How fucked up are the US cellphone carriers? - <AUTHOR>

A whole lot. That is the answer to that question. I can't believe what Verizon just did today. They just decided to fucking rip off customers by providing crap on a Google developer device with Nexus branding. To top it, the feature that Google is trying to push with their Offers/Wallet would not be included in the device. It is disappointing to see Google complying with that demand. Also the device being exclusive to Verizon in US, makes it impossible for anyone to get the phone in any other networks. (You can get the GSM device unlocked from expansys.com and I am going to do just that)
Smart phones are like Razor blades or drugs. You buy a razor which is cheap, but the blades are the one that makes the company profitable. With iPhone and other smart phones, what the carriers have done is put every single customer on drugs and sucking them every month with the data bill with a 2 year commitment. It's also classic to see that the initial wave of smartphone data plan were unlimited, similar to someone who is offered the drugs on cheap and unlimited in the beginning. Once you hooked on, it's where they catch you with crazy data cap restrictions.
With US being one of the most expensive mobile network, where an average person pays roughly 4% of their average income on a cellphone bill ($26,364 is the average median income as of OCT 2011). That is pretty high. I can't believe, even after paying $299 for a premium handset and another 70-100$/month for the next 2 years, I can't get a phone with the features that comes pre-installed in it? How fucked up is the system where there are essentially 2 big carriers screwing up the customers?
There is one carrier, who wants to sell itself so badly, that they can do everything in it's power to be bought by another carrier Then there is another carrier who is really trying to stay afloat and made it pretty clear, that if the other small network is sold to a big network, they could be folded too. They are positioning themselves to increase their value if they do decide to fold.
Then there are the two other giants - who are really there just to screw the customers. At least one network provides a better and reliable network and have taken a big lead when it comes to LTE. The 3G sucks for that carrier. Even with LTE which are on same frequency band of 700 MHZ for both the networks has ensured that their customers swap their phones with each other networks! Isn't that screwing customers? The SMS charges are a whole separate debate on any networks.
It's so ironic, that today there was a survey done which listed Verizon with the best service provided for mobile networks. That might be true, but isn't everything screwed up when it really comes down to customers getting what they really want when they buy that phone/plan? <comment><USER2> You guys have it real bad.

In the UK we get free phones and our bills are so much lower.

You can get a free iPhone 4s with unlimited talk text and net for £60 a month.

The only US carrier who made any sense to me on my visit to start-up school was T-Mobile. It was the only place I could buy a phone of any quality and put a prepay sim in.</comment>


In Rural New York, Windmills Bring Whiff of Corruption - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/nyregion/18windmills.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

<comment><USER2> Where there is money and people with power corruption is _very_ likely.

What fascinates me, about America specifically, is how ingrained the representative democracy concept is. Direct democracy is this wild and crazy thing that absolutely and directly = Hitler.

There could be an interesting argument why Swiss style direct democracy would not work for a huge country like the US. But what about local government? What about little towns?

It's fascinating that Americans from a very young age learn that the head of local government is the mayor. What would happen if a little town in nowhere decided to mimic Switzerland in governance and eliminates the middle men? Doom?

<comment><USER3> As an American, I think the biggest reason that the majority of Americans embrace (worship) representative democracy is because it frees them from feelings of responsibility in the outcome of the government, and means that much less effort they must contribute back to society. Why learn about all the issues and directly vote for what I want, when I could more easily just elect someone else to do all that hard stuff for me so I can spend more time on the sofa watching the drama of Hollywood retards unfold on high definition TV?

As an added benefit, when my elected representatives then vote the "wrong" way, I certainly can't blame myself, because A) I'm only one of thousands, or millions, of votes, B) I voted for the other guy, or C) I didn't vote at all / that's why I don't ever vote. It's the exact same reason that companies pay barrels of money for IT support contracts; it's less work, and when something goes wrong, the blame always shifts to someone else.

Solution: Nuke it from orbit; it's the only way to be sure...</comment></comment>


Will the Cars of the Future Be 3D-Printed? - <AUTHOR> https://youtu.be/uKcZxwTAVEM <comment><AUTHOR> " When 3D printing first appeared, it may have seemed like a fad--something to keep garage hobbyists busy. But over the past few years, it's become a mainstream manufacturing process. Now, an independent automaker called Local Motors is applying the technology to cars, using 3D printing to make the chassis of its autonomous, electric vehicles at a small factory in Knoxville, Tennessee."</comment>


Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement - <AUTHOR> https://www.icann.org/public-comments/com-amendment-3-2020-01-03-en <comment><USER2> The comment period is closing in 3 days. The page links to a 4MB text archive of comments so far[1]. I think this one quoted below explains the issues with this proposed amendment:

[quote]

      Dear Madam, or Sir,
      I am concerned about this amendment to the Registry Agreement because it
      will affect, not just me, buy any individual who would like their own
      domain name.  I am 100% sure that no corporation will object to the 28%
      cost increase every six years as they earn money off their domain name and
      paying almost any amount would be acceptible to them.  However, there are a
      great deal of small businesses that would see this as a burden as well as
      individual users out there that have purchased their own domain name and
      are using it for personal use, not commercial use.  Several of us have
      multiple domain names, if for no other reason than to protect our own names
      from being used to run a website.  I personally have about 6 that I use to
      protect myself and my family while also allowing my children to be able to
      have a domain name that is exclusively theirs.

      20 year Cost analysis:
      $ 7.85 / year 2018
      $10.29 / year 2023 (31% increase over 2018)
      $13.49 / year 2029 (72% increase over 2018)
      $17.68 / year 2035 (125% increase over 2018)
      $23.17 / year 2041 (195% increase over 2018)

      I am aware that the 7% is a maximum per year for each of the four years
      and, theoretically, there could be no increase or a sub 7% increase some
      years, however, I have little faith on this being the norm and, most
      certainly, CANNOT plan on it being any less than the full 7% in any fiscal
      plans made.

      I understand it would be extremely difficult for you to create a
      regulation that would charge businesses more and individuals less, however,
      that may be what is required at this time.  This would leave a loophole for
      businesses to have an individual register their domain name, however, no
      corporation of any size will be willing to leave their domain names in
      private hands.  This would also allow fledgling businesses (aka startups)
      to keep their costs low at first.  Remember, many businesses have been
      started in individual's garages.

      You may also assume that all ".com" domain names are used for, or are
      supposed to be used for commercial purposes, however, this is not the case
      today.  If this had been defined and enforced from the beginning of the
      internet, this would be a non-issue, however, to start enforcing it today
      would cause many many individuals to lose their domains.  Yes, there are
      other top level domains they can move to, however, that doesn't alleviate
      the fact that they would be losing an asset they had invested much time,
      money, and resources acquiring.

      Please keep the annual fee very low or consider a more flexible charging
      system for the .COM top level domain that will keep it accessible to
      individuals and small businesses.

      Thank you,

      Andrew Farnsworth

[/quote]

\---

[1] [https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/comments-com- amendment-3-03ja...](https://mm.icann.org/pipermail/comments-com- amendment-3-03jan20/2020q1.txt)

<comment><AUTHOR> For mobile users:

> Dear Madam, or Sir, I am concerned about this amendment to the Registry > Agreement because it will affect, not just me, buy any individual who would > like their own domain name. I am 100% sure that no corporation will object > to the 28% cost increase every six years as they earn money off their domain > name and paying almost any amount would be acceptible to them. However, > there are a great deal of small businesses that would see this as a burden > as well as individual users out there that have purchased their own domain > name and are using it for personal use, not commercial use. Several of us > have multiple domain names, if for no other reason than to protect our own > names from being used to run a website. I personally have about 6 that I use > to protect myself and my family while also allowing my children to be able > to have a domain name that is exclusively theirs.

20 year Cost analysis: $ 7.85 / year 2018 $10.29 / year 2023 (31% increase over 2018) $13.49 / year 2029 (72% increase over 2018) $17.68 / year 2035 (125% increase over 2018) $23.17 / year 2041 (195% increase over 2018)

I am aware that the 7% is a maximum per year for each of the four years and, theoretically, there could be no increase or a sub 7% increase some years, however, I have little faith on this being the norm and, most certainly, CANNOT plan on it being any less than the full 7% in any fiscal plans made.

I understand it would be extremely difficult for you to create a regulation that would charge businesses more and individuals less, however, that may be what is required at this time. This would leave a loophole for businesses to have an individual register their domain name, however, no corporation of any size will be willing to leave their domain names in private hands. This would also allow fledgling businesses (aka startups) to keep their costs low at first. Remember, many businesses have been started in individual's garages.

You may also assume that all ".com" domain names are used for, or are supposed to be used for commercial purposes, however, this is not the case today. If this had been defined and enforced from the beginning of the internet, this would be a non-issue, however, to start enforcing it today would cause many many individuals to lose their domains. Yes, there are other top level domains they can move to, however, that doesn't alleviate the fact that they would be losing an asset they had invested much time, money, and resources acquiring.

Please keep the annual fee very low or consider a more flexible charging system for the .COM top level domain that will keep it accessible to individuals and small businesses.

      Thank you,

      Andrew Farnsworth</comment></comment>


The Four Stages of Burnout - <AUTHOR> http://www.stressdoc.com/four_stages_burnbout.htm <comment><USER2> I've seen quite a good number of people who worked hard in middle and high school because of their parents burnout in their first or second semester of college. It's kinda sad when it happens to smart people who were just pushed too hard for too long.

It's usually just the first stage that gets them.

<comment><USER3> Do you think relaxing during senior year has an effect on burnout during the first semester of college?

<comment><USER4> It can also work the other way though, relaxing during senior year could put you in the wrong frame of mind entering college and result it you not putting the effort in there either.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Also known as graduate school.

