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IPhone 4S Review by Steve's favorite reviewer - apoorvnarang http://allthingsd.com/20111011/the-iphone-finds-its-voice/?mod=tweet ====== grandalf The improvements in the 4S are likely 100% due to Sprint's faster data network and not due to the phone's processor, etc.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: Listkit – A simple list share Mithril.js app demo - ninive http://listkit.co/ ====== ninive Hi everyone, OP here. In those last rushing weekends busy with my startup I needed something simple to quick share my shopping list with my girlfriend as she is also working in my core team. So, bored of upgrade gdrive docs all the time lol, I've decided to write this as a Mithril.js tech demo, inspired from a standard todo list to have a shorter dev time. I'm on Mitrhil a lot on my current project, so I've preferred to keep the focus on the same modus operandi. I've also added some simple features and absolutely went with a no-login logic based on UUID_URL sharing. I quickly wrote a node.js server side app to deal with mongodb and expose some simple API functions. This was also a test, cause I wanted to double-check how to deploy 2 different applications on the same dokku instance. So I'm actually serving the Mithril client as a single app with nginx, and commute data through the API's on the server site, also for some route logic, launching the node app in a docker container. At the end I don't like it so much, I'm still considering to switch back serving with Express 4 static, also to get rid the '?' from the URL as root in Mithril and not be forced to use rewrite methods. Flow: Absolutely no need to login, fast search engine to check if the recipe/list exists in mongodb and load it to have it ready on the fly, and a quick list of the most forked ones. Forked cause can be logical your GF to modify and re-save your shared list, but can be also logical for another person to load it, check is quality and then take this list as a basis for his/her new fork. Then the last point is just sharing, as many way as possible for free. At first, using it on my android is pretty nice and fast, and I like the experience, tap and start typing. Friends are also happy. I'm still working in really spare time to add some other features (edit an item, a desktop icon) and some fixing (I know a couple of bugs here and there), but it's logical message is pretty clear. Also the mobile custom grid is not perfect, but should work on most of devices. I will share some Mithril.js coding technique on a blog-post too. At first, using it on my android is pretty nice and fast, and I liked the experience. I would love to hear your feedback! I am CTO acting temp CEO right now on my startup. If somebody likes the idea and would knock to be a tech co-founder on REALLY spare time to give this concept a serious look and add some custom features (like an optional twitter login), I would appreciate it a lot and for sure I promise to find some time to give it a business dev and some much more serious feedback. Thanks for your time reading this, appreciated, and thanks Leo, I really like Mithril. [https://lhorie.github.io/mithril/](https://lhorie.github.io/mithril/)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Morte: an intermediate language for super-optimizing functional programs - mercurial http://www.haskellforall.com/2014/09/morte-intermediate-language-for-super.html ====== rrradical I love the work this guy does. He consistently and often develops really interesting Haskell libraries. Does anyone know his background? ~~~ Gabriel439 I was a PhD student in biochemistry, but most of my PhD work was structural bioinformatics because I worked in a protein design research lab. Working on my PhD project is how I got exposed to (and addicted to) Haskell and programming in general, so I decided to change career paths to software engineering so I could feed my programming habit and now I work at Twitter. ~~~ cstrahan What sort of work are you doing at Twitter? Does Twitter use Haskell? ~~~ Gabriel439 I work on an internal analytics framework at Twitter. Twitter doesn't use Haskell. The most Haskell I've done there is to write an internal tool in Haskell (A shell-based interface to HDFS). Everybody here knows that it's my mission to introduce Haskell more at Twitter and I have two long plays to do so (Morte is part of one of them). You would think that it would be easier to introduce Haskell at a Scala-based company because of the strong similarities between the functional half of Scala and Haskell, but it's actually quite the opposite: the marginal benefit of switching to Haskell is smaller so it's harder to make the case to adopt Haskell. This is why you see Haskell take hold more easily in companies programming primarily in languages far-removed from Haskell (like PHP or Python) because then the marginal benefit of switching is much higher. ~~~ tel That reminds me of Joe Armstrong's talk—the best place to introduce new technology is in a company which is already experiencing technology failure. At that point, the pain is clear and options to resolve it command power and premium. ~~~ vorg Could be why so many Groovy shops switch to Scala. ------ JadeNB I'm confused by this. It seems to be promising a normal form for all expressions in a Turing-complete language—but that's equivalent to guaranteeing termination, isn't it? Moreover, it promises to produce equal results for equivalent programs, which would allow a solution of the halting problem, wouldn't it? I suspect that I've got some bad conceptual misunderstanding here; but, on the other hand, I also have a hard time believing that, if beta- and eta-reduction alone were sufficient to express such powerful optimisations, it would have taken this long to discover that. ~~~ wyager >Moreover, it promises to produce equal results for equivalent programs, which would allow a solution of the halting problem, wouldn't it? I believe this is the case. So the article's promise (as I read it) can not hold true in the general case. On a similar note, just write a program that runs the collatz conjecture and prints the result and a program that prints 1. Run them through Morte. If they compile to the same code, then boom, you've solved the Collatz conjecture :) ~~~ tel You can't encode the Collatz Conjecture (in that way) in Morte. It would require an infinite amount of computation and infinite loops have been disallowed. You would have to get a little bit more creative with the dependently typed parts of CIC and then finding a program which matches the needed type is as of today an unsolved task. ------ gamegoblin I have always wondered why I couldn't do something in Haskell like: {#- COMPILECOMPUTE #-} factorial 0 = 1 factorial n = n * factorial (n - 1) And have the compiler transform something like "factorial 5" into "120" at compile time, since factorial is a pure function, it seems like that would be doable? Of course you'd have to use your pragmas very judiciously to avoid crazy compile times. But there are some instances where, for code readability, I'd want to say "f 123" rather than whatever "f" evaluates to at 123, since "f 123" shows where the value comes from, but at compile time I'd like that to be optimized out. ~~~ JadeNB You _can_ do this, at the cost of some heavy lifting to express it: [http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Type_arithmetic](http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Type_arithmetic). P.S. This type of inlining was also discussed at [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19259114/why-are- constant...](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/19259114/why-are-constant- expressions-not-evaluated-at-compile-time-in-haskell). ------ mercurial > Also, if you're wondering, the name Morte is a tribute to a talking skull > from the game Planescape: Torment, since the Morte library is a "bare-bones" > calculus of constructions. Clearly a mark of good taste. ~~~ TelmoMenezes Morte means "death" in Latin and also in my native language (Portuguese). ~~~ glibgil Almost every native English speaker knows the meaning of morte. We have a words like mortician which is a person who cares for the dead, mortgage which is a plan to kill you debt, rigor mortis which is the stiffness of death and mortal which means subject to death. Yes, we almost all know what morte means. That is why it was the name given to a talking skull in a game. Just like love and hate, however, we often use native words in English for our most basic concepts. Death is one of those. ~~~ mercurial You also have Mallory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" (no talking skull involved in this one). That said, it was just a small nod to Gabriel's appreciation of the game, which after so many years I still consider the best RPG ever made. ~~~ Gabriel439 I agree. Planescape: Torment was the best RPG ever. I still get chills thinking about it.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Namecheap now officially accepts Bitcoin - redegg https://www.namecheap.com/support/payment-options/bitcoin.aspx ====== gibybo Well, I just tried to transfer one of my domains to Namecheap using Bitcoin, but their implementation leaves a lot to be desired. I filled in my domain, got to the checkout page, and it gave me three options: Pay from 'Funds', 'Credit Card', or 'Paypal'. Turns out in order to pay with Bitcoin, you have to first add 'Funds' to your account. So I click the link to do that, it asks me how much I want to add (I don't know, aren't you supposed to tell me how much I owe?). Anyway, I follow a few pages and finally end up on BitPay's page where it asks me to send a specific number of Bitcoins to their address, so I do. The page recognizes immediately when I have sent the funds, and redirects me back to Namecheap. Great, now I can find my way back to the checkout page and finally finish the transfer! Except I can't. Despite having sent the funds, they won't show up in my account for another hour (or possibly up to 24 hours). I understand they want to prevent double spend attacks, but this is absurd. We're talking about a $10 domain that they can just revoke if the payment doesn't clear. They have to wait 45+ days for paypal/credit cards to clear, but they give the product to me immediately, and I don't have to go through their ridiculous fund adding process to do so. I applaud the effort Namecheap and I'm happy to see Bitcoin becoming more useful, but this needs work. ~~~ shiftpgdn NameCheap actually doesn't have the capacity to revoke domains as they're an eNom reseller. Enom's policy is that once you buy a domain, it's yours. With domains sales being such a low margin business I can understand their level of caution. ~~~ danielhughes I had no idea they were a reseller. It's all the more interesting when you look at eNom's reseller pricing page <http://www.enom.com/resellers/benefits- pricingplans.aspx>. I hope NameCheap is getting better bulk rates than what is listed. ------ ashamedlion I'm loving this Bitcoin ramp up over the past few weeks. Namecheap should be applauded for their general endorsement of "what's good for the internet". Of course it's in their best interest, but you don't see GoDaddy doing the same. I think back to the "So, that's the end of Bitcoin"[1] article by Forbes and chuckle to myself. Hopefully one day we can look back at that article in the same way we look back at Ballmer laughing at the iPhone [2] [1] [http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/06/20/so- thats-...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/06/20/so-thats-the- end-of-bitcoin-then/) [2] <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U> ~~~ invalidOrTaken Second that on Namecheap apparently being on the side of the internet. Weren't they a vocal opponent of SOPA? ~~~ ashamedlion Yep [http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/12/22/we-say-no- to-...](http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2011/12/22/we-say-no-to-sopa/) <http://www.namecheap.com/moveyourdomainday.aspx> <http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2012/01/18/blackout/> ------ qdot76367 Ok. So accepting bitcoin, but they still won't have things like two-factor auth available for "several months" (reference: [https://community.namecheap.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10...](https://community.namecheap.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4766)). I realize PR departments are probably flailing wildly over $33 bitcoins, but which feature do you think your users are more likely to use? ~~~ doublextremevil minor correction to a valid post: as of 06:33 UTC, bitcoin goes for 37.9 USD ~~~ sachingulaya And now its $39. Its volatility makes it impractical to use as a currency. A bitcoin yesterday is worth 10% less than a bitcoin today. ~~~ jimworm Today's bitcoin is a little more liquid than yesterday's, and the trend will continue as long as more and more people start accepting bitcoin as payment. This liquidity has a positive effect on value. ~~~ robryan I would assume that one of the major reasons in holding bit coin is still to sell it at some point (until a large amount of people accept it) Meaning that once it hits a certain level people will start cashing in and crash the price again? ~~~ runeks > Meaning that once it hits a certain level people will start cashing in and > crash the price again? Only if they all sell at the same time. I don't see why that would happen. Selling ones bitcoins isn't an event you coordinate with other holders of bitcoins. It will happen gradually, and have a dampening effect on the price. In all likelihood it's happening right now. There was a huge ask wall at $40. Seems like a lot of people wanted to take profit at that price. This is also why a crash doesn't happen. If everyone decided right now they've made enough money and wanted to sell their coins, the price would start dropping, until it reaches a point where people are no longer satisfied with the price, and they will stop selling. At which point some buyers will be satisfied with the price drop, and get into bitcoin again, thus raising the price, and the cycle continues. It's really fascinating to watch the sum total of the actions of all the sellers and buyers, and how it unfolds as an ever-changing price and order book. ------ Skoofoo Neat, but will they turn a blind eye to domains registered with false information? After all, the biggest advantage of Bitcoin over traditional digital payment methods is its capability to be used anonymously. ~~~ n3rdy > Neat, but will they turn a blind eye to domains registered with false > information? I imagine in the future internet, domain registrations will be just as anonymous (like .onion on tor) as bitcoin, no reason domain names can't be decentralized (different tld's of course). ~~~ chii i would love a method to be able to anonymously host websites that is un-take- down-able and untracable. It would mean that contriversial stuff can be put there without fear of repercussion, and thus, more democratic. ~~~ hucker Tor hidden service? [1] [1] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_(anonymity_network)#Hidden_...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_$anonymity_network$#Hidden_services) ------ bmiranda The price of Bitcoin is currently hovering around 37 USD. I remember when Bitcoin was $2.00 after the first crash, I never expected it to rebound so quickly. Announcements such as Namecheap's lend credence to the current price, but I would not be surprised if a correction brought Bitcoin below $30. Regardless, I am excited that there are more places to spend Bitcoin each and every day. ~~~ dmix Well I don't think any average person is really keeping large amounts of money in bitcoin. It has mostly a transactional since the use cases are so niche. ~~~ disintermediate >use cases are so niche This is a first-world misperception. There is half a world excluded from traditional payment methods. ~~~ wmf Is Bitcoin a realistic option for those people? ~~~ dublinben Maybe for low-fee international money orders. Certainly not for everyday transactions away from the internet. ------ foxylad A domain registrar is going to have a fairly technically literate customer base, but bitcoin is edging towards the mainstream faster than I'd expected. ------ daniel-cussen The Coupa Café of Palo Alto is going to support paying with bitcoin soon. Yesterday I bought coffee for $2.00, with the option of paying .17 bitcoin. ~~~ tlrobinson Do you know what technology they're using? How long do they make you wait for confirmation, etc. ~~~ daniel-cussen I asked, but the people there didn't know much at all about it yet. ------ kalleboo Looks like they're using BitPay <https://bitpay.com> edit: I just tried it. The workflow works well, but this brings me back to my biggest reservation about the usability of BitCoin for regular transactions: The long period (hours) to confirm a transaction. ~~~ mwsherman Hours to settle into $? Or hours to confirm the Bitcoin transaction at all? ~~~ kalleboo To confirm the Bitcoin transaction at all. That's just how Bitcoin works - you have to wait for X new blocks to get confirmations from other peers. How long you wait determines your risk level. ~~~ KingMob It doesn't require hours at the protocol level, it's just a social standard. Typically, the first confirmation would occur in ~10 minutes. At the moment, the convention is 6 blocks / 1 hour is sufficient to prevent double-spending, but any merchant could have its own standard. Also, for something revocable like a domain name, there's nothing preventing Namecheap from giving you the domain name immediately, and then revoking your access to it later if the transaction ultimately fails. ~~~ runeks > Also, for something revocable like a domain name, there's nothing preventing > Namecheap from giving you the domain name immediately, and then revoking > your access to it later if the transaction ultimately fails. Not according to shiftpgdn: > NameCheap actually doesn't have the capacity to revoke domains as they're an > eNom reseller. Enom's policy is that once you buy a domain, it's yours. With > domains sales being such a low margin business I can understand their level > of caution. <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5323964> ------ score I seems the overall useage and popularity of bitcoins has gone down though. I haven't had a single purchase with bitcoins in about a year at Flow and Zone Games ( <http://flowandzonegames.com> ) and that's quite a change from the one-a-week clip before. I don't understand the currency so maybe I'm overpricing. ~~~ 3am Welcome to deflation. ------ ihsw Now Amazon needs to start accepting Bitcoins for EC2 instances and the world will be on its way past the Visa/Mastercard duopoly. ~~~ taligent Well since we are living in a fantasy land why not McDondalds, Ferrari, Apple and Starbucks as well. ~~~ StavrosK I much prefer it if they all just gave stuff away for free. ------ davidroberts I think in five years, the idea of using credit or debit cards for electronic transactions will seem slightly ridiculous, sort of the way using snail mail to pay bills by check seems now. ~~~ Nursie I think most people will still love the idea, because of a little thing called payment protection. No chargeback possibility? No sale from me. ~~~ GaryRowe Not every online transaction requires a chargeback. Perhaps donating to your favourite artist, author, charity would be easier in Bitcoin. And would mean you don't have to keep careful track of your spending to avoid huge interest rates from the card company. ------ teoruiz It's a great step towards domain anonymity, but at the end of the day Namecheap is a company in the USA that needs to comply with USA law and its enforcers. And we know it's not the most privacy-friendly country in the world. To be fair, registering a .com domain is a bad idea if you want to stay anonymous. Go for a .is, a .ch or even a .eu. ~~~ Muromec >It's a great step towards domain anonymity It`s not about anonymity. All other payment systems just suck. ------ andreyf This is crazy: MtGox is 37 USD/BTC today, up from 20 USD/BTC a month ago. ~~~ Nursie Bubble 2.0? ------ juskrey Interesting if anyone had conducted an experiment, whether new Bitcoin button, near old good CC payment, actually worsens whole conversion rate, due to interesting Bitcoin reputation in masses. ------ WhoIsSatoshi This is beautiful to watch unfold: The universe is taking flight! Do help it, not for the sake of a cryptocurrency, but for the ethical implications. For you and for me. ~~~ jacoblyles Why ask useless questions? How deep is the ocean? How high is the sky? Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? ~~~ WhoIsSatoshi Galt he isn't - "The universe believes in Encryption" (J.Assange) and this fact is at the same time the redeeming and redemption of the system we're watching suffer. Key point though - we're not relying on Nietzchieans supermen championing themselves or their genius. We're championing the universe, and empowering everyone. Freedom. ~~~ agorabinary Atlas? :) ------ lowglow Hey all! I'm trying to build a domain registrar we'd actually love to use. Does bitcoin really appeal to you as a user? I'm trying to find a list of must-haves and want-to-have features to bake into my project. ~~~ doctoboggan Let me programmatically set the ip you point to and I will give you money ~~~ shiftpgdn Can you expand on this? You could run your own DNS server and setup the appropriate DNS records at any registrar. ~~~ doctoboggan I have a free subdomain from afraid.org. They've given me a URL with a secret key. When that URL is requested afraid updates my records to point my subdomain at the IP the request came from. I don't have a static IP at my apartment, but I have a script that calls that URL whenever my IP changes, allowing me to always have a domain name pointed toward my home server. I am not familiar with operating a DNS server. Would that accomplish the usecase I described above? I would like to set up the same system but with a domain I own and not the free one from afraid.org ~~~ tracker1 There are other DNS providers that will do what you want with a purchased domain... you can also use afraid.org for that matter... I put up a domain I wanted others to be able to use for dyndns on afraid.org ... ~~~ doctoboggan I remember seeing something about using my own domain on afraid.org. However I use google apps, and I wasn't sure if it was possible or what it would take to keep my email hosted there while still using the dynamic dns. Honestly I don'y have much experience in this area and I don't really know what to research to learn more. ------ adrianwaj I'd like bitcoin to succeed even to a small extent if only as a counterweight to keep central banks in check but it would be better if it weren't so cumbersome to use, ie slow. ~~~ jacoblyles It usually takes several days for funds to transfer between banks. Payment processors are a layer built on top of USD. The same infrastructure can be built on top of bitcoin. ~~~ Nursie "It usually takes several days for funds to transfer between banks" Maybe in the US. In the civilised world it can be pretty much instantaneous. ------ tedsanders Accepting a volatile currency seems risky. What if bitcoin drops and I fill register domains on the cheap? Is there a way to prevent this? Are the prices somehow pegged to the dollar? ~~~ Maxious The payment gateway BitPay calculates how many bitcoins equal a USD price and then give that amount (minus their fee) in USD to Namecheap within 2 days. "It does not matter how many bitcoins we collect, how long it takes to collect them, what we can sell them for, or how long it takes to sell them." <https://bitpay.com/bitcoin-payment-gateway-api> ------ mariuolo The same namecheap that blocked *.imgur.com ? ------ stevewilhelm To put in perspective: _____~10000000 (10 million) dollars in bitcoin transactions a day [1] verses ~5000000000000 (5 trillion) dollars in daily foreign currency trades worldwide. [2] [1] <http://s831.us/XIQoZ7> [2] <http://s831.us/XISAQb> ~~~ zanny My take away is "holy crap, 10 million bitcoin a day is trading hands. That's a lot!" Especially for a fledgling currency with staunch opposition by traditional bankers and financial markets because it solves a lot of problems that make them a lot of money. ------ vishaltelangre Well, just reading about bitcoin and saw this here. I am pretty fascinated by the fact that it take not much time for currency conversion across the world. Awesome. Hope, this will dominate the current methods, and frauds. ------ johnx123-up OT: Can anyone suggest a good Bitcoin processor? What about Mt.Gox? Is it sensible to create our own processor and escrow for Bitcoin? ------ rrrrtttt Let's say I think that in one year's time Bitcoin will be gone. And let's say I want to put my money where my mouth is and want to short Bitcoin. Presumably there's a lot of people who think that Bitcoin is going to appreciate and thus should be happy to give me a low-interest loan. And yet there is no way to get a Bitcoin-denominated loan. Does this mean that people don't really believe Bitcoin will be with us in one year's time? ~~~ geoffschmidt Bitcoin is not exactly a mature currency. When a new merchant starts accepting Bitcoin payments it's still front page news. So I wouldn't read too much into the lack of lending infrastructure. Evaluating creditworthiness, and going after defaulters, is a lot more work than holding cash deposits or accepting cash in return for products, and those things are still big logistical challenges in Bitcoin land. ~~~ rrrrtttt Sure, but I still have my doubts. Apparently merchants like Namecheap accepting Bitcoin don't name their price in Bitcoin, they name their price in USD. Again, if you believe in Bitcoin, shouldn't you name your price in Bitcoin? ~~~ lucb1e With the volatility of Bitcoin's price, it's quite hard to do. They can't set a single price, so they would have to modify their existing site (where most people probably come to pay in USD anyway) to automatically fetch the current market price. ------ lucb1e Looking pretty good, privacy and IPv6 support like you might expect nowadays, only no DNSSEC. Not buying. ------ eduardordm Because bitcoins are illegal in my country, I'll keep my personal domains on namecheap but will certainly move my company domains out of there until I figure out if there's a chance I have problems with this. I like bitcoins just like everyone, but there are laws you need to abide by and bitcoins are illegal in many countries. ~~~ josephagoss Sorry dude, you have several people asking you what country your in and you give no answer. What you said (That Bitcoins are illegal in your country) is complete FUD until you provide some proof. As far as I am concerned, until you tell us where your country is, it seems your trying to damage namecheap's and /or Bitcoin's reputation for no reason. Please provide the country and law cited. Cheers. ~~~ eduardordm My country is in my contact information, I didn't answer because I went to sleep. This is the law that complete forbids using any currency other than the national for internal commerce and disposes about how forex must work, which bitcoins do not comply. <http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/LEIS/L4595.htm> This is a case where people were using dollars to pay for national contracts: [http://jus.com.br/revista/texto/8566/da-impossibilidade- de-p...](http://jus.com.br/revista/texto/8566/da-impossibilidade-de-pagamento- em-moeda-estrangeira-nos-contratos-celebrados-em-territorio-nacional) ~~~ josephagoss Thanks for replying, I can't read the links however I have a question: Is buying a domain from namecheap considered internal commerce? Also many other items bought with Bitcoins would be external to your country. Surely you can buy a wordpress account with USD without being arrested? What makes buying wordpress / namecheap with Bitcoin any different? Or maybe i'm misunderstanding something. (Honest I probably am missing something, this happens to me a lot :) ------ nuII Fuck yeah Namecheap! ------ largesse It's odd about technology. The more pervasive it becomes before it legislators are aware of it, the harder it is to crack down upon. I don't know what the legal challenges will be to the widespread use of BitCoin in commerce, but I'm sure there will be some.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Loon’s Balloons Will Fly Over Kenya in First Commercial Telecom Tryout - lawrenceyan https://spectrum.ieee.org/telecom/wireless/loons-balloons-will-fly-over-kenya-in-first-commercial-telecom-tryout ====== partingshots Loon balloons powering the Kenyan internet through their phones. I can already see the inklings of a wonderfully whimsical science fiction novel.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: what's a good pet for the working programmer? - seldo So, here's the deal: I'd quite like a pet of some kind.<p>I'm a programmer. I work quite long hours sometimes, and I'm not keen on taking things out for walks, so I don't want anything that's very high-maintenance. I have my own apartment, so no roommate drama, but no garden, so no outside poop-space. I want something that's small, low-maintenance, isn't going to chew cables or scratch out the eyeballs of visitors, and is ideally cute and/or cuddly.<p>What pet do you have? Does it fit well with your lifestyle? ====== jawngee Cat for sure. Kittens need a lot of attention though, as do strays you've adopted. But they are the lowest maintenance of any pets. Dogs are great but are like having developmentally disabled children; they require a lot of attention, patience and forgiveness. And it is possible to find a cat with a lot of dog like qualities. I had an awesome cat who passed away unexpectedly a couple of years ago that was pretty much a dog. He liked to be walked (on a harness) outside, loved water, playing fetch and other things. He turned a lot of my anti-cat friends into cat owners, he was that kind of awesome. RIP Johnny. ~~~ zacharypinter Cat's are definitely the best for low maintenance. I highly recommend Litter Robot (<http://www.litter-robot.com/>). I've tried 3 other automatic litter boxes and this is the only one that doesn't make a mess of things. I can leave it alone for several weeks with no smell and then just swap the bag and add some litter. For an automatic water supply, I recommend the 360 Drinkwell ([http://www.amazon.com/Drinkwell-D360WB-RE-360-Pet- Fountain/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Drinkwell-D360WB-RE-360-Pet- Fountain/dp/B001NIZAH6/)). Stay away from any water fountains that require you to take them apart to clean/refill. With the drinkwell, I just pour in a cup of water every week and clean every 2-3 weeks. For food, I've been happy with one of the simplest dispensers out there: [http://www.amazon.com/Doskocil-Petmate-Café- Feeder/dp/B0002D...](http://www.amazon.com/Doskocil-Petmate-Café- Feeder/dp/B0002DI2XC). No need for a timer or anything like that. My cat did overeat a bit initially, but I switched him to light food and it's been great ever since. Good luck! ~~~ philf Honestly, the litter robot makes me think of what a toilet in the death star might look like. ------ frossie I have rabbits. Note that keeping an animal in a cage as a pet seems kinda besides the point, so my rabbits are house rabbits. Rabbits are trivially litter trained (see www.rabbit.org) and are active mainly at dawn and dusk, so are good for working people as they are most active when you get home. If you rescue a (neutered obviously) bonded pair (you can pair rabbits yourself but it's tricky), they will have their little social life while you are away anyway. They don't make noise so are very apartment friendly, they are clean, and they are less likely to make visitors allergic (they don't trigger cat and dog allergies - people with rabbit allergies are fewer and generally allergic to horses too). Rabbits live 7-10 years when well cared for, depending on the breed. The one big caveat is that rabbits do eat cables. There is a genetic drive to do this, probably because they have evolved to keep their warrens clear from tree roots. Geeks with rabbits need to engage in some serious cable management, and supply distractions. The cable management isn't that bad - you only have to do it once, or you can board off very cable-heavy areas, and everything looks neater as a result anyway. Also, don't go for rabbits if you have antique furniture - some rabbits will attack wood furniture (not all do). ------ cperciva I am owned by a cat. He generally sits quietly and doesn't interrupt while I'm working, and has learned to leave cables alone; however, he often wakes me up in the middle of the day to demand that food be presented or doors be opened. Overall, however, I'd rather be owned by a cat than have some other animal around. ~~~ jf Some "instructional videos" that pretty describe what it's like owning a cat: <http://www.youtube.com/simonscat> ------ novum Hamsters are the best. I had several growing up. They're personable - you can "cage-train" them and they learn not to bite. They're hilarious when they roll around in their ball -- and remember to cover your stairs! They do the _cutest_ thing with stuffing food into their cheeks. You can easily build elaborate living environments for them using cheap tubing. You do have to change their cage at least once a week, but it's easy - dump it out and pour in new mulch. Think of the _cheeks_. ~~~ robotron I've had several over the years but did get tired of losing them due to their short lifespans. ------ andrewljohnson Get a dog. Take it for a walk. Leave your desk. Better programming will ensue. I have a golden retriever. Nothing like a good walk to get over a tedious bug in your code. ------ df I have a python named Sid. A beautiful and surprisingly affectionate critter. Low maintenance and a great conversation starter ... "my kids came back from school with it one day, they were all like: it followed us home Dad can we keep it!?" ~~~ shard My cornsnake fits the OP's description (well I think he's cute even if my wife doesn't), is smaller than a python when full grown (5' last I measured, about a half dollar diameter), learned 1 trick (which was one more than I expected), and is much lower maintenance than the dogs and cats (and even fish) I had previously. ~~~ araneae And plus you get to watch them eat, which can be pretty cool even if you feed them frozen (once I warmed the mouse up, wiggled it around, and my cornsnake attacked with such vigor that there was a smear of blood against the cage.) I really want to know what this one trick was. ~~~ gvb Disappearing. Unfortunately, shard is still waiting for him to learn the reciprocal trick. :-D ~~~ shard =) Fortunately he's not learned that one yet. He has learned that when I come near the terrarium, I'll open it, so when he wants to come out, he will come up to the screen and look for the opening. I did not expect a tiny reptilian brain to be capable of learned behavior, it was a nice surprise. ~~~ df There's a lot going on in that "tiny reptilian brain" for sure. Paleocortex seems to drive 99% of human behavior as well - consciousness may just be along for the ride as an afterthought. (Maybe even when coding, sometimes at least!) ------ klaut By reading your post and all the requirements you have for a pet i think you're not ready. i mean, it looks like you are buying a gadget or something. a pet is a living being and thus requres love and attention. you should get a pet guided by your hart and not by the specs written on a box. just pop down your local shelter and spend a day with the animals there. i am sure you will find a special one that you won't be able to leave :) ------ yannis Just to state the obvious a Penthouse Pet will probably be the best option, since you living alone (might be high maintenance though). Second best I would recommend a cyborg beetle [http://discovermagazine.com/2009/may/30-the- pentagons-beetle...](http://discovermagazine.com/2009/may/30-the-pentagons- beetle-borgs) Third best will be a cat as long as you understand that you can never own a cat, she will own you. ~~~ gaius I once told this girl I didn't really think of her as a person, more as an exotic pet (because it was true, I did). She wasn't happy about that. ~~~ scotth What made you think of her that way? ~~~ gaius Because I would do all the logistics and she would approve or disapprove. Also, she spent a lot of time preening. We had fun, mind, it just wasn't very scalable. ~~~ anamax > We had fun, mind, it just wasn't very scalable. How much "fun" did you have in mind? 2, 3, 100? ~~~ gaius It could never have scaled into cohabitation, for example. ------ jlees Another programmer. He doesn't need feeding that often and he's quite well toilet trained... ------ edw519 I'll tell you what I'll get, man--Two cats at the same time. Damn straight, man. I've always wanted to do that. I figure if I were a hacker, I could hook that up. Cats dig guys who can code. ~~~ icey A) Hilarious Office Space reference B) When did you overtake nickb on the leaderboard? Congrats! ------ maxklein An African grey parrot. Then you can teach it to say things like: "Don't rewrite, refactor!" or "Should you REALLY be doing that?" They are expensive, but they are low maintanance and quite intelligent. ~~~ icey The thing to remember with a parrot is that it may be around for the rest of your life. They are seriously long-lived animals. It's quite a commitment if you aren't positive you want one. ~~~ jacquesm Any animal is quite a commitment. A guy I know bought two dogs because it seemed so 'nice', then he found out how much work it is to have two dogs (and how much it costs), so he ended up giving them away to some lady. Some people make these decisions much too light and I'm quite happy that the OP takes it serious and is not going on the spur of the moment. Dogs especially can get very attached to people, if you don't want to make a dog-life-long commitment then please don't get a dog. ------ Todd A pet rock may be the best choice. ~~~ learnalist Fits the criteria. You could use it as an excuse to visit an exotic location to find the perfect pet rock. ( this suggestion made me laugh. Thank you for that ) ------ CaptainMorgan Given your parameters, I highly suggest a cat, fish or both. When programming, I've found that my companion of a cat (two tiger striped male and female, 6 yrs and 4 yrs old) are fantastic mood enhancers, that is when they're not crying like babies for food. Barely any maintenance when compared to a dog, but the only downside for me personally is cleaning the litter box (could always get the automatic litter box that cleans itself), but it's extremely necessary if you expect your pet to be clean, which translates to a more hygienic living space for you too. Fish are also great mood enhancers but can be a bit more work in my opinion than cats, at least for the initial setup and routine tank cleaning. But overall - just sitting back, reflecting on some code while staring at the fish tank has worked wonders for me producing small epiphanies. ~~~ weaksauce You could always teach your cats how to defecate in the toilet. (don't teach them how to flush though as they will continually flush to the chagrin of your water bill and mother nature.) ~~~ CaptainMorgan The latter part of your post is largely why we didn't go with this option, although it would be nice if they could take care of their waste themselves. Not all at the same time, I grew up with cats, dogs, iguanas, fish, ferrets, hamsters and rabbits. By far for me cats have been the most worthwhile investment. Dealing with the small inconvenience of the litter box is something I shouldn't complain about since simply having my cats around for companionship has paid off such valuable dividends. ------ jonke Well I don't think that you really should get a 'pet' (yet). Maybe you could use setup a Cichlid Aquarium <http://cichlid.infocrux.com/Cichlid- Aquarium.html>, <http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid/first.php> If you need something more fury there always are hamsters. <http://www.hamsterific.com/SelectingAHamster.cfm> (For the record, I have the highest-maintenance sort of pets, three kids, who all want additional pets) ------ kniwor Duck. Rubber duck actually... ( <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_duck_debugging> ) ------ axod Fish are pretty cool and relaxing to watch not too cuddly though, Rabbits great fun to have about, and Guinea pigs good for petting. They're all awesome (We have loads of fish, 2 Rabbits, 3 Guineas). Here's a pic of one of our cute rabbits: <http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollered/3896940499/> She's called 'Poppy', but I affectionately call her 'two face' (Batman villain). ------ jordyhoyt I have my girlfriend's family's 13-year-old cat, and she fits my lifestyle perfectly. She's fine while I'm off at work, and is always there to greet me when I get home (usually because she's hoping for some milk). She's cute and cuddly (to a point, she also likes her space) and is a great friend to have around as I'm currently living alone. I see you've gotten lots of other suggestions for cats, but I hope I can add a bit of info for you. From what I've been told, male cats really like to be let outside from time to time so they can go hunt/explore/whatever, while females are usually content with napping, bathing, and watching out a window. Further, longer haired cats are more mellow, while short haired cats can be a bit wild. What I have is a longer-haired female cat, she is totally great. Good luck, hope you find what you're looking for in a pet! ------ mark_l_watson I have a small Myers Parrot - he is most of the time pretty cool, although he occasionally de-evolves into a miniature raptor. I usually work out of my home office, and he is usually happy enough sitting on my shoulder while I work. Parrots are not low maintenance though, requiring lots of attention. I took yesterday afternoon off work and my wife and I took my parrot to a local park (Sedona Red Rock Crossing - google it, then click images, you will be glad you did :-) Anyway, my bird was so happy getting a ride in the car (he loves the car) and a few hours in the park, that he will be a "good boy" for a day or two. The point of this little story is: parrots are good pets if you give them lots of attention and don't let them get too bored (they are reasonably intelligent). ------ scotch_drinker If you think any pet is low maintenance, you are confused. Even cats, the lowest of the cute and cuddly variety, are notoriously high maintenance. You have to change litter boxes regularly or they will find new places you can't get to. They are mainly nocturnal and will often want to be fed at 4AM. They scratch furniture. Mind you, my wife and I have four and I love them but they are not low maintenance. All pets require a reasonably high level of maintenance, especially those in the cute/cuddly genre. For you to get a pet and expect otherwise would probably be detrimental to the long term health and happiness of the pet. ~~~ jrockway You don't _have_ to do any of this. You can leave food out for them (which is what I do), and you can use clumping litter, which involves about 30 seconds of scooping a day. Then you will have a happy cat that only annoys you when she wants to sleep on your face. ------ GeneralMaximus I have an English Cocker Spaniel. Needs a walk twice a day, but I don't really mind that. Very affectionate, very intelligent. Also, _the ears_. The one downside of Spaniels is that they steal socks and underwear and hide them. Ah well. ------ henriklied My girlfriend and I are basically pondering the same thing, although we've more or less decided: The Hungarian Vizsla (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vizsla>). Very smart and playful dog, requires absolutely no grooming. In many ways it's very much like a cat: Long claws, licks itself clean, loves to cuddle in your lap. You'll have to enjoy running, though, as this dog requires (once fully developed) about two 1hour instances of jogging/running every day. ------ cromulent I'm a working programmer, and we have a dog. We used to have 2 but one died recently after a long and happy life. Dogs are great, and very rewarding. There is effort required, but it rewards you, like with many things. We have boxers. They suit us. If you take a dog, you should research the breed before deciding. Some breeds will suit you more than others. Dogs need to be walked daily. If humans were pets, they would say the same about us. It works out for the best. ------ sdave i recommend a frog, specially if it can talk too. because a talking frog is cool. (in case you give up programming ,you can kiss it & turn it into a beautiful princess) ;-) ------ codnik Cat. I have five. No need to go for a walk, won't disturb you, will use the litter box on their own (you don't have to teach them to do that)... Just adopt an adult cat. Two of my cats were adopted already grown and they're just as affectionate as the others (which is greatly affectionate, btw). It really comes from their personalities plus your input. Don't forget to neuter/spay the cat. ------ thechangelog If you're getting something small and furry, like a rat or rabbit or hamster, be sure to get two and give them some living space. If you're not able to give them a lot of time, at least let them socialize with their own kind. We had one rabbit, then two, and the difference in the original rabbit's (OR) personality after getting the second was unbelievable. ~~~ robotron Please be careful when introducing two hamsters together. I have had them kill each other - it was sad and not very pretty. They were even siblings but had been separated then brought back together. I suppose getting two at the same time that were living together at the pet store would be the best option. Make sure you know their gender first or you'll end up with more hamsters. ------ eam I currently have a small dog, very independent, but does require the occasional walk. I think a hermit crab might be ideal for you. ~~~ pyre It's important to realize that even with something as 'generic' as a dog, there is much variation between breeds. Some breeds like the Bichon tend to be very needy and don't like being alone for extended periods of time. ~~~ billswift NO dog likes being alone for long, they are pack animals after all; some just put up with it better than others. Generally, smaller breeds tend to be needier and more annoying. The best ones are working or sporting breeds, beagles are the best smaller breed, though I generally prefer retrievers. Avoid breeds that have been overbred as show dogs - the American cocker spaniel was ruined by this in the 70s and 80s and still hasn't recovered, though the British cocker is still good. ------ kiba Time for some anarkitty! <http://anarchyinyourhead.com/2009/10/15/lapsteading/> Well, it does fit the hacker culture's disdain for authorities. ------ pyre Suggestions: * A pair of rats * Fish Either way there will be cage/tank maintenance, but it might be more frequent with the rats. {edit} A tarantula could be good too {/edit} ------ csomar A dog, but not any dog. It's a white one, I found it lost when he was 2 weeks old and took care of it. They are loyal and make lot of fun when you are alone. NB: I have a garden ------ yason Long walks are definitely good for a programmer who works quite long hours smoetimes. ------ PieSquared Well, iguanas used to be very popular pets. Just let one roam around your apartment! ------ bobbyi I have a cat and it works very well except that he does chew cables. ------ jkuria I say fish! I used to have a small acquarium with a couple goldfish ------ jacquesm this sounds like it fits your description perfectly: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218> or maybe a mechanical_fish ? ------ chanux squirrel. My Girlfriend has one. And I envy her for that. Apparently the squirrel loves to hang with the master when (s)he works. ------ zzkt ferrets. several. ~~~ almost In an apartment with no garden/yard? Is that a good idea? Apart from that, +1 for the general awesomeness of ferrets :) ~~~ dejv you need to get female ferrets if you want to keep them indoors. Male ferrets stink (a lot). There is no problem keeping them in aparments. ------ Devilboy Axolotl for the cool name and '+1 regen' ability. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl>	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Facebook Updates Its Policy Documents Regarding How It Uses And Shares Your Data - dsr12 http://techcrunch.com/2013/08/29/facebooks-new-rules-change-how-it-treats-your-data-and-who-can-access-it ====== dsr12 Link to the official announcement: [https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook- site-governance/1015...](https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-site- governance/10153167395945301)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Goodbye Big Five: Google - kaboro https://gizmodo.com/i-cut-google-out-of-my-life-it-screwed-up-everything-1830565500 ====== bpicolo > “Your smart home pings Google at the same time every hour in order to > determine whether or not it’s connected to the internet,” Dhruv tells me. > “Which is funny to me because these devices’ engineers decided to determine > connectivity to the entire internet based on the uptime of a single company. > It’s a good metaphor for how far the internet has strayed from its original > promise to decentralize control.” The alternative is effectively DDoSing random websites from 100 million devices, which is definitively an uncool move. ~~~ dTal Not really. It can ping whatever resource it needs "the internet" for in the first place. After all, if that's down, then no amount of "internet" connectivity will help. I put "internet" in quotes because it's not really a well-formed concept. How much of the global network needs to be accessible to count as "internet access"? Your home LAN? Your country? A specific server in Larry Page's basement? ~~~ rtkwe When it's connecting to a wifi access point your phone or device doesn't know what resource you'll actually request so instead it pings the most resilient thing a Google engineer could think of at the time without risking DDoSing someone which is Google. ~~~ KeepFlying We are talking about smart home things here though, which usually depend on their own services anyway. This is more of a problem with things like Windows reaching out to msftconnecttest.com or some other generic internet service. But in the case of a smart home device it's needs are usually more well defined. This becomes harder with a consumer router trying to determine if it is online though unfortunately because of exactly what you describe. ------ neurobashing I am the only person on Earth, I think, that has had 0 problems with Apple Maps (at least, in the past year). I have never aimed for Cleveland and ended up in the Atlantic; and I've never been late or gotten lost. I think I've disagreed with its shortcuts once or twice. Not denying your bad Apple Maps experience - just, I have no idea why mine is so trouble-free _because_ so many have bad ones. (For calibration, I live in NoVA) ~~~ NikolaNovak You might be! Occasionally I'll rent a car that only has Apple's Car Play and have to use my work iPhone to navigate (gawd forbid Apple would let us use Google Maps on Car Play;). My experience has been universally poor: \- it provides no instructions for major actual intersections. It thinks you're staying on same main road even when there's a confusing Y in front of the driver. I have constant moments of panic when I see the intersection coming and no help from the maps. \- It provides confusing instructions on straight roads ("Turn right in 100 meters" when there's a stretch of straight road) \- It'll reference names for a road that are nowhere near what any of the signs indicate \- "Keep in right three lanes to stay on the road" \- when the rightmost lane is actually a turning lane \- Something that is admittedly tricky, it struggles to provide useful instructions on more than four-way roads (e.g. if it's a 5-way or 6-way, "Turn right" has multiple interpretations). It doesn't use, at least not in my cases "bear right" or "slight right" or similar vs "turn right" or "acute right" or "sharp right" \- and again, it gets the road names wrong. \- When Searching: * it'll show me Bedford England 5000km away, but not Bedford NS 12km away * It has some weird internal naming so searching for actual address will again not lead me anywhere near to what I want Basically it's been a constant source of frustration beyond what I believe could reasonably be attributed to my inexperience with its UI :-/ EDIT/UPDATE: Thx for feedback; my work phone is on iOS 11, good to know that (recently, after 4 years without it) CarPlay now supports other maps; note that I don't think it in any way makes Apple Maps experience itself any better 0:-) ~~~ lanewinfield FYI CarPlay supports third party maps like Google as of September. [https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/18/17875256/apple- ios-12-car...](https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/18/17875256/apple- ios-12-carplay-google-maps-waze-support-third-party-navigation) ~~~ NikolaNovak Thanks! I heard that might be coming, I'll check if there's an update waiting on my work phone :) ------ kawfey Despite the tirade of anti-facebook/google/amazon blogs and posts in the last 5 years, I'm still not convinced that "being tracked" in my day-to-day life is a negative thing. I still don't perceive that my privacy is lost when I use those services. That information is shared with companies who use the data more-or-less responsibly with respect to my life. Personally I prefer having a majority of my internet experience centralized in one place. Calendar, Email, files, maps, news, search, entertainment, etc. This saves a lot of time and effort in my life. Is it worth it? ~~~ slenk My only fear with having everything centralized is that Google can decide you did something wrong and cut you out of so many important things in your life, without recourse. [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15989146](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15989146) is just one example I found with minimal searching. ~~~ fencepost You might also enjoy Cory Doctorow's "Scroogled": [https://craphound.com/scroogled.html](https://craphound.com/scroogled.html) Though for whatever reason the formatting on that appears terrible (to me in my uMatrix locked down Firefox) ~~~ fxfan I had a nice umatrix config saved to the cloud but it got deleted somewhere in the last one year (I had to temporarily switch to chrome). Did that happen to you too? ------ tivert > There’s no way I can delete my Gmail accounts completely as I did with > Facebook. First off, it would be a huge security mistake; freeing up my > email address for someone else to claim is just asking to be hacked. Does Google really free up your email address for re-allocation when you delete your account? I do recall that was in issue at one point with Yahoo Mail. No email provider should allow the reassignment of previously used email addresses for precisely this reason. ~~~ kyrra I believe Google never garbage collects deleted @gmail.com usernames. According to [0]: "Your Gmail address can’t be used by anyone else in the future." [0] [https://support.google.com/mail/answer/61177?hl=en&topic=238...](https://support.google.com/mail/answer/61177?hl=en&topic=2382753&ctx=topic) ~~~ xingped This used to be possible. I know because I once deleted my email and then realized I missed something I needed to transfer, so just re-created my email again to receive that email. ~~~ kyrra How long between deleted and re-opening? The support page I linked talks about being able to restore a deleted account within some period of time. ------ polskibus Great experiment. It really shows how badly we are dependent on Google. Everything relies on it, seems like it would be best if it was regulated as a public utility, enjoying monopoly but also having to serve the public good also when it doesn't necessarily align with its commercial interest (like in EU energy companies have to give you a link to the grid). It also shows that it doesn't have real competitors, being so broad in scope and having all that data before others did. ~~~ fixermark Part of the challenge there is it's bigger than a public utility. Let's assume for the sake of argument that the US nationalizes it. That leaves EU, Australian, Canadian, &c Google customers out in the cold---it's unlikely either the US or those other countries will be comfortable with continued service by a national utility to customers outside that nation. Perhaps some kind of subsidiary model could be constructed, but the details of how are non- trivial. ~~~ polskibus We could make it more like NATO? ------ Animats I've pretty much run in that mode for years. No big problems. With Ghostery and Privacy Badger turned up to high, and third party cookies blocked, Google doesn't get much through. My phone, a ruggedized Android model from Caterpillar Tractor, has no Google apps other than the Google Play Services middleware. I've never had Facebook on a phone. Mail is on Thunderbird and an IMAP server at an ISP. My email address is on my own domain. If I want to make something available to others, I put it on Github, or an "outgoing" directory on my web site. Documents are edited with LibreOffice. Browsing is with Firefox on the desktop and Fennec on the phone. A few sites don't load properly, but they're marginal ones for which there are better alternatives. More often, the site loads but the ads don't, which is nice. I don't see many ads. It's just easier this way. The junk level is way down. ------ YjSe2GMQ I think we as a community need to embrace a more holistic approach to the problem of privacy. It's great that some of us can protect privacy by going crazy on each channel that leaks our personal data. But the remaining >7B people on the planet will still leak a lot of personal details, undermining their authority over their choices. If the data creep continues we'll one day find ourselves in a dystopia, and we'll be the people to blame. Much like the 2008 crisis is the fault of bankers because it was easiest for them to figure out that the human project is headed towards suffering. ------ ariwilson This is a whole series. She already did Amazon and Facebook: [https://gizmodo.com/c/goodbye-big-five](https://gizmodo.com/c/goodbye-big- five) ~~~ mrweasel The Facebook one is weird. There are some strange thought processes going though her head, which she kinda acknowledges. Stuff like: > I have to admit that the enjoyment of a holiday dedicated to dressing up is > somewhat degraded when not using Facebook’s apps. ------ jm_l Worth noting that by blocking all Google IPs, the author is not only cutting out Google services, but also any other application that relies on Google services. For example, there's a bit in there about not being able to use Dropbox because it uses Captcha. ~~~ auslander Google fonts are used by all websites. And from Referrer header, Google has your browsing history. ~~~ extra88 Google font logs are not dumped into their analytics and they take a number of steps that greatly reduce requests made for fonts in the first place. [https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq#what_does_using_the_...](https://developers.google.com/fonts/faq#what_does_using_the_google_fonts_api_mean_for_the_privacy_of_my_users) ~~~ auslander There is no mention of which browser they refer to. I don't use Chrome, and I see requests to fonts on every website. And requests do contain Referer (what I browse) and, of course, my IP. And in Private browsing, no caches should be saved anyway. ~~~ extra88 They're not referring to what browsers do, they're referring to the Response Headers they return with the resources, e.g. the max-age for the CSS files is one day, the max-age for the fonts files is one year. > And in Private browsing, no caches should be saved anyway. That's one of the trade-offs the user is choosing to make and one of the reasons why those that use Private browsing at all, use it selectively. I believe Private browsing will not re-download web fonts if the browser has already cached them in a non-private window but that's a performance and bandwidth distinction, the CSS request will still be made. The page explicitly states that they use Google Fonts log data in aggregate to show font popularity, that's it. They don't set a cookie and request headers and ips are relatively poor identifiers for individuals. I don't think they use Google Fonts to track one's browsing habits, you're free think that I'm insufficiently paranoid. ------ fencepost For maps, I'd add Here ([https://wego.here.com/](https://wego.here.com/)) to the Apple Maps and Mapquest options she chose. It's the mapping solution that Microsoft got from Nokia, and is used by a lot of in-car navigation systems IIRC. It suffers by comparison to Google Maps mostly in the lack of integration with the full database of businesses/reviews/etc. though I think it probably has most of the business listings. I suspect its traffic info is weaker as well, though I haven't really checked. ------ Spearchucker I get the world's Google dependency. I really do. I tried most of their mainstream services myself and they were indeed as good as I'd been told. But they're online only. And their Office apps tank next to Microsoft Office. And nothing I've seen matches the utility of Outlook. Besides, the prospect of transferring all my meticulously collected birthdays from Outlook to Gmail didn't float my boat at all. In the 00's I eventually switched from IE to Firefox, and have never tried Chrome. One employer used Gmail, and I happily used it whilst employed there, but that didn't do nearly enough to change my mind. And so I never did buy into Google like the linked article describes. To this day I cannot imagine a scenario in which I'd trust my world to a single vendor, in a single location. It's no surprise that the non-technical great unwashed don't think this way, but it surprises me that technically literate and able people do not care for reducing or eliminating the risk posed by depending on a single vendor for... everything. Especially given what we know about Google. ------ ChuckMcM I am guessing that if she has already dropped Microsoft that is why she can't use Bing maps. Not as ubiquitous as Google Maps, or as featured as even Apple maps, but still ahead of Mapquest :-) ------ johnchristopher > I create new email addresses on Protonmail and Riseup.net (for work and > personal email, respectively) [..] I wouldn't do that. Riseup is providing email on a very tight budget. They are activists and every free account they give out is using some precious resources. Unless you really need it for specific purposes I believe it's better to go to fastmail or protonmail for "general purposes" email needs. ------ wishinghand A lot of commenters in here are saying "oh yeah, I've done something similar, not that hard/different." What they're glossing over is how the author also blocked all Google IPs, meaning that Google Cloud Platform is no longer available, along with assorted services. This means authentication like captchas, anything that uses maps besides Google's own offering (Lyft, Uber, Yelp, etc), and photos being hosted on their version of AWS S3 is included. There is a ton of web and data infrastructure being hosted/ran by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon that we often don't think about. The only big service provider I can think of besides those three is Digital Ocean, and it's not a 1:1 comparison, since they're more like infrastructure. edit: Basically, if you find Amazon so abhorrent that you want to cut them out of your life, you can't unless you eschew huge swathes of the internet. Which might work for you. But think about that: they own the digital land under our feet. ~~~ pbalau jQuery foundation, nobody thinks about how much they might know about you... ------ Slippery_John I've taken similar steps, though have not gone so far as to set up a vpn block to all google ips. I do have as much fingerprinting and privacy protection as possible enabled in Firefox though. I find the worst experience is captcha, it will no longer give me free passes and I regularly have to sit there for several minutes providing training data that they reject. It's to the point where I just avoid sites that require it. Newegg is a particularly egregious offender as they seem to require a very high degree of certainty. ~~~ ggpsv What set up are you using in Firefox for fingerprint and privacy protection? ~~~ Slippery_John Extensions: uBlock, Privacy Badger, Decentraleyes, DDG Privacy Essentials, HTTPS Everywhere, and most importantly Containers I try to keep as many sites as possible into relevant containers. Facebook and Google get their own containers just for them (there are additional addons which will handle this for you as getting all of Google siloed off is cumbersome otherwise). I also make use of the built in tracker blocking, blocking all third party cookie use entirely. There's also an option to resist fingerprinting that I enable, which does a ton of things [1] [1]: [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Fingerprinting](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Fingerprinting) ------ CydeWeys Is trading Google cloud products for Apple cloud products really such a big change? I could see the truly privacy paranoid running away from all cloud services and running their own everything, but just switching cloud providers doesn't seem like a meaningful difference to me. OK, so now Apple has all of your data instead of Google. Either way it's in the hands of a big corporation, and by extension, the government. ~~~ bootlooped Google's core business is advertising, while Apple's core business is hardware. One has a much greater incentive to collect, store, and exploit users' data. ~~~ bitpush and yet Apple comes up with some of the biggest privacy blunders in their offerings. ------ Klonoar So much of this is overblown... and I say this as someone who goes out of their way to avoid using Amazon/Google/etc for privacy reasons. The biggest problem with debating privacy and security these days is the sheer paranoia running rampant from people who don't understand the workings behind the scenes, coupled with the people behind the scenes assuming defensive tones from the get-go whenever stuff is brought up. ------ xamlhacker For maps, I use HERE maps on Android and it works great. Offline capability is particularly good. I am not sure if it is available on iOS. ------ pleasecalllater ... except that Google still has most of my emails as people who send me them or whom I send to are using Gmail... ~~~ dylan604 This. Same with Facebook. Even if I choose to not use a particular service, these services still know about me because so many other people I interact with do use these services. I get that as a Gmail user, you've agreed to allow them to read emails for whatever they choose. However, I did not. If I hit reply to a Gmail account, I'm not agreeing to the ToS. Just because I visit a site that has chosen to use G*/FB does not mean that I agree to the ToS. A website's cookie notices give me the option to leave if I don't agree, but by then, all of the tracking has already started without my agreement. ------ budadre75 This non-tech person's attempt looks to me is futile, just switching from Google to Apple or other companies doesn't mean you won't be tracked. To me the best solution will be self-hosting cloud services for email, calendar, and using TomTom or Garmin GPS. ------ faitswulff Anyone know why she chose RiseUp.net for personal email? ------ kradeelav I feel like this comes from a good place, but a lot of it seems self-inflicted and/or over-dramatized. Most privacy-conscious folks have been saying from day one that smartphones and smart-homes are a bad idea in that regard. Dumb- phones exist. Printing directions out is ... not that hard. Etc. Overall, though, I am glad this is becoming more of a thing in terms of mass appeal. Hopefully the pendulum will swing the other way to a greater awareness of shiny-new-tech-that-comes-with-strings. ~~~ kodablah > I feel like this comes from a good place, but a lot of it seems self- > inflicted and/or over-dramatized. Agreed, and too absolutist. You can take a reasonable stance without upending your life. So you can't get away from maps integration in apps, that's ok, still using the competition helps. Same with browser choice and others. I can decry all the plastic waste and still type on a keyboard with plastic parts. ~~~ m4x Taking an absolutist stance is the point of the authors experiment. You wouldn't do this in practice if you were just trying to improve your privacy, but in an experiment to see just how far Google's reach extends it makes sense to block _everything_ and see what unexpected 3rd party services also fail - such as Uber or Dropbox ------ aboutruby > Next up: Microsoft. That will be pretty easy. Only thing I used of Microsoft website for is to get .NET for a one-off project that required it. ~~~ icebraining And you never use GitHub either? Don't forget: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitio...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Microsoft) ~~~ extra88 Yes, and that will include static sites hosted on GitHub Pages. Avoiding Microsoft is often a problem when exchange documents with someone and the files don't work well with whatever not-Office you choose (Apple Page/Numbers/Keynote, LibreOffice, etc.). I wonder if they can even attempt to block receiving or placing phone calls from/to a number with Skype on the other end. ------ auslander Why the title was changed from article's one? Mods? ------ auct Turn off internet. Would be much easier xD	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The future of surveys - meteor - smothers http://www.marq.io I have been working on this over the holiday and I'd like to share it with all of you and hear what you think. Happy new year! ====== ss34 super cool idea! ~~~ smothers thanks	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Nuclear Waste Dumpsters in Massachusettes Are Costing Taxpayers a Fortune - mimixco http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/01/31/these-dumpsters-old-nuclear-waste-are-costing-you-billions/lw7aIpcWOhmn3ThjeqEnVP/story.html ====== AngryData Lack of reprocessing plants, lack of real storage facilities, these are political failures that have more to due with our government being a shit storm more than anything. Most every problem with nuclear power and nuclear waste has a known solution, but nobody is willing to fund it, nobody is willing to host the facilities, no politician even wants to say the word nuclear. ------ sandworm101 There are so many layers this article has missed. That "waste" is also viewed by some as a resource, a repository of potential material for weapons. So it cannot be put somewhere out of reach. There has also been progress in deep- drill disposal options. It could be placed a few miles down from where it is now, in bedrock that will one day melt back into the earth. Drill a really deep hole (many miles) cement it over and forget about it. But that means we wouldnt be able to get at it later. ~~~ dj_gitmo I think they're pretty clear in the article that the problem is that there is no centralized place to ship the waste. Having it sit out in the open where it needs constant security, next to a plant that close decades ago, is the sign of a political failure. They keep trying to put it in Nevada, but Nevadans aren't having it. They don't trust the federal government after being lied to about the dangers of the open-air atomic bomb testing that they carried out in the 1940s and 50s. I understand storage and bomb testing are not equivalent, but I don't blame Nevadans for being skeptical. The government should look someplace else at this point. ~~~ kuhhk > I think they're pretty clear in the article that the problem is that there > is no centralized place to ship the waste. We've been trying to solve this problem for years, but they're being contested and underfunded. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Isolation_Pilot_Plant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Isolation_Pilot_Plant) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Mountain_nuclear_waste_r...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucca_Mountain_nuclear_waste_repository) ~~~ Pharmakon Senators are moral imbeciles, and so it goes. Without a strong move in the senate to make this happen and damn the backlash, America is stuck with the rolling disaster that is their NRC, and decentralized ad hoc storage of spent fuel. It’s crazy, but it part of a long list of crazy and self destructive things that form the American status quo with “Senators are moral imbeciles” throbbing at their core. ------ anticensor Massachussetts is misspelt in the title. ~~~ nkurz Are you sure? I think it's right... MASSOCHEICHI! - Doesn't sound right to me! MAKKAKOKO - That's way too many K's It should mass-achoose, like the "mass" in "mass produce" but without "produce" [https://youtu.be/JvUMV1N7eGM?t=160](https://youtu.be/JvUMV1N7eGM?t=160)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
