in excess of five hundred million miles per
hour.
CONSUMER NOTICE: Because of the "uncertainty principle," it is impossible for
the consumer to find out at the same time both precisely where this product is
and how fast it is moving.
ADVISORY: There is an extremely small but nonzero chance that, through a
process known as "tunneling," this product may spontaneously disappear from
its present location and reappear at any random place in the universe,
including your neighbor's domicile. The manufacturer will not be responsible
for any damages or inconveniences that may result.
READ THIS BEFORE OPENING PACKAGE: According to certain suggested versions of
the Grand Unified Theory, the primary particles constituting this product may
decay to nothingness within the next four hundred million years.
THIS IS A 100% MATTER PRODUCT: In the unlikely event that this merchandise
should contact antimatter in any form, a catastrophic explosion will result.
PUBLIC NOTICE AS REQUIRED BY LAW: Any use of this product, in any manner
whatsoever, will increase the amount of disorder in the universe. Although no
liability is implied herein, the consumer is warned that this process will
ultimately lead to the heat death of the universe.
NOTE: The most fundamental particles in this product are held together by a
"gluing" force about which little is currently known and whose adhesive power
can therefore not be permanently guaranteed.
ATTENTION: Despite any other listing of product contents found hereon, the
consumer is advised that, in actuality, this product consists of
99.9999999999% empty space.
NEW GRAND UNIFIED THEORY DISCLAIMER: The manufacturer may technically be
entitled to claim that this product is ten-dimensional. However, the consumer
is reminded that this confers no legal rights above and beyond those
applicable to three-dimensional objects, since the seven new dimensions are
"rolled up" into such a small "area" that they cannot be detected.
PLEASE NOTE: Some quantum physics theories suggest that when the consumer is
not directly observing this product, it may cease to exist or will exist only
in a vague and undetermined state.
COMPONENT EQUIVALENCY NOTICE: The subatomic particles (electrons, protons,
etc.) comprising this product are exactly the same in every measurable respect
as those used in the products of other manufacturers, and no claim to the
contrary may legitimately be expressed or implied.
HEALTH WARNING: Care should be taken when lifting this product, since its
mass, and thus its weight, is dependent on its velocity relative to the user.
IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PURCHASERS: The entire physical universe, including this
product, may one day collapse back into an infinitesimally small space. Should
another universe subsequently re-emerge, the existence of this product in that
universe cannot be guaranteed.
~~~
lucb1e
Just a sidenote, this is not original content and no source is mentioned. From
a quick ddg search, this seems likely to be the original (1991):
[https://stuff.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/netsam/warning...](https://stuff.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/netsam/warning_labels.html)
------
ksk
I get the humor value, but isn't this just elitism from the software folks?
Should we add similar warnings to websites of startup companies? Or during the
installation of pretty much every single OS?
I saw some folks recommending punitive damages against IoT companies that ship
this insecure junk. Well how about prosecuting software devs who introduce
security vulnerabilities?
------
mar77i
Urm, you know, people got used to IoS. Telling other people how to make their
choices is telling other people what to do. It's not always nice, and frankly,
never actually works.
~~~
DannyB2
> It's not always nice, and frankly, never actually works.
It works and is profitable. Just ask any advertiser. And it is nice. It
increases corporate profits. What could be nicer than that? /s
------
rasz
Sure, but Microsoft starts first with same label on Windows 10.
------
koverda
If we follow Troy's line of reasoning, then we would need to add these
warnings to phones, tv's, websites, credit cards -- just about anything that
contains data about you.
I guess the main point the author is trying to make is that data can get
compromised, and some people might not be aware of that.
Nothing new or groundbreaking.
~~~
npsimons
> If we follow Troy's line of reasoning, then we would need to add these
> warnings to phones, tv's, websites, credit cards -- just about anything that
> contains data about you.
I honestly don't see a problem with _requiring_ this and enforcing it with the
corporate death penalty. Need I mention Equifax?
------
ericb
We need UL listing for security on IoT devices.
------
mtgx
Ugh, hey Troy, thanks for making the post NSFW with that featured vibrator
image...was it really necessary to make the point of the article?
~~~
rootlocus
I shared it on #general and nobody complained.
------
DonHopkins
NOTE: This packet is sold by wait, not by volume. Packed as full as
practicable by modern automatic equipment, it was delayed the full net wait
indicated. If it does not appear full when opened, it is because contents have
been compressed during shipping and handling.
[http://www.directionsforme.org/item/315569](http://www.directionsforme.org/item/315569)
~~~
FabHK
weight...
> This package is sold by weight, not by volume. Packed as full as practicable
> by modern automatic equipment, it contains full net weight indicated. If it
> does not appear full when opened, it is because contents have settled during
> shipping and handling.
Not entirely unreasonable note, but nothing to do with IoT
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Subscribly-Dashboard for Subscriptions - stormbuster
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zriton.subscribly
======
stormbuster
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Subscribly also notifies you when a bill is due, so you'll never have to deal
with the sudden expiration of services and late fees. Also it helps you to
plan your expenditures so, you know which subscriptions are no longer required
and need to be terminated.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
67% of workers earning over $100k see themselves quitting in the next 6 months - DoreenMichele
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/19/67percent-of-workers-earning-over-100000-plan-to-quit-in-the-next-6-months.html
======
icotyl
The last time I made my case for a promotion, the director said "Sorry, no
promotions right now, there's nothing I can do."
A couple months later, a coworker gets a job offer elsewhere and threatens to
leave, and he's immediately promoted. He happens to be the least experienced
engineer, and now he's leading the team.
This sends everybody scrambling for job offers, since that's what gets
rewarded. Half the engineers have left already, and with any luck, I'll be
next out the door.
~~~
AllegedAlec
As Dilbert said: the company policy is to reward disloyalty.
[http://dilbert.com/strip/1997-06-29](http://dilbert.com/strip/1997-06-29)
~~~
tinus_hn
Dilbert was such a great strip before the writer went all in on politics
~~~
Shaanie
His strips don't seem to contain much politics, though?
~~~
paulddraper
I don't necessarily share the commenter's criticism, but one of the characters
was made "officially gay" in response to current political events.
[http://dilbert.com/strip/2014-02-07](http://dilbert.com/strip/2014-02-07)
[http://dilbert.com/strip/2014-02-08](http://dilbert.com/strip/2014-02-08)
~~~
brokenmachine
That second one was very weird.
------
physcab
I think there’s also something else at play. Most of my friends also don’t
believe for a second that a corporation has their best interests at heart.
It’s not just promotions — it’s work life balance, it’s top-down decision
making and political empire building, re-orgs every 4-6 months. The growth at
all costs style of building companies chews employees up and spits them out.
~~~
stephengillie
If a salaried worker doesn't get overtime, then every hour they work past 40
reduces their effective pay by 2.5%.
~~~
siquick
Can you explain the logic behind this?
~~~
guu
If you work overtime in a week and aren’t paid for it then you have taken a
pay cut for that week.
You worked more hours but made the same amount of money. Therefore the amount
you made per hour is lower than your usual amount.
~~~
Bombthecat
Bingo. That's what a lot of people don't get with there high salaries. On
paper they sound amazing.
But if you calculate hours worked and salaries. More often then not. There
promotion for example made them earn less and less per hour.
But as someone wrote on hackernews: if your company is using the emotional
path they don't have anything to offer on the rational level.
tl;DR: calculate your income per hour, not monthly salary!
~~~
toomuchtodo
> if your company is using the emotional path they don't have anything to
> offer on the rational level.
Stealing this for my “don’t work for a startup” site!
~~~
Bombthecat
It is not from me either :)
------
aresant
Fixed: “67% of workers earning over $100k see themselves “changing jobs for
better pay due to strong labor market” in the next 6 months.”
~~~
Pfhreak
This is totally it. Engineers, in particular understand that they have
options, they are highly in demand, and they have __strong __negotiating
positions when they interview.
It's not uncommon for an engineer to get a boost of 10-25% when changing
companies, and other than prepping for the grueling interview process, there
really isn't a downside to feeling out what's out there.
Especially when your compensation isn't keeping up with the median due to
lackluster annual increases.
~~~
hellogoodbyeeee
Does this work for your entire career or does it only work until you hit some
kind of "salary cap" for your local market? I've had a few good raises in a
short period of time, but I'm scared I can realistically only get one or two
more in before I reach the top of the market.
~~~
sk1pper
I’ve hit that in my market - or a soft cap, at least, meaning if I want to
earn more, I’m going to have to make 2-3x as much effort than I did before.
Through working my ass off, and pretty great luck, (working on lots of side
projects didn’t hurt either), I recently did some looking just to feel the
market out and I’m making like $20k more than I “should” be.
Part of this is because my company is based out of Bethesda, MD and I live in
Denver, CO - cost of living differences. My company pays really well which
allows them to compete with Silicon Valley and everywhere else for the best
engineers.
No complaints here. I’m making double what I thought I would be making at this
point in my career.
Anyway, yes, anecdotally, it caps out, but I also like to think that if I
really hustled, I could keep raising it. But I’m pretty happy where I’m at and
would rather spend my free time doing stuff other than coding and hustling
right now.
~~~
molsongolden
Were your feelers all in Denver? Denver seems to have surprisingly low
salaries, especially when accounting for the housing boom of the past 5-6
years.
~~~
iopuy
What would be considered surprisingly low? A level 3 software engineer making
$100K? Genuinely curious.