</comment><comment><USER6> ok, recognizing burndown doesn't seem to be a problem. But what about overcoming it?

I have come through this process several times in my life. Still I do not know how I have been able to recover....and here I am again...

</comment><comment><USER7> Slightly offtopic comment.. because I can't see the link, its been blocked by my company! They don't want us to know what stage of burnout we are at!! :)

<comment><USER8> on slashdot this is called karma whoring:

The Four Stages of Burnout

Years ago, a magicaI moment whirled me in a mystical web. I was consumed by the path of "academic flashdancing." I succumbed to the "burnout tango." Now let me not just walk the talk, but deromance the dance: "Burnout is the gradual process by which a person, in response to prolonged stress and physical, mental and emotional strain, detaches from work and other meaningful relationships. The result is lowered productivity, cynicism, confusion...a feeling of being drained, having nothing more to give." Whether at work or school (or even in a marriage), to prevent it you must get it. To provide a framework both for understanding and, hopefully, inoculating against future burnout, let's begin with "The Stress Doc's Vital Lesson of the Four 'R's":

If no matter what you say or what you do, Results, Rewards, Recognition and Relief are not forthcoming, and you can't mean "no" or won't let go...trouble awaits. The groundwork is being laid for apathy, callousness and despair.

Have I captured your attention? Let's examine some of the progressive signs of being caught up in this erosive spiral. Here are "The Four Stages of Burnout":

1\. Physical, Mental and Emotional Exhaustion. Maybe you are still holding it together at work (or school). Still, can you relate to this sequence? As soon as you get home, you head for the fridge, get out the Haagen-Dazs or Ben and Jerry's, turn on the tube, collapse on the sofa and you're comatose for the rest of the evening? Doing more with less, having plenty of responsibility but not enough authority, or juggling an unmanageable schedule is taking a toll. (For those grappling with all three stressors...automatically proceed to stage two, if not three.)

Normally, you pride yourself on doing a thorough job, a high quality performance. Now you are looking for shortcuts, if not cutting corners. And this gnaws at your self-esteem. There may even be pangs of guilt. A case of the "brain strain" is developing, accompanied by an energy shortage and feelings of exhaustion. If stress levels continue unabated, you may be ripe for the second stage.

2\. Shame and Doubt. Perhaps this scenario is familiar. A supervisor (or professor) asks you to take on a new assignment. You want to...but this voice inside silently screams, "Who are you kidding!" So what's happening? You're not feeling confident about the future; and you're feeling pretty lousy in the present. Not surprisingly, you may even start discounting your past accomplishments. Beware...This is not a logical process; it's a psychological one. Now you wonder if colleagues, friends or family members will detect that something is wrong. While projecting a competent image has been the norm, now this voice inside is relentlessly shouting, "Impostor!" "Impostor."

And then you catch yourself emitting heavy, labored sighs. (When do people often engage in deep, labored breathing or sighing? Other than when calling those 1-900 numbers. When experiencing a deep sense of loss and change perceived as uncontrollable.) Is chronically grappling with a profound sense of vulnerability or uncertainty anyone's favorite state? Certainly not mine. No surprise then that some folks will "progress" to the third phase: "Cynicism and Callousness."

Are you starting to feel I've been looking in your window? Or, as a reader recently emailed: "Have you been a fly on the wall in my house?" Let's not be premature. We still have two more stages to go. And next, we'll check out your "tude."

3\. Cynicism and Callousness. In response to that prolonged feeling of insecurity or vulnerability, some folks feel there's only one thing left to do: put on the heavy armor. They develop an ATTITUDE: "Look out for # 1." "Cover your derriere." "No one's getting to me." And, in the short run, the strategy often works. You become sufficiently abrasive or obnoxious, people start avoiding you. But this hard exterior can eventually become a burdensome, self-defeating strategy.

Here's an example. Years ago, I was leading a workshop at a construction industry conference. There was a guy, I'll call him Joe, who was head of a large plumber's union. Now Joe was basically a down to earth, nice guy...who found himself becoming increasingly bitter, with that hard attitude. And it was scaring him! Now granted, Joe was in a position that pulled him in all directions - compelling demands, favors, complaints, bribes! Still, what do you think was Joe's biggest stress trap? That's right, this "good Joe" was such a "nice guy." What can't nice guys and nice gals do? They can't say "no!." Nor are they confident establishing their boundaries. They have difficulty with authority - being one or interacting with one. These nice folks tend to avoid conflict; they don't want to hurt others' feelings. They are not comfortable with anger, or don't know how to express their frustration or displeasure in a focused manner. Their personal mantras are being "fair" and "accommodation" (while feeling deep rejection when other's aren't fair or accommodating).

These accommodators, despite having a full workload plate, when asked to take on new work will just smush their peas and bread into the mashed potatoes and allow others to pile on more stuff. Hey, being a team player doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your integrity or health. There's an option: "Sure I'll help you with this new demand and deadline. But for me to give the assignment the attention it deserves, we'll have to renegotiate my priority list and timelines." (I'm not saying there aren't extra-ordinary and emergency situations. But there is a difference between urgent and important. When everything is urgent, nothing is important!) Setting realistic limits is not a negative reflection on your work ethic or your ability to to go the extra mile. Without boundaries, that mile often morphs into a marathon. Remember, someone once said: "Burnout is less a sign of failure and more that you gave yourself away."

Joe was really worried. He thought he was going through a split personality process - going from Dr. Jekyl into Hiding. I had to reassure him that there wasn't any genetic transformation occurring. Without realizing it, he had been sucked up by the progressive burnout whirlpool.

And there's another reason for paying attention to this process. Burnout doesn't just facilitate a hardening of the psyche. When your stress starts to smolder into frustration and anger; then turns to suspicion and mistrust as you enclose yourself in embattled armor or a crusty shell...This is not just how you harden an attitude, but it's a formula for hardening the arteries, as well. Cardiovascular complications, high blood pressure, even premature heart attacks can ensue. Which is why, usually, I'd rather people hit the fourth stage of burnout, than linger in the third. Of course, "Failure, Helplessness and Crisis" sounds terrible. But consider this: "hitting bottom means there's no more downward spiral." And, if you can reach out, there's no where to go but up. Hold on. One more lap to go.

4\. Failure, Helplessness and Crisis. Being caught in a familiar "Catch-22" often signals the final phase: "Damned if you do, damned if you don't." "Damned if you stay, damned if you leave." Your coping structure seems to be coming unglued. Next stop...the psychiatric ward! Probably not, however, the crisis smoke signals are billowing big time. Why is that? Burnout is like trying to race a marathon - full speed, nonstop. Can anyone race 26 miles full speed, nonstop? Of course not. Even Olympic marathon runners must pace themselves. If not, the body parts will break down. And with burnout, over time, the mental apparatus also wears out.

In fact, one reason the fourth stage is so disorienting is that a person's psychological defenses have worn down. Cracks start appearing in the defensive armor. Painful memories and old hurts normally contained by your emotional defenses are leaking through the cracks. A slight or an emotional bump can set off an overly sensitive and personal reaction. Now a mate's occasional, somewhat annoying behavior really irritates as it reminds you of a mannerism of your father. Or, jealousy towards a colleague reeks of sibling rivalry.

Double-Edged

Hey, before throwing up your hands, remember...burnout is not for wimps. A lot of other folks would have jumped ship much earlier. Many of you reach the farther stages of burnout because of your tenacity and dedication. You have a strong sense of responsibility and don't like being deterred from reaching your goals. All noble qualities...unless compelled by rigid perfectionism and "there's only one right way" thinking. Then, pursuing your goals takes a back seat to proving others wrong and overcoming humiliation. You are chasing (maybe, also, being chased by) ego-driven egoals. Especially in times of overload, uncertainty and major change, "driven and rigid responsibility" can quickly transform a performance benefit into a personal and professional liability.

Also, these folks are usually not just responsible, they often are quite responsive to others. People lean on them for support. Are you a pillar of strength for those around you? If so, will those dependent upon you be quick to notice when you are feeling shaky? That you may need a shoulder? Often not, as their sense of security is contingent on your always being strong and available. Are you buying into this "superperson" role or hiding behind a heroic mask? Maybe you always had to help mom with (sometimes raise) the other kids. Or you're the emotional sponge in the office, frequently absorbing your colleagues' complaints. Can you hear that screeching, scratching sound? That's the stress knot twisting and turning tighter and tighter about your neck.

On the Edge

No wonder people start jumping out of jobs or school, out of relationships, sometimes just jumping. And for those not into jumping, you may be into swinging by the fourth stage. Mood swinging, that is, between short highs and/or prolonged depressive lows. Okay, the existential question: Is it Miller Time or Prozac Time? From my perspective, it's way too late for the former (though, clearly, many people disagree with me) and a decision on the latter requires expert opinion. But that's exactly the key for transforming a danger into an opportunity. Fourth stage burnout is the crisis point, it's crunch time. Are you ready to step up to the plate and reach out for the help and resources you need? A person recovers and expands his or her strengths and possibilities through a crisis when:

1) getting proper and sufficient support; someone trained in crisis intervention and loss,

2) confronting denial, false hopes, cynicism or helplessness,

3) grieving past and present losses while turning guilt, hurt, anxiety and aggression into focused energy and

4) acquiring and applying skills and technology for turning new problem- solving options into productive attitudes and actions.

My poetic anthem to burnout and beyond:

For the phoenix to rise from the ashes One must know the pain To transform the fire to burning desire.

Four Stages of Burnout. Four Steps For Recovery and Rejuvenation. Any readers care to share how you turned a burnout situation into a transformational experience? Can you say, "Creative Burnout"?