NSA Said to Use Manhattan Tower as Listening Post - danso http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/nyregion/national-security-agency-said-to-use-manhattan-tower-as-listening-post.html ====== jackweirdy In many ways the building is a monument to privacy - the kind of twisted privacy where the state can keep whatever it wants secret, but a citizens life is rigorously documented and explorable. It's the kind of relationship you expect between a newly enrolled soldier and their drill sergeant, not between a citizen and their government. ~~~ idlewords Most of the privacy violation is done by private industry. ~~~ morganvachon And? That doesn't change the fact that the government makes up the rest of it. Besides, a not insignificant amount of the private sector's invasion of privacy has been at the behest of the government: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_641A) [https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/04/yahoo- sec...](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/04/yahoo-secret-email- program-nsa-fbi) ------ freehunter The pictures in this NYT article are worse than useless... the header image I'm pretty sure is CGI, or heavily Photoshopped to the point where it looks like it's CGI. We then go to a 1970's model of the entrance to the building for some reason, and then finish it up with a picture of a security camera on the outside of a concrete wall (part of the building? I guess?) If you click through to The Intercept's article, you get two night-time pictures of the building, the same 1970's model of the entrance (for whatever reason), another night time shot that's too close to make out the building and where the actual focus of the shot is the building _behind_ it, a picture of the intercom (wtf), a blueprint of one of the floors, a fucking _sketch_ of the lobby, a picture of the satellite dishes on top of the building, a Visio document of their network diagram, a logo for one of their programs, another night time picture of the entrance to the building, and then finally a picture from nearly 30 years ago of a man sitting at a computer. There are way too many pictures in this article that is about a _building_ yet there are _zero_ pictures of the actual building itself! First of all, I thought "Manhattan Tower" was the name of the building. Turns out it's just some building in Manhattan. But for an article about a building, there's a conspicuous lack of pictures of the _actual building itself_. ~~~ anamoulous Here is a less dramatized photo: [https://cryptome.org/eyeball/nytel/33-thomas-070802.jpg](https://cryptome.org/eyeball/nytel/33-thomas-070802.jpg) It's still pretty dramatic, though. Personally I've always loved walking past that building. [edit] Just to clarify, the NYT photo is certainly not CGI. It's just over saturated. That's really what it looks like when you are standing at the base of the building. ~~~ dogma1138 TBH they could not have selected a better building architecturally for their uses if they want to be the ministry of truth ;) ~~~ type0 This actually looks like one of the buildings in Gilliam's Brazil, wasn't that Ministry of Information!? ------ revelation Actual source: [https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/the-nsas-spy-hub-in- new-...](https://theintercept.com/2016/11/16/the-nsas-spy-hub-in-new-york- hidden-in-plain-sight/) ~~~ itcrowd Excellent. I see it fit to change the URL to this one. On a tangential note, the NYT article has no extra information and sources this openly accessible link. I think it's outrageous the Times has the guts to put this article behind a paywall (if you're over the 10 article limit per month) given that there is so little extra to see. Don't get me wrong -- I understand paywalls but semi-blatant copy/pasting and then asking for money is not the way to go IMHO. That said, go read the original if you haven't (not directed at _revelation_ ) it's much better and more detailed. ------ dmix This building certainly looks like one that would be used by a secret all- seeing totalitarian overlord [http://i.imgur.com/KO0tKXS.png](http://i.imgur.com/KO0tKXS.png) Reminds me of the Tyrell Corporation building in Blade Runner. [http://maps.google.com/maps?layer=c&panoid=SCXuuNI7s_IMT2vxm...](http://maps.google.com/maps?layer=c&panoid=SCXuuNI7s_IMT2vxm7QA2Q&cbp=1%2C134.4058%2C%2C3.0%2C-43.983246) ~~~ TheSpiceIsLife One of my personal favourites is the fancy bit of architecture hanging over the entry to the Family Court of Australia, Adelaide. [http://www.markforthandassociates.com.au/wp- content/uploads/...](http://www.markforthandassociates.com.au/wp- content/uploads/2013/07/Famil-Law-Courts-Adelaide-copy.jpg) As if that thing doesn't make you feel like The Government is observing your family life. Which, I guess, if you have reason to go there, it is. ~~~ stordoff Little off-topic, but I don't think I've seen a JPG that loads initially as low-res grayscale before the colour loads in before. ~~~ trentmb Thank you- I honestly thought I had (temporarily) lost my sanity for a split second when it flipped. ------ strictnein The NSA has a spy hub in NYC? You don't say. They've only been there since before the NSA was even a thing. You know what they did out of New York, prior to becoming the NSA? Spied on international telegrams. Except in that case the three major telegram companies would bring them copies of all the international telegrams every single day. But, cool, we have their new address now. At a building that was obviously a telecom hub to anyone technically minded. ~~~ azernik I'm more interested in the architecture, honestly - we already knew the NSA had telco cooperation and (I think I'd already heard?) access to their facilities. But that one of those facilities is an honest-to-god skyscraper that someone tried to make nuclear-bomb-proof? That's fantastic. ~~~ j1vms > ...skyscraper that someone tried to make nuclear-bomb-proof (...) That's > fantastic. Given the state-of-art nuclear weapons in the early 70s, it's fantastic in the unbelievable sense as the thing would stick out like a sore thumb from the sky for just about any missile. And if zero point had been chosen somewhere above the structure, there very likely would really be no building left. Whatever was so important within would have to be to be dug down deep far, far below -- makes the whole thing pointless unless as a _diversion_ from something else. And anyway if it was the real deal, then as of at least a couple years now, probably no longer. ~~~ azernik Well, in midtown Manhattan it wouldn't stand out that will. I'm equally skeptical of its durability against a close hit. Although in any case, I think Cold War ICBM accuracy (CEPs on the order of half a mile to several miles, depending on period) would be more of an issue than target identification. ------ morgante I feel like evil institutions don't even _bother_ trying to hide their evil any more. If you look at a photo of the building, it's pretty much exactly what you would expect a dystopian secret police to operate out of. [0] [0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33_Thomas_Street) ~~~ closeparen AT&T Long Lines sites look menacing because they were designed to keep humming while we retaliated against the USSR at the end of the world. There are former Long Lines sites around the country, from urban high-rises to lonely fenced-in microwave horn antennas atop bunkers, miles from the nearest towns and sometimes accessible only by helicopter. A good few are next to highways and train tracks, which is how I came to start reading about them. They provided rural telephony for civilians, but were also part of the Cold War-era continuity-of-government system connecting SAC bases and missile silos. There's a fairly dedicated hobbyist community cataloguing the sites [0]. A remote Long Lines site also played a role in the Death Valley Germans story, which got some pretty good discussion on HN a while ago [1]. [0] [http://long-lines.net/places-routes/](http://long-lines.net/places- routes/) [1] [http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the- hun...](http://www.otherhand.org/home-page/search-and-rescue/the-hunt-for-the- death-valley-germans/) ~~~ riffic There are similar AT&T buildings scattered throughout the country built to similar specification. Here's one in West Palm Beach - [https://goo.gl/maps/VD42JWpnp8P2](https://goo.gl/maps/VD42JWpnp8P2) ~~~ Sgt_Apone Yes, it's a very common design that many switching building incorporated in that era. They're all over Canada as well. ------ h1fra It's interesting to point that it was at the center of Mr Robot season 2 ! Maybe they knew ~~~ astrodust I looked up that location based on the street signage there, some business that has apparently gone under, and got to see a street view of where they were. It looked like some interesting CGI but there it was, in the real world. Life is stranger than fiction sometimes. ------ ginko How can anyone seeing that building not think that there's some shifty surveillance stuff going on there? ~~~ drvdevd To me, it very much looks like a giant telco Central Office... where shifty surveillance stuff has been happening since at least 1885 [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Corporation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AT%26T_Corporation)] Note that The Intercept's article compared it in that manner. ~~~ kevin_thibedeau It is basically a big CO. It only has 29 floors, each 18 ft high for the equipment racks. ------ Steeeve Having worked at many similar facilities and plenty in the telecom space, this seems like a lot of speculation. Nondescript buildings owned by telecoms are literally all over the place and the telecom requirements in that area - while a fraction of what they used to be - are still quite large. It would be surprising if a large CO was not present in that area. ------ snowwrestler Meanwhile, all the other nations on Earth are tuning into the unsecured calls to and from a different Manhattan tower: [http://www.trumptowerny.com](http://www.trumptowerny.com) ------ jgalt212 Not to be flip, but if you've ever walked by this building this news has to be amongst the least surprising things I've ever read. ------ gragas >The article and film say that Titanpointe was one of the facilities used to collect communications — with permission granted by judges — from international entities that have at least some operations in New York, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and 38 countries. It's good to know that we're spying on the IMF and the World Bank. To me, it shows that we can easily position ourselves and cannot be held hostage by either of those organizations. ------ vintageseltzer I have lost hope in the future. Guantanamo is still open, the NSA is as powerful as ever, a partisan puppet has been installed at the CIA, and Trump has all of these tools at his disposable. The UK just codified all of their past illegal surveillance activities. I don't think I will have children. ~~~ exo762 > Guantanamo is still open, the NSA is as powerful as ever, a partisan puppet > has been installed at the CIA, and Trump has all of these tools at his > disposable. So, corrupted insiders installed all those tools. Now an outsider gets elected into White House. You know what are the requirements for the post, right? At least 35 years old, American. All parts of that corrupted clique, from Hillary to Jon Stewart, fought tooth and nail to prevent him from being elected. Hillary was known evil. Trump is basically a big unknown. Why can't you give this man a chance? EDIT. I guess I'm judging American politics by European standards. America are so deep in superficial fluff that it can't see what really happened. Left has lost everything because of bullshit of its progressive wing. Outsider has won White House. And you people are talking about Trump being racist - a "fact" discovered during the most vicious presidential campaign of last 50? years. ~~~ yolesaber >Why can't you give this man a chance? I did. Then he immediately brought on a white nationalist as his closest advisor and is apparently going to name a southern good ol' boy who thinks marijuana is straight up the devil as his Attorney General. Chance thoroughly blown. ~~~ cylinder What is a white nationalist? Is it just a nationalist who happens to be white? Is nationalist on its own supposed to be a negative descriptor? If so then it follows that logically internationalists are the preferred people by default? Also is it possible to be in favor of limited controlled immigration programs and not be called a racist? What happens if the person isn't white, like me, am I also a racist? Can I be a white nationalist who isn't white? ~~~ eternalban > What is a white nationalist? Curious, isn't it? I first saw this term in the establishment press -- White Nationalist -- last week. To me, it seems to be an attempt to conflate White Supremacists with _Nationalists_. It is possibly an amusing pastime to substitute various candidate Xs into "<X> Nationalist" and consider the possibilities. As for Bannon, that guy looks like he walked out of CIA central casting, with patrons in Goldman Sachs. Such wonderful straw(wo)men to co-opt genuine grievances of people.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
What is Ultimate Software and why is it worth $11B? - throwaway5752 https://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl-bz-cb-ultimate-software-qa-20190204-story.html ====== throwaway5752 Summary: $11B software acquisition occurred today ([https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005338/en/](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190204005338/en/) for the press release) and there is no mention of it here or many other regular sources of industry news. They compete with ADP and Workday. Acquirer is [https://hf.com/portfolio/](https://hf.com/portfolio/) (who also acquired Genesys - that most recently acquired Interactive Intelligence for > $1B - and Kronos) edit: would love to know how whoever downvoted this comment managed to justify it to themselves.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
What if you couldn’t program with loops? - helloiloveyou http://www.mikealche.com/software-development/what-if-you-couldnt-program-with-loops ====== pcstl While the article is a cute way to introduce the loop body extraction refactoring, I think it is a disservice to talk about not using loops without mentioning recursion. I am quite often shocked at the number of programmers who, even after years of experience, are not able to use recursion properly. (Not saying this is true of the article's author - but they should have mentioned recursion) ~~~ BubRoss Recursion is either an abstract way to create a loop or a way to use the call stack as a stack data structure. There isn't really a good reason why it needs to be part of a programmer's toolbox. I think the clever nature of recursion is what has made it into something that some programers think is a better way to traverse a data structure, but I think it is often difficult to justify. Even trees can be traversed with a stack of the current state. If something goes wrong, checking the traversal stack is much easier than a runaway call stack. ~~~ tombert I completely disagree. For handling recursive data structures, recursion will lead to shorter, simpler code than trying to hack something together with a loop and a custom stack object. While I agree that some of the more dogmatic FP people acting like recursion is the best thing ever might be a bit overstated, I think it's short-sighted to say that "There isn't really a good reason why it needs to be part of a programmer's toolbox". Not to mention, without using recursion, there's no direct way of dealing with purely immutable data structures. You're going to be stuck creating some kind of mutable reference to serve as a counter to a loop, or to append to a list. ~~~ BubRoss But what is a 'recursive' data structure? Recursive describes execution, not data. Data in a tree is a heirarchy. Traversing a tree can be done with a stack, since that's what recursion is doing in a less direct way. Immutable also describes execution and is really just a way of hiding what is really happening under the hood. There isn't anything that recursion enables. ~~~ pcstl A recursive data structure is a data structure that contains a pointer to another instance of itself. Linked lists, trees, etc. ~~~ Izkata Since you listed linked lists first, here's a fun little tidbit from my early days: I couldn't understand that until I first understood the recursive structure of binary trees. Only afterwards did I have the realization "ohhh, it's like a tree with only one child at each node" and suddenly understand the recursive structure in linked lists. ------ dig1 In Scheme, the only way to loop is via recursion. In Clojure, all high level functions and looping macros (for/doseq) are implemented via recursion as well (loop/recur). Yes, it requires significant paradigm shift when you start to use these languages, but after a while, you start to appreciate high level functions (map, reduce) instead of language looping constructs (for, while) - they can be easily composed, parallelized, scaled over cluster, refactored... Even code looks much cleaner. You like it even more if you are mathematician, because things looks more "natural" :D ~~~ smartstakestime unless you actually start with these language , then move to loops. Which is really easy. Map/reduce is fundamental to scheme like the closure is fundamental to javascript. Im not sure how many colleges teach it 1st year but Northeastern University uses scheme as the intro language. The professor there wrote the blue book. ~~~ LandR I know of zero universities that use Scheme or any LISP. Most nowadays that I know of start with Javascript. My old university started with C. It now goes straight to javascript. ~~~ brlewis Actually I think you do know of more than zero universities, since you replied to a comment that named Northeastern. A sibling comment to yours named another. Here's another: [https://cs.brown.edu/courses/info/csci0170/](https://cs.brown.edu/courses/info/csci0170/) ------ lincpa In the pure function pipeline data flow, no loop is required. I wrote a 100k lines of pure clojure language project, no loop is used, and tail recursion is only used once. Most of them use high-order functions for dataflow processing or data driving. [The Pure Function Pipeline Data Flow]([https://github.com/linpengcheng/PurefunctionPipelineDataflow](https://github.com/linpengcheng/PurefunctionPipelineDataflow)) ~~~ fnord123 See also: [http://reactivex.io/](http://reactivex.io/) ~~~ lincpa I read the documentation on the URL you provided, and the pure function pipeline data flow is essentially different from Rx: 1\. The essential difference between programming methods is the inherent thoughts and models. The idea and model of pure function pipeline data flow are highly consistent with integrated circuits. 2\. The pure function pipeline data flow emphasizes the data flow, Rx emphasizes the asynchronous event flow, and does not mention or emphasize the data flow. 3\. The pure function pipeline data stream is composed of only 5 components, and the model is much simpler than Rx. 4\. Pure function pipeline data flow emphasizes the sequential structure (series of pipeline components), and the maintenance (code reading, expansion, debugging, etc.) is simpler. 5\. The asynchronous event flow of the pure function pipeline data flow is simpler than Rx. I wrote an asynchronous event flow in my project, it is just a queue processing, so it is not necessary to specifically mention it. 6.The clojure language doesn't require Rx at all. ~~~ fnord123 Thanks for summarizing the differences. I think anyone interested in function pipeline data flows will also be interested to know about Rx and RxClojure as they both allow programs to be structured to work over a stream of data in many other languages as is available in Rx. ------ sk5t So, I was sort of expecting this article to use recursion instead of a regular loop, but it was not to be, as the author went ahead and used a for-loop anyway and abstracted a bit of logic into a separate function. Silly premise overall. ~~~ deaddodo I agree. The correct solution (given javascript as the language of choice) is something along the following lines: let highlightProducts = (products, index = 0) => { if(index >= products.length) { return; } product = products[index]; if(product.name.indexOf('mountain') !== -1) { products[index].highlighted = true; } else if(product.stock > 100 && product.price < 5) { products[index].highlighted = true; } else if(product.category == 'outdoors' && product.price < 35 && product.price > 20) { products[index].highlighted = true; } highlightProducts(products, index+1); } Personally, I think this exercise is completely fruitless _except_ to teach recursion. ~~~ dan-robertson I was expecting the answer to look something like: products.forEach((p) => p.highlighted = ( /mountain/.test(p.name) \|\| (p.stock > 100 && p.price < 5) \|\| (p.category == 'outdoors' && 20 < p.price && p.price < 35))) And if one wants the (implicitly hidden) behaviour that highlighted products stay highlighted forever, just add the condition p.highlighted to the disjunction above. ~~~ deaddodo forEach is a loop, so this doesn't answer the basic question OP presented. ~~~ dan-robertson The standard doesn’t specify whether or not forEach is a “loop” or not. One could implement it using tail recursion. FWIW I would claim that such recursion should also be called a loop, because the control flow goes in a loop. ~~~ deaddodo You're splitting hairs. I think we can both agree that no implementation does it as such. And if you're going to go to that low of a level, there's no such thing as a loop beyond emergent behavior (they're all conditional branches/jumps). ------ whatshisface Everyone in this comment section was expecting some kind of programming language trickery, but that's not what this post is about. The author is illustrating a refactoring technique. ~~~ Sahhaese Half the people here are discussing the headline not the article because people don't read articles, they read the headline and jump to the comments. In this case it drowns out discussion of the article because the article is terrible. It doesn't start with the code as it would look like with loops, but instead says "Let's pretend you don't have loops" and then refactors the logic which has nothing to do with loops, then puts the loop back in. The same refactoring would be just as clear with loops, and in fact the version without the refactor might be even more clear. A static function which is only called from a single place isn't always more clear than having the logic inside the loop, especially if all that is left from the original function is the loop. ~~~ ssully I think calling the article terrible is a little harsh. It's clearly meant for people just starting with programming, and it utilizes a teaching technique that can be very powerful. It isn't meant to teach you how to do things in the best possible way, but to artificially constrain you so that you approach the techniques you know from many different angles to reach a better understanding. ------ molticrystal I was thinking it would be an essay on computational completeness and memory or functionality without the ability to loop, which is as fundamental as moving the tape head left or right on a Turing machine. I suppose the title of the article overly encourages what one might interpret it to be about. The upvotes and comments here provide evidence that the article is useful, just not what everybody might be expecting. ------ diego I'd use functional programming, which is what I'd thought this post would be about. It seems the author is not familiar with the concepts of mapping, reducing and filtering. This is just a map() command. ~~~ Msurrow If you were a programming language designer, would you implement a map, filter or reduce command? ~~~ lagadu God yes. As a .net developer, it's extremely rare for a day to go by where I don't put them to use (via linq). They get so much stuff done. ------ deanCommie It's really hard to teach clean code to beginners. Concepts like SOLID principles feel like meta-academic overkill, and get in the way of "getting things done". Juniors don't click in to the value of well structured well modularized code until they handle the pain of refactoring code that isn't, and introducing unintentional bugs into it. Your only hope, as a senior engineer, who's been through it already, is that they have enough trust in you that when you leave code review feedback that says "It would be more clear and maintainable if you refactor that into a function/make the function return the value instead of mutating it as a side effect/etc etc etc" they trust you, even if they don't yet feel the real value of it) I can't tell if this blog post helps or not. I need to ask one of my juniors. ~~~ stinos _Concepts like SOLID principles feel like meta-academic overkill, and get in the way of "getting things done"._ For small programs, certainly. But I've witnessed the effects of not applying any kind of SOLID principle at all to larger scale software and it was never pretty. _Your only hope, as a senior engineer, who 's been through it already, is that they have enough trust in you that when you leave code review feedback that says "It would be more clear and maintainable if you refactor that into a function/make the function return the value instead of mutating it as a side effect/etc etc etc" they trust you, even if they don't yet feel the real value of it)_ This sounds kinda pessimistic. Why would you not hope for the best i.e. for a junior understandting what you're saying and most importantly _why_ you're saying it, and _why_ the refactored version is better? I mean, in the end that's what's supposed to happen. And even if that doesn't work out, I'd rather have them questioning my reasoning than just blindly trust me. I'm much more satisfied with a junior showing critical thinking, even if they just don't understand the matter, than just blind trust. ~~~ indigochill In fact, I'd even say blind trust is the "mutate as side effect" of human understanding. It may work in small, isolated incidents, but apply it at scale and everything goes wrong. A junior who learns engineering dogma from his seniors and repeats it without understanding it is a liability, since when his code goes wrong, he won't know why because he doesn't understand the principles at work. So it's the responsibility of the mentor to not settle for blind trust, but ensure his protege does actually understand the principles. ~~~ deanCommie Not sure why you and stinos think I'm advocating for blind trust. My point is simply that cleaner code is not intuitively self evidently better without experience. It feels intuitive to senior engineers but even side by side comparisons aren't necessarily enough for juniors. The effort overhead required to achieve (effectively zero once you internalize it), but far from zero when you are a beginner does not seem like it offsets the hypothetical benefits. So articles like OP's are quite fascinating to me because they take a totally unorthodox approach to advocating for it. ------ rthomas6 Functional programming is the answer. In python the answer is just this: def action(thing) ... map(action, array_of_things) I'm sure there's some similar solution in Javascript. ~~~ IceDane I agree, but I think it's worth pointing out that this abstraction costs more in a language like python. Unless I'm mistaken, I don't believe python has any way to fuse these higher order operations into a single pass. ~~~ fnord123 [action(x) for x in array_of_things if x > 7] Action is the function you are applying. `for x in ...` will pull an iterator from a generator which could be doing a lot of interesting stuff. And `if x > 7` is the filter. ------ regecks There are real life situations where you must program without loops, and eBPF programs are an example. They also have an program size and various other limitations ([http://www.brendangregg.com/ebpf.html#bccprogramming](http://www.brendangregg.com/ebpf.html#bccprogramming)). When I was writing an ACME (Let's Encrypt) TLS-ALPN client that ran in-kernel with an eBPF tc program, it led to some pretty silly looking code: [https://dpaste.de/82aZ](https://dpaste.de/82aZ) ------ KhoomeiK This is sort of what Microsoft's new/experimental Bosque language is supposed to be about—a paradigm shift to "Regularized Programming", similar to the advent of Structured Programming in the 1960's. Here's the paper: [https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/research/uploads/prod/2019/0...](https://www.microsoft.com/en- us/research/uploads/prod/2019/04/beyond_structured_report_v2.pdf) ------ alecmg Just recently was rminding myself good numpy practices and honestly thought this was also an article about broadcasting and vectorization. Look Ma, No For-Loops: Array Programming With NumPy [https://realpython.com/numpy-array- programming/](https://realpython.com/numpy-array-programming/) Which is powerful and enables multicore execution even on notorious Python GIL ------ fouc It ends up being a form of mapping. It's a good idea/exercise for developers to engage in occasionally in order to improve their ideas on how to organize their code. ~~~ helloiloveyou Exactly, thank you! I believe it is a very good exercise for when you are teaching a programming class. Another possible exercise is to not use ifs. The way to navigate around that would be to use double dispatch. Not because of any reason of performance gain with the branch predictor like other comments mentioned, but because it adds another tool to your toolbelt ------ robomartin At the risk of inspiring a violent reaction (virtually, of course): Sorry folks, this is silly. Go solve real problems. Does a patient care if the ML code that discovered a malignant tumor used an explicitly written loop? As a silly test: What would be the value in rewriting the Facebook, Google, Amazon, etc. codebases to avoid loops? What’s the ROI? Kindly provide a few examples at scale (not academic oddities) where this might actually matter? You can’t avoid loops. Any time you are doing the same thing repeatedly, you are using a loop, whether you explicitly wrote it or not. Sure, sure, there are corner cases. I have unrolled loops in assembly in real time embedded code where every microsecond counted. That is far from the norm and, frankly, should be avoided with absolute passion. I have also worked with APL for ten years. You can do amazing things with the language while seemingly not looping. In reality nearly everything you do with APL includes heavy looping behind the curtains, and you better be well aware of this if performance is important. Don’t get me wrong, the academic question is interesting. However, if you live and work in the real world there are far more interesting and pressing issues to be concerned with. ------ lalos I could see this as an effective pedagogical tool when learning to program. ~~~ helloiloveyou Thank you! That's really what this post is about :) Facing the loop's body so many times forces you to analyze if something better can be done ~~~ necovek In real world, factoring out a function that's only ever used once is usually not the smartest thing to do early. You'd do that if you eg. do TDD. The article is a false "tip": author explicitely decides _not_ to extract the entire loop body (why?) into a function but only a part of the logic. They've chosen the factoring approach despite no loop, not thanks to it. Their intrinsic reasoning that led to deciding what to split out would have been more useful, and then we could argue if it was good design tip or not. ------ patrickhogan1 The example calls indexOf instead of calling a loop directly and indexOf uses a loop under the hood. [https://developer.mozilla.org/en- US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Refe...](https://developer.mozilla.org/en- US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Array/indexOf) ~~~ jplayer01 Is the goal to remove all for loops at all levels of code or to abstract them away to some benefit? ~~~ chaosite I don't know! The goal seems to be to restrict yourself for the sake of restricting yourself, as a way to induce creativity. So, hiding the for-loop away in a library function does seem like cheating... ------ glangdale A strange emphasis. I imagined old-school GPGPU (only with loops with fixed bounds). Programming without branches of any kind (loop branches or otherwise) is a fun diversion; I've enjoyed it sufficiently to have put my blog at branchfree.org - will be more on branch free programming when my superoptimizer is more mature. ------ taffer Since no one has mentioned SQL yet: SELECT * FROM products WHERE (stock > 100 AND price < 5) OR (price BETWEEN 20 AND 35 AND category = 'outdoors') OR name ILIKE '%mountain%'; ------ harimau777 I primarily program in JavaScript and between Lodash and the built in iterator functions I don't see any reason to use loops other than the while loop. I often use recursion rather than while loops; however, I find that is often difficult to do in a way that is readable and that uses tail recursion. What I really wish is that something like "forUntil", "mapUntil", and "reduceUntil" would be added to the core language. Maybe the forEach, map, and reduce could be made generic functions that operated on any iterable rather than being defined as methods of Array. ------ Agentlien The title of this article reminded me of that one time when I found a small programming app for android with a very limited language. It had some basic variables, if statements and a drawing routine for solid colour circles. It contained no function calls and I don't think it allowed for loops. What it did have was timers which took a piece of callback code and could be set to repeat that code with a given frequency. It was all very simplistic and restricted, so I spent an evening making a breakout clone in it, just to see if I could. That was a lot of frustrating fun. ------ leshow I really thought the blog post would end with recursion, and found no mention of it anywhere. ------ jchw I was sort of wondering if the conclusion would be to use map/filter/etc, but instead... it was to use an ordinary loop. I am aware that there is a programming practice for writing “branchless” code. I was expecting this to be more along those lines. ~~~ jonathankoren Just because the loop is put in a function, the loop is still there. I would be _very_ disturbed if someone said, "Let's not use a loop!" and then used a normal map(). Now, if they had implemented their own map() that used tail recursion, then we'd have something. ~~~ jchw Well, I agree it’s still imperfect. The thing is, though, in JS the fact that map uses a “loop” is an implementation detail; Array.prototype.map is a native function. Since the point of this experiment is to constrain the code to emphasize other details, I can see why it might make sense to limit use of just native JS loop control flow, though it is unclear that using map/filter/forEach/etc. would lead to better code than a simple for loop. (In this case it might be alright, but I do get annoyed when there’s a mess of functional operations going on with complicated transformations that would’ve been really mundane with imperative control flow.) ------ Mugwort I have a much harder time reasoning with loops than using map, reduce, recursion etc. I'll just say the whole truth, I can't program with loops, I get a headache and I'm forced to quit. ------ ChrisSD Use Rust's `const fn`. In its current state you can't do any looping, Nor any other control flow. Fun times. Doing recursion works easily enough but the hard part is stopping. ------ thb567 You could just get the thing going running an external file/script. And stop it with an if condition. It's a classic structure from very noob admins. ------ zadkey I think you would just use recursion to implement loops. ------ vincent-toups No stinking loops link: [http://nsl.com/](http://nsl.com/) ------ pmlnr If you program in C, try MISRA C and it's requirements/restrictions. ------ hkai In fact, you can set up an eslint rule banning any loops from your code. ------ cozzyd Kind of like matlab or numpy? (If you don't want it to be super slow). ------ fvilers Not that hard, a loop is just an "if" and a "jump" instructions. ------ cr0sh As an alternative, what if you didn't have (or didn't want to use) common structured programming techniques, and you wanted to implement a state machine? Like, you could use if-then, but not while, loop, do, etc? But goto was allowed (argh?). About a decade ago I was in a discussion with someone on this, and his technique changed my mind on where, when, and how goto could be acceptable in a real code base; some of you may or may not agree - but I thought I would show you, warts (on my part) and all. Here's the thread: [https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/state-machine- in...](https://www.electro-tech-online.com/threads/state-machine-in- mcu.113718/) ...also, here's the state machine (as implemented in C); the original post of the image on the forum, I think, requires a login to see, thus this copy: [http://i.imgur.com/JkND1Av.png](http://i.imgur.com/JkND1Av.png) Read the thread to understand the arguments for and against, but it ultimately (I think) comes down to implementation readability and maintainability. This is a more critical thing in an embedded hardware system, of course, but I think similar techniques, or at least the mindset behind them, could be an advantage. It's kinda like how learning Golang, much later, forced me to rethink the idea of error handling. In Go, there's the concept of using "guard statements" at the top of functions/methods to essentially exit out as soon as possible if something untoward occurs or is passed as an argument incorrectly. Basically a bunch of simple if-then statements at the beginning, then your code proper. It was one of those things I recall as being something I railed against at first, but I quickly came to understand the reasoning behind doing it that way, rather than nested if-then statements or other constructs within the logic. It produced simpler, easier to follow code - but at first, it felt very "wrong" to me for some reason. It was one of many "golang-isms" I had to come to terms with, before I really appreciated the whys and whats of the language. Which ultimately is what these techniques are all about - the author touches upon this: Restriction of your toolset can lead to fascinating solutions, and in some or many cases, this simplification is reflected in the code as well; things can become easier to understand, since less is being used. It's also one of the reasonings behind such "demo competition" contests such as the 256 byte challenge, or 1K intros, etc. Also behind such things as pixel-art, especially tile art using only 8 colors (or even just black and white!) with only an 8 x 8 grid-space to work in. Some amazing art comes out of that, operating within such restrictions. I've heard/read that great programmers are those who are able to remove more code than they add for a given change (aka - simplifying the code). These techniques and everything else may all be a part of that idea. ------ cr0sh IIRC, Mel, The Real Programmer, didn't need loops... [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9913835](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9913835) \--- I'm going to expand on this - the author of the article doesn't mention a couple of things that you can do if you don't use loops, or don't have them for some reason, but it is understandable that it wasn't mentioned - because the author is working in javascript, not in something lower level. However, that may change with WASM coming into its own; depending on if anyone takes the challenge up of hand coding WASM (that actually isn't an "if" \- I am certain people are doing it as I type this). Those two commonly known (well, used to be - less so today, maybe, outside of embedded programmers of 8 and 16 bit controllers - and the retro and demo scene) methods: 1\. Self-modifying code 2\. Overflows Number 2 could be seen as a subset of number 1, depending on how an overflow is exploited. It's been decades since I've played with either of them - and really only at a "toy" level, but they were common techniques for those well versed in assembler (for whatever processor or architecture), as they could be used to write both more efficient and smaller code for a given routine. Especially in the old 8-bit realm and before, when memory was precious and expensive, and not very large, such techniques could allow for more functionality than what might seemingly fit into memory space available. They were used for everything, particular games on 8-bit machines, as well as more mundane software. The downside is that the code created was often very "opaque" in the sense that you really had to understand how potentially the whole system was working in order to understand how the technique worked and was being used in context. This worked to the advantage of some developers - namely those writing old- school viruses/trojans/malware - as the ability to have self-modifying code meant they could easily hide themselves from a malware detector, and do other nefarious (and honest, sometimes quite interesting) techniques. It's less a thing today, but back in the day, there were some amazing bits of code floating around that scene. The guy who wrote about Mel understood all this - or came to understand it - very well. Mel did it mainly because he didn't trust compilers to make fast code (which they probably didn't back in his day - even today, there are edge cases that fall thru the cracks - it's just code, it can't do everything - yet) - so he hand coded everything; he also had the advantage that he knew precisely how the system worked, especially the drum memory of that system, and by precisely timing things, and deft use (abuse?) of certain registers - well, he was able to do seemingly wizard-like tasks. I can't say he didn't use any loops - he did in fact use one; it looked like an endless loop with nothing inside it; in fact, it should just cause the machine to hang. But the author of Mel's story found that the machine, stepping through the code, would pass right thru this seemingly endless loop. Well - he explains how Mel did it, and it really is a thing of wonder, combining both register manipulation, overflow techniques, and self-modifying code to the utmost. Read the story to find out more (Mel - as far as can be determined, was likely a real person; there is a picture of him out there that was dug up. No one knows for certain whether that Mel is The Mel - but most believe the person depicted probably is). Also google around on such techniques to learn how they work; you likely won't be able to apply them to your day-to-day (unless you work in assembler or something like that), but you might learn something useful for your toolbag. Oh - one other thing - I kinda lied about how these tricks can only apply to a low-level; that's not completely true. There are certain techniques that can be done with higher level languages (and not using exploitable bugs). I won't go into detail here, though. Maybe you can work it out on your own? ------ exabrial Why not though? Generally our CPUs are based around jumps ~~~ onion2k Not all code runs on a CPU. For example, older GPUs didn't support for loops. ~~~ exabrial ... specifically why I said CPUs. A loop generally gets translated to a jmp instruction in most architectures. ------ yjhoney I teach a JS coding class and I had the luxury of creating the curriculum. To the horror of my peers, I decided that coding with loops was not necessary for beginners and got rid of loops altogether from our curriculum. I thought OP was proposing the same thing, but I was wrong. the refactoring was good, but my students will probably end up with the following result (more in line with your no loops title): ``` function highlightProducts(aListOfProducts, i=0){ if (i === aListOfProducts.length) return null if(productShouldBeHighlighted(product)){ product.highlighted = true } return highlightProducts(aListOfProducts, i + 1) } ``` The added benefit of the above approach is that debugging is easier! If you want to debug the last 5 items, you can simply call the function like this: highlightProducts(aListOfProducts, aListOfProducts.length – 5) Ultimately, though, everyone should be using higher order functions (map, reduce filter, find, etc.) ~~~ BalinKing This seems a bit worrying to me as a general principle, since Javascript's lack of tail call optimization (TCO) means that you can blow the stack pretty easily by manually recursing. Just my two cents :-) ~~~ BalinKing (Out of curiosity, have you considered starting at raw recursion – like in your example – but then moving on to using utility functions like `map` from e.g. Ramda or lodash?) ~~~ yjhoney Yes. curriculum starts off with recursion, then moves on to higher order functions and nobody touches recursion again.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Field Play: a cool vector field visualisation - vulcan01 https://anvaka.github.io/fieldplay/ ====== h2odragon v.x = -0.1 * p.x; v.y = 0.1 * p.y; ... looks better	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Warren Buffett Joins the Crowd Struggling to Understand Oracle - partingshots https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-02-26/buffett-joins-crowd-struggling-to-assess-opaque-oracle ====== andyjohnson0 Related discussion from four days ago: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19289583](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19289583) ------ fernandopj I've worked with a public company whose stack is Oracle services. Pretty much every company on that field is Oracle as well, that explains (to me) much of how is Oracle's customer base: this field has been under Oracle & Java database->bus->services->cms since forever, why would one company start and not hire them to have access to the same features, be able to grap a few engineers, and skip "reiventing the wheel"? What this company (and every other in that field) is doing: moving small, microservice-able tasks to AWS. Scale and costs are way cheaper. But it's a very long-term move: a couple of years pass and bam!, here's another Oracle multi-million extension contract they must pay to continue to have the lights on. But to the executive's perspective, this is just the cost of doing business in that field, it's the same for the competition. You could argue this is the same "no one ever got fired for hiring Microsoft/IBM" mentality. Oracle stack is obsolete, but as a business they aren't, simply because it will still take a very long time until most companies reliant of their stack be able to move out without great risk to core business. ~~~ tabtab Oracle blew a great opportunity. Internal CRUD apps developed by Oracle Forms worked pretty well, were quick to make, had a well-fitting CRUD-centric programming API, and did the job. Even though they were ugly and visually out of style, they made CRUD easy. Our Forms developers were about 4x more productive than our MVC devs. The MVC devs can put all kinds of fancy-dancy JavaScript widgets on pages that dazzle users, but they are always breaking. But then Oracle moved their Forms client to Java, creating all kinds of versioning headaches and security risks. They should have stuck with the dedicated stand-alone EXE Forms client: a kind of GUI browser. It was a very practical tool for in-house and specialty apps, but Oracle ruined it with Java. ------ anoncoward111 As a former Oracle employee, it's easy to see Oracle's shitty business model-- "Extort everyone for obscene license fees because we currently can, and force them to buy cloud credits they'll never use because Amazon." ~~~ swarnie_ Oracle consultant here. There's nothing more disheartening then digging into an issue on a new site and realizing someone checked (or didn't uncheck) a box during install years ago and the system is not complying with its licensing. The licence fees for small features you might not even know your using can be pretty brutal. ~~~ tabtab Reminds of those "free" software install dialogs that did everything they could to trick you into installing extra spam-ware using double negatives: "Do you _not_ want to skip installing the _Great Deals_ browser tool-bar?" Microsoft got into similar hot water tricking people into installing Windows 10 via confusing dialog boxes. ~~~ sombremesa I won't not never uncheck a box that isn't unlike that one. ~~~ majewsky I think what you were meaning to say is that you won't _never not_ uncheck said boxes. ------ jaclaz Well, the quote by Warren Buffet is IMHO great: >“Larry Ellison has done a fantastic job with Oracle,’’ Buffett said Monday in a CNBC interview. “I’ve followed from the standpoint of reading about it, but I felt like I didn’t understand the business. Particularly after my experience with IBM, _I don’t think I understand exactly where the cloud is going._ ’’ ~~~ sametmax When Buffet thinks "this is BS, I won't touch it", he says politely "I don't understand". He's been repeating it for 40 years. He doesn't want to fight. He doesn't care about being right in the eyes of others. I stole this line 10 years ago to decline the invitation "oh, you are a programmer, can you take a look at my computer ?". I don't understand Windows so I can't, because I use Linux. Declaring yourself incompetent is a fantastic social cheat code. ~~~ duado I do even one better to get out of doing IT work. If someone random asks me to do computer maintenance I profess my incompetence but say that I’ll give it a try. I just go into settings and make the problem one epsilon worse. Then I give it back and say “ugh I don’t know what I did, I just [disabled the network adapter] but now it won’t even open the WiFi menu.” Gives them enough information to reverse what I did but makes sure they never ask me again. ~~~ roymurdock seems pretty malicious why not just ask them to pay you for your time, or else say sorry you need to hire a professional instead of giving them more grief ~~~ justwalt Last week my mother called me after she broke down on the side of the road. So I popped her hood, broke her timing belt, then sped off. Have to agree with you, seems fairly pointless to kick someone while they’re down. Computer problems are stressful, so it’s not surprising someone would ask the first person they know is remotely involved with computing for help. It’s very easy just to tell someone a few things that they might try googling. ~~~ magduf >It’s very easy just to tell someone a few things that they might try googling. That seems to frequently be perceived as an insult though. For some reason, everyone thinks that "computer people" can be counted on to solve their Windows PC problems for free, though they wouldn't ask their relative who's a car salesman to fix their car. ~~~ jeffdavis Setting boundaries and knowing when to bend them a bit is a skill everyone needs to have. So is understanding and respecting others' boundaries. ~~~ magduf It's a good skill, yes, but you can't expect everyone to be good at it (just like anything), and I think it's a lot worse when you're dealing with family members. I don't have an actual solution here, I'm just pointing out that this seems to be a common problem. ------ adventured There's minimal need to understand their $40 billion in sales. Do they have growth or not, and what is the quality of the growth in producing profit. It's that simple ultimately. Sales 2014: $38.2 billion; sales 2018: $39.8 billion No growth beyond inflation. Net income hasn't climbed (roughly stuck at $9-$10 billion for the last five years). Annual debt interest costs have more than doubled to $2 billion as they've made a mess of their balance sheet. In two years AWS will be as large as their entire business. In the five years Oracle has seen zero growth, Salesforce has gone from $4b to $10.5b in sales. It's likely that over the next five years Oracle will again see near zero growth and Salesforce will double in size. Here's what a successful cloud transition with growth actually looks like: Adobe's business was stagnant for years. Then.... Sales 2014: $4.1b; 2015: $4.8b; 2016: $5.8b; 2017: $7.3b; 2018: $9b. Their profit skyrocketed from $268m in 2014, to $2.6b for 2018. They earned as much last quarter as they did for all of 2015. The stock has gone from $60 to $250 / share. You can tell exactly how well Oracle's cloud transition is going by the fact that everybody around them is eating their lunch and seeing growth, from AWS, to Microsoft, to Salesforce, to dozens of other enterprise software companies. Microsoft had watched its top line stagnate for several years as they struggled to find new growth. And then suddenly a big jump: $96b in sales, to $110b in sales, over the prior year. Another example of cloud transition growth in action. ~~~ spdionis While your post is informative and I agree with it I can't see an argument that showcases why Oracle would not have the same exact jumpin the next few years like Microsoft and Adobe had. ------ voidhorse Yeah, idk. I used to work at Oracle and from what I could discern (as a pretty low-level employee) Thomas Kurian was largely responsible for spearheading the cloud efforts on the technical side of things. He's since left the company. I worked with great people at Oracle but I disliked working there immensely. Compared to a lot of other big-name tech companies, their approach to managing employees and their approach to innovation is extremely outdated and somewhat draconian (in certain arenas). Furthermore, I got the sense that any customers we had were largely the result of good salesmanship and unforgiving lock-in. I'm sure it's probably not like this on every team at Oracle, but that was my experience. It was also incredibly clear from the scarce (once a year? if that?) corporate wide pow-wows and communications from above that the company's top executives not only don't understand their employees but also quite clearly don't care about them, their advancement, or happiness. Hell, Oracle was _just_ starting to bring macs into the workplace in the name of appeasing employees and improving employee-executive relations when I left in early _2018_. ------ redleggedfrog That's pretty easy. If Oracles numbers for cloud were awesome they'd certain disclose that. Since the don't we can safely assume they're struggling and want to hide it. ------ ahartmetz Yeah, I've been scratching my head, too. Oracle's P/E ratio implies the expectation of great growth, but to me Oracle looks kind of floundering with competition from F/OSS databases and all the failed acquisitions / new lines of business such as "cloud". I would short Oracle if the overvaluation wasn't so old and stable. Hard to guess if or when it will end. ~~~ chollida1 > Oracle's P/E ratio implies the expectation of great growth, but to me Oracle > looks kind of floundering with competition from F/OSS databases and all the > failed acquisitions / new lines of business such as "cloud". Umm, ORCL's PE is currently 18.7 and the average PE of the S&P 500 is currently around 21 so your statement about a PE that is pricing in "great growth" is dubious at best:). The average S&P 500 PE ratio is also above 18 if you start at a reasonable date of say 1980.. [http://www.multpl.com/](http://www.multpl.com/) ~~~ ahartmetz Yeah, looks like I misremembered the degree of overvaluation. That said, you have to compare it to valuations of dividend stocks (~15 - Apple, uh... OK, difficult. McD's, Procter & Gamble 25?!, Ford 10...) and growth stocks (~25 - Google, Microsoft, Facebook). Oracle is more of a shrinkage stock IMO... ------ ProAm The head scratcher is no one likes being an Oracle customer. I've never met one. ~~~ giardini They apparently like it better than being a IBM DB2 customer or a Microsoft SQL Server customer or a Sybase customer or a Teradata customer or a ...