~~~
azemetre
That seems absurdly low. For reference, I work for a major ISP and we pay our
new college grads between $85-110K across our regions of operations.
~~~
Latteland
110k nationwide is pretty good. In seattle we pay at least 120k for new
college hires.
------
jameslk
One of the reasons I choose contracting over employment (I've been contracting
for 4.5 years and was employed prior) is that moving from contract to contract
is expected and usually comes with an income increase. If I were to change
jobs as frequently as I change contracts, this would look bad on my resume.
This makes the contract market much more liquid than the job market, which has
the consequence of arriving at my current valuation quicker.
~~~
mandeepj
Consulting is like building a castle and giving it away to someone else to
rule and enjoy the fruits. I refuse to do it now. With each new contract, you
start from scratch, again. After a while, you'll realize - you are just
hitting a reset switch on your career, with each new contract that you pick
up.
I'm glad I share my thoughts with this very smart man -
[https://youtu.be/Gk-9Fd2mEnI?t=908](https://youtu.be/Gk-9Fd2mEnI?t=908)
~~~
onlyrealcuzzo
Is there any room for income growth in contracting outside of building an
agency?
A couple of years ago, my career seemed to be dead in the water, so I thought
about contracting. It's not clear to me what changed, but in the course of a
year, I got two huge promotions and am now making double. I'm currently
interviewing for a huge step up that might bump my salary another 25% more.
I imagine if I went the contracting route, short term, I could've made much
more money per hour, since I am/was pretty productive. But I /really/ doubt
I'd get to where I am now on an annual basis (especially considering benefits
and vacation). I also seems to have a clear path toward being a VP, CTO
doesn't seem unrealstic in a few years, if I want to continue down the career
path (I don't, rather start my own business, but nice to have a solid backup).
I know there's a lot of money to be made running an agency, but I don't think
that's a natural skillset for the vast majority of engineers. Also it seems
like a really competitive space.
I'd love to hear more from some contractors about this.
~~~
blihp
Contracting is effectively going mercenary. It's straight up 'I've got the
expertise, you've got money... let's get together for a while.' There's no
career path for you as far as the client is concerned but the pay is better.
The understanding going in is that you will likely not be together for more
than about a year. In addition to the bump in pay, since you know it's not a
long-term situation, you typically get to avoid much of the office politics
and organizational dysfunction and focus on what you're there to do.
It's not an ideal terminal position: either you use it as a stepping stone to
something better (i.e. starting your own agency, getting into consulting,
starting some other kind of business etc.) or you use it as a way to test
drive companies without committing (i.e. If you like the place, convert to an
employee if it's offered. If not, move on ASAP)
There are people who do contracting for the same company indefinitely. That's
usually a career mistake as you're not getting valuable new experiences which
will prepare you for something better and your hourly rate will get stuck in
the mud. After 2-3 years it will have often been better to have converted to
an employee. (i.e. more relaxed relationship, benefits/paid time off,
stock/bonus programs etc.) Many larger companies _love_ it when contractors
stay long term: for them it's all of the upside of having an employee with
none of the downside. (it's also legally problematic but that doesn't stop
most of them)
------
booleandilemma
It’s simply the best way to get a pay raise if you’re a programmer in today’s
job market. Want to make 30-50k more? Quit your job and find another.
You could ask your current manager for that kind of pay raise but if they do
give you the increase, they’re going to expect you to work harder to “earn”
it.
Of course, all this money being thrown around attracts frauds, and that’s why
we have absurd technical interviews.
~~~
commandlinefan
> Quit your job and find another.
Not necessarily in that order, though...
------
Maro
I've had 3 jobs in the past 6 years (5 in 10). So I spend about 2 years/gig on
average. Reasons:
1\. Learning. I find that I learn 80-90% of what I will learn at a company in
the first 12-18 months. Staying at a job for too long is risky because I will
miss out on new things happening in my area. In the long term this is the most
important, because this is what will get me more money, and make me
competitive/valuable. Example: it's hard for people in traditional data roles
to do ML/DL without switching jobs.
2\. I prefer dynamic equilibrium over static equilibrium. I very strongly
prefer being able to go out and get a good job at any time over having a "cozy
job". The only way to be good at getting a job is having practice at it.
3\. Impact. I find that I deliver most of my impact on the job in the first 2
years, after that it levels off and I tend to do more maintenance stuff of all
the things I've built (both systems and teams).
4\. More money. This is almost a side-effect of 1-3. But also in itself: if I
want to get more money in my current job, it's partially up to me, but it's
also up to my manager and the company/culture. If I get unlucky with my
manager/company, I'm not going to get it. Also, sometimes I hit a glass
ceiling, and there's simply nowhere to go (eg. I'm already the Head/Director
whatever, but the company isn't that successful and/or/but pay levels aren't
that high). On the other hand, switching jobs is entirely up to me: if I am
good at what I do and have a good track record to prove it, practice
interviewing to be good at it, and play the numbers game (apply to lots of
companies), I will succeed at finding a higher paying job.
Overall:
1\. I have to be ruthless and watch out for my own interests. Nobody else
will. The world doesn't owe me anything, I have to go out, work for it, make
smart decisions and then pluck the rewards myself.
2\. I don't think this is unfair towards companies. If a company/org is badly
run, people leaving is valuable feedback. Assuming a company can hire good new
people, those will deliver new impact, bring new knowledge, etc.
Having said that, there are companies where you can work and make more and
more money (usually stock options play a big role here), and keep learn more
and more (because the company is growing like crazy). These are the startups
that are run well and are rocket ships (the FAANGs were like this).
~~~
notyouravgdoge
Does switching jobs so often raise any red flags when you interview?
~~~
commandlinefan
Not OP, but - I graduated in '95 and started working right away. Back then,
the market and demand for developers was insane, and I ended up switching jobs
- for 10-20% more every time - four times in four years. Then, right around
2000, the market crashed and I started interviewing again, and suddenly I had
a really tough time finding anything: they brought up my short tenure at all
my past jobs very negatively. I did finally find something, and have slowed
down my job-hopping a bit (averaging 5 years per job now), but the "four jobs
in four years, back in the late 90's" thing came up just last year during an
interview - for a job that I didn't end up getting. In short - be careful,
they're watching.
~~~
bootsz
Personally I feel like an employer who is overly concerned with something like
that (especially when it was so long ago) is a huge red flag.
People evaluate others based on their own experiences and ideas of success. If
they feel that staying at one job for a long time is the utmost important
factor above all else, what does that tell me about the kind of person they
are and the kind of company they’re running? It tells me it’s probably a run
of the mill mediocrity-factory full of people mostly just punching the clock
every day. I’ve ignored these signs in the past and learned the hard way.
IMO places that have strong engineering cultures that are run by smart and
driven people understand that your technical skill is what matters and aren’t
going to hold it against you if you’ve hopped jobs to maintain your career
growth, because they’ve most likely done the same thing themselves. Ambition
recognizes ambition, and ambitious people HATE to stagnate.
------
filmgirlcw
In the past, giant stock grants could convince people to stay sans a
raise/promotion, but with vesting periods increasing or being staggered and an
understandable uncertainty in sustained stock growth (you could do really well
or not, depending on when your shares are purchased), it’s totally
understandable that someone would leave for another company to get a pay raise
or promotion.
Boomerang employment is super common too (you don’t get your promotion/level
bump so you go to competitor X who hires you at s higher level and salary. You
do your 2 years and then return to company Y at a higher level/better salary,
in less time than it would take to earn a promotion using the system.).
I don’t know if this is sustainable — but I don’t fault anyone who does this
or thinks about it. And because it’s so common, it’s not like it looks bad on
a resume, because loyalty isn’t valued the same way anyway.
------
captain_perl
"The reason people are quitting today is because the labor market is so
competitive that the only way they can get a significant increase in income is
by quitting and going to another job."
Well, no, the opposite is true. Employees have to quit because companies
stubbornly refuse to be competitive on salary.
The reason for that is mismanagement - managers and HR would be personally
criticized for "being soft" if they offered raises, regardless of the benefits
to the company of doing so.
~~~
kraftman
I've seen this so much now that I feel like I must be missing a piece of the
puzzle.
You work for a company for X amount of time, and you gain domain knowledge of
the company, and general industry experience. Some other company looks at your
CV, and without knowing you, and probably without caring about your specific
company domain knowledge, decides you are worth say 20% more than you are
earning. You then go to your current company, and say 'my general skills are
worth 20% more on the market, you know how well I work, and you know I have
extra domain knowledge specific to this role, I would like more money' \- and
the company refuses.
They then spend time and money finding someone with similar skills to what you
have, but without your domain knowledge, and probably at a similar amount you
asked for since that's the market rate.
How is it not in the companies best interests to just keep you on and give you
a raise? How do they justify all that wasted time and money every time? Do
they just not measure it?
~~~
gjm11
Suppose salaries are going up, and the average person at FooCorp could get 10%
more by changing jobs. You are more underpaid than most; you establish that
you could get 20% more by moving, and say to your manager at FooCorp that
you'd like a 20% pay rise.
Suppose they say yes. What happens next: other people hear about it and go to
their managers saying "I think I'm underpaid; give me a 20% pay rise". If the
answer is yes, then FooCorp is paying 20% more in salaries for the same work
as before. If the answer is no, then those people have a concrete motivation
to go and interview elsewhere, and probably a bunch of them will then leave
even if they get counteroffers at FooCorp once they've demonstrated that they
could earn more elsewhere.