And will you Practice Safe Stress?

Mark Gorkin, "The Stress Doc," Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a nationally recognized speaker, workshop leader and author on stress, reorganizational change, anger, team building, creativity and humor. He is also the internet's and the nation's leading "Psychohumorist." The Stress Doc is a columnist for the popular cyber-newsletter, Humor From The Edge -- HUMOR FROM THE EDGE HOME PAGE . Mark is also the "Online Psychohumorist" for the major AOL mental health resource network, Online Psych -- ONLINE PSYCH: THE STRESS DOC and Financial Services Journal Online -- . And he is an offline writer for two mental health/substance abuse publications -- Treatment Today and Paradigm Magazine. His motto: Have Stress? Will Travel: A Smart Mouth for Hire! Reach "The Doc" at (202) 232-8662, email: Stress email@example.com. The Stress Doc's website was selected as a USA Today Online "Hot Site" and designated a four-star, top- rated site by Mental Health Net.</comment></comment>


Tech/Engineering Blogs Article Search Powered by Algolia - <AUTHOR> https://englog.io/ <comment><AUTHOR> The Idea ... As a developer, I always tend to do a bit of research before embarking on a new feature or project. Often, I find myself visiting Tech Blogs or Engineering hubs of the famous Tech companies, just to see how they tackle certain topics.

I searched ... This made me wonder if there's a way to have a targeted search for a specific topic limited to known Tech blogs. I started googling it (emoji here) and the next best thing I could find was a curated list in a GitHub repo form A curated list of engineering blogs [ an awesome list, by the way, make sure to star ⭐!!]

I Geeked out ... Personally, this didn't do it for me since there is no way to perform the type of search I wanted to have available.

Simply put, I wanted to type in a subject and hit Search and see how the top in the field tackle these subjects

And, in a nutshell, that's what EngLog is!

If you have ideas or suggestions, please reach out to me via twitter @mshbeab</comment>


The Panama palindrome - <AUTHOR> http://nielsenhayden.com/hoey.html <comment><USER2> Oddly he doesn't actually give his 540 word palindrome, but here it is:

A man, a plan, a caret, a ban, a myriad, a sum, a lac, a liar, a hoop, a pint, a catalpa, a gas, an oil, a bird, a yell, a vat, a caw, a pax, a wag, a tax, a nay, a ram, a cap, a yam, a gay, a tsar, a wall, a car, a luger, a ward, a bin, a woman, a vassal, a wolf, a tuna, a nit, a pall, a fret, a watt, a bay, a daub, a tan, a cab, a datum, a gall, a hat, a fag, a zap, a say, a jaw, a lay, a wet, a gallop, a tug, a trot, a trap, a tram, a torr, a caper, a top, a tonk, a toll, a ball, a fair, a sax, a minim, a tenor, a bass, a passer, a capital, a rut, an amen, a ted, a cabal, a tang, a sun, an ass, a maw, a sag, a jam, a dam, a sub, a salt, an axon, a sail, an ad, a wadi, a radian, a room, a rood, a rip, a tad, a pariah, a revel, a reel, a reed, a pool, a plug, a pin, a peek, a parabola, a dog, a pat, a cud, a nu, a fan, a pal, a rum, a nod, an eta, a lag, an eel, a batik, a mug, a mot, a nap, a maxim, a mood, a leek, a grub, a gob, a gel, a drab, a citadel, a total, a cedar, a tap, a gag, a rat, a manor, a bar, a gal, a cola, a pap, a yaw, a tab, a raj, a gab, a nag, a pagan, a bag, a jar, a bat, a way, a papa, a local, a gar, a baron, a mat, a rag, a gap, a tar, a decal, a tot, a led, a tic, a bard, a leg, a bog, a burg, a keel, a doom, a mix, a map, an atom, a gum, a kit, a baleen, a gala, a ten, a don, a mural, a pan, a faun, a ducat, a pagoda, a lob, a rap, a keep, a nip, a gulp, a loop, a deer, a leer, a lever, a hair, a pad, a tapir, a door, a moor, an aid, a raid, a wad, an alias, an ox, an atlas, a bus, a madam, a jag, a saw, a mass, an anus, a gnat, a lab, a cadet, an em, a natural, a tip, a caress, a pass, a baronet, a minimax, a sari, a fall, a ballot, a knot, a pot, a rep, a carrot, a mart, a part, a tort, a gut, a poll, a gateway, a law, a jay, a sap, a zag, a fat, a hall, a gamut, a dab, a can, a tabu, a day, a batt, a waterfall, a patina, a nut, a flow, a lass, a van, a mow, a nib, a draw, a regular, a call, a war, a stay, a gam, a yap, a cam, a ray, an ax, a tag, a wax, a paw, a cat, a valley, a drib, a lion, a saga, a plat, a catnip, a pooh, a rail, a calamus, a dairyman, a bater, a canal-- Panama.

There it is, Dan Hoey's panama palindrome.

<comment><USER3> A triumph of form over content.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> Here's Peter Norvig's version of the palindrome:

<http://norvig.com/palindrome.html>

[He gets up to 17,826 words, and has some interesting commentary along the way]</comment>


Common Ground: A children's book about the tragedy of the commons - <AUTHOR> http://www.mollybang.com/Pages/common.html <comment><USER2> It would do a lot of good if more people were aware of the tragedy of the commons.

Here's the key excerpt of the full controversial essay taken from [http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_...](http://www.garretthardinsociety.org/articles/art_tragedy_of_the_commons.html)

...

The tragedy of the commons develops in this way. Picture a pasture open to all. It is to be expected that each herdsman will try to keep as many cattle as possible on the commons. Such an arrangement may work reasonably satisfactorily for centuries because tribal wars, poaching, and disease keep the numbers of both man and beast well below the carrying capacity of the land. Finally, however, comes the day of reckoning, that is, the day when the long-desired goal of social stability becomes a reality. At this point, the inherent logic of the commons remorselessly generates tragedy.

As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximize his gain. Explicitly or implicitly, more or less consciously, he asks, "What is the utility to me of adding one more animal to my herd?" This utility has one negative and one positive component.

1) The positive component is a function of the increment of one animal. Since the herdsman receives all the proceeds from the sale of the additional animal, the positive utility is nearly +1.

2) The negative component is a function of the additional overgrazing created by one more animal. Since, however, the effects of overgrazing are shared by all the herdsmen, the negative utility for any particular decision-making herdsman is only a fraction of -1.

Adding together the component partial utilities, the rational herdsman concludes that the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And another; and another.... But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational herdsman sharing a commons. Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit--in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.

...

</comment><comment><USER3> Related: Nobel winner Elinor Nordstrom. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elinor_Ostrom)</comment>


Capitalists in the 21st Century - barry-cotter https://www.nber.org/papers/w25442 <comment> barry-cotter > Have the idle rich replaced the working rich at the top of the U.S. income > distribution? Using tax data linking 11 million firms to their owners, this > paper finds that entrepreneurs who actively manage their firms are key for > top income inequality. Most top income is non-wage income, a primary source > of which is private business profit. These profits accrue to working-age > owners of closely-held, mid-market firms in skill-intensive industries. > Private business profit falls by three-quarters after owner retirement or > premature death. Classifying three-quarters of private business profit as > human capital income, we find that most top earners are working rich: they > derive most of their income from human capital, not physical or financial > capital. The human capital income of private business owners exceeds top > wage income and top public equity income. Growth in private business profit > is explained by both rising productivity and a rising share of value added > accruing to owners.</comment>


HASHWallet, the most secure hardware wallet - <AUTHOR> https://gethashwallet.com <comment><AUTHOR> The theft of crypto actives is an everyday event. We are less and less surprised by the constant news about attacks and hacking into exchanges and cryptocurrency wallets worth millions of dollars. In this scenario, users need to equip themselves with better security tools to safeguard their assets.

HASHWallet is a cryptocurrency smart card that offers a higher level of security than other hardware wallets on the market, based on a series of technical features and advantages that make it unique.

As a non-programmable device, it is designed to create a totally secure space to sign transactions and to safeguard the user's keys.

The card stores the private key without anyone knowing it, not even the user. This key cannot be accessed from the outside in any way. Therefore, the card is invulnerable and can not suffer external attacks.

The Public/Private keys are generated on the card itself, in a random procedure that is impossible to replicate and without the intervention of external seeds.

The card includes a large screen of electronic ink, which allows the verification and validation of the transactions in detail. In this way, HASHWallet complies with the "What You See IS What You Sign" (WYSIWYS) philosophy; users only sign what they see, and avoid the malicious attack known as "Man in The Middle" since no external devices are involved in the transactions.

The fingerprint reader built-in to the card is another of its security tools, as it allows the signature of transactions from a biometric signal.

HASHWallet supports the major cryptocurrencies on the market, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin or Tether, and also any ERC-20 token.</comment>


Technovation: Insurtech with Travelers CTO/COO - <AUTHOR> https://www.metisstrategy.com/interview/mojgan-lefebvre/ <comment><AUTHOR> In this episode, Mojgan discusses the company's commitment to making innovation part of its DNA and the strategic pillars the company has put in place, which are focused on evolving the way the company works to drive integrated teams to push the blurring of lines between business and technology. First, the company leverages design thinking methodologies and always starts with the customer and works backward, and it has small multifunctional teams of technologists and business experts. Second, the company has developed a strategic architecture, driving modernization and simplification where appropriate. Lastly, but most importantly is talent, which the company considers its advantage multiplier. Mojgan cites that Travelers drives new skill sets and engineering talent in a variety of ways. We also discuss Mojgan's view on the future of women in technology, and the revolution she sees happening in that regard, how Mojgan looks at the company's 160-year old history as a position of extreme strength, how Mojgan's diverse career path has colored her experience at Travelers, and a variety of other topics.</comment>


Languages as Libraries (2011) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> http://www.ccs.neu.edu/racket/pubs/pldi11-thacff.pdf <comment><USER2> IO language is a language that is similarly easy to extend. You might call it a language prototyping language in the sense that it's easy to test out language features (or whole new languages) in IO.