[I think you get my point]. Oracle is good at extracting the maximum profit from their sales. They're aggressive about sales and policing usage and they don't often cut customers slack. They've learned that clients will try to give them the shaft and they do their best to not get shafted. They're good capitalists as well as the best database developers in the world. ~~~ okmokmz >Oracle is good at extracting the maximum profit from their sales. They're aggressive about sales and policing usage and they don't often cut customers slack. Sounds like a horrible company to work with. Most of the people I know that use Oracle services/products due so because they are stuck with them ~~~ giardini Most of the people you know that use Oracle would likely quit if their CFO or CIO came in and told them to migrate away from Oracle. Oracle's stuff works and works right. Furthermore, expertise on Oracle tools is well-compensated and consequently it is common for Oracle expertise to leave for higher-paid jobs (also using Oracle) should a firm cease to use Oracle. My point is that, despite a proliferation of free and open software, companies still often _pay_ for good software that works correctly. And Oracle extracts their pound of flesh w/o taking a single drop of blood. Oracle's is a very strong business model that is no accident and results largely from having no peers. ------ dalbasal Realistically, a lot of "tech giant" business models are somewhat weird. Google is a search engine + search engine monetisation engine. They have some third parties participating in the ad market (notably other search engines) and some non-search properties (eg YouTube) that contribute some as revenue but search+AdWords is still the core. Meanwhile, most of the notable things google do are in unrelated or marginally related to the business model. Android, chrome, self driving cars... It's as if most of the company has nothing to do with the business. They used to explain this with a VC metaphor, but that seems to be gone. FB & twitter are even stranger. Why do they have 100X more employees and costs than they had a few years ago, while not apparently outputting much more than they were outputting before. They're still "just" social media sites. With all due respect to ad-tech and content ranking algorithms... The common denominator is a revenue stream that comes from dominating a niche and very little relationship between what the company invests in and how it makes money. They didn't/couldn't have actually directed themselves towards those things as goals. Oracle is similar. They're deeply embedded in their customer's businesses. That means a captive market. This generates a revenue stream. There's no predictable way of turning that revenue into a cloud service, no matter how much they're willing to spend. Ultimately, the problem is that the market as a whole is overfunded. Investors don't want dividends, so they get highly speculative/dubious investments instead. ~~~ iwintermute Alphabet (and not Google) is actually trying to be like berkshire hathaway - conglomerate holding company (at least according to Eric Schmidt) ------ snarfy As a US citizen I do not want a single cent of tax dollars going to Larry. It's infuriating the US government is Oracle's biggest customer. ~~~ dmix Same with IBM. I just read the Canadian prime minister _praising_ the work done on a new payroll system, so I decided to look it up: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_pay_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_pay_system) > In June 2011, IBM won the contract to set up the system, using PeopleSoft > software; the original contract was for $5.7 million, but IBM was eventually > paid $185 million. ...that's 32x the original price. Everyone in software knows exactly how IBM and Oracle make their money. That part's not a mystery. The bigger mystery to me is why these governments and big companies keep spending money on these professional leeches and expecting a different result. Do other gov contractors charge 32x the original budget? Do construction, or ad companies, or accountants? Or is it just software? ~~~ entee Defense contractors, construction occasionally. It's pretty nuts. The east span of the bay bridge was something like 5x the original cost estimate. I think some of this ends up being because of the same reasons that home general contractors end up charging far more than the estimate: modifications cost extra. "Oh you wanted this feature? It wasn't in the contract, we can do it but that'll be $X. Oh you need to include this other system? That's out of scope but for $Y we can solve it." Million here, a million there and pretty soon you're talking real money ;) [https://www.wnyc.org/story/316201-brief- history-64-billion-b...](https://www.wnyc.org/story/316201-brief- history-64-billion-bay-bridge/) ------ chasd00 I remember when Oracle bought Sun and the OpenSolaris guys didn't quite fit in. "don't make the mistake of anthropomorphising Larry Ellison" \- Bryan Cantrell skip to 38:20 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc) ~~~ kakwa_ Just yesterday I came across one of his other videos, and I guess Bryan Cantrill still as a bit of grudge against Oracle: Light ranting: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm8P4oCIY3g&t=10m10s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm8P4oCIY3g&t=10m10s) A bit heavier ranting (with the fallout after his usenix ranting): [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm8P4oCIY3g&t=14m21s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pm8P4oCIY3g&t=14m21s) Selected quote: "Any explanation of Oracle that doesn't end with a nazi allegory does not fully explain Oracle" Bryan Cantrill is really fun to listen to, is a tech veteran now, and is still as passionate and energetic as he was the first day (Another interesting video about programming languages he experienced during his (long by tech standards) career: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjFM8vw3pbU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjFM8vw3pbU)) ------ tim333 >[interviwer] What two industries are the first you should learn when developing your circle of competence? >[Buffett] Look for simple businesses. If I gave you $10M to invest right now and you only had three weeks to spend it and you could only spend it in Omaha, you’d look for simple, understandable, strong businesses. You look at the Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM). You wouldn’t look at the third best fast food chain. You might look at McDonald’s, because it is number one and will probably always been number one. They have share of mind. What about Oracle? Too hard. GM? Too hard. You can’t predict the future for these two companies. Too many variables. That was 2009. Looks like he's decided that was still the case. Also going by the top comment in [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19289583](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19289583) three days ago: ... "I probably met nearly 100 developers, and when I asked all of them what they use Oracle for EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM openly told me that their companies use Oracle right now but they hate it and they were all in the process of transitioning to other providers or open source solutions."... I'd guess shorting Oracle might be more the thing to do. Typically customer reaction proceeds the financial numbers moving. ------ dec0dedab0de In this day and age if I owned a company, and some Director or VP suggested using anything from Oracle or HP, I would assume they were getting some kind of fringe benefit from the sales person and fire them immediately. ------ quelsolaar Warren Buffet doesn't understand that you shouldn't anthropomorphize the lawnmower. [https://youtu.be/-zRN7XLCRhc?t=1983](https://youtu.be/-zRN7XLCRhc?t=1983) ~~~ teddyh Quote is at [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc#t=38m25s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zRN7XLCRhc#t=38m25s) ------ nateburke MongoDB would be a great acquisition target for Oracle. Their recent acquisition of mLab along with their Atlas offering could create a nice headline to help boost the perception that Oracle is actively moving its database business to the cloud. Mongo trades at a premium, but its market cap is in the single-digit billions & is nothing Oracle couldn't afford right now. Plus, Oracle's massive legal machine could move the licensing innovation needle even further in the direction of Mongo's recent move to SSPL. Disclaimer: I work for Salesforce ~~~ dragonwriter > Plus, Oracle's massive legal machine could move the licensing innovation > needle even further in the direction of Mongo's recent move to SSPL. Proprietary licensing that has a veneer of openness isn't a legal innovation issue, it's a PR innovation issue (how to get the goodwill and community support that comes with open source while using proprietary licensing that doesn't provide the freedom of open source.) Oracle doesn't have any particular special PR competence when it comes to targeting the audience for whom open source is a big draw, and seems quite happy locking anything that they don't want to share with the community behind traditional proprietary licensing, so I wouldn't see the SSPL game and Oracle having a lot to offer each other. SSPL is for people who want to be like Oracle but pretend they aren't, and even if Oracle cared about the pretense, there's not a lot of indication that the SSPL approach works. ------ eeeeeeeeeeeee Seems pretty obvious — Oracle isn’t disclosing specific cloud data in their financials because the data would be embarrassing. ------ blairanderson Have you read his shareholder letters? To be fair, Buffett doesn't understand anything cloud or computer related. ~~~ nabla9 Often used Buffet quotes: "If you don't know jewelry, know your jeweler". I suspect that Larry Ellison is factor in the decision to drop Oracle. ------ ckozlowski I could help explain it for him. Take something like RAC. Call it "Cloud On-premises." Viola! Cloud sales are up. ------ stevespang The SEC dogs Elon Musk but doesn't dare lock horns with Larry Ellison, the pathological corporate sociopath whose company locks users into seemingly never ending software leases with threatened audits and whose corp has teams of lawyers and only offers "limited breakdowns in its financial disclosures" . . . Larry recently bragged how even Amazon is under his cloak using Oracle because there is nothing out there better. Bezos response: We'll build our own database no matter what the cost and then we'll compete against you signing up what were your customers. How do you like that Larry ? ~~~ bufferoverflow Amazon has developed Aurora and DynamoDB. And they are free to use any of the open source ones. Your narrative makes little sense. ~~~ ceejayoz Ellison claims ([https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazons-consumer-business- move...](https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazons-consumer-business-moves-from- oracle-to-aws-but-larry-ellisons-wont-stop-talking/)) Aurora is Oracle's because it's MySQL based: > So this is another claim I'm going to make, Aurora, not built by Amazon, > built by us, called MySQL. Amazon just gave it a new name. It's also true of > Redshift. Amazon didn't build Redshift, that's not what they do. These are > -- they just open-sourced pieces where they built -- that they used to build > their cloud. They did a great job. They did a great job of making those > pieces available in a coherent -- deliver them in a coherent cloud. I give > them a lot of credit. But they don't build databases. Amazon still runs all > of their -- all of Amazon on Oracle Database. They are trying, they promised > because they don't like me reminding them of that publicly. They said > they're trying to get off Oracle by 2020. > Aurora is our other database. It's our low-end database. It's our database. > It's not theirs. Well, it's open source. Anyone can use it for nothing. (This is bullshit, of course.)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: The most commented books on Reddit - bckygldstn https://redditreads.com/ ====== bckygldstn This was a fun side project I've been working on for the last few weeks. It's been a nice way to find books on new topics, and some new subreddits too. The home and subreddit pages are prerendered and served statically, so I didn't need to deal with databases or javascript. I just looked at comments with Amazon links rather than actual book titles so the counts are pretty small, but the ordering should be fairly accurate. I'm using Amazon Affiliate links. Depending on how popular the site is after the initial wave dies down in a few weeks, I'll either run it as a tiny business or wind it down to a hobby data science project. I'd appreciate any feedback! ------ amirathi Looks great. You might want to make it mobile web friendly. Wish you lots of affiliate money :) ------ christudor Very interesting and useful. Have bookmarked!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Panic on the streets of London - filiwickers http://pennyred.blogspot.com/2011/08/panic-on-streets-of-london.html ====== oracuk The author makes a good point. These areas have been off the UK media radar for a long time. They haven't had a voice. That said it seems at the moment that this is less political and more economic/criminal activity. What will be interesting is the effect of network communications (Twitter, facebook etc etc) in shifting the balance between Police and rioters. I suspect (But have no direct evidence) that a smaller but more highly trained, equipped and organised Police was effective against a much larger disorganised mass. The tools for communication appear to give the rioters an increasing level of cell organisation that reduces the impact of the Police 'force multiplier'. May explain why they are struggling to respond, just too many rioters with just enough organisation.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Setting Up a Cayman Islands Company [pdf] - dvasdekis https://www.stuartslaw.com/cms/document/Setting_up_a_Cayman_Islands_Company.pdf ====== MikeEhrmantraut I'm curious if any HNers have any ideas for ways to use off-shore status to protect your website from frivolous libel claims. I run some forums in the automotive industry that have been around for about 15 years. I take pride on being pro-free speech and loosely moderating things, only taking down obviously illegal posts, copyright infringements, etc. Despite that, I still occasionally get legal threats from people who have gotten their feelings hurt. In one case, the threats came from an actual attorney who was representing a shady commercial seller who got into it with some of our members. I would love to move the ownership of the forums to some sort of arrangement (offshore) where they are essentially immune to frivolous libel claims. I want attorneys to look at us and tell their clients that it's simply not worth going after us. Is there such a place? edit: I forgot to mention that my site runs no ads and makes no money whatsoever...a rarity in the forums world. I keep it like this because I love the hobby and I hate all of the other shitty forums sites that are filled with adware garbage. Given this, it's a real hardship when some attorney threatens me with a lawsuit because I just don't have the cash to properly defend myself. ~~~ buro9 I run just under 300 forums on much the same basis and have been sued in the past in the UK. Feel free to co-opt my very expensive lawyer T&Cs which were designed specifically for this scenario (if you haven't actually had a lawyer draw up yours they may be a better default for you): [https://github.com/microcosm- cc/legal](https://github.com/microcosm-cc/legal) Ultimately in Europe I now feel fine: \+ EU e-commerce directive has "mere conduit" \+ Reactive moderation sets you aside from a publishing company and fits into "mere conduit" \+ Key thing for you is to not engage in any incidents as a participant, deny you even know that they are occurring... but if someone contacts you and tells you something is shady, etc you should shut that down ASAP - bear in mind that to some extent this does mean the admin of a forum shouldn't be an active user of the forum. So for just shutting stuff down within a reasonable time, you basically get to be very immune from any libel, defamation, slander, etc that occurs as a result of your users. Together with the change in UK law that shifted burden onto those raising a claim (they must prove actual damages - a surprisingly hard thing to do), I have not now had any legal threats in about 4 years despite still running as many forums that are barely (if at all) moderated. ~~~ alex_hitchins Side questions, but what sort of hardware & connectivity do you have for supporting that number of forums? I'd have thought at that level you would be in to duplicate hardware etc. ~~~ buro9 Just a few linodes run them all and we tend to have low thousands of concurrent users at any time but can comfortably handle high hundreds of thousands of guests. A friend and I wrote a forum platform for them :) As a startup that didn't get anywhere, but the main premise was that forum hosting is expensive (almost 1 server per forum, not very optimised for caching, every page is dynamic, etc) due to them not being on a true platform (shared costs, optimisations, and less waste in CPU and bandwidth), and we also hypothesised that forums have a natural life and when they die they cross-pollinate new forums (total growth in user engagement across communities continues even when a single community dies)... hence it's best to make a platform, and that the reduced costs for all actually makes them financially viable (though when we shut the startup I chose non-advertising and to do donations instead). This is the forum platform: [https://microco.sm](https://microco.sm) but it's not really open for new forums, as I manually have to enable them and I'm concerned about future offboarding requests (not something I support at all). This is an example of a forum on the platform: [https://www.lfgss.com](https://www.lfgss.com) which is the largest, but there are just shy of 300 on a wide range of topics. ~~~ alex_hitchins Thanks for taking the time to give a detailed answer. I'll have a look at the links you included. Sounds like you were on to a decent idea with regards to re-thinking how forums can be built/operate. ~~~ buro9 It gets even weirder when you look at the fact that we put structured objects in forums... such as events: [https://www.lfgss.com/events/3931/](https://www.lfgss.com/events/3931/) We thought we were on to a good thing... but couldn't secure the A round in London. The seed only gets you so far. ~~~ alex_hitchins Are you looking to make this open source or keep it under wraps and try again? ~~~ buro9 It already is open-source... [https://github.com/microcosm- cc/](https://github.com/microcosm-cc/) but as it was designed to be a platform I cannot claim it is easy for anyone to install or get started with it. I have a slow burning background task to move it from PostgreSQL + Go + Python + Django to PostgreSQL + Go. This will make it a super easy single-binary install, that can also scale out by simply running multiple versions of the Go binary in different modes (API or Web). But frankly... this is a very slow burning background task :) ------ rdrey IANAL, but that's not useful for hackers. This is more useful for hackers: [https://www.caymanenterprisecity.com/](https://www.caymanenterprisecity.com/) \- 100% foreign ownership \- No corporate/capital gains taxes \- 5-year work/residence permits for the team \-- No personal income tax in the Caymans for anyone moving here From a friend who has gone through the process of setting one up for consulting, the initial setup cost ~30k USD and renewal costs ~15k USD per year. \- you still need an office package [https://www.caymanenterprisecity.com/service- packages](https://www.caymanenterprisecity.com/service-packages) \- setup is not _really_ that quick and painless If you'd otherwise pay income tax pretty much anywhere else it might still make financial sense. ~~~ mattsfrey US citizens still owe taxes on any income over a certain threshold as per: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_earned_income_exclusio...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_earned_income_exclusion) There is no more tax advantage to the law abiding citizen in this scheme versus just registering an llc in wyoming/nevada and living abroad. ~~~ jmalicki There are a number of advantages to Cayman Islands incorporations, such as (under some complicated circumstances) delaying recognizing income until repatriation (allowing for the money that would have gone to taxes to compound for some time), or avoiding Unrelated Business Income Tax for an IRA or non- profit entity that invests in a business that takes on debt (the latter being an extremely common reason above-board entities use Cayman Islands blocker corporations). [http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/why-do-us- investment-f...](http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/why-do-us-investment- funds-operate-tax-havens) ~~~ ThrustVectoring Tax deferral doesn't help you if you pay at the same rate at repatriation. Multiplication commutes, paying either before or after compounding doesn't matter. It could help for, like, maintaining ACA subsidy eligibility. ~~~ jmalicki Yes, it does: Imagine 39% tax, where you compound at 10%. If you pay tax once per year, that becomes 6.1% after tax. 1.061^5 - 1= 0.34455 Now imagine you compound for 5 years at 10%, then repatriate and pay 39% on your profits: (1.1^5-1)*.61 = 0.37241 You have 10% more if you defer taxes. ------ Mandatum The data on places to incorporate are slowly becoming more and more open. Generally you incorporate off-shore for one to many of these three reasons: tax minimisation, privacy and corporation structuring. For most people, an LLC in New Mexico, US (provided you are able to enter the US) with a parent company in the BVI is the easiest option. Overall this will cost you less than $1,000/yr to operate as an LLC with none of your identification or documentation on it, bank accounts and services available in a first-world country, however operating as a proxy corporation for a BVI-based company therefore not subject to corporation tax. However there are risks associated with this setup, plenty of people have had bank accounts frozen or assets seized temporarily if their accounts are included in a "probably tax evader or drug cartel" report. So it's suggested to never keep funds in your US-based corporation. Use a reputable, US-based accountant for your annual filing to minimise this risk. If you're not a US citizen or resident, the only risk is the possibility you won't have access to your funds for a long period of time (and you'll likely have to fly back to the US to sort things out). Now, what I've written above is technically legal provided you're not a US citizen, or if you aren't obligated by law to pay federal or state taxes. However, it - and many, many similar structures are used every day for corrupt, illicit and morally bankrupt reasons. Nobody is interested in fixing this. We've put in Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations whilst simultaneously PROVIDING ways to make sure people can still get away with tax evasion and hiding dirty money (US: insane protection for corporate entities, UK: owning and operating some of the largest tax havens in the world). As the world begins to wise up to these methods, we're already seeing other super-powers begin to offer the same and in some cases much better services. Taiwan and China, I'm looking at you. ~~~ philfrasty „...or if you aren't obligated by law to pay federal or state taxes...“ this is the key sentence here and mostly not talked. Many people do not understand that you may have to pay income tax even though a foreign company/entity holds all profits/cash/assets. For Germany see the „Außensteuergesetz“ [https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/astg/__7.html](https://www.gesetze-im- internet.de/astg/__7.html) ------ sargun So, dumb question. One of the biggest impingements upon grey businesses (prostitution, pornography, imitation goods, gambling, social media profiles) is payment processing. Now, VISA, AMEX, etc.. will never want to process these payments. If the Antigua, The Cayman Islands, or Panama have a healthy banking system, what prevents someone from setting up a VISA clone there? As a service provider, if you can work in their banking system as a legitmate bank, all you need is client banks -- And getting a bank account there is reasonable easy from my understanding. Similar to: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-gold](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-gold) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Bullion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Bullion) Could you build a similar model to "GoldMoney" ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldMoney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoldMoney)) without KYC? ~~~ JumpCrisscross > _Now, VISA, AMEX, etc.. will never want to process these payments_ Lots of legitimate business happens through the Caymans (for international finance) and Bermuda (for insurance). Wiring U.S. dollars between the Caymans and New York is instantaneous. ~~~ Mandatum This _used_ to be true as they'd modernised their banking systems very early compared with many heavily-regulated countries and companies. However this is no longer the case, technology and platforms exist for similar speed and security offered by the aforementioned nations. The only real exceptions are countries currently embargoed or labeled as a "risk" by the IMF for money laundering. ------ oceanswave Well, not quite. From the article, 731.71 for the paperwork, but also an annual fee of 853.66. Additionally, a Registered Office is required, which they will provide for 2,500/yr. Rates are tiered based on income, and may be higher based on class of business. 731.71 just gets you in the door. ~~~ ocdtrekkie For what it's worth, this likely was submitted because of the California post that's currently #1 on HN, claiming you can have a California LLC for $70. It also states you'll need "An $800 LLC “tax” paid annually at tax time". ~~~ loufe To be clear, the HN post you're referring to only claims the $70 is to FORM the LLC. ~~~ ocdtrekkie And so does the headline of this submission. :) ------ eloff So $700 for setup and $3300/year? It's way, way cheaper to do this in Panama, same tax advantages, and the country uses the US dollar. ~~~ bigtones Panama has corporate tax of 25% and personal income tax rate of between 15% and 25%, Cayman islands has zero tax. ~~~ eloff Panama has zero tax on foreign source income, which unless you're going to open a local business, means it has effectively zero tax - personal or corporate. ~~~ StavrosK How much are formation/annual fees for Panama, do you know? ~~~ eloff About $1000-$2000 for initial setup if you use a law firm to do it for you. $300/year if you registered it as offshore, meaning you don't do business in Panama. In that case you do not even need to file taxes. Otherwise you have $65 filing fees for taxes as well, which you just declare the company as offshore, and have no taxes owing. ~~~ StavrosK Oh huh, that's pretty cheap. Cheapest I've found in the Caymans is $2500 setup and $1500/yr, and many lawyer firms rip you off by billing you hundreds of dollars to give you unsolicited advice (yeah, it's that bad). Panama sounds like a much better idea, unfortunately it's impossible to get Stripe/another processor for a company outside the EU/US. ~~~ eloff I've thought of structuring that by having a Panama company develop and own the IP, and using a US, EU, or Canadian company to do the payment processing, and just pass the revenue through. That company would have no profits, and thus no taxes. I'm hardly an expert though, so I don't know if it would really work. ~~~ StavrosK That would work, although it _might_ be illegal, depending. Probably not, but IANAL. ------ mozumder What are the advantages/disadvantages over a typical Delaware C-Corp? ~~~ caymanjim Cayman has no taxes. There are various fees required to register a corporation, but income and capital gains aren't taxed (for businesses or individuals). Note that the IRS still requires US citizens to file personal income tax returns, and they still have to pay taxes on foreign earned income. I am not a lawyer or accountant, but I did live and work there for years. The main benefits are tax avoidance, but it's much more difficult for US citizens than for others (most countries don't tax their citizens on foreign income; capital gains laws vary). People will make all the obligatory jokes about shady rich tax dodgers, and there are rich people and corporations that like to keep money in Cayman for ethically questionable reasons, but the majority of Cayman finance is completely legal, ethical, and above-board. ~~~ artwr > People will make all the obligatory jokes about shady rich tax dodgers, and > there are rich people and corporations that like to keep money in Cayman for > ethically questionable reasons, but the majority of Cayman finance is > completely legal, ethical, and above-board. This sounds like it might be true in terms of number of individual accounts maybe, but do you think that's true in terms of overall asset value? ~~~ caymanjim It'd be hard to draw a line on what's sketchy and what's not. Taxes are incredibly complicated. Defining what's legitimate business vs. ethically questionable vs. illegal (and whose laws are being violated) makes it hard to even categorize the money, even if there were data available on how much is there and who controls it. My guess is that there's probably much more there that's completely legal, but pushes people's buttons because they want to see it taxed at home. Like Apple's overseas billions (which are largely sheltered elsewhere, but you get the idea). ~~~ colechristensen What is clear that the world governments are and have been accelerating their efforts to quash tax avoidance. For example, in 2013 the oldest running Swiss bank, Wegelin, (itself older than the US) shut down as a result of a guilty plea for a case brought by the justice department. [https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swissbank- wegelin/swiss-b...](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-swissbank- wegelin/swiss-bank-wegelin-to-close-after-guilty-plea-idUSBRE9020O020130104)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Researchers Discover the Tallest Known Tree in the Amazon - deepbow https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/researchers-discover-tallest-known-tree-amazon-180973227/ ====== lacker Because a lot of HN readers are located near San Francisco, I thought it would be worth mentioning that this tree is not as tall as the tallest tree in the bay area! There is a 328-foot redwood tree in Big Basin. [https://blog.sfgate.com/stienstra/2013/09/18/328-foot- redwoo...](https://blog.sfgate.com/stienstra/2013/09/18/328-foot-redwood-is- bay-areas-tallest-tree-11-pic-gallery/) There are hundreds of amazing, huge trees in Big Basin and I would recommend it to anyone. It is humbling to think that these organisms may outlive you by a thousand years. Even if you aren't into hiking for long distances, or if you are bringing along small children, the one-mile loop trail near the entrance is very nice. So many people come to SF for the tech industry and don't take advantage of the world-class parks that are also in the area. ~~~ briga Not to mention, the tallest tree in the world is only a few hours drive away in Sequoia National Park. ~~~ Joelexander That'd would be the largest tree by volume, the General Sherman tree is 52,500 cubic feet. The tallest tree would be Hyperion, a coastal redwood, which is in an undisclosed location in one of the Redwood National or State parks. Coincidentally the oldest tree in the world is also in California, Methuselah in Eastern California is 4,851 years old. ~~~ lacker Arguably, a spruce in Sweden is 9550 years old. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tjikko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Tjikko) Depends how you count regrowing from the roots though. Trees can't be too much older because that's around the end of the Ice Age. ;-) My personal preference is not for a single tall or big tree as much as a sprawling area full of many huge trees. If you're ever in the far-Northern- California area, this hike is amazing: [https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/cathedral- tree...](https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/cathedral-trees-trail-- 2) ------ sm4rk0 It's "88.5 meters, or over 290 feet", for those just looking for the number. ------ AndrewOMartin There was always a "Tallest Known" tree, a better headline would mention that the new tree was about a third bigger than the previous tallest known, at 88.5m. ------ ppeetteerr And... it's now a soy field /s ------ CryptoBanker They had better un-discover it before some idiot chops it down just because ~~~ munk-a Or, alternatively, drives into it with their truck while drunk[1]. 1\. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_T%C3%A9n%C3%A9r%C3%A9) ~~~ nathancahill Ugh. Was camping at a small oasis in the desert in Jordan earlier this year. Someone had chopped down all 6 palm trees recently. Somehow it seems so much more tragic when there isn't another tree in 10s of miles. ~~~ seph-reed Few things get my goat like this, but I'd drop all forms of civility in a heart beat just to see the kind of person who'd do that suffer.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Toyplot – A plotting toolkit for Python - aw3c2 http://toyplot.readthedocs.io/en/stable/index.html ====== cwyers Seems like a fair amount of boilerplate. You really have to specify that the axes are Cartesian with every simple two-axis plot you make? ~~~ ketralnis This is the code from the beginning of the tutorial: # make some test data import numpy x = numpy.linspace(0, 10) y = x ** 2 # plot it import toyplot canvas = toyplot.Canvas(width=300, height=300) axes = canvas.cartesian() mark = axes.plot(x, y) 3 lines excluding the import doesn't strike me as a remarkable amount of boilerplate ------ great_psy Am I the only one who gets a bit ticked off when seeing the axis not cross at the origin ? ~~~ kgarten reminds me on the histograms in R. E.g. [http://www.r-tutor.com/elementary- statistics/quantitative-da...](http://www.r-tutor.com/elementary- statistics/quantitative-data/histogram) They also don't cross and I felt it's aesthetically pleasing in that case ... yet for all plots I agree with you. ------ jftuga I wish they had more examples for time-series data. ------ imcoconut are there any significant benefits over matplotlib?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
OSGified Containerless Platform - mcrakens https://github.com/mcraken/platform ====== mcrakens The description of the platform repository has been updated. Added description for the gateway bundle. Check it out. ------ mcrakens A platform to create a scaleable and containerless applications. The platform is built on: OSGi. Vertx.io. Cassandra. Ehcache Apache SOLR. Apache Shiro. Spring data. LMAX disruptor. Quartz.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Manually Testing SSL/TLS Weaknesses - zerognowl https://www.contextis.com/resources/blog/manually-testing-ssltls-weaknesses-2016-edition/ ====== goatslacker Amazing work! I'll be following through your post on Saturday; it will be a pleasure to reproduce some of those attack vectors.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Great IPv6 Experiment: Free Adult Content - dedalus http://www.ipv6experiment.com/ ====== gscott I have seen those videos before, but in the name of furthering the Internet I guess I can watch them again... ------ AndyKelley It will be interesting to talk about later: "IPv4 only had 256^4 possible names, and we needed more, so we came up with IPv6." "But how did they get everyone to switch over from version 4 to version 6?" "Porn." ------ e1ven I love this idea. So many technologies have started and been pushed by porn, or the promise of it. If this can encourage users to call up their ISPs and configure correctly their desktop and router settings. ~~~ mojuba Some great ideas were pushed by the porn business, not porn itself. What we have with IPv6 is a technology that can't find its way "to the masses" other than through porn, or so think the creators of this web site. Just laughable. Picture a porn site that requires you to write a DCOM application for getting the videos. ------ Ravenlock Sounds great, but the site claims in a previous (January) update that they expect to roll out in February / March, and then has a March update claiming they are "in the final stages of preparation now. Launching very soon"... and has nothing since then, and the links don't work. That's not a good sign, IMO. ~~~ ojbyrne <http://mail.your.org/pipermail/v6test/2008-May/000054.html> (May 1): "Everything is pretty much ready for launch, we're just waiting for content at this point. I've got 8 quad-core boxes working feverishly to transcode the videos I have already into several formats, which is about 50% of the videos that will be there for launch. The other 50% is hopefully on its way soon, and we're good to go." ~~~ Ravenlock Okay, that's good to hear. Thanks for posting it. :) ------ mojuba I can't believe everyone here agrees to this. This is an incredibly stupid idea for promoting a questionable technology that can't make it into the reality on its own. If the technology is so "right" why isn't everyone switching to it (like IPv4, HTTP, etc)? Because there are problems with it: IPv6 is more complicated than needed for solving the problems it was meant to solve. And finally, advantages of IPv6 are so far only theoretical. And I just hope this experiment will remain unique in this industry. ~~~ mechanical_fish _And I just hope this experiment will remain unique in this industry._ It is far, far too late for that. Pron is often credited as the force that built the home video industry, for example. (Although I admit I've never seen actual data.) And I suspect that pron been a huge driver of broadband, er, penetration. Anyway, we "agree" to this because (a) it's not as if we can stop it by protesting; and (b) it's a _hilarious_ promotional idea -- probably more for the pron company than for IPv6, but maybe for both. It's right up there with Diskette Day at the Carnegie-Mellon/CWRU football game in 1986. [1] I agree, though, that it's not especially likely to improve IPv6 deployment. IPv6 has been the technology of the future for a decade, and it may remain so for a while yet. [1] [http://honesthypocrite.blogspot.com/2005/10/hail-carnegie- an...](http://honesthypocrite.blogspot.com/2005/10/hail-carnegie-and-kiltie- band.html) ------ mattmaroon Isn't that blatant copyright infringement? I mean, that cannot be legal. ~~~ LPTS I don't exactly see the US attorney stepping up to defend the copyright of whatever porn they are using. I just can't see the US Attorney releasing a statement like: "Copyright laws exist to ensure the creators of content are motivated, and are integral to our economy. So that people aren't dissuaded from making more hot XXX porn, we are aggressively pursuing anyone who violated the copyrights on Anal Squirting MILF's. We assure you that many senior personal at the department have taken an intense personal interest in this case. We must seek out all infringing porn and restore the economic incentives to create and distribute this hot hot pornography at all costs." ~~~ jrockway Well, if they don't enforce this, it will look bad when they try to enforce something else. And the government has a lot of money pouring into it for the sole purpose of enforcing copyright. ~~~ LPTS I realize this is irrelevant because the content was donated (which I didn't realize when I posted). But still: "Well, if they don't enforce this, it will look bad when they try to enforce something else." Because the US government and the fourth tier Pat Robertson law school grads and Bush's Youth alums running the justice department would never selectively enforce laws so the effects of that enforcement would conform to their irrational religious bigotries. The whole purpose of the system of laws in this country is that everyone is always breaking some law. This allows the people in power to have a lever they can use against anybody, at their discretion. Although not applicable to this case, selectively enforcing laws (and being hypocritical about it) is part of the foundation of the US legal system. Right wing fascist states always depend partially on sexual repression (and the associated fear/hatred of the feminine other that come with it) to create the psychological preconditions in the collective unconsciousness to allow authoritarianism to thrive. They would never side with porn producers that relieve sexual frustration. They would only side with porn producers when the pornography was titillating (like American Idol or beer commercials) instead of overtly erotic. When they do go after pornography, they go after pornography that contradicts the masculine objectification of females. This is why the last DOJ cases concerned squirting fetish movies (which are all about female orgasm, and deemed so dangerous that we must be protected from it) but the DOJ never goes after porn where the male orgasm is fetishized. Until people stop confusing titillation with eroticism, and eroticism with sex, the government will not stop being aggressively hypocritical in it's reaction to all three.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Why are Microsoft’s software eng levels super broken up? - goldenzun Microsoft’s track starts at 59 and goes up until 70, while Google and Facebook has a smaller number of blocks, for reference: levels.fyi<p>Anyone know why Microsoft chose such a ladder? ====== zuhayeer Creator of levels.fyi here – I touch on this a little bit on one of my Quora answers [1]. I think it has to do with how it was originally structured and how long Microsoft has been around. No major restructuring has really occurred. Just what I know from talking to some people, but other Microsoft employees could probably say best. [1] - [https://www.quora.com/Does-Microsoft-offer-less-salary- than-...](https://www.quora.com/Does-Microsoft-offer-less-salary-than-Google- or-Facebook-to-a-software-engineer/answer/Zuhayeer-Musa) ~~~ sophiebits Worth noting that Facebook comp varies by country (though you’re right that it’s constant within).	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Atom 1.36 - beardicus https://blog.atom.io/2019/04/09/atom-1-36.html ====== taylorlapeyre Prediction: If VS Code is the general do-it-all editor, Atom will become the GitHub editor. Atom is quickly ramping up feature integration with GitHub — seen here with integrating review comments inline with the code and the deep GitHub PR integration in general. GitHub and Atom have a very linked future, with GitHub planning to become more involved with the actual code-writing process. Atom will be the conduit though which they achieve that. ~~~ GordonS VS Code has had excellent git integration for a long time, as well as GitHub- specific integrations through an extension. Atom may have started the move towards lightweight (relatively) IDEs, but VS Code is undoubtedly the more popular one. Honestly, when I saw this post on HN I was quite surprised to see that Atom is still actively developed - if there's anyone reading this that prefers Atom over VS Code, I'd really like to find out why? ~~~ galfarragem VS Code, like Python, seems to be the second best tool on everything: it looks good but not as much as Atom, it's fast but not like Sublime or Vim, it's a lightweight IDE but not a full IDE. ~~~ lucidone I agree except for TypeScript and JavaScript - vscode is the best code editor I've experienced for both. ------ wakeywakeywakey Prediction: I believe eventually MS will kill Atom or let development languish. People will complain that "MS is evil" and "look who they were in the past" and so on, but devs will go where the features are. VS Code is one of the finest examples of open source Done Right™, and while it owes something to Atom and Electron, this is pure open source darwinism. ~~~ xrd Can anyone who has stayed with Atom after evaluating VSCode comment on why to stay with Atom? I switched to VSCode and would never consider going back to Atom at this point. Since the GitHub acquisition, it makes no sense for MS to maintain both and I agree 100% with the parent comment that this will be killed soon. ~~~ citrusx Two things about VSC, in comparison to Atom, that are Done Wrong: 1) Extensibility. There's like a dozen times more friction involved in creating a plugin for VSC than for Atom. Atom was built to be as easy to change as a web app. They also created apm, which is sort of a clone of npm, for installing plugins. 2) Configurability. I can set personal keyboard shortcuts very easily, and in a way that's easily transportable between installations. I can create a new theme in minutes. Also, the way it handles the config for individual packages is well thought out. Plus, I can tarball my packages directory, extract it to a new machine, and it's basically ready to go with everything. It's very possible for VSC to improve in these areas. In fact, I'd love to see an "Atom mode" that changes the UI/UX to more closely resemble Atom (and, somewhat by extension, Sublime). You laugh, but there's a reason that every editor takes a swing at a "vim mode". People get comfortable with the aesthetics of their tools. ~~~ asdkhadsj Funny, I just commented on my desire to pick one of the top editors to write a complex plugin in. While VSC sounds like a better editor, I want to write a multi-cursor, modal based editor with some UI tweaks. Ideally I'll use Xi long term, but I'd like a prototype working first. By your description, it sounds like I should stick to Atom for plugin development then? ~~~ citrusx I think you'll find that it's easier to do in Atom. However - Atom's API is also probably easier to shoot yourself in the foot with. Maybe try getting started on both, and see which one is easier or more comfortable? ------ dmnd I do a lot of code review, so I'm excited to be able to do that from my editor where all of my other tooling is set up instead of in a web browser. Suggested code changes will be much easier if I write them in a context where I can compile/run them. And no more clicking that "expand" thing 20 times to see something earlier in the file. Thanks, Atom team! ------ ksec To anyone who is following Atom closely, 1\. What happened to Xray? The Next Generation of Atom that was suppose to fix all the performance problem of Atom. 2\. Is Atom as fast as VS Code now? ~~~ Klathmon 1\. I haven't heard anything about it recently but that doesn't mean work isn't continuing on it. Xray wasn't supposed to "fix" anything really, it was a fairly extreme experiment to see if it would be worth going down that path. 2\. No, and it's not trying to be, as "speed" isn't their top priority, extensibility is. That being said, the days of opening a 5mb file and the editor getting brought to its knees are largely over (unless you have poorly written extensions which can still take everything down, because again in Atom extensions are EVERYTHING and can do ANYTHING). ~~~ ksec Strange they are not focusing on Speed. The primary reason VS Code took over Atom was because of Speed. It shows what is possible with Electron. Not that it is anywhere near the speed of Sublime Text, but it was good enough for most and at least bearable to me. Compared to Atom, all the feedback ( on most Internet forum at least ) are performance related. ~~~ carmate383 I tried 1.36.0 and found it pleasantly faster than I remembered, especially the highlighting on large files. I would. Startup-time is still painfully slow, but it feels like once it is "up and going" it's just as fast. ------ aashcan >The fuzzy finder’s project crawling performance has been improved dramatically by switching to a ripgrep-powered backend. This is most noticeable in projects with large numbers of files - for example, we measured a 14x speed boost in a project with 270K files. Another leaf out of VS Code's book? ------ Hamuko Does Atom still eat any resources your computer has to offer? ~~~ olliepop Yes, and it's worse than ever before. ------ JHonaker I don’t understand why Microsoft hasn’t pulled the GitHub integration into VS Code. It seems like it would be in their best interest given that they own both now. ------ dbg31415 I get that it's got a bit more going on, but Atom's startup time is still so much slower than Sublime Text. I open a file, there's still this "clunky" lag of 2-3 seconds to open. I hope they work on optimizing this at some point. ------ graphememes Atom lost the HTML Editor race. ------ outside1234 Atom is still being developed? ------ elbrian While Atom was Mac-only, VSCode was eating their lunch. It's too little, too late now. ~~~ guessmyname > _While Atom was Mac-only, VSCode was eating their lunch. It 's too little, > too late now._ What do you mean? Atom has always been available for macOS, Windows, and Linux. ~~~ nnq ...ever _tried actually using it_ on Windows? Like a year ago it got to ok-ish usable. A bit before that even on most Linuxes it had crappy performance. Again, I like Atom's hackability, and mainly avoid it because the ecosystem of plugins is so full of halfly owkring abandonware ~~~ kraftman First I've heard of this. I used Atom for a few years on windows and ubuntu without any issues except opening very large files.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Should I finally drop QWERTY? - mrhonza https://honza.ca/2017/04/should-i-finally-drop-qwerty ====== savethefuture Why do you want to drop it? It seems like not using it would cause more problems when trying to use other computers besides your own. Might be fun, if you can actually learn it as well as you are now with qwerty. ------ QuinnyPig Two big problems with this: 1\. How much faster do you have to get to offset the time you spend learning it? 2\. Other people's computers are going to become nightmares for you. ------ laynetrain no ~~~ anoldgangstah Any constructive criticism as to why? I was thinking no because of the availability of keyboard. I don't see any Dvorak keyboard in my country ever but then again I was being biased. ~~~ verdverm I switched to dvorak for 10 years and made the switch back to qwerty because you have to type on other people's computers when you collaborate or teach.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
PC Sales Drop to Historic Lows - jseliger http://www.wsj.com/articles/pc-sales-drop-to-historic-lows-1452634605 ====== ChuckMcM This is not unexpected, so many people who own a PC don't need a personal "computer" they just need a system to deploy pre-built network applications to. And while it is "weird" to see that be true, it also reflects the shift in media consumption and communications. Of course some of us (like me) still want development systems, what were once distinguished by being called "workstations" which separated them from "PCs" by their use in professional code development. I expect that as the market shrinks the percentage of Linux installs as a fraction of the overall market will rise. I'm curious to see how it effects pricing. Once it drops below 100M/year in shipments the ability for the smaller makers to draft on the big orders made by the larger makers will go away and their prices will have to come up, I can't see that they have any margin left to give up. ~~~ pjmlp My workstations have been laptops since 2000, only replaced when they died or got stolen (in one case). ~~~ ChuckMcM The interesting question for me is how long you will be able to do that. I can imagine a future where the "application only" laptops have hard crypto that prevents anyone from tampering with the OS. And the OS only allows installs from the "App Store" (generic). Think IOS meets Macbook meets UEFI++. That will be the "sweet spot" for people who just use laptops as tools and are tired of being afraid of being hacked all the time. That will be the only kind of laptop many business people can get. Because of that the marginal cost to make a laptop that can have some other OS loaded on to it will go up, and probably go up dramatically. I think it is fortunate that for now a laptop can last 5 years easily as its easier to shell out 3 - 5K for a laptop if you'll have it for 5 years than it is for something that won't. ~~~ pjmlp In a way that is kind of the full stack computers we had up until the PC won the war of the home computers, right? Upgrading an 8 or 16 bit computer usually meant buying a new one. And although they had hardware and memory specs, little was known about the OSes themselves. ------ xpda Advances in desktop CPU speed have been minimal over the past few years. If I could get a reasonably priced PC that's 50% faster than my two-year-old system, I'd buy it today. Instead, the best performance gain for me is a PCIe SSD. ~~~ Pengwin Exactly. My 4 year old desktop PC with an Intel sandy bridge CPU, which i added an SSD to a year ago, is perfectly fine for day to day work. energy efficiency since i purchased my computer has improved greatly, but i have no reason for a more efficient CPU, its still performing fast enough for all desktop applications and has no battery. ~~~ simonh Don't feel bad about your system not being as efficient as newer models. The carbon footprint of manufacturing it dwarfs that of its lifetime electricity usage, so scrapping it for a more efficient machine would be a false environmental economy. Better to make maximum usage of that sunk environmental cost. ------ Animats This is success. Desktop PCs work and do their jobs. Like the large appliance industry, sales will continue due to replacements and new startups, but the initial rollout is done. ~~~ simonh The fact that many models now have SSDs with longer lifetimes than hard drives helps too. I agree. While I'm sure tablets have had an effect on PC sales, I don't think it necessarily follows that the overall need for PCs has diminished. Emerging market expansion and overall economic growth will tend to expand it. I don't know which of these forces is winning out, but certainly one factor is that they're just lasting longer. ------ henryw Google link to see for non-subscribers: [https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&c...](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj97Nao- KXKAhUQ4WMKHQUEBgcQqQIIHjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fpc- sales-drop-to-historic- lows-1452634605&usg=AFQjCNHO7hsz31GeHy2cFg7H0XHHXf7uJg&sig2=C23WwZlyRn5DRrheN1G7iw) ~~~ kencausey The 'web' link now standard below the title on the discussions page for each article provides basically this functionality. There is no longer a need for commenters to post such comments. ------ tw04 Probably because my 8 year old core2 based desktop is still fast enough for everything but gaming. ~~~ EvanPlaice I'm currently using my late 2009 27" iMac. It's virtually indistinguishable from current models and is more than fast enough for everything except gaming. I added more ram so I could run some VMs, and recently replaced the Hard Drive. Otherwise, I don't see this thing failing in the foreseeable future. Doesn't make me miss the days of using cheap plastic PCs with a 3 year usable life. ~~~ jseliger _It 's virtually indistinguishable from current models and is more than fast enough for everything except gaming._ I had a 2009 or 2010 model, and while I agree with what you're saying overall, the new 5K models have incredible screens: [http://jakeseliger.com/2015/01/01/5k-retina-imac-and-mac- os-...](http://jakeseliger.com/2015/01/01/5k-retina-imac-and-mac-os-x- yosemite-thoughts/). ------ cmrdporcupine At work I have a Z820 dual-Xeon (each w/ 16 cores) specialist workstation packed with SSD drives and 64GB of RAM. At home I have a 6 year old beaten up Thinkpad with an i7, 8GB RAM, and a small SSD. Apart from when I'm compiling some very heavy workloads, I can't honestly feel the difference much. For the smaller projects I do at home, it's still zippy. I thought about getting a faster machine at home to run Quartus at higher speeds for some FPGA personal projects. But the free web edition will only ever use 1 core anyways. So almost pointless upgrading. Tech has become mostly 'good enough' for many years now, even for engineers. It's only gaming tech and display technologies that are really making me want something newer. ------ azevedomarti This trend is foreseeable. Mobile devices are replacing part of the function of the PCs. Besides, the growth of hardware is much faster than the software. A 7-years old PC is still performing well if we only require basic function. We do not need a new one. The sales figures will keep declining if there is not new value provided by PC. ------ shams93 I wonder if they count chromeos devices as pc's in this study, currently my main dev systems are a chromebook and a digital ocean instance that I remote into. ~~~ shams93 And looking above the answer is yes, but the numbers seem skewed to ios having the article behind a pay wall its hard to tell how they derived these numbers it would seem that android rather than is would be in the lead. Its bad news fir the web in that apple doesn't support the really awesome HTML5 APIs like webrtc and web midi on ios ------ swang What I want to know is: how does this affect me as a PC Gaming enthusiast? I'm guessing these parts will still be made, but maybe not all completely assembled for someone to take home. Does this PC label also include laptops? And does this list include Apple? It seems like they're mentioned but its a little ambiguous as to whether its included. ~~~ jacobolus Yes, this includes laptops. Yes this includes Macs, which are up 2.5% (thus the rest of the PC industry is down more than the headline number; supposedly vendors beyond the top 5 were hurt most, down like 20% year-over-year as a group). Beyond Macs, Asus also up 0.5%, all other PC vendors way down. Overall PC sales down ~10.5%. Does anyone know if those numbers include Chromebooks? ~~~ dan1234 Yes, the IDC source article[0] indicates Chromebooks are included. "PCs include Desktops, Portables, Ultraslim Notebooks, Chromebooks, and Workstations and do not include handhelds, x86 Servers and Tablets (i.e. iPad, or Tablets with detachable keyboards running either Windows or Android). Data for all vendors are reported for calendar periods." [0][http://m.idc.com//pressRelease/prUS40909316](http://m.idc.com//pressRelease/prUS40909316) ------ rebootthesystem Microsoft has neen responsible for slow sales for years. Why? Because their insistance in linking thr OS so intimately with applications effectively stifles upgrades. Upgrading a PC with a non-trivial amount of software is a complete pain in the ass. Gone are the days of the OS and apps being independent to the point of being able to upgrade the OS without losing apps. In our case we have dozens of workstation we would like to upgrade to new hardware (and some from Vista to Windows 7). The pronlem comes in when you realize it takes several weeks for us to re-install, license and configure all the software on some of these machines. If I could take "Programs" and "Programs x86" move them to a mew SSD, mount it on a new Windows 10 machine and be up and running in minutes I'd buy 30 brand new machines tomorrow. There have to be millions of machines out there that are not upgraded due to the same issues. Microsoft, as I said, is at fault here. ~~~ toyg "Gone are the days" that never were. Windows has always been painful to upgrade. In fact, it's probably slightly easier to upgrade your average box today, since apps reduced their reliance on system-provided libraries and MS improved support for multi-version libraries on the same system. The Registry is still a mess though, for obvious reasons. ------ pmalynin Yup, the only thing that I've been buying bi-annually is a new video card, everything else works perfectly. ------ venomsnake The new PC paradigm is pump it with ram and ssd while new - you are golden for the next 5 years with video card upgrade in the middle. PCs were made obsolete so fast during the late 90s and early 00s due to a fluke that was because of leaps in production tech and killer apps/games. ~~~ pjmlp Yep, they have finally become appliances. ------ godzillabrennus Windows 10 being free for old machines going back to Windows 7 units certainly didn't help the industry in the short term. As if that would have made a big enough difference, as I type this from mobile device. ~~~ pen2l Really? Which mobile device? Because I simply _cannot_ get much mileage out of my iphone 6s, most certainly I could not do my HN commenting (I can type ~80wpm on my laptop, and maybe ~10wpm on my phone). Plus, the screen is too small (I browse HN 200% zoomed in on my 1080p res screen... zooming on small phone screens is a pain, but easy to do on Google Chrome). I feel like I'm missing something maybe. Other people are doing work on their smartphones, I just can't. ~~~ aianus I'm with you. The mobile-only app trend (Tinder, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, etc.) drives me insane -- I'm on my laptop 14h a day, I don't want to pull out my shitty tiny mobile device when I have a perfectly good $2000 high-res, full-keyboard machine already open. ~~~ pjmlp Hence the new trend of having mobile phone docking stations. In a couple of years, all laptops will be Surface like and all major mobile OEMs will offer some kind of Continuum. ------ fffrad Low sales means last years model is still performing pretty well. In fact, the model from two years ago is still doing just fine. Here is a post from two years ago where we discussed this: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6606056](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6606056) ------ hbcondo714 If VR picks up, then I would think PC sales would pick up too. To run oculus rift, you need a high-end PC with dedicated graphics, 3 USB 3.0 ports and more: [https://www.oculus.com/en-us/oculus-ready-pcs/](https://www.oculus.com/en- us/oculus-ready-pcs/) ------ Qantourisc Personally waiting on AMD Zen ;) And some spare cash for SSD. Then again I never buy a complete PC. ------ aladine It is understandable. With the risen trend of phone and tablet. Even some server can run on clould. ------ xbmcuser PC sale are at historic high. The form factor for pc has changed to smartphones and tablets ------ chemmail Sell computers, can confirm. ------ michaelbuddy this is obvious to everyone. PC sales were inflated for 2 decades anyway. Most people never really needed one in their own home in the first place, it was a luxury for so many. That and it's so easy to knock together a used PC that will perform fantastically, that techies can drop their old gear onto their family and they won't need to purchase anything yet again. As long as people can internet, print, file taxes, write and open documents from their PTO, that's all the vast population ever needed. iPads and other Tablets do nearly all that and give people an easier library of utilities and games to tool around with than they ever had on a PC. Not only that but the phones and tablets hold and take the digital photos for people. People can share faster than they ever could on a PC using their phone. They have access to graphics software they never understood on a PC. But PCs will continue to innovate. Especially the laptop form factor that can dock with a high powered video card.