Suppose they say no. What happens next: most likely you leave for that better-
paid job; others at FooCorp hear about this and understand that they aren't
going to get paid more at FooCorp even with a job offer in hand. Some of them
will decide to move, but maybe fewer than in the first scenario (because they
haven't had the specific motivating experience of asking for more money and
getting turned down, and because they don't feel like they have the lower-risk
option of interviewing elsewhere, getting a counteroffer, and thus _being paid
more without having to move jobs_ ). And the ones who don't move can go on
being paid less.
It's not obvious to me that the first of those scenarios is better for FooCorp
than the second, if all they care about is maximizing their profits.
~~~
kraftman
In the first case, if you think the person deserves the extra money and give
it to them, you keep your best people. If other staff ask for the same, you
can either give it to them if you think they deserve it, or risk losing them
to elsewhere. The end result is you always keep your best staff, and
potentially lose your worst staff.
The second scenario, you always keep your worst staff and you potentially lose
your best staff.
~~~
tomp
Maybe from company perspective, there’s no such thing as “10x engineers”, but
only “1.02x engineers” at most.
------
GreeniFi
My sister works in the advertising industry, where it seems few people spend
more than 2-3 years [edit] in a firm before moving on. The big advertising
firms tend to be in public ownership and and have apparently systemised the
creation of advertising and marketing content, such that it doesn’t matter who
is in the job or how long they are there for. I was pretty surprised by that -
managers are well paid and grind creativity out of younger employees. Maybe I
shouldn’t be surprised - maybe those are just well run businesses, but I’m
helluva glad I don’t work for one!
~~~
shostack
The average tenure of someone, particularly a junior person, at an ad or media
agency is around 1.5 years.
The reality is that there's always opportunities at other agencies where
they'll pay you a bit more than you're currently making (which is still less
than paying someone there already more) and give you an inflated title.
Due in part to the nature of the industry, tasks are made to not be dependent
on a given individual, and people float around because agency teams are never
at equilibrium. They either have too few clients for the team and need to let
people go, or too many/too big clients and need to staff up.
Source: worked agency side for most of my career and managed a bunch of
people. I'm brand side now at a company with a significant percentage of
employees at or over the 10yr mark. There's a reason I left the agency world.
------
samspenc
"Quitting" -> quitting to move to another job. But this isn't clear until
three paragraphs into the article.
~~~
dlhavema
Right.. kinda clickbaity?
One way to try to get a raise at a current job that I've done in the past is
get an interview and see if you can get offers for a higher paid job and then
use that as leverage for a counter offer.
I know there are already many threads about taking counter offers, but its not
always a bad thing... in my experience, the manager just needed better
justification for the higher ups. It was too large a company for him to just
give me a bump.
------
mrhappyunhappy
I was working in e-commerce when my company for acquired by a larger one.
Since I was 100% remote and had zero face time with anyone I was one of the
people to get canned. Actually, most of our company got canned.
At first I was furious and a bit depressed and that's when I said enough is
enough, I will never let anyone else in a position over me, I'm done being an
employee, I will never be let go ever again.
A year later I was working insane hours as a freelancer, just learning the
ropes with enough pay to get by on. Fast forward to year 3 and I am a
consultant making more than I did at the ecommerce company. I am my own boss.
I can fire my clients instead of the other way around. Pay is great, hours are
insanely good - I work just a couple of hours per week with occasional bursts
of power sessions exceeding 3-4 hours. I get to spend most of my time with my
kid.
The downside is having to always have business lined up but I have been
fortunate to never really have any downtime. I'm slowly building out my
marketing channels and once everything is in place I can pick and choose
really carefully who I work with. Oh, and if I want a raise I just increase my
weekly retainer.
~~~
lurcio
"Fast forward to year 3..." May I ask: are you e-commerce consulting? Your
comment suggests that you repositioned yourself purposefully, rather than the
outcome simply eventuated. If so, was this based on a discovery you made in
the market or client demand while you were freelancing? Did this result in you
"niching down" from a broader "catch all" offering as a freelancer? Are you
clients higher ticket/larger SME's compared to freelancing (which is often
outsourced agency work)?
~~~
mrhappyunhappy
I started as a freelance designer, then quickly niched down to UX designer and
then again to CRO consultant. I only work with companies that will see direct
ROI impact from my work. While I still design UIs, the whole process starts
with discovery and an audit. It's a data based approach with no guessing
involved. The process involves understanding customer pain points, their
language and behavior. Clients vary in size from 10 person teams to larger
e-commerce operations with maybe 30-40 employees. I do all of the work myself
and expect full cooperation from the client or we don't go forward. I've
definitely made every mistake in the book but I've learned a lot along the
way. I'm sure there are consultants 2 tiers ahead of me though with
productized services or just products. My ultimate goal is to have a product
(who's isn't, right).
To answer your first question, I do consult in e-commerce, but not limited to
it (though that may be a good idea). Most of my leads come through dribbble or
LinkedIn. The client typically expects grunt work but after my initial email
and call, they are quickly educated on my process and most see clearly that
the way they thought of approaching their problems is backwards.
~~~
pacomerh
"The client typically expects grunt work but after my initial email and call,
they are quickly educated "
That's the part that makes me hesitate jumping into consulting. How do you
advertise yourself in a way that you can avoid the wrong clients, which seems
you'll always gonna get.
------
nunobrito
The only way to get a proper raise is changing companies.
Promotions tend to take years and are often more political than technical.
I've seen often that a company prefers to hire someone techie from the outside
rather than promoting internally. It is just the way it is.
When the already hired engineers see this kind of thing, it is not surprising
that morale gets low and churn gets high.
------
wordpressdev
Most companies in my part of the world opt to hire a new employee on higher
salary than given raise to existing person. Can't fathom the logic.
------
hateful
It's so sad this is the case, but it is the case. In a job I've always gotten
1.5-3% raises, and 10% for promotions. Switching jobs I've gotten up to a 75%
increase each time.
------
rogerdickey
So the implication is that 2/3 of workers at this pay level will turn over
2x/year? Why publish these “survey” results when that is obviously false?
~~~
Gustomaximus
The wording is workers 'who see themself quitting'. The reality is 1 or 2 in 5
(my guess) will actually do it. People always say this but fewer are willing
to fight the inertia
------
eecsninja
So what happens when you stay at your current job because you've just stopped
caring for any of the software work out there? It's easier just to stay with
your current company than to have to incur the costs of changing to a new
environment and having to learn a new way of doing things.
I'm not sure if at this point in my career, it really makes a difference in
the big picture of my life to get a 20% raise.
------
Gravityloss
A cynic would assume it's just companies that produce low value, have low
value (compared to cost) employees but are VC money pumped. This cycle will
continue until there's an economic down turn and a large portion of those
companies will go bankrupt.
~~~
menor
Nailed it ;)
------
austincheney
The big problem I have is that it’s rare to find a combination of strong
leadership with fast stressful work in the corporate world. Historically
either my work is slow and easy or my leadership is extremely weak.
The only times I have seen strong leadership and fast work is in
agency/consultancy work and military.
~~~
Pfhreak
I throw in strong peers as my third axis. One point in my career I've had
strong leadership, strong peers, and challenging fast work.
It was amazing. Then we re-org'd, and I'm still looking for that combination
somewhere.
------
baby23
Having worked at a large corporation I can say that I found the reward system
completely random. It’s really difficult, if your not part of the team to
figure out how much work and value people are adding. It makes it ripe for
gaming the system.
------
Dowwie
Don't accept the counter offer.
~~~
ImprovedSilence
care to explain why?
~~~
ddebernardy
I'm not the OP, but can offer two reasons:
1\. You'll be labeled as disloyal. Which is euphemism for: someone at HR is
already looking into replacing you.
2\. Whatever problems prompted you to want to go away are still there.
Similarly, never offer a counter-offer as a manager. Because:
1\. You don't want to send the message to others that it's a valid way to get
a raise.
2\. Whatever problems prompted them to want to go away are still there.
There reportedly are exceptions when things work out on both sides of the
fence. But in almost 20 years, I've yet to see one first hand.
~~~
commandlinefan
> someone at HR is already looking into replacing you.
Well, not that I disagree that accepting a counter offer is a bad idea, I'm
pretty sure that someone at HR is always looking into replacing you, all the
time.
~~~
Latteland
I don't think that hr is looking to replace people, because it's way too hard
to hire. At my company every new hire looks like a magical lucky serendipitous
event. Hiring is just that hard. HR grudlingly matches people's other offers.
They are too exhausted to look for someone to replace their existing
employees.
------
dawhizkid
I feel like I've reached a point where I've moved jobs a little too often (avg
1.5 yrs last 3 jobs)
~~~
Latteland
2 years seems to be the minimum, and it's almost how linked in computes it
that matters. In west cost tech companies, 2 years raises no red flags. so if
you can get your average to that, or at a minimum your current job is at least
2 years no one will car.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
We've Already Surpassed Last Year's Patent Totals - yanw
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101007/02100011321/we-ve-already-surpassed-last-year-s-patent-totals.shtml
======
Unseelie
A slightly less positive tagline would be appropriate... This, at first sight,
sounded like a brilliant thing
------
noonespecial
They say that productivity used to be measured by the number of patents
filed...
Why do I feel like my taxes just went up?