<comment><USER3> It's called Io and yes - it's one of the most extensible languages I encountered. Its main mechanism for extension resembles PicoLisp and fexprs - any method can decide whether it wants its arguments evaluated or not. Coupled with homoiconicity it allows for arbitrary code transformations on runtime - and that's even before taking multiple, prototype-based inheritance and arbitrary stack traversing[3] into account.

I wrote a PyParsing port in Io[1], for my text-based game I'm writing in Io. It was a very interesting and unique experience - normally, when porting things, you just go over the code and translate all of it line-by-line from one language to the other. With Io, however, it was trivial to extend Io with (most[2]) features that Python code required and in effect the code and the language met in the middle. After adding certain things to the language most of the "porting" was done with a set of basic regexes.

Now, the problem is Io is dead, is not being developed, and that's tragic. The implementation is pretty straightforward, however the documentation is severely lacking and the years without development left it far behind most other languages.

I think it's a real shame and I was thinking about investing some time into Io development myself, but my game project halted earlier this year diminishing my motivation, not to mention I'm not sure if I would be up to the task.

Still, I'd be more than happy to help if someone would like to contribute to the Io development. I would like to see Io resurrection and I think the language still has a lot to offer even to the modern programmers.

[1] [https://github.com/piotrklibert/ioparsing](https://github.com/piotrklibert/ioparsing) \- see src/syntax.io, list literals, dict (map) literals and string interpolation is implemented there.

[2] There's one problem I wasn't able to solve (yet), which is that the left arg of the assignment operators are always evaluated - so no destructuring assignment unfortunately. This is hardcoded in the VM, I even found where, but ultimately didn't find the time to fix this.

[3] Think JavaScript arguments.callee but with first class namespaces.

<comment><USER4> impressive little language

iolanguage.org/guide/guide.html#Introduction

<comment><USER3> I forgot to mention, Io also supports Lua-like coroutines. It's an incredibly powerful language, mixing Smalltalk, Self and some Lisp in a non-image-based, easy to use package, accessible to "normal programmers". I would really, really like to see it developed again... and used, even if just a bit. I guess I'm repeating myself here, so I'll stop.

<comment><USER4> were you involved in its development or just a loving user ?

<comment><USER3> The latter... To be honest, I thought about contributing - Steve Dekorte, the author, stopped developing the language, but is relatively responsive on GitHub and merges PRs - but I had to stop that side-project just before doing any real work on VM side. I wanted to add destructuring to the language and wanted it to work with operators so that, given suitable definitions of [], ... and <\- this:

        [a,b,...,z] <- aLongList

would work - you could write destructuring support in pure Io if not for that requirement.

I don't have the time for it right now (edit: and anyway, there's a limit to how much a single person can do), though, so the only thing I can do is to advocate the language and encourage its use. Which I'm trying to do right now :-) I also have a blog post on Io waiting to be published, I'll post it once I resolve the issues with my blog's domain.</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment>


KIVUHUB - <AUTHOR> Kivuhub is the only virtual techn accelerator and hub in the DR. Congo which provide an environment empowering tech entrepreneur, linking to potential funding and support the growth of your startup and companies, we also work with girl who are in tech and help them to develop their skills. We work with different network of investors and other Hubs in the region  to tackle the complex challenges our world is facing. By joining forces with selected coworking hubs across emerging markets. Kivuhub is a hub for Tech Entrepreneurial Community, virtual spaces for startups and entrepreneurs, eager to make an impact in the world with technology in DR. Congo <comment><USER2> A Tell HN or Show HN would better help people filter spam from real showcases.</comment>


A job board for companies and people focused on slow growth - <AUTHOR> https://www.producthunt.com/posts/slogro <comment><AUTHOR> A lot of companies today are very focused on "rapid growth", being "fast growing", staying in a "hockey stick trajectory" and talk about it as if that's the only way to grow or reason to hire. If you're not growing, you're dwindling.

I've had enough of that.

Slow is great. Slow is thoughtful. Slow is mindful. Slow is calm. Recently a book came out about companies who challenge this concept. Companies who say that growth doesn't just mean "more": "Company of One" by Paul Jarvis.

The idea isn't necessarily new, but it's definitely challenging the status quo. I'd love to change that, but these companies, by definition, don't hire often.

Unfortunately, it still is really hard to find such companies, and even harder to filter them out from the endless job posts of the "fast growing startups".

This job board tries to change that, by giving people a place to find such companies, and companies a place to put their rare openings and finding like- minded people.

</comment><comment><USER2> this looks great bruno!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you so much, Paul!</comment></comment>


Free time tracking software - <AUTHOR> http://www.primaerp.com Free time tracking software with all features for 1 - 3 users - no trial period. primaERP / TIME TRACKING is a cloud based application which allows you to track and evaluate your time.
Application automatically generates reports of the tracked time, that can be used for billing your clients. Reports allow you to evaluate the efficiency of each of your tasks or projects and provide you all the information needed for making the right decisions in order to increase productivity. You can collaborate with your team on the projects, delegate tasks and get the instant answer to the question "What the hell is my team doing". App is connected to external applications such as Basecamp, MS Exchange calendar and Google Calendar. It has an open API, that allows you to easily connect your favourite project management tool or any other software of your choice. It is a very useful app for both personal and business use, especially intended for entrepreneurs, managers, self-employed, business and productivity consultants, freelancers and others, who want to know, where do they invest their time. <comment><USER2> Is there anything planned like a small toolbar or a desktop app where i can select a project/task and say "start" and "stop"? That is what i am missing at most time tracking apps. until now we have not found the perfect solution for tracking time in a marketing agency.</comment>


How Facebook Punked and Then Gut Punched the News Biz – Talking Points Memo - <AUTHOR> https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/how-facebook-punked-and-then-gut-punched-the-news-biz <comment><USER2> _What does this all mean?

The first should be obvious: you can't build businesses around a company as unreliable and poorly run as Facebook. Only a year ago, when I would talk to big money players in the digital media world, there was a consistent refrain: social video on Facebook, that's the whole game. That struck me as crazy at the time, given everything we were seeing in the industry. And it was crazy. There's no news publisher entitlement to Facebook traffic. And Facebook is a highly unreliable company. We've seen this pattern repeat itself a number of times over the course of company's history: its scale allows it to create whole industries around it depending on its latest plan or product or gambit. But again and again, with little warning it abandons and destroys those businesses._</comment>


Cevelop – the professional c++ IDE - <AUTHOR> https://www.cevelop.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> "About – the origins of Cevelop At the Institute for Software we have been developing plug-ins for Eclipse CDT for almost a decade. Some of this work has been contributed back to Eclipse (e.g. the majority of refactorings and the underlying infrastructure for writing refactorings), others like Linticator are available commercially, but the majority is open source (e.g. Metriculator) or free to use (e.g. CUTE).

Over time, as more and more plug-ins were created, it became tedious to discover and install them one by one. So we decided to bundle them all into one single download, including the latest release of Eclipse CDT."

</comment><comment><USER2> What's this provide that clion and visual studio don't?

<comment><AUTHOR> cevelop is free while clion is not.

cevelop is on all platforms and visual studio is more of MS platform.

visual studio code is really better at js/web devel.</comment></comment>


Nginx v1.11.6 Released - <AUTHOR> https://nginx.org/en/CHANGES#1.11.6 <comment><AUTHOR>
        *) Change: format of the $ssl_client_s_dn and $ssl_client_i_dn variables
           has been changed to follow RFC 2253 (RFC 4514); values in the old
           format are available in the $ssl_client_s_dn_legacy and
           $ssl_client_i_dn_legacy variables.

        *) Change: when storing temporary files in a cache directory they will
           be stored in the same subdirectories as corresponding cache files
           instead of a separate subdirectory for temporary files.

        *) Feature: EXTERNAL authentication mechanism support in mail proxy.
           Thanks to Robert Norris.

        *) Feature: WebP support in the ngx_http_image_filter_module.

        *) Feature: variables support in the "proxy_method" directive.
           Thanks to Dmitry Lazurkin.

        *) Feature: the "http2_max_requests" directive in the
           ngx_http_v2_module.

        *) Feature: the "proxy_cache_max_range_offset",
           "fastcgi_cache_max_range_offset", "scgi_cache_max_range_offset", and
           "uwsgi_cache_max_range_offset" directives.

        *) Bugfix: graceful shutdown of old worker processes might require
           infinite time when using HTTP/2.

        *) Bugfix: in the ngx_http_mp4_module.

        *) Bugfix: "ignore long locked inactive cache entry" alerts might appear
           in logs when proxying WebSocket connections with caching enabled.

        *) Bugfix: nginx did not write anything to log and returned a response
           with code 502 instead of 504 when a timeout occurred during an SSL
           handshake to a backend.</comment>


Important Notice About Your Twitch Account - <AUTHOR> http://blog.twitch.tv/2015/03/important-notice-about-your-twitch-account/

<comment><USER2> What's troubling is that apparently there was evil code running on twitch servers, capturing plaintext passwords as they were checked against the "cryptographically protected form". [1]

[1] [http://gyazo.com/b31792d4fc4460c006c49d858cc113e3](http://gyazo.com/b31792d4fc4460c006c49d858cc113e3)

</comment><comment><USER3> Here is the email sent to users:

We are writing to let you know that there may have been unauthorized access to some of your Twitch user account information, including possibly your Twitch username and associated email address, your password (which was cryptographically protected), the last IP address you logged in from, and any of the following if you provided it to us: first and last name, phone number, address, and date of birth.