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Marcus Aurelius on Dealing with Setbacks and Obstacles - bramkrom https://medium.com/@bramkrommenhoek/the-ancient-art-of-dealing-with-setbacks-and-obstacles-marcus-aurelius-b4586efad017 ====== bramkrom Bit of background - last January I read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations for the first time. There haven't been many books that I'd say changed by life, but this one certainly did. It resonated so strongly with struggles I was having (and still have), that it inspired me to dig as deep as I could into the topic. So that's what I did. I think I spent the last 8 months reading everything I could from Marcus, Epictetus and Seneca, and dissected their works into quotes that I then mapped to certain struggles I have. That resulted in a series of essays, of which this one is the first. I doubted whether I should publish this, as I primarily wrote this for myself. But then a couple of people read it, and convinced me to share it with others. So, that's what I'm doing here. The reason I wanted to share it here is because Stoicism has as its fundamental principles very similar ones to the ones I think many of us here at HN adhere to, which are 1) When in doubt, apply rationality, and 2) Life is about contributing to your community's well-being. Hope it helps you then same way it helps me. B	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Skysphere - techaddict009 http://www.theskysphere.com/ ====== VLM I LOLed a bit at the low cost on this and the authors treehouse. Its kind of like cheap ham radio antennas, where the wire to put up a 160M dipole is only $10 but it costs $3M to buy a piece of land big enough and unregulated enough to put it on. Aside from that, cool project. Where I live people would make the windows open/removable and call it the worlds most expensive and outlandish deer hunting tree stand. ------ allsystemsgo Looks more like a cool piece of architecture. The "tech" isn't outlandish. Nifty though. ------ ChuckMcM Not exactly a "cave" if its up on top of a tower :-). Looks like a fun sort of observation tower. Wondering how it fairs in a lightning storm. ~~~ presty > Wondering how it fairs in a lightning storm. "I thought about this some time ago, lighting takes tge path of the least resistance, so theoretically it will just travel straight down the main column and into the earth" From his facebook [https://www.facebook.com/theskysphere](https://www.facebook.com/theskysphere) ~~~ ChuckMcM There is that, but there is the whole 'coil' thing. Generally conductors have something called the 'skin' effect, which is that as they conduct the electrons move along the outer surface. So the skysphere's outer surface forms a ring where the current will move out to the edge, and then back to the center before going into the ground (or more literally coming from the ground but that is not important here). The change in current in the outer rings will create a magnetic pulse inside the ring that is proportional to the change in current, per Ampere's law. And for conductors that are inside the sphere part, they will experience a very large change in magnetic flux, which will then induce an electric current in any conductors they have inside of them. It is entirely possible that every piece of electronic equipment inside the sphere will be destroyed by the resulting EMP. Or simply magnetized. But I'd really want to compute flux lines based on the lightning hitting the top, splitting down for four 'rings' (Kirkoff's law) and then going on down via the center into the earth. ------ VLM I was slightly disappointed to discover he built it on the ground, was looking forward to seeing him handle pieces up in the air. Could be done, although obviously harder / more interesting job. I'm sure the last thing he wants is suggestions but rotating the floor would be interesting, also folding and unfolding the floor and stuff would be interesting, and probably help with wind load calculations. ------ pothibo The Tui gave his Kiwi status away! ~~~ suvelx Hah, yeah. I was wondering where it was, thought it could be NZ, but Ireland and Scotland look pretty similar. It was the Tui that confirmed my suspicions. ------ carl_ Cool idea, terrible website. ~~~ mr_sturd I was scrolling down the page wondering why he was dismantling it... Mondays. ------ CmonDev By the end of 3 years it is no longer _high-_ tech. ------ presty this is really cool. and I can see him recovering the $ just by airbnbing it ------ buckbova It's like giant mcdonalds playground equipment with furnishing and lights. I wouldn't say time well spent, but to each their own.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Improve Your Python: 'yield' and Generators Explained - gbtxg http://www.jeffknupp.com/blog/2013/04/07/improve-your-python-yield-and-generators-explained/ ====== ColinWright This is a good explanation, but I still prefer the one from StackOverflow: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/231767/the-python-yield-keyword-explained?answertab=votes#tab-top You can tell it's popular, because it's been submitted to many times: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1603179> <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3066144> <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4769449> <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4810661> <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5124929> \- Good discussion <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5399772>	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Hacking Foursquare: Taking over the White House...from North Carolina - jodoglevy http://chronline.posterous.com/hacking-foursquare-taking-over-the-white-hous ====== drharris I especially like the anecdotes about people who get so offended at "stealing" mayorships. I did something similar last fall, but didn't make an automatic script. Just made a series of buttons linked to various venues, and instead of actually going out I clicked a button. It's the perfect way to look really social when you don't feel like being it. ------ dfxm12 This is the problem with "check in X times and get this deal" type of specials. There's no good way to check the integrity of a check in, by design.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Don’t Buy The HTC EVO, It Is A Seriously Flawed Device - ukdm http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/09/dont-buy-the-android-evo-it-is-a-seriously-flawed-device/ ====== KirinDave I was about --\| \|-- this close to waiting in line last Friday for the EVO launch and moving away from my iPhone. Then I got to play with one for awhile and I was really shocked by the battery issue. I kept thinking that reviewers were just overstating the point for the sake of traffic, that the HTC EVO didn't get good battery life but that it was a relative measure. Then I played with one and in half an hour of web browsing and using the menus (with Sense turned off, display reduced, task killer in action, in the Mission Bay district of SF where Sprint's signal is good) and we rampaged through 20% of the battery. 20% in half an hour. Guys, this is _not cool_. For comparison, with my pre-4.0gm I used my iPhone 3GS for web work an average of an hour and a half per day with between 1-2 hours of talking and push email and nearly all-day iPod use on and I came home with 20-40% (mostly that depended on talk time), and I could still rely on it to be my iPod at the gym even if I was using Pandora. I go 8am-11pm with confidence. With the iOS 4.0GM, it's like I've got a 20% battery upgrade and I'm using the device more. It's really frustrating that Apple keeps making hardware that fits my specs but not being on a carrier that does me right. Meanwhile other carriers—carriers that I know will drop far fewer calls and have far fewer problems at crowded events—simply cannot get a phone that doesn't have a tower of serious flaws. The closest stab in recent memory was the Nexus One (with its terribly flawed touchscreen) and the Droid (which by now appears like a doddering old slowpoke by comparison to the current crop of phones). ~~~ grandalf The Evo sucks down battery. I found that by disabling background data transfer the battery life improved Tremendously, to the point where it's not an issue anymore and I can go 1.5-2 days between charges. However, I would love to be able to install Froyo and remove Sense. I imagine each of those steps would help to improve battery life even further. Aside from being aesthetically ugly, Sense is so tightly embedded that it's impossible to fully disable it. I'd prefer some nice HTC branded wallpaper that could be easily disabled in a few minutes. ~~~ jrockway I doubt Sense makes a difference in battery life. It's also my understanding that it's just a home screen; change the preference for which app manages the home screen, and you are back to plain Android. What's irritating about Sense is that it basically precludes any updates. My guess is that the Evo 4G gets Froyo never, which is why I think I'm just going to get a Nexus One. Or wait for a Nexus Two. ~~~ CountSessine Will there be a Nexus Two? Only about 135k Nexus One's have been sold. Google is shuttering their web store that they were selling the Nexus One at. While a technical and usability triumph, it has to be said that the Nexus One is a bit of a boondoggle, considering how much Google and HTC probably spent developing it. The big problem for Google is that they wanted to change the way people bought cell phones, but it just didn't take. The phone companies control the sales channel (except for the Apple store) and they probably won't want to sell a Google-branded Android phone without all of their silly carrier-specific modifications (NASCAR? Really, Sprint? NASCAR?!?). If there ever is a Nexus Two, Google has to figure out where they're going to sell it. ~~~ ZeroGravitas There seemed to be some kind of media backlash against this phone in the US but they're selling it unbranded on Vodafone in Europe and the HTC Desire appears to be fundamentally the same phone (sold with the Sense UI, but again without carrier branding). I can't see how the phone hardware, as opposed to the attempt to change the sales channels in the US, can be considered any kind of white elephant. ~~~ CountSessine That's a good point about the Desire. If Google does make a Nexus Two, I guess that's how they'd do it - ride on the back of an already-developed smartphone. Still, the web store for the Nexus One is going away - that seems to indicate that Google has lost interest in selling Google-branded phones. We can always hope they'll change their minds... ~~~ grandalf When is it going away? Will unlocked nexus ones still be sold? ~~~ CountSessine <http://news.cnet.com/8301-30684_3-20005015-265.html> I don't think the article mentions when it's being closed. And considering you can typically get any GSM/HSPA phone unlocked somewhere, I'm sure the Nexus One will still be available. Most 'unlocked phone stores' have gruesome markups though, and it was something of an anomoly that you could get such an advanced phone as the Nexus One unlocked for just $530. Just looking at a couple of online merchants, both Plemix.com and exoticphone.com both have the audacity to sell the Nexus One itself for a hefty markup! $629 <http://www.plemix.com/phone-htc-nexus_one-phone> $749 [http://exoticphone.com/htc-google-nexus-one- unlocked-p-2065....](http://exoticphone.com/htc-google-nexus-one- unlocked-p-2065.html) The Plemix.com one is especially amusing - it claims that $629 is a mark-down, and that the original price was $854! Keep in mind that Google has always and still is selling the Nexus One for $529 in their web store. ------ arjuan There's conflicting evidence on this issue. Once I set my battery profile by draining it completely then recharging it with the power off, my battery life has been just fine. I left my phone on, unplugged, last night, drove to work listening to a podcast, and have been at work for about two hours and my phone still reads a full charge. Advanced Task Killer is showing 18 apps running in the background (power user here :) ) Also, if you read the EVO forums there are plenty of other people who are getting great battery life out of this powerful device. ~~~ cubicle67 From what I remember (and I may be mixing up phones here) it was use of 4G that chewed battery life. Are you using 4G at all? ~~~ arjuan I had 4G turned on overnight as well (where I have full 4g/3g service). I've heard that leaving 4G on while in a 3G-only area will drain the battery, but hopefully that problem will be fixed with an update. ------ jsz0 HTC has been known to cut some corners on their hardware. For example they ship some variations of the HTC Hero with a tiny 1200mAh battery, others with a 1500mAh and will sell you an extended life 1800mAh. Why not just include the best battery possible? The HTC Evo ships with a 1500mAh battery -- the same as my HTC Hero that is half the clock speed with a smaller display. I don't get very good battery life on my Hero so I can only imagine the Evo with the same sized battery is really going to struggle. It looks like there's a 1750mAh extended life battery coming but that's not a huge improvement. (and it's going to cost you $50) ~~~ jrockway They really needed that $199 price point at any cost, I think. My impression from trying to buy one is that Sprint is not the wireless provider of choice for people with tons of money. ~~~ grandalf True. Consider the pricing per month: 450 Minutes, unlimited mobile/mobile and data: $59 for google IO attendees. $29 per month to use wifi teathering. This is 450 minutes for $90 per month! To make it unlimited the prices becomes $130 per month! Compare that to T-Mobile which offers all that (unlimited) for $65 with the Nexus One. ------ dogas I have an evo. It's really a nice phone, however the battery life is indeed a major issue. However, better software will help fix the issue and make it a _great_ phone. Currently there's a couple of hackers attempting to open the NAND and make the filesystem read/write. This is a crucial step and needs help! Any low level guys or just general hackers should help the cause! <http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=694034> ------ ZeroGravitas Is there any hard info about what the battery issue is? Some people think it's just Android being rubbish or written in Java or not made by Apple, but some people with the device seem to have no problems while others are writing articles like this. I was under the impression that Android phones actually told you what had used up all the battery. I would have thought that might have been a good starting point for writing an actual journalistic article about this. ~~~ blub JavaME was a known battery hog, but maybe Dalvik is better. Going with Java is a risky decision because whatever you do you still lose: if you ramp up the CPU it will consume more power and drain the battery, if you don't the software will be too slow. Add JIT and you use more battery. I found it particularly amusing how one commenter was bragging about how his HTC EVO made it through the day on one battery charge. ~~~ ZeroGravitas What device do you have? One busy day seems to be standard with iPhones as I understand it and based on my experience with an iPhone 3G, though iPhones are generally supposed to be worse than say Nokias or Blackberries. Apple's figures suggest that if you browse the web on 3G or Wifi, make calls or watch video constantly then you'd get 5-6 hours on my 3G, but even that's a high estimate as it assumes that when you're talking on the phone or watching videos then you have the 3G and WiFi powered off. That's enough for me as it's routine for me to charge my phone every night (though I've turned notifications right down and I do have a car charger because using the GPS for directions seems to really eat at the battery) but I can imagine many kinds of travelling businessman who would find that an annoyance. ~~~ blub But the braggart said that he almost didn't use the phone... I have a Nokia E72 and recharge every ~4 days with heavy 2.5G internet use, ~20 minutes of talk time per day, use as a PDA, etc. Almost no wi-fi, no videos, no music. ~~~ ZeroGravitas If he's _bragging_ about 8 hours of standby then he's either confused or a troll. On the other hand some people have, apparently genuinely, struggled to get 8 hours of standby from this particular model, so he may have been refuting this with personal experience and everyone's got confused. I'm not sure we're any closer to any actual conclusions about how battery hungry the Evo actually is, what problems it might have and what kind of usage triggers them. ------ mcantelon In my use of the EVO battery life didn't seem that bad. A bit worse than the Nexus, but not a nightmare. I did run into the photo issue: got SD card errors when trying to save that would require rebooting the phone. Seems like a possible bug that a software upgrade could address. Aside from these issues, the EVO's display makes it hard to go back to an N1. The display is gorgeous and the extra screen real estate makes typing via the soft keyboard significantly easier. Photos taken by the EVO are impressive as well: much better than the N1 or any smartphone I've ever seen. ------ mcantor Are we ever going to get an Android device (preferably on US T-Mobile) with comparable power to the new iPhone, that has a _gorram slide-out keyboard_? ~~~ adbge I'm sincerely hoping that the next generation of the Nexus One has a slide out keyboard. I suffer from pretty bad shakes due to the cocktail of medication I'm taking and often typing on my iPhone is an exercise in futility. Luckily, there is hope for us yet! "Google Inc executive Andy Rubin said on Friday that the next version of the Nexus One phone, which was made by HTC Corp, will be for enterprise users and might have a physical keyboard." Source: <http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60809H20100109> ~~~ ZeroGravitas You might want to keep an eye on the Samsung Galaxy S that's just been released in the UK. There's a rumour (and a fan-made mockup) of a "Pro" version with a hardware keyboard. ------ jrockway I have tried to buy an EVO 3 times now, and every time I've done so, I've shown up at the store to be laughed at by the sales people for wanting one (despite calling and being told that there was availability). Now that I've had time to think about the cost over a 24 month contract, I don't even want one anymore, even though I already have Sprint for my mobile broadband plan. (Sprint sucks, but Wimax is really good.) Anyway, Arrington and the other TC reviewer already admitted they don't live in a 4G market. Why buy a 4G phone when you can't get 4G? ~~~ ergo98 Those jackasses don't buy anything. It's all sent to them for free. ------ rbranson The T-Mobile G1 (HTC Magic) had horrendous battery life when it first came out. Gradually the battery life got better and better as they released more software updates. These were changes to the OS that made it use less battery life, however. There might not be as much "free juice" to squeeze out of this device. To be fair though, this is the first phone-like WiMAX device, and it's likely that they don't really understand the real world conditions of handheld WiMAX devices yet. ~~~ gmichnikov HTC Magic = myTouch 3G, HTC Dream = G1 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Magic>, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTC_Dream> ------ tptacek But... but... but... Eric Raymond said, "If I were an Apple marketing guy, I’d be asking “How the hell can I compete against the EVO 4G with this?”. ------ Saavedro "Or wait a few months for a better android phone." I think this line really exemplifies the difference between the iPhone and Android. The speed-to-market for a brand new Android device is -insane-. ------ keithwarren I just went 45 hours between charges. I am not in a 4G market so the 4G radio is turned off and I use locale to disable GPS when I am at home but I really wonder about some of these issue people have experienced. It almost makes me wonder if the stock batteries may have had some bad manufacturing batches or something - either that or they really need to be conditioned properly which is something I was religious about the first few days. ------ lenni I have the HTC Hero and I'm having the very same issues. Sense is mucking up the UI, the sd card can often not be read and the updates that are routinely being delayed by month. Worst of all, HTC has installed a kernel that blocks attempts to root the phone, which is required for updating. Basically I'm getting the Apple treatment but without the amazing devices. ~~~ jrockway Yeah, the Hero is a low-end device like the Dream and Sapphire. What you get for being an early adopter is shitty hardware. ------ tpiddy i love my htc evo. the battery isn't as great as my pre but after disabling a few things and some tweaks it is not nearly as bad as everyone is making it out to be. hopefully it will get better with software updates or an extended battery that fits the standard cover will come out. ------ aresant If you read nothing else in this article: "MG Siegler irrationally loves the iPhone and it has become an important fashion accessory and self confidence crutch in his San Francisco hipster lifestyle." Sorry, I thought that was too funny not to share with anybody skimming the thread . . .	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: What could journey84.com have done to avoid crashing? - YPCrumble Last night https://journey84.com site crashed immediately when the Super Bowl ad linked to their site. What infrastructure decisions should they have made to make sure the site not crash?<p>- Is it even possible to purchase an Amazon EC2 or other cloud instance large enough to handle traffic from the Super Bowl? Which instance would they have needed? - They linked their video to YouTube. Was that the best decision? - What else could they have done to avoid crashing given that they were expecting millions of immediate concurrent visitors? ====== outlog given that site is static content, it's more than easy to use something like cloudflare, which afaik even on their free plan will cache it on their global cdn. (honestly I would consider the possibility of the "crashing" being part of a PR strategy - makes a good story) ~~~ YPCrumble The free tier of cloudflare includes global cdn. Does that mean all they would have had to do is use the free tier and they would have avoided the issue? Would there have been some kind of cloudflare loading screen if they'd done that? It doesn't make sense that you can do that with cloudflare for free.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Miracle Berry - time_management http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7367548.stm ====== zasz Hah, we had a party at our college dorm. We ordered 80 of these and someone brought in goat cheese, limes, lemons, grapefruit juice, sourdough bread and a few other things. The goat cheese tasted like ice cream, the limes and lemons like limeade and lemonade, the grapefruit juice tasted like one of those generic fruit punches, and the sourdough bread tasted pretty normal. The effect lasted about half an hour. I don't think the taste of beer changed at all. I highly recommend miracle berries for an awesome party. ------ zain Thinkgeek sells the extract in tablet form: <http://www.thinkgeek.com/caffeine/candy/ab3f/> Has anyone tried it? I've always wanted to try the effects of the miracle berry and it seems like a cheap way to do so. ------ KirinDave Man, the BBC really loves to let people rail against the FDA. The reality is that if this berry has a theraputic effect it needs to be tested and proven safe. "Anecdotal evidence from Africa" really isn't a great idea. And industrial espionage in the flavor industry isn't new, it's commonplace, so reading into a burglary for a potential flavor breakthrough seems a little absurd. In any event, it seems to be legal to sell in the states now. ------ timcederman I love how often this thing gets rediscovered. A buddy of mine ordered a bunch of seeds from Australia, but sadly none grew. ------ jenhsun Tablets of taste-modifying 'miracle fruit' go on sale in Japan: <http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/jan/1287541.htm> The "Miracle farm" in Taiwan <http://www.miracle-fruit-senyuh.com.tw/farm.htm> I'm Taiwanese and have no idea this farm's existing in 10 years after I saw this news and do my research for it. ------ tdonia we had some unintended guests and so were 1 berry short and had to share. at first, we weren't sure if it was even going to work. and then, suddenly, it did. guinness & sorbet mixed into wonderful. straight tabasco sauce. straight white vinegar. all sorts of fruits. the occasional cheese. the effects lasted around an hour, at the end of which it became clear that although the mouth can enjoy these things, our stomachs maybe less so. we never made it to the birthday cake. anyone try the thinkgeek extract? i'd very much like to introduce more people to this but the poor durability of the actual berries has made it problematic. ------ quellhorst We had a party with these berries but I was the only person it had no effect on. Everything pretty much tasted the same.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Is America a democracy? If so, why does it deny millions the vote? - aramanto https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/07/is-america-a-democracy-if-so-why-does-it-deny-millions-the-vote ====== eindiran It seems like Canada (for Federal elections at least) and most European countries have voter ID laws [0]. Notably, the UK does not; they scrapped government issued ID cards altogether in 2011([1]). I'm not sure why requiring ID to vote is so controversial in the US. [0] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_Identification_laws](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_Identification_laws) [1] [https://www.gov.uk/identitycards](https://www.gov.uk/identitycards) ~~~ mullingitover It's a vote suppression tactic when the IDs aren't trivially easy to obtain. A county in Wisconsin only issued them from a DMV that was only open on the fifth Wednesday of every month[1]. >That DMV service center is inside the Sauk City Community Center. And, sure enough, as Oliver’s piece stated, it’s open only on the fifth Wednesday of every month, from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. > The DMV doesn’t list the actual dates, so we looked them up. The four fifth > Wednesdays in 2016 are in, as Oliver noted, March, June, August and > November. [1] [https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/feb/19/...](https://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2016/feb/19/john- oliver/office-provides-id-voting-one-wisconsin-burg-open-/) ~~~ neonIcon So let's change the rules to make them more easily attainable, instead of throwing out the idea of something that we desperately need in this country. ~~~ mullingitover Can you explain why the current system, under which voter fraud is astonishingly rare, is something we desperately need to change? ~~~ neonIcon Astonishingly rare doesn't seem to be the case[1] There are examples all over the place, ignoring them doesn't make them any less real.. [1] [https://duckduckgo.com/?q=voter+fraud&t=ffab&ia=news&iar=new...](https://duckduckgo.com/?q=voter+fraud&t=ffab&ia=news&iar=news) ~~~ mullingitover A random web search is cool, but how about a scholarly article on the topic? [http://www.projectvote.org/wp- content/uploads/2007/03/Politi...](http://www.projectvote.org/wp- content/uploads/2007/03/Politics_of_Voter_Fraud_Final.pdf) > Most voter fraud allegations turn out to be something other than fraud. A > review of news stories over a recent two year period found that reports of > voter fraud were most often limited to local races and individual acts and > fell into three categories: unsubstantiated or false claims by the loser of > a close race, mischief and administrative or voter error. Tellingly, the first hit in your search is for an article where the loser of a close race is making unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud. ------ loons2 A Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin, "Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." ~~~ naravara In the context of the classics (which Franklin would have been steeped in), a Republic is a form of government where citizens vote for qualified representatives to represent their interests and a Democracy is when you pick citizens by drawing lots to decide on who holds positions. So the "we're a republic, not a democracy" line from people who want to argue for not letting people vote makes absolutely no sense. ~~~ chrisco255 What classical government had the right to vote for a representative? Rome? No. Only the elites could vote. Athens? Same story. The old distinction between a republic and a democracy was elected representatives passing laws versus the citizens voting directly on laws themselves. The U.S. is of course, a hybrid and has some republican elements and some democratic elements, but in the classical sense, at the Federal level, it is more of a republic than a democracy. ~~~ naravara >What classical government had the right to vote for a representative? Rome? No. Only the elites could vote. Athens? Same story. Citizens voted. The question is who gets to be a citizen, but once you are acknowledged as a member of the citizenry then you were entitled to have a say in the governance. >The old distinction between a republic and a democracy was elected representatives passing laws versus the citizens voting directly on laws themselves. This is straight up wrong. Read any of the classics from Aristotle's Constitution of Athens to Plato's Republic. Republicanism is representation of the popular will by a gentry or elite and democracy is literally rule by the people through drawing of lots. It's just so transparent when people make these tenuous arguments to justify disenfranchizing people who will be impacted by laws from having a say in those laws. This is the last refuge of people who want to enable tyranny and oppression. ------ derision No, it's a republic. ~~~ paulgb Is it a fruit? No, it's a banana. ~~~ derision Is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable? Is probably a more accurate metaphor ------ thejynxed Constitutional Republic, so no, we are not a democracy, and furthermore the men who founded this nation and established the government thereof rather despised democracy as tyranny of the ignorant masses. ~~~ dragonwriter > Constitutional Republic, so no, we are not a democracy "Constitutional Republic" and democracy are orthogonal rather than mutually exclusive descriptions. All "Constitutional Republic" means is that it _isn 't_ a monarchy and that it has some fundamental governing law. Being a (direct or indirect/representative) democracy is perfectly compatible with that. The foundational concept of government by consent of the governed and of government--as it would be elegantly described somewhat later--"of the people, by the people, and for the people" embraced by the founders is exactly that of representative democracy. The actual specific form written into the Constitution both clearly intends something very much like representative democracy while not quite being one. > and furthermore the men who founded this nation and established the > government thereof rather despised democracy as tyranny of the ignorant > masses. They despised both direct and unconstrained democracy, but while the pragmatic compromise of the Constitution clearly fell short of this, many of them certainly embraced in principle limited government by consent of the masses expressed through a combination of equal suffrage in approval of a basic law and equal suffrage in electing representatives to the government under that law, or, in the language of modern political science, Constitutionally-limited representative democracy. ------ zeristor Why has this post been flagged? This is an important issue, if it’s contentious then who is contending it? Am I missing something? ------ aramanto From the article: "Rather than being ranked with other major western democracies, the US falls lower down the list alongside countries like Kosovo and Romania." [https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com](https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Richard Stallman on Data Autonomy [video] - DoubleMalt https://cloudfleet.io/blog/richard-stallman-on-data-autonomy.html ====== autoreleasepool If BTsync ever goes open source or SyncThing ever achieves the quality and functionality of BTSync, then achieving autonomy over our data will be easy. I use BitTorrent Sync with my FreeNas box. It's absolutely amazing. I am able to completely subvert the cloud and have all my data synced across devices. The mobile app is a user-friendly delight. I was able to share 15 GBs of vacation videos with 10 of my non-techie friends by sending them a read only key to a shared folder. All of them got it right away with no technical questions or issues. Most importantly, I have all my photos and videos synced as I take them. This means I don't lose precious photos from a trip if my phone accidentally falls in the ocean. My phone, laptop, NAS, iPad, all have my photos backed up providing good data redundancy. No cloud services involved, no risk accidental publishing something private, no risk of an account hack, and no expensive data storage plans. The only problem is I have to trust BitTorrent's proprietary software to do the heavy lifting for me. This is why I want the SyncThing project to catch up. ~~~ bcrack In what ways do you find SyncThing lacking when compared to BTSync? I started using it for work (cautiously) a couple of moths ago and have found it to be very similar (with respect to stability and ease of use) with BTSync, if not superior. Note though that I haven't used BTSync since its first days. ~~~ artlogic My guess is this: > I was able to share 15 GBs of vacation videos with 10 of my non-techie > friends by sending them a read only key to a shared folder. All of them got > it right away with no technical questions or issues. I appreciate SyncThing's security first stance, but it would be incredibly helpful if it was a bit easier to share specific synced things with non- techies. ~~~ Liru This is the one thing that I was looking for in an alternative to Sync. It made me sad that the main alternative to it didn't have this. ------ joesmo Trust is indeed a huge issue that seems to be misunderstood and misapplied in the software community. Stallman's views on trust may seem radical, but he's pretty much right. Over and over I see the things he warns about come true and I trust companies and other entities less and less. It's kind of disheartening to see the huge potential of cloud infrastructure, amongst other technologies, going to waste. ~~~ such_a_casual His views only seem radical because of the way he presents them. Easily his biggest mistake is naming his movement Free Software instead of something like Software Liberties or Software Rights, and then refusing to change the name at any point after the realization of this error. Then he says things like, "They're trying to put a cloud inside your head." Which is just laughable. Most of the time he's speaking very generally without citing specific facts to back up his arguments (In the video he mentions that software is malicious, why not mention one of them so everyone knows what he means by that). Which causes anyone who doesn't know what he's talking about to write him off, and the people who do know what he's talking about don't need to hear what he has to say. In a real debate about these topics, people usually hide behind capitalist ideals to explain the immoral use of software. As opposed to trying to argue that immoral use doesn't exist, or isn't prevelent. ~~~ irq-1 Here are two of Stallmans' writings addressing "Free" and "Cloud". > Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software > When we call software “free,” we mean that it respects the users' essential > freedoms: the freedom to run it, to study and change it, and to redistribute > copies with or without changes. This is a matter of freedom, not price, so > think of “free speech,” not “free beer.” [https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the- point....](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/open-source-misses-the-point.html) > Who does that server really serve? > On the Internet, proprietary software isn't the only way to lose your > freedom. Service as a Software Substitute, or SaaSS, is another way to give > someone else power over your computing. [https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server- really-s...](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really- serve.en.html) ~~~ such_a_casual What do any of those things have to do with my thesis? Can you restate the main point of my argument? ------ dajbelshaw It was my first time meeting Stallman at the Indie Tech Summit (where I also met the CloudFleet guys). He's a little eccentric, but he's one of the reasons I'm now on a Linux machine instead of a Mac! ~~~ nextos I hope Stallman focusses on mobile now. Desktop, laptop & server are pretty satisfying free software platforms. But mobile is incredibly dissatisfying, and it's quickly getting a decent share of users. Incidentally, FSF is running a vision survey to establish strategic goals: [https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?gid=403&reset=1](https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/profile/create?gid=403&reset=1) ~~~ pmoriarty Another frontier that the Free Software community should set their sights on is virtual reality. The potential impact of VR is enormous, and one of the leading VR development and content creation tools (Unreal Engine) recently open-sourced thier product (though I'm not sure if it was done with an FSF compatible license). Unity, the real giant in the VR arena, and Oculus' own code are closed, if I'm not mistaken. I'm not sure how open Oculus' competitors are (HTC Vive, Playstation Morpheus, and Microsoft's Hololens), but I wouldn't be surprised if they're all closed. Making a difference in the openness of the ecosystem at this relatively early stage in its development could make a big difference. ~~~ DonHopkins High Fidelity [1] [2] [3] is an interesting open source [4] VR platform, developed by Second Life pioneer Philip Rosedale [5]. [1] [https://www.highfidelity.io/](https://www.highfidelity.io/) [2] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Fidelity_Inc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Fidelity_Inc) [3] [http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/28/virtual-world-pioneer- phil...](http://venturebeat.com/2015/10/28/virtual-world-pioneer-philip- rosedale-shows-off-virtual-toy-room-in-high-fidelity/) [4] [https://github.com/highfidelity](https://github.com/highfidelity) [5] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rosedale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Rosedale) ~~~ yarrel I can build it on Debian 64 bit but it always crashes. Otherwise I'd be using it already. ------ brennannovak Really cool project! As CloudFleet was one of the first backers of Mailpile (disclaimer, I co-founded it), I've always loved their concept and am stoked it's coming to light :) ~~~ metakermit Yeah, for the HN people interested in CloudFleet, I recommend you visit our technology overview at [http://cloudfleet.readthedocs.org/en/latest/doc/technology/t...](http://cloudfleet.readthedocs.org/en/latest/doc/technology/technology.html) ~~~ mark_l_watson Thanks for posting the link. I might try setting up Blimp on my Pi 2. ------ baldfat Anyone find it funny that the video is on a non-Stallman CC-ND License? > Q6: Can you comment on the Creative Commons licence? Richard Stallman: The thing is, it's meaningless to talk about Creative Commons licence. The bad thing about Creative Commons is that it has produced a broad series of licences that have nothing in common. In fact, if you look at these licences and determine what is the freedom that is common to all these licences, the answer is: nothing. EDIT: Reference [https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/transcripts/rms- fs-2006-03-09....](https://fsfe.org/freesoftware/transcripts/rms- fs-2006-03-09.en.html#q6) ~~~ metakermit Actually, Stallman himself asked us to mark the video under that license (he proof-read the post). ~~~ baldfat Really????? Well that is pleasantly surprising. ------ shmerl Yep. Add to that all kind of attempts to erode the ownership of digital goods by all kind of stores which pretend they sell you something, while really they only rent it (for no good reason). DRM and its kin come along with that. Support DRM-free stores and boycott DRMed ones to vote with your wallet. ------ bl4ckdu5t Stallman just has a way of putting things that makes you feel doing otherwise is wrong. I never thought of data autonomy this way and I've been fine with using popular cloud services till now ~~~ kordless Stallman does a good job of calling out cognitive dissonance, as do most individuals with wisdom. The question is why are you and others "fine" with running your services on someone else's systems? I think the answer lies in what Stallman said about keeping your software and data "under your control". If someone has control of the services you use, or the data you store in those services, there exists a clear manner in which revenue can be generated, the product improved and their ability to run it better than you increased to the point they can market it as the only way to do it. In a way, the public cloud exists because people don't want to spend (or have) the time to understand how to run the services in a reliable way themselves, on their own equipment, in their own domain. The argument becomes exactly what you hear everyone from software interns to VC parrot: I trust Amazon to run my servers better than I can. By taking a bit of trust from a bank account, and giving it to someone else, users are able to "put off" having to understand how services and systems operate. They are, in a way, willing to ignore the fact the service and data is outside their control in some use cases that actually matter. This is what Stallman meant when he said "put a cloud in your mind". That "cloud" is actually cognitive dissonance. Literally believing your data is safer on someone else's servers because you could never run it better than they could, while at the same time being totally OK with not having any control over where it is stored or who has access to it. If cost (and the time associated with it) were no objection, where would you choose to run your services and store your data? If you had a choice between running it at my house and running it at your house, which would you chose? ~~~ Frondo I'm fine with relying on other people because I do it for every other part of life already. I don't grow my own food, I don't produce my own medical supplies, I don't build my own wifi devices and I don't pave my own roads. No one engaged in modern western-civilization does; we all rely on everyone around us all the time to live and do things. Cloud backup services, VPSes, photo-hosting sites, Twitter, whatever, they're the exact same thing. If something about these services isn't fair or just, the answer is to find an alternative, inform our friends and neighbors, work to change laws, etc., whatever, not just try and do it all ourselves in some pointless attempt at individualism. If cost and time were no object, I'd pay someone else to manage every single bit of my infrastructure, and task them with the responsibility for making sure it kept working. I wouldn't ask how, it'd be their job, the thing I'm paying them for. (If I had any knowing of the details, I probably wouldn't want them to build a server and buy colo space, though, because of the resource consumption that would imply. All that electricity for redundant server hardware to endure disk crashes and so on? What a waste!) ~~~ zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC You are essentially completely strawmaning the argument ... or, more likely, not understanding anything at all. Nobody suggests that we should give of division of labor. Got that? That's just one big fat straw man that you made up. People (like RMS) simply analyse what kind of power structure results from how specifically the division of labor currently works/where it currently seems to be headed. And then he points out where those power structures might not be in your interest, so you might want to do something about it. So, sure, you don't grow your own food. Nobody suggests you should. People just suggest that maybe it's not in your interest to sign a contract that prevents you from buying food from anyone but Foodle Inc., even if they promise you the easiest food on planet earth. Maybe with one option out that has "migration costs" of 10000 USD attached to it. Or that it might not be in our interest to have any entity know everything about us, because that makes them a very powerful entity, with huge potential for abuse of power. Because there is a difference between your doctor knowing very private things about you and one company having a database of all of those private details of all citizens. Also, you might not have noticed, but someone is trying to inform you that something isn't fair and just. But it seems like you aren't listening. And what people are also pointing out is that finding an alternative is not really an option if you are locked into a service affected by network effects. ------ crististm Do you have an agenda or you just can't think on your own? By your own description you should up your game a little before writing off some argument as "laughable". ~~~ dang Personal attacks are not allowed on Hacker News. We ban accounts that do this, so please don't do this. We detached this subthread from [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10919602](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10919602) and marked it off-topic. ~~~ crististm When the only criticism to "a cloud inside your head" is "laughable" I can't help to think it comes either from malice or ignorance. A real argument should carry more weight. (And I realize this goes both ways). ~~~ dang I know, but the bias to think that it's malice or ignorance is much stronger than it ought to be, so if we don't all consciously practice the benefit of the doubt, things are guaranteed to get acrimonious. ------ informatix Nice ------ hsnewman Couldn't have said it better and more clearly myself! ------ andygmb In the video stallman states that nonfree software is in the control of the developer who owns it, which is true, but isnt a developer of free software equally in control of their software? I dont look into the source of every program on my OS, even though if i was to use 100% free software, I could. This means I am equally depending on the developer of the free software not to be malicious as I am the nonfree software. ~~~ n4r9 At least with free software there is the hope that malicious code will get picked up on by _someone_ with an interest in reading the source, who would then make that functionality known to others. ~~~ krapp To be fair, that hope exists with proprietary software as well, it's just that the end user is excluded from the set of eyes watching the code. ------ nbadg I'm sorry, but this is profoundly naive. If the name "Richard Stallman" weren't attached to it, you wouldn't have watched this video. The world doesn't have time for everyone to deploy their own server. I mean, honestly, ask _yourself_ if _you_ even have time to do this, or if it's just yet another project that's going to get piled on top of the Raspberry Pi and Beaglebone Black you have sitting in your projects box. Plus, everyone operating their own server is an indescribably large security catastrophe waiting to happen. IoT is a perfect example of this. Those exact same massive companies opaquely hosting your data struggle with security issues on a daily basis and even they can't always get it right. _The answer to data autonomy is end-to-end encryption._ Full stop. We need a protocol that gives exact, one-to-any (one-to-none, one-to-one, one-to-many) control over sharing. That can be enforced cryptographically. It would be nice if that same protocol also had a consensus algorithm for data deletion, so we could avoid this whole "right to be forgotten" vs "free speech" debate. There is at least one example of such a protocol. I know, because I'm the one developing it [1], and I've been incredibly frustrated at how difficult it's been to build awareness, because my name isn't, for example, Richard Stallman. [1a] [https://github.com/Muterra/doc-muse](https://github.com/Muterra/doc- muse) [1b] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3wFU4VIhww](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3wFU4VIhww) [1c] [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ethyr-modern-encrypted- em...](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ethyr-modern-encrypted-email) ~~~ castratikron It doesn't sound like he's advocating that everyone run their own server. He said that if you require your data be available all the time, then you should run your own server; otherwise, you should keep your data on your computer. That being said, I don't see a problem storing data on someone else's computer as long as that data is encrypted and I alone have the ability to decrypt it. Trusting someone to encrypt your data for you when you give them your data is essentially the same thing as giving them access to the unencrypted data. ~~~ zekevermillion Yes, I wonder if RMS has any objection to clouds where the user data is encrypted end-to-end, like with Tahoe-LAFS. Does that count as running your own server if you have client-side encrypted data through Tahoe backed up on Amazon servers? Or is there too much info leaked, or some other way that Amazon could engage in hostile behavior with respect to data it cannot read? ~~~ zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC If there is no risk of surveillance or lock-in, he'd probably be ok? After all, "cloud" is a pretty ill-defined term. He certainly doesn't object to things because someone calls them "cloud-something", but because of the power structure they entail--which happens to include stuff such as surveillance and lock-in with a lot of the stuff that's currently being sold as "cloud services".	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Why Scaling Bitcoin with Sharding Is Very Hard (2015) - elmar https://petertodd.org/2015/why-scaling-bitcoin-with-sharding-is-very-hard ====== davidgerard this is pretty good. Key line for me: > How do you prove that a coin has validly been spent? First, prove that it > hasn’t already been spent! How do you do that if you don’t have the > blockchain data? You can’t, and no amount of fancy math can change that. and also, something Bitcoin devs realise that Bitcoin fans often don't seem to: > On the other hand, decentralization isn’t cheap: using PayPal is one or two > orders of magnitude simpler than the Bitcoin protocol. ~~~ janitor61 Why couldn't you use a sufficiently large bloom filter to determine if a coin has been spent? ~~~ thinkloop How do you verify the authenticity of the bloom filter? ~~~ teddyh That’s not really a problem – anyone could verify it by downloading the full blockchain. The important thing is that you don’t need the full blockchain to get a negative answer from a bloom filter, which helps. The problem happens when you get a _positive_ answer from the bloom filter; i.e. a coin _might_ have been previously spent. As far as I know you then _still_ need the full blockchain to verify. ------ wyldfire Some coins do sharding by not using a blockchain at all. e.g. RaiBlocks [1] uses a "block-lattice" approach. It is a Proof-of-stake-secured coin. [1] [https://raiblocks.net/media/RaiBlocks_Whitepaper.pdf](https://raiblocks.net/media/RaiBlocks_Whitepaper.pdf) ~~~ nerdponx There's also the Iota "Tangle": [https://iota.org/IOTA_Whitepaper.pdf](https://iota.org/IOTA_Whitepaper.pdf) ~~~ xorcist Sharding isn't any easier with the Tangle. ------ DennisP It's hard but not necessarily impossible. Here's Ethereum's sharding FAQ: [https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Sharding- FAQ](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/Sharding-FAQ) ~~~ vmialik Hi Dennis, a friend recommended you to me for Ethereum smart contract audit, are you open/available for a project? ~~~ DennisP Willing to talk at least, how do I contact you? ------ wslh SPECTRE: [https://medium.com/@avivzohar/the-spectre- protocol-7dbbebb70...](https://medium.com/@avivzohar/the-spectre- protocol-7dbbebb707b5) ~~~ tfha That is not a sharded blockchain and shares the same fundamental restriction: all nodes must verify all blocks. (though it does offer some nice improvements, we're taking factors of 2-5, not 100-1000) ------ epx Bitcoin is over. ~~~ quickthrower2 ... $15,000	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Open-sourcing ReDex: Making Android apps smaller and faster - tilt https://code.facebook.com/posts/998080480282805 ====== mckilljoy 25-30% is a pretty solid improvement. ------ ksec I thought it was iPhone Apps that need help. At 100+MB for a simple App where Instagram is 25MB only..	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Shoelace Knots - phreeza http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/knots.htm ====== bediger I have used the "Better Bow Knot" (<http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/betterbowknot.htm>) for over 20 years. I found it in some book about knots ages ago. This Better Bow Knot is harder to tie, and harder to learn to tie, but it rarely comes undone, even in slick, round nylon laces.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Offer HN: I will review and critique your CV. - KoZeN I'm an experienced technical recruiter based in the UK and due to the uprise in offers of assistance to this site I've decided to add my own two cents.<p>I'm willing to analyse your CV and offer constructive feedback on potential content alterations, layout, etc.<p>The logical critic in you will assume I'm offering to do this in order to generate leads or recruits and to counter-act that, I have no problem with you removing your personal details and even censoring company names.<p>As for me, I have a degree in Software Development & Web Design and my target market is London and the South East. I've been in recruitment for a few years now and I have a 1st class understanding of the market. My highest fee generating clients are insurance companies & financial institutions.<p>I will be doing this during my spare time and at the weekend so if the response is significant then be patient with me!<p>edit: ATTENTION: DUE TO AN OVERWHELMING RESPONSE I CAN NO LONGER ACCEPT ANY FURTHER CV'S FOR NOW. I WILL RESPOND TO EVERYONE WHO HAS GONE TO THE EFFORT OF EMAILING ME SO FAR. ====== KoZeN 22 CV's received so far! Looks like I'm going to be kept busy. I will do my absolute best to respond to each and every one of you but you will need to be patient. Anyone else looking to send me a CV, please fire away but it would help if you could include info on what you would like me to focus on, eg. are you concerned about specific content, is it the layout or format that you feel is letting you down, etc. UPDATE: That figure has now doubled and I'm looking at over 40 CV's in my inbox. I'll get started on them tonight and see how many I get through. ~~~ sidmitra Here's adding to your workload - <http://sidmitra.com/resume.pdf> Let me know if i can every repay your effort with some of my skill sets. ~~~ ErrantX My take: Not overly convinced with listing the skills down the right hand side. It makes it a little hard to read. I generally recommend that people stick to "normal" layouts and list skills at the end. Also; be more specific with the skills if you can. "Database design" can mean many things (this is particularly important if you go for, say, a DB design job :)). Also; it is ok to write a short prose section under "interests" or something, which is where you can be a bit more creative and sell yourself. Otherwise, pretty good :) ~~~ KoZeN I'll second pretty much everything ErrantX mentioned, specifically the skills comment, move them. I appreciate you are probably trying to keep it to one page but I promise you that this does not give you any advantage whatsoever. As for specifics, list your day to day duties and responsibilities in a format that will stand out and be easy to read such as a list of bullet points under each brief. ~~~ sidmitra Thanks for all the comments to ErrantX and Kozen. Will try to make relevant changes soon. ------ sanswork This is great and I think I can help as well from a slightly different view point(not to steal any thunder!). I'm head of development for a search related company and as part of my role review all incoming CV's(with advice from one of my senior devs) as well as handle the most of the interviews. If you'd like two perspectives(Recruiter who will work to get you an interview and HoD who will ultimately hire you) feel free to send them over to me as well. My email is in my profile though I can only honestly help if you're targeting development roles. Same disclaimer about time though, I will try to do any I get through over the next couple of nights though. Edit: If you could include what type of role you are targetting(tech startup, agency, finance, etc) it would really help with my advice. ~~~ KoZeN Great offer sanswork! It would be interesting to see how your feedback would differ to mine on certain CV's. I definitely think that you will get flooded with CV's though! ~~~ sanswork Well I've definitely gotten hit. For everyone that has sent a CV through I'm going to spend a few hours going through them in more detail tomorrow night(AU time, already 2am here) before I send replies though I have hit them all quickly and made first impression notes already. ~~~ sga It would be very interesting if sanswork and KoZeN could throw up a quick blog, where each blog post contains: (1) the original CV; (2) the CVs formatted as each of them would recommend; (3) a few points from each highlighting why the changes were suggested. I'm sure a handful of representative CVs could be chosen and the proper permissions obtained. Might be too much work or simply not of interest. I'd like to see this though. Let me know if I can help in some way. ------ rezrovs The current trend to offer things on HN is amazing. I can't wait until I can figure out what I can offer in return :) ~~~ KoZeN That's exactly what prompted me to post this. Communities such as HN, where intelligent discussion is rampant and trolls are minimal, are a rare breed these days and to see the community step up and start assisting each other in the real world is admirable to say the least. Whilst I may not be a genius developer or a powerful CEO, I still have skills that could be of use to the element of the community that are looking for a new challenge or those who are struggling to find work. I think a huge amount of people on this site will have something to offer that others will find incredibly useful so hopefully this will have a knock on affect and we'll see more and more offers of legitimate, useful assistance. ~~~ mrgordon This is so true. It had been a few months since I last visited HN and then I dropped by last week and it was shocking how intelligent and considerate the posts are. I can't believe how much easier it is to find posts I care about reading here vs Reddit. ------ user24 I'm think my CV is pretty well polished, but I've never asked for professional feedback on it, so let me know what you think: <http://www.puremango.co.uk/2009/08/php-cv/> I'm particularly interested in whether you think the order of sections (education->work->general->personal) works, and whether my copy sells. Thanks for the offer! PS: I'm not looking for work at the moment, so please prioritise my request lower than those who are currently seeking. ~~~ ig1 Generally you only put education first while you're still in education, after your first proper job you put that first. ~~~ KoZeN I completely disagree with this one and it's been a bone of contention in the past. The majority of clients I deal with prefer to see the education & relevant qualifications listed first if the candidate has left University within the last 5 or 6 years. Once again it's a matter of opinion but I have researched it a bit and this seems to be the general consensus. ~~~ ig1 Curious, my background is in a fairly similar area to you, I've worked as a developer for investment banks and financial tech firms. Generally I get the feeling that if a candidate is at an associate or higher level then work experience is more important. From my experience (and I suspect most developers would agree) real world development experience is a much better indicator of performance than university. Are the candidates you normally field changing sectors ? - in the case that a candidate doesn't have industry experience I can see why a company might want to see educational background first, but it seems strange that a company would care more about educational level than directly relevant experience. ------ rdamico If you want to make notes directly on peoples' resumes, you can use crocodoc (YC W2010) to view and mark them up online. (Disclaimer: I'm one of the co- founders!) Just forward their emails (w/ attachments) to upload@crocodoc.com, or upload them directly through crocodoc.com. Either way you'll receive a unique crocodoc URL you can use to view, mark up, and share each resume with its creator. Would love to hear your feedback if you end up giving this a try! Note: You don't need to create a crocodoc account to use the service (which is free), but I'd suggest doing so to keep track of all the resumes it looks like you'll be working on :) Example document: <https://crocodoc.com/demo1> (note: since this is a demo document your changes won't actually be saved) ------ RBr Does anyone have any recommendations for paid services that do this sort of thing? KoZeN's offer to review CV's is really (really) nice, but with well over 40 to read, his offer won't likely meet the demand. I've thought a few times that there must be something wrong with my resume and I'd like to have it reviewed professionally. Has anyone paid to have their resume reviewed? If so, where, how much did it cost and was it worth it? Google brings up plenty of options, but I'm nervous to use any of them for fear that they may not have experience in tech / I.T. / programming or worse, that they'll simply find a couple of grammar mistakes and charge me a few hundred dollars. Any help? ~~~ KoZeN I'm glad you brought this up. Firstly, regardless of the size of the response, I will uphold my promise and provide feedback on every single CV I get, it may take some time but I will deliver. Secondly, as for a paid service, you absolutely hit the nail on the head as far as your concern about _for fear that they may not have experience in tech / I.T. / programming or worse, that they'll simply find a couple of grammar mistakes and charge me a few hundred dollars._ This is the sole reason I haven't set up a paid service myself. How can you charge $100 dollars only to receive a CV that is essentially perfect or even convince your market that you won't just give generic feedback? Send me the CV and I will do my absolute best for you. ~~~ adbge > _How can you charge $100 dollars only to receive a CV that is essentially > perfect..._ Well, that case is easy. If you can't help them, don't charge. Unfortunately, I don't have any idea about convincing your target market. I think word of mouth would be most effective, maybe you could come up with some ways to generate that (like what you're doing now!) ------ user24 Out of interest, as a recruiter, what did you think of the two 'reverse job application' posts? first: <http://www.reversejobapplication.com/> and in response: <http://www.thejohnnybrown.com/?p=21> ~~~ KoZeN RE: <http://www.reversejobapplication.com/> I thought this was a really entertaining read. Will it generate his dream job on it's own merits? Probably not. Will it generate a ton of job offers due to the publicity it's received? Probably. More and more employers want 'celebrities' working for them. I recently placed a gentleman who had a relatively average CV but he had been published in numerous Insurance related publications and his name was well recognised throughout the industry, when people heard he was open to offers I had multiple interviews lined up for him within 245 hours. That's a minor example but it's definitely a growing trend. ~~~ eru Do you know why employers would want celebrities? ~~~ KoZeN Good question. I believe it's the credibility factor. If someone has a lot of positive exposure be it online, in print media or what ever the case may be, then that is going to attract attention to who the person works for. Take actual celebrity examples; almost everyone in the world knows who David Beckham is and now most of those people know who LA Galaxy are. I can assure you, before he joined the team few people in Europe had ever even heard of LA Galaxy and now they are a recognised and respected brand purely because of their association with Beckham. On an infinitely smaller scale the same applies to certain industries in larger cities. ------ snikolov Thanks a lot for doing this. Here is mine [http://snikolov.