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Bruce Schneier: Risk Intuition - gaika
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/08/risk_intuition.html
======
drewr
Not the focus of the article, but very poignant:
_Children have surprisingly perceptive risk intuition. They know when parents
are serious about a threat and when their threats are empty. And they respond
to the real risks of parental punishment, not the inflated risks based on
parental rhetoric... There have to be real consequences._
~~~
andreyf
Hah, just had an argument with my mom over this the other day - I'm 23 (living
separately), my sister is 12 (living with mom), and her and my mom were
visiting. I had just emptied a piggy bank and my sister (12 yo) was counting
the coins. First my mom said "oi, those are dirty, you shouldn't touch them",
and was promptly ignored. She kept escalating her rhetoric, finally describing
the unimaginable diseases my sister could pick up. Still ignored, until she
raised her voice. At that point, I stepped in, and the argument turned into
whether or not I should question my mother's authority in front of my sis.
Whether or not my sister learned it, I still think that questioning authority
calmly and firmly is a great lesson. :)
------
pwk
The concept of a "risk thermostat" is interesting -- people seem inclined to
maintain a more or less constant level of risk. I've noticed an effect that
interacts with that: my risk inclination seems to have some initial static
friction that changes to a lower level of kinetic friction once I'm moving.
Example: some years ago I was feeling a little hesitant to try snowboarding
because it seemed "risky" (I knew I'd fall a lot). The first time I tried it,
I was having so much fun that I pushed myself well into exhaustion and took
some crazy tumbles that didn't stop me from getting up and riding more. I
suppose my initial response might just have been an underestimation of the
"reward" part, rather than an incorrect estimation of the "risk" part.
------
10ren
Aside: When I used to ride a motorbike, I found the combination exhilarating
of the more severe consequences of an accident, with greater ability to be
aware of it and greater ability to deal with it. Unlike a car, a motorbike has
a full field of vision, and you can also see over cars because you are higher.
It's also more agile: you can turn, brake and accelerate more quickly, it
being lighter; and of course you can pass through smaller gaps to get out of
trouble.
It's incredible fun.
But I limited my riding to a year, because you can't avoid some accidents, and
the consequences _are_ severe: a friend worked in prosthetics, and half of the
recipients are motorcycle riders.
~~~
bigiain
A friend of mine was in hospital for a quite serious motorcycle accident (as
in "lost half a leg" type serious), and was in a ward with 3 other motorcycle
accident patients. The four of them had a lot of fun, whenever any visitors
started questioning their intentions about continuing to ride, by pointing out
the the _next_ ward had four guys all of whom had fallen off ladders.
Yeah, motorcycling is dangerous - you're around 10 times more likely to be
hospitalised or killed per kilometer travelled according to local (Australian)
stats - but _life_ is dangerous, and not having fun isn't living...
------
GavinB
One additional thing is that the punishments have to be realistic. If your
policy is to fire someone who is lax in security, your managers are likely to
cover up infractions so that they don't have to fire their employees.
You have to be willing to follow through.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Shazam-like technology used to identify bars illegally streaming soccer games - rexbee
https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/12/18662968/la-liga-app-illegal-soccer-streaming-fine
======
kelnos
This has the same solution as any other story around copyright infringement.
If you provide people with easy, convenient, legal methods to consume the
content in a way that works for them, for a price they find reasonable, then
they overwhelmingly won't resort to illegal means.
I'm not saying these bars are correct to resort to illegal streaming, but a
wise businessperson would see this as a signal that their product offering
doesn't actually match demand, and work to fill that demand. You're not going
to make 100% of people happy in 100% of cases, but you can get to a point
where the level of illegal streaming just isn't worth cracking down on.
It's such a sad waste that all this money has been spent to identify and track
down illegal activity when it could have been spent making the overall legal
experience good enough that most people wouldn't need to resort to illegality.
It adds insult to injury to note that companies like La Liga are already
making money hand-over-fist; it's not like they have some sort of crisis where
the lost revenue due to illegal streaming is posing an existential threat to
their business. Instead of cracking down and making enemies, they could
instead work to make the experience better and turn potential enemies into
satisfied customers.
~~~
stornetn
> a wise businessperson would see this as a signal that their product offering
> doesn't actually match demand, and work to fill that demand
This is not necessarily true. It depends entirely on the shape of demand. By
way of simplified example, imagine that there are two types of consumers
equally distributed: those willing to pay $1000 and those willing to pay $100.
Unless you can distinguish at time of payment between these users and charge
them different prices (without possibility of resale), you will always be
better off forgoing half of the market and charging only the higher price.
It's _possible_ that the business has estimated things incorrectly and is
acting suboptimally, but I think it's as least as likely that they are
maximizing profits the way we'd expect a rational business operator to do.
~~~
csa
> but I think it's as least as likely that they are maximizing profits the way
> we'd expect a rational business operator to do
I think you grossly overestimate the ability of most large businesses to
behave rationally form an organizational profit maximization perspective. It
would just as likely or even more likely be something like personal wealth
maximization by an employee or group of employees, personal relationship
improvement, ego gratification, maintaining/improving social standing, effort
minimization, etc.
This is even more so for a monopoly rights holder like La Liga.
~~~
dlkf
> It would just as likely or even more likely be something like personal
> wealth maximization by an employee or group of employees, personal
> relationship improvement, ego gratification, maintaining/improving social
> standing, effort minimization, etc.
Do you have any evidence for this?
> I think you grossly overestimate the ability of most large businesses to
> behave rationally form an organizational profit maximization perspective.
You're free to think this but it doesn't really square with common sense.
Profit maximization is a stated goal of large orgs, and by definition they're
doing ok at it.
In any case, your comment does nothing to diminish OP's point: that the shape
of the demand matters. What the shape of the demand is in this case is an
empirical question and you haven't provided any evidence.
~~~
lzol
People and businesses don't behave rationally. They behave with bounded
rationality [0]. That is, they make the most rational decisions with
information available to them. No one is working with perfect information.
This leaves plenty of room for them to leave money on the table.
With that said, I have no guarantee that these companies are leaving money on
the table. We also have no guarantee that they aren't. The best you are going
to be able to do is create a model. Models are not reality. Models use
assumptions. You're making two huge assumptions. One, that the models
assumptions are correct. Two, the people interpreting the model are doing it
correctly. Humans are imperfect, we make imperfect models, those models are
interpreted by other imperfect humans. Making concrete statements either way
is silly in my opinion.
[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounded_rationality](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bounded_rationality)
------
ankit219
One of those cases where both sides are in the mud. La Liga is struggling with
piracy of games for long. They have been trying to make money of their product
(football essentially features two of the greatest players to play the game in
last 10 years, only one now) but struggle due to their whacky ideas and no
care about fans. Sample this: The timings of games are as early as 12PM
(spanish siesta is at 4PM) and as late as 11 PM local time. They host 10
rounds every week, most in different slots to get more eyeballs. They have
acted in bad faith in a sense too. Spanish law requires one of those 10 games
to be free to air. They made sure that game is one held on Friday or Monday at
11 PM (teams' fans call it graveyard shift) and nothing on f2a tv on
weekend.The ones listed are the ideas which made through while others like
having one random game in US thankfully did not. Though, given their
ineptitude, its a sure wonder how they managed to execute this so well.
Bars should not be streaming the games illegally either. But since the cable
prices are too high, and nothing on free to air, they have to in order to
attract crowds. There is no official streaming service - albeit not bundled
with cable tv subscription - that people in these countries can make use of to
watch games.
The path forward maybe what Formula1 did by introducing a streaming service
which is not geo blocked. This way, I can watch a race at reasonable
subscription from anywhere in the world. They also allow me a racer only feed,
or the global feed, or a feed from a particular stand. I will definitely buy
it if any official football league offers that too.
~~~
airstrike
> But since the cable prices are too high, and nothing on free to air, they
> have to in order to attract crowds.
Somehow I find it hard to believe a business can't afford cable. Even if it
costs $200 / month, surely they ought to be able to cover that.
~~~
CtrlAltT5wpm
Take this with a grain or two of salt, as I don't recall the source, but it
seems plausible - I read somewhere that when it comes to businesses like bars,
at least in the US, there is a normal rate applied to the cable package, and
an additional rate applied 'per head' for the event in question. This may only
be for pay-per-view events where multiple people can congregate at a single
location which has paid the PPV fee, and not necessarily for widely broadcast
events; I've seen sports bars charge cover for highly anticipated MMA matches.
How those rules are enforced is beyond me. Tangentially related, some of the
legitimate, paid-for streams have been of pretty low quality, cutting out
frequently. Not sure if it's because of draconian DRM or just excessive
demand, but it would be interesting to find out.
~~~
kevinmchugh
For pay-per-view events there's usually a commercial PPV sales channel as
well. Joe Hand Promotions handled it for the UFC up until this year (now it's
all under ESPN+). JHP has some formula for determining cost, it's at least
partially determined by venue capacity, hence the use of a cover charge.
~~~
Fripplebubby
I believe UFC still sells with a commercial formula for bars, I don't know if
it's through JHP or not, but my understanding is that ESPN+ is for private
consumers only
~~~
kevinmchugh
oh, I thought ESPN+ also was doing the commercial licenses. They might handle
the delivery now, but yeah, it's Joe Hand still that does the negotiation.
------
josecastillo
This reminds me of a short story by Paul Ford from a few years back[1]:
_We had gone to a baseball game at the beginning of the season. They had
played a song on the public address system, and she sang along without
permission. They used to factor that into ticket price—they still do if you
pay extra or have a season pass—but now other companies handled the followup.