For your protection, we have expired your password and stream keys. In addition, if you had connected your account to Twitter or YouTube, we have terminated this connection.

You will be prompted to create a new password the next time you attempt to log into your Twitch account. If applicable, you will also need to re-connect your account to Twitter and YouTube, and re-authenticate through Facebook, once you change your password. We also recommend that you change your password at any other website where you use the same or a similar password.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

The Twitch Team

</comment><comment><USER4> here's a screenshot of the email sent to an 'affected party'

[http://gyazo.com/b31792d4fc4460c006c49d858cc113e3](http://gyazo.com/b31792d4fc4460c006c49d858cc113e3)

For partners, their personal details being leaked is much worse. Think more swattings, pranks etc.

</comment><comment><USER5> TL;DR log on to twitch and reset your password

they haven't expired sessions which has worried me a little.</comment>


When Are Nonconvex Optimization Problems Not Scary? (2015) - <AUTHOR> https://arxiv.org/abs/1510.06096 <comment><AUTHOR> Abstract of a talk with the same title by one of the authors (Ju Sun; coming up at Duke University on February 5th, 2018):

Many problems arising from scientific and engineering applications can be naturally formulated as optimization problems, most of which are nonconvex. For nonconvex problems, obtaining a local minimizer is computationally hard in theory, never mind the global minimizer. In practice, however, simple numerical methods often work surprisingly well in finding high-quality solutions for specific problems at hand.

In this talk, I will describe our recent effort in bridging the mysterious theory-practice gap for nonconvex optimization. I will highlight a family of nonconvex problems that can be solved to global optimality using simple numerical methods, independent of initialization. This family has the characteristic global structure that (1) all local minimizers are global, and (2) all saddle points have directional negative curvatures. Problems lying in this family cover various applications across machine learning, signal processing, scientific imaging, and more. I will focus on two examples we worked out: learning sparsifying bases for massive data and recovery of complex signals from phaseless measurements. In both examples, the benign global structure allows us to derive geometric insights and computational results that are inaccessible from previous methods. In contrast, alternative approaches to solving nonconvex problems often entail either expensive convex relaxation (e.g., solving large-scale semidefinite programs) or delicate problem-specific initializations.

Completing and enriching this framework is an active research endeavor that is being undertaken by several research communities. At the end of the talk, I will discuss open problems to be tackled to move forward.</comment>


Adam Savage's Ground Rules for Success [video] - <AUTHOR> http://bizopy.com/adam-savages-ground-rules-for-success/

<comment><USER2> Here are the 10 rules from his slides, though he goes into a lot more detail in the video (he starts going into the rules at around 14:00):

1\. Get good at something Really good. Get good ts as many things as you can. Being good at one thing makes it easier to get good at other things.

2\. Getting good at stuff takes practice. Lots and lots of practice.

3\. Get OBSESSED Everyone at the top of their field is obsessed with what they're doing.

4\. Doing something well and thoroughly is it's OWN reward.

5\. Show and Tell If you do something well and you're happy with it, for FSM's sake, tell EVERYONE

6\. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING, ASK. If something piques your interest, tell someone, if you want to learn something, ask someone, like your BOSS. As an employer I can tell you, people who want to learn new skills are people I want to keep employed.

7\. Have GOALS Make up goals. Set goals. Regularly assess where you are and where you want to be in terms of them. This is a kind of prayer that works, and works well. Allow for the fact that things will NEVER turn out like you think they will, and you must be prepared to end up miles from where you intended.

8\. BE NICE TO EVERYONE. Life is way to short to be an asshole. If you are an asshole, apologize.

9\. Fail You will fail. It's one of our jobs in life. Keep failing. When you fail, admit it. When you don't, don't get cocky, 'Cause you're just about to fail again.

10\. WORK YOUR ASS OFF Work like your life depends on it.</comment>


Some Great SaaS Visualizations - <AUTHOR> https://medium.com/@kevinacohn/four-great-saas-visualizations-b45a6f0768b4 <comment><USER2> Interesting article!

> Would you believe that growth in January was two times as strong as in > August?

I'm not sure I agree with the author's analysis here. "Quick Ratio" is an interesting metric, but a lot of companies would take the ~75k net MRR growth with more churn than ~25k with little churn in the short term. Despite that, it's an interesting measure to add to the toolkit.

I've always visualized MRR changes with the same stacked bar chart (New / Expansion / Churn / Contraction) with a line overlaid to visualize Net New MRR. That gives you an absolute sense of growth which is usually what you want from this kind of overview report.</comment>


Exo IDE: Top 5 New Features of the Month - <AUTHOR> http://blog.exoplatform.com/2012/11/20/exo-ide-top-5-new-features-of-the-month/

<comment><AUTHOR> Exo IDE, an environment for coding, building, and debugging apps in the cloud, just revealed new features and partnerships, all designed to make developers and their teams more productive.

Here are the top 5 announcements:

\- Smart project creation and deployment for Java, Spring, Ruby, Python and PHP apps.

\- JRebel integration that saves minutes on every deploy.

\- Added AppFog deployment to the existing supported PaaS list, in addition to AWS, CloudBees, Google App Engine, Heroku and OpenShift.

\- Fixed-width font for better reading and coding.

\- Team development through JAR publishing</comment>


Online Course learning and teaching marketplace - <AUTHOR> Coachunt is the India's leading online course learning and teaching marketplace. Coachunt members are constantly growing. Students can learn anything and find best instructor. Students can discuss with friends, while instructors have a way to share their knowledge with the world. Coachunt offer best and easy to use platform to create proprietary courses. Coachunt is India's first transparent platform where student and instructor can connect with each other. Founded in 2016. https://www.coachunt.com <comment><AUTHOR> [https://www.coachunt.com](https://www.coachunt.com)</comment>


Representations in Cognitive Science - <AUTHOR> https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:bd813fd7-8871-4e0d-9d7a-1cede72a7520 <comment><AUTHOR> This is Nick Shea's new open-access book. Nick is one of the most prominent philosophers of cognitive science. The abstract:

" Our thoughts are meaningful. We think about things in the outside world; how can that be so? This is one of the deepest questions in contemporary philosophy. Ever since the 'cognitive revolution', states with meaning-mental representations-have been the key explanatory construct of the cognitive sciences. But there is still no widely accepted theory of how mental representations get their meaning. Powerful new methods in cognitive neuroscience can now reveal information processing in the brain in unprecedented detail. They show how the brain performs complex calculations on neural representations. Drawing on this cutting-edge research, Nicholas Shea uses a series of case studies from the cognitive sciences to develop a naturalistic account of the nature of mental representation. His approach is distinctive in focusing firmly on the 'subpersonal' representations that pervade so much of cognitive science. The diversity and depth of the case studies, illustrated by numerous figures, make this book unlike any previous treatment. It is important reading for philosophers of psychology and philosophers of mind, and of considerable interest to researchers throughout the cognitive sciences."</comment>


Is It Time to Treat Violence Like a Contagious Disease? - <AUTHOR> http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/01/violence-is-contagious/

<comment><AUTHOR> "The Contagion of Violence - Workshop Summary [1]

In the past 25 years, there has been a shift in the field of violence prevention, from the assumption that violence is inevitable to the recognition that violence is preventable. In exploring the occurrence of violence, researchers have recognized the tendency for violent acts to cluster, to spread from place to place, and to mutate from one type to another – similar to the infectious disease model, in which an agent or vector initiates a specific biological pathway leading to symptoms of disease and infectivity.

On April 30 – May 1, 2012, the IOM Forum on Global Violence Prevention held a workshop to explore the contagious nature of violence. The workshop focused on the epidemiology of the contagion, possible processes and mechanisms by which violence is transmitted, how contextual factors mitigate or exacerbate the issue, and ways in which the contagion of violence might be interrupted. This document summarizes the workshop."

Free pdf download available from [2].

[1] <http://iom.edu/Reports/2012/Contagion-of-Violence.aspx>

[2] <http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13489></comment>


Can you sign a quantum state? - <AUTHOR> https://arxiv.org/abs/1811.11858 <comment><USER2> > _Abstract. Cryptography with quantum states exhibits a number of surprising > and counterintuitive features. In a 2002 work, Barnum et al. argued > informally that these strange features should imply that digital signatures > for quantum states are impossible [6]._

> _In this work, we perform the first rigorous study of the problem of signing > quantum states. We first show that the intuition of [6] was correct, by > proving an impossibility result which rules out even very weak forms of > signing quantum states. Essentially, we show that any non-trivial > combination of correctness and security requirements results in negligible > security._

> _This rules out all quantum signature schemes except those which simply > measure the state and then sign the outcome using a classical scheme. In > other words, only classical signature schemes exist._

> _We then show a positive result: it is possible to sign quantum states, > provided that they are also encrypted with the public key of the intended > recipient. Following classical nomenclature, we call this notion quantum > signcryption. Classically, signcryption is only interesting if it provides > superior efficiency to simultaneous encryption and signing. Our results > imply that, quantumly, it is far more interesting: by the laws of quantum > mechanics, it is the only signing method available._

> _We develop security definitions for quantum signcryption, ranging from a > simple one-time two-user setting, to a chosen-ciphertext-secure many-time > multi-user setting. We also give secure constructions based on post-quantum > public-key primitives. Along the way, we show that a natural hybrid method > of combining classical and quantum schemes can be used to "upgrade" a secure > classical scheme to the fully-quantum setting, in a wide range of > cryptographic settings including signcryption, authenticated encryption, and > chosen-ciphertext security._

"Quantum signcryption"</comment>


Are Delayed Issues Harder to Resolve? [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://arxiv.org/abs/1609.04886 <comment><AUTHOR> "Abstract Many practitioners and academics believe in a delayed issue effect (DIE); i.e. the longer an issue lingers in the system, the more effort it requires to resolve. This belief is often used to justify major investments in new development processes that promise to retire more issues sooner.