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/4/3904101/snikolov-...](http://snikolov.weebly.com/uploads/3/9/0/4/3904101/snikolov- resume-oct2010.pdf) if you or anyone else has time to take a look. My goal with the colors was to make it scan-able by highlighting where I worked as well as approximate position titles and letting gray-colored description stay in the background. But it might also be too harsh on the eyes. Another concern is having too many things and not saying very much about any one of them. I am a student, and many companies seem to want to hire people who get things done for internships, rather than people with very specific skills. So I want my message to be "I've done things", rather than "I've done these very specific things that your job description lists." Is this misguided? Should I take certain parts of it out depending on where I am applying? Thanks again. ~~~ KoZeN Instant opinion: The colours are drastic. I appreciate your intention but the same affect can be achieved by using slightly larger fonts. On a side note, I see you worked @ Numenta Inc. A colleague & I have been experimenting with various potential applications for NuPIC. When I have a more detailed look at the CV I'll throw in a few side questions that you might be able to assist with. ~~~ snikolov Thanks for the quick reply! I feared as much. I will try making everything gray/black. re: Numenta -- certainly shoot me an email (snikolov@mit.edu) and I'll see what I can answer (if I am allowed to answer it :-)) If I can't, I can direct you to people who would be a lot more knowledgeable. ------ cies Thanks for your offer! Currently I do not really have a CV anymore, I link to my linkedin or make a dump of my linkedin to doc/pdf. What do you think of this practice? Anyone else who has opinions on "moving the CV to linkedin"? ~~~ riffraff I was asked some time ago to provide my CV and I also used a pdf export of linkedin cause it's such a simple option. I believe it's a bit lacking in some areas eg, I recall it does not have anything about human languages (when you are moving around in europe that is kind of useful). I may be wrong though. ~~~ cies i too missed that option in linkedin! ------ inerte What a coincidence! A few days ago I had some ideas about CV reviewing, and since you're a recruiter, could you provide some feedback if the service would be useful? :) [http://www.inerciasensorial.com.br/2010/10/14/geral/crowd- re...](http://www.inerciasensorial.com.br/2010/10/14/geral/crowd-review-a- resume/) ~~~ KoZeN Interesting approach. To be honest any recruiter posting someones CV publicly asking advice on suitability for a specific job is going to get torn to shreds. Recruitment is an incredibly cut throat, incestuous market and any recruiter worth his salt won't be faced with ambiguity over whether or not a CV would be suitable for a job. Most CV's that are difficult to interpret tend to be specialist skillsets and 9 times out of 10 a vacancy that requires a niche skillset will have agencies that specialise in that area and understand the skillset working on it. ------ KoZeN Over 200 CV's received so far so can I ask that you don't submit any more new requests? I intend on responding to everyone who has emailed me up until now and I am going through each request chronologically. Thank you so much for all your messages of support. ------ daeken Great idea and offer -- thanks for putting this forward, KoZeN. I sent my CV over, but I figure I'll throw it up here too; more feedback is always a Good Thing (TM). <http://daeken.github.com/CV.html> <http://daeken.github.com/CV.pdf> I recently rewrote it from scratch, as my previous CV was simply thrown together when applying for a random job. When I decided to put myself on the job market seriously, I figured I'd go ahead and spiff it up a bit. ------ dageroth Great offer. Perhaps a small idea for those looking to put an original element in their CV that I used successfully: Put your Skills in as a Tagcloud. Strong skills get a bigger fontsize than minor skills. Additionally I used grey tones to indicate which skills have been used more recently and which are older (more grey than black, paling so to speak.) It is somewhat daring, because not necessarily everyone gets tagclouds yet - but I was invited quite a few times for the tag cloud to interviews. ------ Alan01252 Thanks very much for this. I've never had much luck with recruiters and my C.V so any feedback you have would be greatly appreciated. I've also decided to upload it here. <http://www.alanhollis.com/Alan_Hollis.pdf> Please note I'm not actively seeking employment at the moment but might as well take advantage of the opportunity to get some constructive criticism whilst it's here. ~~~ user24 I'm not a recruiter, but my opinion is that 'experience' should mean 'commercial experience'. By saying you've got seven years (4 commercial) you look like you're trying to bump up your figures. Page 3 is ridiculous. Shorten your borders and margins and get it onto 2 pages. Overuse of bullets for my liking, esp when really you're putting paragraphs in. Bullets are for <5 word points ideally. Nested bullets are always ugly. Tell people what they care about. Eg: > Livenumber, a blackberry application... Nobody cares that it's called Livenumber. Say: > A blackberry application... It looks a bit wall-of-texty. Just my opinion though, don't take it for gospel! ~~~ Alan01252 The way I see it if you're thinking it, others looking at my C.V will too. I agree with every point you make and will make the changes accordingly. Thanks very much for your feedback! ------ babul I remember <http://www.razume.com/> being a useful (and free) service back in 2008, where many _professional_ recruiters would give visual feedback and good advice. Not sure what it is like now (seems more crowd-sourced), but maybe be worth a try. ------ ethagnawl do you have any generally applicable advice based on your past experience and the responses you've received so far? i'm attempting to write my first CV as a developer applying for an open position and am feeling a bit overwhelmed. thanks for the offering up your expertise! ~~~ KoZeN General advice is quite difficult. If you're looking for structural ideas, take a look at user24's CV that he linked below. His structure is ideal. Simplistic and logical but make sure you read the feedback I gave him on listing his responsibilities. Once you have the CV put together, send it to me and I'll do my best to be as constructive as possible as it's much easier to advise when referencing a specific CV. ------ david_p Great offer ! Here is mine : <http://cv.david.cx> Also, I'm a French citizen seeking employment in the US (Orlando, Florida to be precise), do you have some special advice for what I should change in my CV in regard to this ? ~~~ KoZeN I've only had a quick look but like everyone else, I will have a detailed look over the next few days. Firstly, my market is London & the South East of England so advice on modifying your CV to suit the American market is probably best fielded by someone with more experience in that area. Secondly, you have been working on your own company for over a year and you have surmised that experience in 45 words whereas you spent 6 months with INA and your description for your time there is almost 90 words. Simple things like that raise a concern in my mind about your current position and how relevant it may be to your career. ~~~ david_p Thank you ! That's a great point. I'll try to change that. Don't hesitate to give me more feedback, if you have time, of course. ------ svag That is a great offer KoZeN, especially for those that are currently seeking a job... ~~~ KoZeN Thanks, I just hope people will be patient with me as the response has been immense! As a recruiter I get frustrated when I hear about great candidates not even getting a look-in purely because of their CV. Unfortunately few people are willing to pay to get their CV reviewed because a lot of people believe that it's purely a matter of opinion which can vary from employer to employer which is essentially true but there are a lot of fundamental errors that are universal and that's the advice I'm hoping to offer. ------ lelele Giving private feedback seems like a wasted opportunity to share your knowledge widely. Would you consider publishing somewhere both the CVs and your assessments, after removing personal data and companies names? Thanks. ------ maithreyi I am actually studying financial mathematics, so my resume might be up your alley, www.ivanbercovich.com/resume. I have been working on this piece of paper for quite some time, so I hope you like it. ------ rwmj Is this a good opportunity for identity theft? ~~~ KoZeN Not really. As stated in the original post, I'm prefectly fine with people censoring their personal details as well as employer details. If you believe that a CV can furnish you with enough info to steal peoples identity then pay a job site $100 and you will get instant access to tens of thousands of CV's. ------ inscitekjeff A recruiter collecting a big pile of resumes? - Imagine that! Call me a cynic, but I hope the motivations here are pure or at least balanced. ~~~ KoZeN _The logical critic in you will assume I'm offering to do this in order to generate leads or recruits and to counter-act that, I have no problem with you removing your personal details and even censoring company names._ If one single member of this website comes back to this page and complains that I abused this oportunity for my own personal gain then I will officially hold my hands up and accept the title as 'Worlds Biggest Idiot'. If you click my username you can clearly find my full name as well as the name of the company I work for. A quick google search with that info will furnish you with the address of the office I work from along with my direct line number. Considering the fact that my career would be at stake, do you honestly believe I would abuse peoples trust like that?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Which five books have influenced you the most in shaping your worldview? - urs2102 ====== urs2102 Saw this on Twitter ([https://twitter.com/patrickc/status/929862403763798016](https://twitter.com/patrickc/status/929862403763798016)) and wanted to carry the conversation here to see the discussion unfold. ~~~ mtmail There was a related "Ask HN: What are your favorite books of all time, and why?" [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15629762](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15629762) discussion last week. ~~~ urs2102 Awesome! Thanks.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Startups: If you take a hiring test... - lifeinafolder Recently, I came across a position at a Startup. Since it was a remote gig, the startup sent me a detailed problem to solve before discussing anything about the nature of the gig.<p>I liked the problem and hence, decided to solve it first and then talk to them. So I spent the entire next day taking a shot at the problem, carefully crafting a git repo to showcase my solution.<p>Once I submitted my problem, I was told that they would get back to me by end of the week.<p>Its been 2 weeks. I have no feedback whatsoever. I dont know what part of my solution they didn't like or if they simply found a local candidate.<p>I dont care if the reason for rejection is a local candidate. I understand that reasoning. It makes total sense for a startup to prefer a local candidate over a remote one.<p>But since they didn't reply at all, I am left wondering if there is something in my solution that didn't work for them. The 'developer' in me is very anxious around that.<p>If you give me a problem to solve, then I at least deserve to know if my attempt was right or wrong. Not replying/acknowledging at all is simply messed up in my opinion.<p>And I will not take 'things are usually crazy at a startup' as an excuse. If you are not investing in your culture, you are not investing in your business at all. ====== brudgers A small organization may not be able to follow up in the anticipated time frame despite every intention to do so. The ground can shift day to day and a lean staff may have to radically shift priorities, e.g. suppose a term sheet needs review. ------ achompas Job searching can be tough, but don't get worked up about it. Email them or call them. ------ petesfishing Tests are complete BS. Most often written by some dork trying to impress themselves how much they know about some esoteric crap, rather than trying to see what you can do. ------ draggnar Did you send a follow up message? ------ thiagodotfm You are taking it too emotional, you won't have success that way no matter if they accept you or not. ------ alpine Seems to me you are extrapolating an unknown and arriving at the worse case scenario ie they are so underwhelmed by your solution that they think it is ok to treat you in a shoddy manner by not following through on their promise. That's one possibility. Another is life got in the way - for example your contact has taken leave for a family emergency or has even been hit by a bus. ~~~ lifeinafolder I sincerely hope it is neither of the two.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
NTT DoCoMopresents smartphone with 2 touch-screens held together by magnets - BvS http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-35816.html#backToArticle=581905 While beeing ahead with mobile internet for years, Japanese companies seem never to be able to make any progress in Europe or the US. So I'm afraid we have to wait for this quite a while... ====== comatose_kid Neat - I'm guessing it's using some wireless channel for communication/display update? And if you flip forward a few pics, you also see a neat self-balancing mini robo-nurse on a unicycle. ~~~ BvS Found a vidweo as well (this time not German but Japanese... ). I actually can imagine it to be extremely useful if you can look at your phone (type in numbers, surf the web...) while talking: [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=6POxl0nZZo...](http://uk.youtube.com/watch?feature=related&v=6POxl0nZZo0)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Recommendations for open source Framework/Library to work on - ethanburrell Hey HN!<p>I'm a CS student who just finished his second year in school.<p>I'm passionate about Data Science, Visualizations, and cool web technology. I have a large background in development. I've never worked on a open source project and want to give it a shot!<p>Does anyone know of any projects that are cool? I've been looking and thought I'd ask the HN community.<p>Thanks! ====== dogano have a look here: [https://dev.to/kerryja/getting-started-with-open- source-3o23](https://dev.to/kerryja/getting-started-with-open-source-3o23) also, if you want to contribute, i am looking for contributors: [https://github.com/doganoo/PHPAlgorithms](https://github.com/doganoo/PHPAlgorithms)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Skype does a clever trick when bandwidth is scarce - jloughry On a Skype video conference this morning, I noticed the software did something very interesting. Instead of pixelating video when my crappy broadband internet connection slowed down briefly, it <i>zoomed</i>.<p>It was accomplished so smoothly I wouldn't even have noticed except that I was talking with a room full of people on the other end and suddenly I couldn't see the people on the sides any more.<p>Instead of reducing the full-frame video resolution when bandwidth grew scarce, as it usually does, instead this time Skype selected the middle portion of the frame and showed it clearly. It was very subtle. It was done completely smoothly. The effect was aesthetically pleasing, not disruptive at all, and an elegant solution.<p>Well done, Skype. ====== BobbyH I think this behavior comes from the webcam, and not Skype. I have actually seen this exact behavior with the Microsoft LifeCam, which often auto-changes the width of the video stream. The larger width will show "people on the sides," and the more narrow width does not. I believe that the LifeCam looks for movement in the peripheral area. If there is no movement there, the LifeCam will truncate the sides of the image. I have sometimes been able to force the sides to appear by waving my arms off to the side. When I first noticed this happening, I was surprised that many "people on the side" don't move or talk at all, thus triggering a truncation. But I started looking for this, and most "people on the side" barely move at all. In my experience, Skype video quality tends to degrade by simply freezing the screen. I have also noticed this behavior when Skype was off entirely, when recording a video of myself. So I'm pretty sure it's the webcam itself auto- controlling the width, and not Skype. ~~~ IgorPartola How does the webcam driver know how much bandwidth your socket has? The request to reduce quality in some fashion would have to come from Skype. ~~~ supergirl It doesn't. That's the point. ------ drzaiusapelord Pretty sure you saw a resolution drop from "HD" which is 16:9 to "Regular" which is 4:3. It didn't zoom, it just went into a 640x480 mode instead of whatever mode it calls HD. It does it all the time to me. Personally, I find it annoying. The video is framed a way for a reason (so long staff on the sides!). Instead I'd rather see pixelization than a random change in aspect ratio. ~~~ Domenic_S This is the explanation. I use skype video pretty extensively and what you describe happens all the time. ------ simbolit If i understand you correctly it does not show the full picture in degraded quality (more compression artifacts, framedrops), but it takes the center part of the image (so perhaps the center 70%) and upscales it to full size. With proper upscaling algorithms this would result in a slightly blurry picture, but with (as it uses only 70% of the image) no compression artifacts or framedrops. Sounds like a smart idea. However, i just skyped and noticed nothing of the sort. framedrops and compression artifacts galore. :-/ ~~~ jloughry I've never seen it do it before today. I wish Skype published release notes with their software updates. ------ Osmium I've seen this on my Mac with its inbuilt webcam. It annoys me intensely because when it switches it usually results in unwatchable video for a period of time before it stabilises, then it suddenly realises it has enough bandwidth and switches _back_ , and that is followed by another period of disruption. Good idea in principle but needs refinement. Since someone reading this might know, does anyone have any recommendations for webcams for OS X? The Logitech C920 seems to be the most modern HD webcam out there, but the Internet is conflicted on whether Mac's in-built UVC drivers will properly take advantage of it in FaceTime or not or if it will just be seen as an SD camera. So if anyone has any personal experiences with good HD webcams on OS X I'd be very interested to hear... Edit: Actually, a "weekend project" I never got around to was to use OpenCV to detect faces and automatically encode just those regions with a higher bitrate, and sacrifice the rest. So that the areas we actually care about are encoded better and we can get an objectively better image for the same average bitrate. I'm sure someone must have done this already, though I couldn't find anything when I looked. ~~~ james4k Interesting idea with face detection, though I'm not sure if there would be any wins over what the video codec already does. ------ Xcelerate I don't think this is necessarily a good idea. For one thing, automatically cutting off the edges of a frame is undesirable, exactly for the reason mentioned (in a conference call, it cuts the people on the edges off). Secondly, zooming is not as effective as real compression. What I mean by this is: assume you have a high resolution image. One way to save bandwidth is to use a well-designed compression algorithm optimized for the human visual system. The second way is to just shrink the image, and then "stretch" it back to the original size, which -- in a sense -- is what Skype is doing here. Which is going to be more effective? ~~~ nitrogen _One way to save bandwidth is to use a well-designed compression algorithm optimized for the human visual system. The second way is to just shrink the image, and then "stretch" it back to the original size, which -- in a sense -- is what Skype is doing here. Which is going to be more effective?_ It really depends on how much data you need to shave off. Beyond a certain point, you'll get better visual results by reducing image size rather than increasing compression. As an example, an SD movie encoded with H.264 to a file size of 300MB would look a lot better than an HD movie encoded to the same file size, even when played back at the same on-screen dimensions. ~~~ 0x0 This made me think... Is that a misfeature or bug in the compression algorithm? Why wouldn't the video codec adapt appropriately? If lower res causes a more even and smooth image, why shouldn't it scale down? ~~~ nitrogen I had typed a lengthy introduction to an explanation, but realized I don't know exactly where all the bits are going in a high-res low-bitrate image. All I can say with confidence is that if you squeeze a high-resolution image into the same size as a low resolution image, the low resolution image will look better. The high resolution image will basically be reduced to storing DC coefficients, so you'll see these giant 16x16/8x8/4x4/etc. pixel blocks of solid color, with maybe a bit of pattern on them that barely correlates with what the original looked like. Maybe it comes down to the per-macroblock overhead; maybe fewer blocks total in the lower resolution image allows more bits to be allocated to frequency coefficients instead of DC offsets. ~~~ 0x0 Yeah, I've observed the effect, but it never occured to me that it doesn't (or shouldn't) have to be that way :) We should be able to demand codecs that are smarter and more adaptive :) It's hard to imagine why anyone would _want_ a blocky highres lowbitrate stream if the lowres variants are always better, for a given timespan of video ~~~ gmartres Though this isn't implemented by the reference encoder yet, the VP9 bitstream supports this (encoding a downscaled frame and signaling to the decoder to upscale it before displaying it). ------ lignuist I know from personal experience that LYNQ speeds up the audio stream when the connection gets bad for a short time. It is using time stretching (changing the speed without changing the pitch). I can tell the difference, because I did a lot of audio editing in the past and know how time stretching sounds. I would say that the speed factor is up to 2-3x. This makes people "speak" incredibly fast occasionally. ~~~ imsofuture I've noticed this with Skype. It's pretty funny: you'll not hear much for a few seconds, and then hear the other party speak really quickly, with all the pauses between words dropped out. ------ eurleif I'm confused about why this would be a good way to save bandwidth. The same number of pixels are still required to give you a smooth picture. So unless Skype adds more pixels to the zoomed-in area (which would presumably negate the bandwidth savings), you're still getting reduced resolution. Why not forget the zooming and just reduce resolution? ~~~ baddox I assume the heuristic they're using is that single faces are the primary use case, and will tend to be in the center of the frame. If I'm right, their solution would use more of the available bandwidth resolving the user's face rather than anything which may be in the background. ~~~ georgemcbay OTOH, things in the background are unlikely to move much which is ideal for frame-to-frame compression, so getting rid of those areas is unlikely to really buy you much. ------ evanmoran Really cool idea. The next step is to use basic face detection to focus towards the largest face in the stream. ------ huhtenberg Are you sure this wasn't someone twisting the zoom ring on a camera the other end? ~~~ jloughry _Are you sure this wasn 't someone twisting the zoom ring on a camera the other end?_ I'm sure. I was watching when it happened, twice. Shortly before it happened, I did see some pixelisation, so I know the bandwidth was flaky. It seems to have started doing this after the most recent software update. I thought about sending a nice note of thanks to Skype's support address, but it was just so _neatly_ done that I wanted to give them more public praise. ------ hughes I wonder if this effect could be made less noticeable by layering & blending the cropped image on the last full-size frame. The centre of the feed would continue to move, but the edges of the image would remain stationary. ------ X4 Anyone having luck talking to people through XMPP Audio/Video with an opensource client? It's ironic that Twitter, Facebook, Skype, Yahoo, AOL, Google et al. use XMPP in one or the other proprietary form. It's opensource, many awesome clients are available and yet people still choose possibly backdoored and definitely monitored and text-mined closed- source solutions. I don't understand why the usage of the open solutions is so low. Can someone explain? ~~~ rocky1138 I tried switching to Jit.si last month. After a week or so, I went back to Skype. Very poor audio and dropped calls. Get someone in there to completely strip the UI, increase the audio quality, and I'm there. Paid user. ~~~ X4 Good to know, I'm not alone with that experience then. All of my clients already have XMPP, but there is no good CrossPlatform Client, that JustWorks™. Which is sad. But maybe something new will replace this, for example WebRTC is on the way. ------ Cymen Google Hangout HD mode is a wider view. If you ratchet down the quality, one notch down from HD (the original view) is a narrower view. ------ cheeseprocedure I wonder if video input could be reduced to textures and geometry/transforms for low-bandwidth videoconferencing scenarios. ~~~ philsnow Sounds a lot like how video quality degraded gracefully in Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep". Transcendent beautiful 3d video with all kinds of other extras degrades seamlessly to janky paper cut -like actors in the book iirc. ~~~ cheeseprocedure Ha! That was actually my first thought after submitting my comment. ------ frank_boyd Skype is also among the NSA partner companies. ~~~ Zoomla before they partnered with the NSA, it used to be P2P to save server bandwidth... But I don't think the problem is with the company being a partner with the NSA, the problem is that the powers of the NSA are too broad (they can force companies to participate in these mass-surveillance programs, or throw them in jail). ~~~ frank_boyd > they can force companies to participate in these mass-surveillance programs, > or throw them in jail Or those companies could band together and give the NSA the collective finger. ------ z92 Zooming will not reduce bandwidth requirement, unless the zoomed image is also pixilated. ~~~ privong OP probably meant the image was cropped. ------ rafuzo You must have the paid version. When bandwidth is scarce for me, it just drops the call. ------ lazzlazzlazz This is definitely not Skype. ------ devx Doesn't let NSA spy on it anymore? That should save some bandwidth. ~~~ jloughry Let's make "Langford's parrot" basilisk for NSA that everyone can transmit around when circuits are idle. Make sure it's not compressible; fill up their disk space right quick. ------ manidoraisamy Good one! Might be a good suggestion for WebRTC spec as well! ~~~ UnoriginalGuy Wouldn't this get implemented in the client code rather than the API itself? ~~~ jloughry To achieve the goal of saving bandwidth, it must have been done coöperatively between the remote machine and mine. Their end had to understand that _my_ end was short of bandwidth (remember, this is cheap ADSL, and my broadband speeds are r-e-a-l-l-y asymmetric) and send fewer pixels, followed by which my end had to upsample those pixels to keep the picture the same size. ~~~ UnoriginalGuy I don't really understand why at all. You send less pixels and the destination machine just displays those as is. What would giving it more information about /why/ really accomplish? What can it do? Wouldn't it make re-sampling decisions based on the content with or without low bandwidth? ~~~ manidoraisamy Only when the quality degrades, the remote bitrate estimator tells the other side to reduce the bitrate if the decoder isn't keeping up. that's the spec. Otherwise it is on default resolution. ------ tn13 This is a behavior of webcam. My Dell laptop does all this. ------ AbhishekBiswal It's the Web cam, not Skype. ------ jolyman i don't want to say anything ------ HN_Master_Race WOW! Skype is sooooo cooool. Now, if they could stop spying on me that'd be great. ~~~ vernie Subtle.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Show HN: AsOne – Platform for Crowdsourcing Research - shuhari https://asone.ai ====== shuhari AsOne is a platform for crowdsourcing research where anyone can create and join research communities. We allow all research topics, from COVID-19 to your own personal research. Our mission is to help solve humanity's hardest problems by creating a world where research is openly accessible and massively collaborative. Topics on our site are organized into a tree, so for example the _P versus NP_ topic is a child of the _Computational Complexity topic_ , which is a child of the _Computer Science_ topic. Even specific attacks on P versus NP, such as by Vinay Deolalikar can have their own page under the P versus NP page. We aim to fulfill Timothy Gowers' ultimate vision of the Polymath Projects. We recently became the official host of the Polymath Wiki [1]. I have been in correspondence with Terence Tao, who has an account on the main site (under the username teorth) and has been giving us design feedback. We are currently a small team of 3, and are looking for people who can help in any way! If you're interested in the project, please join our development process at Discord [2] or email me at thomas@asone.ai [1] [https://asone.ai/polymath/index.php?title=Main_Page](https://asone.ai/polymath/index.php?title=Main_Page) [2] [https://discord.gg/7K5z6d4](https://discord.gg/7K5z6d4)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Why Android, The #1 Mobile Platform, Won’t Get Great Music Apps - shawndumas http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2013/07/30/why-android-the-1-mobile-platform-wont-get-great-music-apps/ ====== dottrap <sigh> Just remember: Bug 3434 [http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3434](http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3434)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
The Latin America WikiLeaks Files - cryoshon https://www.jacobinmag.com/2015/09/latin-america-wikileaks-hugo-chavez-rafael-correa-obama-venezuela-intervention/ ====== jayess As an American I am disturbed by my country's foreign policy as it relates to Latin America, largely over the last half of the 20th century. But propaganda cuts both ways. I have a hard time taking an article like this seriously when it simply hand-waves away the complete meltdown of the Venezuelan economy as a result of "right-wing student protests" and not the complete failed socialism and soft totalitarianism of Chavez. \--- "In Venezuela, where a dysfunctional currency control system has generated high inflation, _violent right-wing student protests seriously destabilized the country._ The odds are extremely high that some of these protestors have received funding and/or training from USAID or NED, which saw its Venezuela budget increase 80 percent from 2012 to 2014." ~~~ asgard1024 > But propaganda cuts both ways You are absolutely correct. But wouldn't the U.S. behave badly, people in Venezuela would perhaps have little reason to vote for soft totalitarians like Chavez. (I also think Hitler rose to power partly because he was one of the few politicians who were willing to call BS on the Germany's WW1 debt.) I am not actually sure this will 100% prevents rise of authoritarians (given what is going on in Hungary), however, there is some difference in ideology, and also success, if you compare Marshall doctrine to Washington consensus. Nations get a free pass on behaving badly abroad because of nationalism. Then they get more that they bargained for. Actually, when I think of it, this dynamic is not just between states, it also happens in different social classes as well (for example, policy of being tough on unemployed or drug users, which ultimately makes things worse). ------ marcoperaza The article completely ignores the real reasons for US opposition to Castro, Allende, Chavez, Correa, Morales, et al. They were and are autocrats with programs of economic and social destruction. Critics are beaten and thrown in jail, wide swaths of the economy nationalized, wealth destroyed. Their economic programs lead only to empty shelves in supermarkets and widespread destitution and crime. In Venezuela, the murder rate is up 400-500% from when Chavez first took over. They can only find allies in the world among other enemies of human prosperity. I think JFK captured the guiding principles best: Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. [...] Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house. Sometimes it's led to difficult and morally dubious decisions, like US support for Pinochet's coup against Allende in Chile. But we should consider the counterfactual. What if Allende had stayed in power? Chile would not be the beacon of stability and growth that it is today. Based on Allende's relationships with Castro and the Soviet Union, it would probably be a lot like Castro's Cuba, a society totally hollowed out by communism. As an aside, the characterization of the situation in Greece is completely inaccurate too. Membership in the euroclub requires fiscal responsibility; governments can no longer rely on running the print presses to pay their debt. Greece continued to waste money it did not have, and was refusing the demands for budget discipline from the countries that were keeping it afloat. ~~~ retrogradeorbit Aside from the fact that you seem quite ignorant of history ("success of liberty", are you kidding me?), what business is it of the US? When will the US stop sticking it's nose in other's business? What would be it's reaction if the reverse were happening, if a foreign global power were constantly meddling in American affairs? Why does America always think it knows what's best for everyone else? And why is what's best always more US corporate intervention? Like ok, we get it, the US is your country, and you can completely fuck up your own republic and turn it into a surveilled and controlled human zoo dedicated to the worship of mammon. But stop going and fucking everyone else's country. ~~~ marcoperaza If not America, then who? The Soviet Union would have turned a lot of Latin America into their imperial possessions, like they did in Cuba and Eastern Europe. Today, the regimes that would fill the void left by an American retreat from leadership are hostile and much less concerned with elections and human rights than the US. On a personal note, I can only wish that the US had intervened more successfully against Castro in Cuba, the home that my family and millions of others have fled to America from. ~~~ saint_fiasco >If not America, then who? How about the people who actually live there? I get that sometimes the people of a country can be helpless against an oppressor and need foreign aid, but people in Chile actually voted for Allende. It's not the same as Cuba. ------ mschuster91 Nothing new, it's just solid confirmation of what pretty much everyone suspected since long ago :/ ------ tremols So this joke repeated through decades never gets old. Its been like 50 years since the times of nationalist dictators, its 50 years ruled by U.S backed leftists, yep.. the same who have created the skirts of misery: ghettos and fabelas. It should be obvious by now that USA will support the left wing if it fits with its agenda. There you have WW2 and polpot to mention just a few extreme historical cases. ------ werber I personally love the Jacobin, but I wish their tone and vocabulary was more populist..? I always feel like I need to find another article that says the same thing written differently to pass it on to the more conservative people in my life. ~~~ Altay- I'm subscribed to Jacobin and the writing style certainly feels as though they are preaching to the choir rather than trying to persuade anyone. ------ dep_b Pretty heavy if this is true. How reliable is this site? ~~~ onli That describes normal US-politic in latin-america since at least 60 years, nothing is new. The site seems solid, see also [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobin_%28magazine%29](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobin_%28magazine%29), and the facts described are correct (for example the initial description of what happened with Greece is spot-on).	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
C99 tricks - guillaumec http://blog.noctua-software.com/c-tricks.html ====== unwind There's nothing "C99" about that ARRAY_SIZE macro, of course. That said, I'm rather sceptical towards it, I think it's better written as-is. Otherwise, the question "does SIZE mean bytes, or number of elements?" always arises to haunt me. Once you need to keep looking stuff like that up, the macro isn't helping. In actual code, the name of the array never needs to be enclosed in parentheses so it's often clearer too. E.g. something like: int fourk[4096]; for(size_t i = 0; i < sizeof fourk / sizeof fourk; ++i) ... I realize that it's not 100% DRY to repeat the array name, but I think it's a small price to pay for not having to use a non-standard macro that requires learning. It's all about friction. ~~~ userbinator I use the convention "size = number of bytes" (as in _size_ of), "count = number of elements" and so my sizeof(x)/sizeof(x[0]) macro is actually called COUNT. ~~~ clarry In the BSDs (and some other code bases) the macro is spelled nitems and is common enough to be considered idiomatic. ~~~ __david__ I always call my version lengthof() to match sizeof. ~~~ alnsn I use lengthof for lengths of string literals. ------ pfortuny Read the first comment in the comments section and get your mind blown away... What can export restrictions do! ~~~ clarry Ah, javascript and bad design breaking the web again. Disable JS and it'll be fine. (I had to enable JS to see the comments, and that caused me to see the very same effect reported in the first comment) ~~~ gear54rus > due to US sanctions If that's true, blaming fabric of the web for this is ridiculous. Blame idiots who went ahead with 'sanctions' on information. ------ kzrdude These are GNU C tricks! Fine anyway, I think I especially like those that are ISO C. Trick number one is a C11 feature -- anonymous struct members in structs and unions, though I will not vouch for its validity without consulting with my C11 standard handbook. Oh, and by the way, why not use X macros in the form where the macro to apply is passed as the argument? #define SPRITES(S) S(1, 2, 3) S(2, 3, 4) etc. ~~~ guillaumec About the X: Yeah, that is stupid actually... I will update the article to change it to X. ~~~ kzrdude That's not what I meant! :-) ------ Genmutant The first one (?:) is not standard but only a GNU extension, so be carefull with that one. ~~~ guillaumec Thanks for letting me know. I though this was in the standard. I will fix the post. ~~~ imurray One can try to catch use of gcc extensions with: gcc -std=c99 -pedantic ~~~ guillaumec I usually don't use those flags because some extensions are well supported (as long as I stay away from MSVC), and so I feel free to use them if they help me. One example is the ##__VAR_ARGS__ gnu extension that is not strictly c99, but not using it is just too painful for variadic macros. ~~~ kps C11 standardizes variadic macros — see _§6.10.3 Macro replacement_ [http://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n1570.pdf](http://www.open- std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n1570.pdf) ~~~ codys Yes, even c99 has them IIRC. The issue that was called out, however, was the use of "FOO(x, ## __VA_ARGS__)". GNU C has an extension that causes the ',' to be removed if __VA_ARGS__ is empty. AFAIK, it is not standard. ------ bonn1 Out of curiosity: Who has written C99 in the last 24h within a larger project and if yes what kind of project? ~~~ cowsandmilk All my code is C99. Computational chemistry program that ships on Linux, Mac, and Windows. ~~~ throwawayaway what do you compile with for windows? ~~~ AlexeyBrin You can use GCC and Clang directly on Windows, both implement 100% C99. Alternatively, Visual Studio 2013 implements most of the C99 standard (not a complete implementation though). ~~~ throwawayaway GCC: only as Mingw or MSYS? You can use intel too, I wanted to know what this person was using, not what options there were. ~~~ AlexeyBrin You don't need to install MinGW or MSYS in order to use GCC (I assume you are interested only in C99 here and not in POSIX programming). Here is an example of a standalone GCC (contains C, C++ and Fortran compilers): [http://www.equation.com/servlet/equation.cmd?fa=fortran](http://www.equation.com/servlet/equation.cmd?fa=fortran) ------ matthavener My favorite C99 trick: const char lookup[] = { [0] = "ZERO", [1] = "ONE", [4] = "FOUR" }; assert(strcmp(lookup[0], "ZERO") == 0); (not available in C++ or pre-C99) ~~~ andolanra I see this used a lot with enums to make a kind of 'homogeneous struct' where all the members have the same type: enum fields = { x, y, z }; int point[] = { [x] = 1, [y] = 2, [z] = 3 }; This is used pretty extensively in the QEMU codebase, which is where I first learned it. ~~~ yadyad How does this even work?!?! ~~~ kzrdude x, y, z being enum values, are constants. ------ randlet Can someone explain what the purpose of the safe min macro is? What is the advantage of this: #define min(a, b) ({ \ __typeof__ (a) _a = (a); \ __typeof__ (b) _b = (b); \ _a < _b ? _a : _b; \ }) over the naive #define min(a, b) (((a) < (b)) ? (a) : (b)) ? ~~~ BudVVeezer One of the two values (a or b) gets evaluated twice. Eg) min(a++, b++); a or b would really be incremented twice. ~~~ randlet Nice thanks. Makes perfect sense and I can see that making for a hair pulling debug session if you weren't aware of it. ~~~ AceJohnny2 It's the kind of thing that's made me very familiar with the -E option for GCC, which makes it spit out the preprocessed code... ------ halayli Many of those "tricks" have nothing to do with C99. If someone uses this switch macro in a codebase I am working on, I'll most probably punch them in the face. ------ Zardoz84 Wow ! I Like the GL macro. I think that would be very helpfull to debug some problems that I have on OSX related to core profile ~~~ to3m It's very useful; I've long done the same thing. Though - you do need to do something so you can examine the error value. Even though OpenGL's error enum is terribly vague, most functions can produce more than one type of error. It's nice to be able to see what the value was, even if only to verify your assumption that what's obviously the case is indeed actually happening. Store the value somewhere global so you can examine it in the debugger when the program's stopped, or (if you have such a thing) use some fancier assert macro that prints out the problem values. Also look up GL_ARB_debug_output - [https://www.opengl.org/registry/specs/ARB/debug_output.txt](https://www.opengl.org/registry/specs/ARB/debug_output.txt). I don't remember this ever telling me anything terribly useful for debugging, but I did get a couple of perf hints from it... anyway, it's vendor-specific, so on OS X, maybe it will help. (BTW - if you ever end up using Direct3D on Windows, be sure to activate the debug runtime. Compare and contrast.) ~~~ someengineer A common pattern in embedded C is to use something like "goto fail" instead of assert, wrap your function calls in this sort of macro, and then do error handling in one place at the end of the function. Apparently Apple is unaware of this technique... ~~~ stephenmm Okay, so as someone who is ramping up on C where would I go to learn all these common patterns? I could start going through github repos and start reading code but this seems very inefficient and I might pick up something that is actually a bad technique. ~~~ glassx I like Zed Shaw's Debug Macros. Actually his whole book is great. [http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/ex20.html](http://c.learncodethehardway.org/book/ex20.html) ------ n1mda Any reason why they don't use trick #1 inside trick #5? // Instead of x = x ? x : 10; // We can use the shorter form: x = x ?: 10; #define min(a, b) ({ \ __typeof__ (a) _a = (a); \ __typeof__ (b) _b = (b); \ _a < _b ? _a : _b; \ }) ~~~ stingraycharles Wouldn't that return _a < _b instead of _a? ~~~ delinka indeed it would. ------ jokoon Isn't there some C11 version of the language that would add those kinds of features ? I guess they might break earlier C code though, but I'm not sure. ~~~ unwind Yes, there is a C11 standard. See for instance [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C11_%28C_standard_revision%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C11_%28C_standard_revision%29) for a list of new features in C11. But no, it doesn't implement these things. Here's a handy table showing GCC's support: [https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/C11Status](https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/C11Status). I'm pretty sure Clang supports C11 well too, didn't find a corresponding table though. It says "By default, Clang builds C code in GNU C11 mode [...]" on this page: [http://clang.llvm.org/compatibility.html](http://clang.llvm.org/compatibility.html). ~~~ kps “Clang strives to both conform to current language standards (up to C11 and C++11)”. If anything's missing, it's a bug. clang also kindly defaults to C11 so I don't have to curse and go add a command line flag every time I write “for (int i = ...”. ~~~ fafner GCC 5 will default to -std=gnu11 (C11 with GNU extensions) ------ ndesaulniers What happens if I call ARRAY_SIZE on an empty array? ~~~ dezgeg C doesn't allow empty arrays. ~~~ ndesaulniers How about a dangling pointer that decayed from an array? ~~~ JoachimSchipper In that case, it'd evaluate to sizeof(mytype ) / sizeof(mytype) which will usually be 0 or 1 (most of my arrays hold at least words.) ~~~ ndesaulniers Sorry, I was misremembering the edge case here, which indeed is still around pointer decay: #include <stdio.h> #define ARRAY_SIZE(x) (sizeof(x) / sizeof((x)[0])) void p (int a) { printf("ARRAY_SIZE of arr = %lu, %lu, %lu\n", ARRAY_SIZE(a), sizeof(a), sizeof((a)[0])); } int main () { int arr [] = {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}; printf("ARRAY_SIZE of arr = %lu, %lu, %lu\n", ARRAY_SIZE(arr), sizeof(arr), sizeof((arr)[0])); p(arr); } prints: ARRAY_SIZE of arr = 5, 20, 4 ARRAY_SIZE of arr = 2, 8, 4 where in the function, the arr has decayed into a pointer losing the additional info about size (now the size of a pointer 8bytes or 64bits on my host). Which is why you usually get the length of the array before invoking the function and pass it in as additional information, or wrap the complete array in a struct to preserve sizeof info ([http://spin.atomicobject.com/2014/03/25/c-single-member- stru...](http://spin.atomicobject.com/2014/03/25/c-single-member-structs/)). ------ sold What is the difference between x ?: y and x \|\| y? ~~~ smorrow \|\| gives 1 or 0 only? ~~~ sold I see, thanks. ~~~ smorrow "The C Companion" gives logical identities like (A && B) \|\| (A && !B) == A, but what he means by A on the RHS, I think, is that you must take into account the fact that A_LHS might be zero. You can't really write this identity and give a constant on the right, so he wrote the next best thing. Well, the real next best thing would be !(!A). ------ tpush #define ARRAY_SIZE(x) ((&(x))[1] - (x)) :-)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask YC: Where are the open source consumer web apps? - nonrecursive On the front page right now is an article about DimDim, the first open source consumer web app I've heard of. ("Consumer" is meant to distinguish this type of app from something like ActiveCollab, which is also an open source web app but which is meant to be installed by the user on his own server). Are there any other good ones out there?<p>As opposed to open source desktop apps, web apps don't generally require any advanced computer knowledge. There's no compiling, no installing mac ports, etc. This seems like making an open source web app would be that much more fun and rewarding, because so many more people would be able to use it.<p>Have any of you considered making an open source web app? For awhile I've been toying with the idea of building a text-based team death match game, perhaps using MUD scripts. I think it would really make the game fun to add a graphic interface so that it could easily be played on an iPhone just by quickly tapping the screen. It'd be fun to work with other folks on it, and fun to be able to implement player/programmer additions. Will this kind of open source work become more prevalent?<p>edit: The first couple comments have been, basically, "What the hell are you talking about?"<p>DimDim seems different in a crucial way from open source web apps like shopping carts, blogging software, and project management tools (Trac, ActiveCollab). With DimDim, the open source product is of primary concern to the site's users, anyone is free to use the product, and the product appeals to a wider swath of humanity. On the other hand, users aren't primarily concerned with what shopping cart a site uses (the primary concern is buying something) or what blogging system a site uses (the primary concern is the content). Projects like Trac generally are installed to be used primarily by a select group of people, and they appeal to fewer people.<p>Another difference: DimDim exists only at dimdim.com . The project is not about providing other people with the means of creating their own web meeting site; it's about being THE open source web meeting site. Another way of explaining this is that Reddit is a web application, while there are also many "make your own reddit" kits which are also web applications. DimDim is more like reddit.com than a "make your own reddit" web app.<p>Hopefully this clarifies the distinction. Maybe someone else could explain it succinctly. ====== wheels Huh? There are huge numbers of open source web apps. Most blogging software, webmail software, web-shop software, ... ~~~ nonrecursive I've updated the original post. Hopefully it clarifies what I'm referring to. (I'm not referring to blogging software, webmail software, etc. :) ~~~ wheels I still don't really get it though. Wikipedia, Sourceforge, Slashdot, etc. are all major open source applications with an authoritative host and are user- oriented. ~~~ nonrecursive Ah ok. Well that helps answer my question :) I didn't realize those were all open source. Aside from Wikipedia, do you know of any other web apps that appeal to people outside the geek population? ~~~ tjr photo.net runs atop the ArsDigita Community System, also open source. It's not quite a plug-n-play solution, but a good number of websites are/were run on ACS. ------ CRASCH I think what you are trying to say when you say "Why aren't there more open source web applications?" is something like "Why aren't there more web application sites that provide a service that are open source?" This I think is pretty simple. If I got your question right. If you are building a new site that does rss feeds aggregation with dynamic custom filters that track your web surfing to automatically rate content based on pages you spent time on, for example. Wow that was a mouthful. Err. Forget that. If you are building a better reddit.You have some new idea and that is your competitive edge and reason for doing the work. If you open source that you just gave away your reason for building your site. So there is a conscious decision to either build a site and try to monetize it, or build an open source platform and gain traction. The difference here is what you are trying to accomplish. If you are trying to differentiate a site with new technology or features you don't want to give away the secret sauce (source) to your incumbent competitors or your future competitors. While your busy focusing on and perfecting the technology. They can be busy focusing on getting to market. If google or ebay had open sourced their technology how hard would it be for Microsoft or Amazon to clone it and take it to the next level? If we use google as an example here. If microsoft could see exactly how page rank worked and the architecture that allows google to scale. Could they create their own version and possibly improve it. I think they could. If google open sourced in the beginning super live search would have happened before google got their ridiculous market share and google may not even exist today... ------ mhartl I know exactly what you're talking about, and I've long been as baffled as you are about why there aren't more. I pitched this idea to a bunch of people at RailsConf last year, and got a lot of yawns. I even pitched it to Peter Norvig of Google, who checked his watch and then "had to go". :-) But I predict open- source webapps will be big. What's your contact info? I couldn't find it in your HN profile. (Mine's in mine.) ~~~ axod How can they be big? What's the revenue model for an open source webapp? I don't get it... You create some cool app, then some big player takes it as it's open source, installs it, and laughs in your face :/ Once you've established your own site as 'the leader' like wikipedia, then open sourcing would probably work fine. But open sourcing from the start seems a bad idea... ~~~ mhartl Maybe, but the same argument could be used for other open-source apps. "Oracle could just grab the source code for MySQL", etc. Incidentally, this is one reason the GPL can be a big win. What you described happened to X, which was under the MIT license. It worries me that so many web technologies are MIT; it's so much easier to co-opt them. There is a web version of the GPL called the AGPL (<http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/agpl-3.0.html>). It's a pity it's not more widely known. ------ edu <http://meneame.net> is spanish digg clone (trolls included) which is licensed under the Affero GPL: <http://svn.meneame.net/index.cgi/branches/version2/> ------ crayz Scoop, the software behind Kuro5hin and later DailyKos and many other 'community' social blog/news sites ~~~ notauser Slashcode (Slashdot's engine) has been open source for so long it's written in perl :). There is also MediaWiki (Wikipedia). ------ noodle i have to be misreading your comment, because there are about three hundred zillion open source web apps. could you clarify? ------ astine Sourceforge mostly.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: What is the simplest but still useful NN example you know? - mlang23 I find neural networks pretty interesting, but most useful examples I know of require too much training data to be useful when it comes to trying to understand the whole process. I used a DOS program over 20 years ago in school to train an NN to do a simple table lookup. That isn't very exciting of course, since it is pretty obvious that a simple array would do much better.<p>I am wondering, are there any small, self-contained NN examples that actually do something useful, while still being small enough to play with an implementation in my favourite programming language? ====== tgflynn I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for. Dealing with large amounts (by some definition) of training data is at the heart of the "whole process", so I'm not sure what you could learn without that element. One of the simpler data sets available is the MNIST set of labelled hand- written digits. These days it should be easy to build and train a 3-layer NN for classifying those images. ------ sgillen You can make some toy robots do things. See [https://gym.openai.com/envs/#classic_control](https://gym.openai.com/envs/#classic_control) The networks and data required to solve some of these is really small. I’m sure you can find some simple RL code out there to poke around in. ------ thedevindevops Can I clarify something, are you looking to learn more about how NNs work or are you looking for something you can run/train in your own local machine?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Twitter Still Headed To The Moon With 17 Million U.S. Visitors In April - vaksel http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/05/12/twitter-still-headed-to-the-moon-with-17-million-us-visitors-in-april/ ====== TomOfTTB I've given up on fighting the Twitter hypsters. They think it'll change society as we know it and they'll latch on to any good news as proof of that. But needless to say a bunch of people checking out Twitter the month Oprah dedicates a show to it doesn't necessarily mean it will take hold with those people. I recall a time, not to long ago, when everyone was talking about Friendster. I even remember it being mentioned on Fox's "The O.C." which, at the time, had more viewers than Oprah averages in a week. ~~~ paul9290 It's text messaging, email and Instant message before it. I guess Im a hypster but see endless possibilities and uses for this new form of Internet communication! ~~~ buugs Its not really new its just different, myspace/facebook+blog+phone = twitter to me. The only new thing is search and the phone making things quicker but less substantial.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Zuckerberg Is Praised by Putin's Newspaper - Nikita_Sadkov https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/articles/2017/08/15/729388-facebook-dolzhen-platit ====== mehly tl;dr anyone? ~~~ pelmenept I scrolled really fast. Article is not praising anyone, it talks about basic income. And an idea of Facebook paying basic income, from revenue it gets from selling personal data. Facebook has a pool of collective data from people? - why not pay back to users basic income. Overall article is about basic income.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Tizen (Meego Replacement) Releases Source Code and SDK Previews - cnxsoft http://www.cnx-software.com/2012/01/10/tizen-releases-source-code-and-sdk-previews/ ====== nextparadigms It seems a bit like WebOS structurally, doesn't it?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Dependent Type Systems as Macros [pdf] - EvgeniyZh https://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/stchang/pubs/cbtb-popl2020.pdf ====== dang A recent thread: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22097000](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22097000)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
SMOB - Open & distributed semantic microblogging (integrates with Twitter) - p_alexander http://smob.me/ ====== p_alexander Here's a lightning presentation from today's SemTech 2010 that describes this in more detail: [http://www.slideshare.net/terraces/smob-a-framework-for- sema...](http://www.slideshare.net/terraces/smob-a-framework-for-semantic- microblogging) ------ thunk I found this little slide deck while trying to figure out what semantic microblogging is: [http://www.slideshare.net/bengee/semantic-microblogging- pres...](http://www.slideshare.net/bengee/semantic-microblogging-presentation) ------ crux Am I wrong or is there no currently running example to found? Or does it not actually publish a blog itself? ~~~ p_alexander It's distributable, so right now you have to run it on a server yourself. There's a download link on the page: <http://code.google.com/p/smob/downloads/list> I've been thinking of throwing the code up somewhere for people to try. Let me know if there would be interest in that. ------ est How's it compared to other distributed m-blogging tools, say PubSubHubBlob and SatusNet? ~~~ p_alexander It actually builds RDF onto PubSubHubBub, so it integrates there as well: [http://apassant.net/blog/2010/04/18/sparql-pubsubhubbub- spar...](http://apassant.net/blog/2010/04/18/sparql-pubsubhubbub-sparqlpush)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
AMD Radeon RX 480: June 29th for $199 - bryanlarsen http://www.anandtech.com/show/10389/amd-teases-radeon-rx-480-launching-june-29th-for-199 ====== JohnTHaller The big deal about this card can be summed up thusly: "AMD is planning on heavily promoting the VR aspects of the RX 480, as it brings the necessary performance down from a 250W, $300+ card to a 150W, $200 card." So the card is more accessible from a financial standpoint and the 100W decrease in power draw means that it both reduces the overall cost of a new build in addition to its own lower cost by requiring a less beefy power supply and makes it a viable option in a greater array of existing desktops without needing to also upgrade the current power supply. ------ atrudeau If AMD released decent Linux drivers I might consider it over an Nvidia card, but as things stand now they're useless in a Linux box, and useless in a Windows box (but that's just because it's windows) ~~~ EpicEng >useless in a Windows box (but that's just because it's windows) Care to expand on that? You do realize that Windows dominates the gaming market, right? (and don't respond with anything involving mobile please). ~~~ atrudeau It was just a cheap jab at Windows, cuz everybody likes to slam Windows! Agreed, Windows dominates gaming market. My interest is in machine learning, so I would like to see decent Linux drivers and more work on the OpenCL environment. ~~~ whamlastxmas Technically, iOS dominates the gaming market :) ~~~ EpicEng What did I say about mentioning mobile games? :D	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Synnefo + Ganeti = cloud software that works - vkoukis http://www.synnefo.org ====== Loic I cannot comment on Synnefo itself, but Ganeti is a wonderful software. I have been using it for more than a year in production (June 2011) without a single issue. I even built my own PaaS on top of it[1]. If you want to understand the quality of Ganeti, go and take a look at an example of design document[2]. The quality of the documentation, the time spent in defining the requirements for the next release incorporating the feedback from the users together with the quality of the code and the human quality of the people at Google driving the project make it a pleasure to use this software. If you are not interested, I anyway always recommend people reading the documentation of this project just to know that one can produce such good documentation. [1]: <http://notes.ceondo.com/mongrel2-zmq-paas/> [2]: [http://docs.ganeti.org/ganeti/current/html/design-cpu- pinnin...](http://docs.ganeti.org/ganeti/current/html/design-cpu-pinning.html) ~~~ kawsper Bareku looks very interesting, but what are the benefits over something like a simple Capistrano deploy script? I have never heard about Ganeti but it also sounds promising. ~~~ Loic Our designer can simply push the updates into the application git repository and a new version of the application is deployed. It removes friction. ------ turshija Front page should be clearer and it needs a bit more explanation, I first thought its cloud software for managing cloud and clients, but when I tried the trial option I didn't see any client options so that means its a software for managing own cloud vm's ? (but it has API, so it should be easy to build client interface) Also the "trial" option makes me think there is paid option somewhere, which is quite confusing since there isn't one, it should be replaced with "Demo" maybe ? ~~~ vkoukis It's cloud software for running a full IaaS service of your own, on your own machines, with Ganeti at the backend. There is a client, called kamaki, see <http://www.synnefo.org/docs/kamaki/latest/index.html>, but it's true we should have a separate page for it. About the "trial" option, we have it as "Try it out" on the first page of <http://www.synnefo.org>. If you saw it on okeanos.io, we'll change it there accordingly. Anyway, have you had a chance to try out? :) ~~~ turshija Yep, I've tried it, and it looks promising, and simple to use :) I've read the "quick" installation, which is not quick at all ^^ I've subscribed to git rss feed, and I will follow the development process a bit before trying out the installation on own dedicated, and maybe even try developing the simple "client" interface for our needs using the API provided if the backend proves to be stable and good. ------ ogdoad Being a user of Synnefo/"Cloud" (and the ~Okeanos/"Ocean") systems for a little while now, I have to comment with a simple "wow!". The amount and quality of engineering that has gone into the project, as well as the quality of the offered service is staggering. Most people involved in some manner in the academic software engineering community (be it Greek or not) are accustomed to receiving products that might on the one hand "work", within finely specified limits, but are otherwise classified as more or less involved hacks. Well, Synnefo both works like a charm and gives off an air of harmony (in the integration of the components and the eventual end-user experience). Kudos everybody on a job well done. Can't wait for the service to go public. NB: The whole project is build on commodity hardware with opensource solutions binding everything together. A whitepaper on its design and implementation, and case studies for use etc, would be certainly lovely to read. ------ druiid So, how far exactly is the API compatible with Openstack? That's the one thing that would be really necessary to match. Basically, can I take tools and utilities that work with Openstack/keystone and have them working without any/much work? If you're able to do this it would be a nice, simple alternative to Openstack. For anyone installing Openstack for the first time, the install is anything but simple. ~~~ cven We try to be aligned with the OpenStack APIs as much as possible. The thing is that even these APIs tend to change frequently. If you have a working application of your own, you'll find that the changes needed are minimal. Our goal is to be 100% and out-of-the-box compatible. Two notes: 1\. Synnefo supports advanced operations e.g. dropbox-like syncing, so we use custom extensions for that, 2\. We have a full-fledged python client library and associated command line client for everybody to use, see <http://www.synnefo.org/docs/kamaki/latest/index.html> ~~~ druiid Okay, thanks. I didn't quite understand from what I read on the site though... is the API accessible to TCP connections? Basically, can I spin up instances via Cloudify or similar through a Openstack v2 compatible interface, etc? ------ YesThatTom2 At the last LISA conference there was a talk by yours truly about Ganeti. It explains Ganeti assuming you don't have much virtualization experience: [https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa12/ganeti-your- private...](https://www.usenix.org/conference/lisa12/ganeti-your-private- virtualization-cloud-way-google-does-it) ------ StavrosK This service is delightfully Greek. I haven't tried the actual offering, though. I think the front page copy could be a bit clearer, as I'm hazy on what exactly it does. ~~~ JshWright >I think the front page copy could be a bit clearer, as I'm hazy on what exactly it does. Yeah... it's all greek to me...	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Nars – Server Rendered React Native - tilt https://www.nars.dev/ ====== wczekalski Oh, glad you like nars, @tilt. Creator of nars here, happy to answer any questions!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