And here was the video from that day, one of many tens of thousands
simultaneously recorded from gun scanners on the stadium roof. In the video my
daughter wore a cap and a blue T-shirt. I sat beside her, my arm over her
shoulder, grinning. Her voice was clear and high; the ambient roar of the
audience beyond us filtered down to static..._
_I told my waiting daughter to go ahead and pay the few dollars, just part of
the latent cost of a ticket. She tapped and the tablet made its cash-register
sound, and the video was irrevocably destroyed so that it could never again be
shared._
[1] [https://www.ftrain.com/nanolaw](https://www.ftrain.com/nanolaw)
~~~
sneakernets
I had written (in college) a small story about an "RIAA Task Force"
collaborating with the FBI to raid small brick-and-mortar businesses with
occupants above some fabled "listener limit" that dared to have an FM Radio or
iPod connected to a boombox in the corner of the store somewhere. Everything
from Barbershops to Butchershops were raided, and the small infringing devices
confiscated.
Given that the RIAA tried to sue a grandmother once, This wasn't too far-
fetched.
~~~
ikeyany
Why is it illegal to amplify music in your store if you paid for the music?
~~~
bhelkey
Should it be legal to create a drive-in that plays movies off of Netflix?
~~~
Nextgrid
Unpopular opinion, but I would say yes.
It doesn’t cost Netflix any more money whether one person or 10 people are
watching a particular subscription.
I’d say the major appeal of the drive-in is the venue and all the accessories
(big screen, sound, etc) - otherwise you’d just pay for Netflix yourself and
watch it at home.
~~~
deelowe
Opportunity cost is real...
~~~
Nextgrid
I mean I understand both sides of the argument, but it seems like physical
goods manufacturers are doing fine without enforcing restrictions on how their
goods are used (I am free to buy an off-the-shelf power tool and then rent it
out without paying extra to the manufacturer), so why are we giving this
exception to content producers?
In my opinion the law should be changed that content you pay for can be used
as you wish _except copying_ (otherwise you'd just copy it and resell). It'll
drive up the prices of the "source" content, but the market will quickly fill
the gap by offering affordable access to broadcasted versions of such content.
------
jdietrich
Sky Sports use a far simpler solution that doesn't violate anyone's privacy.
The satellite feed that's licensed for public venues has a small beer glass
logo burned in to the image. The amount of beer in the glass changes every day
on a pseudorandom basis. An inspector can check whether a pub has the right
license simply by looking at the screen - if the glass is missing or contains
the wrong amount of beer, it's an unlicensed stream. It's plausibly hackable
by a sufficiently motivated person, but it's a remarkably simple and effective
deterrent.
[https://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2016/12/13/game-theory-
ap...](https://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/2016/12/13/game-theory-applied-why-
is-there-a-pint-glass-in-the-corner-of-tvs-at-pubs/)
~~~
orf
But what if you are pirating a legal stream? Does the beer glass change per
subscriber? And then surely they would know by just asking “does this pub, at
this address, have a sky sports subscription?”
Seems simpler?
Also, side note, I’ve never seen the glass anything other than full.
~~~
jdietrich
_> But what if you are pirating a legal stream?_
The glass only appears on the (vastly more expensive) pub licensed feed, not
on the consumer feed. The higher cost and much smaller pool of licensed
customers reduces the likelihood of someone pirating the feed and vastly
simplifies the process of identifying the leak. A pirate could burn in the
right logo to a standard consumer feed, but they'd need daily information from
someone who can view the pub licensed feed.
Given the incredibly devious history of satellite anti-piracy technology, I
would fully expect Sky to have a bunch of other, subtler data hidden in the
feeds and codecs.
~~~
orf
That makes sense, thanks! But I can't help but ask again: why would a simple
lookup of address -> registration work here? Why would you need a vast array
of subtler, hidden data in the feeds?
If you're playing live sports in The Temeraire, and The Temeraire doesn't have
a license, then boom. You're knicked. Pubs are licensed and not readily
movable things owned by specific (and licensed) people. Walk in the door, if
they are playing sports and this pub is not registered then you know right
away. You'd in fact only target pubs that _dont_ have a license. No need for
any steganography.
Of course you might want it if someone is streaming this sports feed from a
pub licensed feed to the internet, but then why have the global changing beer
glass?
~~~
jdietrich
It's a surprisingly complex legal situation. It's very clear that using a
domestic Sky subscription in a pub is a breach of copyright, but it's less
clear if using a foreign satellite subscription is legal - recent court cases
have gone both ways and involve both British and EU law. The fact that a pub
is showing a football match without a suitable license from Sky isn't
necessarily evidence of wrongdoing.
The glass provides an instant clue for inspectors, but also the general
public. A busybody (or a rival publican) can instantly spot if a pub is using
a dodgy satellite feed.
There's also the underlying tension between Sky Television and the English
Premier League, who both have slightly different incentives around rights
enforcement. The pint glass allows Sky to easily audit pub landlords, but it
also allows the Premier League to audit Sky.
It's not a comprehensive anti-piracy system in itself, but it's a really
useful and really simple tool.
------
myself248
I've never been in a bar where the TVs had their audio on. The sports games
are on screens but muted, and some have closed-captioning turned on.
Wouldn't that defeat this?
Slightly off-topic but I feel like relating it:
When I was a kid, we'd watch baseball games on TV, but muted. Then we'd turn
on the radio and tune in whatever station was simulcasting the game. Because
the radio announcers assume you can't see the action, they narrate a lot more
of what's going on, so we could follow the gameplay without having to be glued
to the screen every instant.
We also didn't have air conditioning, so baseball season was windows-open
season, and more than once a pedestrian would pause to listen, sometimes
holler "HEY WHAT'S THE SCORE?" into the house, we'd holler back, they'd
continue down the sidewalk. _Everyone_ watched the Tigers in the 80s, and it
was said that when a game was on, you could walk clear from Trenton to Mt
Clemens and never be out of the sound of Ernie Harwell's voice.
~~~
schnevets
Sports in bars is a very different experience with sound on vs. off. Without
sound, it's a background distraction that a few folks may be interested in.
With sound on (even if the commentary is indecipherable), it's a collective
experience that holds everyone's attention. Usually the bar will mute or put
on music during commercial breaks.
I do wonder if alternative commentary would ever catch on. Imagine if instead
of talking heads you had a music track that would mimic the tension of the
game like a music score.
~~~
KingMachiavelli
Personally, I feel a slapstick comedy track would work best. /joke
What could work really well is some live radio, podcast, twitch of commentary
to supplement the detectable pirated audio. The biggest issue would be syncing
the video and audio.
~~~
myself248
So someone out there could make a killing by running their own stream that
acts as alternate audio for the matches. Couple of super-fans in a booth with
a video feed of the match, no audio passthrough, their own SFX person and
statistician feeding them talking-points...
Charge bars a few dollars for the feed, and watch 'em rake it in.
------
egd
Someone I met tried to figure out how to actually legally stream the NBA
playoffs recently - apparently there's basically no way to do so without an
existing cable subscription or without paying for the entire season. I'm
guessing the licensing structure around all of that would make the US tax code
look readable, but the result is that it's effectively impossible to decide
you want to watch a specific game on a computer and give someone money to do
so on a one-off basis.
~~~
xnyan
It’s so much easier to stream the NBA finals from a pirate site than it is to
pay - if there even is a way to pay. I’m looking at waiting 10 days for a
cable installer and at least 50 a month plus multiple calls to setup and then
cancel to watch the one event I want to watch via cable, or 2 clicks and an
ad-free 1080p 60 fps stream on my browser. I’m not saying piracy is legal or
moral, but the difference in cost benefit effort and value is so extreme I
don’t know how you can realistically expect someone who knows all the options
to chose cable.
~~~
fourmii
Really, how about just signing up to the NBA League Pass? Sure it's expensive,
but it doesn't need cable installation, just watch it from basically any
internet accessible device.
~~~
wjossey
League pass does not apply to nationally broadcast games or games in your
local market. I live in LA and root for the Celtics, and watch all the home
broadcasts with their arena feed. If I lived in Boston it’s not an option and
I have to have a cable subscription.
If the team is on a national broadcast, it is also blacked out.
That being said, I listen to the finals on the local radio broadcasts via the
NBA app because those are never blacked out.
~~~
notyourwork
MLB has same problem with blackouts. Irks me beyond belief.
------
hammock
Tangentially related: there is a cool app called Tunity that "shazams" a muted
TV, e.g. at a bar, finds the game and lets you play the audio from your phone
- syncing it perfectly to the video picture that you shazamed. So you can sit
at a bar or waiting room or somewhere with muted TVs, and listen to the audio
of the game.
~~~
borumpilot
...when the venue has a hearTV device installed and you are connected to their
network... But cool nevertheless.
~~~
hammock
I don't know what heartv is. I used it at a random bar and it just synced to
the audio fingerprint.
------
Scoundreller
This is an old story.
The update is the Spanish gov fining the league 1/240th of their top player’s
salary (250k/61m) for abusing 10m of their residents’ personal technology and
privacy.
Another way of putting it is 1/100th of the team salary for the lowest
spending team (250k/24m). Which, in-turn, spends 1/33rd as much as the top
spender.
~~~
mosselman
What are `(250k/61m)` and `(250k/24m)`? 250.000 euros per 61 months? How can
that be expressed in a fine? 250.000 * 61? I am confused, sorry.