This paper tests for the delayed issue effect in 171 software projects conducted around the world in the period from 2006–2014. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study yet published on this effect. We found no evidence for the delayed issue effect; i.e. the effort to resolve issues in a later phase was not consistently or substantially greater than when issues were resolved soon after their introduction. This paper documents the above study and explores reasons for this mismatch between this common rule of thumb and empirical data.

In summary, DIE is not some constant across all projects. Rather, DIE might be an historical relic that occurs intermittently only in certain kinds of projects. This is a significant result since it predicts that new development processes that promise to faster retire more issues will not have a guaranteed return on investment (depending on the context where applied), and that a long-held truth in software engineering should not be considered a global truism."</comment>


MakCorps – Hotel Price Comparison API - <AUTHOR> https://www.makcorps.com/ <comment><AUTHOR> This API lets you compare hotel room prices from more than 200 websites like agoda.com, booking.com , hotels.com,amoma.com,etc. Response will consist of top 3 vendors along with the best vendor. Address , reviews, ratings , features, etc are the part of JSON response. This API is simple to implement so you can keep smiling. Our database is regularly updated to reflect new changes in Hotel prices and availability. Our API quickly responds to your queries so your app doesn't lags. Using our API, you can just focus on your user experience. We take care of the backend.</comment>


Reply By Senator Schumer To My Opposition of the Protect IP act - <AUTHOR>

Dear [Redacted]:

     Thank you for your contacting me in opposition to S.968, the PROTECT IP Act. Like you, I believe that consumers should have access to a vibrant and innovative online community to discuss their ideas and opinions.  At the same time, we must not let the internet become a haven for intellectual property thieves.

     The threat to intellectual property owners over the internet is clear. Every year, the US Chamber of Commerce estimates that copyright theft costs our nation about $58 billion in lost output, 373,375 in lost jobs, and $16 billion in lost employee earnings. These numbers present an unacceptable burden to US businesses. In addition, companies may be less likely to innovate because their products may be stolen by intellectual property pirates, creating a drag on the US economy.

     The PROTECT IP Act addresses the problem of intellectual property theft online, but it also contains important due process protections to ensure that legal activity over the internet is not disrupted.  As you may know, the PROTECT IP Act would allow the Department of Justice to file a claim against a website that 1) has no significant purpose other than engaging in or facilitating copyright infringement, circumventing technology controlling access to copyrighted works, or selling or promoting counterfeit goods or services; or (2) is designed, operated, or marketed and used to engage in such activities. A judge would have to find that a website is intentionally violating intellectual property rights of an American entity before he could issue an order against that site. I believe PROTECT IP Act would provide law enforcement and intellectual property holders additional tools to protect American intellectual property from websites while still ensuring the constitutionally protected rights of free speech and due process. The PROTECT IP Act currently is awaiting action on the floor of the Senate, and I will continue to monitor this bill as it moves through the Senate.

     Thank you for contacting me on this important issue.  Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can ever be of assistance to you on this, or any other matter.
 <comment><USER2> wat</comment>


The Silent Power of the NSA (1983) - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/1983/03/27/magazine/the-silent-power-of-the-nsa.html?pagewanted=all

<comment><USER2> The last paragraph tells the tale of why this article has emerged again.

"No laws define the limits of the N.S.A.'s power. No Congressional committee subjects the agency's budget to a systematic, informed and skeptical review. With unknown billions of Federal dollars, the agency purchases the most sophisticated communications and computer equipment in the world. But truly to comprehend the growing reach of this formidable organization, it is necessary to recall once again how the computers that power the N.S.A. are also gradually changing lives of Americans - the way they bank, obtain benefits from the Government and communicate with family and friends. Every day, in almost every area of culture and commerce, systems and procedures are being adopted by private companies and organizations as well as by the nation's security leaders that make it easier for the N.S.A. to dominate American society should it ever decide such action is necessary."</comment>


Facebook Says Government Demands for User Data Are at a Record High - <AUTHOR> Facebook's latest transparency report is out. The social media giant said the number of government demands for user data increased by 16% to 128,617 demands during the first-half of this year compared to the second-half of last year. From a report: That's the highest number of government demands its received in any reporting period since it published its first transparency report in 2013. The U.S. government led the way with the most number of requests -- 50,741 demands for user data resulting in some account or user data given to authorities in 88% of cases. Facebook said two-thirds of all of the U.S. government's requests came with a gag order, preventing the company from telling the user about the request for their data. But Facebook said it was able to release details of 11 so-called national security letters (NSLs) for the first time after their gag provisions were lifted during the period. National security letters can compel companies to turn over non-content data at the request of the FBI. These letters are not approved by a judge, and often come with a gag order preventing their disclosure. But since the Freedom Act passed in 2015, companies have been allowed to request the lifting of those gag orders. <comment><AUTHOR> :( ok?????????</comment>


How I accidentally discovered the pill to enlightenment but I wouldn't recommend - <AUTHOR> http://bearlamp.com.au/how-i-accidentally-discovered-the-pill-to-enlightenment-but-i-wouldnt-recommend-it/ <comment><AUTHOR> Eastern enlightenment is not what you think. I mean, maybe it is. But it's probably not. There's a reason it's so elusive, and there's a reason that it hasn't joined western science and the western world the way that curiosity and discovery have as a driving force.

This is the story of my mistake accidentally discovering enlightenment.

February 2017 I was noticing some weird symptoms. I felt cold. Which was strange because I have never been cold. Nicknames include "fire" and "hot hands", my history includes a lot of bad jokes about how I am definitely on fire. I am known for visiting the snow in shorts and a t-shirt. I hit 70kg, The least fat I have ever had in my life. And that was the only explanation I had. I asked a doctor about it, I did some reading – circulation problems. I don't have circulation problems at the age of 25. I am more fit than I have ever been in my life. I look into hesperidin (orange peel) and eat myself a few whole oranges including peel. No change. I look into other blood pressure supplements, other capillary modifying supplements… Other ideas to investigate. I decided I couldn't be missing something because there was nothing to be missing. I would have read it somewhere already. So I settled for the obvious answer. Being skinnier was making me colder.

Flashback to February 2016 This is where it all begins. I move out of my parents house into an apartment with a girl I have been seeing for under 6 months. I weigh around 80kg (that's 12.5 stones or 176 pounds or 2822 ounces for our imperial friends). Life happens and by March I am on my own. I decide to start running. Make myself a more desirable human.

I taught myself a lot about routines and habits and actually getting myself to run. Running is hard. Actually, running is easy. Leaving the house is hard. But I work that out too.

\</comment><comment></comment><comment>--

Visit blog to read the rest...

[http://bearlamp.com.au/how-i-accidentally-discovered-the- pil...](http://bearlamp.com.au/how-i-accidentally-discovered-the-pill-to- enlightenment-but-i-wouldnt-recommend-it/)

<comment><USER2> Please post a working link.

<comment><AUTHOR> Apologies. I think all the HN-ites crashed my teeny wordpress install. It's back up now.</comment></comment></comment>


Glimpse Inside a Metaverse: The Virtual World of Second Life - <AUTHOR> http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-5182759758975402950 <comment><AUTHOR> ABSTRACT

Linden Lab is the producer of Second Life, an online world with a growing population of subscribers (or "residents"); currently, the community has well over 140,000 residents from 91 countries. By providing residents with robust building and scripting tools, Linden Lab enables them to create a vast array of in-world objects, installations and programs. Since its early stages, Linden Lab has allowed its residents to retain full IP rights over their own creations, thereby insuring that their contributions to the community remain truly their own.</comment>


Neglected Risks, Financial Innovation, and Financial Fragility (2011) [pdf] - <AUTHOR> https://www.hbs.edu/behavioral-finance-and-financial-stability/Documents/86973485.pdf <comment><AUTHOR> >Abstract

>We present a standard model of financial innovation, in which intermediaries engineer securities with cash flows that investors seek, but modify two assumptions. First, investors (and possibly intermediaries) neglect certain unlikely risks. Second, investors demand securities with safe cash flows. Financial intermediaries cater to these preferences and beliefs by engineering securities perceived to be safe but exposed to neglected risks. Because the risks are neglected, security issuance is excessive. As investors eventually recognize these risks, they fly back to safety of traditional securities and markets become fragile, even without leverage, precisely because the volume of new claims is excessive.</comment>


This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix. - <AUTHOR> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/business/media/26link.html?ref=technology

<comment><USER2> "Randall Munroe, the 23-year-old creator of xkcd, a hugely popular online comic strip (at least among computer programmers) where the sandwich line appeared."

I enjoy xkcd as much as the next guy, but sudo make me a sandwich has been around as long as sudo itself.

<comment><USER3> Yeah, but it's still cool to see Randall and xkcd get some (glowing) mainstream attention.

<comment><USER4> "Mainstream attention" kills most of the things I'm most fond of. Of course, I knew this day would come and I'm happy for Randall but there's still this small sense of a let-down now that the secret is out.

<comment><USER2> The only thing mainstream attention kills in most things is the ability for early adapters to consider themselves elite in knowing about said thing.

I see it in music all the time with core fans hating the band as soon as they get popular even if they haven't changed at all just because they are no longer unique for liking them.

I never thought I'd see it with a web comic.