UpNext – an ePaper digital calendar for your desk - brettcvz http://brettcvz.com/projects/6-upnext ====== wenc I would buy a product version of this too, even though I have calendar notifications on 3+ devices. I really like the aesthetics. There's something human about it -- it reminds me of Susan Kare's work on the original Macintosh [1]. There's so much soul and whimsy in what were nothing more than B&W pixeled icons. There's a certain timelessness to it. Another example: HyperCard's main screen [2]. Another Raspberry Pi digital display project I really like is this one [3], which mimics a train station display. The aesthetics is powerful here too because the fonts etc. reminds one of something familiar in the physical world. [1] [https://kare.com/apple-icons/](https://kare.com/apple-icons/) [2] [https://blog.archive.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/08/MTIyMzI2...](https://blog.archive.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/08/MTIyMzI2ODgxMjYwNTYzNzM3.jpg) [3] [https://www.balena.io/blog/build-a-raspberry-pi-powered- trai...](https://www.balena.io/blog/build-a-raspberry-pi-powered-train- station-oled-sign-for-your-desk/) ~~~ brettcvz Very kind of you! I'm happy to help you set one up if you're willing to buy the components. The wiring is very simple, and while the code is open source, I'd also be happy to send you the SD card image if you'd like. ~~~ wenc I appreciate the offer very much. Unfortunately I’m not much of a hardware guy and these days my attention is a little scattered due to all that’s happening around us. I do think it’s an inspired project though —- being able to glance at what’s next on the calendar without context switching seems really useful. ------ Sidnicious This is cool! I have some things like this around my house but via a different approach that I'd like to share: each one is just an old-ish e-reader from eBay or Craigslist, a mix of Kobos and Kindles. Both brands can be made to show a full screen web browser (Kobo: by editing a config file from a computer, Kindle: by jailbreaking and installing Kindle-Web-Launcher), so I have them display a page from a web server on my LAN. Since the browsers support JS and some mix of WebSockets, EventSource, and, at the very least, long polling, it's possible to send messages out to them to update data in real-time or refresh the entire page when I change it. The screens are sharp and the browsers do partial updates, fast enough that I have some touch-draggable sliders that follow your finger. They cost me from $16-50 each, depending on model. They tend to be cheaper if there's a lot of wear/damage to the case, but if you put it in a shell or cover the whole thing with gaffer's tape, that's not a problem! ~~~ tduberne That is a really cool approach! Is the kobo still usable as an e-reader after the config change? I own one but I have so little time to read lately that it is mostly taking the dust. Being able to use it as some kind of always on display, while being able to pick it up to read when desired sounds really attractive to me. ~~~ frosted-flakes The browser is accessible out-of-the-box in the "Beta" section. You only need to edit the config file if you want it full-screen. If you open the browser with it set to full-screen, I believe the only way to exit is to restart the Kobo, bringing you back to the home screen. So yes, it is still fully usable. ------ jrockway I made an e-ink clock, but ultimately found it unsuitable for my desk. The problem is that when the display refreshes, it switches from white to black and back to white, and all this activity in the corner of your eye ends up being quite distracting. You are guaranteed to look at it whenever it changes, making it worse than a notification on your phone in terms of interruption. That might be the right thing for "you have a meeting now!" (you're interrupted anyway), but it's not great for passive information like the time. I am told that with some amount of hacking and a supportive chipset/vendor, you can avoid most of this without reducing the lifetime of the display with the right calibration constants for the device... but nobody seems to have open-sourced anything like this and even places like Adafruit don't provide proper datasheets. ~~~ dpcx The author of the article discusses exactly this and how they got around it. Seems that some updates have been made to drivers to only do partial screen refreshes. ~~~ crusso The author reduced the frequency of full refreshes, but did not eliminate them. The problem will still occur, just less often. ~~~ brettcvz You are correct - because I have a clock on the screen, UpNext does a full screen refresh about every 10 minutes. I thought this would bother me so did some explorations of a UI without the clock, but in practice I don’t notice the flashing, and I like having the clock. ------ reacharavindh I would really love to make one of these for myself. This would be my first Raspberry Pi project. However, I'm a little to scared to even step into it because I'm not a hardware guy at all - I wouldn't know which pins from the display goes where. I can solder stuff, but I'd need help figuring out what goes where. Second scare is about how to get the software onto Raspberry pi W. In the past, all how-tos I have read just say "flash it" and go on to the next cool step, but I'm lost right there.... how to get the software into the thing? - SSH? My point is, I'd appreciate a really beginner friendly write up of your project. From the parts list, how to connect everything, and how to get the software on to it. I'd pay for such a tutorial rather than the finished product. I know it is your time that I am asking for, but I wish you found time to spare to help a beginner like me. ~~~ rtisdale Going to guess you're a programmer? If you're like many others, you very likely teach yourself things often by investigating and experimentation :) No reason you can't do that here. These are (relatively) safe low voltage parts, a bit of googling and you'd be on your way :). ~~~ frosted-flakes Except it's not that hard to accidentally fry a Raspberry Pi. I did that to two or three of them when I was experimenting. They would still boot up at first, but the CPU chip would immediately get burning hot to the touch, and the only way to get it to stay on was to blow on it continuously. I don't remember what I did to fry them. ------ dstaley I have an Amazon Echo Show 5 on my desk that's connected to my calendar. I've updated the homescreen settings such that it only alternates between the current time and the calendar display, which displays the next upcoming event. (It also displays the date and current weather conditions.) Having used the Echo Show, I definitely see the appeal in a device like UpNext, and I wish there was a decent hack-able small display that people could use to build these types of devices. In the past I've paired a Raspberry Pi and a touchscreen display, but that's clunky and doesn't look all that great. A while back, I really wanted a Chumby[1], and I wish something like that still existed. [1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumby) ~~~ anilgulecha Hey, how can I reach out to you? (or could you ping me). I was looking to building exactly this using older phones. ------ Risse I made something similar with Raspberry Pi + E-ink display: [https://polso.info/raspberry-pi-e-ink-photo-frame-video- and-...](https://polso.info/raspberry-pi-e-ink-photo-frame-video-and-full- source-code) ------ pikewood Waveshare is probably the easiest way to play with eInk today. If you're willing to look at different sizes, they offer displays with partial refresh already built in. The 2.7 inch models are nice for people beginning with hardware because it's already built as a Raspberry Pi HAT, literally plug and play, no soldering or wires required. [https://www.waveshare.com/product/displays/e-paper/2.7inch-e...](https://www.waveshare.com/product/displays/e-paper/2.7inch- e-paper-hat.htm) The bottom of that page lists the other models; look for the ones supporting partial refresh to get around that flashing distraction. ~~~ brettcvz Agree, the waveshare modules are great. They’re also (surprisingly) available via Amazon Prime, which is nice when you’re excited about a project idea and don’t want to wait 2-3 weeks for a shipment from China. From my experience with this project, all ePaper displays _can_ do partial refresh, but some may have the drivers (LUT) included, others you might have to find some community-sources ones or design it yourself. In the post I link to my drivers for partial updates for the 4.2”, and in the footnotes there is a YouTube video going into lots of detail on how the drivers work if you wanted to write one or update it for a different display. ~~~ pikewood Could you send some links to the community you found who were hacking away on the partial refresh drivers? I have a 7.5" that I started with and would love to work off of whatever has already been accomplished. ~~~ brettcvz I link to a few helpful sources in the “references” part of the project readme: [https://github.com/brettcvz/upnext/blob/master/README.md#ref...](https://github.com/brettcvz/upnext/blob/master/README.md#references) Hope that helps! ------ rtpg I have an old kindle where I was trying to repurpose it for this kind of thing but got stuck after trying to flash it with some custom firmware.... will try again this weekend. These kinds of projects are cool, but I think they’re even cooler if they’re reusing stuff you already have in random drawers in your house ------ themodelplumber Lovely... Is anybody else at the point of establishing their own digital calendar system? I feel like my main web-based calendar, one lots of people use, is powerful, but mainly in super boring ways. And it's functional, but mainly also in boring ways. It fits more like a generic pair of slacks, than a nice glove. For example, I think I would cram the interface all the way up, and then slim down from there if needed. I may have some kind of material design-derived interface illness. I look at the interfaces of things like shortwave and ham radios and just think--yes, good, I am a big boy and can tolerate much more info-noise from my calendar display. Heck, cram the latest Get Fuzzy in there. And maybe even complex keyboard shortcuts, shell script integration, the sky's the limit! ~~~ rajlego Have you tried Notion? I recently started using it to manage prioritized tasklists (though not calendar, I usually just make a plan the day before). Cramming too much in seems problematic from a deep work stand point, best to be able to focus on one thing at once ~~~ themodelplumber I'll check out Notion, thanks for the rec. I just realized that the XFCE desktop I use already has a lot of functionality which could be warped into building much of what I'm thinking about. I think I can go heavier on the information density (e.g. maybe using a lot less white space than Notion does) as long as the information has a personalized reason for being there... ------ kuzee This is truly fantastic, the use of an eink display so that it doesn't shout for attention but is always ready is such a good call and in my opinion worth the additional effort. Thanks for sharing and making the code available for others to read and learn from. ------ giancarlostoro This sounds like another good use for this powerless e-ink reader: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22604617](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22604617) Maybe it could be hooked up to a microcontroller (Pi Zero with some NFC module or something) that turns on every 24h. ~~~ rajlego Saw that recently as well, this post made me more hopeful I'd be able to put something together to work with it. ------ raghava Neat project! I was hoping of building a similar one using a simple LCD [[https://robu.in/product/3-5-touch-screen-lcd-raspberry- pi/](https://robu.in/product/3-5-touch-screen-lcd-raspberry-pi/)] display, with a way to even showcase urgency/priority - and list at least next three events lined up for the day. Possibly even add a color code / simple snooze button as the LCD is touch responsive. Found [https://github.com/monitoror/monitoror](https://github.com/monitoror/monitoror) and hoped to use it for this purpose. ~~~ rajlego I've been thinking of something similar, I have a tasklist system prioritized and sorted by value/time (in Notion), would be nice to use one of these e-ink displays to display top few tasks so if I have some free time I can immediately know what to do. ------ JansjoFromIkea Seeing as Nook Simple Touches go for about $20 on ebay and can be rooted to be a pretty basic Android 2.0 tablet, would this be a significantly cheaper and easier way of achieving the same results or is developing even the most rudimentary of apps for Android 2.0 an absolute nightmare in the modern day. ~~~ eeZah7Ux Buying an old e-reader has many advantages. It's 4x cheaper than this project and has even a battery. ------ cvburgess I would actually buy a product version of this. I use a Remarkable E-Ink tablet and its pretty incredible. This would be quite nice, so only the notifications i really care about ( where i need to be ) show up without sounds and colors and all the distractions would be amazing ~~~ nexuist As someone seriously looking into buying a Remarkable - worth it? Forget the price for a second and compare the Remarkable to an iPad Pro w/ Pencil. Would you still grab the Remarkable to jot down notes, or would you much prefer the iPad? ~~~ vinay427 Not the OP but I have a reMarkable tablet. I think it's far superior for writing notes (not really drawing due to the lack of color) or reading academic papers or other PDFs (that don't benefit much from color). The pen- on-paper experience is definitely better if you can look past the limitations of the display. I use it for reading and annotating academic papers or PDFs of presentations, for which I find it superior to an iPad/Apple Pencil in just about every way except for sometimes syncing and transferring documents (this would be easier on Android platforms, though perhaps not iOS). That's still a little clunky particularly if you use Linux, but there are a variety of open source tools now to facilitate the process. The tablet doesn't natively store annotations as standard PDF annotations, but it's not a proprietary format, and this only matters if you SSH in to directly access files. If you plan to get one now, consider waiting for or preordering the upcoming generation (July?). ------ 0x38B Looks like a satisfying project! Also, website design is nice - plenty of negative space and contrasting font weights creates an elegant, easy to read site. When I redo my blog, I would love to shoot for something similar. ~~~ brettcvz Thank you! I’m not a designer, so the advice of my designer friends was “pick exactly 2 fonts, use lots of white space, and left align edges.” The code for the site is open source, feel free to borrow/steal. ~~~ 0x38B It seems to have worked, because I was impressed! And thank you, having examples to take inspiration from makes all the difference. ------ raihansaputra E-paper is ideal, but even a UI like this for old phones/tablets would be cool to have on my desk. ------ nubela Fun project! Do you have links to the eInk module? ~~~ brettcvz It’s this one: [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075JLP2LP/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075JLP2LP/)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Emscripten switches to the LLVM WebAssembly Back End - mpweiher https://v8.dev/blog/emscripten-llvm-wasm ====== truth_seeker This is great news!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Winner of the Engineyard contest - nkurz http://www.win.tue.nl/cccc/ ====== tptacek I'm more interested in what they're doing with NSEC3, which is a key loose end in IETF's boondoggle DNSSEC system. NSEC3 is to domain names in a zone transfer what crypt(3) is to passwords in /etc/shadow. ------ mronge I should have entered the contest, considering I have access to a 512 node hadoop cluster. Kicking myself for not entering now... ------ bumbledraven "None less than Daniel J. Bernstein (currently visiting TU/e) took the time to write dedicated software for our cluster of Core2 Quad CPUs." Why am I not surprised that djb's team won a crypto speed contest? :) ------ maximilian I hope he'll post more info about his cluster. The 2nd place guy was running 5 nVidia GPUs, so it would be interesting to compare performance. ~~~ profquail From the bottom of the page: The Coding and Cryptography Computer Cluster is a a ten-node cluster of conventional desktop PCs. Each node has an Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 CPU with a clock rate of 2.40GHz and direct fully cached access to 8GB of RAM. Each computer has a 750GB Western Digital SATA hard disk. The nodes are connected via switched Gigabit Ethernet using Marvell PCI-E adapter cards. ~~~ mattyb It also mentions that he had help from 2 folks who contributed GPU time. I can't imagine that fairly small cluster would come close without luck. ~~~ 0wned Read their tweets... "With 1 machine down (fan) still getting 428435640 hashes per second thanks to Dan's cool fast code." It would seem that DJB wrote some code for their cluster that was on par with GPU speeds. ------ po ...is not a cloud-based solution. It's a homemade cluster.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
How a Conservative TV Giant Is Ridding Itself of Regulation - artsandsci https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/14/us/politics/how-a-conservative-tv-giant-is-ridding-itself-of-regulation.html?referer=https://t.co/dFYlXuKAKv?amp=1 ====== damnfine Serious question to those outside the tech bubble; Do you, or anyone you know, still use OTA broadcasting? Or even watch any 'programmed broadcasts' on cable, etc? My limited sample size has nearly all media consumed ala-carte via on-demand, youtube, netflix, etc. With an outlier who just streams cnn all day. Is buyin up old tv stations still relevant? ~~~ mhmiles It’s very relevant for the older demographics that they serve. That same demographic also votes at a higher rate than the general population. ------ OhHeyItsE John Oliver did a great piece on this as well: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvtNyOzGogc)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Introducing Apache Spark 2.0 - rxin https://databricks.com/blog/2016/07/26/introducing-apache-spark-2-0.html ====== brudgers Announcement: [https://spark.apache.org/releases/spark- release-2-0-0.html](https://spark.apache.org/releases/spark- release-2-0-0.html)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
A snapshot of your computer with dd, pv and gzip - Part 1 - adito http://allgood38.github.io/a-snapshot-of-your-computer-with-dd-pv-and-gzip-part-1.html ====== networked Consider using Clonezilla [1] instead. While dd will produce a sector-by- sector image of your medium (which can be terribly inefficient if you're using considerably less than 100% of its available space) Clonezilla is file system- aware for a number of common file systems and has built-in support for compression as well. It resembles the recently discontinued Norton Ghost this way but is fully FOSS. I normally run it off a live CD/USB of Parted Magic [2], another tool I can wholeheartedly recommend. [1] [http://clonezilla.org/](http://clonezilla.org/) [2] [http://partedmagic.com/doku.php](http://partedmagic.com/doku.php) ~~~ res0nat0r I'd also recommend SysRescueCD that has these types of tools ready to be used as a bootable USB/CDrom image. [http://www.sysresccd.org/System-tools](http://www.sysresccd.org/System-tools) I've used the imaging tools on the boot cd a few times to clone/restore hosts a few times without any issues. Very handy. ~~~ WestCoastJustin I created a SystemRescueCd screencast a while ago if anyone is interested [1]. Although, it does not look like SysRescueCD includes Clonezilla, there are tools like rsync, dd, and scp for moving files around in a pinch. [1] [http://sysadmincasts.com/episodes/3-systemrescuecd](http://sysadmincasts.com/episodes/3-systemrescuecd) ------ hapless Just by the by, this is a _terrible_ idea to do online. The _best case_ is a crash-consistent replica. The more likely case is an inconsistent one that may or may not be repairable, because of the length of time it takes to do the dump. If you want a bit-for-bit dump of an online filesystem, use Linux LVM to create a snapshot, then make an image of that (100% known crash-consistent) copy. ------ rsync I don't always backup an entire system with 'dd', but when I do: dd if=/dev/da0 \| ssh user@rsync.net "dd of=backup.dd" or maybe: pg_dump -U postgres db \| ssh user@rsync.net "dd of=db_dump" ~~~ icebraining Unless you have a really big upload pipe, better use ssh -C. ~~~ wmf I don't know if ssh -C is strong enough these days. I use pigz or maybe pxz -1. ------ j_s I used dd booting from a USB stick to transfer a Windows install from hard drive to SSD this weekend - there are a number of steps that can be done beforehand to tighten up the size of the final output. These steps are also useful for virtual machines, but they tend to take quite a while... (1) Defrag - built-in / maybe SysInternals contig [http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb897428](http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb897428) (2) Defrag the page file - SysInternals PageDefrag [http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb897426](http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb897426) (3) Zero unused space - SysInternals SDelete [http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb897443.asp...](http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb897443.aspx) (4) Shrink volume (if backup is filesystem-aware, and disk is one large volume) - [http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/magazine/gg309169.aspx](http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/magazine/gg309169.aspx) (5) After transfer, expand volume to fit target disk Pretty much any utility automating these steps is acquired by the various virtualization vendors, or heads directly to the enterprise market (kind of like how inexpensive screencast creation software always disappears!). ~~~ straight_talk_2 Why would you possibly want to copy a pagefile over :D Actually with the current RAM prices you don't need one at all. ------ loser777 Hmm, I'm a bit wary of this kind of backup, because it seems like it's nontrivial to recover part of your data if half of the backup goes bad. While the old fashioned rsync/copy all your files may be less efficient, you'll still have whatever it managed to copy if something goes wrong partway through. This reminds be of doing a tar archive of all your files--if the archive is corrupted during that process, what then? ~~~ keithpeter I use clonezilla to image the whole hard drive including OS once I have a 'clean' setup with an empty home and all my software installed. Then I use rsync to copy all my 'stuff' back off a large external hard drive to the 'clean' installation. I _try_ not to change OS to often :-) Subsequently I use rsync with --delete set to sync the home drive only to an external drive of similar capacity to the computer drive for daily changes. This drive is ex4 and preserves ownership and permissions, and includes dotfiles. Once a week there is rsync without --delete to a large external hard drive as 2nd backup. This drive is NTFS and does not preserve permissions and excludes dotfiles. I have a free dropbox account for really crucial 'working' files. That gets rsync'd to a FAT32 stick each day using the 'time window' command so it does not write everything each time. Basically the clonzilla whole drive backup is just to save time/bandwidth with re-installing and setting up. The rsync backup to the large drive is file readable on work PCs that use Windows should disaster strike. The 'sync' to the small hard drive is readable at file level on anything I can boot from a live CD. Now, a _bootable_ whole disc image would be of interest now and again. ------ bcoates If you want to do something less tricky and low level than dd just remount the drive in question read-only and use tar. (be root to keep permissions, --use- compress-program=pigz) On the restore side, you can just use pv like cat, and don't have to provide a size param: pv my.img.gz \| pigz -d \| dd (or hopefully tar xf - instead)... In an ideal world a tool like pv could just look at /proc/ _fd_ /fdinfo/ instead of shuffling all the data through itself but I haven't found a tool that clever yet. ------ WizzleKake This is an incredibly naive way of backing up your system. I use rsync to back up certain folders. I'm OK with re-installing Linux if my hard drive crashes. ~~~ relaxitup It's not naive at all. There are a plethora of situations/reasons where one may want or need a block level image backup. ~~~ seunosewa For example... ~~~ allgood38 Well, it provides a perfect copy of the drive, not just a copy on another file system. I've actually been able to restore to a drive, and when it boots its as though nothing ever happened. Plus its fast. Its eerie to turn the computer on after knowing you formatted the drive for whatever reason, and your desktop pops up again. ~~~ gizmo686 It stops being eerie after a while. Several months ago, my brother was putting together a computer and wanted to test it (ie. the motherboard) before attaching any peripherals (other than the monitor). Obviously, installing the OS on the HD to do this was out of the question, so I just copied my computer onto a thumb-drive and used that. I didn't dd it, but just copied my filesystem over and did a grub-install. ------ Yen The author mentions that removed files stick around on disk after being removed, and that this can increase the size of a compressed bit-for-bit copy. They then suggest you can mitigate this by writing zeros to a file before rm'ing it. However, this is slow in the general case, and doesn't help if you've already rm'd the file. As an alternative, the 'sfree' utility, available in the debian package 'secure-delete', can be used to fill the unallocated portions of a disk with zeroes (or random data). sfree -llz <disk device> will write zeroes to the free areas of a disk. -ll limits it to only one pass over the disk, and -z makes that pass write zeroes, instead of random data. man page: [http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/lucid/man1/sfill.1.html](http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/lucid/man1/sfill.1.html) ~~~ allgood38 This is a pretty cool utility, I never really did like just creating a blank file, I'd rather use an explicit tool I'll update the article. ------ jaryd On OSX, CarbonCopyCloner works really well :) ------ sergiosgc If you want to backup with this kind of technique, use partimage instead, and do so from a rescue CD. You need a quiescent filesystem for imaging, so it can't be under use by the running OS. ~~~ sciurus Partimag development has been dead for years; take a look at partclone instead. Another program with a similar goal but a different approach is FSArchiver. [http://www.partclone.org](http://www.partclone.org) [http://www.fsarchiver.org/Main_Page](http://www.fsarchiver.org/Main_Page) ------ rlpb Remember that this cannot be run on a live system, since you'll get a corrupt image. Thus it's more useful for infrequent maintenance tasks than as part of a regular regime. ------ allgood38 Hi! Author of this article here, I've done something completely silly. I originally wrote this site on github, but then moved it over to a new host on its own domain and totally forgot about the old one. If you like this article, please check it out here at: [http://allgood38.io/a-snapshot-of-your-computer-with-dd- pv-a...](http://allgood38.io/a-snapshot-of-your-computer-with-dd-pv-and-gzip- part-1.html) ------ jamesmiller5 At first glance it reminded me of this counter argument which warns about using `dd`, especially on a failing drive. [http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2011/12/11/cloning/](http://rachelbythebay.com/w/2011/12/11/cloning/) ------ tlongren Pigz looks nice. First I've ever heard of it. I just use BackInTime though, like TimeMachine I guess. It's really, really useful. [http://backintime.le-web.org/screenshots/](http://backintime.le- web.org/screenshots/) ~~~ mercurial Looks like a graphical rsnapshot. Is this it?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
(Wel)come back! - niccolop http://taskforce.posterous.com/welcome-back ====== Applecores Looking forward to the new version. ~~~ niccolop Thanks, we are excited to hear feedback of our coming new features as well!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Dan Gilbert confirms he’s trying to get Amazon to build its second HQ in Detroit - janober https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/07/dan-gilbert-confirms-hes-trying-to-get-amazon-to-build-its-second-hq-in-detroit ====== grizzles I hope Detroit gets it. Metro Detroit would be just perfect for it. It's on the East Coast. It has ridiculous transport infrastructure. There is a ton of cheap labor nearby. They can probably acquire an absolutely massive plot of land downtown for pennies on the dollar.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: How to predict startup viability? - fnid2 There are a lot of web services out there and sometimes I am torn between my corporate days and my startup days. I think to myself, "I need to pick something here that will be a solution for a long time." Other times I think, "I don't really care about this, whatever, if it ceases to exist and takes my stuff with it, meh."<p>So in corporate mode, how do I know if a service is going to be around for a long time? How can I help make buying decisions or service selection decisions that will be the right decision for a long time, so I am not forced to rewrite everything and change my systems or reinstall an operating system or buy a new computer or a new phone. Integration is a nightmare!<p>Is there a way to future proof my decisions today? Sometimes I want to use a startup's service, but I don't know if it's a lost cause, but the big stable products that have history are very expensive. Sometimes open source is an option, but not always. Even then, when choosing among open source options, viability of the community and product are still concerns, so open source doesn't solve this problem in all cases.<p>The websites all look the same I can't tell. Sales people make products cost more, but help solidify viability. Or do they? What about investors does that help? VC? Bootstrapped? What sort of things should I look for to know if a service I use will be around for as long as I am?<p>I want to support startups by buying their services, but I don't want it to end up costing me more in the long run because I have to redo everything. ====== RiderOfGiraffes It took several read-throughs to work out what you are saying, but I think you're asking this: I want to purchase services from a small company - a start-up - but in doing so I run the risk that they won't prove to be viable in the long-run. Choosing them is a risk. How can I assess that risk so I can make a sensible choice? Is that right? If so, I don't have any answers, and it depends greatly on the services you are purchasing, the amount of lock-in, the promises made, and whether the founders/owners will be able to behave honorably in the case of a failure. ~~~ fnid2 Yes, that's what I mean, exactly. When you are building a business you want to know that you are basing it on a firm economic foundation that will last. Just like building a house. You want to use good wood that will last a long time. Further consider that I can build many of the services myself. In a way, I'm paying someone else to save me the time in development and maintenance that it would cost to do myself. How do I measure those costs as a small business? I'm also considering it from the POV of a provider. How do I structure a business that is profitable and long lasting? As an entrepreneur, I have many curiosities in areas that are not my traditional money making mechanisms. Software vs. Hardware for example. Not a lot of employers can afford to allow their employees to play around with robots, but as a small business, it's possible to do both and be profitable and even create some residual. How do you attract customers by being that kind of business? The question is doubly important for entrepreneurs. Perhaps more, but I am finding it increasingly more difficult to measure risk and reward and make predictions about longevity of organizations and services. ------ aamar If the startup is VC- or angel-funded, figure out what their runway is. You may just want to ask them what they think it is, the revenue assumptions they've used to understand that, and what kind access to funding they have beyond what's in the bank (don't count on this too much, however). With this information in hand, estimate the Probability that they'll last as long as you'll need them, the Cost of switching to a different product down the line, and the Value you derive from going with a startup vs. the "safe" option. Pick the startup that maximizes (and has a positive) V - (1-P)*C. (Feel free to substitute your own more elaborate ROI calculation.) You may be able to reduce your risk by adding a contract term to the effect of the following: if the startup goes out of business or discontinues the service, they'll agree to sell you at a specified price the relevant code, systems, license, etc. so you can continue operating the service in-house. Of course, this may not be relevant, depending on what exactly the startup's services are, and depending on your corporation's ability to support the service, and a lot of other legal issues worth examining with a lawyer.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
X86-to-6502: translate x86 assembly into mos6502 assembly - ingve https://github.com/lefticus/x86-to-6502 ====== KSS42 Can you explain the example? // test.asm main: movb $1, 53280 xorl %eax, %eax ret And get this output: main: ldy #$1 sty 53280 lda $00 rts I can see "movb $1, 53280" getting mapped to: ldy #$1 sty 53280 but what is going on with the xorl and lda? ~~~ tux1968 xor'ing a register against itself is an idiomatic way to clear the register to 0. Could do the same thing in 6502, but loading with zero directly is functionally equivalent. ~~~ KSS42 Thanks for the explanation. In the x86 code, is there an advantage of using the xor instead of a load/mov? Is it to avoid a fetch? (I programmed 6502/6510 assembly as a kid, but have no experience with x86 assembly) ~~~ alblue The encoding of the machine instruction is 2 bytes for xor eax,eax - if you were doing a load/mov then you'd have to use a numeric cknstant which would be 4 bytes to represent zero and then more for the mov itself. In addition when you have dependent loads of registers between instructions you can end up with pipeline stalls that delay the instruction (even if it shouldn't have any logical effect). The xor pattern is so common that inside the processor (which translates isa instructions to microcode) recognise it explicitly and so it's treated as a special case. In fact no xor happens and the register is simply reprinted to a fresh value containing zero. ~~~ 13of40 I've always wondered why a CISC architecture like x86 didn't include a CLR instruction... ~~~ Annatar On some processor families, like for instance the MC68000 family of processors, the clr instruction always wastes at least one clock cycle reading the register being cleared before actually clearing it, which is why when you look at the assembler code for that processor family, you will rarely see the clr instruction being used: [http://www.easy68k.com/paulrsm/doc/trick68k.htm](http://www.easy68k.com/paulrsm/doc/trick68k.htm) common tricks to clear out a data register on the 68000 family in a performant way include: moveq #0, d0 ; this works because zero can be expressed with only seven bits eor.l d0, d0 sub.l d0, d0 and for the address register sub.l a0, a0 eor.l a0, a0	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Would you rather type with your iPhone or type with your iPad? - kunle ====== makecheck Both have the same inconveniences, but the iPad keys are bigger so it will always be better. I find the iOS' problems with text editing don't really have much to do with its keyboard though. For instance, the "press, hold, move awkward magnifying bubble to relocate cursor" sequence is utterly boneheaded and they need something better; I don't mind occasionally typing the wrong key as long as I can _quickly_ move the insertion point to make a correction and _I can't_. ------ MatthewPhillips I don't have an iPhone but I would choose that assuming the typing is comparable to other touch screen phones. I find typing on an iPad to be quite difficult due to it's size. The split keyboard helps, and it's bearable in portrait mode, but it's always hard to hold the device while trying to thumb type. ------ callmeed Until the iOS 5 update, I would have said the iPhone. But now, with the split keyboard feature on the iPad it's very easy to type well on the iPad (in either orientation). ------ glimcat If I have to do significant typing, I either wait or I use a Bluetooth keyboard. ------ steventruong iPhone Side note: This should be a poll. ~~~ kunle agreed - is there a way to create a poll on HN? ~~~ steventruong Sorry for the delayed response. Was busy and just saw this now. Here: <http://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll> ------ dhaivatpandya iPad, by far. ------ pdenya ipad sitting, iphone standing.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: What's the best way to recruit users for user testing? - freeiris Looking to recruit about 20 - 25 people to test a simple application. Ideas? ====== PaulHoule Pizza?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
A Modified ElGamal for Passwords Only - jackokring https://kring.co.uk/2017/09/a-modified-elgamal-for-passwords-only/ ====== CarolineW While I can write down D-H key exchange and ElGamal without thinking too hard, there's no guarantee when I do so that I will be using the same letters for the same components as you have here. So I'd have to work out the bijection between the letter you've used and the letters I've used, and it all becomes a lot of work, and just obscures the point. Why don't you (assuming you're the author, based on your username and the author's name) either include the definition, or at least give a pointer to a definition that uses the notation you are using? The result of _not_ doing so is that I've read this and thought: That will be a _lot_ of work to interpret. Closed it and moved on.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
“Why I break DRM on e-books”: A publishing exec speaks out - endantwit http://paidcontent.org/2012/04/24/breaking-drm-publishing-exec/ Maybe more publishers should speak out? ====== endantwit And now scifi/fantasy publisher Tor Books drops DRM on their entire catalog of e-books: [http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57420219-1/tor-books- to-...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57420219-1/tor-books-to-drop-drm- on-entire-catalog-of-e-books/)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Publish node modules with ease - 0x142857 https://github.com/egoist/kanpai ====== 0x142857 here's a screenshot [https://git.io/vaVeM](https://git.io/vaVeM)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
All Lyft Rides Are Now Carbon Neutral - tonyztan https://medium.com/@johnzimmer/all-lyft-rides-are-now-carbon-neutral-55693af04f36 ====== ethansinjin This is highly laudable and a great step in the right direction. Something that struck me though: what about all the time drivers are \- idling and waiting for a ride \- driving to a pick-up point \- driving to and from a high-demand area It seems like the act of working as a Lyft driver would contribute more carbon dioxide than other jobs or contract positions. ~~~ aoner The cool thing is, now that they are paying for the extra carbon pollution it pays to try to mitigate these types of issues. The less carbon dioxide they pollute the better it is for their bottom line ~~~ Eridrus I think the GP was asking whether those emissions were being offset, or only emissions incurred during rides. ------ aoner Too bad they are not available in Amsterdam. This is the kind of thing that would make me use lyft instead of something else. I wish more products would be carbon neutral or negative. I also liked stripe's move and I think slowly more companies are changing this. ------ polynomial How are they able to do this without it making their rides significantly less competitive against the other ride apps that are not C-neutral? ~~~ maxander The market for ride-sharing services is over $17B [1], of which Lyft accounts for about a quarter. This is cited as a “multimillion dollar” effort- it’s likely barely a drop in the bucket. (And nice marketing, to boot.) [1] [https://www.statista.com/outlook/368/109/ride- sharing/united...](https://www.statista.com/outlook/368/109/ride- sharing/united-states#) ~~~ polynomial If Lyft accounts for 25% and they have made every/all Lyft rides carbon neutral, that would be more than a drop in the bucket. It would be 1/4th. However I don't understand where they are getting the money to pay for the carbon offsets without raising their price point above the competition. ------ oldgradstudent I thought selling indulgences stopped with the protestant reformation.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
CycleStreets looking for routing engine developer - bazzargh http://www.cyclestreets.net/blog/2013/05/15/routing-developer-needed-for-short-term-work/ ====== TheAnimus Well it's an interesting prospect, but in London myself I find that I prefer the opposite of what TFL's cycle routing thing thinks I would. I like main roads. Pedestrians tend to look before stepping out in main roads. They also have bus lanes. Bus drivers tend to be nicer to cyclists, they aren't in a hurry. Some things are fairly simple, avoiding right turns for instance, as often its much faster and safer to go on a bit further until some lights or roundabouts. Avoiding any road that is single car width, the amount of problems I find with drivers (despite me often doing in excess of the speed limits) rushing to overtake me, because i try to be courteous and let them at all times, only to then get stuck behind them due to oncoming traffic on single lane. So whilst I applaud their efforts, I'll be a bit cynical and suggest they are going about it the wrong way, it would be better to crowd source some scores for route sections aimed at specific kind of cyclists (many don't like doing 10mph+ because they will get sweaty) and somehow weave them together. ~~~ ZeroGravitas They offer 3 routes (fastest, quitest, balanced) for this reason already. I asssume the improvements they talk about based on more in-depth data would also take into account speed/confidence of the cyclist. ------ pja The "public sector provider or limited company" is a tad limiting. This looks like the kind of thing you want to throw a talented CS grad student who's familiar with graph algorithms at for a couple of weeks, but in general they're not going to have their own limited companies. I suppose you could find an umbrella at short notice if you had to, but the hassle factor would be high for a single contract. ~~~ CycleStreets Yes, this is the requirement of the funder, not our own requirement. Collaboration formally with the containing University could potentially be a possibility. ~~~ pja I thought that might be the case. Trouble with university funding depts is that they're usually _slow_ , although my University isn't too bad: at least they let their Researchers take on outside contracts like this & I believe will handle all the paperwork / legals for a small cut. I'll forward your link round the department. Someone might bite... ------ awjr Do wonder if this type of work should be released as open source to help solve this problem across multiple countries. ~~~ bazzargh They have been saying since they started that they were trying to open source the project. See eg this blog: [http://www.cyclestreets.net/blog/2012/01/09/open-sourcing- ef...](http://www.cyclestreets.net/blog/2012/01/09/open-sourcing-effort/) And, tantalisingly, the codebase is on github - it's just that the main bit - the routing engine - is not open: <https://github.com/cyclestreets> ~~~ CycleStreets We're almost there with the open-sourcing, I'm pleased to say. Sadly this process has taken far longer than we hoped because the codebase, which was started about 6 years ago and which was not started with open- sourcing in mind, ended up with a lot of things like embedded passwords, deploy scripts, people's names, API keys, etc. There's been a mammoth effort to deal with that. The entire deployment system has had to be rewritten, for instance, and that done while trying to keep a very busy production system running that also hosts a pile of third-party sites without downtime. [http://www.cyclestreets.net/blog/2013/01/31/scripting- cycles...](http://www.cyclestreets.net/blog/2013/01/31/scripting-cyclestreets- setup/) Really are almost there, at last, and it will be a real relief to us, not least to be using Git rather than SVN! ------ Irishsteve This would have been a good Kaggle competition. Would have gotten more bang for their buck for sure	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
A Flipboard like web site for news - PeterFitch http://www.c-est-simple.com/inmag ====== reivax pretty cool ! Would like more sources though ------ thonier Holy moly!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Richard Hamming: Learning to Learn - sinwave https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2FF649D0C4407B30 ====== bradfordarner I watched through the series a couple of months ago. I will do my best to provide a couple of the highlights that I really liked. Unfortunately, I didn't keep a detailed journal of the course as a I watched. I really should have. General Concept: Richard Hamming is a Turing Award winning Computer Scientist and Mathematician. He spent a long and illustrious career at Bell Labs. As with many other promising scientists of the day, Hamming took part in the Nuclear Bomb effort and worked in Los Alamos. He refers to himself throughout the series as little more than a scientific janitor at Los Alamos. However, he realized during his time at Los Alamos that he had the rare opportunity to observe and interact with some of the most famous and brilliant scientists in the world. He decided that he wanted to join their ranks. However, after the war, he found that his effort was blocked by the fact that he didn't really know how to become great. There was no instruction course in become a great scientist. Thus, he set out to find the principles for himself. This series is his summary of the decades of investigation and personal experience in becoming a great scientist. \-------- Principles: The following are a list of things that stood out in the series. Hamming had a number of principles that he constantly harped on. I will try to do my best to note some of them here and explain the context: "Luck favors the prepared mind" The longer you stay with a problem the higher the likelihood that you are going to find a creative moment somewhere in the mix. This idea reverberates throughout the entire series. In some sense, Hamming is trying to break apart the luck part from the preparation part of the equation throughout all of his talks. Interestingly enough, he declares that he doesn't believe that there is a formula for creativity (or at least a formula that any of us can use or know about). Instead, he harps on persistence as a part of this equation. You have to go after a problem for a long period of time. Once you have spent long enough with the problem that it has mades its way into your dreams, you know that you are approaching the point were rare epiphany moments are possible. "With that which you learn from other you will follow, with that which you learned for yourself you will lead" This is another quote that you hear time and time again throughout the series. By this he means that you actively have to work through practice problems and concepts yourself. He has found a vast difference in his understanding of topics that he passively soaked up and those subjects that he active dug into and made sure that he understood. In some sense, he used the Feynman technique. He pushed himself to being able to understand the concepts well enough that he could explain it fully and confidently to others. "Find the people who are doing important things and help them do those important things." The series is full of examples of thus. Hamming made it a habit to go after interesting problems with other people at Bell labs. He sought out opportunities to contribute to other people's work. It was clear the Claude Shannon was a genius, so Hamming made every effort to help Shannon out by providing computing assistance for Shannon's projects. One of the fascinating habits that Hamming had was to grab lunch with different departments at Bell Labs. He would make friends but lose them quickly as well. He was constantly pursuing people with the question: "What are the big problems in your space?" He would then follow up with: "Well, why aren't you working on them?" This made people uncomfortable. However, Hamming made the decision that he was going to do 'grade-A' work, as he refers to it. Hence, he knew that he needed to associate with people who were doing grade-A work. If they weren't then those people were useless to him. He laments that fact that many brilliant people at Bell Labs went down as making no significant contribution even though they were far smarter than Hamming because, for what ever reason, were hesitant to tackle big problems with other people working on big problems. You don't get the feeling at all in the series that Hamming was apologetic for aggressively pursuing big problems. He wanted to do great work...period. "If things are changing slow, listen to the expert. If things are changing rapidly, experts are only good for providing historical context." This is one of the gems from the series. Hamming says that he used this as a rule of when to listen to established experts and when to ignore them in favor of the possibility for something else. I wouldn't say that Hamming advocated rejecting expert opinion in the situation that things are changing rapidly. Rather, he viewed their opinion as carrying just as much weight as everyone else's. One of the examples that Hamming brought up numerous times was the switch from analog to digital. He had a lot of co-workers who got stuck on analog computing. They were brilliant men who fought the the move to digital computing. The analog experts had countless reasons why digital computing would not succeed. So, Hamming tried to judge it by how quickly computing technology was changing. He realized that things were simply changing too fast for anyone to claim some sort of supreme expertise on the subject matter. Hence, he didn't discard the expert opinions, he took them as just another data point that weighed just as much as all the other data points. He didn't make any 'decisions' he simply refused to take a hard stand on the subject- matter until it was resolved through history. In other words, this principle is more about staying open to possibilities rather than rejecting them outright and putting all your chips in one basic based on an expert's opinion. "In order to do the work that you want to do, you have to do it on your own time at the beginning. Only then will others give you time to do it." This principle is quite possibly the one that arises more than any other through out the series. Hamming found it frustrating in his early years that they wouldn't let him research what he really wanted to research. It was a catch-22 situation. In order to show the importance of the work that he wanted to do, he would have already had to have done the research. Otherwise, his directors wouldn't give him the time to do so. One night he was reading a random magazine and realized that he was wasting his time that he could have otherwise been using to conduct the research that he wanted to conduct. Thus, from that moment, he decided to not waste any more time. No one was going to give him permission to start his desired research. He had to give himself permission and take the lead. He had to start by doing it in his free time. He cut magazines and TV out of his life. He spent less time with friends and on leisurely activities. Instead, he devoted his spare time to doing the research that he really wanted to be doing. In the end, he was able to do enough in his spare time that he took it to his directors at Bell Labs and they then gave him the time to continue pursuing the research on the company dime. However, he didn't stop there. He took that opportunity to fill his newly spared time with other projects. He kept it up for decades. "Stay abreast of new things" There were so many new things arising everyday in computing that it felt overwhelming for Hamming. However, he knew that he needed to stay aware of what was happening. He didn't take that to mean that he needed to become an expert in everything but he needed to be aware of it. Hence, a lot of his spare moments in the day were filled reading about new developments and talking with people who were working on interesting projects. "Friday afternoons were for big ideas" Hamming had the habit of setting aside friday afternoons for thinking about big ideas. He was religious about this time. He would avoid everything else that he could so that he would have friday afternoons free to think about where the future might lead. I wish I had the time to pick out more principles that I gleaned from watching the series. There are countless nuggets throughout the series. He spends a lot of time talking about the details of the different projects that he worked on. However, those are nothing but stories to frame the principles that he is trying to communicate. The above principles that I have listed at only a few examples. His stories certainly help give more context and make it easier to remember the principles. It would be easy to write a full commentary on his lectures. EDIT: I've added a couple more principles that I remembered. However, nothing replaces actually hearing Hamming tell it in his lectures. I watched them at 2x speed on YouTube. It is easy to follow even at that speed. Hamming speaks relatively slowly at normal speed. So, 2x speed just feels like a quick conversational pace. ~~~ gajomi Hamming did not win a Nobel Prize. Perhaps you meant the Turing Award? ~~~ bradfordarner Yes, I did. Sorry about the mistake. ------ a_bonobo In case anyone is interested in a tl;dr, PLOS Computational Biology just published a "Ten Rules" article on Hamming's talk: "Ten Simple Rules for Lifelong Learning, According to Hamming" [http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371%2Fj...](http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pcbi.1004020) ------ rckrd I think that genius takes extraordinary intellect but also a penchant for timing. Solve interesting problems, but also at the right time. A way to overcome this is the Erdos approach: have a backlog of problems in your mind and allowed them to be solved naturally as you learn and new discoveries are made. Maybe that is why he was such a prolific mathematician. ------ andhof-mt One of my motivations in building videos for: [https://www.youtube.com/user/devfactor](https://www.youtube.com/user/devfactor) Was just this. In school you can listen, and be taught. But learning how to learn is an entirely different skill. Foundational knowledge is really important, but eventually you need to know how to pick up things on your own. Understanding the learning process, and the process of seeking out relevant information is almost more important than being able to memorize text and lectures. If you can only be taught, that you rely on schooling. If you can learn, than your limits are only based on time :) ------ Jolijn Can someone who already watched this comment? Anything particularly great about it? ~~~ dalke I haven't watched it either, and would like the same answer. The book on the topic is at [http://worrydream.com/refs/Hamming- TheArtOfDoingScienceAndEn...](http://worrydream.com/refs/Hamming- TheArtOfDoingScienceAndEngineering.pdf) . I read Hamming's "You and Your Research" some years back, and recall that it was quite appropriate. See [http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~dahlin/bookshelf/hamming.html](http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~dahlin/bookshelf/hamming.html) for the text. It's the penultimate lecture in the video series. ~~~ Jolijn Thank you! And I can't help but notice a couple more interesting titles in that directory: [http://worrydream.com/refs/](http://worrydream.com/refs/) ~~~ dalke Ooo! That's quite the collection of classic works. ------ countryqt30 I would really appreciate a short summary to get a few more of the basic ideas taught in this class or book. ------ charleshmorse Fantastic! Thank you for this.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Insider trading case cracked through LinkedIn - flgb http://m.smh.com.au/business/alleged-insider-trading-case-cracked-through-linkedin-20140511-zr9mw.html ====== voltagex_ Non-mobile link: [http://www.smh.com.au/business/alleged-insider-trading- case-...](http://www.smh.com.au/business/alleged-insider-trading-case-cracked- through-linkedin-20140511-zr9mw.html) There are some odd vague statements in there about the AFP (Australian Federal Police) making "covert enquiries" to Facebook.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Why We’ll Never Stop Talking About Steve Jobs - napolux http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/10/what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-steve-jobs/ ====== corporalagumbo Jobs' death was really amazingly well-timed. He died just at the moment when the open communication culture he helped build was taking off. So his death (and in particular the response) reflects his life's work most remarkably. For the first time in history, the death of a "great man" became almost instantly the subject of debate and analysis, conducted in thousands and thousands of blog posts, hundreds of thousands of comments, tweets and Facebook posts. The debate quickly became recursive - articles about "Why Steve Jobs was great" generate articles about "Why we talk about Steve Jobs" which in turn generates response (such as this), "Why we talk about talking about Steve Jobs." And so on. Only a year later and people are fervently discussing his legacy - having arguments in real time yet saturated with self-consciousness of history. And such discussion in itself changes the object being discussed. ------ lutusp > Why We’ll Never Stop Talking About Steve Jobs ... And I though that had already happened. > Jobs has joined the pantheon of greats who advanced science and industry and > society itself ... Maybe we should let history decide this, over a much longer time than has passed since Steve's departure. It's already clear that he can't be compared to Edison or Tesla, both of whom invented technology, where Steve promoted technology invented by others, including me. Steve might eventually be compared to Ford, but that's the only one of the three to whom he is compared that actually makes sense. ~~~ corporalagumbo With all due respect to your contribution to current technology, I think Jobs can and probably should be compared to Edison or Tesla, not because he did the same kind of work (he didn't) but because he illustrates the shift in the quality of important achievements between T/E's era and ours, and performed an equivalent role in helping bring about the core developments of our time. In Tesla and Edison's case, these core developments involved the application of novel principles and the development of radical new core technologies. In Jobs' case, this involved tying together all the strands of post-WWII technologial innovation into one streamlined package, creating an aura or mystique, and dragging the mainstream of society online. Once people like Tesla and Edison fill out the core innovations at a certain level of technology, the important next step becomes working out what to do with those innovations at a higher level of abstraction. Jobs' was active several steps up the abstraction ladder. An important part of what he did was simply accessibility or marketability. Forgive me if this sounds like I am diminishing the role of relatively pure technical work and innovation (work which Jobs certainly made the most of and largely did not contribute to directly from my understanding) but making technology attractive and accessible was a very important step during this period. Jobs' work may not have the romance of Tesla or Edison, but from what I've read it sounds like he was an exceptional (if very lucky) individual who combined a certain vision (of course continuously evolving) with a certain aggressive determination to realise that vision (catalysed by the incredible opportunities he was given in life). He was a different man, not better or worse (though maybe less romantic) to suit a different time.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Why Smart Contracts Fail: Undiscovered bugs and what we can do about them - bpierre https://medium.com/@hrishiolickel/why-smart-contracts-fail-undiscovered-bugs-and-what-we-can-do-about-them-119aa2843007 ====== Animats The basic problem is that executable programs are a crappy representation for contracts. Analyzing executable programs is too hard. A declarative representation with guarantees is needed. Here's a suggestion: an classic form called a decision table. See the Wikipedia entry.