~~~
ankit219
61M is the yearly salary of Lionel Messi. The top earner in Spanish League.
24M is the annual revenue of the smallest spending team in Spanish League.
~~~
Scoundreller
24m was the sum of the player salaries of the smallest spending team. If
they’re not losing money, their revenue is higher than that.
------
escapecharacter
I’m really into the dark future of DRM enforcement drones flying around cities
listening for illegal streaming.
~~~
slg
I am not sure how many people outside the UK are aware of this, but a similar
thing has existed there for nearly 70 years.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_detector_van](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TV_detector_van)
~~~
dcminter
The vans exist. The implied technology within them not so much.
[https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/bbc-tv-
licence-v...](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/08/bbc-tv-licence-vans-
wi-fi-snooping-analysis/)
~~~
kevin_thibedeau
The Wikipedia page states that they can monitor brightness changes through a
window and correlate that to a broadcast programme. How they deal with network
delays and time shifting is another matter.
~~~
thatoneuser
That sounds like something that works in theory but not at all in the real
world.
~~~
giobox
The full description sounds like a normal digital camera to be honest, almost
as if someone has gone to great verbal lengths to disguise the fact it is
simply a camera:
"The optical detector in the detector van uses a large lens to collect that
light and focus it on to an especially sensitive device, which converts
fluctuating light signals into electrical signals, which can be electronically
analysed."
For many years I had heard that the real enforcement tool was the fact that
anyone selling a TV in the UK, like an electrical retailer such as Comet or
Currys, had to submit the name and address of the purchaser to the TV
Licensing authority. I just did a quick google, and it turns out this really
was the case for a really long time!
> [https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-
> one/business...](https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you-need-
> one/business-and-organisations/tv-dealers-aud18)
~~~
thatoneuser
TV licensing authority? That sounds unnecessarily dystopian.
~~~
giobox
Really? bizzare. Even the UK TV Licensing authority in the UK calls itself the
the "Licensing authority"! Given it has legal enforcement powers and a team to
enforce them the term "Authority" is absolutely appropriate.
"Since 1991, the BBC, in its role as the relevant licensing authority, has
been responsible for collecting and enforcing the TV Licence fee."
> [https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-legal-framework-
> AB16](https://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/about/foi-legal-framework-AB16)
------
Lowkeyloki
This really doesn't sit well with me. Yes, the bars in question were breaking
the law. However, keep in mind that one business was using private citizens to
essentially spy on other businesses without the citizens' knowledge or
consent.
I'm sure the users of the app technically gave legal consent via the app's
terms of service. But I doubt even 1% of the app's users were actually aware
of this aspect of the app.
Also, this is why the permissions an app requires to operate matter. I roll my
eyes just as hard as the next person when I see comments in the Google's Play
store about the absurd level of permissions required by some apps. But I also
think twice when I install apps requiring ridiculous permissions compared with
what they're supposed to do.
------
duxup
I'd like to see physical switches on all electronics that CUT POWER to cameras
and mics and have a clear indicator when they are active or not.
I don't know that people would use them, but I'd like to have the option.
~~~
Scoundreller
Easier said than done. On circuits that use small enough amounts of power,
they can run parasitically from the power through pullup resistors on I/O
lines. I've seen microcontrollers continue to work fine after lifting their
power pin.
~~~
duxup
It would take a deliberate design effort for sure.
~~~
benatkin
It would also be a bad design. Reminds me of the Spaceballs quote, "Evil will
always triumph, because good is dumb."
------
rolltiide
> Spanish data protection agency claims that the app didn’t make [the use of
> the microphone permission] clear, and has ordered LaLiga to take down the
> app by June 30th
So all they have to do is describe what it does and hope users don't uninstall
it? seems lesser than getting removed from the app stores
~~~
xythian
I'm waiting for a company to start paying $X to the first Y people that
passively find illegal streaming. Turn people into fully aware copyright cops
on your behalf. You leave an app running in the background and it listens 24x7
for unauthorized sports broadcasts.
~~~
hedvig
Ironic no? This was one of the major criticism of communism in practice.
Except now your neighbor snoops on you for a small profit in protecting the
outsized profits of capital.
~~~
Gibbon1
The funny thing of course is under communism copyright and patents don't
exist. On the other hand under Stalinism and Maoism owning a printing press
was illegal.
------
PhasmaFelis
Semi-related, the technology used in Shazam and other music ID services grew
from companies that monitored radio stations to make sure they were playing
all the ads they'd been paid for.
In the mid-2000s, I worked on a Shazam-like text message service that would ID
songs on the radio for you, and send you an iTunes purchase link. You texted
us the radio station you were listening to, and we sent that and the timestamp
to a server run by a company with listening stations all over the US, and it
told us what song it was hearing at that time. The company's main clients were
advertisers checking up on radio stations, but the technology worked just as
well for music.
It was a pretty sweet little service for the time, but sadly we never
launched. I was amused when I saw far more polished apps like Shazam doing
essentially the same thing, years later.
------
thisisitnownow
It's insane that they can get away with this with so little consequence.
~~~
jMyles
edit: I misunderstood OP's comment; makes much more sense when I read it in
the light suggested by anchpop below.
...that they can get away with copying a bytestream and decoding the result
onto a screen? Which harms nobody?
The insane part is that people, even on HN, have become convinced that someone
can own knowledge to such exclusivity that copying bytes can be a crime.
~~~
oh_sigh
So you wouldn't mind if I copied bytes of yours, such as private pictures,
private documents, etc?
~~~
jMyles
Obviously it is my responsibility to keep those bytes away from you.
If you come into possession of them in the absence of some kind of contractual
obligation regarding how you'll handle them (ie a privacy policy to which you
and I have jointly agreed), then yes of course you can do what you wish with
them.
Isn't this the same argument currently making its way through the public
mindshare regarding WikiLeaks? _Of course_ they had a right to distribute and
comment on the contents of the State Dept. cables. The fact that the
government claimed they were private (classified) can not overcome the basic
thrust of freedoms of the press and speech.
~~~
oh_sigh
Ok, so you're walking down the street with a locked phone in your pocket. I
send an Android Bluetooth 0-day payload to your phone. Nothing wrong with
that, after all I'm just asking your phone if it wants to copy some bytes, and
it says 'sure!'. Not my problem if your phone does something funky with those
bytes.
Now I have root, and copy off all of your pictures and private data onto my
device. Nothing wrong with that, just copying some bytes, right?
Finally, I have all of your data, no contractual obligations to you on how I
use it. So I'll just copy some bytes over to Twitter or Instagram and publish
your private photos to the world. That's all ok in your book, because all the
time I'm just copying bytes?
Your point is so reductivist that it is absurd. It's like declaring that any
human action is just wiggling of fingers or flapping of vocal chords, and what
can be so bad with wiggling fingers or flapping vocal cords?
~~~
jMyles
You've glossed over the important part.
Yes, in a free society, it's my responsibility to be a ward against 0-days.
This is the problem with unduly complex and / or closed source software and
closed, proprietary hardware being in our pockets in the first place.
To paint over these problems by restraining basic, fundamental speech (ie, you
can repeat anything you know to anyone, specific contracts notwithstanding) is
throwing away the baby instead of the bathwater.
------
ashtonian
IP law in this country need to go away. It doesn't help the market as a whole,
it doesn't encourage content creation it encourages legal spending and
manipulation.
You shouldn't get paid for having and idea you should get paid and be excited
to create content to be first to market and have an consumer base. If somebody
can come along and do it better there should be no legal barriers. The result
is a highly competitive iterative market that grows exponentially and benefits
the consumer. The only protections should be around branding ie you say you
are who you are. Everything else can be accomplished with trade secrets. This
is especially true when you consider the world is shrinking and the lvels of
control are local only. So all of your competitors abroad are benefiting from
it while locally we waste millions arguing in court over who is allowed to
bring product to market. It creates things like the epi pen markup. There was
an alternative, cheaper within a few days but they were blocked from marketing
and change the applicator to avoid a broad patent on it.
Also would like to point out that there is a reason why patents and io don't
exist in some of the oldest markets (food/clothing). Because otherwise there
would be no industry or growth. They live on brand protection and secrets..
~~~
dymk
One of the strongest tools you have as an individual or small business is IP
law. It means that the big incumbent that you're trying to take on can't just
swoop in and copy what differentiates you from them, and eat you alive.
------
slang800
Here's the original article, which goes into much greater detail than the
summary on the Verge: [https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/Liga-Futbol-
microfono-tel...](https://www.eldiario.es/tecnologia/Liga-Futbol-microfono-
telefono-aficionados_0_780772124.html)
Sadly neither article investigates how effective this technology was, or how
many bars actually got caught as a result of the malware in this app.
------
theoh
There was a proposed system back in the 90s which involved multiple decryption
keys. [https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/pubs/heraclitean-
tr9...](https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~mernst/pubs/heraclitean-
tr9413-abstract.html)
------
steveharman
I thought a better deal for customers might happen in the UK when BT competed
against Sky for Premier League football rights.
What actually happened was a bidding war that drove up the cost of the rights
which was then passed down to legitimate subscribers.
Or forced them into less legitimate ways of viewing the content
------
m0llusk
Making copies and sharing used to be hard so it made sense to charge money for
copies and build business models around that. Now both discovery and copies
are nearly free so business models must change. With pay to release payment is
collected from patrons and the results can be shared. Modern makers,
producers, and business people need to accept modern reality instead of
blockading about sharing being theft when it clearly is not.