<comment><USER4> I was actually worried that if a new demographic of readers (or the perception thereof) found xkcd that Randall may tone down some of the geek humor in favor of something more _universal_. I hope not.

 _mainstream attention kills in most things is the ability for early adapters to consider themselves elite_.

Wow this sentiment has been cropping up quite a lot lately. Kind of like a snobbish backlash to snobbish-looking elitism thing. Meta-snobbery?!

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> It's funny how the author spent quite a bit of e-ink _describing_ (as opposed to commenting on) things that could be inlined or linked to.

</comment><comment><USER6> (don't mod me up -- this is the full article if you hate NYT login nagging)

 _This Is Funny Only if You Know Unix_ __By NOAM COHEN __

FOR a certain subset of Internet users, "Sudo make me a sandwich" may as well be "Take my wife ... please."

Perhaps some explanation is in order. Before giving up the goods, however, we should heed the warning of Randall Munroe, the 23-year-old creator of xkcd, a hugely popular online comic strip (at least among computer programmers) where the sandwich line appeared. Mr. Munroe believes that analyzing a joke is like dissecting a frog — it can be done, but the frog dies.

Still, he plays along, explaining that "sudo" is a command in the Unix operating system that temporarily grants godlike powers: "The humor comes from people who have encountered typing a command and having the computer say 'No,' and they say, 'Oh, yeah, sudo says,' and the computer does it. Kind of like 'Simon says.' "

Hence the set-up: one stick figure says to another, "Make me a sandwich," only to be told, "No." Thinking quickly, stick figure No. 1 says, "Sudo make me a sandwich," and the once-recalcitrant stick figure No. 2 must comply.

Mr. Munroe, a physics major and a programmer by trade, is good for jokes like this three times a week, informed by computing and the Internet. By speaking the language of geeks — many a strip hinges on crucial differences between the C and Python programming languages — while dealing with relationships and the meaning of a computer-centric life, xkcd has become required reading for techies across the world.

The site, which began publishing regularly in January 2006, has 500,000 unique visitors a day, he said, and 80 million page views a month. (Why "xkcd"? "It's just a word with no phonetic pronunciation," his Web site, xkcd.com, answers.)

Mr. Munroe has become something of a cult hero. He counts himself as among the fewer than two dozen creators of comic strips on the Web who make a living at it.

At Google headquarters, a required stop on the geek-cult-hero speaking tour, he recently addressed hundreds of engineers, some of whom dutifully waited for him to sign their laptops. He said he had only wanted a tour of the place but had instead been invited to speak. The real thrill, he said, was that a hero of his, Donald Knuth, a professor emeritus of computer science at Stanford and a programming pioneer, was in the front row.

"It's comparable to Bill Gates's being in the front row," he said. "I got to have lunch with him. He's in his 70s, but people he is in touch with must have told him about it."

While the comics play on the peculiarities of code, they are as much about escaping the clear, orderly world of commands to engage a chaotic sphere known as real life, or perhaps merely adulthood.

So one comic has a graph showing "my overall health" entering a steep decline "the day I realized I could cook bacon whenever I wanted." Or, in one of Mr. Munroe's favorites, a stick-figure couple revel in an apartment filled to the brim with playpen balls, "because we are grownups now, and it's our turn to decide what that means."

And, in a rare lapse from his plain-and-simple drawing style, a pair of stick figures walk in an increasingly beautiful landscape after first declaring: "I feel like I'm wasting my life on the Internet. Let's walk around the world." At the foot of a gorgeous mountain, however, one turns to the other and says, "And yet, all I can think is that this will make for a great LiveJournal entry."

Mr. Munroe is clearly still getting used to his celebrity and to running a business. He and his roommate, Derek Radtke, work on the Web site out of their Somerville, Mass., apartment, and they recently hired an employee to handle e-mail.

"People are generally surprised that we make a living from it," Mr. Munroe said. Without being specific, he said that the sales of xkcd merchandise support the two of them "reasonably well." He said they sell thousands of T-shirts a month, either of panels from his strip or in their style, as well as posters.

"We've been getting a lot more efficient," he said. "We were losing money on every T-shirt sold overseas for a while." (But you can make it up in volume, I helpfully suggested. He moved on.)

A fan of newspaper comic strips since childhood, Mr. Munroe can simultaneously call himself an heir to "Peanuts" while recognizing that his quirky and technical humor would never have made it in newspapers.

On the Internet, he said, "You can draw something that appeals to 1 percent of the audience — 1 percent of United States, that is three million people, that is more readers than small cartoons can have."

In that way, and many others, the Web has been a salvation. "People doing comics on the Internet are free of all the baggage that goes with being with a syndicate," he said, "the editorial control, the space limits, the no control over what can be done with your cartoon."

The Internet has also created a bond between Mr. Munroe and his readers that is exceptional. They re-enact in real life the odd ideas he puts forward in his strip. A case in point was the strip called "Dream Girl." It recounted a dream in which a girl (stick figure with flowing hair) recites a bunch of numbers into the narrator's ear.

"The xkcd person is the kind of person who would take that and run with it," he said. The numbers were coordinates and a date months in the future.

The strip's narrator says he went there and no one came. "It turns out that wanting something doesn't make it real," the strip concludes.

But on that day in real life, hundreds of fans met in a park in Cambridge.

And then they all ordered sandwiches.

<comment><USER7> <http://bugmenot.com>

However, NYT regularly blocks usernames that appear on bugmenot, so pretty much every time I go to nyt.com I have to go to bugmetnot.

It would be much easier just to register for NYT, but I continue to use bugmenot out of principle.

<comment><USER8> Just in case you don't know, bugmenot is very easy to use. Even easier than creating a login, in fact.

<https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6349></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: Simple HTML to WordPress Conversion Tool - <AUTHOR> http://htmltowordpress.io <comment><AUTHOR> [http://htmltowordpress.io](http://htmltowordpress.io) is a simple drag & drop web app to convert any website into a wordpress theme in seconds.

Two main use cases it's been developed for: 1)Convert current website into wordpress without the hassle it entails (paying for the service or the time sucking DIY option). Usually to get access to plugins, DIY maintenance and all that good stuff.

2)Workflow tool for developers & designers. It's been an internal dev tool at a wordpress agency to save time in delivering projects. It's just quicker and simpler to develop a static website than integrate WP into the workflow from the beginning.

P.S. Also a ton easier and cheaper to hire people with good front-end dev/design skills than also requiring sufficient WP expertise.

So if you have a website that you'd like to convert into a wordpress theme - Now it's stupid simple to do it. Looking forward to some brutal feedback (don't worry about offending us, we're grown up nerds heheh). Here's the url again: [http://htmltowordpress.io](http://htmltowordpress.io)

</comment><comment><USER2> The preview functionality is pretty mind blowing!</comment>


Robby's night. Lesson on perseverence - <AUTHOR>

Robby's Night
At the prodding of my friends, I am writing this story. My name is Mildred Hondorf. I am a former elementary school music teacher from Des Moines , Iowa . I've always supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons-something I've done for over 30 years. Over the years I found that children have many levels of musical ability. I've never had the pleasure of having a prodigy though I have taught some talented students.
However I've also had my share of what I call "musically challenged" pupils. One such student was Robby. Robby was 11 years old when his mother (a single Mom) dropped him off for his first piano lesson. I prefer that students (especially boys!) begin at an earlier age, which I explained to Robby.
But Robby said that it had always been his mother's dream to hear him play the piano. So I took him as a student. Well, Robby began with his piano lessons and from the beginning I thought it was a hopeless endeavor. As much as Robby tried, he lacked the sense of tone and basic rhythm needed to excel. But he dutifully reviewed his scales and some elementary pieces that I require all my students to learn.
Over the months he tried and tried while I listened and cringed and tried to encourage him. At the end of each weekly lesson he'd always say, "My mom's going to hear me play someday." But it seemed hopeless. He just did not have any inborn ability. I only knew his mother from a distance as she dropped Robby off or waited in her aged car to pick him up. She always waved and smiled but never stopped in.
Then one day Robby stopped coming to our lessons.
I thought about calling him but assumed because of his lack of ability, that he had decided to pursue something else. I also was glad that he stopped coming. He was a bad advertisement for my teaching!
Several weeks later I mailed to the student's homes a flyer on the upcoming recital. To my surprise Robby (who received a flyer) asked me if he could be in the recital. I told him that the recital was for current pupils and because he had dropped out he really did not qualify. He said that his mother had been sick and unable to take him to piano lessons but he was still practicing "Miss Hondorf I've just got to play!" he insisted.
 I don't know what led me to allow him to play in the recital. Maybe it was his persistence or maybe it was something inside of me saying that it would be all right. The night for the recital came. The high school gymnasium was packed with parents, friends and relatives. I put Robby up last in the program before I was to come up and thank all the students and play a finishing piece. I thought that any damage he would do would come at the end of the program and I could always salvage his poor performance through my "curtain closer."
Well, the recital went off without a hitch. The students had been practicing and it showed. Then Robby came up on stage. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair looked like he'd run an eggbeater through it. "Why didn't he dress up like the other students?" I thought. "Why didn't his mother at least make him comb his hair for this special night?"
Robby pulled out the piano bench and he began. I was surprised when he announced that he had chosen Mozart's Concerto #21 in C Major. I was not prepared for what I heard next. His fingers were light on the keys, they even danced nimbly on the ivories. He went from pianissimo to fortissimo. >From allegro to virtuoso. His suspended chords that Mozart demands were magnificent! Never had I heard Mozart played so well by people his age. After six and a half minutes he ended in a grand crescendo and everyone was on their feet in wild applause. Overcome and in tears I ran up on stage and put my arms around Robby in joy. "I've never heard you play like that Robby! How'd you do it? " Through the microphone Robby explained: "Well Miss Hondorf . . .. Remember I told you my Mom was sick? Well, actually she had cancer and passed away this morning And well . . She was born deaf so tonight was the first time she ever heard me play. I wanted to make it special."
There wasn't a dry eye in the house that evening. As the people from Social Services led Robby from the stage to be placed into foster care, noticed that even their eyes were red and puffy and I thought to myself how much richer my life had been for taking Robby as my pupil.
No, I've never had a prodigy but that night I became a prodigy. . . Of Robby's. He was the teacher and I was the pupil for it is he that taught me the meaning of perseverance and love and believing in yourself and maybe even taking a chance in someone and you don't know why.
<comment><USER2> Permalinks:

<http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/robby.html>

<http://www.snopes.com/glurge/music.asp>

</comment><comment><USER3> Wow! Thats a great story. Thank you for sharing.</comment>


Zuck to Obama: NSA Spying Is Bad for Business - <AUTHOR> http://www.inc.com/associated-press/facebook-google-netflix-meet-with-obama.html

<comment><USER2> Here's the actual post from Zuck:

Mark Zuckerberg March 13

As the world becomes more complex and governments everywhere struggle, trust in the internet is more important today than ever.