[1] For smart contracts, the underlying system should treat the actions as an atomic transaction - either they all happen, or none of them do. The input conditions in the table are expressions, but they are read-only and have no side effects. Decision tables can be displayed in a simple, understandable tabular form. Ordinary people can understand them. This is essential for contracts. For an action in a decision table to be another decision table might be permitted; this allows subroutines. But the whole operation must be treated as a single transaction, to prevent exploits and sync problems. Decision tables can be turned into IF statements by a straightforward algorithm; the implementation is not hard. This approach might make smart contracts usable. Etherium is too complicated, too l33t, and too buggy. [1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_table](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_table) ~~~ Animats As a design goal, a programmable contract should be able to express: \- A time deposit, like a CD \- A credit card \- A recurring service charge cancelable by either party. \- A mortgage loan \- A rental agreement (which is what Slock.it was supposed to do) \- Most financial derivatives If you can do those things, you've probably covered enough use cases for practical purposes. Complexity beyond that increases the attack surface. Standard functions in rules can do most of the computational work. Good date functions, and financial functions such as present value, are needed. An HP-12C, the standard pocket calculator for finance, is a good basis for the functions needed. (The financial industry would like it if smart contracts got exactly the same answers as an HP-12C.) ~~~ Animats A security researcher from the access control industry agrees that Solidity has far too much complexity for the job.[1] He also suggests simple, declarative systems, and lists a few from the access control industry. [1] [https://tonyarcieri.com/a-tale-of-two- cryptocurrencies](https://tonyarcieri.com/a-tale-of-two-cryptocurrencies) ~~~ nickpsecurity I remember the Interledger paper since it was one of best I've seen in these kinds of discussions. It was relatively simple, built on existing concepts, had much better odds of adoption, formally specified/verified, and leveraged prior schemes for robustness. That's how this kind of work should proceed whenever possible. Probably any protocol with significant use as well. ------ jasode From what I understand of DAO and the Turing Complete capability of Ethereum, the fundamental "flaw" in smart contracts is _not_ "more testing for bugs", nor "more static analysis", nor "case insensitive syntax". Instead, the gap that will be always there is related to Rice's Theorem and/or Godel Incompleteness Theorem. E.g. you can't take the rules of a system and use it to prove its own consistency. The other concept that is relevant is the "limits of correctness."[1] Based on Godel Incompleteness & Limits of Correctness, you will _always_ require an outer "context" to verify that the smart contract did what was intended. That outer "context" can't be the Ethereum code -- it has to be humans. Whether it's humans in "an open source council", or arbitrators, or courts. In a similar example with the NASDAQ crash in 2010, they cancelled some "bogus" trades.[2] NASDAQ is mostly automated by computers -- in fact, the "electronic trading" was its selling point over the NYSE. Even with NASDAQ's computer automation (this includes both the computer code inside NASDAQ and computer code of traders' computers) being a _weaker_ form of "smart contracts", NASDAQ still has to have humans be the final judge of which trades were "correct". Is it possible to write a NASDAQ decision tree embedded in source code that will handle _all_ errors thereby eliminating the need for _any_ human intervention? I don't believe it's possible. The idea of "smart contract" source code being the _final_ authority is an unattainable goal. The DAO/Ethereum had the "NASDAQ 2010 cancel trades" moment by forking the code. That decision to fork is the outer context of the "smart contract". In a sibling post, Animats writes, _> "A declarative representation with guarantees is needed."_ A declarative syntax can _reduce_ the bug count but it can't eliminate them and thereby remove humans from being ultimate judge of what is a "incorrect smart contract". For a similar example, consider the following super simple function: double convert_Celsius_to_Fahrenheit(double temperature) { return temperature * 9.0 / 5.0 + 32.0; } According the ideals of Functional Programming, that function is referentially transparent -- it does not reference global variables and just uses what's explicitly passed as a parameter. Also, the operations of multiplication, division, and addition are "well understood." There is no overflow flaw because a "double" datatype can handle all temperatures from Kelvin absolute zero -273 to Plank Temperature of 10^38. It doesn't have any gotos or jumps. It certainly looks like a "zero defect bug free" function. So... what could go wrong with that function that could make it not work the way humans intended? I leave that as an exercise for the reader. (Hint: read "Limits of Correctness".) [1][https://www.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs492/11public_html/p18...](https://www.student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs492/11public_html/p18-smith.pdf) [2][http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/07/markets/explaining_wall_stre...](http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/07/markets/explaining_wall_street_turmoil/) ~~~ nickpsecurity Thanks for the paper. Didn't have it. Just skimming it for now. "legal contracts, and other humanly interpretable specifications, are always stated within a background of common sense, to cover the myriad unstated and unstatable assumptions assumed to hold in force. (Current computer programs, alas, have no common sense, as the cartoonists know so well." (Smith) Most appropriate quote of the paper for purposes of this discussion. Human negotiators have common sense plus legal precedents (and lawyers) that guide the process to create sensible terms. They might argue over them later but the process works well enough. You'll rarely see something enormously simple and stupid happen. Whereas, computer programs, when asked, will happily divide by zero, overwrite their own system files, or make some prick investing in blockchains richer than deserved. They're idiotic. The part of INFOSEC dedicated to reducing impact of inherently risky and idiotic computers running arbitrary programs has been a miserable failure. The ones using constrained, predictable programs on less risky or idiotic HW/SW combos have a steady stream of good results. Especially in safety-critical industry. One trick is they, like legal contracts, are extra clear on the Why, What, and Where of their operation. The typically implicit assumptions are explicit enough to check with regular brains and smart tooling. Smart contracts will need this property as well. "consider the following super simple function:" That function isn't simple because it has floats. I've forgotten too much C to be sure of what the error is. I'm suspecting one or both of two: no sanity check on lower bounds of input value in Celcius, which might affect correctness; errata related to floating point math (esp rounding) which is _not_ decimal math that we teach students to use for conversion functions & likely was in the mental spec developer had in their head. I avoided floating point wherever possible due to its weird issues. Was I close or what was the actual error? ~~~ wolfgke > You'll rarely see something enormously simple and stupid happen. Because our society trains all people in this area very deeply. If the society would mainly train people really deeply into mathematics and computer science instead, I believe the situation would be exactly opposite. ------ dang Url changed from [https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/4p52qd/new_paper_...](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/4p52qd/new_paper_making_smart_contracts_smarter/), which points to this. The paper is at [http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~loiluu/papers/oyente.pdf](http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~loiluu/papers/oyente.pdf).	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals for developers? - alpb Where to find good software, subscription, e-books etc for software developers this week? (Similarly, noise cancelling headphones and such items that developers may use every day.) ====== rapnie Dunno. In fact I hope this celebration of naked consumerism, where the wolfs of marketing feast on our hacked feeble minds, passes by on developer markets. Probably will not, as there is a good buck to be made.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Disney to Acquire Twenty-First Century Fox - mxfh https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/walt-disney-company-acquire-twenty-first-century-fox-inc-spinoff-certain-businesses-52-4-billion-stock/ ====== jakozaur Sane antitrust regulations should kill this deal. It is bad for everybody other than shareholders of those two companies. In particular bad for customers, other companies and employees: [https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and- economics/2172555...](https://www.economist.com/news/finance-and- economics/21725552-new-research-suggests-too-little-competition-deters- investment-americas) [https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21695385-profits- are...](https://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21695385-profits-are-too-high- america-needs-giant-dose-competition-too-much-good-thing) ~~~ JumpCrisscross It's not so black and white. Stratchery posits consolidation may _promote_ competition at the distribution layer, where Netflix presently stands to dominate: "To that end, might it be better for consumers, not-so-much today but ten years from now, if Disney were fully empowered to compete with Netflix? What is preferable? A dominant streaming company and a collection of content companies trying to escape the commoditization trap, or two dominant streaming companies that can at least try to hold each other accountable?" [1] An analog might be found in the T-Mobile/Sprint merger [2]. It is not obvious whether their consolidation would have reduced competition, by turning two options into one, or increased it, by creating a stronger number three to AT&T and Verizon. [1] [https://stratechery.com/2017/disney-and- fox/](https://stratechery.com/2017/disney-and-fox/) [2] [http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/04/news/companies/sprint-t- mobi...](http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/04/news/companies/sprint-t-mobile- merger-deal/index.html) ~~~ aqme28 Is Netflix approaching monopoly? If anything I've seen a ton of competition coming up from the likes of Amazon, HBO, and a billion smaller services. ~~~ adamlett Netflix is on the trajectory to becoming a monopoly, yes. HBO is hamstrung by its lucrative cable tv deals in the US, which prevents it from competing effectively with Netflix in the streaming market. They will keep making money hand over fist from cable tv until suddenly they don’t. If Netflix is Google, HBO is Yahoo. Amazon in this analogy, of course would be Bing. At a glance they seem to have what is required to compete with Netflix: Deep pockets and technological competence. But to compete in this market is for Netflix a matter of life or death, whereas for Amazon, it’s a side show. As for the multitude of smaller competitors, they are all the search engines we’ve forgotten the names of or never heard of to begin with. ~~~ pkill17 If HBO is hamstrung by lucrative deals, then it stands to think that HBO's own deal making has prevented them from usurping Netflix. To my knowledge, I haven't heard of Netflix having overtly anti-competitive behavior but I'm all ears for examples. It seems as though HBO is capable of competing, but they have to make a risky play and get out from their cable TV bubble to do so, which is no fault of Netflix. If anything, this shows that the monolithic telecoms that have large stakes in these cable TV brands are facilitating monopolies elsewhere because likely competitors are locked into their current markets. EDIT: to be clear, HBO's unsuccessful attempt to be level with Netflix in the streaming arena is more "don't want to" and not "can't". I wouldn't call a lack of wanting to be monopolistic. If HBO suddenly turned around and wanted to compete directly with Netflix and got boxed out by Netflix in some way, i.e. Netflix striking deals with Level 3 or similar providers to prevent HBO from getting equal treatment, then there's a strong case for them being labeled a monopoly. ~~~ adamlett _To my knowledge, I haven 't heard of Netflix having overtly anti-competitive behavior but I'm all ears for examples._ I’ not aware of any either, but one does not have to engage in anti- competitive behavior to become or be a monopoly. _If anything, this shows that the monolithic telecoms that have large stakes in these cable TV brands are facilitating monopolies elsewhere because likely competitors are locked into their current markets_ Yes, that’s right. But like HBO, they are trapped by their business model. ------ werdnapk So along with Disney pulling all their titles from Netflix for their own streaming service, I guess the FX content will be next to go from Netflix. ~~~ reubeniv Oh it's crazy how much stuff Disney can pull off Netflix, I don't know if they will, because it's in their interest to have some stuff accessible over more than one place, but they own ABC (Lost, Castle, Firefly, etc), ESPN, Marvel, LucasArts, now Fox and their assets, not to mention they distribute on behalf of many publishers (Dreamworks for example), they would probably clear more than half of Netflix's content if they pulled everything. ~~~ cableshaft Almost seems like Netflix knew what they were doing when they started funding a bunch of original content. I remember when people thought they were being silly. ~~~ bolasanibk "The goal is to become HBO faster than HBO can become us." \- 2013, Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer, Netflix [https://gizmodo.com/5980103/netflix-the-goal-is-to-become- hb...](https://gizmodo.com/5980103/netflix-the-goal-is-to-become-hbo-faster- than-hbo-can-become-us) Edit: He just got the company wrong. ~~~ pchristensen Kind of like how Google made Android free to head off Microsoft, not realizing that Apple would be their mobile competition. ~~~ aikinai Google did make Android free to head off Microsoft, but it was already very clear Apple was the primary competition. They were trying to take Microsoft’s place in the new Duopoly. ~~~ mulletbum From my understanding Android's launch was delayed because they didn't know how amazing the first iPhone was before its release. That seems to me they were taking it seriously as they were competing with Blackberry at the time if I am correct. ~~~ tabs_masterrace The big 3 were BlackBerry, Windows Mobile & Symbian (Nokia) Android was built a lot like a BlackBerry/Window Mobile competitor in its early stages. Nobody knew Apple was making a phone, there were heavy rumors of course, but people weren't expecting the impact it would have. Google obviously had to know something about it, as they provided maps apis for the first iPhone. But Apple probably kept as much secret as they could. But none of them were really prepared for iOS's leap in touchscreen UIs. Android was the fastest to adopt, took about 2-3 years still though. BlackBerry & Windows Mobile waited to late for a reboot and Symbian just died silently. ~~~ danielbln > Android was the fastest to adopt, took about 2-3 years still though Is that true though? The first iPhone released in June 2007, the first Android phone (already with proper touch interfaces) came out a year leater, in September 2008. ~~~ tabs_masterrace Yes that is correct, the G1 came out already a year later. But it was still very clearly inferior to the iPhone, the UI was slow, things like scrolling lists was laggy and unresponsive, and no multi-touch gestures like pinch-to- zoom for maps/photos/webbrowser. IMHO Android really started to catch up around the time Nexus S and then Galaxy Nexus came out. ------ jacksmith21006 Predicted by Matt Groening [https://goo.gl/images/pPPy6o](https://goo.gl/images/pPPy6o) ------ nottorp So what are the next movie franchises to get Disney-ized, like they did to Star Wars? All the super hero stuff, I get, but that's not the only thing that 21st Century makes is it? ~~~ santaclaus > So what are the next movie franchises to get Disney-ized, like they did to > Star Wars? The Simpsons Cinematic Universe ~~~ Nition Starting with origin story films for each character. ~~~ berbec A self-contained spinoff "Shelbyville One" ------ freeflight I, for one, welcome our new mouse-eared overlords. /s At this rate, I wouldn't be too surprised if Disney ends up buying WB and a rather awkward Marvel/DC crossover is gonna happen on the big screen. ------ muterad_murilax So, will the Fox fanfare return to all Star Wars films, past and present, from now on? ~~~ upvotinglurker Serious question: why do people want this so badly? Just nostalgia? (Too young to have see the OT movies in theaters, so I don't have that) For me, sticking the cheesy fox logo and fanfare at the beginning of the movies would make them worse, not better. ~~~ rjohnk Another interesting tidbit: John Williams put the opening theme to star wars in the same key as the Fanfare (b-flat major) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox#Logo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Fox#Logo) ~~~ jedberg He wrote the fanfare too (the one that comes before Star Wars, which was an adaptation of the original). ------ scarface74 The new thing that worries me about the deal is what might happen to Hulu? Now Disney owns 66% and Comcast owns 33%. Will Comcast take its content off of Hulu once the consent decree expires? ------ matt_s Maybe there will be a consolidation and some crappy repetitive movies will go away? I think these businesses are overvalued. What happens when consumers get sick of the super hero genre? EDIT: for whoever down-voted - that wasn't a sarcastic question. Honest question of what happens when the main products lose popularity? If there is a downturn in interest in that, will they get their $50B back? ~~~ indubitable An interesting datum is that movie ticket sales are actually down, _big time_. [1] Movies hit their peak, in tickets sold, way back in 2002. We're down 26% since then. Factor in population increases which should have resulted in a roughly proportional increase in ticket sales and it's shocking how bad movies are doing. But record breaking sales...? That's gross receipts or _tickets_sold x cost_per_ticket_. Ticket sales are dropping fast, but the price per ticket is increasing even faster. Some masterful grasp of supply and demand there... Movie companies seem to be in completely denial about the change in quality being the source of their problems. This goes to explain many otherwise bizarre behaviors such as the cinemas absolute obsession with piracy even though most studies show it has at worst a modest effect. That's actually perhaps the thing I find most ridiculous about mega corporations. There seems to be this complete lack of self accountability. When reception or sales are poor they will blame absolutely everything under the sun, except their own decisions. It's like how in the video game industry there was this belief that game review ratings had a _causal_ relationship to increased sales. So the games industry completely gamed ratings and the correlation all but entirely disappeared. Go figure, games actually being good was the confounding variable. Who could have guessed? [1] - [https://www.the-numbers.com/market/](https://www.the- numbers.com/market/) ~~~ doomlaser > Movie companies seem to be in completely denial about the change in quality > being the source of their problems Don't you think on demand internet distribution is the true source of the problem? Record sales were at their peak in 2002 too. [https://kyigt1bcans3ofli94di0kch-wpengine.netdna- ssl.com/wp-...](https://kyigt1bcans3ofli94di0kch-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp- content/blogs.dir/9/files/2014/02/dollars-inflation-edited.jpg) ~~~ indubitable Streaming services like Netflix didn't even exist, as streaming services, until sometime around 2007. And prior to that the vast majority of people would not have had the hardware/connection to be able to stream effectively in any case. Movies had already long since been in decline. Similarly, the time line is also another bit of evidence that piracy is also not the problem. ------ ra1n85 My knee jerk reaction here was "ugh, more consolidation of the media by US mega corporations." But then I noted that Fox is owned by News Corp, which owns the Wall Street Journal and New York Post. ~~~ coldcode Fox continues to own News and Sports. However rumors are that Murdoch may also be shopping other parts of what remains. Disney gets Movies including Avatar and XMen, etc, 300 other channels, production studios, controlling stake in Hulu and for some bizarre historical reason, now own the rights to Star Wars IV, A New Hope. ~~~ pinebox > and for some bizarre historical reason, now own the rights to Star Wars IV, > A New Hope These were distribution rights, some of which were going to expire in 2020 anyway.[1] So now we may finally get some official unspecialized Star Wars. [1]: [http://www.slashfilm.com/20th-century-fox-still-owns- rights-...](http://www.slashfilm.com/20th-century-fox-still-owns-rights-to- first-six-star-wars-films-making-original-box-set-difficult/) ~~~ basch no, Fox OWNED A New Hope, and it says so in the article you posted ------ jccalhoun I'm kind of torn on whether this is the same as other media mergers like Comcast-Universal or the upcoming Sinclair-Tribune mergers. I think mergers of news and broadcast outlets are generally bad but the bulk of what Disney is buying is intellectual property. Can owning tons of trademarks and copyrights ever be considered a monopoly? I am uncomfortable with one company owning Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Aliens, Predator, and all the other things. But if they make crappy movies then people will just watch something else. ~~~ Spivak Media properties are natural monopolies thanks to copyright anyway so, sans quality, it really doesn't matter who owns them. On the other hand it's definitely possible to have a monopoly on distribution but good luck arguing that it's possible to have a monopoly on art. ------ paulus_magnus2 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopsony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligopsony) In U.S. publishing, five publishers known as the Big Five account for about two-thirds of books published.[1] ... Thus authors have fewer truly independent outlets for their work. This simultaneously depresses advances paid to authors and creates pressure for authors to cater to the tastes of the publishers in order to ensure publication, reducing viewpoint diversity. ------ systems So now we can finally get X-Men characters in MVCI (Marvel vs Capcom Infinite) ~~~ glitchc Wolverine (and others) have been around since the very first MvC. Heck, the direct precursor to MVC was X-Men vs. Street Fighter. ------ longerthoughts I have a hard time believing this will be approved. Given how much regulatory scrutiny the AT&T/Time Warner merger is under as a vertical merger, it would be wildly inconsistent to then approve a horizontal merger of this size, even if the AT&T/Time Warner merger ultimately goes through. ------ riffic Awesome, two large media companies becoming one giant media company. This should concern everyone. ------ randomness123 The deal might be quite good for my country. Fox operates as Star Channels in India. They are major entertainment and sports provider. They also have a streaming service 'Hotstar'. Hopefully will see more content on the streaming service. ------ jsmthrowaway Wow, Disney didn’t ask them to divest FX, which means they’re knowingly acquiring _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ among other content they’d normally not find palatable. They even call out that they’re bringing in _The Americans_ and _Deadpool_. That’s kind of strange for Disney, given that historically they’re careful about what they’re associated with. I really hope they leave their new portfolio alone, but that’s not their MO with content that they find controversial. ~~~ empath75 You know Disney released Pulp Fiction and Scream right? ~~~ jsmthrowaway I do, yes. Disney took incredible heat and a number of shareholders bailed as a result of Miramax releasing _Pulp Fiction_ , and Weinstein had to fight for it, if I recall my film history. Disney also refused to allow Miramax to release _Dogma_ , which is history that is guiding my surprise. That studio is part of the reason they started being more careful, and they finally divested Miramax in 2010. It’ll be interesting to see how they handle their portfolio going forward. ~~~ upvotinglurker 1999 (Dogma), not to mention 1994 (Pulp Fiction), was a long time ago, and things do change. Since then I remember Disney being one of the first big companies to get in the national news for offering same-sex partner benefits; they didn't seem to care how many people that offended. ------ PatientTrader Hopefully this deal is killed. Its really bad for consumers, content creators, and actors. Monopoly on too much media all under one roof is bad all around... ~~~ bighi Monopoly in _any_ market is bad. ------ 40acres Generally what does huge mergers in industry mean for disruption (in the more traditional Clay Christensen model). For example, if the #1 and #4 player in a specific industry does that mean there is more space for an upstart to grow since #4 has left the party? Or does the new #1 suck up all the air and put such a choke hold on industry that new players cannot flourish? ~~~ pchristensen (Christensen model) Disruption is about business models, not competition. New technologies that help existing companies improve their products are "sustaining innovations" (e.g. 2.5" hard drives let laptop companies make smaller, better laptops). But if they don't help existing companies and allow the development of a "worse" alternative, it's a disruptive innovation (e.g. SSD drives were too expensive and low capacity for laptops, but they were perfect for iPods and smartphones, which have now surpassed laptops in sales, use, etc). ------ toblender Great! Now they can fit even more superheroes into one movie... ------ bobcallme It's a media-opoly! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh6Hf5_ZYPI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh6Hf5_ZYPI) ------ Tiktaalik I hope everyone likes the Fantastic Four, because we're probably going to get a few years of Fantastic Four Marvel Cinematic Universe movies out of this deal. ~~~ frooxie I really like the original Lee/Kirby comics (and Byrne's run in a similar style), and I'd love to see movies that were true to the best parts of those comics. The only good FF movie we've gotten so far was called The Incredibles, but there's no reason why the real FF movies couldn't be at least as good and successful. ------ metallah What does this mean for the Star Wars Franchise? ~~~ Dirlewanger The same that it's been since they bought it in 2012: will be subject to decades of safe, mediocre, corporate focus group-mediated content ------ roryisok fingers crossed for firefly season 2 ~~~ jandrese This is a monkey paw thing where you get it, but it's the bland by-the-numbers Disney version carefully built by committee to avoid offending the largest number of people and just revisits all of the same ideas from the first season. ~~~ Spivak I really don't get why people are upset about this. A company trying to make money by going for mass appeal. _For shame_. Until someone shows that an unsafe movie can be popular it's going to continue just how it's been since Gilgamesh. ~~~ roryisok Logan, guardians of the galaxy and Deadpool fairly soundly proved that unsafe movies can be popular. But at Disney it's about maximizing profits. If you can get all of the family to go see a movie rather than just anyone over 16, you're making more money. ------ thrillgore Disney is now officially too big to fail. This deal needs to be stopped right away. ~~~ swarnie_ Not really, the world doesn't end if Disney goes broke. its not like 2008 where 60% of all high street bank accounts were in danger. ------ Shivetya which means less content for netflix I would assume. not worried to much about the R rated content they got, they are staunch anti gambling not exactly staunch anti R except under the original brand ------ shmerl As if media consolidation is bringing any benefits, rather than harm. ------ gremlinsinc Any chance Disney could bring back firefly? ------ qwerty456127 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTk6m3U54po](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTk6m3U54po) ------ paulus_magnus2 Why not go all the way and merge all companies into 1 big one. Being born on the wrong side of the iron curtain I already saw economy based on monopolies. Communism failed because prices were centrally set. We knew how to build useful things (that don't break 1 day after warranty) but not which ones to build and how many. (wiki) A price signal is information conveyed to consumers and producers, via the price charged for a product or service, which provides a signal to increase or decrease supply or demand. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_signal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_signal) ~~~ bighi That's what I've been saying for a long time. Some people say "it's just capitalism working as intended", but that's not exactly true. A lot of the mechanisms of capitalism depend on competition. Capitalism without competition is no different from Communism or any other system in which one party rules supreme. ~~~ vidarh Incidentally Marx argument for why he believed a revolution would eventually become inevitable _also_ depends entirely on competition: He argued that it is the ongoing effectivisation of capitalism through competition that will eventually trigger revolutions by making too many people unemployed and/or destitute. ------ jamiethompson So what you're saying is that Disney will own The Simpsons? [https://i.redd.it/cx2j4c9aufwz.jpg](https://i.redd.it/cx2j4c9aufwz.jpg) (predicted in 1998) ~~~ ekianjo That's visionary. Actually the Simpsons got lucky with several of their goofy predictions, it's always amusing after the fact. ~~~ amelius Can we have a list of mispredictions? ~~~ andruby * Trump as president, predicted in the 2000 episode "Bart To The Future" [0] * Top 10 Simpsons Predictions That Came True [1] (not a great video though) [0] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZyaDKaun7w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZyaDKaun7w) [1] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQGXofzQEiE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQGXofzQEiE) ~~~ jandrese But they assumed that a President Trump would put the country in a huge debt hole, and the Republicans have assured us that their enormous giveway to billionaires would cause the economy to grow by 3% annually for the next 10 years, just like every other time that policy has completely failed to do that. ------ chatwinra [https://youtu.be/PXBJIZ1NXFU](https://youtu.be/PXBJIZ1NXFU) (Epic Rap Battles of History, Stan Lee vs Jim Henson) Whole video is good imo, but skip to around 2:06 onwards for the relevant bit. Sums up the feeling nicely I think. ~~~ dingo_bat Awesome episode this one. It looked to be ending at a nice amicable juncture and then the epic sinister twist. It's mind blowing how many properties Disney owns. ~~~ logfromblammo When I heard the news, all I could think of was this Lee vs. Henson ERB, and the South Park episode where the mouse becomes a rampaging daikaiju. ------ frik What will happen to the Nakatomi Plaza / Fox Plaza (skyscraper in LA). Would like to see a remake with little CGI, like the original Die Hard 1/2. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Plaza_(Los_Angeles)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Plaza_$Los_Angeles$) ~~~ matt-attack Firstly, Fox doesn't own that building. It's owned by The Irvine Company. The 50 acre Fox Lot next door however is stated to _not_ be part of the Disney deal [1]. Meaning, Rupert would retain ownership of the land (valued at $1.8 Billion). [1] [https://deadline.com/2017/12/fox-studios-lot-future- disney-m...](https://deadline.com/2017/12/fox-studios-lot-future-disney- merger-1202225435/) ------ callesgg "There Can Be Only One" ~~~ dovdovdov \- Capitalism, errr, wait no.... ~~~ jjoonathan Market freedom leads to competition, doncha know? ~~~ bovermyer Market freedom leads to consolidation which leads to the exact opposite of competition. This is why the United States, contrary to popular opinion, is not a purely capitalist nation; it is instead a hybrid between socialism and capitalism. Reasonable regulation protects the free market. ~~~ nickik Its simply false that market freedom always leads to consolidation. There is a very complex interplay between transaction cost, information problems, scaling economics and so on. You are just throwing out populist phrases because they sound good. The solution is not to declare some kind of neo-progressive trust busting but locking at individual industries and figuring out why they are consolidating and if it will be bad. In this case Disney can only do what they do because massive help from government protecting their intellectual property. Intellectual property, both patent and copyright, need reform. This is the relevant practical problem here. ~~~ hypersoar So, I'm curious: why _not_ engage in some neo-progressive trust busting? ~~~ nickik Because the whole point of a market is that it acts as a process to discover the most efficient way to do something in a complex system. Every individual market has huge amounts of complexity by itself and competes for the same resources as many other market creating huge amounts of complex dependencies. If in these system a particular structure emerges, there is reason to think that it is actually pretty efficient compared to most alternatives. Just willingly going around trust-busting because 'cooperation are evil' or some other popular phrase is a terrible idea most of the time it will hurt more then it does good. If you want to do something useful make sure the citizens have rights and that there is a good legal system to arbitrate the interaction of people, companies, non-profits, clubs and so on. Real change happens because a change in the rules of the system, not in a temporary heroic political trust-busting campaign to score political points. ------ ralmidani As an American, I've always found it mind-boggling how average Americans cheer these types of M/As. The argument is that consolidation leads to more "efficiency" and "synergy", but those benefits are usually not passed down to consumers (actually, market domination allows a company like Disney to price- gouge even more on movies and merchandise). ~~~ guntars This is basically just entertainment (Fox News included) so they can do whatever they want. If this was healthcare, for example, it would require a bit more scrutiny IMO. ~~~ ralmidani As noted in this thread, the entertainment industry is almost single-handedly responsible for the draconian Copyright laws in the US. So the harm caused by consolidation can extend beyond entertainment (think software). Also, there is almost no alarm being raised by consolidation in healthcare, such as the CVS/Aetna deal. ------ randomerr It's mostly was they can control over the animated titles the Marvel franchises. Next is Sony studios. ~~~ empath75 I suspect that’s part of it but you don’t spend billions of dollars just to make a few X-men movies. ~~~ no1youknowz Yes you do. According to wired, [0] Disney paid Lucas Arts $4.5B, which half was cash. In 2016, [1] The Force Awakens made $1.54B globally. Maybe it's more now. Lets say that the last Jedi manages the same success? Well, they made their money back and the new rumored trilogy. That's profit. When you can put Spiderman and the X-men in the same universe as the Avengers and do the next 20 or 30 super hero movies where one, two, three, four, etc characters from the universe makes an appearance? I'm pretty sure fans of whatever franchise will line up to throw money in seeing the movies. This really sounds like a no brainer to me. [0]: [https://www.wired.com/2015/12/disney-star-wars-return-on- inv...](https://www.wired.com/2015/12/disney-star-wars-return-on-investment/) [1]: [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-star- wars-...](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-star-wars- force-852198) ~~~ CPLX Your math is impeccable. But I do wonder if someone is considering the possibility that people will get tired of superhero movies in the relatively near future and the whole concept will seem dated. ~~~ emodendroket I've been hoping for this for... I mean it must be a decade now. ~~~ pessimizer I thought I could wait out Britney Spears, and the entire industry became Britney Spears, and stayed Britney Spears. ------ cromwellian Disney missed an opportunity to improve the world by shutting down Fox News or changing its editorial viewpoint to be more in line with their own and retiring th Murdoch’s completely from the news propaganda game. ~~~ kylehotchkiss I was feeling the same	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: Review my webapp: memobuild - namarojulian Hi all,<p>Hope you won't mind if this is my first post, but I was told this is a good place to get advice for a new web business. So here it is: http://www.memobuild.com<p>It's basically an editor for large online documents (e.g. documentation, reports, e-books). It follows the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Mean paradigm: authors just need to input the contents in a structured way, the layout and design are automatically taken care of by the application. There are some e-learning features too. The app is powered by Google App Engine / python, and hopefully it can scale nicely.<p>Please have a look and let me know what you think.<p>The next step will be to get in the Google Apps Marketplace to reach out to businesses and schools. Meanwhile I'm trying to get some early adopters. I plan to contact bloggers discussing learning technologies. Any other idea on where to concentrate my marketing efforts? ====== RBr I have composed learning materials using almost every Learning Management System available. Your interface is clean and easy to understand. The simple content section on the left along with easy to understand CMS controls are exceptionally well done. This feels like part of a larger product. Learning materials take hundreds of hours to prepare and I wouldn't trust my time with your new product. Not that it isn't well created, just that I don't have any control over the hosting or storage and I don't see an easy way for me to backup or duplicate content on more trustworthy platforms such as Google Docs or even good old Word. Your application may be a good add-on for a small publisher. A publisher could offer your product (branded as their own) to extend their texts online and keep them up-to-date. I could see the advantage to this for either a business (in sort of a Wiki setup) or a school, however without a real direction, it's a bit difficult for me and your potential customers to see. Overall, I really like this. I wish that it was integrated into a full LMS and that I could quickly and easily spin my content into texts. ~~~ namarojulian Thanks for the feedback RBr! Actually you're the second user today to tell me the lack of export formats is a problem. I plan to offer export options, but it is not simple. There are some features like audio, associations or exercises that cannot be easily reproduced in other formats. An XML file would be a good start though. Connecting with existing LMS: you're right I need to look more into that. ~~~ pierrefar > _Connecting with existing LMS: you're right I need to look more into that._ Please get in touch with me. My profile will tell you why and my contact details. ------ ritonlajoie clickable : <http://www.memobuild.com> ------ iampims That's a really neat app. The inline quiz is a great feature. Which python framework did you use? Small "bug": when you navigate to the login page [1], there's no link to go back to the home page or anywhere else but the TOS. [1] <http://www.memobuild.com/login> ~~~ namarojulian Thanks! Did you also try to put a block with the "answer" style in your quiz? It's not yet documented but quite useful. I built on top of Google's webapp framework. Although if I had to start something now I would probably use tipfy or kay. ------ secret I really like it. As soon as I started using it, it was clear how to do anything. My suggestion would be to change the sample links on the home page to images. Also, it would be nice to try a demo before signing up. ~~~ namarojulian Thanks! You're right those links need a little polishing. ~~~ secret The samples were really well made, they deserve something flashy to show them off :) ~~~ notahacker I'd be tempted to move them below the fold - let the user read that memobuild will give them drag and drop page organisation and collaborative document creation before they click through and start wondering what your app's connection with biometric testing in Australia is A "sample built using memobuild" bar at the top with a link to the home page would seem pretty essential too for exactly the same reason. ------ 10ren I wish there was a way to play with it initially without giving up my email. I hate getting automated 'haven't seen you for a while' app-spam. It's pretty standard though, so maybe it's just me. I'm using App Engine too; seems to be a good choice. And oddly, the performance stats for Python vs. Java seem indistinguishable. I would have thought Java would pull ahead on repetitive server-like tasks. ~~~ namarojulian I love one-click demo too, and hopefully I can add it later. About Java vs. Python, from my experience datastore RPC are often the bottleneck anyway. ------ pedrocr I seem to have found a bug. In: <http://help.memobuild.com/user-guide/creating-document> all the links on the left above "Using the Drafts folder" don't work. I'm using Chrome 6.0.472.53 on Linux. ~~~ namarojulian Confirmed. Thanks for the report! ------ random42 The programmer in me absolutely loved the product. However, I am bit skeptical about how it would be positioned/generate revenue (Mostly because I have zero business acumen) . Good product. Best of luck for revenue generation. ~~~ namarojulian Many thanks! Monetization is tough for any webapp, but I believe there are possibilities for an app like memobuild. ~~~ ollerac I'd pay for an embeddable/skinnable version of your editor. Great interface -- nice work ------ alexpak Personally, I find it really cool. Although, after the publication, the link doesn't work. I tried (<http://docs.memobuild.com/irokez/test/>) ~~~ namarojulian Thanks! Strange the link didn't work, if I click it works here. ------ eduardo_f Looks good! Could you share how you did the video? I'd like to do something like that for my app (it's in the Google Apps Marketplace already by the way). ~~~ namarojulian Thanks! Google Molly at demogirl and say hi from me. ------ pghimire I tried to sign in with my google account only to get a 500. Please check google sign ins. : [http://www.memobuild.com/_ah/openid_verify?continue=http://w...](http://www.memobuild.com/_ah/openid_verify?continue=http://www.memobuild.com/register/federated/google&gx.rp_st=AEp4C1tRGrNmj7ieXys4FXketo5WC0ka4iOF0WU54D9Dfnh3xs-p76e72T7csrg5dACTQus25GobI_Ryldppy9LaVFkAI3YrPewFSCftS2RR-5z4NWymYMBYtyrtWO_3Bk0MwLfMWHnaB4t5MpsFiCPAVE7IsXW3lCU6H_53JBeFV- DjQWwFarWJJELhr3GxxOoPlemT8ROb5PDDcptWSRKATtuHo1i15wlUkfm6E9bd9cofIf8baEmlJ- KGOVjlp6ez4qWfROKs7ZymWJe38oA9_LMy52vFRhQb_Rqck9Uv0vhpJ7IHjxmuq_BhsIVBZQW4WQncIFvt) ~~~ pghimire here is the message: Error: Server Error The server encountered an error and could not complete your request. If the problem persists, please report your problem and mention this error message and the query that caused it. ~~~ namarojulian There is a glitch with Google login that causes this error when you click on the "Continue to memobuild.." button. If you wait for the redirection instead, it should work.. Am I correct? ------ rokhayakebe You need to take it down, hire a designer (/copy writer) to redo the UI and add pricing, otherwise everyday you are missing out on customers/revenue. Although I have not played with the app, it seems to have a great potential. There is definitely a need for this product. ~~~ namarojulian Thanks! Monetization will come. Why take it down? On the contrary I'm trying to get users.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: What's the best way to notify our customers of a vulnerability? - beenalongweek What's the best way to do this for downloadable software? I see a lot of companies do it wrong and receive harsh (but valid) criticism on this site. The issue is already fixed, but customers need to install the new version.<p>Also, what do we need to be aware of legally? Do we need to hire a lawyer to review the email we're planning to send? ====== mattbgates If you collect emails, than send an email to let users know of possible vulnerabilities (or incorporate a message into the software itself -- disable functionality until update). Have a general template written up for different scenarios and revise as necessary. Don't be afraid to reimburse customers for lost time if necessary, such as crediting their accounts. It is the least you can do. My webhost company was out a week ago due to a blackout where it is located, and email was down for a day. No mention of reimbursement and many customers were very upset. While I am a loyal customer, I do have clients who use email, so they were emailing me. It probably made their business suffer for a day or two, as they were unable to reply to emails. There is no monetary value that can even make up for this, but to offer some incentive, like a monetary deduction of $5 - $20 in the bill is showing intention that you are truly sorry for what happened. Don't write that you will do this but analyze and understand the situation at- hand as every scenario is different. You can use a generic Terms of Service generated to know your direction, but I suggest personally writing out your Terms of Service in plain English that is easily understandable and get someone to read it. If there is something they don't understand, revise it. Clearly state that there may be bugs and vulnerabilities in the software, but guarantee that you do your best to encrypt and secure data. For example, before anything gets inputted into a database, I encrypt it. I also use a third-party like Stripe for processing payments and I store very limited data about a users credit card (such as expiration date). In this case, Stripe is technically responsible for hacks to their own data system, as I personally cannot be held responsible for what happens, and I make this known in my Terms. As for getting a lawyer, there are certain rights you already have as an LLC or business ( [http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/llc- basics-30163.html](http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/llc- basics-30163.html) ), if you choose to register ($50 to register in my state), but I highly-highly recommend that you do your best to keep your PERSONAL assets and your BUSINESS assets completely separated (including bank accounts, investments, or even vacations). Come tax time, it is best you do this anyway. But you could try and find a lawyer who might be affordable and give you a good deal in the event that something does happen. So long as you are not knowingly ripping off your customers or committing illegal activities and you are doing all you can to protect your customer data, you should be fine. If you believe that something might or could go dangerously wrong, such as you are taking in million dollar businesses that are your customers, and you need to protect that data with your life, than you might want to purchase some type of insurance for your [software] business. In the event that you get sued or something goes wrong, some of these insurance companies will look into the case and provide you with money for lawyers, provide lawyers, or they may even provide additional services like writing a Terms of Service for your business. Check out these links which may guide you in the right direction: [https://it.insureon.com/small-business-insurance/general- lia...](https://it.insureon.com/small-business-insurance/general-liability/93) [https://www.trustedchoice.com/business-insurance/industry- ty...](https://www.trustedchoice.com/business-insurance/industry- types/software/) [http://www.techinsurance.com/products/](http://www.techinsurance.com/products/) [http://www.techinsurance.com/products/verticals/programming-...](http://www.techinsurance.com/products/verticals/programming- and-application-developers/) [http://www.techinsurance.com/web-business- insurance/](http://www.techinsurance.com/web-business-insurance/) [https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance/computer- web-...](https://www.thehartford.com/business-insurance/computer-web-it)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Ask HN: App Store marketing strategies? - markchristian Howdy, hackers! My first App Store release is called Lidpop (http://shinyplasticbag.com/lidpop/). It makes your computer play sound effects of your choosing when you open and close the lid. It sounds silly, but it's surprisingly gratifying.<p>It's been up in the App Store for a week or so, and I'm trying to figure out how I can promote it. I thought that some of the folks here might have some advice, and I also thought this might be a question that other people have wondered as well. If any App Store pros out there have thoughts, I'd love to hear them.<p>So, a few questions to get things going:<p>1. How much have you focused on a web site for the app? How much do you explain there?<p>2. Have you tried any viral marketing strategies? What works, what doesn't?<p>3. How did you find your pricing sweet spot? Right now, I'm at the bottom 99¢ tier. I have no idea how I can evaluate whether the app is worth more.<p>PS: I have some Lidpop promo codes to share. Hit me up at @Lidpop on Twitter if you're interested. ====== programminggeek Where to start, um, well, your app is worth whatever you price it at. You could double or quadruple your price potentially, but you never know until you tweak and test on price. So, start by playing with price in a couple weeks. Also, there is a finite market size for certain apps. So, at some point your app is going to likely have a steady stream of sales. It might take off, but I don't know. Most don't. Last, don't do much or any advertising if you are selling a $1 product. Unless you are confident that the market size is huge and just waiting for your app, it's not worth it. Figuring that a cheap cost per user acquisition might be $5-10, you would lose about $4 per customer or more. Admittedly your app is a small utility, but if it has value, make people pay a reasonable amount. I'm guessing it could go as high as $5 and people wouldn't flinch, but I have no data to back up that assertion. Higher price means you have more wiggle room to do interesting advertising. You can always start by reaching out to every blogger who uses a mac. Maybe do some cheapo youtube vids. Also, don't limit yourself to just one app. Experiment with lots of ideas til something sticks. ~~~ markchristian Thanks for the thoughts so far. I always feel like a self-promoting wonk whenever I try to tell people about my apps. Any tips for getting over that? Or at the very least, tips for self- promoting without being completely obnoxious? ~~~ programminggeek Well, be proud of what you built. You don't have to shamelessly self-promote constantly, but don't be afraid to let people know about your app. Try to promote it where and when it makes sense, but only in a reasonable context. Think of it this way, you would expect an Apple employee to talk up their latest iGadget if you asked them about it, and they certainly do advertise a lot, but you don't see them doing a bunch of blog comment spam to push traffic. Read some Yahoo news article comments, usually the first 5-10 are dating website comment spam. Stay away from that kind of thing and you're probably fine. ------ juanipis +1 i sure would also like to know more insights here... i have an app too (not in the app store, but in macupdate, <http://bit.ly/ipaUfI> and some other sites that publish for free). to support it i created a quick 1 page site, registered a domain and emailed a few writers from design/mac-centric sites i go to. after a week though i can say that it doesn't seem to be working, still no coverage and only getting crumbs of feedback.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Do Cryptocurrencies Such as Bitcoin Have a Future? - mgav http://www.wsj.com/articles/do-cryptocurrencies-such-as-bitcoin-have-a-future-1425269375?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_tech ====== lectrick As a stable store of value... Not for a while. (Then again, gold has been around for awhile, and is IT a stable store of value?) As a value exchange mechanism... Certainly. Already useful (and troublesome, to certain establishments) for that. As a secondary ("world"/"international") or even primary currency... Only if your already-legitimized currency is performing worse (hmmm, Argentina, Greece, Iceland, Russia...). As a third-world currency exchanged via cell phones... Well, now we're talking. Although anything that stores value can be used in the same way, which is exactly how M-Pesa started out as phone credits (the "base" or "backing" value) and is now used for much more than that. I will say that anyone who travels (still a very underrated undertaking that abysmally few Americans engage in) has been frustrated by currency exchange. If I could default to something like Bitcoin when I travel, it would ease that pain quite a bit. Governments are concerned about "capital flight". Thing is, it's difficult to destroy (as well as to create) "value," it usually just gets transformed. It therefore stands to reason that if you don't want your country's value to flee, stop debasing your own currency (so that people stop exchanging it for other currencies), and make things of value (so that more representations of value, i.e. cash, flow into your country). ~~~ pjc50 Bitcoin gives you _two_ currency exchange transactions to do where previously there was only one. I can't really see it taking off except for transactions that are banned from one of the other payment systems, and given that transactions are entirely public with persistent pseudonyms, that's not great either. Bitcoin's transaction cost and risk is necessarily greater than any centralised solution, so as soon as it establishes a useful market it can be undercut. (Don't quote the minimum transaction fee in response to this, quote the miner electricity cost per transaction, the exchange bid/offer spread, and the escrow fees if relevant). It's entirely trivial for value to be destroyed: this is what happened in the leveraged property downturn as recently as 2008. "Just fix your current account deficit" is about as useful a piece of advice for countries as "just create jobs", ie not very. ~~~ tokenizerrr > Bitcoin gives you two currency exchange transactions to do where previously > there was only one What? Only if you don't treat bitcoin as a currency. If bitcoin is used as its own currency, and both you and the seller hold bitcoin, there is no exchange, or at most one: When you buy in from your existing currency. ~~~ michaelt This is why to be a value exchange mechanism, you also need to be a store-of- value mechanism. If the buyer and seller aren't holding bitcoin, a simple fiat transaction turns into three transactions. ------ mootothemax On a day-to-day basis, bitcoin takes ages to confirm that payment has been received, supports somewhere around 3 [three] transactions per second, and shifts risk from sellers to buyers (e.g. compare refund possibilities with credit cards). There are various hacks that are being proposed to increase the number of transactions per second, and reduce confirmation time. Ultimately, they're just that, though: hacks on a proof-of-concept. What I'm _really_ interested in is whether it's possible to have a cryptocurrency that _doesn 't_ rely on e.g. blockchain technology. How you'd fix the issue of double-spending ("I can just copy-and-paste my money - yippee!") without a blockchain or equivalent is beyond me. I'm just really intrigued by the idea of being able to cryptographically sign over a digital $5-equivalent -note to someone else, instantaneously, and without relying on a third party saying "Hmm, yep, that note looks legit to me". Sadly, a lot of bitcoin's popularity seems to come from people who sincerely hope and believe that it's their lottery ticket to millions in the future. Whilst these people are vocal, it's probably a good idea to be aware of and filter out their voices. ~~~ eblanshey > What I'm really interested in is whether it's possible to have a > cryptocurrency that doesn't rely on e.g. blockchain technology. Yes, it is possible. MaidSafe is building the solution as we speak, and does not get anywhere near the attention it deserves. Because there is such a general lack of understanding of its underpinnings, it is usually lumped together with other blockchain technologies or altcoins. There is no blockchain, there are no transaction fees, and transactions are irreversible almost immediately (no confirmation time). There is no wasteful mining. I wrote a pretty comprehensive article[0] on how it works from a technological standpoint if anyone is interested. Perhaps someone will find it useful. [0] [http://blanshey.com/introduction-to-maidsafe-what-it-is- how-...](http://blanshey.com/introduction-to-maidsafe-what-it-is-how-it-works- and-how-it-compares-to-bitcoin/) ~~~ mootothemax _MaidSafe is building the solution as we speak_ Doing an admittedly very brief search, it seems there's a lot of scepticism about MaidSafe, ranging from it's "objectively a scam," through to a highly questionable IPO, and doubt over the core technology itself: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8081247](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8081247) [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7641149](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7641149) [http://www.reddit.com/r/crypto/comments/24zext/what_does_rcr...](http://www.reddit.com/r/crypto/comments/24zext/what_does_rcrypto_think_of_maidsafes_self/) Clarifying on my original point about not relying on blockchain technology, I think imagining a purely offline system would get closer to the question in my head. How much can be done without relying on a network / database / blockchain etc? ~~~ eblanshey There is a lot of scepticism indeed, mainly because what they're doing is so new. (The IPO was not questionable at all IMO, that's just FUD.) In any case, the objections and scepticism is healthy and would only serve to improve the project. I'm not really sure what you're implying though--how can you have a cryptocurrency without communication (e.g. a network)? ~~~ mootothemax _mainly because what they 're doing is so new_ I (possibly obviously) haven't done enough research in the area, but it seems like there are potentially showstopper questions about how to stop people gaming the system. The reddit link also questioned how much of MaidSafe is, in effect, security through obscurity. One thing that can be said - it's definitely interesting! _How can you have a cryptocurrency without communication?_ Exactly - that's kinda what I'm asking! :) Another rephrasing: is it possible to have some bitcoin-equivalent token sat on your computer which you can exchange for goods and services _without consulting anyone else_? As far as I can tell, it's the double-spending problem that's the killer. ------ dagw Even as a Bitcoin skeptic I'm absolutely convinced that in 20-30 years time something that can directly trace its intellectual roots to the Satoshi white paper will play a significant role in several aspects of financial transactions. The underlying mathematics is just too useful to be ignored. Actual Bitcoin as we know it today will probably be an interesting historical anecdote. ------ swalsh I bought several bitcoins in early 2010, and when the price peaked to $1000, I sold what I had left. To me I was interested in the technology piece, but thought the economics of it was utterly crazy. Having a fixed supply of some arbitrary number with a fixed release seems so "old worldly". It ignores the fact that we have this huge computer network that has built into it access to near perfect information about the economy. I thought something better would come along, which is why I sold it. However the one thing that really rang with me was this. When I transferred the bitcoins to my account (bitstamp) I didn't even remember the fee. I'm not certain there even was a fee. However when I transferred the dollars, there definitely was a fee, Which seemed like a lot of money. The cost of using bitcoin is a really big game changer. If it was stable, I think adoption would be bigger. ~~~ Torgo I personally have seen interest wane because of several high-profile scams and hacks. I originally knew quite a few people really interested, and I'm pretty much the only one left. ------ AlexMuir I used to joke that I had more bitcoins than I could spend in my lifetime. Not because I had a lot, but because there was fuck all to spend them on. I just paid for my lunch in Bitcoin. Not as some evangelical, cryptanarchistic statement, but because I have bitcoins and I needed lunch. The mechanism for paying is on a par with credit cards, if not slightly above. I've watched the monetary value of my bitcoins plunge in the last year, but I've seen their practical value _to me_ increase massively. A year ago I could buy precisely zero lunches for 1 BTC, now I'd get at least 50. ~~~ rhizome31 Where can we buy tangible stuff with bitcoins? Is it only in the USA? ~~~ AlexMuir I'm in Budapest and there are now two bars and a restaurant that take Bitcoin. ------ rukittenme When Bitcoin was high, it was the future. When Bitcoin is low, does it have a future? I wish we would make decisions about a technology's or company's or economy's viability based on something less fickle than price. ~~~ piker Perhaps the price reflects a collective decision about the technology's viability. ~~~ rukittenme Doubtful, the "wisdom of crowds" is useless for something like Bitcoin. It's too new, too revolutionary, too complex for its applications and failures to be apparent to even a select few. Let alone a statistically relevant population. ------ rbfuller Bitcoin is here to stay for at least this one reason: gambling. I have bought and sold more bitcoin since I started sportsbooking and playing poker with it than I ever had before. With services like circle and bitcoin-friendly gambling sites, I am able to instantly deposit and withdraw to my gaming site, and then within 2-3 days have my winnings back into my bank account in my native currency. It is really a better system than I have experienced gambling online with fiat previously. ------ xefer I'm always amused that every bitcoin story seems to include a stock photo of a shiny physical coin with a big "B" on it. ~~~ lucb1e People are always looking for a way to visualize it. Since it is a currency, and people associate coins with currency, what better icon to use? ~~~ icebraining A spreadsheet would be a closer representation of Bitcoin. You can make it a paper one if you want a proper photo :) ~~~ lucb1e But does a spreadsheet icon look like a currency to you? ------ quinndupont Perhaps given the source (Wall Street Journal), it is no surprise that they asked a couple of economics professors for their opinions on Bitcoin's future... but, they could have thought a little more creatively about the possibilities. Dr. Harvey (on the "Yes" side), made the typical gesture, at least part right, that the technology is the interesting part. In fact, the subheading says it all: "Valuing Bitcoin as a Technology"\---but an edit would improve the matter: "Valuing Technology"; or simply "Technology". Other than those who have skin in the Bitcoin game, there's no reason for your average person to care about Bitcoin _in particular_ , but the idea and the technological pursuits that it embodies _are_ worth paying attention to. In fact, I think this is the primary reason HN likes Bitcoin---nobody cares about its economic logic or valuation or whether a new block every ten minutes enables liquidity or not. The IDEA behind Bitcoin, and subsequent cryptocurrencies, is what matters. The TECHNOLOGY that permits novel arrangements of power, social interaction, and human-computer interfacing is exciting. Personally, I'm ambivalent on whether the technology is, on its own terms, good or bad. But, what I don't doubt, is whether the idea is going to stay--- we won't call it "Bitcoin" in 10 years, but we may call it "Ethereum" or "Dogecoin" or something not yet invented. In fact, we'll likely just call it by some acronym only the geeks care about (but everyone uses): like HTTP or USB. The technology will recede from its specular, media-driven attention and just become how things are done. Banks will transfer funds on a blockchain (perhaps the government forces them for transparency and verifiability), ATMs will become decentralized, you'll establish a smart contract with your Uber driver... and so on.[1] [1] For anyone interested, I'll be giving a talk on cryptocurrencies at NYU this Wednesday (March 4, 5PM), along with Bill Maurer and Finn Brunton. Free registration here: [http://events.nyu.edu/#event_id/30104/view/event](http://events.nyu.edu/#event_id/30104/view/event) ~~~ dontdownvote Ok, so everybody can make a currency, keep some for them (directly or indirectly), convince people to use it, making it scarce and making the value of it grow. Great idea! How couldn't we think about it before! Let's start with a small group (technical people, in case of cryptocurrencies) that are idealists and full of goodwill. Then we'll pack the idea as the world's salvation from stupid governments and fees. Don't be evil! Meanwhile my (fat) share of myCurrency is getting value exponentially. ~~~ quinndupont Far from being opposed to the article's articulation of cryptocurrencies, I see your (sarcastic) response as buying into the very logic of it. Thinking that the problem with Bitcoin and its ilk is its lack of economic stability, liquidity, or whatever economic factor floats your boat is tantamount to endorsing a future version that fixes the issue. You see, you've been trapped into the short-sighted vision that the RIGHT cryptocurrency is just a patch or version away. The issues with cryptocurrencies are much deeper than implementation errors. I may actually agree with your economic assessment of Bitcoin, but I think that's quite beside the point, and we should learn to speak about the deeper issues and debate these. ------ dontdownvote I'm not an expert in this subject but IMHO: _1-Bitcoin is just an huge ponzi scheme._ The early birds to got into the system are the ones that will have HUGE profits. So I want to create my own currency and be able to get an advantage also. _2-Bitcoin is unfair._ Besides everything governments taking care of currency seems the most fair and democratic way of dealing with it. With Bitcoin technical people have advantage over non-technical people. It remembers me Nietzsche when he writes something like: "There are only 3 types of people: the rich that wants to keep being rich; the poor that wants to be rich; the intelectual, that using his ideals (advantages) wants to be rich." [1] Due to the strong bias, I created another account to express this unpopular opinion. Shouldn't be like this. [edited] ~~~ witty_username > The early birds to got into the system are the ones that will have HUGE > profits. So I want to create my own currency and be able to get an advantage > also. That is in most part due to a bubble caused by people thinking of Bitcoin as an investment vehicle. > Technical people have advantage over non-technical people. It remembers me > Nietzsche when he tells something like: Explain? ~~~ Retric > most part due to a bubble Not really, Bitcoin's where front loaded. It would have been easy to have the same fixed number of bitcoins, but set things so only 70% of possible bitcoins where released in the first 100 years. ------ nly Of course it has a future... just not a very interesting one. The messiah period is over, and the technical and practical merits (what few there are) have now been digested. ------ dmichulke Are headlines the new way of discouraging investment in cryptocurrencies given Betteridge's law? ------ snowwrestler The skeptic says that currency is a security because its issuer will pay you face value for it. What will the Federal Reserve pay me for my dollar? This seems like an outmoded view of what a currency is. ~~~ dontdownvote Ok, so everybody can make a currency, keep some for them (directly or indirectly), convince people to use it, making it scarce and making the value of it grow. Great idea! How couldn't we think about it before! Let's start with a small group (technical people, in case of cryptocurrencies) that are idealists and full of goodwill. Then we'll pack the idea as the world's salvation from stupid governments and fees. Don't be evil! Meanwhile my (fat) share of myCurrency is getting value exponentially. ------ LukeFitzpatrick A Bitcoin bot has already been created, it predicts 90% accuracy on future tradings. What I'm concerned with is, if this made public, would it devalue the worth of Bitcoin? And, how will Bitcoin deal with quantum computing? ------ PuDDin_Face "they have no basic underlying value" is not true. Bitcoin themselves are value - intrinsic value. The time it took to mine the Bitcoin is what gives it the value. I think this is a much better measure than we have of actual currency where no one, even the reserve really understands where the value of a dollar is. ~~~ icebraining LTV¹ applied to Bitcoin? I had never seen that :D I disagree with your reasoning for the same reason I disagree with LTV. That time is just sunk cost - there's no value to it, and certainly no market value. ¹ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_theory_of_value) ~~~ orbifold I was under the impression LTV applies to human labor, so applied to bitcoin it would imply that they should have close to no value, whereas fiat currencies derive value from the efforts of the tax payers. ~~~ lectrick LTV as applied to Bitcoin uses the many many kilowatts of electricity used to verify transactions as the "labor".	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