------
crummy
I'd like to know how someone found out it was recording. Wireshark after
noticing unusual bandwidth usage? Decompiling an APK?
------
jimbob45
It doesn't feel like sports leagues want me to be a fan anymore. Take the NBA
for example. I can't attend games because they're outside of my price range. I
can't buy merchandise because a simple jersey costs north of $50. I can't
watch the games because the subscription per month costs too much and bars are
starting to get priced out of the range too. Encouraging my kid to play in
high school to go pro is a joke since there are no minor leagues that he could
fall into since he's not a genetic freak.
I want to be a fan but it feels like the sports leagues don't really value
fans anymore. Instead, they want to safeguard their product so that only the
rich can enjoy it.
~~~
SmellyGeekBoy
So don't be a fan anymore? I can't afford to own a Ferrari... so I don't.
------
Schiphol
That's a weird angle. This story is not at all about "piracy", but about an
app using the microphone in a clearly illegitimate, and probably illegal, way.
~~~
kuu
Yep, it's illegal, they've been fined (by a ridiculous amount by the way)
------
JMTQp8lwXL
It's possible for bars to mute audio and turn on subtitles.
~~~
kristofferR
It is also possible for bars to not serve alcohol. What's your point?
~~~
JMTQp8lwXL
The point being, a "Shazam-like" detection strategy would not work in that
setting.
------
ourcat
Q: If, as a developer, you were asked to implement something like this, would
you?
Piracy issues aside, this would be a no-no for me on moral grounds.
------
narnianal
What about it is Shazam-like? Are they a super hero? Are they funny? I don't
get it.
~~~
jefftk
They're referring to
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazam_(application)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shazam_\(application\))
~~~
narnianal
Ah because it identifies audio input. I see. Quite disappointing, tbh. I
thought they refer to the movie.
------
andrewstuart
Could be a good business opportunity.
Make a "compliance device" for shops/hotels/supermarkets that _want_ to comply
with their licensing obligations.
All the store owner does is place a listening device in their shop and it
listens to what licensed content is used and automatically invoices and
ensures compliance.
~~~
Lowkeyloki
/s? Please?
~~~
Uberphallus
Coming up for YC 3Q 2019
------
rconti
Clever. Illegal, but clever.
------
acd
In certain EU countries that could be A) Illegal wiretapping B) GDPR violation
If they happen to record other private information such as what political
party one likes, or religion one likes they would be even more in legal
trouble. And also recording anything about sexual life which could happen in a
bar conversation say between friends.
~~~
zwaps
It is a violation, for both a) and b).
They got into trouble.
They didn't pay a lot of money for that, though.
~~~
Scoundreller
They might have lost a lot of legal cases if their basis was illegally gained
evidence.
But I have no idea how Spanish civil law works.
------
floatingatoll
US folks - What law or court has proven that Shazam is fair use? The sports
broadcasters sue five second clips off the air, yet Shazam is allowed to
transform clips of games for this purpose?
------
coldfinger
Does this spy act occur on iphone?
~~~
gruez
Possibly, although they’d only be able to do it inconspicuously if the apps in
the foreground (otherwise there’s a red bar at the top)
------
xenospn
Just give everyone headphones.
------
coldfinger
does this spy act occur on ios?
------
unixhero
Sigh
------
shusson
> The app does explain in the terms of service that by giving the app
> permission, users are consenting to LaLiga using their phones to detect
> fraudulent behavior, like pirated soccer games.
Completely missed this on my first pass. Makes the story a bit less dramatic,
still a serious privacy breach, but not so nefarious.
------
throwaway2048
This will lead to an arms race with deploying cellular, GPS and wifi jammers.
You can order them online right now for low prices, at low power they are very
unlikely to ever be investigated.
[https://www.jammer-store.com/gps-blockers-jammers/](https://www.jammer-
store.com/gps-blockers-jammers/)
Do note things like this are HIGHLY illegal, and carry pretty insane fines if
you are caught.
~~~
flyGuyOnTheSly
No bar is going to install a cell, gps or wifi jammer to avoid a small fine...
as doing so would put them out of business.
No customer is going to hang out in a bar where their cell phone doesn't work.
~~~
bluedino
What bar is going to be quiet enough for sound fingerprinting to work?
~~~
golem14
If you have enough time for recording, I guess it doesn't matter. Also I
suppose noise in bars is in a rather narrow band compared to the sound from
the TVs. Haven't tried though, just my guess.
Of course bars could just stream without noise and just use closed caption ...
Interesting what would happen if patron a brings their phone and watches a
match, and patron B next to her is picking up the noise and reporting the bar
:)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Why you need IPv6 - telmich
https://blog.ungleich.ch/en-us/cms/blog/2018/05/23/why-you-need-ipv6/
======
gerdesj
Bugger off! I am an IPv6 evangelist by the way but feel sold short and here's
why:
IPv6 out of the box is not able to safely cope with multiple links to the rest
of the internet. For example, you have a 100MB leased line and four FTTC
connections to your site - which I happen to have. Each of those links has a
IPv6 prefix and for me those are all /56\. So far so good - I've got a _lot_
of IPv6 addresses.
So, I use SLAAC to dole out five lots of addresses to my systems. There is no
way for my systems to know which links are up or even to decide which ones
would be favourite unless I turn everyone into a "router lite" via say OSPF.
So I have to use my router to do that and use NPT to do NAT by another name.
IPv6 out of the box does not work properly with multiple links to the
internet.
I really do feel quite ashamed when I say that I think IPv6 is badly broken. I
deploy the bloody thing because its all we have. I remember that back in the
seventies that this internet thing was touted as being able to route around
problems due to nuclear attack. That was IPv4. Which is shit.
We have been sold out big style, several times. IPv6 can't cope with multi
link without NAT via a different name and telephony has no useful ENUM.
Your internet is not run by genial Engineers. It's fucked up by entrenched
monopolies, worldwide.
~~~
telmich
Can you describe the routing problem a bit more in detail? I'm trying to
understand why multi link should be more a problem in IPv6 than in IPv4.
If you are multi homed it sounds as if you should have your own /48 IPv6
network (PI) and then only use the link addresses for routing - but maybe
there is something that prevents you from - looking forward to hear your fully
story!
~~~
hartator
I wonder as well. The main downside I have heard about IpV6 until now is that
many softwares are not compatible.
~~~
gsich
Which for example?
~~~
hartator
Video games for example.
~~~
gsich
Can be fixed
------
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC
They evangelize for IPv6 ... and then they ask for money for a single /64?
Seriously?
I would suggest anyone who wants a tunnel should look here:
[https://tunnelbroker.net/](https://tunnelbroker.net/)
Nothing wrong with earning money, but please stop selling broken products.
~~~
telmich
We absolutely agree: if possible, use free tunnel services.
Unfortunately HE does not work with NAT (sic!), which is why we initially
rolled out IPv6 VPNs internally. Also in most combinations you can actually
use miredo/teredo, however some of our customer networks _block_ teredo
traffic, because they don't want their windows machines to be reachable from
the IPv6 internet.
Just curious, why do you think it is a broken to sell IPv6 vpns?
~~~
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC
It is broken to sell single /64s, that is not a sensible allocation size
across administrative boundaries. A /56 would be the absolute minimum, and
really it should be a /48.
------
sliken
I pretty much agree with the article. Seems like quite a few of the .com
companies exist because consumers don't have public IP's. With IPv6 suddenly
replacing various services are easy. Assuming you have a router, raspberry Pi,
or other machine you leave on 24/7.
After all seems like most end user use of the cloud could be replaced by a
raspberry Pi. Things like file sharing via dropbox, webcams/security cams,
photo sharing/browsing, internet enabled door locks and garage doors, and
monitoring temperatures, furnace, AC, solar, power use,
Sure it's a bit of work, but I suspect many would happily run things
themselves if there was a community solution that did it well. Last thing
anyone wants to do is replace their smarthone because a random vendor died,
lost interest, or was purchased. Like say google killing off Revolv after they
bought Nest. Not to mention paying even a few $ a month for an internet
enabled lock is silly.
~~~
blackflame7000
Not with that measily 480mbps USB controller split between 4USBs and 1
Ethernet. RaspberryPi4 hopefully.
~~~
StudentStuff
The Raspberry Pi Foundation seems deadset on pushing the same genre of chip
from Broadcom forward. I doubt the serious bandwidth limitations (all your I/O
going over 1 USB port) or the notable chipset flaws (1GB of ram max) will be
amended any time soon. They've had 6 years to fix the Raspberry Pi, yet it
still has the same hard limits.
~~~
blackflame7000
IDK I'm hoping the RPI4 will arrive when 4K starts become more prevalent and
can do the HVEC decoding
~~~
StudentStuff
HEVC on the next generation of Raspberry Pi is highly unlikely due to both
licensing costs and Broadcom not having a cheap IP block to use for adding
HEVC. 4K is more likely, but if you want that today go get an OrangePi for
less than the cost of a Raspberry Pi. It even has HEVC 8bit support!
------
wink
> You want to expose services of your home network? You can fiddle around with
> NAT, hack some proxies and waste a lot of time and energy on this setup.
> With IPv6, you can assign _every_ device in your network a public IPv6
> address and decide on your router / firewall, which services to expose
> publicly.