The internet is our shared space. It helps us connect. It spreads opportunity. It enables us to learn. It gives us a voice. It makes us stronger and safer together.

To keep the internet strong, we need to keep it secure. That's why at Facebook we spend a lot of our energy making our services and the whole internet safer and more secure. We encrypt communications, we use secure protocols for traffic, we encourage people to use multiple factors for authentication and we go out of our way to help fix issues we find in other people's services.

The internet works because most people and companies do the same. We work together to create this secure environment and make our shared space even better for the world.

This is why I've been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government.

The US government should be the champion for the internet, not a threat. They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst.

I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform.

So it's up to us -- all of us -- to build the internet we want. Together, we can build a space that is greater and a more important part of the world than anything we have today, but is also safe and secure. I'm committed to seeing this happen, and you can count on Facebook to do our part.

[https://www.facebook.com/zuck](https://www.facebook.com/zuck)</comment>


A 2019 Guide to Human Pose Estimation with Deep Learning - <AUTHOR> https://blog.nanonets.com/human-pose-estimation-2d-guide/ <comment><AUTHOR> Human Pose estimation is an important problem that has enjoyed the attention of the Computer Vision community for the past few decades and is a crucial step towards understanding people in images and videos. This post covers the basics of Human Pose Estimation (2D) and reviews the literature on this topic.</comment>


CivicGraph – A versioning data store for time-variant graph data - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/CivicGraph/CivicGraph <comment><AUTHOR> CivicGraph is a versioned-graph data store - it retains all changes that its data (vertices and edges) have gone through to reach their current state. It supports point-in-time graph traversals, letting the user query any past state of the graph just as easily as the present.

It is a Foxx Microservice for ArangoDB that features VCS-like semantics in many parts of its interface, and is backed by a transactional event tracker. It is currently being developed and tested on ArangoDB v3.5, with support for v3.6 in the pipeline.

CivicGraph is a potential fit for scenarios where data is best represented as a network of vertices and edges (i.e., a graph) having the following characteristics:

      1. Both vertices and edges can hold properties in the form of attribute/value pairs (equivalent to JSON objects).
      2. Documents (vertices/edges) mutate within their lifespan (both in their individual attributes/values and in their relations with each other).
      3. Past states of documents are as important as their present, necessitating retention and queryability of their change history.

Its API is split into 3 top-level categories:

### Document __Create __\- Create single /multiple documents (vertices/edges). __Replace __\- Replace entire single /multiple documents with new content. __Delete __\- Delete single /multiple documents. __Update __\- Add /Update specific fields in single/multiple documents. __(Planned) Explicit Commits __\- Commit a document 's changes separately, after it has been written to DB via other means (AQL / Core REST API / Client). __(Planned) CQRS /ES Operation Mode __\- Async implicit commits.

### Event __Log __\- Fetch a log of events (commits) for a given path pattern (path determines scope of documents to pick). The log can be optionally grouped /sorted/sliced within a specified time interval. __Diff __\- Fetch a list of forward or reverse commands (diffs) between commits for specified documents. __(Planned) Branch /Tag __\- Create parallel versions of history, branching off from a specific event point of the main timeline. Also, tag specific points in branch+time for convenient future reference. __(Planned) Materialization __\- Point-in-time checkouts.

### History __Show __\- Fetch a set of documents, optionally grouped /sorted/sliced, that match a given path pattern, at a given point in time. __Filter __\- In addition to a path pattern like in 'Show', apply an expression-based, simple/compound post-filter on the retrieved documents. __Traverse __\- A point-in-time traversal (walk) of a past version of the graph, with the option to apply additional post-filters to the result.

I hope some of you may find this a useful service to address several types of data modelling challenges pertaining to retention and querying of historical graph data.</comment>


The Obama-Biden Plan - Ehtics Agenda [2007] - <AUTHOR> http://change.gov/agenda/ethics_agenda/

<comment><AUTHOR> Especially this part:

 _Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process. "_</comment>


Google Drive - Privacy? - <AUTHOR> http://i.imgur.com/dqGgk.png

<comment><USER2> Post a link next time, not a conveniently truncated image:

<http://www.google.com/policies/terms/>

 _Your Content in our Services

Some of our Services allow you to submit content. You retain ownership of any intellectual property rights that you hold in that content. In short, what belongs to you stays yours.

When you upload or otherwise submit content to our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example, for a business listing you have added to Google Maps). Some Services may offer you ways to access and remove content that has been provided to that Service. Also, in some of our Services, there are terms or settings that narrow the scope of our use of the content submitted in those Services. Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services.

You can find more information about how Google uses and stores content in the privacy policy or additional terms for particular Services. If you submit feedback or suggestions about our Services, we may use your feedback or suggestions without obligation to you._

Apps have different TOS: <http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/terms/standard_terms.html></comment>


Nginx v1.11.8 Released - <AUTHOR> https://nginx.org/en/CHANGES#1.11.8 <comment><AUTHOR>
        *) Feature: the "absolute_redirect" directive.

        *) Feature: the "escape" parameter of the "log_format" directive.

        *) Feature: client SSL certificates verification in the stream module.

        *) Feature: the "ssl_session_ticket_key" directive supports AES256
           encryption of TLS session tickets when used with 80-byte keys.

        *) Feature: vim-commentary support in vim scripts.
           Thanks to Armin Grodon.

        *) Bugfix: recursion when evaluating variables was not limited.

        *) Bugfix: in the ngx_stream_ssl_preread_module.

        *) Bugfix: if a server in an upstream in the stream module failed, it
           was considered alive only when a test connection sent to it after
           fail_timeout was closed; now a successfully established connection is
           enough.

        *) Bugfix: nginx/Windows could not be built with 64-bit Visual Studio.

        *) Bugfix: nginx/Windows could not be built with OpenSSL 1.1.0.</comment>


AAAS site EurekAlert user data compromised, taken offline - <AUTHOR> http://www.eurekalert.org/offline.html <comment><AUTHOR> No-one is safe these days it seems. The present message, for posterity, minus the specific contact info:

\</comment><comment></comment><comment>-----

September 13, 2016 – 10:10 p.m. EDT

Dear EurekAlert! Registrants:

The EurekAlert! website has been taken offline as AAAS works diligently to address a serious security breach.

We are taking this step out of an abundance of caution. The integrity of content on our website is of the utmost concern to us. On September 11, we were notified of a potential breach to our system. An investigation revealed that our website had experienced an aggressive attack on September 9 that compromised usernames and passwords. As we were working to implement a secure password-reset protocol for all registrants, the unknown hacker publicly released an embargoed EurekAlert! news release. We then decided to bring the site down immediately, to protect other embargoed content.

Please be assured that financial information from subscribing institutions is not stored on the EurekAlert! website and therefore remained secure. Registrants' usernames and passwords were compromised, however.

We deeply regret the inconvenience that this security breach and the related site outage may cause reporters and public information officers. We will bring the site back online as soon as we can ensure that vulnerabilities have been eliminated. Please email the EurekAlert! team, or contact me directly with any questions or concerns.

Ginger Pinholster Chief Communications Officer and Director, Office of Public Programs American Association for the Advancement of Science

\</comment><comment></comment><comment>-----</comment>


Why People Believe Conspiracy Theories - <AUTHOR> https://www.skeptic.com/reading_room/michael-shermer-on-why-people-believe-conspiracy-theories/ <comment><USER2> "In the mid 1980's I was asked by an american legal institution known as the Christic Legal Institute to compile a comic book that would detail the murky history of the C.I.A., from the end of the second world war, to the present day. Covering such things as the heroin smuggling during the Vietnam war, the cocaine smuggling during the war in Central America, the Kennedy assasination and other highlights.

What I learned during the frankly horrifying research that I had to slog through in order to accomplish this, was that yes, there is a conspiracy, in fact there are a great number of conspiracies that are all tripping each other up. And all of those conspiracies are run by paranoid fantasists, and ham fisted clowns. If you are on a list targeted by the C.I.A., you really have nothing to worry about. If however you have a name similar to someone on a list targeted by the C.I.A., then you are dead.

The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory, is that conspiracy theorists believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is actually chaotic. The truth is that it is not The Iluminati, or The Jewish Banking Conspiracy, or the Gray Alien Theory. The truth is far more frightening.

Nobody is in control.

The world is rudderless..."

\-- Alan Moore

</comment><comment><USER3> Well, that's just what they would want you to think, isn't it?</comment>