How RSA Works: TLS Foundations - rmdoss https://fly.io/articles/how-rsa-works-tls-foundations/?twitter ====== mabbo I find the description of the RSA math pretty confusing. And I'm saying that with a minor in math and a CS degree specializing in security; I've don't this before, just not in a while. For example: >In order to generate e, we'll need to find a random prime number that has a greatest common divisor (GCD) of 1 in relation to ϕ(n). How can a prime number have any divisor that isn't 1, let alone a gcd? Either that's mistaken, or it's unnecessary to state. There's also no explanation of what purpose the totient value is. The author simply states it's needed, but not what value it provides. In short, it feels like it's written for people who already know the answers, not for people trying to learn. ~~~ baby > How can a prime number have any divisor that isn't 1 What they mean by "gcd of 1 in relation to" is what we call "coprime". 5 and 3 are coprime because nothing but 1 divides both at the same time. > what purpose the totient value is it allows you to compute the private key out of the public key (only possible if the totient is coprime with the public key) ~~~ mabbo Yes, but why? Just saying "here's the algorithm" doesn't really explain why it works. ------ hannob A better title would be "How RSA does not work". I'm a bit annoyed by many of these crypto introductions that explain textbook RSA, which is not something anyone uses in a real world application. It is crucial for RSA to use a padding mode and that's where all the fun comes in and what decides about how secure the thing you're building is. ------ AngeloAnolin Noticed that this page worked on Chrome, but not on FF. On FF (57.0.2) Windows 7, the message is as below: Error 1010 Ray ID: 3cc3b2b85d0b9300 • 2017-12-12 21:15:17 UTC Access denied What happened? The owner of this website (fly-io.ghost.io) has banned your access based on your browser's signature (3cc3b2b85d0b9300-ua48). Not sure if the author or website owner had a beef with FF. ~~~ mrkurt This is CloudFlare helpfully preventing you from DDOSing Ghost. We're working on bypassing CF for our ghost stuff, sorry about that. ~~~ judge2020 If you have extra page rules, the "disable security" tick on `[https://fly.io/articles/`](https://fly.io/articles/`) may stop this kind of protection. ~~~ mrkurt It's not actually our CloudFlare site, unfortunately, we're proxying Ghost Pro through our service (so we can serve `/articles/` on the same hostname). ------ kss238 Can someone explain this section some more >Considering that we need a distinct key for each individual, that exchanging keys with each person would be a significant computational burden, and that there are more cryptographic functions needed than simply exchanging keys, new methods arose. Isn't this exactly what RSA does, exchanging a private symmetric key with asymmetric crypto? The next paragraph makes it seem like RSA does something different. ~~~ goodroot Most excellent question, kss238. The next part in the series, which breaks apart the different parts of a TLS ciphersuite, was just published: [http://fly.io/articles/how-ciphersuites-work/](http://fly.io/articles/how- ciphersuites-work/) It should answer your question, in similar spirits to that of this article. Thank you for reading and I wish you well. ~~~ bogomipz What is the rest of the context of the Golang code snippet in that that link? ~~~ matahwoosh It's most likely to be Fly-specific, but you could replicate this behavior with passing appropriate to tls.Config#GetCertificate ([https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/tls/#Config](https://golang.org/pkg/crypto/tls/#Config)). You could then have something like that : GetCertificate: func(helloInfo tls.ClientHelloInfo) (tls.Certificate, error) { return myGetCertificateImplementation(checkClientSupportForECDSA(helloInfo)) } You would see what curves/ciphersuites are supported by the client and check that against what you'd be supporting (if you use LE than that's more than likely going to be ECDSA with P-256). You would then return ECDSA cert (if one exist) for supporting clients and fallback to RSA certs. :boom: :D ~~~ bogomipz Thanks, cheers. ------ sethgecko I just made a quick Python implementation (3.6+ only as it uses the secrets module) [https://github.com/mcdallas/rsa](https://github.com/mcdallas/rsa) ~~~ lou1306 Nice! I also did something similar during my basic crypto course. I'll just show my implementation of Wiener's attack, which shows that RSA can be super weak if you don't choose your private key with a grain of salt. [https://gist.github.com/lou1306/df1bfa60e247b4084149139a97da...](https://gist.github.com/lou1306/df1bfa60e247b4084149139a97dab761) ------ orliesaurus interesting, these folks at fly.io sure put out a lot of content!	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Is the express line really faster? - snewe http://blog.mrmeyer.com/?p=4646 ====== jazzychad Waiting in line at the grocery store is one of my greatest pet peeves. To avoid this I usually do one of 3 things: 1) Move to the lines further from the store exit. I've noticed that people tend to queue up in lines close to the exit (this is usually where the express lines are, too). 2) Use the self-checkout. At least this way I feel like the process is going as efficiently as possible because I am in control of it (plus barcode scanners fascinate me). I will only do this if there is an immediately available self-checkout station. Otherwise, it's guaranteed to take 10x longer than just waiting in a normal line (only being slightly sarcastic). 3) Go to the 24hr grocery store at 2am. No lines! (This only works because I am usually up really late coding, and it serves as a nice break.) ------ yason While I generally reserve enough time for shopping groceries so that I never need to hurry, I do exercise some preference between cashiers. It, however, isn't necessarily for the fastest route but the most pleasurable route. My highly scientific method (=i.e. where chemistry kicks in) to ensure this goes like this: \- Prefer younger cashiers to older cashiers: I empirically know that middle- aged and older people can be unbearably slow. Note that I don't mind queueing as long as I see some progress: unbearably slow is slower than that. \- Prefer women to men: they're not necessarily faster but I find it more pleasurable to spend my time queueing while observing a female cashier. \- Prefer attractive women to others. They're not necessarily faster but I find it much more pleasurable to watch them while standing in the queue. Moreover, given the (speed-wise) age range from the first bullet, the woman's age doesn't really matter. General looks and vibes matter most. Breasts do play a part. Yeah, I'm a man. ~~~ Steve0 I disagree: give me a cashier in their forties or fifties anytime. They are work fast and are more experienced than a young temp or weekend worker. For me the people who are waiting makes a big difference. Couples are good, because when one is paying the other will be handeling the groceries. ~~~ eru People usually queue so that the queues of the same length in meters when I arrive --- so I go for the queue that has the least amount of stuff in it. ------ edw519 OP is missing one critical piece of data: in many stores, there is a much higher probability that a junior cashier is on the express line. The express line tends to have simpler transactions, so it is a more natural training ground. This progression would have cashiers "moving up" to the lines with greater volume and complexity. Ironically, express line cashiers end up being _slower_. ------ davidw I wish they had 'airline' style dispatching: one line, and then you go to the first available cashier. Oh well. ~~~ dangoldin A Whole Foods in NY has that. Everyone just gets into 3 lines and a note pops up telling you which cashier to go to. I think they have 3 lanes just to hold more people - the system would be identical with any N lanes. ~~~ JeffJenkins I was at the one in Union Square (5 lanes express, 3-4 normal) and I've noticed that frequently the express lines will be totally full (10+) and on the other side of a small barrier the normal lines will have almost no one in them. Once I don't think I had any wait at all by not using the express checkout. I sometimes wonder if people at the Whole Foods think they have to use the express if they have fewer than 10 items. ------ lionhearted I find the biggest time sucks are: A cashier who can't take payments fast, and a customer who can't pay fast. Someone who doesn't know how to work their credit card adds a lot of time. Based on just being observant, I've got a general intuitive sense of when the people in front of me might take a long time to pay. I look for people who seem unaware, in a zombie-like trance, shuffling their feet along the floor with their eyes blurred off into nothing. It's a pretty decent judge. For cashiers, just waiting in the line a moment usually gives a good idea, and I'll move lines if I'm in a hurry and the cashier appears new or particularly slow. ~~~ Dobbs I find it frustrating that there are 3 major credit card companies but every store has a different procedure for accepting credit cards. I can never remember if it is 3 screens I need to tap yes on, or 5. ------ mhb It looks like not many people have experienced the ethereal reaches of grocery store technology embodied by some Super Stop & Shops in New England. You scan your groceries with a handheld unit as you put them in the bags in your cart. All you do at (self) check out is pay. Vast amount of time saved by not unloading the cart and reloading your bags. I don't understand how theft isn't a problem since it is easy to even inadvertently forget to scan something as you put it in the cart, but it is a huge improvement in the shopping experience. ~~~ dhoe The store where I shop here in the Netherlands works like that - no interactions with humans required for the whole process, which I appreciate. I believe there's some sort of sanity check heuristic at the checkout - I once did forget to scan something, and a friendly store employee walked over to me with a different scanner and scanned a couple of items until a light went green. ------ buugs Usually when I choose to go through the express line it is because the line is around the same length or barely greater than the other lines and there is a clear advantage because the normal lines have people with groceries filling their carts to the brim. Something confusing me was the pleasantries exchange and cash is faster than debit. People do say hello and ask if you found everything fine and whatnot but while they are saying that they have already scanned 3 or 4 of my items I haven't ever had the trouble of someone talking and waiting for response before scanning items. In response to cash is faster than debit there are always people fumbling with wallets to get cash out and such while with a debit card you just slide (most of the time before the checkout is even done) and enter pin/ sign receipt and you are on your way, you don't even need to wait for someone to count out change back to you. ~~~ BearOfNH In response to _In response to cash is faster than debit_ , it never happens that way here in New England. I watch as the register total increments. Every $20 I pull another $20 out of my wallet so when I'm done I just hand the wad of cash to the cashier. Compare that to someone with a debit card who always has to wait for the cashier to do _something_ (I dunno what it is) then tell the customer to swipe their card and enter their PIN, except the swipe often needs to be repeated, and then there's the wait for approval. Not only is the cash-pay mean time lower than the debit-pay method, by my observation, the debit-pay time has a huge variance depending on equipment reliability, account status, the occasional desire for extra cash and other technical issues I've encountered only once: Many years ago I tried a debit transaction but was denied, so I paid cash with my "emergency" $100 bill. Later that month the store charge showed up on my statement, but of course by then I had no evidence I had already paid the bill in cash. Of course this would never happen to anybody else, and it sure as hell isn't happening to me again. ------ s3graham I'm horrible at choosing lines, and it aggravates me to no end. As in most endeavours, the vastly more important factor in determining efficiency is the person doing the job. i.e. the cashier or the programmer, not the type of line, or the language. ------ codeodor I've often felt they drop the new employees in the express lane as the reason it seems to go slower. ------ Chukwu I've always thought that checkout speeds are negatively correlated with the amount of register localization. By de-localizing the registers, one could map a redistribution that makes the distance from each shopping section equidistant. This would effectively eliminate the need for "express" lines. This can't be a novel suggestion, so why has it not been implemented? It shocks, to think that major companies would sacrifice efficiency so as to not disturb a consumer's sense of familiarity. ------ jdale27 Sorry, I stopped reading at "It's my DaVinci code."	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Suggestions to improve fullscreen jquery plugin - itsbits https://github.com/thecodejack/jquery-html5-fullscreen I am making a fullscreen plugin for jquery and want to add some features...Some suggestions would be great<p>https://github.com/thecodejack/jquery-html5-fullscreen ====== bdfh42 Does what it says. What are some use cases?	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Good stuff: memory management dot org - helwr http://www.memorymanagement.org/bib/f.html ====== daeken A better title for this would be "The Memory Management Reference: Bibliography". That said, this is quite a good list. ------ xtacy It's good, but quite often, I've faced the problem of an information overload, where there are just too many things to read. How have you all tackled it? ~~~ mahmud That's why I found it more fruitful to study entire compilers/projects, instead of hunting down papers on memory management, code generation, optimization, evaluation models, etc. If you get into the "mind" of the project, you will be able to trace the progression of ideas and see why things were done the way they were. I often read peripheral papers on a given project because I tend to get the big picture from those filler papers, usually written by the lead, and/or coauthored with the entire team. The highly technical papers reserved for the best and most specialized conferences usually skim the details and present the most novel idea in its purest crystal form .. usually under length restrictions and addressing a well prepared audience. I recommend a beginner to memory management start with Wilson's Uniprocessor Garbage Collection Techniques ftp://ftp.cs.utexas.edu/pub/garbage/bigsurv.ps Abstract: <http://www.memorymanagement.org/bib/wil94.html> ~~~ xtacy Thanks. Yes, that's why teachers will never be not-wanted. We need experts/teachers who can cherry pick concepts and help us sift through the maze. Thanks for the link! ------ mahmud I like it how Henry Baker just put a massive dent in the literature. ~~~ arohann Hi, can you point us to the Henry Baker literature you mentioned? Thanks. Edit : I found his page but am not sure which paper(s) you are specifically referring to. ~~~ mahmud <http://www.memorymanagement.org/bib/a.html#baker> ~~~ arohann thx	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Marissa Mayer nominated to join Wal-Mart's board - yinyinwu http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2012/04/18/google-marissa-mayer-walmart-woman-problem/ ====== rdl This confuses me somewhat. Didn't she get basically marginalized in the new Page world at Google? (the article inaccurately reports that she's on the OC; the OC ceased to exist, replaced by the L team, and she's not on it) Is it normal for someone who isn't in the top 5-10 at a large company to serve on the board of unrelated large companies? I've seen CEOs of established companies serve on the boards of complementary companies, but I don't see much Google/Wal-Mart complementarity, and she's not the CEO. ~~~ pasbesoin I recall some commentary to that effect. But I also recall rebuttal commentary, stating roughly that she was realigning somewhat within the org but as part and central to the Page initiative, i.e. not marginalized. I no longer recall the details. But, FWIW, there were two sides (at least) to those circumstances / that story. Separately, my immediate reaction to this news is, "eww". I realize there are multiple sides to Walmart, and they are very big and successful at what they do. However, on balance, I don't see the, um, "moral" standards as aligning. Might be good for Mayers' career, personally. I don't think it reflects so well on Google, to the extent there is spill-over. (Although there is a counter-point to that perspective, and Google is increasingly growing into the image of an established, top-tier corporation (i.e. blue chip -- not just in value, but in duration/longevity/entrenched, dominant business model and execution).) ~~~ rdl Walmart does do some amazingly good and amazingly bad things. Positives (which aren't publicized as well) are their great disaster response, incredible internal efficiency (in ways other than wages or pushing down supplier prices, which they also do), bringing increasingly healthy food to areas which didn't have access before (Wal-Mart shoppers are not really likely to go to Whole Foods or a CSA; Wal-Mart is mainly competing against fast food and discount grocery chains), and being one of the forces protecting their customers from a declining real standard of living (their prices remain low; wages and other opportunities also remain low for other reasons). Due to their great economic efficiency, I think they're in the lead on environmental protection as well (at least as much as a big box store can be). They definitely need to improve on employee relations, health care, and there are questions about them forcing local businesses out of business -- in some markets, they're adding choice and improving things, and in others, they're driving out local stores. I suspect adding a wal-mart to most really deprived areas would on balance be a positive, to solve the "food desert" problem.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Space Buckets, a Community of DIY LED Gardeners - ekrof http://www.spacebuckets.com ====== dogma1138 Why the buckets? I grow tomatos, spices and onions in doors with just a regular indoor pot and a natural light source AKA a window. Giving plants light for longer duration does increase their growth (tho normal LED's and house lamps aren't optimal for this, there are specialized growlights that produce wavelengths that are more desirable for plants Chlorophyll absorbs blue light the most which isn't emitted from most lights that are used for indoor lighting which emit yellow, red, and infra-red light the most), but for most growths a window will work just fine, even during the winter time unless you are really upnorth. So what's the deal with these? seems that if you would take those buckets and use them as normal pots you will get pretty much the same thing with the advantage of it being pretty and greening up the place to boot. ~~~ pi-rat Searching YouTube it seems most of these are used for growing cannabis - not something you would normally put in your window (depending on local laws / neighbors). ~~~ IkmoIkmo Yup. The site linked to even has a separate page called 'smell', with all kinds of filter mechanisms. Definitely not to remove the smell of your strawberry plants :p Beyond that, the economics of vegetables and such prevent lighting like this from being profitable. Consider that most people leave their grow lights on for around 16 hours per day on a 100W setup that produces about 25 tomatoes a month for example, which puts you at about 2.5kg which costs locally here about $5. Now just the lights alone for 16 hours a day for a month would be more than $7 on a 15c per kwh price. The economics aren't bad, you can make it cost about the same as in the store, a little less or a little more, the economics just aren't great and given there's a whole bunch of time and effort, you'd only do this for fun, not to save money. The exception is when growing a crop that isn't $2 per kg but $10 per gram which is pot, so it's no surprise that 9/10 guys probably use this to grow weed. Besides there are much more fun systems around that can look awesome in your house if you just want to grow some veggies mostly on the power of the sun and merely supplemented by grow lights (for a few hours, in certain stages, or in winter), all kinds of hydroponics stuff that's a lot of fun as a DIY project to automate fully without hiding it all in a bucket. There was a tiny hype some time ago (windowfarming n all), but most of the urban farming is still soil based I find. ~~~ dogma1138 I don't think anyone grows stuff out of economics if you live in a city the cost of the soil, pots, seeds, and plant food alone make it highly uneconomical. There's just something satisfying about being able to grow something even if it's unsustainable, I grow tomatoes and I probably buy more 50 times more tomatoes per month (usually buy a small box of vine/cherry tomatoes for nibbling every 1-2 days so that's about 8-10 pounds a week). It's a hobby not homesteading, it's just a small ritual of having to move your plants to the window each morning from the more warmer spot they've spent the night in spraying some water on them while drinking your coffee and put some fresh herbs and spring onions on your omelette for breakfast. It's not economical it's just relaxing and enjoyable. ------ BJBBB Kudos for having an electrical safety page. But is not complete. Some of these installations appear to be both fire and shock hazards. 1\. even for flame- rated PC and ABS, the RTI is typically under 50C, so any long-term exposure to LED heat is a fire hazard. 2\. unless the power supply is Class II construction, the indicated wiring does not provide a reliable ground bond. GFI will not always help, as it depends on which version of the NEC for the building wiring. Best to choose a p/s certified IAW UL8750 (will bear the mark of an NRTL and a reference number) that is rated for Class II ops (will have the double insulation logo). If Class I construction required, never use wire nuts for ground lead connections - use terminals and double-crimped connectors. 3\. The power supply should be rated for end-use; that is, is should not be a 'component power supply'. UL refers to end-use stuff as 'Listed', and components as 'recognized'. There are other terms for other materials and eauipment, and the terms vary depending on the NRTL that issued the certification (CSA, TUVR, MET, UL, etc). 4\. wiring 'styles' (UL has a exhaustive database for this stuff) should be rated for the temperatures the insulation is exposed to, and be rated for the voltage and current that would be present during a fault condition. Recommend style 1015 wiring or better. Most residential PVC wiring probably not suitable for all uses described on these pages. 5\. EMI - most of the dimmiable units have poor EMC due to both conduction and radiated emissions. And the demonstrated wiring will probably exacerbate these emissions. Some power supplies that are rated as 'components' depend on the end-use installation to meet radiated limits (47CFR15 subpart B). ------ fit2rule Although this is clearly a cannabis-growers hobby, I think its pretty good that a lot of innovation is coming from this scene that can be applied to growers of other sustenance-providing plants .. would be good to see this scale with some Moores' Law or so, as the years go by. ~~~ andor Hydroponic growing is done at scale, but usually in greenhouses. Using only electrical light is too inefficient for regular foods, even with LEDs. [https://www.google.de/maps/place/Almer%C3%ADa,+Spain/@36.753...](https://www.google.de/maps/place/Almer%C3%ADa,+Spain/@36.7530933,-2.7097443,31466m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!3m1!1s0xd707601c35c6717:0xad1bf1bbb4e31675!6m1!1e1) ~~~ adanto6840 Wow, that Google Earth link is pretty interesting, thank you for that. I was curious & had to look this place up: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almer%C3%ADa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almer%C3%ADa) There isn't a ton on the Wikipedia entry about their agriculture, though this is the main excerpt: _"...spectacular economic growth due to tourism and intensive agriculture, with crops grown year-round in massive invernaderos"_ ------ discardorama How cost effective is this space-bucketry? Right now tomatoes are $3.99/lb at WholeFoods. If I grew my own tomatoes, and my yield was, say, 5lbs, would the cost of growing them (electricity, nutrients, etc.) come out to be less than $20? ~~~ ZoeZoeBee Most people are growing something which is a little more expensive per pound than $20 ------ afandian Great idea! Reminds me a bit of the sous-vide following. I've never disabled javascript on a site before, but the browsing experience is greatly improved for doing so. ~~~ pi-rat Wow, that's just sad - after disabling javascript everything still works, just faster and without annoying animations / cut-screens. ~~~ ekrof I'm working on that :) The site is a constant work in progress, like a bucket. Without Javascript you disable AJAX, basically. Its a good thing that it still works, but it needs to be faster overall. ~~~ afandian Like I said, it's really interesting to see all this stuff. I'll be honest, the AJAX doesn't add anything for me. My ideal webpage has zero movement except scrolling. Things which I would suggest you changed, if you aksed me: \- loading images as you scroll. Let the browser do that. I'm probably going to look at all of them so I'd rather they load before I look rather than waiting for them. \- simulating a loading bar when my browser already has that \- breaking standard keyboard shortcuts (space and shift-space don't work) \- having headings that should be static move around on page load (that's a CSS thing) \- fading in and out on transitions ~~~ ekrof Thanks for the honest feedback! I appreciate it a lot. I'm commited to AJAX for the site, I think it can work great after many iterations and tunings. The site has over 50% of mobile traffic and tries to feel like a webapp on those devices. It has been very interesting to see that percentage grow. Animations in CSS are pretty hard to get right, I see what you mean. I'm not a fan of the fade either. I didn't know about the shortcuts, I'll definitely look into that. Cheers from Argentina! ~~~ com2kid On mobile the visuals are quite nice. :) ------ pavel_lishin Well, most of this isn't super accessible to beginners. I have no idea what 90% of that means: _This is my Space Bucket! I use 5M of 5050SMD LEDs and 4 CFL bulbs in a 4 way adapter. I use a combination of topping and hardcore LST to shape the plant and then specific defoliation to develop the canopy. Anything below the lighting spacer is removed as well as anything blocking light to budsites. When the plant reaches 40% of the planned height it gets flipped to flower._ [http://www.spacebuckets.com/u/bacon_flavored](http://www.spacebuckets.com/u/bacon_flavored) Seems like a fun project, though. I wish that particular example included total cost. ~~~ thenomad This is a problem with hydroponics as a whole. As soon as you get out of the set-and-forget solutions like the Aerogarden, there's very little in the way of introductory material out there. It's dive- in-and-Google-all-the-TLAs time. ------ owly No bucket required. I purchased some LED grow lights from Amazon which were super cheap and work great. They produce very little heat, are unobtrusive and supplement my indoor plants for the winter. ------ aaron695 Why I wonder is it better than a normal pot setup? I guess, perhaps just because it's cool is reason enough. Are people breeding dwarf varieties? ~~~ justifier control control temperature, atmosphere, light containment	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
VIA launches $49 Android PC - 11031a http://www.geek.com/articles/chips/via-launch-a-49-android-pc-20120522/ ====== haberman I just want an ARM box that I can run headless in my closet and keep on all the time to use as a build bot. First I bought a SheevaPlug (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SheevaPlug>) but that fried itself before long. Next I bought an Efika MX Smarttop (<https://www.genesi- usa.com/store/details/11>), which works ok, but doesn't always boot reliably (I boot it headless most of the time, so can never get to the bottom of why). I wish I could jailbreak my Apple TV 3, because it's cheap and the form factor is _perfect_ for this. But it's looking like it will be more difficult to jailbreak than previous generations. I just want something I can run Debian or Ubuntu on and _know_ that when I restart it it's going to come back up. Any suggestions? ~~~ EwanToo I'm using a beaglebone running Ubuntu, it's a brilliant little box, cost £55. There's the pandaboard too, which is more powerful with hdmi output ~~~ haberman Does it reliably boot headless? If it does I'll order one before the ink dries on this comment. ~~~ EwanToo Yes, it's been very reliable for me. It ships with angstrom Linux, but it's trivial to install Ubuntu. I've got it hosted in a collocation rack now, so it had better stay reliable :-) I've written a short blog post about it <http://www.ewanleith.com/blog/956/my-60-arm-server> ~~~ angusgr Out of interest, what does it cost to host one of these in a colo rack? I was thinking about it as an alternative to my VPS. (Apologies if you said this in blog post already, it's currently unavailable.) ~~~ hysan Used Google cache to read the blog. This is what was written in the blog: So, now it’s time to take it to the next level – I’ve paid for the beaglebone to go into a colocation rack in Telehouse North, with a friendly colocation company called Jump Networks who were happy to help out with the experiment, and who only charge for £50 + VAT for installation and a very low monthly cost for hosting the equipment, as little as £5 per month – perfect for an ARM server. ------ fierarul This is about the price-range I would like to see for a ChromeOS box. Put it in a box I can hide behind a standard monitor, let me reuse the old mouse and keyboard and I can finally throw away the Windows XP PC my in-laws are using for Chrome and Freecell. And use 1/10th of the power. ~~~ nextparadigms I'd rather pay more for a high-end Cortex A15-based ChromeBox. Browsing will be very slow on an ARM11 chip, especially if you use it in "desktop mode", which will make it feel even slower compared to using it in a mobile phone. Also, it better have a good GPU, otherwise it won't even support resolutions higher than 800x480 (this one might). But I do think ChromeOS devices should be somewhere in the $200 price range (or free with contract if you want LTE and plan on using it on the go). ~~~ iRobot In 1989 I ran a Unix system with 1000 users on hardware less powerful than this, why this kind of horse power cannot run something as simple as a web browser says more about the inefficiencies inherent in current operating systems and programming methods than they do about the hardware. ~~~ mjb > as simple as a web browser says more about the inefficiencies inherent in > current operating systems and programming methods than they do about the > hardware. No. This is simply not true, at least at the extreme you are suggesting. What I have open on my quad-core 8GB RAM desktop right now: two Eclipse sessions; One emacs server, with about 20 client windows; Firefox, with 30+ tabs; 20 or so console sessions; five PDFs of documentation; an IRC client; an image viewer and a Jabber client. All of this is spread over two big monitors, with antialiased fonts, fast scrolling, lots of undo history and all sorts of good things. The truth is that expectations have changed. Say all you want about having 1000 users on a single core, but users today are getting a much richer environment, and capabilities that we only could have dreamed of twenty years ago. This isn't waste or inefficiency, it's using what we have. Web browsers are also far from simple. High resolution graphics, interactive sites, multiple format support, dynamic content loading, antialiased fonts and all these other things do add up. Compare that to what a user was doing on a tiny slice of a machine 20 years ago. I'd call it progress. ~~~ iRobot <http://www.menuetos.net/> ~~~ anthonyb Now go read the hardware compatibility list: <http://www.menuetos.net/hwc.txt>. It only apparently supports 4 network cards, 2 audio cards and a handful of video cards, and all of them are very old tech. It's essentially a niche operating system, and isn't going to do 1/10th of the stuff that one written with "bloatware" is going to be capable of. I mean, look at what it has for a browser: <http://www.menuetos.net/098b3.png> ------ rogerbinns You should always be wary if any binary blobs are required (often the case with video drivers). They will limit what you can do in terms of upgrading the kernel and hence the rest of the OS. Sadly VIA have a history of not quite getting this whole "open" thing: [http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=via_o...](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=via_open_turn&num=1) ~~~ thereason My vision for these boards is not to display graphics, but to send/receive data from the internet and a local network. I'm not going to use a Pi to watch movies or some other resource-intensive task. I'd just as soon use the power of GPU that comes with Pi for some other task besides video. What would be interesting is if one of these boards would be designed such that, by pure coincidence, it could fit into an Apple form factor (cheap/old/maybe used). I've read that in, e.g., Vietnam, people with soldering irons do all sorts of hackish things to iPhones. Or maybe a market for curved edge form factor casings develops. Maybe it already exists. But I never saw any Apple-like form factors in the mini-ITX offerings. Whenever you see something with a cool form factor, it seems it's always a proprietary package, hermetically sealed, not easy to tinker with. ~~~ rogerbinns The Raspberry Pi starts up by loading an opaque blob into the GPU, and that then runs the CPU under supervision. ie the CPU is a servant and controlled by the GPU, not the other way around as is normal in the PC world. So irrespective of your video intentions, you are still at the mercy of a blob. ~~~ excuse-me But unless your are a real FOSS zealot (say > 500milli Stallmans) you are at the mercy of the bios, the disk controller firmware and the CPU microcode on any machine In reality being able to run whatever user programs you want in whatever combination you want without artificial is what FOSS is all about. ~~~ rogerbinns The "user programs" you want to run are determined by the operating system. And the operating system is determined by blobs, controllers, BIOS and similar gunk. If for example the Pi blob is such that Linux kernel 3.7 can't run then you are SOL. Or if on a device like this their blob only works with Android 2.3 then you can't run a different version. Or maybe you can't run one of the BSDs. The video/GPU is especially relevant in the Pi case because it controls what the CPU can do. ~~~ excuse-me Yes that's true - I was thinking of people who complain they don't have details for some deep detail of the GPU shader cores to write an opensource driver for their NVidia card. ------ eupharis What's more exciting than this computer itself is the potential it represents. If you read the actual product page [apc.io], a lot of it is devoted to just how small this new Neo-ITX form factor is. For comparison's sake: Mass-market paperback - 19.8cm x 13cm Neo-ITX - 17cm x 8.5cm IPhone 4 - 11.5 cm x 5.86 cm 2.5inch SSD - 10 cm x 6.99 cm Raspberry Pi - 8.6cm x 5.4cm So the Neo-ITX is a third bigger than an IPhone 4.[1] And the perfect size to nestle a normal SSD right on top. Not very far down the road, we will be looking at a complete, very functional computer (harddrive, wireless internet, etc.) in a package about the size of a small book. All for 15 watts. And what I love best: it will be so cheap and versatile. Because it will use modular, already popular hardware. Remember the good old days of the desktop: Swap out the HDD for a bigger one. Replace it easily if it fails. Swap out the whole motherboard if that fails. Keep using the same damn case and power adaptor for ten years. And best: put in random, new PCI express cards that expand the capabilities of the computer, using it in ways the original designers hadn't foreseen. As happened in the past with: Ethernet Wireless Networking Exploding GPU power [1] I initially used a deck of cards for comparison. But I couldn't visualize exactly how big a deck of cards is. But an iPhone... ------ polshaw So many comments and no-one could manage any praise? It matches the real-life cost of the Rpi, probably will have general availability around the same time, and has double the memory and a little onboard NAND. It may not be perfect, but remember this sector is very much in its infancy, and a little more competition has to be a good thing for improvements in future devices all round. ------ trotsky _4 watts when idle_ no power management? my standard voltage laptop with a spinning disk, screen and low backlighting idles at 6-7. And can you really get away with no HS/F at 13 watts under load? ~~~ jcheng FWIW, SheevaPlug idles at 4 watts as well. ------ octotoad Finally, a cheap ATX-compatible ARM board. Give me PCIe and DIMM slots and I'll be salivating. Equip it with something like a dual-core Cortex chip and I'll be throwing wads of cash in all directions. ~~~ bradfa Why not just buy any number of Atom or Fusion motherboards out there? Cost is in the same realm as what you're asking for and they already have those slots. Power consumption isn't much more than the ARMs, but there's actual product you can buy today. If you don't mind waiting a bit, see Freescale iMX6: [http://boundarydevices.com/products-2/nitrogen6x-board- imx6-...](http://boundarydevices.com/products-2/nitrogen6x-board-imx6-arm- cortex-a9-sbc/) ------ duncan_bayne VIA: if you're reading this, your address help@apc.io is busted :-( The original email I sent was: Hi, I'm really excited to see the $49 Android PC; it looks like a perfect platform for a number of projects I've been thinking of. However I'm worried - most manufacturers offering low-price Android devices fail to comply with the terms of the GPL. Will you be releasing the source code to any GPL'd components used by your system? And will you allow customers to install their own OSs on the device or will it be restricted to your own build of Android? Thanks for your time; I look forwards to your reply. ~~~ duncan_bayne And sales@apc.io is bouncing too. Classy. ------ cryptoz > Android 2.3 OS _sigh_. ICS has been out for 6 months now. It's tragic that companies are shipping an ancient 2-year-old OS with their computers. ~~~ ajross It's more complicated than that, though. You can't just download ICS and drop it on the board. There are drivers to port and middleware integration to do. Someone has to do that. Google did it for OMAP4 (the Galaxy Nexus), but that's it. This isn't an OMAP4 board, and $50 a unit doesn't pay for a lot of software integration work. This is where the ARM ecosystem tends to fall down. The PC World is built on compatibility. No one can ship a board if it doesn't run Windows (or even DOS, frankly). Graphics cards have VESA and VGA fallback modes so that you can bootstrap a driver installation. And as a result the Linux community can leverage this to provide pretty great support for new hardware, even if it starts out as a fallback or partial implementation for a few versions. None of that exists in the SoC world. So if VIA or NVIDIA or Samsung or Qualcomm want ICS to run on their chips, they need to do the work. So far they have not. Nor have their customers been willing or able to. ~~~ nextparadigms Canonical and others in the Linux community are working on making a universal kernel for ARM SoC's, and they hope it will work on most of them by 2014. That might help with upgrades and compatibility in the Android world, too, especially since they are planning to merge the Android kernel back into the main Linux kernel. [http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA0N...](http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA0NzA) [http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linux-guru-re- merging-...](http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/linux-guru-re-merging-of- android-into-kernel-eases-sysdev-a-bit/10635) ------ angusgr Alongside the obvious comparisons to Raspberry Pi, it's worth looking at Allwinner A10 based devices like the Mele A1000: [http://rhombus- tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000...](http://rhombus- tech.net/allwinner_a10/hacking_the_mele_a1000/) Same price bracket, faster Cortex A8 based processor, and (most importantly) marketed as "hackable" with available source & tech docs, and a community working on porting other OSes to it. Even if you don't want to hack on it yourself, this means you're more likely to find interesting uses and software updates for it down the line. IMHO these are the aspects VIA should be aiming to compete on as well, so it's not stuck with a crummy vendorware version of Android. ~~~ ChuckMcM Bad link try this: <http://rhombus-tech.net/allwinner_a10/> Other than that, its an interesting box too although it looks like it is harder to get one's hands on it. ~~~ angusgr Thanks, fixed typo in the other link. The Melee boards are available to ship now from Aliexpress vendors, so you'd have it in your hands sooner than the apc.io (July predicted ship date) or the Pi (still filling backorders.) ------ AUmrysh I hope they also have linux distributions for it other than android. If it works with arduino, these could lead to very inexpensive analog/digital controllers. ~~~ sp332 As long as the distro has drivers for VIA WonderMedia WM8750, it will be fine. Honestly I have no idea if any distros do. ------ Kilimanjaro Add wi-fi, remove vga and ethernet, drop the usb towers and make it flatter, make an aluminum case and sell it for $99. You'll sell a million just the first couple of months. ~~~ ars Do not remove VGA. There are a TON of old VGA monitors (LCD as well) just sitting around, and this is a perfect machine to use with them. Force people to use HDMI and most of them will have to buy a new monitor. ------ guard-of-terra For some unknown reason all those sensor terminals, atms and other smart devices are powered by windows. Windows is an awful choice since it requires a huge pricey box with fans, since it shows its dialog messages over the interface, catches viruses and yet they stick to it. It makes me sad thinking about how much money do they waste on it and how MS is able by get their cut while making everyone lives and products worse by using their BS power. ~~~ zrail Windows has been available on embedded systems from almost the very beginning. Windows CE was not originally for tablets, it was for ATMs and the like. ~~~ guard-of-terra But still they use stock Windows. They don't use CE or XP Embedded. They use the popping up dialog windows, screensaver kind. ------ thereason <http://apc.io> is the original source. It has a nice photo of Allen and Gates. Now, what I'm wondering is how easy it is to replace Android with your own OS. I want to know about the bootloader. ------ Derbasti This somehow lacks all geek-appeal to me. It looks like a regular mother board. Not interested. The raspberry pi on the other hand looks _cool_. Strange. ~~~ rbanffy It depends on what you intend to do with it. My mom's computer is due for an upgrade and she would probably be happy with a beefier version of this machine. Swapping the motherboard should be trivial enough and the PC would continue to look familiar, at least. She's used to Ubuntu and she couldn't care less about the ISA the machine is running. Moving to Android could prove an interesting experience, but I suspect machines like this will have outstanding support for other Linuxes as well and I'd assume Via has a lot to gain by cooperating. By now, most likely, someone from Microsoft will have called to offer some incentive if Via favors Win8 over Android on the platform. We'll see what happens. ~~~ DanBC Yes, these machines are nearly ready. They need a little bit more stuff, and some nice cloud stuff set up. Put them in a little box, bolt them to the back of a nice monitor and they're great for most people. ~~~ rbanffy Oracle will claim a patent infringement because the thing looks too much like a Sparcstation SLC... ------ b3b0p Related, my boss just ordered one of these for me to play with: <http://www.asiapads.com/product_info.php?products_id=2246> I'm looking forward to it. Internally, it's called "chrisk's Crapper Computer" (my name is Chris last name starts with K) ~~~ oliwer Nice! Looks a lot better than what VIA is doing. At least the CPU is reasonably powerful. ------ zobzu The main issue of (amost) ALL these boards is the code. They always use a large part of proprietary bobs, which makes using them a pain. Even the Raspberry pi has the issue. In particular, if you've a recent GPU you're often doomed. Want video accel? Nope. Proper video support? Update to more recent libraries? Nope again. ------ Aqwis Why does it have a VGA port instead of a DVI port? ~~~ mark-r It also has HDMI. They should have dropped the VGA and saved a buck. ~~~ icefox On the flip side I can pick up a VGA monitor off the curb (i.e. free) while the cheapest HDMI monitor is still expensive. ~~~ nl _the cheapest HDMI monitor is still expensive_ Everyone has different levels for what "expensive" means. You can get new HDMI monitors for well under $150, and new DVI monitors for well under $100, and DVI<->HDMI adaptors are under $10. ~~~ polshaw Sure but it is worth baring in mind the context-- that this is a $50 PC. ~~~ nl Exactly. ~$100 for a monitor (which can also be used with other computers) isn't expensive when we are talking about a $50 board. ~~~ angusgr Whether "it's expensive" depends entirely on the market. There are markets (developing countries, education) where tripling the total cost of the setup, compared to using a monitor you already have, is significant. ~~~ nl Yes, I get that. Hence the bit where I said _Everyone has different levels for what "expensive" means_. ~~~ angusgr My apologies, between your two comments I was confused about the point you were making. ------ chj It doesn't have wlan, not even a dual core cpu, pity. but i am still going to buy it. ~~~ joshu including a radio means much more expensive certification testing. so they often just have you use a USB wifi stick. ~~~ Kliment That's not true if you use a pre-certified wifi module. Of course such modules cost half as much as the board, largely because they eliminate the cost of intentional radiator testing. But I agree, USB wifi is so cheap these days it makes no sense to have it built-in. ------ pbreit I wonder how much wifi/wireless would add to the cost? ~~~ noonespecial How about $1.03. [http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY- USB2-0-Wireless-802-11-Adapter/...](http://www.amazon.com/SANOXY- USB2-0-Wireless-802-11-Adapter/dp/B004I8B8Z6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1337766131&sr=8-4) ~~~ pbreit Wow. And Bluetooth is just another $1.19. [http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth- USB-Micro-Adapter-Dongle/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-USB-Micro- Adapter-Dongle/dp/B001EBE1LI/ref=pd_sim_pc_3) Those would be two good additions. ------ zyb09 Could you run a server on this? Something like NodeJS with low casual traffic? Would that work on Android at all? ~~~ EwanToo Yes you could, I've been experimenting with running a server on arm for a couple of months and its surprisingly capable. Node works well on arm because of all the effort google make for v8 to run well in Android ------ recoiledsnake PC? How is this thing even close to a PC? Looks like a motherboard to me, ~~~ InclinedPlane It uses solid state storage and the RAM, graphics system, etc. is bundled into the single System-on-a-chip. Plug in the power then hook it up to keyboard/mouse/monitor and you are up and running. ~~~ cyber What he's saying is that it's a bare component. Generally a PC is a usable system. One will still need to add a powersupply and case at a minimum. (And _then_ you can plug in your power, keyboard/mouse/monitor, etc.) ~~~ InclinedPlane OK, fair enough. I don't think the lack of a case is a huge deal (zip tie it inside a tiny cardboard box, whatever) but the requirement for a special power supply is significant. In comparison, a raspberry pi can be booted up and used with parts that a typical geek has lying around (micro-usb charger, usb periphs, monitor). Edit: it looks like it comes with a power adapter, so it's effectively a fully functional computer out of the box (just as much as any system without kb/monitor).	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Comet Server, based on XMPP streams - julien http://github.com/superfeedr/compp ====== jdg Very cool. Love what you guys are doing at Superfeedr. Keep up the great work! Hopefully we can meet at the RT CrunchUp next week. j ~~~ julien Definetely, we'll be there! With a bunch of stickers we can't keep :) ------ rob232 That's an interesting idea. I wonder how it scales though.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Google Parcel Service? Search giant patents shipping notifications - EvanKelly http://www.geekwire.com/2011/google-parcel-service-search-giant-patents-shipping-notifications ====== _delirium While the patent is still pretty dumb, the claim is a _bit_ more specific than this article summarizes. The claim seems carefully worded to exclude Amazon, UPS, and USPS shipping notifications, by limiting itself to "a broker computer system independent of the shipper and a merchant". UPS and the USPS are shippers of course, and Amazon is the merchant for the queries it brokers. However, it seems like a real stretch for non-obviousness: they're trying to patent the idea of doing exactly what every shipping-status system does, only as a third party that simply queries those services, and then sends emails to the user when something changes. Maybe it's a business-method patent rather than a technology patent. It's not even a patent on notification-system querying, because Amazon does that, only it does it for products it sold. It seems the only thing the claim is claiming as novel is the business idea of doing it as a third-party monitoring service. ~~~ EvanKelly Is doing the same thing as someone already does, but from a different role in the relationship really patentable? Apparently. ~~~ mburns Toasted bread was patented in 2000: <http://www.google.com/patents/about?id=IpwDAAAAEBAJ> ~~~ CamperBob At 2500 degrees? That's novel, I guess, but it sounds more like a patent for _sublimating_ the bread than for toasting it. ~~~ EvanKelly I can't believe I read an entire patent on "Bread Refreshing", but I agree that this is different than what conventional toasters do. I thought it was interesting that they restricted time from 3 - 90 seconds. I wonder what kind of bread can undergo 3000 degree temperatures for 90 seconds and still be edible. ------ dctoedt Here's the text of claim 1, with extra paragraphing and bracketed letters added: \--snip-- 1\. A method of providing notification of impending delivery of a shipment shipped by a shipper to a shipping address specified by a customer, comprising: [a] periodically querying, by a broker computer system independent of the shipper and a merchant and which enabled the customer to purchase an item contained in the shipment from the merchant, a shipper computer system to obtain status information for the shipment with each query, [b] wherein a periodic query of the shipment computer system comprises: [b1] requesting status information from the shipper computer system by providing a shipment identifier of the shipment to the shipper computer system; and [b2] receiving status information in response thereto; [c] responsive to status information obtained with a periodic query indicating an estimated delivery date for the shipment, [c1] halting, by the broker computer system, the periodic queries and [c2] scheduling the restart of periodic queries of the shipper computer system a day prior to the estimated delivery date; [d] restarting, by the broker computer system, periodic queries of the shipper computer system the day prior to the estimated delivery date to obtain updated status information with each query; [e] responsive to updated status information obtained with a periodic query indicating that the shipment is out for delivery to the customer, [e1] halting, by the broker computer system, the periodic queries and [e2] calculating an estimated delivery time for the shipment based at least in part on the status information; and [f] sending, by the broker computer system, an electronic message including the estimated delivery time to the customer. \--snip-- The USPTO file history is available at <http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair>. You have to submit the patent number (7,996,328) to the search engine and go through a CAPTCHA; a direct link to individual documents in the file history doesn't seem to work. On 12/24/2008, the patent examiner initially rejected the claims as directed to non-statutory subject matter (a "section-101 rejection"), as well as to being directed to subject matter that would have been obvious in view of the prior art (a "section-103 rejection"). Google's attorneys argued that the examiner should drop the section-101 rejection, and amended the claims to overcome the section-103 obviousness rejection in a filing on 4/24/2009. On 7/22/2009, the examiner agreed to drop the section-101 rejection, but cited new grounds for the section-103 obviousness rejection. NOTE: The examiner's withdrawal of the section-101 rejection was almost a year before the Supreme Court's decision in the _Bilski_ case concerning business methods, <http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-964.pdf>; at this point there's no way to know whether the examiner would have considered the claims to be unpatentable under _Bilski_ for being directed to an abstract idea. After more amendments and a telephone conference between Google's attorneys and the examiner on 10/22/2010, the claims were finally allowed on 3/31/2011.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
4M people have Web browser extensions that sell their every click - notlukesky https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2019/07/18/i-found-your-data-its-sale/ ====== moocowtruck I think way more than 4Million people have chrome installed ~~~ Topgamer7 4 million is the count of people that installed those particular extensions that leak your information. ~~~ bobwaycott I believe the parent was making a somewhat snarky comment implying Chrome itself reports every click to Google. ------ aalhour I have hit a paywall, can someone add the list of extensions of here as a comment? ~~~ IronBacon The full report, I think: [https://securitywithsam.com/2019/07/dataspii-leak- via-browse...](https://securitywithsam.com/2019/07/dataspii-leak-via-browser- extensions/)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Non-native event-driven windowing in Wallaroo - spooneybarger https://blog.wallaroolabs.com/2017/11/non-native-event-driven-windowing-in-wallaroo/ ====== nitbix Hello! I'm the author of this blog post. Please feel free to reach out either here or on our IRC channel #wallaroo on Freenode.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Academic expert says Google and Facebook's AI researchers aren't doing science - laurex https://thenextweb.com/artificial-intelligence/2018/07/14/academic-expert-says-google-and-facebooks-ai-researchers-arent-doing-science/ ====== sbinthree If you take the average Google AI project and the average AI researcher in academia, the Google project is going to be more useful to humanity 99/100\. Maybe at the very high end application is "beneath" exploration, but even then the puritans in the theoretical world seem the have the most impact subsequently applying their work (academia or not). Google and Facebook have the money to fund interesting projects with long time horizons. Does academia? You could argue not as much, it's about writing incremental papers as opposed to real world impact unless you have grinded long enough (or are at the top) to earn long-term measurement.	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }
Application helps you search information relate to languages and technologies - vinhnglx The application helps you search information relate to languages and technologies. Currently, this application just supports three sources: [StackOverFlow](http://stackoverflow.com/, [RubyGems](https://rubygems.org/), [Confreaks](http://confreaks.tv/) with simple features.<p>Try it out: https://github.com/vinhnglx/gaea ====== brudgers This might make a good "Show HN". Guidelines: [https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html) ------ trootech That's a great idea, I was thinking to do it back sometime however thought one important aspect that coders who search through mobile application would not be able to use codes from mobile application directly so less of a use to readers but coders. I will sure check your application :)	{ "pile_set_name": "HackerNews" }

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