Yeah, I used to think like this. Now I'm older and wiser (grumpier? lazier?)
and because with great power comes great responsibility.. and everyone
(including me) is running shitty router boxes instead of a perfectly tuned
OpenBSD gateway... I think it would be really nice to have it but I'm not sold
it will make the internet a safer place, instead it will expose all those IoT
devices that can be wormed.
I also wanted to self-host stuff at home. Back when I had access to a basement
(and no proper connection) running decent hardware was no problem, now in an
apartment even a small silent NAS is annyoing enough already. Also I don't
have no high hopes the fiber market in Germany will improve to a point where I
can reasonably assume to have more than 10/20Mbit of upstream behind a static
IP.
So yeah, this is a freedom for (from my PoV) a few percent of people, the rest
won't bother or it will actively cause problems because nobody understands
IPv6 firewalling and stuff. (Not you, dear readers, the masses that are happy
if their wifi at home works, at all).
------
magicalhippo
My cable ISP added IPv6 some years ago and recently my router finally got
stable IPv6 support, so I decided to give it a try.
My use-case was exactly what the article highlights, putting my RPi on the net
exposing a service.
As I quickly found out DNS was required, as the IPv6 addresses were just
impossible to remember. The prefix I got from the ISP was a far cry from the
2001::42 shown in various articles on IPv6.
Then I discovered the prefix wasn't stable across cable modem reboots, and I
used autoconfig on the RPi, so the suffix wasn't stable either. So that meant
I dynamic DNS was suddenly a required feature, not an optional thing.
After spending half a day trying and failing to find a dynamic DNS service
which supported IPv6 and which supported a client I could successfully and
reliably use on my RPi, I gave up and went back to plain old IPv4 and NAT.
~~~
telmich
That's impressive to hear. If that is still the case, we will implement and
offer an IPv6 DDNS service mid future.
Seriously. If you are blocked for using IPv6 by this, we will provide this
service and announce it on
[https://twitter.com/datacenterlight](https://twitter.com/datacenterlight).
~~~
magicalhippo
Cheers, I'll keep a look out.
Not sure how common it is for "home ISPs" to issue unstable prefixes, but
that's what I got so...
------
nanamo
The fact that every device in your network is given a publicly reachable IP
address is not something to brag about. It’s a security problem.
I’ll stick to my NAT, thank you.
~~~
anderiv
This trope needs to die. Just because a device has a publicly-routable IP
_does not_ mean that it’s freely-accessible. That’s why we have stateful
firewalls.
There are millions of IPv4 systems at large enterprises and educational
institutions that have public addresses, and do you think they’re accessible
from the internet? Didn’t think so. They’re behind a default-deny stateful
firewall, very similar in function to the stateful firewall that’s present on
every single consumer router you can buy.
NAT is a hack that breaks things, and imposes un-needed performance
bottlenecks.
~~~
marvy
I'm not so sure that this trope needs to die; it has a grain of truth to it,
at least for home users. Consider this situation: I'm browsing the web on my
laptop at home. Meanwhile, someone wants to hack into my laptop. Suppose they
want to start with a simple port scan. If my ISP only gave me an IPv4 address,
the attacker is out of luck: my laptop HAS NO NAME. They can send IP packets
to my router, but unless the router itself has unusually serious security
holes (such as remote code execution), the router will not send packets to
arbitrary ports on my laptop, because there is no way to even ask it to do so.
The best they can try to do is inject content into web pages I'm browsing, and
https prevents even that.
Now I get IPv6. The attacker now has a perfectly reasonable way to send
packets to my laptop. The router's job is to look at these packets and drop
some of these packets while not dropping those that I rely on to browse the
web, or whatever. Result: I am one bad config away from having my laptop be
accessible from the internet.
You mention large enterprises. Sure, they can afford good sys admins. But the
average computer user is their own sys admin. Are they ready for this job?
And if you say "yes", then here's the follow-up question: are they ready to
administer the use-cases in sliken's comment, and still remain secure?
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17140187](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17140187)
~~~
kbaker
Are you sure your router has PCP or NAT-PMP disabled, which _could_ expose
ports on your external IPv4 IP without any interaction? Do you expect the
average computer user to configure PCP securely on their router?
Various NAT traversal options are already pretty widespread. Having only a
firewall keeps things much simpler.
~~~
craftyguy
> Having only a firewall keeps things much simpler.
Yes, for you and for attackers. Security strategies require layers, since no
one layer can be depended upon to stand on its own. Removing NAT is removing a
layer of security. Suddenly your firewall has to stand on its own. Good luck!
Edit: Why is my comment bad?
~~~
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC
NAT is not a layer of security. At all. A billion layers of no security is
still no security.
(And actually, NAT is a negative contribution to security as it hides the lack
of a firewall when it isn't there or doesn't work, which would be trivial to
detect without NAT.)
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Syfy has canceled the Expanse, but its producers want to find it a new home - waits
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/05/syfy-has-canceled-the-expanse-but-its-producers-want-to-find-it-a-new-home/
======
gamblor956
SyFy's not at fault here. They don't produce _The Expanse_ , they only have
limited first-run distribution rights in the US and Canada. The producer,
Alcon, retains all other rights to the show.
_The Expanse_ is the most expensive TV show that isn't _Game of Thrones_
\--estimates are that each episode is approximately 70% of the average cost of
GOT, which is currently the most expensive TV show in production. However,
ratings-wise, it's not even the most popular show on SyFy, so the advertising
revenue isn't that great for the channel. The low revenue, combined with the
lack of alternative revenue streams (i.e., digital streaming rights, foreign
distribution rights, etc.) means that the show has been a major money loser
for SyFy and is one of the reasons that Comcast's cable unit has been
underperforming the past 3 years. Alcon also decided to make the distribution
rights _even more restrictive_ when they came up for renewal this spring,
meaning even less potential revenue for SyFy.
Rather than brand your pitchforks at SyFy for cancelling the show, you should
give them credit for keeping it going for 3 seasons in the face of significant
revenue losses. And you should blame Alcon for trying to blame hardball when
it didn't have the leverage.
_[Edit: Rome was actually the most expensive TV show; the average cost per
episode was $9m over the course of its run. GOT 's season 6 averaged
$10m/episode and season 8 will average $15m/episode, but it's earlier seasons
were relatively cheap. ]_
~~~
throwaway84742
Why is it so expensive? Most shots can be filmed in a strip mall.
~~~
xfitm3
Maybe it’s the cost of the actors and actresses
~~~
throwaway84742
They aren’t exactly A-list actors either.
------
dfischer
Wow that makes me sad. I think it’s the best sci-fi I’ve seen as of late. It’s
crazy to me to think syfy wouldn’t move forward with it. Maybe it’s for the
better though; their brand has been significantly tarnished over the years. It
would be amazing if AMC would pick it up. I think it fits with Into the
badlands and their general feel.
~~~
s2g
ehhhh AMC can be kind of awful.
------
skellera
Come on Netflix! This show is such a hidden gem. It needs a company that can
really push it and make it as good as it can be.
The world of the show and books is such a great look at a possible not long
off future. A lot of sci-fi is much further ahead or not as far.
~~~
mindcrash
I guess Netflix _might_ be interested. They already have broadcasting rights
for The Expanse for a lot of regions outside of the US.
And they really are in need of something to put against a GOT-scale series
based on the Tolkien universe over at Amazon's Primevideo service, which will
definitely start streaming around 2019/2020.
------
mark_l_watson
That is too bad. I bought the first two seasons on google play and really
enjoyed the visuals, story, and acting. A friend’s son created the Belter
language.
Maybe Amazon or Netflix will pick up the franchise.
------
Rapzid
Oh boy, I love Te Expanse and didn't realize season 3 was out! Watched the
first two seasons on Amazon, just purchased season 3. Gonna be a great
weekend.
Without knowing how good season 3 is, I'd say Amazon should just pick it up.
------
tanbog
Never Trust Syfy...
------
DmenshunlAnlsis
Hopefully it lands on a network with a budget and more competent management.
SyFy is where bad schlock lives and anything good dies.
~~~
gamblor956
SyFy doesn't produce the show; it only distributes it in the US and Canada.
SyFy has mismanaged many of its shows in the past, but this isn't one of them.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
Ask HN: Why Should a Startup Operate as a Nonprofit? - pdog
In light of the news that YC will now fund nonprofits[1], why should a business or organization choose to operate as a nonprofit instead of as a for-profit company? What advantages are there to being a nonprofit? What are the disadvantages?<p>What's different about building a successful nonprofit versus a for-profit startup?<p>[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6341568
======
redtexture
Non-profit, meaning "non-stock" corporations need capital and initial support
to get started as much as any other entity.
Clearly YC considers the investment in non-stock entities a charitable
contribution towards a (potential) good cause, and is not participating to see
a profit on their investment, but is just as interested in helping the
founders figure out their mission, and funding market.
Non-stock organizations raise money just as competitively and actively as
stock organizations, and have a community of users and donors, as well as
user-recipients.
[http://Water.org](http://Water.org) is an example of an entity that is
actively and successfully raising millions of dollars toward a their mission
and purpose, with a successful community of supporters and recipients.
------
ronreiter
Obviously, the disadvantage of a non-profit is that you cannot sell shares of
the company or receive dividends from revenues the company creates. You can
only receive a salary.
If it makes sense to receive donations and to operate a non-profit, then a
non-profit start-up is something that benefits the world.
If someone wants to gain reputation and build a resume, this is a good way of
doing so.
| {
"pile_set_name": "HackerNews"
} |
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